And So It Begins: Mission Briefing

Posted on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 1:38am by Assistant Chief Medical Officer Leonardo 'Leo' Giordano M.D. & Chief Science Officer Mika Rai'z D.Sc., Ph.D. & A.I. Specialist Jaime Treva & Chief Counselor Serephima Anilon & Medical/Counseling Amelie Erebos & Commanding Officer Maralen Seitha & Command Cael Maz & Ship's A.I. Lyta & Flight Control Officer Merrynda & Chief Engineering Officer Allen Radner & Security/Tactical Feriona Valinoer
Edited on on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 1:44am

Mission: What Lies In The Darkness
Location: Main Conference Room, Deck 125 (Command Deck)
Timeline: 248001.01 0755

Maralen stood in the Main Conference Room, looking at his notes for the meeting. He had been trained to take the Executive's place, yes, but these briefings were handled much differently in the Realm. Before him on the table sat a sealed mug the same color as the table with the ShadowDragon Enterprises emblem emblazoned on it.

Before him, the conference table was a slick, black affair with gold edges and gold accents on the supports. It reminded him of the desk in his office. Currently, the top surface of the table was blank, just slick black with the ShadowDragon Enterprises emblem displayed on it. But like the desk, when he wished to display something, the top surface would project a three-dimensional image above the table.

Around the table, spaced about a foot apart, tall black leather chairs squatted, waiting to be filled. On the arms of each were the silver-colored PsiPlates that seemed to be everywhere in the ship, on every work surface. Even his chair had them.

Serephima entered quietly, inclining her head respectfully to Maralen before rearranging her wings to seat herself comfortably.

Cael was next to enter but not quietly. His cane hit the deck floor every now and again as he made his way toward his seat at the table. He did look refreshed compared to the last time anyone saw him.

Mika entered with a steaming hot cup of coffee and a smile for everyone. "Good Morning," he said, stopping to wait for Cael to get to his seat, before taking his own placed at one side of the head of the table.

Maralen nodded to his Executive Officer and each of the others as they entered. "Good morning," he said in return. Lyta merely nodded in greeting. She didn't feel the need to be a 'me too' girl.

Merrynda came in quietly behind the Executive Officer. She hadn't wanted to turn the Nav Arena over to her second -- she thoroughly loved flying -- but as a member of the Senior Staff, she had to be in the briefings. So here she was, taking a seat beside the quite handsome Consultant. She smiled slightly at the man.

The door opened again. "Ever since then, I can't look him in the eyes without trying to hold in a laugh." Science Chief Azalin Bren finished, unable to keep the laughter from colouring her tone.

"Poor guy," Jaime Treva, the operations chief, smirked while lowering her voice as they moved further into the room. "He'll never live it down."

Azalin gave a slight giggle before realizing the conversation was no longer private. She glanced at the captain and took a seat, throwing on a professional and 'innocent' smile.

Jaime took her seat, giving her own smile before lifting her coffee cup to take a drink, amusement still in her eyes as she looked at Azalin over the brim of her cup.

Doctor Leonardo Giordano had walked in, filling in until their medical chief arrived to FarVoyager. "Morning," he said, giving a small smile to everyone as he took his seat.

As Allen Radner entered, he realized that he was damned near the last person here and immediately felt out of place. He already pretty much thought someone else should be doing his job, but being nearly the last person to a briefing only served to point out to him why he was right in that belief. Quietly, he took his sorry behind and the hot cup of coffee in his hand to one of the empty chairs and sat.

The Chief of Security slipped in through the doors to the conference room at 0756 exactly. Her hands dropped from her uniform collar where they’d just fastened it up and her cheeks were flushed, but her hair - alright let’s be honest, her hair was always perfect. “Sorry Sirs and Misses. I encountered a minor temporal anomaly.” She moved around to the far side of the table and took a seat facing the door. “Doesn’t look like I missed anything important.” The others may have arrived right on time or even early, but Valinoer preferred to use that time for her own gratifying purposes. And she was still feeling quite gratified, though grave that she could not remember the crewman’s name. Or which department he was from. Well, ASTRID kept a little black book with those sorts of records; she could always check later.

