Your Orders

Posted on Thu Aug 4, 2016 @ 4:46am by Commodore Michael Aravan & Captain Madelina Weisz
Edited on on Thu Aug 4, 2016 @ 4:47am

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1 || 0700 Hours

Captain Michael Aravan had just sat down with his morning cup of coffee when his Yeoman notified him of a secure incoming transmission and he debated taking a drink of the wonderful nectar before he responded to it. However, with it being a secure transmission added to the fact that he hadn't gotten his marching orders yet, he knew it was important.

He entered his authorization code on it and the official Starfleet emblem came up on screen followed by an elder human male that he recognized as Admiral Grant. "Admiral Grant," Michael started but the elder Admiral cut him off.

"There no time for pleasantries, Aravan," Grant rasped. He seemed to be a lot older than the two years which had passed since the last time Michael had talked to him. "I need you to get the Triumphant to the Orion Sector. Orion Sector Tactical Command was attacked less than eight hours ago and we've lost all communication with them."

Michael knew the small outpost was tasked with the responsibility of conducting tactical operational missions in the Orion sector and that if they had fallen silent after an attack, it wouldn't be good. "Is there any information available on who attacked the outpost, Sir?" he asked.

"Orions is the likely guess," Grant grunted before a coughing fit seized him and he reached for a glass of water and gulped it noisily. "The Syndicate most likely got tired of us being in their sector and sent a bunch of ships to take it out. I want you to get in there and take it back."

"Admiral, we're still waiting on..."

"Crew. Don't you think I know that?" Grant cut him off. "They'll catch up to you. You have more than enough to operate that flying city. Why else did we give you so many personnel if you didn't use them?"

"I understand, Admiral," Michael said and made a note to have Commander Weisz find a likely Chief Medical Officer and Chief of Science from among the current crew. "Are we going in alone?"

"You're a Captain with the biggest damned ship in the area, Aravan. If you need someone there to hold your hand, you better put on your big boy underwear now or turn in your pips. I know your wife decided to step down from Command. Don't make me believe it's because you can't make decisions on your own."

Michael resented the Admiral immediately for his statement about Spencer. It had been her health that had led to her decision to step down. "We'll get it taken care of, Admiral," he said, his voice neutral.

"I know you will or I wouldn't have contacted you. Grant out." With that, the terminal went back to the emblem.

The Captain of the Triumphant sighed and took a sip of his coffee before he tapped his combadge. =^=Aravan to Weisz. Meet me in my Ready Room immediately=^=

Commander Weisz rose from her desk when the call from the Captain came in and smoothed her hands over her uniform. This was likely the meeting she'd been waiting to have. Their orders had finally come through and now they were going to discuss them... figure out their plan of attack and how the crew would be affected in the larger scheme of things. =^=On my way, Captain.=^=

She left her office and crossed the bridge to where the Captain's Ready Room was. Once she'd made sure she was prepared, she reached out to touch the chime, then waited to be granted entry. Truth be told, she hadn't imagined being the ship's XO as long as she had been, but when the former XO was placed on medical leave, then chose to retire, Maddy decided it would be best if she stayed. Even if they didn't act as those they did, she and the Captain both had a mutual respect for another and had even managed to become friends over time. Right now, though, being friends would be set aside for professional matters.

"Enter!" Michael called out as he looked over a map of the Orion Sector on the giant LCARS table, his cup of coffee still in his hand and all but forgotten.

Maddy stepped forward so the sensors would open the door in front of her, then moved into the Ready Room. The second she was clear, and making her way toward the Captain's desk, it closed behind her. She took note that he was looking at a map of the Orion Sector as she grew near. This was definitely going to get interesting. "You wanted to see me, Captain?" she asked, with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Relax, Commander," Michael said. "Admiral Grant just contacted me and we have our new orders. There's trouble in the Orion Sector. Orion Sector Tactical Command was attacked less than eight hours ago and Starfleet has lost all communication with them. I told him that we don't have a full crew yet but he told me to improvise with what we have." He indicated the map on the interactive table.

"Improvise with what we have? That sounds promising," the Commander said as she moved around to the other side of the Captain's desk to get a better look at the map. "Any idea who attacked them and why?"

"Orion Sector Tactical Command is a Federation outpost associated with Starfleet's Tactical Command. This command was tasked with the responsibility of conducting tactical operational missions in the Orion sector," Michael said as he pulled up the information on it. "Odds are good that it's The Orion Syndicate. They're probably getting ready for a massive influx to Farius Prime, New Sydney or Stameris, if not other planets in the sector."

"I knew it was a Federation outpost, and was it was tasked to do," the redhead stated, but that was neither here nor there. "That could be the very reason it was attacked. If this is the work of The Orion Syndicate, we're going to have our hands full. I hope the new crew that has recently come aboard is prepared to deal with something like this." She looked down at him. "Let me guess... you don't have all the details, do you? We're going into this blind, and will have to rely on Intel to dig up as much as they can, aren't we?"

"Bingo," Michael said. "On all accounts." He pulled up the Starfleet files on Farius Prime, New Sydney and Stameris to display on the table. "The Orions have control of these three planets and possibly more in the sector and they're all within range to have hit Sector Command and vanished again. The outpost went silent after they called for help and we don't know if it's occupied or not...and we're the closest ship."

