Mission Briefing

Most crewmembers of the Horizon were veterans of Lotus Fleet, many coming from as far back as the Borg War, a few even from before that when the Romulans attempted to take over the newly established headqurters of the elite division of Starfleet. All however, including the newest ones, were already experienced officers among the best the Federation could offer; a rare few even from beyond that. Therefore, no one was surprised at all when the intraship comm as well as that of Lotus Starbase blared the announcement.

"All senior officers of the USS Horizon to report to the ship's main briefing room in one hour. Repeat; all senior officers of the USS Horizon to report to the ship's main briefing room in one hour."

As the annoucement was made, Captain Kheren was already in the designated meeting chamber, waiting. His back was turned from both the entrance and the old style triangular table he has expressedly requested for his ship. It was basically the same one seen two centuries ago aboard the legendary Consitution class cruisers that had made legends of James T. Kirk of the Enterprise or Igrilan Kor of the USS Eagle; there was one side for the science officers, with direct acess to computer facilities, another for technical ones with access to both engineering and security monitors and the third one for the command personnel with controls for all communications systems. The antique tri-screened central monitor was of course nowadays replaced by a full holographic projector, supplemented by a large wall screen opposing the transparencies showing the immense vista of stars beyond the starbase they were docked outside of. There were nine chairs around the table, colored as per department, and the table made it so that everyone was slightly sideways to everyone else and no one facing one another directly or in a lower, farther down seat, as was the case with the conventional "banana table" usually found on ships since the last century. When Kheren brought his officers in here for a meeting, it was not to assert rank or confront individuals; the triangular arrangement by sections made for a closer exchange of ideas between colleagues with a clear definition of who was talking for what department of the ship, and that was the way he wanted it.

With his quadriscopic vision, the Andorian commanding officer of the flagship would be able to discreetly observe each officer as they entered through the reflection of the transparency before him. The vibration of it would transmit the sound of their voices even as they were behind him, in his auditory blindspot. It was his habit of being there before everyone else, so as to observe their arrival and learn about them as they came in; the order of their entrance, their walk, their unguarded face and stare as they first went through the door, their very first act when coming in, if they would partake to a drink or not and which one, when, how and where they sat, who they talked to first... all those details among so many others others told him who he would be dealing with, estimate how they would respond to the upcoming challenge... and how to best tell them.

Especially now; because what he was about to tell them might have more than a few decide to ask for a transfer.

Hands crossed behind his back in the attention posture of Starfleet, Captain Kheren looked at the stars and waited for his best people to arrive.

With what the stars were now calling him out to do, he would need them.

***

In engineering, S'Tan had been going over the basics of the improved impulse engine designs when the Captain's order came in. It was strange for him to be given so much time before being ordered to report. So he decided that he would go over the engineering personnel files. The stories that were told were some of the most fantastical things he had ever read. Most would make good holo-novels, if it wasn't for the fact that he knew all of these events occurred in the past year or so. Starfleet truly was amazing. Whilst the Romulans were in-fighting and killing their own people in a fool-hardy attempt to etch out their own new corner of the universe, Starfleet was defending everyone else.

After taking a few minutes to finish examining his team, S'Tan stood up picked up a blank PADD and proceeded to the briefing room 35 minutes early. Being on-time was almost a death sentence on a Romulan craft. Obviously, Starfleet was less intense in their demands, but he was sure that being simply 'on-time' would still not be looked upon well, if Captain Kheren's track record was anything close to being true.

He tapped his communicator as he had seen so many other Starfleet officers do on Romulan surveillance videos and said, "Lieutenant Bowl, please report to Engineering as soon as possible. I have been summoned to a briefing. Please prepare the ship for 100% power and launch within the hour."

Surprisingly, the computer's voice responded to his call.

"There is no member of the crew registered under that name."

S'Tan stopped in the threshold of his now open office door. "Excuse me? Computer, locate both assistant engineering chiefs."

"Lieutenant Patricia Blakely is in the officer's mess. Lieutenant Robert Baoule is in his quarters."

He sighed. "Mr... Baw-ouu-le, we can dispense with the pleasantries for now. Please report to Engineering as soon as possible. I am off to a briefing  Please prepare the ship for immediate departure."

