Topic: In an office chair on M'Raa...

[Soreyes]

Well at least it's not as bad as my disrupter crew on my DF. They couldn't hit a planet with overloads at a range of 2

I guess thats why they are the Fleet Poker Champs.

[KAT MRess]

Ro’gr opened his eyes, that was his first mistake. The pain that throbbed through his head immediately made him close them again. What was worse, was the pain seemed cycle from the back of his head to his jaw and back again, making brief stops in the backs of his eyes.

A vague memory of something colliding with his jaw explained that pain. The explosions from the battle explained the eyes aching, he’d never seen such bright ones like that before. But the back of his head? That puzzled him.

Slowly he opened his eyes again. As the light around coalesced into shapes he recognized the ceiling of the drone launching bay. Immediately it became apparent that he was lying on the floor. He tried to sit up and failed. But the motion caught the attention of someone. A face appeared above him.

“That’ll teach ya not to speak unless spoken to.”

The face matched that of the older sergeant who was in charge of the crew manning the launcher. Ro’gr recalled having an argument with him before the battle about his targeting procedure.

The ‘tosh just wouldn’t listen to reason. How could it be more efficient to target by not locking until the fire command? No matter what reason he used, the sergeant just would not accept any change in procedure. He even tried to pull rank over the sergeant. Technically, he was the superior officer. But even that was resisted by quoting some other regulation. He finally gave up arguing and vowed to take it up with their superior.

He rubbed his jaw and glared at the sergeant, who stared evenly back.

“You are to report to the Med bay immediately and then to the bridge in one hour.” The sergeant said.

[KAT MRess]

Out of the Drone bay, M’Ress toured around the rest of the ship personally receiving the damage reports. Normally he would have received them on the bridge through his XO, but he needed to walk off his rage.

He was angry. Angry at himself for his shortsightedness in the battle, why hadn’t he seen the battle before it happened like he usually did? Anger at the weapons officer, for changing procedure without proper authorization. Anger at the Lyran, for the unwarranted attack.

The damage was centered on the port side as he knew, but good fortune had paid a visit by not affecting the structural integrity of the main body, however, the pylon of the port nacelle had taken the brunt of the ESG. The rest of the systems were also a mess, with just about everything else affected. The port nacelle was functional and still supplying power, but without the structural stability from the pylon, warp speed was out of the question. They would be limited to impulse for a while, until they could stabilize the nacelle and then balance the warp field.

The number of casualties was also alarmingly high. Because of the large area affected, several bulkheads had ruptured. While losses were to be expected, it always affected him to read that list. Especially, when names he readily recognized appeared. A few of them had served under him for a while and would be hard to replace. While this initially served to fuel the anger, it melted into introspection and he was able to regain his poise.

Next on his list was the meeting with the Weapons officer responsible for the misfire.

[FPF-Paladin]

(Sorry to interrupt, just wanted to say this is currently as close to a sci-fi novel I'm interesting in reading, would love to see more    )

[KAT MRess]

M’ress was not happy as he waited for the Weapons Officer to arrive in his ready room. Already he was two minutes late.

After he had summoned his Exec and appraised him of the meeting, he had sent off a couple of preliminary reports. The Exec saw to executing the necessary orders to allocate the resources to the correct areas of the ship. All of this occupied their time until the meeting was supposed to take place. The last thing he did was to pull up the report from the Academy on this officer.

Both of them sat and stewed until the anticipated doorchime signalled the arrival. The Officer did not wait for the guard to show him in and immediately walked in.

“Sire, I wish to…” was all he got out before the Exec sprang out of his chair, hitting him squarely in the midsection with a textbook tackle takedown. The struggle was very brief, the officer seemed to have very little, if any, alertness about him. The Exec was able to not only catch him by surprise, but also was able to flip him over and apply a hold. With the Exec virtually sitting on his chest with an elaborate chokehold cutting off his air, Rog’r could do nothing.

M’Ress watched the action with an interested eye. He had cold cocked the young officer in the Weapons bay, but it was obvious he had been caught off guard. Now, even with the threat of an audience with a senior officer, he STILL was not on guard and offered almost no resistance. He also really needed to work on the respect thing of not speaking out of turn. He let the struggle continue until he could see the young officers eyes start to bulge.

“Enough. Let him up.”

The Exec, released the hold and the younger officer slumped to the floor. As the young officer gasped for air, he grabbed his scalp and tilted the head up to face him.

“Do NOT speak until you are addressed.” He said evenly.

[KAT MRess]

Rog’r rubbed his aching throat. The last thing he expected when entering a meeting was to be attacked. He had heard that discipline on military ships was strict, but he had always dismissed the stories as exaggerations of the imaginative minds of old soldiers. The thought was beginning to take hold that they may not have been exaggerating.

The one who attacked him backed off to stand at the end of the desk. Rog’r slowly stood up and moved opposite the other Officer behind the desk. That Officer, the one who had entered the weapons bay, was looking at him with an expression he had never seen before. It seemed to be anger and curiosity mixed together.

He opened his mouth to speak but immediately thought better of it. With a sideways glance at the Exec he moved toward the available chair and swivelled it to sit.

“You were not given permission to sit.” came the cold, hard voice of the standing officer. “Didn’t they teach you at the academy, STAND at attention until told otherwise?”

Rog’r took his hand off the chair and remained standing. By now the seated Officer was leaning forward with folded hands under his chin, that lone eye still staring at him.

*****

M’Ress stared hard at this young officer. Was he really THAT ignorant?

First he ignores established weapons protocol. Then he speaks when his input is not requested. And now he presumes to sit when other more senior officers are standing?

Did he even realize this a discipline hearing and not a meeting? He finally broke his gaze and read the last part of the entry on the young officers file. Two words stuck out.

IGNORANTLY ARROGANT.

[KAT MRess]

Arrogant.

No wonder his younger sister had been so angry with him. But aside from any personal grudges he may have felt, the more immediate problem was the actions of this young officer during the recent battle. It was downright insubordinate to disregard protocol. Even worse to complicate it with his outbursts.

His eye narrowed as the officer squirmed.

“Do you know why you are here?” he asked in a flat voice.

“To file my report on the disobedience of my crew.”

It was all M’ress could do to keep a straight face. Anger, disbelief and even some confusion suddenly welled up inside him. He paused for a few seconds to make sure he had control before he cut a glance over to the Exec.

The Exec was downright ready to kill. M’ress could see the restraint he was exerting. The flexing of the muscles, the faint ripple of his pelt all displayed the rage that was surging. It must have taken more effort than he was exerting to keep control.

“And who told you that?”

The officer was still rubbing the circulation back into his throat. He voice was a little stronger when he replied.

“No-one. I just assumed that was why I was called after the Drone Rack misfired.”

[KAT MRess]

If M’ress thought it couldn’t have gotten worse, he was just proven wrong.

He had seen the performance and trajectory of the drone. He had also seen the condition of the rack for himself. He also had the first hand report of the trusted crew chief. There was no possibility that the rack misfired. This officer was either completely ignorant or trying to cover up his own blunder by blaming the crew. What was indisputable was the fact the targeting mech needing resetting, the weapons log confirmed that.

Problem was, which was it? Ignorance or clever politicing.

Since he had been able to surprise this officer twice in just over an hour, he decided it was ignorance. His sisters opinion seemed to also confirm it. He unfolded his hands and sat back.

“You are not here to file a report. You are here to answer charges of insubordination. This is a disciplinary hearing.”

Rog’r opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by a very menacing growl from the Exec. One thing he was learning is if those around here didn’t approve of something you did, they were VERY capable of making you pay for it.

M’Ress was actually a little surprised at the restraint finally shown by this junior officer. He waited for further reaction, but did not get it.

[KAT MRess]

The rest of the hearing went as could be expected. Rog’r was completely devastated. Not only was it laid out why his actions placed the ship in jeopardy, but his further disobedience by speaking out of turn.

As the Federation would put it, he was read the “Riot Act” in long excruciating detail. When given the chance to explain himself he asked a simple question.

“Why do we wait for the command to fire before we lock the target?”

To be perfectly honest it was a reasonable question. However, the answer could have been obtained from the Operations manual or ANY crew chief. And from all reports he never gave his crew chief chance to talk, only listen (He was also briefed on the necessity of LISTENING to a more experienced Crew chief).

M’Ress allowed the Exec to explain the intricacies of the limitations of the onboard drone computer. In a cost saving measure, the computer was small, only able to process ten seconds of tracking data. This allows them to produce more drones with less resources. If the tracking is set too early before launch, there is too much data for it to handle and the drone loses it’s tracking and therefore control. There didn’t seem to be any necessity in explaining a rogue drone.

Therefor, it was a Standing Protocol on any KAT Fleet Ship (and later KOTH) that drone targets are not locked in until the launch command is given. This also has the added benefit of reducing faulty targeting. This protocol is outlined in the Weapons Officer Operations manual he was given when he came on board and should have been followed. Especially after several days of drills before the battle.

He was given 1 week of confinement to quarters (the brig was destroyed) to get intimately acquainted with that manual.

[KAT MRess]

M’Ress returned to his cabin. The hearing with the weapons officer had made him uncomfortable. It was bad enough he was second guessing the decision to take on this officer, but it was also making him feel uncomfortably not-confident in other decisions. The nagging spectre of doubt was something he could not afford.

The damage reports were now complete and while it wasn’t extensive, the right areas had been hit to force them to sublight for a while. If it had been any worse it would have been critical, so while he would classify the damage as serious, it was repairable.

The door to his quarters hissed open. Tr’rin was still asleep. The sedative would keep her that way for a while.

He opened a compartment and took out two bottles. One was a bottle of 2% milk, the other an old friend from Earth, Jimmy Beam. Equal portions of both in a highball glass, he sat in the chair behind his desk and proceeded to scan more reports. It wasn’t long before he had trouble absorbing the data as he relaxed after the adrenalin wore off. He mixed another drink and sipped it a couple of times before he drifted off.

He was still there several hours later when Tr’rin awoke.

[KAT MRess]

The light grew out of nothing. A very faint light, but it was enough.

She became aware of her surroundings. They were warm and comfortable and she felt lightly rested. Without opening her eyes she stretched and purred. Immediately her hands met something solid as they extended past her head. No matter, she arched her back, pointed her toes and flexed her arms.

That’s when the pain started. What started as a dull ache in the side of her head quickly spread to a raging throb throughout.

OW! she thought as she put her hands to her head and slowly sat up. The fading images in her mind jumbled together and she couldn’t make sense out of them. She dismissed them as dreams.

Then she opened her eyes.

M’Ress awoke when she stretched and purred. Now THAT is a nice sound. he thought and quickly realized who and what it was. He opened his eye and looked the figure in the dim light. It was stretched across his bed with it’s back arched, prominently outlining it’s figure in the dim light. After a minute of stretching the curvy silhouette lifted it’s hands to the head and started to sit up.

M’Ress smiled. Not the Earthlike toothy grin with the corners of the mouth upraised, but a proper Kzin Smile, ears forward, lips parted, and tongue slightly out.

“How are you?” He asked.

[KAT MRess]

Tr’rin stopped and stared at him. The pain in her head made it hard to focus but she was able to make out M’Ress. She looked at him and blinked to try and clear some of the fog. The pain made it hard to sit up straight, so she sank back down on the bed.

BED?!?!

How did she wind up in HIS bed?

She tried to fight the emotions that were also rising up, but the pain in her head made the whole thing unbearable. Just then remembrance came back and some of the images burst into memory. Confusion and pain won out and she broke into tears.

M’Ress saw this coming, he could see the tears welling up before they hit. It was the same for anyone after experiencing their first battle, more so for civilians. He stood up and took a small hand towel from beside the grooming area. He handed it over to her.

Tr’rin had balled up against the far wall of the bed. He spoke softly to her and she took the towel gingerly. That was good. It meant she wasn’t afraid of him, just confused. He sat back down and waited patiently for the flood of questions that was about to come.

[SSCF-LeRoy]

Excellent writing so far. Keep up the good work

[KAT MRess]

Ah yes... Leroy <evil grin>... you may regret asking for a recap earlier....






“What just happened?”

“You just woke up and I handed you a towel.” He wasn’t being sarcastic, a lot had happened and he was just trying to figure out the best place to start. He was about to continue when she cut him off.

“I meant before that!” she spat. “What happened up there… on the stairs… landing...” she was very upset and as a result, very confused.

“Bridge?” he offered

“Yeah… the bridge! What happened? What was all that about?”

M’Ress sighed and stood up. He moved over to the food dispenser and pulled another glass, explaining as he went.

“To explain Everything… would probably take days. Since we will only have a few hours until repairs are complete. I’ll attempt to condense it.” He sat at the desk and mixed another, considerably weaker, drink for her.

“Here drink this, it’ll help.” As she went to tip the milk down in one gulp, he held up his hand. “Slowly… only sip it.”

She slowed and gingerly took a sip and immediately winced at the burn that she was unaccustomed to.

[Soreyes]

 

[KAT MRess]

It was not the first time he’d had to explain the overall situation. The problem was he had to explain some history in order for someone to understand why they were in this position.

“The conflict between Kzin and Lyrans goes back many generations as you know. Each claim to be the “Superior” race. Each has it’s reasons to believe it so, and each has it’s detractors. To fully understand you would have to go back through history and make a complete research project out of it. For now, let’s just say we hate each other for plenty of reasons.

“As a military commander however, I am more interested in the strategic reasons for advancing my own people and protecting them. Lyrans are the closest and biggest threat to that.” He paused to take a sip of his own drink. She took another as well and didn’t flinch anywhere near as much as before.

“However, suffice to say some have … personal… reasons that go beyond the usual. In the past, despite our hatred, we had formed a temporary alliance to fight off a mutual enemy. Despite the fact that there is generations of hatred, some of us have a healthy respect for their warriors, such as Kzinbane. While some others feel we should have let them die off, some of us chose the high road to be better.”

His eye seemed to focus somewhere else, as his hand absently reached up to caress the side of his head where the other eye used to be.

“Despite our differences some of us took it upon ourselves to defend our hated allies. Hoping to bridge the gap and make peace for the better good for all. We protected them as we would our own. And when they faltered, we paid the price and willingly made our sacrifices on their behalf.” The hand stopped, clenched as if in remembered pain.

“Only to have them turn on us again at the first opportunity… without even so much as a thank you or acknowledgement.”

[KAT MRess]

Tr’rin was not by any means dim witted. She knew he was talking about himself. She also knew where this story was headed. And that was… answers. Not just any answers either. Highly classified answers, that most of the population could never dream of. By concentrating on what he was saying and sipping the alcoholic drink, it took her mind off the throb in her head.

“So despite our best intentions, those generations of hate and betrayal are very hard to overcome. Thus when we encountered that Lyran ship, instinct kicked in. Who’s to say who was at fault? I could have ignored him. I could have maintained a defensive posture.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ll never know because the other captain is no longer around to tell us what he was feeling or why.” He finished by downing the rest of his drink.

Tr’rin paused before she spoke. “I know all about…” she stopped as she got one of those unmistakable warning looks from M’Ress that told her she didn’t know half of it. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he’d seen during his career, but again, she was not dim enough to be ignorant to the scope of the situation. It was simply something she had never been exposed to before. She chose her next words carefully.

“I can understand…” M’Ress visibly relaxed… “what is going on between our two races. But what I want to know is if the war has not fully started, why did THAT battle just happen? I mean, why… are we out here provoking them?”

It was the question he was dreading the most.

[KAT MRess]

“We are here to attempt to retrieve something that I missed out on a while back. Something that could be very important to a lot of people… and races. If we are successful… we will have knowledge that could shift the balance of power in the quadrant. I think you would agree that would be VERY useful in the upcoming war.”

So that’s what it came down to. Tr’rin thought. Intelligence

M’Ress could see the thought processes on her face. Knowledge was power in a war and they needed as much as they could get to help their own cause.

“So what is it that is so important?”

“To tell you that, I need to go back and recap a previous mission.”

She took a deep breath. He did mention they had several hours before repairs were complete. So she settled back and took another sip…

[KAT MRess]

Oh yes Leroy... there will be a recap...




Green and M’Ress were in a closed meeting.

“How, in the name of the maker, did she manage to turn a court Martial into a promotion?”

They were pouring over the Intelligence reports about the current status in the Federation. Although they knew that the info supplied by J’inn was heavily “edited for content” it still provided more for them to work with than they had before. Ascertaining the status of all the other major powers after the last war was important to decide where they were going to head for the next little while. Everyone else was pretty well into a state of rebuild except the ISC (who already thought they were superior) and the Romulans (their reports denied even being in the war let alone having to rebuild).

The most interesting piece of data, by far, was a Federation Court Martial of a noted Commodore Rolling. Instead of being sent to brig for thirty years, she came out off it with a promotion to Rear Admiral.

Highly unusual. Even for the Feds.

“There has got to be more to this.” mused Green. “You just don’t go through the trouble of charging someone with an offence just so you can give them a promotion. They must be trying to hide something.”

“Agreed. It doesn’t make sense.” Said M’ress “Problem is how do we get more info. You know as well as I do J’inn won’t give us all the data he has. He’ll use it to his own ends. Just like that legal contribution stuff he pulled on Chuut over his new Bar.” M’Ress grinned.

Green looked at M’ress, “Or another certain promotion that I know of.”

M’ress growled a deep throaty growl as Greens ears twitched back and forth.

“Any ideas?” Green asked after his ears stopped twitching.

“Not really,” looking at Green sidelong in displeasure at the reminder. “After the last war it would be difficult to get any info.  Hate to say it but that’s J’inns area.”

Green pondered for a minute.

“What about W.A.N.K.E.R.?”

[Soreyes]

“What about W.A.N.K.E.R.?”

Oh the Horror  the Horror.