Compile#8 May 17-18 (USS Rosenante & USS Boudicca Joint) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission Once More Into the Breach Day 2 Stardate 2414.01.16 Compile Summary (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- SO, Ensign Mike Rosenbauer, 0158) (USS Rosenante - Engineering - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 2 - 0213) (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - CO Captain Durand - 0215) (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- Corridor- ASEC, Marta Nunez, 0230) (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- CSEC- Lieutenant Chance Raschen 0232) (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- Corridor- ASEC, Marta Nunez, 0235) (USS Rosenante, Engineering Support Lab - ATT Lt Cmdr Matthew McLaren - Day 2 0308) (USS Boudicca -Main Engineering - aCEO Ensign Anton Gesar - 0549) (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - ATT LCDR Lorimar - 0553) (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - aCEO Ensign Anton Gesar - 0555) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 2 - 0630) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 0635) (USS Rosenante, Ready Room, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day 2 0830) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - FO - Commander T'Larah Sullivan - 0832) (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 2 - 0834) (USS Rosenante, Ready Room, Lieutenant Tom Jackson, 2O/COPS Day 2 0855) ======================================================= Mission Once More Into the Breach Day 3 Stardate 2414.01.17 Compile Summary (USS Rosenante - Personal Quarters - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 3 - 0002) (USS Boudicca - Secondary Sickbay Lab - CO Captain Durand - 0008) (USS Rosenante, Main Sickbay, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0903) (USS Rosenante, Main Sickbay, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0908) (USS Rosenante, Transporter room one, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0923) ======================================================= Mission Once More Into the Breach Day 4 Stardate 2414.01.18 Compile Summary (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - 0008) (USS Rosenante – Main Sickbay – CMO, Lt jg Kimiko Ichijo – Day 4 - 0009) (USS Boudicca - Main Shuttle Bay - ATAC/SC Jessica Signos - Day 4 - 0015) (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ATAC/SC Jessica Signos - Day 4 - 0020) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- SO, Ensign Mike Rosenbauer, 0158) "From where I was watching on the monitor Mike, he was treated with a palpable amount of contempt by your subordinates from the moment that door opened." Chance then pointed his thumb at himself as he continued "A lot like this 'Pirate Scum' was treated the first time I took over this department." Then indicating the security members on the floor "Get your people out of here and to Sickbay." Chance said as he sat down in the chair with the knife hole in it. Mike looked over at his squad. "Report to sickbay and have your injures tended to and an action summary report filed. Dismissed." The Maniacs paused for a moment and then left the compartment, their egos badly bruised. Mike, meanwhile, turned to look at La Croix, giving him a very icy glare, before turning back to Raschen. "I listened to you and your team for a little over a minute before I sent him in here with the directive to do what he did so that I might evaluate your performance. From what I saw on the monitor, I don't know how you expect to tell me that your team is ready to fight a squad of Borg Drones in the dark when they can"t beat a 90 year old when the lights go out." Chance replied. Mike bristled, but held his tongue. "Starfleet has had enough close quarters battles with the Borg to know they prefer to fight in the dark." Chance continued, "We can't see so we make easier targets. The Borg have had more than enough encounters with Starfleet to know that our 'by the book' tactics are simply defensive aggression. I intend to fight a different way. We will not fight the Borg like Starfleet Security alone; we will fight using unorthodox tactics like the ones pirates, mercs, hitmen, and gangsters do." "Lucien will serve as Forward Scout for the Maniacs. His job will be to reduce the number of Borg Drones that your team has to deal with. Is that understood?" he concluded. "I understand, sir." Mike replied. "But will all due respect sir, you know as well as I do that your little speech isn't anywhere near accurate. Let's be clear here, shall we? Not a single one of my people did anything at all disrespectful to Mister La Croix. If anything, it was the other way around. Secondly, I know you two have history, and I understand that, but you and I both know that there was no reason whatsoever for my people to expect to be attacked by Mister La Croix. And this 'assessment' of yours is a joke and you know it. It is my serious belief that you're simply coving for another officer who went a bit too far. I can accept that, you're in charge here, I'd have done the same, but don't feed me a load and expect me to ask for seconds." "Third, how would you have felt if it was one of my people pulling the same crap on your ship, sir and I had explained it all away as an assessment to judge readiness? You know as well as I do that my team and I are the best prepared, highest rated and most efficient teams on this ship. Why you would choose to risk potential injury to them or La Croix with such a stunt is irresponsible and lacks common sense, especially considering what we're all about to face. Not to mention your little stunt made it completely impossible for La Croix to gain any respect or trust from my people. You know it as well as I do. And there's no one in this department, save maybe yourself more familiar with unorthodox tactics than the Maniacs. That said, we will not be engaging in any tactics that I deem unethical, or morally questionable, and that includes direct purposeful assassination of any one, Borg or otherwise. And I assure you, there is a significant difference between fighting them, either offensively or defensively and assassinating them. Whether you want to believe it or not, they are a sentient species and as such we are still morally bound to do the right thing, lieutenant." Lucien spoke up while still facing the window "Of course you must do what you feel is right." (reply La Croix, Raschen iyw) Chance got up out of the chair and headed for the door. As it opened Raschen turned around and calmly chimed in saying "Mike, Lucien; the Maniacs and the Nightcrawler will learn to work together. That is an order." Raschen then turned and went out the door Nunez alongside him, leaving Rosenbauer and La Croix. (reply Raschen, La Croix iyw) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Engineering - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 2 - 0213) =^= Matrix to Lieutenant O'Neill. Checking in...are you making progress on the holoemitters?" asked Matrix. "Yes, Sir. I've got one of the replicators nearly done with the phaser rifle holoemitters...about fifty more to go. And I'll be starting on the personal phasers in about ten to fifteen minutes. Estimated time for