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Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Captain's Log, stardate 57505.35. Two hours ago, I announced the changes of department heads on the ship, and since then, those with new positions have been brought up to speed with the current tasks at hand as well as what resources are at their disposal.

Now, at noon, they will be addressing their new departments. Not as former officers of the USS Resolve, but as members of this ship's new Senior Staff.

Considering the mission at hand, and what lies ahead, I do think they understand just how much responsibility has been given to them. I can but hope they will be humble to their individual challenges.

- Captain Jien Ives, Commanding Officer, USS Theurgy

OOC: This is a place-holder for the upcoming speeches. Those who are due to post here, their characters addressing their new Departments via intercom or briefing rooms in their different offices aboard, are the following:

@Striker N7 as Lt Cmdr. Leon Marquez, Chief Tactical Officer
@DocReno as Lt. Keval ch'Rayya, Chief Intelligence Officer (though he only has Selena Ravenholm. An introduction, instead?)
@Mathis as Lt. JG Derik Veradin, Acting Chief CONN Officer
@Nolan as Lt Cmdr. Thomas Ravon, Squadron Commanding Officer 
@Hastata-Nerada as Lt Cmdr. Vivian Martin as Chief Science Officer

For any questions, PM me!

Re: Chapter 27: New Department Head Speeches | Day 02 [1200 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
[ Lt. JG Derik Veradin | Conference Room | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]
Nervousness bit at the corner of his mind as he straightened his uniform and made his way to the front of the room. He’d gathered most of the Theurgy’s CONN officers to a meeting room to introduce himself and explain their current roles during the ship’s repair operations in the Azure Nebula. Those few that couldn’t attend in person, currently on the bridge or elsewhere, would be able to watch on their consoles as needed. While he had been the Resolve’s acting Chief CONN officer before, he’d never really had a department of people to manage, at least not in this way. The Resolve’s crew had been a bit more skeletal by the time he took over, and much more laid back.

He noted there were a few Resolve crewmembers that he knew and recognized, but the majority were those who had already been on Theurgy prior to his arrival. He’d had a chance to skim all of their files and try to start learning names, but that would definitely take time. Reaching the front of the room, he cleared his throat softly, not to quiet the room, as there was no need, just out of habit and to make sure his voice would be clear. “Thank you all for coming, my name is Lieutenant Derik Veradin, and I am the new Acting Chief CONN for the Theurgy. I look forward to getting to know all of you in the coming weeks and months, and my door is always open to any of you that need assistance. However, I’d like to keep today’s briefing short and to the point so we can all get to work.”

Derik looked down to the PADD in his hand to make sure he hit everything he needed to. “The current duty roster has been posted and will be sent out to each of you shortly. Our main role during repairs, outside of being at the helm of each Vector, will be to fly personnel and equipment between the Vectors and to specific repair locations via shuttlecraft. A number of you will be on-call in each hangar bay as well stationary between the Vectors to be summoned by Engineering staff first and foremost. This will allow Thea to conserve energy by not having to overload her transporter systems. Secondly, those not needed to fly each shift will be on loan to Engineering to work on any repairs you are certified for. Copies of your repair certifications have been provided to Chief O’Connell and Suq,” he shook his head and cleared his throat but quickly went on, “rather, Lieutenant Xan. You are to do any job they or their section chiefs give you in order to repair Theurgy as fast as possible. I won’t lie, most of it won’t be fun, but we all need to do our part. We all know the stakes. Any questions?”

He met everyone’s gaze throughout the room and was happy and proud that there were almost no looks sent back to him except acknowledged determination. “Good. I’ll be available by comms and will be coordinating pilot and shuttle needs from the main bridge on Vector 1. Dismissed.”

Re: Chapter 27: New Department Head Speeches | Day 02 [1200 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
[ Lt Cmdr. Thomas Ravon | Briefing room | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ]

At 11.30 hrs Thomas had made a ship wide call for all TAC CONN personnel to report and attend a meeting in the briefing room at 12.00 hrs. Thomas had made his way from his new quarters to the briefing room and looked around at the space where he had addressed the Resolve and Orcus pilots the day before. Some pilots were already there as the rest were filing in and taking their places. They still had a few minutes as Thomas made his way to the podium and took his position again like yesterday.

Once everybody was seated and accounted for her started "Good afternoon ladies and gentleman." he started officially before he felt his lips curl in a small grin. "I suppose everyone has heard about the promotions this morning. I've been appointed to be your new pack leader and I will do so with pleasure and in honor for those who have fallen. That said, I have called the meeting today to inform and show you all about the new squadron chart. We'll be implementing all pilots and crafts that are currently at our disposal." he said as he braced the stand with one arm reaching out. "Thea, lights please and if you want, can you project the new squadron chart."

With a chime of acknowledgment the lights were dimmed and the squadron chart got displayed on a view screen behind Thomas. He gave everyone the time to look at the squadron chart for a couple of seconds before he spoke up once more. "As you can see our squadron will be divided into four air wings so to speak. Lieutenants Havenborn, Zh'Idenna and Garcia will be respectively the flight leaders for these wings. Each wing will also have there separate squadrons, as you can see on the chart. However, flight leaders, I expect you to evaluate your own wing regularly. The point of this is that I want to keep every single pilot in this air group on edge. Your flight performances will be evaluated and if you've been positively scored, you might bump up inside your squadron to different roles. In the big picture that'll mean that you will also be selected for certain missions that will suit your flight capabilities."

He paused to let his words sink in before continuing "Furthermore, most wings will comprise of the same sort of fighters. As for Reaver duty, we'll all be getting our hands on the futuristic play toy that's sitting in our hangar. I hope I do not need to remind any of you that it is VITAL that this ship does not get lost. This is one of our last hard piece of evidence." he added sternly as he let his eyes roll over the gathered pilots.

"Moving on to daily routines, Alessia and Tali. Your fighter wings will have the honors to venture out into the Azure Nebula and perform patrols with pre-made flight paths. Should anything ping up, you are to report back to Theurgy and investigate if you see fit. Daniel, you fighter wing will be on standby as I have most of your pilots in sims for Mk III training. The rest of my wing will be at a combat ready status. If the need arises I want fast deployments so we don't lose any more of our pack. If anyone still has any questions feel free to come to me after the briefing or just ask me when you see fit. For now that was all, so you're all dismissed." he concluded before the lights were turned back on and Thomas stepped down from the stand.

OOC: Link to Squadron Organisation Chart: Lone Wolves Squadron

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #3 –
[ Lt.Com. Martin | Upper Science Labs | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]

As the last of the science personnel gathered before her, Martin straightened her uniform, hoping beyond hope not to look too nervous. She scanned the crowd, tried to put faces to names, as she went over her speech in her head. The department appeared to be in dire need of improvement and while she did not feel the confidence to perform her job, she felt obligated to regardless. She cast a warm smile to the gathering before her as she spoke.

“Okay,” she began, “I’ll make this clear right off the bat, I’m not very good at speeches. But speech or no, I suppose the best way to begin is with a tried and true method: Good day ladies, gentlemen, and any assorted variations in between. It has come to my attention as your new head of department that, while I have no doubt that this is a competent department, it is in dire need of fixing post-haste. While I have come into this position with a chaotic and disorganized department placed into my hands, fear not, for although I may sound grim, I am here to help and I am here to make each of you feel valued.” She paused and took a breath. "Let it be known that I have no intention of letting this chaos continue, and while I am here to help, I believe that the best way to help and solve these instabilities is to make sure that you actually want to be helped. Let it be known that I will keep things flowing as best I can, while simultaneously endeavoring to improve conditions all around. I am here to ensure that each of you is at the best that you can be, for a smoothly functioning and productive department."

Martin sighed and collected her thoughts. "It should be known that these "Devoted" have come to my attention quite violently this morning and were it not for the timely intervention of-" Martin briefly entertained the idea of referring to Hi'Jak but decided that Hi'Jak would likely prefer to remain anonymous in regards to the encounter. "-a fellow scientist, my injuries would have been far worse. This is a warning to all Devoted, please abandon your ways, and cease these actions, all they have done is cause harm." She huffed again and returned to a more diplomatic and official business. "The most up to date duty roster has been posted and I will be meeting with several of you individually for a project I am putting together. I have already met with Lieutenant Hi'Jak, but I will also be meeting with Lieutenants Morali and Cir'Cie, and Petty Officer McMillan. In addition, I'd like Lieutenants Tovarek and ch'Xinya to work on methods for charting the surrounding nebula. Understood? Excellent, then I will be in my office unless needed and will be reachable on comms throughout the shipboard day. Dismissed."

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #4 –
[ Lt. Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez | Bridge | USS Theurgy ]

[Show/Hide]


Neat. Clear. Concise. Above all, straightforward. Fifty Push-ups and abdominals, then twenty minutes on an assembled exercise bicycle that Striker Marquez had downloaded from a datarod were followed up by a quick aqua shower before the Chief tactical officer sported a fresh Lieutenant Commander's uniform before attending to his station on the bridge. Lieutenant Jg Arisaka was there.

"Commander." Arisaka greeted Marquez, who returned the friendly handshake with a professional half-smile. Despite the initial formalities, Striker Marquez was foremost to establish that he was a no-nonsense individual with a diligence-first mentality.

"Lieutenant." Marquez had read about his second-in-command earlier in the day after the department chair meeting, but Striker preferred to discover the vessel at a later date, relying at the moment on updates from his console at the birdge. "Can you prepare a private channel for the tactical officers?"

"Only tactical, sir?"

"Even walls have ears. I want them to be ours, and not theirs." Marquez settled in and faced his console a few heartbeats later. Arisaka prepared the channel and nodded.

"Marquez to all Tactical hands: It's time for a pep talk. Feel free to listen, to carry on, or preferably both: this won't take long, and I need you where you are." Marquez established his patented bluntness with a neutral, if slightly loud voice, like a coach rallying his team before the big game.

"Each and every life matters to me on this ship, whether on Ives' crew or those rescued from other casualties of the war, The powers that be will sort out our fates in the end, but right now: tactical department is *the* power that sorts both military threats, both internal and extrnal." Striker made contact with those around him on the bridge who overheard him and his gravelly accent then continued.

"If you know your local medical officer, they are to be given particular priority in the event of any trouble-- designate escape pods for them if you have to to preserve their lives. Don't forget: we have an outbreak. Some of you may be aware of crewmates, or yourselves, who've become infected. I repeat: protect your local medical and science officer at all costs, but remember: *every* life matters, just remember that germs don't care about mutinies or cults. That's tactical's job. That said, I'll be accepting volunteers trained in advanced hand to hand combat to protect quarantined or safe zones." Marquez knew better than to extend what resources he had with the hand he'd been dealt; even if Klex the Denobulan and Tarsi the Andorian former Chief of the Boat were top-notch managers in their capacities. Neither of these two had spent more than two full days on this ship yet, at the beck and call of those around them, like Marquez with Arisaka, but this wasn't the first biohazard Striker had overseen.

"That being said, I'd like to have quarantine equipment ready to be issued at a moment's notice at every security checkpoint. Coordinate with Security and other departments. Be ready to take over the role of your colleagues, should any casualties come our way, whether by disease or a mutineer. Just remember one thing: If they stab you in the back, you shoot them-- right in the face. That's an order: if they send one of you to the hospital--or the morgue, bring them with you, either way, you will set the example for the Tactical department: Never give up. Never surrender." Marquez stressed the word 'never' with an almost personally-emphatic tone. Striker paused, taking an audible deep breath through his nose, sighing deeply.

"As for the the opposing force, let's get one thing even more crystal-clear than a Gallamite's skull: Should we run into Starfleet forces, I urge you to consider: they're following compromised officers and bad orders. Their lives matter. Disable and disarm. It's not just good will to do so, the survivors will report that we spared them, or at least gave them a chance. More than these forsaken parasites can do, given their hatred of humanoid life. We must be the better men and women."

Marquez paused three heartbeat before patiently concluding, "That is all. Forth and ever onward."

Arisaka approached, but Striker held up a hand, and added. "If anyone on this channel has a dual alleigiance, then please listen up: Whatever you're planning... ...don't. Please, for your own sakes, and those of the people of this quadrant, and their families, ...don't. Don't execute your plan. Murder is not something you want to live down, no matter the end cost. As a human being, I have to tell you now, tell your people one thing and one thing only. My people will be performing to the best of our ability with more righteous indignation in our hearts and spirits than your combined devotion to Lieutenant JG Morali...  We'll be watching." Marquez thought of adding more humility to his hamhanded attempt at diplomacy without loosening his grip on Theodore Roosevelt's proverbial big stick. The chief tactical officer had spoken softly enough without overplaying the determined conviction that were subtly infused with every word he'd made in his speech.

Striker sat upright and closed the channel, informing Arisaka, "Lieutenant, I want you and Thea to give me quarter-hourly updates on all threats, biological and otherwise to this station. At least one Quarantined zone per vector, the sooner and more secure, the better. Also, as soon as we get any leads on identified Devoted perpetrators, I want to talk to one. Contact Ensign Mariner in Security the moment we have a lead. We're going to have to sic the Shark on them during a good-cop bad cop routine."

"Aye sir." Arisaka acknowledged. "Chiefs Tarsi and Klex, standby for further orders." The Deputy chief tactical officer had read up on his department chair that morning too, and learned early on that the Mexican was as expeditious as he was fearless, and intended to work best when familiar mechanics were already in motion, careful not to tamper with the natural flow of things whilst ensuring optimum efficiency. There was no denying his record as a risk taker obsessed with the survival of his crew, even as his superiors pursued mission objectives. The Lieutenant Commander was already going through the datafiles on Sarresh Morali, the Theurgy's combat suites and the recent casualty list, whilst keeping his back safely away from the turbolift door. Arisaka noticed the CTO's edginess, the man was cautious, he could appreciate that.
Lt. Commander Leon "Striker" Marquez
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Theurgy
"No one left behind."

Ensign James "Jimmy" Mariner
Security Officer, USS Theurgy
"Showtime!"

Lieutenant (J.G.) Alessia "Angel" Garcia
Valravn Fighter Pilot, USS Theurgy
"You're not the only one with a gun,"

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #5 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention: @chXinya

Keval sat in his new office and wondered how things would go now that he was
the head of Intelligence for the Theurgy, he stroked his chin thoughtfully as his
eyes went over what reports he was granted access too by Commander Trent before he
tapped the communications panel on his desk "Miss Ravenholm, could you please join me on the bridge at
your first chance?" he said, his accented voice coming clear through the channel, his eyes narrowing slightly
on a line of text. "I would like to have a word with you please?" before he closed it.

Keval then secured his station before signing off, grabbed his uniform jacket
and shrugged into it before he headed out of his office and securing that door before
he headed towards the closest turbolift with his mind awash with the various things that
he'd been hearing about since he was appointed to the position-the "Devoted", puppeteering parasites,
time travel, and not to mention a plant that when the subject was broached it made people blush and
quickly change the subject.

In short, he was in for some heavy reading to put it lightly.

Keval stepped into the turbolift and informed it that he wanted to go to the bridge and as
the lift car was in motion, his thoughts turned to so many questions such as this
whole thing with on the Theurgy's bridge and the altered transmission, something about it bothered him and
he hoped that he could figure out what it was.

Once the lift got to the main bridge, Keval stepped out and automatically headed for the primary tactical but then had to stop himself as he started to chuckle as he then walked down and around over to his new station..this, this was going to take getting used to. 

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #6 –
[ William Robert “Billy Bob” O’Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | USS Theurgy  ] 

Master Chief Petty Officer William Robert “Billy Bob” O’Connell cleared his throat and addressed the assembled engineers.  “Alright folks, pay attention,” he called out in his loud ‘chief voice.’  This was unnecessary, since the engineers assembled in the different stardrive vectors of the Theurgy could see him on their screens and hear him loud and clear over their combadges if they couldn’t.  “Ah’ve reorganized th’ engineerin’ section as follows:  Since th’ Theurgy is three times more complicated then most starships we’re a gonna have three chief engineers.  Ah’ll be actin’ as senior chief engineer in charge uh th’ whole caboodle ‘til Mister Xan gits more familiar lahk wit’ th’ whole ‘multivector dreadnought thing’.  Since th’ Theurgy haz three stardrive sections Ah’ve divided th’ ship up amongst us.  ‘The Helmet’, also known to yew newcomers az Vector One or th’ primary hull, will be the responsibility of Master Chief Nolak Kalmil, who has been aboard this here ship since she wuz launched.  The ‘Sword’, also known az Vector Two or the secondary hull will be the responsibility of Lieutenant junior grade Suq-Reylin-Efreya Xan, former chief engineering officer of th’ Resolve.  All of the Resolve engineers who are fit fur duty have been assigned Vector Two under Lieutenant Xan fur th’ time bein’.  The condition of the ‘Stallion’ also known az Vector Three, AKA th’ tertiary hull will be the responsibility of yours truly Master Chief William O’Connell.  Yore duty assignmint’s ‘ur’ on display either on th’ monitor on yer PADDs, so come on y’all, let’s git tuh work an’ move lahk you’ve gotta purpose.”


OOC:  So much reorganization was needed for the engineering department that I felt obligated to post here, but now that MasterRat is leaving it seems like too little too late. 

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #7 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Junior Officer’s Quarters | Deck 7 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

“Very, very interesting…” Selena Ravenholm muttered out loud, looking at the latest comm log from Starbase 84.  With Thea’s help the decryption has been running at a much faster pace, but most eyes would see nothing but a series of typical transfer orders, ship deployments, and transcripts of various calls between different parties.  Those she’d set aside for the time being, it was the official documents that drew the hacker’s attention.  Short and to the point, each one its own was nothing more than tedious minutiae of Starfleet operations, but when put together the picture started to form.

Partway through her study, the comm chimed: "Miss Ravenholm, could you please join me on the bridge at your first chance?" The accented voice coming clear through the channel.  ”I would like to have a word with you please?”  The channel closed before she could reply, and she frowned at the lack of identification.  A quick check of the ship’s comm logs showed who’d called: Lt. ch’Rayya, formerly of the Resolve.  Selena had a pretty good idea right away on why he wanted to talk, he’s probably already been told about her little project and wanted to know what she’d found.

Sighing and rubbing the back of her neck (fingers lightly tracing the now-useless port embedded there), the cyborg reopened the channel.  “On my way Lieutenant.”  A quick transfer of her notes to a PADD later and she was out the door and on the way to the nearest turbolift.  Passing a few crewmates, she nodded to each in turn, but was met mostly with stares of various subtlety.  Most inevitably drifted down to her legs, the leotard-like bottom to her custom-made “uniform” showing them off in all their glory.  She ignored it of course, it was still kind of nice to be stared at without the looks of pity she got in her youth.

The turbollift ride was quiet, nothing but the background hum of the mechanisms filling her ears.  Looking up at the ceiling, Selena could see the security camera at the top of the car thanks to her ocular implants.  Giving it a little smile and wave, she wondered if Thea would see it.  And that reminded her of a replicator somewhere churning out the dozens of parts needed for their little project.  Was it done yet, and if not, when?

Coming to a stop, the doors opened, letting Selena onto the Bridge, the blue lighting reflecting off of a large number of surfaces.  A quick adjustment to both the implants and the VISOR blocked all that out, leaving the crewmembers in sharp relief.  Sitting off to one side was the Andorian she needed, right next to her little alcove in fact.  That would make it much easier for later…

Marching right up to him, Selena tossed the PADD she was carrying onto his console, not a care in the world as to what he was doing.  “Hawthorne’s been a busy man it turns out.” she announces without preamble.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #8 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention: @chXinya

The Andorian's right antenna twitched as the PADD was carelessly thrown onto the station as his pale blue eyes looked up at the cyborged woman. "Hello to you as well, Miss Ravenholm." Keval said, trying to not sound perturbed at having something seemingly just tossed at him. "I was going to ask you about anything you might have come across and what not during your trip to the starbase.."

Keval then reached up and picked up the PADD and took a glance at it for a moment before redirecting his eyes up at her. "But that was actually going to be item three on my list of things that I wanted to talk to you about with the first one also being swapped out for number two now as I'm curious as to what you mean by the late commander was a busier then we thought?"

Suddenly he stopped and held up a hand as he looked around, taking care to see where the young yeoman Henshaw could be as he had heard that the young woman had a connection to the late man in question and didn't want to bring her anymore undue ill ease and once he was sure that she wasn't about, he lowered his hand. "Sorry, continue please."

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #9 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy]attn: @DocReno

Selena smirked at the Lieutenant’s perturbed reaction to her entrance, it was always fun to tweak the antennae as it were.  Amazingly, he seemed to take it in stride, taking the PADD and checking its contents.  Even more remarkable, when the late Commander Hawthorne came up ch’Rayya lowered his voice and checked to see if his daughter was in earshot (she wasn’t.)

“While I was inside the Starbase’s computer I came across their communication logs.  I grabbed as much of it as I could, but it was all encrypted.  Thea’s been helping me with getting them unlocked, and while it’s still early, a pattern is emerging.”  Holding her hand out, “May I?”  Taking the PADD back politely this time, she scrolled to a small annotation file she’s been running before handing it back.  “To put it simply, Captain Hawthorne was doing a lot of personnel and resource shuffling.”



