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Fandom Star Trek: Vigilance (IC)

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Jack sees the opportunity to make something of an impression on the crew and the captain, and hesitatingly takes it. Nervously, she clears her throat and begins to talk, first in a mumble and then proceeding to raise her voice into a facsimilie of confidence. "If I may, Captain, my experience has shown me that mercenaries don't provide the sort of enviornment neccesary for proper work on a Starfleet vessel. I doubt these Ferengi offered to us have ever even stepped foot on a ship like the Vigilance." Her voice cracks. "Sir." She quickly sits back in her seat, visibly embarassed.
 
Savir's face was completely blank as he took the PADD from Jack Kwan, but his right eyebrow had risen so dramatically that if it wasn't attached to his face, it would have soared up to the ceiling. A small part of him was hoping the screen would show some kind of proof that he had been pranked, which, while unpleasant, seemed like the only viable option his brain could accept. Its logic-driven coils had a massive problem with even fathoming a reality, in which sending 60 individuals, some of whom did not care if they would live or die, from a mental hospital to a dangerous mission in space was considered a good idea. However, when he gave the PADD a brief glance, what he saw was a long, long list of names. That in itself was outrageous enough, but to make matters even worse, six names were missing and Savir's subconscious memory was quick enough to inform him that six was - likely not coincidentally - also the number of bridge crew members. At that point, the fact that the Chief Medical Officer had apparently played a major part in a disaster involving multiple children was the smallest of his concerns.

And the chain of events beyond all understanding went on and on as Sisko began suggesting about every person from any species he had recently met for recruitment. Much like in any hard-to-handle situation, Savir could feel absolute detachment taking hold of his mind, sparing him of the emotionality of the situation. Which was probably the best thing that could have happened, because he had been an inch from showing a reaction no one in the room would have wanted to see. As it was, his words were likely to cause only minor burns. Summing up everything he believed had to be done, he let Jack have her turn, which proved to be completely unhelpful, and straightened up before taking word.

"Captain, if I may, I will speak openly, as I believe the situation requires it," he said in way of apology for anything that could mark him as disrespectful later on. "I will only speak from my position of Acting Counselor, since there are others here more qualified to cover the aspect of command." In all honesty, Savir believed himself more than capable of making a couple of suggestions in that department as well, but it seemed very unwise to overstep his authority so early into the mission.

"Currently, this ship is manned by exactly forty mentally stable officers, as one of the newly arrived ten also suffers from several types of disorders," Savir recounted coldly, "as opposed to 61 unstable ones. If these numbers do not already concern you, they certainly should. Having experienced during my previous placement, what ill effect three mentally ill officers can have in the enclosed space of a star ship, I frankly cannot even begin to understand how Starfleet could have sanctioned this, especially in the context of the special dispensatation. I would like to correct you here, because that term does not mean they were ready to step on board of the Vigilance - it means they were discharged prematurely. I believe human civilisation used to send soldiers whose mental health was more then dubious to suicide missions, and this grossly reminds me of that practise."

As he spoke, Savir began moving towards the centre of the room inconscpicuously, hoping to add more weight to his words. The information, so far, was probably not new to most in the room, yet everyone, including Sisko and the Captain, were failing to see the disaster this was certain to cause. As though as a few therapy sessions would sort it out. "However, neither of us can change that now, for unfathomable reasons, the admiralty have cleared these officers for service and they are already here. I know that you expect me to deal with the fallout, but I feel obliged to warn you that this goes beyond mine, or anyone elses abilities. Months are required to restore someone's psychical health with therapy and medication, and here we are speaking of sixty individuals with different needs and issues. They will not perform adequatly because their collective depression will grow as they will support each other in such tendencies. Some of their superior officers may be unstable as well, therefore unable to provide them with adequate support. Even those who currently appear to be fine, will meet triggers during the mission - and anything can be a trigger. A flash of red light. Sighting of a person who reminds you of somebody else. Putting one's hand on a control panel. A mere sound. And since we are very understaffed, there will not be enough peers able to watch them. For a suicidal individual, it takes 45.5 seconds on average to arrange an overheating of the warp core, and if no one is closeby to catapult it into space, that person will take us all along."

By that time, most of the officers in the room were wordlessly staring at him, whether in fear, silent agreement or steaming with aggrivation, he wasn't about to start finding out. There were more important things to do. "In light of all these facts," he turned to the Captain, about to move from the foreword to the actual points he needed to make, "I believe it is clear we cannot bring any more problematic individuals on board. Therefore I suggest accepting those final year cadets, whose personal records include a flawless psychological test. Furthermore, any Bajorans whom Major Kira personally knows and can therefore confirm their sound mental health." His eyes traveled to meet Kira's. Amongst everyone currently present, he believed her and Jadzia to be the most reasonable ones and hoped for their support. "Regarding everyone else, I am open to accepting any capable applicants, but only on the condition that I perform a quick scan on their minds and select exclusively those, who would have a positive effect on our overall situation. With the exception of the Cardassians. I strongly disadvise you from enlisting them. While possibly helpful in questioning Gul Evek's crew, they are likely to unwittingly become a trigger for those thirty officers, who suffer from PTSD caused by the Cardassian wars."

That was the easier part; recommendation. Savir knew that after showing he could be useful, his demands might be accepted more readily, even though everything was difficult on this ship. "Moving on to those who are already on board." He shifted his attention back to the Captain, giving a little nod so as to underline the importance of this final part of his long speech. "I will, of course, focus on treating everyone in need to the best of my abilities. However, I believe several precautions must be taken regardless. Once the recruitment is finished and we have a complete crew manifest, I would like for the crewmen to share double rooms. Each cabin would be occupied by one mentally unstable officer and one unofficial overseer, who could report to me if any harmful behavior transpired in the hours off shift. Furthermore I wish to organize a briefing for senior officers, in which I will give guidelines as to the prefered approach to those riddled with disorders, because if their minor failures are to be treated as serious offenses commited by a healthy officer, who simply chose to be an underachiever, it will damage them further." Saying that made Savir think of Polito and Bradfield, but he refrained from glancing in any of their directions. "Last but not least, there are six names missing in the list of officers in need of therapy that I have received. I am certain this was caused by simple admistrative omission, and it is of no consequence, as I have already identified three of them today, and will surely identify the rest in due time. I request your permission to invite these individuals for consultations at their earliest convenience."
 
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Jack sunk into her chair as Savir monologued. Her eyes began to sink lower and lower as he proceeded on his complaints of mental health, drifting completely off upon the mention of the sixty-first 'mentally unstable officer'. She knew that he was directly talking about her, but she was unsure why. Her calculating mind slowly shut down, wandering through memories and idle thoughts.

[Tele-empathic reveal: Jack] Fucking asshole.
 
