The Best Laid Plans

Posted on 19 Oct 2024 @ 12:52pm by Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Theodore Marsh III & Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monroe M.D. & Lieutenant Ranul Frex & Lieutenant Zayna Ryler & Lieutenant T’Mari Rael & Ensign (Provisional) Bertrim Wysocki & Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Carter & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell

3,377 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Bait and Switch
Location: Holodeck One
Timeline: June 28, 2390 || 1000 hours

A week had passed since the task group rendezvoused at Gavara. In the days that passed, personnel had been shuffled throughout different starships and the colony below. Gamma Command had sent fresh ships and supplies, each bit reallocated from the other three task groups and Command's own stores. Belvedere already split up with each of the smaller squadrons heading to their designated points to begin deploying a sensor network. Left behind with the Black Hawk at Gavara were the Valcour and the Endurance, each ship waiting for the final pieces to be put into place.

Those pieces were due to arrive soon, which meant that it was time to brief the senior staff. Harvey had purposely waited to share this information. The crew needed time to rest, to breathe, and to recover from a very intense week. For the first time ever, the Black Hawk held a full crew, and time was needed to get them settled and adjusted.

Harvey sent word to his senior staff, as well as extended invitations to Captains Holmes and Solvbakken. The three ships would have to work closely together during this mission, especially if they were going to meet any measure of success. Instructions were simple: assemble in Black Hawk's Holodeck One for a briefing.

Frex was down in Main Engineering and was working on several key systems, making sure that they would be up for a battle and any of them that weren't, he made sure that they crew was working on repairing and upgrading them. Not only that, but Frex had been working on that analysis, trying to figure out who exactly it could've been that destroyed Unity. He wasn't any closer at this moment than he was when he first got the assignment, but he was combing through every bit of data to figure it out.

However, all of that would have to wait because he was summoned to Holodeck One for a staff meeting. Frex grabbed a PADD and walked to the nearest turbolift and headed straight on up to the deck where the Holodeck was. Frex was still getting used to the layout of these Akira-Class Starships, so it was something that taking him a moment to find. But, once at the entrance to the Holodeck, they opened wide and Frex realized that he was one of the first people inside. He took a seat near the front and nodded politely to everyone that was already there.

Captain Holmes beamed over and after asking where Holodeck One was located, he headed to the nearest turbolift, grumbling about tiny ships. When he exited, he wondered why Geisler wanted the meeting on the holodeck. Probably to make himself look grander with a show and tell, he inwardly mused. He was still fuming about the breveted promotion to Commodore that Geisler had been given and he wanted to see him fall on his face, but at the same time, he would do his duty.

Arriving on Deck Six, Holmes left the turbolift and looked at one of the displays on the corridor, then headed to the holodeck and pressed the enter button to open the doors. With a glare, he entered and looked around.

Captain Solvbakken arrived not too long after Captain Holmes, but she allowed herself to be escorted out of respect for the Commodore, his ship and his crew. She took a look at the mostly unfamiliar faces, but stopped when she came to Graham. Why did the man always look like he had a horrendous case of gas he was attempting to keep in? Mari was unsure, but she hoped whatever was lodged up there was removed soon.

T’Mari was surprised that a meeting was being called in the holodeck, but it wasn’t her place to question why. Making her way there she entered the holodeck offering a polite smile and nod to all currently present.

Joey was the next to make her way into the holodeck, and as she took a look around, came to realize they were waiting on a few others that still hadn't arrived yet. That meant she wasn't running as far behind as she originally thought. Here was hoping that this briefing would provide new information regarding their hidden foe.

Ensign Socks had spotted the lieutenant commander head through the entryway into Holodeck One. Momentarily he had joined those on the Holodeck.

Zayna hadn't been to the holodeck in some time. And now they were having a meeting there. Wandering the corridors for a moment, she slid into the room and noticed that not everyone was there. She was glad that she wasn't late, but mentally was doing a headcount on who was still missing as she moved away from the doorway to allow others in.

