Rescue Mission

Posted on Thu Feb 25th, 2021 @ 1:12pm by Commanding Officer Maralen Seitha & Chief Security/Tactical Officer Sarah Dominie & Science Specialist Eos Tolján & Assistant Chief Medical Officer Leonardo 'Leo' Giordano M.D. & A.I. Specialist Jaime Treva

Mission: What Lies In The Darkness
Location: Bridge, Captain's Office
Timeline: 248001.01 13:00

The fighters were engaged with the enemy ships as commanded. Now Maralen had to get the actual purpose of this mission underway. He had thought about who should be part of this mission carefully, applying his strategic mind to the problem, and he had come up with what he thought was a well-rounded team with a good range of skills.

He would lead; he was not a lead-from-behind type. He suspected there would be a technical aspect to this, so he had selected Jaime Treva for that. For science, should it be needed, he had selected Eos Toljan. Only an idiot went into an unknown and obviously dangerous situation without a medical officer, so he had selected Leonardo Giordano in that capacity. He would have been a fool to not take a security officer, so he had chosen Sarah Dominie.

Standing from the bridge, he made his way to his office, giving Lyta instructions to summon them as he went. Another thought occurred to him, and he added an instruction for Lyta before entering his office.

A second later, Lyta's voice came over the ship's public address system. "The following crew are ordered to the captain's office. Jaime Treva, Eos Toljan, Leonardo Giordano and Sarah Dominie." There was a pause, then she continued. "As of this moment, all shops on the Arcade are to be closed due to the current situation, by order of the captain. Shop owners will be notified when they may reopen. Thank you." Then the system became silent once more.

Mika had watched the captain, briefly musing the difference in protocol from what he used to before returning his sole attention back to what was happening outside the ship.

Jaime had ordered another Ops officer to the bridge, meanwhile directing the ops officer already there to take her place, and then was immediately on her way to the Captain's office. "Sir," she acknowledged him, upon entering.

Sarah was a few minutes later having to, on her way to the meeting, be on coms to organize the extra security for the closed shops and otherwise coordinate a security response. She nodded to those in the room logging off her last call.

Eos Toljan and her adoptive son/assistant Ajreen were in a deep discussion over a transaction made not long before they had boarded FarVoyager. An artificat of questionable history, anything Eos picked up from it was like hearing gibberish from a child. More reasonable context clues were contradictory. It was this intense discussion the voice of the ships A.I broke through.

Sea green eyes met Lilac eyes and without a word exchanged as none was needed, Ajreen packed up their work, while Eos acknowledged Lyta with "I will be there." She took a deep breath before giving each of her crystals a touch, letting their natural resonance flow through her, ground her, calm the chaos of her own energy that these days had more in common with a mass of tangled yarn than the fluid wave it had once been. Feeling centered, she exchanged a slight nod with Ajreen and headed out the door.

A short time later, Leo followed Eos into the room. He was wearing a medical crossbody bag and gave a nod to anyone who laid eyes on him. He took in a deep anxious breath as he stood next to everyone else, but felt ready.

Now that his team was gathered, Maralen studied them carefully for a moment before speaking. "I have called you here because you are the team I have chosen to accompany me to the Sector Post. Our mission is simple. Retrieve the inhabitant and assess the damage to the station to determine whether it can be salvaged or whether it needs to be destroyed to keep it out of the wrong hands." His eyes touched each set in the room. "Questions? Concerns? Thoughts?"

"Any idea as to most current internal security or environmental threats to expect? Any changes?" Sarah asked after a moment, pulling out a small pocket PADD to make notes. Her mind working on who would take over the external threats et tal as she shifted gears, mentally.

Feeling an urgency, all things considered, Jaime shook her head. "Nothing's changed on those from what we went over earlier."

Maralen looked calmly between them. "Lyta?"

The hologram of the ship's AI appeared. "Yes, captain?"

Maralen frowned ever so slightly, and it only lasted for a fraction of a second. He would need to talk to Lyta about that. He had no rank of that sort, but he let it go for now. There were more important things to discuss just this second. "If you wouldn't mind, please give us the security measures we might encounter on the station."

Lyta looked to the officers gathered before her. "Generally, internal security comes in three categories on these stations. Level Three erects a forcefield around the area that simply keeps anyone or anything from entering it with no ill effects to the intruder. Level Two erects a field that, when crossed, renders the individual unconscious and translocates them to a stasis chamber for later processing by the station's Command Staff. Level One translocates the individual out using the widest angle of dispersion." She watched their faces as she told them these things, assessing each before continuing. "However, this station is so badly damaged that it is highly unlikely that any of these systems are even still functional. It is more likely that you will need to be wary of the weapons hidden in strategic parts of the station and controlled by the AI."

Maralen frowned, running over the reasons in his head before adding, "With the station as damaged as it is, it is very likely that the AI is not entirely rational and may perceive us as hostiles."

Lyta nodded. "However, what you must remember is that she is not rational. She is damaged and afraid. By all means, destroy weapons emplacements if necessary, but please try to be sympathetic to her?"

Maralen could see why Lyta would take that position, and he didn't blame her. Also, he had not planned on treating the AI as a hostile. He had seen the damage to the place as well as the other had, and he had guessed that if FarVoyager were that damaged what that would have done to Lyta. So he simply nodded to her. "That is the plan, Lyta." Then he looked back at the others as Lyta continued.

"The weapons are placed near sensitive areas of the station." The desk activated, and a holographic representation of the station in its fully functional state appeared. Several locations lit up and were labeled: Command Center, Engineering Core, AI Core, Medical Deck, etc. "These are the most heavily protected sections of the station... when it is fully functional. It is possible that some of them are still working."

Maralen looked back to his team. "Any other questions?"

"How are we getting over there, translocation or shuttle?" Leo questioned, his face full of concern for either way felt dangerous.

"I'm thinking we should translocate," Jaime suggested. "Now that the sector post guy has found a way to communicate with us while the station's shields are up, we could inform him of our plan. And, hopefully, he'll be able to direct us to the safest location. Then, coordinating with our fighter team, we translocate at the first window of opportunity, informing him just before we do."

Lyta nodded to the Ops chief. "Indeed. According to what he told us, he is using a smaller, independent communications system not tied to the station's systems for that. It has a limited range, which is why he couldn't use it until we were this close."

"Should I assemble additional security personnel?" Sarah asked after noting the information shared thus far. Her tone suggested she thought it wise but superiors often had their own plans.

Maralen considered the security chief's question as well as her tone and expression. "How many?" he asked. He could see the wisdom of her suggestion, but he also did not want to translocate over there looking like an invading army.

"At least one per non security away team member in case we get separated and for overlapping support." Sarah replied after a moment of thought.

Maralen counted then nodded. "That is strategically sound. And nine people is not an overly large number." He glanced at the others. "Anything else?"

"Sir, if it comes down to us destroying the station," Jaime slightly frowned, "do you already have a plan on how or will we be basing that on our assessments of her condition?"

Maralen did not like the idea of destroying the station. Tri-Alliance station AIs were sentient in their own right, and he had enough death on his conscience. But if she was beyond salvaging, they would be forced to, and he had to consider the possibility.

"We will only do that if she is completely unsalvageable," he answered in his calm manner. "We will evaluate her state when we see her and go from there. We will also need to take into account the opinions the man who has kept that station functioning this long. He will know better than we would, after all." He glanced over the room again. "Any other questions?"

Of course, Jaime had thought, with a good attitude, to herself. There was the chance that the man may also most likely know the best way to destroy her. She hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

Sarah shook her head as she tapped orders on her handheld device to some of their best. Full kit but no heavy weapons. Elsewhere the requested teams of security personnel hopped to action to grab armor and equipment. "No, I'm fine. Though we should have a shuttle on standby in case of translocation issues on return trip." She continued speaking as she began downloading maps and other need to know information to the security teams wrist devices.

Maralen nodded then looked at the other two, mostly silent members of his team thus far. "Doctor? Ms. Toljan?" He wanted to make sure everyone had covered what they needed to before they left this room and began the real mission.

"No more questions, Sir," Leo responded. There had been one but it had already been answered.

Eos had only given the briefing enough of her attention that she would not be lost on what was being discussed. It held little interest to her in comparison to the 'noise' coming from the station. Not the chatter of coms or anything of the like, but rather the vibrations the intense hum the station added to the song of space.

In reply to Maralen, Eos almost remarked about it but caught herself and swallowed the words. There were enough rumors about her state of mind, didn't need to feed them. "I have no questions."

Maralen nodded. "Then this meeting is concluded. We leave in fifteen minutes. Meet in Translocator Debarkation Area One. Dismissed."

Sarah nodded politely to the group before leaving, tapping her com even as the door opened to ensure her team would be briefed and ready.

As they filed out, Maralen looked to Lyta. Have a shuttle prepared and standing by in case we need it for returning to the ship." Thatcher had a good point, and he should have thought of it himself. So much for that strategic mind.

Even as that last thought formed itself, though, he heard the response of his own mind in the voice of the Executive, as he often did when his thought patterns were... incorrect. Flawed thinking. No matter how well-trained a mind is, there are always variables that one can miss. But They had trained him not to miss those variables. But perfection was not something any mortal possessed, so he pushed it all aside and stood to leave the office.

Lyta, for her part, had not bothered to answer as no answer was needed. She had learned very quickly not to waste words with him. She simply sent the message to the appropriate officer and then vanished as he left the office behind his team.

End