Briefing

Posted on Tue Sep 30th, 2025 @ 4:52pm by Commander Saul Whitford & Captain Shral Th'avhilat & Colonel Josiah McEntyre & Commander Gunnar Magnusson & Sub-Commander T'shir & Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Calhoun & Lieutenant Commander Alexander Coleman & Major Dranoel Leomas & Major Iria & Lieutenant Kayoko Himeji & Captain Johnathan Reece & Captain Gaagii & Sergeant Sonny Holt

2,630 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - The Mystery of Carina VII
Location: Unicorn Briefing Room
Timeline: MD01 0800 hours

::ON::

Sipping from his mug of Rigelian Coffee, Whitford was grateful for the hot, dark liquid. The Rigelians had started developing their own unique string of coffee beans from arabica since they had colonised the area, and he had to say, the strong taste was appealing to him. Particularly when he had to face a briefing at such an early hour. Barely the beginning of his shift, he mused.

Walking up and down the rows of the briefing room, he made sure that the required PADDs had been distributed, briefing documents enclosed for everyone's perusal. Stood near the door to the room, Whitford nodded in satisfaction at the work done. Coridan had been a hiding. He hoped the next assignment would be less intense. Fat chance of that, he thought with good humour.

Dr. Coleman was the first person to arrive after Whitford. He was both tired and ready for another shower already. Coleman had been working on several patients over the last few hours and days, trying to get them back up to snuff after the whole incident with the Romulan nuclear attack. He had been down on the planet with the others, having taken cover in the cave systems in order to try and survive.

Luckily enough, the last of the patients were slowly being discharged and he had finally gotten the chance to sit down. Having a moment to stop by the Mess Hall on the way up, Coleman had grabbed a thing of coffee before getting into the meeting. Once he walked into the Briefing Room, he saw Whitford and gave him a curt nod before sitting down.

Sonny entered a little less perky than usual. Anti radiation treatments will do that to you. Even though he wouldn't trade the experience for anything. He took a second to get a fresh uniform before joining the others . "Sirs." He said in greeting.

Chief Engineer Calhoun was the next officer to cross the threshold. He situated himself with his thermos of coffee. “Hope I’m not late,Commander. Had to button up a diagnostic on the intake manifolds. Good morning, everyone.”

Since the hour was comparatively early, Gunnar suspected that his fellow officers would be indulging a morning caffeine habit; he was certainly no exception to that. His flavor of the day was a Tellarite concoction called bojnoggi…it had a somewhat thick and creamy texture, similar to that of cream of mushroom soup. The beverage was also moderately salty, and contained nearly three times the caffeine of Terran coffees. With a steel mug of the concoction in one hand and a PADD in another, Gunnar entered the briefing room. He gave a nod to each of the others present. “Good morning Commander. Doctor. Sergeant,” he said brightly as he took a seat near the center of the table.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas O'Roark nodded his head to Gunnar then took a drink from his large coffee mug which had the marines code written on the sides of the mug. He picked up the PADD that was laying before him and began to read the information on it.

The door slid open and the large Texan, Reece, stepped inside. Though he was still receiving treatment for his injuries, he seemed to walk as if nothing was really wrong. "Morning, everyone," he said with a soft grin on his face.

Captain Shral Th'avhilat nodded before pulling a sharp salute as his superior officer entered the room. The Andorian was a recent arrival aboard the Unicorn, and had been spending his time getting his gear squared away. Though the ship was not to his preferred temperature, he was finding that he was enjoying the pinkskins company more than he had anticipated. 'Captain Jo'nathan Reece, it is good to see you.'

He had heard of the MACO officers' exploits on the surface of Coridan, and had been impressed. Antennae undulating as he spoke, Shral leaned in, 'I hope your wounds are healing as expected?'

Johnathan grinned a friendly smile at the words. "It'll take more than some Rommie nukes and a crashed shuttle to pur this Texan down,"

Major Dranoel Leomas entered with his hands behind his back. He nodded to those already present. "Morning sirs." Dranoel greeted and went to an empty seat to sit in.

Gaagii stepped into the Briefing Room without so much as a word. He hid it well but there was still a lot of pain, particularly from his ribs which were bandaged beneath his uniform. However, despite it all he would perform his duty. "Morning everyone." He muttered as he took his seat. Fact was he was still not himself since the battle.

"Morning sir." Sonny said.

Iria slipped into the briefing room without a sound. She looked about the space at the other officers and dipped her head in a non-verbal greeting and found a seat.

After handing over the helm, Kayoko was next to enter. She slipped quietly into an empty seat.

Sub-commander T'shir was the last of the senior officers to enter before the Colonel. She appeared tired, which was not typical for the usually stoic Vulcan officer.

The Doors open. Josiah strides into the briefing room like a man on a mission. PADDs under his arm as he goes to the podium at the head of the room and puts them down, a bit hard, getting their attention.

"Listen up!" He called out to get the groups attention.

"Whitford and I had a wonderful discussion with Fleet Command and the consensus is this:" He starts before staring down everyone seriously.

"Coridan was a fucking disaster." He said pointedly. "Therefore, Starfleet and our partners in the Coalition are taking a new approach."

Kayoko kept quiet, she agreed that the mission to Coridian hadn't gone as planned. Plus the sabotage of the Unicorn's engines didn't help at all. She was still concerned it had got that far in the first place.

Leaning forward in his seat, Shral's antennae pulsed slightly as he regarded the MACO Colonel. Though he wore their uniform, the Andorian was acutely aware he was an exchange officer. Nevertheless, he recalled that Earth's senior officers had encouraged him to speak his mind. 'What approach are we to be taking?' he asked mildly.

Johnathan sat down when the Colonel came into the room. When he saw the anger rolling off of the other man, he felt the small good mood he had started to have evaporate away. He was about to ask the question, but Shral bear him to the punch. So, instead, he nodded his agreement with the question, then waited for Josiah to reply.

"As of," Josiah looked at his watch before continuing "4 hours ago, Unicorn is now on detached service. We've been ordered to the Carina System to investigate goings on there."

The name got Calhoun’s attention right away.

“I’ve heard of Carina. That’s near the Romulan border, right? Are we expecting to find something out of the ordinary, Colonel? Our mission at Coridan went bad, and I can’t imagine it’s any better when we’re talkin’ about Romulans.”

'Carina is an unaffiliated star-system,' Whitford said, leaning against the table behind him as information began flashing up on the screen on the wall. 'Carina VII is something of a pleasure world. Earth-like variable climate, tolerable for to a lot of bipedal species. Smack-dab in the Minshara classification. It's been around a long time, but humans only really reached there twenty years ago. Since then, we've integrated fairly well into the local economy, and our colony was thriving. As an independent system a lot of folk drop by to relax and spend shoreleave.'

He looked up and around the room, and squarely at Calhoun. 'Until the start of the war, that is. So, Mister Calhoun, yeah, we could be talking about Romulans.' Whitford tapped the padd into the meat of his palm gently. 'We got our ass handed to us on Coridan, no mistake. Starfleet and the Coalition Joint Command would like to prevent that from happening again. The fleet is spread thin, and licking its wounds. Unicorn is the only ship with the resources to deal with this on our own. We're being sent to investigate the ... anomalies Carina VII have reported to us.'

"What kind of anomalies are we talking about? Should the medial team start preparing for any kind of medical intervention along the way?" Coleman asked, hearing a bit about the planet and realizing that it sounded familiar. But, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. No matter what though, he wanted to be more prepared than all of them on the planet on their last mission.

Gaagii took notes on the system and the mission ahead. He planned on checking to what resources would be available should they need. He also would check in with the latest intelligence on the Romulan fleet movements. Although he knew that there had not been much from the Romulans in recent years.

Glancing at his PADD once again to make sure he had the right notes, Whitford raised his eyebrows. 'The anomalies are ... strange to say the least. Colony members, and some vistitors, have rapidly aged. Crops have cycled through a whole growth cycle in twenty-four hours. A few structures have collapsed due to age.' He looked at Coleman, and then Gunnar, 'seems like something Science and Medical will need to team up on. Data and visuals are provided on the PADDS in front of you.'

Rapid ageing is concerning, to say the least, Dranoel thought as he listened. He was thankful that Romulans hadn't been the cause of their dispatch to Carina VII. "It is advisable to keep at tactical readiness should the Romulans decide to add to our temporal issues at Carina VII with an attack, it is not above them to attack a defenseless non-aligned planet because we are there. They may believe we are investigating some new way to combat them, even though it is false." He said and added. "Romulans are paranoid."