assembly and beginning testing is about 0400, Sir." =^= Oaky Lieutenant keep after it. Pull any resources you might need including personnel to help with assembly and testing. =^= replied Matrix. "Yes, Sir," Eian said, and suddenly an idea came to him. He began mapping it out on his PADD, but Matrix continued. =^= ...I'm working with crewman Baker on the after photon launchers...the new mark fives are slightly longer than the standard versions so we need to alter the firing sequence so they don't jam up in the launch tubes. We're short a SIF module here...have maintenance send down two SIF modules if you would please. =^= asked Matrix. He made a note of it on the bottom screen of his PADD. "Consider it done, Sir." =^= Thank you Lieutenant. Matrix out. =^= replied Matrix. "One more thing--" but he was cut off. "O'Neill to Matrix." (reply Matrix) "Sorry, Sir. One more thing. I had an idea. There's an awful lot of phasers to test, and we're running low on resources as it is. I thought perhaps if we could send out a shipwide memo on how to test the phasers, we could set up testing stations on the holodecks. Then, as Security passes the holoemitters out to personnel, they could stop in to the holodeck and fire three controlled bursts, and if it's working okay they'll get the automatic OK to leave. If not, it'll tell them to turn in their holoemitter and pick up another one. It would save us a lot of time and only cost each crewmember a few minutes." (reply Matrix) (posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - CO Captain Durand - 0215) Always captivated by an interesting discussion, Alan was all the more focused as ideas and decisions made could well mean life or death for many of the crew of both vessels. "That may have considerable merit. If we had an engineer that specialized in Borg theorem we would know more concretely what would affect them. However if we effected such a system it may take them considerable time to recover." He reflected upon that for a moment. “*If*... and I know that is a huge presumption to make in the case of the Borg... but *if* they could be said to have any sort of weakness, my best considered opinion would be either the Vinculum, or the Central Plexus. A successful strike -- by whatever means -- to either of those could potentially be crippling. At least until they manage to adapt. Of course, my research indicates that the Central Plexus, for example, would be an exceedingly difficult target. Of course, nothing is impossible...” (Reply Sullivan iyw) He further considered what Sullivan had said, then went on. “I’m not as familiar with the Rosenante’s personnel and their expertise... but I believe that your Chief Engineer is a weapons man, is that correct? Maybe he might be able to offer some insight into our proposals, in terms of feasibility and vulnerability of the Borg?” (Reply Sullivan) They eventually got around to the rumors Durand had heard regarding ‘transphasic’ weaponry. Evidently Sullivan had also heard something of them. “I think that resource efficient or not, we might explore any available avenue, within the time frame that we have to work. It wouldn’t hurt to ask Captain Salid, or for that matter check with key personnel to see if anyone has any expertise... or even general knowledge in the matter.” (Reply Sullivan) (Posted by Russ) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- Corridor- ASEC, Marta Nunez, 0230) After the little contest of wills, between Rosenbauer, Raschen and La Croix, in the security office, Marta had followed Chance out into the corridor. It didn't take an empath to realize that Chance was fuming, even if he was handling it well. "He's got a valid argument, you know?" She finally said as they headed down the corridor. "Not only did La Croix insult them, he attacked them, Chance. They're not going to respect him after that, even if he has some pretty hardcore skills. You picked the wrong play from the playbook on that one boss. I don't think I've ever seen Mike that angry." (reply Raschen) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- CSEC- Lieutenant Chance Raschen 0232) "...we will not be engaging in any tactics that I deem unethical, or morally questionable, and that includes direct purposeful assassination of any one, Borg or otherwise. And I assure you, there is a significant difference between fighting them, either offensively or defensively and assassinating them. Whether you want to believe it or not, they are a sentient species and as such we are still morally bound to do the right thing, lieutenant." Lucien spoke up while still facing the window "Of course you must do what you feel is right." "Mike, you employed snipers in the past. What's the difference between them and assassins?" Raschen asked nobody in particular. Lucien then interjected "Location of and the proximity to the confirmed kill." Chance got up out of the chair and headed for the door. As it opened Raschen turned around and calmly chimed in saying "Mike, Lucien; the Maniacs and the Nightcrawler will learn to work together. That is an order." Raschen then turned and went out the door Nunez alongside him, leaving Rosenbauer and La Croix. After the little contest of wills, between Rosenbauer, Raschen and La Croix, in the security office, Marta had followed Chance out into the corridor. It didn't take an empath to realize that Chance was fuming, even if he was handling it well. "He's got a valid argument, you know?" She finally said as they headed down the corridor. "Not only did La Croix insult them, he attacked them, Chance. They're not going to respect him after that, even if he has some pretty hardcore skills. You picked the wrong play from the playbook on that one boss. I don't think I've ever seen Mike that angry." Raschen lightly scoffed under his breath before looking at Marta as they walked. "Perhaps you're right Marta. But in two wars and God only knows how many skirmishes, I had listened to that kind of bravado from others only to see them lose control of themselves and their fear just to die trying to run away." (Reply Nunez iyw) "I know Mike will perform admirably but I don't know those on his team. I want the Maniacs to hate La Croix so much that they might forget their fear of the Borg." (Reply Nunez iyw) With a somber sigh "Isn't everything about this mission dangerous. Honestly, I understand their point of view." (Reply Nunez) Laughing, Raschen remembered his first encounter with the Nightcrawler during the Car-Fed War when he was assigned to Chance as a military liaison on board the Star Hawk. Raschen didn't find out till after their first battle of the war that Lucien was there to kill him if he became more pirate than privateer and became to difficult for Starfleet to control. "Let's just say that we, Nightcrawler and Temerarious, haven't had enough wall to wall conversations yet to decide if the assassin or the privateer is more determined." Raschen explained pointing back and forth from the Security Office and himself. (Reply Nunez iyw) Posted by Charlie --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante- Security Offices- Corridor- ASEC, Marta Nunez, 0235) Raschen scoffed almost beneath his breath before replying. "Perhaps you're right Marta. But in two wars and God only knows how many skirmishes, I had listened to that kind of bravado from others only to see them lose control of themselves and their fear just to die trying to run away." Marta shook her head, "You can't be serious. Mike and his team aren't the types to run away. They'd have done so a lot sooner than now if they were." "I know Mike will perform admirably but I don't know those on his team. I want the Maniacs to hate La Croix so much that they might forget their fear of the Borg." Chance replied. "Seems a dangerous gamble to me Chance."Marta said as they continued down the corridor. Chance sighed. "Isn't everything about this mission dangerous. Honestly, I understand their point of view." Marta raised an eyebrow. "Do you?" she asked. Laughing, Raschen explained, "Let's just say that we, Nightcrawler and Temerarious, haven't had enough wall to wall conversations yet to decide if the assassin or the privateer is more determined." He pointed back and forth from the Security Office to himself and back to the Offices. Marta nodded. "I see." she said thoughtfully. "I hope you win out, because personally I think La Croix is an arrogant SOB. And I'd much rather like to think that you're one of the good guys." She smiled at Chance, taking a moment to look at the worry lines gathered around the corner of his eyes. He was ruggedly handsome and a good person despite his gruff nature. She certainly hoped he survived the encounter. She reached her hand into her pocket and withdrew a Saint Brendan's medal. She reached out grabbed Chance's right wrist and stopped him. She turned his hand up and gently opened his fingers. She dropped the medal into his palm. "Take this, It's a medal of Saint Brendan, he's the patron saint of sailors. I want you to take it." With that she smiled at him, closed his fingers around it and walked away leaving him to his thoughts. (reply Raschen iyw) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Engineering Support Lab - ATT Lt Cmdr Matthew McLaren - Day 2 0308) "Spit *what* out, Matt? Why ah’m here?" Bob said as he gave him a confused look. "That you want to talk to me about Arania, and about why I left the Boudicca." Matthew replied. Bob smiled thinly for a moment before replying. It seemed to Matthew that he had hit a nerve. "Nothing could have been further from mah mind, mah dear friend. Ah’ve been working non-stop since tasked by our Captain. Captains? Ah ken that yer man Captain Salid is runnin’ the show anyway. They’ve got me buildin’ a great big bloody antimatter bomb, actually.” He explained. "An antimatter Bomb?" Matthew asked. "Why?" "It’s a basic design, really... but ah’ve added a few unique kinks. In case we need tae use it, ah dinnae want those bleedin’ Borg tae counter it afore it can go ‘BOOM’... but truly, that isnae why ah’m here." Bob explained, by passing the question and redirecting the conversation back to the reason for his visit. "Okay," Matt conceded. "If you're not here to talk about Arania and you're not here to talk about the Antimatter bomb, then why are you here exactly?" "All the thinkin’ ah’ve been up tae working on this project inspired another thought. In order tae beat back these infernal buggers and stop whatever evil hijinks they’re plannin’, the more -- less, rather -- conventional the better, aye? Better tae hit them wie somethin’ they’ve not seen before, ah’m ah right?" Matthew nodded, "That's the general consensus among men smarter than myself." he agreed. "Anyway," Bob continued, "'tis why ah came tae ye. Yer the only man alive wie the experience and knowledge ah’m lookin’ for. Ye’ve been aboard the Planet Killer..." "What does the Planet Killer have to do with the Borg?" Matthew asked when Bob paused. "... Yer the only man ah know who has first hand experience wie antiproton weaponry. Mah point is simply this: Is there any way ye can think of that we could utilize that technology against the Borg? If this mission is as desperate as ah think it is, then even a one shot device might be important. Critically important." Matthew scrunched up his face, shrugged and then took a step towards his table. "I don't know, Bob. I don't really think so. I mean that technology was way beyond our own." He explained. He stopped for a moment and reached down to idly pick up a piece of errant equipment, his mind racing over the details and struggling to recall all the notes and minutiae that he'd submitted after the incident. After all, he'd had months to theorize as he recovered from the unique radiation that had ravaged his muscles on the Planet Killer. His eyes crawled across the clutter of hand drawn schematics and scrawled notes until they settled on something else. "At least not in a sustainable beam format." He finally replied as an idea began to form in the back of his head. (reply Lorimar) "Well there's no way we could create emitters or make enough modifications to the existing system to handle that kind of sustained load. Remember the Planet Killer had to consume planets to keep its beam and reactors powered. That ability is well beyond our means. But..." Matthew paused for a moment to focus his thoughts, "It's always easier to create a burst of power than to sustain one. That's why bombs are easier to make than beam weapons for example. What about trying to build an antiproton bomb instead of an antimatter bomb?" (reply Lorimar) "Well I think it would be safer. Antimatter affects subspace, we already know that Antiprotons don't. They only interact with solid matter, and I'm pretty certain that we couldn't build anything big enough to be a true threat to space-time. Antiprotons are short-lived, deadly to organic tissue and relatively powerful." He looked at Lorimar. "And..." He added, "I know how to generate small bursts of antiprotons. I've been working on the process since I became ATT. If we could figure out a way to increase the yield and focus the burst into a compressed wavefront, we might be able to make a semi-directional weapon with enough yield to do some serious damage. Of course it would definitely draw the Borg's attention." (reply Lorimar) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca -Main Engineering - aCEO Ensign Anton Gesar - 0549) "Mr.Jacobs, where are we on the mini-holoemitter replication?” Jacobs smiled as he began to give respond, " well sir you know I aim to please, all the holo-emitters have been replicated and are ready to be transported to the security office to be installed on all fire arms. “Good, do you have anything else to report?" "Now that you ask, we stumbled across a secondary shielding program that had been previously installed around a civil war mission. Can you shed any light in it for me, sir?" “Hmm.. I’m embarrassed to say that no I can’t. Do you have any information on who installed it?” "Well, the computer says that Lt Cmdr Lorimar installed it. I took the liberty of asking him to brief me on it, but I haven't gotten a response. I hope that wasn't overstepping my bounds." “Not at all Ensign. I don’t want to speak for Lieutenant Commander Lorimar, but my experience is that he will be glad to talk shop with an engineer. Ok then, I am going to go drop my tools off in my office and I’ll join you. If Lt.CMDR Lorimar replies will see what he can do for us and if not then will try to figure this thing out together.” (Reply Jacobs, iyw) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - ATT LCDR Lorimar - 0553) Bob smiled warmly at the younger man as they shook hands firmly. Jacobs wasted little time in articulating what he wanted to know. ~This one will make a fine engineer,~ Bob thought to himself. ~Little time for nonsense, gets right doon tae it. Ah like that.