Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84 
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Feb 20, 2021 23:19:31 GMT
[ MCPO Ozu Saya - Hotel - Judy's room] Saya didn't even need her empathic abilities to understand Judy's mood and that something was very wrong, probably with their other team. She silently followed the captain back to the hotel, stopping in her quarters, though she didn't really need to do anything there. The engineer waited until precisely fifteen minutes had passed before knocking brusquely at Judy's door and entering. Used to Judy's preferences in her living spaces, Saya slipped off her shoes and left them by the door, approaching the older woman on quiet, bare feet and sitting on the opposite couch, tucking one foot under her. ' How bad is it?' she asked. [ Lt Joshua Niles - Research Blvd. ]Even before Hetav and Baram could answer him, it would seem that the situation had changed drastically, and Yatin put a sudden end to the walking tour, and presented some information to the Captain that clearly had caused him no small degree of anger... and the news didn't seem to please Captain Eastman either, for that matter. And given the words that had been exchanged, there was something to do with personnel... And given how many members of their delegation had not been on this walking tour, which he'd been given to understand was not exactly discretionary in its attendance, he had a rough idea of who might be involved there. No, this was not good. Especially when a time limit to handle this had been promulgated. However, the Captain wasted little time in directing everyone to meet her in her suite in next to no time. Niles was always one to move with a sense of urgency, and when he'd reached the hotel he made directly for his room where he considered the uniform hanging neatly in the closet. The civilian clothes he was wearing were comfortable and utilitarian despite looking the part for a professional occasion, but they felt alien on his back in a duty situation. The black, grey and gold of his uniform, though? Those were clothes that belonged on his back whenever he was on the clock, and especially when things were going sideways. So at the risk of annoying their hosts, he shed his civvies without ceremony, and in the interest of time did not hang them back up, and pulled on his uniform, before making his way up to the Captain's dirtstide quarters. If the Caldonians wanted him to be a soldier, well, he would give them precisely what they wanted... and while it well might be a crutch, the familiar garments were what he had always associated with the need to maintain laser-focus and get on with a mission at hand. And if that could help him think, well, odds are the Old Lady would forgive him if he had offended in that regard. As it turned out, he was right behind Master Chief Ozu, and he followed the lead she had set, knocking at the door before stepping in directly and just in time to hear her ask about how bad the situation was. And if the Master Chief was asking, then it definitely was going to be bad. Though for now, he said nothing and found somewhere less than obtrusive to stand, and wait for more information to become available. Judy told Saya with uncharacteristic bluntness. It was in this type of situation that the gloves came off, and Judy allowed herself to be a little less kind. She waited until more people had filed in, and then stood up. "My darling husband, Max, made these omelets for you. You may not be hungry at the moment, but do try to eat, because we don't need hunger distracting us later," the Captain suggested, her maternal instincts taking on a more pragmatic guise. Max nodded, letting the simple omelets, made with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, speak for themselves. "Now, five members of our community are currently in Caldonian custody. Matthew Harmon, Shavan Th'zhaar, Sylvia O'Connell, Charlie Fox, and Kova Sh'qaleq."Photos of the five went up on a projector behind Judy. In preparing this presentation, she reached for the easiest photos to find, some of which were far more flattering than others. "All five went down to the Dalab Mountains, on the other side of Caldonia, to release the shrews we caught last month. They ventured beyond the drop site, intending to make holorecordings of the atrocities that our Caldonian hosts are committing. They did this of their own initiative, not on anyone's orders, but that's a matter for me to worry about later. They were accompanied, on this venture, by a group of Kurjarian militants, and were intercepted, by Caldonian security forces, plotting to break into a Caldonian prison camp. Unfortunately, they're inside one right now."The projector showed a satellite image. "This is the site only known as 'The Pit'. It's a facility designed to work its inmates to death, and that's where they're held," she explained, her nose reddening. "We're getting them out of there, at all costs."She would not leave any of her crew behind in a concentration camp. "We've successfully retrieved our runabout from the surface, with the Caldonian dissident Xoteak on it. We believe he was involved in our people's efforts, and we're currently holding him until we can ascertain whether he double-crossed them. We also have another asset, Ms. Fox's holorecording drone, which remains active in the field, unbeknownst to the Caldonians. That's where we stand."She looked from one crewmember to the next, hoping to see that they understood the gravity of the situation.
Tag Ozu Saya , Joshua Niles . Nudge-nudge Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Kaya Som |
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Shavan Th'zhaar
Science
[TI35]
Posts: 800
Likes: 19
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Assistant Chief of Science
Species: Orion/Andorian
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Post by Shavan Th'zhaar on Feb 21, 2021 1:52:27 GMT
[T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel]
Despite the negative emotions that continued to threaten disturbance, it seemed like they would carry on with the tour. That was, until Yatin spoke to Captain Eastman and abruptly called it off. T’Laara’s eyes narrowed as she observed the interaction. Apparently this was not just about the recent altercation and everyone’s thinly veiled hostility toward the Caldonians; something more was going on. None of the questions that this turn of events brought to mind were answered, but perhaps they would be soon.
Approximately fifteen minutes later, after following the rest of the group back to the hotel, she arrived at the captain’s door. It may not be up to her to do anything about it, but T’Laara wanted to know what had happened. So she entered the room quietly, gave a simple nod in greeting to those already present and stood off to the side. She then waited in tense silence for the rest of their party to reconvene and for some explanation to be given.
The rest of the group arrived, and Captain Eastman began to address them. T’Laara politely accepted an omelette, and listened somberly as the subject turned to far more serious matters. Members of the crew trapped in Caldonian prison… all the people who had left the dinner early. Suddenly, things made a lot more sense. She didn’t know what her role in the rescue efforts would be, if any, but she would of course do whatever was required to help. “What are we going to do?"
soft tag to everyone
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Feb 22, 2021 0:18:39 GMT
[ MCPO Ozu Saya - Hotel - Judy's room] Saya didn't even need her empathic abilities to understand Judy's mood and that something was very wrong, probably with their other team. She silently followed the captain back to the hotel, stopping in her quarters, though she didn't really need to do anything there. The engineer waited until precisely fifteen minutes had passed before knocking brusquely at Judy's door and entering. Used to Judy's preferences in her living spaces, Saya slipped off her shoes and left them by the door, approaching the older woman on quiet, bare feet and sitting on the opposite couch, tucking one foot under her. ' How bad is it?' she asked. [ Lt Joshua Niles - Research Blvd. ]Even before Hetav and Baram could answer him, it would seem that the situation had changed drastically, and Yatin put a sudden end to the walking tour, and presented some information to the Captain that clearly had caused him no small degree of anger... and the news didn't seem to please Captain Eastman either, for that matter. And given the words that had been exchanged, there was something to do with personnel... And given how many members of their delegation had not been on this walking tour, which he'd been given to understand was not exactly discretionary in its attendance, he had a rough idea of who might be involved there. No, this was not good. Especially when a time limit to handle this had been promulgated. However, the Captain wasted little time in directing everyone to meet her in her suite in next to no time. Niles was always one to move with a sense of urgency, and when he'd reached the hotel he made directly for his room where he considered the uniform hanging neatly in the closet. The civilian clothes he was wearing were comfortable and utilitarian despite looking the part for a professional occasion, but they felt alien on his back in a duty situation. The black, grey and gold of his uniform, though? Those were clothes that belonged on his back whenever he was on the clock, and especially when things were going sideways. So at the risk of annoying their hosts, he shed his civvies without ceremony, and in the interest of time did not hang them back up, and pulled on his uniform, before making his way up to the Captain's dirtstide quarters. If the Caldonians wanted him to be a soldier, well, he would give them precisely what they wanted... and while it well might be a crutch, the familiar garments were what he had always associated with the need to maintain laser-focus and get on with a mission at hand. And if that could help him think, well, odds are the Old Lady would forgive him if he had offended in that regard. As it turned out, he was right behind Master Chief Ozu, and he followed the lead she had set, knocking at the door before stepping in directly and just in time to hear her ask about how bad the situation was. And if the Master Chief was asking, then it definitely was going to be bad. Though for now, he said nothing and found somewhere less than obtrusive to stand, and wait for more information to become available. Judy told Saya with uncharacteristic bluntness. It was in this type of situation that the gloves came off, and Judy allowed herself to be a little less kind. She waited until more people had filed in, and then stood up. "My darling husband, Max, made these omelets for you. You may not be hungry at the moment, but do try to eat, because we don't need hunger distracting us later," the Captain suggested, her maternal instincts taking on a more pragmatic guise. Max nodded, letting the simple omelets, made with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, speak for themselves. "Now, five members of our community are currently in Caldonian custody. Matthew Harmon, Shavan Th'zhaar, Sylvia O'Connell, Charlie Fox, and Kova Sh'qaleq."Photos of the five went up on a projector behind Judy. In preparing this presentation, she reached for the easiest photos to find, some of which were far more flattering than others. "All five went down to the Dalab Mountains, on the other side of Caldonia, to release the shrews we caught last month. They ventured beyond the drop site, intending to make holorecordings of the atrocities that our Caldonian hosts are committing. They did this of their own initiative, not on anyone's orders, but that's a matter for me to worry about later. They were accompanied, on this venture, by a group of Kurjarian militants, and were intercepted, by Caldonian security forces, plotting to break into a Caldonian prison camp. Unfortunately, they're inside one right now."The projector showed a satellite image. "This is the site only known as 'The Pit'. It's a facility designed to work its inmates to death, and that's where they're held," she explained, her nose reddening. "We're getting them out of there, at all costs."She would not leave any of her crew behind in a concentration camp. "We've successfully retrieved our runabout from the surface, with the Caldonian dissident Xoteak on it. We believe he was involved in our people's efforts, and we're currently holding him until we can ascertain whether he double-crossed them. We also have another asset, Ms. Fox's holorecording drone, which remains active in the field, unbeknownst to the Caldonians. That's where we stand."She looked from one crewmember to the next, hoping to see that they understood the gravity of the situation.
