RAdm Kalianna Nicholotti - The Concerning Thing

[Marissa Jeffrey]

(( Briefing Room, Deck 1, USS Khitomer - near the Ceram Archipelago ))

Kali found it strange just how many events started on the edge of a nebula. Even in her own experiences, she had seen far too many things come from the mysterious clouds of gas roaming the galaxy and beyond, but to compound that with the experience of every other sentient being among the stars...

...that was nothing short of mind-boggling. 

Hands clasped loosely behind her back, with her long hair braided all the way down to where the tips fell into those hands, the raven-haired admiral made her way into the briefing room to see what level of hells this beauty was going to take them to. No sooner had she passed through the doors to see the various hues of purples and blues outside the window, did one of the officers she'd be working with approach.

Semara: Admiral Nicholotti, Lieutenant Jun- :: Cutting herself off. :: Lieutenant Amelia Semara, at your service.  How do you do, ma'am?

With a bit of a smirk, Kali nodded in return.

Nicholotti: Just fine...for now. I have a feeling that may change before too long. 

Avoiding bringing any attention to the momentary lapse in remembering a promotion, Kali gestured towards the windows and the nebula beyond. Trial and tribulation were the great equalizers among them all. Out there it wouldn't really matter how many pips were on their collars. It was a thought that faded as the third member of their team entered the room.

Zerva: Good evening Admiral. ::giving a respectful nod:: Lieutenant, Jg .Ezra Zerva. Security. I am looking forward to working with you sir, er ma’am

More to ignore. Kali wanted to take a moment to remind them that she was, after all, just another Starfleet officer like they were, but she wondered if that would truly do anything to help their nerves. Deciding ultimately that maybe they just needed to spend some time working together, she simply offered a warm smile in return.

Nicholotti: Indeed, and it seems like there will be plenty of work for us.

Because when you knew nothing, you had to come up with something, and in this case, it had to be true.

Semara: I s'pose we'd best be startin' then.

The woman took no time in putting up an image on the screen in the room and launching into the whole of what they knew about the situation they were headed into. 

Semara: Ten days ago, Starfleet intelligence detected two Lattice dreadnoughts and various support vessels on a course for the Ceram Archipelago.  Nine days ago, we saw signatures consistent with Sencha weaponry along the nebula's perimeter, but only a fraction of what a force that size can do.  Seven days ago, the Alliance started lightin' up this nebula with every long-range sensor they got.  Five days ago, they stopped lookin'.

Zerva: For reasons we don’t know the Alliance tried to enter the nebula after showering it in Sencha weaponry? Sounds like they were engaged with something inside the nebula. What do we know of it besides being a pretty shade of purple hues? What have our sensors picked up thus far?

As Kali figured, there was little to be said or seen from the data so far, only assumptions and guesses. 

Nicholotti: From what I understand, there's not much we can pick up on our sensors.

The newly minted intel officer moved towards the window then.

Semara: The nebula we're lookin' at is nigh impenetrable to scans.  Starfleet has a long history explorin' - our sensors are vastly better than Alliance scanners, and even we get almost nothin' from it.  I doubt the Alliance found anything.  But we also got somethin' else they don't: friends.

There was some truth in that statement for sure, and out in the darkness of space, days from the nearest station, friends and whatever they could offer in the way of a helping hand would be both appreciated and useful.

Zerva: ::raising a brow:: What sort of friends are we talking about for this mission?

To that, Kali shrugged and looked to the intelligence officer. It was quite likely that she'd already connected with some of those 'friends' and had gotten information they didn't have before.

Nicholotti: Whatever friends we can get.

Semara: The good news is the Diplomatic corps managed to talk to some a' the locals.  Traders, a passin' Kressari probe... Even got somethin' out of the Gentii.  The bad news is it ain't intelligence as much as old spacer folktales.  Everyone avoids the Archipelago these days, apparently.  They say those who enter thinkin' they'll find riches apparently only return with stories 'bout livin' ships two kilometers wide, massive ion storms that leave ships adrift to starve, and most of all tales of a strange species that lurk there.  :: Taking a seat for a sip of water. :: That's the common thread in all the yarns: a ferocious apex predator species a' some kind.  There's precedent - the Hirogen, for instance - but the unique bit to these stories is that they all agree on one thing: the predators are matriarchs whose favored prey is men.

That was far from the strangest thing she had ever heard in a nebula - particularly given the dragons they had found in the Azure nebula some years back, but it also wasn't exactly easily believable as fact.

Zerva: Not exactly the kind of welcome wagon I’d like to meet anytime soon. Even yarns from passing ships have a bit of truth to them.

To that Kali nodded. Most stories of this kind were at least rooted in the truth at some point in the past.

Semara: Response

Nicholotti: Regardless, we're going to get ourselves in the middle of things, so we need to be ready for anything.

Some things would probably be more prudent to prepare for than others, but a common theme of readiness wouldn't hurt all the way around. There was never going to be a way to be prepared for all things, but anything they can be ready for would be one more thing they wouldn't have to figure out in the moment.

Zerva: That’s a good point and the reason we are compiling the data we need here. ::beat:: I assure you both that security is ready to do their part on this mission should it come to it. We conducted some drills on the way here and I split the security personnel into three equal shifts. If there really are prey eating matriarchs, we’ll be ready should they decide the males on this ship make a tasty snack.

Semara: Response

Nicholotti: Unfortunately, brute force is rarely the best answer.

At one time in her history that idea had been a foreign concept - but that was before she'd managed to leave a mark on the old Resolution Marines.

Zerva: I understand ma’am. Diplomacy first.

Semara: Response

Nicholotti: Beyond that though, if there is any truth to those stories it would be beneficial to have a plan that plays to that.

This wouldn't be the first matriarchal society that she had come to meet among the stars, but it might be the first that was known, supposedly, to eat their males. 

The lights in the room dimmed just a bit and turned a yellow shade of hue filtering about the room. Kali turned her crystalline blues upwards to take in the new shade of lighting before raising an eyebrow.

Zerva: Yellow alert status? Should we join the Captain on the bridge or continue our work here?

Semara: Response

To this, she simply sat back in her chair.

Nicholotti: Until we have something to give the captain, what good are we doing there? 

Semara/Zerva: Responses?

Another look out the window showed the close proximity of the nebula and she tapped some keys on the table console that brought up the bridge feed.

Nicholotti: It's not much more than we had before, but it looks like we may have confirmed at the very least the LA presence.

Even if it was quite odd. All the time watching the Tholian border and she had never seen any Lattice Alliance ship without its full and present force. 

Semara/Zerva: Response?

She let her eyes continue to scan the data as it came in, though her mind was already wandering down one dangerous path. It was as if they had found the Borg to the Borg, and that thought was nothing short of terrifying.

Nicholotti: The concerning bit is that we only seem to be reading the remnants of the Lattice ship and not any other debris or signatures. It took us a lot of firepower and effort to repel the force at 33. There should be at least some evidence of who they fought.

Unless the kill was so quick and decisive as to not leave any trace. But those words she left unsaid.

Semara/Zerva: Responses?

TAG/TBC

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Rear Admiral Kalianna Nicholotti

Commander - 13th Recon Fleet

USS Eagle-A

R238605KN0