Shay arrived almost at the same time as Zayna had. This was her first official senior staff briefing, and she was only just a little nervous, but the young woman did her best to that from being visible to the others. Despite her nerves, she was confident in her abilities, and considering Camila suggested her, she had confidence in her as well.

Jax entered the holodeck and looked around, then stood against the nearest wall and looked to see who all was present.

Kennedy entered the holodeck feeling clearly worn out, but trying to put on a positive face. Since the tragedy at Unity, she has been working What seemed virtually nonstop to oversee the care of the injured and traumatized on top of devising a strategy to scan the crew for potential signs of having them cloned. While she was confident there weren't any clones aboard and confident in the people she worked with, including those within her department, that didn't mean her mind didn't swirl with all the things she needed to do to keep people healthy and reasonably comfortable despite cramped quarters. She smiled apologetically to those in the room as if to apologize for her tardiness, and then quickly took a large swig from her cup of heavily caffeinated liquid, at least grateful to see a different part of the ship for this meeting.

At least I'm not last. Again, Teddy told himself as he stepped through the doors to the holodeck and looked around.

Always the last to arrive was Harvey. He strode into the holodeck where the senior staffs of the three ships had assembled and quickly called out, "Computer, begin program."

Harvey marched forward to the middle of the room as the familiar projection trusses shimmered and cloaked themselves under a layer of black velvet. Small pinpricks of white represented distant stars, arranged as they were seen from a deep space telescope. The chairs that were occupied remained in place, as did the unused seats that were ignored by those standing. Harvey didn't care who sat or who stood, especially since today's briefing required a unique approach.

"As you all know," he began, "it's been quiet for a week since the attack at Unity. The probes we left behind have already revealed that pirates and salvage haulers have started to pick the place clean. Unity was our furthest outpost, and it was left basically alone for years, supported only with a single supply line from Gavara to there. With the base lost, Gavara is now our forward operating point."

At the mention of Gavara, a planet materialized beside Harvey. "You are all facing our new front line as if you were looking down a telescope from Gamma Command. Five light years past Gavara that way," Harvey pointed off to his right, "is the Dominion border. Our line stretches as a curve from there to Gavara, to New Risa, and all the way to Altair. Twenty light years."

As Harvey mentioned each planet's name, they appeared separately to Harvey's left. "We've taken the time granted to us to deploy a sensor network along this line in hopes that it will provide an early detection against the assailant we are now calling Unknown Power G90B, or G90B for short."

"Where is the most likely place to set a trap?" Graham asked. "That's a lot of area to cover."

"Well, if anything, it might be between Gavara and the Dominion Border. If the Dominion haven't been attacked yet, then G90B might think we'll eventually go talk to them. Could there be a trap laid between Gavara and there?" Frex interjected, curious himself if there would or could be an attack by trap somehow this time around.

"That's a good thought," Harvey said, "but Command doesn't agree. The only thing in common with both the Gaittithe and Unity is that both carried a significant amount of supplies. We know that Gavara has been a target for the last couple of months, and Starfleet has already demonstrated its ability to defend Gavara. But, we do have an opportunity."

Harvey began to walk towards the projection of New Risa. "New Risa, known locally as Yolvanda II, has been experiencing a series of environmental disasters. They've put in a request for medical supplies, rations, industrial replicators, everything a pirate could dream of. Two Wallenberg transports are en route, escorted by the Defiant Centurion, Defiant Gemogt, and Saber Krutigtee." As Harvey said each of the names, they appeared in the walkway between the rows of chairs. "They will arrive here at Gavara, and the three of us will join the escort."

Shay took a mental deep breath and let it out slowly. "That should be the trap," she suggested. "Divert the actual shipment with escorts while we let them believe that they're coming for the real one."

“Except it’s not exactly a trap,” Harvey stated, gesturing towards the Wallenbergs. “We’ve lost five ships and one base in the last week. While that doesn’t sound like much, Starfleet is still siphoning material back into the Alpha Quadrant. We literally don’t have anything to spare. So, this convoy is going to act as bait. The three of us, well, we’re the trap.”

"Do you think that the transports will have enough shielding and everything in case someone...or something attacks? I might be able to send over some ideas to their engineers to make sure that they can get out of there in case of a fight with minimal damage," Frex replied, knowing that transports probably didn't have the best shielding to protect them from this new enemy like the rest of the fleet did.

"These things are Wallenberg transports, not battleships, Lieutenant," Graham said. "We're the armor that's going to be between them and whoever is attacking."

"Given G90B's track record, they'll go for disabling the Wallenbergs," Harvey shared. "And they'll probably do that last. The escort ships will be the first target. But we're not going to make this easy for them, in fact, it's our hope to suffer minimal losses during this."

Gesturing once more to the projection, Harvey explained the approach with the holograms adjusting themselves as he spoke, "All ships will remain in a loose formation. Krutigtee will take point in the front of the convoy, followed 100,000 meters behind by Wallenburg 1 and the Gemogt 20,000 kilometers to its port. Another 100,000 behind that will be Wallenburg 2 with Centurion 20,000 off starboard. That's where we come in."

Projections of the Black Hawk, Endurance, and the Valcour appeared at the distant rear. "We will all follow a million kilometers behind the convoy, and 100,000 kilometers apart from each other. The distance between all ships serves a dual purpose. First, we know that G90B strikes fast and hard. This gives us time to react and adjust strategy. Second, it gives us a chance to do something we haven't been able to do yet, which is collect data. Each ship will designate its fastest shuttle, have it uplinked with our main computers, and will launch it just before we ourselves engage G90B."

Harvey reached up with his hands, reached out, made a pinching motion with his fingers and pulled the projection towards him. "Here's where our work begins. I'm sure that right now, many of you are thinking that this is a suicide mission, a one-way trip in an attempt to learn something. Admiral O'Connell has no interest in losing more to G90B than we already have, so we are going to do everything we can to give ourselves a fighting chance. Any ship that has encountered G90B has had its bridge, nacelles, and computers destroyed. So we, the people in this very room, are their top targets. We need to protect ourselves first and foremost."

The Commodore took in a deep breath, released a sigh, and continued, "Effective immediately, our three ships will abandon our bridges and relocate command operations to respective battle bridges or auxiliary control. For the Black Hawk, Commander Marsh, that duty will fall to you."

"How long do we anticipate running the ship from Aux?," Marsh asked after nodding his understanding. "It wasn't designed for long-term command & control operations, but we could harden it with some quick work."

"Probably for the foreseeable future," Harvey answered. "At least until we can gather enough information about their weapons in order to properly shield the bridge from these attacks."

Teddy nodded his understanding. "We can get a few extra dedicated power and data connections rigged up, isolated from the rest of the grid, pretty quick. Can Chief Rogers give me a hand, Lieutenant Frex?" Tarsa Rogers was one of the systems engineers onboard, and the only one that Marsh had worked with previously. Rogers was both good and fast, making her ideal to work on this project.

"Yeah, she's all yours! Just let me know when you want to borrow her and I'll make sure that she's available," Frex replied, glad to let others borrow his personnel.

Directing his attention to Lieutenants Frex, Ryler, and Mitchell, Harvey stated, "Engineering, Science and Security, we can bet that G90B will be watching the convoy and waiting for the best time to strike. Not only do we need a way to mask our warp signatures so we can be as close to invisible as possible on sensor readouts, we also need to protect our engines to keep from being disabled."

"I'll work with the propulsion specialists that we have onboard to try and make our readouts as minimal as possible, while keeping us as agile and fast as possible. I think I've got a few things up my sleeve as well to make sure we are either not noticed or not as enticing," Frex replied, thinking of how him and his team could work on making the ship fool sensors.

Shay was most definitely in over her head, but Camila felt like she would fit as Acting Chief, and Harvey had to think so as well or he never would have taken Camila's suggestion and appointed her. The newly minted Lieutenant JG couldn't do much for their warp signatures, but protecting their engines was more to her ability. "I can concentrate power to the phaser arrays and shields in those areas and make sure nothing gets through, Commodore."

"And if you need any help Shay, let me know. I'm sure that it'll be a balance between you at the helm and my team down in Engineering," Frex replied.

"We'll have everything as ready as we can be," Ryler stated after the others had spoken, "All our eyes will be watching for any hints we can provide at a moment's notice."

Next, Harvey looked to Ensign Wysocki. "As for you, Ensign, I'll need you to assign a pilot and a shuttle to be our runner. Make sure they know how to get the hell out of here if worse comes to worse."

"On it," Socks answered.

T’Mari sat listening as plans were made and orders given, it was a complicated situation and she would no doubt need to be there as a sounding board for Geisler.

"What do you want the Black Knights doing, Commodore?" the Deputy Squadron Commander asked. "We can cover the engines as well."

"You're going to have your hands full," Harvey stated, "but only if and when the action starts. You'll remain parked until we engage G90B. I'd like all pilots to operate in pairs. One bird to gather as much close-range data as possible, the other to provide cover fire to the wingman. Once we get enough data, or otherwise ordered, you'll cover our exit."

"Copy that, Commodore," Jax said.

Graham didn't like the idea of leaving the bridge of his starship and said as much. "What are we going to do with the saucer section if we run things from the battle bridge?" he asked.

Kennedy didn't entirely realize she was holding onto some of her breath as she waited for Harvey to answer the question. While she understood the importance of their mission and why they had to take the risks they were going to take, there was also no denying there were still potential risks to the already sick, injured, and traumatized people under her care. Even if the decision was made for the saucer section to stay behind in relative safety, that didn't mean things would remain so, or that she wouldn't still worry and want to do everything in her power to provide medical assistance to those directly in harm's way. She made a point to seek T'Mari's gaze. No doubt they would need to collaborate on contingency plans for keeping everyone as comfortable as possible while making sure medical support was available for those on the front line.

"Life needs to continue as normal for as much as possible on our ships," Harvey answered Graham at last. "Based on what we've seen in past encounters, much of the saucer section will be fine, as will the crew in those sections. Our goal is to make sure we can still continue to defend and operate our ships past a sudden attack. Our goal is to collect information, and hopefully even go so far as to stop these attackers. At worst, the Wallenbergs are dispensable. Their crews are small, and they have escape pods at the ready."

Harvey looked up to the representative from the Fighter Squadron in attendance." In fact, Commander Carter, the Black Knights will need to recover any escape pod or shuttle launched from the Wallenbergs or the Defiants. We won't be leaving anyone behind on this one, no matter how messy it gets."

Graham nodded but wasn't happy about it, however, it made the most sense.

"Aye, Commodore," Jax said. "I'll have a special squadron on standby just for them."

Harvey stood still for a moment, surveying the room and taking a good look at the holographics to make sure he didn't miss anything. "Any final questions?"

Joey looked over the holographics as she contemplated their mission. It did seem like a one way mission, but they had faced tougher situations in the past. "Should we put one or two of our officers aboard the Wallenbergs as a precaution? As you said, there are escape pods should things get dicey."

Captain Solvbakken glanced toward Joey. "I can't see anyone volunteering for something like that given the targets that they are."

Harvey nodded his head to the silent room, and said, "The convoy will arrive in six hours. And our departure will be at 1800. All senior staff will be on duty for departure, then we'll pass off to gamma shift at the watch change. Let's get to it." With a final command, the holographics were deactivated, and Harvey lead the joint staff out of the room. There was much to do, and hopefully eight hours was enough to do it all in.

But Harvey couldn't help but wonder, like many of the other minds in the room, if this gamble would bear any fruit. He could only hope that they would soon find out.

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