Combat Staff Brief

Posted on Thu Apr 21st, 2011 @ 6:20pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Commander Aiden Roberts (KIA) & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries & Lieutenant Antoine Théroit & Lieutenant Three of Seven & Commodore Amanda Pike

Mission: Renegades
Location: Observation Lounge, USS Arizona
Timeline: An hour after 'Political Motivations'

Commodore Nathan Cowell had called his Senior Staff to the Observation lounge, while also extending an invitation for Commodore Pike to attend as well, given that she had stated rather firmly that she would assist them as best she could. The USS Casey had sent over some very interesting telemetry thanks to their science team. The reports he'd received from the Engineering section, more specifically Lieutenant Junior Grade Three of Seven, had told him that his ship's own astrometrics lab had been brought down and was currently on the back burner of the repair list given the secondary nature of that compartment compared to the need to go after their attackers. Lieutenant JG Three of Seven was also now the de facto Chief Engineer, given that Lieutenant Rixx had not been located yet. The Commodore wondered idly whether he'd been killed, though he pushed that thought and others aside as people started to file into the Observation Lounge.

The small drone arrived with the stench of smoke and burning plastic. The gold-colored overalls charred black and coated in soot from exposure to the plasma fires which had consumed the tertiary hull after the EPS ruptures across two of the lower decks had spilled a sizable volume of toxic gases through those sections. Patches had been burned away completely, exposing areas where the drone's bioplast 'skin' had melted onto the smoldering fabric. Bare metal hands clutched a PADD, which was held out for the Commodore's inspection with a more updated accounting of the laundry list of damages and Three's estimation of priority hierarchy and repair times. Torn bioplast sheeting hung down from the right side of the drone's scorched face.

Thus far, casualties in the Engineering Department had been light. But in part because the drone had undertaken some of the more dangerous damage control efforts itself, primarily in the area of Decks Thirteen and Fourteen. With the help of Lieutenant Lischka, the immediate threat from the damage to those sections had been addressed. Now, however, Three's attention was on the port nacelles. Stabilizing the warp drive in this area of space would logically be the item of highest concern. Moving at sub-light left the Arizona a still target. "Repairs are proceeding in a timely and efficient manner," the drone remarked as it handed off the PADD and then grabbed a seat at the table. "I assume you desire the remainder of my report to await the arrival of the remainder of the staff?"

Nathan nodded, "It would do the Senior Staff good to know what we're working with. And after this, maybe you should get yourself fixed up..."

Entering the room together only moments later both Stace S. DeVries and Amanda K. Pike looked as if they were caught with their proverbial hand in the cookie jar. It seemed unlikely the two would be such great friends as their personalities as well as their looks were as different as night and day... but there was an underlying sense of loyalty and determination that had bonded the woman together several years before. Now, they would once again fight evil and right injustice.

"Thanks for the invitation," Amanda greeted with a small smile as she moved to take the closest available seat.

Issuing hellos to both Nathan and Three, Stace took her own seat before bringing up the latest gossip. "So... it seems we've misplaced Rixx and permanently lost the kid. Did I miss anything else during our ass kicking?"

"Roberts replaced the kid and our drone replaced Stretch. Beyond that, I think everyone is up to snuff," Nathan replied to the Major before turning his attention to Pike, "I figured you had a right to be here since we're going to be working together, Mandy. Just ignore the mess, we're normally not so slovenly a host vessel..."

Stace raised an eyebrow in the blonde woman's direction before leaning back and whistling softly. She always did enjoy a good show!

"I'll be the judge of that Cowbell," Amanda retorted with a scoff as she felt the vein in her forehead begin to twitch. "Let's just hope this meeting goes over far smoother."

Nathan grunted, "You must know Chet..."

Antoine entered the Observation Lounge and took a seat at the table.

Commodore Cowell leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers idly against the wooden replica table. It seemed that people were slowly but surely arriving to the Observation Lounge. Hopefully he wouldn't have to wait much longer for the rest of them to arrive.

