SD 241212.30 JL Dar, Williams, Neyes & King "Derelict Debrief"

Posted on Sun Dec 30th, 2012 @ 8:38am by Captain Olan Dar & Captain Landon Neyes & Lieutenant Commander Hayden Williams & 2nd Lieutenant Jasmine Garza

1,421 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Romulan Ale.. I mean Aide
Location: Vindicator Conference Room, Deck 1

Following the safe return of the second away team, Olan called the senior officers into the conference room aft of the bridge for a debriefing. The recent call from Starfleet had unsettled him and he needed answers about the derelict.

Hayden was the first to arrive and he took a seat as he waited for the others to arrive.

Ellis walked in and gave a quick salute to everyone there. He went and stood next to the couch, never really enjoying the meetings where he had to sit.

Neyes looked around at the gentleman already present in the conference room. They'd had a couple briefings since their time on the Vindicator-E, but he wasn't entirely accustomed to the new setting. Choosing a place across from the Captain, but also positioned with his back to Ellis so he could ignore the fact the man was standing during a staff meeting. Why military personnel refused to allow themselves to be comfortable he would never understand. His previous host, Taylor, had noticed the same thing as a Marine himself. It was an interesting dynamic. While Taylor had found it that much more interesting, Landon found it grating.

"Alright gentlemen, what did you find?" Dar asked, skipping to the important parts.

"Dead Romulans, a sign of a battle, and ship logs placing the ships entering the system just around the time of the opening days of the civil war for the Rommies." Ellis said, "My guess is the colony below was the colony ship that made it. My other guess is each one supported one of the sides the question now is the colony below what side do they support?"

Neyes blinked boldly, "I think we should review all the details before trying to label the colonists as Imperials or Rebels. Did we get a download of the video to see?"

Olan held up a hand, "We will withhold judgement about which side of the Romulan conflict they fell on until later." he turned to Neyes, "As far as I know engineering is still working on the data dump Lt Malone took. What about the dead? All civilians?"

"We're still hammering out the specifics in the scans, but it looks like a crew compliment well into the hundreds with a handful of military personnel. All dead." Landon added.

Ellis shook his head, "sir the unknown is the threat and the only thing that'll keep us a step or at least right at pace with the Romulans is speculation. And to be perfectly honest the only rational explanation for a colony to be this far out is resources or a forwarded operating base."

Hayden shook his head. "I have a hard time believing the Romulans would go to such lengths to operate a base this far out. It seems more likely that these Romulans are either a colony for the sake of exploration, or some type of political refugees. There was evidence that the ship out there was attacked by what appears to be a war bird."

"I have to agree." Neyes said, looking back at Ellis.

"Romulans are not explorers they're conquerors." Ellis said looking at the Commander, "and if I were the Romulans this is the perfect place for a forwarded operating base.......especially for the Tal'Shiar remote but close enough to their enemies and far enough away from the government of the Empire."

"That still does not explain the mining equipment or why the colonists allowed us to beam down to help. I admit I don't have a great deal of experiences with the Tal'shiar, but they are not known for their openness or their willingness to take risks by letting an enemy beam into their operations."

"I appreciate the theories but the reality is we don't know what prompted these people to come out here and for the moment it doesn't matter." Olan cut in as he glanced between them, "Let's try to stick to the facts.. that this was meant to ferry colonists and equipment. It was attacked and based on the scans it looks like most people died."

"It is probable a Warbird attacked it. We may never know why but it means we should be more cautious with this situation as tensions are high." Dar put the padd down, "Suggestions on how we should proceed with the colony?"

"Captain you already know what my suggestion is gonna be and to be honest I think that's truly the best course of action especially at the heightened state of awareness that we're at." Ellis said being much more bold than he was before.

Olan was perfectly aware of what that would be and he had to admit the idea was suddenly very appealing. Whereas before this was just some civilian colony cut off from their home and in need of help. Now it could also be anything else, "It may come to that."

"It would be helpful to find out how the Romulan Empire views these people, assuming they are aware of them at all." he mused aloud, "I have asked Commander Lansine to arrange a meeting with the Governor. I think when I go down I want our Diplomatic Officer as well as Captain King to accompany me. If they have an issue with your presence, we can just call it protocol."

Olan turned to Williams and Neyes, "I want you two to run detailed scans of the colony. They made it here in another ship obviously and if that ship was cannibalized we should be able to piece together what it might have been. Civilian and military Romulan ships have clear distinctions in construction and power cores. It might help clarify the situation."

Hayden didn't like the idea of not accompanying the captain, but His tactical experience would make him better suited to identify any ship components the scanners picked up. "Will do Sir, but If you find any sign that supports Mr. King's theory; I would like to have a security detail on standby just in case."

"I hate to say this......but if my theory is correct a Marine force well be better suited for this situation." Ellis said looking at the Captain.

Landon didn't think Ellis minded saying it at all.

"Security is hardly defenceless Marine Captain, however; I am willing to compromise. I would be amenable to having Mr. King in command of any ground forces. Lieutenant Te'shara can beam down with a small team to ensure the safety of the senior staff should things get as hairy as my friend here thinks. If that is the case, you will need all the help you could get... sir." He paused and turned to King. "You did want joint training Captain."

Olan smiled slightly at the effort both officers were going to in an attempt to ensure his safety, "For the moment it is better to keep the number of armed personnel to a minimum. We are still guests and no one on the surface has posed any physical threat to any of the away team so far."

He raised a hand to halt any rebuttal, "However, work out your plans and have teams on standby should we need to get everyone out quickly. They have no methods to prevent beaming as far as we can tell so there should be little problem inserting teams or extracting those already there quickly."

Hayden nodded. He didn't like the idea, but the Captain had the final word. "Understood sir." He said then turned to the Marine Captain. "Looks like we have some planning to do before you go planet side. Would you mind if I meet you in your office after this?"

"Captain," Neyes chimed in, "with all the mineral deposits along the surface, there's a lot of interference. I can do a far more detailed scan from a runabout. I can relay the data to Vindicator for Williams and our team to analyze."

Olan nodded to Landon. He figured the man just needed to be in motion and he could understand that, but he was also right about the scans, "Good. Do it."

"If there is nothing else, gentlemen. Dismissed."

Ellis just shook his head for if there was anything else. He than looked at the commander and nodded in agreement that they would meet in his office.

=/\=

Captain Olan Dar
Commanding Officer
USS Vindicator E

Lieutenant Commander Landon Neyes
Helmsman
USS VINDICATOR-E

Marine Captain Ellis King
2nd Division, 2nd Battalion, Alpha Company Commander
USS Vindicator E

Lieutenant Commander Hayden Williams
Chief Security Officer
USS Vindicator E

 

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