Brainstorming Session

Posted on Tue Nov 3rd, 2015 @ 5:58am by Kestarah K'Mara & Captain Liarra Von & Commander Jordan Gunning & Major Alexandria Somers & Colonel S'er'in'e & Ensign Corrine Steiner & 1st Lieutenant V'Shan
Edited on on Wed Jan 20th, 2016 @ 1:14am

Mission: By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Briefing Room [Marine Offices, Deck 120]
Timeline: -16 Hours To Attack

After completing what tasks she had, Naomi decided that the brainstorming session for supplying Security for the station should get under way, so prepping her part and having some aides setup the room, she tapped her Commbadge. "Major Griffiths to all Marine, Security and Operations Senior staff, please come to the Briefing Room in Marine Country, for a brainstorming session on improving the stations defences."

"Where's Marine Country?" Lieutenant Alayna Bancroft asked once she and Commander Jordan Gunning had left the Security Centre. He had observed that she never wanted to let the other officers in the Bullpen see that she was ignorant of, well, anything.

"It's the nickname the Major's given to their headquarters. Marine Country's anywhere from deck one hundred and nineteen through to one hundred and twenty two - with the exception of the poor bo'sun obviously." As they walked, Jordan noticed his assistant making notes on a PADD. She was new to the job, sure, but that wasn't vital information.

"When we get down to the Briefing Room, let Major Griffiths take the lead." Gunning mentioned softly as they stepped into the huge turbolift. "This is her operation, we're going to providing logistical support and cover where they're a bit short. Our primary function will be to maintain security among the civilian population and give short shrift to anyone who uses the lockdown to any nefarious advantage."

"Sorry I'm late," Kes growled and moving as far from the CO as she could. She would fight anyone at anytime but she was tired of all the moving around from place to place.

S'er'in'e walked into the room with an interest to get an update of what was going on and also anything that might aid him in actioning his new department as best he could.

Captain Von was the last to arrive, though almost unexpectedly. She nodded to Griffiths. "Good afternoon, Major. I hope you don't mind me sitting in," Liarra said not so much as a question but as a statement. This is still your meeting, but as you can imagine, I do have some vested interest in the defense of this station."

A Little surprised "Not at all Captain, not at all"

Naomi began "Now then we are here to discuss and come up with a solid plan on defending this base from the expected assault from the Sojourners, we all know that sooner or later they will attack, especially after my units capture of the enemy long range listening post and the devices data download, which the techs have just finished decrypting, is there any ideas or questions before we begin?" She asked.

Looking over at Steiner who had raised his hand "Yes Ensign?"

Ens. Steiner raised a hand, "My research indicates that Sojourners are likely to employ boarding and penetration tactics. If Engineering could help me, I'd like to compartmentalize this starbase. Each section will be able to seal off and run off of its own auxiliary reactor and damage control suite."

"That sounds like it could be a good plan." Gunning offered. "Security are going to be moving the civilian population away from the outer hull of the station toward centralised holding areas for the duration - any way to make it more difficult for them to be accessed would definitely be useful."

Ens. Steiner hesitantly raised her hand again. "There is... another countermeasure that a starship used against Borg invaders. It's... dangerous. Have barrels of plasma fuel ready to detonate. It'll turn an entire area into an impassible inferno. It won't matter how they optimize their shields or armor, they won't be able to withstand the heat for very long." She tipped her head, "Downside is, it'll incinerate that base section and it'll have to be completely renovated."

She looked at Steiner shocked "Wow, that is extreme, but I think if you used such a trap at all docking hatches and engineering erects portable forcefield generators to avoid the fire from spreading, then make it so, otherwise, it will be down to manpower to stop the intruders" She said.

Corrine pondered aloud, "Those extra emitters might come in handy for containing enemy gas or chemical attacks."

Von coughed. "Actually, I would like to veto that plan. The plan is to protect the station and keep it safe, not burn it down in the process. We can keep that on the back burner, but I would prefer to not use incendiaries on our home turf."

