Figuring the Odds

Posted on 18 Jun 2016 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper

3,250 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Security
Timeline: MD 1 || 1330 Hours

Chief Di Pasquale entered Security with a cloud over her face. She had been briefed as to the odds stacked against the still-loyal Starfleet ships and the ones controlled by the Consortium. Twenty-four ships and a starbase went through her mind as she sat down at her desk and pulled up a list of the ships which the senior staff had been briefed on.

While she waited for the results, she opened a comm. "Lieutenant Davis, Lieutenant Cooper and Lieutenant Alexander report to Security office, please."

Cooper entered and, seeing her Chief's face, wisely said little until she could gauge the situation, "Reporting as ordered Chief.". She was wearing the new duty belt they'd worked on and found it worked as designed, it did not inhibit her movements but rested on her waist and hips easily. It required some getting used to when crawling but that was workable, better that then not to have the handy items it carried.

"Have a seat, Lieutenant," Camila said. "I want to wait for the other two to arrive before I start."

"Aye Chief". Hops onto a chair and sits cross legged. Harder then it looks since it looks completely relaxed but requires constant use of the leg muscles. She pulled out a PADD and started tapping out plans and other work as she waited. It was the only way she could wait while leaving her Chief alone, do something else even as curiosity tried to get the better of her.

Mark took a few extra minutes to arrive, since the appointment of his new position, he had been spending a large amount of his time catching up on everything. A few days ago, he would have thought that he was pretty knowledgeable about the consortium, but he had just been learning how far off he was on that assessment. "Sorry for the wait lieutenant" Mark said walking into the office, with a data padd in hand.

Cooper nodded a greeting. She'd yet to meet the Strategic Operations Chief but expected they'd all be seeing alot of each other in the coming days.

"Welcome, Lieutenant Davis," Camila said. "I'm Lieutenant Di Pasquale, the Chief of Security here. I'd learned you'd been assigned the Strategic Operations officer and wanted to go over some possible plans with you in light of current events. However, I want to wait for Lieutenant Alexander to get here before I start."

Mark extended his hand out to each of the members in the room for a handshake. "I have been. I take it you already have a couple of plans in mind?" Mark started to go through everything he knew about the Consortium, which was not much. He had a feeling like he should know more, but as far as he could tell the information involving the Consortium wrest. Unfortunately an unknown enemy is next to impossible to plan against.

Cooper shook his hand and nodded.

That still didn’t make it unnecessary, if anything it was more important than ever. The situation had started to build up to the point were more immediate action was needed, and when the orders came, everything was bound to happen in a hurry. Having staff who was willing to start planning before those orders came in was bound to make th for everyone in the future.

Christian was half done with his inventory when Chief Di Pasquale's call came in. =^=Acknowledged Chief. On my way=^=

He made his way to Main Security and reported in. "Lt(jg) Alexander reporting in, Chief" Christian said with a nod to Cooper.

"Thank you for joining us, Lieutenant Alexander," Camila said.

Lt. Davis turned around as he heard the door open and the voice behind him, and he waited a few seconds for the pleasantries between the others in the room were completed. “Lt Davis, the new Strategic Ops officer.

"In the briefing with the Captain, we've made a rough determination of the odds and ships which are currently against loyal Starfleet ships," Camila said without preamble as she reached to activate a holographic display of the Gamma Quadrant. "Our latest briefing at Unity has turned up new facts and information."

The computer paused for a brief second before the list came up of ship names, classes and their commanding officers. Camila was stunned for a moment; it was one thing to hear it in a briefing, but to have the proof before her eyes was something else entirely.

Deep Space 11 New Bajor Juliana Terlexa

Task Group Vanguard

USS Antares Concorde Class Sunon Mexena
USS Hammerhead Nebula Class Sholahr zh'Elas
USS Agamemnon Prometheus Class Al Nicolau
USS Ticonderoga Akira Class Timih Bhvlomeii
USS Bozeman Miranda Class Wellington Wescott

Task Group Sentinel

USS Cairo Galaxy Class Todd Ahern
USS Invincible Excelsior Class Archibald Davenport
USS Hastings Akira Class Kal Teyru
USS Kingfisher Insignia Class Vincent Delgado
USS T'Pava Miranda Class Helena Soroys
USS Triumph Nebula Class Robert Balsmac
USS Renown Akira Class Brigitta Mülle
USS Nelson Saber Class Tass Pol

Task Group Belvedere

USS Dark Horse Sovereign Class Mrat Kr'oxxon
USS Rhodes Luna Class Marlenda Edwards
USS Vanguard Prometheus Class Malcolm Wright
USS Karnack Insignia Class Terak th'Daven
USS Chimera Intrepid Class Vaanika Suresh
USS Cochrane Intrepid Class Kylar Furell
USS Sovereign Sovereign Class Hiroyuki Mitsuro

Task Group Paladin

USS Healy Insignia Class Dale Jones
USS Tianamen Excalibur Class Daiyu Han
USS Brazil Galaxy Class Tekla
USS sh'Paveress Nebula Class Vark Na Ith

After the hologram was activated and the names, classes, warp trails and Commanding Officers of the ships and Deep Space Eleven had came up, Camila turned to face the other three officers she had called in. "We are heavily outnumbered, and we cannot hope to win back these ships and crews through brute force. The USS Chimera and the USS Cochrane are going to be our assignment. Also, there is a Romulan Valdore-class vessel which is rumored to contain a Tholaran device. I need suggestions from everyone here on a way to oppose the crews without killing anyone."

Mark looked over the display of the ships which were under the Consortium control. This was not the first time he had seen the list, in fact he was looking at it within the past hour, but every time he looked over it, it shocked him. The fact that someone, or something could take control of that many ships seemed unbelievable.

Christian cleared his throat. "I don't know how well this would work but ..... why not try setting up a secured Holodeck program specific to each bridge of each ship, beam the opposition to the 'bridge' and gain control that way? Hell; maybe even Engineering" he said a bit nervously, not wanting to sound like an idiot.

Cooper looked at the list, "Well then best get to work.." She thought before speaking, "Noting...There are no bad ideas at this point." Cooper said tapping on her PADD. She'd tied it into the wall monitor while they'd been talking and Christian's idea appeared first. Another one appeared as she kept typing.

1. Reality doubting goodness-Holodeck tech
2. Some serve because they think the Consortium is really Starfleet Proper, can we get to them?
3. Can we sneak into their comms and sensor network and sponge?

She paused and glanced around. She had other ideas but always found it more constructive not to hog the conversation at times like these.

"Both good ideas and I'd like to offer a suggestion based on your idea, Lieutenant Cooper," Camila said as she looked at the monitor. "It was originally called a long range acoustical device and was used for crowd control. At one hundred and sixty-five decibels, anyone in the path of it would lose their balance and be unable to move. Unfortunately, it can cause hearing loss around one hundred and thirty-five levels. If we can tap into their comm system, we can broadcast sonic bursts to incapacitate anyone capable of hearing on an entire ship. It would lead to medical issues, but those can be healed."

Christian was in agreement with the idea. "Could type III phasers be modified to emit harmonics instead of beams? Like a handheld version of a harmonic resonator" he said.

"That's a good idea, but it would require actually boarding a Consortium vessel or repelling a boarding," Camila said.

Cooper nodded, “But your original modification should work Chief, if we damage anyone we can fix hearing up to a certain point so I think we’ve some flexibility there. Also in relation to the device I’ll research it; maybe I can work with the CEO see if we can counter it if they do get it.”

Mark continued to look over the layout of the ships, trying to find something which could be used against them. For now, the biggest issue he was noticing was the layout of the ships, which appeared to benefit the Consortium. “Whatever we do when we engage, we will need to be quick,” Mark finally spoke up. He walked over to the display, “From what I can tell, if word gets out that we are on the offensive, reinforcements should be arriving within several hours at maximum warp. We should have enough time get in, do what needs to be done, then get out. Even more if we can jam a distress call, or prevent them from attempting to make one. We should also have the element of surprise, they most likely wont know we are coming until we are on top of them, and even then, they cant raise shields. Getting a team onto the ship should be easy enough, and should be able to get into critical areas before any major defences are set up."

Cooper added ideas to the list on the wall console that included items like hit and run attacks, sensor ghosts, and other asymmetrical warfare style ideas.

"We also need proof that they are in the wrong. I know they're far away but we have to let Starfleet HQ know these guys are full of crap and not the dry, fossilized kind..." She said tapping away on her PADD. "Since we're doing ninja missions can we use small vessels? Maybe train hit and run teams? We should talk to the Bajorans on board they've them most recent experience with fighting a stronger enemy..twice..." She looked around, "What's our ally list? We got one right? Could do some coordinating there." She said even as part of her mind was plotting out a stylish black ninja outfit while another kept focusing on different ideas. Disregarding ones not worthy of being spoke out loud from good ones with great speed. Her mind, as usual, working in high gear. Then using only the power in her legs she shifted position and started hanging upside down behind the chair she'd been sitting in, it helped her to think. Still typing on her PADD and listening to all going on around her.

"As sporadic and far fetched as Cooper's idea is; I'm inclined to agree with her, especially since I have no strategic legs to stand on" Christian said, winking at Cooper.

Cooper grinned from her position behind the chair as she hung there, having seen his wink.

Camila shook her head. "Most of the ships outnumber and outgun us. We're also going in solo and radio silent." She looked at Davis. "You're the one who will be coordinating with the others. Has the Captain talked to you about that yet?"

"I have access to the new network, which I have been playing around with. From what I can tell, it is every bit as powerful as we were informed in the briefing. I haven't been using it to its full potential yet. I was waiting until the communication blackout. From what I can tell, you are right though. The total number of ships is very close to equal but they have the heavy hitters and bigger crews, so the numbers are not good. My biggest concern would still be security of comms if needed. If it hits the fan, we might need to call out for assistance from a ship loyal to starfleet, I would be afraid of someone on board who isn't getting the message first." Mark marked down communication security on his padd for something to look into. "For now, at least in the short term until we have more knowledge on exactly who is with us, I would say any action we take will be alone."

