09-02-2026, 02:31 PM
Jez had remained quiet while Kalli spoke, mostly because there wasn't much point in interrupting someone who had clearly spent a considerable amount of time thinking about how to make things explode without technically being responsible for the explosion.
She couldn't help the faint smile that crossed her face at the luggage comment. Kalli had a remarkable ability to take a serious tactical discussion and somehow turn it into a conversation about someone's questionable choice of baggage transportation.
But beneath the humor was a very serious point.
Kalli was right.
Jez leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table as she looked at the tactical display.
"The part that concerns me isn't whether the bots can do it," she said. "I'm convinced they can. The part that concerns me is what happens after we use them."
Her eyes moved across the display, studying the Cardassian formation.
"We've been thinking about this as a battle. I don't think it should be one. At least not initially."
She tapped the display, bringing up the enemy formation.
"If that large vessel is operating as the centerpiece of their formation, then attacking it directly is probably exactly what they expect us to do. They have the advantage in firepower, armor, and probably endurance. Walking into that engagement would mean playing their game."
Jez paused.
"And I don't particularly enjoy losing at games I've already decided not to play."
She glanced briefly toward Kalli.
"The sensor fluctuations are useful, but I agree that we shouldn't rely on holographics and sensor ghosts as our primary deception. They're too obvious if the enemy starts looking for them. What we need is uncertainty."
Another tap of the console separated the smaller Cardassian vessels from the main formation.
"We don't necessarily need them to believe something that isn't there. We need them to become uncertain about what is there."
Jez brought up several possible approaches.
"We could give them intermittent contacts. Not enough to convince them they're being attacked, but enough to make them investigate. Each contact could appear to originate somewhere slightly different. Keep the signatures inconsistent. Sometimes a sensor return, sometimes a communications burst, sometimes nothing at all."
She looked toward Beno.
"The objective would be to make them wonder whether they're dealing with reconnaissance, a damaged Federation vessel, a cloaked ship, or something else entirely."
Her expression became more serious.
"Then we watch what they do."
Jez pointed toward the smaller ships.
"If they break formation to investigate, that could give the fleet an opportunity. Not necessarily to destroy them. To isolate them."
She looked around the table.
"That's the difference between fighting a superior force and dismantling one."
Her gaze settled on Kalli.
"And your bots could potentially make that considerably more unpleasant for them."
There was a brief pause.
"I'm not suggesting we use them against life support or other systems intended to harm the crew. That would cross a line I don't think we should approach unless we're facing an existential threat and have absolutely no alternative."
She considered the possibilities.
"But communications, sensors, propulsion, shield distribution, or weapons control could potentially be different."
Jez brought up a schematic of a Cardassian vessel.
"If your bots can enter through shield modulation or another vulnerability without generating a meaningful return, then perhaps we wouldn't need thousands of them. A relatively small number might be enough to create a series of controlled failures."
She began indicating systems on the display.
"One ship loses long-range sensors. Another loses communications. A third develops intermittent weapons-control problems. Another has a propulsion issue."
She gave a faint smile.
"Nothing catastrophic. Nothing that immediately tells them they're under attack. Just enough problems to make the Cardassian engineering department question whether they should have taken the assignment."
Jez looked back toward Kalli.
"Of course, that's assuming the bots can be controlled that precisely."
She folded her hands.
"I'd be particularly concerned about their command architecture. If we use them, I'd recommend that they have clearly defined parameters and an immediate recall or shutdown capability. I wouldn't want adaptive behavior extending beyond what we've specifically authorized."
A small pause.
"Personally, I'd rather not discover that we've accidentally created the Federation's first self-replicating tactical nightmare."
Jez returned her attention to the tactical display.
"If I may make a recommendation, Captain, I think the problem could be approached in layers."
The display changed again.
"First, reconnaissance. We need to determine how they're operating, where the Yeager is, and whether the Cardassians have established predictable patrol patterns."
"Second, deception. Small, controlled sensor anomalies designed to provoke movement rather than combat."
"Third, isolation. If individual vessels separate from the main formation, we may be able to exploit the gap."
"Fourth, disruption. That's where Kalli's bots could potentially be useful. Disable specific systems without immediately revealing what caused the failures."
She paused before adding, "And only then would I recommend considering a direct engagement."
Jez sat back slightly.
"Not because we'd suddenly be stronger than them. Because we'd hopefully have reduced their advantages before we ever fire the first torpedo."
She looked toward the Captain.
"There is another advantage. If we do this correctly, they may never know it was us."
A small smile crossed her face.
"They could spend considerable time looking for the ship responsible while we're already somewhere else."
She glanced toward Kalli.
"And considering Kalli's suggestion about not telling them we did it..."
Jez's smile widened slightly.
"I believe the technical term is plausible deniability."
The humor faded as she looked back at the tactical display.
"But Beno is right about one thing. This is Pandora's box."
Jez folded her arms.
"Once we start manipulating the battlefield this way, we introduce variables we can't completely control. The enemy will adapt. They could change their formations, alter their sensor protocols, or begin actively searching for whatever is causing the disruptions."
She looked toward the Captain.
"So I would recommend establishing an abort condition before anything is deployed. A point where we stop, recover whatever we can, and disengage."
She let the thought settle for a moment.
"We don't have to win the entire engagement today."
Her eyes returned to the tactical display.
"We just need to avoid giving them the opportunity to fight us on their terms."
Jez leaned back in her chair.
"And for the record, Captain..."
Her eyes flicked toward Kalli.
"I'd recommend keeping the industrial-grade luggage out of the tactical plan. If Starfleet Command ever asks how we transported the equipment, I'd rather not explain why our logistics officer apparently needed a grav-sled for a weekend trip."
Jez knew ultimately the decision was up to the Captain, but Jez felt she gave him her professional assessments of the situation.
== Tag All. ==
She couldn't help the faint smile that crossed her face at the luggage comment. Kalli had a remarkable ability to take a serious tactical discussion and somehow turn it into a conversation about someone's questionable choice of baggage transportation.
But beneath the humor was a very serious point.
Kalli was right.
Jez leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table as she looked at the tactical display.
"The part that concerns me isn't whether the bots can do it," she said. "I'm convinced they can. The part that concerns me is what happens after we use them."
Her eyes moved across the display, studying the Cardassian formation.
"We've been thinking about this as a battle. I don't think it should be one. At least not initially."
She tapped the display, bringing up the enemy formation.
"If that large vessel is operating as the centerpiece of their formation, then attacking it directly is probably exactly what they expect us to do. They have the advantage in firepower, armor, and probably endurance. Walking into that engagement would mean playing their game."
Jez paused.
"And I don't particularly enjoy losing at games I've already decided not to play."
She glanced briefly toward Kalli.
"The sensor fluctuations are useful, but I agree that we shouldn't rely on holographics and sensor ghosts as our primary deception. They're too obvious if the enemy starts looking for them. What we need is uncertainty."
Another tap of the console separated the smaller Cardassian vessels from the main formation.
"We don't necessarily need them to believe something that isn't there. We need them to become uncertain about what is there."
Jez brought up several possible approaches.
"We could give them intermittent contacts. Not enough to convince them they're being attacked, but enough to make them investigate. Each contact could appear to originate somewhere slightly different. Keep the signatures inconsistent. Sometimes a sensor return, sometimes a communications burst, sometimes nothing at all."
She looked toward Beno.
"The objective would be to make them wonder whether they're dealing with reconnaissance, a damaged Federation vessel, a cloaked ship, or something else entirely."
Her expression became more serious.
"Then we watch what they do."
Jez pointed toward the smaller ships.
"If they break formation to investigate, that could give the fleet an opportunity. Not necessarily to destroy them. To isolate them."
She looked around the table.
"That's the difference between fighting a superior force and dismantling one."
Her gaze settled on Kalli.
"And your bots could potentially make that considerably more unpleasant for them."
There was a brief pause.
"I'm not suggesting we use them against life support or other systems intended to harm the crew. That would cross a line I don't think we should approach unless we're facing an existential threat and have absolutely no alternative."
She considered the possibilities.
"But communications, sensors, propulsion, shield distribution, or weapons control could potentially be different."
Jez brought up a schematic of a Cardassian vessel.
"If your bots can enter through shield modulation or another vulnerability without generating a meaningful return, then perhaps we wouldn't need thousands of them. A relatively small number might be enough to create a series of controlled failures."
She began indicating systems on the display.
"One ship loses long-range sensors. Another loses communications. A third develops intermittent weapons-control problems. Another has a propulsion issue."
She gave a faint smile.
"Nothing catastrophic. Nothing that immediately tells them they're under attack. Just enough problems to make the Cardassian engineering department question whether they should have taken the assignment."
Jez looked back toward Kalli.
"Of course, that's assuming the bots can be controlled that precisely."
She folded her hands.
"I'd be particularly concerned about their command architecture. If we use them, I'd recommend that they have clearly defined parameters and an immediate recall or shutdown capability. I wouldn't want adaptive behavior extending beyond what we've specifically authorized."
A small pause.
"Personally, I'd rather not discover that we've accidentally created the Federation's first self-replicating tactical nightmare."
Jez returned her attention to the tactical display.
"If I may make a recommendation, Captain, I think the problem could be approached in layers."
The display changed again.
"First, reconnaissance. We need to determine how they're operating, where the Yeager is, and whether the Cardassians have established predictable patrol patterns."
"Second, deception. Small, controlled sensor anomalies designed to provoke movement rather than combat."
"Third, isolation. If individual vessels separate from the main formation, we may be able to exploit the gap."
"Fourth, disruption. That's where Kalli's bots could potentially be useful. Disable specific systems without immediately revealing what caused the failures."
She paused before adding, "And only then would I recommend considering a direct engagement."
Jez sat back slightly.
"Not because we'd suddenly be stronger than them. Because we'd hopefully have reduced their advantages before we ever fire the first torpedo."
She looked toward the Captain.
"There is another advantage. If we do this correctly, they may never know it was us."
A small smile crossed her face.
"They could spend considerable time looking for the ship responsible while we're already somewhere else."
She glanced toward Kalli.
"And considering Kalli's suggestion about not telling them we did it..."
Jez's smile widened slightly.
"I believe the technical term is plausible deniability."
The humor faded as she looked back at the tactical display.
"But Beno is right about one thing. This is Pandora's box."
Jez folded her arms.
"Once we start manipulating the battlefield this way, we introduce variables we can't completely control. The enemy will adapt. They could change their formations, alter their sensor protocols, or begin actively searching for whatever is causing the disruptions."
She looked toward the Captain.
"So I would recommend establishing an abort condition before anything is deployed. A point where we stop, recover whatever we can, and disengage."
She let the thought settle for a moment.
"We don't have to win the entire engagement today."
Her eyes returned to the tactical display.
"We just need to avoid giving them the opportunity to fight us on their terms."
Jez leaned back in her chair.
"And for the record, Captain..."
Her eyes flicked toward Kalli.
"I'd recommend keeping the industrial-grade luggage out of the tactical plan. If Starfleet Command ever asks how we transported the equipment, I'd rather not explain why our logistics officer apparently needed a grav-sled for a weekend trip."
Jez knew ultimately the decision was up to the Captain, but Jez felt she gave him her professional assessments of the situation.
== Tag All. ==