Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Captain’s Ready Room: The Quiet Before the Storm

Posted by Gamemaster Alias Smith N. Jones, Esq. (GMT) in Main Sim - Captain’s Ready Room: The Quiet Before the Storm

Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Captain’s Ready Room: The Quiet Before the Storm
OOC: Set after the briefing/meeting but before the flood of commcalls. — Joana

IC:
Molly didn’t know how long the quiet would last. All she knew was that the last preparations were being made for the Dresden to depart on her first mission under her command, and that she was due on the Bridge shortly. However, while the exchange between her and Hallsley might have been heated, there had been a few words uttered by the Admiral that had stuck in her mind. As such, in the few minutes she had, Holloway sat down at her desk, lit up her terminal, and put down a few silent search queries into the main computer.

She gathered all the records for the Julian Echo Station (where they were headed), as well as the records of both main participants on this mission – Dr. Drillek and Admiral Hallsley. If the first was that big of a deal as she was being made to believe, she was sure Erin would know more about the man than the records would show, and she would ‘freak out’ the moment she knew that he was on board her sister’s ship. Molly opted not to tell her anything for the moment. Maybe later when they were underway. Right now, she just wanted the main points on the station and both men.

Submitting her queries she waited to see what the computer would bring up to show her.

Holloway, CO

The first search, that of the station, almost overloaded her terminal. Vids, articles (both academic and popular news), and a massive social media presence spewed across her screen. The men in the briefing had not lied - the station was one of the top popular icons of recent history. The christening of the station itself had over 219 billion viewers… almost 1/5th of the total population of the Federation itself. Pictures, interviews (many of which were with Drillek), and memorabilia for sale were everywhere.

Molly scrolled mindlessly through the search results. How had she not heard of this station before? She wondered if she had, possibly through Erin, but she had been too busy ignoring her sister to pick up on the name. For a moment, her eyes wondered to the available memorabilia and she found herself thinking she might actually buy Erin a shirt. There were some nice pink ones… her gaze was caught in one displaying in large letters “My brother went to Julian Echo Station and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”, and Holloway didn’t rest until she found one that proudly replaced ‘brother’ with ‘sister’.

Proud of her handiwork, Molly realized precious minutes had gone by, and she quickly returned to the task at hand.

Her search for Drillek was likewise fruitful: Sean Blake Drillek; Human engineer and head of Deep Space Facilities Design for Star Fleet Special Projects.
A civilian, he works with Star Fleet engineers and private sector entities to ensure the finest materials and personnel are made available and the results of their efforts are of the highest quality. He is a stickler for quality work, and is not averse to taking longer to make sure the project is done RIGHT, not just on time. His latest project was the Julian Echo Observation Station, and it is a project he is most proud of.

As the President of Holloway Heavy Industries, one of the most prominent cruiser building companies in the sector, Molly was sure that her uncle, Lucas Holloway, knew this guy personally. She kept scrolling.

By all reports, Drillek was a kind and honest man, and believed strongly that open and timely communication is the key to success. He also stated on numerous occasions that positive reinforcement is key to motivation, and he was seen as being generous with his crews and his staff. He wanted only the best from them, and in that end he provided the best for them. Comparisons were being drawn between him and some of Earth’s greatest scientific minds from history: Einstein, Hawking, Newton, Kaku, and DeGrasse-Tyson.

Names that Molly had heard about many moons ago. There was no person on Earth that didn’t know them, many of which had helped building the scientific background necessary for humanity to soar into space. So this Drillek guy was definitely important.

Her last search, that of Admiral Hallsley, turned up little to nothing in the public database save one thing from 28 Earth years ago… when he was awarded the Star Fleet Medal of Honor for his actions against a rogue Klingon element bent on causing war between the Empire and the Federation. The public record, as would be expected, was lacking in detail. The non- public records, however…

This on the other hand, she found much more interesting. Propping her elbows on the desk, Holloway attentively read every piece of information about Hallsley that she could find on public records. And when she couldn’t, she moved to more restricted ones.

Holloway’s Intel credentials, coupled with the Admiral’s permissions, allowed her access to his full file. What spread before her was a career spanning almost fifty standard years, beginning with his enlistment… not his commission as an officer. Hallsley entered as Junior Enlisted and was promoted quickly as he took on more and more responsibility and showed a great deal of potential to his supervisors and officers above him. So much potential, in fact, that he was selected for the Academy. He specialized in Operations and graduated at the rank of Lieutenant. Eight years later he was in command of his own star ship, the USS Gallente; a heavy cruiser.

