Posted by Commander Serena Stone (Executive Officer) in Main Sim - Mission Briefing

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Brenna Neenna Atoded (Counsellor) in Main Sim - Mission Briefing

Posted by Lieutenant Elaine Janvier (Chief Medical Officer) in Main Sim - Mission Briefing
Posted by… suppressed (15) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The ship was abuzz with activity, in the hurried recall from shore leave for those that had it, and the loading of supplies. Amidst the mix the notification went out to the senior staff for the Athena both old faces and new. Mission briefing, conference room, deck 1. Time stamped 30 minutes from when it went out.

A few minutes before the meeting was set, Serena filled into the room, a mug of something vaguely fragrant with floral notes in one hand, and a tablet-sized PADD. A moment later she found her seat next to the head of the table and eased into it. Settled, she called up all the data she could slurp out of the ship’s databanks on Wer Beta III, crossed referenced with current events. Overseeing the last bit of activity as they pulled away from the station left little time for research but now that she had a few minutes, she might be able to get a head start.

Cmdr. Stone, Executive Officer

Dashel walked with purpose through the corridors of the Athena, heading towards the conference room on deck 1 of the ship. He had no desire to be late. He also realised he made a gaff on the bridge earlier … the XO actually was a Commander, having just been promoted to the rank by the Captain at a crew event. He had missed the announcement, and was working from an old crew manifest. He would have to acknowledge it with her, put it right. His honour demanded it, not the honour that klingons professed, the personal code that both sets of his parents had drilled into him … own up to the mistake, deal with any flak that results, and then move on.

Entering the conference room, he saw the XO sitting at the table, and no one else, a perfect opportunity. But first … he needed a drink after all that work in the cargo bay, and with him there was only one drink that would do.
=^= Computer, one Iced Tea, Prune flavoured. =^=
Having already had one in the ship’s lounge, it was programmed into the computer’s memory banks … and almost immediately it appeared. A glass, filled with ice, liquid, and chopped prunes. The liquid looked as though it could have been water, but it was the purplish colour of prunes, though it was semi-transparent, and had some mint floating on the top of it. Picking it up, he sipped at it … replicated prunes weren’t as good as the real thing, but it’d have to do.

Carrying his drink in one hand, his bat’leth in the other, Dek approached the conference table. Leaning his bat’leth next to the wall, and putting the iced tea on the table, stood straight, hands behind his back and said, “Excuse me, Commander.”

Jamison, Dash Jamison, Son of Morak
CTO, USS Athena
OOC: Congrats on the IC promotion, Sam - Russell

((Thanks, Russ.))

Serena had paid the CTO little mind upon entering. Officers were expected to start filtering in at any moment. One eyebrow arched, even as she read, at the mention of prune-flavored. That was a bold choice. And of course the tactical officer’s voice filtered through her distraction too. But when his presence drew near and he addressed her, stormy gray eyes pulled away from her light research. First landing on the bat’leth. Then on the man.

Brenna made her way from the lounge back to the conference room. She had a coffee in hand and was finishing a warm chocolate croissant along the way. Using the reflective surface of the LCARS display in the corridor, she checked to make sure there was no chocolate in her face. Then she stepped into the conference room.

Nodding to the XO she found a seat about half way down the table. She noticed the other officer in the room. He seemed to be waiting for the Cmdr, and so she kept quiet as to not interrupt.

Lt. Cmdr. Atoded, Counsellor

The new counselor caught her attention and received a nod. Turning her attention back mister Jamison, she saw the open look on his face. “Lieutenant Jamison, have the Borg boarded our ship?”

Cmdr. Stone, Executive Officer

Kelas entered the room, doing his best he moved to a seat quietly so as not to disrupt any conversation or draw to much attention to himself.

“Not as far as I’m aware, Commander Stone,” he said, “I” he paused, cleared his throat and continued on, “I wanted to apologise for calling you Lieutenant Commander earlier. The crew manifest I reviewed on my way to this posting ndicated you were a Lieutenant Commander. Clearly, it was wrong. My adopted father told me to apologise for mistakes and move on. So, I am doing that now, I apologise for not identifying your rank earlier on the bridge, it won’t happen again.”

Jamison, Dash Jamison, Son of Morak
CTO, USS Athena

“It happens,” Serena said, her tone flat. She pushed the chair back and rose to her full height. “I don’t know what they’re teaching at the Academy these days in terms of etiquette, but full rank is usually only used when being very formal. Day to day operations brevet ranks may be referred to by full rank for ease of communication. So even if the information was out of date, a simple ‘Commander’ would have been fine. Unless there was some sort of more formal protocol. Otherwise you’re just wasting time and energy. ” This was a simple explanation, and almost dismissing of the matter. He didn’t mean anything by the situation, and was just a miscommunication. Better to set that expectation straight and be done.

“I don’t know what your last posting was like between Oed V and here, but knowing how tactical training often goes, having been you I can tell you a few things about the Athena that are probably going to be uncomfortable at first.”

“Number one, this is not an escort vessel or a tactical variant f the Mythology-class. It’s a deep explorer. When I first got here I was very uncomfortable. I thought the people here were weak, soft, unprepared. It was one thing to lead the security operations department on my previous post, but being responsible for everyone aboard, including civilians and family? Big leap, big adjustment.”

She glanced over to Counselor Atoded, then focused back on Jamison. “But, I realized while things are a little more relaxed here, this is an excellent crew. Good teams, doing good work. I’d expect nothing less. As a result we’re a little more relaxed, a little less formal but still within professional bounds. So hopefully that helps with some adjustment for the future.” Hopefully that would be a little further insight for both newcomers as well in terms of familiarization and acclimation.

“Secondly,” she said, pausing for a moment. This she would have done in private, were there more time for it, and it was mostly private with the new Counselor present. “I don’t know what they let you get away with on Oed V, or during tactical training, but Starfleet regulation prevents the carrying and display of personal and cultural weapons while on duty and off duty save for cultural rituals or training purposes in appropriate areas, with absolutely rare exception. Even for tactical and security officers. This is why we have phasers for sidearms. And if you feel you must be armed even during non-combat operations, I advise you to carry one of these.” She fished out a type one phaser from her thigh pocket not much bigger than a coin. It didn’t have as much punch as a type II, or even a phaser rifle, but it was easy to conceal and would get the job done. She slipped the weapon into a coat pocket. “Barring that, a concealed blade is acceptable.”

“Not even the great Worf, son of Mogh openly carried a freaking Klingon sword through the halls of the Enterprise D or E, or during the Dominion War on Deep Space 9.” This came a little tongue-in-cheek. “I get it, you’re proud of how you were raised. But the baldric is already pushing it and we have the regs for a reason. Also it’s not going to do you much good in a torpedo fight. If we get boarded that’s security’s job. You fight the ship. A bat’leth is a paperweight at that point or a missile to injure yourself or someone else when everything is exploding.”

Cmdr. Stone, Executive Officer

“Understood,” Dashel replied, “but to correct an assumption, Commander, carrying the bat’leth has nothing to do with pride. At the academy, I kept secure in my quarters. My roommates decided it would be fun to decorate a statue with it. They borrowed it while I was off campus and attached it to a statue of one of the former commandants of the academy. It fell and slashed through the gardeners flowerbed. I took the full lecture, not prepared to call out my fellow cadets. By keeping it with me, I know it can’t be used in such a way ever again, nor can a child play with it. But I will keep it locked in my quarters here.” He picked up his iced tea, “I didn’t follow the son of Mogh’s career, my father, Morak met him once, said he couldn’t hold his blood wine … and was a terrible singer.” He sipped at his tea, “if I may, I’ll take my seat.”

Jamison, Dash Jamison, Son of Morak
CTO, USS Athena

Serena nodded. “I understand the why. And I know how Academy shenanigans can go. And go wrong. But your quarters should suffice. At least here the door locks work better. Or should.” A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I personally wouldn’t know i never met the man, but as a child-survivor of the war an same track, it did some good to learn more of those involved.” At his request to sit she gestured for him to please do so.

