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- 61 posts here • Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
"It's a pleasure to serve with you as well. It is, as well, a pleasure to meet you." Ex'Ian said in a clear voice, the same voice he always talks in. One must speak in a clear voice before one expects to be taken clearly. Ex'Ian was taught this himself and told his children the same thing. It was a tradition - as some would say - in his family. His very large family that always seems to have someone pregnant.
Celeste had always desired children, but she had a lot she wanted to do first, and a lot of time in which to do it. After all, she was half Vulcan. Her lifespan would be far longer than so many others, including her friends and family. It was something she would have to prepare for. "Children can be both a blessing and a curse, so my mother often said. I have two siblings, and between the three of us we could be quite a handful for her. I'm sure it wasn't easy, we were all quite headstrong. Perhaps someday I'll experience first hand, and perhaps I should be hoping that my firstborn child is not like myself." She laughed slightly.
Then Celeste looked at him, as she wanted to let him know something. "Part of the agenda I'll discuss tonight is giving everyone aboard a minor exam once the voyage starts so that I can pick up from where their doctors left off, if that makes sense. I've already gotten the crew's doctors' files, and will be going over them from tonight until next week. I would assume your file would contain files of your son and daughter. So when I review yours, I'll call you three in...individually of course. I suspect there will be no problems, but I just want to do my job thoroughly. I also would need your consent to see to examining them, as they are your guests aboard the Albion, rather than crewmates." Celeste was a very good doctor and she always liked taking a final step in her getting to know her patients by having a face to face discussion along with a brief examination. It helped her identify them to their files, and get to know them on a more personal level, rather than just information on a sheet of paper. This way she could both keep in touch with her bedside manner, and show a much more compassionate touch if any of them had to come into her care.
Which wasn't too surprising. The Romulan Star Empire hadn't been that much of a diverse place. There had been the Remans, of course, and a few other subject species within the Empire, but very few, if any, ever got the chance to serve in the military. Especially after that debacle with Shinzin some years past.
At any rate, she had never encountered a species like that of Ex'Ian was apart of, and due to her nature as a scientist, she was always curious about new life and cultures. If there was one good quality about Starfleet and the Federation that the Romulan Empire had lacked, it was the fact that Starfleet encouraged exploration of every kind, especially in regards to seeking out new kinds of life.
"Marianne does miss having our children staying with her, but we came to this arrangement some time ago. Due to my duties with Starfleet, and due to Marianne's own job on the shipping yard on Mars, I have been unable to have my wife and children live with me during my various ship assignments. My children have comfortably lived with their mother on Mars for most of their lives. I regularly contacted them via subspace when I was on duty, and when I've been on shore leave, I've done my best to spend as much time with them as possible back home. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been quite enough for me and my children. Marianne and I are both loathe to leave our respective fields of work so that we can be a full family together, so we came up with this little arrangement. Assuming all goes well, my children will be living with me on the Albion for the next two to three years."
Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Theodore and Daphne miss their mother terribly, already, but at the same time they're happy and excited to spend time with me, and live aboard a starship. Little Daphne wants to be a Starfleet officer just like her father, and she's especially eager to see what it's like to live aboard one. I must say, it is...good to have my children with me, here. Considering I've been able to visit them for two months, at the most, for each time I go on shore leave...well, it will be great to have my kids here with me, for once. I hate the fact that Marianne can't be here with me, but I've long accepted that she has her own career that she is vested in on Mars."
Their separate career paths had put a strain on their marriage more than once, of course. It was to be expected. But Dorath had always been able to work out such issues with his loving and supportive wife. He and Marianne truly loved each other, and they both also loved their own respective jobs and careers. It pained Dorath that their vocations meant he was not able to spend as much time with Marianne and their children as he would have liked, but he'd long come to terms with it. And it meant a great deal to him that Marianne was willing to put up with a great deal of worry and loneliness just so he could spend some quality time with Theodore and Daphne.
"Of course Doctor, that sounds great." the Chief Intelligence Officer nodded gladly at her.
