04-12-2026, 06:53 PM
As the meeting broke up, Jenny's mind looked beyond their initial reconnaissance mission. While she'd had no specific orders from Starfleet, she knew that one ship didn't a blockade break, so she was going to need some assistance. That said, there were precious few commanders who would take the risk, and even if her orders were legal (and that was dubious at present), her reputation would make most border patrol Captains balk - they were picked purely because they didn't engage in actions that might risk a diplomatic incident.
It was going to take some thought, and perhaps call upon those who Starfleet had sidelined due to their lack of diplomatic temperament.
As Jenny mused, her thoughts were interrupted as her enhanced hearing overheard the conversation between Jadaris and Qi, specifically the line about cloak development. There was a vast difference between a sensor cloak, which essentially masked a ship's energy signature from passive scans, and a full-on active cloaking device. The Avenger-class' sensor cloak had been effective at range, but the moment sensors went active, at best it made sensor resolution fuzzy - it certainly hadn't prevented the ships getting shot at and lives lost.
"Absolutely not. The Treaty of Algeron remains in effect, even despite the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire. The Romulan Free State may not have the resources the Empire had, but they'll still strike back if they find out that Starfleet has breached it twice in as many years."
The memory of Benjamin Elias' court-martial and subsequent imprisonment flashed to the front of her mind. The Engineer had been brilliant but misguided, but fortunately had taken the entire blame before any could have shifted onto those who should have noticed what was going on - he'd sacrificed his career and his freedom to preserve those of others, including Jenny.
That was when Jensen chimed in with his idea to use the Slipstream Drive to leave the system, rather than enter. While to many, it was a reasonable suggestion, it was a stark reminder that the man had come up from a department that had little to do with starship operations, especially the propulsion systems. Simply put, the Slipstream Drive wasn't a get out of jail free card, and wasn't something you could deploy when things went to "brown alert" like in some hologame - it needed careful calibration before each jump, and those kinds of calibrations wouldn't be possible in a combat scenario.
She shook her head as she lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Jensen.
"We can't use the Slipstream as an escape option; trying to configure it under fire is dangerous at best, suicidal at worst. We'd just as likely scatter ourselves over the quadrant or end up in another galaxy as getting past the blockade. Then Starfleet doesn't get the message at all and we've killed ourselves for nothing."
With a sigh, Jenny pinched her nose with free forefinger and thumb and closed her eyes as she massages the growing headache out of her sinuses.
"Sorry. I know you're presenting me an alternative as a good XO is meant to. But understand that this is the style of warfare I've been engaged in my entire career; asymmetric warfare, sneak attacks, hit and run, the entire "ungentlemanly warfare" repertoire. I've thought this through from every tactical and strategic angle; if we need to stage an evacuation, it'll be easier to jump in and shoot our way out, than to probably need to shoot our way in and risk not being able to leave at all."
Releasing her nose, Jenny managed a small smile for the older man.
"If you have any other ideas, please let me know, though. I always appreciate having an outside opinion. But before then, you'd better go check on Lieutenant D'Tor'an; she didn't seem exactly...happy...with the situation."
It was going to take some thought, and perhaps call upon those who Starfleet had sidelined due to their lack of diplomatic temperament.
As Jenny mused, her thoughts were interrupted as her enhanced hearing overheard the conversation between Jadaris and Qi, specifically the line about cloak development. There was a vast difference between a sensor cloak, which essentially masked a ship's energy signature from passive scans, and a full-on active cloaking device. The Avenger-class' sensor cloak had been effective at range, but the moment sensors went active, at best it made sensor resolution fuzzy - it certainly hadn't prevented the ships getting shot at and lives lost.
"Absolutely not. The Treaty of Algeron remains in effect, even despite the collapse of the Romulan Star Empire. The Romulan Free State may not have the resources the Empire had, but they'll still strike back if they find out that Starfleet has breached it twice in as many years."
The memory of Benjamin Elias' court-martial and subsequent imprisonment flashed to the front of her mind. The Engineer had been brilliant but misguided, but fortunately had taken the entire blame before any could have shifted onto those who should have noticed what was going on - he'd sacrificed his career and his freedom to preserve those of others, including Jenny.
That was when Jensen chimed in with his idea to use the Slipstream Drive to leave the system, rather than enter. While to many, it was a reasonable suggestion, it was a stark reminder that the man had come up from a department that had little to do with starship operations, especially the propulsion systems. Simply put, the Slipstream Drive wasn't a get out of jail free card, and wasn't something you could deploy when things went to "brown alert" like in some hologame - it needed careful calibration before each jump, and those kinds of calibrations wouldn't be possible in a combat scenario.
She shook her head as she lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Jensen.
"We can't use the Slipstream as an escape option; trying to configure it under fire is dangerous at best, suicidal at worst. We'd just as likely scatter ourselves over the quadrant or end up in another galaxy as getting past the blockade. Then Starfleet doesn't get the message at all and we've killed ourselves for nothing."
With a sigh, Jenny pinched her nose with free forefinger and thumb and closed her eyes as she massages the growing headache out of her sinuses.
"Sorry. I know you're presenting me an alternative as a good XO is meant to. But understand that this is the style of warfare I've been engaged in my entire career; asymmetric warfare, sneak attacks, hit and run, the entire "ungentlemanly warfare" repertoire. I've thought this through from every tactical and strategic angle; if we need to stage an evacuation, it'll be easier to jump in and shoot our way out, than to probably need to shoot our way in and risk not being able to leave at all."
Releasing her nose, Jenny managed a small smile for the older man.
"If you have any other ideas, please let me know, though. I always appreciate having an outside opinion. But before then, you'd better go check on Lieutenant D'Tor'an; she didn't seem exactly...happy...with the situation."