The Evil Awakens

Posted on Wed Nov 29th, 2023 @ 10:41pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen & Lieutenant Paul Michael & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Lieutenant Elen Diari & Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke & Lieutenant Vura & Major Cornelius Tremble & Captain Edmund Merrick & Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr
Edited on on Wed Nov 29th, 2023 @ 11:09pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Officer's Briefing Room - Deck 1 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 1000 hrs

Tyler had received the orders about an hour ago and as much as he hated to leave Poseidon Station and his new friends behind. He welcomed the new mission. The crew had been recalled and had already begun to board the ship. The first to arrive was his Senior Staff of course, and he summoned them to a briefing. He thought it best to bring them up to speed as everyone else boarded.

Sofia Cipriani, his Yeoman had laid out the usual refreshment for the Staff Meetings and Tyler took his seat at the head of the table as he waited for the rest to arrive. This new mission seemed like a rather run of the mill exploration of a nebula. But it should prove interesting, nonetheless.

Alyssa was the first to arrive. Except for one day on the station and another on the planet, she'd spent most of shore leave on the Pioneer, catching up on a number of projects and coming to terms with events from the last mission. She finally felt ready to move on and was eager to hear where they were going next. "Hello, Commodore. Congratulations on your promotion. She got herself some refreshments and sat at the table."

Next through the door was Thex. The Andorian had a blue smile on her face as she took her seat. "Morning all. Congratulations on the promotion Commodore."

Michael entered the room, went to the refreshment table and helped himself to a tall glass of iced tea, then returned to the conference table and took a seat. "Morning everyone." Michael had enjoyed their time on the station...it gave him and Auba time to bond with their new daughter Anegn. Anegn usually slept through the night, usually only waking for either a feeding or a diaper change. Paul and Auba took turns feeding her a bottle, giving the other a chance for a few extra hours sleep. Even though Paul and Lyna were both seasoned veterans of Starfleet, it took them awhile to get used to changing diapers. How such a small child could produce such a volume of waste was beyond the both of them. Thank goodness the replicator also handled waste by products.

Hermia entered the conference room, she wore her lab coat, and in one of the pockets was a PADD. "Congrats on the promotion, Skipper." Grabbing a coffee, she said. "Good morning, everyone." and took her assigned seat.

Neil strode into the conference room, taking attendance with a glance, then met Tyler's eyes and said, "Morning Commodore." Then he glanced to the others and said, "Good morning. Looks like shore leave was survived. For the most part anyway."

Tyler smiled in turn as everyone arrived. He rather liked how his crew had bonded and just flowed without any encouragement. He decided to hold his words until everyone had arrived.

Edmund then arrived just as Neil made his comment about surviving shore leave. "I will say I did actually make it to the planet below and enjoyed some swimming and surfing," he remarked, before getting some tea and taking a seat. "I wish we could have put together a game during that time, Commodore. And that has a lovely ring to it." flashing a smile towards his friend, and CO of the ship, Tyler.

Gliding in, the Deltan Counselor was dressed in uniform. However, it hugged her curves and did nothing to dissuade imaginations even though she was not dressed in one of her many fanciful dresses. However, she did have some sapphire droplet earrings in both of her ears with some gold studs placed higher in her ears. Cheerfully she called, "Good morning, everyone. How is our wonderful crew today?" she asked as she took a seat near Edmund.

Edmund gave Vura a bit of a smile. "Morning." he briefly answered.

El was the complete opposite, there weren't any hedges on the ship, but she looked like she had been dragged through one at warp. Bleary eyed she stumbled in the room, and fell into the nearest chair "been up all night chasing a sensor fault, hopefully it's fixed now." she yawned.

A meeting at 1000 hours? Lachlan had never heard of such a late meeting but as the marine and naval crew mixed there were different expectations, different routines in place on this motley crew of the Pioneer. Walking into the room he looked at those gathered, he being the only NCO in the room, as usual at these meetings, he moved to take a seat near Captain Merrick. Sitting down he smiled at the man, "Morning Cap."

"Morning Sergeant Major." Merrick giving a bit of a grin. He love saying that title for Lachlan. The man deserved it.

Rowena took a deep breath and then walked in to face the musice. SHe gave a friendly smile to everyone and said, "Good morning." as she grabbed a cup of coffee before sitting down. She put the cup in front of her but didn't take a sip just yet.

Ja'sol walked in at a quick pace and found an open seat and sat down. " Sorry for the delay. " As he pulled out a PaDD and readied himself for taking notes.

Once everyone had arrived and took their seats Tyler surveyed the group and was elated to see everyone rested and relaxed. Well everyone save for Elen who had been ever diligent on keeping the Pioneer in tip to shape. "Before we get down to it. Elen is there anything else that we should know about. All other systems are nominal I trust."

"We're all good. QSD has finally settled in, so can now make it run a bit smoother, still have an inertial damper bump when exiting, trying to fix that. The fault was in the EPS regulator system, if it flares up again, might have to take one section on one deck of the ship offline for about an hour to just replace the whole board, but will give some warning." she answered, trying not to yawn.

"Good to hear..." Tyler began and then tapped some commands into the holo projector in the center of the table. "This is the Acom Nebula. It has unusual amounts of serilum and dilithium. Starfleet would like us to push off from Poseidon Station and go investigate the nebula for possible harvesting of the elements. Any questions?" Tyler understood the need to investigate the nebula. What he did not understand was why it had to be his ship. Seem rather mundane for the flagship. But, at least his science teams should welcome the chance to return to science as it were.

Alyssa looked at the hologram with interest. This would be perfect for her team--and her. She loved nebulae. She made some notes on her PADD as she listened.