Continuing to stay silent at the edge of the group Varra wondered to herself if she had made a mistake by not saying anything. Though it was to late to worry about that now. Hearing the medical officer say there was 60 crewmen who had some kind of mental illness shocked and worried Varra. However probably not as worried as everyone else as Varra was used to people having a few screws loose. Hell every Vokkan was probably a bit, I mean fighting your way from system to system with no home to go back to will do that to someone.

When the captain moved onto talking about his lack of officers and crew. It was interesting seeing the captain and commander Sisko square off against each other. Varra was interested as to who Sisko was thinking about to fill out the numbers. Bradfield was still being his pleasant self with Varra starting to wonder if this guy might just complain 24/7. Hell she could even imagine Bradfield complaining about nothing to complain about he that’s how much of a pain in the ass Varra thought he was. Varra was mulling in over the choices presented even the offer by Quark even though she disliked the little Ferengi at the moment. When the captain asked for opinions Varra though to herself that now was the time to prove herself.

Unfortunately she would have to wait for Jack and Savir to finish first. Both made valid points however Varra had something on her mind she was more worried about when it came to potential crew. Moving away from the wall Varra moved over to the group so as to be heard better and seem more apart of the meeting. Clearing her throat Varra tried to speak with authority, “Captain if I might just say I have a few problems with some of the recommendations. For starters we know that some cargo service personnel and some Bajorans actively help the Maquis. For that reason I believe they might be a security risk taking them with us.’’ Varra tried not to make eye contact with anyone, especially Major Kira as she was probably staring daggers at her for saying such a thing. Taking a breath and a gulp she continued, “I would also rule out the Klingons as we can’t say for sure wether the Klingons are behind Voyagers disappearance. I also don’t trust the mercenaries. So I would take the cadets. Though I doubt the Cardassians are behind Voyagers disappearance. Reason being if the Cardassians did it then they wouldn’t still have a ship in the Badlands. However I do agree with Savir’s point. Still it might be useful to bring one aboard, maybe even this Garak fellow.”

Varra was pleased with what she said however she was wondering if she should tell him about her theories she had for Voyagers disappearance. In the end she thought it best to layout all the possibilities like her first captain told her. Speaking more timidly this time Varra wanted to tread carefully, “sir I also have some theories as to what might of happened to Voyager. It seems likely that she has either been effected by some kind of anomaly or been captured. I doubt she is crippled otherwise we would have seen a shuttle or probe or something from Voyager by now. The Klingons, Romulans and Maquis all have potential to take the ship by force. It might even be possible that Voyagers crew joined the Maquis.” Varra decided to stop at this point not wanting to rub anyone the wrong way. Especially not the captain as she imagined that Janeway may have even switched sides though Varra wouldn’t say that out loud. Varra hates how the Vokkan and herself had become so paranoid.
 
Taris watched the ordinary, slow-paced conference, spiced up only by Bradfield's borderline hatred for the crew, turn into mayhem the moment the Captain revealed that the ship was in the hands of no less than sixty prematurely released psychiatric patients. Id couldn't blame Savir for being so obviously displeased with the state of things; Taris idself had trouble believing that someone up there in the chain of command had made such a reckless decision. While the Vulcan's tone was somewhat condescending, what he had said was very true: these people would have a disastrous influence on the ship in more ways than one. They could be dangerous to everyone on board, even blow them all up due to severe depression or one irrational decision made during a PTSD episode. And the impact some of them had on the crew on daily basis could not be underestimated either.

Of course id was thinking of Bradfield. The Captain mentioned there was exactly - one - survivor of the initial Borg attack, and Bradfield's implants didn't really leave any room for doubts regarding that person's identity. Finally, the Commander's behavior was starting to make a lot of sense. He didn't just act like a raging lunatic, he officially was one. If Taris had been slightly annoyed before, now id was really pissed off. What were they thinking when they allowed someone like that to take command? And what if the other superior officers belonged into a madhouse too? Ids first instinct was to report this failure to someone, but in light of the fact that the Admirality was beyond it all, id was left with no place to turn to. That was just wrong. Completely, utterly wrong. After leaving home, Taris put ids entire trust in the Federation, imagining Starfleet as the utopistic ideal of equality and outstanding morals. Id couldn't believe id had been let down like that.

"As my fellow officers have already pointed out, there are considerable risks to taking outsiders aboard," Id said in a tired voice, glancing up at the Captain. "I believe the question we have to ask ourselves is whether we are more concerned about the dangers threatening us from the outside, or those from the inside. This is, of course, for the Captain to decide." Taris leaned forward a little to get a better view of Ke'varr's unreadable facial expression, putting the now useless PADD onto the desk. He wondered if the Captain had, in fact, already decided and this was just some sort of test. "If you are convinced, sir, that we can manage with just the aid of the cadets, then I suggest that we play it safe and do not consider allowing non-Starfleet member on board. However, I get the feeling that you expect a lot of armed conflicts, which is not unreasonable, given that the Voyager was likely attacked by the Maquis, who are swarming the Badlands. In that case, it would be better to raise our numbers, preferably by battle-ready crew."

The situation was tricky at best, because technically none of those people should have been given access to Federation technology. On the other hand, it could hardly be worse with them on board than with nothing but a few desperate cadets and a flying asylum. Finding comfort in that thought, Taris smiled at Varra, hoping to help her overcome some of her fears. "I don't know about you, Lieutenant, but the one thing I liked about the Federation, when everything was still new to me, was the lack of bias. There was an opportunity for everyone who tried to earn one. You are right to be cautious, but there is no reason to think that every Bajoran is a Maquis, and every Klingon is a spy for the Empire. What we need to do is employ safety measures and thoroughly examine everyone before deciding who to enlist and who to leave behind, rather than treat every group as a single unit."

Taris was calm now, not afraid of Bradford's reprimanding, and it showed on the way id spoke with authority. Whether or not id would suffer during the shifts on the bridge seemed suddenly unimportant, because id had to step up regardless. Like it or not, Taris was a part of the sane minority and with the command training, it seemed likely a lot of responsibility would eventually end up shifting onto ids shoulders. "In my opinion, there are three areas of concern," id announced, "mental state, background and technical skills of the applicants. The first area was covered by Lieutenant Savir already. As for the second one, we need to find out as much about their history and motivation as possible - for instance, why do the Klingons not serve in the imperial fleet anymore? Was any family member of the Bajorans involved with the Maquis? Do any of the applicants have a history with causing conflicts, do they appear willing to respect the authority of our command officers? Last but not least, they should be familiar with advanced technology, given that the Intrepid class is a novelty even for Federation standards and its systems cannot be operated by just any cargo pilot. I could put together a quick test in order to see if they have the necessary skills or are quick learners. I also volunteer to give those we'll have chosen a crash course on the basics of our rules and regulations."
 
