Appraisal

Posted on Tue Jul 26th, 2011 @ 10:05am by Captain qeraQ' & Commander James Frost & Commander Sakkath & Commander Patrick Leroy & Lieutenant Nick Marcinko

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Timeline: Departure +3

qeraQ' sat in the ready room of the Hammond reading through the briefing documents and summaries one last time. In a few short hours they would be in orbit around an all but unknown planet, working with unfamiliar technology. It was that technology that was giving him concern. The expansion policies of the Divitian republic meant that many of the technologies seemed to be incompatible. Every planet that they had encountered seemed to have fed them with a different technology. There was a common, underlying system, but many of the additional elements were fused into it using power convertors, bypasses and external power sources. It was by far one of the most complex infrastructures he had ever studied.

On top of that the reason for the failure still seemed to be unknown. There was very little information forthcoming from the authorities, and even less of it seemed to make coherent sense. It meant that prioritizing the rescue effort was difficult from the outset. They could attempt to stabilize the environment through terraforming style intervention, and neutralize the effects from whatever had happened, but that could only put off the inevitable unless the cause could be identified and reversed. They could even evacuate the planet and let whatever happened take its course - but the centralized nature of the republic would mean that they would be weakened for a long time - even destroyed completely.

Destroyed and weakened... there was something unsettling in that... it was almost too perfect to him. If he had been leading an attack on the republic, well any sabotage on the center would have been the most effective way to weaken the influence of the Divitians.

"Computer, arrange a conference of all senior staff in 30 minutes, conference to the briefing rooms on the Hammond and the Takei."

---
USS TAKEI
CARGO BAY 2

David Lorenz was busy making sure the embarked Marines were squared away. The Marines were accompanying the goodwill mission as the main security component. Something about this felt wrong, and Lorenz was getting more irritated by the minute. Marines were not garrison cops, they were spec-ops troops for Starfleet, able to make a mole hill out of any mountain with just a squad of armed Marines.

I feel like that goddamned Kamarov and Fulton set me up to splat, Dave silently fumed as he cleaned his weapon for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. There is no way this mission is going to end well, there are too many uncontrollable variables. If I had been Wegener, I'd have told that Divitian asswipe I'd run a simulation, then commit my forces.

Lorenz reviewed the orders he had been given by Kamarov: First and foremost was to safeguard the lives of Federation and Divitian citizens and property, in order of necessity and security. Divitian authorities were contributing transports, food, and other materiel as needed. Lorenz, nobody's fool, had quietly ordered a few Argo's and hovercycles "borrowed" from the Takei. Even so, something was tickling Lorenz in the back of his mind, unwilling to show itself yet. Lorenz decided to remain very cautious.

=^=Commander qeraQ' has requested your presence at a teleconference to be held in fifteen minutes.=^= the computer announced.

"Send the commander and RSVP in the affirmative from me, computer," Lorenz ordered. "Gunny Wilkes, snap to! Knees to the breeze in fifteen mikes!"

"Aye, sir!"

---
USS TAKEI
SCIENCE DEPT.

Leroy's brows furrowed as he scrolled down the relation on the console then, heaving a sigh, took his coffee cup for a sip. If there have been a moment in his life he could have called 'hard times' this was it. The perusal of Divitian data on the catastrophe evidenced problems upon problems with each passing day. The lack of full support from the main Federation fleet due to distance and the inevitable inefficiencies of having to coordinate with other ships from other cultures, the necessity to develop understandable protocols and procedures for each one of them and helping all of this... A pressing lack of time. Shacking his head he went to pour more coffee into his cup.

"The thermobiometric analysis is almost over, Sir." The ensign advised him as he returned. "Shall I send the results to your terminal?"

"Yes, I'll get on it as soon as..." Started to reply Leroy when the computer chirped and announced Commander qeraQ' 's request.

"It seems it will have to wait. Have Barnard look at it to point out possible anomalies. I'll examine it when I'm back."

"Aye Sir." Responded the ensign as Leroy straightened his uniform and headed for the doors.



--- Conference Room USS Hammond / USS Takei ---

As he took his seat at the head of the table he looked around to Commander Frost and the assembled crew. On the screen in front of him he watched as Sakkath, Leroy and the others also assumed their seats.

"Ladies and Gentleman... I won't lie and say that this will be easy. By now you will all have had a chance to study the information we have. Thoughts?"

"Well Sir..." Started Leroy taking the occasion "From the first general assessment of the situation, based on information provided by the Divitian command, the condition of Divitia Prime is most desperate. The hemisphere that took the full brunt of the Ion wavefront has been rendered a desert. The structures are somewhat undamaged but all life that couldn't be protected is no more. The planet rotated as the wavefront washed over exhausting its strength, so on the other half of the planet the destruction becomes less evident but the damage is still extensive. With the scant time they had upon detecting the anomaly the greatest centers of population have been able to raise force fields to protect them. The ion radiation is lingering so they cannot drop them, this is going to be an important hindrance to resupply missions as teleport cannot be used."