There was a brief silence before a puzzled voice answered over the comm.

"Sir? Aye, Sir. On my way."

S'Tan nodeed as the line closed and quickly made his way to the turbolift.

---

The Orion Lieutenant had just finished a shower after returning from the ship's Arboretum and was donning a crisp new uniform when the call came in announcing the upcoming senior officer's meeting. As she finished a brief ritual of very minor primping, she exited out of her quarters clutching her PAAD at her side as she took the turbolift straight-up to deck one.

She exited out of the lift and stepped onto the main bridge and headed directly for the Ops station. The Bolian Dorin Rixx was manning the station as expected, and he was about to rise when Elisha signaled for him to remain there.

"I have a senior office's meeting that I will be heading to momentarily, so you may as well remain here until I return" she notified him as she approached.

His mild disposition and easy-going manner showed throughout his body as he spoke.

"I was already planning on that, Lieutenant Leône, I just wanted you to have access to the console before your meeting."

Elisha Leône smiled sincerely at the azure blue officer.

"That is appreciated Ensign, but I'm only going to update my PADD here directly from the station before I depart for the meeting."

As she spoke, Elisha transferred all of the updated ship information to her PADD and then excused herself for the meeting. She not only strived to be punctual, but Elisha preferred to arrive early to most meetings. This provided her with an opportunity to get situated and prepared before any of the formalities began.

As she entered the briefing room, Elisha could see the conference table with the sole individual seated in the room. As she approached the Captain's, back she could also briefly see his reflection on the transparency.

"Hello Captain" the Andorian acknowledged respectfully as she sat down with her PADD at the designated command side of the triangular table.  She then engaged her device as she started perusing through various updated files.   

Greetings, Lieutenant. Your new pip fits you well."

He was refering to her brand new promotion following their maiden voyage that head sent them to the edge of the galaxy and back, finding a lost Jem'Hadar prison camps and a forgotten murderous ship AI, she had showed poise and efficiency under fire that had seen her quickly earn her new rank. 

And she's going to need all of it again, he thought, musing upon what was awaiting them.

-

The Romulan engineer arrived on deck one and proceeded to walk to the briefing room at a brisk pace. He arrived at the door and took a step inside. As he entered, he instinctively surveyed the room for any potential danger. He only found the Captain and an Orion woman wearing a red-marked  uniform. He also took notice of the room. Especially the seating arrangement. S'Tan could immediately tell that it was designed for equality, even though there was none on-board a starship. He also noticed the color-coordinated chairs. Hideous. He decided immediately to keep these thoughts to himself, but to lodge a suggestion in at a later time to restore the room to a more structured environment.

"Captain Kheren, I presume.  I am Lieutenant S'Tan Solius." He started, turning his gaze towards the back of the woman. "And Miss..."

"Lieutenant Elisha Leône," the Orion female nodded slightly as she spoke. "Chief operations officer." 

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Lieutenant Junior S'Tan Solius. Engineering chief."

He took his supposed assigned seat and looked to the Captain. Kheren nodded his white-haired head to him, antennae wiggling slightly. When he had sent his request for a new chief engineer, Starfleet had said they would send him the best one they could get their hands on; the first transwarp ship of the Federation deserved nothing less. 

Well we will soon find out if their estimate is true, won't we? Kheren told himself silently, again his mind on their new assignment.

"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Solius," the captain said out loud. " I hope you had time to take a good look at our engineering section."

S'Tan let out a sigh at this comment. "Aye, Sir. I have, but not as much as I need. I will most likely be relying heavily on my assistants for a while. I assume they are the best available?"

"I will let you be the judge of that, Chief. They both went through the discovery and demize of the Azimuth Horizon, twice against the mad AI Khan of the USS Nemesis in the Mutara nebula and at the edge of the galaxy, first contact with the X'ell of the nearby Dyson shell and even through time once. Baoule was also on the starbase when the forces of a Romulan dissident tried to seize her. And they were on hand for the entire trial run of this ship. I believe they should prove adequate to assist you."

There was no disguising the pride in his voice but also the firm belief that his new chief engineer was the right person for leading them both.

The doors slid open again and Commander Redding walked in with a nod and gave a crooked smile to everyone. And astute person might have noticed that his eyes paused ever so briefly on Solius before moving on, but his face remained pleasant.

"Good after noon all, Captain." The last he added with a nod to Kheren and took a seat placing a slightly over sized klingon mug down in front of him, the wafting smell coming from it could only be Earth coffee.

"I hope this new mission has more of a challenge than the last, almost felt like a cadet cruise to me." and smiled broadly.

If the Andorian caught on the Human-style sarcastic joke, he gave no sign of it. Most of the time he didn't anyway.

"I think you will find this one up to your high standards, Number One," answered Kheren.

He was not joking. Neil Redding was experienced beyond his years and in things most Starfleet officers only read about in reports of exceptional ships and crews like those of the Enterprise, the Voyager or the Defiant. But what they were about to get themselves into would be on parr with the best those legendary starships had gone through.

And hopefully, we too will get back home so that others will read about it, Kheren wished in the privacy of his own mind.

***

Commander Oseno heard the call for the staff meeting, and finished up a couple of adjustments to the Polaris tactical systems and then left the destroyer bound for the briefing room. As he stepped out onto the massive bridge of the Horizon he was once again impressed by the enormity and at the same time the beauty that Starfleet's engineers managed to incorporate into the ship. He caught sight of Adira Yiral sitting at the strategic operations console and stepped over to her.

"Com-" Oseno stopped himself remembering how she'd asked to be addressed "Adira, I'd like you to join me for the briefing. I've heard...rumors about our next mission."

The fair haired El Aurian smiled a knowing smile at him "As have I, and if  what I've heard is true, it will be quite interesting. I would be happy to join you Sir."

The pair made their way to the briefing room where they entered the room just slightly behind the Horizon's first officer. Oseno motioned Adira to follow him as he stepped over to where the captain and first officer were speaking.

"Reporting as ordered Captain," Oseno declared when there was a break in the conversation. "Sirs, this is Lieutenant Commander Adira Yiral,  I've asked Commander Yiral to join me as I've heard certain...rumors regarding our mission and thought she might add some unique insight."

"Her experience alone will undoubtebly benefit us in the very least; good thinking Commander Oseno," agreed Kheren with a welcoming nod to both of them. " Please take a seat, Commander Yiral. It is for this very reason that I already asked Commander Sisko to join us as well, even if he chose not to be a bridge officer or a department head anymore."

And they hopefully will take over if you or any of the others decline to go and face what is about to fall on your heads, but this he kept to himself as he looked at both Redding and Oseno.

"Thank you Sir," Adira responded bowing slightly before finding a seat at the briefing table.
 

Oseno nodded to the CO and XO and then joined his subordinate. Jureth found himself wondering if he should have brought Variel Palos, his intelligence specialist, with him as well, but Oseno also wasn't sure that he completely trusted his fellow Bajoran either. He wasn't sure why, but he was suspicious of the intelligence officer though there was nothing to confirm that Palos was up to no good...yet. Putting that aside he sat quietly and looked over a few more details of the Polaris final repairs as he waited for the briefing to begin rather than attempting to socialize with the other officers.
 

As if on cue, at the Captain's mention of Commander Sisko, the young half-Human, half-Bajoran officer entered the briefing room. Being quite familiar with the Horizon by now, he knew the configuration of the seats around the center table. With nine seats around the triangular table, he had calculated ahead of time that there would not be enough seats for all senior bridge officers, and himself. Captain Kheren, Commander Redding, and Commander Oseno would be seated in the red command chairs, 011 and 110, along with Snowfire in the blue science chairs, and finally, S'Tan Solius and Alexandria Somers would occupy the gold security and engineering seats, with Elisha Leone likely occupying one of those due to the addition of Oseno Jureth in the tri-command structure unique to the Horizon.

Therefore, he immediately took a seat to the side of the room next to Yeoman Ensign Blackbird, allowing those already assembled who would possibly feel threatened by his continued presence on the Horizon to instead be at ease. He knew that as a first officer, he might be unsure why another Command level officer was on the ship, and certainly the brand new Chief Engineer might be unnerved by the presence of the former Chief Engineer who had willingly stepped down in order to focus his efforts entirely on the well-being of their new inorganic guest.

