Star Trek: Starbase 777 - briefing-room

First one to appear was Heinrich, who entered and stood at the door next to it. More in a ceremonial manner, but he unslinged his rifle holding it rather loosely.

Eshen appeared moments later, but hung back a bit for Mona.

Sam walked in moments later and handed the Bat'leth to Eshen and the blade to Heinrich before putting her own blade on her back and taking position against the back wall.

Eshen put the Bat'leth on his back'leth.

9

Heinrich took the Blade, he had prepared for this by grabbing a blade holster from the starbase armory. He set it in its sheath.

She entered, and had begun preparations. “Alright, I want one security or tactical officer at the door. And additionally I do need names. I’d like to know who I’m facing this with. If you don’t know me, I’m Mona Caddel.”

The Ferengi made her way into the briefing room behind everyone else. She stood out like a saw thumb due to the lack of weaponry she was carrying. The only other person who might not have been armed right now was Caddel.

Since Heinrich was already at the door, he stood there. "Boheim, Heinrich, Ensign."

"Lieutenant Samantha Voxellus. Assistant Chief Security on 777. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." She gave a nod, a small smile on her face.

"Ensign Eshen K'Tann, Diplomatic Attaché, happy to be here."

”Chief Science Officer on the Eventide Lilian So. I’m… probably dead weight here but I’ll do my best.” She gave a half-hearted chuckle.

“None of us are dead weight where we’re dealing with the Borg.” She waited for the rest of them to give their introductions.

“You know who I am, and if you do not, you have never read the roster.” Dagis stated rather plainly. She was in no mood for this right now, but she didn’t want to be rude about it either.

“Understandable. I think that’s everyone. So let’s not waste time. Commander would you mind opening the channel toward the Borg vessel? Simultaneously, an open communications link with the station will be open at all times. We’ll lower shields around this section only.” Mona took her chair, head of the table of course then turned toward the monitor waiting for the channel to be opened.

The Ferengi nodded in response before tapping away on her PADD. It was only a matter of seconds before the deed was done, at which point she gestured to Caddel to say she had done.

“Borg vessel, we are prepared to receive your Ambassador. The shields around this room have been disabled temporarily.” She said to the dark monitor, the Borg were listening however they weren’t interested in responding verbally.

Just then, the Borg from the monitor had materialized, he looked just as menacing as he did over the comm. He stepped forward, examining the room with new found interest. “We speak for the Borg.”

"We speak for 777. Right, Captain?"

Heinrich raised a brow of curiosity. He had never been closed to a borg before, so this was new to him.

“Yes one can assume we speak for the station.” She said not looking toward Eshen, her attention was fully directed toward the drone.

“My designation is Four of Four. Tertiary adjunct of Unimatrix 01. But you may call me Four of Four, we notified you of the presence of an 8472 bio ship in this area.” The drone continued once he realized there was no one else willing to talk. “This vessel could be the beginning of a large scale invasion.“

“And how, exactly, would you helping us deal with this issue benefit the collective?” The Ferengi immediately asked.

"Indeed. Why so invested in our survival? Need our help, perhaps?" Eshen watched the Borg closely. They were so stoic, you needed a perceptive eye to spot any tells. Luckily, he'd dealt with many Vulcans. Borg can't be too far off, right?

“Unfortunately the bioship is lodged in a deep mantle of metrion gases, and electrical storms. The collective has been unable to plot a trajectory efficient enough to support something as large as a cube. With the appearance of 8472 again, we are concerned about the safety of the collective, even one bioship is enough to decimate the Borg. We would like to minimize the risk to as many drones as possible. And to respond to your inquiry, we aren’t interested in your safety but I am sure, you are. You should be thankful we have come all this way to warn you.” He responded, looking between the two. (edited)

He glanced at Mona to discern if it was okay to speak again.

“The floor is your’s.” She said to him, she didn’t know jack about being a diplomat. After all that’s what Essen was aboard for.

"Well, if all turns out well, we might very well be quite thankful. It's just a matter of reserving judgement, in all manner of ways. I'm sure you can appreciate a measured amount of caution; it shows we have good heads on our shoulders, at least. So - you've sent a few of you ahead because you can't get the rest through this field to the bioship, and I assume you think we'll be able to penetrate it with our resources?"

“You assume correct, in the 24th century. A vessel known as Voyager was successful in destroying 8472 vessels, with their individuality and teamwork- in collaboration with the Borg of course. They were able to end a small war. We sought to attempt the relationship again. The Borg and individuals work well together. If we’re working toward a common goal.”

"So we work together to stop a presumably mutual threat. Captain, may I suggest we get a round of opinions on that?"

The Captain nodded. “You should all share first. Speak your minds.”

“Well, 8472 is not a threat to be taken lightly. I personally think this is an offer worth considering at least.”

“That we agree on.” He said looking So’s direction. Then back to the rest of the group.

Eshen was waiting for the rest of the group to give their opinions, but had no intention of giving his. It's better for a diplomat to play his cards to his chest and remain as inoffensive as possible.

Heinrich wasn't sure if he should speak or not. But he chose to speak. "Permission to speak ma'am?"

“By all means, please we’d like to hear it.” She said, eagerly, the borg probably didn’t like to be kept waiting.

Heinrich stood at ease as he stood by the door. "From my standpoint, would it not be more proper to intimidate this species? From my knowledge of species 8472, which is very limited as I am not in the science department. They are an intelligent species? Would it not be correct to, if diplomacy would not work, intimidate them with some kind of weapon." "Show them that if they dare try something that displeases the borg, or ourselves. We have the means and or capabilities to annihilate their entire species. Not saying it is ethical or moral at all, but from my knowledge of the borg, that is what their kind would do, would they not?"

