Preliminary Intel Briefing for Battle Plan "Target: Hera!"
Posted on Sat Oct 6th, 2018 @ 1:17pm by Commander Rita Paris & Captain Enalia Telvan & Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Seregon French & Lieutenant Commander Sonak & Lieutenant Samuel Clemens XV & Lieutenant Asa Dael & Ensign Avendar Jurot & Senior Chief Petty Officer Syal Duran-Yeager & Lieutenant Alex Sexton & Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ila Dedjoy & Baroness 2nd Class Schwein von Alcott
Mission:
Hera v Hera
Location: USS Hera, Deck 6, Briefing Room 6
Timeline: 2395, Enroute to TARGET: HERA!
The Main Screen in the Briefing Room was active, with a live telemetry report from the ship's sensors on the Meroset system. The ship's newly-minted Chief of Intel, Lieutenant Samuel Langhorne Clemens the 25th, was at the head of the table, working on finishing touches to the report.
As the requested officers began to file in, he made note of each of them, giving nods and eye contact as they took their seat. He looked more than a little bit tired, but alert.
Sonak entered in tow of chief science officer Vaemyn and sat with him, as part of the science department of the ship to review the report on the probe operation.
The door opened and in walked a shorter then average Bajoran female, she was wearing the skirt and boots, she nodded in greeting but she didn't say anything as she selected a chair before she gently slid her frame into it. She was followed by the tall, curvy Betazoid Chief Councelor.
Doctor Dael squeaked into the room, taking a seat at the far end of the table. The tiny El-Aurian had a PaDD on hand and an anxious look on their face.
French and Sexton made it to the briefing as well. Looking very professional and ready.
The anachronistically-uniformed first officer Rita Paris entered, looking up from the ever-present PaDD in her hands to take a brief head count, nod perfunctorily and find a seat.
The lights in the room dimmed, and the title of the report, "TARGET: HERA!", came on the screen briefly, then a video feed began to play. The identifier in the banner noted that it had been recorded aboard the USS Hera herself.
Clemens did a little bit of exposition, just before the talking started. "This fellah would be Huhmeez...th'Greek gawud of healin' an' such."
{VIDEO 1 PLAYS}
The video paused at Clemens' command. "Now, heah's what we git from this bit:
* Gods need powah soahces, pretty much ohn demand.
* Thuh powah seems t'be vuhsu'tul, as fah as comp-o-zishun.
* They keep lotsa soahces on hand, lahk a toddluh with uh bohtul.
* Intuhfaeh'nce is possibulh, but even this fella seemsta think it'd be hahd, even foah his own peopuhl.
* He seemsta think that messin' with theah tech'd be moah wuhkibuhl.
* He's verruh cun'suhn'd wi'th'well-bein' of th'followuhs an' bystahdnuhs, as we all should be, bein' Stahfleet.
* His assessmuhnt is that unduh noahm'l cuhcum'stances, th'balance 'uh powah tends tuh keep 'em at each uthuh's throats.
* That's obviousleh been distuhb'd, but it indicates theah may be cells uv resistunce theah that we kin reach."
"Theah's sum dawgs, dowun theah. Mebbeh moah than dawgs. Cahtz, elefunts, hell, meebeh big ol'poak'u'pihnez. Have a look heah:"
Sonak nodded.
"This would be consistent with mythological data on these so-called Olympian divinities as well as what we know of such beings from the Apollo incident. Taking control of this power source and stimuating this conflict between them as we initially planned seems to be the logical approach."
{VIDEO 2 PLAYS}
* It shows satyrs, minotaurs, hellhounds, and Greek gods among other "mythical" things.
* The ship logs have full records of the station logs while they were linked. They've been forwarded to the Hera's Intel databases and should be available.
Sam slapped the control, and the video froze, again. "Tha's whut ah' meahn! An' owah guhl, Miss Herah, heah," he patted the conference table fondly, "got huh big brayun chock full uh th'daytuh we need tah find 'em, an' mebbe neut'ruhl'eyes 'em!"
"Now this, guy, hyeah, he had suhm ee'QUIP'ment! An' it seems lahk there ain't nuh maygick in'volv'd in 'em!" He unpaused the feed, and it seemed to be in the interior of the USS Hera, again.
