Posted by Gamemaster The Bard (Game Master) in Main Sim: Security/Tactical Annex
<SNIP>

OOC: More than fine! Welcome to the show! ;) I’ll give your compatriot a chance to respond before I move it forward.

• The Bard

1. Defensive Operations Brief
Classification: Starfleet Intelligence Brief
Confidence: Moderate / operational planning required

Current Understanding

Defensive operations within Karthos Drift should not be approached as conventional ship-to-ship combat. USS Wolverine will be operating covertly, and overtly Starfleet defensive behavior may compromise that cover even when tactically successful.

Security and Tactical personnel should therefore consider defensive responses that preserve the vessel’s freedom of action without unnecessarily escalating an encounter.

Available Defensive Options

Depending upon the circumstances, available options may include:

• Breaking contact
• Changing identity
• Abandoning cover
• Electronic deception
• Decoy probes
• False traffic
• Civilian escorts
• Controlled retreat

No single defensive response is recommended for all encounters. Security and Tactical personnel should develop procedures for determining when concealment, deception, disengagement, or direct action best protects the vessel and mission.

• The Bard

Fraiser read through the information carefully. This would be his first time in a position where he could truly show off his abilities, and he wanted to make sure that he didn’t miss a thing. For the man that spent so much of his time carefully cultivating himself to be perfect, this was the time he genuinely needed to be perfect. The success of the mission and the safety of the Wolverine depended on it.

He made notes as he went, the beginnings of a brainstorm for what the best tactical option would be for maintaining cover and for survival if discovered. He’d add to it and change it as he went.

When he was done, he wrote out the beginning of a skeleton report to the Captain. He wouldn’t make as many adjustments as he went compared to his notes, only the end where he would add his recommended course of action at the end once he had a comfortable idea of what would be the best options for the crew.

Lt. j.g. Fraiser Flynn, Security Officer

As Fraiser wrapped up his notes, the console presented the following screen while awaiting instruction…

SECURITY/TACTICAL ANNEX — FILE SELECTION
Defensive Operations Brief — REVIEWED
Additional intelligence files remain available for review.
Select file to continue.

• The Bard

Fraiser tapped his finger on the desk thinking about what files he wanted to go through next.

Criminal Methodology was the one that was really singing out to him to open next. It seemed like the options that would give him the best idea of what he would be dealing with in the Karthos Drift. Every method was an action. Every action begins with a thought. Knowing a thought opens up knowledge to the mind and knowing the mind means knowing your enemies. With information on how they operated he’d be able to make his first edit, then as he went through the files he’d make more adjustments, refining his ideas each time.

Making his mind up he pulled the Criminal Methodology file up and began to read.

Lt. j.g. Fraiser Flynn, Security

Criminal Methodology Brief
Classification: Starfleet Intelligence Brief
Confidence: General patterns established / specific organizations and operations vary

Current Understanding:
Criminal activity within Karthos Drift should not be treated as operating under any one unified doctrine. The Drift supports an ecosystem of syndicates, smugglers, traffickers, mercenaries, independent operators, and other organizations whose methods vary according to their objectives, resources, and circumstances.

Despite these differences, available intelligence indicates several recurring characteristics.

Common Operational Characteristics:

• Avoid unnecessary open confrontation when intimidation, deception, coercion, or negotiation can achieve the same objective.
• Exploit civilian traffic, industrial infrastructure, and the physical environment of the Drift to obscure movement and activity.
• Use surveillance and information gathering before escalating against unfamiliar individuals or vessels.
• Test suspicious individuals through questions, transactions, inspections, changing terms, or other interactions before committing significant resources.
• Rely heavily upon local relationships, intermediaries, contractors, and information brokers.
• Treat violence as a means of accomplishing an objective rather than automatically as the objective itself.

Areas of Security Concern:
Security personnel should be prepared to evaluate local methods associated with:

• Cartel and syndicate tactics
• Boarding and inspection procedures
• Piracy and vessel interdiction
• Trafficking routes and movement of personnel
• Black-market security practices

Available intelligence is insufficient to establish universal procedures for any of these activities. Methods may differ substantially between organizations and may change in response to perceived risk.

• The Bard

Flynn moved to his notes and underlined changing identity from his notes as well as electronic deception_In a place that was a hive of criminal activity the Wolverine and a bunch of fresh pressed Starfleet Officers still we behind the ears was going to stick out like a sore thumb. It was going to either be perceived as a high risk/reward trophy to catch or a threat inviting either confrontation or, at worst their quarries would flee. Having civilian contacts would also be a huge asset to surviving the underworld of The Drift, they could provide intel on who the major players were, pass on the whispers on the street or give them advice that would make it even easier for the Wolverine crew to slip in.

He moved to over to the draft of his report for the Captain.
Dear Captain,
Upon research into the Karthos Drift I have found it is a hornets nest of syndicates, smugglers, traffickers and every other number of criminals you could think of. A Federation Starship and Crew will be immediately perceived as a threator a prize and will be treated with hostility and suspicion. It is for these reasons that I recommend that the U.S.S Woverine and her crew operate undercover by changing their identities and using electronic deception to provide an illusion that we are just one of the many criminals that pass through this space.
I recommend that crew members who are quick thinkers, good at pattern recognition and are adept in blending into their environment are used in this operation. Any individual with a natural charisma and a silver tongue for subtly questioning and information gathering would be highly beneficial to this operation as well as anyone with previous experience working with dealing with criminals of this calibre.
In terms of an extraction method in completing the mission or force to abandon it… He left the end of his draft blank, drumming his fingers on the desk in thought.