"In fact, I had our family doctor on Mars transfer over Theodore and Daphne's medical history and records onto the Albion medical database. Since my children are half Cardassian and Half Human, their...physiology is a unique case. Until my children were born, there were no documented cases of Half-Cardassian, Half Human hybrids in the Federation, so our doctor back on Mars has had to come up with different variations of treatments and such things so that they were compatible with my children's dual bloodlines, so to speak. However, I'm sure you'll have no trouble following his notes, Doctor Calhoun." he announced with a gentile smile.
Celeste smiled at him. "I'll do my best to make sure that your children's unique physiologies are well looked after. I'll make sure to look over the files thoroughly and prepare for the examinations. No doubt their files will be rather large, so I may require a little extra time to be thorough. So depending on my time and with everything going on, along with the crew manifest, it might be on a Monday sometime in the next two weeks. I have a lot of work to do, so vague is the only kind of detail I can provide at this time. But I'll have more time to look over files on weekends, so that's why I say Monday at least...providing we haven't any medical emergencies pop up within that time."
Celeste did have quite a lot of work to do. There was everyone aboard the ship she had to schedule meetings with, and she had a lot to do just to settle in to her medical bay. She was very thankful to have an assistant working with her. She'd have to meet her assistant that next morning to go over details of how she would be running her medical bay. She needed to discuss the plan she just told Dorath. Celeste hoped that her assistant would be agreeable to it, and amiable. She looked at Dorath, and knew that it was obvious she'd been swept away in thought. "My apologies if I trailed off. I was thinking about my pending future here and I realized I haven't even met my assistant yet. I do hope it will be an amiable working relationship and that we won't be at odds with each other often. As I said before, I'm rather new to the idea of being the chief medical officer on a ship that isn't a medical ship. So everything here is new to me."
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Captain Anthony Kell
One-by-one, each of his senior staff begun entering their unexpected meeting place, but of course Anthony's intentions did not rest in giving orders but give each one a chance to meet him in a less than formal surrounding, as well as meeting their fellow comrades in less than formal surroundings. His father of course was much more stricter on protocol, having the belief that all crew should respect, acknowledge and be fully aware of the chain of command, as well as the reinforcement of discipline. Sure Anthony believed in all that too but there were more important items on his agenda.
The crew of the Albion will be at the eye of the storm, thrown into the abyss with such trying and difficult times ahead. In comparison with the earlier days of the Federation, there was not at the forefront of exploration but at the forefront of war, war which brought destruction and death in its wake. If anything, Anthony hoped that the war would not occur but there was not a chance that Klingons would pull back from former Romulan space and give back to what remains of the Romulan Star Empire, so the war was inevitable.
Of all people that understood to an extent what Anthony was like, was his former comrade, now Chief of Security, Tyvya Idrani who was first to enter with the formality even if it was obvious that he was aiming for the meeting to be informal, "Lieutenant Commander Tyvya Idrani, reporting for duty, sir". Anthony could still remember the times that he and Tyvya had each others' back on the Chesapeake since she was part of his security team. She knew sometimes that Anthony had his own ways which seemed to succeed, he was certainly confident of her abilities and that she would make a great security chief which was why he was quick to accept her application. Even more interesting was for her assistant chief which would be bound to raise some controversy, but if anything was learnt in earlier human history, mistakes are made and not all are responsible for the actions of some so he hoped things would work out for Dezhe.
This whole meeting is in itself a test as he reviews his senior staff, but not everyone would agree with his ways and those who are confused as Celeste asked after her introduction, "May I inquire as to why we are meeting here?", only for his answer to be spoken by Virana Kalre who seemed to be pleased with his choice, "If I may say Captain, its a pleasant change to meet somewhere less...formal", which caused Anthony to lift his free hand towards her to give the notion that she had essentially spoken what he was to say to respond to Celeste's question as he continued, "Some may disagree, but I feel the best start would be somewhere more relaxed. We have plenty of time to be all serious afterall", smiling and giving a sharp nod to Virana, already pleased since it meant she understood his reasoning or at least some of it.