"I don't know." Eshen turned to error 4o4. "Is that what you would do had Captain Janeway not made a good case for this course of action?" (edited)

“You were not listening, you know nothing of 8472. They are not simply intelligent, they are the most flawless species the borg have ever encountered. There has been no other evidence of anything like them. They do not see this universe as you do, they are resilient, devious, and incredibly adaptable. They are aware of our ability to destroy their vessels with nanotechnology, it is reasonable to assume after all this time they’ve adapted, if you value your existence, then you will assist us. You waste time with this meeting.”

"Well in my experience when you cannot defeat something that is adaptable to everything, you either go old, or annihilate."

"I believe official Starfleet protocol is to extend the open hand before the closed fist," Eshen said, not looking at Heinrich. Besides, immediately threatening the Species 8472? Why not just throw all your cards and the element of surprise on the table while you're at it? "We are aware of their enigmatic abilities, Four of Four. We are simply gathering the facts. Captain, what do you think? Work with the Borg to defeat Species 8472?"

“We aren’t defeating anyone. On the contrary, we have the ability to send members of Species 8472 back to their realm. When we reach the vessel I intend to do the same.” She said making eye contact with Four of Four, this was not open for negotiation, to hell with it, they could destroy that probe in the blink of an eye, it made no difference to her, although it would’ve been helpful to have the coordinates.

Eshen gave 4o4 a similarly unwavering stare to back up the captain's iron will. He liked this idea.

“Small minds!” He said with a sudden raise in his voice. “Do you not understand the complexities? What is at stake?” The drone moved toward the Captain. “Choose again, if you send them back, they will return with vengeance!”

The Captain didn’t flinch at the drone’s approach. Instead she stood as a response.

"You have concrete proof that working with Starfleet has helped you before. If you want our help again, these are our terms."

As the borg moved, Heinrich seemed ready. One hand on the Captain and he'll drop the borg like it never lived and was never assimilated.

He looked toward Heinrich, unimpressed by his maneuver, yet he backed off anyway. “Very well, stubborn individuals. You are all the same, someday you will learn that compassion is not always reciprocated.” And with that the drone was beamed back to his vessel. Swiftly.

“I mean-“ Before she could finish that he was gone already. “I guess that’s that then. Not bad Ensign.”

Heinrich stepped back.

Eshen's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Thank you, Mon Capitan. Perhaps Starfleet will make a friend of the Borg yet."

"The Borg only combine their forces with other species if they have benefit by doing so. Once the threat has been terminated, we'll be back to singing the olden songs." She said with a shrug, not really trusting the Borg at all.

"I was joking, my dear. Though we did manage to establish diplomatic relations with the Dominion, so anything is possible."

She sighed, Mona remained standing, it didn’t feel as if they had won this conference if you could call it that. “I wouldn’t be amused just yet. They still haven’t given us the coordinates. We’ll remain at full tactical alert, but my advice to you all, prepare for an excursion. A rather delicate one. And yes Lieutenant that is correct. And as for the Dominion, they weren’t connected to a collective hive mind with the intend of assimilating anything and anyone that crosses their path.”

"Not your dear, Ensign." She said with a smile, letting out a slight chuckle.

"It would be nice if we had some more...insight into the borg, perhaps a way to defend ourselves if the borg seem to double cross us?"

"What are the Founders but a great soupy hivemind?" Eshen looked at Samantha. "My apologies, my friend, force of habit - I call everyone that. If you wish me to stop, I will." (edited)

2

“No one has insight. So far all we know how to do is keep playing with settings on phasers until we find one that can hit them.” She replied to Heinrich. “Look, if you’re coming, I’ve set a departure time for 0600, if the Borg agree that is. We need extra hands just in case the Borg do decide to double cross us. Any questions?”

"None particularly."

"No further comments or question, no ma'am."

The meeting had ended and everyone had been dismissed promptly.

Sam walked in and looked around to see if anyone was present before she sat down in a seat and tapped a quick rhythm with her hands. The waiting game has commenced, it seemed.

The Andorian entered the room, uniform still clean as ever, as two ensigns entered the room.

Lorin, Hal, and C’Sara entered, each carrying a small bag and Lorin looking a bit nervous.

Voris kept a expressionless face, taking a seat to sit down.

Elwyn entered the briefing room, an excited grin on her face as she found a position to take that'd be out of everyone's way.

"Elwyn! Fancy seeing you here! How are you holding up?" Sam asked as she saw the android enter the room, a grin of her own om her face.

Looking around for a seat, she decided to take one next to Elwyn- she didn’t know where else to sit.

Elwyn looked over when she heard her name called having recognised Sam's voice from the last time the two interacted. "Hi Lieutenant!" She greeted cheerfully. "I'm doing good! How are you?" She said with a grin, before looking over at Lorin, giving her a wave. "Hi!"

“Hello!” She said, a bit startled.

Caddel entered swiftly, and as per usual, gave the signature nod to each officer. Before taking her seat at the head of the table. She got settled in as she waited for further information.

Allan walked into the room, in the Starfleet Shorts and thigh-high boots for the information of anyone not having read the quarters post, and sat down in a seat opposite Elwyn, glad to see someone else familiar other than Lt. Voxellus - not that he disliked her, but their last interaction had been... dramatic, so to say.

Maggie walked into the room and moved to sit next to Allan as she unwrapped herself. “Heya Allan!” She said as she escaped from her bag mummy prison and sat down in her uniform.

