Security Matters

Posted on Fri Sep 13th, 2024 @ 9:53am by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Daniel Ellis & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander William Cole

Mission: Let The Games Begin

With Engineering now taken care of, the next stop on the mental checklist Abigail was using was Security. Not wanting to chance the possibility that she may not find everyone in the same location she used the comms to arrange a brief meeting in the main security office. Now all that was left was for the command staff to arrive.

Dee had been out performing rounds when he received the summons to return to the security. Since the disappearance of the Pennsylvania, he'd observed a lot of low morale throughout the ship. Strangely, this made his rounds quite peaceful. Actually, he should use the term uneventful. He arrived in the security office hopeful that this meeting would provide a distraction from the mundane.

To his surprise, Dee saw that the Captain was already present. He hadn't the chance to meet her in person since coming aboard, so he took the opportunity to introduce himself. "Captain, Lieutenant Daniel Ellis reporting as ordered."

The rabbitess to Abigail's right gave a nod to the Lieutenant, "At ease." she relaxed their host before continuing. "Before we begin I want to stress the confidence in this assignment. While time to grieve over the loss of an entire vessel is important, the notion of returning to task to restore normalcy is equally important. To that end, we've been selected to host a cultural exchange." there was a tone there. "Allow me to bring you up to speed, but I stress this portion of the upcoming assignment is in confidence." a pause before she continued. "Relations between my people and the Federation in general are at a comfortable pace, until a few weeks ago where at a high viewer sporting event, the winning team's captain declared... and I quote... Laurens Abigail is a badass."

There was a hint of a smirk, "Since then, Captain Laurens' name has been on the tone of every Kinetic fan, news caster, and dignitary. Kinetic is one of the highest watched entertainment venues in the Empire, and everyone viewing was just introduced to the Captain of the Astraea via one very loud and personable captain of a team known for going against the grain. To this, talks were accelerated to a pace the diplomatic corp considers break neck. It was decided that the two teams should settle their grudge match, and the discussion landed on hosting the rematch here, aboard the Astraea. A cultural exchange and a diplomatic event rolled into one."

"To the best of my knowledge, there will only be the teams themselves and a minimal crew for the support and execution of the Kinetic match. At this time I have not been informed of any true diplomatic attachment, but I don't know if Federation Common has an expression similar, but in Ts'usugibito the rule of three applies: What was said, what was heard, and what was meant."

She wilted a bit, but took a breath and regained her posture. "I do not anticipate trouble, but a strong show of responsibility to the safety of our guests will go a long way. Kinetic is viewed by the Empire and the Rebublic of Dalacar, billions of viewers. Showing the home sectors that Starfleet takes the well being of her guests seriously will endear confidence. Your task is to ensue the crew knows they are safe, and to provide security for the two Kinetic teams to keep any fights in the arena."

"I'll provide you a copy of the event in question that sparked this chain of... dominoes? Yes, dominoes. But again, keep this to yourself and any you deem it necessary to know. I'll trust your discretion." She knew what came next, "We're keeping this close for the moment, since there may be some on the crew that feel that rushing into a new assignment might be poorly timed, especially considering the nature of the assignment we've been given." she clarified, "Any questions?"

This was an order, but Ichiko handled it like a request. A request that had already been agreed to, but at least it was being handled soft.

Dee listened to every word with great care. To use a human expression, this was not his first rodeo. Experience had taught him that one could never be too careful, and that one should never assume anything. "Where will the event be held?" Dee asked, still unfamiliar with the ship's visitor-friendly areas. He certainly had many questions and did not want to bombard. However, they were dealing with a different culture, and there were always particulars. "And how will everyone be coming aboard? Transporters, shuttles, docking ports? The larger the footprint, the larger the degree of risk, not to mention the number of people who will need to know certain details."

"Kinetic stadiums are actual stadiums rather then holodeck simulations. However, the holodeck is uniquely capable of handling the event. IF... the holodeck is not large enough to contain an entire simulated stadium and seating, then we'll construct the venue through the industrial replicators and host it in the shuttlebay. As grand as the Astraea is, it lacks a convenient enormous empty space." she offered in reply to the first. "I've informed the offices of the event that the Astraea is a starship first, and an entertainment venue third. They replied that they understood, and that all parties involved would try their best to ensure success." a pause, "A phrase that translates roughly to 'We'll figure it out together'."

"As for the arrival, the Kinetic League is chartering out transport aboard the ICS Journeyman's Shield. Arrival on board will more likely than not be through transport arrangement, with shuttlecraft ferry as a last resort for technical failure. The ICS Journeyman's Shield will be travelling with as a relay for the transmission of the event. Our communication protocols are close enough to Federation standard that there shouldn't be any need for special equipment, so that's in the clear. The only real concern will be the teams." and with that, she swiped on the PaDD to the personnel files. Two teams, well three if you counted the crew handling the broadcast as a team.

The first team stood tall and proud, almost military in their stance. A leader type, facing the camera. Determination and tradition etched in their fur. Behind him was his team, standing to show a profile, and staggered so that everyone could be seen. Script written next to them, possibly their names, slowly updated to show translations as the Operations department handled the installation of the language cipher. At least communication wouldn't be an issue.

After the team's individual names came the name of the team itself, the Takish Nebulas.

"The Takish Nebulas. Favored by every algorithm. Favored by just about every citizen over the age of forty. They were defeated by the upstart team and the favorite of everyone under the age of forty." she swiped the PaDD surface to the next team, and the difference couldn't be more different.

The team captain was a female, a 'Daughter of Ts'usu' in the local lingo. She didn't stand at attention or anything, rather she stood with her arms crossed, a scowl on her face and what grin was there was only there to show teeth. Her team behind her was not standing in a line with dignity and discipline but rather in a pose that could only be described as 'an ruly mob'.

"The Zanark Flames. Kinetic is divided into, for lack of truer terms, Good Guys and Bad Guys. The Nebulas are Good Guys. The Flames... they're THE Bad Guys. It would be best to keep the two teams apart except when any Kinetic Officials are there. They'll clear anything they want to broadcast with security..." she motioned to Dee, "... so there should be minimal surprises."

"The teams have a certain, oh this is odd to explain to an outside observer, the teams have character. Think of it like a show AND a sport. I'm working on getting a copy of the events leading up to this outreach, but right now the communication systems back home are all buzzing from, well, This." a pause, "The teams have character. The individual members of the team might break that character when the vid isn't rolling, but if there's a vid catcher in the room, they're on the clock."

"These two..." she motioned to the two team captains, "Are professional captains. The only time they aren't captains of their teams is when they're asleep, and I'm pretty sure they dream in character. Kinetic teams are like local celebrities. Right now, the only person in all of Ts'usu who's making more news than these two teams... is the Emperor herself." a pause, "Who will *not* be in attendance." she wanted that clear. "The Kinetic League has the Emperor's permission to use a proxy actress as her presence, provided that her face never be seen on vid. So if you hear mention of the Emperor at the event, she's a fake."

"As for the number of people in attendance from the League..."

I'm nineteen. I'm on a date with a Son of Ts'usu. His name is Tiru Shinzen. He's one year and four months older than me. He takes me to a Kinetic match. I don't like live events. So much to see. So many new memories. He knows I don't like these events. This will be our last date.

There's fifty thousand seats in this stadium. The music starts. The house lights dim. The announcer comes out to intro the event. I remember his enthusiasm more than his words, but I remember his words just as clearly. The event begins. There's nineteen soft drink and food vendors walking through the aisles. Tiru gets some snacks to distract me from the event to keep my focus on him. It doesn't work. The teams arrive to their colors and prefecture themes. The Akita Kings. Gold. Red. Loud. The crowd cheers. The other team arrives. Red lights, pyrotechnics. Loud. The Zanark Flames. The crowd boos, except for the younger crowd. The Captain of the Flames wasn't a woman back then. His energy is the same. He gives the crowd a rude gesture.

Ichiko paused, bringing a hand up to her head. Roughly where her skull's temple would be right behind the eye, if her people had temples. Her eyes fluttered, a wince in her features.

"A.. Apologies." she covered, getting back to the here and now. "Just a persistent thought. Kinetic teams are the Captain and five on the field, and five replacements. There will be an additional mascot for each team to bring the total count, per team, to twelve. Two teams, twenty four in total. The crew to run the vid consists of three drone operators, seven vid and audio hands, the announcer, two additional referees, and one guest announcer. Fourteen in total."

"Which brings the grand total to thirty eight. Thirty nine if they bring a proxy Emperor. So, count on forty even. Keeping the teams separate, and the stage hands separate and close to the event itself shouldn't put too much of a hamper on the diplomatic quarters. I imagine hosting them all in one general location accustomed to heightened security would be optimal?" she offered.

In his short few years of service, Dee had attended several briefings that he would consider to be critical or comprehensive or somehow measuring along a greater scale than normal shipboard operations. This particular briefing, to use yet another human euphemism, took the cake. Normally information like this was handed over in a padd to allow Dee to take notes and make remarks as he went through. Even now Dee struggled to keep afloat with the sheer amount of information that was being imparted.

"There is a lot to unpack here," Dee finally said at last. "Before we even begin to discuss quarters, we should definitely discuss the location. There is no way that the holodeck can host forty people, including a media team, and any crew from the Astraea that attend. And, with three drones and seven other video personnel, you might as well add ten other people to the holodeck because those vantage points will have to be generated by the computer. And, once you get that many people into a holodeck, the computer won't be able to distinguish spectator voices from the players. Another issue with that many people is that if someone does manage to sneak in something as small as a knife, they'll have no trouble at all striking a target, intended or otherwise. An explosive device will easily claim all lives."

Dee shook his head, "No, this is going to have to be in the shuttlebay. The engineers will have to fashion key elements, and holographic projectors can finish off the rest. That aside, we should certainly keep everyone in one location. I would recommend Deck 4 since Sickbay is also on that level. We can keep security concentrated in that area and not have to have everyone so spread out. We'll also have to consider that that section is currently occupied by crew, so either they have guests, or we ask the crew to temporarily relocate until this is done."

Having spent the duration thus far simply listening to the exchange, Abigail clasped her hands behind her back, more than content to leave her First Officer in charge of these arrangements. After all, no one aboard the Astraea knew how to please the Ts'usugi better than the Rabittess herself.

"Discretion is going to be imperative," Abigail finally added quietly. "We can't risk anything going wrong. If we screw this up, well, the ramifications could be horrific."

Will took a breath before chiming in, "I'll come up with a holding pattern for all the accompanying ships, make sure they don't drift into Astrea's blind spots. Also, it would make since to split running the security teams between both myself and Lieutenant Ellis. Each of us running one team would cut down on any miscommunication between the two."

Ichiko nodded in agreement, "An excellent strategy." she paused, to let the confidence hold, "These teams are rivals, and they're coming to space to settle their grudge. I can coordinate with the arena and broadcast crew to see what is, and isn't, part of the show once they arrive. Should anything go beyond that, I have the utmost confidence in your team."

Dee hoped he had as much confidence in the security department as the XO did. The lieutenant's time aboard was extremely brief so far. So brief, in fact, that he did not have the opportunity to see the department in action. He supposed there was no better time like the present. "The less points of contact the better," he agreed with his superior officer. "I'll cover the Flames, if that's all right with you, Commander Cole?"

"Be careful." Ichiko warned, "She bites." a smirk. She was kidding. She was kidding, right?

Abigail smiled momentarily before her expression settled back into her usual demure demeanor. "Work out between yourselves how you want to run security. I suggest you check with Operations, find out where our guests will be housed and do what needs to be done for extra security there, both leading up to and during the event. Brief your teams. Remember, discretion is key and the safety of our guests is paramount. If there's nothing else you need from either of us?" Abigail prompted gently.

Dee thought for a moment and then shook his head. "Nothing from me." He then looked back over to the holographic displays. So much information, so little time to digest it all.

Abigail gave a nod. "Very well, if you need anything, Commander Gail will be your contact point. Please keep her updated with your progress." The dark haired human cast a glance at the Rabittess who served as her first officer, another slight nod and then turned to depart. So many departments to get through, so little time.