Kingsley in the Sky With Diamonds | Part II

Posted on Sunday, 23 January 2022 - 7:14pm by Captain Pippa Whitley & Commander Soral & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant K'Var & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Hayashi Hamura & Lieutenant JG Ethan Connelly & Ensign Oriana Skye Sety

Mission: Operation: Crimson Kaleidoscope
Location: Briefing Room | USS Standing Bear
Timeline: 2395

Once some of the tactical points were discussed, Captain Whitley had other points that needed to be looked at. "Materials are going to be needed to give us more of a tactical surprise. I believe we have the materials aboard to produce some tri-cobalt warheads for the torpedoes" stated the Captain as they glanced over at Oriana. "Something that you will be responsible for, Ensign. Getting whatever Lieutenants K'Var and Hamura need to manufacture those warheads."

"Aye, Captain."

"Following our hypothesis that Lieutenant Connelly and I developed, as soon as we have confirmation of a direction that the shuttle has been heading, we will use the Quantum Slipstream Drive to cut the distance between us and the stolen shuttle, ideally, placing us right on their ion trail if not completely caught up to them and on top of them like a bloodhound on the scent" Pippa continued.

The Captain nodded at Connelly "As we have discussed and with Connelly's hypothesis, that shuttle is going to try to cross back into whatever universe it came from. To me, that says that Soral is either heading back to wherever and however he got here, or heading to place where the nature of space is just right - a sweet spot for causing the correct tearing to open up and travel through. I don't care which nor how he plans to do it, but we need to get there to stop them or worse case scenario, follow them through."

“I’ll pull what information I can and run some simulations,” Ethan nodded.

Pippa looked at Adrianna Eberhardt. "Clear your schedule, Lieutenant, and find a babysitter, because you are going to be burning the midnight oil," cautioned the Captain. "I need you to start pulling logs from Federation starships in the quadrant. Until we know what direction that shuttle is heading, we have to expand out quadrant wide. I want you to find potential areas that shuttle may be heading, any starship that has reported any strange spatial anomalies otherwise not previously charted, marked, or noted."

"I will do," Adrianna nodded, sitting up straighter, "I'll contact a few contacts that did runs for Baciami too. Never know what they see."

Pippa nodded "Thank you," they said to the Chief Intelligence Officer. Then, the Captain turned their attention towards their Acting Second Officer. "Lieutenant Vali, you are a psychologist and part Vulcan. I want you to focus on every little detail that we know about this Soral. The Commander can probably provide you quite a bit. I want you to start profiling this man. If we end up having to exchange weapons fire with him, then I want to know how he thinks, what makes him tick, and how I can break him."

T’Lanna looked towards Soral, then back at Pippa. “Yes Captain, I’m sure Commander Soral will be able to provide me with all the information I need.”

Soral gave a non committal head motion he had no plans of handing over his mirror self to anyone. He'd deal with that when and if the opportunity arose.

T’Lanna raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan manner as she looked towards Soral. “Actually...perhaps it would be best if I create my own profile from scratch. Commander Soral is probably too close to this to be truly objective.”

Pippa concured. "T'Lanna, it is your specialty. I yield to you in how you want to proceed with it. I just want to know the type of man we are dealing with."

“What kind of man? You’re dealing with a highly clever, driven man. One very similar to our Soral, I would say more devious but I think that would be an incorrect assumption. I could say he’s uncaring, but that’s not entirely true.” She paused. “We spoke whilst he was here, and I have to admit he had me fooled for a little while too. He gave me the opportunity to go with him, though at the time I didn’t realise what that truly meant. It just came across as a friendly invite.” She sighed. “He’s willing to do what he has to do to achieve his goal, deep down that is...Lexi. She’s his greatest weakness, his love for her is what keeps him strong.”

"And what may be a potential weakness," Pippa stated. "I appreciate any insight we are able to come up with. I want a profile on the man before our next encounter."

Hamura had settled through all this and was already making notes on what needed to be done. "Captain, just a reminder, our protocol is still in place to keep the ship safe...that room is still available." They said referring to the panic room.

"Excellent," Pippa replied. "If things get rough, we can send the children there" added Pippa. Cold day in hell that I'm fleeing to safety thought the Captain.

Hamura's lip twitched. "Okay then."

"Anyone else concerned with my safety and well being?" Pippa asked. They looked around the room, around the table at each and every face. "Lieutenant K'Var perhaps?"

"Of course, Captain" Lieutenant K'Var replied "however I feel confident with the extra security precautions that will be put into place we can keep you safe" she didn't plan on letting anything happen to the Captain, but knew from their time together that Captain Whitley wouldn't go with out a fight, not to a panic room and not by the hand of an evil version of their Executive Officer.

Soral cleared his throat. "Captain, upon completion of the meeting may I request an audience?"

Pippa looked at Soral. "Noted, Commander," she said to her First Officer. They would need time to develop the dynamic of Commanding Officer and First Officer.

The Captain gave a swift nod before rising from their seat. "That's all for now. We each know what we are focusing on. Let's find where that shuttle went and get our Chief Science Officer back. Dismissed."

::END::