The low whistle that came out of Molly’s lips reflected her acknowledgement and also surprise at how impressive Hallsley’s record was. But there was more… Holloway kept reading.

It was while at the helm of the Gallente that Hallsley truly made his name. A rogue element of the Klingon Imperial Armada was en route to the Vasrt System; a Federation colony. Their intent was to destroy the colony and leave indisputable proof that the Klingons had conducted a preemptive attack in preparation for all-out war. The Gallente intercepted communications between the ships and the Klingon homework, and Hallsley relayed the information to Star Fleet.

Unfortunately, the closest response was over eighteen hours away. Hallsley was ordered to fall back and grouo with the dispatched task force, but the Klingons were only six hours from the system. Hallsley disobeyed his orders and made his way to the system, arriving less than an hour before the Klingons.

And if you ever… ever… tell me you are not going to do something you have been ordered to do unless it fits whatever notions you have regarding it in front of your Ccommand staff and Junior officers, your first command will be your last. You can get pissed with me all you want, Holloway. But you don’t do it in front of the crew. Got it, Captain?

The Admiral’s words came back to Molly’s mind. So… this guy had the nerve to be mad at her for challenging his orders and yet, the high point in his career had been made by disobeying orders himself. Maybe he didn’t discussed it with his staff, so that made it okay? Or maybe he did tell his staff, but only when his superiors were gone, so of course, it was fine.

Holloway shook her head, trying to quiet her rising emotions. She kept reading.

Hallsley dispatched his shuttles to ferry the residents away from the colony and out of harms way should the bombardment commerce. He then took the unprecedented and risky tactic of arming all of his photon torpedoes and setting them for remote detonation. The Gallente ejected the torpedoes with no power save for the signal receiver, and Hallsley laid them out in a makeshift mine field at the point he anticipated the Klingons would arrive. His estimates were off, however, and when the nine Klingon vessels dropped from warp, they were all outside the field. Hallsley didn’t wait. He fired a ful phaser barrage at the first ship before it could raise it’s shields and destroyed it. Hallsley then used his own ship as bait to draw the Klingons into the torpedo field. The Gallente suffered major damage, but before the Klingons could finish her off, Hallsley blew the field and destroyed 6 of the remaining ships and critically crippled the other two which he promptly took prisoner.

His career after the ‘Vasrt Incident’was stellar, culminating in his appointment to the Commanding Officer of the Special Projects Division of Star Fleet… a division that had not existed until Hallsley was made its CO ten years ago.

GMT

It was an impressive maneuver, no doubt about it, as well as an impressive career. But was she supposed to respect the man more because of his past? Molly rolled her eyes in the empty room. With a few more taps of her console, she searched for the Special Projects Division.

Holloway, CO

Holloway found the following information between public databases and the classified ones. Together, they formed the following picture.

The Special Projects Division was created just ten years prior and commanded by Admiral Hallsley. It function is to direct, support, and oversee any projects or activities that are not clearly under the preview of any other Star Fleet organization. As such, Special Projects exists almost outside of the regular chain of command. The group reports directly to a joint Star Fleet and Fedration government committee. But whereas most of similar reporting is done to ask for permission, Special Projects reports after they have taken action, and briefs the committee on what has occurred. All such briefings were classified beyond Halloway’s ability to see them.

Specual Projects is not a classified organization per se, but its autonomy gave it a certain level of anonymity. Publuc databases mention the group, but mostly in passing. The restricted and classifed databases listed a long series of projects spanning all kinds of endeavors: infrastructure development on remote worlds… interdiction efforts against smugglers and pirates… facility design and construction (Julian Echo being only the latest project)… search and rescue… diplomatic missions… asymmetrical combat operations… intelligence… propaganda… negotiations… the list was vast and highly complex. Indeed, Holloway would recognize that even the time and locations of the intelligence operations would line up with sone of her past work; as if the intel she had been given was from Special Projects operationa prior to hers.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, was a confidential file containing the actual charter for the creation of the division itself. It was signed by representatives of most major Feseration worlds, a few independent planets… and the Klingon Empire.

GMT