Make Ready

Posted on Mon Sep 19th, 2022 @ 5:21pm by Lieutenant Commander P’rel M.D & Lieutenant Didrea Zade

Mission: Scylla and Charybdis
Location: Intelligence Suite
Timeline: MD3: -1900
1713 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Double checking the arrival time for Titania, P'rel noticed they would be reaching the system in less than two hours. Having been able to catch up on the reports and classified material surrounding the Avalon, she was now at least somewhat ready to be able to contribute meaningfully to the mission. She spun around on her chair and winced as a sharp pain from her side suddenly snagged at her. She made a mental note to visit Doctor Ki and have the surgery site checked. Tapping her comm badge, she called for the assistance she was going to need.

=/\= "Lieutenant P"rel to Lieutenant Zade. Report to the Intelligence Suite". =/\=

The bluntness of the message definitely pulled Zade out of her train of thought, leaving her staring at a screen with half a report on it. A grumble escaped her as she felt whatever sentence she was going to write in her report go out the airlock. She briefly shut her eyes to try and remember what she was going to say, only to sigh as her efforts proved futile. "On my way," she replied, saving her work. As she left her office, the Trill wondered what the intelligence chief was like, after only hearing the experiences of others.

A few minutes later, she entered the intelligence suite, feeling very out of place with her bright yellow in a sea of dark grey. Ignoring the eyes watching her, she found the chief's office and pressed the door chime.

P’rel pressed the release button on her office door. It was hardly and office, she had occasionally remarked to herself. A desk and a wall panel separated from the main suite by a glass partition and door. At least the glass was tint-capable and the small space could be made soundproof for sensitive discussions. “Lieutenant Zade” P’rel stated simply, acknowledging the arrival.

Zade had found her eyes wandering to scope out the suite when the hiss of the doors grabbed her attention. Inside the rather sparse-looking office, she saw the Vulcan who summoned her and took the acknowledgement as a sign to enter. "Lieutenant P'Rel," Zade replied, folding her hands behind her back as she stopped just inside the office's entry. "What can I do for you?"

"Please, sit" she replied, holding out a PADD for Zade to take. "Your knowledge of the USS Avalon, if you would indulge me, Lieutenant?" P'rel asked, wanting to know what Zade knew first, just to confirm that the LIeutenant's knowledge matched her security clearance. It was always worth finding out whether someone knew more than they should, as a means of testing trustworthiness, the Vulcan had found.

Accepting the PaDD, Zade took the seat offered to her. "I'm familiar with the specs, and that they had a new sensor suite that needed testing." It didn't sound like much, because there wasn't much she could read. There was a surprising number of security checkpoints where her own clearance wasn't high enough.

Nodding her acknowledgement, P'rel was satisfied that Zade had passed the small test placed before her. "Indeed Lieutenant. The Avalon is a top secret project, and information is highly restricted". Were she to reflect on things, the Vulcan might have concluded that she rather enjoyed knowing more than everyone else now that she was working in what was effectively a military intelligence, as opposed to her more recent post-war roles in general intelligence for the department of the Federation Council. Much as she was opposed to a militarised Starfleet, she had found ways to make the best of a bad situation serving on a warship, and small victories like being the one to dispense information helped somewhat.

"However" she continued, "for the purposes of this mission I am granting you Sigma 6 clearance. You will be able to access restricted information and portions of the intelligence database which I open up for your active ops logins". She turned slightly in her chair and brought up a large MSD of the Avalon on the screen on the far wall of the small office. "Commander Keating and Lieutenant Ryan have been given sufficient information to locate the ship, and I would suggest liaising with them, however it is of what we do once the ship is found that I wish to discuss..." she turned her head away from the screen to see Zade's eyes darting all over the impressive systems display. "Do you have any thoughts on that?".

