Approval or Not...

Posted on Wed Feb 2nd, 2022 @ 2:33am by Captain David Hawkins

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Ready Room - USS Arcadia
2249 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

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Sitting on the edge of his desk, David pondered long and hard as to what he was really going to say as he waited for the holographic communication link to be established with the Vesta. The Padd in his hand in which had his notes was slapped between his thumb and fingers as the other hand holding it in place to prevent it from falling. It was only a short amount of time before he knew more from his away teams that were on the Gladiator and the cargo ship they had found with her. But everything in the back of his mind was screaming that there was only one outcome that could fit all concerns combined. The simple back that his past was coming back to haunt him was hurting others and it wasn't fair at all.

The voice of the Admiral brought his dream state as he saw the holographic representation of his supervisor stood before him. He straightened his posture a little but still kept relaxed. "Apologizes Admiral. How are things on your end and the Vesta? Exploring new worlds and new civilizations?"

Yoshi studied the Captain's face for a moment, before he allowed himself to smile, the kind of humourless smile that comes with a joke that is less for the sake of humour and more for the sake of contrasting reality. "More like establishing new trade disputes and arguing new ship assignments," Minawara said, looking to a stack of PaDDs just of screen containing various bits of information regarding ship movements. "Though the fact I was allowed to keep the Vesta and not be stuck on Esquimalt has me pleased enough. Though at this point I'll have to beat my Chief Engineer if he tried to convince me to use the Quantum Slipstream Drive just to make the hop to see another Commander and their ship for an inspection." The smile slipped, and his eyes creased. Yoshi and David were closer in age than would be expected from birthdates, the benefit of a hop through time.

"But you didn't call to talk about duty reports and crew assignments, did you?" The holographic image of the Admiral shifted as he sat in one of the chairs, a holographic copy of it appearing for him where he was. "What's on your mind?"

Another long sigh escaped his lips as he looked at the padd in his hand before looking at the admiral. "Well long story short, the two missions we just wrapped up, you should see the report in your inbox any time. But to save you the long boring report layouts, we seem to have gotten a flop on both. Commander Ziyal's finalization of alliance with the Sucarians on Sucarro 3. Long story short, the Sucarians have a celebration that happens every decade which is a planet wide lock down and anything can happen. Basically, a monarchy style set up mixed with a mentally unstable society 'purging' their inner demons while overthrowing their leadership or neighbors. Whomever the king of the hill is at the end of the night, molds the next decade. All of the away team arrived back on the Arcadia fine, but we had the marine canine injured. She is recovering nicely after our medical staff were able to remove the ballistic bullet from her hind leg."

Wincing, Yoshi shook his head. He'd like to say these kinds of comments were getting more rare, but he also had taken a policy of lying as little as possible. "I'm glad the pooch will be okay. As for the Sucarians..." he trailed off, remembering the note in question, it was one of the PaDD's lying on his desk somewhere. "I can't imagine this has made a positive lasting remark on the Diplomatic Corps or from them to our Marines. We will make sure to set up a diplomatic reach out, though I can't imagine after that there is going to be much in the way of a positive for anyone at the Federation level." He scratched at his beard, and pondered for a moment, off screen pulling up the star map of Succaro and his frown deepened. A resource survey overlaid and he sighed. Of course they might have been a positive resource he muttered in his head. "And your thoughts on the matter?"

"Well there is also signs that the Orion Syndicate have been in contact with the Sucarians. During their interrogations, one of their military leaders and soldiers flaunted Orion side arms. They were told if they could gather Starfleet intelligence for the area, that there would be more technology to follow. If it was a small sect from the Orions, we are looking at a small incident, but if its truly connected to the Orion Syndicate, they are risking a conflict with the Federation. I'd have Starfleet Intelligence a heads up on this and get them to investigate this further. Till then, blacklist the Sucarian sector, and put up a couple patrol ships in long range for a bit," David replied. He had thought it through and this was a possible threat that Starfleet and the Federation didn't have time to deal with at this time. "But as you also know, we are stretched thin as is anyway. So I could see this a chance for them to get some more space in our territory. "

"We'll have to dispatch additional patrol ships, especially with the Syndicate trying to stick its nose where it doesn't belong. As much as we are supposed to avoid interfering in the affairs of other nations, we cannot allow something like this to spread, or a foothold for the oft illegal goods from the Syndicate to slip out." He sighed, a hard sigh of a man who had been stretched far thinner than he'd like. In all of this, Starfleet Command had just finished merging down Task Force 72 and Task Force 47 - meaning his old mentors problems were once again his. "I'll have to offload it to Forth Fleet, we already don't have the resources to handle this on our own." He looked at map, checking near by ships and had to avoid gritting his teeth. "We need to know more about what is going on, do you have any leads? Any better hints at what we could be reaching for?"

"At the moment, the best we have is circumstantial. We would need to head back and get into the thick of it, but as we are stretched thin as is. And to be completely frank, Fourth Fleet should have already vetted the Sucarian sector a little more. Hell, six months ago, intelligence brought it up, but no further actions of investments were put into investigating any further. Once all this comes out, you know as well as I do that this is going to come off as a mockery of our ability to handle ourselves in Starfleet," the captain replied as he opened up completely. "We have been stretching way to thin, and we needed the added planets and their people for sure."

Nodding, Yoshi frowned. He of course agreed, but he wasn't exactly in a position to call out his colleagues, the downside of being the Brass. Besides, it wasn't like Rear Admiral Aradar knew just as well as Yoshi did that there was not enough resources going around. Sure, the recruitment numbers had skyrocketed following the Mars attacks and the fall of the Romulan Empire, but many of those were still junior officers, they wouldn't be set for expanding Fleet numbers for another five or more years. He rubbed his temple, the moment of annoyance slipping through the carefully manufactured cracks.

"Of course Captain," he said, the tone more formal than he'd really meant, a sign he was also growing weary of it. "We can't do anything about it now, try as much as we can, but we'll have to make due. That said, I need someone to find out what the Syndicate is up to, and Intel is currently tied up in a messy case of the Romulan Free State probably funding pirates, so getting someone from there to start chasing that lead is going to be difficult. Can I assign this to you and your crew?"

The Captain thought for a moment before nodding in agreement to the request. "My crew and I can get on it after we deal with another situation at hand. We have arrived to investigate the black out communications with the U.S.S. Gladiaor. Communications have been dark for over a week and just earlier today I received a data burst transmission from Deep Space 27. The Saucer section of the Gladiator had arrived and shortly after reported to us that she had been attacked. The majority of the crew got on the saucer section, blew the emergency disconnect and high tailed it while a skeleton crew stayed behind to give the remainder a chance to get to safety."

David paused for a moment to gather is thoughts before continuing. "Upon arrival, we found the lower half of the ship adrift, undamaged, along side a civilian cargo ship. So far, the attacks on both ships have been done by a Cult group called the Unholy Trinity. As seen in years past and a recent attack, the crew were drained of blood, and marks were carved in their foreheads with their design. The difference between these more recent attacks have been that they have started to leave a member of the crew behind. Almost as though they were seen as a witness to spread of the news far and wide."

The Admiral's face twisted, his own anger welling and then being pressed down. "I see." The words said more than they appeared to, anyone who worked with him quickly getting to know when he was speaking so shortly, it was clear that he was not looking forward to the conversation. They needed a decisive action, a push towards making a stand. Seventy-Two used to be known as a vanguard, and had been relegated to mere patrol missions, to being reactionary and not to pushing the envelope forward towards a goal of actually making the Federation a safe space. But - and the Admiral knew this - any action would have an immediate reaction galactically, a quick push to make claims of Starfleet overreach and Federation aggression.

Obviously noticing the conflict on the admiral's eyes, David already knew he was risking it all which meant even his Captain's chair but in the end he felt as though he needed to be true to himself and to those around him. Only time would tell if they truly were on good terms but the Admiral knew who he had chosen and Captain Hawkins knew that sometimes it meant risking it all for those without a choice in the matter. "Listen Admiral, I know this is not what you expected from your task force executive officer. But after the past couple years, the fact that the Federation and Star Fleet have been marked as closed off and some worlds threatening to leave, we can't risk another major lose of life like this whether it being a conflict, a war, or natural disaster. We need to show that we are still here, in some way shape or form, that we still stand for 'Nobody is left behind.' I know it sounds cheesy, but as long as I am still sucking down breath, I say what the hell not do everything I can"

David chuckled slightly as he paced a bit in the ready room and thought it through as his actions before him before letting the Admiral know openly the plan of attack.

"Depending on what we find, I'll personally take charge of what's left of the Gladiator, and send the Arcadia forward to help as we hunt down these battered. After we take care of them, if my rank and command is forfeit, you will have my recommended replacement and my badge.

"I know what I'm risking it all but in the end no career is worth the life of those you personally know and feel you need to try and protect. "

The words were true, and Yoshi knew that better than any. His eyes looked off screen, and his lips pursed. "Very well David, take the Gladiator and find out what you can." He followed a collection of ships, and he nodded to himself. "The Tesla and Archimedes are close by your route, they are to report to you if you need assistance, both have QSDs can can follow you with ease. Find out what this... cult... is up to, and if you have an opportunity - " his eyes flashed to lock to the other man's, "put a torpedo between their eyes. Those are your orders, Minawara out." The comms went dead.

Taking a moment to take in the admiral's order. Not only did he didn't get slapped down, but was even better outcome then he had anticipated. The fact that not only was he slapped down, which he wasn't sure if it was that way with Admiral Minawara or not, but was given direct charge of two more ships for this mission, it actually eased his mind. Less stress then he had expected. But that also meant that the Arcadia had to keep going without them. It didn't matter, there was a threat, and the former marine now had a fighting force to handle the issue in hand.

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