Commander Toryn Raga - One For the Good History Books, Part II
Rameses
When Tucker stood up he raised a brow slightly and looked towards Kel, whom he could tell was getting passionately upset about the points the Lieutenant was bringing up.
Kel: ::angrily:: The crystalline entity acted purely on instinct, there was no malice. It's no different than me eating an apple and killing the bacteria on the surface. Starfleet was eventually able to communicate with the creature.
The Captain sensed the same tension and stepped in before tempers got out of hand so Toryn sat back in his chair with his hands resting on the table in front of him. While Kel was right about being able to communicate with the crystalline entity, he omitted the fact that the scientist who did so then used it to kill the entity out of a sense of revenge for her son who died because of its natural instincts.
Niac: Thank you Lieutenants...what your information lacks in depth it more than makes up for in grave implications. Something tells me we're all going to lose some sleep over this in the next few days...but I am determined not to become another statistic in the 'failed first contact' ledger. So here's what we're going to do. Lieutenant Velis...you're to work with Commander Kel. He's our Chief Science Officer and for the purposes of this mission you're to report to him. Get the science and medical teams together...I expect everybody who isn't already an expert in astrobiology to become one in...::he glanced at the chrono::...about three hours. Doctor Beck, if anyone from your team has relevant expertise I want them working with V'Len's people.
Beck: ::sighing:: Far as I know, that might only be me, but I'll poll my people. ::to Kel:: I'll send you a shortlist when I know better.
Velis: Response
V'Len nodded.
Niac: Lt. Venn, you work for Lt. Kessler now. Mr. Kessler, I want your team to start developing tactical contingencies assuming the full spectrum of possible responses to our presence from 'big space fish wants a hug' to 'it just ate a nacelle and it still looks hungry.' Pull in Major Singh's people if it'll help...although I'm hesitant to even consider deploying our fighter craft in proximity to something like that. I want all the options you can give me before we try to make contact with the unknown creature. Understood?
Toryn had nothing to add other than a nod given to both Lieutenants.
Kessler/Venn: Responses
Karrod glanced back towards the blurry image and crossed his hands over his chest, in a thoughtful manner.
Niac: Mr. Tucker...get back down to your people, see if any of them have expertise in biomechanics. If we can study this thing we'll need to understand it in a biological and a mechanical sense. Guess which side of that coin you get to focus on while you're working to make the good ship Ronin look as nonthreatening and...unappetizing as possible. That just leaves us, Mr. Raga...and we get the fun job.
Tucker: Aye, Skipper, I’ll head down there now.
Raga: Well, as long as we’re having fun. ::he smirked:: How exactly do we end up with the fun job?
Niac: Well I've got a symbiote in my guts that won't shut up and you're telepathically bonded with an owl who you keep telling us is housebroken. I think we're about as close to first contact experts as we're likely to find in the next three hours...so lets setup shop in here and go over some of the mission reports from those other crews, see if we can figure out a way to avoid ending up in one of these slideshows some future crew is scowling at. Alright...questions?
Beck: No questions. At least… none that you can answer for me.
Any: Response
Toryn chuckled slightly at his reasoning and again nodded while Karrod shot that optimistic look around the room.
Niac: Lt. Venn, Lt. Velis...for the duration of this mission you are a part of this crew and I will expect you to perform your duties with that in mind. There is a plaque on the bridge which bears the words 'for their tomorrows...we give our today.' It has become a rallying cry for this crew because that is our level of commitment...to one another, to the mission, and to the people we serve. I'll expect the same from you. If for one moment I feel like you're holding out on us, if you're withholding information or working with some agenda of your own, you'll spend the mission in your quarters or in the brig. Am I clear?
Toryn sat forward slightly and met both of their gazes with a stoic, firm look of his own in solidarity for the captain. The safety of this crew was the most important thing to both men.
Venn/Velis: Response
Karrod glanced around the room once more and nodded.
Niac: Then get to work. Dismissed. We've got three hours to intercept and I intend to be ready.
Toryn smiled at the others as they all filtered out of the room and once they were alone he shifted slightly to lean an elbow on the arm rest of his chair as he looked Karrod’s way.
Niac: Well...we might get ourselves into the history books today Mr. Raga.
Raga: Wait, you think we haven’t already done that? I figured the Siege of Thirty Three at least would’ve cinched that.
He huffed a tired laugh and sat.
Niac: Yeah I'd prefer to stay off the page titled 'worst mistakes in first contact history.' There's just so much we don't know, Toryn...and I can't shake the feeling our guests know more than they're letting on.
At that Toryn’s brow softened and he sat forward, elbows propped up on the table with his fingers interlaced with one another. A faint nod followed.
Raga: SFI has always had that effect, though they’ve gotten better since purging Section 31 from their ranks as long as there’s a possibility some admiral ordered them to only give us enough carrot to work with, it’s never going to be a foregone conclusion that they aren’t holding something back. I only hope that if they are holding back something that their orders permit them to do so before it puts this ship and crew at unnecessary risk.
Whatever Karrod had intended to say in response died on his lips as the door chime rang and he arched a quizzical eyebrow towards him. Toryn’s brow raised in that vulcanoid manner and he offered a shrug of his shoulders in response.
Niac: Someone forget their favorite mug? ::He shook his head and tapped his comm badge:: =/\ Enter! =/\=
Rather than one of the previous briefing’s participants and fresh faced vulcanoid entered the room and Toryn recognized his face from the new personnel transfers to the ship.
S’tek: Captain. Commander. Ensign S’tek reporting.
Toryn nodded his head in greeting.
Niac: Ah Ensign S'tek, good, I wasn't sure if you would make it before our hasty departure from Lolagi IV. I'm Fleet Captain Niac and this is Commander Raga. Welcome aboard.
Raga: Welcome aboard the Ronin. I take it you’ve managed to get settled?
Their newest officer gave them both an assessing look and the faintest hint of a smile before acknowledging them both with a nod.
S’tek: Yes, Sir.
Niac: You just missed your new boss, Lieutenant Kessler. He'll be briefing the security team about our upcoming mission in a few minutes, I'll let him know you're coming so he doesn't have to repeat himself. Hope you arrived ready to work, Ensign, because in about three hours we're going to be right in the thick of it.
Raga: You’re part Vulcan, are you not, Ensign?
S’tek: Half-Vulcan, Captain. My father is Human.
One of his usual warm smiles appeared on the Al-Leyan’s face at the confirmation and noted the more subdued combination of features. Though the pointed ears on Al-Leyans weren’t quite as pronounced as a full blooded Vulcan’s, they were more so than hybrids generally. Pointed ears, after all, were superior to smooth rounded ones in his opinion.
Niac: Then I imagine you'll find some friends among the crew, Ensign, we've no shortage of folks who have familial connections which span worlds. Much as I'd like to give you a proper introduction to the ship our limited time before arrival means I must keep it brief...hopefully once things calm down we'll get a better chance to know one another. Any questions for either of us before we send you in Lt. Kessler's direction?
Raga: Ask away.
S'tek: Response
Toryn looked towards the Captain while the man mulled over how to respond to the Ensign.
Niac: Good question and the answer is...not much. Mr. Kessler can give you the details when he briefs his team but the long and the short of it is that we're on our way to study a large, potentially dangerous spaceborne organism. I realize it's a long shot but any chance you took a few extra Academy classes on astrobiology or biomechanics?
Raga: As if we’re that lucky. ::he chuckled::
S'tek: Response
The small huff of a laugh from the Captain elicited another chuckle from Toryn.
Niac: Fair enough. I'll let Lt. Kessler get you properly briefed...our Security Complex is on Deck 11. Sickbay is on Deck 10...although I hope it'll be a while before you need it. Get yourself going Ensign, wouldn't want to be late for your first day on the job.
Raga: Since you’re fresh from the Academy I think doctor Beck won’t mind you delaying your medical check-in since your medical records from the Academy have already been sent over. Cool winds to you, Ensign. You’re joining a solid department.
S'tek: Response
Toryn watched the Ensign exit the conference room and then looked at Karrod.
Raga: And once again the Universe reaffirms its pledge to ensure Academy graduates get tossed into the proverbial fire right out of the gate on their first assignment. ::he shook his head slightly with a light chuckle::
Niac: Response
Raga: So, we’re first contact experts now because we have voices in our heads?
His smirk bordered on mischievous as he sat back in his chair and faced Karrod, deciding on a little levity to shift their focus back into how in the winds they were going to try and make first contact with a cosmozoan.
Niac: Response
Raga: That’s fair. That said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about this one Karrod. As the good Lieutenant so directly pointed out in their presentation, there have been very few encounters with beings on this scale that have gone well. The one with Gomtuu was likely the one with the best outcome, and an entire crew of Romulans were lost. ::he exhaled slowly and ran his fingers through his hair in thought:: And you and I both know that if Wrath gets even so much as a whisper of a creature like this that he’d send someone to leash and chain it up until he can find a way to use it in some way. Just imagine something of that scale slamming into Thirty Three.
There was no shortage of disgust in his tone as he threw out that example. Due to his link with Sylara he was particularly sensitive about the abuse of animals for nothing more than greed of others. Poachers were shot on site on Leya-I as a result of decades of bringing Seiuri nearly to extinction just because telepathic birds were a novelty offworld. That wasn’t even because they were being weaponized.
Niac: Response
Raga: I think, if they were to be interested the Alliance would most likely seek to just destroy it if they thought it posed a threat. They’d definitely see it as a lesser lifeform, like they do with us. The Consortium are the ones with a long history of perverting other things and beings for their own goals. ::a soft huff later:: Consortium notwithstanding, this is definitely going to be out of our usual nacellehouse. I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish seeing Chief Tucker’s reports if this thing ends up…what was it you said? Being romantically problematic?
It was not lost on him at that moment that their flight deck ran the full length of the ship. He’d definitely been around Humans too long. A fact he was not about to bring up verbally. He was pretty sure Karrod would consider that scenario fully in the ‘worst mistakes in first contact history' column.
Niac: Response
[tags/tbc]
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Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga