Post Number: 210 *Continuity of Operations*

Posted on Tue Feb 18th, 2025 @ 1:52pm by First Star Admiral Dakota Olvera & Major General Talo Jackson & Admiral Michael Tabolt & Captain Marius Pontmercy & Lieutenant V'Lar

1,677 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Secrets

On:

Marius frowned as he walked down the corridor, thinking as they all were on the attacks across the Federation. It was terrible, and new reports were continually coming in. It was overwhelming. He glanced up as he reached the conference room, and as he entered he noted that Admiral Tabolt had arrived before him. He nodded politely at the man, and took a seat at the table.

Talo Jackson walked into the room and nodded to both men, seating himself next to Admiral Tabolt. He was a man of few words most of the time. He could feel the tension in the room and wasn’t surprised.

Dakota walked into almost right behind him and sat down on the other side of Michael. She had heard the news of the attacks. She sat down next to Captain Pontmercy, waiting for their meeting to start.

Were it not for her ability to tap her Vulcan side V'Lar would have probably been the most nervous she'd ever been, and with good reason, she was going into a meeting with the brass and it was high stakes. She had a small stack of PADD's as she walked into the conference room, placing the PADD's on the table she took a breath and looked around doing a mental head count, she had everyone that was both required and available. "Admirals, General, Captain." she said distributing the PADD's "This is the current Battle Damage Assessment following the attack on the Federation, to say it's bad is an understatement and I'm afraid it gets worse. I am prepared to explain the details in there if you want me to do so but an update is not the primary reason I requested this meeting."

Michael Tabolt glanced down at the pads, the dark circles under his eyes and indication of how he was feeling.

"I'm pretty sure we know what the reason is," he said gravely, "but I for one would like you to explain the details so we are all on the same page."

“I concur.” Talo spoke in a clear, strong voice that held a hint of concern. He was grateful it was Lieutenant v’Lar he would be listening to. She would lay out the facts and not ramble on or take an hour saying what could be said in just a few minties.

Dakota didn’t speak but nodded in agreement. She knew the news was going to be bad and at the moment just wanted to listen.

"In short we received what is known as a 'Watership Down' signal." V'Lar said "This is a Starfleet Intelligence coded signal sent from a secondary transmitter on Earth, it is only sent when security systems at the Starfleet institutions in San Francisco and at Federation Headquarters go dark and do not return a response, think of it like the auto destruct sequence on a ship you set a timer and after that amount of time the ship blows up, in this case it's after a certain amount of time the signal is sent. What this signal amounts to is confirmation that Starfleet's complex in San Francisco has been destroyed, that the Federation Headquarters has been destroyed and that we are to presume that those who serve in both Starfleet Command and Federation Leadership have been killed in the attack."

V'Lar paused for a moment before continuing "Receipt of that signal triggers a protocol that my department has been carrying out over the last few hours. First information gathering in respect of the event, we do that because we have to verify an event has happened, in this instance based on the number of distress calls received from planets, ships and bases coupled with Federation news reports we have verified the attack on Earth. Second we begin a process of accounting for leadership, this means we take all reasonable steps to trace Starfleet flag rank officers and Federation leadership personnel. We are still in the process of accounting for Federation Councillors but it doesn't look good. Based on our steps in respect of Starfleet officers we believe the attack was so precise that there are only two sector commanders still alive these being Fleet Admiral Olvera and the commanding officer of Deep Space Nine, however that person is not flag rank. As a result my duty in this respect, as the ranking intelligence officer assigned to this post, is to inform you that we are enacting continuity of Starfleet Operation protocols."

Marius blew out a held breath, he had been hoping against all odds that it wasn't this serious. He glanced down the table to Admiral Tabolt, who was nodding grimly.

"That is what I was told, I haven't been able to reach anyone either. If your sources are confirming this ... God help us." Michael dropped his head for a moment, and glanced at Dakota. "We need to make this official, and fast. We have a lot of work to do to recall whatever troops we can muster."

“We need to act quickly.” Talo spoke up. “Protect whatever fleets we have left and make decisions on going forward.” He had not expected this and his mi d was reeling. It took a lot to shake Talo up and he was shaken to his core.

Dakota wanted to scream and cry for those lost. She had served among the command structure for many years and the thought of some dear friends being lost was almost unbearable. But she forced that back and let her training take over. “Lieutenant v’Lar is correct.”

"General based on our current assessment, the term fleets is charitable, we've been hit hard and we've got everyone from the Romulans to the Tzenkethi massing on the borders of Federation space, they're going to carve Federation space up between them and there's not a damn thing we can do to stop them." V'Lar said she looked at Dakota and put a further PADD in front of her that would require her DNA verification and authorisation code "Fleet Admiral Olvera you are now Commandant of Starfleet, that effectively makes you Starfleet's Commanding Officer, once your identity has been verified by that PADD you will have the respective security clearances, authorisations and so on." she paused "Captain Pontmercy if you as officer commanding this station also input yours as a witness that would be greatly appreciated." she took a breath "In the event that we cannot account for the Federation leadership there is a contingency in place to do something similar to this. However this was more important because we need to be able to consider all options in regard to what we do next and critically have the authority to enact what is decided."

Dakota verified her DNA and entered her authorization codes. She then turned to Marius and handed him the Padd. “Your turn, Captain Pontmercy.” She was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around this. Marius silently picked up the data padd, and verified his DNA.

"Done," he said after a moment and returned the padd.

V'Lar nodded as the verifications happened once it was done she smiled, that now put every possible course of action on the table and while it was only half the equation in terms of continuity it was for the moment the half that mattered. "I'll continue to have my department attempt to track down Federation Leadership, I hope to have an answer on that by the time the away team gets back." she said "If we fail to find anyone we'll be enacting continuity protocols there as well but I'll explain that if those circumstances come to pass."

“In the meantime we need to keep the crew here focused.” Dakota spoke up, looking to Marius. “If there is anything we can do, don’t hesitate to ask. We are in dire times, we need to serve as a team.”

"I will," Marius said with a sigh. "We are in a waiting game until the away team returns. I will keep you updated, though. Hopefully we are able to find more of our people," the Captain said. "I am not hopeful, though."

"If I may make one recommendation." V'Lar said slowly "It may be a good idea for you to meet my mother. She's the contingency plan in respect of the Federation leadership and although we're not at the point yet where we're enacting that protocol, it may be a good idea for you to meet each other so that if that does happen you can hit the ground running." she took a breath "Unfortunately I'm of the same opinion as the Captain in regards to how hopeful I am."

“Your mother?” Dakota spoke up. She supposed she should know this but at the moment she was concentrating on the issues at hand.

"If..." V'Lar said "Although it's more likely to when at this point I will use the word if." she took a breath "If we can't trace anyone in the Federation Leadership, then we will be required to see to the continuity of the Federation Government as well. Your responsibility and the responsibility of all Starfleet Officers is to protect the Federation, but Lieutenant Quinn would not be able to do a significant amount of her duties without Federation authority. Given my mothers experience in the associated fields I consulted with the Captain about bringing her aboard just in case we got to this point. My recommendation for you to meet her is based on it being important for you to know who you're going to be working with whether they be Starfleet or civilian and I wouldn't want anyone put in a situation where it doesn't work."

Dakota nodded in understanding. She was grateful that the crew had the foresight to plan for this scenerio.

Off:

Fleet Admiral Dakota Olvera
Commander in Chief
Starbase Obsidian

General Talo Jackson
Marine Commandant
Starbase Obsidian

Admiral Michael A. Tabolt
Director of Starfleet Operations
Starbase Obsidian

Captain Marius G. Pontmercy
Commanding Officer
Starbase Obsidian

Lieutenant Junior Grade V'Lar
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Obsidian

 

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