Smiling and nodding at those who caught his eye on the way in, he quietly took his seat without announcing his presence, and waited for the briefing to begin.

The doctors similarly shuffled in and quietly sat at two of the three unoccupied science seats such that they could be near to each other.

-

When Snowfire heard the announcement, she was elbows-deep in a mess of calculations in support of theoretical expansion from currently accepted hypotheses on the nature of psionics and how they interacted with reality. She hadn't realised it at the time, but her demonstration at the first lecture she had held about her people where she'd preformed the sar alure, had thrown an extremely large wrench into the heart of the Federation's theories on how psi capable individuals could affect the world around them. She'd been really, really tempted to push a copy of the Crystalmind Theorems that were hidden away in the steadily becoming more ordered mess of files that was the Ilythirii cultural database, but she'd decided against it. Where it came to this subject, her people really did know than the Federation, but passing that on into their hands rather than letting them work it out for themselves would be...bad. She wasn't even really sure that this had anything to do with her Oath anymore. Somehow she didn't think so...

Knowledge without the wisdom to use it...that wasn't knowledge at all. Not really, and certainly not in the way that really mattered. This way Naomi and her colleagues would have the double advantage of being able to approach the subject with clear minds - and possibly discover new avenues of understanding - as well as the fact that they'd be able to compare their findings with the papers from her own people. And that...well she knew that her people were grasping towards a new leap from the current plateau of psionic understanding. And this could be just the catalyst that they needed to enable that jump. Some of the things one of her brothers had been talking about that that might make possible...

But for the moment, that was the future. And in the present, she was needed somewhere in the next hour.

"Alright Naomi," she smiled at the Bajoran specialist as the announcement registered to her as well, "I'll drop in again this evening if prep for our new mission isn't too taxing." They both chuckled at that. Snowfire had surprised her department a bit in that, how easily she was able to delegate - and to do so effectively as well. Sure, she could be a strict taskmistress sometimes, but she also had an almost uncanny knack for knowing exactly how far to push people. You might finish your shift tired, on occasion even exhausted, but when you woke up afterwards to find that you had nothing cluttering your free shift it was worth it. She laid down the PADD she'd been working on, as well as the sheets of scrawled over hardcopy (she just worked better with those), packed them away and then headed for her quarters.

A shower and change left her with forty minutes remaining, so she set an alarm and then absorbed herself in work on one of the new anti-stress systems that she'd been working on after their maiden voyage. Self-activating force field interference protocols could help a lot in all manner of situations. It was just getting the matrices on the system down right that was being complicated. She'd see about asking Commander Sisko to have a look at it for her. She knew force field mechanics to a competent level, but she had never been trained as an engineer herself. He had.

Her alarm chirped at her half an hour later and she loaded up the program onto a fresh PADD - she'd made some progress, but not as much as she was pretty sure Sisko or the new CEO would be able to have done in her place - before heading for the briefing room. She entered right on the heels of the Commander and Doctors 011 and 110, noting the reflective surfaces with some interest and respectful amusement. Clever.

She slid into her seat, nodding directly at the reflectives on one side that would carry the gesture straight to the Captain's eyes in silent acknowledgement before nodding to the rest of the command crew. It was a good group, and they had a few new ones for this mission (or so she'd heard). A new Jig, you could always tell by the way their pips shone, and if she remembered right not just one of those. Snowfire had done a fair amount of reading on the Romulans, but she'd been reserving judgement on them until she actually had the chance to meet one in person. Whilst one was only a small sample, you could draw a lot of conclusions about culture from them in how they acted. It was a useful skill to have, and one she'd been taught in the Talya for its uses as a designation tool. Having taken her seat she grew very still, observing and listening on multiple levels as she waited for the meeting to being.

- Somers Quarters USS Horizon -

Alex had dumped her stuff in her new quarters and began to unpack, it had been an hour since her meeting with the Captain, now his voice came over the Communications system.

"All senior officers of the USS Horizon to report to the ship's main briefing room in one hour. Repeat; all senior officers of the USS Horizon to report to the ship's main briefing room in one hour."

"No rest for the wicked" she said to herself and collected her tunic and put it on as she left her room and made her way to the Turbolift; when she was in and the doors had closed.

"Main Briefing Room" She said and the turbolift whisked her to her requested destination. Sometime later she stepped out on to the correct level and walked to the briefing room.

She entered and saw other there "Greetings all, I am the new MCO/Chief Security and Tactical Officer" She announced herself.

S'Tan turned his chair to see the new arrival. Unlike all of the other officers that had step foot into the room, she was the only one to announce the fact that she was new. That being said, she also confirmed the thought he had been having since he arrived. This was not the "fru-fru science and exploration are the best" Starfleet that was always laughed about in Romulan Mess Halls. He couldn't tell if this was a standard position onboad the ship, or if this was a mission specific placement. Either way, he would watch his step. The Romulan Gai'Shian were known not for their intelligence, but for their instincts and ability to kill with any item within reach. He had to assume the Starfleet version was no different.

He nodded coolly to the woman and turned in his chair. He had little interaction with the land combat side of the navy and this would not change in Starfleet.

From his seat Oseno Jureth looked up slightly surprised at the sudden announcement from the ship's new chief of security. It was hardly protocol, but neither was having four command level officers aboard one starship either. The security officer in him assessed the young, but obviously charismatic woman in front of him and wondered exactly how a Marine officer was going to fair in the roll of a ship's security chief. Marines were not exactly known for their people skills though the team under his command was social enough. He remembered briefly Major MacGregor's description of Lieutenant Somers as being known as one of the "best and brightest" young Marine officers in Starfleet. Oseno looked around the room and noted the ship's Romulan chief engineer reaction, or lack thereof, and then stood up and introduced himself.

"Lieutenant, welcome aboard, I am Commander Oseno, Chief of Strategic Operations. Your reputation has preceded you according to the commander of my strike team.  I was once a security officer myself, and am quite familiar with Captain Kheren's protocols having used them on both the Lotus and the Alsea.  If there is anything I can do to help you get acclimated please don't hesitate to ask."

Walking over to the Officer who addressed her "Thank you Sir, I did not know the Major knew me or heard of me. But if you have any questions please ask, I have some unofficial diplomatic training, so I am not your normal standard issue Marine, I come from an influential family, the type that would be considered wealthy on any planet that still uses currency" She said and laughed at her own comment as the Federation no longer used hard currency in the core worlds. Then she looked briefly over to the Romulan then back to Jureth; "What is up with the Romulan Sir? I have seen warmer Breen than that one; and yes I noticed his lack of reaction to my announcement and arrival. Tell me did I err by announcing myself? It is how it was done in the privileged circles I grew up in" She asked.

"Not erred per say Lieutenant, just a bit unorthodox is all" and then he lowered his voice "and perhaps stole a bit of the captain's thunder," he added with a wink "I don't believe you've ever met Major MacGregor, but he has been around, and veteran officers often hear things. He merely indicated that you'd made quite the name for yourself in your young career. As for Lieutenant Solis, I've not had the chance to meet him, so I suspect we will both find out at the same time." 

"These are not the circles you grew up in, Lieutenant Somers." Snowfire noted politely, her elongated ears easily picking up the exchange happening not more than two meters from her. She hoped that her interruption into the conversation would serve as a blunt enough instrument to show that S'tan had all but certainly heard what Somers had said as well. She leant forward to rest her elbows on the table, her black fingers twining together below her chin - but not as a rest for it - and came to a stop with her violet eyes fixed on the red haired marine officer across the table. It was an entirely single motion that movement, one that spoke volumes in regards to Snowfire's physical state and level of training both.

"With that said," She smiled slightly, nodding at Jureth, "I would certainly advise taking up Commander Oseno on his offer of aid if you feel the need. He's a fine officer; one of the best in my most humble opinion." At least when he isn't trapped in a self-doubt loop, she very carefully did not add. It wasn't like she tried to pick things up from the people around her, but to a given degree - especially with more emotional species - she really couldn't help it. Acting on what she felt was a whole different kettle of fish as a human might say, but she was very good at not doing so. Which was probably a very good thing. "Welcome aboard."