"Heyy Maggie! Um - just to be clear, um, that seat, is actually uhhhh... reserved! But... you can sit here, actually." He tapped the seat to his left, pursing his lips together to try and keep this jokingly Serious Manner together as he looked at her, but the smile was evident in his eyes.

5

"I'm doing quite good! Curious what the mission is though. And again, feel free to call me Sam. I don't mind not am I as strict about it." She said with a chuckle. "Anyways, you know anything yet?"

Elwyn looked back at Sam as she spoke and shrugged, a smile still on her face. "I have no idea why I'm here but I'm just happy to come along and help!"

2

“Oh shoot sorry! Moving over.” She said as she crawled over him, then quickly grabbed her bag. “There we are! How have you been?“

"Wait, you're-" he laughed as she just fucking crawled over him to get to the other seat. "Okay, alright. Sure. That's one wa- wait, hold on, lemme check.." He checked the message he got on his PADD, quickly scrolling over all the names and... shit, so Bir, Ikki, and Yuch -weren't- coming? Damn, he guessed instead of for the Furberus the seat was now for Eshen. "I've been pretty good! Lost a bet to the Captain though, so, that happened-" he gestured to his black hair. "What about you?" (edited)

5

Maggie gasped at his black hair. “Nooooo change it back! It’s so bad!” She said in mock shock. “Nah it’s fine, I’m doing good! My project is going good, y’all good in El Roode.”

Allan gasped in offense very loudly and dramatically. "Whoa! That was like, totally uncalled for, I am like, still super hot, okay? I.." he couldn't really hold the act for long, he just started laughing again. "Okay, okay, so the holes are like, all good? That's the project, right?"

Caddel looked up from her PADD and toward Allen. “Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant but you should know that there are no reserved seats on this ship, or any ship I believe. If you intend to advance in your career further someday I would suggest that you get used to not always being near your friends. Especially on assignments such as this one.” She said with a eyebrow raise, then it was back to her notes, this was a Starship not middle school. This would likely be a very dangerous assignment, and although she wouldn’t say it out loud, the crew seemed rather nonchalant about this operation. ‘Starfleet Intelligence’ at the end of the letter wasn’t enough to make everyone nervous?

"Oh! Yeah, I knew that, I just - was joking with Maggie, I was gonna say it was the Furberus's rightful throne and all that, uh... I dunno, if you've met them, but uh... the Furberus is like... a... a pet? A Furby that Lieutenant Commander Alizati made to play Kal-toh, Captain." He explained with a bit of a nervous smile.

1

Maggie nodded as she looked towards him. “Yep! Holes are all going great.” Until she blew one open, but she wouldn’t bring that up. “Wait…what the heck is a Fubry….?”

Allan blinked at her. "Wait.... you don't know?" He failed to fathom that anyone he'd known on the ship could not know of the great Bir, Ikki, and Yuch! But alas, it seemed so.

Elias entered the room, slightly nervous but excited. A classified mission! They tapped their fingers absent-mindedly, full of nerves.

C'Telle walked in, looking surprisingly alert and ready to spring into action at any moment. It felt like he was back in his military days again.

Elwyn looked over at Allan, someone she knew from the birthday party she went to, a friendly smile on her face. She didn't want to interrupt his conversation with the other person, but she also wanted to be friendly! "Hi! I like your hair! I don't think it looks bad! " She said cheerfully with a warm smile, her hands playing with each other and wiggling about in her lap to amuse herself while she waited for the briefing to begin. She picked up on the mention of the Furberus but decided to not bring it up because it wasn't her conversation. (edited)

1

The Romulan was quiet. She knew next to nobody here and nobody knew her. Many a Romulan would see this as an advantage, perhaps so deaths don’t seem so personal, she had a feeling that it was lurking somewhere, hopefully it was just a feeling. The rest of the room seemed to progress far quicker than her internal thoughts. In her mind, the others were lucky.

"Thanks! Your hair is great too, for that matter," Allan said in response, waving over at Elwyn. "You've seen the Furberus, right? Or am I going crazy and the Furberus was just a fever dream or something?"

She was kinda chilling, not wanting to interrupt anything.

"Aww, thank you! And yeah, Commander Alizati told me about it! Them? The Furberus!" Elwyn replied with a grin, feeling very nice about her hair being complimented.

"Oh, thank God. Okay, can you explain to Maggie and everyone else what they are, or what Furbies are, then? Because I feel like I'm not explaining it well enough," he said. The next step would have to be to give a briefing on what a Furby was to everyone here, and well... he hoped he wouldn't have to, but he would! Anything to spread Furberus Awareness.

"I... Have no idea what they are other than a mechanical creature that acts like a cat." Elwyn said with a laugh. "I assume they have three heads based on the name, but beyond that I haven't got a clue!" (edited)

Allan laughed as well. "Yeah, that is true. They do act like a cat, wait - does the name Furberus mean three heads or something?" He had no clue! He just knew what Bir, Ikki, and Yuch meant.

Eshen strode through the doorway like he was arriving fashionably on time for a party. "Hi, folks!" He said, looking around at all the people he hadn't met yet. "Hi, my Maggie, Elwyn, and my beloved!" He said, sitting down next to Allan. Maggie, of course, was someone he'd seen offscreen plenty of times to do things that were too scandalous for television, and he remembered Elwyn from his party where they'd basically instantly become friends, which is about what happens when two friendly extroverts meet in the wild. Allan needed no explanation. "So how's everyone feeling about the mission today? Excited? Nervous? Chilled out?"

4

Allan smiled when he saw Eshen enter the room, giving him a little side hug when he had sat down next to him. "Weeeell, currently we're talking about the Furberus, and like, whatever Furberus means, but as far as the actual mission goes...." he looked down at the table in front of them for a moment. "I mean, with the information I have I think it might have to do a bit with trigonometry uno or whatever you called it last time, but." He shrugged and looked back at Elwyn.

As Eshen entered Elwyn gave him a friendly wave. "Hi Eshen!" She greeted with a friendly smile. "I'm just vibing right now!" She added, her hands going back to wiggling about in her lap as a means of entertainment.

Ayyy, he did it! The Romulan entered the room and was met with-- He briefly stopped, surveying the space in front of him, eyebrows going up. This was... a lot more people that he expected. All from different departments, too. Interesting. He spotted some familiar faces, but decided to stick to the sidelines, for now. Lots of talking, colors, sensations. He tilted his head to the left, as if listening to some specific sound or voice, meanwhile leaning against the wall. Familiar face there, another one there... an unfamiliar Romulan, how curious, ought to keep an eye on them... a group, a loner...

Seeing more and more people he didn't recognize pile in the room, Voris slowly slunk deeper into his chair. He didn't feel too chatty, hoping no one would try to talk to him.

Hal looked around, trying to spot anyone who looked interesting.

Dagis walked into the briefing room with her yellow-cased PADD under her arm, her eyes immediately scanning who was there as she walked towards the head of the table, preparing for the briefing that would soon begin. It was very apparent just from looking at her that she wasn't here to mess around, or for this mission to go anything other than perfectly.

3

Shortly after Dagis’s arrival the Trill walked in, similarly holding a PADD in one hand and twirling the PADD’s stylus in the other. From the back of the room he did a quick head-count, taking note of those there. Anyone who was running late would just have to catch up – but he would check that everyone was aboard before the ship left, of course. It wouldn’t be a good start if they left anyone behind. Taking note of the general conversation for a moment, he walked to the front of the room and then held up a hand – a request for silence. “Sorry, sorry,” he stated apologetically, offering the group a smile. “You’ll have time for catch-ups and conversations later – but I thought we ought to get started and address why you’ve all been requested here today.”

9

7

4

Maggie gave a quick wave and blown kiss to Eshen before pointing up towards Giles and smiling. Giving a friendly motion of hello to him as she focused on the mission briefing.

Upon Jericho entering the Ferengi's eyes snapped to watch him, the expression on her face ever so briefly turning friendlier as she gave him a small nod, before pulling her PADD out from under her arm and swiping over to a few files she had. She knew this was a big task for the Trill to undertake, so she was glad she was able to help him, despite her underlying worry about the stress he was currently under. She was also, however, entirely prepared to tell anyone off who didn't listen to him for any given reason, or her for that matter. This had to go right. They had no choice.

Elwyn looked over as Jericho raised his hand, a friendly smile on her face as she waited for the briefing to begin.

Finally, Mona looked toward the trill, it was clear that he would most likely be the one heading up this meeting, after all he seemed to be the most familiar with this operation.

Allan also smiled back at Jericho, his #partnerincrime from before, awaiting what he would say. He wondered if it was even at all related to what they did previously, maybe it was something completely different. That was what the briefing was for, he supposed.

Eshen, who had given Allan a chaste kiss on the cheek when he side-hugged him (and also laughed at trigonometry uno, which as far as everyone else was concerned was just some random inside joke), sat very politely with his hands folded in his lap, paying attention to Giles. The boss was in, so it was Professional Time.

2

He sat up straight, looking at the two crewmen with the PADDS.

"This is the first of two briefings that you'll get, so I'd like to advise you that this one is relatively informal. If you want to interject with questions or comments at any stage then please -- feel free. But that being said: what is spoken aboard this ship, in relation to this mission, is not to be relayed to anyone else unless authorised." There was a brief silence as he let that sink in. Surely they would understand just how important that request was, considering how they had been summoned here by Starfleet Intelligence. "That aside -- firstly, I'd like to thank you all for joining us on board today - and at such short notice as well. Something tells me that receiving a message from Starfleet Intelligence of all people, out of the blue, may well have seemed a bit daunting. So let me just clarify -- that message was from me." It was with a somewhat apologetic smile that he looked to the group... Before very briefly looking towards Ensign-now-Lieutenant-Junior-Grade Allan Allen, giving him a knowing look. Yes, he had received Allan's reply. 'Bet, 100, 100, 100, fire.' He still wasn't sure what it meant. "For those who don't know me, my name is Jericho Giles, and I am the Intelligence officer posted aboard this station. I will be your main point of contact for any queries about this mission. And to settle any rumours, because I know that there have already been a handful: yes, this mission is in relation to Section 31."

9

6

"Related how, exactly? Are we working with them or against them?" Sam chimed in. It was a rather critical question after all.

Working with them? He bloody well hoped not. Sec 31 was kind of a Federation enemy, unless that had changed when he wasn't looking. Dagis and Jericho had a whole arc about it this season, and this was s4 ep 13: The Raid.

5

Allan smiled a bit apologetically and gave Jericho a little, subtle two-fingered salute. He'd probably explain to him later what 'Bet! Let's go ' meant. And he, of course, was ever-so-faithfully his still.

2

As soon as Voxellus asked her question Dagis immediately looked over at her with her brow lowered, having been looking between Jericho and her PADD up until this point. "Yes, Lieutenant, everyone in this room including yourself and the two ex-Section agents currently hosting this meeting have been recruited by Section 31 for a classified mission organised by Starfleet Intelligence." She replied in a deadpan tone. "Of course we're working against them." She added, before looking back at the Trill stood beside her.

7

Elias sat forward in their seat, alert. Section 31? They shivered, interpreting Dagis' words as icey. They had no idea there were ex-Section Agents here. They tentatively spoke up. "What do we need to do?" They sounded a bit nervous, but ready for whatever was in store.

Section 31. She thought it was a mere rumor, guess she was wrong. She listed intently, her ears perking up slightly.

Well, Lieutenant Dagis handled that question with the perfect amount of panache. Considering recent events – and how Lieutenant Voxellus had been part of said recent events, fighting against a multitude of Section 31 agents who had been posted aboard the station – he wasn’t entirely sure why that question had been posed in the first place. “Lieutenant Dagis is correct – we’re working against the Section. Over the past few months, Starfleet Intelligence have been working to trace the origin points of Section 31 communiques to identify the locations of their bases. Three distinct locations have been identified and have been under analysis by Intelligence since, and it has been determined that the three of them should be destroyed in order to erase Section 31’s information and ruin any equipment they possess. The starships Nightfall and Enterprise are taking the other two bases, while Eventide - manned by yourselves – has been allocated to the third.”

C'Telle crossed his arms, brooding. He stared at Jericho, turning over the information in his head. It was hard to tell what emotions were passing across his face. Maybe... excitement? "So, sabotage."

They were standing for a moment, but found an open seat next to C’Telle. They looked almost excited about the raid.

His antennae would curl up tightly. A raid. Of course, no wonder why he was assigned to this. Injuries are unavoidable for dangerous missions like this. He would normally make an annoyed somment but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to appear disrespectful.

Elias glanced around to the people they knew in the room. The air felt thick with anticpation. They turned their eyes back to Jericho.

He perked up as soon as the two officers entered, now focusing his attention on them - expecting information. Lo and behold, he got some of it. Seemingly undisturbed by all the revelations, Saren hid his urge to snicker at Dagis' dry words by a poignant sort of cough. A raid. Hmm. He decided to listen on, expecting at some point to hear specific instructions, because the science officer was very curious as to what sort of task would be given to him. Green eyes squinted, either in concentration - or something else?

He grabbed onto his antennae, trying to straightened them back out. He didn't want to look stressed in front of the others. Voris slowly put his hands back onto his lap. Exhaling, he then attempted to keep a slight smile on his face. Everything's fine.

“Excuse me for a moment, I just want to clarify? Am I leading the medical stuff on the Eventide? Because I saw my name there on the announcements.” *She asked.

A raid? Now this is exactly her specialty. She had done this many times before, and now she was going to do it again. No wonder she was picked team leader. It all fell in place now.

’A raid? That would explain the need for Security and the secrecy of this mission! Wait, what was that about the evil bases being destroyed? What about the health and safety of the crew?!… Oh, that’s why I’m here!’ The young android thought to herself, now processing all of the potential risk factors involved with such a mission. (edited)

Allan simply nodded. He was glad that it did actually relate to what he and Jericho had done, super glad that both of their work was leading up to this. And also, doing something the -Enterprise- was also doing? Very cool.

The Captain crossed one leg over the other, seemingly unamused by the questions that were being asked, the answers seemed to be rather obvious, they were asked to the briefing room, an announcement requesting them specifically for each of their talents. “Yes Lieutenant. You clarify correctly, as you are indeed the highest ranking medical officer in this room. In fact it’s probably best to presume you’ve been selected based on specific talents, which are required for an assignment as delicate as this one. If I recall it was outlined in the messages, the ones we all received prior to the meeting.”

”Sabotage is one way of putting it, technically,” he mused and gave an incline of his head towards the Caitian tactician who had made the statement. The Captain had stated it herself as well for the next part, but he thought he best clarify. “And yes: the listing of postings is accurate, and you should have also been informed via a direct message to your own quarters’ console.” ’Should have’ was really ‘had been.’ He knew, because he had sent them – and double and triple and quadruple checked all of the information surrounding it. “But please; if we can leave any queries on individual involvement until later. You can query those following the main briefing. “Now: you might be wondering the reason why we aren’t just flying out to this base and simply blowing it up, as one is capable of doing via a starship. The main issue lies in the structure of this base. It is placed inside an asteroid and is highly reinforced. Any simulations have indicated that Eventide’s weapons would destroy the asteroid and perhaps parts of the base, but it wouldn’t be enough to completely destroy their work. Analyses of the base have highlighted points of structural weakness where teams one and two will place four explosive charges each – eight in total – to ensure that the base can be destroyed from the inside.” 777_divider

21:20

The Trill was silent for a moment to let people process the information. A couple of taps upon his PADD and an analysis of the bases were sent out to the others for them to review. “And of course, there’s more to it than that. First off: we aren’t savages. We’re well aware that this base is going to be occupied with Section 31 agents. They may well be breaking the law but it doesn’t mean we have the right to simply kill them, and as such, they should be apprehended and beamed to the brig during our invasion of the base. Secondly, there have been a series of kidnappings in the Celes sector, and scans of the base indicate a high presence of life-forms in specific areas. If they’re being held here, then we have a duty to extract them. Thirdly, if at all possible, Starfleet Intelligence would like us to secure any Computer data or research and development that the Section is conducting. Anything we manage to secure can be used to our advantage against them in the future.”