Aiden entered the Observation Lounge without a word for once, still quite somber from the activities of the last few hours he had spent in the shambles of his quarters. The state of his quarters, while in a bit of disorganization, were overall fine. It was the act that took place in his quarters that had taken a toll on him both mentally and physically. One the first tasks he took upon himself to lighten the work load of the newly promoted Commodore was to record messages to the folks that they had lost in the last day. Some of the folks he knew rather well. Other he had only passed in the corridor with a curt nod. Alas though, he put together and heartfelt message to each of their loved ones, expressing his condolences and sorrows for their loss.

Instead of sitting, the Commander extended a nod to those who had gathered already before taking a vigil by the center viewpoint, staring out into space.

With the exception of Medical, all the pertinent people were already in the room, and being the rather impatient task master that he was, Nathan decided she could just get in where she fit in and he could bring her up to snuff later if need be privately. Nathan tapped a few commands into the small access terminal imbedded in the table top. An astrometric read out blinked up on the main screen directly behind the Commodore and he began the brief.

"Alright people, grab a seat and open them ears," Nathan said loudly enough to pull Commander Roberts from his wistful vigil at the view ports, "Alright, I've given this a great deal of thought over the last few hours and I believe I've come up with a plan. Being that we're dealing with one more ship than we have allies, I've reached the decision that we're going to have to use this thing's Multi-Vector Assault Mode. This gives us a better chance to divide and conquer without risking a repeat of our last encounter. With the Casey's long range torpedo bombardment ability and any other tricks they might be keeping under the table for a rainy day, we have a decidedly better chance of victory this go around than last time.

"Thanks to Mandy's crew, we've been able to track the Romulan's retreat to a small asteroid cluster about an hour from here. They likely have stopped there because of the damage we managed to inflict to one of their vessels. Regardless of whether or not they decide to abandon that vessel or use it for parts to repair the others, we'll have a decided ambush potential that they took advantage of last time," Nathan said at length before turning to the Drone.

"Lieutenant, you said you had some things to report. Perhaps you wouldn't mind modifying that report to point out any areas of concern we'll have to keep an eye out for while we execute this plan of action?" the Commodore elicited from Three.

"All three warp cores are on-line and providing stable power; however, damage to the power systems of the tertiary hull have impacted several auxiliary systems. Of note, the plasma coolant system was knocked off-line and we are still working to control temperatures within the power transfer conduits," the Borg noted, mentally re-organizing the talking points it had mentally prepared for its report. "The Multi-Vector Assault Mode is available, but the tertiary engineering core will have to be closely monitored to avoid further stress to the reactor and plasma containment systems."

Nathan nodded, "Then we'll need to put someone in charge over there that will be able to handle the workload... Commander Roberts, I want you to head up the crew that will be manning the tertiary hull. Major DeVries, since you're our most seasoned tactical operator, I want you with him to ensure that they have the best chance to come out alive."

"Best idea you've had all week," Stace announced with an approving nod. "With Amanda on the Casey I think our best bet would be for Commander Halsey to command the secondary hull. I'd like to think he could handle that."

"I'll pass that along," Nathan said before turning to Commodore Pike, "Any thoughts on how we can work effectively with your ship to exploit both of our tactical strengths?"

Amanda turned her attention to Nathan and smiled faintly. "Considering the condition of your vessel I think the Casey should take the lead on this one. We can easily provide ourselves cover using the steamshield and any damage we take can be buffered using the multiple redundancy integrated systems. That should leave plenty of room for you to follow and catch them off guard."

Doc Cowell nodded, "I like that. Nasty, indiscriminate, and just what those assholes deserve. Oh, and as an afterthought, if for some reason we don't destroy them utterly, the Romulans want us to try and capture any survivors."

That last part was more for the Diplomat's benefit than anything, Nathan personally had no intention of letting any of them survive.

"Alright, we have a plan, we have some tactics, all we need now is to divide the crew up and get them to work making preparations for separation and the assault. Get with one anther and divide the crew as evenly as we can. We have another four or so hours before we can make this happen anyway, so do what you can and get a nap if you're able to. Once we separate, there won't be any relaxing to be done until those bastards are nothing but ash. Dismissed!"