First Officers briefing

Posted on Mon Feb 28th, 2022 @ 11:12pm by Captain Temperance Harding & Lieutenant Commander Andromeda Lightfeather

Mission: Shoreleave
Location: Various
Timeline: Current

[ON]

After her meeting with Mitchell and remembering her meeting with the new Counsellor now fully recovered she put all she needed onto her Padd and then tapped her Commbadge. =/\= Lightfeather to Harding =/\= she began as she continued to finalize things while she was waiting to respond.

=/\= Go ahead, Commander. What can I do for you? =/\= Harding stepped away from the Starbase's Astrometrics terminal, and the map of the Renavi Sector, preparing their approach.

=/\= Apologies for disrupting your time off Captain, but I have some updates for you, any chance we can meet in your Ready Room on the ship? =/\= she asked.

=/\= Give me an hour, Commander. =/\=

=/\= Affirmative Captain, Lightfeather out =/\= she closed the Commlink and prepared her stuff ready for the briefing.

[USS Endurance]

It was just over fifty-five minutes later when Temperance Harding stepped onto the bridge of her ship. The fourth pip on her collar was precisely in place. Some part of her tried to imagine she could feel the added weight, though that was almost entirely a myth, somewhat that officers had claimed for centuries.

Entering the Ready Room, Harding ordered herself a tea from the Replicator, and took her seat behind the desk, pulling up the latest communication reports to go over while she waited for the arrival of her XO.

Picking up her Padd Andi left her quarters/office and headed straight to the nearest turbo lift and entered when the doors closed "bridge" she said and the lift whisked her up to her destination. It was but a short ride and soon she stepped out onto the bridge, which was filled with Starbase workers doing their jobs Andi paused in front of the CRR, tugged her tunic down and pressed the Buzzer.

"Enter!" Harding called.

With that she enters "morning Captain, congratulations on getting your fourth pip, how was your holiday period?" She asked as she sat down opposite the Captain while she waited for an answer.

"Wasn't much of a holiday," Harding admitted. "I spent a lot of it working - getting us geared for our next mission. I did manage to spend some time at Club Nova. Met up with my old command training supervisor."

Smiling "that is great, I got roasted, made me realise I am not in my twenties anymore, felt like crap the next day, I went to that Retro club had way too many real alcohol drinks, most were bought for me. I dread to think what our new Counsellor thought when she met me at a Cafe on the starbase I was hungover and it took me time to notice her pregnancy, such was my state the morning after the night before" Andi said with a smile.

During the silence, she pulled up the data on her Padd "okay, first up is we are still looking for more senior staff at present we are still using junior officers, but you knew that. There are other topics, our CAG Lieutenant Mitchell made a valid point about the few fighters we have, he was correct when he said they were outdated, the fleet is using the Gryphon class fighters now, perhaps you can put in a requisition to get us a squadron? here is that Padd" she said handing one of the Padds over to the Captain to have a read through.

"When he came to me, he tried to be sneaky and try to get a flight in one of the Gryphons on the station, I told him that he would need to talk to the Station Commander for that, but I think he was trying to get a joy-ride flight, but having to speak to the station commander may stop him or slow him down in that regard" Lightfeather finished.

"If the Lieutenant wanted a check-ride in the Gryphon," Harding mused with a smile, "he could have just asked. One of my old squadron pilots is now a Group XO. The USS Robert Jackson I believe. VMF- 36, the Shadow Hunters." She looked over the information on the PADDs in front of her. "A few Gryphons would be nice, let me see what I can get through the procurement procedure." Even as she said it, Harding knew that would be a headache. Nothing was more bureaucratic than Starfleet's procurement and personnel departments. "The man shouldn't have tried to hide it though, if you want something, ask. The worst we can do is say no."

Nodding "I said as much to him, but as he left my office he was like a kid on a sugar rush, never seen a grown man that excited before, well in that sense," she said and cleared her throat.

"Okay, Rose has not yet mentioned too but considering her disposition of being six to eight months pregnant it might be a good idea if we had a dedicated Creche are on the ship, as she will probably not be the first to have a baby or young family on this ship, but I do feel we need one, the requisition request is on this Padd" Lightfeather said handing the Padd to the Captain to take.

"Indeed." Harding agreed as she took the second PADD. "She and I had a pleasant coffee meeting on the Starbase. Lovely woman. I had proposed to her that she take a look at what facilities we do have, and to make recommendations for improvement of those facilities."

"With the new crew that will be coming aboard Captain, we might want to be prepared for more alterations, back to the fighters if you can get some Gryphon class fighters, we will not have as many fighters able to fit on the ship, they are bigger than what we currently have, the estimated amount is six of these new fighters," Andi said silently acknowledging that Rose spoke to the Captain first.

"I'll see what I can arrange." Harding offered, without commitment.

Moving onto her side of the briefing, Harding interlaced her fingers on the desk. "I had a meeting with Captain Holbrook on the Starbase - the Admiral's Chief of Staff. Our operational orders are broad, and the particulars are down to us: hunt down, and locate the pirate element that has been stalking this region of space. Kill if necessary, apprehend if possible."

