Glad to Hear It
Posted on Sun May 9th, 2021 @ 10:40pm by Admiral Paka Larem & Captain Solin Edral & Captain Alden Carthen
1,042 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
[OS] Tales of Moreau
Location: Ourea Station; Captain's Office
Timeline: MD01 || 0557
Captain Edral was going over various reports, some of which were still being compiled. There had miraculously been no fatalities, though there were some serious injuries on the Pequod when one of the EPS relays blew near some crew quarters. The fact no one was killed was either by accident or by design. There were zero fatalities on the planet either. He took a sip of his third coffee so far today. Admiral Paka was still coordinating the movements in and around SH-twenty-two, but a subspace conference call was happening in a few minutes.
There were already various teams at the location of what they were now calling the 'Vaadwaur FOB1' or just 'FOB1' for Forwarding Operating Base 1. Starfleet had no idea there was even a facility on the planet, let alone one so close to the colony. None of the initial scans had picked anything remotely like artificial on the entire planet. Now that something existed, both here and the Mining facilities were now on high alert. He checked the clock and saw it was almost 0600. He sat up straighter, and cleared his throat, as the monitor rose out of the desk.
The screen split into two, with Captain Carthen of the Pequod, and Admiral Paka, in what appeared to be his office on the USS Martinsson. He nodded to the officers on his screen. "Admiral, Captain."
The Admiral spoke first. "Morning both. I've read the reports. Firstly, Alden, any updates on the injuries sustained on the Pequod?"
"Two still in critical condition, but Doctor Prendick assures me that they will make a full recovery. Most of the crew quarters that were impacted had already been evacuated to the emergency shelters. We were lucky, Sir."
"I don't think we were. This was too clean. And after reading the reports from the ground assault, it reads more like a standard extraction operation, albeit with more people. How are the repairs coming?" The Admiral asked.
"The quarters won't be fully habitable for a week or so, and we were running a full complement, so the affected crew are temporarily on the planet. Repairs on the rest of the systems, they are going well. Estimates are we will be back to peak efficiency within 2 days. They really didn't hit us that hard, just hard enough to keep us busy, and blind." The Pequods Captain replied.
"Glad to hear it. You have my authority to pull anyone up from the colony if you think it will get the job done quicker. Solin, what of the other damaged ships, and the station.
"Also going well, Admiral. The Binary and Loki also suffered the same types of damage, nothing hard, just loss of shields and weapons. The Ogun is arriving this afternoon to help facilitate repairs. There was even talk of it being able to construct some kind of repair facility in orbit, though that's a long term goal. But it will be able to begin repairing some of the hull damage to the station, and the Pequod this afternoon. They are also going to help get the defensive systems up to 100% too. We had a few blind spots with the station not being complete. I'm just sorry we didn't get it complete in time." The Bolian Captain replied.
"No, Solin, none of that. We all know the station wasn't meant to be a full base of operations until early next year. The fact that the damage sustained was only as little as it was is a testament to both your crew and the ships stationed in the area. That and the fact I don't believe they wanted to kill anyone or destroy anything. Though why they didn't have that qualm for Kartelan, I don't think we'll ever know." Many lives had been saved at Kartelan, but there were still numerous fatalities and plenty more casualties than had been sustained here. "You did the best you could, given the circumstances. The goal now is to get the station fully operational and find out what the hell those Vaadwaur were doing so close to our colony. Are there any updates on FOB1?"
"Nothing as yet. Some COE and security specialists have been sweeping the area, inside and out, to see if there is anything of danger. Though they haven't entered it yet. There are still some residual traces of thalmerite, though it could just be traces from the original explosion. What sensor data we have from it suggests it was between 8 and 10 kilotons. They really didn't want to leave anything behind."
"When do they think we can get inside the facility and see if anything survived?" The Admiral followed up.
"We don't know for certain, but they are estimating in the next 14 hours, at the rate the traces are dissipating. If it gets below a certain level, we know it's leftover traces from the original explosion, if it drops but levels off at a different level, there are still thalmerite explosives within the structure."
"The Pequod, once repaired, is going to move into a low orbit, and begin a multiphasic sweet of the area around the mountain range, and then the areas around the colony. It should pick up any abnormalities that weren't detected during the original planetary scans, especially now we know they employ a type of sensor masking field."
The Admiral sat slightly straighter than he was. "Sounds like you both have everything well in hand. Maintain yellow alert, sector-wide, for the time being, and keep me informed of any developments. I should be back in the system in a few days, once the Johansson and Colossus arrive."
"Aye, Sir."
"Aye, Sir." Both Captain's replied in unisen.
"I'll catch up with you both this evening, around 1800 hours. Paka out."
"Captain, if you can link your sensor feeds directly to the station, I can link them to the facilities on the colony, keep everyone in the loop on this one. The last thing we need is any more surprises." Solin requested of Captain Carthan.
"Will do, Captain. If you need anything else, just let me know. Good day, Captain. Pequod out."