"I thought that the Divitians were going to be providing us with on-site supplies from storage facilities planet-side," Lorenz said, his voice thick with concern.

"The force fields protecting the big cities are double: a bubble into a bubble if the analogy is permitted. The external one is lowered to let people and cargo in then raised again to operate decontamination then the internal one is lowered to allow access into the city. This is going to greatly slow down any operation."

"That is going to paralyze the patrol efforts. I am thinking that the Marines will need forward base outside the shield perimeter." Lorenz stated. "I can leave a couple of squads inside the city."

"Also, Sir...."

"I take it the good news isn't over Mr. Leroy?" qeraQ' grumbled, his patience wearing thin. There were always problems and challenges to overcome. He focused on solutions and overcoming the barriers.

"Aye Sir. The ion radiation and the current heat permeating the planet are strong enough to put quickly out of order any equipment we should bring to the surface. I don't know how far mechanical compensation can work but that's Commander Frost team's field. I'll be available for help should he need it."

Lorenz just hung shook his head. The science dweeb was rubbing the old Klingon the wrong way, and judging by the missing arm and sour expression qeraQ wore, he seemed to be about tired of Leroy's information. As far as Dave was concerned , science geeks belonged in labs on college campuses or in top secret areas building weapons of mass destruction, or in castles cobbling together dead bodies to make a super human monster

"So what you're saying," Nick piped up from the conference room on the Takei, "is that we have the near impossible task of fixing this problem compounded by the fact that our means of moving equipment is extremely hindered, and the possibility of our equipment falling to pieces because of the heat is very probable?" He grunted. "Sounds like a clusterfuck to me," he said, point blank, not really caring who heard. "How is that double-bubble gonna' affect our evacuation efforts? Surely they'll take the beast down to let us start beaming people out?"

"Good point, senior chief," Lorenz nodded his head in agreement

"Of course they will not take the beast down." Replied Leroy calmly. "As I said the Ion pollution is still lingering and would condemn unprotected civilians to death. To ask for such a thing we should have enough ships to be able to teleport all civilians away from there in a matter of seconds and, it seems to me, this is not our case, not even with the help of that part of Divitian fleet orbiting around the planet. I'm sorry, there's no way out. Entire regions around the population centers have to be cleared from radiation before undertaking any kind of mission. In the meantime the problem of resupplying the Divitians remains and that means doing it the slow way: cargoes landing, or being transported, in the region between the two force fields, being decontaminated and then accessing to the city."

Sakkath had been content to listen. Indeed, it was difficult to do much else, the four senior-most persons on the Takei packed into his tiny Ready Room to receive Commander qeraQ's communique. Space was at quite the premium aboard the Wallace-class vessel, and no room could stand to linger empty except when needed for a conference.

"Then logic dictates we avert the need for an evacuation," he offered. "We should focus on upgrading the most essential pieces of equipment between now and our arrival, preparing them to function under these adverse conditions. A scientific solution remains our first, best hope."

"Agreed. We will take a three pronged approach to the situation. Sakkath you will lead up our surface response, I want supplies on the ground and any wounded or vulnerable people evacuated to a safe location, minimize the risk Mr. Sakkath. Frost, you work with Sakkath to keep the shields up and keep the systems working, prioritize as you see fit." he took a breath before turning to the science officer. "Leroy, we need to know what the cause was if we are to fix this long term, your priority is to discover the cause of this. While I will do my best to encourage information sharing through the diplomatic channels we have all noticed that the Divitian authorities have been less than forthcoming. Work your magic and find me some answers."

"Yes Sir." responded Leroy " The team is already working hard on what information we've been provided by Divitians, as for finding the causes I need to have our sensors on the spot to gather first-hand data. I will set myself on this task but we need to reach Divitia Prime orbit first."

"I will see to it that things on the ground are as ordered as the situation allows," Sakkath promised. If nothing else, he as a Vulcan was well-suited to that task, as would have been any practitioner of kal-toh.

"Good, we will be arriving in orbit shortly. Get your things together. Remember, this is our first official engagement under the new treaty. Impress them. Mr. Marcinko I would have a word in private. Dismissed."

He waited for the room to empty on both ships before addressing the intelligence operative.

"I need to know what happened down there. While I have full faith in Mr. Leroy I need to look at other avenues. I want you to take a position on Leroy's team and do what you do to find me answers. If you need to disappear for a while to do that... Well don't do anything you can't justify to Hawke, me and Wegener."

"Deniable plausibility, Commander," Nick said with a smile. "I'll get your information. Don't you worry your bumpy ol' head about it." It was times like this that made him wonder if other Klingons knew he was half Klingon himself?

---------------------------------------
A joint post by:

Commander qeraQ'
Commander Frost
LCDR Sakkath
LCDR Leory
MCAPT Lorenz
SCPO Marcinko