| Author | Message | ||
     Kari |
Suppose that for whatever reason it is necessary to capture back multiple Cylinders; how many could the strike force reasonably contain, and how long could would it take to set up additional facilities for storage? And what if one or both of the other strike craft aren’t able to make it into the system? The resources of all three ships need to be checked, their storage capabilities determined. Kariasa Ma’Aru set down the PADD she was holding, the terminal access station on her desk would hold all the answers she needed. Best to start now, the arrival in the Pearce system is only a few hours away and this might take some time to get this sorted out. A meter from the desk’s chair, however, she stopped with concerted effort. The plans had been finalized hours ago; they’re currently as good as they are going to get. Any feelings of uncertainty, she managed convinced herself, are merely her own nervous feelings trying to find release. Turning towards the center of the room she picked up the PADD and resumed cataloging the items around her. Since being transferred to a fleet level position she had qualified for slightly larger quarters in the Senior Officer’s section of the ship, and now that the next few hours would be relatively calm she had decided to move her belongings to the new room. It hadn’t taken long to convince herself to move, either. Despite having a couple of extra square meters of floor space the new quarters feature a fully function Tactical Relay Map. Consisting of a small piece of transparent aluminum, upon which shine a few holograph generators, the TRM was designed to allow a quick surmising of the status of a large number of starships over a wide distance. Kari had used them often in the Coro’s Strategic and Tactical Analysis labs and Command Information Center; though having one located in her quarters would certainly be handy. Besides, it was only proper that she leave the quarters in the intelligence module designated for the IO. When the ship gets a new intelligence officer they will certainly want to stay move into them… Walking towards a table adorned with a few various pieces of artwork pulled from the replicator’s memory banks she flipped the PADD on and studied the image on the screen. There really were many more important things she could be doing right now, though. Moving items between rooms on a starship seemed such a menial task, especially considering it only consisted of indicating on an overhead layout where you wanted the transporters to put something. Having been around most of them room already Kari was pondering where to place these particular items in the already cramped areas of her new room when the door chime sounded. Tossing the PADD on her bed she turned towards the door, a frown starting to form on the corners of her lips. She wasn’t expecting anyone and unannounced visitors often bear bad news. Though she really didn’t have much chose, whoever was out deserves and answer. “Yes?” -=-=-=-=-=-=- (At this point you should turn to the aftersim for July 8th, 2002, located temporarily at http://acewreckingco.com/kari/uss-coro.log until such time as they go up on the official Coronado website) -=-=-=-=-=-=- The Command Information Center seemed abnormally calm to LtCmdr Ma’Aru, especially considering that they were less than a minute from the Pearce system. Granted, this was the first time she had been in there this close to a combat situation, but she had at least expected to hear frequent status reports and the like. Yet everything remained relatively silent, with only a few quiet conversations mixing with the normal background hum of the holotanks. Once the timer ticked to zero, and the three ships of the strike force returned to normal space, the spell was broken. The CIC suddenly transformed into a sort of controlled chaos as everyone took in the current status and made final last-minute changes to the attack plans. The invasion was going exactly as planned, which was probably why they chose that moment to launch the small shuttle. Whoever was behind the planning of this operation had obviously wanted to wait until the collective eyes of the ship were focused on the planet below before sending the craft on its way. It is hard, however, to get anything past a ship with a crew compliment of roughly 500, and in this instance at least one person was staring intently as the shuttle made its way across the sensor scans. Kari knew who was onboard immediately, though some parts of her mind still had trouble accepting it. She had at least hoped to be able to have a final dinner with him, perhaps a visit to the holodeck, or at least a chance to talk some sense into him. Arguments as to why he should stay had swirled through her head almost constantly since their last conversation. All of that seemed to fade away as the shuttle vectored towards its hyperspace jump. There were still things she could do; it would be a trivial matter to open a comm channel and say something to him. It might even be possible to convince the Commodore or Captain that the ship should stay until after the engagement. Or maybe she could get into the Intelligence Support Module’s computer banks and find a way to remotely disable the hyper drive. Lora Kor was saying something, sounds like it’s directed at her, though it doesn’t matter. Everything important is sitting in that shuttle slowly driving away from her. Serrold. Craig. Her Craig. The only person within a trillion light-years who really cared about her. The only person she truly cared about. Then with a brief flash, and the accompanying flare of the sensor suite, the ship was gone, taking with it the despair currently sinking around her. He was gone, it is over, there are currently more important things to worry about. Kor was repeating his last order. Something about detecting a transmission, and there seems to be a slight trace of annoyance at having to repeat himself. A quick glance at the comm console told her everything she needed to now. Turning towards him she responded. For now, at least, she had to be professional. There would be plenty of time to let her emotions get in her way later on. |