"Lovely," Maddy said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. She was beginning to sense someone was having a Moon Moon moment, and it wasn't Michael. "Who else are we waiting for as far as crew goes?"

"A Chief of Science and a Chief Medical Officer," he said. "So far, no one has noticed the EMH Mark X isn't a real person in Medical, but the medical personnel know. They aren't too pleased about taking orders from a hologram, but they can't deny how realistic it is."

"I don't care if the orders were coming from Moon Moon himself as long as they do what they're supposed to be doing," Maddy said. "Let me guess... our orders came in from Admiral Grant? He's a crotchety old man. I'm surprised he hasn't retired yet."

"One and the same," Michael said. "And looking a lot worse than when I last saw him two years ago. I doubt he plans on being retired the old fashioned way, which is gracefully. I could barely understand him for his rasping, grunting and coughing."

"I actually feel bad for him," Maddy said, which likely would come as a surprise to anyone that actually knew her. It was a rare thing for her to feel bad for anyone, and when she did, the circumstances had to be right. In this case, they were. Admiral Grant was well beyond his years, and had served with Starfleet much longer than she had been alive. Hell... if she had to guess, it was more than twice as long as she was old. "I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on the old man, though. He's still kicking more ass than some officers a third his age."

Michael nearly did a double take at the unexpected sympathy from the fiery redhead. "Hey, it's not like our generation hasn't been doing the same, but there are times when it's time to step aside and let someone younger take over. How many Department Chiefs have you met so far?"

Maddy noticed the look she'd gotten from Michael, and could only smile. It was nice to keep him on his toes once in a while. If she was lucky, she'd be able to do that with the crew as well. "Three so far. Lieutenant Akash Misra - Chief Flight Control, Lieutenant Lukiz Smyth - Chief Engineer, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes - Chief Operations," she replied. "I haven't met everyone just yet, but those I have met have impressed me so far. Of course, that may change as time goes on, but we'll see. I'm sure I'll meet the rest of them as time moves forward."

"I've met Lieutenant Alex Rho - Chief Intelligence Officer, Chief Petty Officer Barnes...I'm surprised he came to see you as well," Michael said. "And Lieutenant Douglas Mallory. He was sponsored into Starfleet Academy as his species isn't a Federation member, and he's offering us a new type of armor which can supposedly absorb the energy of a phaser on setting sixteen for up to sixteen seconds. He provided me the PADD with the specifications and the replicator codes for it, but I haven't gotten them to Barnes yet to put them in mass production."

"Why is it so surprising? Perhaps Senior Chief Barnes caught word of my overly charming personality and just had to meet me," the redhead woman said. She listened as he finished speaking. If anything he'd just said came as a surprise, she didn't show it. "His species isn't a Federation member? I find myself wondering what he had to do to get sponsored into the academy." She shook her head to get that line of thought out of her mind, then decided to focus on something else entirely. "New armor? I might have to get some of that when it is put into mass production. You know... to try it out and all."

"You do have a very winning personality," Michael said. "Mallory comes from a race called the Marai, he's one thousand and thirty-four years old, and was sponsored by Admiral Richard Brannigan for entrance into the Academy. He has several children who entered Starfleet before him with a woman who was half human. As for the armor, as soon as I get it to Barnes, he can get it into production and I'll make sure that you, me and the department heads get it first."

"I'm going to have to look into Mallory's background a bit, but I think you and I have veered quite a ways off of what we're actually supposed to be discussing. Should we try to find out anymore information before the senior staff briefing, or should we get with Rho first and see what he can dig up?"

"I'm willing to bet that Grant is hedging on the arrival of the Triumphant to scare the Orion Syndicate into giving up any hostages...or slaves...they took from the outpost, but we'll brief the others and then get Rho on the job," Michael said. "He's a Ullian, but he's been permanently cosmetically altered to look human. A bit of simple cosmetic work and he could pass for any number of species that belong to the Syndicate."

"The same could be said for any number of the crew that would need to go undercover for some reason," Weisz pointed out. "It might be best to have more details before we go into any kind of briefing and start grasping at straws. But, you're the boss, so we'll do this your way."

"While I may agree with you, I'm under orders from Admiral grant," he said. "But once we get near the Orion Sector, then we can start digging up more details. The crew is going to expect a briefing under any circumstances and even if we don't have much to give them, it'll give them time to prepare for pirates, slavers and other flavors of Orion scum."

"The old man strikes again. Gives us nothing in the way of details and expects us to brief the department heads," she said with the shake of her head. "I'll set the briefing for oh-nine-hundred."

"Make it sixteen hundred," Michael said. "Hopefully that'll give us time to get our Science and Medical Chiefs in. Oh. I almost forgot. We have another company of Marines on the ship, too. The old company pulled out except for Gage and I had to use some pull to keep him assigned here. We can send them ahead of us in the Victorious to see what can be scared up for information."

"Sixteen hundred it is," the Commander said. "I'm sure your brother was pleased to have the chance to stay with you and his wife. If that's all, I'll go put out the notice of the briefing and get a few things done, then."

"Get it done," he said. "I'm going to see if I can scare up a CMO and Science Chief while you do that. Good luck."

"I'm not the one who needs luck, Captain," she said. "If you need me, you know where to find me." And, with that, Maddy was on her way out the Ready Room and back to her office to put the word out of the briefing at sixteen hundred, and to take care of a few other things that needed to be done.