Pre-Gaming

Posted on Thu Dec 17, 2020 @ 9:36pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit

1,741 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Archangel
Location: Briefing Room

The Captain after long hours spent reviewing information provided by Admiral Markus and cross referencing that same information against a secure highly classified database via an encrypted comm channel which she accessed not through normal ships comms but through her implants insuring that even though they might detect the communication, anyone trying to listen in would be unable to gain access to the data she was working with, Kennit sent a message ordering that the requested personnel report for a briefing at 1400 hours.

At 1350, the Captain was approaching the briefing room when she saw without surprise that Dr. Anderson was also arriving early, no doubt seeking a prime seat. Nodding at the Doctor, Kennit entered the Briefing room and headed to the replicator where she got herself a coffee before sitting down. Nicole followed the Captain in and took her seat, crossing her legs.

Walker stepped out of the turbolift to find Halvor on the floor, sitting Indian style, doing notes on a PADD, "Do I need to ask why?"

Halvor answered, "Extra muscle on deck in case the Captain needs it."

Walker nodded, "I've seen your classified record. She has the potential to be meaner and more capable than you were durable. Not intended as disrespect. As you were." He continued walking towards the briefing room. He walked in and sat down, nodding to the Doctor and the Captain.

Miguel hated briefings. Of course if he didn’t show up he’d have to deal with Rhea’s temper. At least he had finally rid all of the Victory’s computers of the viruses that had been placed within them. He had also taken precautions to insure no one could mess with the computer’s without himself, the Captain, and XO being notified. He walked into the room and saw the few that had already gathered and simply nodded as he took his normal seat.

Sydney walked in and went to an empty chair, nodding to the others, a PADD in her hand. She placed it on the desk and activated it, ready to take notes.

Penny skirted in quickly and dove for an empty seat next to the counselor, checking her internal chronometer, and sighing with relief she wasn't late.

AJ ducked in and took a seat near the opposite end of the table, a PADD with a task list the size of his arm in hand. The team was stretched thin- assisting other departments in their duties in addition to keeping their own department running. Already slightly jittery from coffee, he delved into the list and tried to see what personnel he could allocate to complete what he needed and what he could postpone.

As always, Camille came in near the end of the pack. At least this time she had the forethought to remove her lab coat and leave it where it belonged. She found a seat next to AJ, smiled and nodded to everyone, and was ready to listen.


Listening to the slight chatter taking place, once her officers had arrived the Captain rapped on the table with one hand to get their attention, and then after a moment said "As you all may or may not be aware. We were paid a visit upon our arrival by the ever mysterious and decidedly fond of games, Admiral Alan Markus. As is his usual modus operandi, he chose to access the ship's internal holographic emergency systems to project an image of himself, rather than boarding in person." The Captain paused for the barest of moments, then added "That is an issue which I expect to be resolved in the immediate future. However he found an access, I expect engineering and security to close that door and make certain there are no other weaknesses in the ship's systems."

"We will be discussing that item at another time." she continued. "It seems that Admiral Markus and his lap dogs on the Castelnaudary have made a habit of gaining access to systems which should be quite secure. He has shared with me data concerning a 'Project Archangel' which was discovered buried in a classified database he claims to have been held within Section 31."

"According to the Admiral, rumors of a large "incident" planned by factions within Section 31 prompted their hack and search. The information they accessed contained reference to a series of classified files marked as 'Project Archangel'. As seems to be the normal operating condition for the Admiral and crew of the Castelnaudary, they provide very little actual detail. Admiral Markus believes it to be an investigation into another faction within Starfleet, outside of Section 31 and the general Fleet Operations. They believe this project to be one of highest priority and believe that it is being handled as thought it's worth its weight in latinum. Whatever it is, it is the Admiral's belief that those in charge of this Project Archangel are protecting it heavily and that they're worried about what will happen when they launch it."

"It is quite possible that this is another of Section 31's war games planning, which is always in work and always underway. It may be as simple as someone with far too much free time on their hands trying to come up with every possible event and every possible response and the outcomes," she told them.