Following Virana was another comrade of his from the Chesapeake, Harper West who served as his Marine Commander who congratulated him on his position informally, which was just what he wanted. On many vessels, the strict type were usually the type officers did not get along with and was someone those lower in the chain could not get along with or approach with complaints, but Anthony wished to be approachable and understandable, being respectful and open to all regardless of rank though such didn't mean he didn't regard rank.
Of course one in particular who he believed would be on strict on rank and discipline, perhaps even moreso than his father was "Commander Hannam Letant, reporting for duty" as she nodded to him sternly before moving aside almost immediately. Following her was Captain Erik Gunnarson, Marine Executive Officer and Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Ex'Ian, giving each of them a friendly nod and smile to welcome them, before one by one, each of the senior staff begun to divide up as each got to speak with each other; Dorath and Celeste, Virana and Harper, Tyvya with Dezhe and Erik and a conversation even brewing with his first officer with Ex'Ian, so he was glad that she was opening up in that sense and trying his approach more than rejecting it. It was all positive and seemed his test was working out as he had hoped.
=A= "Lieutenant Ral to Captain" =A=
As soon as his commbadge chirped, his initial thoughts was what this could be about and secondly, why Lieutenant Ral wasn't where he was supposed to report to. Nevertheless, it must be for something important to contact him in these circumstances. Anthony gave a smile to the assistant chief of operations who he was conversing with as he had begun to mingle, only to pull to the side to respond so that this call wasn't disturbing what had been achieved so far, but at the back of his mind he felt this union was about to be over. Oh well, there was always another time.
=A= Kell here =A=
=A= Sorry to disturb you Captain but there is a romulan vessel on approach =A=
=A= Lifesigns? =A=
=A= Seems to be a very undermanned crew as only reading few lifesigns......using the sensor readings from what was given to us by the Romulans, am reading.....1, only 1 sir, and from what I can tell, the ship is on an intercept course to the starbase" =A=
Anthony closed his eyes since unfortunately things were starting already, what made it even more difficult to understand was the fact it was a romulan vessel when the remnants like Hannam's crew had joint with the Federation. =A= Contact Starbase to release docking clamps and start up the engines immediately, and contact transport chief to operate in two minutes. Kell out =A= now being left with no other choice, he then returned to the crowds until he was somewhat in the middle, clapped his hands together to cease the conversation that had now erupted around the room to get everyone's attention, "If I can have everyone's attention.....thank you! First of all I'd like to thank you all for coming, not that you had a choice but still, but going to have to cut this really short which is not what I wanted at the least but least you managed to put a face to a name", giving a smile before continuing, "In about thirty seconds you will all be transported to your stations as seems we got ourselves a bit of trouble, I am positively sure that we can put a stop to it, 100% sure we can so let's work together on this", ending with a clap before Anthony disappeared from the room, as one-by-one disappeared from the room also.
Re-appearing in the bridge, Anthony looked down to where Lieutenant Ral was, and then around the room as his senior bridge personnel appeared one by one, as he tapped his commbadge, =A= Kell to Ex'Ian, be advised we shall be leaving dock earlier than planned with a possible fire fight so be ready down there.....Kell to Medical, though I do not anticipate casualties, please be at the ready just incase.....Kell out =A=. With the relevant departments informed, he then turned to everyone else, "For our situation, we have a one-manned romulan vessel on an intercept course to the starbase, our task is to intervene and apprehend the lone ranger", using terminology intentionally associated with Earth's past, but 'lone' was enough to suggest that they were after the culprit behind the attack, "Lieutenant Ral, activate thrusters and let's get away from these shackles.....any suggestions?", the latter part of his statement directing at the rest of his senior staff to hear their input while Dion was tasked with getting the ship out of the dock.......
He pulled on his vest and chestplate and strapped on his gloves. He grabbed his rifle cocked it and jammed his helmet on his head.On duty fire teams draw full assault loadout and ammunition. If the target is on a suicide mission and we have to go in likely the target will be holed up. Each fireteam will need a breaching kit. Off duty fire teams you're now Stood To.
For those of you who don't know me. I am Captain Erik Gunnarson and I'm your new Marine XO. Get ready, if we go in I want this to be a high speed low drag operation.
he booted up his HUD and ran through the start up checks. He sighed with regret. No one shelled out for their soldiers quite the way Special Forces and Black Ops did. It was a shame to be working with substandard kit, but that was the job, Adapt and over come.
Fire Team Red to transporter room one with me. Fire Team Blue Go to transporter room two. If we go in, I want to go in with maximum force in a minimum amount of time. Remember, we're not cops, we're not there to make sure everyone gets home safely from the bar. We're Marines, defense of this ship is our first priority, we don't DO happy endings.
Commander Harper walked in.
OFFICER ON DECK!
Myka was with Dion, walking side to side with him, as she was the Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer she was tasked to look into the ship's mainframes and gather information from it as well as make up blueprints of said ship for further examination to find and understand the ship's strengths and weaknesses, possibly upgrading the Flagship Albion itself to a point until materials and resources are needed to complete said upgrades.
Myka was tall, slender with curves, dressed in a rather attractive, red leather suit with a white top to it, the trims laced in silver. It was sleeveless. She walked with confidence and presence but the sway of her hips could be distracting in her skin tight suit that was zipped up from the left side of her body. Her hair was short, a light chocolaty brown that was styled back, her right ear had a silver Bajoran earring, but had unusual pointed tips of her ears that had spiked bone around its shell. Not to mention the spinal cord spikes down her back and her long red claws. She was not completely Bajoran that was for sure but she seemed to be more Bajoran in behavior and culture.
She'd turn her attention to Chief Flight Control Officer, Dion Ral. She spoke with a seductively smooth voice but it was her words that spoke volumes that would surprise most... ''Hi Sir... I am the new Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer... My name is Myka Von Fatherling. I was hoping after this... you could show me around? I haven't been here long...''
A chorus of "Yes, ma'am," came from her comm.
Now on the bridge, Tyvya went to a station to monitor the status of the ship as well as her security staff. "Captain, I suggest we hail them, and if they do not respond, fire a warning shot across their bow and prepare to destroy the ship. Or, if you prefer, we could board the ship ourselves and apprehend the Romulan."
Lieutenant Katogh, who had beamed to the bridge with the rest of the senior staff, was not far from her. Addressing her, Tyvya asked, "Lieutenant, your thoughts?"
A Romulan ship headed for a Starfleet base? Were they mad? Frankly, Tyvya believed that it might just be best to destroy the ship altogether without any sort of chatter, given their actions, but that wasn't the Starfleet way. She loved the simplicity of straight military might, survival above all, but if she'd been content with that she would have stayed at home. Exploration and learning it was, then, but always with weapons trained on the unknown as well as a discerning eye for science or whatever.
"Gather round people." She said briskly.
They promptly formed up in front of her and from their expressions she knew they had guessed who she was and were wondering what kind of commander she would be. In time they would learn that she was a harsh but fair taskmaster and that she looked after the people under command. But now was not the time so she settled for being firm and clear in what she wanted.
"I am your new commander Virana Kalre, I had hoped to have a chance to get to know all of you before we ended up in possible combat situations but as you can see that has not happened. Rest assured that I will soon know all of you and how you work best but for now we have a Romulan ship to deal with. In brief a Romulan ship is on a intercept course with the space station and as yet we do not know if will collide or not. So, I want all ships to combat readiness asap, and I want a full report on how many pilots and ships we have. Lets go people, we need to be ready if the Captain needs us!"
It was a credit to their training as they as people that they asked no questions and simply got to work, within minutes Virana was handed a datapad with the information she had requested. All ships were combat ready and had pilots assigned to them, after scanning the datapad a moment more she put it aside and swiftly got down to the job at hand. Assisting her staff in ensuring they were ready if the captain called.
