Figuring Out the Borg

Posted on Sunday 30 September 2018 @ 23:18 by Lieutenant Michael Ki MD & Commander Cale Llewellyn DSci & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Lieutenant JG Saren Barel & 1st Lieutenant John Kayhill & Lieutenant Colonel Kachiko Bayushi & Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D.
Edited on on Wednesday 3 October 2018 @ 10:20

Mission: The New Collective
Location: Main Briefing Room
Timeline: After Information Dump
6738 words - 13.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Cale walked into the Briefing Room and thought Haven't we spent enough time in this room already? He breathed a heavy sigh, tapped his combadge and spoke, in his best authoritarian voice, "By order of our new captain, all senior staff report to the briefing room immediately, 1st Lieutnant John Kayhill, your presence is also requested."

Kayhill had slept well. He had been in sickbay and it wasn't the best place for a rest, despite cute nurses and doctor. It took him a bit longer to get dressed with one hand as he wouldn't let a nurse help. He wasn't hungry so he got up and went to the briefing room. He nodded to Commander Llewellyn politely and then headed to the replicator.

"Coffee, black, hot", he said. Once he got the coffee he went and found a spot at the table furthest away from the Commander. He took a sip of the coffee and smiled.

"Good coffee", Kayhill said. "The Marine way, black as night and with a bite like a rabid t'arg."

"Ah very good, Lieutenant. Um, Mr. Kayhill, I hope what was said during our last 'get together' hasn't hampered our ability to work together. Peppermint hot chocolate."

"You don't have to worry Commander", Kayhill said. "I do what needs to be done and work with who I have to, to get the job done. As a good Gunny will always say, You don't have to like it, you just have to do it."

"Even better, Mr. Kayhill. Let's hope you remember that when it comes down to getting the job done with the Borg. The funny thing is I like you, Kayhill, despite the fact that you're a Marine, or in spite of it. I can't tell and I don't particularly care. I think we could be great friends and I hope that that time can come to be," Cale said to the Marine.

"With all due respect sir, given your perspective of Marines and that little qualifier of yours, the only way we'll ever have a chance to become friends is if you go through Marine boot", Kayhill replied calmly. In fact, Cale could not really sense anything else from him.

Kayhill continued, "I'm a Marine and if anyone is going to be my friend, there can't be little qualifiers such as the one you just laid out. So, if you want to be my friend, go take thirteen weeks of your life, experience boot and then come back and if you can look me in the eye and say you like me, without any qualifiers, and you think we could be friends, then we can talk. Until that day commander, you will always be a colleague."

"I love it when people say 'With all due respect'. Because then they mean the exact opposite and I know exactly where I stand with them," Cale said under his breath.

Kayhill sipped his coffee and let out another, "Good coffee".

Stephanie came striding into the briefing room wearing a pair of earbuds, blaring music at what most would consider an unreasonable volume.

"There ain't no rest for the wicked, money don't grow on trees. We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed and ain't nothin' in this world for free. I can't slow down, I can't hold back, though you know I wish I could. There ain't no rest for wicked until we close our eyes for good."

Anyone who said the Merlin's Chief Engineer looked a little ragged around the edges would have been severely understating the issue. As usual, her uniform Jacket had been discarded somewhere and she walked around with just the sleeveless gold turtleneck. A tool belt was slung around her waist with full of all manor of Engineering implements. She was grimy, greasy, sweaty and smelled faintly acrid.. But only if you got really close to her. She also had the exhausted look of someone who had been working too hard for too long. She reached up and pressed a button on the side of the earbuds abruptly cutting off the music, yanked them out of her ears and draped them over one shoulder looking around the room. Her eyes came to rest on the replicator. "Mocha raktajino," she said as she strode over. "Double strong, double sweet."

After the computer dutifully produced the beverage, she grabbed it from the slot, then trudged over to collapse heavily into one of the chairs.

"Lieutenant O'Hara, glad to have you back with us," Cale smiled at her.

Stephanie looked quizzically at Cale. "Did I go somewhere?"

John looked over at the cute woman in yellow and smiled, obviously she was one of the gear heads who kept the ship running. Given the ship had taken a heavy beating, it was no wonder she was here looking like she did. Better her than him. He was definitely not heavily inclined towards mechanics.

He gave her a nod. He would have said something to her, but she obviously wasn't ready to be spoken to.

Saren came into the room, his padd in hand. He had been working most of the night on the computer issue that seemed to be at hand. This meeting would be good for a preliminary briefing to the XO and Captain. He saw and heard Lieutenant O'Hara and despite the loud music that was a tad uncomfortable for him, he went and sat down next to her.

Stephanie nodded to Kayhill. "Ye're new," she said simply in her thick Irish brogue, taking a sip of her coffee. She then looked over to the Science officer as he took the seat next to hers. "Saren, if ya wanna moonlight as an Engineer, I could use an extra pair o' hands on th' ventral phaser array. Well, actually I could use like twelve extra pair, but th' main design flaw in th' humanoid form is tha' most only have one."

Preoccupied looking at two different PADD's, Miles wanders in, walks over to the replicator and says something in Cardassian. The computer produces a large thick mug that smells of honey, lavender, earl grey tea, and heavy sweet cream. He wanders over to an empty chair and sits down after taking a drink of his tea. Without looking up he says mainly to Chief O'Hara, "I've got two teams in the Jefferies tubes around engineering looking for one of the breaches the computer says is there, they haven't found it yet, but once they do I'll let you know." He looks up at that point, mug halfway to his mouth when he spots the Marine officer and one of his commanding officers. Smiling at both he says, "Good morning gentlemen. I'm afraid I got a liking for this earl grey stuff while I was in London, although at times I do enjoy a coffee or racktijino."

"Good morning, Mister Rejal. It's good to see you up and around again. How's that lung?" Cale asked.

"It's getting easier to breath sir, but i still can't play on the Holodeck according to our good doctor..." Miles replies, smiling as he read his padd.

Stephanie sighed heavily in Miles' general direction. "There's an ol' Earth sayin'. If it ain't broke, don' fix it... 'Round here lately, seems like if it ain't broke, it's on another ship." The Irish woman sat and sipped her coffee, glad for 5 minutes where she didn't have to be on her feet. "Keep me posted Mista Rejal."

Saren looked at O'Hara and said, "No, I do not wish to moonlight. However, I will ask the XO to allow me to work in Engineering full time until the crisis is over. My 2nd is more than capable of handling sciences while I lend a hand."

As Saren spoke to Stephanie, a faint gurgling noise rose from her. After a few seconds it rose again. She sat leaned back in the chair, mouth open, eyes closed and head drooped over to one side. The noise was her snoring. Not because anything that Saren said was boring, but because she actually was that tired. Her body had finally stopped moving long enough for her brain to assert itself.

Saren looked at O'Hara and cocked his head to the side. He was glad he was not human. He would not be comfortable having to sleep so much. Eight hours or so every twenty-four was quite limiting. He wondered how the CO or XO would react to this. On a Romulan ship, he probably would have let her continue to present herself so poorly. It would make one less person to have to fight for a rank advancement with. However, they were not on a Romulan vessel and for some reason, he was growing to like the Chief Engineer.

He moved closer, carefully tapped her shoulder, and said, "Lieutenant O'Hara, you probably should be awake for the meeting."

Stephanie roused with a start when Saren woke her up. "Na asleep," she repoted in a very groggy tone. "Jus' need coffee."

"I'll record the snoring next time", Saren said with what seemed to be a smirk.

Stephanie looked aghast at Saren, then fixed him with a glare that would have melted neutronium. "Lieutenant, I do not snore." She said with finality, crossing her arms and turning to face away from him.