In the very few and rare instances Zade had worked with intelligence, she knew that their technology outshone even the best tech granted to security, and this was no different. Turning her attention to the MSD, she took in the visuals, her eyes going from one monitor to the next. The wall display in her office was a PaDD glued to the wall in comparison. "I can task my team to aid in the search," she said, turning her focus to P'Rel to avoid the childish impression of gawking at impressive tech. "I recall from my briefing that the ship is either to be retrieved or destroyed, and sensors recently picked up a suspiciously uninterested Romulan ship. I'm under the impression that the ship is to be destroyed if the tech can't be retrieved, most likely from another ship trying to steal it, but that also seems like a last resort." Zade had considered pulling the sensitive tech and destroying the rest, but it surely wouldn't be as easy as finding the proverbial black box and yanking it out of its housing. Systems were too integrated for something like that. If anything, she suspected that they would either try to get the ship running or tow it.

"Your team is restricted strictly to the specific information they need to complete their specific task. Information on the Avalon is to be contained in all instances to all extents possible" replied P'rel, heading off the notion of Zade delegating work to the security and tactical teams. Whilst the Captain was a proponent of teamwork, this mission was in contrast to that ethic, and the Vulcan was finding it difficult to navigate the competing priorities of the restrictions placed upon information, and the ability of the Athena crew to complete the mission successfully. "I will brief the Captain shortly. The Warbird we have detected is the IRW Taleth, Valdore Class, commanded by a V'rel Teth. According to her biography she was a rising star, on track for the Admirality, with a competent and successful career ended only by Hobus. We can infer from the young age she was granted command of a Valdore Class Warbird - a brand new asset at the time - that she is, or was, well connected, highly thought of, and extremely capable".

She pressed another series of controls and the MSD changed from the Avalon to an exceptionally detailed overview of the last known makeup of the Taleth. "The Taleth itself is heavily armed, indicating private profit from high value activities; as you can see her firepower can easily match our own. Integrated 360 degree plasma torpedoes, high velocity warheads, even phase cannon turrets....". She paused a moment to let Zade digest it all before continuing. "Starfleet believes that Commander Teth has become something of an elite tier mercenary, undertaking tasks for high value assets within both the new empire and free state. Seemingly both sides know of her ambiguous loyalties, yet both sides continue to hire her - I would surmise that she is simply that good, that neither side wants to dispense with her services....". She brought the Commanders bio profile up alongside the Taleth overview. "Your thoughts so far?" the Vulcan once again asked.

Zade nodded in acknowledgement to how... secret everything was. She understood why, but it still frustrated her. Sharing knowledge that could help her team do their jobs was what she valued, and she knew how frustrating it could be to be the recipient of 'need-to-know' information, let alone being the one restricting it. "I'll follow any and all restrictions when it comes to delegating tasks to my team," she said, hoping to ease any concern hidden behind that Vulcan stoicism.

Turning her attention to the monitors and the Romulan ship occupying it, she thought silently for a moment. "The ship hasn't done anything yet, but it would be wise to continue watching it. We wouldn't want to be caught off guard with a ship like that nearby." The Trill continued to stare at the ship, taking in what she'd need to remember, just in case. "Is the Taleth, and I suppose more specifically, is Commander Teth known to start a fight unprovoked?" It was obvious at this point that the Taleth was searching for the Avalon, and Zade had a feeling the ship was waiting for someone else to find it so they could steal it. But if a ship matched in power or stronger showed up, how long would it be before the Taleth tried to scare them off?

Going deeper into Teth's biographic record, P'rel reconfirmed the memory of her initial reading; "nothing conclusive - however a senior military officer does not get to play for both sides of a conflict without considerable skill..." she concluded. The Vulcan's calendar file chimed, reminding her of an upcoming meeting. "Lieutenant, if there is nothing else, perhaps we could resume this meeting at a later time? I would suggest you also liaise with Ensign Wrea in my department. I have tasked her with infiltration planning. She seems both enthusiastic, and competent..." P'rel added.

Zade blinked at the name. "Nayisa's here?" She asked, more out of surprise than confirmation. How did that little weasel get on board and she miss it? A slight shake of her head dismissed her thoughts as she came back to the present. "Nothing at the moment. I will read up on what you have provided and follow up if there are any questions."

P'rel looked quizzically at Zade in response to her comment about Ensign Wrea, when no further clarification came forth she simply nodded her head and gestured to the door. As Zade left, she made a mental note to cross reference the records of the two officers and see what the conflict was there...