Looking around the table, there were a few people he had met, he sat quietly and listened to what stone and jaminson were talking about

Lieutenant Kelas Torvin
Chief Engineer USS Athena

Over the course of LB’s introduction into Liam’s system, things felt normal. Aside from some abnormalities and unique adjustments, he adapted well to the changes. Now… something new was happening. Recently his skin had taken on a dry, scaly look to it. No discoloration or other symptoms so it wasn’t an emergency. Still, he scheduled an appointment next week with the medical staff. Others that needed to know were also notified.

With that issue lingering on his mind, the science officer entered the room. He caught the last bit of the conversation between Jamison and Stone. He blinked then decided better not to ask for details. Instead, he took his seat and calmly waited for the meeting to start.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Stormy gray eyes clocked Liam’s entry, albeit warily.

Harrison came back into the conference room with the PADD he had written notes on about their destination. As the doors slid closed behind him, he pulled up short and looked to the various faces around.

“Is it just me, or am I sensing some tension going on here? I mean, you can practically cut it with a. . . .” he spied Jamison’s weapon, “a bat’leth?”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CIO-USS Athena

The XO dropped into her seat. “Oh it’s nothing. Commander. Just adjusting some expectations with the regs, and some personal responsibility.” She gave the CTO a small smile. As much as discipline was thing, she got it. And even appreciated the reasoning. There wasn’t any need to outright punish the man, or cause a big issue.

Elaine had been absorbed in writing up a report on one of their patients who was pregnant but had never managed to carry to full term before. Elaine had put her under strict observation and had been working on recent observations to add to the growing file. Then as she’d moved to leave, she had stopped to quickly treat a patient who had strained their shoulder training before leaving them in the care of Enj, who was happily lapping up the attention as usual.

Realising she was running close to being late she had quickly poured her coffee into the thermal, so she didn’t accidentally spill it as she dashed through the corridors.

Now she entered with her flask in hand, her face flushed, stray hair sticking out from her bun like it was static, and the tail of her coat floating behind her. She paused just beside Harrison, picking up on the tension in the room like he had. Her eyes flickered from face to face wondering what was going on.

Lt. Elaine Janvier, Chief Medical Officer

OOC: I don’t have Talia in the meeting because she isn’t a DH. Should she be there or just wait for the CMO to fill her in?

((If you want, Talia could sit in, but the department will have their own briefing, brought up to speed with more granular orders. Which should give y’all plenty to do. Especially since we’re going into disaster relief.))

Lieutenant Junior Grade Talia Ren
Doctor USS Athena

Lt. Ducante had been released from sickbay for a few hours before receiving the message of a briefing. He got some coffee from the replicator and headed to the room. By the time he got there, a lot of officers had arrived. He found a seat next to CTO Jamison and his bat’leth, listening to the ending of him explain why he carries it around the ship.
Lt. Ducante, Chief of Security

Glancing around she noted the rest of the seniors had filed in, within moments of each other. All that was left was the Captain.

Cmdr. Stone, Executive Officer

It was at this point Captain Orvos Legen stepped into the conference room with a only Padd. He could sense some sort of tension before coming in. Or was it some sort of awkwardness? He paid it no attention and briskly moved to take his place at the head of the table. He sat and brought his seat inward. He looked up to see the staring faces. Half of them were new crew. The other half he knew to an extent. The lot of them were going to have to get used to him again. Always happened with new people.

He reached for the key commands on the table and brought up at the center of the table an image of their destination. “You may have heard that shore leave is up, all personnel are recalled. At this moment we are currently onboarding quite a bit of cargo for our next destination.” Gesturing to the center image, he said, “We’re headed to Wer Beta III. Haven’t heard of it? Neither did I until about 30 minutes ago. They only achieved warp in the last 100 years. Apparently the Federation has been in discussions with them and they are requesting aide. Specifically disaster relief.”

He hit a few more buttons and brought up what images he could find of the planet’s ecological terrain both before and after the storms. “It had a temperate climate for the most part until strange storms began to devastate their agricultural economy. They are experiencing even major flooding along their coastlines. The fact they are requesting aide tells me this is severely out of the norm.”