Sav came into the room with the others. She was dressed in clean command duty garb with a tech belt around her waist. After the meetings, she was going to return to work in helping with aux control panels, the battle bridge, and the aux bridge. Sav smiled to those present and said simply, "Good Morning, y'all. I'm here, asa ordered." She moved over with her mug of coffee and sat down at an empty seat. She paid no mind that Stephanie groggy and unkempt. To tell the truth, she would probably be in that same shape if it had not been for a nurse running roughshod over her to make sure she took breaks while helping with repairs yesterday, and had a full nights sleep after that. Sometimes, being on light duty had its perks.

Barstow walked in soon after, his new pip attached to his collar above the Task Group Commander bar that ran under his rank pips. He was tired and it showed, he'd managed to use his smile to get a nurse to give him access to a terminal and had been studying engagements with the Borg. He still couldn't find anything that fit the situation and that worried him. He sat down at the head of the table and took a breath as he set the PADD with his notes down, "ladies and gentlemen," he greeted, "we'll begin once everyone else arrives."

When the Captain came into the room, John stood up at attention until the Captain took his seat. He looked about and saw that the others weren't following the protocol. The Captain must not be tight on formalities. Regardless, following the protocols were his way, so he would do it regardless, unless the Captain told him to stop.

"Good morning Captain", Kayhill said as he sat down.

"Captain, you look well rested. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the crew here," Cale said to the newly promoted captain and he was proud to be serving under him again.

Sav bounced lightly in her chair. She was dying to ask about Sierra, but knew it would have to wait until after the briefing. Her tail flicked twice for 'affirmative' to what he had told the group.

Kayhill looked around the table as it started to fill up. It did seem to be an eclectic crew. Romulan, Cardassian, and a humanoid wolf. He wondered what else he was going to see. He took a sip of his coffee and ran a command on his padd as best he could with one hand.

Freshly repaired herself and exhausted, Kachiko finally arrived at the briefing room. She was nominally in command until Apollo could be medically cleared for duty, but she had sufficient technical skills to assist in repairing and realigning the Merlin's phaser emitters. She smelled of lubricant and the usual ionization encountered around recently discharged energy weapons.

An eyebrow arched precipitously at spying Apollo sitting at the head of the table. She nodded at him before sitting on the other side of O'Hara from the Science Officer, her hand briefly squeezing the Irish woman's shoulder as she passed behind her.

Stephanie, who was barely maintaining the normal human standard for awake, smiled lightly at Kachiko. "Commanda," she said by way of greeting.

A small churr escaped from the Skunkette at the table as Kachiko sat down. Once again her tail shook twice in confirmation of the XO arriving. Sav did a small nod with a lift of her mug towards Kachiko, took a sip of coffee, and then she turned her attention to Apollo to start the meeting.

Before the Captain begins, Miles attempts to catch Sav's eye and then smiles at her while tapping his PADD. Taking another large gulp he asks, "Time for a refill before we begin, and do you need anything sir?" directing his comment to the Captain...

Meanwhile, Sav's Padd beeps and a message appeared. Sav touched the pad and 'read' it. **Hey, I heard you had been hurt, but I couldn't see you due to all the smoke and blood in my eyes, are you ok or still recovering? I believe you still owe me a dance or two...**

She smiled as she glanced at him. His Padd beeped immediately. The message on it was, **START-QUERY-ACCESS: Hey yourself, Miles. Hmm, glad you hadn't, my top was shredded and my bra was barely hanging in there. Just some shrapnel embedded into my skin.. Dr. O'Reilly took good care of me and got me back to helping with the repairs. So, I'm okay from that, but I am still on light duty from several stages of major surgery a couple of months ago. And, yes, yes I owe you a couple of dances. I look forward to them. Now, with the pleasantries out of the way, are YOU okay? Are you still hurt in any way?:END-QUERY-ACCESS**

**Wow, the shrapnel part sounds like it hurt, maybe we can looking into holographic consoles that dont need so much glass or plasteel coverings. My breathing still isn't up to par, so i can't run my exercises on the holodeck, but its getting better. At least i can see, that stupid head wound was more annoying that painful. Looking forward to our dances...any clue why we're all here?**

The response came within milliseconds onto Miles Padd: **START-QUERY-ACCESS - Med info Rejal, Marbim - Lung - Punctured collapsed - Protolaser closed, inflated - Skull - profuse laceration - Dermal Closure, no concussion - Light Duty three days -- : Miles, I am glad you are recovering. That wasn't good, getting a punctured lung like that, and head wounds can bleed nastily, I know. So, don't worry, we can walk in place and stare at each other dancing like Junior High students. On why here, no clue. I hope the briefing gets going quickly, I can help with more repairs. I'm... specially trained in Damage Control and am a whiz with repairing circuits.:END-QUERY-ACCESS**

Michael was chastising himself for being late to the meeting. However, between getting the Captain back on his feet, patching up the Marines and the civilians he was beat but a doctor's job was never done. Duty calls and all of that. He placed his PADD which summarized the status of his patients on the table in front of him and took a seat. He sighed deeply and massaged the bridge of his nose.

Sav noticed this, and so looked over at the replicator as its panels lit up. It chimed and opened. A cup of Oolong tea 'floated' out of the replicator and settled before Michael. Sav whispered, "Dr. Ki, Oolong tea for you. Replicated though, as I don't have my tea set with me." Sav returned to waiting on the hubbub to die down from the Dr. entering the briefing, Apollo's answer for Miles question, and for the briefing to begin.

Michael smiled and sipped the tea. "Thanks, I need this more than I need to breathe at the moment."

Seeing everyone arrived Apollo took a deep breath, "alright, you all know what we just faced," he started and looked around the table, "these Borg are acting out of character and are far more dangerous than they were before. This' a threat we have to meet or more colonies will end up like this one. Lieutenant Kayhill, we saw a brief glimpse, why don't you fill everyone in on what happened down there."

Sav turned to put her ears, whiskers, and eyes onto Lt. Kayhill to show he had her undivided attention. Her tail shook once in acknowledgement she was ready for his report.

O'Hara's eyelids drooped but she took a long sip of coffee as she looked over to Kayhill. "Yer up, Slugger." She said with quietly with a half-grin. 'Don' disappoint."

There were a couple of things Kayhill thought of saying to O'Hara, but he thought better of it as they were in a professional setting. He just gave her a slight wink and began.

"Two days ago at 1908, the three settlements on Vega Xu were attacked by the Borg vessel you encountered", Kayhill began. "The main settlement called Xalia was attacked first, Centar settlement was attacked second, and Trilliax, the settlement my platoon was stationed at was attacked last. I believe there may have been a second ship involved as the first Borg vessel although capable of planetary maneuvers, was a touch too slow to destroy both the first and second settlements as quickly as they were."

He paused a moment and then continued, "At Trilliax, we had 15 minutes to prepare and we managed to get 180 people into the caves before the Borg arrived and destroyed the settlement. All total, there were 12,000 colonists on the planet."

He let the number sink in before saying, "We managed to get into the caves in the mountain that part of the colony was situated in. I thought the Borg would just blast the mountain, but a small chance of survival was better than being sitting ducks. We had gotten in, but the Borg pursued on foot. When we engaged, the Borg stated that we were being brought to justice for crimes against the collective. The Borg used psychological warfare beyond what just their mere presence invokes. They sated things like, "If surrendered our deaths would be quick, if not they would be excruciatingly painful. With a little trickery, we got most of the civilians out of the engagement areas, but they still had to fight some as well. I've studied the Borg extensively, I've had engagements with them before and this was the first time, since I was ten, that I have truly been afraid of them. The looks in some of their eyes was sadistic. Any questions?"

Sav was staring at him with fear in her eyes and with a hand up between her breasts and to the base of her throat. She managed a, "Not only eyes.. those words.. they are sadistic in themselves... not as bad as bad can be.. though.." She quieted as she removed the hand from below her throat to reach out and take her coffee mug, then to take a sip. She knew about sadistic, ohhh, she knew much about what sadistic was. She had to remain present, in the now, for the briefing. She swallowed and managed to tear her eyes away from Kayhill and to look around at the others to see if they had any questions. Sav had a lot right now.. but was not in a place to ask. She hoped others would touch on what was needed.

"Well," O'Hara said "Why don' we address th' 800 kilo gorilla in th' room. Th' Borg are na actin' right. They assimilate. They don' wage war. An' they don' get mad..." She took a sip of her raktijino and let the comment hang in the air for a few moments before she continued. "So who, or what, pissed in their punch?"

Miles clears his throat and asks, "Is this some splinter group that has broken free of main collective and has formed their own minor one, one they fell compelled to protect at all costs? LT, where did these attacks start, as you were already here, someone must have been their first target, that may be where we need to go looking for answers once our lady is back up an running..."

"To your question, Lieutenant O'Hara, I believe it is?", John began. "I think ultimately, those of us in the Federation and our allies were the ones that stirred the punch. Most societies attack others when they feel threatened, either from internal sources or external sources. We've been making great strides in combating the Borg and underneath all the programming that suppresses their original self, the Borg still have an emotional base. So there may be both an emotional component to their actions as well as a programmatic element given how we have adapted to them."

He paused before addressing Miles, "This ties into your question Lieutenant. If you read the logs of the Voyager under then Captain Janeway they changed procedures. Their encounters with the Borg and information from their crew-mate that was removed from the collective indicate that since the incident they had with the individual Borg known as Hugh, the collective was almost thrown into total chaos. There is indication that break-away nodes now are destroyed more often than not. I won't rule out that it is a rogue node, but based on all my studies on the Borg, I think this course of action is directly coordinated by their root node. It is a standard method of warfare in many cultures, if you can't get an enemy to surrender by relatively measured means, you go full out to cripple an enemy and then you bring the survivors into your society. And to answer your question, from all indications, Vega Xu was their first target. I think given the minimal defenses, it was a soft target to distract local defenses as a whole. Commander Llewellyn and I had a conversation about this and I will let him speak to it as he has had more time to analyze the theory with other potential targets in the area."

Through the course of the conversation, Sav had gotten herself under control. She performed a small shoulder stretch with ear flick, then focused onto Cale to listen to what he had to say. She truly hoped this was a rogue node, but if it was the core node and its tactics, well, the Federation could actually more easily handle the new tactics. After all, the Federation and its people had millennia to perfect sadistic cruelty and could understand, counter, and do psychological and physical repercussions and damage right back at them, even worse than anything they could imagine. All it took was getting Intel, Strat Ops, and Frontier Governments involved, like those from Apollonia. Heck, maybe the Orions would help out as war with the Borg and taking them out was always a boon to those wily 'traders in illicit goods'.

Michael had been listening to all of the conversation, he was no strategist, but he was a doctor. "In the medical field it is very often the simplest diagnosis that is the answer. It seems to me that this is not a spin off group of the Borg. Is not more likely that the Borg have adapted yet again. They have tried to assimilate the Federation in every which way thinkable. However, they keep failing, so one must question why do they keep doing it. Well most likely because they gain information with every failed attempt they learn more about how we all think. Now it is perhaps that they have figured out how to get us once and for all."

"That is possible, Doctor. But on with our current topic. Lieutenant Kayhill and I have determined that the Borg we encountered are headed for the Margali System and that would put them in striking distance of a research facility and a planet-side colony. We still don't know why the Borg are acting this way and I feel that the only way we'll determine this is to find and capture a Borg drone and ask it ourselves," Llewellyn said with finality.

"Interesting", Saren commented. "That research facility is a choice assignment for scientists and engineers, in spite of the location in the galaxy. I applied myself, but was denied. They work on many different items, most cutting edge and most top secret. Whatever it is, I am curious as to where they got the information about this facility."

Miles turns pale, or at least pale for a Cardassian, "If they get to that facility, what other information is stored in their databases that the Borg may find useful...if we are to stop them, we need 'Our Lady' here back up to 100%, and we need to come up with some kind of tactics that the Borg haven't encountered to keep them from really baring down and taking bites of out of us!" Miles slumps back in his chair, looks in his mug and realizes its empty...he does grab his PADD however, **If things go south, we may need to have our dances sooner than later, just being practical, and the lighting in here makes your ears look pretty darn cute**

Sav shakes her head in a quick motion in disbelief. She now follows up on what Miles said. "That tech, cutting edge and unusual, still is based on Federation tech. If they get it, and then using their tech with our advanced tech, then they have the keys to cutting through our current tech and beating us down into submission. From there, easy assimilation. We have to stop them."

