Command Officers Briefing

Posted on Mon Aug 27th, 2012 @ 4:52pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne

Mission: Klingons on the Starboard Bow
Location: Cestus III - Starfleet Command Complex
Timeline: MD02 1300hrs

The grounds amidst the Starfleet Command Complex in Cestus' capital were abuzz with activity, as various Starfleet officers of all grades moved about, carrying out duties, running errands, taking messages, or on their way for a bit of lunch in the town. Today, Benjamin was going against the lunchtime flow, following the personnel heading into the primary central building, and one of the tallest buildings in the city.

The lobby encompassed most of the ground floor, and Benjamin could actually see the doors leading out of the far side of the building, but his destination was to head directly for the large bank of turbolifts which formed a circle, heading straight up the centre of the skyscraper.

The turbolift itself was far more crowded than any on the Endeavour would ever be, but it was also larger - enough for the occupants to still feel comfortable. As the various passengers called out their destinations to the computer, it calculated the priority of the transit, and assigned it an order on the list; most of the stops would be in order of floors as they passed, but this system allowed for more critical journeys to override the others. Due to his rank and his destination, the turbolift assigned Benjamin's stop near the top floor as the first destination as soon as he spoke the words "Command Conference Centre."

Though a number of personnel who were undoubtably heading for destinations on the lower floors seemed a little disgruntled at the extended length of their journey, none of the lift's passengers seemed to argue with the fact that the journey of a Captain heading into a command conference was likely to be far more important than their own journeys.

The turbolift was an extremely fast mode of transport, and it was only a matter of a couple of minutes before Benjamin was stepping out into the much quieter floors of the upper portion of the building. There was a security checkpoint which had to be passed once exiting the turbolifts, but once he was through, almost every officer he saw was wearing the red collar of a command officer.

Today's meeting with the fleet command staff was a weekly occurrence, with attendance mandatory for any starship captain in the system at the time, precluding any alternate situation for which their presence was required. As Benjamin entered the conference room where today's meeting was to beheld, he noticed seven other chairs were already filled with starship captains, each of them sat in a horse-shoe facing the flatter edge of the capital-'D' shaped table, where the Admirals always sat. As Benjamin took his place amongst the Captains and nodded his greeting to them, Admiral Sanchez entered, followed by a number of adjutants.

Benjamin was able to read into straight away the fact that there would be no talk from the Academy Annex nearby, nor the Personnel division, as senior officers from neither division were in attendance. The two Task Force commanders were rarely present Benjamin understood, as they were usually out in the field, and the new fleet second-in-command was still finishing up their previous assignment before transferring to Cestus III. There was a Commander in yellow whose PADD styling identified him as a member of the Research & Development division, and as ever there was a member of the Judge Advocate General's office sitting in the corner, ready to take notes on the meeting.

"Captains," the Admiral spoke, as he took his place, standing behind the podium raised out of the centre of the flat edge of the table. "Thank you for your attendance. The agenda on the meeting today is the developing situation you have all been made aware of between the Klingon Empire and the Gorn Hegemony.

"As you all know, the Klingons and the Gorn have been in a state of cold war with each other since shortly after the end of the Dominion War, fourteen years ago, when the Gorn repositioned much of their fleet to their border facilities and colonies near the Klingon Empire. Since the Klingons concluded their program of rebuilding after the war four years ago, the Federation's diplomatic pressure and Starfleet's presence near the border are the only things keeping the two races in check. Unfortunately with the situation with the Romulan Empire, and the Federation's disapproval of the Klingon Empire's desire to annex systems along the Klingon-Romulan border, relationships between ourselves and the High Council have deteriorated, and some Klingon Houses are less concerned with provoking the Gorn whilst Starfleet ships are sitting on the border."

"What sort of collateral damage are we likely to see if the situation along the border breaks out into direct conflict?" It was Captain De'Lauran of the Kanji who asked the question. As a general briefing of regional affairs, Admiral Sanchez had encouraged all captains in attendance to feel free to ask such pertinent questions, even if not directly invited to do so.

"In the initial two months of the conflict, much of the fighting will likely be confined to the disputed region in question." It was one of the Admiral's administrative adjutants who answered. "However, after that time period our predictions show that the fighting will begin to cross the current borders of both powers, and we are likely to see stray ship-to-ship skirmishes spilling over into Federation space. Two months is also the threshold we foresee before the Federation starts to received displace refugees from both sides, and from the disputed region between the two powers. Due to the fighting styles of both powers, casualties will likely have severe injuries."

As Captain De'Lauran nodded his acceptance of the answer, Admiral Sanchez continued.

"The Federation Council has requested that we alter our policy with regards to the region to provide a more active deterrent to open conflict. Without appearing to stake a claim on that territory of our own, I have assigned three ships - the Endeavour, the Jesop and the Catalunya - to enter the region and attempt to prevent conflict, using armed force if absolutely necessary. The Kanji, Monitor, Wintersmith and Edelman shall form a continuous patrol of our border, ready to enter the region if required to provide assistance."

"Our subspace telescopes have detected that several Klingon and Gorn ships have set up colonies on worlds within the region - both inhabited and uninhabited - some in contest with each other within the same system or even on the same world." It was the Commander from Research & Development who spoke now. "Their infrastructure has been lain quickly but soundly, and they have dug in, so even with the diplomatic situation, the Corps of Engineers do not recommend trying to remove these settlements from any of the planets. They do have significant ground defences aimed at each other, but I highly doubt that they will show much hesitation to turning it on a Federation starship if their captain is trying to displace them from their claimed world."

"Any questions?" the Admiral asked.

"What are the rules of engagement regarding the Klingons?" This time it was Benjamin who asked. Engagement with the Gorn was a less tricky affair if the captain felt that it was warranted, but the Khitomer Accords made potential engagements with Klingon starships a more troublesome affair.

"It is to be used as a last resort, but authorisation is granted to open fire under your own prerogative, Captain," Sanchez responded. "Chancellor Martok has assured the Federation Council that any Klingon starship which forces a Federation ship to fire upon it in order to preserve the stability of the region will be considered by the KDF to be a renegade. He will not however offer any assurances that his forces won't be continuing to stake claims within the region."

After Benjamin had nodded his acceptance of the answer, and nobody else voiced any questions, Sanchez stood straight, taking his weight off of the podium. "That calls to a close the briefing for today. Dismissed."

As Benjamin stood, he looked around, seeking out any faces he recognised of other Captains who would be going into the region with the Endeavour, hoping to introduce himself and work up a rapport in case they needed assistance once they were in there.