Strategy

Posted on Wed Dec 31st, 2025 @ 1:08am by Commander Kyle Reece & Riov Olmex Thikoho [Reece] & Captain Gary Taylor & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Lieutenant Commander Rin & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Lieutenant JG Camryn Shepard & Civilian Teevs Dosivi

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Security Offices?
Timeline: MD 03 / 1756 hours
2951 words - 5.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Nearly a full day had passed since the attack and the senior staff meeting. The Elysium's crew had spent the time assessing damage and repairing systems. Hound bodies still littered parts of the ship, leaving a musky, metallic tang in the air where their blood had stained the floor plating. Lights flickered across the ship, the scent of overloaded consoles and smoke less pronounced in the security office's Tactical Operations Center but not entirely avoidable.

A group of ten surrounded the table: a mix of security and marines, with representatives from Intelligence, Engineering, Operations, and Command, along with a guest. The air was thick with expectation. Everyone knew this meeting was preparation for another assault. The uncertainty of when the next attack would happen kept tension alive across the ship.

Teevs had been taken up on his offer to assist the marines not long after the previous day's staff meeting. He'd gone with them to be fitted for armor, and under the ship's heightened alert status, had been advised to keep it on. Its weight was uncomfortable, the parallels to the Bedia War occupying his mind more than he'd like, but he forced himself to ignore it. He'd answered the summons from the temporary quarters he and Kerilia were assigned, a situation multiple civilians shared after the attacks damaged several civilian quarters. Between the initial attack and all the relocation, he was fatigued but alert.

As Kyle was the ship's Chief Tactical Officer, he started the meeting. "Alright folks. As we know, a signal was sent from the main Galatonian ships, just before it was destroyed. Its a fair bet that reinforcements are already on their way. Now, as we are working as a group now, I have asked the commanding officer of the Havraha to join us." He indicated to Olmex, who nodded to everyone assembled.

"As I told you Commodore," he began, "with her being the most senior officer present, I pledged my ship and crew would follow her commands...for now. We are in unusual waters, as you humans say. We are stronger together, than we are seperate." He nodded back to Kyle, for him to continue.

Kyle nodded again, then looked around the table, stopping on Teevs. "Mister Teevs, thus far, your information has been very fruitful. Is there anything else that you can tell us about the Galatonians? How big of a force can we expect to arrive?"

It wasn’t the first time Teevs had been complimented on the alleged agricultural benefits of his knowledge. Thanks to a rather lengthy discussion with the ship's computer, he learned that the phrase actually meant that his information was useful. "I'm concerned my knowledge may become limited here. Survivors are lucky just to destroy one ship. I've never heard of anyone destroying four." He took in a steady breath, "I genuinely do not know how large another attack may be, Mister Chief of Kyle, but I can help prepare the crew to endure another boarding, should it come to that."

Camryn sat at the table with her usual padd and a cup of coffee. Taking a sip of her drink, she looked over her repair reports while listening to the exchange. She looked up for a few brief moments to look around and took some notes. He kept her comments to herself, waiting for the right time to add her thoughts.

"We do have an advantage now," Naxea began. " We know how they fight. My bet is they will send a larger force. This time we use our fighters to take out as many of those pods of theirs before they can breach the hull."

Kett who was still in his flight gear, having jumped straight out of a starfighter to be at the meeting nodded stongly in agreement

Olmex nodded. "I feel you are correct, Colonel," he said with respect. "I also agree that our combined starfighters focus primarily on destroying any more of those breaching pods, should the next assault use them, which we have no reason to think they will not." He took a breath, then continued. "As there are more civilians, familes and children, here on Elysium, I propose that I transfer as many non-essential crew from the Havraha over here, to assist with protecting the innocent. This would also include a full company strength of my Marines, which I would place under your command for the time being." He said to the Bajoran.

The offer surprised Naxea. She hadn't expected such generosity. She could only hope that the men and women in his Marine Detachment felt the same.

Gary sat quietly and silently as talks of mutual defense of both ships started. At Olmex's offer of sending a company of marines to help augment Naxea's marines, he shifted his gaze to look at her and see her response.

"Thank you Olmex, The help is appreciated ," she replied with a nod watching the man as he eyed her.

"We've learned a lot from our last encounter," Anna noted, "but I wonder if they've also learned from their experience fighting us, if they might adjust for the next attack?"

"It's possible," Kyle responded. Like the Borg, they could simply adapt to how we fight them." He took a deep breath. "So...we need to come up with a plan that will kerp them off balance, should we encounter them again." He tapped a few controls and a three dimensional image of the Elysium floated over the briefing table. "Now, right now, our biggest concern, is the blind spot that they made with that damn ion cannon of theirs. There are sections in the area hit that are still offline, thus, we are limping along here." He looked over at Olmex. "Im the mean time, sir, we would you and your ship to ride shotgun, covering that area."

