Posted by Gamemaster Winter Wolfe (SGM) in Main Sim: Conference Room - Admiral Burnetts Briefing

Posted by Alex Lorien in Main Sim: Conference Room - Admiral Burnetts Briefing
Just wanted to say this was an AMAZING thread to read; great stuff from everyone involved. I was riveted!

Alex

OOC: Thank you muchly, you lovely Lorien you :P

Andy

<SNIP!>

“Admiral, if I may. I am confused as to your directions. You say we are to investigate these attacks, find the culprits, and prove that Starfleet isn’t involved. That would indicate that you have already drawn your conclusions. If that is so, an investigation being done under your authority would be pointless as you already have the answer you want. As far as the attack on the shuttle carrying me and two other now deceased Star Fleet officers being a part of the investigation, I can assure it is. My shuttle was attacked by a Discovery-class Federation star ship. Unknown registry, and it did not respond to multiple hails. It attacked after we identified ourselves as Star Fleet and Federation. It was attempting to destroy us, Admiral. So with that knowledge now in your possession, and the fact that you just said that Starfleet weapon signatures were found at the scenes of the previous attacks, it may prove prudent to reevaluate your previous conclusion, Admiral.”

Vock, CMO

OOC: Fixing typo.

James

Burnett rounded on the Vulcan, her already sour expression taking on a particularly ominous tone “When I want your opinion, Lieutenant, I will give it to you. Starfleet is absolutely not involved in these attacks. Whatever you saw was a false front, a lie, advanced cloak, holoprojection, something. I want the proof I need to take back to the Federation Council that confirms that. You will do whatever you need to in order to get that.”

SGM

Vock’s eyebrow raised and he replied “Admiral, I meant no disrespect. I was simply pointing out that your hypothesis could be invalidated by the data we recover from our investigation. Surely we should be more concerned with the truth than with a particular outcome?”

Vock, CMO

Her face descended into a sneer before she could get it under control. She visibly drew herself together to answer his question “I have already told you what the truth is, Lieutenant, now it’s your job to prove it. I don’t want to hear your ‘alternative facts’, I want to hear the truth I’ve laid out, that Starfleet is not responsible for this.”

SGM

Vock looked at the Admiral with no expression, but there was something in his eyes that seemed… pleased. He then simply nodded once and looked at the Captain.

Vock, CMO

Natalie stepped in between the Admiral’s gaze and that of Vock “Admiral....I understand our orders and had I not been dealing with another situation aboard my ship, your presence would have been acknowledged immediately. Further more, I do not appreciate you coming aboard my ship with this holier than thou attitude. You’re attache will be treated with the respect he is owed as will you, however you will also show a modicum of respect for my crew, in particular Mr. Vock, who narrowly escaped death. Do you have any further orders for us.” Natalie asked her shoulder’s squared, understanding why the Admiral had come down on her, but her crew was another issue and she would be addressing that with Star Fleet Command.

CO

That I can shoot her. Please let me shoot her Captian. Just one good shot in the thigh so she goes numb for the next few hours. I am sure Vock will be able to not find a tricorder to fix it. Come on ma’am just say the words. Say the words with me. ‘Carisi shoot her’ Paris ran an inner monologue in her head. This Admiral was a piece of work. She obviously was one of those types who thought pips on your collar meant people had to follow you. People lead by respect. Anyone on this ship would take a phaser to the chest for the Captain. Everyone on this ship would step aside and watch something happen to this Admiral. No one treated the crew the way this Admiral did.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

Her eyes narrowed further, if that were possible. She stepped back, tapping her commbadge =^= Burnett to Sikeston. One to transport =^=. As the beam began to take her, she uttered darkly “Watch yourself, captain“

As she vanished, Jarrett rubbed his hands together with an awkward clearing of his throat. His smile was sickly obsequious and his voice disturbingly nasal “Well… Questions?”

SGM

Andromeda was tempted to ask who’d stuck a pole so far up the Admiral’s toosh, but she refrained.

“The doctor mentioned the ship who attacked his shuttle was Discovery-Class, unknown registry,” she gestured to Vock, “have there been any reports of missing vessels of that breed?” She was searching for somewhere to start in this madness.

Sentrya, CE

Jarrett shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair, clearing his throat again with an odd glottal sound reminiscent of a frogs call “Not.. missing.. per se, but there have been some odd periods recently where ships have temporarily been… Unavailable… There are some odd phenomena in this region that can intefere with long range communications, particularly with several key federation communications relays damaged recently.”

SGM

Seph had listened and was grateful the Captain had stepped up because her flexing fingers have that they had been white knuckled clenched as the railing on Vock had happened.

She wasn’t sure which galled her more, the fact Vock’s verbal dressing down was so vicious, or the fact the Admiral didn’t seem to care about the truth.

The discussion of ‘not missing per se’ ships caught her attention. “Curious… We’ll have to check the database to see locations of ships before and after such anomalies. If everyone is where they should be than there shouldn’t be an issue. But if we have ships out of their areas before or after such ‘accidental loss of communications’ then perhaps that’s where we need to start.” Another thought occurred to her. “If a ship is cloaked, or hologram covered, they can’t change the weapon signature. We should go back over the marks and the shuttle once more, more thoroughly, to determine what fired on them. From there we may be able to narrow things down as well.”

Part of her wanted the Admiral to be right. It seemed wrong that a Federation vessel would do such a thing. The other part of her wanted the upstart to be wrong just to prove that what we want isn’t always the truth.

The biggest thing for her was truth… Regardless where it led.

Seph
CSO

Vock seemed nonplussed by the entire exchange, typical for his species. With an even tone to his speech, he looked at Jarrett and said “I would like a copy of all casualty reports. Perhaps I can glean some information identifying the perpetrators by the kinds of injuries that were reported.”

Vock, CMO

Jarrett cleared his throat again in that same odd, glottal way “I would love to oblige, Doctor, but as far as we have been able to discern, you are the only survivor. The species involved in attacks have been a little obstinate in handing over investigative reports. It was my hope that perhaps seeing a Starfleet ship actively investigating and cooperating with them might make them loosen things up a little” He cleared his throat again, opening and closing his mouth briefly, as though he had spoken a great deal. It was clear he was not used to having the opportunity to speak so frequently

SGM

Vock looked at Jarrett intensely for a few moments and then said in his typical unemotional manner “I am… confused, Commander. The Admiral has made her opinion quite clear that she wants us to prove that Star Fleet was not involved; yet you just said that you have little in the way of reports from the victims of the attacks. Could you please explain to us exactly how the Admiral came to her conclusion, then? Without direct reports of the… shall we say ‘incidents’… in question, then neither she nor you, Sir, have any evidence to base such a conclusion upon. Is that correct?”

Vock, CMO

Jarrett visibly squirmed, his faux smile faltering slightly, as he once more cleared his throat “Well… The alternative is chaos in this region and the withdrawal of some very old and very venerable members of the Federation, as well as war with the First Federation. It is less an opinion, and more a necessity. Starfleet HAS to be innocent, or this entire region will descend into chaos”

SGM

Natalie turned on Jarrett “I want a list of all the species that have been attacked. We have an Intelligence Department and they can help us get the information we need.” She said still clearly angered by the Admiral.

“Seph, show our guest to his quarters and then get him back on the Bridge with the information we need.” She ordered “We have our orders. We’ll reconvene in 4 hours to discuss the information we have gathered.”

CO

OOC: I’ll throw out some OOC here just to give a little guide. Rather than keep flushing information through Jarrett (though you’re individually welcome to use him as you see fit as a resource), I would recommend everyone getting with their departments and investigating as you see fit. Post what you need in your actions and I’ll give it to you. If you’ve got any questions or need direction, don’t hesitate to email me or catch me in Discord

Andy

OOC: Thanks Andy!

Dave