Hiding her surprise well "a seek and destroy order, by the Ancestors, things must be bad if Starfleet gave us those orders Sir, as for my report all departments report normal" she said and returned to the Captain's topic without missing a beat "so what more info do we have to go on with this seek and destroy mandate?" She asked.

"I have been looking into that. I spent some time in the Intelligence department - a damn creepy place. The information I looked at seemed to suggest the Lembatta Nebula as a likely staging post."

A puzzled frown developed upon her face "Lembatta Nebula! Not heard of that one Captain, but then astronomy was not my speciality at the Academy anyway, could you please elaborate?" She asked.

Harding did so. She laid out the information she had found perusing the Starfleet records, and her conversation with the good doctor.

Standing up Andi walked over to have a look at the information that the Captain had pulled up for her "hmm a biological weapon facility, is there nothing the Romulans would not do Captain!" Andi said looking over the data, she was looking for openings "apart from the bio-hazards we may encounter do we have any credible updated scans of the area? I know it is difficult, but still have to ask" Lightfeather asked the Captain.

"Starships tend to avoid it if they can," Harding explained. "We have very little actionable data on the nebula itself. I have requested that the Starbase aid us in fitting sensor pods to the fighter craft we have on board. I aim to have the fighters scout ahead, while the Endurance follows behind, able to provide command and control support, directing the fighters towards anything that might be something interesting."

Standing up and lightly moving from foot to foot as the circulation in her legs was needed as she had been standing in one place too long "excellent idea Captain, perhaps Engineering can work it so the fighters have a form of invisibility when approaching the facility" Lightfeather suggested but left out some information, she liked to see peoples reactions when she mentioned an idea and did not elaborate upon it.

Harding nodded for a second, and then fully registered what the woman had said. "... They'd still show on sensors, even if they were invisible, and cloaking technology is banned three ways from Sunday." Harding pulled herself up to her full height, fixing her XO with a piercing look. "What exactly at you suggesting?"

"We do not use cloaks, obviously but back in the late 20th and through until the airforces of the world stopped flying fighters, advanced Fighter jets activated signal jammers, it rendered them invisible to radar and other sensor equipment, but not from eyeballs. Basically, the fighters could get past any sensors which would increase their chances of survival until they get to target and then if they are unlucky anyone looking out of the window would see the fighters" she paused.

"Perhaps Captain we could use such a tactic, it has not been used for Centries, but I believe it was once called Electronic Warfare, why not apply the same principle to today's fighters, equip them with sensor jammers or sensor reflection like the old Stealth Fighter the, then the United States used to use!" Andi finished.

Harding nodded, following the XO's line of thinking. "Old school, but it was effective in the day. I'll see what the Starbase eggheads can cook up for us. They may well be able to have it packaged into the sensor pods I plan to have installed on the fighters."

"Sounds like a plan then Sir, but do you think you will be able to talk Fleet logistics into giving us some Gryphon fighters before our next mission, from what I read they have an easier time to have sensor jammer packages installed than the current fighters we currently have. But if this sensor stealth can be done you do know the fighters doing the scout will be safe until they are within the seeing distance of the naked eye" Andi said.

"A Mark-I Eyeball ain't worth jack-shit in space. Less so in the clouds of a nebula. Trust me, if we can get the sensor packages, those fighters would be landing on the roof before anyone could see them." Harding replied with a smile. Her instructors had hammered that point home. You could not see far enough to matter. By the time you saw anything to identify it, you were dead already.

"I'll have to see about the fighters. The Gryphon takes up more space, and I'd rather have more craft, for a wider net. Yes, maybe Gryphon's sensors could offset that, but if it comes to six of one, and half a dozen of the other, I'd rather not overload requisitions with too much."

"Is that not their Job Captain?" She asked with an evil smile "the fighters we currently have are outdated and inefficient for modern Operations, we could fit a maximum of eight Gryphon class Fighters on this ship, there should be room as all the older craft will be removed, but we could keep the excess pilots as reserves, as who would want a tired pilot flying an important operation, they will also come in handy should we lose a pilot in combat or some other operations" Lightfeather said.

Harding tried hard not to react. One pilot to one plane. That was the age old model of naval aviation. Pilots were trained to be pushed, trained to be put to the test. She fixed her XO with a hard look. "I still don't like it."

She nodded "well, I have given you my report and opinion and feedback Captain" she began then with a mischievous smile "On a lighter note if you want to see our CAG jump up and down like a giddy schoolboy with a new toy, then getting a Gryphon will do the trick, I reckon hehe" she laughed.

"We all have our wishes, try not to be too hard on the man." Harding replied with a smile. "Well, as I don't think there is anything else, dismissed, Commander."

Nodding one more time, "as requested Captain, I shall leave you to your duties and I will go to mine," Andi said with a final smile and left the CRR to return to her duties.

[OFF]