Olmex nodded in agreement. "We shall do so, Commander," he responded evenly.

Kyle them looked around the table again. "Anyone have anything else they wish to add, before we move on to the next part of the meeting?"

Keeping up with her note-taking, Cam looked up and added, "How much do we know of those that attacked us? The hounds. I didn't know if I should mention it, but when I scanned one of them. I noticed they are partially cybernetic. Could we use that to our advantage? To keep them 'off-balance'."

"I see no reason why we can't use that against the hounds Cam. Have the Engineering and Science departments get together and look into ways to keep the hounds off balance or completely neutralized." Gary replied.

"If you have, or can create, something to disrupt their implants, it would be worth trying," Teevs chimed in. "The first attack usually leaves ships too severely damaged to try such a thing, so to my knowledge it's never been done. However, Galtonian technology is quite rudimentary, so I would be surprised if such an attempt failed. They will not stop even when damaged, as you have witnessed, but slowing them down will work in our favour."

Kyle nodded, thinking about the issue. "Perhaps we could use their own tech against them." He stood up straight, crossing his arms across his powerful chest as he thoughtfully stroked his beard. "That ion cannon the lead ship hit us with. If we could manufacture some handheld versions, we'd be able to take out those beasts as soon as they entered the ship." He looked around the table, to see if any agreed with his idea.

Gary spoke first. "It is worth a shot and would definitely increase the odds in our favor. get with science and engineering, run the idea past them and see what they think and can come up with. We're on the clock with this."

Kyle nodded to Gary, then looked around the table. "Anyone have any other ideas?" He asked as he opened the floor to discussion.

"Did anyone get any experience fighting them in the Holodecks?" Anna asked.

Kyle arched his right eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He was honestly confused by her question.

"Was there anyone who, for whatever reason, was stuck in a running holodeck during the attack and encountered them there?" Anna clarified.

Kyle shook his head thoughtfully. "Not that I know of." He glanced around the table questioningly. "Anyone else?"

When no one spoke up, Kyle thought about it some more. "Do you mean to use the holodecks...offensively?"

"That was my thought, sir," Anna continued. "If they weren't familiar with such devices, we might be able to lure them into illusory labyrinths, turn the safeties off and set traps. I'm not sure it'll work but I know the Borg fell victim to simulated 20th century firearms when phasers failed on at least one occasion. I know it's unorthodox but I think it's a possibility."

Cam kept her silence, taking notes on her padd as she mused silently. "I could assist in running scenarios in the holodeck to prepare us against further attacks. I'm no tactician, but I could devise some engineering tricks to slow them down via holodeck drills," she murmured softly, adding to the circle.

"Do you want to coordinate on that?" Anna asked.

Cam nodded, scratching the side of her subtly Klingon ridged nose, replying, "Yes, I would be happy to."

Kyle nodded to them both. "Work on it, but, don't just focus on the Holodecks themselves." He spoke up. "Avalon? Can you run hologram illusions throughout the ship, with the current powerlevels and structural damage?

tag Avalon

Tag any

Rin had sat quietly as ideas were bandied about, thinking through things in silence. Now she spoke up. "It's not going to be about their tactics. It's going to be about numbers. Their attack had little to do with tactics. The breeching pods struck more or less randomly. While they are unfamiliar with the layout of our ship, there are still obvious targets that they did not bother targeting. Once inside the ship, they killed whomever they encountered, and they did so through brute force. There's no sophistication to the hounds. They're fast, they're strong, they're resilient, but they aren't clever. They just keep tearing through things until they run out of targets. They're animalistic, practically mindless. This wasn't a surgical strike. It was a hand grenade in an enclosed space.

"So now we've bruised their ego. They won't let that go," she continued. "They may not even have much data on our tactics. They assumed they were going to win. Anything they transmitted in their last moments would likely have been brief. At a guess - and I am guessing at this point, but it is an educated one - they'd mostly likely note the Romulans' cloaking device. That was the bit that caught them unaware. Also, it would be a hell of a prize for them to capture.

"When brute force fails, the answer is to throw even more brute force at the problem. So they are going to come in numbers. If they have more powerful technology, they'll likely break it out for us. Hitting us with a rock didn't succeed, so now they're going to hit us with a bigger rock."

Kyle nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Rin. "You're right. And if I was in their position, id do the same thing. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they threw their main fleet at us." He looked over at Teevs then. "Mister Teevs, do you have any idea as to the size or location of their fleet? Are their areas, like the Zynari space, that they dont go into?"

"There's long range scans of their fleet," Teevs offered. Using his datapad, he connected to the table's display and pulled up a rather grainy image of multiple vessels. Some of the larger ships were easier to pick out than the smaller ones, but the number of identifiable objects surpassed three dozen. "It's been theorised that their combined firepower can destroy a planet. They used to have territory, but now their only desire is to conquer. Miss Rin is correct, they do not take failed hunts well, and the second attack will certainly be larger than the first."

Seeing the image and hearing the information, Kyle started to think about the situation less from a security and ztactical position, and more in a strategic operations mindset. Looking over at Kett, he asked, "How many of our starfighters are ready for combat?" He then looked over at Olmex. "Same question, Sir. How many and what kind, of starfighters do you have available?"

Olmex glanced at the Major, allowing him to reply first.

As they waited for Kett to reply Gary spoke. "We need to think outside the box and use every unorthodox tactic we can. It is imperative we keep them off balance, never settling into a pattern in their attacks. This is a all hands on deck situation except for those with serious injuries confined to Sickbay."


Tag Kett

"We still possess most of our starfighter compliment," Olmex offered. "We lost eight during the crossing, and four more for spare parts. That leaves the Havraha with fifteen Mark XI Scorpions and five Mark X Gargoyles." He pressed a button on his PADD and the two-seater space-superiority starfighter, whose name translates to Scorpion appeared in a holographic image above the table as he spoke. Then, the heavily-armed and -armored Marine dropship, the Gargoyle, appeared next to the first image. He hesitated briefly, then pressed another control and the full technical readout of both ships appeared next. The weapons listed were both extremely lethal and deemed as illegal for use aboard any Starfleet ship or installation.

"Properly piloted, our starfighters can nearly take the place of one of Starfleet's heavy frigate or light cruisers." He let that fact sit with the group for a few beats.

Kyle, who had already had a good feeling for what the Romulan Navy possessed, was still surprised by the weapons listed as available. "The weapons you possess, just for your starfighter, could decimate all life on a single planet!"

Olmex did not react apologetically. "Given all the threats that the Alpha and Beta Quadrants have faced during the last fifty of your years, have shown the Romulan Senate that we must always be prepared for any possible contingency or foe."

Cam nodded, listening. A part El Aurian, she had the slight advantage of thinking outside the box rather than by the book. Years showed her that patience had its advantages.

"If you can take out their boarding ships before they embed into the hull, that should help," Teevs chimed in. The limits of his knowledge here made him cautious with his words, but at this point anything would help. "Mister Gary is right, keeping them off balance is the best way to fight them. They attack whatever is in front of them, so if you maintain flanking positions and stay away from their front, it's harder for them to counter. Those shields you may have seen can be overpowered with concentrated fire if you do find yourselves in front of them."

Olmex nodded thoughtfully. "As Elysium is a much larger target, I propose that your own starfighters remain on close support patterns, while mine focus on medium and long range targets." He looked over at Gary, who, as the Elysium's XO, waa the highest ranking officer present.

Gary met Olmex's look, "That is a good solid plan, we'll have our starfighters fly in overlapping patterns that will ensure no area of the Elysium is unprotected or out of sight. And your fighters can concentrate on the bigger area surrounding our ships. I cannot stress how imperative it is that we do not let these attackers get a handhold on the Elysium or the Havraha."

The Romulan commander nodded in agreement.

Kyle looked around the table at the officers present and said, "Alright. So the battle plan is set. The Elysium, with her civilian compliment, will be at the center of the protective shield we will be setting up with our combined starfighters and the Havraha. We will also have the provided Romulan crew and Marines deemed non-essential to the operation of the Havraha in combat, transferred over to the Elysium." He lightly pounding his balled up right fist onto the table surface. "We will stop the Galatonians in their tracks, should they attack again."

As if on cue, the comm chirped aloud with an intra-ship message, as the red alert lights and klaxons came on. "All hands attention! Long range sensors are picking up a large signal approaching through subspace! I say again, long range sensors are picking up a large signal approaching through subspace! All hands to battle stations, senior officers to the bridge!"

"Here we go," Anna said resignedly as she rose.

Kyle straightened up, tapping his commbadge. "Commander Reece to all Security personnel, report to your duty stations and prepaid to repel boarders. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Olmex looked over at Gary. "With your permission, Commander, I shall return to my ship at once."

"Of course Commander. Thank you again for your assistance in this situation. It is most appreciated." Gary replied simply but honestly.

The Romulan commander dipped his head respectfully towards Gary, then made eye contact with everyone else, before turning away from the large table and making his way out of the compartment, his security escort in tow, as he made his way to the transporter room to return to the Havraha.

After he left, the Elysium’s officers continued fine-tuning the plans they had started to mske.

~OFF~