"Tactical and Science should work on improving shields and hull polarization. I also want the main phaser cannons back online within the next 24-48 hours." Josiah added.

"Well, I'll have to get with the science teams and my own team to make sure that we can figure out what's going on and what we can do for the planet," Coleman said as he pulled up the information on his own PADD.

Johnathan quietly absorbed what was being said. He then asked, "With the planet being so close to Romulan-controlled space, and the fleet spread thin, what are our orders should the enemy indeed press an advantage?"

"Engage all hostiles should they appear.

Sonny shrugged but he did certainly agree about Coridan being a disaster. But he thought to himself that it couldn't get much worse. Forgetting his rank he spoke up. "Make the Rommies think that there are more of us that there are?" He chimed in. "If the fleet is spread thin, then make em think we have a huge fleet. Might make em think twice? Just thinking out loud." Sonny said

"Are there any meaningful documentation or comprehensive medical scans regarding this purported 'rapid aging'?" Iria asked, settling on one simple question--in her mind--versus admonishing caution in this scenario. In her limited experiences, humans were drawn to danger and excitement in the same manner that their winged insects were drawn the lights in the dark.

"I would like to see that as well because it could help us out in making an antidote of sorts against it," Coleman said, thinking about what kinds of scans or anything might be out there for the rapid aging.

'There will be data about it in the PADDs in front of you,' Whitford replied with a smile, 'I'm hoping you can have a look at the causes of the biological aging and can either slow it down, or prevent it entirely, hopefully Science and Engineering can do the same for the agriculture and buildings. As for the Romulans, that's why we're being sent there. A ship the size of the Unicorn would absorb a lot of their manpower if they wanted to face off against us, or push for power.'

Whitford looked around the packed room. 'If there are further questions, now is the time to speak up.'

Gaagii did what he did best. He listened, absorbed all that was said. The discussion of the Romulans was especially of interest. "Sir. If the Romulans come they will come quietly, they will strike when it is opportunistic for them and when we are at our greatest disadvantage. That is their way. My recommendation is as soon as we arrive we go active scans. Light the ship up as a beacon. Make sure they know that we are looking in their direction. That is the greatest deterrent even more so than weapons."

"I'm taking it that the Romulans don't have anything worse than the nukes that they fired at us, do they? Cause, I'm not seeing anything on my PADD about any other kind of weaponry, unless I'm overlooking it," Coleman asked, looking through several sections at once.

Dranoel spoke up. "Who will be on the landing party? I am curious." He intoned as if not wanting to be considered but knew he'd have clear responsibilities on the ship and would fill them.

'That hasn't been decided yet,' Whitford replied with a smile, 'it will take a few days to make Carina orbit, and we'll have the parameters for the landing party locked down around twenty-four hours before then so there'll be adequate time to prep. As Carina isn't considered a hostile territory, we don't anticipate deploying MACO in the initial phases.' He turned and addressed Coleman, 'it depends on what you mean by worse, but no, nothing with the destructive yield of atomics is a known part of their arsenal.' He shrugged, 'that said they would most likely be investing in intensive weapons research the same as we are.'

"Aye sir," Dranoel replied with a nod.

"Well, I just don't want to be caught with my pants around my ankles again. I'd like to make sure I have everything that I can at the ready. Just let me know if there's anything else that I can do to help out," Coleman replied, taking notes on his personal PADD.

'Thanks, Doctor,' Whitford replied warmly.

Josiah looked among the gathered for a moment. "Have your department readiness reports to Commander Whitford by 0800 tomorrow. We'll touch base again once we've arrived in system. Thank you all." Josiah spoke before turning to his XO.

"XO, floor to you"

Whitford looked around the room. 'If there are no other questions ... You're all dismissed. Further breakdowns will be provided by your department heads should you need them.'

"Sir," Dranoel replied and stood. He waited a moment before he headed out.

The Unicorn's First Officer watched the crew file out, nodding at those who caught his eye, and smiling warmly at others. He strove to show with non-verbal cues that he was there for them, and they were in this together. A nagging feeling was tossing and turning in the hindmost portions of his brain. That Coridan had been a far tougher blow than anyone had yet realised.

As he watched the new Andorian MACO captain wander out of the room, Whitford wondered what he could do to drum up some good feeling and camaraderie in the crew before they headed off again ...

The room was suddenly, quietly, empty, leaving Whitford alone with his thoughts.

::OFF::

The Crew of the Unicorn

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