Once More Unto the Breach

Posted on Fri May 29th, 2015 @ 7:40am by Major Alexandria Somers & Captain Jeff Smith & 1st Lieutenant Jasmine Allen & 2nd Lieutenant Torvan Sorel & Chief Warrant Officer Gavin Sorensen & Sergeant K'Lagg & Colonel S'er'in'e

Mission: Communication Breakdown
Location: Klingon K'Vort Cruiser
Timeline: Current

[OLD]

With that the briefing went on a bit longer with no more questions, but she did finish with a warning "Okay be aware that we may be stuck on the planet for sometime so make sure to pack provisions and equipment for an extended stay also skids up in two hours, that is all dismissed" She said and watched them all file out of the room. When all had gone she tapped her commbadge.

=/\=Major Griffiths to Captain Von.=/\=

Von's voice came spoke out over the commbadge's speaker. =/\=Von here, go ahead, Major.=/\=

=/\=Should our mission to this Sojourner array go South like I am expecting, will Ensign De'Havean be available for a combat pickup, it would likely be under fire?=/\= Griffiths asked.

=/\=Lieutenant De'Havean is currently out on patrol with the Jackal. I'm afraid you'll have to find another pilot, Major.=/\=

=/\=Understood Captain, Griffiths out=/\= With that Naomi had to look for another hell for leather pilot, and she hoped one of the Marines had natural ability, she just hoped that she could find one, before the mission started.

[NEW]

After finding her hell for leather pilot Naomi assembled with her team, all had their respective equipment items and all had bladed weapons for any melee
they may encounter, but most likely their melee weapons would not be needed. She briefed the Pilot as he shuttled her team up to the waiting K'vort cruiser, who left the area and cloaked the moment the shuttle was safely on the deck; while she waited with her troops she thought back to the event where an unknown being appeared from nowhere and spoke before vanishing again on the holodeck.

"It is not enough, it will never be enough" The entity said, then vanished.

Griffiths looked at the spot where the being was and wondered what the hell the enity was on about, shrugging she left the holodeck and headed for her quarters to freshen up and take her own advice. She wondered who he was, it was not a Q of that she was sure, she was brought back to the present by the shuttles Comms activating and a gruff voice speaking.

=/\=Captain Klan'Gh to Starfleet shuttle your commander may come to see me now"=/\= The voice said then cut off.

She looked at her troops "Klingon's!" She said in a good natured way, she mainly did it to have a friendly dig at her Klingon marine officer, then she left the shuttle. Naomi made her way under escort to the Captain's cabin, her escort left her without a word, she pressed the announciator.

"Enter" A gruff voice said.

Griffiths entered and gave a Klingon Saulute, the Captain acknowledged it with a nod "I am pleased to see not all Starfleet officers are ignorant PetQ's Major" He said with a toothy smile.

She looked at him "Well we try Captain, but as a Marine it is my duty to know such things" She said.He looked at her closely and nodded in satisfaction, she had courage; he handed her a Padd "Location of where I will drop you and further instructions from your superiors" He said "Bloodwine Major?"

"Yes please Captain, I would be honoured" SHe said as she took the mug of offered Bloodwine, she took a sip, let the liquid flow down her throat and looked up "2267 vintage?" She asked.

He looked surprised at her but sadly shook his head "2300 vintage, tried to get 2307 vintage as I hear that was a good year, but I cannot" He esponded.

She looked at him and handed him an old fashioned calling card, he took it and looked at her questioningly "It's someone who may be able to get you some 2307 vintage, just mentioned Major Naomi Griffiths, my name and all should be good" She said.

He looked at the name and did a double-take "Somers!" He exclaimed "I have heard of that family, I will contact this Alex Somers" He said pocketing the card. "We should be there in eight hours, go settled in Major and brief your troops, dismissed" Klan'Gh said and watched the Bajoran/Human Starfleet Marine leave his Ready Room.

The moment she had exited the Captain's Ready Room and entered the turbo lift she exhaled, "that was a big Klingon" She said to herself referring to Captain Klan'Gh's height and build.

- Shuttle Bay - Klingon ship -

Captain Jeff Smith like the others waited with the rest on the troop shuttle they had brought with them, he looked at the other Marine Captain.

"So Captain S'er'in'e, I take it this will be the first time you would have worked with Major Griffiths?"

S'er'in'e looked at whom was addressing him, another Captain like himself. S'er'in'e didn't recall seeing him on the vessel that brought him to 332. "In light of my arrival only recently, the answer would appear obvious Captain." A silly question. S'er'in'e thought and dismissed it as quickly as it formed. He was not sure what to expect with this Major considering what the Captain's question, but he was prepared for it none the less.