Tag Ozu Saya , Joshua Niles . Nudge-nudge Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt , Kaya Som [ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Hotel Room] Saya accepted an omlette, nodding her appreciation at Max, but only took one bite before setting the plate aside as Judy explained what 'worst-case scenario' meant. Her heart raced with a thrill of anxiety and even anger at the position the other team had put them all in. ' I'm not certain what we can do,' Saya said in a tightly controlled voice. ' As much as I'm certain we all dislike how the Caldonians treat the Kurjarians, and wish to help them, it was extremely foolish to make such an attempt.
If we had time to plan...' she trailed off. ' What do we know about their computer systems? Perhaps I can hack into them and have our people transferred to give us an opportunity to rescue them in transit.' ---------- Tag Judith Eastman, Joshua Niles, Shavan Th'zhaar, Jonathan Hunt |
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Feb 22, 2021 4:24:26 GMT
[Capt. Judith Eastman(-Williams) & Max Williams - Room 20137]"It's the worst-case scenario," Judy told Saya with uncharacteristic bluntness. It was in this type of situation that the gloves came off, and Judy allowed herself to be a little less kind. She waited until more people had filed in, and then stood up. "My darling husband, Max, made these omelets for you. You may not be hungry at the moment, but do try to eat, because we don't need hunger distracting us later," the Captain suggested, her maternal instincts taking on a more pragmatic guise. Max nodded, letting the simple omelets, made with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, speak for themselves. "Now, five members of our community are currently in Caldonian custody. Matthew Harmon, Shavan Th'zhaar, Sylvia O'Connell, Charlie Fox, and Kova Sh'qaleq."Photos of the five went up on a projector behind Judy. In preparing this presentation, she reached for the easiest photos to find, some of which were far more flattering than others. "All five went down to the Dalab Mountains, on the other side of Caldonia, to release the shrews we caught last month. They ventured beyond the drop site, intending to make holorecordings of the atrocities that our Caldonian hosts are committing. They did this of their own initiative, not on anyone's orders, but that's a matter for me to worry about later. They were accompanied, on this venture, by a group of Kurjarian militants, and were intercepted, by Caldonian security forces, plotting to break into a Caldonian prison camp. Unfortunately, they're inside one right now."The projector showed a satellite image. "This is the site only known as 'The Pit'. It's a facility designed to work its inmates to death, and that's where they're held," she explained, her nose reddening. "We're getting them out of there, at all costs."She would not leave any of her crew behind in a concentration camp. "We've successfully retrieved our runabout from the surface, with the Caldonian dissident Xoteak on it. We believe he was involved in our people's efforts, and we're currently holding him until we can ascertain whether he double-crossed them. We also have another asset, Ms. Fox's holorecording drone, which remains active in the field, unbeknownst to the Caldonians. That's where we stand."She looked from one crewmember to the next, hoping to see that they understood the gravity of the situation. [ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] Despite the negative emotions that continued to threaten disturbance, it seemed like they would carry on with the tour. That was, until Yatin spoke to Captain Eastman and abruptly called it off. T’Laara’s eyes narrowed as she observed the interaction. Apparently this was not just about the recent altercation and everyone’s thinly veiled hostility toward the Caldonians; something more was going on. None of the questions that this turn of events brought to mind were answered, but perhaps they would be soon. Approximately fifteen minutes later, after following the rest of the group back to the hotel, she arrived at the captain’s door. It may not be up to her to do anything about it, but T’Laara wanted to know what had happened. So she entered the room quietly, gave a simple nod in greeting to those already present and stood off to the side. She then waited in tense silence for the rest of their party to reconvene and for some explanation to be given. The rest of the group arrived, and Captain Eastman began to address them. T’Laara politely accepted an omelette, and listened somberly as the subject turned to far more serious matters. Members of the crew trapped in Caldonian prison… all the people who had left the dinner early. Suddenly, things made a lot more sense. She didn’t know what her role in the rescue efforts would be, if any, but she would of course do whatever was required to help. “What are we going to do?"[ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Hotel Room] Saya accepted an omlette, nodding her appreciation at Max, but only took one bite before setting the plate aside as Judy explained what 'worst-case scenario' meant. Her heart raced with a thrill of anxiety and even anger at the position the other team had put them all in. ' I'm not certain what we can do,' Saya said in a tightly controlled voice. ' As much as I'm certain we all dislike how the Caldonians treat the Kurjarians, and wish to help them, it was extremely foolish to make such an attempt.
If we had time to plan...' she trailed off. ' What do we know about their computer systems? Perhaps I can hack into them and have our people transferred to give us an opportunity to rescue them in transit.' Food was the last thing on Niles' mind, but the smell from what Mister Williams was cooking up, and direction from the Captain had been all the Lieutenant needed for encouragement. However, if he needed to think, the Tactical Officer would need more than food. "Thank you, Sir. Is there a chance I may trouble for coffee as well, if it's not out of line to ask?"A few bites in, he was listening to the information being presented. And, so far as tactical briefings were concerned, that was pretty bloody thin. As in, so thin as to be pretty much inexistent. But knowing who was out there and in Caldonian custody, that was a start and it at least gave him an idea of what sort of thinking might be available on the ground... and what kind of liabilities. And without direct access to the Mac and her sensors and capabilities? That might be even harder to deal with. Of course they still had their commbadges, and on paper as part of a diplomatic mission they had access to secure consular communications channels back to the ship. But to trust in such measures, when the transceivers in their commbadges could be jammed and and their supposedly secure communications might be tapped despite interstellar conventions on the sanctity of diplomatic traffic was not something he was entirely willing to commit to. Setting down his fork from where he stood at the eating counter, Niles considered both the Master Chief and her technical-minded approach, and the notion of 'at all costs' the Captain had spoken of. After all, if their people were going to be accused of sympathizing with Kurjarian dissidents, he had a clear notion that there would be nothing resembling a 'fair trial' by Federation standards, and that any sort of 'clemency' would be commuting an immediate death sentence to a delayed one through life imprisonment in a labour camp of some sort. Which, in some ways, did free their hand to some degree. The Prime Directive might be just that, but it also did not mean leaving their people to die; there was also more than enough precedent to guard them against legal reprisals should they yank their people out of the Caldonians' grasp. "Captain, by 'at all costs' I assume that direct kinetic action is also on the table should negotiations fail? If that's the case, then perhaps that possibility needs to be directly included in any negotiating position that we are adopting. In the meantime, we should evacuate all remaining personnel, including Her Honour, back to the ship. Negotiations can take place while we are in orbit same as if we were on the ground, and so long as any of us remain down here, we are in a position to be taken into custody by the Caldonians as well to be used as hostages, or summarily condemned as accomplices."Indeed, while having one of the Federation's most advanced and most powerful starships orbiting Caldonia meant that any negotiations could be done from a position of relative strength, sending everyone they could back to the Mac made sense; for while a position of relative strength was good, a negotiating from a position near the exits - so to speak - was also wise.
Tags Judith Eastman Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Jonathan Hunt Kaya Som |
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Feb 22, 2021 5:21:14 GMT
[ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] Despite the negative emotions that continued to threaten disturbance, it seemed like they would carry on with the tour. That was, until Yatin spoke to Captain Eastman and abruptly called it off. T’Laara’s eyes narrowed as she observed the interaction. Apparently this was not just about the recent altercation and everyone’s thinly veiled hostility toward the Caldonians; something more was going on. None of the questions that this turn of events brought to mind were answered, but perhaps they would be soon. Approximately fifteen minutes later, after following the rest of the group back to the hotel, she arrived at the captain’s door. It may not be up to her to do anything about it, but T’Laara wanted to know what had happened. So she entered the room quietly, gave a simple nod in greeting to those already present and stood off to the side. She then waited in tense silence for the rest of their party to reconvene and for some explanation to be given. The rest of the group arrived, and Captain Eastman began to address them. T’Laara politely accepted an omelette, and listened somberly as the subject turned to far more serious matters. Members of the crew trapped in Caldonian prison… all the people who had left the dinner early. Suddenly, things made a lot more sense. She didn’t know what her role in the rescue efforts would be, if any, but she would of course do whatever was required to help. “What are we going to do?"[ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Hotel Room] Saya accepted an omlette, nodding her appreciation at Max, but only took one bite before setting the plate aside as Judy explained what 'worst-case scenario' meant. Her heart raced with a thrill of anxiety and even anger at the position the other team had put them all in. ' I'm not certain what we can do,' Saya said in a tightly controlled voice. ' As much as I'm certain we all dislike how the Caldonians treat the Kurjarians, and wish to help them, it was extremely foolish to make such an attempt.
If we had time to plan...' she trailed off. ' What do we know about their computer systems? Perhaps I can hack into them and have our people transferred to give us an opportunity to rescue them in transit.' [ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Food was the last thing on Niles' mind, but the smell from what Mister Williams was cooking up, and direction from the Captain had been all the Lieutenant needed for encouragement. However, if he needed to think, the Tactical Officer would need more than food. "Thank you, Sir. Is there a chance I may trouble for coffee as well, if it's not out of line to ask?"A few bites in, he was listening to the information being presented. And, so far as tactical briefings were concerned, that was pretty bloody thin. As in, so thin as to be pretty much inexistent. But knowing who was out there and in Caldonian custody, that was a start and it at least gave him an idea of what sort of thinking might be available on the ground... and what kind of liabilities. And without direct access to the Mac and her sensors and capabilities? That might be even harder to deal with. Of course they still had their commbadges, and on paper as part of a diplomatic mission they had access to secure consular communications channels back to the ship. But to trust in such measures, when the transceivers in their commbadges could be jammed and and their supposedly secure communications might be tapped despite interstellar conventions on the sanctity of diplomatic traffic was not something he was entirely willing to commit to. Setting down his fork from where he stood at the eating counter, Niles considered both the Master Chief and her technical-minded approach, and the notion of 'at all costs' the Captain had spoken of. After all, if their people were going to be accused of sympathizing with Kurjarian dissidents, he had a clear notion that there would be nothing resembling a 'fair trial' by Federation standards, and that any sort of 'clemency' would be commuting an immediate death sentence to a delayed one through life imprisonment in a labour camp of some sort. Which, in some ways, did free their hand to some degree. The Prime Directive might be just that, but it also did not mean leaving their people to die; there was also more than enough precedent to guard them against legal reprisals should they yank their people out of the Caldonians' grasp. "Captain, by 'at all costs' I assume that direct kinetic action is also on the table should negotiations fail? If that's the case, then perhaps that possibility needs to be directly included in any negotiating position that we are adopting. In the meantime, we should evacuate all remaining personnel, including Her Honour, back to the ship. Negotiations can take place while we are in orbit same as if we were on the ground, and so long as any of us remain down here, we are in a position to be taken into custody by the Caldonians as well to be used as hostages, or summarily condemned as accomplices."Indeed, while having one of the Federation's most advanced and most powerful starships orbiting Caldonia meant that any negotiations could be done from a position of relative strength, sending everyone they could back to the Mac made sense; for while a position of relative strength was good, a negotiating from a position near the exits - so to speak - was also wise. Max said apologetically. The Caldonians didn't have any coffee of their own, and ever since Judy's first heart attack, the Eastman-Williamses didn't carry the real stuff with them. As Max made decaf, with replicated hot water, Judy remained focused on the job. "I'll be frank, we have one thing we can trade to the Caldonians, and that's our integrity. If we let Yatin write a glowing review of their caste system, and put my name and Judge Roth's on it, he'll turn them over. And I assume they'll get our people to issue an apology for violating their laws. The way he sees it, we handed him an ace," Judy explained. Her poker analogy was strained (she hadn't played that game in almost 40 years), but the point was clear. "On the other hand, if we go for, as you say, kinetic action, Judge Roth and I think we'll get away with it. Ms. Fox will, almost definitely, publish an expose, and our Caldonian friends will have a deep, vested interest in discrediting her, saying she didn't actually see what she saw. Now, getting all diplomatically furious about us getting out of there, that's not discrediting her, that's making her more interesting. That's how this kind of thing spends weeks on the news," she continued. "And if we're wrong, or the operation fails, I'll be spending a lot more time with my grandkids."Judy joked, but she took that prospect seriously. And yet, it was a risk she was willing to take. "Chief, let's explore the possibility of a hack. There's a Caldonian terminal over there. Mr. Niles, let's look at tactical options. We're not married to any one option at this juncture, just exploring them."Judy tucked into an omelette of her own, recognizing by scent the one with extra garlic that Max made just for her. Max approached Josh with a mug of steaming hot decaf, which he set down. "You can use this PADD," he invited, giving over one of Judy's. Like all her PADDs, it had a custom back cover, this one with a photo of the couple on their wedding day, just a hair over 20 years ago. Then, he proceeded to Judy, giving her a second mug and a kiss.
Tag Shavan Th'zhaar , Ozu Saya , Joshua Niles |
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Shavan Th'zhaar
Science
[TI35]
Posts: 800
Likes: 19
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Assistant Chief of Science
Species: Orion/Andorian
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Post by Shavan Th'zhaar on Feb 23, 2021 12:57:58 GMT
[ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara ate her omelette and listened quietly while the Starfleet officers discussed their options. She wasn’t a trained operative like they were, nor did she trust that she was aware of the full diplomatic consequences of what had happened. Sure, she had assisted during several crisis on the station, but quick thinking alone might not be enough to help them with this one. At least not without more information. For now, it would be better to observe and analyze. If she had a question or noticed a connection they did not, she would speak up in turn. And so when Captain Eastman started delegating tasks, T’Laara simply turned to her and asked, “What do you think would be the best thing for me to do? I am willing to assist with whatever could use another pair of hands.”Judith Eastman , soft tag Joshua Niles Ozu Saya |
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Feb 23, 2021 19:27:38 GMT
[Capt. Judith Eastman(-Williams) & Max Williams - Room 20137, Ambassador Hotel]"We only have decaf, if that's alright," Max said apologetically. The Caldonians didn't have any coffee of their own, and ever since Judy's first heart attack, the Eastman-Williamses didn't carry the real stuff with them. As Max made decaf, with replicated hot water, Judy remained focused on the job. "I'll be frank, we have one thing we can trade to the Caldonians, and that's our integrity. If we let Yatin write a glowing review of their caste system, and put my name and Judge Roth's on it, he'll turn them over. And I assume they'll get our people to issue an apology for violating their laws. The way he sees it, we handed him an ace," Judy explained. Her poker analogy was strained (she hadn't played that game in almost 40 years), but the point was clear. "On the other hand, if we go for, as you say, kinetic action, Judge Roth and I think we'll get away with it. Ms. Fox will, almost definitely, publish an expose, and our Caldonian friends will have a deep, vested interest in discrediting her, saying she didn't actually see what she saw. Now, getting all diplomatically furious about us getting out of there, that's not discrediting her, that's making her more interesting. That's how this kind of thing spends weeks on the news," she continued. "And if we're wrong, or the operation fails, I'll be spending a lot more time with my grandkids."Judy joked, but she took that prospect seriously. And yet, it was a risk she was willing to take. "Chief, let's explore the possibility of a hack. There's a Caldonian terminal over there. Mr. Niles, let's look at tactical options. We're not married to any one option at this juncture, just exploring them."Judy tucked into an omelette of her own, recognizing by scent the one with extra garlic that Max made just for her. Max approached Josh with a mug of steaming hot decaf, which he set down. "You can use this PADD," he invited, giving over one of Judy's. Like all her PADDs, it had a custom back cover, this one with a photo of the couple on their wedding day, just a hair over 20 years ago. Then, he proceeded to Judy, giving her a second mug and a kiss. [ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara ate her omelette and listened quietly while the Starfleet officers discussed their options. She wasn’t a trained operative like they were, nor did she trust that she was aware of the full diplomatic consequences of what had happened. Sure, she had assisted during several crisis on the station, but quick thinking alone might not be enough to help them with this one. At least not without more information. For now, it would be better to observe and analyze. If she had a question or noticed a connection they did not, she would speak up in turn. And so when Captain Eastman started delegating tasks, T’Laara simply turned to her and asked, “What do you think would be the best thing for me to do? I am willing to assist with whatever could use another pair of hands.”Decaf. Of course. "It will be fine, thank you, Sir," replied Niles when he was presented with a cup of coffee. As much as he could use an influx of caffeine into his bloodstream, he was well-rested and alert, and his uniform had, just as he'd predicted, been a boon in helping shed away the pretense of being a diplomat and crystallized his focus as that of a Starfleet officer. The smell and taste of coffee, well, those would have to suffice and hopefully be enough to trick his brain to engage with the same kind of earnestness he could manage in a crunch. The trade the Captain mentioned, though, drew a sneer from the Lieutenant, and he did not even try to hide it. Of course, if such a call was made, it would be well above his pay grade and he would have to wear its consequences. Well, so would a more aggressive rescue for that matter. But he would much rather be court-martialed for actions taken while his honour was still intact than be left to have to learn to look himself in the eye after such a decision was made. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not fond of the idea of giving any kind of credence to the Caldonian's social order." Though, with that said, he took the PADD he was given and with the kind of ease that came from practice, he established a secure link to the ship via his commbadge. While he was aware they could be jammed at any given time, he was also confident in the encryption that was in place on Starfleet channels. And, as it turned out, there had at least been a stroke of luck and the Mac's orbit had allowed them to get some readings on the prison camp where their people were held, and the kind of information that became available to him would help in any sort of tactical planning. And, thankfully, part of the information he was looking at had already gone through some different sets of eyes up on the Mac, for some of the raw data would have meant very little to him. But, there were indeed options presenting themselves before him. And, he started to come up with ideas. "Captain, I think I have something. The prison in question is clearly built with mostly Kurjarians in mind. There is a strong defensive network that would make mincemeat out of any unauthorized sub-orbital traffic, and the place is a fortress inside and out. A ground assault would be just a good way to get our people killed even if we supported it with fire from orbit. However, their transporter inhibitors are about sixty years out of date by our standards, a simple scattering field bubble over the facility. One hard pulse from our active sensors and we would burn out the emitters... and their communications capability in one fell swoop. But that would leave us one problem."As he spoke, Niles found himself scrolling through the borrowed PADD and opened up another tab, which gave a mineralogical survey. "The ore they're mining is playing merry hell with our sensors. Mac can't isolate any individual life signs, and there is enough interference to prevent a standard transporter lock. Maybe if we could get into their internal sensors, we'd have better luck in finding our people. Master Chief, do you think it could be possible gain access to their internal networks, perhaps using Miss Fox' drone as a relay?"And then, he thought of the botanist who wanted to help but had no tasks of her own. And, he did have something he thought she might be able to help with. "Miss T'Laara, I understand this is outside your realm of expertise, but do you think you could try to find a way to give our transporters something to lock on to to get our people out through that interference? Maybe a better way to filter out life signs out of that mess of sensor noise?"He had just given his ideas, and hopefully spurred his colleagues in some useful directions without, well, ordering them to. While technically he could give orders to Master Chief Ozu, he had known better than to do just that; she was immensely more experienced than he was and she was on the senior staff... while he formally was not, and T'Laara was a civilian who could tell him to get lost if she was so inclined. And, of course, the Captain could overrule him at will. However, he did have something to add. "And Captain, I believe I really should insist we get everyone we can, including ourselves, back to Mac immediately. I may be mistaken but I'm given to understand Judge Roth is an accredited diplomat and as such enjoys certain legal protections, while we do not. And while I don't know if the Caldonians know the expression 'possession is nine tenths of the law', I'm not entirely inclined to find out the hard way that they do."
Tags Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Judith Eastman |
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Jonathan Hunt
Medical
[TI34]
Posts: 66 Likes: 1
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Species: Human
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Post by Jonathan Hunt on Feb 24, 2021 2:01:41 GMT
[Room 20137] Hunt was not able to see much of their medical system as he wanted to. His idea of exploring their medical systems and information to determine more about the fairness of their society and other issues remained largely unexplored. Instead of accepting a meal or anything the new Doctor stood silent and thought of several things. The situation at hand, the prime directive, the long-term politics, and their carriers. They were not a lot of good options that would give them the moral high ground afterward. Instead of talking, he listened to two plans and the Captain. Being a Junior Officer and out of time, he spoke “ Excuse me. May I have a word?” The Doctor said quietly as he was still unsure if he was needed in this conversation. He was not too imposing and did not want to question the Captain or anyone. “I think…umm we have several points but politics and our assignment are more complicated than a rescue operation. We don’t want to start a war as much as they do or increase hostilities”. The Doctor commented. “ It Is not my place to give or instruct you Captain, but I think there is a way to meet all of our needs”. The Doctor commented. He approached the screen and started talking “ I don’t know what is going on in their camp but if I could make an educated guess, they are the in-brunt trauma, psychological aspect of their torture. With their Starfleet training, they should be able to withstand most of that. They will upgrade to this….” Hunt mentioned with confidence. “ Right here is a drug that would torture and force to give the truth to the enemy. It’s a Psychotropic Drug that would cause both brain chemistry and nerve damage to the individual. They would be compelled to give information like Cardassians Drugs. The reason why I suspect that they have probably not used it is that some ingredients for this drug are rare…for them” Hunt paused for a second as he gave some information about the drug. “ We can create a drug that is similar to this…and sell it to them. As a dummy or fake corporation or something that can be hacked. We know the Drug is going to be given to them and then we should include transporter boosters. We would need or rather or Corporation sell the drugs ourselves.” Hunt then smiled and said “I nstead of blasting in…they would let us in and “torture” our people according to their laws. Does not violate Prime Directive since we are not interfering with their system. Once they are injected according to our accords we need to extract them if they are in medical distress. Negotiations can go forwards…and I highly doubt our host would ask us if we know what happened about some tortured Federation Citizens. Discrediting Fox would be an admission of the drugs and us commenting about the situation would be an admission of breaking the Prime Directive. In order words, it could be a stalemate. Now, I would give the medication undercover and I would need people to help torture our people and keep my cover as a Scientist. But everything would go as normal as we need to act like we don't know what is going on as well” Hunt mentioned. Hunt finished as he spoke a lot but explained what he was thinking. The plan was complicated but he hopes he would convey it. He went back to his corner silent as he was willing to follow the Captain's advice. Judith Eastman Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Joshua Niles |
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Feb 24, 2021 16:11:44 GMT
[Capt. Judith Eastman(-Williams) & Max Williams - Room 20137, Ambassador Hotel]"We only have decaf, if that's alright," Max said apologetically. The Caldonians didn't have any coffee of their own, and ever since Judy's first heart attack, the Eastman-Williamses didn't carry the real stuff with them. As Max made decaf, with replicated hot water, Judy remained focused on the job. "I'll be frank, we have one thing we can trade to the Caldonians, and that's our integrity. If we let Yatin write a glowing review of their caste system, and put my name and Judge Roth's on it, he'll turn them over. And I assume they'll get our people to issue an apology for violating their laws. The way he sees it, we handed him an ace," Judy explained. Her poker analogy was strained (she hadn't played that game in almost 40 years), but the point was clear. "On the other hand, if we go for, as you say, kinetic action, Judge Roth and I think we'll get away with it. Ms. Fox will, almost definitely, publish an expose, and our Caldonian friends will have a deep, vested interest in discrediting her, saying she didn't actually see what she saw. Now, getting all diplomatically furious about us getting out of there, that's not discrediting her, that's making her more interesting. That's how this kind of thing spends weeks on the news," she continued. "And if we're wrong, or the operation fails, I'll be spending a lot more time with my grandkids."Judy joked, but she took that prospect seriously. And yet, it was a risk she was willing to take. "Chief, let's explore the possibility of a hack. There's a Caldonian terminal over there. Mr. Niles, let's look at tactical options. We're not married to any one option at this juncture, just exploring them."Judy tucked into an omelette of her own, recognizing by scent the one with extra garlic that Max made just for her. Max approached Josh with a mug of steaming hot decaf, which he set down. "You can use this PADD," he invited, giving over one of Judy's. Like all her PADDs, it had a custom back cover, this one with a photo of the couple on their wedding day, just a hair over 20 years ago. Then, he proceeded to Judy, giving her a second mug and a kiss.
Tag Shavan Th'zhaar , Ozu Saya , Joshua Niles [...] As he spoke, Niles found himself scrolling through the borrowed PADD and opened up another tab, which gave a mineralogical survey. "The ore they're mining is playing merry hell with our sensors. Mac can't isolate any individual life signs, and there is enough interference to prevent a standard transporter lock. Maybe if we could get into their internal sensors, we'd have better luck in finding our people. Master Chief, do you think it could be possible gain access to their internal networks, perhaps using Miss Fox' drone as a relay?"
Tags Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Judith Eastman[ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Room] Saya rose and went to the console Judy had indicated. Though the specific system wasn't familiar, the fundamentals were the same as what she was accustomed to, and she set about trying to access the Caldonians' central computer systems. The engineer ignored the others' discussion while she worked, well used to blocking out distractions when she was working on a problem, until Lt. Niles addressed her directly. Saya glanced at him with a raised brow. ' That is an intriguing idea. Though considering Ms. Fox's feelings about Starfleet, I imagine she has some sort of security blocks in place to keep us out. I will make the attempt, however.' She turned back to the console, but pulled her own PADD from her bag, preferring not to use the Caldonian systems for this particular hack. With a surprised eyebrow raise, Saya turned back to the others, waiting until the doctor finished speaking before saying, ' That was much easier than I anticipated. It is possible that Ms. Fox anticipated difficulties and left us a way to access her device. I am able to see the drone's video footage and access the camera controls at this time. I will have do some exploring of the technology to determine if we would be able to program the device to act as a relay or booster.' ---------- Tag Judith Eastman, Joshua Niles, Jonathan Hunt, Shavan Th'zhaar |
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Feb 24, 2021 18:37:53 GMT
[ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara ate her omelette and listened quietly while the Starfleet officers discussed their options. She wasn’t a trained operative like they were, nor did she trust that she was aware of the full diplomatic consequences of what had happened. Sure, she had assisted during several crisis on the station, but quick thinking alone might not be enough to help them with this one. At least not without more information. For now, it would be better to observe and analyze. If she had a question or noticed a connection they did not, she would speak up in turn. And so when Captain Eastman started delegating tasks, T’Laara simply turned to her and asked, “What do you think would be the best thing for me to do? I am willing to assist with whatever could use another pair of hands.”[ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Decaf. Of course. "It will be fine, thank you, Sir," replied Niles when he was presented with a cup of coffee. As much as he could use an influx of caffeine into his bloodstream, he was well-rested and alert, and his uniform had, just as he'd predicted, been a boon in helping shed away the pretense of being a diplomat and crystallized his focus as that of a Starfleet officer. The smell and taste of coffee, well, those would have to suffice and hopefully be enough to trick his brain to engage with the same kind of earnestness he could manage in a crunch. The trade the Captain mentioned, though, drew a sneer from the Lieutenant, and he did not even try to hide it. Of course, if such a call was made, it would be well above his pay grade and he would have to wear its consequences. Well, so would a more aggressive rescue for that matter. But he would much rather be court-martialed for actions taken while his honour was still intact than be left to have to learn to look himself in the eye after such a decision was made. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not fond of the idea of giving any kind of credence to the Caldonian's social order." Though, with that said, he took the PADD he was given and with the kind of ease that came from practice, he established a secure link to the ship via his commbadge. While he was aware they could be jammed at any given time, he was also confident in the encryption that was in place on Starfleet channels. And, as it turned out, there had at least been a stroke of luck and the Mac's orbit had allowed them to get some readings on the prison camp where their people were held, and the kind of information that became available to him would help in any sort of tactical planning. And, thankfully, part of the information he was looking at had already gone through some different sets of eyes up on the Mac, for some of the raw data would have meant very little to him. But, there were indeed options presenting themselves before him. And, he started to come up with ideas. "Captain, I think I have something. The prison in question is clearly built with mostly Kurjarians in mind. There is a strong defensive network that would make mincemeat out of any unauthorized sub-orbital traffic, and the place is a fortress inside and out. A ground assault would be just a good way to get our people killed even if we supported it with fire from orbit. However, their transporter inhibitors are about sixty years out of date by our standards, a simple scattering field bubble over the facility. One hard pulse from our active sensors and we would burn out the emitters... and their communications capability in one fell swoop. But that would leave us one problem."As he spoke, Niles found himself scrolling through the borrowed PADD and opened up another tab, which gave a mineralogical survey. "The ore they're mining is playing merry hell with our sensors. Mac can't isolate any individual life signs, and there is enough interference to prevent a standard transporter lock. Maybe if we could get into their internal sensors, we'd have better luck in finding our people. Master Chief, do you think it could be possible gain access to their internal networks, perhaps using Miss Fox' drone as a relay?"And then, he thought of the botanist who wanted to help but had no tasks of her own. And, he did have something he thought she might be able to help with. "Miss T'Laara, I understand this is outside your realm of expertise, but do you think you could try to find a way to give our transporters something to lock on to to get our people out through that interference? Maybe a better way to filter out life signs out of that mess of sensor noise?"He had just given his ideas, and hopefully spurred his colleagues in some useful directions without, well, ordering them to. While technically he could give orders to Master Chief Ozu, he had known better than to do just that; she was immensely more experienced than he was and she was on the senior staff... while he formally was not, and T'Laara was a civilian who could tell him to get lost if she was so inclined. And, of course, the Captain could overrule him at will. However, he did have something to add. "And Captain, I believe I really should insist we get everyone we can, including ourselves, back to Mac immediately. I may be mistaken but I'm given to understand Judge Roth is an accredited diplomat and as such enjoys certain legal protections, while we do not. And while I don't know if the Caldonians know the expression 'possession is nine tenths of the law', I'm not entirely inclined to find out the hard way that they do." [Room 20137] Hunt was not able to see much of their medical system as he wanted to. His idea of exploring their medical systems and information to determine more about the fairness of their society and other issues remained largely unexplored. Instead of accepting a meal or anything the new Doctor stood silent and thought of several things. The situation at hand, the prime directive, the long-term politics, and their carriers. They were not a lot of good options that would give them the moral high ground afterward. Instead of talking, he listened to two plans and the Captain. Being a Junior Officer and out of time, he spoke “ Excuse me. May I have a word?” The Doctor said quietly as he was still unsure if he was needed in this conversation. He was not too imposing and did not want to question the Captain or anyone. “I think…umm we have several points but politics and our assignment are more complicated than a rescue operation. We don’t want to start a war as much as they do or increase hostilities”. The Doctor commented. “ It Is not my place to give or instruct you Captain, but I think there is a way to meet all of our needs”. The Doctor commented. He approached the screen and started talking “ I don’t know what is going on in their camp but if I could make an educated guess, they are the in-brunt trauma, psychological aspect of their torture. With their Starfleet training, they should be able to withstand most of that. They will upgrade to this….” Hunt mentioned with confidence. “ Right here is a drug that would torture and force to give the truth to the enemy. It’s a Psychotropic Drug that would cause both brain chemistry and nerve damage to the individual. They would be compelled to give information like Cardassians Drugs. The reason why I suspect that they have probably not used it is that some ingredients for this drug are rare…for them” Hunt paused for a second as he gave