Fleet Mission: "To Boldly Go..."

[Falcon Wiseman]

Marine Operations Center
USS Majesty
Docked at STARBASE THRINACIA
1905 HRS

Falcon was looking over the ships security patrol schedule and making notes as to when and where his marines would need to be at to assist the ships security teams. It seemed that the most useful place that his men could be used is insuring the security of the engineering department and the bridge. He tapped out orders for his team leaderst o to start random rolling patrols of these areas.  As he looked over the ships layout a young sergeant entered and snapped to attention.

" Sir. you have a secured communication on the special operations boards. encryption and secured verified as Admiral Targus."

Falcon turned to the fair skinned grunt and returned the salute " Thank you Sergeant. I will take it here. Dismissed. "

" Aye sir" replied the young man as he snapped to saluted and turned on his heel to leave the room. As the door closed Falcon turned back to the display.

" Computer secure MOC and display waiting message. authority Wiseman Tango Three Alpha"

The computer beeped in reply as the room darkened and the lights turned to an erie red tone. The central display popped up with a map of Starbase Thrinacia. On a smaller display a liner text message was displayed as follows:

To Commander Sage Targus, Commander Air Group, USS Firebrand
    Lt. Colonel Falcon Wiseman, Marine Commanding Officer, USS Majesty
    Captain Scott Archer, Commander Air Group, USS Majesty

Your presence is requested and required at 2100 hours in Marine Special Operations Command.

Admiral Draco Targus
Fleet Executive Officer

" Computer send an encrypted acknowledgement of these orders to Admiral Targus and returned MOC to standard operation. "

Once more the computer beeped in reply and the room returned to its normal appearance. Falcon wondered why the Admiral would be wanting to see him and the two CAGs but one thing is for sure. if it was in a meeting in MSpOC it meant there was a mission coming. he thought for a moment and then tapped his combadge.

=^=Wiseman to Gunny Chow. assemble the men set operations level One Alpha. repeat set operations level One Alpha=^= 

=^= Aye sir set operations level One Alpha. =^= Replied the gunny and just as quickly the entire marine division of the ship was mobilized as their combadges began to chip out a notification tone to them.

[Steve Malloway]

STARBASE THRINACIA
Conference Room
1905 hours

"Perfect," Steve nodded to Draco, "they'll have plenty to survey that's for sure."

The Admiral then turned to the remaining officers around the table.  "At the moment there is no name for the planet, but chances are it will be Aurora, as the Colony has been named as such. Now, back to business..."

Again the briefing continued. More information thrown to Commander, Captains and the likes. They were informed the personnel set-up of the Colony itself would be altered for the primary use of the Gateways use but this information would be covered at a later date. Rear Admiral Wilkinson would be in command and stationed there permanently rather than sat behind her desk on Thrinacia. As well as this, to aid with the new venture, there would also be one of the Senior Commanders there, alternating when necessary. With the exploratory needs at a high at the start, Steve had requested Admiral Targus remain with Emma for the start of the Colonie's opening ventures, with a well-equipped Fighter assembly on hand.
Following on from this, details were then given on the supplies needed. At present, there were several freighters being off-loaded in preparation to the cargo bays, and lucky with Thrinacia being refitted to an Immense-class station, there was plenty room. Steve had made sure the Cargo Bays were one of the first areas of refit. The Majesty and Firebrand would remain behind with skeleton crews, as well as the rest of the Fleet's starships - but the skeleton crews would be assigned by their COs and XOs respectively.

"And I think that pretty much covers the bases." The Admiral finished, tapping a button which caused each PADD around the room infront of the COs to beep in confirmation they had received their orders and lists of where they were to concentrate. "Any final questions?" The Admiral glanced at the time; 1956 hours. One of the shortest briefings I've delivered...

TAG: ALL

[Draco Targus]

STARBASE THRINACIA
Conference Room
2000 Hrs

As the Admiral finished up the assembled command teams all received their formal orders and began to stand from the table to leave. Draco stood and cleared his throat. "Mr. Locker, May I have a word with you and Mr. Layton for a minute?" he spoke up as he turned to Steve and grinned.  As the men moved toward Draco he picked up the PADD in front of him and pulled up the roster of available pilots to move into the CAG position of the Firebrand. "Very few choices here Steve." He commented as he handed the PADD to Malloway.

Steve reached out and took the PADD, his eyes scanning the room as the various other officers filtered on out, the humidity in the room immediately becoming more bearable with fewer people. “I suppose the plus side would be that the fewer choices there are, the decision becomes easier…” He chuckled, nodding at the names on the list.

“ True, very true. Looks like Ms. Moorehead is the most qualified and she is due for rotation back to the field. She has been running the office at Command for near on two years now.

The Admiral read down the list only a few lines before finding the officer in question’s name. “Ms Moorehead? Not a name I’m familiar with, I’ll admit.” He paused. “Though perhaps it would be time to let her ‘stretch her wings’.”

“I agree, not to mention her father would be happy to have her near instead of back on Earth” Cracked Draco as he pointed out her Father was RADM Moorehead the CO of the Indiana.

The family relation clicked, and Steve laughed slightly. “Ah, true. No trigger happy Rear Admiral to contend with then.” With a swift movement his hand went to his forehead to mock wiping away sweat as he chuckled again.

“ He isn’t nearly as trigger happy as he was in his youth. I remember him trying a fly-by on a certian high ranking Admiral’s daughter when we were in flight school. lets say it wasn’t his wisest choice when it came to future promotions. My plan was to move Commander Targus to Aurora Colony. All I need is approval from one other member of flagg staff. “ grinned Draco as he watched Locker and Layton step closer.

“We’re all still in our youth now…” The Admiral remarked, his finger then tapping on Sage Targus’ name in the roster to bring up her current assignment and nodded. “I suppose I could be that other flag officer… done.” His finger authorised the transfer alongside Draco’s.

“ Well, That settles it then. I will formally inform Ms. Moorehead and Ms Targus.” Replied Draco as he turned to Locker and Layton. “ Ah, Gentlemen. Due to recent events we have a small change of crew we would like to discuss with you.”

As Draco addressed the CO and XO of the Firebrand, Steve looked over to catch Fleet Captain Jackson before he began to excuse himself from his current activity in the room. “Mr Jackson, dont forget to stick around a moment please!”


TAG: Locker, Layton, Jackson

[Michael Layton]

Starbase Thrinacia
Conference Room
2001hrs

Layton was exhausted after his trip over... He'd been on the station less than 2 hours... He hadn't even set foot on the Firebrand. He had sent his luggage on with the Ensign who told him about the meeting, it should be on the floor in his quarters by now. He shook his head tiredly. He walked over to the replicator. "Tea, Yorkshire. Hot." The replicator spawned his drink, he detested tea... but duty called... He wasn't a fan of coffee either but he often forced both down just to keep himself going. He took a tentative sip and grimaced. Disgusting... He forced a smile and took a large slurp before walking over to stand next to Locker to wait for the Admiral, Erm... Admiral Targus? Just call him Admiral... You'll be fine. "What do you suppose this is about sir. Nice to meet you by the way." He moved his tea to the other hand and held out his other hand to Locker.

Tag Locker, Draco, Jackson

[Callum Jackson]

Starbase Thrinacia
Conference Room
20:00 Hrs

Callum was stood by the door "Commander" he said to DJ "I think an impromptu inspection of Engineering is in order" he said with a slight smile "I'm going to see if the Admiral will authorise an earlier test launch, for in about, an hour.  Please could you inform the Chief and get a full updated report on the status of our Port Nacelle, really don't want that thing flying off again" he said, trying not to remember how the Majesty managed to achieve a warp factor, if you can call it that, of warp 0.99 before the Port warp nacelle detached itself from its couplings and went to warp alone, leaving the Majesty to spin out of control for 5 minutes whilst Engineering and Helm fought to stop the ship.

"Mr Jackson, dont forget to stick around a moment please!"

Admiral Malloway called to him.  Callum straightened his uniform once again "See you back aboard the Majesty" Callum said to DJ as he continued to type on a PADD he had picked up earlier.

TAG: Hurt, Malloway, Draco, Layton, Locker, ALL.

OOC: @Crew of the USS Majesty, don't forget you guys can be character building during this until we get to our test flight.

[Desmond Locker]

Starbase Thrinacia
Conference Room
2001hrs

Despite all the construction work going on, the Starbase was looking great. Locker was curious about the upgrades and wanted to do research but with so much on his plate he wasn't sure when he'd get a chance too. He recalled how small he felt when he saw the Firebrand out in the docks and how small it was compared to the Starbase. Firebrand wasn't by any means a small ship. Yes, not as big as a Galaxy but still, it was nearly seven-hundred meters long! Yet it looked like a needle in a haystack.

Locker could hear the conversation Malloway and Targus were having. At this stage he didn't really mind who he had as a crew as long as he could fill all the necessary senior staff positions. Having been a counselor as his original assignment, he at least knew he could temp fill that post although not recommended. But he had an open door policy to his crew and that served well enough although not officially recognized as a form of counseling. He believed that as the CO he needed to maintain order but at the same time, show that he cared. So been there for a crew member to talk to about anything was important to him. His crew were going to be his family and he was a family man after all.

His XO, Commander Layton extended his hand and Locker responded in the same.

"Good to meet you Commander, I feel we gonna have to organize a supper in 89Aft for the senior staff to meet and greet." Locker said with a big smile. "But I need to talk to you about a few things I want to setup on Firebrand before we leave drydock."

Locker then looked at Admiral Targus and focused his attention on him.

"Admiral, its good to see you again, its been a while. How is the family?" Locker asked in kind.

TAG: Layton, Targus, ALL
OOC: Any idea how I can view word count via mobile? Its kinda difficult to figure out if I have managed to reach the min requirements.

[Donald McGriff]

STARBASE THRINACIA
Conference Room
2000 hours

The PADD was full. The notes aplenty. A sure sign that the meeting had been full-on. Donald needed that evidence as it had seemed as though his mind had taken none of it in, yet he had managed to take extensive details all along. Lets hope it serves us well for our own assignments. He thought to himself, nodding in thanks in the general direction of the Admiral as he dismissed them.

"Apologies gentlemen, I shall catch up with you both later. I have some personal matters to attend to." Donald excused himself from Des and Michael's, whom he had come to find was the XO for the Firebrand, company as all stood.

The Retired Captain made his way from the Conference Room with ease, the line of other officers steady as they walked on out from the room together and parted ways to head to their ships respectively. After a number of moments, Donald found himself stood in a turbolift with a couple of Commanding Officers from among the Fleet, and their Execs. From listening to everyone there were mixed views on the certainty of this mission. Some agreed with Mr Layton regarding the gateways not being 100%, but others argued that the results weren't exactly that far off and nothing would ever operate at a full 100% as it was anyways. Not when it would seem the technology was complex. Donald wondered how the scientific teams had even managed to start out, let along finish what they had done. He had no interest in Science himself, but would be fascinated to meet someone from the original team if the opportunity arose.

Without even realising Donald soon found himself walking along the corridors of the Firebrand, having sought out the path to take to his new assigned quarters... which were VIP based, it would have seemed. He made a note to confirm this with the Commander when he next saw him. As he walked, Donald ran his hand along the bulkhead of the corridors and grinned somewhat. Not the feel of the Braveheart, but that was never going to happen when you've served on the same ship for as long as Donald had.

"Well, new chapters and all." Donald murmured aloud as he strode into his new quarters and took a seat at the desk as the doors hissed shut behind him. "Computer, open a secure channel to my daughter on Earth, please. Authorisation McGriff-2-2-Beta-9."

TAG: Anyone

[Michael Gregrez]

USS MAJESTY
Main Engineering
1951 hours

Refit. Refit. Refit. Well, was. The place was slowly coming together, and the Majesty wasn't far off completion of her new design upgrades. The Engineering teams had worked well, that was for sure. The Majesty teams anyways.

"Friggin' Starbase Engineers wouldn't know a refit if it came over to them, shook their hands, introduced themselves as refits, and had 'HI, I'M A REFIT' stamped on their foreheads." The Chief Engineer commented, stepping back from the Warp Core controls with 2 of his team with him, who laughed at his remarks. "Well, come on, how many times have we had to amend their work? And how many times have I not dobbed them into the Starbase control?"

"A fair point, Sir." One answered, smiling. "Lets hope they sort themselves out for the Starbase refit..."

"Oh, I don't plan on being around when this lot start over there. I'm hoping Captain Jackson will have us warping away, far away, and we can look after our new baby here." He paused for a moment, allowing his back to click as he stretched his arms outwards. "Right you two, off you go and have some RnR. Nearly 36 hours without a break you girls must be dying for a drink?"

One Ensign shook her head and excused herself politely, the other remained with an evil grin on her lips. "Ten Forward, Sir? 1930 hours?"

Michael grinned in reflection and nodded once. "Perfect, see you there - don't be late or I'm putting you on an early shift for the next 6 months..." He watched as the Lieutenant Junior Grade began to dart away, his eyes studying her from behind for a moment. Behave, Michael.

TAG: Anyone

[Lorenzo Schrödinger]

USS Occoquan
Danube-class Runabout
On Approach - Starbase "Thrinancia"
1930 Hours (Station/Runabout)


The USS Occoquan was a brand new runabout. Built in the shadow of the Dominion war, it had the secondary tactical station and its already spartan crew quarters were never spruced up. With the cessation of hostilities, the Occoquan was relegated to system patrol and personnel shuttling. In that role, it's add-on modules featured an extended passenger bunking. It still had the armament needed to fend off attackers, and while normally the job of personnel transfers were being increasingly relegated to the workhorses of the fleet, the Miranda-class, for small transfers runabouts were a more logical choice.

Apart from the two-man crew aboard the Occoquan, there were three other passengers. All wore the orange-trimmed uniform of Starfleet's operations department, but one stood out. Most likely due to the fact he was the only human there, the other two were Vulcan. But there was something about him, he seemed...too eager perhaps.

"This the USS Occoquan to Thrinancia starbase, we have received final approach instructions, and slaving controls to starbase traffic control. Over."
Copy Occoquan, handshake confirmed, you are second in the queue, landing on platform twelve hotel. Thrinancia Control over.
"Alright you three, ten minutes out. We'll be landing in about 15. Get your gear ready."

The human operations officer looked up, as the crew prepared for the final approach. The Vulcans went and got their stuff together, while the human went to a closet. He pulled out a duffel bag and a large hard-cased suitcase with the name "Schrödinger, Lorenzo R." stenciled on it. Picking up his personal PADD from the bunk he had been using the past two days, he looked over his command. He was posted to be the commanding officer of Hazard Team, a post that initially took him by surprised.

He had been briefed on what Hazard was. A special team that was trained for more 'proactive' situations. While Starfleet's Security standards were great, they were more for shipboard security. Hazard was best described as the contemporary equivalent of pre-Federation MACOs, or even earlier, of the various special action/special forces units in humanity's many pre-Federation/pre-United Earth nation states.

Lorenzo didn't have to wonder why he was chosen for the job. He had written extensively about the Federation's inability, or rather, incapability to prepare its officers, junior officers, and enlisted ratings for the hardships of actual ground combat. So for missions that required the delicate touch of a scalpel, but with the power of a sledgehammer, he and his team would have to do. He didn't know how far he would be allowed to shape Hazard to his own standards, but he hoped for the best. If Hazard were to live up to its name and his vision, he'd need to have a commander who wouldn't mind letting him subject his people to the same kind of training the men and women of old-Earth's 'barbaric' past had to endure.

Starfleet couldn't afford to be soft. Not when the peace that Captain Kirk had managed to secure a long time ago was finally showing its cracks. Space wasn't a thing of majesty and of endless beauty. But a howling dark, an expanse where one can show the other cheek, but must keep his or her wits about them.

---

USS Firebrand
Sovereign-class Dreadnaught
2000 Hours (Station)
Connection Umbilical

Lorenzo had disembarked from the Occoquan at 1948 Hours (Station), and had caught a small work shuttle on this side of the starbase to where the Firebrand was berthed. Looking out of the viewports on the shuttle (well, more an inner tram than anything), he couldn't help but be awed by the sheer beauty of his new assignment. The Firebrand was currently undergoing a major refit. Sleek and almost dagger like, it had the flowing majesty of the Galaxy and Nebula, yet with the strong beefy body that he only saw on more combat oriented vessels like the Prometheus, Defiant, and Akiras. She was a compromise vessel done well. It was as easily an exploratory and science vessel as it was a dedicated combatant, and if the enemies of the Federation had feared the Galaxy class, they would fear the Sovereign even more.

The tram had ended at a small station before the Firebrand, and he got off. Starbase staff was there, and after a brief queue to get in, he walked across the umbilical and entered the Firebrand. No one was there to greet him or anyone else. No doubt due to the staffing shortage and the general hustle and bustle of a ship undergoing final preps for deployment after a major refitting. Walking up to a console, he pulled out his PADD and had it interface with it. Connecting to an obviously beleaguered bridge officer, he made it short.

"Bridge, this is Lorenzo Schrödinger, Hazard Team commanding officer, reporting." He said in a clear, crisp tone. He didn't state a reason why he was late, it was really a bloody mess in the personnel division now, but hell, he got the job. The job where he can probably show that his newly minted rank was worth it. Granted he was, if going by the old navy rules, bumped up to Major. There is only one Captain on a ship, and that is the master and commander of the vessel. Or it could also mean he could've inherited the ground forces rank of 'Captain', the naval equivalent of which would be a lieutenant. It would make more sense, considering his job is more or less to act as the Firebrand's contemporary equivalent of the old-Earth United Kingdom Royal Marines Commando. Though even then, it meant his rank was bumped up to brevet-Major or something of the sort, or he'd be referred to as Lieutenant. Rank structure was straightforward, but unsettling if one was never used to it before.


((OOCly: I hope I didn't screw anything up. ><;; Edit: I did, fixed. ))

[Draco Targus]

STARBASE THRINACIA
Conference Room
2002HRS

Draco had just finished speaking with Steve as the two young commanders walked up. " Ah Gentlemen, I wanted to speak with you a moment about your crew roster. I am going to have to make some adjustments to your flight crew. Due to the opening of the new base I am forced to send Commander Targus to Aurora. I have how every got a replacement enroute." As he spoke he tapped in the transfer orders for Moorehead and Targus.

"Fantastic!" Locker replied. "I have plans for the fighters I want to discuss with Moorehead as soon as we are back on Firebrand."

Locker looked at his PADD and smiled. "I see I also got a new Chief Counselor. That will make my life easier."

Locker continued browsing the crew manifest and refit details. The Ablative Plating had been replaced, 150 Mk-VII-T Photons had been added, 150 Mk-VII Photons (the standard variant) had been replenished, the Quantum torpedoes had been replenished. The new Type XIIFF Phasers replaced the old standard Type XII's. Firebrand was looking good.

He also noticed he had a new Hazard CO. With this crew Firebrand was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Locker hoped though that they would never have to show their teeth to anyone.

"Admiral Targus, would you have time to come to 89Aft on Firebrand later to meet my senior staff?" Locker suggested.

"Certainly Commander. It will have to be after the briefing at 2100 hours. I expect you and Mr. Layton to be present as your new CAG and Hazard CO will be deployed. "

"Of course." Locker replied, "I wouldn't miss it. I am hoping to talk to Moorehead about a continuous patrol I want to setup while on important tactical missions. The same kind of thing the US Navy used back in the early 21st century. I believe the aircraft they used for that job were called Tomcats?"

" Tomcats would be correct. As for her on patrols at the time I would hold up that idea. She will be assisting the recon teams at Aurora. I have the Indiana staying on station to over see the protection of the starbase till we complete the recon of the area around Aurora. We will talk about that more in the briefing."

"Oh yes of course, this patrol is mostly for tactical missions when we are officially done with our shakedown." Locker smiled. "My new Chief Counselor should be reporting in fairly soon too, looking forward to meeting her."

" Good good, Well I wil take my leave now gentlemen. After all I have a briefing to prepare and a few details that have to be worked out before you all get there. " Replied Draco as he nodded to the two men and turned to walk away.


TAG: ALL 

OOC: JP between Locker and Draco.