‘Gathered, Not Yet Briefed’

Posted on 2025, Sat Aug 16th, @ 6:38pm by Commander Arden Rysell & Lieutenant Commander Corin Taves & Lieutenant Commander Kaela Renn & Lieutenant JG Talrin & Lieutenant JG Min Karo

531 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Episode 1A "Shadows of the Empire"
Location: USS Leonidas | Main Shuttle Bay
Timeline: Present

The deck was beginning to settle. Most officers had dispersed to check in or change into uniform, but five remained near the aft observation windows where the stars of Earth orbit glittered beyond.

Arden Rysell stood at the edge, arms crossed, jaw tense. She wasn’t speaking. Not yet.

Kaela Renn paced slowly, stylus tapping her lower lip.

Corin Taves leaned against a bulkhead, boots crossed at the ankle, expression unreadable but very much present.

Min Karo sat on a supply crate, hands clasped between her knees, eyes narrowed as though watching the stars would give her answers.

Talrin stood slightly apart from the others, PADD in hand, already analyzing something only he understood.

Rysell finally broke the silence.

“No briefing, no mission packet, and no warmup drills in the comm logs. You don’t pull back a full senior staff without a reason—unless it’s coming straight from the top.”

Taves didn't look up.

“Or straight from somewhere lower and more dangerous.”

Renn stopped pacing.

“You think this is black-flag?”
("Black-flag" meaning untraceable orders—silent, deniable, probably illegal.)

Taves: “I think it’s quieter than Section 31’s inbox.”

Karo sighed softly.

“Why do I always pack for a vacation and end up in a crisis?”
(beat)
“If I’d known this was the vibe, I’d have brought a phaser instead of a notebook.”

Talrin glanced up from his PADD.

“There is no statistically significant evidence that weapon selection correlates with recall frequency. However, your personal pattern does indicate a high anomaly rate.”

Karo: “Thanks, Talrin. That’s very... comforting.”

Rysell turned to Taves, eyes sharp.

“You were with O’Rourke last month at the Lantaru Summit. Did he give any indication? Any signs of what might be coming?”

Taves: [straightens]

“He was more closed off than usual. That alone says something. He cut his debriefs short, didn’t stick around for political glad-handing. Said he was ‘weighing deployment profiles.’”

Renn: [mutters]

“Which could mean anything from colonization support to counterintelligence sweeps.”

Karo: “Or temporal instability. He did serve during the Daran V Loop incident. Maybe he’s twitchy.”

Talrin: [blinks]

“Twitchy? That is not a medically accepted metric.”

Karo: “It is when the Commodore uses six words where he usually uses two. That’s emotional inflation.”

Rysell finally pushed off the railing and turned toward them fully.

“Whatever it is, he wants us quiet. No comm traffic, no external routing. This isn’t a warzone—but it could become one.”

Taves nodded once.

“And we’re not being briefed together yet because someone’s still deciding how many cards to show.”

Renn: [quietly]

“Or how many they’re willing to sacrifice.”

That earned a pause from all of them.

Even Talrin looked up.

Karo: [softly]

“Anyone else feel like we’re already in motion, even though we haven’t moved?”

Taves: [grimly]

“That’s what being aimed feels like.”

Then the shuttle bay lighting shifted slightly—cool blue to warmer command gold. The intercom tone chirped once:

“Senior staff: briefing room one. Immediately.”

No added details. No voice. Just a prompt.

Rysell looked at each of them. “Here we go.”

One by one, they headed for the lift.

RSS Feed