Looking to each person present, he continued. “This is where we come in. Admiral Ramsay is sending us into a climate disaster with typical supplies for such. We’re currently the only ship heading there under this time constraint. Commander Hargreave is the ranking starfleet officer there. Ambassador T’Lorin is the leader of the Federation delegation and will be our point of contact. Our mission is to assist with relief efforts and determine what is causing this tragic shift in the environment. All relevant information on the planet has been transferred over to our databanks. I haven’t personally been able to sift through it all yet, so please do so at your convenience. We’ll be underway as soon as the supplies are all onboard.”

He leaned back in his seat for a moment, leaving an idle pause before shifting gears slightly. “Many of you are new here. I like hearing from my staff. I could give you all orders. Sure. That’d be nice. Probably easy too. But I want a bit more than that. So, if you have any questions, let’s hear them. And as a group let’s organize how we’re going to go about this. Just remember,” he then pointed one finger at himself. “Daddy get’s the final say should anything get a bit…controversial. So…” He then paused, leaving it open to whoever desired to speak first. He also kept his mind attuned to the minds in the room. Any feelings, he would pick up on immediately.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

Brenna almost spit her coffee out with amusement. She scaled her sinuses keeping the laugh in. Oh boy, I’m going to like it here. The situation wasn’t amusing though, and her temporary surprise gave way almost immediately to the seriousness of the situation and what would be required of her department.

As they were briefed Elaine listened attentively, sipping from her flask as she did so. The coffee inside had already gone cold, but it didn’t bother her. She was used to having to abandon her coffee part way through to attend to one emergency or another only to come back to find it had gone cold in that time. Or in the middle of the night, getting absorbed into her research that it had gone cold before she’d absentmindedly taken her next sip. She had long ago given up on constantly replacing them.

“Statistically when significant environmental disasters such as this happen, disease will follow as people are displaced.” Elaine spoke up quietly, “As well as preparing to treat direct trauma from these events. Do you know yet if I should be prepping my teams to respond to disease as well or preparing the to prevent it before it becomes a pandemic? Or am I jumping the gun and that information is still being transferred over?”

Lt. Elaine Janvier, Chief Medical Officer

Commander Stone nodded, then added, “Depend g on the number of fatalities, that can also be a disease vector.”

“It is the same with mental health as well. Lost and displaced, no home, missing family, and then injuries and illness take a greater toll. I’m sure the population has already set up ways to search for and connect with families and friends, but my department can help with that and provide counseling services as well,” Atoded added.

Lt. Cmdr. Atoded, Counsellor

“Unfortunately we haven’t had much time to learn about their technology level.” Serena paused for a moment. “They’ve had warp drive for around a hundred years. If we extrapolate that based on Earth history and similar” She chewed her bottom lip. “This was around the time the Federation really started forming up. Around the time Captain Archer and the NX-01 set out on their first explorations. It was also around this time that we started implementing weather control systems on Earth.”

“it sounds to me like that might be what they need. OR… Someone is working on one, and they’ve had a serious malfunction. Or are weaponizing it. Until we know more, we may have to consider this is a man-made disaster OR a terrorist act.”

Cmdr. Stone, Executive Officer

“That brings up a point I’ve been researching, commander. Much of the planets political base is based in rural agricultural communities, which are obviously being severely impacted by the current environmental issues. However, the is a small minority that are voicing opposition to joining the Federation. They are mainly concerned about Federation law, and physical presence of the Federation on the planet.”

“As you stated commander, which I agree with, there may be some weather manipulation occurring. For what reason or how, I haven’t discovered yet. I have a theory that the opposition group, The Continuity Compact, as they call themselves, mat be responsible. Creating a disaster, then coming in to save the and show everyone that they don’t need the Federation’s help. Perhaps, their plan went awry and got out of control which brings us to current situation of this disaster.”

“As of yet, I have no concrete evidence that this is the case. As I said, just a theory.”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CIO-USS Athena