The Gorn Situation

Posted on Fri Aug 2nd, 2024 @ 2:08pm by Lieutenant Fang Lee & Lieutenant Commander Kelly Kerrigan & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD & Lieutenant K’Var & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant Lanna Alexander

1,078 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Lacertae Mortis
Location: Brief Room | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Current

From a post before this one:

"Now here this," he prefaced. "Senior staff to deck two conference room. All senior and acting department heads to the conference room on deck two. This is Acting Captain Kerrigan. "
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ON:

Lieutenant Commander Kelly Kerrigan walked with Lieutenant Fang Lee down the corridors after taking the lift to deck two. Having discussed where the Engineering Department stood, Kelly hoped the rest of the departments were as ready, if not more prepared. I shouldn't have sent the two of them out there alone he thought of tactical officer and his Chief Engineer, Calliope Ito. A distress beacon had been deployed by their shuttle around the coordinates of the Gorn array that they had been tasked with disabling or destroying. Something had clearly gone wrong before the shuttle 's distress beacon stopped transmitting.

A quick analysis of the last transmission it had sent was a clear and bold emphasis on the imminent danger. The Gorn. It would be up to the Arcadia to respond, race towards the coordinates that the beacon had been, and hope to locate their shuttlecraft intact with two souls aboard and unharmed. It was a race to find them before the cold blooded reptoids got to them.

Lieutenant Commander Kelly Kerrigan stepped across the threshold, not holding back and not withholding any information. There was no time to filter, no time to determine who needed to know what. "Lieutenants Patel and Ito are in danger," he said swiftly. He queued up the large monitoring screen showing the Gorn communications array. "I dispatched them by shuttle to take care of that" he added. "I fear the Gorn may have not taken too kindly to that move."

“Do we have a more current sit rep?” Lanna looked at Kerrigan curiously. “Anything to give us an idea?”

Fang followed the Commander in and took his seat. For the moment he was the Chief Engineer and knowing Ito she'd gotten creative. He hoped she was okay. He knew she had 9 lives but damn she'd have to be running out by now.

Kerrigan took a seat before responding to Lanna. "We'll be going in blind," he replied. "The distress signal was abruptly terminated. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I would assume the Gorn were hoping nobody received it before they destroyed it."

"That's where we may have a secret weapon." Fang chimed in.

Kelly looked at Fang. They had previously discussed the importance of being subtle and keeping certain details amongst them. He was hoping the engineer was not going to reveal anything that Kelly was not prepared to answer.

"The new Engine modifications that Chief Ito left have helped us gain more speed then should be possible. So if we need to push engines they will be at your command sir. My staff will have them ready by the time the ship is ready to leave." He paused. "Plus this class of ship has some real maneuverability so that is always an asset."

“Security and Tactical have been prepped as per our previous discussion, Captain” the security chief added.

Fang took the time to look around the room. There seemed to be an interesting mix of people here. As a keen observer of people he was impressed the professionalism around the table and the ability of everyone to focus on the task at hand. A part of him wanted to have Zai here as well but he'd fill him in when the meeting was done. Zai was better served supervising the final modifications.

Adrianna Baciami remained silent, watching over the others in the room. She'd yet to figure out the dynamics and characters yet. She listened before adding, "feelers have been sent and I've done all the reading I need to. The department is prepped and ready for the trip."

“As is Medical,” McDonald added from his seat nearest the exit. The Gorn… realizing his grip on the armrest had turned his knuckles white he took a slow deep breath to ensure he relaxed enough to avoid any unprofessional outbursts. Yet his thoughts constantly tried to pull his train of thought to dark places full of uncertainty for his ex wife and family. He chided himself. Such worries would only make him next to useless to the crew. And he hasn’t been coaxed into this assignment to be a liability.

Lanna was sensing the emotions pouring from McDonald making a mental note to speak to him when they had the time.

"Then we know where we stand and our objective," stated Kelly. "We proceed to find Ito and Patel, recover the shuttle and be prepared for the Gorn. We may bump into them."

Fang jumped in. "I would be remiss in not bringing up a small flaw. Our phaser banks are still glitching at level 3 but I can set a rotating pulse where we get intermittent pulse shots at level three for now. I'll have Engineering speed up the repair on that end."

"Speed it up," Kerrigan affirmed. "I don't want to have to use weapons, but the Gorn are not ones for talking."

Fang gave a nod. "Aye, Sir."

"I would be glad to assist if I am needed and with your permission of course, Captain" K'Var volunteered as it was likely the would be needing their weapons if they encountered the Gorn.

Fang gave a nod. "An extra hand is both needed and appreciated. I could think of nobody better to assist."

“I’ll lend a hand in medical if needed Sir” Lanna offered a warm smile. “That’s if you don’t mind Doctor?” She looked towards McDonald.

"Alright," Kelly said feeling a bit more optimistic. These were good officers. He had a good crew under him. "We know what we need to do. Let's make it happen, let's get our people back safely."

Fang gave a nod. He was the first to jump up heading for engineering to fill Zai in. There was much to do and little time to make things happen.

The room emptied quickly and all hands moved to their respective tasks. The crew of the Arcadia, although new to one another, seemed to fall into line as if a they had worked together for years. Everyone felt the urgency of Kerrigan's message and everyone knew their part. It was time to launch; although ahead of schedule they would be ready to face what awaited them amongst the sea of stars.

OFF:

 

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