The Briefing - Part Two

Posted on Sun Feb 23rd, 2020 @ 9:15pm by Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 5: Skyfall
Location: Various Locations - Starbase 400
Timeline: 0910Hrs - January 1st, 2389

Lee was sitting in his office going over reports from the latest mission, he had already checked on Maal earlier. He then got the call from Admiral Bremer. "Pike here, on my way sir."

"Reporting as ordered sir," Lee said as he walked into the room and gave a nod to everyone else there.

Sevlek walked into the room, accompanied by Andrenicus and Zandusky. Sevlek hadn't informed Bremer yet, but it was likely the Gladiator would accompany the fleet and fulfill its role as a Command Cruiser and relay information from the Fleet to Sevlek and vice versa. Sevlek nodded to everyone as he sat down at a vacant seat.

Deela watched Sevlek as he nodded at everyone and then sit down. She didn't like him from the beginning and still didn't. But she knew that she would have to keep her feelings about him at bay if they were going to co-exist on the Starbase if she liked it or not.

“Thank you all for coming.” Mike began. “I’ve called you here because a priority situation has arisen. As you all know, the Krazzle and C’Hakilians are at war. While the two have fought before, it has always been a border war, neither side able to push deep within the other’s territory. That’s changed, the Krazzle have pushed deep inside C’Hakilian space, overrunning more than a dozen of worlds and pushing the C’Hakilians back to their core planets closest to their homeworld. Recently, we have learned that the Typhon Pact is aiding the Krazzle, and that the Krazzle have officially joined the Pact.”

Mike paused a moment to let the information he just provided sink in before adding, “The Federation has had a peaceful and mutually respectful relationship with the C’Hakilians for many years, and they have asked us for help. While the Federation Council will not approve a formal declaration of war, they have agreed to provide a blockade around Krazzle and C’Hakilian spaces to stop the flow of outside aid to the Krazzle. This will be a massive undertaking, but we should be able to manage since both Krazzle and C’Hakilian space border Federation territory. Also, it’s not just the Federation providing ships. The Klingons and the Cardassians are sending ships. It’s believed that by showing a united front, the Pact will think twice before trying to run the blockade. We also believe cutting off the outside aid will allow the C’Hakilians a chance to halt the Krazzle advance.”

Mike paused again, looking at each person in the room, then continued. “Any ship stopped within the Blockade zone will be searched and any contraband confiscated. Ships can defend themselves but are not to ‘attack’ without provocation. The Pegasus and Venator will go from Starbase 400. Deela, I want the Station on yellow alert while the blockade is in place, keep at least two ships patrolling the sector. Starfleet patrols along the Federation border will be unaffected by the blockade, ships currently assigned to patrol duty will maintain their patrol stations. In the meantime, the Federation has also promised to try to mediate a peaceful end to the war. General, you’ll be taking the Sutherland to DS14 which is our closest Starbase to the warzone. Representatives from the Krazzle and C’Hakilians will meet there to discuss bringing the war to an end. We are allowing one ship from each Government to attend and Starfleet has already increased ships in that area from three to twelve.”

Mike looked around one more time, “Questions?”

"Yes, Sir... I would like to have Master sergeant Duvall as my security aide... He is a fine marine and I trust him... Other than that I'll make sure to do the job that's laid on my plate", answered Andy.

Mike nodded, “Done, he’ll be assigned to you.”

Yamaguchi decided to roll the dice. "If we do stop a Typhon pact non-combatant and one of their warships show up, do we talk it over?" she inquired. "and if they start shooting, is lethal force authorized?" she added, clearly not wanting to mince words because she knew that she was going into a very fluid and what could be a very dangerous situation, thus she wanted a clear set of rules of engagement.

“If you’re fired on, you can defend yourself,” Mike replied. “I would prefer you fire to disable, not to destroy.”

Mike then added, “My plan for the blockade deployment will be two-fold. We’ll have vessels assigned at ‘Picket Ships’, they will be actively sweeping the area with sensors, and being a link in the tachyon grid. We’ll also have ‘Intercept Ships’ assigned that will intercept any vessel attempting to run the blockade. The Pegasus and Venator will be two of the ships serving in this role. This way, the sensor and tachyon grid is maintained, while we have ships that can quickly move in on any vessel detected.”

Torilla nodded as she quickly processed the information. "Also sir... how long is the mission going to be and do we have a breakdown of what ships will be assigned to the groups?" clearly she wanted ship names so she knew who to speak with regarding deployments and such.

Mike gave a frank answer, “As long as it takes Commander. As for what ships will be assigned to which group, I think Admiral Sevlek has that information.”

Lee sat there listening to things then decided to say something: "So who are the Klingon and Cardassian commanders?"

Sevlek nodded at Bremer and stood. After he was standing and Bremer moved to his seat Sevlek spoke. He first addressed Captain Pike's question, "The Klingon commander is General G'Tar of the 7th Fleet and the Cardassian commander is Legate Evek of the Fifth Order." He then moved to provide general data, "The following information is classified and is being shared on a need-to-know basis."

After looking around the table briefly he continued, "The entirety of this fleet will consist of 712 starships. 190 are being provided by Chancellor Martok and the High Council, 197 are authorized to detached duty by Legate Garak and the remaining 325 are being detached from the Second, Fourth and Eighth Fleets." He paused, "The entirety of the fleet will arrive here at Starbase 400 in 3 days, they will remain here for 2 days. During those 2 days, preparatory briefings for Squadron and Wing commanders will be held. After that time, the fleet will depart under the field command of Admiral Bremer."

"Command and control functions and communications will be routed through the Gladiator utilizing a secured and encrypted command channel frequency that Captain Zandusky will inform you of after this briefing, Admiral Bremer." A pause, "I will remain on Starbase 400 and will relay any tactical data or executive orders issued by Starfleet Command or the Presidential Office." Sevlek looked at Mike, his remaining on Starbase 400 was a sign of trust and belief in Mike's ability. Sevlek was not known for putting important things in the hands of others.

"Formation orders will be transmitted 6 hours before departure, not before. The vessels assigned to the fleet will be in your message inbox after this meeting, Colonel Andrenicus will see to that personally. Assignments relating to the composition of the Fleet's wings, squadrons or flights are left to the discretion of Admiral Bremer." Sevlek nodded to Bremer as the Vulcan moved back to his seat and sat down.

Torilla felt the deathly quiet that descended upon the room after the Admiral had imparted his information but she had no idea that a force of that size could be massed that quietly and as Strategic Operations, she should have had some idea with ships being sent elsewhere and the like but she had no inkling that this was even in the works.