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R'Larn had just been about to leave sickbay and head for the officers lounge when the general alarm sounded. She stopped and turned back into sickbay just as a woman appeared in front of her. R'Larn recognised her immediately from the image she had seem and knew this was her chief medical officer, Doctor Calhoun. R'Larn grinned at the woman her natural optimism and excitement bubbling over into her smile. She had been excited to meet her chief from the moment she had stepped aboard hoping that they would get along and would see things the same way.
"Hello Doctor, I am R'Larn your assistant chief. I am sorry I missed you at the meeting. " Her tail swished slightly in excitement and nervous anticipation.
Celeste wished she'd had more time before hand, but she would make do with what she could now, and get ready for anyone getting hurt should something happen. She hadn't gone over her files either, so this was not quite what she had expected. The nurse she'd sent on that small errand came back to tell her that her office was ready for her to listen in and then helped get the place ready in case of an emergency.
Tapping his comm he opened a channel to the Captain.
he said, reverting from captain to the combat rank of Lieutenant Major, so as not to confuse the chain of commandCaptain, This is Lieutenant-Major Gunnarson
I have Marines in transporter rooms 1 and 2 locked loaded and waiting on your go order should that be necessary. If shielding or unknown ship layout become a problem my marines can also effect explosive entry through the hull of the ship provided Commander Kalre can give us a lift.
"Captain, Commander Kalre here. Alpha and Beta Squadrons are ready for launch, Delta Squadron on standby. All is ready if needed."
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R'Larn was glad that she had taken some time to familiarise herself with the new sickbay as it gave her an opportunity to demonstrate her dedication to duty.
"Yes Doctor I have, and I will be happy to show you around." R'Larn said and then began doing just that. The tour was not a long one given their pressing time frame but sufficient enough for Doctor Calhoun to learn what she needed to know.
"...and this is where we keep the blood samples of the crew as well as their other samples such as tissue etc." R'Larn finished and then turned back to her chief.
"I hope I don't seem intimidating, R'Larn. You've done quite well in getting familiarized with sickbay already. When this conflict is over and we have some time, I would like to sit down with you to talk about what the schedule for the next week. I was going to bring up my agenda at the staff meeting, but everything's been interrupted, so I'll have to speak to you and the captain about it. We've a lot to do, and should everything go alright it should take us just a few weeks up to a month to get it done. I will be working overtime, and if I may request you do the same, we can get everything done. We also need to work out a schedule, so that between you and I someone's always on call and we're not both working 24/7." Celeste said. "May I ask for a brief overview of your career history?" She smiled a little. "I know I could have looked up your service logs, but that just seems a little impolite and impersonal."
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"You don't intimidate me Doctor." R'Larn grinned. "and thanks, I came here pretty much as soon as I boarded as I just couldn't wait to see what our facilities would be like!" Her natural exuberance showed through as she talked giving no doubt that she was passionate about her work.
"Hmmm it's not that long a history." She said and then frowned in thought."Well I graduated in 2384 and was posted to the Galina, then from there it was the Okahan and then before here I was on the Trident. All good ships but none had anything like this sickbay! Oh...sorry I'll try not to get carried away. I'm happy to work as many hours as needed as we do have a lot to get done especially trying to coax some of the senior staff in here in the first place!"
Celeste motioned for R'Larn to join her in the office. She sat down, and listened to the comm. She did some things quick on her screen. "Alright, we can hear them but they cannot hear them unless I press a couple buttons. I also can't get busted for eavesdropping as protocol states I have medical privilege in case there's some sort of medical emergency here or on another ship. Trust my Vulcan logic to be thorough enough for that, egged on by my human curiosity."
"Can the ship's sensors determine what type of vessel it is? I find it hard to believe that a regular warbird could be run by just one person." Hannam inquired, her mind already running through the possibilities. The warbirds of the Romulan Fleet had an artificial intelligence, of course, and the capacity for auto-pilot, but neither could keep a ship running by themselves, especially for critical systems like engineering. It led her to believe that the Romulan vessel approaching the Starbase might be a smaller model of ship, with a greater capacity for self-running; perhaps one of those new line of interceptors that the Fleet had just put into action before the destruction of the Star Empire.
Alternatively, someone who was savvy and desperate enough could have jury-rigged a warbird to run virtually by itself. That seemed likely too. At the end of the Klingon-Romulan War, Hannam had to make quite a few unorthodox repairs and modifications for the Belak, due to the fact that she hadn't had a starbase to report into for repairs. Still, that would take a lot of technical skill to accomplish...
Whatever was going on, they would find out soon enough. Commander Letant just hoped that the Romulan vessel didn't have any Klingon pursuers on its tracks.
"Captain." Hannam called Kell aside, and gave the human a curious stare. "If the vessel is piloted by a Romulan, and if he or she requests asylum...will you grant it?"
She knew enough about the Starfleeters to know that almost all of them would say yes to such a question....but the reality of their current situation would interfere with such noble notions. After the formal surrender of the Romulan Star Empire, the Klingons harshly cracked down on anyone in Romulan space seeking asylum in the Federation. A few incidents since the fall of Romulus had sparked a great deal of anger and ire from the Klingons, and Hannam knew that Starfleet Command would be reluctant to tick off the Klingons any more than they were. Especially if it ended up being the spark to a Klingon-Federation War.
How Captain Kell handled this situation would no doubt affect the things to come for the Albion and her crew. Hannam just hoped that whatever the outcome, it would be...satisfactory.
She herself was in favor of granting asylum to any Romulans seeking refuge in the Federation. But, Hannam had enough political savvy to recognize that it wouldn't be as easy as that. She saw a war between the Klingons and Federation as inevitable, of course, but sparking a war here and now would not be the best move for the Federation to take.
Still, perhaps this would be easier than she thought. Maybe the vessel was not being pursued by a Klingon task force, and they could grant its pilot asylum quietly and without incident, with the Klingons ignorant of all that transpired.
Of course, things were never that easy...
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The captain spoke again asking for suggestions on how to deal with the ship. "Hail them sir maybe they are in some kind of distress? Alternatively we could head out towards the ship and try and lock on with our tractor beam sir. "
Personally Nathan doubted Hailing the Romulan ship would do much good as he figured they would have attempted to communicate before now if their intentions were friendly. Of course it was possible that their comm systems were down in which case hailing them would definitely be a waste of time. He thought that using the tractor beam would be the better option but then he wasn't the Captain and so it wasn't his call.
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Virana tapped the datapad she held in her hand absent mindedly as she waited for her next orders, things around her were as ready as they were going to get and it was now just a waiting game. She hated waiting, hated being out of the loop even more and that was as far as she was concerned the main downside of her job. She was stuck in a hangar bay rather than being on the bridge the information centre and first place to see what was happening. Not that she ever regretted her chosen career by any means, it would just have been nice to see what was happening as it happened.
A thought occurred to her and she wondered for a few moments if it was appropriate but then decided that anything that helped her better defend the ship was appropriate. She tapped her commbadge.
"Kalre to Commander West, we're all good to go down here and I figured in the few minutes we have of calm, it would be a good idea to go over some tactics in case the Captain needs us. Do you think you could part with Gunnerson for a while and send him to the hangar bay. I think it would be useful. Kalre out."
That done she busied herself checking everything was as it should be as she waited for the Marine XO to arrive. She didn't think West would refuse her suggestion given the logic behind it and as such decided to act as though he would do as she had requested.
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R'Larn joined her chief in her office and grinned as Dr Calhoun tapped the keys to open a channel to the bridge, it suited her mischievous perfectly for the two of them to be eavesdropping as it were. It felt a little like when she had used to try and listen in on her elders back home with her fellow cubs, though in this case she doubted she would get a clip round the ear if she were caught. As she listened to the various officers go about their duties she marvelled at how calm they all were. She doubted that if she had been on the bridge she would have been as calm. The bridge was the centre of the activity and therefore one of the most exciting places to be. It was partly why she was glad she did not have to work there as she knew that she would inevitably get over excited and embarrass herself and the crew.
It was while she was listening that she was reminded of something her chief had said and during a lull in voices coming from the bridge she spoke.
"Whilst I was on the Galina we did treat a couple of Cardassians, I only remember because it caused quite a stir given that most had never seen them aboard a starfleet vessel. We found them by accident and rescued them from their badly damaged ship. I should be able to find the records in the database if that would help?"
"Aye Sir" Gunnarson started to walk off towards the hangar bays. He hadn't yet had a chance to meet Commander Kalre. Well probably time to get THIS over with. As he marched down the hallways he drew a lot of stares, Marines with a full combat loadout often did. Making his way to the hangar bay he spied Virana Kalre sketching out plans for her flight teams quickly on the stabilizer wings of one of the shuttles. She was still in her dress uniform but she'd rolled down the top half and tied it around her waist mechanic style for ease of movement. Not a bad idea he thought as he admired her form through the t-shirt she had been wearing under that.
As he approached she turned to greet him and he threw off a casual salute and extended his hand. "Lieutenant-Major Gunnarson Ma'am. I understand you have some Tac ideas for us." He probed. If she actually thought she could tell him what to do on the ground with his marines. Well, she was sadly fucking mistaken. As she reached over and shook his hand with a firm grip he looked into her eyes. What he saw made him freeze. His grip tightened involuntarily. Species identification training came back to him Black Irises: Betazoid. He immediately started emptying his mind of everything but his anger. Right back to interrogation 101 anger fuels the mind for short periods, keeps you marginally sane, and blocks out critical or sensitive information. "You're Betazoid." He said as he released her hand. "Going forward you need to understand the following. DO NOT go snooping around my brain. There is classified information in there that you do not have clearance to know. Now, what have you got for me."
She looked at her flight teams and nodded. "Dismissed."
Once they had all moved off to their prospective ships and stations to wait in case they were called, Virana turned to Gunnerson.
"It's your lucky day Gunnerson, I might be Betazoid but I happen to really dislike taking a wander in other peoples heads. It's really not that nice, doesn't live up to the hype at all. The few I have had the misfortune on wandering about in have made a psychopath look like a teddy bear. Besides I've never been that good at it." Her words were flippant but there was an edge of pain to her voice.
"Secondly I know jack shit about ground marines and so I asked you here to discuss how flight and ground would work together, most other ships I have been on did not have a strong marine presence or a strong flight squadron for that matter. If I'm to give you guys a lift I figured it made sense to actually know who it is I'm dropping off and what they expect of flight tactically. "
Virana ran her hands through her hair leaving a smudge of dirt on her forehead, not that she would have cared if she had realised it. She would never admit it to Gunnerson but she had been a bit taken aback by quite frankly how... hot he was. Not that she was looking of course, she wasn't a cadet looking to land an officer, but for some reason she had not expected it. She chuckled softly to herself thinking that this posting might actually be fun.
"What I do know of however is how to fly and how to fight in space, I'll make you a deal." She was guessing here but she figured he was angry at her species but also that she would try and tell him his job. "I won't tell you how to do your job if you don't tell me how to do mine. That said I always welcome any suggestions a fellow experienced combatant might have."
She raised her hand and rubbed her head. "Now that I've cleared that up do you think you could tone down the anger just a tad, its giving me a headache."
A broad grin suddenly split his face as he pulled his helmet off. "I think we'll get along just fine Lieutenant Commander Kalre" he said still with the dazzling smile from ear to ear. "Let's get down to business" his grin disappeared "We have a ship heading this way with unknown intent and at least one life form on board. I don't know about you but to me that spells suicide bomber. Normally I'd recommend that blow the thing from range, but it's Romulan and that makes it "political" " his voiced dripped with sarcasm at the last word. "We don't know the layout of the ship or if it's booby trapped. If it turns out to be shielded and we can't transport in we may need to try alternative infiltration. That's where you come in." He flashed her a quick smile and looked around the hangar bay. "Naturally you know the capabilities of these craft better than I do, I don't suppose you have anything that could create a seal to the hull where we could cut through? Or even if that is a feasible plan?"
