Grunt meets the brass

Posted on Tue Mar 10th, 2015 @ 10:27pm by Commodore Kathleen O'Shea & Captain Jey Cleh & Lieutenant Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro & Petty Officer 1st Class Arianna D'Tal

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Taranok IV - Forward Base
Timeline: TBD (After "Rebirth")

With some of the confusion died down, Arianna decided to find the woman who had helped her get to the rescue point. She remembered that this woman requested to speak to Kathleen, and figured now was as good a time as any.

In her search, she found her walking the perimeter, and approached her. "Excuse me." She said, tapping on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I never got your name."

"You can just call me Gabriel," she responded as she turned to face Arianna.

"Ok Gabriel." Arianna replied. "Before, you asked to speak to my commanding officer as soon as possible. Do you still need to speak with her?"

Gabriel nodded, "Yes I do. Its critically urgent that I speak with your Commanding Officer as soon as that can be arranged."

"Then you should come with me." Arianna replied simply. "I should be able to get you in to see her, and her Executive Officer as well."

Hearing Arianna's words was a relief though she didn't show it. "Lead the way," Garbiel followed Arianna. Speaking with both the Commanding and Executive Officers would save her from having to explain things twice.

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Kathleen was seated at a table in the 'command' tent...it was much easier to function in the tent than the module...going over all of the post-battle data from the attempted incursion into their base earlier that evening. One thing stood out more than anything to Kathleen. As disorganized as they were, the enemy seemed to be even more so. There were no patterns to their strategy at all. In fact, they did not even appear to have any strategic planning in their operations.

Arianna entered into the tent, followed by Gabriel. She noticed that Jey was not there, and sighed lightly. "Sorry to disturb you, Commodore." She said simply as she approached Kathleen. "I'd like you to meet Gabriel. She is one of the members of the local Militia who helped protect us, until we were rescued."

"Commodore," Gabriel addressed the ranking officer in the room standing at attention. "I requested this meeting because I have urgent information which requires your attention. You will find a file that requires command level authorization titled Operation Chimera. Full details of my true mission are listed in that file. My role as a Militia member is only partially true. However I was not authorized to tell the Petty Officer anything more than she just told you for security purposes. More accurately I'm 1st Lt Gabriel Zavala, Starfleet Marine Corps. I arrived on Taranok IV approximately 12 months ago accompanied by a small team."

"Arianna, could you step outside please?" Lizzy's voice came from behind the two women. She had entered the tent in time to hear most of what Gabriel had said.

Arianna did as she was told, stepping past Jey as she exited the tent. What she had just heard caught her by surprise, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know any more details.

"I'm Captain Jey Cleh." Lizzy said by way of greeting. "I'm the Commodore's First Officer."

Kathleen did not take her gaze off of Gabriel. "And I'm a bit perplexed. I was not aware of any operations ongoing on this planet. I assume that you have your credentials?"

Gabriel nodded as she removed to her outer vest to reveal a plain black BDU top with no markings, "Yes Commodore I do. The decision to keep the operation compartmentalized this far was made above my pay grade. I indicated that was a bad idea in case things went south. However the answer I received was to simply shut my mouth and follow orders."

Pulling out a chain with a small container she pulled out a data chip and handed it over. "This will confirm my full identity and affiliation as a Starfleet Marine. My immediate superior at the time had the forsight to order us to carry those with us in case things went south. No one believed it would take this path. Which is why I'm here now talking with you."

Not wanting to interrupt Kathleen's moment of confusion, Lizzy took the chip from Gabriel, moving over to one of the portable terminals with it. She inserted the chip, and entered her command codes. "Her identity checks out." Lizzy said as she was rewarded with the information on the chip. "She's definitely who she claims to be."

Kathleen sat back in her chair. "So I guess the next logical question is why did you not see this coming? No chatter or warning signs? Did this person or persons just appear out of the blue?" Kathleen was quiet for a moment, her mind racing. "Wait...you were not here investigating a threat to this world. You were here investigating this world."

For a moment Gabriel was quiet as she gathered her thoughts. Nodding in response to O'Shea, "That is absolutely correct Commodore. Operation Chimera is the code name given to our mission to investigate this planet from a strategic and tactical point of view. At the time we were given the go ahead for it there were no signs of any trouble, no chatter. In fact things were quiet. Approximately two weeks before the Petty Officer's shuttle made an emergency landing here we picked up the first signs of trouble. Things escalated very quickly from there. In fact my team was in the process of finding a way to get a message to Starfleet on the day that happened. Obviously with the jammer's our efforts were not successful."

"I'm surprised you didn't come to me with this." Lizzy said, moving to lean against the front of table Kathleen was sitting at. "Unless you didn't know I was here."

"I did not know there was a command level officer here. Initially when we were rescued I made it very clear I needed to speak with the command staff ASAP. At the time I was told that it would have to wait until we returned to the station. Since then I've been doing what I can until I could safely break my cover. It was only shortly before I ended up in this tent in front of the Commodore that I found out a command level officer happened to be here on the planet."

"Oh..." Lizzy replied, feeling stupid all of a sudden. It hadn't occurred to her that Gabriel hadn't even been made aware she had been there. "Sorry about that."

For a moment Gabriel looked at both of the superior officers, "There's no reason to apologize. None of us had any clue we'd be dealing with a lot more than a majorly messed up mission. Strategically however what I've seen so far doesn't show a lot of experience even though its managing to be effective."

"That's my fault." Lizzy admitted. "I've been in situations like this before, but only in the medical sense... until now... So, what can you tell us that we don't already know?"

Gabriel nodded, "So far we've determined they know enough to be dangerous. However they are pretty unorganized which leaves huge voids to be exploited by our side. We have not only the technology but an effective tactical strategy that can be employed against them so we can drive them back. Now beyond that they haven't really revealed what they want but they aren't exactly changing their methods so far which means even if we do they will be at a disadvantage."

"We have one of them in custody." Lizzy said in reply to this. "We may be able to interrogate her for information about their movements."

Briefly Gabriel considered the comment, "Anything we can get out of her will be useful. Beyond that how can I assist you now that you know who I really am?"

"Just bring our folks up to speed for now. I've got too much on my plate at the moment to think beyond that." Kathleen looked the officer over for a moment before continuing. "And please, go get a proper uniform on. No need to have you shot by accident. I don't want the paperwork."

"Understood Commodore I'll see to that right away, " Gabriel nodded. At the moment she'd make it work. Feeling out of place didn't help hopefully with time that would change. "Thank you for meeting with me."

"No, thank you. Another piece of the puzzle is in play now. Just need to find it's place." Kathleen watched as the Intel Officer exited. "Well, that was certainly interesting. We still lack a lot of data though."

Lizzy turned to Kathleen. "We can probably get some information from our 'guest' in the Brig." She said. "You want to interrogate her, or should I?"

"I'll handle it. Something tells me you are not very experienced in these matters." Unfortunately, Kathleen was.

"Fine by me." Lizzy replied, then looked back at Gabriel. "Get yourself a proper uniform, and return to duty. Right now, we need all the help we can get." She then turned to Kathleen. "I'm going to go check on Rosaleen, and Andrew."

"Good idea. He might need rescuing by now." Kathleen replied with a sly grin.

"I'll walk with you." Lizzy gave Kathleen a smirk. "The boys guarding her are under my direct orders, so they need to know you're good to enter."

As the two women exited the room, each inwardly reflected upon how to best deal with the emotions that they were both feeling. But neither of them could have even remotely imagined what they were about to encounter.

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Commodore Kathleen O'Shea
Commanding Officer
Starbase 80

Captain Jey CLeh
Executive Officer
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase 80

1st Lt Gabriel Zavala (NPC)
Simmed by:
Lt Commander Adria Desoro
220th CAG
Starbase 80