Episode 2.01: Brushfire!

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Spend 1 Momentum to Obtain Information.

Current
Momentum 5
Threat 10

The factors at play are not easy to reconcile. Style's public humiliation during the theft of the Enterprise likely continues to have an effect on him, and he just had another ship shot out from under him - the very ship to which he was transferred to rehabilitate his reputation, mind you. Any captain would fight to maintain any shred of authority after consecutive disasters. Heck, it took sheer force of will and incredible talent around Treyva to achieve a successful resolution to the Schrepfermann affair. He can only imagine that the magnitude of the bruise to Style's ego is orders larger.

Still, Starfleet always leaves a little wiggle room in the field. Command officers are given leeway to interpret orders, regulations, and even General Orders to fit their situation; as long as the spirit of the rule is maintained, a certain amount of skirting the letter of the rule will most often be forgiven.

The trick here, though, is to find a way past the binary Treyva-Styles conflict. They could recognize the independence of both commands, and operate jointly as cooperative equals. Treyva has the advantage of resources, but Styles has the advantage of situational understanding, especially the current status of the conflict; knowing his reputation, Styles likely studied up on it ahead of his arrival here two months ago.

In this spirit of cooperation, they could:

1. Give each commander sovereignty over an aspect of the mission. There's (1) assessing possible improvements to Apellan technology and researching a counter to it; (2) rescuing the captured Rostov crew and recovering their equipment; (3) determining if Klingons are still around and what their next move might be.

2. Tackle the three aspects above together in turn, making mutually agreeable decisions for both.

3. Set up a "war council" of sorts, with Treyva, Styles, Sorak, and Styles' next highest officer (since his first officer is among the captured), working together to make decisions regarding the mission.

[Patrick Goodman]

I think I know what I'm gonna do, but life's been hectic the last couple days.

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva leaned back in his chair and appraised Styles for a moment, then straightened back up. "You're right, Captain," he said. "The Rostov does still exist as a unit, and you're still her CO. I apologize if I made it sound any other way. On the other hand, Admiral Bennett was very clear that if the Rostov were missing or destroyed, the Drake was to take over the mission over Neural until relieved, which makes me head of mission."

He paused for a moment, but not long enough to allow Styles to interrupt again. "I don't want to work against you, Captain Styles; you're far too good an officer to be at loggerheads with. Even if I am head of mission, you've got far more working knowledge of what's going on here than I've been able to gather in the three days it took us to get here. I'd be a damn fool not to ask for your help, and even more of a fool if I didn't recognize your authority over your own crew. So let me make a proposition to you."

The Denobulan took a breath and then went on.  "Let's work together, cooperative equals. I've got a ship, you've got situational knowledge. I know my people, you know yours. We can form a council to split the load, with Sorak and I representing the Drake and you and your acting second-in-command representing the Rostov. Then, together, we start working the mission." He looked the other captain in the eyes. "What do you say?"

[Renny]

Nicely done, Patrick

[Davy, aka GM]

"A war council?" Styles muses, as if he didn't expect a scientist to have the wherewithal to devise such a military compromise. After a few moments contemplation, a satisfied smirk creeps onto the edge of his lips and he nods. "A war council, indeed. Very well, Treyva, Mr. Reed will be my second until we can rescue my first officer. What do we tackle first?"

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva leaned back and relaxed slightly; that had gone better than he'd expected. "From my perspective, the first priority is getting your people and Federation technology back up here and out of the hands of the locals," he said. "Mr. Les, show the captain and Mr. Reed the scans you took of the village; the ensign knows the lay of the land there much better than we do. With his help, we should be able to come up with a workable strategy for recovering the Rostov's crew. In the meantime...."

He pressed the intercom key at his seat. "Treyva to Bridge. Mr. Costaluna, has all Federation technology been recovered from Captain Styles camp and the western landing site?"

[Davy, aka GM]

Styles turns to the science officer for a look at the scans, motioning for his young security officer to join him.

"The camp is clear of all personnel and equipment, Captain," Miguel reports over the comms. "The escape pods are too large for our cargo transporters, so we're having to configure a grappler setup on the aquashuttle. Mr. Viktor is overseeing the conversion, with Mr. Clarke and Miss Schrepfermann assisting."

[Patrick Goodman]

"Very good," he replied. "Notify me as soon as they're ready."

[Nolmir]

"Aye, sir," Tobin replies to Treyva. He stands up, gesturing to Styles and Reed to follow him over to a terminal where he can show them the readout. "As you can see, our people appear to be restricted to a pair of subterranean rooms ..." he begins, explaining his findings.

[Davy, aka GM]

Styles leans over the Trill's shoulder as he inspects the sensor data. "Hmmm. They're too close in proximity to the locals for us to be able to pull them out with the transporters without violating GO1."

Straightening up, he narrows his eyes in thought and grips both ends of his swagger stick - clearly, his "deep thinky" position - before gesturing with the stick toward the screen and offering, "If we go in at night with a small force, we can use phasers on stun to take down sentries and the like without being seen and minimizing risk of exposing our technology. We can clear out anyone nearby, and start beaming our people out, while we locate the equipment cache.

"Mr. Cole, Mr. Reed, what do you think? Two six-man teams? And, Mr. Les, would you be able to give us an overwatch to guard against surprises?"

[Renny]

Cole eyes the readout thoughtfully for a moment.

"Yes sir, that would seem to be our best option. We can put the teams down separately a safe distance away and try to minimise contact. We go in quiet and hopefully get our people out before the locals know what's going on."

He glances at Treyva, as if seeking affirmation.

[Nolmir]

And, Mr. Les, would you be able to give us an overwatch to guard against surprises?"

Tobin nods. "As long as the away team is equipped with communicators or subcutaneous transponders, it should be simple to differentiate them from the locals by using the ship's sensors, sir. I should be able to detect any surprises before they put our people in danger."

[Davy, aka GM]

"Would three teams be better than two?" Reed wonders. "Have one dedicated to finding and securing our technology, while the other two are shepherding repatriated crew back to the ship?"

[Renny]

"That could work," Cole muses. "Transponders are a must, and we need to go quickly, but carefully."

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva looked at both security officers in turn. "That seems reasonable," he said, "though I'd like to minimize exposure as much as possible. Could those two six-man teams become three four-man teams and still get the job done?"