"Briefing the Senior Staff"

Posted on Sat Jun 11th, 2022 @ 6:00am by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Captain Gary Taylor & Lieutenant Commander Aurelia Taylor & Commander Sthilg & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Lieutenant Commander Alicia Kelea-Salik & Lieutenant Etrara Khalten & Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Commander Kyle Reece
Edited on on Mon Jun 13th, 2022 @ 6:56am

Mission: Season 5: Episode 4: Reef
Location: Observation Lounge, Deck 1
Timeline: Md1 - 08h30 - 25.5.2397
1853 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Phoenix let her gaze sweep the group of officers in the briefing room. And then mutely she hit a button on the console. "Ki'v4." She said as the information on the planet appeared on their PADDs.

"The USS Jefferson is a Steamrunner class and has a crew compliment of a hundred and eighty five or so. Captain Miles Kentwell was in command, and he and his executive officer Commander T'Sar are long time command officers. Their last transmission was 5 hours ago, an urgent distress signal stating that the Jefferson is being pulled from Orbit to the planet below. This planet is uninhabited as far as we are aware and is in no way technologically advanced enough to pull a Federation Starship from orbit. Starfleet Command has charged us with search, rescue and recovery of the Jefferson and her crew."

From his chair to the right of Phoenix, Gary spoke up. "Kentwell and T'Sar are not the type to panic. For them to send a distress, it has to be major and something both were caught off guard with and unprepared for." He pointed out.

Alicia looked towards Phoenix. “I take it the Jefferson would have survived planetary entry, and submergence in water?”

"We believe so." Phoenix said "But no further communications has been had. We have permission to use the QSD, Ensign Derani, will be able to get us there in under 4 hours. Which means, that in those 4 hours, away teams need to be put together, briefed and equipped."

Naxea studied the information on Ki'v4. She was SCUBA qualified but she knew there was no way she would be cleared for this mission with being pregnant. She would have to send Tonelly in her place. "D-do we--*achew!* know the *achew!* status of *achew!* the *achew!* Jefferson *achew!* Damn, sorry *achew!* 'Damn these sneezing fits,' she cursed to herself.

"No but they were at peak performance before the distress call." Phoenix said. "Hopefully our long range sensors will help the closer we get."

T'Kara looked at Naxea. "Hmm.. Fascinating. Bajoran first trimester histamine reactions." She then focused. "Captain I believe we will need some training sessions in how to use the submergance suits. This is an entirely different situation that usually is not in Starfleet Away Team training. With your approval I would like to work with all parties involved to prepare our marine and starfleet away teams for these underwater operations."

Though he was just the Commandant of the Academy Annex, here on the Elysium, Kyle was still one of the senior officers on the ship. Speaking up thoughtfully, he said, "While the primary goal of this mission is search and rescue, I would suggest that one or two of senior year cadets be assigned to each team as well. It would be invaluable training experience for them in an area, which the Commander just noted, Starfleet personnel have very little practical knowledge of, myself included. I would also like to volunteer for one of the teams." He shrugged slightly as he added, "Can't rightly ask my cadets to do something that I haven't done myself."

Phoenix nodded and looked at Gary. "The Jefferson is a 10 deck ship." She said to him. "You and Colonel Azhul work out your teams, and Commander T'Kara is correct, we need people to have a run down on submergence suits just in case there is areas where water has come in."

Miraj was counting on her fingers, double checking her maths. "Four minutes." She said, when she had triple checked. "From here to there with QSD is four minutes. And thats including getting under way, and slowing to full stop. But I won't take Elysium into orbit. Not if there's something pulling ships out of orbit. If it comes after us, we'll die. Too big. Too much mass. We'll splatter, regardless of where we hit, even if we're going full reverse."

"Wise choice" Phoenix said. "Now, each team needs to have at least one medically trained person and I want security and marines on them. You have under an hour to get them ready, we depart at 09h30 and We will want to take scans when we get there."

" Underwater ressscue now that'sss sssomething you don't do every day. Ssshould i have one of the cargo baysss turned into an emergency hossspital ward?" The chief MD enquired.

Lia had been taking notes as the meeting progressed, "So as I see it, there shouldn't be any untoward Security problems with the locals. From what I can see it's basically uninhabited, but does anyone have any information about the wildlife? I can't find any in the computer files."

"on this planet most of the sentient species are insect-like creatures. The most remarkable creature can best be described as a large, winged spider. About the size of a pigeon, these 'spiders' are capable of flight, just like many insects. They aren't capable of creating webs however, but they do catch prey with sticky constructions. They're saliva is very sticky and is usually applied to a branch or large leaf, ready for an unsuspecting prey to land on. The 'spider' will usually cover several spots in a tree before flying to a higher position where it waits. These 'spiders' possess more intelligence than meets the eye though. They sometimes work together to scare prey towards regions with a lot of prepared sticky patches, often ending in a feast for these 'spiders'." Phoenix said "Lets avoid those if possible."

For the first time Etrara spoke up “Would it not be prudent to investigate the surroundings first before we begin our rescue. Maybe some spatial anomaly took them down, what is to say that it would not happen to us?”

"We will be cautious as possible but we need to remember there are probably survivors." Lalor replied. "Now as for teams" She pressed another button and the data appeared. "Avalon did these up while we have been talking."

Group 1
Commander Gary Taylor*
Lieutenant JG Myne Redal
1st Lieutenant Samuel Woolheater
Ensign Heather De La Rosa
Captain Mattias Richardson
Chief Warrant Officer Man'darr

Group 2
Commander Aurelia Taylor*
Lieutenant Victor Barclay de Tolly
Staff Sergeant Colton Renth
Dr. Katherine Taylor
Gunnery Sergeant Luxa Gami
Lieutenant Nevada McKay

Group 3
Lieutenant Etrara Khalten*
Captain David Tonelly
Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford
Lieutenant JG Nerinath zh'Rhilror
Ensign BF 345078 (john Snow.)
Sergeant Liam "Swede" Reece

Group 4
Lieutenant Commander S'hib*
Lieutenant JG Ryan Kade III
Senior Chief Petty Officer Fernando De La Rosa
Captain Kyle Reece
Ensign T'Kek
Chief Petty Officer Emily Charles

Naxea looked at the team assignments and was content with what she saw. A pang of regret of not being able to go pulled at her but she knew the pressures of diving along with decompression could cause issues with her pregnancy. As if on que, her body responded by beginning another bout of sneezing.

"Anything specific you want my group to do?" Lia looked at Phoenix as she spoke, knowing that dealing with wildlife really wasn't her thing.

Miraj watched them debate, thinking through the various recoveries she'd seen living on her fathers Search & Recovery ship. Planetfall into ocean was always the worst. Once the SIF failed, the pressure and the cold didn't take long to kill everything. She raised a hand, "Permission to shift us now, ma'am? Rather than wait?"

"All crew have until 09h00 to be back, so check with the Intake officer and make sure prior to departure Ensign" Phoenix said.

Given what they were up against, Miraj wasn't sure she'd be inclined to wait. every minute saved made a different to if Dr Sthilg would need to set up a triage in the cargo bay, or a morgue. But the captain knew what was best, so, "Yes Ma'am."

Phoenix looked around. "You have the brief. Lets get our teams sorted people. Dismissed."

===

OOC: * = Team Lead
OOC: Information on the planet

Ki’V 4.

First discovered in 2355, by a Xindi Aquatic Science team. They were looking for a colony world. They chose not to use it as it had once been inhabited by a land based species. Who vanished. The landmass on the planet is less than 5%.

A single day lasts 19.69 hours and a year lasts 106 days. The planet used to be made up of 3 continents, which made up 24% of the planet's landmass. Now there is one, left the other two sunken beneath the waves. 2 moon(s) orbit the planet and Ki’V 4 itself orbits a red sun in a slightly elliptic orbit.

The plant-like organisms on this planet are made up of tall grasses and flowers, with even taller fungi and huge trees. Shrubs are non-existent and bushes are so rare they might as well be. While flowers come in more shapes and colors than grasses, they both share a wide variety of scents, most of which are related to the nutrients in their area. The fungi are tall, strong and, like the grasses and flowers, scented. The trees are also scented, but it's much harder to detect.

Attracting animals to help with pollination and reproduction is usually done with smells and bright colors, but most species on this planet do it a little different. Sound is by far the most preferred way to attract animals and it can lead to some of the most spectacular natural orchestras. Some species let the wind blow between specialized openings which create special sounds. Others produce sound with specialized mechanisms, usually in the form of clapping, which can be compared to how a Venus flytrap catches its prey.

The wonders seen on the surface are also seen underwater. A huge variety of corals and aquatic plants have made their home in the waters of this planet, both living in harmony with each other, at least in most cases. Some species have developed into more aggressive forms, effectively trying to force their species wherever there's water for them. This has lead to the decline of some other species, but also to the rise of new, specialized predators.

Sentience is fairly common on Earth and on this planet it's uncommon. However, on this planet most of the sentient species are insect-like creatures. The most remarkable creature can best be described as a large, winged spider. About the size of a pigeon, these 'spiders' are capable of flight, just like many insects. They aren't capable of creating webs however, but they do catch prey with sticky constructions. They're saliva is very sticky and is usually applied to a branch or large leaf, ready for an unsuspecting prey to land on. The 'spider' will usually cover several spots in a tree before flying to a higher position where it waits. These 'spiders' possess more intelligence than meets the eye though. They sometimes work together to scare prey towards regions with a lot of prepared sticky patches, often ending in a feast for these 'spiders'.

Beneath the surface on the two sunken continents, ruins of the once proud civilization that called Ki’V 4 home remained. They existed in their ruined state, between the depths of 350 meters below to 550 meters below.

 

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