Sav glanced down at her padd finally, then a surprised expression comes over her face as her ears lay back. She closes her eyes, and gives herself a shake. Recovering from her surprise, she settles herself and then looks at Miles with an interested look as his padd immediately beeps and displays, **@Echo Off: Wow, hey, thank you. You noticed my ears... that is so.. so... thank you so much. Yeah, dances, as soon as we can, for sure. And, here, Miles, I have that for you.** Miles cup lifts up of its own accord and goes to the replicator. The replicator closes on its and hums momentarily. It opens, and the mug moves out across to the table and settles before Miles. The sweet smell of honey, lavender, earl grey tea, and heavy sweet cream wafts to his nose. On his padd, it beeps. **There you go, Earl grey with honey, cream, and a touch of lavender essence. I kind of have minor telekinesis, if you noticed.**

Watching with astonishment, Miles smiles as his mug floats off on its own and then returns. After taking a long sip, he keys back, **Thank you Mi'Lady, that's just what the doctor ordered**

Sav's ears focused on Miles and twitched twice as her tail shook once. It was a Mephetian way of saying, "You're Welcome." On Miles padd, it showed, **You're Welcome, Dear Sirrah.** Sav was enjoying this flirting as it involved her ears and gentle meanings without anything overt. It was... nice.

Barstow just listened to his officers discuss. He tapped his hands clasp together on the table lightly as he thought, "so our problem now is keeping them away from that base," he said finally, "Agamemnon is the only Task Force ship in the area right now. I will be sending a comm to Pioneer and a few others, however, they may not be close enough to help. Strat Ops, I want you working with out squadron commander and tactical officer and Marines and Agamemnon's tactical officer to get a plan of attack together," he ordered and paused briefly, "our objective is going to be an infil and capture, we need answers only the Borg can give us. We need both ships ready to go as well and be able to go a few rounds. Kayhill, work with Llewellyn as well and get us an infiltration plan, Barel and Rejal, you'll both be going withe Marines, see what data you can get from the cube."

Miles nods his head, "Aye, sir. I'll work on getting some materials and gear together for the mission." Looking to the two marines in the room, "Is it worth my while to bring my disruptor, or do you have other weapons in mind for tis venture?" [they both can see he is packing a Cardassian disruptor pistol in lieu of a Starfleet phaser]

"Aye, sir. I'll get right on that. As soon as the briefing is completed, I'll start coming up with an infil plan. Lieutenants Kayhill and Scarlet and I will have it in place within a couple of hours," Llewellyn said and nodded to the two lieutenants.

Kayhill nodded in agreement with Llewellyn, but stayed silent. He didn't even know his new Marines yet, it would be tough to put a team together. He'd manage worse though.

Saren spoke up and said, "Captain, there is a slight quirk in the ICOS system in dealing with the Borg that I was going to speak to you and Commander Bayushi after the meeting about. Any data collection needs to be kept isolated from the ship or anything that reports back to the ship until the quirk is dealt with. I can continue here or speak with you after the meeting."

"Go ahead," John replied with a nod, if there was an issue with the computers they needed to know about it.

Stephanie nodded at Saren. "This is yer baby," she said. "I'll chime in when I need t'."

Saren nodded and began, "In a ship without the ICOS system, primary systems report back to sensors. Then if the sensors detect anything wrong, they raise an alert. In a manner of speaking, the sensors act as a firewall. Given that the ICOS system is supposed to engage its AI automatically under certain parameters, the ICOS must poll the systems directly. Given a standard sensor would add time to the process, the ICOS system polls the primary systems directly acting not only as AI but as the sensor as well to save time. This is not problematic in most situations. The Borg are the first exception we have encountered. I have reviewed many encounters with the Borg. After a Borg ship scans a vessel, it then starts to bombard it with numerous computer attacks. If the right code were sent, when the ICOS polls the systems, the Borg could reply and gain complete control and not only access systems, but it could also turn the ICOS against us."

Barsrtow nodded, "alright, we'll keep it separate for," he replied, "Rejal, I'd like you, Berel, O'Hara and Bayushi to take a look at that. Let's make sure all the safties and killswitch are doublechecked."

It seemed that the briefing was ending, thankfully Michael would not have to go into the specifics of his patients. He would simply send the information to the Captain. Michael raised his hand in the direction of the Captain, in a motion that said no need to speak I know my orders. With a smile on his face he spoke. "I as always will have Sick Bay standing by to patch up all you big damn heroes."

"Alright, before we dismiss, there is something I need to do quickly. I'm sorry we don't have the pomp this deserves, however, Llewellyn, Tillatix, and Ki, please look under your chairs," he said and smiled as the pulled out oak boxes (OOC: Your all getting a new car!).

Sav looked quizzically at Apollo when he said look under your chairs. Sav scootched back and looked, then brought out the Oak box. However, before returning upright, she jounced her tail in the hopes that Miles was watching so he could see the double stripe pattern and how the fur shifted and moved along that marvelously wide and luxurious tail. That flirting maneuver completed, she returned upright and scooted back forward to wait her next instructions.

Michael cocked an eyebrow toward the Captain. He was about to speak, but realized that orders are orders and so he did as requested. He found a small wooden box, Michael knew what these boxes meant but he wasn't sure why. It was the second box that really threw him for a loop.

Apollo continued, "Lieutenant Commanders Llewellyn and Tillatix, you both have been outstanding officers in your long service on this ship. I hereby promote you both to the rank of full Commander."

"Thank you, Captain. This is unexpected but very much appreciated," Cale said blushing slightly but it seemed as though he was blood-red due to his albino-like appearance.

Sav opened the box and saw the pip change. She blushed as well, waited for Cale to be finished, then said, "Tis truly an Honah, Sirrah, Ana Ah hope tah continue tah live up to yer expectations."

"You're welcome and I know you will," the Captain replied to both officers with a smile.

"Doctor Ki," Apollo said after the congratulations finished, "you stepped in as part of the SAR team that pulled Merlin out and since you have have now stepped in admirably as our medical chief. It is with pleasure I promote you to the rank of full Lieutenant, congratulations.

Michael smiled as he opened the box, there sitting on the velvet was a single golden pip. "Thank you sir, you honor me. I will not let this go to my head. I am still just Ishi."

John saw him looking quzzically at the second box, "that one is for Doctor O'Reilly, I thought you might like to give her her silver bar," the Captain said with a smile.

"With pleasure Captain. It will be an honor and a privilege." Michael replied as he affixed the new golden pip to his color. He removed the black one and that would remain as a memento.

"Congratulations Commanders, Lieutenant", Kayhill said with a genuine smile and nod.

Sav looked over to Apollo and said, "Captain, ifin yah need any help with tactics fer the squadron, pahlease let me know ana ah can help within that. After all, Ah wasa yer CAG at first, ayuh."

Barstow thought for a second, "I appreciate that, Commander, but, we'll need you on helm if we're going to make it through this..."though," he started and nodded to Cale, "join Llewellyns planning session and you can help there representing flight ops," he replied, knowing she could give input on both fighters and the ships.

Sav now turned to Miles and Stephanie. She said, "Lt. Rejal, Lt. O'Hara, Ah volunteer mah services where you would like me to help. I have my DC service kit with me and am raring to go."

"Ya've already helped. I've no wish t' trouble ya further, Commanda." Stephanie said, in a tone that said that the matter was closed as far as she was concerned.

Sav cast a puzzled look at Stephanie. She answered, "Tis your Call, Lt. O'Hara. Just be known Ah ama Bridge Control Specialist witha ties tah Engineerin' ana when Ah am not at t'e helm, I am actually assigned Damage Control to repair control, computer, sensor, and life support. Just an FYI."

