A Helping Hand

Posted on Fri Oct 3rd, 2014 @ 5:48pm by Commodore Kathleen O'Shea & Commander Eliana Masters

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Various
Timeline: Following "Recon Mission - Initial Report"

As the "who's who" list of ranking officers filed out of the conference room, the team from the flight operations department scrambled off to begin preparations for a mission that was on a scale like nothing they had attempted before. Months ago, the decision was made to bring Starbase 80 back to full operating condition, and the thought that somewhere, high up the command chain, someone had thought of a time like this when giving the go ahead to repair the distressed station crossed Eliana's mind.

In the prior weeks, the crew was starting to hit its stride. Less and less people swung by the office complaining about broken equipment and grumblings about the duty roster and scheduling had been mostly worked out. The break-in phase was essentially over.

The sound of the turbolift filled the background with noise. Soon enough, Masters would return to the realm of flying machines and the people that maintained them, but for now, the task was simple. Call for help concentrate - hopefully in the form of a starship.

"Computer, I need a blast sent out," the ship's second officer spoke to the wall, an act, which, had somehow become more and more socially acceptable through the centuries.

"I did not understand the request."

"Start recording," Eliana muttered as the two-toned chime played.

"Captain Glover, good evening to you. Or morning. Or afternoon, whatever the case may be. . . oh that's not very good now is it?" Masters wrinkled her nose.

"Computer, restart the recording."

The same chime played again.

"Captain Glover, hello again, Eliana Masters from Starbase 80. We've come across a situation where we think the capabilities of a starship would be well suited," she paused, struggling to think of the next thing to say. "When this message finds you, please contact the starbase and we'll discuss the specifics. Thanks. 80 out."

Ellie exhaled sharply. Face to face communication was just. . . better.

[30 minutes later]

"Incoming hail from the USS Chesapeake."

Looking up from her desk, Masters quickly put down the PADD she was holding and accepted the transmission.

"Hello Commander Masters." It was the face of a man approaching his forties. Necessity had placed many in the center chair earlier in their careers.

"Captain Glover, good day to you. Thanks for getting in touch with us. Let me bring you up to speed before I patch the Commodore in to the conversation. We have a conflict brewing on a planetary scale at Taranok IV. Our reconnaissance team wasn't able to get much back to us, but there are unconfirmed reports of another faction in play," Masters explained.

"I see, please continue." The view widened to reveal that most of the senior staff on the Chesapeake was gathered in on the call as well.

"One transmission right before we lost communications seemed to indicate the presence of unknown vessels approaching the planet. This is only what's in the air. The surface is much worse," Eliana paused. Delivering news like this was never the part of the job she had signed up for.

"There has been a large explosion on the surface," she continued, "knocking out much of the communications grid and electronics as well. We have people down there, and we're in the process of preparing a humanitarian mission to provide aid to those on the planet. That's the gist. I'll bring the Commodore in and we'll continue the discussion.

A few taps of some keys ensued. It wasn't long before Commodore O'Shea's visage appeared next to that of Captain Glover's.

"Captain Glover. It's good to speak with you again, although I wish the circumstances were better. I appreciate your swift response. I assume that Commander Masters has filled you in?"

"Yes," he nodded in return, "and we're able and willing to help in any way we can. Frankly, we've been dealing with our own problems with long range communications out here. That particular problem may need addressing further down the road, but we'll leave that for another day. What can we do to help?"

Kathleen was quiet for a moment as she looked at something off screen. "Bring the Chesapeake into 80. I'll assign a team to her to track down your comms bug. I also just put in the order for a Gen 2 Hospital POD...should arrive here shortly after your arrival. While you are on aid duty, I'll have your sensor POD overhauled and updated. Sound like a fair trade?" Kathleen could easily order him to do what she needed, but she much preferred a mutually beneficial approach.

"Done, we'll get to warp immediately," Glover paused, presumably to issue the order. "As far as our communications systems are concerned, we have no reason to believe they're faulty. This area of space wreaks havoc with any sort of subspace communication. We've been dropping listening posts and communications buoys as necessary to combat it, but it only helps so much. You can probably detect the packet loss even now."

A warm smile. "My fault, Captain...I'm not as current on the ships operating out here as I should be. But still, there is a lot of new tech that your Gen 1 Sensor POD doesn't have that will help a bit with comms...might as well keep the Yardies busy." She made a mental note to look a bit further into the Chesapeake's current patrol region and see what could be done to improve things a bit out there. "They will be ready for you when you arrive. A Drydock has already been reserved. Been a while since the Chief performed a POD change-out, so it will be a good refresher for him and his team."

"Understood ma'am, we're on the way. Anything else we can do while we're already out here?" Glover asked.

"Just keep an eye out for and report any unusual traffic...and watch your ass."

"Always. Thanks Commodore. Thank you as well Commander, we'll see you before too long."

OFF:

Captain Rhys Glover (NPC)
Commanding Officer
USS Chesapeake

Commander Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer
Starbase 80

Commodore Kathleen O'Shea
Commanding Officer
Starbase 80