Commodore Taybrim - Plan of Action
Jamie LeBlanc
((Main Briefing Room – StarBase 118))
Terra Prime.
A name that had been haunting them ever since there were reports of a disturbance on Miranda VII. And when it was first posed, that’s all it was – a disturbance. Rumors from a scummy independent space station that power had shifted. That wasn’t unusual in the Syndicate-influenced independent space. Power shifts were more normal than not.
Whoever the group was they had one ship. They said they were Terra Prime, a hundred-year-old ghost of a disgusting cult that preyed upon and damned anyone who wasn’t purely human. At the time it was unlikely that they were actually Terra Prime. But somehow a small group of fanatics had resurrected this cult from the dead.
The defeat against Terra Prime still stung. The empathic Commodore was well aware of how deeply it had cut his crew. And how badly they had underestimated what was lurking on Miranda VII. He had launched an investigative and diplomatic mission that was well planned based on the information intelligence had received.
And yet the volume of information they hadn’t received was overwhelming. That one ship and that small force on Miranda VII was enough to destroy almost all of the independent civilians on the station and defeat the Rahuba. Sal had checked and doublechecked, sifted through reports and combed through intelligence to find what they had missed.
They hadn’t missed anything.
Terra Prime had gained incomprehensible amounts of power seemingly overnight. The only answer for that was they were being sponsored by someone. Someone with an interest in being a puppet master – pulling strings without actually getting any hands dirty. Shifting pieces and letting Terra Prime do all the work.
Because Terra Prime firmly believed that this power had been ordained. They felt they were the chosen ones. They deserved this power because they acted on the one truth path of Terran Purity.
They were completely and utterly blind to see that someone had gifted them all this power merely to throw a pipe bomb into the Federation at large and the crew of StarBase 118 in specific.
And who was that someone? The person Sal had failed to tell Tito? That he kept as a haunting memory in the back of his mind? Nacien Rixx. A sociopathic Rodulan with a penchant for puppeteering. Except it was starting to get personal. It was personal. No matter how much Rixx tried to sit back and simply enjoy watching worlds go to war – this stupid, do-gooding crew on StarBase 118 had meddled in his finely crafted plans for over seven years now.
It was personal.
Taybrim: Yes, we are operating under the belief that Terra Prime has a tri-cobalt device and intends to use it against the Federation, and our mission is to prevent that before tragedy strikes.
Blackwell: So where do we begin?
Luthas: How high yield is high yield? We talking ship damaging size or planetary damaging?
Renot: Not a fan of Tri-cobalt, warhead, and high yield all strung together like that. Ship damaging is a lot easier to handle than planetary damaging. High yield implies the latter.
DeVeau: It is most certainly the latter.
Taybrim: It is the latter.
He confirmed in a dark tone. Planetary scale destruction had far reaching ramifications. It could change the behavior of stars and pollute entire systems for centuries.
Luthas: I’m assuming you’re thinking they’ll be trying to strike soon?
He nodded slowly.
Taybrim: This information just came in, and I moved the briefing up to make sure everyone could be prepared. As soon as we get a signal we need to be ready for launch, so consider this as everyone being on yellow alert until we get the intel that Terra Prime has made a move.
As if by dramatic emphasis, the doors opened and a black collared Intel officer wordlessly handed a PADD to Commander DeVeau and exited as mysteriously as he came in.
Sal would have loved to say he thought that was strange. But this had become his new normal. Intel reports in the dead of the night. Strange people showing up at his office with classified PADDs.
Life wasn’t simple anymore.
Sherlock: To minimize the risk to the system, we may have to go in and retrieve the warhead, defuse it manually.
Renot: Unfortunately, I do think you are right. Due to the instability of the tri-cobalt isotope, long range diffusion has a high risk of setting it off. And then there’s the high risk of actually being close and setting it off manually. Either way it’s high risk. Anything with tri-cobalt is
DeVeau: We’ve just received an update from Intelligence. Terra Prime has started to move.
He drew in a breath, feeling his lower jaw clench.
Tito: They have launched Commander?
Sherlock: ::muttering to herself:: Same statement, different words.
Luthas/Renot: ?
Taybrim: Show us on screen.
That should help eliminate some confusion.
DeVeau: We’ve just received reports that a ship has been launched, believed to be carrying the warhead and is now headed in the direction of the Ivulos system.
One single solitary ship. Launched from Miranda VII to Ivulos.
That was… upfront. Clear.
Blatant.
For a moment Sal Taybrim frowned. There was something not right with this. They had cloaking devices. Or at least they had cloaking devices when they attacked the Utopa Colony. So why launch an un-cloaked ship now.
It was somehow part of the drama, but what story Terra Prime was painting was what he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Sherlock: Looks like we have some time.
Luthas/Renot: ?
He was still stuck on the fact that this was some sort of ploy.
Taybrim: How long until that ship reaches the destination?
DeVeau: According to calculations, the ship will crash into Ivulos’ sun eight days from now. ::She recalibrated the view, showing the system and population concentrations.:: The star is host to several inhabited planets and a couple of moons and billions of residents.. With the suspected amount of tri-cobalt, the star will explode and destroy everything in the system with it.
Trovek: How are they getting off the ship? Is this another suicide mission?
Tito: From past experience I would say yes.
Sherlock: If that's the case, and we do decide to board their ship, it's not going to go easy. If they're already willing to die, they've got nothing to lose and will fight to the last man.
Taybrim: From our last encounter they showed that they were willing to sacrifice their crew, and they committed suicide rather than accept capture. Unfortunately, their desire to end others lives far surpasses any desire to protect their own.
Trovek: If that is the case, you'll be somewhat relieved to hear that we were able to finish the development of a vaccine that will protect against the chemical compound we encountered, and its possible deviations.
He offered a soft, though intense sigh of relief.
Taybrim: That is excellent work, and great news to know that the antidote is finished.
Luthas/Renot: ?
Trovek: If you consider what happened when they boarded the Rahuba, sacrificing themselves for their cause is definitely part of their profile, new leadership or not. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Tito: I have compiled a short report, with the known schematics of tri-cobalt devices. Even if it's something new, some things are certainly common.
DeVeau/Luthas/Renot: ?
Tito: Also, although we aren't certain, there's the possibility that Terra Prime acquired one or more cloaking devices from the Romulans. My apologies for adding another concern to the mission.
Taybrim: Not a possibility. A certainty. They used cloaking devices to attack Utopa.
Sherlock: ::to Tito:: Do we know what generation of device? Or how they plan on using it?
Tito: Older model most likely taken from decommissioned ships. I would risk to say 30 or 40 Earth years old.
Taybrim: I would venture more like 80-120 years old. The Romulan empire is very tight fisted with whatever it feels is superior technology. And considering Romulan arrogance, coupled with the belief that they are technologically superior to us, they still feel that anything less than 60 years old is still better than whatever the Federation or the Klingon Empire could achieve.
Sometimes knowing alien psychology was useful. Maybe that’s why counselors made good command officers.
Blackwell: Older at least means it doesn’t have any of the advanced modifications used to evade detection…unless they modify it. ::She said grimly, as the news was still not positive:: but how did they get it?
DeVeau/Luthas/Renot: ?
Sherlock: If there are elements of the Romulan Empire involved, they may be providing more than technological assistance.
Tito: We have no indication that there is official sanction by the Romulan government so it must be a Tal Shiar independent mission.
Taybrim: I an almost guarantee it’s not officially sanctioned. If the Romulan government sanctioned a fringe organization like this publicly or even privately it would be an opening for declarations of war.
DeVeau/Luthas/Renot: ?
Sherlock: The cloaking device could be a distraction. Or vice versa. Two ships, one cloaked that we're looking for, ::pointing to the screen:: one we can track. Which one actually has the device?
Taybrim: Clearly they aren’t merely operating with one uncloaked ship on a very straight path towards a pre-announced destination. There is a bigger drama here, once which we need to uncover.
DeVeau/Luthas/Renot: ?
Bailey: It’s hard to say. I suspect the ship without may have a decoy.
Trovek: Yes, that *is* the definition of a decoy. Thank you for clarifying that for everyone.
Bailey: Yet, if I may, Sir, Tito, you mentioned you had information on tricobalt devices? Would you care to elaborate?
Tito: I have a brief report with the description of the matter, tri-cobalt is part of the trans-uranic heavy elements. I also added most of the schematics of known explosive devices that used tri-cobalt. It only has pertinent information, sometimes too much data can be as harmful as none.
Blackwell: That is true enough ::She nodded to Tito’s final statement::
DeVeau/Luthas/Renot: ?
Taybrim: My biggest focus concerning the tri-cobalt is – how could Terra Prime shield that? We should be able to detect the tri-cobalt even though a cloak due to the radioactive trail it leaves behind. Unless it is shielded in some manner.
Bailey: Radioactive you say?
Tito: Yes, although that isn’t exactly the issue with tri-cobalt. With proper preparation it becomes a potent explosive with an extremely high fission fragmentation rating.
Bailey: Ah, I see. Thank you for the clarification. Please carry on…
Tito: If you need any extra clarification Lieutenant just ask. I have nothing more to add at the moment.
Blackwell: So its a multi-prong issue: dangerous weapons, ships, and individuals all to contend with. ::Her voice was quiet, and somber, as she summarized succinctly::
Taybrim: Correct. So, what’s the plan you ask? ::He paused and looked around the assembled crew in the briefing room.:: Admiral Hauke has approved the mobilization of eight ships in the Trinity-Serellian defense fleet. Four will be dispatched towards Miranda VII, and four – including the Narendra – will be following the ship launched to Ivulos.
Any: ?
Taybrim: We are operating under the belief that the ship we see is only a small part of this drama. And we need to find where the tri-cobalt device is actually planted. The goal is to find it, and diffuse it before it reaches any populated destination.
Any: ?
Taybrim: Commander DeVeau, once on board the Narendra you will work with Lieutenants Tito, and Sherlock. I want a way to scan for the tri-cobalt device, and information on how it may be shielded. Anything to help us track and identify it,
DeVeau/Tito/Sherlock: ?
Taybrim: Doctor Trovek, once on board the Narendra you’ll work with Ensign Renot and Marine Captain Luthas. I want at least one solid plan, and preferably one backup plan on how to do surgery on a tri-cobalt device and diffuse it.
Trovek/Luthas/Renot: ?
Taybrim: Lieutenants Blackwell, Yael and Bailey – you’ll be with me on the bridge. We need to sift through what we know of Terra Prime’s personality and previous encounters to see if we can glean any insights on what the real game is here.
Blackwell/Yael/Bailey: ?
Taybrim: You have two hours before the Narendra launches. Once onboard we’ll have some time to co-ordinate with the Trinity-Serellian defense fleet before focusing on these tasks. Any questions?
Any: ?
~*~
tags/tbc
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Commodore Sal Taybrim
Commanding Officer
~Julian Beck
E239010ST0