~ Bob glanced at the system display that Jacobs had been studying. It was the ‘official’ specifications for the secondary shields, which he and Matt had composed after the fact. It had been such a rush job, he recalled, that they had essentially designed it ‘on the fly’ at the time. Fortunately, several adjustments had been made during the Boudicca’s last refit. They had, he thought, worked out pretty much all of the issues with the system. Even the fatal one. “Well, where tae start? Ah ken ye’ve been studying the schematics for the system, an’ that’s a true and accurate representation of the system as it stands now. The system was initialy done at the behest of Commander Stakes -- he was our CO at the time -- when we were goin’ intae the battle at the MDP.” He stopped briefly, remembering. All of it. How Jael al-Sharif, the aCEO at the time had disappeared after the battle, the smoke and fire and chaos of the fight. The crashed escaped pod, the horror of the accident in deflector control. He could feel himself paling a bit, fought to bring it under control and was mostly successful. “Ah, at any rate, Commander Stakes tasked us wie putting a backup in place, in the event the primary shields failed. They did, eventually, but that’s another story entirely. We were able tae rotate from primary to secondary, givin’ each system a bit of cooldown. Our overall shield efficiency went up considerably as a result. From the initial install, Mister McLaren and I dinnae anticipate the volume of fire we were going to take -- no one could have -- and we had some dissipation issues. There was a buildup of antileptons as a result of the shield operation, and we were forced tae use portable antilepton collectors in order tae keep the system up. The system was never designed tae be abused that way... there was an incident, and we lost a guid lad in deflector control that afternoon. Ensign Enright was there as well. She and I and Joshua Carpenter... he was the lad we lost.” He wound down a bit then. Even though it was years in the past, the immediacy of the memory still amazed him. But he had work to do, and little time to ruminate. He pointed to a particular section of the schematic for emphasis. “As ye can see, when we last refit the ship, we improved the system yet again. The shield systems are still independent, but they can be cross connected if need be, which makes for handy redundancy of hardware. Now, what else were ye wantin’ tae ask about it?” (Reply Jacobs, Any, Room for more) (Posted by Russ) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - aCEO Ensign Anton Gesar - 0555) Anton stepped out of his office with a PADD containing the schematics of the new system in his hand, having taken the time to download it and give it a quick review after dropping off his tools. He saw Bob already talking to Henry. “As ye can see, when we last refit the ship, we improved the system yet again. The shield systems are still independent, but they can be cross connected if need be, which makes for handy redundancy of hardware. Now, what else were ye wantin’ tae ask about it?” "Chief," Anton spoke as he approached and tried to get Bob's attention. (Reply Lorimar) "It's great to see you sir. We have not had much opportunity to work together since your... promotion." Anton turned toward Henry, "I see you've met Ensign Jacobs." (Reply Lorimar) "We appreciate you comming down to help us figure out how to best utilize this system of yours. We're definitely going to need all the help we can get. The real question is how to best utilize it. Do we rotate the shield systems or cross connect them. I think I heard you say something about antileptons?" (Lorimar, Jacobs) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 2 - 0630) Josh was manning the Bridge when Lt Trei walked up to her and immediately stated his proposal without any preamble. ~It must be the Klingon half of him~ she thought. ~Oh well at least he managed to call me sir.~ Smiling inwardly Josh listened to his proposal and his request to relay this to Captain Salid. She nodded her head. "There will be a joint command meeting very shortly Lieutenant and I will indeed bring your suggestion to Captain Salid's attention. However I would point out that the only two Vulcans we have are both at present aboard the Rose and if they have a moral objection to using their abilities this way I would not dream of ordering them to. Further Lieutenant, Vulcans are touch telepaths. I believe that for them to do what you suggest would most certainly put them in direct danger of being assimilated by the Borg." (Reply Trei) iyw (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 0635) Caskie told Detron the potential of his proposal to be implemented. She told him it depended on the Vulcans on the Rosenante and their moral views on the matter. Detron nodded as he understood. "Understood . I will wait for the confirmation sir." Detron waited for Caskie to dismiss him. (Reply Caskie) (Posted by Edward) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Ready Room, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day 2 0830) Ahmed was as ready as he was going to get and once All the officers arrived at their particular locations, he initiated the briefing. "Okay, everyone, what have we got?" he asked. Jennifer was the first to speak up. "Sirs, I'm fairly sure that more or less everything I have to report will no doubt also be covered by Tom as well since both crews have been working closely together so that nothing, no matter how small, or seemingly insignificant would be missed. As for the Boudicca we are well on our way to completing all the engineering modifications that both crews have come up with and should, more or less have them completed by the time we reach our co-ordinates. Security has set up numerous choke points around the ship where we can hopefully hold the Borg for a while at least should they board us and they and Engineering are working on both individual self modulation and individual holographic self modulation frequencies for our hand phasers. Basically we are almost as ready as we can be given the time we have had to prepare." "I've also had a few people come to me with information regarding possible reasons for the Borg incursion in this system and I have collated all the data and disseminated it shipwide on both ships so that everyone can study it. " Ahmed nodded. He'd ready many of those reports already. Some of them were intriguing. Josh took a deep breath and looked over at Captain Salid. "However, before I finish my briefing there is one other point I wish to raise here as a possible 'final' solution should we find ourselves overwhelmed. Captain Salid if you look in the medical database under the code name Kismet you will find a file giving instructions on how to replicate the Opthidian biotoxin. This file can only be accessed using either your command codes or my old CMO ones and no-one else's. Given the nature of our adversary I think it is something that we might need to consider." "Captain Salid, this is the first I have heard about the ‘biotoxin’," Durand quickly added. "I can’t comment on it except in the general sense, which is to say that whatever measures we must take to stop the Borg, I would conditionally approve." Ahmed's color probably drained from his face. The Opthidian bioweapon that they had encountered all those years ago when responding to the Sky of Tomorrow distress call had resurfaced. The Rosenante had responded only to find a deadly nanoviral outbreak had taken control of a Federation mining colony. They virus had been derived from modified Borg nanoprobes and they had set about killing the 3500 inhabitants of the colony and 'reanimating' their bodies with a zeal that was horrifying. The current situation was significantly different, despite it's outward appearances. The Opthidians had developed a bioweapon that liquified all organic life, sterilizing the entire planet for a period of roughly 200 standard years. Faced with a possible epidemic that could affect billions of sentients, Ahmed had suggested and Captain Rivers approved, the deployment of the bioweapon on the planet. The Virus in question had been surgically removed from an injured Opthidian tracker by the Rosenante's CMO, Doctor Jennifer Caskie. Ahmed shook his head as he replied, "That's not an option Commander, Captain. Using a bioweapon against nanite filled corpses is one thing- against a living creature, it's something else entirely. Whether we want to disbelieve it or not, the Borg are very much alive biologically. They are a sentient species, or more accurately a species comprised of billions of other sentient species. We have no more right to eradicate them using a bioweapon than they have to assimilate us. Besides, if it were to fail, we may well add another very powerful weapon to their arsenal. I think it best that we leave that Pandora's box closed." (reply Caskie) "Our orders are very clear. We are here to gather information and to interdict ONLY if we determine that there is a very real and clear danger to the Federation. We are not here to engage the Borg directly. We are not here to fight them, unless there is no other choice. It is my intention to avoid contact with the Borg for as long as possible, until such time as we can determine what their goals are. We will not be encouraging any sort of offensive actions against the Borg until such time as it should prove absolutely necessary. Already we are dealing with a situation unlike any that we've encountered, and it is my belief that we should proceed with extreme caution. We will use force as an option only if needed and not as an operational tool. The last thing we want to do is make the Borg feel that they need to up the ante against the Federation and send a series of Borg ship's here on a mission of conquest. I believe that if we threaten them with something like a bioweapon, they may very well decide that we are much more worthy of assimilation than we are now. That is not something I want to be responsible for if it can be helped." Durand nodded then continued, "Having said that sir, Commander Sullivan and I have some concepts ready for your consideration. Some of them of course are pending consideration from engineering and sciences; as most if not all of them have never been tried before, and we are not positive about the feasibility of implementing them." "Very good, captain, send them over for my review, along with recommendations and I'll detail the operational plans I think have the best chances of success. You and I can then discuss any concerns over those items selected at that time." (reply Durand) Ahmed turned to Tom, who had remained silent as the more senior officers spoke. It was time to hear from Jackson. "Sirs, assuming we will be in contact directly with the Borg, what is our policy concerning crew that have been assimilated?" "We are not going to have the option to rescue everyone, but we should be aware and open to opportunities that may present themselves, through which we may be able to recover any personnel that may find themselves forced into the collective. Those operations, however, will NOT be the primary drive of this operation. To that effect, I have provided Doctor Ichijo with some information I found concerning Pre- and Post- Assimilation treatments. She's looking into the possibilities." "Mister Jackson, do you have anything ales to report that has not already been brought to the table?" (reply Jackson, Sullivan, Durand, Caskie) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - FO - Commander T'Larah Sullivan - 0832) "Okay, everyone, what have we got?" Captain Salid asked. Commander Caskie was the first to speak after Captain Salid. Caskie, Salid and Durand had discussed the possibility of a bio-weapon, which was quickly shot down by Captain Salid. Ahmed shook his head as he replied, "That's not an option Commander, Captain. Using a bio-weapon against nanite filled corpses is one thing- against a living creature, it's something else entirely. Whether we want to disbelieve it or not, the Borg are very much alive biologically. They are a sentient species, or more accurately a species comprised of billions of other sentient species. We have no more right to eradicate them using a bio-weapon than they have to assimilate us. Besides, if it were to fail, we may well add another very powerful weapon to their arsenal. I think it best that we leave that Pandora's box closed." (Reply Caskie) "Our orders are very clear. We are here to gather information and to interdict ONLY if we determine that there is a very real and clear danger to the Federation. We are not here to engage the Borg directly. We are not here to fight them, unless there is no other choice. It is my intention to avoid contact with the Borg for as long as possible, until such time as we can determine what their goals are. We will not be encouraging any sort of offensive actions against the Borg until such time as it should prove absolutely necessary. Already we are dealing with a situation unlike any that we've encountered, and it is my belief that we should proceed with extreme caution. We will use force as an option only if needed and not as an operational tool. The last thing we want to do is make the Borg feel that they need to up the ante against the Federation and send a series of Borg ship's here on a mission of conquest. I believe that if we threaten them with something like a bio-weapon, they may very well decide that we are much more worthy of assimilation than we are now. That is not something I want to be responsible for if it can be helped." Durand nodded then continued, "Having said that sir, Commander Sullivan and I have some concepts ready for your consideration. Some of them of course are pending consideration from engineering and sciences; as most if not all of them have never been tried before, and we are not positive about the feasibility of implementing them." "Very good, captain, send them over for my review, along with recommendations and I'll detail the operational plans I think have the best chances of success. You and I can then discuss