Shades of Grey
Posted on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 @ 6:57pm by Rear Admiral Yoshi Minawara
Mission:
R&R: The Reprieve
Location: Admiral's Office
Timeline: MD03: 1330HRS
1535 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure
After all the chaos and energy of the last couple days, Yoshi was enjoying the moment of silence and reprieve. At this exact moment, a fresh brewed cup of tea sat on his desk, gently steaming away in the silence. Nothing fancy, or even remotely approaching what Ewan would have carried, so much as it was a simple peppermint tea, with a single lump of sugar. No fuss, no ceremony, and it pleased his wife to no end to know that her husband wasn't on his fourth cup of coffee. He has stopped at three. Still, for all the grandeur that many assumed came with the second boxed pip, it was a moment of pure calm. In his hand was a report regarding the ongoing activities of the Fenris Rangers not far from the station, as well as notes of two civilian freighters that had unexpectedly diverted course while being tracked. He flagged them, and sent them back to security to have them inspected when they arrived at station. There was a good chance the two notes were related, after all. He took the briefest of moments to close his eyes, and placed the PaDD down, relaxing for a second, and thinking briefly what he'd do for lunch. He probably could have sat there a few minutes more and rested his eyes if it hadn't been for the gentle chime of his door. There was no accompanying chaos of Kevin to investigate, the pup happily at home, however he himself was roused from his rest and looked to the door.
For a moment he considered ignoring it, that was an Admiral's privilege after all. Seeing as he did not yet have a station side yeoman proper yet, he had thought of having a holographic one set up. But, after going through the pre-programmed one he found they lacked the personality he was looking for. Plus he still needed a proper Aide. He heaved a sigh, straightened the PaDD on his desk, and took a brief sip from the tea to centre himself, then called out. "Come."
The doors hissed open, and three individuals entered in short order. Leading the pack was a tall Vulcan, and that was tall for even a Vulcan at what appeared to be nearly a six foot eight, who stepped through with a cautious grace and paused. This man was dressed in Intelligence grey, and bore a single boxed pip on his collar. When he looked to the Admiral, he offered a polite, if uniquely un-Vulcan smile, that failed to reach his eyes. It would have been unnerving, had it not been so clear it was purely for the Admiral's comfort. Directly to his left and following close behind was a human of mousy brown hair, and a pair of green eyes that gave pause to their authenticity due to how pronounced they were. His smile was far more genuine, though he bore no uniform, and if anything seemed as though he could have been one of Isabella's civilian diplomats. Lastly, in Marine Green was an Orion woman, who looked about the room quickly, scanning everything before landing on the Admiral. No smile, but a polite nod. It was the grey trim to her uniform that caught his eye, Starfleet Marine Corps Intelligence Division. That was something you didn't see everyday. For his part, the Admiral settled into the cold and uninterested mask that many of his junior officers came to greatly dislike.
"Yes Commodore?" It was polite enough, with the correct level of decorum that would be allowed any subordinate officer barging into a more senior officer's quarters, though slightly above the politeness required when they brought a whole posse with them.
"My apologies Admiral Minawara," the Commodore said, stepping forward, "we hadn't intended to interrupt, though we arrived shortly ago and wanted to make sure you were aware we had done so." He produced a PaDD in his hand and held it outwards. It was the kind of move a courier would do, unsure of whether to hand over a package personally or leave it on the table. It would have lead to the Admiral to assume the officer in question was being brash, or maybe was unsure of themselves. And perhaps any other officer he would have been right in that assumption, but something about the man's motions seemed too calculated, too rehearsed. With a wave of Yoshi's hand, the man stepped further, he colleagues following as they approached the Admiral's desk, the PaDD presented. Giving the Commodore a quizzical study, Yoshi picked up the PaDD and began to read, leaving the gathered people in a silence that hung.
It took a moment to scan over the document, but he recognized the purpose immediately. This was part of the new Joint Intelligence Operations that the Federation Council and Starfleet had been pushing. An effort to remove the needless layers of Intelligence personnel purposefully hiding things and being sneaky, when other groups might need that information. He scoffed, rather unintentionally, at the name though. "Grey Wolf Agency," he said aloud, reading from the document as we went. "Playing on my Task Force's past naming convention are you?"
"A rather cleaver idea, to make sure that your Task Force is as comfortable with us as possible. Admiral," the human interjected - now Yoshi knew his name though. Hamish McDougal, a member of the Federation Intelligence Bureau, and Director of this specific operation for the Civilian side. Yoshi's eyes tracked to the Commodore, Commodore Niruk who had been with Starfleet Intelligence since just after the Dominion War. Lastly he looked at the Marine, one Colonel Jirtou, SFMC Intelligence Lead for their elements of the Task Force. Choosing to disregard the comment, he pointed at the chairs opposite him, all four of them arranged just far enough apart that Yoshi could still see the door. As they sat, he placed the PaDD down, and settled into the chair.
"How is the Caelian treating you Commodore? Last I heard SFI had spent quite the period of time altering her for your own needs." Niruk nodded, and pointed to the PaDD, which Yoshi flipped over - he wanted to hear what they had to say, not read the approved script. "I spent nearly seven years assigned to Starfleet Intelligence Commodore, don't bore me with the public relations piece. If I wanted to hear every way you were going to assure me you weren't Section Thirty-One in disguise I'd call your boss and ask him. You're not-" his eyes darted to the civilian of the group, "as if you were running under the boodyman alias, they wouldn't be dumb enough to place you on my station with a ship I helped ensure is operational. Updated sensor dampening technology from Project Pathfinder, a special sensor reflective hull, a shutter system to reduce active EM and IR across the visible and undetected spectrum. Though, from what I understand it has a few more party tricks up its sleeve. Don't look so shocked," he added, nodding to the Colonel, "I have friends in the department still, specifically in xenotechnology. I also know a ship doesn't need a specific setting for power system controls unless there is something sucking a lot of power. Phoenix or Romulan?"
"Well then sir, I feel we don't need to waste anymore of your time. Unless you have questions?" The Commodore was clearly the leader of the trio, the one who held all the power, Yoshi was starting to figure out. To his credit the civilian intelligence director kept beaming, as though he were actually enjoying the entire exchange for all it was worth. Jirtou though seemed wholly annoyed by the whole ordeal, and for his credit Yoshi did feel the worst for her. She was stuck in the middle of a political dick measuring contest with which she probably had little desire to deal with. The Marines had always preferred to keep their Intelligence affairs at least a little hush hush, and avoid any attachment to the botched image that Section Thirty-One had brought with it. It was a boogyman in its own right, something every half wit criminal and general claimed to know was lurking around the corner, where as the Marines... To their credit the Marines actually got things done.
"Two. One, how many ships? Two, how often do I get briefed?"
"Four. Once a week." The answers were precise, and this time from the Colonel herself, who looked to the Commodore, a small crack of annoyance showing on his Vulcan features. Now it was Yoshi's turn to smile.
"Wonderful, report here tomorrow for a full debrief and a discussion about how I expect to see those reports. Dismissed." Picking up the original PaDD he'd been reading, he effectively ignored the three as they shuffled out. As the door hissed closed behind them, Yoshi could distinctly hear McDougal proclaiming "I don't know why you were worried, I like him!" Once the door had sealed shut, Yoshi sat a moment longer, before placing the PaDD down again and taking a sip from his now lukewarm tea. A deep breath in, a slow breath out. Things were getting interesting.