He'd noticed through the conversation that she'd been becoming steadily more relaxed and felt a momentary twinge of guilt at his earlier reaction. Necessary though it was to establish boundaries of that respect he couldn't help but regret that his reaction had been that confrontational. Well, maybe after all this he'd apologize. Hell maybe he could even by her a drink.
"I'm glad to hear that Gunnerson, makes my life easier."
As they walked Virana indicated the ships with a wave of her hand.
"These babies are top of the line so there isn't much they can't do flying wise but what you're asking I don't know. Other than skimming their schematics in the last five minutes I haven't taken them out for a spin yet."
She frowned thinking on the problem presented to her. "If her shields are up then the obvious answer is no. Unless we can take out her shields we won't get close enough. If her shields her down then it might be possible to jury rig something up."
She gestured to an ensign nearby who was checking over one of the ships. "Ensign..."
"Hernandez Ma'am." The young male human ensign replied to her unspoken question.
"Ensign Hernandez I have a job for you, I want you to start working on possible ways of getting through that ships hull to allow a boarding party on board. Check if these ships have anything capable of doing that and if not if there is a way of jury rigging it."
"Aye Ma'am." The young ensign hurried away to a small group of crew to carry out her orders. She looked at Gunnerson and grinned again.
"First day on the job and already a challenge to solve, just how I like it. speaking of which, how many men make up a typical boarding party?"
"Well in terms of boarding party size we're hoping to take First Platoon in as two separate squads comprised of 4 marines each. I'll be leading Baker Squad and I believe if he's not staying behind to coordinate Commander Harper will command Able Squad. Divide and conquer ma'am. Speaking of which" He tapped his comm badge, "Sergeant Ocran, take Baker Squad and hit the weapons locker. I want everything that could conceivable help us get through a starship hull in a pile in front of me in abooooouuuut" he checked his chrono "8 minutes. You'll be coordinating with Ensign Hernandez." "Aye sir." "One more thing Sergeant, we'll need the Vac helmets." "Aye sir"
He turned to Kalre, "We'll see if there's anything we have that can help. In the meantime, are any of these craft adapted for tactical insertion? There is a chance we'll just get transported in anyways but for future missions since we are on a more warlike footing I'd like to know what kind of CASEVAC options I have."
"Anyway, R'Larn, I think you and I will get along just fine. Just don't let on to everyone else that we're listening in on the events as they're going. If someone's to get busted, I'll take the fall. Besides, I have a legitimate claim to wanting to listen in." Celeste smiled. She went silent as she listened in. She really did feel as though she would get along well with R'Larn. She liked the girl's enthusiasm and personality. "When we get some time, we should share stories and get to know each other more."
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"These ships are designed to be both scout and attack vessels, they have the latest in warp technology as well as several phaser banks and photon torpedo launchers. I haven't had time to learn all about them yet but I am sure they have a lot more up their sleeve."
She turned and looked at Gunnerson and frowned. "As I said I haven't yet had a chance to learn all of their capabilities. We may have to learn on the fly or improvise."
She walked to one of the walls of the hangar bay where several replicators had been installed for the use of the flight crew. She approached the nearest and spoke.
"Coffee hot and sweet." She then glanced at Gunnerson, whilst the machine behind her created her request, and grinned. "I have a bit of a caffeine addiction. Would you like anything, seems like we have a few moments before the trouble starts."
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R'Larn nodded in agreement. "Of course Doctor, I would not say anything unless the captain ordered it of course. I will see if I can find those files while we wait for more information."
Eager to be doing something useful to assist her new commanding officer R'Larn moved to the nearest console and began searching the ships database.
"Computer new search, list all information in ships memory banks on Cardassian physiology and any reference to Cardassian patients being treated by Starfleet or the Federation."
"Working..."
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