Now that everyone was gathered, Maralen took his own seat, the chair he had been standing behind at the head of the table. He gave a look to Lyta and the doors closed. "Privacy Mode engaged, Captain," she told him.

Maralen looked at each of the senior officers seated around the table before he spoke. Setting the tablet he held down on the table, he placed his hands on top of it, folded. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first mission, but it isn't from Ashlyn." He paused to let them digest that bit of news before continuing. "It is, in fact, from the Builder Empire." Another pause was given to allow processing.

Valinoer gripped the arms of her chair and shook her head. Inside her head she was already grappling with the decision. Seriously? On their very first mission? It’s like The Builders just couldn’t wait to wag their finger, send us to do their bidding and remind us just who’s in charge; the price for all this tech. Valinoer looked to the Commander as he continued speaking.

"It seems that they have been receiving intermittent distress signals from one of their Sector Posts and we are far nearer to it than any of their ships." He paused again and touched the silver plate on his chair arm. The table activated, showing a map of the local cluster. It then zoomed in on the nearby galaxies, called Sectors by the Builder Empire. "Our position is marked with the moving blue marker." He highlighted it for a moment. "The station we are to investigate is here." He highlighted a green marker in one of the nearby galaxies. "This is Sector Post XR-46. We will be making our way to the large Interstellar Doorway in this location." He marked a spot in yellow further up toward the rim of the quadrant they were in. "This will take us to the right Sector. We will need to reach the Sector Post, evaluate the situation, and lend any aid the Post needs." He looked around again. "The floor is now open."

Valinoer sat forward quickly and rested her hands on the table’s smooth black surface. “When did the intermittent distress signal begin? Was it automated? Can we hear the message? Has the pattern between signals been analyzed? It may reveal more than the beacon itself. Have The Builders acknowledged any unique activities being conducted at this particular Sector Post?” She saw someone opening their mouth to speak so hastily added while pointing to the container, “Are the contents of that sealed mug relevant?”

Mika looked over at her with a bemused expression. "Slow down," he said calmly, yet firmly. Though he hadn't been the one about to open his mouth, certainly not before the Captain had the chance to answer the ones already given, it was obviously he wasn't happy with how she shot out the questions like an onslaught of torpedoes. "Let's discuss this one or two questions at a time."

Valinoer slung her hands apart with splayed fingers as if to yield the floor and table, albeit irritably. She was aware of the impression she could sometimes give off (though she foolishly believed it was only on rare instances like this) so she wasn’t going to push the matter and there were certainly other issues that may warrant discussion on the onset of the FarVoyager’s maiden flight. There were enough new faces around the table that she wouldn’t mind hearing from them. But the part of her mind that looked for trouble would always be looking for trouble.

“Calmly, Friend,” Serephima said gently. “Your questions are valid, but time must be given to each one.” Her wings quivered, preparatory to the thrumming she used to soothe...

Feriona looked expectantly to everyone at the table and seeing no one jumping to speak, she spoke again. “Very well; slow questions one at a time. Can we hear the intermittent distress signal along with its time stamp?”

Maralen was glad that Mika had asked the Security Chief to slow down. He had paused as long as he had to see if anyone else had questions, but it was likely that they were awaiting his answers to her questions first to see if he would inadvertently answer theirs in the process. He looked to Lyta. "Lyta, would you please play the signal?"

Lyta nodded, tilted her head, and the speakers hidden in the room came to life. The signal was somewhat staticky, but clear enough to hear what was being said. “To any Starship within the sound of my voice, I am Nevarre of Kryll. I am seeking assistance. My Sector Post has been damaged. Please respond. Repeat, to any Starship within the sound of my voice, I am Nevarre of Kryll...”

At the captain's hand signal, Lyta cut off the audio. She then let her gaze meet each set of eyes in the room. "The original timestamp on that recording is ten Cycles old. For those who aren't familiar with the Builder system of Cycles, that equates to 10,000 Terran Standard Years."

Maralen interjected. "And before anyone asks, yes, this Nevarre could potentially still be alive. Kryll, Builders and several other species in their part of the universe are extremely long-lived species." Technically, that might have been obvious from the fact that Builders track many of their people's events in one-thousand-year Cycles, but he never assumed anything.