Stephanie put her hand up to stop Sav, scowling slightly, but maintaining a level tone. "I don' need yer resume every time we speak, Commander. I am fully aware of your qualifications... An' rest assured if I need yer help, I'll ask." Without another word, she turned and walked out of the conference room.

Sav eyes grew wide as she took a step back from Stephanie at the scowl. She watched her leave with melancholy showing upon her face and muzzle. She shook her head slightly as her desire to help probably just made an enemy of the CEO. 'Well, Sav, you're batting a thousand, like always. Don't be an ijut and quit with the quals and desire to help. It is her watch and engineering, leave it till ordered. Now, did I alienate myself from Miles now? Time to find out...' She looked over at Miles and asked, "And, your answer, Lt. Rejal?"

Miles scratches at the remains of his head wound, then replies, "I've got teams scattered throughout the ship repairing breaches and checking on power conduits. I would like to take a look at your console and see if there is some way we can come up with something that isn't going to shatter and cause shrapnel damage in future engagements, if possible...care to lend me a hand with that?"

Sav unconsciously brushed a hand down her chest and abdomen at the mention of the 'shrapnel damage' by Miles. She nodded and churred out, "Yeah, I would love to lend a hand with that. I really need a break from Males, Diplomats, Starfleet, and consoles always trying to shred my girly attributes." She flicked her head and ears, then looked over at Cale. "Commander Llewellyn, please page me when you get the planning session scheduled and I'll join you, mm'Kay?"

"Of course, Commander Tillatix. I shall do just that," Cale said with a smile remembering when she wouldn't be in the room with him alone. Maybe now she had gotten over that at least, or so he hoped.

Sav returned her attention to Miles and said, "Lt. Rejal, ifin yah please, let's get to ah workshop tah plan. Ah have some Ideahs from knowin' about L'Ttandreah ships ana their configs. Lead t'e way, infin yah will?"

Catching up to Sav, Miles smiles at her, 'So 'Commander' do these workshops have holo-emitters so we can play with, and adjust our designs, or are we merely starting the groundwork for whats to follow?" That's when he leans in close and quietly asks, "Two stripes on your tail, I don't remember seeing those at the gala..."

Sav's erotic and exotic churr gently sounded out at the mention of her tail and stripes. She answered, "Yes, ana replicators, ana module design inlays fer testin... ana, always been there.. just not seen froma back, only front, tis all.."

Sav left the briefing room to follow Miles to a nearby workshop. She slipped the oak box with her pip in it back into her duty sashe. She would have Kachiko, Apollo, or even Sierra put it into place later. It wasn't up to her. She glanced at Miles, liking he had noticed her ears over her other womanly parts, and then wondered about David. Since Melody was missing, did that mean that it was off between her and David, or were they still dating? They really needed to meet and discuss what had happened... so when was he going to catch up with her? It was the guy's task to pursue, after all. She put it out of her mind for right now. The ship was wounded, and the bridge consoles really needed a redesign to stop main power from going through them during heavy shield and EPS Conduit hits.

Michael rose from the briefing table. "Sir, I will have that analysis on the Borg by the end of the day. Also I have contacted Starfleet Medical. They are sending us a Counselor. I just need to give them coordinates for the rendezvous."

"Excellent," the CO replied with a nod, "alright, lets get it done. Set course for Margali System, warp eight. Dismissed."

OFF:

Captain John "Apollo" Barstow
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin
Task Group Commanding Officer
Task Group 47-A

Commander Save'ena Amilia Tillatix
Chief Flight Control Officer
Bridge Command Specialist
USS Merlin

1st Lieutenant John Kayhill
Marine Company CO
USS Merlin

Lt JG Marbim "Miles" Rejal
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin

Commander Cale Llewellyn
Chief of Strategic Operations
Second Officer
USS Merlin

LTjg Stephanie O'Hara
Chief Engineer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant Michael Ki MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin