SENIOR STAFF MISSION BRIEFING - ATTENTION ALL SENIOR STAFF
Posted on Sat Sep 12th, 2026 @ 2:38pm by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson
Mission:
Season 6 - Episode 8- The Price of Home
2307 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure
# USS ELYSIUM
## SENIOR STAFF MISSION BRIEFING
### THE PRICE OF HOME — EREBUS INITIATIVE
**Classification:** COMMAND / SENIOR STAFF — RESTRICTED
**Distribution:** Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, Department Heads, Marine Command, Starfighter Command, Diplomatic Corps Leadership and other personnel specifically authorised by Command
**Date:** 11 August 2398
**Location:** Zyphera Prime, Circinus Galaxy
---
## 1. COMMAND SUMMARY
Nearly eleven months have passed since the USS *Elysium* was displaced from the Milky Way and stranded approximately thirteen million light-years from Federation space.
During that time, the ship has encountered multiple pieces of evidence demonstrating that travel across extreme interstellar and intergalactic distances is possible.
Until now, those pieces have remained disconnected.
They no longer are.
Following analysis of data accumulated throughout the Circinus mission and recent exchanges with four previously unknown Circinus civilisations, *Elysium* has produced the first scientifically viable model for an artificial long-range transit aperture.
The project has been designated:
# EREBUS
**Trans-Galactic Aperture Initiative**
Erebus represents the most credible possibility yet identified for eventually returning *Elysium* and her people to the Milky Way.
It is not a completed route home.
It is not a functioning gate.
It is not a promise.
At present, it is a design.
And *Elysium* cannot build it alone.
---
## 2. HOW WE GOT HERE
Erebus is not the result of a single discovery.
It is the culmination of almost everything *Elysium* has learned since arriving in Circinus.
The current model incorporates information derived from:
* Thaih'ea transit technology encountered during the rescue operation at the slave market.
* USS *Archeron* historical records demonstrating previous Thaih'ea movement of Milky Way vessels and people across extraordinary distances.
* Federation warp-field physics.
* Quantum Slipstream Drive research.
* Circinus navigational observations accumulated by *Elysium*.
* Romulan propulsion, singularity and subspace research.
* Data concerning Borg transwarp principles and the network collapse that stranded Cube 696 in Circinus.
* Rin'thar spatial mathematics.
* Varn power-generation technology.
* Ael'ven structural and resonance science.
* Zypheran harmonic field-regulation technology.
Individually, none of these provided a solution.
Together, they may.
---
## 3. THE FOUR REQUIRED POWERS
Four Circinus civilisations currently possess capabilities considered essential to construction.
### RIN'THAR
The Rin'thar contribution is mathematical.
Their understanding of spatial relationships incorporates gravity, subspace tension, stellar movement and temporal variation across distances far beyond conventional Federation navigational modelling.
Their calculations provide the current geometry required to establish and control the aperture.
They are culturally direct, highly conscious of honour and particularly concerned with responsibility for the consequences of one's actions.
They are aware of events on Niea IV.
Do not assume they consider *Elysium's* actions justified simply because they understand why those actions were taken.
---
### VARN ASCENDANCY
The Varn contribution is power.
The projected energy required to initiate Erebus exceeds *Elysium's* safe generation capacity.
Varn technology may make the required output achievable.
The Ascendancy is a corporate-technocratic civilisation in which information, technology, influence and access possess measurable commercial value.
They have already raised questions concerning:
* manufacturing rights,
* intellectual ownership,
* licensing,
* preferential access,
* commercial use,
* future control of gate traffic.
Their willingness to participate should not be mistaken for altruism.
---
### AEL'VEN
The Ael'ven contribution is structural.
Early simulations demonstrated that conventional Federation and known Circinus materials could not survive the stresses associated with aperture generation.
Ael'ven materials and resonance modelling significantly increased structural survival.
The Ael'ven are empathically sensitive and describe emotional states in terms of resonance and harmony.
They have agreed to attend the summit as observers.
They have **not** agreed to help build Erebus.
Their primary concern appears to be what the existence of such technology would do to Circinus.
Command considers that concern legitimate.
---
### ZYPHERAN CONCORD
The Zypheran contribution is integration.
Erebus requires technological systems from several civilisations that were never intended to operate together.
Zypheran harmonic-regulation systems have demonstrated an ability to stabilise those interactions.
They are also hosting the summit.
Zyphera Prime operates under a broad doctrine of neutrality allowing governments, merchants and numerous other organisations to conduct business under Concord protection.
Neutrality should not be confused with Federation-style impartiality.
Zypheran interests exist.
They should be expected to pursue them.
---
## 4. WHAT EREBUS CAN — AND CANNOT — DO
Senior officers must understand this distinction before discussing the project with their personnel.
Current modelling does **not** support direct transit from Circinus to the Milky Way.
The distance is too great for a single stable aperture based upon current calculations.
Instead, Erebus may allow *Elysium* to cross an enormous portion of the distance.
The intended exit point remains under study.
Further travel would then be required.
There are also major unanswered questions concerning:
* transit duration,
* exit accuracy,
* temporal displacement,
* navigational conditions,
* biological effects,
* structural stresses,
* aperture collapse,
* subspace damage,
* emergency shutdown,
* repeated activation,
* unauthorised transit.
There is no guarantee that the first functioning Erebus aperture will be safe to enter.
There is no guarantee that construction will succeed.
There is no guarantee the summit will even agree to construction.
Department heads are expected to manage expectations accordingly.
---
## 5. THE POLITICAL PROBLEM
If Erebus works, its significance extends far beyond *Elysium*.
A reliable long-range aperture could change:
* trade,
* exploration,
* colonisation,
* military deployment,
* political borders,
* access to resources,
* refugee movement,
* strategic defence,
* communication between distant regions.
Eventually, it could potentially connect Circinus and the Milky Way.
We therefore cannot approach this summit as though we are merely asking four governments to repair our ship.
We are asking them to participate in creating technology capable of changing their galaxy.
They are entitled to ask what happens after *Elysium* leaves.
Command's preliminary position is:
**No single government should exercise unilateral control over Erebus.**
That includes the Federation.
No officer is authorised to promise:
* Federation ownership,
* exclusive access,
* unrestricted technology transfer,
* commercial rights,
* military access,
* preferential transit,
* Federation protection,
* guaranteed Milky Way access,
* permanent Starfleet presence.
The eventual governance of Erebus will be one of the summit's major questions.
It may also be one of the most dangerous.
---
## 6. LONIAN CONSIDERATIONS
Our relationship with the Lonians following Niea IV remains unresolved.
Do not describe the Lonians collectively as enemies.
They are not a monolithic government.
Different Houses have already demonstrated significantly different attitudes toward *Elysium*.
However, the following facts cannot be ignored:
* seventeen people associated with *Elysium* were detained;
* several were tortured;
* Kerilia Dosivi was detained because of her ancestry;
* *Elysium* conducted an armed extraction;
* Teevs and Kerilia Dosivi were removed from Lonian jurisdiction;
* demands for their return were refused;
* Lonian vessels subsequently engaged *Elysium*;
* one Lonian frigate was destroyed;
* 248 Lonian personnel died.
Competing versions of these events are circulating throughout Circinus.
There is currently no confirmed official Lonian delegation at the summit.
This does not mean the Lonians are not watching.
If Erebus becomes viable, the Houses will have legitimate strategic reasons to care about who controls it.
Fourth House and Lady Sama present particular concern.
Personnel are not authorised to negotiate the status or return of Teevs or Kerilia Dosivi.
---
## 7. GALATONIAN CONSIDERATIONS
There is presently no confirmed Galatonian presence on Zyphera Prime.
Their potential interest must nevertheless be considered.
The Galatonians have demonstrated:
* predatory expansion,
* organised hunting of sentient populations,
* boarding operations,
* cybernetic and neurological alteration of captives,
* willingness to pursue targets across significant distances.
In Galatonian hands, Erebus could allow populations previously protected by distance to become accessible hunting grounds.
Any indication of Galatonian interest is to be reported immediately.
Do not assume lack of visible Galatonian vessels means they lack agents, intermediaries or information sources.
---
## 8. THAIH'EA CONSIDERATIONS
This is Command's highest external strategic concern.
The Thaih'ea already possess — or previously possessed — technology related to the principles underlying Erebus.
Some of our core data originated from observation of their transit infrastructure.
Unknown actors have recently begun searching commercial information networks for references to Thaih'ea transit technology.
We do not know who they are.
We do not know whether the Thaih'ea are aware of Erebus.
If they become aware, possible responses include:
* observation,
* infiltration,
* theft,
* sabotage,
* diplomatic pressure,
* assassination,
* seizure of the project,
* destruction of the project,
* direct military intervention.
Do not assume the Thaih'ea will simply want Erebus for themselves.
They may consider the existence of another civilisation capable of reproducing their technology unacceptable.
---
## 9. OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
The four summit delegations are not the only people who may want Erebus.
Zyphera Prime contains representatives from governments, corporations, merchant organisations, independent worlds, information brokers and criminal interests from across Circinus.
Rumours are already circulating.
Some refer to:
**Federation technology.**
Others:
**Intergalactic transportation.**
And increasingly:
**The Gate.**
That terminology was not publicly released by *Elysium*.
Assume secrecy surrounding the basic purpose of the summit is deteriorating.
Potential interested parties include governments we have never encountered.
Do not focus exclusively on familiar threats.
The person attempting to steal Erebus data may not be Galatonian, Lonian or Thaih'ea.
They may simply intend to sell it to the highest bidder.
---
## 10. INFORMATION CONTROL
Senior staff should assume their personnel will be approached socially while aboard Zyphera Prime.
Some conversations will be innocent.
Others may not be.
Department heads are responsible for ensuring personnel understand what information is appropriate to discuss.
The existence of the Erebus Initiative is no longer considered fully secret.
Detailed technical information remains restricted.
Restricted information includes:
* complete schematics,
* specific Thaih'ea telemetry,
* identified design vulnerabilities,
* security procedures,
* access credentials,
* construction-site proposals,
* emergency shutdown procedures,
* classified Federation or Romulan technologies,
* intelligence assessments.
When uncertain:
Do not disclose.
---
## 11. CREW CONSIDERATIONS
This may be the most important responsibility of every senior officer.
For nearly a year, our people have lived with the possibility that they will never see the Milky Way again.
Some have lost family.
Some have lost friends.
Some have lost partners.
Some have formed new families aboard *Elysium*.
Romulan survivors have lost the *Havraha* and now face the possibility that a Federation route home may also become theirs.
Children have spent a significant portion of their lives in Circinus.
Some members of this crew may desperately want to go home.
Others may discover that the idea frightens them.
Do not allow:
**“We have designed something that might get us closer to the Milky Way”**
to become:
**“We're going home.”**
Command will not make that promise until there is something capable of fulfilling it.
Department heads should monitor morale and coordinate with Counselling where appropriate.
Hope is necessary.
False certainty is dangerous.
---
## 12. DEPARTMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
### SCIENCE
Validate the physics.
Determine what we do not understand.
### ENGINEERING
Determine whether the theoretical machine can actually be constructed, maintained and shut down safely.
### OPERATIONS
Make incompatible people, systems, resources and technologies function together.
### FLIGHT CONTROL
Determine how a starship safely approaches, enters, transits and exits an artificial aperture.
### STARFIGHTER CORPS
Prepare for eventual construction-site defence, escort and emergency tactical operations while maintaining an appropriately restrained posture at Zyphera Prime.
### SECURITY
Protect personnel, delegates, information and *Elysium*. Coordinate with local authorities.
### MARINES
Maintain rapid-response capability for threats exceeding ordinary Security requirements. Prepare extraction and defensive contingencies.
### INTELLIGENCE
Determine who already knows about Erebus, who wants it and what they intend to do about it.
### MEDICAL
Determine whether biological life can survive what Engineering hopes the ship can survive.
### COUNSELLING
Prepare the crew for both possibilities:
That Erebus succeeds.
And that it doesn't.
### DIPLOMATIC CORPS
Convince four governments with different interests, values and objectives that cooperation serves them better than competition.
Then help determine who controls what they create.
### ACADEMY
Provide supervised support and treat this mission as a live multidisciplinary learning environment.
### CIVILIAN COMMUNITY
Not a department, but a critical part of *Elysium*. Their safety, morale, interests and future must be considered in every major decision concerning the route home.
---
## 13. COMMAND PRIORITIES
Until further notice, senior staff will operate according to the following priorities:
**ONE — Protect the ship and her people.**
No diplomatic or scientific objective supersedes this responsibility.
**TWO — Keep the summit functioning.**
Disagreement is expected.
Failure of negotiations is preferable to violence.
**THREE — Protect Erebus information.**
Share what is necessary to establish cooperation.
Nothing more without authorisation.
**FOUR — Determine feasibility before making promises.**
Political enthusiasm does not override scientific or engineering reality.
**FIVE — Prevent unilateral control.**
No participating power should be permitted to quietly transform a cooperative project into its own strategic asset.
**SIX — Identify outside interference.**
We already have indications that information is leaking.
Assume someone is interested.
Find out who.
**SEVEN — Remember why we are doing this.**
We are trying to get our people home.
Not conquer Circinus.
Not reshape its politics.
Not introduce Federation government.
Not start another war.
Home.
---
## 14. FINAL COMMAND NOTE
We have spent nearly a year looking for a way back to the Milky Way.
For the first time, we have something more substantial than hope.
That does not make the next part easier.
It makes it harder.
Until now, getting home has largely been our problem.
Erebus changes that.
If we build this machine, it will remain part of Circinus long after *Elysium* has passed through it.
The people of this galaxy will have to live with what we leave behind.
That means we have a responsibility not merely to ask:
**Can Erebus get us home?**
We must also ask:
**What happens to everyone else if it does?**
Keep your departments informed.
Keep them involved.
Give them room to question the assumptions being made.
If your people identify a problem, I want to hear it before that problem becomes a disaster.
We have survived Circinus for nearly a year because this crew has repeatedly accomplished things it should not have been able to accomplish.
This will require more.
We have to convince people who do not trust one another to build something none of them can build alone.
We have to protect it from those who would steal it.
We have to stop those who would weaponise it.
We have to make certain it works.
And then, eventually, someone aboard this ship is going to have to fly through it.
One problem at a time.
For now:
**Welcome to Zyphera Prime.**
**Let's find out how much home costs.**
**Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson**
Commanding Officer
USS *Elysium*
