A Meeting of the Minds

Posted on 15 Nov 2015 @ 4:33am by Lieutenant Commander Roget del Rosario & Commander Terry Walsh & Lieutenant Jarveth Adan

1,111 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: USS Black Hawk || Situation Room
Timeline: MD6 || 1130 hours

Thirty minutes after the staff briefing was what Lieutenant Adan had requested. Terry had no problem with that; it gave him time to get back to the flight deck and check on the fighters. Not to mention come up with a couple of attack scenarios for the meeting he was about to have with the Chief Flight Control Officer and the Sec-Tac Chief. He really wasn’t looking forward to this ‘sit-down’ based on what he saw and heard in the senior staff briefing. The new security chief would’ve made a better jarhead in his opinion.

Terry entered the room and found that he was the first to arrive. Man, am I glad to see a large round table instead of a rectangle one, he thought. He took a seat and reviewed the three scenarios on his PADD.

Lieutenant Jarveth Adan entered the conference room only minutes after Walsh. The Trill Chief Flight Control Officer was glad to see he was not also last to this meeting. It set a bad example. He smiled at at the officer there before seating himself at the circular table.

"Hello," said he to Walsh, proffering a cool hand for a shake.

Walsh took the Trill’s hand. “Looking forward to working with you, Lieutenant. So, Chief Flight Control Officer, huh; I guess we’re both flyers at heart.”

Adan nodded. "I'm a flyer at heart. One of my previous hosts, Jorell, was a flyer, but that was for the Maquis and in the Delta Quadrent with Voyager. I must admit I came away with a great deal of admiration for Captain Janeway after those 7 years. She did get us home."

“That she did,” said Terry. He was about to ask if the Lieutenant had ever put in any hours in a starfighter when the doors swished opened and closed. It wasn’t who Terry was expecting.

Lieutenant Barna walked into the Situation Room and saw that Lieutenant Commander Walsh was already present, as was a Trill man he didn't know. "Commander del Rosario is running late. Got called into a meeting with the Captain. He said we should get started."

He extended his hand to the Trill. "Lieutenant Jon-Ross Barna, Assistant Chief Tactical Officer. I run the Tactical division of the Security department and report to Commander del Rosario," he explained.

Pleasantries were exchanged briefly.

Terry nodded. “Alright then, let’s go ahead. I’ve got three attack plans for the fighter squadron that we can go with based on what we all decide. There are three Flights with a total of twenty fighters. The first plan is that Bravo and Charlie Flights concentrate their efforts on the Engineering section of the ship while Alpha Flight goes after the shielding systems. The other two are just variations; different arrangements of the Flights and different systems targeted. Stuff like that.”

Barna's fingers touched a series of controls on the small panel inset in the table. The large wall displays around the room shifted their image, no longer showing simple LCARS readouts of various systems. Instead, they now displayed a computer simulation of Walsh's proposed maneuvers. "I can program any scenario and we can see how it plays out. What other ideas are there?"

Terry looked from the large wall displays to Lieutenant Adan. He wondered, though, about the accuracy of the computer simulations. “How do they,” he gestured to the displays, “account for the human factor in fighter combat? You know, the quick, last minute decisions that are needed?”

"I admit," Barna began, "that there are some limitations. But pilot behavior is something that the system can learn. Already, the flight records from your people's previous assignments have been received and added to the simulation database. So, the computer will make decisions about how a pilot would respond based on how they have responded to other incidents in the past. And, moving forward, the system will constantly update after each sortie."

"It really is quite amazing," Barna said, smiling. "I worked on an early model of the system in grad school."

Terry nodded through the explanation. “Sounds good, then,” he replied.

Jon-Ross tapped a series of commands on his console. The display changed to show the Black Hawk facing another Akira-class ship. "Normally, an Akira manages to make do with superior firepower. We don't have that this time." He set the simulation in motion. The two ships exchanged fire until both ships were smoldering wrecks, floating derelict as their respective crews ejected in lifeboats.

"With the inclusion of fighters," Barna said, tapping the controls again. This time the battle played out, with the Black Hawk maintaining an advantage on the O'Carroll. "Your guys," the tactical officer said, pointing at Walsh, "are what win this battle for us."

Terry nodded. It had been quite a long time since he or any other pilots had been so heavily relied on. And he liked it. It was about time to get back into the field. “Alright then, I’m sure we won’t disappoint. Any suggestions about which attack plan and starship systems we should go with as primary and secondary?” He looked at both of the men at the table. He was fine with any variation.

Jon-Ross consulted the display of his small control panel. "Taking out engines hobbles them, keeps them from running. But knocking out weapons can save lives. Ideally, we'd be able to take out some of the major power relays, but that requires far more precision than I think we can manage."

“Okay, I think Charlie Flight could give the O’Carroll’s engineering department a run for their money while Alpha and Bravo Flights focus on some precision shots to the power relays,” said Terry. “And, obviously, we’d be able to shift our focus when needed. We’d just need to know the where and the when.” Terry grinned at the Tactical officer. “How about it, Lieutenant?”

"It looks good to me, Commander," Barna said. His dark-skinned fingers moved quickly across the panel. "I'm writing some quick maneuver patterns for the ship. I hope you don't mind, Lieutenant."

It took the trio only a short while longer to solidify the battle plan. Barna gained a new respect for Walsh, who proved himself to be a decent tactician. Combined with his leadership skills, he was well equipped to command the fighter squadron.

The three officers ended their meeting. Adan and Walsh went to their respective duty assignments, while Barna remained in the sit-room and called a quick meeting of his staff to go over the plan.

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