"The reports span all four quadrants of the galaxy, and Admiral Markus feels that this situation is not what he terms "their usual 'what if' back on Earth". He fears that someone is planning to destabilize the Federation through the outbreak of a civil war that could conceivably topple Federation society completely. The recent events involving the kidnapping of the Federation President seems to be the tip of the spear, and it is his opinion that our response did not stop those behind this action, that we have effectively only delayed them."

She shook her head slightly, as she continued and said "The name of the project is what drew Admiral Markus' attention, so he claimed. In old Earth religion, the archangels were the warriors of God. They were beings of the eighth order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy and in the Abrahamic religions, there were believed to be as many as twelve. The Angels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael being the higher ranked archangels, followed by Uriel, Sariel, Raguel and Remiel."

"Admiral Markus has tasked us with taking on further investigation of this 'Project Archangel', and hopes that we will be able to find more concrete information on exactly what Archangel is, and who is behind it. The Archangels were supposed to be the warriors of God. The ultimate weapons in His battle against the forces of Lucifer, who was himself once the most beautiful of God's Angels before he rebelled against God and was cast down out of Heaven. The level of destruction described in that file could come from a force with a super weapon. Admiral Markus wants to find it first, assuming it actually exists."

“If this information is accurate, then the adversary we now seek has already established a firm threshold with considerable resources at their disposal. The word “archangels” has been used in 47 intercepted communiques in three quadrants, only 15% of them were on Federation channels, & almost always to unidentified locations. Several alliances of hostile races on the fringes of the galaxy have been reported, some of which are reported to have been brokered by a 3rd party. Each time the search for “archangel” had a hit, there was a discussion of ancient weapons. 30% of the time, there was discussion of “a ship” or “a captain.” Three agents have been sent to find the source of the project archangel discussion, and all contact and communications with those three officers have been lost."

She picked up a data PaDD and began to read the assignments she'd noted prior to calling the briefing.

"Mr. Walker. I need you to investigate the Admiral Markus. Have Ensign Alexander assist you."

Nodding, Walker looked at her.

Next, she looked at Miguel. "Mr. Torres, I need you to oversee ship's combat readiness, including insuring that neither Markus nor anyone else can gain access to our systems through a back door."

Next up, Penny. "Ms. Naroot. I need for you to set up a sensor database and monitor all ship traffic into and out of this sector. Every ship that comes through, civilian or otherwise I want to know who they are, where they came from and where they're going."

Following that, her attention turned to Halvor. "Mr. Halvor, I want you to look for irregularities in space lanes, restructuring of resources, fleet deployment, etc. Can we establish where these whispers are coming from?"

"Got it." Halvor had been part of a team that had the kind of job that meant slipping past Vulcan and Starfleet Intelligence. He had a few ideas as to what to look for.

She then turned toward Lt. Tanaka, Lt. Taggart, and Lt. Levesque. "Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Taggart, Ms. Levesque. You are to work together and with what resources you need to get the ship battle ready and begin working on speculation about what our unknown adversary could be after in terms of an “archangel weapon”. What doomsday devices might be in play? Another plague from the AU? Tech from old civilizations? Something we’ve encountered before but we thought was lost to time?"

The Captain's attention then turned to Lt. Friedman. "Dr. Friedman. I want a psychological profile on Admiral Markus. You may find a discussion with Doctor Anderson to be helpful as she has a somewhat, unique perspective on him."

Sydney struggled not to glance at the CMO. *If I can rope her down and drag her to my office, maybe,* she thought. "Aye, Captain," she said evenly.

And then, "Mr. Holbridge, use your resources and contact to find out what do our enemies have to say about any doomsday weapons or new players on the board? Find out if anyone else out there has picked up the same messages we have."

AJ nodded confidently while trying to think of the sheer number of possibilities that now had to be looked for

Miguel nodded. His people were already working on going through every line of code in the ship's computer and removing any back doors into the system.

"Dismissed," Kennit said.

Nicole immediately stood and took Camille by the hand, pulling her into a turbolift as everyone filed out to their assignments.

 

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