Mission Brief
Posted on 2025, Mon Aug 25th, @ 10:15pm by Rear Admiral Jacob Hawks Esq, SMH PMV & Vice Admiral Jack Reacher Jr & Rear Admiral Selar Vance & Commodore Travis O'Rourke & Commodore Bowen Parton & Captain Maxwell Culver
Edited on on 2025, Mon Aug 25th, @ 10:18pm
1,687 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 "Demons of the Past, Friends of the Future" - USS Halo
Location: Star Base 113 - Task Force Command Briefing Room
Timeline: 2402- Present Day - 1 Day After Famliy Time Post
((USS Bonaventure, docking back 5)
It's been nearly 10 days since the events surrounding the old Halo's return from the mirror universe. As Reacher had predicted, the ship had been written off and sent to the scrap yards. The entire crew, along with some additional staff, was assigned to the new Halo-A, which had pulled out of the shipyard and began trials and operational certification about a week prior.
Hawks sat in his ready room reviewing the constantly renewed pile of padds on his desk. His 'section', that was, the Operations staff for the task force comprised of 60 personnel, mostly officers, in charge of or liaising about tasks revolving around everything from Training to supply, and Strategic Ops to tactical systems upgrades and everything in between. Currently, he was reviewing a padd to authorize the deployment of about 2 dozen small prefabricated long-range sensor arrays that various ships would drop off near the frontiers of federations' space in their AO.
He thumbed the padd, authorized the deployment, and picked up the next one from the stack. This one was the current mission status list. It had every ongoing and upcoming mission assigned to the Task Force listed. It was several pages long, and Hawks had already read the briefs on nearly all the missions, so he was scanning the upcoming mission section for new additions only.
He noted one that piqued his interest. It came from Starfleet intelligence and had been endorsed by the diplomatic attachés; this alone made him read further. The mission was slated to be undertaken the next week, and didn't have a ship assigned to it yet. It was a fairly routine-looking archaeology and diplomacy mission in a system near the old Romulan border in their AO. This might be just the type of milk run type of mission that would be perfect for the new Halo and its crew to use as a shakedown. He highlighted the mission and flagged it for the new V/Adm Reacher to review, and potentially slot the Halo into.
Reacher was in his quarters with Kate and James, Tess and Katie were off somewhere on the Base when he got the mission overview. Jack also knew that the Task Force 18 Commanding Officer, Rear Admiral Selar Vance. Reacher quickly got dressed and walked out of the quarters, and grabbed the PADD with the mission overview.
=/\= Task Force 17 Flag Officers Report to Task Force Command Briefing Room, Rear Admiral Vance Report to Task Force Command Briefing Room =/\=
Reacher was already waiting for them as they all started to arrive, and he also, as always, had his cup of coffee.
Vance walked in and looked like he was pissed, but he always had that look. "Admiral Reacher, I take it you have a mission?"
Reacher nodded. "Yes, But It intersects in both Task Forces AOP's"
Vance nodded and sat down. "Romulan Space?"
"Yes, an old Romulan archaeology, and potentially discovered a significant Iconian site, and it's only 3 days away from here. It would be a good test run for the Halo A," Reacher told Vance.
"I can have the Valiant Horizon stationed within quick response range in case of shit hitting the fan," Vance offered.
The doors parted with a muted hiss, and Commodore Travis O’Rourke stepped inside, adjusting the front of his jacket as he crossed the threshold. He carried the look of someone pulled straight from quiet reflection in his quarters, but the stride was measured, deliberate.
“Admiral Reacher. Admiral Vance.” He gave each a respectful nod, tone even but warm enough to cut through Vance’s usual steel. “Seems I’m not the last one through the door.”
Setting a paddle down at an open seat, O’Rourke offered the faintest hint of a wry smile toward Reacher’s ever-present coffee, then took his place at the table. Hands folded, posture easy but attentive, he left the air open for the conversation to continue — content to listen for now while the others filtered in.
The door slid open again. This time, no one came in; Hawks' voice could be heard mentioning something about sitreps and requisitions from the task groups, and then a female voice answering in the affirmative. Then Jake walked in. As the door closed behind him, he gave out a slight whistle, a generic every everyday kind of whistle. But in reality, he was actually still just stunned by his Flag Aides' gorgeousness.
"Hey all, what's the news, Admiral?" Jake said as he casually grabbed a seat across from O'Rourke.
"That new Mission, old Romulan archaeology, and potentially discovered a significant Iconian site," Reacher told Jacob.
"Oh, you got that one I flagged and sent over, eh? So you're gonna have the Halo take it then?" Hawks said as he pulled a padd from his cargo pocket.
“Demons of Air and Darkness. Two hundred thousand years older than human civilization. Preferred to utilize gateway technology to transport armies from planet to planet instead of starships. Last encountered by Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D in 2365. A dangerous species of conquerors who essentially disappeared,” Max Culver said as he entered the room, mug of black coffee in hand.
"Yes, Good Test Run for the Halo," Jack replied to Hawks.
O’Rourke shifted slightly in his chair, letting Culver’s words hang in the air a beat before speaking. His tone was calm, deliberate, but carried weight.
“Then we treat it like more than a shakedown run,” he said, meeting Reacher’s eyes first, then Vance’s. “Archaeology, diplomacy, and the word ‘Iconian’ in the same sentence? That’s a tinderbox if ever I’ve heard one. Halo-A is the right ship to cut her teeth on this, but only if she’s not left hanging out on her own.”
He glanced across at Hawks.
“Your aides have been drowning in sitreps and requisitions; you know better than anyone how thinly spread our assets are. But I’d argue this mission is where we invest. The Halo leads, Horizon stands ready as theyll be on a survey nearby, and I’ll keep Leonidas around the area aswell doing cross training with some of our new allied friends.. That gives us three layers without waving a flag in the Romulans’ faces.”
O’Rourke took a slow sip from his mug, then set it down.
“Give the Halo-A the chance to prove herself, but we plan it like a live op. If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that ghosts don’t stay buried.”
"Sounds prudent...we aren't over-stretched too badly right now. I'm drowning in paperwork work now because we do have ships on their way to starbases to re and re. I got a training tour to do with the tactical task group next with the Bonnie, so I'll be busy on maneuvers with them. Works for me, boss." Hawks nodded at O'Rourke and then looked to Jack at the head of the table.
"I have read over the mission And Its Details. I'm shocked there is even a place to do this. The Planet we are going to is near an old outpost used by Romulans during the Earth-Romulan War." Jack then activated a holographic map in the middle of the table showing the planet's location, then overlaid the Old War map from the War. "Any Suggestions, Bowen, Igrut?"
Commodore Parton stepped into the room, his left leg showing signs of a limp, his left eye missing. He had a stern look on his face; it was clear he was pissed about what had happened to the Chronepsis. " Admiral, intelligence from the Obsidian Order and Romulan senant records show that this planet is a place of bad reputation. The Romulans sent two teams to survey the planet, and both went missing. After that, the planet was declared off limits until recently, when an archeological expedition was approved in an attempt to rediscover Romulan relics in the aftermath of the planet's destruction. However, all digging has been halted due to another round of disappearances." After saying this, Commodore Parton took a seat, waiting to see what the Halo's intel officer had dug up. As he sat there stroking his beard, he listened intently.
Tag: Igrut
O’Rourke leaned forward slightly, studying the map’s shifting overlays. The old Romulan War borders weren’t just lines on a chart to him; they were reminders that some scars ran deeper than star dates.
“First impression? It’s a sound assignment, but one that needs clear guardrails.” His eyes tracked the planet’s placement on the map before looking back to Reacher.
“My questions are these: Do we know who else has eyes on this dig site? Any local factions—Romulan splinters, independent traders, even Federation contractors—that might already be sniffing around? And second—how tight is Intelligence keeping the leash on what’s found there? If Halo uncovers something of genuine strategic value, who’s making the call on classification? The captain in the field, or command back here?”
O’Rourke sat back again, hands loosely folded.
“If we’re sending Halo-A in, I want to be certain her crew isn’t left guessing about the political leash they’re on.”
"Valid concerns, Travis. I can dig around and check the info on who's gonna be around that Halo might have to deal with. On the intelligence and political fronts...maybe take an intelligence team and a few dips along with you just to cover your ass, boss. Iconian tech is no joke. But then boss will be onsite to provide top cover if needed" Hawks was thinking on the fly as none of them had any real prep time before discussing this random mission that landed in their laps. He looked from Travis over to Reacher. Jake gave Jack a look and a little nod, implying he was still good with it.
"Agreed. Are there any questions?" Jack asked.
Seeing none Jack dismissed the group with a light slap of the table. " Alright then gentlemen, let's get to work.
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