"I recommend we modulate the shield, nebulae of this sort can give off some harmful forms of radiation, that could effect the crew as well as certain ship's systems." Hermia said thinking of the crew's health.

A little concentrated but somewhat distracted, Rowena stroked her cup of coffee while looking at the screen. She didn't really say anything as this was a science mission than anything. Unless there was something of intelligence value with the nebula, but for now she didn't detect anything.

"Thanks Doc. Lieutenant H'ros see to our shields. Commander McGowen I would like you and your staff to keep an eye and ear on the Romulans and the Jutrai. While we are investigating this nebula it should be the best time to get as much intel as we can. Anyone else have anything?" Tyler sipped his coffee as he looked around the table. It seemed that a dark cloud of sorts loomed there. However, it just as easily be his crew cleaning out the cobwebs of vacation. Perhaps this crew gets too much shore leave. He thought.

"As far as I know it is one of our top priorities," Rowena said. She looked on her padd with notes. There wasn't really anything new.

"Not that it is overly relevant to the mission ahead but enlisted crew count has dropped significantly after our last layover. Starfleet graced us with a few new faces, but we lost a few experienced hands to retirements and transfers." Lachlan reported as he skimmed his PaDD. "Not a lot of marine movement, mostly naval but we'll orientate them before we reach the nebula." Placing the PaDD down he then brushed a hand through his hair as he watched the Captain drink his coffee.

"We should run some scans as soon as we're in range," Alyssa said. "That will give us a baseline for the research and let us know the exact modifications we need for the shields."

Vura pleasantly looked around the room, scanning each and every individual to see how they were acting. She strongly doubted that there was going to be any stress on this mission. After all, this seemed rather routine. She pointedly looked at the Captain, who was calmly sipping his coffee. Did he seem bored? She was unsure. Regardless, this routine mission would allow her to continue catching up on the mental fitness exams on the ship and do some of her own follow up with crew members she met during shore leave.

"Sergeant Major..." Tyler began with a smile. He was proud that his crew now had one of the few Sergeant Majors in the Corps. "...Make a list where you think we are lacking in crew and I will contact Starfleet and see what we can do. Good call Commander see that your findings are shared with Tactical. Lieutenant Diari have the bussard collectors on standby. If everything checks out I do not see a reason why we can't refuel."

Edmund didn't have much to say either as he listened to what was being spoken about. However, his eyes traveled over towards Rowena, seeing her deep in thought. His mind also went back towards their date and what she had spoken to him about. An expression of concern did cross his features.

Always keenly interested in Edmund, Vura noticed his Edmund's eyes sliding over towards his love interest. Something was bothering him and Vura made a mental note that she would have to discuss it with him.

El lifted her head up off the desk "It won't be fuel-grade dilithium out there have to refine it. Give it a wash, get all the gunk like trilith, tetralith, and any other stuff out. Can anyone offer an extra couple of hands to help ?"

"I'll ask my department," Alyssa said, replying to El's question. There was bound to be someone willing to help out.

Michael was listening intently, trying to get a grip on the mission.

"Will do sir." Lachlan replied to Malbrooke. He hated making lists but it came with the COB territory. As part of the command staff of the ship his duties tended to lie with the minutia of all enlisted affairs. Something he had taken time to get used to as he was more used to just dealing with marine NCO's and whatnot but it was a challenge he had relished and grown into.

Neil eyed the table and the gathered officers and when talk started to diminish, he said, "Right. We have a tasking, but keep in mind this is mostly unexplored space. Charts aren't that in-depth. In addition to prospecting and gathering samples, Stellar Cartography is going to be working overtime to get everything sorted. Movement through the Nebula is going to be slow, since sensor feeds will be diminished. All departments are going to need to spin up and be on their A games."

"My department is Always on it's a game." replied Michael.

Alyssa nodded. She already had lists of things she wanted to do and people who would be best for those projects. Exploring the unknown was one of the reasons she joined Starfleet and she was excited to get started.

"We counselors are here for any that need." She first glanced at Rowena and then back at Edmund before her eyes settled back on the Captain.

"I'm willing to give a hand as well." Edmund speaking up to El's request. "Just let me know."

Edmund also noticed Vura glancing at him as well as Rowena.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen let's see to it. Thex begin the procedure to clear the station. See everyone out there. Dismissed!" Without any other fanfare Tyler left the conference room and headed directly for the Ready Room. He had a mind to not be seen until it was time to take the ship out.

Alyssa hadn't been on the ship for long, but even to her Tyler's behavior seemed off. But she merely nodded and made her way out of the room.

Hermia also noticed Tyler's strange behavior, perhaps she should suggest he stop by for a physical.

"Guess he's done." Lachlan chuckled to himself at the un-Malbrooke like behaviour. He'd have thought after shore leave the Commodore would at least be more relaxed, but he was almost nonchalant with his words and actions the whole morning. Frowning slightly Lachlan got up and would return to some duties he'd left waiting.

Edmund watched Tyler as he abruptly left. Most times he didn't leave but stayed around to converse and get more details from those who were there. Sort of like when Tyler had run DnD. This morning though, Edmund wondered just what was what with Tyler. Edmund rose from the table and took his leave as well.

Neil watched the rest file out without seemingly paying attention, updating assorted notations for the departmental, XO's and ship's log. Coming off of shore leave there was twice the amount of data shuffling there normally was. When he looked up, the room was empty and he was a little surprised. "Keep this up and the crew is going to become just numbers as well, Neil," he murmured to himself as he headed back to his office.

A Joint Post By

Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer