Staff Meeting

Posted on Thu Dec 28th, 2023 @ 5:35pm by Captain James Phoenix & Lieutenant Rolek'klaz & Lieutenant Commander Richell Sorenson & Lieutenant Commander Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Jin-soo Tae
Edited on on Thu Dec 28th, 2023 @ 5:36pm

2,938 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Untested
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: Before "Arrival Part One"

ON:

Being the first to arrive, T'Raen had to wonder if she was expected to adhere to such strict appointment times, or if she was just early out of a combination of habit and succinct management of her department. As she looked at the large table surrounded by chairs, while she very well had her choice of seats, the Vulcan used clear logic in her selection as she took the second chair on the left-hand side of the head of the table. She expected to have Logan on her right and Tae on her left if seating was done by hierarchy.

Setting her PADD down before taking her seat, the table immediately synced with the chief's device, creating a seamless connection between the two should she have to display anything from it. Though she was the first to arrive, it was clear that the space had been prepared as a tray of glasses and a crystal clear pitcher of water rested in the center of the table. With nothing to do but wait for the rest of the senior staff, T'Raen logged into her command systems to check the status of the Science Labs aboard the ship, finding them just the same as they were ten minutes prior when she'd departed her office for the conference room.

Devin hadn't been this much a bundle of nerves since she had become Chief Tactical Officer on the Damocles. It was the first time she had sat at the conference table and like an idiot she had spilled coffee all over herself...and captain Thursday.

She entered the conference room and barely noted the Chief Science Officer had beaten her there. Devin was still looking at one of several padds as she unconsciously took a seat at the head of the table.

"Commander," she said absently as she set one of the padds down. The lack of personnel was proving quite a challenge...

Glancing up from her own PADD to give the Operations Chief a slight nod and, "Commander," in greeting in return, the Vulcan's gaze shifted back down to what she was reviewing until she noticed the position the woman had taken at the table. Unsure of the motivation of the human, T'Raen decided it was better to say nothing, and returned her attention to her PADD until all were gathered and the meeting had started.

A few moments later Jin-soo slunk quietly into the conference room, a PADD clutched in her arms off to the side. She half expected an assembly of blinking eyes trained upon her in judgement of her tardiness but that seemed to not be the case. Indeed there was hardly anybody here, save for two other officers that had reached the room just moments before.

“I guess I’m early then…” She muttered softly under her breath, slowing her pace as she made her way to the large, centre-piece table. She slid into a chair next to T’Raen, three seats down from the seat meant for the Captain which curiously had someone already in it. A part of her wanted to remain silent, to allow the realisation to set in naturally or for events to unfold further upon the arrival of their CO, but that just wouldn’t be ethical.

Glancing at Jin-soo as she took the appropriate seat next to her, T'Raen offered quietly, "No. We are on time. It seems we are the most punctual of the Senior Officers," as just a general observation before turning her attention back to her reviews.

“Psst Commander Hadenbeer,” She whispered, leaning forward slightly with a finger pointed at the chair, “I believe you’ve found yourself in Captain Phoenix's chair.”

"Hmmm?" Devin replied, distracted. Assigning double shifts arbitrarily seemed so...despotic. But she did not have time to-

"What?" her head snapped up and regarded the lieutenant. Then the Chief Science Officer. Nothing seemed wrong, and yet...Ah.

"Ah," Devin said aloud, then without a word picked up her padds slid out of the captain's chair and skulked a couple spaces down opposite the others. She imagined her face was burning red with embarrassment as she focused her attention on her padds,..

At the conversation between the two, T'Raen set her PADD down in front of her and watched as the Ops Chief stood up from the chair at the head of the table and instead took a seat across the table from her. A quick blink of the Vulcan's eyes was the only indication she gave of her logic being confirmed as Commander Hadenbeer had finally chosen her correct seat at the table.

Richelle entered the conference room quietly. Putting her PADD down, she replicated a cheese danish and a cup of Earl grey tea. Sitting down finally, "Good morning Commanders, Lieutenant. Hope you are all well," she said taking a bite of her danish.

Captain Phoenix entered the room shortly thereafter. He had a small stack of reports in hand. The first two were reports from the planet. The third was new orders for Commander T'Raen, and the last three were personnel files for the Horizon's three new officers. "Good morning" he said as he approached the seat at the head of the table. He set the PADDs down.

Before he sat down he slid T'Raen's new orders over to her and he also slid the personnel files to the center of the table for the others to read. "Unfortunately we have a dire situation at the Zyte Colony" he inserted the colony reports into the big screen that was situated on the bulkhead behind his chair.