Crime syndicates and mercenaries, it almost sounded like going home. Or at least to a spaced-up version of the shoddy bar in the worst end of Las Angeles where his family had landed after his father had died. Fraiser could barely remember the home they had had before that, just that it was on a hill and there had been a park Tony, Alex and himself had loved to play in. For his younger brother Bryan, all he had ever known was the bar that their mother had bought to try and support them all. Still grieving and exhausted from becoming a single mother, she’d believed the salesman’s lies when he said the area was being primed to be a suburban neighbourhood.

So, like a fool she bought the bar and the flat above it and moved them all there. In doing so she’d trapped them into that filthy area that reeked of crime, that neither her nor any of his brothers had been able to crawl out of. A world of criminals, drug lords and gang syndicates.

So far, The Drift was suiting up to be some version of that. Just how much of a threat was there going to be he wondered as he pulled opened up the file with the Threat Assessment.

Lt. j.g. Fraiser Flynn, Security

Threat Assessment

Classification: Starfleet Intelligence Assessment

Current Understanding

Karthos Drift presents a complex threat environment in which criminal organizations, independent operators, civilian authorities, commercial interests, and other regional powers operate alongside one another. Their interests may overlap, compete, or change according to circumstance.

The presence of criminal activity does not establish that every individual or organization encountered will be hostile. Security personnel should distinguish between an actor’s identity, apparent capabilities, demonstrated behavior, and likely intentions.

Threat Categories

Organized Criminal Interests

Established syndicates and smaller criminal organizations possess varying degrees of influence, resources, and territorial control. Their activities may include trafficking, smuggling, protection rackets, piracy, and other illicit commerce.

Opportunistic Criminals and Independent Operators

Smaller groups or individuals may act without the resources, discipline, or strategic objectives of established syndicates. Their behavior may be influenced by immediate profit, perceived vulnerability, reputation, or changing circumstances.

Civilian and Commercial Interests

The Drift contains a permanent civilian population and functioning commercial infrastructure. Dock workers, miners, merchants, families, and other residents are not inherently hostile because of their proximity to criminal activity. Some may nevertheless possess information, relationships, or obligations that affect their interactions with outsiders.

Local Authorities and Security Organizations

Local enforcement, docking authorities, and private security may present operational challenges even when their actions are legitimate or routine. Inspections, documentation requirements, access restrictions, and other ordinary procedures may create risks to a covert identity without necessarily indicating hostile intent.

Unknown Interests

Individuals or organizations whose objectives cannot be established should be evaluated according to their behavior and the circumstances of contact.

Current Regional Developments

Recent intelligence indicates that the Gallows Boys, a previously relatively unknown syndicate, have acquired additional financial resources and begun asserting greater prominence. Their activities have contributed to instability in the existing syndicate balance.

Interest from other regional powers also appears to be increasing. The extent of their involvement, objectives, and relationship to current events remains unconfirmed.

• The Bard

Quade worked through the noted sent by his chief, he sent a quick acknowledgement. understood, thankyou

Colonel Jackson Quade
Captain U.S.S Wolverine

Flynn felt a flush of embarrassment that quickly paved the way for frustration. It was a draft, it was supposed to have been a draft and he didn’t know how, but it seemed like at some point he had accidentally sent it, or at least a copy of it straight through to the Captain. Even though there was nothing wrong with it, it was still raw and un finished. He had planned on submitting it all together when he had finished going through all the files and knew he had made an informed decision.

For someone who ensured everything they did was flawless, such a small accident was frustrating and he scowled to himself.

Reading through the Threat Assessment document a third time, helped reassure him that blending in was still a viable option even local authorities and certain procedures did make him pause. They were something he would have to carefully evaluate and weigh up against going in as normal StarFleet officers. Making a quick note of that, on paper this time, he put it aside to go back over later once he had all the information he needed.

Then he leaned forward and selected the Boarding Risk Assessment Brief.

Lieutenant junior grade Fraiser Flynn, Security Officer.

Boarding Risk Assessment

Classification: Starfleet Intelligence Assessment

Current Understanding

Within Karthos Drift legitimate, commercial, criminal, or coercive circumstances may present themselves in which outside parties will request or demand to board/inspect the vessel. The act of requesting or attempting access to a vessel should not by itself be considered evidence of hostile intent.

Common Boarding Circumstances

Available intelligence indicates vessel access may be requested or demanded in connection with:

• Docking and port procedures
• Cargo or documentation inspections
• Local security requirements
• Commercial transactions
• Private security activity
• Criminal intimidation or extortion
• Piracy or attempted vessel seizure

Procedures, authority, and expectations vary substantially between locations and organizations.

USS Wolverine Considerations

Wolverine’s covert role creates risks whether boarding is permitted or refused.

Personnel entering the vessel may encounter equipment, systems, security measures, personnel, or internal arrangements inconsistent with the identity Wolverine chooses to present.

Conversely, refusing an otherwise routine inspection or boarding request may attract attention, increase suspicion, or escalate an encounter.

The degree of acceptable access cannot be established until Wolverine’s operational cover and the circumstances of a specific boarding request are known.

• The Bard

Fraiser scribbled his notes down. That had pretty much reassured how carefully the Wolverine was going to have to be to hide its identity. Perhaps they could disguise the areas somehow so if they were bordered, it would appear normal. Tricky, and he’d have to check with the Chief Engineer and probably the First Officer if it was doable. He made another note and put it to the side, he didn’t need to decided yet, not until he’d been through all the files and had all the information absorbed.

He leaned forward and selected Rules of Engagement next, it would be important information if they if they were attacked or, he paused the thought for a second, if they had to fight to maintain their cover.

Lieutenant junior grade Fraiser Flynn, Security Officer