"Got it, it was a nice idea but truth be told I thought it a bit risky" Griffiths commented.

Griffiths nodded and looked at Gunning "Commander I know that I have permanently assigned a squad of marines to help with Security, but for the upcoming expected assault all remaining marines will be assigned to Security to help your forces out, but they will also be the heavy troops should we get invaded" She said. "Only Omega Squad will remain unassigned to internal security and I may have a job for them. I have sent our Marine fighter wing on a forced Recon, they will report back to Major S'er'ine should anything get to close to this area, all okay so far Major, before I continue?" she asked the Caitian.

That would explain why part of his compliment was missing from being able to issue orders to them, he let it slide this time in consideration that such an order could have been given prior to his assuming his new post. "Indeed." Was all he answered with.

Griffiths looked at the Catian, his body language said he was none too happy, she did not blame him "I only found out about your new appointment to CAG after I sent the Squadron out, Major. My apologies; it seemed no one saw fit to notify me of the new CAG, this is why I said they will report to you should anything happen, they were ordered to break radio silence only if hostile forces came into our sector" Griffiths said; then added "I hope that in the future when a new appointment is made someone has the foresight to notify me so I do not tread on any future toes, but I can assure you Major that my involvement in the Air Wing has ended with the Forced Recon deployment" Grifiths finished, her mentioning of not being told of the new appointment was just a general request, she did not appreciate such surprises as it usually someone's toes were stepped on with lack of information.

Von raised an eyebrow at the exchange. "Last time I checked, Major, personnel changes were my concern, not yours. I hope you at least went through Lieutenant Mason with your new orders. She was acting CAG before I appointed Major S'er'in'e. But in the future, let's be a bit more careful before we start giving orders to other departments." Von hated to have to dress down an officer, especially in front of the other officers. But she had to show that she was able to keep some sort of control over her crew. But tensions were high due to the threat of an impending attack, and Von had no desire to make matters worse by pressing the issue.

"It is alright Major, I will set up information relay from the fighters, any information they transmit or report upon return will be immediately relayed to you." Von's reaction though understandable did bring back a somewhat, as he felt at least, more serious element or tone to the discussion.

Gunning glanced across the briefing table at the Vulcan 1st Lieutenant V'Shan, an experienced officer who would likely take a significant amount of responsibility - he nodded sagely. That was as good a sign as he needed.

"Excellent, anyone else?"

"In the Renaissance, European castles had passages around them to keep the servants from being seen while allowing them to do their jobs. What if the starbase had something similar?" She knew that the marines and security could use them to easily move around the station.

Liarra nodded along to the suggestion. "It's a possibility. The station does have the Jefferies tubes, but I don't if it's the best option for all of our troops. Maybe if we can create kill zones that we can lure boarders to, but that's risky. We're trying to defend the station, not sneak around it. But it's not a bad idea. Commander, Major, please keep that in mind when you are distributing your teams."

"Captain, it is hard for me to move in the tubes dressed in riot gear. The Marines dressed in full gear would not be able to move at all, much less to move quickly," Kes clarified.

"Yes Sir, my plan is to assigned Squads of marines to each hatch and I will be posting some at all key areas on the station and all other Squads will be RRTs; Rapid Reaction Teams" She said clarifying her acronymn.

"Got it." Gunning replied.

Griffiths opened the floor to more ideas, they had something basic on the table, what they needed was something better than what they currently had.

"The Intel we got from Omega Squads mission to the array was sent to Starfleet Intelligence, they have sent me information to what our jobs require of us, I know the fleet composition or suspected compositions has been sent to Captain Von; I only got information on ground deployment possible requirements. Okay, I open the floor to questions, floor is open" She said.

Kes thought a moment. Could we keep all the civilians on decks which might not be invaded to keep them safer?" She knew that she personally would have revolted at this herself. She was a Klingon...so shoot her!

"Unfortunately in my experience no area is safe from an invasion, the deeper you go the longer it takes for any hostile forces that attack, we will need a deck devoted solely to the non-combatants, a level that can be secured and only Captain Von and Commander Gunning should have the clearance codes for. An area as far from the hull as we can get, are there any ideas on what areas that would make good candidates for shelters?" Griffiths asked.

Kes nodded her agreement with Griffiths. Keep the civilians as far from the action as possible. They were important to the station. She knew she was easily replaced.

"The civilians are going to be moved to habitation areas closer to the station's central stock which will offer them structural protection in the event of a hull breach and allow them to be monitored by my security staff." Gunning replied. His plan was already in place and it wasn't for changing. "Keeping civilians on one deck makes them a target for the Sojourners and we've already seen what they're willing to do to non-combatants. My staff can handle their protection - they'll be spread and have guards assigned to them."

Kes thought about this. "But could we spread them over multiple decks and vary the sectors they are in? Like put in two buffer decks between them and allow them in the east sector on one, two buffer decks, then civilians in the south sector, two buffer decks..." Kes paused to let her mind catch up with her breathing. "Place guards around these zones as well as in the tubes. Can we mask their body signature?"

"Mask them with a halo of weapons and armor. They might honestly have butcher knives and slingshots which wouldn't set off the alarms," Kes put her crazy thoughts into words.

"How the civilian's are protected is up to Commander Gunning and his Security, the less the assault marines and I know will be better if any of us are captured, in a hostage situation too much information gets the wrong people killed, so I say that only Commander Gunning and Captain Von should be the only ones to know how the civilian's are protected" Griffiths said, looking at Kestarah.

"Scattering the civilians throughout the station is the plan," Von replied. "Not just for their safety, but just to get them to the quickest accessible area. A long evacuation will just cause problems, and it's unlikely that everyone will be willing to take shelter without a fight. The security teams need to be prepared for that. As far as masking their presence, I don't think it will be necessary. The Sojourners are not afraid to attack civilians, but they don't actively target them either. They won't have anything to gain by attacking the civilian shelters unless the rest of the station has already been taken. They'll be away from key systems, and therefore out of harm's way, for the most part at least. We still need to have guards posted in case any boarders do get close, and to make sure that we don't have issues with the civilians getting out of line. The defense of the station is our priority. Keeping the location of the civilians secret won't help us achieve that goal. They are not a strategic or tactical target."

Corrine asked, "Captain, what about a fifth column? There must be a significant portion of the civilians who have military experience. Could not one of our marine officers organize them into last lines of defence? Even Klingon merchants alone could give us quite a boost in defensive capabilities."

"My officers have already spoken to a few 'handy' types among the civilian population but they will only be used as an absolute last resort. I have faith in both the Marines' and my staff's ability to repel any boarders." Gunning replied. "Any civilians with a carry permit for firearms could be permitted to use them if the worst comes to the worst though - cheaper than Mercenaries."

Kes wanted to kill the chief marine. What was Kestarah? Chopped liver? She was a security officer, not a bumbling idiot! She might have had her arguments with medical, counseling, and other minor annoyances, but she tried to live in peace with them. As long as they left her alone, she left them alone and let them live.

"But you might want to be very careful. You do not want a group of half-crazy Klingons with firearms helping to keep the peace. Klingons and peace don't always go together," Kes warned. "In a situation that you are talking about, they will be in heaven and probably will go crazy."

"I agree. Letting anyone with a registered weapon join the fight could be dangerous," Von replied sternly. "We don't need security to be worried about getting shot by a civilian in the middle of a firefight. However, there is some merit to the idea. What about the Akishiro consortium? We've turned a blind eye towards a lot of their affairs. I'm not really proud of that, but it's kept the peace. I wouldn't be against them returning the favor. Could their security forces compliment our teams?"

"It's possible but I imagine that they'll be mostly used to consolidate the Akiashiro decks. They've become quite cagey about stepping outside their jurisdiction since that incident with the refugees."

As soon as the Akiashiro's were mentioned S'er'in'e grew more at-tentative. "If you wish, I can approach them about it." His voice more feline that usual. "Many may not be aware but Samanthia Akiashiro is my Mate, I have been accepted into the family and perhaps they may find our request for help come easier not only from a Starfleet Officer but also a family member." It would suit some family members in light of the interest they showed in ties with Starfleet growing.

Gunning mulled it over for a second - the Akiashiro 'clan' getting tighter with Starfleet was a worry, not only for their presence out here but simply for station security. He decided to leave that particular ball for the Captain.

Von had a similar thought to Gunning. Asking them to assist in the defense of the station was one thing, but using personal status to gain favors was a tricky situation. "Let's keep that thought in mind, but let's not mention it. No offense intended to you or your mate, Major, but the Akiashiro clan already gets enough special treatment. It may be best if we're not in a position where we seem to owe them something. If we start calling in personal favors, they may want the same from Starfleet later. I'd rather not make that commitment if we can avoid it."

Ens. Steiner raised her hand again, "Captain, how about environmental adaptation? Are there sounds, light, atmospheric composition, gravity, or temperatures which cause the Sojourner species problems? That might hinder their boarding parties. We could equip locals with protective gear ahead of time if they need it."

"That's an interesting thought, Ensign, but I'm not sure if we know enough to help us," Von replied, shaking her head. "The Sojourner members are made up of countless species that have signed up for the cause. From what we know, their members do not have any weaknesses that don't affect other humanoid species. I don't want us to do anything that would hinder our defensive forces, especially since we don't know if we even will be boarded, but work with Commander Le and Commander Gunning on some possible localized counter-measures."

Griffiths listened to the ongoing discussion and cleared her throat "okay please can we get back to planning the defence of this station? What we got so far is ideas and we need to put them together so we can limit the casualties, for there will be casualties, I for one would like to limit the casualties, so working on putting all these ideas together is now a must. Where are we on improving station SIF and shields, how long will they hold? I ask because I need to know what time limit I will have to get my RRTs into postion and assign teams to likely bording points" Griffiths asked.

Corrine shook her head, "Major, environmental considerations are an important part of defence. The enemy has an advantage over us. The Stardock's Class design is well known. They can gauge its reactor and defence grid capabilities and plan accordingly. Environmental hindrances would be something more difficult for them to factor into their plans. We're at the disadvantage because we don't know what the enemy plans to bring against us. And in not knowing, I don't see how we can possibly estimate how long base deflectors could hold out."

"Excellent thank you" She paused as her PADD bleeped she checked it and looked up as she sent the report to the CAG without looking at its details "Major S'er'ine the Marine Wing I initially sent out is reporting back, I have diverted said report to your PADD" She said interested in knowing what it said.

S'er'in'e looked at the report as it came in, anyone looking at him at the time would have noted the change in fur pattern as it sank in. "The enemy fleet is on its way." He spoke as he himself was absorbing the information. "Readings indicate they will be here in 16 hours." The next part was the worry. A Starbase was a formidable foe for any taker but if there was someone to pick up the glove then they had to be big enough to do it. "The squadron reports approximately 100 ships of mixed energy signature size." He paused again. "I have ordered the squadron to return." They would be needed.

Gunning shot a sideways glance to Bancroft and noted that her eyes had all but glazed over. "If that's everything, we'd better get back to briefing our section chiefs on evacuation procedures."

Liarra nodded. "Agreed. I think we all know what we need to be doing. Just to make sure, I want a plan on my desk by morning for each department. Let's get to work. Dismissed."

Griffiths looked a little surprised, she wondered when she had lost control of the meeting, but no matter it was done and now people had tasks to do.

---

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer

Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief of Security

Major S'er'in'e
Commander, Aerospace Group
Starbase Air Wing Seventeen (SVW-17)

Major Naomi Griffiths
Commanding Officer, 14th Battalion UFP Marine Corps

Ensign Corrie Steiner
Special Projects Officer

Kestarah K'Mara
Security Officer

Lieutenant Alayna Bancroft [NPC: Gunning]
Assistant Chief of Security

1st Lieutenant V'Shan
Executive Officer, E "Easy" Company, 14th Battalion
Starbase 332