James continued. "About one hour ago we received a distress call directly from the Governor of Zyte. The planet was struck by a meteor directly one of their outposts on the planet, which in turned caused a large enough Earthquake to bring devastation to their main city as well as other parts of the planet. The cause of the Earthquake was from the meteor striking the outpost, which was situated above tectonic plates, which themselves are very close to the surface. In fact that is why Outpost Six, as well as all of the other outposts on the planet were set up. To monitor for any tectonic activity."

"Before I continue, are there any questions?" James asked his senior officers as he sat down in his chair.

Devin had a few, but she held her peace. Chances were the captain would answer most if not all of them. She was curious about the padd handed off to the Science officer. She glanced at the other officers to see if they had anything to say...

"Meteor, tectonic plates move, how big a meteor was it that caused so much damage?
It might take some fancy engineering work to keep the plates to stabilize. I just hope that's all. Aftershocks can make things more devastating", Richelle stated.

"Mmm," Jin-soo mumbled as she shook her head, her attention shifting to the PADD that was just handed out. She gave T'Raen a brief glance, interested in the specifics of why she was given a unique PADD as opposed to the rest, but that was most likely given her position as CSO during a disaster response scenario.

James looked at Richelle. "The reports weren't specific. But considering the damage done and how close the plates are to the surface, it is likely that it was big enough to cause the devastation it did. However there is an large asteroid belt in the system. It could have originated from there, let alone a full size asteroid." he turned to address the rest of the group.

"In addition, an Andorian Guard vessel, the I.G.S Shras and the USS Georgetown are also responding. The Stras will arrive before us and the Georgetown after we arrive. The Stras will also be carrying our new Executive Officer, Commander Oscar Vladinchi. The Georgetown is also ferrying our new Chief Medical Officer and Chief Science Officer" he motioned to the personnel files he slid to the middle of the table before his eyes settled on T'Raen.

"Commander T'Raen has been requested at Starfleet Command for a new assignment" he sighed. "It appears that a lot of our new officers as of recent have been transferred almost as soon as they got here but that is a inquiry for another day."

Devin hesitated, then she asked, "Is there anything indicating the possibility that this is not a natural disaster? Does this planet have any enemies? Are there any indications of dissident forces that would cause such an event to take place in order to take advantage of the chaos?"

James leaned back in his chair. "There isn't any indication of that yet. But, we'll know more once we arrive. We also can't rule out foul play. Given Zyte is in Andorian space, it is a Federation world and we aren't exactly friends with everyone" he sighed, alluding to the countless enemies the Federation had faced throughout the years and galaxy.

"It is possible to create an asteroid that is guided like a ship, but it would take considerable advanced technology to do so. It would mean that one or more enemies possess that technology and are using it to destroy" Richelle said.

Jin-soo nodded solemnly at the prospect of it being a hostile attack. "I should begin prepping our shuttles for evacuation in case we lack access to transporters. We'll probably need Horizon to cover us in the event of it being both a shuttle evacuation and a hostile attack." She said before turning her gaze to the Bajoran tactical officer.

Devin was partly regretting voicing her opinion; without hard evidence that this was a manufactured disaster and not a natural one all she had was a feeling.

"I will make certain all transporters receive a diagnostic," she said after a moment, "And to make certain all transporters-including cargo units-are staffed," she eyed one of her padds, "We could set up the cargo bays as triage centers to handle any overflow but we will run out of room quickly. Our best option will be to find a part of the planet that is not falling apart as soon as possible and send patients there. Hopefully people on the ground will have emergency medical facilities set up by then."

James looked at the Chief Operations Officer and the Chief Helm Officer. "Thank you. We're going to need it."

Rolek'Klaz, who had entered the room in place of Commander Logan, spoke up to respond to Lieutenant Tae and the Captain. "We will prepare the security and tactical department for potential combat. In addition, I will brief Commander Logan as well as her new deputy as soon as she comes aboard?"

James raised an eyebrow. "We have a new Assistant Sec/Tac Officer?"

Rolek nodded and handed the Captain a PADD. "She will be arriving aboard the Shras along with our new XO sir. Commander Logan and I just received her file."

"Thank you Lieutenant" James looked to the rest of the group. "I'd also like two away teams sent to the surface. One to the main city to talk to the Governor, or whoever is in charge currently, and to give aide on the surface. I'd like the other team to go Outpost Six, or what's left of it, to investigate"

James sighed. "Let's hope that it isn't foul play" he turned to Devin. "Are you able to leave the ship if it's on an away mission?"

"If it is an away mission, yes," Devin replied, careful not to glance at anyone else with that query. In part to deflect from her discomfort and perhaps to add a bit of levity to the situation, she inquired, "Ah, Captain, a question regarding protocol. What if I preferred to be called 'doctor' instead of 'commander'?"

"As long as you have the credentials to be referred to as 'doctor', I don't see an issue with it" he said. "That being said, I'd like you to lead one of the teams to the surface. I'll let you choose who is on it."

"Always nice to know I have options available to me," Devin replied a touch wryly, "Which mission am I to undertake? That may impact my choices for whom I am taking with me."

'"I'd like your team to investigate Outpost Six to see if anything can be determined from there" he looked towards Rolek and Devin. "I'd like you to be be apart of Doctor Hadenbeer's team. In addition our new science officer will be apart of it."

Devin used a PADD to hide her smile at the Captain using the honorific. She was not quite sure if he was being serious or was simply humoring her. She eyes the Jem Hadar and found it...strange to see one of his race in a Starfleet uniform. She imagined it must have been equally strange for some to have seen a Klingon or Ferengi in the same situation, enemies now allies.

James looked to the others. "I'm also going to have our new first officer lead a team" he looked to Richelle. "I'd like you or one of your engineers to be on the away team to the city, to see the extent of the damage done to the main city. In addition Master Chief Bailey will accompany you when you rendezvous with the XO on the surface."

Jin-soo raised a subtle brow at the remark to be addressed by an otherwise medical distinction. With that title inevitably falling onto their COO now that the Captain has given his blessings, she couldn't help but ponder to future cases with their actual doctor.

"If I am heading to the outpost then I am assuming I am taking a shuttle or runabout," Devin noted, "If so I would like lieutenant Tae with me. And an engineering officer, if the Commander," she nodded to Sorensen, "can spare herself or one of her people."

Jin-soo looked to the Captain and gave a small shrug, "I can have Ensign Broll fill my seat on the bridge if I'm needed to pilot a shuttle."

Looking to Jin-soo, he said, "Since Doctor Hadenbeer has requested you on the surface, I'd like you to go down with her team to the outpost."

James looked to Devin next. "Provided the atmospheric conditions are normal we should be able to transport in. That being said, we don't know exactly how many people were stationed at the outpost, let alone how many survived if any, so we may need a shuttle or runabout anyway in-case we needed to transport anyone. But for your team I'll leave it up to you. As long as Commander Sorenson is alright with it, I'll send Lieutenant Laux on your team with you."

Devin nodded. She much preferred taking a runabout down, although she did wonder if her thought processes were some unconscious need to be in command of a ship again, albeit even a small one. She wondered what the counselors would say to that. Not that she was going to admit that to any counselor.

He turned to Richelle. "As for you and Master Chief Bailey as well as our new officers, I'd like you all to use the transporters. Much of the city is now heavily destroyed and may not be suitable for a shuttle around the area where the Governor's Office is located. I'd also like for you guys to keep an eye out for possible places that are clear for shuttles and landing craft in the event that we need to send more aid to the city."

Nodding, "I will be the lead on this as I know about the shifts and the damage that can hit in a second. It's not that I don't think my staff can handle the task, it's just that I've been through this before and the end results were not pretty. As for landing sites, that's going to be tricky. Finding stable areas that have not been undermined by the shifts will take time. As you said, transporters would be better but for mass evac, shuttles are better.

James stood up. "That said, I will send a message to those who will be on the away missions that aren't on the Horizon already, giving them their respective orders" he began.

The Captain continued after letting out a sigh. "We need to stay alert. That natural disaster could have been caused by anything, and we should get to the bottom of it as allowed. You have your orders. If there is nothing else then you all are dismissed" he nodded.

"Understood," Richelle said, standing up. She wanted to get her department ready for the tasks at hand. She also had to coordinate with the shuttle pilots on landing zones because of the additional weight that was to be expected on the surface that was already unstable.

Devin collected her PADDs, her thoughts ahead on the away team mission.

As his staff began filing out of the conference room James began constructing a message to his new officers regarding their orders once they rendezvous in the Zyte System, starting with a message to the new XO regarding leading an away team to the city, followed by a message to the new Chief Science Officer, who would be on Commander Hadenbeer's team to Outpost Six on the surface as well and another message to the new CMO who would be on the Horizon at first. He had considered putting him on a team, but he may be needed on the Horizon for taking on casualties.

 

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