Elwyn listened along intently to what Giles said, and as he sent out the analysis of the bases her PADD pinged in her pocket. She pulled it out and started looking over the maps while happily listening along to everything else he said and memorising all information being provided. At the mention of kidnappings her cheerful face turned into a frown. Section 31 really were mean, weren’t they? Starfleet were going to rescue them and stop the meanies from doing any more harm!

His eyes went away from the table and to his PADD. The mention of "blowing it up", he felt like trembling. He wanted to. However Voris kept his composure. The Andorian-Vulcan kept his eyes glued onto the PADD, keeping a calm expression.

"I suggest we bring transport boosters with us and place them around different key areas to close off choke points. Take a hallway. If we put up four boosters there we can beam anyone who walks through that field back to the ship. The transporter can filter out any tech they have, and that's that." She suggested as she looked over the schematics of the base and the route her team would probably take. "It's quiet and effective."

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The Captain examined the plans and listened to Giles. But she seemed to have found a flaw in this plan. The Eventide as small as it is. Still doesn’t just go undetectable especially to a group of individuals who are probably searching for infiltration 26/7. “Brilliant Lieutenant, we can request that transport enhancers be requisitioned for this assignment. However, Giles, while the plan seems solid so far. Not that I know S31’s defenses. It would probably be best to presume that their Facility is on the look out always. After all, they’ve got secrets up the wazoo. Their security is likely decades ahead of what we’ve got on our own facilities. And the Eventide may be small but she’s certainly no mouse. We won’t need any transport boosters if we’re shot out of the sky.”

"What about an EVA leap?" She asked as she looked towards the Captain. "If there's a maintenance hatch near the areas of our beam-in points, the teams can use the airlock to EVA to the asteroid's surface. And the vac suits will also provide some sort of extra protection in case we do get spotted and shot at. If anything it's a win-win situation."

”As interesting as that proposal is, there won’t be any requirement for it,” the Trill replied, having already consulted with Intelligence on firstly how they were going to get close enough, and secondly, how to get into the base in general. “In terms of getting into the base we’ve selected two existing transporter rooms. The base has shielding but is known to lower them for the transport of equipment – and there’s a pattern to that lowering of the shields, so we can utilise it to beam in entirely undetected. As for getting close enough to the base, as Captain Caddel has brought up – with thanks to our friends from the Klingon Empire, Eventide has been outfitted with a cloaking device. They’ve been successful aboard other crafts already, including that which performed the initial analyses of the base. They were never spotted.”

Maggie hummed as she lightly wrote notes on her PADD with the stylist, including cartoon scribbles of section 31 officers running around on fire and screaming.

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"Woo, Klingons!"

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His antennae would sway idly as he listened. He didn't say anything, focusing on what others had to say.

At the mention of the cloaking device a small smirk could be seen very briefly on her face, but it quickly turned back to her rather serious look as she kept glancing between Jericho and her PADD.

As the cloaking device was mentioned Elwyn looked back up from her PADD, her eyes practically sparkling as grin crossed her face. Technology was fun and cool!

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“Impressive.” She said rather amused at that, just excited over the prospect of the Klingons assisting them in an operation by lending the Eventide one of their most important technological innovations.

"Don't we still have to drop cloak in order to transport? Because that simply means we can approach quietly, but that's it. And if they do neutrino sweeps we're even further from home." She said as she pulled her mouth into a straight line and looked at the other people.

Elias typed away some notes on their PADD about the procedure, intently listening.

From right out of the shadows (which was already odd considering the briefing room was well-lit), stepped a woman wearing a gold Starfleet uniform underneath a white lab coat. Without real permission to take over the presentation, she headed over to where Giles was standing and spoke up. "As my colleague said, Eventide will be fitted with a Klingon cloaking device provided by Councillor K'Gartrern." Usha pressed a button and the lights dimmed, revealing a hologram of the device itself. "The Section have a remarkable cloak detection grid." From R&D, this was high praise. "To circumvent this, the device has been modified, with Klingon permission, to actively disperse the grid as your ship passes through." She looked at Samantha with a cold stare, seemingly annoyed that her presentation has been interrupted; even though the point of a briefing was to make sure people could get their questions out. "Yes, you will be able to transport while under cloak, we have conducted tests at HQ and the transport has been successful."

"Curious..." She said quietly as she raised her eyebrow at the woman before grabbing her PADD again and making some notes.

As Usha came out from the shadows Dagis, being entirely pre-occupied, didn’t even notice her until she was right there next to her and Jericho, at which point she jumped and almost dropped her PADD in the process. Almost being the key word. “Good grief, you people need to wear a bell around your neck or something.” The Ferengi commented as she looked the Intelligence officer up and down, before looking back down at her PADD. (edited)

How the hell had Dagis, a Ferengi, and him, half-Vulcan, not noticed that lady in here already? Did they train the R&D division in stealth? Were they ninjas?

C'Telle eyed the woman, unsettled by her noiseless entry. His ears flicked back, and he leaned back in his chair. "So we snag the operatives, throw em in the brig, blow up the base, and boom, job done? Just your average day in Starfleet?"

Not being aware of Usha, to him she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His antennae immediately jolted straight like a pair of exclamation marks. "Ah.." The stiff antennae eventually drooped down, Voris blinking a few times before acting like nothing happened.

“And rescue any potential hostages or Section 31 prisoners.” Dagis stated as she looked over at C’Telle, now entirely recomposed from almost having a heart attack in front of everyone. It would’ve been ironic if she had one and Jericho didn’t.

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Elias glanced over at their colleague, intrigued by his various reactions during the meeting. They would check on him after the briefing was done. "Sounds... active." They let a small smile cross their face. That was the only word they knew could describe their feelings about the plan.

He nodded, giving his approval even though no one needed it. "How much resistance do we think the agents will put up? We will have the element of surprise, but still." He popped his knuckles ominously. Scary.

“Seems pretty active to me.” They said from their spot next to C’Telle.

”This is Section 31 that we’re discussing,” he mused, looking towards Ensign Hsashar. “As recent events may have conveyed to some of you, they are a notorious and formidable opponent. This is why you will be fully armed and joined on the away team by members of each division in order to ensure that a person with the proper training is present for any sort of circumstance. In terms of progression through the base, movements will be up to your team leader; Lieutenant Voxellus for Team One, and Lieutenant Commander Stone for Team Two. Lieutenant Dagis and I will also be serving as handlers the two teams respectively. We will have a full real-time analysis of the base to track your movement, advise you of the movement of others, and inform you to anything that arises upon the scans.”

"Question." She said as she raised her hand slightly. "If beaming is possible through cloak, perhaps it is wise to beam in equipment when we need it. That way we travel lighter and faster."

A nod was given to Lieutenant Voxellus, the Trill's attention switching to her, then. "It's certainly possible, ma'am. Ideally the away teams should travel with the required equipment - the transport window isn't particularly frequent - but should something else be required, Operations can be on standby to wait for the opportunity of their shields briefly dropping so they can transport any additional equipment over."

"Understood." She said with a nod, smiling at Jericho for a moment before she continued to take some notes.

'They are a notorious and formidable opponent' You can say that again. Dagis knew all too well what the Section was capable of, and what she herself had to do while forced to work for them. As Jericho spoke she continued to look back and forth between her PADD and the Trill, paying close attention to everything being said, as well as subconsciously making sure he didn't seem too stressed out by all of this.

Why did the baddies always have to be formidable opponents? Why never mediocre? Being fully armed was definitely a good thing, but it also meant someone could get hurt, and the last thing the young android wanted was that.

”I believe that covers the gist of everything. A further briefing will take place as part of your teams before you beam down: everyone will be contacted an hour before arrival so you can prepare. For those manning the bridge or the ship facilities, that will be conducted on the bridge by Captain Caddel when you relieve the auxiliary crew. I would like to add – none of you are going to be forced to conduct this mission. You have been selected for a reason, and I would very much like it if you were to see this one out – you would be greatly aiding the Federation if you did – but I’m aware it sounds daunting. To anyone who wishes to leave, you have until 1830 hours to go back to the station. After then, the ship will be departing.” Another brief pause and he looked out over the group again, taking in the faces of people who had been selected based on their aptitude, experience, and skills. He would understand it if any of them left, and he wouldn’t judge them for it either.* “Travelling to our location will take 26 hours and 38 minutes. During this time you’re free to do as you please: Captain Caddel has confirmed that the ship’s facilities are free for you to utilise, and you have been assigned quarters for your time here. If anyone has any questions and you would prefer to ask them in private, then please feel free to remain at the end of this briefing. But, if that’s everything-“ a slight smile then, made slightly more eerie by the flicker of glowing blue irises from behind his glasses. “-Then I thank you all for your time, and you are free to go about your day.”

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Maggie held up her PADD with the drawings clear for everyone to see. “Wooo! Go Starfleet! And Klingon’d too!”

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His attention was back onto his PADD. He glanced at the roommate section and the teams. Neither of them had any names he recognised. His thoughts were broken hearing Maggie, his eyes quickly darting to her direction. Were... those drawings? It seemed a bit unprofessional to him, but ended up giving a tired smile.

"I'll be in my quarters if anyone from my team needs a chat or wants to voice their ideas!" She said with a grin before she walked out of the room and took her PADD with her.

Allan was smiling and was still sitting in his seat, waiting to talk to Jericho in private - but it really took everything in him not to laugh when Maggie displayed the drawings, covering his mouth as he looked down at the table to try and keep his conposure. He actually took the method Saren used early and lightly coughed.

“Yay! Thank you Lieutenant, Lieutenant, mysterious lady, and Captain!” Elwyn said cheerfully to Jericho, Dagis, Usha and Mona. “I believe in everyone here and I know everyone will do a very good job during the mission!” She added as she looked around the room, a warm, enthusiastic smile on her face.

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“I believe we will succeed.” She said.

"Whoo!" Elias cheered and laughed at the drawings, a determined smile on their face. They nodded gratefully to Elwyn. "Back atcha." They gave everyone a warm look and shook out their hands a bit. Alright. They were ready. Well, okay, they could never be completely ready for a classified mission. They had no idea what to expect! But they were excited, in a fearful way. "We'll do great."

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"Of course we will. I'll be there." C'Telle said this dryly, letting a small, wry smile.cross his face. If he wanted to do well, he would have to start loosening up and trusting a little bit. Just like the military. But... friendlier.

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“We’re going to crush them!” They said.

The R&D woman had disappeared as fast as she had arrived, presumably on her way to finalise the installation of the cloak. So much so it was hard to tell exactly when she had left.

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He looked around the room. He glanced between those who spoke and to his PADD. "How exciting.." Voris got up from his seat, with intent to immediately go to the temporary quarters he was assigned to. The doctor then left the room without another word.

“Well, I’m gonna head to my quarters! It’s been nice seeing you all!” Elwyn said as she stood up, before giving everyone a wave and heading out into the hallway with a skip. (edited)

Eshen had no idea what Allan's plans were, so, knowing they were in the same quarters, stood up and offered him a hand. "You coming?"

"Cya!" Allan waved goodbye to Elwyn with a smile, and then looked back at Eshen, taking his hand and standing up with him but then bringing his hand up to his lips and giving it a small kiss, fancy-style! "I'll meet you in the quarters, yeah? Got a quick q for my friend Giles over here, but then I'll be right over."

Checking to see what quarters they were assigned to, Elias gave the briefing room one last look before leaving and walking into the corridor.

C'Telle got up, large form lumbering out the door to his quarters.

Eshen did love when his romantic side was catered to. Perhaps they should have that classic candle-lit dinner when they got back to the station. "Alright, see you in a bit!" He reluctantly let go of Allan's hand and left, heading towards his, Allan, Elwyn and Katherine's quarters, the last person a lawyer lady he'd heard of but not yet met. He liked meeting new people, but admittedly, he was looking forward most to hanging out with Elwyn again - she was very uplifting to be around. (edited)

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Seeing everyone leaving and overhearing that Allan wanted to take Jericho up on his offer to answer questions privately, Dagis turned to face the Trill and put her hand briefly on the corner of his back. “I’ll leave you to it. See you tomorrow.” She said quietly, offering him a small, warm smile, before heading out of the briefing room herself.

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He stood there with that mostly neutral expression, surveying the room for who was filing out and who was staying to ask further questions. It was only when Dagis moved that he did as well; as soon as her hand was withdrawn from his back he reached out with his own, grasping hers just very briefly -- before responding with a nod and and an equal smile in turn, then letting her go.

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Allan nodded, then took a moment to pack his notepad he'd been taking notes on (but NOT doodling, unlike some people) back into his bag, and by that time Dagis had also left. Oh, so it would really just be the two of them- he looked around the room to see if he could see that mysterious woman who had explained the cloaking device, but no sign of her - then again, not that that meant anything. He hadn't seen her before. He walked up to Jericho, same outfit he'd worn when they'd met - slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Soo, a few things real quick. One, so proud of you dude, literally so cool you two are in charge of this, but like - I mean, I don't gotta explain, we talked a bit about it back in the lab and all but - uhh, yeah! Glad our work did something after all and now we're doing this. Exciting stuff. Also, next question - well, not really a question, but assuming you got the reply to your message by the way you gave me that look, I should let you know I meant every word of it." There weren't many words in it to be fair. But still.

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Maggie snuck out with her bags, still scribbling on her PADD. Now drawing a very stereotypical evil man in trenchcoat with a 31 on his hat crying into a teddy bear.

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In the background he watched Ensign Roode scurry out before he turned his attention to Lieutenant Allen who was approaching (who had decided to dye his hair, Giles noticed. He wondered if it was part of that 'goth' thing that humans did. In his traditional fashion, the man also still seemed to be wearing those shorts he had designed. Giles really hoped that Allen would work out to change into the excursion uniform before going out with the away team. The Trill didn't fancy having to tell him to change. "Well, thank you," Lieutenant, he replied to the first part of the Lieutenant's statement, chuckling sheepishly and dipping his head. "I'm glad that our toiling away wasn't for nothing. But please - Starfleet Intelligence prepared a large part of this in advance. I'm just doing what they expect of me and conveying that all as an Intelligence officer -- I've figured that's what they're doing, treating me as if I'm on a generic posting when I'm not. Anyway -- I did get your reply, yes... And you should know that it's rather infuriating to be a cryptologist who doesn't know what a message means. So: 'bet', the one-hundred stickers, and the fire afterwards. Would you care to enlighten me as to what that translates to?" The question was worded seriously, but conveyed with a grin.

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"Hell yeah! You're way more than generic, dude. You're cool as fuck," he grinned. "And yeah, I - wait," he stopped his train of thought for a second to fully understand what Giles was saying. He didn't know what he meant in the message? "Oh, uhh... it's, standard language, I think, from the ... I don't know when, but at least like, 5 or 6 centuries ago, the word 'bet', it's just a shortened form of 'you bet', does that make sense? Like, you bet, you can bet on it... let's go, let's do it? And then the hundred is like, 100%, just a general theme of like, this is good shit, I'm down? Like when you get a 100 on an assignment it's like, 100%, it' good shit. And the fire is like... it's gonna be lit. You've heard the term lit, surely." These were standard language at this point - centuries old sayings, Allan wasn't the greatest with words but he was still a little surprised.

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"I have heard 'lit', yes," he mused - and bet too, probably. People just forgot that he hadn't been exposed to the same vernacular as they had. "I didn't go to Starfleet Academy, and almost all of my time - across every life - has been spent on Trill. I might have watched language there evolve but I suppose I'm missing that aspect of other languages. When I learned Standard it was all very formal." That was the downside of studying at one of the more... Uptight, shall we say, universities on Trill. "But that being said... Despite the nature of this mission, I do hope that it will, in fact, be 'lit.'"

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"Ohhhh..." Allan nodded. "That makes a lot more sense, now that you say that. Honestly, I'm not one for language and the history about it myself in terms of like - what I know, but I love hearing other people talk about it, if you'd ever want to teach me how the language has evolved there or anything!" He said, it was the same principle as always - he loved hearing people talk about things they knew about regardless of whether he was interested himseld in them or not. Other people knowing things was always cool to him. "Oh, yeah." He laughed when Jericho said that it would in fact be 'lit', doing that cheesy little two-fingered salute he did earlier at him again with a smirk. "Bet." And with that, he left the room.

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Oh, you think Saren's still in the room? Nope, the Romulan sneaked out some time ago.

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