Anticipating the next question, Selena continued before Keval could ask it.  “I’m not talking about him signing off on the transfers, since he’s the base commander he does get the final sing-offs.  What I’ve noticed is that he’s the one actually ordering the shuffle, regardless of rank or post.  As for why, it’s too early to tell, same for a pattern.  That’ll take some more time.”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #10 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention: @chXinya

Keval quietly listened to the cyborged woman, curious as to what she had truly found and not liking the guessing game that he'd been apparently chosen to play with her but when she finally got to her major point of interest he read through some of the report..noting that not one of them was rather attractive security chief that he'd seen on the station.

Instead all levels of personnel was moved around from the lowest of santation engineers to the highest skilled command officers..nobody was safe from the thing that had worn the base commander's skin.

As he scanned through the lists, he found himself instantly looking for any common factor-work shifts, friendships, previous assignments, hell-even things like black marks, energy credits owed, or even cheating on baseball bookies...but nothing was popping up at him and that made Keval's antenna draw still.

Keval then looked up at Selena again as he handed the PADD back to her. "Then let us forget about the people for a moment and focus on the materials." he offered up to her before tapping one broad, calloused finger against the PADD. "Do you have a full list of what he was moving around and the final destinations of said materials or did you run out of time?" he asked, his tone curious as he recalled how chaotic things were towards the end of the battle there.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #11 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Watching Lt. ch’Rayya in silence, Selena watched his antenna as they flexed, a small window into what he was thinking.  She wasn’t the best at it sadly, but when they went still he probably saw what she had.  Taking the returned PADD back, she had to turn it off, admitting temporary defeat.  “Not yet, assuming that kind of information is in there.  I got communication logs so it’s far more likely that I just have basic flight plans, the portions they send to the destination so that the incoming ship can expected.”

Holding up a hand to forestall the objection, “Yes, I know they would’ve sent shipping manifests and other data, I’ll look for that of course, but with the extra security such information is bound to have it’ll take a while to figure out what exactly they’re shipping.  What I can tell you is that everything, people and resources, seem to be heading in the same direction.“

“Luckily, right now most of the effort is being done by Thea, she’s running through the decryption algorithms we’ve set up.  As she works through it I can parse more and more of the data, try to find the real patterns.  It’s a waiting game at this point.”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #12 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention:  @chXinya

Keval listened to the woman and felt his antenna move backwards at the moment that she raised her hand and kept speaking. "Alright then let me ask you this, what kind of headway have you made understanding the figures of who Hawthorne was moving around?" the andorian said as he motioned at the PADD. "You have one piece of the information yes but what about the people themselves and yes I know that it might be a long shot but still, when there is an absence of patterns look within the absence."

He then leaned back in his chair, fighting to keep his composure as he interlaced his fingers. "Yes he was the base commander and moving a lot of people around but what about those that he wasn't moving around also?" he asked simply as he remembered the stunning Trill security chief which got him to thinking as he suddenly leaned forward in his chair. "Also, come to think of it that base did have a rather large wing of interceptors didn't they?"

Keval rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a second before snapping his fingers. "How long has Thea been working on the numbers you gave her?"

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #13 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

“Headway?  Just a little at this point, it’s all very preliminary.”  Selena had to fight her frustrations from creeping into her voice.  How many times does she have to say she’s only just started in looking at data that that still in the process of being decrypted?  And now he was trying to tell her how to do her job?  Finally came a question she could answer.  “Thea’s been working on this for a little less than six hours now.  I keep a continual update on the process, and she’ll flag anything noteworthy or unus…” Speak of the devil, the PADD chirped, signaling something noteworthy or unusual.  “Hang on a moment."

A bionic finger tapped the PADD display, bringing up the new log Thea had just found.  Selena’s eyebrows rose in surprise at it, this log entry was marked nothing.  Just a blank line where a file header should be.  In fact, the entire filespace was empty, just a few random bits scattered around.  “Interesting….” Motioning to Keval’s console, “Mind if I borrow that for a moment?  Thea just found the remnants of a deleted log.  There’s enough data still remaining that I can try to reconstruct it, but I need a full console to do so.”  Tilting her head to the side, she gave the Andorian an amused grin.  “Of course I could always run back to my quarters and use mine…”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #14 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention:  @chXinya

Keval kept his attention on the cyborged woman before him, trying to see if she could rise to the occassion or if she would be much like those that he had served with during his time in special operations:

Masters and Mistresses of beating around the bush, over eager anaylsts playing commando.

He listened to her words carefully as she started to lay out Thea had been doing for the last few hours before he heard the familiar trill of a PADD notification and waited for her to tell him what it was as he leaned back in his chair once more to regard Ravenholm and wondered what could've happened to cause to be put through such a drastic cyborgization process.

Sure he had served with someone who had cybernetics back during the war with the Dominion, Lieutenant Izor Cochrane, who he served with during the events of "Looking Glass" and most of Cochrane's cybernetics were internal and he was constantly accused of being a Borg by Ensign Ron D. Eisenhart who had been a young when the Enterprise first encountered the Borg in System J-25 and hence Keval could understand the young man's issues with cybernetics but Keval was quickly drawn out of his thoughts of Cochrane and Eisenhart.

Keval blinked to clear his mind mentally as Selena finally got back to him and asked if she could use his station to quickly bring up and access the information that Thea had apparently found for her...

...but then Ravenholm tilted her head to the side with a grin and a joke.

Keval's antenna flexed for just a moment, the andorian form of a silent chuckle. "No, I wouldn't want you to leave tire marks on the bridge carpets, Selena." Keval said as he typed in a command to open a secure portion for Selena to access before getting up to allow her access. "There you my dear partner in crime."

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #15 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Jumping into ch’Rayya’s chair, Selena noticed with some humor that her feet didn’t reach the deck.  Kicking her feet in a playful manner more befitting a schoolgirl for a moment, she stifled a giggle and connected to her portion of the database.  Pulling up one of her custom-made recovery algorithms, she set it to work.  “There’s very little of the log left, I’m honestly surprised it was still listed in the database.  Someone got sloppy.  Unfortunately, there’s still so little that I won’t be able to get the entire thing back, especially now that it’s been removed from its home database.” she explained, cybernetic eyes moving rapidly as she speed-read through the rapidly scroll status display.

Noting the Andorian’s curiosity, she pointed to that display, though she doubt he could read it.  “Essentially what I’m doing is using the standard Starfleet database checksums to parse out extrapolation possibilities out of the remaining data.  It’s a lot of guesswork, one of the few things that’s still only doable with the brute-force capabilities of a full computer.  When it’s done I’ll have a big giant probabilistic chart showing what the file could’ve contained.  With Thea it should only take few more moments.” With little more to do but wait now, Selena turned just enough to admire the Andorian’s chin and cheekbones, the foundation of the ultimate face.  Shifting antenna caught her attention as well, old sociology lessons from school making the guesswork easier.

A tone pulled Ravenholm back to her work, a results file was waiting.  Opening it, it was a mess of boxed words, random characters, color indicators, and a lot of blank spaces noted “Irrecoverable”.  Pointing to each one in turn, “The boxes denote a specific data string, a word or some such, random characters are just data hash that the computer couldn’t find a solution for but might have something in it with some more work.  The colors are the probabilities, the bluer the closer to 100%.”  In this case, most of the results didn’t go past yellow, something that brought a frown.

“Lets see…..trash, trash, something about warp speed, relay….Looks like a transcription of a status update from a ship.” With some experienced pattern analysis, Selena was able to disregard some of the data trash, recognizing it as pure noise, and deleted it from the results, clearing up more of the log.  “Ok, lets try this again…looks like it’s a report from a shuttle, something about distress….” her voice tapered off as what she was reading started to hit.  “A colony was being attacked…” Data hash cut off the relayed distress signal, but fast fingers ran a cleaning algorithm over it, clearing it up some more.

Selena wished she never had.  Her fair skin lost what little color it had, and her eyes widened as far as they’ve ever been in her life.  “Borg.”

Images from the news, and “liberated” Starfleet records flooded her find, giant cube ships barreling through everything Starfleet was throwing at it, blasting everything in its path.  Giant craters where cities used to be.  Grey, necrotic skinned monstrosities marching incessantly towards their victims…  She shook it off, going back into the log once again, desperate to parse out every bit the thing held.

“Shuttlecraft…..something picked up a distress call from a colony named Meladra…never heard of it, have you?” Selena looked up at Keval quizzically, and he responded in the negative.  “Thea?  Anything on record?”  She said the same.  That rose the cyborg’s eyebrows.  “A colony not on record?  Well it’s probably gone now…”  Moving on, “Meladra was under Borg attack, shuttle picked it up, sent it along…straight to Hawthorne.”

Going back to the rest of the communications logs, she started a general search for anything around the transcript’s time code.  Luckily, the decryption had quite a bit within an hour each way, so while it’s not exactly definitive, it’s pretty clear.  “My god, instead of sounding the alarm, Hawthorne did nothing but hide it.  I’m not even finding a log saying the shuttle made it back to the station.  I can’t even find a flight log for the thing.”

The full scope of this was beyond anything that Selena had ever seen through all of her digital investigations in the past.  Sure there were plenty of Admirals playing fast and loose with regulations for some small scandals, the occasional Council member using their position in ways not intended by the Federation Charter, but someone (possessed or not) actually hiding a Borg attack?  This was an entirely new level.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #16 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy]  Attention: @chXinya

Keval stayed quiet as the young woman started her work, pointing out the various details in the log and he noticed that there was a few items that he saw in some of the files that he was given to look over as apart of fleet special operations and it made him set his jaw, he didn't like how this was looking straight from the start.

He's eyes flicked from the data presented to him to Selena as she explained what was missing against what the various missing pieces of data were but then suddenly she stopped as her face lost some of it's little remaining color at which point she could only whisper one word...one that even made the Chaan's blood run cold;

Borg.

Now this wasn't something to be playing around with as Keval had known people who had dealt with the nightmarish cybernetic near-race like Ensign Eisenhart who watched as the portion of the Enterprise-D that held his parents disappear into the black, being pulled to the ship that commonly known as the "Borg Cube".

A warship that was a perfect example of one's nightmares as this formidable enemy simply tore through the Federation forces at Wolf 359 and the Battle of Sector 001 without any form of hesitation or battle plan-a single mindedness that Keval couldn't help but respect...but that is where the respect ended because while Keval could respect the Klingons, Dominion, Cardassians, and even the Tzenkethi to an extent but they had earned that respect by being innovative and highly capable in their own forms of existence.

The Borg on the other hand, they lacked nothing that made them unique and that sterile lack of substance meant that they only dealt in cold, hard numbers...factors and vectors that equaled nothing in sum totals against truly chaotic numerical factors...

Keval's eyes narrowed as Selena's next words pulled him out of his thoughts and none of it was good-a Borg attack and nobody knew of it?!

Keval's mind raced as he tried to recall if he had heard anything about this colony even in passing but found that he honestly didn't know anything. "Our suggestive evidence is that Hawthorne not only was being puppeteered by a parasite but also covered up a Borg assault on a colony that apparently doesn't exist." Keval said, his tone becoming dark yet reflective as he studied the screen in front of him before turning to face the cyborg. "Which presents us with a bigger new possibility in that how did a Borg cube even get this close to the Federation without anyone noticing it other then a shuttle?"

Keval's eyes then widened somewhat as he turned to regard the data better, a sicking thought clicking into his mind. "Imposing theory, Selena, what if the parasites are capable of connecting to the Borg on a level that we're not aware of?"

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #17 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Listening to Keval’s line of logic, Selena tried to keep up with the gears running in the Andorian’s head.  Turning to face him as well, she threw up her hands defensively.  “Hang on, I’m not even sure this would classify as suggestive evidence.  It’s pretty sketchy, even by my standards.”  Pointing to the display she showed some of the other possible strings her algorithm came up with.  “Gorn is also a moderate possibility, and sneak attacks on colonies is very much in their MO, and they’re a lot easier to miss if they get lucky.”  True, she could hardly believe the Gorn would sack a Federation colony, that’d bring a lot more attention to their side of the galaxy than they’d like, possibly even the Metrons (something to be avoided if the century-old reports she’d seen are any indication.)  “Not to mention the easy follow-up question: if a cube did destroy a colony out of the blue, where did it go?”

Dropping her hands, Selena’s head tilted a bit to the side as ch’Rayya pitched his lated theory.  “Lieutenant, are you trying to scare the pants off of everyone on this ship?  I can assure you, if you want someone pants-less there are far better ways, like dinner and chocolates?”  Turning more serious, “If the parasites and Borg are connected in any way, then we’re in bigger trouble than we thought.  But I don’t think it’s likely honestly, the Borg are all about imposing their order on everything.  The parasites want to sow chaos wherever they go.  Not that that would stop the Borg from trying to assimilate them if they find out they exist.”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #18 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy] Attention: @chXinya


As his counterpart spoke, Keval's mind was already formatting situational analysis and tactical preparation based on what he knew that the ship could do in its current state as he looked hard at the information before him. "It might be sketchy, Selena, but sometimes some of the best information can be brought together from such sources."

Keval's bright eyes then shifted away from the data and back to her, "The situation that you present is that the Gorn could be behind this which after a fashion would make sense but I don't think that the level of secrecy would be required if that was the case and besides the Gorn wouldn't be quiet in this and the entire sector would be on alert for them." he pointed out to her as he had studied the battle tactics of other cultures as apart of Professor McGuire's third year "Interspecies Warfare Theory" class  and had adapted some of what he had learned there into what he used on the Resolve and other ships over the years. "No, your theory would have balance if it wasn't for the common factors that we know about the Gorn."

Keval's eyes then narrowed as he took in the question that she had then counter-posed and nodded. "Good counterpoint but if one could present a counter to your counter then were would it have come from?" Keval said as he leaned against the console, folding his arms over his chest. "Until we can figure that one out, then let us continue under the concept that it could be them, fair?" he offered up.

But then the cyborg turned more serious and he followed her line of thought, once more nodding as something clicked in his mind. "...but what if they're not working together?" he said in a soft tone before he quickly pushed off of the console and looked at the screen with the data on it. "You said that the supposed attack took place on a colony that isn't on record, right?" he asked simply as his eyes quickly scanned over the data presented. "What if the parasites consider the Borg a threat as well and that this supposed colony was a test, you know try and see if they can infect the Borg like they do anyone else?"

Keval then let out a very bitter sounding chuckle at the thought of one of those *things* being allowed to run loose in a drone and that itself brought up some new questions. "That would then create the question if these parasites have the same toughness as that one race that Janeway encountered during her ship's exodus from the delta quadrant...all we have right now is a pair of very ugly theories and only partial evident to back it up...but what evidence..." as he started to trail off as his eyes seemed to become unfocused for a moment as something clicked as an old memory flashed forward with  "I tend not to believe people. they lie, the evidence never lies." Keval saying before he snapped his fingers and turned to look at Selena. "Can you do a quick filter scan of the files concerning where this shuttle caught the distress call from, Selena?"

A small dark smile crossed his face, "I've learned a lot of things since leaving the academy and one of them I learned while during my time with fleet's special operations which is that sometimes to get the evidence, we may have to destroy the evidence." he said in a tight voice, the words sounding bitter in his own throat.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #19 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Questions, questions, questions.  Every time ch’Rayya started talking it was more theories, more possibilities, few answers.  Selena didn’t fault him much for rejecting the Gorn theory, that was the reporter side of her showing through.  It was unethical at best to publish a story without verifying facts, and just saying the word “Borg” could send people in a panic.  “I really don’t want to speculate on just what the Borg might be doing, all we have is a fragmented report that might say that they’re here.  And trust me, evidence can lie if you’re not careful.”  She thought about telling Keval about some poor rookie who got laughed out of the underground reporting industry a few years ago after they mixed up a sneak preview of a Dominion War holo-drama as proof of Starfleet improprieties in getting the Talarians into the War, but decided against it.

Her head shook as soon as ch’Rayya asked for the shuttle’s location when they picked up the distress call.  “There’s nothing in what’s been decrypted.  Flight plans and navigational data generally aren’t kept in the same database as the communication logs, which is what I got either, so I’d be shocked if we have anything more.  Best we can probably do at this point is figure out the range bubble the shuttle could’ve been in to at least narrow the search, but that’s still a metric shit-ton of space.”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #20 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| USS Theurgy] Attention: @chXinya

Keval nodded as he listened to Selena's words, his antenna bobbing slightly as he considered the logic in them. [i]"True, but one part of my job as the intelligence officer is to take in all of the data and looking at to try and find the truth at the heart of the matter."[/i] he said as he leaned against the console next to where she was. "But you do make a solid argument, so good on ya."

But when she answered his question about where the shuttle was when the distress call was sent out, his eyes narrowed only slightly in thought as he took in this new information before turning his head to look at her. "Normally that kind of file information has that attached though..." Keval started to say, his antenna moving backwards while twitching slightly before he snapped his fingers. "Tell me, were you able to get the communication logs by any chance or anything close to it?"

He then gave her another shrug, "Right now I'm not after a theory but more like following a hunch." at which point he gave her a playful smile. "I can have those can't I?"

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #21 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Selena couldn’t help but shake her head and Keval.  “Communications logs were all I got.  At least as many I could cram into my memory storage.”  She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms across her front.  “And you’re right, hails and broadcasts do usually include location data.  Unfortunately, the deleted status of this particular log means that such meta-data is just gone.  Could I reconstruct it?  Maybe, but I wouldn’t trust it more than I could throw Thea with my bare hands.”

“So what’s the hunch?  Thinking of tracing out a route the shuttle was taking by plotting where it was each time it checked in wit the station with a prayer and hope that it was on a standard travel corridor?”  It was a pretty standard ploy whenever you wanted to follow a ship trying to keep a low profile.  They still had to communicate so if you could get to those files you had a stream of data-points plotting out where the ship had been.  It wasn’t the best, but it worked in a pinch.

Watching the Andorian’s face with her ocular implants, Selena studied the way the muscles twitched as he thought and talked, trying to figure out his tells.  Never know when they might be across the table from each other in a poker game.  For a brief moment she thought about him outside of that standard uniform he was currently wearing, but dismissed it right away.  Fun would have to come later sadly, they needed to get this Borg question figured out first.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #22 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| Deck 1| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] Attention: @chXinya

The chan nodded slowly in response to Selena's question, "Something like that, Selena, but also a direction to avoid since some of the data that I've seen about the borg shows that they follow a specific path and pattern, a logical recourse would be to find out where this shuttle saw them at and then figure out a way to counter plot a course around said location."

His antenna then quivered just a little bit in a side thought, "But then again all we have is theories and maybes, enough to give me headaches for the next few hours to be honest." he admitted as he pinched the bridge of hi nose as a tired expression crossed his features for a couple of seconds before opening his eyes and turning to look over at the cyborg.

"Do you have any theories or are you just choosing to humor the Hunter S. Thompson of the Intelligence branch?" he mused lightly at her with a playful wink.

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #23 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Main Bridge | Deck 1 | Vector 1 | USS Theurgy] attn: @DocReno

Selena could see where ch’Rayya was going, his theory did have merit and she was in full agreement, if they could figure out where the Borg are then they know exactly which point in the galaxy to get the farthest away from.  She shrugged at Keval’s final query though, returning her attention to him instead of following the latest rabbit trail she came across.  “Not off-hand, I still have a lot of data to decrypt and parse through.  At the very least we know the shuttle’s total range so if we make a beeline past that limit we should be a bit safer from the Borg.  In theory at least.”  It was a weak one at that, it assumed that the cube was heading towards the Starbase at the time, and still was.

Selena had no idea who this Hunter S. Thompson was, which is a bit of a surprise since humans famous enough to be referenced by aliens were generally super-famous for humans, and vice versa for any aliens humans would know off-hand.  Surak was probably one of the best examples.  “I just dig up the data that people hire me for, or dig up bits that interest me when I have time.  I do my theory crafting later, once I have the puzzle pieces in front of me.  Makes things much less biased when it comes to interpreting the data.  If you already know what you want to find you tend to ignore the data that contradicts what’s in your mind.”

Re: Day 02 [1200 hrs.] New Department Head Speeches

Reply #24 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Main Bridge| Deck 1| Vector 1| USS Theurgy] Attention: @chXinya

Keval nodded as he listened to Selena, before he blinked a couple of times before his lips curved up into a smile. "Hunter S. Thompson was a reporter on Earth prior to the latter world wars, he was known for a style of journalism called gonzo journalism but he made a lot of sense because he often times didn't look at what the government wanted him to see but focused more on the obtuse or freaky."the chan explained before his smile disappeared as the thoughtful expression returned.  "Politics is the art of controlling your environment was something that he said once just prior to the start of the war with Khan on Earth..."

Keval's eyes then quickly snapped wide as he turned to regard Selena, "I will kiss you if you tell me that lovely head of your's contains a subetheric processor capable of running a reverse data imaging process!" he said suddenly his tone hopeful. "Because if we do then we might have a chance, abet a slim one, to recover a micron of deleted information if you can bear with me?"
 
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