any concerns over those items selected at that time." (reply Durand) Ahmed turned to Tom, who had remained silent as the more senior officers spoke. It was time to hear from Jackson. "Sirs, assuming we will be in contact directly with the Borg, what is our policy concerning crew that have been assimilated?" "We are not going to have the option to rescue everyone, but we should be aware and open to opportunities that may present themselves, through which we may be able to recover any personnel that may find themselves forced into the collective. Those operations, however, will NOT be the primary drive of this operation. To that effect, I have provided Doctor Ichijo with some information I found concerning Pre- and Post- Assimilation treatments. She's looking into the possibilities." "Mister Jackson, do you have anything ales to report that has not already been brought to the table?" (Reply Jackson) T'Larah was quiet for most of the briefing. All the points were added already and unless the Captain had something for her specifically, the only thing the had to add uniquely was her experience being forced to become another race. She chose not to speak to spare Caskie's feelings on the matter. (Reply Any) (Posted by Todd) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 2 - 0834) "That's not an option Commander, Captain. Using a bioweapon against nanite filled corpses is one thing- against a living creature, it's something else entirely. Whether we want to disbelieve it or not, the Borg are very much alive biologically. They are a sentient species, or more accurately a species comprised of billions of other sentient species. We have no more right to eradicate them using a bioweapon than they have to assimilate us. Besides, if it were to fail, we may well add another very powerful weapon to their arsenal. I think it best that we leave that Pandora's box closed." Josh simply smiled at Ahmed."I suppose that could be classed as a fair enough argument but I have never yet met a member of the Borg collective who decided to join voluntarily. Have you? Shaking her head Josh regarded him seriously. "I am not suggesting that we employ this as a first strike scenario, but as something to be used only if it looks like we will be overrun here. How many of our people are we willing to sacrifce to the Borg? How many countless more millions will be assimilated if we don't stop them here. If it comes down to a choice between me and the Borg I know what my choice would be. And whilst I am more than willing to admit that each Borg drone was once an individual I, as a medical professional am all to well aware that they are no longer unique individuals and the chances of getting them back as such grow slimmer the longer they have been assimilated." "Our options here are limited and I am offering a solution to this problem. By all means reject it if you wish. I have no problem with that. It is one option among many that I have considered since I rather doubt that we would want to hand the Borg the Rose or the Boudicca on a plate if it comes to that. This was the solution I came up with. (Reply any) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Ready Room, Lieutenant Tom Jackson, 2O/COPS Day 2 0855) Tom listened as the various schemes were discussed. Most seemed desperate to be honest. T.J.'S turn came next. He looked at each senior officer. The faces looking back at Jackson showed lines of worry and looked tired. "Sirs, in addition to what has been mentioned already, I'd like to add a few things. We are developing different frequency re- modulation schemes for shields and weapons." Jackson paused briefly to allow for questions from the others. (Reply: any in room) T.J. went on with briefing. "Lieutenants Raschen and Soma are developing strengthened control points at all critical junctions. Hand phasers have been issued to all personnel. Even with the mod's we have designed, we may get 3 or 4 shots per sequence used." Tom went silent. (Reply: any present) (Posted by: bill) ======================================================= (USS Rosenante - Personal Quarters - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 3 - 0002) It was time to sleep, finally. It had been over 48 hours since he got a good night's sleep, and the last time he slept at all was the brief nap he took twelve hours ago. The ADHD high was wearing off and his human body was kicking in, and he knew he needed sleep. But when he finally put his head down on his pillow, he found he couldn't sleep at all. His brain was wired even if his body could barely keep his eyes open. ~God, it's gonna be one of those nights,~ he thought. The kind where he couldn't sleep. It was a normal occurrence, especially after his mother's death. He had a few options. ~No holovids. 'They speed you up',~ he recalled his coach's words. ~No food. It'll give you energy...~ He had one other option. ~Active prayer.~ He knew if he prayed the traditional way, he would soon be distracted and start thinking of other random things that would keep him awake. This would be true even in normal times. Active prayer was something his paternal grandmother taught him. At age six, just before his parents and he left Ireland, his grandmother Dana had taken him on a walk through a labyrinth in her backyard. He recalled the happy memory. ~'I built this labyrinth with my uncle when I was a little girl. We spent hours and hours meticulously planting each and every bush until it grew just right. It took months.' Dana said as she walked the little boy through the maze. 'That must've been real hard,' six-year-old Eian responded. 'It took patience. But when it was done, it offered our whole family such a great way to connect with God.' Little Eian looked up. 'Huh?' 'Your mummy tells me you've been having trouble praying. That it's hard to stay focused.' 'It's too boring,' the boy whined. 'Well, sometimes your mind needs a little bit of distraction so it can focus. Look, we've reached the middle. Now...I'm going to leave. I want you to try to find your way out, and as you do, pray. Have a conversation with God. Imagine what He would say to you. If you get scared, I'll call out and you can follow the sound of my voice. Okay?'~ Eian had been scared at first, but quickly found a true, deep, and profound connection to God as his mind was occupied enough with the puzzle to be able to access its spiritual center for the first time. He remembered crying tears of joy out of the feelings of elation that came from the experience. It was his first and most treasured memory of truly feeling God's presence. Now he took out his puzzle from the drawer of his nightstand. It was a tactile puzzle for the blind, something he used to get to sleep. But as he kept his eyes closed and turned the knobs and felt around the different consistencies of the block for the solution, he began speaking. "If you get assimilated," he asked in a childlike manner, "Do you still go to heaven, God?" ~What do you think?~ he imagined God asking. "I would think your mind is still connected to You." ~But those who were assimilated and recovered report broken connections to Me, or whatever form of Me they choose to worship. They report that they felt their minds were no longer able to connect to their spiritual centers.~ "Then no, they wouldn't go to heaven...they would be like animals. They'd be like machines." The thought made him shiver under the covers of his bed. ~What of their experiences prior to assimilation? What of the spirit they have built up inside their mind? What of the Holy Spirit in them?~ "Does it exit, or does it stay with them, but is suppressed?" ~Nothing can suppress the Spirit, it is perfect and omniscient.~ "Then is their soul destroyed? Those who are recovered...do they have a...new soul?" ~The same body cannot have two souls.~ "What if it's not the same mind?" ~The body and mind are not so different, Eian. Are not both made of flesh? Do not both evolve from fetal stages?~ "Then what? Does the soul ascend and then return? Do they lose their soul and have to gain it back?" ~You must know I am with you always, through whatever trials you face.~ It was infuriating. How was he supposed to figure this out? He solved the tactile puzzle already. He put it back together and began attempting to solve it again. ~You must also know that there are some things you will not solve in this life.~ With that, Eian found himself finally falling asleep. (no reply necessary) (posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Secondary Sickbay Lab - CO Captain Durand - 0008) Alan listened quietly to Candle’s proposal, not interrupting or commenting until the doctor had finished speaking. He took a breath and then set his coffee carefully down on the workbench, meeting the doctor’s gaze squarely. ~I had best dig deeper into this guy’s file. I read it already but I must have missed some flags in there somewhere...~ “Doctor Candle. My own father is a physician, so I’ve had considerable exposure to medical procedure and practice... and a great deal of medical ethics.” He paused and pointed a finger in Candle’s direction. “Do you realize that what you are proposing is tantamount to targeted assassination of a species? The Borg, as abhorrent as they may be, are sentient beings. The Federation -- Starfleet at any rate -- has not, does not, and will not engage in that sort of behavior. Absenting Starfleet for the moment, what happened to your Hippocratic Oath, Doctor Candle? ‘First, do no harm’? Have you stopped to consider the fact that your proposal... invention, whatever you choose to call it, is completely un-ethical? Are you aware that the Balthus Accords of 2307 absolutely forbid this sort of bioweapon research?” (Reply Candle, Room for more) “At any rate... I’m not the mission commander in this instance. And, due to the gravity of our situation, you will prepare a summary of your work, and present it to Commander Caskie -- as you were previously ordered -- so that we can discuss it at the command staff briefings. Captain Salid has final authority on all aspects of this mission. I strongly suggest that you refrain from altering your memory in any way, as you will likely be called upon to explain your work. Is that clear, Doctor?” (Reply Candle, Any) (Posted by Russ) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Main Sickbay, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0903) Dr Ichijo stood, watching the display in her office, her research into the Borg sidetracked into some archive footage of Wolf 359. She watched as the events that happened almost fifty years ago, unfolded themselves again. The display showed a magnified external view as well as tactical data repeater. It was eerie to view ships that were confidently cruising in formation to destroy a single opponent and realize that only one would return. The power that those ships represented were unprecedented in Earth and Federation history; this only underscored the disaster that was about to be. The lead ship, a Galaxy class, opened fire with photon torpedoes as the Cube ranged on her. A small explosion, barely a pinprick to the large Cube, was all the damage the opening salvo did; however, the Borg flew towards the task force without returning fire. The same craft erupted in fire as one of the Cube’s beam weapons tore though saucer section and another slashed into one of her nacelles. For a moment the Cube disappeared behind a eye-searing shroud of light as the allied ships fired and for a moment the doctor’s breath was caught in her throat as she imagined the invader destroyed; however, the outcome had been written long before she had been born. An Akira class starship made a strafing attack in what would be considered knife range in the distances measured by light seconds; another hellish beam lashed out of the plasma cloud and ripped into the vessel, the Starfleet craft lived just long to know that it failed. The tactical display showed that equal damage was being wrecked on the other side of the Borg craft. Kimiko grew cold as the repeater displayed the damage estimates, nine ships destroyed outright and thirty-three hundred killed, all in the span of just a few moments. The firing grew more sporadic and frantic as the individual ships realized what an elemental force that they had been pitted against. The chirp of her comm startled her as yet another ship succumbed to the terrible onslaught. =^=Salid to Ichijo=^= Kimiko noticed that her mouth had turned dry and swallowed, “Ichijo here. Yes Captain, how may I help you?” Kimiko replied, distracted, as the external view changed slightly, the slight pixilation and chopping said more about the reason for change of vantage, then any after-action report. =^=Doctor, can you come to my ready room and bring your thinking cap. I have some data I'd like to show you and get a medical opinion on. If possible contact Doctor Candle and ask him to beam over if at all possible. I'd like his opinion as well and time is of the essence.=^= “Certainly sir.” Kimiko said as she tapped the screen to freeze the program. “I will be there shortly.” =^=Thank you Doctor, Salid out.=^= Kimiko turned back to the graphic. The screen showed, against the backdrop of the Borg ship, a Nebula class ship in mid-explosion in what could only be a containment failure. ~USS Bellerophon~ Kimiko thought as the display proved the name of the doomed ship. A tear rolled down her cheek as she reached down to the console and ended the program. (Reply none) (Posted by Jack) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Main Sickbay, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0908) Kimiko sat at her desk collecting her thoughts, a cup of tea sat cooling beside her. The historical feed has taken much from her. She had vaguely remembered watching it before as a student; however, it was watched though the eyes of a callow student, assured that such event were safely in the past and that her age and time protected her from such an event. Watching the program, she could easily imagine being aboard one of the ships. Kimiko realized that these thoughts were self-defeating and would not help her discharge her duty. She rose to her feet and took a long drink of her tea. ~The sun will rise without mans cajoling and will set against his command~ she thought to herself. The doctor tapped her communicator and stated. “Doctor Ichijo to Doctor Candle” (Reply Candle) “Captain Salid has come across an approach that he would like an opinion on. He and I would like to extend an invitation to sit in on the briefing if it is at all possible. Due to time constraints, we will need to begin as quickly as we can.” (Reply Candle) “Excellent, I will meet you in Transporter room one in fifteen minutes” Kimiko replied. Kimiko closed the channel and opened another with the Captain. “Doctor Ichijo to Captain Salid” (reply Salid) “Doctor Candle has agreed to be present; I will meet him in the transporter room in fifteen minutes and bring him to…” (Reply Salid) “Very well, in fifteen minutes, Ichijo out” --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Transporter room one, CMO, Lt jg. Kimiko Ichijo - Day 3, 0923) Kimiko stood by the transporter chief and waited for the doctor from the Boudicca to transport over, she tugged on the fabric of her uniform and waited. “Sir, a Doctor Candle requesting permission to beam over from the Boudicca” the Chief stated. “Certainly” Kimiko responded A moment later the transporter hummed and field of light generated in front of her, shortly the doctor coalesced in front of her. Kimiko stepped up, extend her hand and smiled. “Dr Candle, it is a pleasure to finally meet the disembodied voice” she stated (Reply Candle) “If you will come with me, we’ll get the briefing started” (Reply Candle) At Basil’s assent, Kimiko turned and lead the way to the ready room. (Reply Candle) (Posted by Jack) ======================================================= (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - 0008) “Go to Red Alert, all hands to battle stations. Raise shields, ready all weapons. High security alert all decks. Match course and speed with the Rosenante, alter formation as ordered. Commander Caskie, select a team of officers and crew to staff the battle bridge, and stand by to do so.” Josh watched as the lights dimmed and the Red Alert started flashing. Nodding at the Captain Josh began picking the crew she wanted to staff the Battle Bridge. Leaving Captain Durand with most of the Alpha team she began contacting officers and crew from the other three shifts and gave them the order to report to the Battle Bridge as soon as she ordered them to. She chose the Beta shift Conn and Ops officers. As for engineering she decided that most of the senior staff were better placed where they were so she selected the next senior crew member. From Medical she chose one of the medical technicians skilled in triage but deciding that Security should be well represented on the battle bridge she contacted Ensign Signos and asked her to report to the battle bridge when Josh gave the order. Getting an acknowledgement from all of them Josh turned back to Durand. He tabbed a control on the arm of the center seat. “All hands, this is the Captain. We are entering the Dovek system. We are going to avoid contact with the Borg if possible, and attempt to determine the reason for their presence here. Hostile action may occur at any time and with little warning; all personnel must be vigilant and be prepared for any eventuality. If we do engage the Borg despite our best efforts to the contrary, I’ll be asking a great deal from each one of you. In the time I’ve gotten to see this crew perform, I’ve come to realize that you make the difficult merely routine, and the impossible simply difficult. I know you won’t disappoint, and we shall not falter, nor shall we fail. I trust in all of you to do your duty, as you must trust each other. We will keep you advised of directives and intentions. That is all.” He tabbed the channel closed and turned back to Caskie, giving her an exaggerated wink. Josh simply smiled at him. There was nothing else to be said except good luck and to be honest Josh didn't think that luck would have much to do with it. They had made all the preparations that they could. Very shortly they would find out whether all that they had done was enough or not. Josh, always the pragmatist, simply waited to see what would happen. Taking a deep breath she concentrated on looking quietly confident for everyone else. (no reply needed) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante – Main Sickbay – CMO, Lt jg Kimiko Ichijo – Day 4 - 0009) Kimiko sat at her terminal and watched as each node reported its readiness, all four of the medical bays were closed up and it looked like one of the two overflow bays was a bit late reporting in. Kimiko glanced around the main sickbay one last time; there was not as much as a hypo out of place. Several of the staff stood clustered, talking in hushed tones; there was an undercurrent of not exactly fear but wariness that was not present before. The more she researched into the process of assimilation and the Borg in general, the more that she understood the institutional fear and hatred that the Borg generated. It was not that they killed you, but stole your soul. The doctor shivered. ~Not now, not ever~ she thought fiercely, She heard her communicator chirp. =^=Bridge to Sick Bay. Please report your status=^= Tom requested. Dr Ichijo watched as the last area turned green. “Sickbay is ready” (Reply none) (Posted by Jack) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Main Shuttle Bay - ATAC/SC Jessica Signos - Day 4 - 0015) She entered the main shuttle bay when the order for her to muster on the battle bridge, when the command was given. Jessica nodded in response, as she watched the Blood Wing land. On either side of the young ensign she was flaked by one master chief and the three petty officers that comprised security team Theta 316. Each one was picked by Jessica herself, after the first mission she had on the Boudicca, and each was armed and ready for what possibly laid before them. Jessica watched as Lt (jg) Ael Harkonnen T'Rillian stepped from the craft, before Jessica herself stepped forward. "Lt. T'Rillian," Jessica called. "I am, Ensign Signos, We are to escort you to the Observation Lounge, by the the order of Captain Durand." Her voice was kind yet carried with it a practiced authority of on that knew how to command by ways other than force. "Signos to Captain Durand. We are en-route to the observation lounge with Lt. T'Rillian. " (reply Ael, Durand iyw) Signos, nodded has team Theta 316, made a box around the two officer's with what seemed practiced precision. "If you would be so kind," Jessica mentioned to Ael " Right this way." Has the small group made their way to the observation lounge. "I am sorry for the heightened security " Jessica mentioned, making a small measure of conversation has they made there way though out Boudicca. The route they took to the observation lounge was not the most direct but was by far the safest. "But if you know what out there and since your here, I assume you do. Then I'm pretty sure you understand why." (reply Ael, iyw.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ATAC/SC Jessica Signos - Day 4 - 0020) Then entered observation lounge to find it void of people and life. Jessica made a motion and two of the security team positioned themselves on either side of the door. "I am sure the Captain, will be with us shortly, Can i get you anything or be of service till then.?" Jessica asked with a wide smile. (reply Ael) (posted by Matthew Locke.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Compile ---------------------------------------------------------------------