Road Trip! [PLOT LOG: Senior Staff Briefing]

Posted on 06 Jan 2022 @ 10:03pm by Captain Easton Lawe

1,437 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: A New Frontier
Location: Deck 1, Observation Lounge

The rest of the senior staff had already gathered in the observation lounge by the time the doors opened one more time, letting in the only two missing members of the staff.

Of course, the captain had been one of those 'missing' from the room.

A captain walked in, but it wasn't the one everyone expected. Maybe some had suspected, though, given that Thorne had been gone a while...still, the face they saw was a surprise. This surprise was only compounded by the large wolf-man in the top hat that followed him in. It didn't take a telepath to feel everyone's surprise and confusion, but that had been expected.

"Good morning, everyone," Captain Easton Lawe greeted with a smile, gesturing for Harva to have a seat. (There was a brief moment of worrying that the Federation standard chairs wouldn't fit the large fellow, but then the captain reminded himself of the diversity that Starfleet had tried to allow for with their designs. He hoped, at least.) "Most of you will remember me from our little adventure into the Kenyan wildnerness, but for those of you who were not there, my name is Easton Lawe.

"I know all of you were expecting Captain Thorne, but I am sorry to be the bearer of difficult news that Captain Thorne has been transferred off the USS Odin. I can't tell you the reasons for this as it is a sealed record by the Department of Temporal Investigations." He knew he had been ordered to not tell anyone about those proceedings and what had happened, but he wasn't going to leave this crew--after all they had been through--totally hanging in the wind after this. Giving the news that way was the most he could do to explain her absence without getting the hammer dropped on himself.

Easton moved to stand behind the chair at the head of the table, resting his hands on the headrest and looking over the crew. "That being said, I'm the ship's new captain." His smile was wry, almost apologetic. "Commander Petrova, the transfer orders should be on your desk now and we can sort out the process of command transfer and codes after this meeting." He nodded at the woman he'd worked with briefly during the cadet trip.

He now moved around the chair and took a seat, feeling like he hadn't had the 'right' to sit without at least making the full announcement. It was just a matter of respect. "We have had a few other transfers, so I would like to introduce Lieutenant Commander Harva Taliborn, our chief engineer--" He nodded at the Sirran who'd walked in with him. "--and Lieutenant Commander Cintia Sha'mer, our new chief of tactical. Lieutenant Amelia Warner is now in the role of chief medical officer."

There was a few moments of silence as he let everything sink in.

"With all this change comes a change in mission as well," Easton continued. He pressed a button on the table and a holographic display popped up in the center, showing a Type-G Yellow Dwarf being orbited by three planets, an asteroid field, and one more planet. "This is the Kiir System. The Sal'kiiran people are the newest members of the United Federation of Planets, and as part of our membership agreement with them, we will be setting up a colony on Hya'kiir." Button tap, it zoomed in on the second planet from the sun. "This was a Class-D world originally but has been terraformed to Class-M.

"Further, there is a Starfleet starbase being built in conjunction with the Sal'kiiran people around the primary planet of Sal'kiir. This base is going to be the heart of a new fleet called Echo Fleet, which will be Starfleet's base of operations in the system. The Odin will be a part of this new fleet, based out of Unity Station and operating from the surrounding area." He zoomed the image out. "The Kiir System has near and somewhat more distant neighbors of the Breen, Cardassians, and the Ferengi, none of whom are particularly pleased the the Sal'kiirans have chosen to join the Federation."

As if summoned by magic, since it wasn't by comm call, the doors of the lounge opened and in walked an officer bearing the pips of a commander. Somewhat androngynous, there were nonetheless some signs of female gender to her biological appearance. Tall and very slender, she was pale from skin to hair to eyes with a hint of short, near-transluscent fur covering her. Around her eyes were dark blue, ivy-looking tattoos.

"Ah, Commander," Easton said. He wondered how she knew exactly when to walk in, although he didn't let his surprise show. "Everyone please meet our mission advisor, Commander Lucsa Myan. She is a Sal'kiiran who joined Starfleet prior to their membership and she will be helping advise us on her planet's people during our journey to the system."

Lucsa looked around to everyone in turn and then bowed her head slightly in a gesture that spoke of austerity and the economic use of energy. "I am pleased to be here," she said, almost impassive enough to pass for a Vulcan. "I am sorry I missed any introductions, but I was detained. I have, however, been reading up on the Odin's senior staff so I am familiar with your names and positions." She walked around the table to the empty chair toward the far end and took a seat. "I hope I did not interrupt."

Easton smiled. "It's quite alright," he said. "As I was saying, the Odin will be part of a new fleet and we will be making the journey as part of a small convoy of other fleet ships. Sal'kiir is not just next door so we will have an extended journey expected to take between one to two months at moderate cruising warp. The Odin will be the point ship for the convoy and we will be coordinating with the other vessels." He nodded to Lucsa. "If the good commander would be so kind as to explain more about the reason for this fleet?"

Myan smiled sparingly and nodded. "My people have been developing a new type of starship drive--less space, less resources, better speed. It is technology that many are interested in and we have chosen the Federation to align ourselves with to continue its development and eventual use. This has gained us enemies." Her eyes fluttered with a breathy sound in something that looked like amusement? "My Chaaran kin would simply like to fight everyone and call it a day, but the ruling council has determined we want as much peace as possible. However, we still want protection. The Federation has agreed to give us as much of both as they can in exchange for cooperative technology."

"Thank you, Commander," Easton said, leaning back in his chair slightly and steepling his fingers in front of his face, as if in deep contemplation. "We all have some learning to do on this journey. Our computers have been updated with information about the system and Sal'kiiran people, and we will have Commander Myan to help us. Medical and counseling will need to begin to understand the physiology and psychology of the Sal'kiirans. They are a diverse group and I'm sure you'll have plenty to learn.

"Security, tactical, and the air group will need to look at the tactical situation, who we may be up against because of the Sak'kiiran's decision to ally with us and who is most likely to cause issues. What we need to be ready for or possibly defend against. Engineering and ops will need to study the techniological aspects of the Sak'kiirans as well as their new engine. The starbase itself will present some interest since it relies heavily on Sal'kiiran design with Starfleet building in later on in the process. Science, you'll be learning about the system as well as the people. Their planetary situations are very interesting. Ops, tactical, and the air group will also need to review the convoy setup and how to best coordinate our journey together and our joint protection.

"Any questions so far?"

((OOC: If you want a question answered in a log, you can send it to me and I'll post it in a follow-up log!))

With a final nod, Easton smiled. "I look forward to working with all of you. I know this is a sudden change, but I'm sure we'll make it work. I'll be meeting with you individually over the coming days. In the meantime, hits the books, as they say. We leave Earth in two days."

 

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