EXETERRPG: (2 - 1500) AeroDir VAdm Dale Bracken and SOPS/3O LtCmdr Tryek Na'Rel)

[Mark Howard]

Mission: A new day dawns

Day: 2

Stardate: 2446.01.29



(Starfleet Aeronautics - Admirals Office - AeroDir Vice Admiral Dale
Bracken and SOPS/3O LtCmdr Tyrek Na’Rel -1500)



Dale tapped her finger on the table gently as she thought carefully. She
had come a long way since the young, half terrified girl that she had been
reported to the Captain on board the Dennison all those years ago. She had
been so nervous that she had forgotten that she had been an Ensign(jg) and
not a Cadet. That however, was a simple bubble in the stream of memory. The
rank pips at her breast, and the Legion of Honour that she wore on her left
collar separated her now from the girl she had been. All her assignments,
ACSO, CSO, FO, CO then taking a sideways step into SpecOps, before hitting
the flag ranks, she ruminated on how to proceed.



“Commander. You have my sincere apologies that this has become necessary.
You are here to simply answer questions regarding the incident at the game
earlier. You are currently not in any suspicion, I simply need to know the
timeline of events according to your recollection. To my left you will see
the Associate Professor for Terran/Romulan Relations, who is simply present
to make sure that I act fairly and in accordance with both our law and your
conventions. Should you have an objection to this it is your right to raise
it.”



Tyrek observed the admiral as she spoke.  He noticed her legion of honor
Medal on her collar. The woman in front of him was clearly one of the best
Starfleet had to offer. She didn't have the composure of someone who spent
a career behind a desk, no this woman was clearly forged from service in
the field. Truly an officer to admire. Sitting directly across from her he
side eyed the professor to her left.

" No Admiral Bracken, I have no objections to the presence of the
Professor. " He said, turning his gaze  back at the Admiral.





“So firstly. Tell me about the game. Before it all kicked off. Tell me your
thoughts, feelings, that kind of thing.”



" Yes Admiral of course. I was sitting in the crowd as a spectator. I could
feel that there was tension among the players and the crowd alike. Being
that this was my first time attending a Terran sporting event and Terrans
having a knack for being competitive , I figured that this was normal...at
First. I was seated along the first base side of the field roughly 25 to 30
meters from the zone of play. Three security enforcement personnel were
standing before me. One was watching the field, one was engaging in
flirtatious conversation with a spectator and the other one was ferociously
swiping right on his personal communication device. Not paying attention to
the events around him. I could see the stares the players were shooting
across the field. Something felt off about the entire situation. I could
feel it growing beyond just me being in a new environment. " Tyrek said,
without breaking eye contact with the admiral.



“I have learned, in all my years, that the ‘gut feeling’ though illogical
and irrational, has saved my life numerous times. It can serve us well.”



" Yes Admiral, very true. It can be a very effective tool in our arsenal of
decisiveness." Tyrek remarked.



“So the atmosphere was tense, between the players. So this didn’t smell
like your common or garden friendly? I hope that translates?” She turned to
the Professor who nodded.



" I understand your analogy to the context of the situation Admiral. "
Tyrek nodded in assurance.

" Several spectators remarked on rivalry being as charged as ever. Admiral
Bracken."



“So game starts. What next?”



" The words "play ball " were yelled loudly from the officator of the
match. A bald headed woman hurled the ball towards the man with the stick
and struck him. Not knowing the rules of the game I didn't know if this was
acceptable or not. But that didn't matter for much longer. Before I knew
it, players from both sides of the contest stormed the field. Two of the
three aforementioned security personnel remained unphased and distracted by
other things. The only one who had been watching made a mad dash to the
field. He was quickly overtaken by the eruption of chaos. I jumped from my
seat and onto the field in an attempt to pull people off each other. "
Tyrek stopped and shook his head.



" Forgive me Admiral, I saw an older male strike a younger male. This was
unacceptable.  Pulled him off of his young victim and started yelling for
people to stop. Trying to remind them that they were Starfleet. In a way I
felt like in that moment I was seeing the unraveling of something I respect
and have respected since I was a child… Anyway, before long I was attacked
for trying to break them apart. I defended myself by using my hand to hand
combat deflection training.

" He glanced at the Professor.

" Checking my Republic service record will verify my combat training and
show that I could have seriously hurt those who were attacking me during my
attempt to break up the crowd. "



“I have no doubt about that Commander.” Dale said. “At this time that is of
no moment,”



Tyrek nodded , yielding to her.

“You mentioned security being unphased and distracted. Elaborate.” Her
steely gaze drew in every detail.



" The security personnel assigned to the event seemed complacent in their
duties. As if they weren't taking their job seriously, just my observation.
They had probably been assigned to these types of events plenty of times.
Repetition , although good, often breeds laziness. Like I mentioned, one
had his eyes on his personal communication device and the other in the same
section was talking with a spectator. The one who made the effort to
perform his duties seemed to be the eldest in terms of age of the three and
was ...out of shape physically speaking . My fear when he vanished into the
pile of people was that he would be wounded. The aggression of the players
was intense. It spread like wildfire and before long the spectators
themselves stormed the field . "



“I understand all too well.” Dale said. “Last couple of questions, I
promise. Did you at any point hear any words spoken between any of the
opposing teams?



" The noise was so overwhelming it was hard to hear what, who was saying
what to who. " Tyrek said , as he struggled to recall any specific words
between the opposing sides.



“Regardless of how inconsequential.”



" The music being played loudly made the crowd erupt into an extreme frenzy
as though they found inspiration in its sound. The ensuing volume of the
crowd was powerful. However ,I did hear Captain Williams ordering people to
stand down. Just before someone tried punching him in the back of the head.
I stopped that from happening. " Tyrek mentioned as he noticed his hand
slightly shaking. He closed his hand into a solid first to get it to stop.

" Wait. There was something. Yes I remember. Someone yelled bally? No, they
yelled the word baldy. Perhaps as an insult directed at the bald woman who
threw the ball?"



“Baldy?” Dale’s mind switched gear. “Are you certain? And let's not
misunderstand each other, Officer to Officer; I mean absolutely honour of
the family certain?” Once more she turned to the Professor, who shrugged
and nodded.



Tyrek smiled.

" Admiral You're good I must admit you're good. " He remarked on her use of
such subtle terminology to convey the message that she knew more than she
needed to say. Tyrek was thoroughly impressed with the admiral.



“Thank you Commander.” She stood up with a warm, friendly smile, but it was
one that hid considerable experience and intellect. Holding out her hand
she continued. “You are freely dismissed Commander. I may have follow ups,
but they can be addressed through a comm channel. Do you have any questions
for me? Please speak freely.”



Standing up himself. He took her hand gently  but firmly. " Admiral please
don't hesitate to contact me regarding this or any matter…" He smiled and
released her hand from the handshake.

" As for questions for you ? I wouldn't even know where to begin, Admiral.
You are most certainly a fount of knowledge and experience. I'm sure you
couldn't possibly have enough time to entertain all the questions I have
for you , Admiral Bracken." He couldn't help but admire the Legion of honor
Medal on her collar.



“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does
not…is a fool for life. Personal favourite.” She smiled gently and
shrugged. “Dismissed. Commander.”



 "Admiral " Tyrek said , bowing his head slightly to her. Then promptly
turned and took his leave.



(reply none)

(posted by Mark)
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