YE/D04 - Security Complex

[Paul]

==

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

Artemis, Daughter of Tor’an, felt good as she walked into her Security Complex. She felt like she was smirking, but as she caught the faint reflection of herself in a screen, it simply looked like a smile. Chief of Security. Not ‘Assistant’, not ‘Acting’, or even ‘assumed’ - she had the full title now. She was a full Lieutenant –or “Leftenant” as Jensen called her– with her own department, and on paper, life was looking good!

Of course, she was on a ship that was under the command of Jennifer Braggins. If they survived this first mission with this ship, it would be due to hard work, determination, hard-headedness, and a big fat miracle, if the past was anything to go by. But luckily they also still had Peter Jensen as Braggins’ right-hand man, which should (helpfully) help to even out the renegade young woman.

“Good morning, Chief.” A security officer said to her, smiling in the way that he knew it was likely the first she had heard it. Art couldn’t help but grain back.

“Mornin, Finn.” She replied, walking over to the nearest food replicator, punching her order in. “You ready to stop, drop and roll?”

Finn laughed. “If we have a fire already, we’re–” he paused, clearly not wanting to say ‘in trouble’. “gonna need a bigger cup of coffee.” The man decided instead, watching Art pull back her cup.

“No fires yet,” Art confirmed, “But I haven’t heard what our mission is yet, so I’ll keep you posted.” It was all fun and games in Security, until of course there were lives on the line. The air was usually full of jokes and jibes, until it wasn’t, and luckily the mood was still the former.

[Jade West]

<< Ready Room <<
 
Managing to escape the Ready Room not long after another engineer had shown up, Jade knew the best course of action was to actually head down to Security now that she was official and all. Jade still wasn’t entirely sold on the Yeager’s outward appearance, but the interior continued to remind her that it was no different than a regular ship.
 
That other Midshipman was ‘something’. Even if it was alcohol induced stupidity, I don’t think I’d ever feel safe lowering my guard around him. The Captain seemed nice enough, but for all I know that’s her professionalism shining through. I’ll eventually fill in the blanks with everyone else eventually, it’s only a matter of time.
 
Several minutes later, Jade found herself entering the Security Complex. Given the fact that the Yeager was equipped to operate with less than a hundred individuals, the young brunette wasn’t expecting the most elaborate room imaginable. For what they would be expected to defend, it was probably adequate enough. Otherwise, whoever designed the Yeager would’ve seriously screwed up.
 
While only going based on the quick glances she’d taken of the ship’s roster, Jade believed she’d located her department head. Perhaps if she’d managed a better look at the collar to register the two solid pips, Jade would’ve had direct confirmation. Alas, she didn’t. However, based on context clues it seemed to be her current target. It was simple binary, Jade was either going to be correct or incorrect, with no in-between. As she approached, the young woman did her best to keep a good first impression.
 
“Lieutenant d’Tor’an?”
 
Without knowing any correct pronunciation, especially when it came to Klingon names, Jade wasn’t about to take any chances. Perhaps it was a bit slower, but she couldn’t really afford to take any chances now, could she?
 
== I promise I’m not contagious anymore, lol. (Yes I know that’s not how the interwebs work, lol.) ==

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

==Ahh! Now the people in my house are coughing!! LOL!==


“Lieutenant d’Tor’an?”

Well, it wasn’t a perfect pronunciation of her name, but then again, she had ‘Human’-ized it, so anything said that was close to her father’s name would do in her eyes.

She turned to greet the Midshipman, her thick, brown hair shoved up into a tight-looking bun. A strand of hair still managed to get in her eye. Just one strand. The LT narrowed her eyes at that strand of hair, and yanked it out before greeting the newcomer.

“Midshipman,” she said, “I’m Art, Chief of Security, good to meet you.” She shook her hand; the mostly-Klingon woman had a tight grip. “I saw your transcripts: hand-to-hand and small arms training, I like that. Walk with me.”

Security wasn’t large, but it was still nice to know where things were. Luckily, everything did have a placard of some kind next to or under it, so if someone was doing inventory, there was a higher chance of them getting it right. As Artie showed Jade where various weapons, tools, and jumpsuits were, she did her best to brief her on the ship.

“Welcome to the Yeager… part two. You’ll notice that a good amount of the crew was just on another ship called the Yeager not too long ago - that’s a completely different ship. Why we got a new ship with the same name and different specs, I’ll never know, but it’s certainly twisting all our brains. No one knows whether we’re talking about the old ship or the new ship, so if someone tells you something’s on the wrong deck, they’re not hazing you. Well, unless it’s Jimmy.”

“HEY!”

“Shut up, Jimmy. Anyway, that’s Jimmy. He’s okay. Just don’t take any food he offers you. Our Captain’s name is Jen Braggins - she’s what Starfleet calls a “wildcard,” and I’m tasked with keeping everyone safe while she goes off and tries to get us all killed. You probably got posted here because Starfleet wants to see how you deal with rollercoaster situations.”

They were done their short tour, and Art stopped in front of the console she had been working at before the Midshipman had come in. “Any burning questions?"

[Jade West]

Luckily, Jade hadn’t managed to embarrass herself by calling the wrong name. That didn’t mean opportunities wouldn’t rear their ugly heads in the future, but for the moment she’d take what she could get. The surprisingly strong hand grip even said so.
 
“I saw your transcripts: hand-to-hand and small arms training, I like that. Walk with me.”
 
Hard to tell if that’s “Klingon” talking, or “Security”. Klingons don’t typically opt for ranged weapons in general, and typically prefer blades and stuff that help close quarters combat. Stop thinking like that, Jade. It’s the 25th century, after all, and thinking about the stereotype isn’t going to do good for anyone.
 
As the younger woman listened on their little tour, she did take notice of the odd fact that the Yeager seemed to be crewed by members of its previous incarnation. At first glance, that didn’t seem to make sense to Jade. From what she’d recalled from the Ready Room, it had seemed like the Yeager’s namesake was a relic from the Dominion War. It wasn’t necessarily unheard of a starship being in service for such a long time, however if that were the case it was likely not exactly a ‘good thing’ that the current ship was brand new. Or it could’ve simply been nothing more than admiralty politics.
 
“Our Captain’s name is Jen Braggins - she’s what Starfleet calls a “wildcard,” and I’m tasked with keeping everyone safe while she goes off and tries to get us all killed.”
 
To Jade that particular comment raised a slight red flag. Perhaps it was just a bit of an exaggeration, but the lower down the food chain meant one was typically keeping secrets upon secrets from others. Although, the newly graduated officer wasn’t in the know. There would be plenty of time to find out for sure in the future, and that was only assuming she ever found out the actual truth. Everyone would see the truth as what they believed, even if those beliefs weren’t entirely one hundred percent accurate. That was something even Jade herself wasn’t immune to.
 
“So, I take it you’ve served with Captain Braggins before? I’m just surprised to hear her being described in such a way, ‘wildcard’. I just met with the Captain, and didn’t see anything that would give me that vibe. Granted, it was only for a whole, what, five minutes or so and she’s had years more of experience to shield that particular aspect.”
 
If that was a potential threat, Jade wondered if there were going to be some shades of gray she wasn’t prepared for yet. Newly graduated cadets were trained to back their captain at all times, but if something were to unnecessarily place the crews life in jeopardy, was that something Jade would be able to support? Luckily, that wasn’t truly a question current Jade had to answer.
 
“Sorry, I’m just wondering if it’s inexperience on my part, or naivety.”

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

“No, I get it.” Art replied, almost dismissively. “You want to impress your COs, and you automatically respect and look up to them. I’m not trying to be disrespect… okay, yeah, I’m being a bit disrespectful, so I apologize for that. I’m just trying to warn you - Cap Braggins will catch you off-guard. And you might hear some talk from the -we’re pretty much a combined crew of the Philadelphia and the Yeager, actually- you’ll hear some talk about how she and I went toe-to-toe recently.”

It was easier to admit it now than to have the Midshipman hear it through rumors. Tact was still a thing Artie was working on, but she was a big believer in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It certainly would be interesting to see how the relationship between the Captain, the First Officer, and the Chief of Security would change (or not change) after their last mission. The fact that Starfleet kept them all together was an interesting choice, for sure.

“The rumor mill will tell you that there was a… power struggle.” Art did her best to choose her words carefully. “But the First Officer and I were working with incomplete information, and I trust that communication will not be an issue in the future.”

She realized she had begun gritting her teeth, and had to consciously relax her jaw. Sickbay already had to special-order Klingon dentistry equipment for her, due to her grinding her teeth. Apparently she even did it in her sleep now.

“Regardless,” Art concluded, “Communication is of utmost importance here, especially in Security. If we don’t communicate properly, we can’t do our job, and if we can’t do our job right, people die.” She stopped herself, realizing how macabre she was being. “But I’ll try not to put you in that position right out of the gate.”

[Peter Jensen]

Peter's voice came through loud and clear:

[Jensen to Turner, West and Shadowhunt. Report to transporter room 1. Customs inspection, so be prepared to do a thorough sweep when we arrive. Please bring a sidearm but have it to stun. And bring any and all carryable equipment needed for a through search for contraband. I'll meet you there shortly], he finished.

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

Chief Artemis d’Tor’an was not pleased. Directly after giving her new Midshipman a tour, directly after making a crack about Jimmy Dewey, the guy goes and (accidently) whacks the young girl in the head with a large phaser rifle while trying to put it away. All Art could do was put her hand over her face, and take a deep breath. When she looked again, Midshipman West was still bleeding, Jimmy was still cringing, and of course a call was coming over the comms.

[Jensen to Turner, West and Shadowhunt. Report to Transporter Room 1. Customs inspection, so be prepared to do a thorough sweep when we arrive. Please bring a sidearm, but have it to stun. And bring any and all carryable equipment needed for a thorough search for contraband. I'll meet you there shortly.]

“Give me that!” She sneered, snatching the weapon out of Jimmy’s hands. “Escort her to Sickbay. Now!” Art sighed again, this time with a growl, as she watched Jimmy and Jade walk out of Security and down to the medicals. Art was going to have the man run laps until his legs fell off.

“I’m reporting to the transporter room!” She announced to her team. “Literally anybody but Jimmy is in charge in my wake.” Looking around, Art realized that the giant phaser rifle she was holding would be too big to take on an inspection. “And someone get me a smaller gun!”


>> Transporter Room >>

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

==Transporter Room==

Beaming back from the Damsel, Art now felt Some Kind of Way about it all. She hadn’t been sure why Braggins had ordered them over there for inspection, and she supposed it wasn’t exactly her place to ask (though she knew Peter would be asking), and now that they had inspected, she wished they hadn’t gone over at all. As Art stepped down from the transporter platform, she took a deep breath, to contain what may have looked like a sigh to anyone carefully watching her.

The scientist and the engineer left first, and with a quick look exchanged between Art and Peter, the rest of them departed as well. Art returned to Security, to make sure her team was still in shape, and to check to see how long the Away Team had actually been off-ship.


==Security==

Upon her return to camp, she was shell-shocked to learn that, yet again, Braggins had been hiding information from her. A Cardassian ship had apparently been following the Yeager, shadowing along just out of reach, and now there was a distress call from an ancient Earth ship? However long Art had been gone, it had been too long, and she was now kicking herself for not ordering another subordinate to go in the place of the one that had had to go to Sickbay. At least her own department kept her up to speed.

“They’re preparing to slipstream jump,” an officer informed her. Art cast a side-glance to him, glaring not at him, but at the news itself. The slipstream drive was not a thing that Art trusted, and until they landed safely on the other side, she would be holding her breath. “Get me things on screen, please.” She ordered, her tone testy. She was sick and tired of not being in-the-know, and now it seemed she was being forced to engage surveillance on the whole ship in order to find out anything.

The ancient Earth ship was a DY-150, a sleep-transport ship that had been designed at the time for travel over long distances while its crew was in stasis. In a decaying orbit, the craft was in quick danger of destruction, and had it not been sending out a distress signal, Art would have written it off. She anticipated the Yeager towing it out using a tractor beam, but hadn’t anticipated the intercepted message her team saw: Braggins wanted to beam across to check it out.

Of course she does. Art thought with disdain. She kept the thought to herself, but was sure the emotions showed on her face.

Operating on a five second delay, Security popped up the details the Bridge was getting first: approximately 100 valid lifesigns on the sleeper-ship, all “asleep” for just about one-hundred years. Had she been part Vulcan and not part Klingon, Art would have raised an eyebrow at the curiosity of it all. She had many questions, none of which would be answered since there were no Security personnel on the Bridge.

“You want Closed Captioning, ma’am?”

“Yes, yes,” Art replied, nodding. “Get that up. Thank you.” She now had a computer-generated typed live-feed of conversations happening on the Bridge. She read as Braggins gave Jensen command, and ordered the rest of the Bridge to try and figure out what decades of conspiracy theorists had not: how did the sleeper ship disappear in the first place? Orders came down from the First Officer to clean up and prep Cargo Bay One, and again, had Art been part Vulcan, she would have raised her other eyebrow. They were bringing these people on board?


Closed Captioning: Bridge:
Jensen to Science and Engineering. I need Cargo Bay One cleared and made suitable for the maintenance of a hundred active cryo pods. Feel free to stack if needed, just no playing Jenga if it can be avoided.


“Get a team down there!” Art accidentally shouted immediately. “And yes, before you ask, I want a feed on the cargo bay, too. What the–” She stopped herself before her mouth could express the anger that was bubbling up inside of her. The Security Chief was playing catch-up, and she did not like it.

[Artemis d'Tor'an]

Captain Braggins didn’t like having a Security member on the Bridge. This had been a point of contention since long before Art was Head of Security, and it seemed it wasn’t something that was going to ever change. Now, it appeared that the Captain wanted to bring over an estimated 100 souls, and hadn’t bothered to give anyone in Security even a whisper of heads-up. If Art didn’t already strongly dislike the woman, she’d be furious. As it were, she wasn’t surprised, and felt no guilt whatsoever with bringing up constant monitoring of every corner of the ship she could.

This included tapping into the Bridge.

Of course Braggins was planning to go onto this Security disaster herself, of course she wasn’t planning on taking even one Security officer, and of course she hadn’t bothered to even alert Art that any of this was happening.

After this mission, Art thought, her expression hardened, I am asking for a transfer. Braggins is a danger to herself and everyone around her. She didn’t know if she had a black mark on her record from standing up to Braggins, and what her reputation was since Braggins had asked for her personally for Security Chief, but she needed to be at least ten light years away from this woman.

Luckily, Braggins had left Peter Jensen in charge, and Art and Peter had quite the relationship. It made her feel better than Peter was now in command, and J. Braggins was off playing renegade on a hundreds-year-old ship, like a child at a playground. The mystery ship scanned them, as rudimentary of a scan as a ship like that could do, and immediately Peter locked the Yeager down. Art kept her finger on her Security-backed CCTV, poised to turn it back on immediately should the computer decide that her active viewing was non-essential.

Pressing a few more buttons, Art decided it was wise to try and keep an eye on Captain Braggins, as well, even with her being off-ship.

[Computer Query: Time estimated since Captain Braggins beamed onto the SS Lord Franklin?]



==Tag GM: Answer to queried question above?==