Operation: OMAHA Part I

Posted on Mon Sep 30th, 2019 @ 9:51pm by Chief Petty Officer Leslie Calhoun & Petty Officer 1st Class Tobias Beckett & Gunnery Sergeant Flarn & Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii & Staff Sergeant Shayla Kunadt & Staff Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters - Calhoun & Lieutenant JG Mira Jayna & Major Cornelius Tremble & Sergeant Miranda Schultz & Sergeant Azure Thompson & Corporal Rairror Thoran & Corporal Adélaïde Moreau
Edited on on Tue Oct 15th, 2019 @ 12:35am

2,563 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 8 - The Silence
Location: Above Wren IX
Timeline: MD004 1100 hrs

Op Plan 48271P47 - Omaha

Op Omaha is an EXERCISE. Simulated Search and Rescue (SAR) of a Type 6 shuttlecraft lost in the rings of Wren IX. An intermittent signal from a Pioneer shuttlecraft VIII apparently damaged during a surveying mission and has been received. There are three life forms aboard. The shuttle’s engines are off-line. Life supports are damaged and operating on backups, with estimated 20 hours remaining from briefing.The signal being received is a distress beacon, but as mentioned the signal is intermittent.

The Cure shall deploy via shuttlecraft (Hawkeye) and transporter K182774, (Marine DedicatedTransporter Pad) separation at approximately 10 kilometers and begin search grid (box) pattern around the last known, actual coordinates of the shuttle.

All MARVEL-EAS/MK4 trained personnel, save bridge coordinator will take part in search. Hawkeye will remain outside of the rings to facilitate entry and recovery of personnel once shuttlecraft is found.

Extraction will be then completed by either Hawkeye or Mk 4 suited personnel clearing the ring fields and returning to Pioneer via transporter.

End Op Order Omaha Summery.

Space almost always seemed so empty. A dark mass that encompassed all and wraps about you like an embrace. In the emptiest quadrant’s of space, you could be in an EVA suit and it wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as this.

Neil looked through his helmet at the ring of Wren IX he and the Cure had inserted into fifteen hours ago. Searching for the ‘lost shuttle’ was taking time, but the members of the Cure were doing a fair job for their first real deployment in the MARVEL Mk IV suits, hiccups were always expected.

He’d nearly pinwheeled while landing on a chunk of ice and a couple of Marines had hit hard, but the armored suits had protected their wearers. Now, they were all spread into a box/grid pattern searching the field for their target. A waypoint indicator went from yellow to green and Neil glanced at the super-imposed map of the grid they’d covered thus far and he made some adjustments with his eye.

The interface still felt odd and once the HUD updated new marker waypoints for all of the Cure’s members, he spoke. “All Omaha elements. Proceed to next search grid.”

He activated the thruster pack and slowly dialed up the power, and angled himself along the flight path he and the computer had selected as he moved with the Cure on their search. He was at the middle of the rectangle and they angled through the nearly fifty kilometer wide ring, searching grid by grid.

Shayla was drifting. She had no idea why she was in this blasted suit. She was a pilot not an EVA specialist. Yet here she was, when the Captain said everyone he meant everyone. A part of her sulked, she had no idea what to do or how to act. Yet here she was, drifting among the ice and the rocks in orbit of Wren IX. A claxon going off on her suit brought her out of her drifting thoughts. It was a proximity alarm. "Goddamn it!" She shouted as she engaged the maneuvering thrust of the suit and avoided a collision. "I should be aboard the Hawkeye, not lost in space." She grumbled.

Flarn deployed from the Hawkeye and immediately saw the benefits of the suit. He actually felt stronger and enjoyed the maneuverability it gave. After looking around both with his eyes and with the suits sensors and in the absence of further orders, Flarn decided to have some fun for a change. He began to punch asteroids that were stuck in the rings. These pieces of space rock would break on impact with his fists and he would chuckle each time.

Gaagii enjoyed the space walk. He always enjoyed free floating in space, it reminded him of the great eagle in flight. However, he did not enjoy the suit. The sniper felt that all the sensor systems and detection grids that the suit offered rendered his job in the corps almost useless. Anyone could be a sniper with this suit, he thought. As such he reminded quiet over the comm channel. Although he could hear his comrades enjoying themselves. For now he was contented simply laying back and enjoying the drift.

It had been far too long since Miranda did an EVA. While she was trained as a sniper, her speciality was communications. This was her first chance to get out and about and play around with the new tech. It was amazing. She felt so insignificant out in space like this. So empowered. She looked through the helmet at the HUD, scrolling through the screens with a blink of her eyes. Fascinating. She checked on the others, seeing them pop up like little dots on her 3D overlay. She did a slow pirouette, then a somersault, the suit allowing her perfect control.

Azure liked the new tech, but the suit wasn't designed with Andorians in mind, so her antennae were uncomfortably crushed up against her skull. Other than that she was impressed by how responsive it was to her commands. Small pieces of rock impacted her suit, bouncing harmlessly off its armor. Her comms. were open, in case anyone needed medical aid, but for now her fellow marines appeared to be enjoying themselves and so was she.

Rairror had to stop himself from yelling out with glee as he span his suit around and between the planet's rings. He wondered if the Skipper would allow some live fire practise once the mission was over. The Orion weapons specialist felt very powerful in his MARVEL-EAS and wanted to check out its weapons.

Adélaïde smiled as she glided through the rings of Wren IX. She felt strong, powerful in the suit that protected her from the outside elements and the vastness of space and projectiles flying around her. She kept her eyes open for the objective at hand, or any dangers that may arise with herself and her team.

Meanwhile, aboard the Hawkeye

Standard Star Fleet flight controls apparently weren't all that standard when it came to the Marines. Pioneer's intel team had taken over control of the Marines shuttle and would perform the RESCUE part of the mission when the time came.

Between here and there though, someone had decided it wasn't a bad thing to put the Intel division aboard for a familiarization drill and to check out the Hawkeye's upgraded Intel suite.

Billy had converted what was the Ops console to a Data Analysis console. He wore a broad smile on his face as he was overjoyed to be off the Pioneer and on an Away Mission, even if it were simply training. This was a rare and special treat. To make matters better he would be able to see the woman he loved in action. Jennifer was now in command of the Hawkeye as the senior member of it's crew. He was proud of her. "Ma'am the Hawkeye seems to be at all stop and all systems nominal. The uplink to the SCIF is online and encrypted." He reported and he could not wipe the smile from his face.

If there was a polar opposite to Billy at the moment it was Tobias. Toby longed for his computer in the SCIF. If I wanted to be on Away Missions I would have joined SID. I am a frakking analyst and belong at a desk. He thought as he looked at what was a tactical station well at least he thought it was a tactical station.

Jayna was familiarizing herself with the shuttle and its controls. She was co-pilot, communications, and sensors. All were familiar to her, so she made the most of her time to see how she could alter the programming in a pinch. She didn't think she'd need it for the training, but it was always good to know, just in case. She was also curious to see how this little team worked together.

She was looking over the comm system when it picked up an odd signal that wasn't part of the SAR training. Curious, Jayna pulled it up. It only took a moment for her to recognize it. She'd seen that code a lot when she was part of the Maquis. "Chief, I'm picking up a transmission. It's an old Cardassian code." She looked at Masters. "Permission to see what this is?"

Jayna looked back at the message. No, she wasn't going to wait for permission. If only she could remember the encryption code... She closed her eyes to concentrate. CDF, Bajor. Maquis. Codes. She had a Vulcan brain, she just needed to use it. Too many years had passed since she'd needed those memories. She decided to trace the comm signal while she sifted through old memories of her pre-Starfleet life.

And then she began to remember, and with the remembering came bits and pieces she began to try. No, not that one. Military not underground. And there it was. The Cardassians used it for several years, until they realized it was compromised. It took three tries to get the algorithm right. Unfortunately, the message had bounced around so long it was too garbled to understand.

"Hey, Tobias, what do you know about Cardassian military codes?" she asked.

Tobias liked being relatively invisible so when Jayna made a request of him it caught him a bit off guard. "I er... I know a bit about them ma'am. I know that typically the Cardassian use a rotating frequency for their codes this way they cannot be hacked. Ever paranoid, they are and in some cases worse than the Romulans."

"Ever hacked one?" Jayna asked. She didn't much like the man, but he could be useful. If he knew enough, she'd see if he could clear up the message.

"I can give it a shot ma'am. But Cardassian codes are uniquely hard to crack especially if this is a wartime code." Tobias replied and he hunched over his terminal and began to work.

"Billy, what about you?" Jayna asked.

"No ma'am but I have always wanted to try. I think together Tobias and I can get it done." Billy said with a smile and crossed the Hawkeye to work with Tobias.

Jenn was sitting at the helm. It had taken her awhile to actually lead her department, but now she was leading an away team with these people. It was an interesting experience to say the least. When Billy said something to her she just nodded as she checked the sensors. She vaguely waved at Jayna when she asked her to decode something. She never sat at helms so she was quite at her element. Of course she had training for it. But to actually do it without an instructor on an away mission was thrilling.

Jenn heard Jayna talk with Tobias and Billy about the message she was decoding. She turned over to her co pilot. "Warrant officer, maybe you could run the message through a lower band frequency. It might take a bit, but I don't think it is too hard to decode."

"Yes, ma'am," Jayna said, not wanting to admit she'd already decoded it. She was mostly hoping they'd be able to clean up the transmission. She adjusted the comms and ran the message through the lower frequency. "Nope. Still too distorted to make out the words. It's definitely Cardassian, though. It seems to be coming from somewhere near the SAR signal."
* * * *
In Wren IX's debris belt...

Neil flew along, testing out the Mark IV's Heads Up, targeting system to track the flow of the debris around him. A few smaller chunks passed by and bounced off the armor here and there, once a grapefruit sized chunk of ice and rock skipped off his helmet causing him to see stars for a few minutes. He'd reset his targeting and targeting parameters at that point and as his contact, linked into the HUD, picked up another chunk coming at him, Neil considered his options and then focused on it.

Nano seconds later, the shoulder mounted phaser emitter sparked and fired off, shattering the chunk. Some of it still bounced off his armor, but he didn't have to worry about going through concussion protocols after the Op.

And it was rather fun..

Wiping the grin from his face, he noticed the comm's flashing and a SIG-INT flag appear. Peering, he slowed his travel and spoke, "All Omaha elements," he paused as the comm switched itself and then continued when it flashed green.

"This is Lead. Fragments from the belt are getting smaller and thicker where I'm at. Watch your pace and you are authorized to go weapon's hot to clear your path as needed. That being said, don't get too excited with it. Lead out."

Then he turned to the signal his detectors were picking up and he was surprised to find it wasn't the SAR target's beacon. It was something all together different.

Something Cardassian...which was odd.

A large piece of ice floated towards Azure's position. She activated her targeting sensors and was about to fire, when her HUDS displayed that the ice contained a large concentration of manufactured alloys.

Deactivating her shoulder mounted weapon, she moved out of its current line of trajectory, moving in closer to get better readings.

Moments later her HUDS told her that the composition of metallic object within the ice was consistent with those present in the hulls of Federation vessels. "Thompson to Lead. Do we have any reports of Federation vessels lost in this area?" She asked.
To Be Continued...

A Joint Post By

Captain Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer