Batten Down the Hatches

Posted on Wed Mar 28th, 2018 @ 11:11pm by Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant Zev Darach & Commander Titus Livius Drusus PhD

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Main Operations, Deck 12

Given that Zev had only been on the station for a little more than a week, he had already weathered a variety of situations. First among them being raiding parties by some Orion pirates that required them to send the Montreal out on patrol. Luckily, the more powerful starship had driven off the attacking force. They hadn't returned... at least not yet. His second trail came when Starfleet Intelligence passed him information on the possibility of someone placing a bomb on the station that would come aboard via a docking Bajoran freighter. Zev had passed that info onto the appropriate authorities.

And now, this morning, when he arrived in Strategic Operations, he was created with another dilemma. A triple check of the scan confirmed that his morning was not going to get any calmer. He straightened his uniform jacket as he rode the turbolift upwards. He really hadn't had a chance to actually meet his CO, which he knew he should have, but he had other business that he had to attend to when he arrived. The doors whooshed open and Zev stepped out.

"So definitely keep an eye out for those Saurians next time they come through," Liarra said to Luciano. It was clear she was finishing up some sort of story. "Especially if like brandy. They always have good deals."

Leo followed the Captain into Operations listening to every word, snippets of information here or there might prove useful later on so he stored them for later use. "I will bear that in mind." His voice laced with an Italian accent as he looked around Operations.

Looking up from one of the long range sensor stations, Zev saw his commanding officer enter ops. He thanked the operations ensign stationed there and then moved across the control center.

"Sirs," Zev said, with polite nod. "I don't think we've had a chance to meet. I'm Zev Darach, your new Chief of Strategic Operations."

Liarra grinned at the newcomer and extended her hand. "Lieutenant Darach, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Captain Liarra Von, and this is my first officer, Commander Leo Luciano."

"Sirs," Zev said.

Von gestured towards the situation table in the center of the room and took a seat. "I hope you haven't had too much trouble getting around. The station can be a little daunting if you're not used to a place this big."

"No more complicated than the assault base we used in the Imperial Navy," Zev replied. "Also, we have a problem."

Von looked surprised. "Oh. What's the problem?"

"It's the Black Hand sir," Zev said, pulling a PADD out of his pocket. "They're an Orion slave syndicate that seems to have set up shop in our neighborhood. They're using one of the asteroid belts at the edge of the system for transferring cargo... and by cargo I mean people. I'd like to detail the Carthage and a fighter wing to remind them of our presence."

Leo listened to the briefing, Orion Syndicate was not something to take lightly he knew but also the need to know just because something can be done, should it. "I understand that our fighter wing is still being resupplied or awaiting it, I would suggest speaking to Colonel S'er'in'e to see what he can spare, I know hes already strapped forming a CAP around the station."

Zev nodded and made the appropriate mental note. "And the Carthage sir? Sending her out on more routine patrols might make them think twice about making drops in the area. There is a class II pulsar nearby that we haven't fully surveyed yet, could kill two birds with one stone as they say."

"I would agree about the fighters. I don't think we can spare them at the moment." Von took the PADD and skimmed over it. "But I don't like the idea of a slave trade going on in our neighborhood. We could send the Jackal to take a look. She might be a little more discrete than the Carthage." She thought to herself for a moment. "A smaller ship might let us get a closer look without alerting them. I'll take a closer look at this report and we'll talk about assigning resources."

Drusus was only vaguely aware of the conversation over at the situation table as he stared intently at the data that had just been screened up from Whitlam in SCR. The chief science officer was able to quickly confirm Whitlam's hurried, but clear analysis of the data. They could be difficult to predict, but even contemporary science's imperfect understanding of the phenomenon was enough to all-but guarantee a direct hit. The Magna Roman tapped the operator over who's shoulder he was reading the data and said, "Send that to table," as he strode across Ops toward the situation table.

"Captain!" he called in his sharpest, listen-hear tone. "We need to go to yellow alert and lock down the Starbase immediately. Sensors are detecting a significant ion disturbance intensifying about two hundred and nine thousand kilometres from the station." He stopped as he reached the table and drew in a breath before adding, "Sir, we're about to be hit with an ion storm."

"Ion storm?" Zev asked, starting to head towards one of the vacant operations stations. "There wasn't anything on long range sensors this morning."

“Nor was it there even an hour ago,” Drusus replied as he brought up the data on the main display. “We’ve identified a significant magnetic eddy drawing particulate matter from an intense radiation spike in the vicinity.” He pointed at a swirling mess of lines that indicated the magnetic field. “All of our modelling suggests that it will intensify rapidly and its trajectory lines it up for a direct hit on the station.”

Von gave Leo a nod to signal to him that they should go to yellow alert before turning her attention back to Drusus. "How long do we have before it hits?"

The chief science officer looked grim as he calmly gave his assessment. "If it doesn't speed up, the primary wave front will hit us in two hours and fifty-four minutes," he said, before adding, "We'll really start to see the radiation levels spike in about two hours, though."

"Then we better get busy." Von turned to Darach. "It looks like you already have some work ahead of you. We need to get any ships in the area inside if we have the room, or sent away if we don't. Make that judgement call based on need, and work with Colonel S'er'in'e to get support from the fighters. There will always be some ships that won't want to leave."

"Understood sir," Zev replied, turning back to the operations station. "Get me CAG and the dockmaster."

A quick look at the board showed no more than 43 vessels around the airspace that the starbase was directly responsible for. A second look at his status display showed the amount of open slips and berths they had a available as well as their sizes and what vessels they could accommodate. It looked to be a tight squeeze but he was reasonably sure could do it.

Next Von turned her attention to Leo. "Have engineering and medical teams prepare for repairs and wounded."

Leo nodded as he went about doing just that. He knew his Imzadi would not be pleased, so much for an easy night in or two......

On the situation table, Von manipulated the controls to open the comm to the entire station. It wasn't a channel that was used often, but it was called for in emergency situations. "Attention all hands, visitors, and residents of Starbase Three-Three-Two. This is Captain Liarra Von. We have just detected an ion storm forming near the station. We currently estimate that the storm will hit the station in about two hours and fifty minutes. At this time we are engaging emergency protocols, and will be asking all civilians and non-essential personnel to report to the emergency shelters. Security officers will be leading everyone into position. Please only pack essential items only. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we evacuate the shelters once the storm has passed. We appreciate your assistance in this matter. Thank you. Von out."

She closed the comm and looked at her officers around the main command center. "Well, we better get to work. Commander, keep me posted on that storm. If anything changes, I want to be the first to know."

The Magna Roman nodded sharply and said, "Aye aye, Captain," before turning on his heal and heading back to the science consoles to keep watch.

---

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer

Commander Leo Luciano [P: S'er'in'e]
Executive Officer

Commander Titus Drusus [P: Whitlam]
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Zev Darach
Chief of Strategic Operations