Feriona decided not to crunch the numbers in her head; there were scientists sitting around this table and at any rate they had an advanced AI for that kind of thing. “I’m not the best with math and distance, so if I may ask - does ten-thousand years sound about right for an arrival time on a message originating from the known location of Sector Post XR-46?”

That was a good question. Mika’s eyebrow slightly furrowed as he wondered the same thing, reminded once again, there was still so much he needed to learn and to understand about this universe.

“I ask because if it is a normal term for transmission and if the man who sent this message is still alive, he’s either been living in distress for ten-thousand years or managed to sort things out on his end. Either could imply the situation wasn’t and isn’t as dire or urgent as the message’s tone presupposes.” Feriona looked up clicked her teeth with her tongue. “Sorry, Commander. I’m just trying to anticipate what conditions we can expect to find when we come to the Sector Post and this Nevarre of Kryll.”

Azalin spoke up. "To answer your question. No. A signal normally would not take that long to come from that sector. The fact that it has, having gone through multiple sector and area posts, tells us that his post, and possibly others, were damaged. And being as there has been no follow up message…" She let it hang.

"It, or they, still may be," Mika finished, easily catching on. He’d been reading up on the Builders and their technology, and as a scientist himself, found it all fascinating. "So there’s basically been no other information coming out of there for ten-thousand years?"

Lyta answered for the captain. "No. Just the signal. According to the Builders, the signal transmits for some time then goes silent for a time then transmits again. Sometimes the intervals are years apart, but the cycle is the same. Signal, silence, signal. And yes, it is the same signal."

Maralen continued the logic. "The Builders believe that he recorded that transmission when the Post was first damaged by whatever it is that caused him to need to send that signal. Then he has apparently been playing it on a loop."

Merrynda frowned. "But if it's just a repeating signal, why does it shut off periodically then come back?" That made her think that someone had to still be alive there, someone controlling the signal. After all, if there wasn't and it was a program, then the cycle would be precise, not different each time... years here, months there, decades here. It implied intelligent control... didn't it?

Lyta shook her head. "They don't know. They suspect that he may still be alive and turning it off periodically for some reason."

Allen could imagine many reasons, Engineering-wise, that could cause that. Only a few of them involved the guy still being alive. But he didn't say that. Instead, he took a different approach. "Um... sir, don't all Builder Posts have AIs?"

Maralen nodded. "They do. What is your thought, Mr. Radner?"

And I should have stayed quiet. Damn! "I... well, it occurs to me that it could be the AI turning it on and off... sir." He didn't want to sound like an ass, and he didn't wish the guy any ill -- hell, he didn't know the man. But in truth, he almost hoped the poor guy wasn't still alive, alone for ten thousand years. That would suck boulders through a garden hose!

Maralen sighed. "Yes, that is a possibility. However, there is no way to know without someone going to the Sector Post and checking. That's where we come in." He looked around the room again. "Any other questions?" He did remember that Feriona had several, and he was now opening the floor for the next... or someone else's.

Feriona slowly spun the omni-band on her wrist. "As a woman who intentionally programmed my AI to be uncooperative at times, I'd like to suggest a variation to Radner's suggestion. What if the Kryll is desperately trying to keep the distress signal broadcasting and the Station's AI is the one causing disruptions to the signal?” Feriona shrugged. “But the Commander is correct, we cannot know from here. Lyta, for how many years has the signal’s broadcast been cutting in and out? I’m sure the Builders have already done it, but someone should analyze the duration of silence and broadcast - see if there’s any pattern.”

Lyta's eyes became distant for the briefest of seconds then refocused on Feriona. "The intervals vary. There does not seem to be an overall pattern to them. However, if you wish to analyze them, I can send the information to your office terminal."

“If you’d be so kind…” Feriona tapped her bracelet and in a quieter voice said, “Astrid, prepare to receive a file from the ship’s A.I. It’s a distress signal, but I want you to go over it without any further context.”

Lyta nodded and transmitted the information as requested.

Jaime’s eyebrow had raised. As the Ops chief, she had been thinking she would help. "Who is Astrid?" she questioned.