{VIDEO 3a PLAYS}
* The video discusses Mal's frictionless blades. They have proven to be very effective against Minotaur. The assumption is that they would have the same or similar level of effectiveness on any cyclops or other dedicated combatant you might encounter. However, killing non-combatants there are off-limits for any lethal force.
"Minnowtawr cuttahz!" Clemens crowed, in the slight pause.
{VIDEO 3b PLAYS}
* It is revealed that the frictionless blades were meant to slice through Minotaur. They'll go through your flesh and bone or the flesh and bone of your allies like a hot knife through butter, so you'll have to learn to be very careful when you use one.
"Ah reckon y'all kin figger out wheah this Mahl puh'sun laid hands on a set of'em. If nuthin' ailse, we got hard scans'uv th'makeup uv 'em. Diss. CUSS!" the Moustached Maniacal Maven of Marvelous Machines added brightly.
"I for one like the idea of disrupting the flow of energy," Lieutenant Commander Rita Paris spoke up first, then consulted her PaDD as she spoke. "Seeing as our ops chief holds a masters degree in quantum cryptography from the Daystrom Institute of Technology, I feel Lieutenant Dauntless to be up for the task of disrupting that energy flow. In case taking out her generators doesn't cripple her power, that would be a nice less invasive course. Might save lives."
Alex spoke up next. "I agree with the first officer, I would also disrupt the supply chain from where her weapons come from to Hera. Because once we make our move, we're gonna need all the luck we can get!" Offered Sexton
Duran-Yeager watched the display before her as she brushed a lock of sandy golden hair out of her eyes, her hair was not cooperating today and she was getting irritated with it, as she turned her attention back to the display, much of what she was seeing, she had a hard time processing but she continued to watch.
Chief Counselor Jurot cleared her throat. "So we are working under the assumption that armed conflict is inevitable?"
Sonak almost sighed.
"It is the course of action Starfleet has limited itself to at this point. Most regrettable... but our orders are nevertheless quite clear, as our captain gave them to us."
The chief medical officer waited for a lull in conversation and spoke with a measured voice, “We understand worship to be a part of what provides them with energy. We do not yet understand how the worship is translated into energy, although this is something I am working on. We also understand that the organ they use to manifest things uses this worship energy. This is a volatile process. If we can introduce instability into the process, it may be possible to disarm Hera with minimal collateral damage, although I cannot know what the damage to Hera herself would be.”
"May I propose the hypothesis that this worship transference of energy might be psionic in nature?" suggested the Vulcan. " There are precedents of such conversion been done even through artificial means like the ancient telekinetic weaponry of my own ancestors on Vulcan."
“Might there be a way to disrupt this flow of energy?” the first officer asked. “If it is a known commodity, is there an interference we could broadcast to stop Hera from receiving it? And for the record, an armed conflict is not considered inevitable at this point. We are reviewing options and we have a plan, but that plan, as all tend to be, is flexible. Starfleet doesn’t go in guns blazing unless we have to, Counselor. That much hasn’t changed in all these years. We’ll attempt the least invasive and harmful solutions, and violence is a last recourse.”
"That would be wise," Sonak acknowledged.
Avender fixed her black irised eyes on Lt. Sonak. "I have volunteered to speak to her. I can also attempt to communicate with her telepathically if I am close enough to her. If violence occurs, of course we should be ready, but I believe it should be the last resort." She then looked around the room. "Perhaps the worshipers' energy could be blocked psionically."
Alex looked visibly disturbed at this revelation. Here was a woman he respected and she was putting herself in harm's way.
“Counselor, that’s a distinct possibility as well,” the mod minidress-clad throwback officer acknowledged. “We’re approaching this in three teams… would you like to be assigned to go planetside with the team headed to disrupt her power generators? The Captain feels rather strongly that we need to disrupt Hera’s power flow before approaching her for negotiation, and I am inclined to agree. But I suspect you’ll need to be on the ground to make that determination. Your thoughts?”
"Yes, while I can sense some things from a distance, I'd need to be on the surface for anything more complex," the Betazoid replied.
A small humorless smile graced the face of the first officer, and the ship’s counselor sensed mild irritation. “Then we’ll bring you down once the area is secured, to see if disruption will be possible as well as entering into negotiations."