Shrugging Smith only responded "Okay, just asking" As he finished he looked up to see Griffiths coming in the back way, as the troop shuttle had an enclosed cockpit she had not seen all the marines that had been picked, now sitting in with her troops, she looked at a new Marine Captain.

"Hello Captain ....?"

"S'er'in'e. Your new Executive Officer." He introduced as he observed the woman. Taller than most he'd encountered in his years but then Humanoid types did come in all shapes and sizes.

"Captain S'er'in'e, I am Major Naomi Lapanya Griffiths MCO of Starbase 332 and CO of Omega Squad. I am pleased to meet you, now to the mish brief" She paused.

"We have been tasked with going to a Sojourner planet that has a long range Communications unit installed, its like the one the Dominion had in the Argolis cluster during the Dominion War. It can scan and keep in contact with other Sojourner ships about fifteen light years our in all directions. Our task is to go in, download its data and Comm codes and then blow the thing into atoms" She paused to allow questions and comments.

"Just five questions Major. What resistance can we expect taking and then holding it while charges are placed? Are there geographical, atmospheric or weather concerns? What team will I be assigned to? Weapon loadout for mission? My orders?" It covered all the bases he needed to act, knowing all to well a plan never survived contact with the enemy yet knowing the answers to his questions would enable him to better act to the changing situation.

*Raisiing an Eyebrow* "only five!?" Naomi said in surprise before continuing to respond "I will do my best to answer those, as not much is really known, resistance from what we can currently gather is negligable, but I always hope for the best, but expect the worst. I will lead Omega Squad to this Communications post and do the biz, I will need you and the rest of the marines to secture the shuttle landing site and to act as the cavalry, this is a Sojourner planet so expect the unexpected" She paused.

"The weather is standard for a Class M, so could be any type. You will have Forty-eight of the seventy-two marines we have with us, you will need to have some of those forty-eight make short term firebase around the shuttle while the rest to the rescue act. Our shuttle pilot is prepared for the worst case scenario. As for the teams Your group will be split up into two twenty-four man teams. Callsigns are Omega One for my team, Alpha team for yours and Sigma team" Naomi paused again.

S'er'in'e took in the information, there were many grey areas about the plan but all he could do was accept what he was being told. His expression and manner was clear that the situation was far from ideal.

"I know, but still now the weapons loadouts, Omega will have standard SFMC Commando kit plus spatial charges and a portable databank to download any data. Alpha Squad will possess standard loadout with an emphasis on SAR and also you will have four heavy duty portable phaser cannon. Sigma will have said same cannon and standard weapons; all teams will have Photon and flash grenades. *pause* also all teams and posts have been assigned, we will work on Beta frequency for communications with Zeta frequency as backup, I trust you have a sub-dermal communications implaneted for short range Comms, I hope?"

"No I have not, our ways." Meaning those of his caste. "Prohibit the introduction of technology into the body, the only exception is the heart at the appropriate age." He had a band of Caitian design that sat in the ears with a band around the back and top of the head to hold it in place. "I have a device that will serve the purpose however." He considered the orders yet one thing was missed out. "You have indicated an SAR element, but the mission as you have described it is retrieve and destroy, who is to be the rescued element?"

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, why my Squad Captain, I will be leading Omega Squad in and while I may hope for the best, I always expect the worst, so have Alpha team ready to come to our aid" She paused and looked closely at the Catian "Something else Captain, you look troubled?" Griffiths asked.

"There are many unknowns, might I suggest five, two man observation teams at least 2 kilometers radial about the target for advanced contact warning. Also, we can have the shuttle emit from its nacelles a low level ion blanket. This should not interfere with sensors but any disturbances, such as someone walking or moving through it can be detected by the shuttle and relayed in real time to the ground teams." S'er'in'e suggested.

She looked at him and reeavaluated this new Marine Captain oO More than he seems Oo she thought to herself, but she did address his concerns "Team Alpha will do that Captain, as you come to the rescue *pause* As for the shuttle, it remains on low power, we do this the old fashion way and only use Comms and other power devices when needed, otherwise we run silent. I do not want them to know the shuttle is here and we need to keep its presence here on the Low down" She said and paused.

As for the shuttle defence team the team guarding the landing site will use old fashioned methods, all marines on 332 are use to working with primitive tactics" She titlted her head "tell me Captain, if we did the ion idea, its good and sound, do you know for certain the Sojourners do not have a device to detect such energy signatures?" She asked then continued "If we did that then we risk being discovered, Captain Smith here has been a prisoner of the Sojourners on our last mission and it was not a good experience for him" Now she fell silent, expecting more questions.

"Understood Major." It was pointless to question further, the plan and method was already set and the Major was simply relaying it to the troops. S'er'in'e saw several issues with the plan but earlier attempts to address them changed nothing or only reduced his own teams force capability so he kept quiet. This was far from what he expected his new start to be like.

She looked at him and saw the distaste in him about her choices "Captain S'er'in'e I have agreed to your suggestion of two man radial teams for early warning. I tell you what task six of those Sigma team members and two of yours and deploy them in your suggested pattern and as for the ion idea have that on standby, in case it is needed, but otherwise the remaining six members of Sigma will remain with the shuttle and be prepared to use the ion idea. I expect things to go south as I always on such missions, but it will be upto you to make your idea work when you come to the rescue" She paused and looked closely at him "okay Captain you have issues speak now or never, I will not bite to hear a subordinates opinions also you may not like my choices, but in the end, all losses we may amass will be on my head not yours; so Captain speak your mind before we depart" Griffiths said.

"I find your 'choices' to be in error, you are attempting to maintain a minimal presence profile but as soon as contact is made all it will take is one man, one radio signal, one dropped federation rifle, equipment or body to indicate we were there. We have no way of knowing if our arrival will go undetected, if our deployment will go unnoticed or your entry into the facility silent especially in light of not knowing what kind of force we will face once direct engagement begins." The feline began.

S'er'in'e spoke voicing as she requested his mind. "You can not conceal 72 armed marines and equipment from an otherwise known established setting. We should go in assuming we will be detected in some way or another and be as prepared for it as we can, you don't leave an asset like this undefended and I would rather we be prepared for it instead of reacting to the threat as it happens and costing men which if as you say it 'turns south' we will need all the man power we can get."

Tilting her head to one side and she smiled as she spoke "Excellent, you do have a backbone; test passed" She looked at him, slight change to the plans, task four marines to remain with the shuttle pilot and have them take the shuttle and hide on the dark side of the planets moon, that way the chances will be less of the shuttle being found. As for the remaining marines assign them to your unit, hopefully that should address some of your concerns, yes?"

S'er'in'e growled slightly at the backbone remark. She was brave, he'd give her that. "What is our extraction plan should the shuttle be unavailable?" S'er'in'e asked, getting in was easier as they held the element of surprise but if it did go south as the Major expected then two ways out always helped a marine work knowing that there was at least a back up extraction plan.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked up at the Captain "I tell you what Captain as you will be playing the Cavalry I will leave that choice in your hands, if you decide to steal a Sojourner shuttle, then find a fast one and make sure you disable any remote control operations and homing beacons. Just an idea, what you do is up to you, because I am no dupe, the moment the Sojourners know we are here and going after their long range Communications device they will throw everything they have at us. So those in the shuttle you better be ready to either come to the rescue or retreat, but in one of the craters on the planets moon on its darkside you will hide you; powered down so only life support and communications will be active." Griffiths said.

"Do we have topographical scans of the area, installation composition local to the target?" He was hoping that they may be able to use the local terrain to an advantage, secure choke points and funnel enemy reinforcements. It was a long shot at best and he knew it but had to ask considering the Major was depending on him to secure a favorable exit away from the area once the mission was completed.

"Limited Captain, our probes only managed to get us a direct path to the array, the path to the array is protected by trees, but the area around the array has a clearing back about a mile, so while going to the array will be easy my team will have to leave the cover of the forest at night. Your team on the other hand will need to be alert, because the moment they know we are there all hell will break loose, I will leave the exit route in your hands Captain."

*Pause*

"When we land all but the pilot and two marines will remain with the shuttle, Omega will come with me, Alpha will be with you, when you have your equipment off the shuttle send the shuttle to the dark side of the planets moon as discussed, I hope you have had experience with operating from a firebase facility, because that is what the array will become a firebase. It has defensive walls and gun turret positions, my groups task will first be to secure the Communications area to stop them getting word out, while our snipers take out the nearest watch towers. This mission boys and girls is all enemy are expendable. Alpha team when you come to our aid, you come across any Sojourners that are not surrendering you take them out quietly and quickly, as they will not expect a second team" She said looking at the officers and troops in the shuttle "any questions before we set off?" She asked as her Padd came to life.

"Okay we are an hour from our destination you can ask questions en-route, lock the shuttle down and strap in" She added as she entered the shuttle fully and secured the ramp.

Major Naomi Griffiths
Marine Commanding Officer/Omega Squad CO
SFMC 14th Battalion
Starbase 332

Marine Captain Jeff Smith [PNPC]
Omega Squad XO
SFMC 14th Battalion
Starbase 332

Marine Captain S'er'in'e
Marine Executive Officer
SFMC 14th Battalion
Starbase 332