Lyta looked at Jaime. "Apparently, Chief Treva, I am not the only Artificial Intelligence on this mission." She said it without hostility, more as a simple fact but intended as information, an answer to the question asked.

Feriona wasn’t convinced that having every member of the crew access and utilize Lyta was a good idea. That was a lot of information going through the holographic hands of an entity that did not answer to Feriona. Well, certainly didn’t answer to Feriona exclusively. It wasn’t so much an issue with Lyta as a question of administrative privileges. It felt like more than that - she couldn’t quite put her finger on the reasons why, but on some level it must all come down to trust. “Astrid is my personal A.I. and is very much a work in progress - as is her namesake ship. I’m more adept with genetics than I am engineering - or coding for that matter. I’d prefer to keep my nonessential tasks and requests of the A.I. isolated from Lyta, for security and privacy purposes. Essential functions are cross referenced with the ship, of course, and I’d make any relevant findings available to your department, Jaime Treva.”

Serephima leaned forward, saying, “Forgive my curiosity, but what else is known about the Navarre of Kryll? Is he a member of a warlike or a more peaceful, resilient species? I wish to be prepared in the event that my abilities are needed.”

Maralen looked over at the Chief Counselor. "What we know of the Kryll comes from the Builder Empire. Apparently, they were one of twelve Spirit-Speaking species, four light, four dark, and four gray. The Kryll were among the gray. They were one of three powers in a triple alliance that consisted of the Builders, the Atlanteans and the Kryll. According to the Builders' information, the Kryll are an endangered species. As to Nevarre himself, their records show him as one of the premier Engineers of their triple alliance. Does that help?"

“It does indeed,” Serephima replied, again with a respectful incline of her head. “I thank you.”

Feriona cleared her throat and leaned forward. “With such extensive lifespans, I imagine the Builders have built up quite a lengthy dossier for Nevarre of Kryll. I’d like to take a good look at those details along with any other personnel notes or changes for Sector Post XR-46.”

Maralen nodded. "That is contained in the security packet you should have on the Data Pad in front of you, Miss Valinoer."

Striding down the hall, towards the briefing room, following the directions on her handheld padd, Amelie had not noted that it mentioned the briefing would be closed. When the door didn't open for her as she expected it to, she walked into it with a thump. Fortunately, leading with her shoulder at the time had saved her face from slamming into the door. Still, pain flared in that shoulder and she muttered under her breath before requesting entry to the briefing.

An attempted security breach?! Feriona caressed the pistol at her side even as she looked to the Commander. “Are you expecting someone?”

Lyta frowned and looked to Maralen. "It would seem that our Chief Medical Officer," her eyes flicked to Leo, "and your direct superior," they flicked back to Maralen, "has finally arrived."

Maralen nodded. "Let her in then, Lyta."

Lyta nodded, her head tilted to the side, and the doors unlocked, sliding open. "Please enter, Chief Erebos," Lyta greeted.

"Thank you. My apologies for my tardiness. I had some technical difficulties in my travels." The woman, dressed still in her civilian, and very stylish clothing, settled into the open seat.

Leo gave his department head a friendly wave and smile as she settled in.

Well, at least I wasn’t the last one to the briefing, Valinoer thought to herself.

Maralen nodded to the Chief Medical Officer as she took the seat. "You can tell me what happened later," he said, his tone calm. "For now, I was briefing the Senior Staff on our current mission. Take a moment, please, to review what has already been discussed, then we will continue the briefing." He did not normally like repeating himself, so he would simply give her a few minutes to look at the transcript of the meeting thus far. "Lyta, please re-engage the Privacy Mode."

Lyta nodded, and the doors slid closed once more, locking. "Privacy Mode engaged."

Reading the briefing so far was swift work for Amelie who was ready in minutes to continue the briefing. She nodded her understanding of the topics thus far, and placed the PADD on the table before her.

He nodded. "Now, Miss Valinoer, is it possible to have Astrid work with Operations on the signal?" He did not know how proprietary she was with her A.I. as far as letting it work with others that were not her.

"I have no objections," Feriona responded and nodded to Treva. "I can’t promise you will revel in her company, but I find her delusive nature keeps me sharp. There are reasons I don’t prefer to use the same A.I. system as everyone else. You may have noticed a slightly distrusting quality to my line of questioning this morning? I’ve borrowed some of that for the inspiration behind the A.I.’s code. Astrid works within a flexible window of opportunities that I’ve created for her, but she’s still bound to them. I’ll grant you recall rights to her program and let you decide for yourself."

"No thanks," Jaime sweetly smiled in return, although she had been thinking that the security chief was unpleasantly intense. “While I’d like to give the information a second look over, I’d like to do so with Lyta.” Jaime had been working with FarVoyager’s AI since she’d been brought online and her systems tested. She now gave Lyta a sideways look and winked at her before continuing. “She’s not only the latest AI model, but the most advanced, a part of this crew," as far as she was concerned, "and I trust her."

Lyta smiled at Jaime. She liked the woman and was pleased that her sentiment was returned. One of the reasons she liked Jaime so much was that Jaime treated her like a person, like a member of the crew, not like a piece of equipment. "Thank you, Jaime," she said, showing the same respect in return.

Cael was silent for a long time, but his eyes were moving rapidly as if he was reading something every now and again. "Lyta, if you please, my dear?" He said after having sent the information to her regarding Feriona and Astrideemer. The file was long and full of various crimes committed by Feriona and her A.I. known as Astrid.

Lyta frowned, her eyes glazing over for a second as she reviewed the data Cael had sent her. The frown deepened as she finished. Her look said that she wanted to say something or growl perhaps, but she did neither. She merely nodded to Cael, and the Translocator Matrix took Feriona away, returning her to Tassryth Station, to their Security Section. At the same second, she sent a message to Tassryth Station regarding the woman and her ship/AI. And per their request, she quarantined the Astrideemer in its bay. "Tassryth Station requests that we wait for a ship to come and take the Astrideemer back to the station," she reported.

Maralen frowned, his shell of calm fractured for a second before he forced it back into place. "Inform helm that we are stopping and awaiting another ShadowDragon vessel, Lyta."

Lyta nodded, sending the correct information to the Nav Arena. At that command, it shut off, slowly lowering the navigator to the floor. The FarVoyager slowed and then stopped, still in space. "We are at full stop, Captain."

Maralen nodded. "Good. Thank you, Lyta." He looked over to his Consultant now. "Please explain, Cael?" he requested, his Shield of Calm once more solidly in place.

"Sorry for the delay, my friends. Something just did not sit right with me, and I had to check with Tassryth Station for some deeper-level checking. It appears that our chief of security is actually wanted for war crimes. She thought she could get away with passing herself and her AI off as someone else. In fact, her real name was Luana Merideth Anuk and her A.I. was a variant on an older warship's computer." Cael said as he sent the file to the table by placing his palm on the silvered plate.

Pulling it up, Mika started looking it over. He was amazed at the information before him. “The fact that she was able to get as far as she did… “ he had started, in disbelief. Then he stopped himself as he looked between Cael and their commander, figuring it was something to be discussed between the command team later, when it was conveniant after the briefing.

Maralen nodded calmly. "Indeed. But she will soon be Tassryth Station's problem, and we have a mission." He looked to Cael. "Thank you for catching that and taking care of it so efficiently."

Serephima was surprised at Carl’s sudden action, then stunned by the information he had found. She spoke slowly, “I am most thankful to have someone if such vigilance aboard...”

Cael responded, "This is my home as it is many others. I am charged to protect it from the darkness in the galaxies." He bowed his head softly then lifted it. "Pray continue."

Maralen nodded to his Consultant and let his eyes touch each in the room. "We were at the point where I and Lyta were fielding questions. Our... former security chief raised a few good ones. Does anyone have any others?"

Azalin had found her eyebrows raised into her hairline in a permanent like fashion from the whole thing with 'Feriona'. Despite not caring for the woman's social skills, she hadn't expected her to be a war criminal. Forcing her brows down, Azalin took on a neutral expression as she put herself mentally back into the mission brief.

"I would like to see the data our former Security chief requested." Azalin glanced at Jaime to Lyta, then Maralen. "I would love to go over it with operations and Lyta. Perhaps from our varied perspectives we might find something relevant."

“Sounds good to me,” Jaime replied. “How does it sound to you, Lyta?” she then asked the AI, wondering if she would take it literally or not.

Lyta looked thoughtful for a moment. Had this not been a serious briefing, she might have given the very literal response just to see what Jaime would do with it. But this was not time for jokes; this was time for serious work. "I think it's an excellent idea."

"I hope any specific medical specifications needed will be sent to my computer so I might study it at my leisure? I'd hate to be in an emergency and not be familiar with my patient's anatomy." The white haired doctor spoke with a gentle smile upon her lips.

Lyta looked over to the medical officer and smiled. "I have sent all data given to us by the Builder Empire in regards to both their species and the Kryll to the desk in your office, Doctor," she assured. "Anything else you need, please just ask."

Maralen looked around the room then. "If no one has any further questions, this meeting is adjurned. Please review all data pertinent to your departments and direct any questions to myself or Lyta. Dismissed."

When it seemed that there were no more questions, Jaime rose from her seat. "Well, there's plenty to do, best we get at it," she said, determinedly. "Azalin, we'll meet at your office?"

"Yes, let's." Azalin nodded to Maralen. "Sir." She said in way of a respectful departure, coming to a stand after.

As everyone started rising, Mika directed to Lyta, "What is the estimated time of arrival to the sector post?" thinking it a good idea if everyone knew the timeframe they had to work in before getting there.

Lyta's eyes became unfocused for a second, then they fixed on the Executive Officer. "Once we are again free to fly, one hour to the Inter-Sector Doorway, seconds to pass through, and then ten hours to the Sector Post."

Serephima rose from her seat and inclined her head respectfully to Maralen and the other officers assembled. Though disquieted by the revelations about their now former Security Chief, she had no questions pertinent to the mission, so she took her leave.

Cael decided that until his report was filed properly, he wouldn't move. His eyes shifted focus and moved around as if searching the room. He looked as though he was content, however.

Jaime's eyes had met Azalin's at Lyta's information on the timeframe and then together they headed out of there.

Meanwhile, Leo had risen from his seat, his eyes on his dept head as he decided he'd walk out with her. Besides formally meeting each other, they had some things to discuss.

Noticing the eyes upon her Amelie nodded slightly to the man who was looking intently at her. He was in the uniform appropriate to be one of her staff, so when she gathered up her notes, she gestured for him to precede her out of the room. There was plenty of time to talk outside of the briefing after all.

"Captain," Mika was standing, his body angling towards the door. "I'd like to go to Security, check up on what's happening with our former security chief.

Maralen nodded to his Executive Officer. One of them should do that, after all, and he needed to stay and speak to the Consultant. "Yes, please do. I would like one of us to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as is possible."

Mika nodded at that, "understood." He then left.

Once everyone had left, Maralen turned to his Consultant, having noted that the man had made no attempt to move even though all had been dismissed. Maralen wondered what the man might have to say that required privacy, so he sat back in his chair, eyes holding on the other man curiously. "You have more to add, Cael?"

"Simply this. We should err on the side of caution when selecting the new security chief. How this one got under our radar I do not know but we can't be too cautious." Cael said as he finished his report on the matter.

Maralen nodded. "Agreed." Truthfully, the man was, as humans said, preaching to the choir, but Maralen didn't want to discourage communication. "Thankfully, how it happened is Ashlyn's problem." He did not envy the person responsible that conversation. "But I think running our own checks is also good. No one is perfect, not even the most paranoid. What would you recommend?"

"I will agree that there is no one out there that is perfect. But to overly clean can be just as bad as too overly dirty. Finding someone in the middle of that road that knows their good and bad sides is essential. Proper balance to also balance out the position." Cael stated calmly.

Mar frowned slightly. What he'd meant was they should run checks separate from Ashlyn's, each potentially catching what the other might miss. Of course balance was good! Or so said the Builders... constantly. They were, it seemed, just as obsessed with it as they were with threes. "Very true. For now, though, we have other matters that need attending." He stood and motioned toward the door. "After you."

When the two had left, Lyta discontinued that hologram. The meeting was over, and there was no need of it now. She did have questions for her captain, but later.