"Surely there's got to be another way. I mean, the counselor has combat training, but she is not a combatant." Said Sexton
Avender noted the First officer's mood, then turned toward Sexton. "Any fighting I do would be on a mental level. That said, while I hate fighting, I CAN defend myself. In any case, I wouldn't be alone. That's the whole point of a team."
Duran-Yeager was sorely tempted to intervene here but she didn't wish to cause issues and problems as she listend to the discussion that was rapidly turning into an argument.
"Let's stay focused, people," the old-fashioned officer redirected the briefing, moving on to another important point Chief Clemens had brought up. "So our Hera will be working on disrupting Hera... other Hera's energy, the Counselor can give it a go telepathically, at least once we get close enough."
Sonak spoke.
"There are Vulcan disciplines that I can use to strengthen someone else's psionic abilities. I calculate there is not enough time to teach them but i can apply them directly; in essence, adding my mind to the mind of our counselor. But that would require for me to be in physical contact."
"Duly noted, Mr. Sonak. Meanwhile she has an awful lot of fantastic and powerful troops at her command. I for one would very much not like to go to war with these beings, but they may leave us no choice. With that said, Lieutenant Commander sh'Zoarhi has been investigating potential weapons, as we believe we've discovered an alloy that emulates the mythical properties of some of the weaponry we know to be effective on these beings. Thex?"
" Yes. I've created several tungsten/rhenium-tipped blades and axes that should be able to damage most of her troops. Long range has been more tricky, but I've been able to make some arrows, ammo for the TR116, and some ammo for older firearms that should be able to damage them," the Andorian said, tapping her screen to bring up the holo images of what she had created.
"So a melee weapon and an assault weapon for each member of the landing party. Here's hoping we don't have to use them. Chief Clemens, any other points you'd life to discuss or stress?" Paris saw the glazed look in people's eyes- it was time to wrap this briefing up and get to work on what they'd discussed.
Up til now, Clemens had let them suss things out, but now, he spoke up, again.
"Friends'n naybuhs... ah'd like tuh make uh point.
...this 'goddess'..."
He pinched his nose between thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his normally-jolly demeanor was a mixture of sadness, and cold calculus.
"...she's nawt sum slaver we kin jus' stomp in an' beat on 'til she squeals an' rolls ovuh, y'all." He'd been looking at the combat specialists in the room, but then turned his attention to the Counselor. "Norh is she sumwun who's likeleh t'lissen t'ev'n th'mohst skilled peacemakuh. She's got no reahsun tuh. She thinks weah bugs, n'she won' think twice 'bout meltin' ya brayn with tech powah'd by bat'trees thuh size uv stahship enjuns, aftah she rips evvrah sekrit outta yer haid." He shook his head.
"We gotta fight DUHHTY. She can't git wun HINT uv warnin'! Lissen to yer Chief uv Intel, hyeah.
"Awright. Ah'm dun, now." He sat down, wearily.
Sonak nodded with an eyebrow arching slightly up.
"Colloquially stated... but essentially correct. Unless we have secured some way to... convince her to listen to reason, she will not. Logically, securing her power source or disabling her power-using organ... preferably both."
The friendly first officer stood, surveying the room. "All right people, we have our assignments and everyone knows their part in this plan. Any questions before we break?"
Asa shook their head no, glad to have kept mostly quiet.
Duran-Yeager held her silence as the weight of what she was learning was making itself present. 'Sta'thas, did you suffer?, did you feel pain as that monster turned you to stone?' the small Bajoran thought to herself, for that alone she decided that Hera needed to die.
As the silence hung in the air, the first officer called to the figure in the back of the room who had remained silent throughout the briefing, letting the senior staff take the lead. But if there was a concluding statement, it should come from the Hera's mistress and commander. "Captain Telvan, anything to add?"
Standing and looking around the room, Enalia saw all the faces around her. Some would likely perish on this mission - hopefully most would not. She did her best to engrave all of their faces and names into her memory, just in case. "You all have seen what we're up against and know what needs to be done. For the sake of those that came before us and for those that would come after if we fail, and for the galaxy as a whole, we must not fail. I've seen what this crew can do and I know we can. I'm trusting you all not only with my life and my ship and crew... The lives of every sentient rest on your shoulders. I know you will all persevere and find a way to win. Either she surrenders and we take her into custody, or she dies."
Watching the reactions around the room, the somber mood turned a bit darker, thus the spirit of the 23rd century knew to do her thing. “So- we’ve got plans. We have strategies. We have intel, with more coming. We’re Starfleet, people, and this is what we do. So let’s get out there and clean up this mess, rescue those who can be rescued, liberate those who can be liberated and teach this ‘goddess’ a thing or two about sullying the name ‘Hera’, shall we? Briefing adjourned- let’s go make a difference in the galaxy, people!”
Duran-Yeager nodded her head, in agreement but she didn't need to say anything, the executive officer said it all for her. As she had a friend to avenge.
VIDEO 1 CONTENT:
{"You don't have to kill my people, Captain," he said. "And I won't help you do that. You don't even have to drive them off of this plane. They have a right to exist. We just have to find a way to keep them from meddling too much. To defeat a god...you need to find their power sources and disable them. They have both stationary and mobile power sources, ships, bases, devices, etc, and they can wirelessly transmit power to themselves if they are close enough to their power sources. You might be able to interfere with that wireless transmission of energy. It won't be easy. The signal is very powerful. Otherwise, devise a way to interfere with their technology. Captain Telvan, some of my people may go too far, and I understand that you may have to deal harshly with them. Others, though, mean well and while you may have to deal with them, killing them won't be necessary. And remember, they often counter each other, cancel each other out. Find those connections and you won't need to kill them."}
VIDEO 2 CONTENT:
{"Baskervilles are fictional. A myth." The words were out before Clio quite realized what she was saying, and she backtracked a bit. "I suppose that doesn't mean anything anymore. We've got satyrs, minotaurs, and Greek gods. The Hounds of Baskerville may as well join the list." She paused, glancing at the list but not wanting to read it. "I hate to ask... but did anyone get a picture of these things? A tricorder reading? Anything?" Enalia nodded. "The ship logs have full records of the station logs while they were linked. They've been forwarded to the Hera's Intel databases and should be available."}
VIDEO 3a CONTENT:
{"Don't worry," Mal said when everyone else had left. "You're not in trouble. I'm going to give you one of my frictionless blades. They are very effective against Minotaur. I assume they would have the same or similar level of effectiveness on any cyclops you might encounter attempting to contact Hephaestus, however...you're going there to ask for his help. Killing or maiming his workers won't earn you any good will from him. I have a kopis and a gladius. I was thinking we could visit the holodeck and get you familiar with whichever one of those you feel more comfortable with."}
VIDEO 3b CONTENT:
{ "In the immediate, however, I'll let you try both blades and then you can borrow the one that works the best for you, then we'll really practice. Our frictionless blades were meant to slice through Minotaur. As you can imagine, they'll go through your flesh and bone or the flesh and bone of your allies like a hot knife through butter, so you'll have to learn to be very careful when you use one. Can you meet me on the Hera's holodeck in about an hour?"}
VIDEO 4 CONTENT:
{There was a gust of wind and Hermes appeared from...somewhere. "Okay," he said, handing handing out bracelets to everyone. They were of various widths and no two pairs of bracelets were the same, each having different designs or decorations on them. "Put those on, and observe," Hermes said. Everyone put them on obediently and Hermes picked up some kind of hand scanner. "You're first, Commander." He scanned Clio's weapons one by one, then aimed the scanner at her bracelets individually letting the beam linger on each one for a moment. "Now," Hermes said once he was done. "Hold out your hand and think of one of your weapons." Clio quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what sort of technological trick this was but knowing better than to ask. Hermes and his kind were far more advanced than the Federation, and it wasn't likely they'd share the secret of the device. Curious as to whether she could figure it out, she focused her thoughts on the kopis she'd borrowed from Mal. The kopis in question appeared in Clio's hand. T'Pral was fascinated by this technology. "Where did you get these?" T'Pral asked. "Remember, we impressed the ancient peoples of Earth by performing what appeared to be miracles," Hermes said. "The ability to make things seem to appear from thin air with just a gesture of the hand went along way towards cementing us as deities in our subjects' minds. You're next, Lieutenant. Then the Baroness, and finally Mister Ral." Hermes got to work setting up the rest of the bracelets. "All finished," Hermes said when he was done. "Thank you," Daytona said. "I assume these just show up as fashion accessories if scanned?" "You are correct, Mister Ral!" Hermes said. "You'll also notice that no two pairs of them are the same. I thought it would look odd if you were all wearing the same bracelets. They should look like jewelry."}