Cooper's mind continued to work at warp, "Prisoners what about prisoners? If we get any that's going to be annoying..nevermind cart before horse..." She said and waved her hand in front of her face in a habitual gesture like she was erasing the words from the air. "New suggested plan. Let's work on talking to who we can internally while we work out secure coms. We also hack their coms and see if we can't listen in. If we can stealth our shuttles enough we can use those to piggy back signals. And we work on Alexander's reality doubting fun and the Chief's Rave gone bad. The Chief and I can keep force feeding people SAR training while Alexander and I retool the armory to sonic it up..." She closed her mouth self aware enough to know she was talking too much again. Its just how her mind worked, it didn't help she saw problems as challenges to be dealt with and overcome so her mind would work at it until it found a solution like a dog with a bone. That and she followed multiple trains of thought at once which could be weird. She took a few slow breaths, obviously trying to slow herself down.

She used her powerful legs and stomach muscles to swing herself back into a sitting position as she looked thoughtfully at her Chief, "Looks like we got more options then we thought, how do you guys want to play this?" She asked, having said her piece and was trying very hard not to hog the conversation. She started playing complex music in her head then pick apart harmony etc as a relaxing tactic.

"Cooper....Cooper, slow down!" Camila said. "Computer, record Lieutenant Catherine Cooper and play back at one tenth speed. The rest of us aren't up to your speed. Try to slow your roll a bit, okay? We aren't in a rush at the moment. Also, the shuttles are staying aboard. The Black Knights are going to be our eyes and ears on this mission. Put your summarized thoughts onto the PADD with the other ideas you're writing down and I'll present it to the Captain when we conclude the meeting."

She nodded, not that she thought she'd been going that fast. It was so clear to her, but she could read the signs of what she privately called 'Cooper Fatigue' in the room and so had tried to curb herself. It didn't help that one idea followed another in her head. There were so many things she could think of that might be viable it tended to tumble together at the moment but she could make perfect sense of it all. The hard part was having it make sense to others. She pulled back even though it was hard and tapped furiously on her PADD filling the the page up with ideas. "Aye Chief, Did anyone else have any thoughts?" She replied and asked with the vague attitude of someone trying to be on their best behavior.

"Espionage isn't my strong suit, Commander. Frontal assaults are more my cup of tea" Christian said sadly.

Davis listened as Coopers speech slowly picked up in pace, getting to the point she was almost impossible to understand. As Camila spoke up, he chuckled a bit, then thought about the current idea at hand. “I see no reason why a stealthy approach won’t work. It might take a bit longer than a full frontal assault, but it should result in extremely few if any casualties, but as long as we can get going without any word of it getting out, we should not need to worry about any unwanted visitors, which is my big concern. Get a small team on board, jam any outbound communications, and regain control of the ship.”

"So first step intel" Cooper said then went silent as she considered if they got a Chief of the Boat would that make them wise or crazy, both? Then her brain went into could one actually link multiple phaser rifles into some kind of massive phaser rifle Gatling gun. Alexander would probably help her find out...and on her mind went even as she paid strict attention to her surroundings but it did help her to focus and still.

"We don't have an Intel department," Camila pointed out. "We do have Lieutenant Davis in Strategic Operations, though. I'm sure they're communicating with each other a lot more than crews still loyal to Starfleet. For right now, I think we have a lot of good ideas which we can use."

"Agreed, we have a few plans, but need some more details worked out. None are perfect, but should be able work everything out" Mark looked down to his padd, thumbing through the ideas, taking a look over everything. "Lets take some time, and work everything out with them.".

"By Intel I mean information..." Cooper clarified, "On what they have, are up too etc. That and preparing ourselves for attack seem to be the two main focuses...". She said trying hard to slow her mind down enough to communicate effectively. Fortunately years in Starfleet helped. "If we can hide the shuttle from sensors that'd be nice, maybe the CEO has an idea? or we get our hands on something they wouldn't think twice about but seems like that'd be harder. How you want to play this Chief?" She said ready for her marching orders, having given her thoughts.

"That sounds good," Camila said as she looked at Davis. "Boil down the basic elements of this meeting into a summary, Cooper. Lieutenant Alexander, check on the feasibility of modifying phasers to emit sonic bursts. Anything else?"

Cat shook her head.

"Right away, Commander" Christian said but waited for Camila to dismiss him.

"On it Chief.." Cooper said and jumped to her feet.

"Dismissed," Camila said.

With a nod to the others Cooper headed off glad to have some kind of plan.

Mark nodded as they were dismissed, and took the padd he was taking his notes on. He had a few targets in mind, but he would need to narrow the list down further, and quick so everyone could get prepared and know exactly what they were going to be up against.

Christian immediately headed to the Armory. If there was a way to modify weapons, the Armory would have the tools to do it. He used his PADD to research sonic emissions and their corresponding power consumption. He cross-referenced them with size and scale of weapons used. He was going to need an engineer's help.

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