some information about the drug. “ We can create a drug that is similar to this…and sell it to them. As a dummy or fake corporation or something that can be hacked. We know the Drug is going to be given to them and then we should include transporter boosters. We would need or rather or Corporation sell the drugs ourselves.” Hunt then smiled and said “I nstead of blasting in…they would let us in and “torture” our people according to their laws. Does not violate Prime Directive since we are not interfering with their system. Once they are injected according to our accords we need to extract them if they are in medical distress. Negotiations can go forwards…and I highly doubt our host would ask us if we know what happened about some tortured Federation Citizens. Discrediting Fox would be an admission of the drugs and us commenting about the situation would be an admission of breaking the Prime Directive. In order words, it could be a stalemate. Now, I would give the medication undercover and I would need people to help torture our people and keep my cover as a Scientist. But everything would go as normal as we need to act like we don't know what is going on as well” Hunt mentioned. Hunt finished as he spoke a lot but explained what he was thinking. The plan was complicated but he hopes he would convey it. He went back to his corner silent as he was willing to follow the Captain's advice. [ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Room] Saya rose and went to the console Judy had indicated. Though the specific system wasn't familiar, the fundamentals were the same as what she was accustomed to, and she set about trying to access the Caldonians' central computer systems. The engineer ignored the others' discussion while she worked, well used to blocking out distractions when she was working on a problem, until Lt. Niles addressed her directly. Saya glanced at him with a raised brow. ' That is an intriguing idea. Though considering Ms. Fox's feelings about Starfleet, I imagine she has some sort of security blocks in place to keep us out. I will make the attempt, however.' She turned back to the console, but pulled her own PADD from her bag, preferring not to use the Caldonian systems for this particular hack. With a surprised eyebrow raise, Saya turned back to the others, waiting until the doctor finished speaking before saying, ' That was much easier than I anticipated. It is possible that Ms. Fox anticipated difficulties and left us a way to access her device. I am able to see the drone's video footage and access the camera controls at this time. I will have do some exploring of the technology to determine if we would be able to program the device to act as a relay or booster.' Judy listened politely to her eager crewmembers making pitches and suggestions, but there was no stopping the sigh emerging from her lips. "Before we get into the substance, folks, a word of advice: when you're presenting an idea, it's quite alright not to say all the details of it right away, because then it's harder for the listener, especially if she's old, to retain everything you've said," she advised, for Niles and Hunt's benefit in particular. "Now, Dr. Hunt, establishing ourselves as a vendor of truth drugs, and then sneaking in to administer them, is the kind of operation that could be implemented, over the span of months. Our time horizon right now is measured in hours. However, if you can compile the resources they need to make these drugs, and where they get them from, I think that is something we can use as well," the Captain explained, giving the doctor an avenue to pursue his thinking that would serve their needs. "Mr. Niles, I like that approach. You and Ms. T'Laara keep working it. Chief, keep working the drone angle, and see if we can maybe use it to send messages into the prison, or tamper with its general operations. Sowing some general chaos would give our people a fighting chance, and maybe the Kurjarians too."Beneath the urgency, Max could see in Judy her fear about what would happen if they failed. To the woman who spent her weekends in college protesting, raising awareness of Cardassian atrocities on Bajor, leaving her people behind in a similar facility would be a torment in and of itself.
Tag Shavan Th'zhaar , Joshua Niles , Jonathan Hunt , Ozu Saya |
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Jonathan Hunt
Medical
[TI34]
Posts: 66 Likes: 1
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Species: Human
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Post by Jonathan Hunt on Feb 25, 2021 0:56:35 GMT
[ Room 20137]
Hunt listened to the Captain and the different operations. He thought to himself maybe his operation and information were redundant. “You’re right, Captain,” Hunt responded. His operation would entail getting the ingredients and modifying them in a way to get them out. It would take some planning and cooperation, and they barely had enough time.
If they needed to get to the camp physically by alternative means, it could work, but it would be duplicative since they have different plans.
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Shavan Th'zhaar
Science
[TI35]
Posts: 800
Likes: 19
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Assistant Chief of Science
Species: Orion/Andorian
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Post by Shavan Th'zhaar on Feb 25, 2021 13:00:34 GMT
[ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara nodded to Lieutenant Niles. “Very well. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to find anything, however, I will look into it and see if there is anything that can be done.” She took out a PADD of her own. Eyes narrowed in concentration, she took some time to attempt to familiarize herself with the problems they were dealing with. Transporter technology was indeed outside her usual area of expertise, but taking life sign readings was not. Especially when those readings were more numerous and far less complex, and therefore required more specialized instruments to detect, than humanoid life signs. Picking out a single type of plant in a forest was a different task than beaming up a person from orbit, but perhaps that sort of thing was exactly what they needed to repurpose here. “There is some equipment in the science lab on the Mac designed for scanning and cataloging plant life. Given that such life signs are far less complex than that of humanoids, and often more numerous in their natural habitat, the scanner is more sensitive than the transporter’s. It is only designed to work up close, with the actual specimens present, and certainly not from space. However, if we could get close, or if you could design a way to increase the strength of the signals, perhaps it could be repurposed to work with and locate the partial signs of the crew amid the Kurjarians and minerals.” It was only an idea, and dubious at best. But it was more or less what Niles had asked of her, and the first thing she thought of. tag Joshua Niles Judith Eastman , soft tag Ozu Saya Jonathan Hunt |
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Joshua Niles
Security & Tactical
[TI22]
Posts: 649 Likes: 21
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Tactical Officer
Species: Human
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Post by Joshua Niles on Feb 25, 2021 16:16:23 GMT
[ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Ground operations were not Niles' forte. He knew it, and he expected that both the Captain and the Chief were fully aware of this. So he found himself relieved when his thoughts about a space-based extraction were considered as the best course of action. Had the Captain decreed moving to a ground assault, he still would have done his best, but he knew there were officers better-suited to planning and executing such an operation back on the Mac and he would have stated just that. However, the Captain had decided to give him his head and direct the Master Chief to go along with his intent. He was still working out the easy parts of his plans, the ones involving overwhelming the transport inhibitors and their communications with a sensor pulse without destroying their computers... or cooking the prisoners within the prison camp for that matter. Oh, it might be easier to just open fire from orbit, but doing just that would likely the kind of threshold that they would not want to cross. In the final analysis, 'disabled systems with sensors' would likely indicate restraint, as opposed to 'blasted them to smithereens with orbital phaser-fire'. He was just about there with his calculations when T'Laara spoke up, having done her own research. "I don't think we can do much with shipboard sensors. That's a passive scan for lifesigns, and if we boost the gain, even selectively, we're going to get in too much noise," he answered after running her basic idea through another tab on his borrowed PADD. Oh, what he would not give to have a full tactical console to work from just now! "As for getting closer, if you mean sub-orbital, within a few kilometers of the surface? I suppose we could get a shuttle or a runabout in that close, if we can find a way to disable their weapons emplacements. What kind of on-station time would you need to make the scan happen? Anything under a minute, I think I can jam their targeting sensors from orbit; anything more than that will need something more... aggressive and permanent. Unless the Master Chief has any luck disabling their weapons systems from the inside and keep them off-line."
Tags Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Judith Eastman Jonathan Hunt
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Feb 26, 2021 15:57:08 GMT
[ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara ate her omelette and listened quietly while the Starfleet officers discussed their options. She wasn’t a trained operative like they were, nor did she trust that she was aware of the full diplomatic consequences of what had happened. Sure, she had assisted during several crisis on the station, but quick thinking alone might not be enough to help them with this one. At least not without more information. For now, it would be better to observe and analyze. If she had a question or noticed a connection they did not, she would speak up in turn. And so when Captain Eastman started delegating tasks, T’Laara simply turned to her and asked, “What do you think would be the best thing for me to do? I am willing to assist with whatever could use another pair of hands.”[ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Decaf. Of course. "It will be fine, thank you, Sir," replied Niles when he was presented with a cup of coffee. As much as he could use an influx of caffeine into his bloodstream, he was well-rested and alert, and his uniform had, just as he'd predicted, been a boon in helping shed away the pretense of being a diplomat and crystallized his focus as that of a Starfleet officer. The smell and taste of coffee, well, those would have to suffice and hopefully be enough to trick his brain to engage with the same kind of earnestness he could manage in a crunch. The trade the Captain mentioned, though, drew a sneer from the Lieutenant, and he did not even try to hide it. Of course, if such a call was made, it would be well above his pay grade and he would have to wear its consequences. Well, so would a more aggressive rescue for that matter. But he would much rather be court-martialed for actions taken while his honour was still intact than be left to have to learn to look himself in the eye after such a decision was made. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not fond of the idea of giving any kind of credence to the Caldonian's social order." Though, with that said, he took the PADD he was given and with the kind of ease that came from practice, he established a secure link to the ship via his commbadge. While he was aware they could be jammed at any given time, he was also confident in the encryption that was in place on Starfleet channels. And, as it turned out, there had at least been a stroke of luck and the Mac's orbit had allowed them to get some readings on the prison camp where their people were held, and the kind of information that became available to him would help in any sort of tactical planning. And, thankfully, part of the information he was looking at had already gone through some different sets of eyes up on the Mac, for some of the raw data would have meant very little to him. But, there were indeed options presenting themselves before him. And, he started to come up with ideas. "Captain, I think I have something. The prison in question is clearly built with mostly Kurjarians in mind. There is a strong defensive network that would make mincemeat out of any unauthorized sub-orbital traffic, and the place is a fortress inside and out. A ground assault would be just a good way to get our people killed even if we supported it with fire from orbit. However, their transporter inhibitors are about sixty years out of date by our standards, a simple scattering field bubble over the facility. One hard pulse from our active sensors and we would burn out the emitters... and their communications capability in one fell swoop. But that would leave us one problem."As he spoke, Niles found himself scrolling through the borrowed PADD and opened up another tab, which gave a mineralogical survey. "The ore they're mining is playing merry hell with our sensors. Mac can't isolate any individual life signs, and there is enough interference to prevent a standard transporter lock. Maybe if we could get into their internal sensors, we'd have better luck in finding our people. Master Chief, do you think it could be possible gain access to their internal networks, perhaps using Miss Fox' drone as a relay?"And then, he thought of the botanist who wanted to help but had no tasks of her own. And, he did have something he thought she might be able to help with. "Miss T'Laara, I understand this is outside your realm of expertise, but do you think you could try to find a way to give our transporters something to lock on to to get our people out through that interference? Maybe a better way to filter out life signs out of that mess of sensor noise?"He had just given his ideas, and hopefully spurred his colleagues in some useful directions without, well, ordering them to. While technically he could give orders to Master Chief Ozu, he had known better than to do just that; she was immensely more experienced than he was and she was on the senior staff... while he formally was not, and T'Laara was a civilian who could tell him to get lost if she was so inclined. And, of course, the Captain could overrule him at will. However, he did have something to add. "And Captain, I believe I really should insist we get everyone we can, including ourselves, back to Mac immediately. I may be mistaken but I'm given to understand Judge Roth is an accredited diplomat and as such enjoys certain legal protections, while we do not. And while I don't know if the Caldonians know the expression 'possession is nine tenths of the law', I'm not entirely inclined to find out the hard way that they do." [Room 20137] Hunt was not able to see much of their medical system as he wanted to. His idea of exploring their medical systems and information to determine more about the fairness of their society and other issues remained largely unexplored. Instead of accepting a meal or anything the new Doctor stood silent and thought of several things. The situation at hand, the prime directive, the long-term politics, and their carriers. They were not a lot of good options that would give them the moral high ground afterward. Instead of talking, he listened to two plans and the Captain. Being a Junior Officer and out of time, he spoke “ Excuse me. May I have a word?” The Doctor said quietly as he was still unsure if he was needed in this conversation. He was not too imposing and did not want to question the Captain or anyone. “I think…umm we have several points but politics and our assignment are more complicated than a rescue operation. We don’t want to start a war as much as they do or increase hostilities”. The Doctor commented. “ It Is not my place to give or instruct you Captain, but I think there is a way to meet all of our needs”. The Doctor commented. He approached the screen and started talking “ I don’t know what is going on in their camp but if I could make an educated guess, they are the in-brunt trauma, psychological aspect of their torture. With their Starfleet training, they should be able to withstand most of that. They will upgrade to this….” Hunt mentioned with confidence. “ Right here is a drug that would torture and force to give the truth to the enemy. It’s a Psychotropic Drug that would cause both brain chemistry and nerve damage to the individual. They would be compelled to give information like Cardassians Drugs. The reason why I suspect that they have probably not used it is that some ingredients for this drug are rare…for them” Hunt paused for a second as he gave some information about the drug. “ We can create a drug that is similar to this…and sell it to them. As a dummy or fake corporation or something that can be hacked. We know the Drug is going to be given to them and then we should include transporter boosters. We would need or rather or Corporation sell the drugs ourselves.” Hunt then smiled and said “I nstead of blasting in…they would let us in and “torture” our people according to their laws. Does not violate Prime Directive since we are not interfering with their system. Once they are injected according to our accords we need to extract them if they are in medical distress. Negotiations can go forwards…and I highly doubt our host would ask us if we know what happened about some tortured Federation Citizens. Discrediting Fox would be an admission of the drugs and us commenting about the situation would be an admission of breaking the Prime Directive. In order words, it could be a stalemate. Now, I would give the medication undercover and I would need people to help torture our people and keep my cover as a Scientist. But everything would go as normal as we need to act like we don't know what is going on as well” Hunt mentioned. Hunt finished as he spoke a lot but explained what he was thinking. The plan was complicated but he hopes he would convey it. He went back to his corner silent as he was willing to follow the Captain's advice. [ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Room] Saya rose and went to the console Judy had indicated. Though the specific system wasn't familiar, the fundamentals were the same as what she was accustomed to, and she set about trying to access the Caldonians' central computer systems. The engineer ignored the others' discussion while she worked, well used to blocking out distractions when she was working on a problem, until Lt. Niles addressed her directly. Saya glanced at him with a raised brow. ' That is an intriguing idea. Though considering Ms. Fox's feelings about Starfleet, I imagine she has some sort of security blocks in place to keep us out. I will make the attempt, however.' She turned back to the console, but pulled her own PADD from her bag, preferring not to use the Caldonian systems for this particular hack. With a surprised eyebrow raise, Saya turned back to the others, waiting until the doctor finished speaking before saying, ' That was much easier than I anticipated. It is possible that Ms. Fox anticipated difficulties and left us a way to access her device. I am able to see the drone's video footage and access the camera controls at this time. I will have do some exploring of the technology to determine if we would be able to program the device to act as a relay or booster.' Judy listened politely to her eager crewmembers making pitches and suggestions, but there was no stopping the sigh emerging from her lips. "Before we get into the substance, folks, a word of advice: when you're presenting an idea, it's quite alright not to say all the details of it right away, because then it's harder for the listener, especially if she's old, to retain everything you've said," she advised, for Niles and Hunt's benefit in particular. "Now, Dr. Hunt, establishing ourselves as a vendor of truth drugs, and then sneaking in to administer them, is the kind of operation that could be implemented, over the span of months. Our time horizon right now is measured in hours. However, if you can compile the resources they need to make these drugs, and where they get them from, I think that is something we can use as well," the Captain explained, giving the doctor an avenue to pursue his thinking that would serve their needs. "Mr. Niles, I like that approach. You and Ms. T'Laara keep working it. Chief, keep working the drone angle, and see if we can maybe use it to send messages into the prison, or tamper with its general operations. Sowing some general chaos would give our people a fighting chance, and maybe the Kurjarians too."Beneath the urgency, Max could see in Judy her fear about what would happen if they failed. To the woman who spent her weekends in college protesting, raising awareness of Cardassian atrocities on Bajor, leaving her people behind in a similar facility would be a torment in and of itself.
Tag Shavan Th'zhaar , Joshua Niles , Jonathan Hunt , Ozu Saya [ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Ground operations were not Niles' forte. He knew it, and he expected that both the Captain and the Chief were fully aware of this. So he found himself relieved when his thoughts about a space-based extraction were considered as the best course of action. Had the Captain decreed moving to a ground assault, he still would have done his best, but he knew there were officers better-suited to planning and executing such an operation back on the Mac and he would have stated just that. However, the Captain had decided to give him his head and direct the Master Chief to go along with his intent. He was still working out the easy parts of his plans, the ones involving overwhelming the transport inhibitors and their communications with a sensor pulse without destroying their computers... or cooking the prisoners within the prison camp for that matter. Oh, it might be easier to just open fire from orbit, but doing just that would likely the kind of threshold that they would not want to cross. In the final analysis, 'disabled systems with sensors' would likely indicate restraint, as opposed to 'blasted them to smithereens with orbital phaser-fire'. He was just about there with his calculations when T'Laara spoke up, having done her own research. "I don't think we can do much with shipboard sensors. That's a passive scan for lifesigns, and if we boost the gain, even selectively, we're going to get in too much noise," he answered after running her basic idea through another tab on his borrowed PADD. Oh, what he would not give to have a full tactical console to work from just now! "As for getting closer, if you mean sub-orbital, within a few kilometers of the surface? I suppose we could get a shuttle or a runabout in that close, if we can find a way to disable their weapons emplacements. What kind of on-station time would you need to make the scan happen? Anything under a minute, I think I can jam their targeting sensors from orbit; anything more than that will need something more... aggressive and permanent. Unless the Master Chief has any luck disabling their weapons systems from the inside and keep them off-line."
Tags Ozu Saya Shavan Th'zhaar Judith Eastman Jonathan Hunt [ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Room] ' This terminal doesn't have enough access for me to do much to affect the weapons at the prison. It's not tied into any high-level systems. It's little more than a glorified directory.
'Via Olsen, I may be able to cause some difficulties for the prison: scrambling communications on a basic level, causing random power outages. We might be able to flash the lights to get a message to our people. Since we don't know exactly where they are, it would be difficult to target a message. The difficulty I see there is not knowing what codes the members of the group are familiar with. We could run a short message through a rotation of several different codes. It would also make the light flashes seem more random.
'I concur with Lt. Niles' recommendation that we return to the ship. I may be able to do more with the Caldonian systems from there.' Saya continued exploring Olsen's systems from her PADD, not trying to make any changes or give commands for the moment. She didn't want to take the risk that the little drone would be noticed before they had the chance to use its systems to help the other team. ---------- Tag Judith Eastman, Jonathan Hunt, Joshua Niles, Shavan Th'zhaar |
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Feb 26, 2021 21:29:57 GMT
{Click for quoted posts} [ Room 20137] Hunt listened to the Captain and the different operations. He thought to himself maybe his operation and information were redundant. “ You’re right, Captain,” Hunt responded. His operation would entail getting the ingredients and modifying them in a way to get them out. It would take some planning and cooperation, and they barely had enough time. If they needed to get to the camp physically by alternative means, it could work, but it would be duplicative since they have different plans. [ T’Laara - Ambassador Hotel] T’Laara nodded to Lieutenant Niles. “Very well. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to find anything, however, I will look into it and see if there is anything that can be done.” She took out a PADD of her own. Eyes narrowed in concentration, she took some time to attempt to familiarize herself with the problems they were dealing with. Transporter technology was indeed outside her usual area of expertise, but taking life sign readings was not. Especially when those readings were more numerous and far less complex, and therefore required more specialized instruments to detect, than humanoid life signs. Picking out a single type of plant in a forest was a different task than beaming up a person from orbit, but perhaps that sort of thing was exactly what they needed to repurpose here. “There is some equipment in the science lab on the Mac designed for scanning and cataloging plant life. Given that such life signs are far less complex than that of humanoids, and often more numerous in their natural habitat, the scanner is more sensitive than the transporter’s. It is only designed to work up close, with the actual specimens present, and certainly not from space. However, if we could get close, or if you could design a way to increase the strength of the signals, perhaps it could be repurposed to work with and locate the partial signs of the crew amid the Kurjarians and minerals.” It was only an idea, and dubious at best. But it was more or less what Niles had asked of her, and the first thing she thought of. [ Lt Joshua Niles - Ambassador Hotel ]Ground operations were not Niles' forte. He knew it, and he expected that both the Captain and the Chief were fully aware of this. So he found himself relieved when his thoughts about a space-based extraction were considered as the best course of action. Had the Captain decreed moving to a ground assault, he still would have done his best, but he knew there were officers better-suited to planning and executing such an operation back on the Mac and he would have stated just that. However, the Captain had decided to give him his head and direct the Master Chief to go along with his intent. He was still working out the easy parts of his plans, the ones involving overwhelming the transport inhibitors and their communications with a sensor pulse without destroying their computers... or cooking the prisoners within the prison camp for that matter. Oh, it might be easier to just open fire from orbit, but doing just that would likely the kind of threshold that they would not want to cross. In the final analysis, 'disabled systems with sensors' would likely indicate restraint, as opposed to 'blasted them to smithereens with orbital phaser-fire'. He was just about there with his calculations when T'Laara spoke up, having done her own research. "I don't think we can do much with shipboard sensors. That's a passive scan for lifesigns, and if we boost the gain, even selectively, we're going to get in too much noise," he answered after running her basic idea through another tab on his borrowed PADD. Oh, what he would not give to have a full tactical console to work from just now! "As for getting closer, if you mean sub-orbital, within a few kilometers of the surface? I suppose we could get a shuttle or a runabout in that close, if we can find a way to disable their weapons emplacements. What kind of on-station time would you need to make the scan happen? Anything under a minute, I think I can jam their targeting sensors from orbit; anything more than that will need something more... aggressive and permanent. Unless the Master Chief has any luck disabling their weapons systems from the inside and keep them off-line." [ MCPO Ozu Saya - Judy's Room] ' This terminal doesn't have enough access for me to do much to affect the weapons at the prison. It's not tied into any high-level systems. It's little more than a glorified directory.
'Via Olsen, I may be able to cause some difficulties for the prison: scrambling communications on a basic level, causing random power outages. We might be able to flash the lights to get a message to our people. Since we don't know exactly where they are, it would be difficult to target a message. The difficulty I see there is not knowing what codes the members of the group are familiar with. We could run a short message through a rotation of several different codes. It would also make the light flashes seem more random.
'I concur with Lt. Niles' recommendation that we return to the ship. I may be able to do more with the Caldonian systems from there.' Saya continued exploring Olsen's systems from her PADD, not trying to make any changes or give commands for the moment. She didn't want to take the risk that the little drone would be noticed before they had the chance to use its systems to help the other team. ---------- Tag Judith Eastman , Jonathan Hunt , Joshua Niles , Shavan Th'zhaar With the crew talking, and Max by her side, Judy genuinely believed that they could make this work. They were moving in the right direction, and more or less in harmony. And then, she got a comm from the ship. =A= "Henriksen to Eastman. We're being ordered to leave Caldonia immediately," =A= the young woman said. =A= "Do they realize some of our people are being detained?" =A= Judy asked. =A= "Yes, and Admiral Ellis says we're to leave them there. No attempts at negotiation or rescue." =A= Judy's face turned bright red, and her hands began to tremble, as though they had a mind of their own. Slowly, she calmed herself down, taking a series of deep breaths. =A= "Captain?" =A= =A= "Get everyone beamed up in 15 minutes, my orders, and draft a formal protest. Eastman out," =A= Judy ordered. She whispered, in that steely tone of fury. "The brass is ordering us to leave, so we will be beaming up, but it doesn't look like we can use much of the rest of our plan. While you're packing, think of vulnerabilities we can use from a distance, and codes we can use to communicate," she informed the crew, her furious whisper undercut by a little bit of shameful trembling. She had failed, failed to protect the five who were now left to their own devices in a labor camp. "Meet me in my Ready Room in 30 minutes."Max put a hand around Judy's waist, just to remind her that he, her loving husband, was there for her.
30 minutes later[Capt. Judith Eastman(-Williams) & Lt. j.g. Mabel Henriksen - Captain's Ready Room, USS Mac]As Judy sat at her desk, in her ready room, several changes of the last half-hour were noticeable. First, she had changed into her duty uniform. Second, her eyes were red, puffy, and now behind her bifocals. Third, some of the makeup had been washed away from her face. Fourth, her hair was now in a tight ponytail. Evidently, after the others had left her room, the Captain had broken down in tears. She'd cried for all five crewmembers she'd failed to protect, and for all their loved ones. There could be a thorough post-mortem later, but in this emotional moment, Judy laid the blame on her own shoulders, not on anyone else - not even Antoinette Ellis. Now, she had to rebound quickly, putting her disheveled hair in a ponytail, replacing fallen contacts with her glasses, washing away runny makeup, and returning to work. She looked around the room, at Mabel, and at the team that had convened in the hotel room, and now here. "What can we do - for them - before we leave?" she asked. Her anger had dissipated, but she was a little hoarse, yet another tell-tale sign (that she made no effort to conceal) of the tears she'd washed away.
Tag Ozu Saya , Joshua Niles , Shavan Th'zhaar , Jonathan Hunt |
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