VIDEO 5 CONTENT:
{“Thank you, that is sweet,” Akira said with a soft smile. “And I am working on a solution, it is just slow going; the Captain gave me the plans for a mobile emitter, but most of the circuitry is too small for the replicator, even the industrial replicator resolution is not high enough to accurately recreate the necessary components, so I am having to do it by hand, which is time consuming,” she explained. They were coming up on the caves and she could already smell the minerals from the water. “I am nervous about trying the emitter once it is finished; the one in use by the Voyager’s EMH was far more advanced and had a bigger capacity, I worry that the plans I am working off of won’t be able to support me because I consume far more resources than the Doctor.”}
VIDEO 6 CONTENT:
{“I have been meaning to talk to her about helping me build something; with the power fluctuation that happened over Selen VI, there were concerns about my efficacy during a power outage, so it was suggested that I build a computer for me to inhabit, linked with but separate from the main computer and working on an independent power source, and since the holo-emitters also work on their own internal power cells, I would be able to continue to function even in the event of a full system shut down,” she said. “I was also curious about finding that Scottish fellow… he seemed interesting.”}
VIDEO 7 CONTENT:
{"Just this," Mal said. "You are about to enter a very strange world. Demons, so-called gods, 'mythical' creatures and species. Well, I suppose you already guessed about the mythical species because, well, here I am before you. But I digress. You are going to see strange things, some wonderful, some horrible. On a starbase, trouble comes looking for you. On a starship, particularly this specific starship, we go looking for trouble...and find it nearly everywhere we look. Forget about thinking outside the box. With our missions, there are often no boxes to begin with.}
VIDEO 8 CONTENT:
{"Wonderful," Daytona said, also in a hushed voice continuing to walk and look around as though he was just a tourist. "The last thing we need is protracted battle with a Minotaur in the middle of downtown. Even if T'Pral could simply adjust her phaser to the highest setting and disintegrate the damn thing in one shot, we'd still have to explain to the locals why we killed it, which would give us away. The point is moot, anyway. According to Mal, the beasts are resistant to directed energy weapons. That's why the Pomtoli developed the frictionless blades in the first place. Besides that, if we don't kill it quickly, the local constabulary might get involved, and then there will be bullets flying around as well."}
VIDEO 9 CONTENT:
{The giant head frowned. "Such a weapon..." it said. "A weapon that could cause wounds that would not heal...that would be a marvel...and very dangerous. I could not allow such a weapon to remain in your hands after it has served its purpose. Do you, Enaes Clio, swear to me, the God of Fire and of metalworking that you will return this weapon to me once you have slain this demon? Mind, if you were to break your word, you would face the wrath of a god!" "Um, they know you're not actually a god, brother," Hermes said. "However, Commander, my family and their allies are very powerful. If you were to cross my brother Vulcan, there would be dire consequences for you and your crew, possibly even the Federation or even the Cervan people. We may not be actual gods, but we have technology you cannot imagine at our disposal. Think carefully before you answer his question. You will literally swearing by your life and the lives of all you hold dear." Clio looked between them, a bemused expression on her face. Bemused... but impressed nonetheless. "No need to threaten me, my crew, or my people. Keeping such a weapon on the Hera, among so many people unfamiliar with its technology... that's just asking for trouble." She didn't need to be a member of the pantheon or another similar advanced race to know that, especially seeing as how she already had weapons on board that had to be secured at all times. "Returning the weapon when we are finished with the task is, of course, part of our bargain. And I would expect you to secure it in such a way that no one other than yourself could retrieve it, Lord Vulcan. Or destroy it, if you see fit." "In that case, Eneas Clio," the giant head replied. "It so happens I have two such weapons in my possession. Behold."}
{A sheathed sword appeared on the rim of the fire pit. Next a lance with a five and a half foot pole and an eight inch blade designed for both stabbing and slashing. "The sword and spear of the Caberi," said the giant head. "If this demon is as dangerous as my brother describes him to be, perhaps it will take more than one of you to bring him down. You may take both with you. Remember, you have been warned. Failure to return these weapons to me will have dire consequences."}