As Jack Keiper made what appeared to be her first suggestions, her first attempt at asserting herself, Captain Ke'varr looked directly at her, the expression on his four-eyed Avian face odd; the corner of his eyes upturned, and his beak hanging loose. The Kraekiran smile, though few, if anyone, would notice. When she was done, and had sat down, the Captain rushed to say a few words:

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): *What appeared to be an image of Jack in a different hairstyle and period 23rd century uniform, tied to a chair, struggling and afraid. Ke'varr's hand appears to be holding a maintenance tool whose tip is glowing orange, hot* kill I will take kill care of you kill darling never let you go kill for what I have done kill must keep her close kill and give her the best kill and provide for her happiness and... KILL]

"You are completely right, yeoman. I will take what you said under advisement," he said. When the next of the secondary bridge officers spoke up, Captain Ke'varr did not tear his gaze away from her immediately, his thoughts still lost in her. But tore himself away from her he did. The next person to do so was Savir, who went on to talk at length about the problems that 60 mentally unstable officers could pose to the ship, and his suggestions on how to control the problem - including who and who not to take into the ship's roster. He hardly had any time to respond when Varra Orc-Kel, the pilot, had something to say about Savir's recommendations. Taris Noor then went on to add on his own thoughts.

Needless to say, the Captain was pleased with their contributions. While he had his own opinions on what to do and who to take on as additional members of the crew, some of which contradicted the secondary bridge officers', he found wisdom where he expected little, and he even found himself swayed ever so slightly.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): My children... Kill brings me back to the good kill old days when an entire kill Kraekiran ship kill looked to me kill and called me father kill]

"If I may, I have already enacted protocols to uncover Maquis agents the moment the movement grew to prominence," Commander Sisko said. "While I can't vouch if they are infallible, I can assure you that we have done our very best to root them out - Odo's gotten good at it."

"And if any of the Bajoran militia wants to go rogue, I'll be the first to know about it," Major Kira added, "I can't give you the numbers, but I'm very sure none of them will blow your warp core up while you sleep." At this, Lieutenant Krii'kii made what appeared to be a snort, or the Kraekiran equivalent. It wasn't lost on the Bajoran officer, who gave the Eagle a death glare.

"I think Savir's idea for containment of the rash of mental illnesses is sound," Lieutenant Jadzia, who was previously quite silent, continued the conversation as she looked at Savir with mild interest. She turned to Captain Ke'varr. "I think you should at least scrape together the manpower to make it a reality, at least."

" 'Done our very best', 'Odo's gotten good at it'," Commander Bradfield stood up quite suddenly as he quoted Commander Sisko. "If that were true, the Badlands wouldn't be filled with the Maquis! You bureaucratic coward and your politically-correct lies!"

"Then what do you suggest, my First Officer?" Captain Ke'varr intervened before the tension could be escalated.

"I say we take half the Klingons - they'll likely be able to augment the atrophied muscle of our incompetent security officers-" Commander Bradfield said, almost with glee. Lieutenant Ma'Juk, the Chief of Security, who had thus far been acting cool throughout the meeting, suddenly snapped his head to face Bradfield. The expression on his face wasn't exactly friendly. "While our security officers could lend some brainpower to the otherwise brain-dead Klingons. We could take half of the Bajorans - we don't need too many of them in the likely scenario that Major Kira is wrong and they'll be sympathetic to the Maquis. The cadets could be useful for scrubbing the plasma conduits and flushing the toilets, alongside the other half of the crew who should spend another four years in the academy. While I agree with Savir - surprisingly - that the Cardassians could be trouble, I don't think his suggestion to just drop those cold-hearted reptilians is sound - unsurprisingly. We should take one of them - that way, our lucky Cardassian should be easy to throw out the airlock the moment he makes the wrong move. The rest of the useless drifters can stay at Deep Space 9, where they belong."

It need not be said that Commander Bradfield had ruffled many feathers, but everyone in the room was powerless to stop it. There was tension in the air, an aura of silence that no one dared break. Well, except for one man.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Junior Lieutenant Hronn): Darn, the silence is deafening. Oh well, time to prove my worth as a Tellarite and have some fun at the same time!]

"Humph!" Came a rather unfamiliar, contented voice of Junior Lieutenant Hronn. "Half this, half that! With the size of the crew like that, we might as well save the Maquis the trouble by warping Vigilance into a star! I'd rather trust Krii'kii's scientific 'brilliance' than be on this ship in that case!"

"How DARE YOU!" Commander Bradfield exploded, at the same time slamming his PADD on the table. Even Commander Sisko jumped at the sudden shout and noise. "If that's how you think, then get off the ship!"

"The both of you are out of line!" Captain Ke'varr shouted, surprisingly gentle. He seemed faint.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): *A bad memory of another conference room incident similar to this one, except with Kraekiran Officers doing the arguing, and getting rough*]

"Wait, did you just insult me!?" Lieutenant Krii'kii was somehow able to overpower Bradfield's voice. She stood up with alarming violence, and her chair was knocked backwards. "YOU DID, DIDN'T YOU!"

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Lieutenant Krii'kii): Why must these mammals be so mean!? Why am I always picked on for my interest in the mysteries of the void!?]

"Krii'kii! Stand down, that's an order!" the Captain shouted, somehow powerless. The rest of the room distracted him from Krii'kii.

At the same time, Lieutenant Ma'Juk could no longer contain himself: "Sir, I can't be-lieve you could be so dismissive of Hronn, us all, at such a cru-cial time! Hronn's right, we need all of the Klingons and Bajorans!"

"I WILL SAY AND DO AS I PLEASE!" Commander Bradfield shouted at the Nausicaan, an accusing finger pointed at the Chief of Security. "Nausicaan scumbag! Pirate and bandit! You don't deserve that uniform, none of your kind do!" Ma'Juk seemed taken aback by this particular remark.

"SUCKLING PIG!" Krii'kii screamed as she advanced towards Hronn, the Tellarite. "I'LL CHOP YOU UP INTO BACON!"

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Junior Lieutenant Hronn): What did I do wrong! All I did is to start some good ol' fashioned debate!]

"Get away from me, bird-brain!" Hronn, alarmed, stood up himself, but was frozen in fear and didn't back away. Krii'kii, who was of an impressive size at 2 metres tall, grabbed the Tellarite by the collar, with her other hand raised, talons flashing, as if ready to decapitate him.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Junior Lieutenant Hronn): Of all the first officers we could have, why him?]

"Sir, with all due respect but, I'm starting to wish you were never res-cued from the Borg!" Lieutenant Ma'Juk said loudly and spitefully. "You square head will fit in their cubes!"

"Hey, so, urm, are you guys taking up my offer or what? I'll raise the discount to 15% if you are!" Quark's voice came through the comms, at a rather unfortunate timing.

"You criminal scum!" Commander Bradfield stomped towards Lieutenant Ma'Juk.

"Gentlemen, if you would just-!" Commander Sisko tried to stop another fight from starting. He took Bradfield by the shoulder, but he was promptly thrown metres back - apparently the First Officer still had the strength of a Borg Drone.

"Ben!" Jadzia went to help him. Lieutenant Jack Kwan followed. Everyone else was just staring at the scene, horrified.

With blazing speed, Captain Ke'varr tore Lieutenant Krii'kii away from Hronn, both his long-fingered hands seizing the Kraekiran Eagle by the wrists. Working up a great heave, the Kraekiran Raven threw the Chief Science Officer towards the exit. Had she not flapped her wings, she would have either hit the wall hard or ended up skidding on the floor.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL]

"OUT! YOU'RE CONFINED TO QUARTERS! OUT, BEFORE I TEAR YOU APART AND FEED YOU TO THE CREW!" Captain Ke'varr screamed at his fellow Kraekiran.

Despite her actions, Lieutenant Krii'kii appeared incredibly upset by her captain's words and actions. The way her eyes looked were unmistakable, as the corners arched downwards. Her beak seemed to droop. Blood seeped from her eyes; Kraekirans cry blood instead of tears.

As Krii'kii slinked away, back hunched and absolutely dejected, Captain Ke'varr turned to the rest of the conference room. Stomping up to the table, he slammed both his fists down on the table. He gave a shrill, monstrous cry. Shockingly, blood spurted out of his four eyes. It was the result of Kraekiran evolution, a defensive mechanism they had inherited from their distant ancestors. An intimidation tactic, and one that worked very well.

"ENOUGH!!!" he screamed. It was as if the entire room was frozen to absolute zero. "Enough!" He was positively shaking with rage at this point. Blood continued to pour down his face. His feathers, puffed up to increase his size, were tipped with it. With both his hands, he wiped the blood away from his face. Now, his hands were covered in blood. "Everyone, sit your rodent hinds down! I WILL KILL the next person who so much as raises a finger!"
 
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While the captain was dispatching of Krii'kii, Jack silently stood, went over to the replicator, and quietly spoke "Kraekarian Root Tea, hot." She flinched as the Science officer was thrown across the room, and walked over to the captain's chair, placing a small ornamental glass of dull brown lightly bubbling liquid on a coaster in front of it. She'd never heard of a Kraekarian in Starfleet, and this intense aggression was probably why. The violence on board was clearly Bradfield's fault, but it wasn't her place to say. She admired the efficiency with which the captain dealt with the problem, and made him a tea from his homeworld that supposedly had calming effects on Kraekarians, and the effect of making a human's eyes begin to bleed profusely. She silently went over to check on Commander Sisko's shoulder, which had hit the wall quite hard.
 
Savir silently watched his worst concerns regarding the mentally unstable crew materialize right in front of the eyes, noting that Commander Bradfield did not only have the tact of a Borg, but also the strength of one. His first instinct was to run to Sisko and see if he could help, but the doctor was closer and fully capable of handling possible injuries. Savir therefore sat down on one of the recently emptied chairs instead and, as ordered by his superior officer, he remained completely motionless. In the silence following the Captain's mighty bellow, the Vulcan found achieving concentration easier than before, which was most appreciated, because the situation he found himself in was extremely delicate. He could see several paths in front of himself, none of them particularly promising. If he chose to act, one individual would likely end up hating him forever. That was something Savir could easily live with, but it would also mean the person in question would be unwilling to let the counselor help him, be it through thrapy or other, less orthodox means. Should he choose not to act, he would condemn the rest of the ship to prolonged existence in a toxic workspace, which could damage them both mentally and physically.

It was when Lieutenant Keiper brought the Captain a hot beverage that he realized what he needed to do. That simple act of human kindness put Bradfield's unacceptable behavior and the no less violent response of several other bridge officers into sharp contrast. Savir took a deep breath, hoping enough time had passed for Ke'varr not to rip anyone apart if silence was broken, and said. "I believe we have a serious situation here that goes beyond the issue with new personell." Once again, most of the people turned to look at him. The Captain, however, still seemed to be crying bloody tears and Savir wondered shortly, if he would have tried to stop him otherwise. "If anyone of a lower rank caused an incident akin to what has just happened, they would find themselves confined to the brig. And unfortunately, this was the most severe, yet not the only incident today."

Savir rose from his chair with utmost care, as though as the air around him could explode if disrupted too violently, and fixed Commander Bradfield with his dark, impenetrable eyes. "Commander, I have spent exactly 2 hours and 34 minutes on board of this ship. During this considerably short amount of time, I have witnessed you offend three senior and four junior officers, often with the use of expletives. You have also shown remarkable disrespect of the racist kind against three different species and threatened to airlock a sentient being. Moreover, I have seen you publicly humiliate two officers on the Bridge for no reason other than your personal pleasure. Last but not least, you have violently assaulted Commander Sisko."

By this time, Savir saw in the eyes of several people around him, including Lieutenant Polito, that they did not believe he was going to survive the next few seconds. Well, he was not afraid of Bradfield. Even a nano-enhanced human could be switched off using the one spot on their back and if Savir had to suffer a few broken ribs first... Kaadith, he was putting himself at risk for the well-being of the majority. Surak would have been proud of him. "As the Ship's Acting Counselor", he stated, backing away in one fluid motion so as to make sure that at least one chair stood between him and a possible attack, "I hereby relieve you of duties as the First Officer on basis of the fact that you are mentally unfit to carry them out, until the time I no longer deem you a danger to other crew members."
 
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They were all crazy.

Somehow the knowledge was less and less discomforting, as though Taris was already getting used to the new circumstances. The majority of the crew members, including six of the senior officers (that was the number of names missing on the list of crazies, right?) were raging mad and there was nothing Taris could do about it. Not yet, at least, but id had a feeling that this might have been why the Captain had previously mentioned having a double bridge crew would be handy and that an emptied chair could become someone's chance. Back then, it had seemed a little morbid, but it was becoming more and more obvious that their task here was to step up once the entire bridge crew was not fit to carry out their duties, and that the chance of it actually happening was not small.

The question was what to do in the time before that happened. Taris had some ideas that could work, but nobody was listening to them - in fact, they were not listening to anyone's ideas and kept wasting time and energy calling each other names instead. And the only person on board with the authority to make it stop was the Captain. As Taris watched him separate the officers from each other, id truly wish to be able to help, but getting into the middle of a fight would not have had a positive outcome. Instead, id silently moved towards the main control panel in the room and effectively blocked the channel on which the Ferengi from DS9 was still listening in. There was no reason why rumours of the fight should be circulating around the station. If the Captain decided, for some obscure reason, that they should hire the Ferengis, Quark would undoubtedly still be interested.

Just as id got back to ids place, the Captain's roaring voice echoed through the room warning everyone not to move and Taris froze mid-motion, sitting only on half of the chair. For the longest time, id wondered how long id would have to remain in that uncomfortable position, when the Vulcan went and... did something unspeakable. One half of Taris wanted to jump up and began applauding, because just imagining there was somebody with the power to remove the Commander from where he could keep causing harm filled id with joy. The other half, though, wanted to turn around and run, because there was no way this was going to end well. Technically, Savir had the right to do this. The right granted to him by Starfleet regulations, that right. However, he absolutely didn't have the right of the strongest.

Rather than abandon his post, Bradfield was going to smear him on the walls.

With that certainty, Taris turned to Kimberly, who was sitting next to idre. Saying that id was not very good at combat would have been an understatement, yet id really wanted to secure help that could prevent the Vulcan being torn apart like a snake. Not wishing to break the silence, Taris opened ids PADD, found the messaging program and typed up: "Can you restrain a human male with borg-enhanced strength if necessary?" Rather than sending the message, which would disturb everyone with its bleeping noise, id wordlessly passed the PADD on to Kimberly as it was, holding it in an angle under which she could read. Hopefully her makers didn't give her the strength of a human female.
 
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Varra listened to the points that Taris gave which were very good and thorough. One of the points even made Varra ashamed of what she said as the federation was all about giving people chance. The vetting idea was very good though Varra wondered how easy it would be to fake it. It was hard for Varra to shake her species paranoia which had been ingrained in them for several generations now.

When the captain and the rest of the senior officers started talking again Varra made sure to pay attention. It seemed to go well at first with both the captain and Sisko. Unfortunately things went down hill when Bradfield got involved causing an argument to ensue. It was unbelievable to think these squabbling idiots were her senior officers. Varra was considering asking for a transfer back to her old ship as soon as she could. When Sisko got thrown like a rag doll Varra let slip “bloody hell” as he flew past her. It was good to see the medical officer get to him quickly though luckily it looked ok. Varra almost had a heart attack when the captain blew his lid. When he told them to sit there rodent butts down Varra almost said that actually her race counted as saurian. She was very glad that she didn’t instantly taking a seat so fast in fact she didn’t realise who was sat next to her. Nor did she care keeping her eyes squarely on the captain. Varra was shocked when Savir started his intent to remove Bradfield from duty and she wanted to see if the order would be followed.
 
The rapid escalation of an already tense briefing left Kimberly genuinely shocked. Certainly she could identify that emotion on the faces of many, particularly the other junior officers, but she hadn't expected to emulate it, to experience it quite this strongly. How was it possible that this situation had gone this radically out of control? Possibly a pheromone attack vector, created by either hijacking the air ventilation or someone transporting an aerosol dispersal method. Another possibility was telepathic intrusion. There were rare but documented instances where telepathy had been used to override the judgment of others, even those of many species.

The bizarre situation, and the need to devote all of her processing power to it, left Kimberly sitting through the impromptu brawl. Only the faintest steady bar of light beneath her uniform betrayed just how hard she tried to solve for the situation. The Captain's bellowed threat kept her in her seat and it was Savir's steady monologue that at least drew her away from the futile effort of discerning what to do in a situation Starfleet Academy had never trained her for. Kimberly had never seen a First Officer relieved of duty before, but neither was she surprised by the radical course of action. Indeed, the man had just violated a dozen regulations, and the assault on a superior command officer in particular was a court-martial offense he had little chance of avoiding.

Taris' PADD landed in her hands a moment later. She glanced down, read the message and immediately understood id's meaning. She glanced at id, purposefully widened her eyes in a display of uncertainty, then rose from her chair. While tracking the Commander peripherally, Kimberly directed her gaze at Lieutenant Ma'Juk. Hopefully her rising motion drew the Nausicaan security chief's attention, at which point if possible, she tilted her head in Bradfield's direction.

Hands at her side for the moment, Kimberly masked her tactical positioning with an innocent expression. "Captain?" The questioning tone and her deliberately non-confrontational body posture would hopefully shift the Kraekiran's immediate reaction away from physical hostility. In the end, it might not matter how Ke'varr reacted. Commander Bradfield had demonstrable enhanced strength, very likely enough to kill, and his emotional state made him a clear and present danger to a fellow Starfleet officer. If the man came at Savir, he'd have to go through her beryllium-titanium alloy endoskeleton first.
 
The conference room was dead silent when things continued to spiral out of control, even when the violence and shouting match had stopped. The secondary bridge crew had leapt at the chance to make themselves useful, but with varying results. When Ensign Jack Keiper had calmly went through the motions and brought Captain Ke'varr some Kraekiran root tea, the effect on him was more than what would be said for the tea itself. He had been barely in control before, seriously considering killing the next person who disobeyed him (who happened to be Savir), starfleet commission and his reputation be damned - only compromising in that he had decided that putting him in critical care would be good enough, considering his worth and potential relationship with him. When he saw Jack Keiper and her cup of tea, not only was he reminded of his oath to rein himself in and be the good Starfleet captain, but to consider the consequences of... Everything.

"Thank you, cupcake," Captain Ke'varr said, trying his best to remain in his best state of mind. Needless to say, it was a struggle.

And now his First Officer, and by extension, the ship and crew, was in jeopardy. It wasn't that the Captain was blind to his words and action, but he considered his words and actions to be immaterial compared to what he could offer to the mission - Commander Bradfield was an efficient taskmaster, tactician and fighter, approaching and even surpassing that of even the mean Kraekiran standards. And now the Acting Counselor had threatened to take that away from him.

Not just the counselor, but his fellow secondary bridge crew. Taris' stealthy intentions did not go unnoticed - Ke'varr would be a poor warrior if he couldn't notice such a thing - and Kimberly's honest support for Savir certainly did not go unnoticed.

Captain Ke'varr stared at Kimberly and Savir, his vision splitting sideways, left and right, for a moment to look at the both of them. Kraekirans are capable of splitting their vision along the horizontal and vertical axis, with two eyes on either side - it was something they inherited from their ancestors that aided tremendously in hunting and avoiding getting hunted.

"Captain?" Kimberly said, confused as to the direction of this affair, and for good reason. For the first time in his command of a Federation vessel, he was at a loss as to what to do.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): All my children kill I treasure them all kill what am I supposed to do? Kill I cannot destroy Commander Mercer Bradfield's authority kill yet I cannot destroy Savir's authority kill yet I cannot command without Commander Mercer Bradfield by my side kill yet I cannot command without Savir by my side kill yet yet yet... kill I cannot destroy my authority in this matter kill and yet I cannot destroy anyone's authority kill]

Commander Bradfield could not help but to crack a mean smile at the situation. He seemed completely unperturbed by the fact that two or three of the secondary bridge crew had turned on him and tried to relieve him of his position of power. It didn't take long for the Captain to decide what to do after that.

"Lieutenant Jack Kwan, did you not explain clearly the psychiatric situation of this ship?" Captain Ke'varr said. The Chief Medical Officer straightened himself up. He was formerly tending to Commander Benjamin Sisko, who didn't look badly injured, if at all.

"I- I thought I did," Lieutenant Kwan stammered, confused as to the attention he was receiving.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): I am so sorry Jack Kwan kill so sorry kill but your authority is nothing kill compared to theirs kill you are kill good target kill even if a painful one to strike kill]

"You thought you did, but clearly, you did not. Explain to them again, and make sure they understand," the Captain said sternly as he pointed a clawed finger at Savir.

Lieutenant Jack Kwan sighed heavily. It seemed like an impossible task for him to unglue his eyes from the floor, much less for him to speak more.

"I've mentioned that 60 of us here are under special dispensation from Starfleet Medical to serve on the Vigilance," Jack Kwan reiterated, this time facing Savir. "That alone implies that the 60 can't be relieved of duty under any circumstances unless they directly threaten the lives of any innocents, but that is also included in our standing order. You can read the document Starfleet Medical Alpha-one-A in the database. Had the powers that be allowed the 60 to be governed by standard Starfleet procedures, they wouldn't have even be able to step aboard a starship as officers in the first place."

There was only silence in the room when Jack Kwan had revealed (for the second time) the truth.

"I'm fine, I really am. Thank you for your concern, ensign," Commander Benjamin Sisko said to Ensign Jack Keiper as he stood up and dusted his uniform. "I think it was just an accident, and Commander Bradfield did not mean to push me so hard. If there's nothing else, I would like to take my leave, Captain. I have another ship to take care of."

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Commander Benjamin Sisko): I don't want an officer's downfall to be on my conscience, and neither do I want the Vigilance to join Voyager on the missing list either, mental health problems aside.]

"I have decided on who to bring aboard, commander." the Captain said to him, then turned to the floor. "I have heard your opinions, and I have decided. I shall extend my arms to accept all of the 4th year cadets - they will be useful in taking over some of the less critical roles, freeing officers and crewmen to man other stations - as well as the Earth Cargo Service exchange officers, who will be welcome in my cargo bays. The Klingons - all of them - will take their place wherever they are useful. They are blood brothers of the Federation, and I will not turn them away, no matter the risks. As for the Bajorans, give me 20 out of the 30 you offered, Major Kira - and give me those that you trust with your life. I do not wish to be betrayed as much as you do."

"As for the Cardassians and Ferengi..." the Captain pondered some more. His eyes were once again set on Savir, before moving on to Taris then Varra. "It is true that the Cardassians will be damaging to our crew's already bleeding psyche. Hence, I will take but two of them on board, and only two Ferengis as well, to serve as my advisers on this mission. Make the necessary arrangements, Commander Benjamin Sisko. See to it that they arrive on my ship within the hour."

With that, Commander Benjamin Sisko and his entourage was gone, leaving behind the Vigilance crew to themselves. It seemed as if, for many of them, that the world had grown smaller, much, much much smaller to the point of claustrophobia... And madness.

The Captain then turned to Commander Mercer Bradfield.

"My First Officer, I believe you are needed elsewhere," the Captain said. The First Officer opened his mouth, about to protest, when the Captain continued. "I know of all your opinions on the matters to be discussed further. We have spoken at length about them last night. Now go." The Captain had ended off by pointing at the door menacingly.

"I believe it will do the ship some good if I draw up a plan to begin assimilation procedures for the newcomers to be integrated into our crew," the Commander said. For a second, just a second, he seemed to have returned to his old self - his old self from the 2360s, but it was just a flicker in a void of darkness. By the middle of his sentence, he had returned to being the First Officer that everyone on the Vigilance knew and loved.

"If you believe it necessary," the Captain said, his facial expression by this point a complete enigma. With that, Bradfield got up and head towards the door, but before that, he got up next to Savir.

"Nice try, pointy-ears," Commander Mercer Bradfield said in a low tone, his voice dripping with acid. "You'll pay for this, I'll make sure of it."

With that, the First Officer left. There was another moment of silence after that.

"My officers, I am aware that Commander Bradfield may be a bit harsh and abrasive, but he is nothing compared to some of the soldiers I had seen in the Kraekiran Voidfleet... Compared to me, when I was a century younger," the Captain said again, and he was mostly aiming his words at the secondary bridge crew. "Despite his hostile nature, he is a vital asset to this mission, and I want all of you - and I mean all of you - not to give him anymore trouble from now on."

Lieutenant Jack Kwan cleared his throat, signalling that he had something to say. "Captain, if I may..."

"Fly ahead, dumpling," the Captain allowed. The Captain reached for the cup of Kraekiran Root Tea that his yeoman, Ensign Jack Keiper, had so lovingly prepared, and dumped a quarter of it into his beak. He seemed to melt a little after consuming it, and the bleeding in his eyes had all but stopped.

"You all know that I've suffered as much under Commander Bradfield as any of you," the doctor said, and swallowed a glob of nervous saliva after that before proceeding. "And while you guys seem to be holding it together, so am I - and I am weak. But what made me strong is the fact that... Well, it's the facts. Commander Bradfield is just as much a victim as many of us, and he is suffering in his own way. I can't breach doctor-patient confidentiality, but I can say this: there are psychiatric and medical reasons behind his behavior. So while it is hard..." His eyes became downcast, truly punctuating his words with heartfelt honesty, "very, very hard, try to understand and sympathise."

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Lieutenant Jack Kwan): *the sound of screaming children* He sure knows where to jab his scalpel to make sure it hurts the most... Making me remember, making me hurt.]

"Deep down, your First Officer cares, just like any other Castellan I know of. He does not show it, and his words and actions are too clouded by his ailments to even show," the Captain went on, not quite addressing any one person, but the entire room. "But it does show if you know where to look. He will not always carry out his threats, and as far as I know, he will not physical harm anyone on purpose - for a man with such mortal mental wounds, such restraint is beyond honourable. Therefore, you will honour him with your obedience and respect. Do I make myself clear?"

The Captain dumped another quarter of the Kraekiran Root Tea into his beak.
 
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Admittedly, the conclusion of the situation that had gotten largely out of scale was somewhat anticlimactic. Savir had expected a bout of violence and from the behavior of his fellow officers, he could tell he wasn't the only one. He was almost relieved for a moment, however, that didn't last very long. All eyes turned to the Captain, whose thought process was almost audible even for a non-telepath. Obviously, Ke'varr found the situation quite havenless, because he was looking for a solution that would not undermine anyone including himself - a seemingly impossible task. Ultimately, though, he managed to find someone to shift the blame on and once again Savir had to admire the intricate ways in which officers were punished for problems they had not caused on this ship.

"I see," he said in a blank voice as the doctor explicitely stated that the sixty insane people could not be relieved of duty - a regulation so completely devoid of logic that he found himself incapable of a more intelligent reaction. "Thank you for the information." He briefly considered checking the database to see if such a document even existed, but... it had to exist, even if it might have been issued solely for the purpose of this ship. There was no point in trying to enforce his rights anymore, under those circumstances, it would just make the impression that he disrespected the Captain, which could not be farther from the truth. Savir could recognize a lost battle when he saw one; he would sit this one out. When Bradfield proceeded to threaten him, he managed to look completely unimpressed, hoping that at least, he could give the others an example of prefered behavior in such cases.

Once the Commander was gone, both the Captain and doctor Kwan began to try and make him more acceptable to the other officers by making references to his tragic backstory. In a way, the irony of the fact that this tactic could have only worked when Bradfield himself was not present, because otherwise his abhorrent behavior would have prevented them from feeling any kind of sympathy, was almost comical. Still, Savir could see the motivation behind it, and couldn't quite disagree - the way Taris and Kimberly were ready to support him was surely a reason for concern from the Captain's point of view, and if ever there was a mutiny against Bradfield, others would join, or at least fail to prevent it from happening on purpose.

"I would like to clarify that I did not mean to imply that Commander Bradfield does not deserve respect or sympathy," he stated firmly, encompassing the Captain and the doctor in an almost apologetic glance. "I am fully aware of the fact that the reason behind his current behavior is his suffering and as a therapist, that makes me concerned. However, as the Acting counselor of this ship, I have other 59 mentally damaged officers to be concerned about, and while I consider myself immune to anything he may choose to inflict upon me, these officers are not. Therefore I merely wished to protect the interests of the majority, as seemed logical." For some reason, he had to supress the need to sigh. How was this more exhausting than removing a woman's memories of being raped or torturing a Romulan for information?

"There is no doubt that the Commander is, under normal circumstances, an exemplary Starfleet officer," he clarified, and for a moment even his voice sounded a little tired. "But that is exactly the problem with mental illness. If he suffered a serious spinal injury, we would give him time to recover and teach him how to walk again. We would not buy him a wheelchair and put him in charge of a star ship, arguing that it is alright to do so, because it is not his fault that he had been hurt. However, invisible injuries tend to get ignored and I find myself at a loss here. Due to the special regulations, I cannot relieve him of duty, and I cannot treat him either, because he has been taken off the list. That does not leave many options for a positive change of any kind to be effected. I will have to apply myself to finding a creative solution."
 
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Throughout ids life, Taris had never suffered from anxiety, but as the DS9 crew started saying their good-byes, id experienced what felt like a mild panic attack. If Sisko or Kira had turned around, they would have noticed id watching them with the eyes of a ten year old child who was just about to be left alone by its parents for the first time. Taris knew how stupid that was; neither of them had any say in the inside matters of the USS Vigilance and they were mainly concerned about their own problems, of which the space station always had plenty. There wouldn't have been any help coming from their side, had they stayed longer. Still, watching the door close behind them was akin to losing the last shred of hope in an already miserable situation. And it wasn't like they had much to lose in the first place, not after the only person fearless enough to try and do something about the psycho terror on the ship had been silenced.

Well, this is it then, Taris thought, slumping in ids chair dejectedly. I am stuck on a ship full of certified lunatics and we will never get rid of Bradfield unless he kills someone. Remarkably, this worried idre more than the dangers waiting for them in the Badlands, perhaps because id couldn't picture what could happen there, while id had a fairly clear idea how the actual life on the ship would look like - and it wasn't a pleasant one. The thing was that the Captain had spoken the truth - it wasn't fair at all to be angry with the Commander, who was just as much a victim as everyone else. But that didn't really make the job any easier, did it? And it certainly didn't make Taris feel less disappointed by the Federation id had put all ids trust in when applying for asylum all those years back.

"Understood, sir," id replied to the Captain once id caught a pair of those red eyes that seemed to be everywhere at the same time. "No trouble." Ids delicate features lit up in a soft smile that hoped to boost the mood, if not that of others, then at least ids own. "I suppose we will all have to move on from trying to accept the sitution to finding out how to make the best of it. If you decide to accept my offer of help with integrating our new crew members, I will gladly provide them with the basis of Starfleet rules and I can as well create a program for the holodeck, in which they could familiarize themselves with the technical aspects of our ship and run a few simulations so that they would not damage anything due to lack of experience."

At that point, Taris gave idself a mental slap. Ever the idealist, aren't you? Id scolded idself. Are we moving from "the Federation is not what we thought it was" to "but we can make it better if we try" now? Well, so be it. Id was just not ready to completely accept that everything sucked and the ship was doomed from day one.
 
The revelation of the Starfleet special medical order provided a missing data point and Kimbelry nodded once, satisfied, having resumed her seat once Bradfield showed there would be no immediate physical danger. When the Captain asked if his instructions were understood, she said "Perfectly, sir."

Savir's analysis of the situation was excellent, typical of his species from Kimberly's experience. It was indeed a conundrum, and one that probably could not be ignored given the dangers posed by such instability from one so high in the chain of command. Fortunately, there seemed a logical avenue to explore.

"Sir?" If given attention, she glanced at Savir but spoke to the Captain. "Perhaps I could be of assistance? I agree with Lieutenant Savir that Commander Bradfield is in a difficult position. He evidently can't be treated at this time. I'd like to volunteer to serve as an auxiliary adjunct to carry out and facilitate the Commander's orders. His behavior is emotionally irrelevant to me. I have training in diplomacy as well as the sciences; I can certainly carry out or convey his orders to the crew with less damage to morale. This allows Command Bradfield to retain his present personal efficiency without disrupting the efficiency of the crew." She blinked once, for deliberate effect as her eyes certainly didn't need moisture. "And should a stressful situation incite him to violence, I am likely the best person on the ship to survive and the most easily replaced if I don't."
 
"Our discussion always seemed to fly back to the fact that half the crew are mentally scarred," Captain Ke'varr said, with thinly-veiled sadness in his voice. He was leaning on his chair, something he hated for how much it favoured the humanoid back but not the Kraekiran, but it was something he leaned on for now. "If this were a Kraekiran voidship, it wouldn't have been something that merited anything more than a status report. It is part of our psyche, part of our culture even. We revere mental scars the same way that humanoid cultures revere scars on the flesh."

The Captain paused, thinking for a moment, or more like seeing something in the horizon. A glimpse into the past, across the centuries, some images clear, some blurred.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): *image of a campfire, of Kraekiran Ravens chirping over it, of campfires all around. They were all armed with projectile weapons and swords* *image of another distant briefing room, with certain Kraekiran officers in old, bulky and space-tight uniforms their beak and the glistening blood on their uniforms bragging. Swords and laser pistols on their belts suggest this to be a long, long time ago.*]

"But this is not a Kraekiran voidship, is it? I forget that sometimes. I blame it on my old age," the Captain went on, almost rambling.

"You're not old, cap-tain. You look younger than I am," Lieutenant Ma'Juk said to break the second silence.

"Hear, hear," even Junior Lieutenant Hronn had to agree. He snorted, his funny bone tickled somehow though no one knew how.

"If only you could peer into my mind, Ma'Juk," the Captain said, but his eyes were on Junior Lieutenant Savir, all four of them. His beaks were tightly sealed. His nictitating membranes rolled visibly (as visibly as near-transparent membranes could be) across his uncurled eyes.

"This isn't a Kraekiran voidship. As such, Savir, I'll see to it that you receive all the help you need to ensure my children's well-being. I will take up on your earlier suggestion. Once our allies are on board, I will make sure that every person of troubled mind is under the watchful eye of the more fortunate," he then turned his gaze on the Chief Medical Officer. "Mr. Jack Kwan, make sure to assist our beloved psychiatrist in any way possible, especially with Bradfield."

"Y-yes sir," Jack Kwan acknowledged, then turned to Savir. "I have medical data on our First Officer, from both before and after his transfer to this ship. I believe some of them might explain his behaviour... If losing one's lover to eternal Borg servitude doesn't."

"But as for you, Kimberly," the Captain turned to the gynoid. "I would rather not add another link to the chain of command. It is long enough as it is. I will need speed in execution, even if it is at the cost of wounded feelings."

"I suppose we will all have to move on from trying to accept the sitution to finding out how to make the best of it. If you decide to accept my offer of help with integrating our new crew members, I will gladly provide them with the basis of Starfleet rules and I can as well create a program for the holodeck, in which they could familiarize themselves with the technical aspects of our ship and run a few simulations so that they would not damage anything due to lack of experience," Taris Noor said after the discussion for the welfare of the mentally scarred was over. The Captain turned to him with beak slightly ajar.

"I believe I can speak for Commander Bradfield, and he will welcome the assistance, even if he is incapable of showing it," the Captain said. "There will be time before we enter the Badlands. With your help, I'm sure he could complete his 'assimilation protocol' for the newly-inducted in no time. And Taris, take care of the hatchlings for me - and by hatchlings I mean both Bradfield and our new crew members."

Then, straightening up and then pulling his uniform taut, the Captain went on: "Now, if there's nothing else on the mentally-scarred, there is still much to discuss - such as the arming and armouring of the crew."
 
Kimberly #49 gives the Captain a single nod. "Thank you for listening, sir."

As the conversation turns to the mission of the ship, the android leans forward slightly, conveying a stance of more active listening. "Sir, if I may? The Maquis lack capital ships, mostly using small, mobile vessels, often with limited effective ranges. If the Voyager encountered difficulty, it's more likely the Maquis succeeded through numbers rather than by overpowering an Intrepid-class ship. They know their territory better than we do, with or without Bajorian aid."

"As such, I'd like to suggest we give thought to arming and armoring the Vigilance's support craft, and practice coordinating maneuvers with them." Her head tilts to the side slightly and a faint smile graces her lips. "The Earth species of Harris Hawks are known to have the strongest bird pursue its prey, but with flankers in case the prey turns, ready for follow up strikes if the first misses. These are not conventional Federation tactics but they may be effective with these Maquis, precisely because they're not expected behavior from us."
 
Savir remained calm and did not divert his eyes when the Captain fixed him with an impenetrable gaze. At the moment, he had nothing to hide. He was, in fact, actively trying not to peer into Ke'varr's mind anymore - or anyone elses at that matter. The briefing, if he could even call it that way considering the circus that had taken place, provided him with more than enough material for one day. Now he had to protect himself from the hostility and chaos of their thoughts, if he wished to be useful when needed.

"Thank you, Captain," he nodded simply, "I promise you will not regret lending an ear to my suggestions." It was somewhat surprising that such a thing happened when he had already given up all hope, but he was not one to refuse such a gift, no matter how belated. The next thing on his schedule was a private conversation with Dr. Kwan, presumably as unpleasant as everything on board of the ship so far, nevertheless necessary. Savir was not overly interested in the list of wrongs that Lt. Bradfield had suffered; he wished to find out how and with what means he had been treated in the past, and if any progress had been made. There was no time for the trial and error method here.

Thankfully, the briefing was moving towards its conclusion. Savir already saw himself in the safe haven that was the sick bay, slipping in half an hour of much needed meditation before the new recruits arrived. Even though nobody had asked him to, he wanted to see them immediately, hoping that if there happened to be something dramatically wrong with any of them he would discover it in time.
 
The Captain listened intently to Kimberly #49's suggestions, even though she had missed the point by a lightyear. He had asked for discussions on equipping the crew, not their ships. However, slight deviations from the topic was welcomed, as long as they were more useful than the fight they had previously.

"We do not have time for practice, Lieutenant," Captain Ke'varr said, his beaks opened slightly, a sign of an uplift in mood. "But your idea of improving the shuttles' combat performance has potential. However, we have little time to make improvements, as we will be flying at maximum warp to assist Captain Janeway, which will take us to the Badlands within the week. What kind of improvements do you think you can make to the shuttles, Mr. Polito?"

"Well, I don't think we can-" Junior Lieutenant Robert Polito said but was quickly interrupted by Hronn.

"You're always going on about what we can't do," the Tellarite quipped, though he didn't look like he was on edge like before. Instead, he was slouched on his chair, with his hands folding over his bulging stomach.

"Agreed. Tell me what we CAN do," the Captain said, his voice deep but rather cutting. The look on the Junior Lieutenant's face was one of obvious upset.

"The shields and weapons have already been optimised since the shuttles are brand new, so..." Robert's voice trailed off. He was clearly bankrupt of ideas. All of the Captain's four eyes widened with barely-contained rage.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): This Polito is as kill inept as kill Bradfield had claimed kill I should have known kill the moment he sang that ugly song kill in my ready room]

"I DO NOT want to hear of anything that has already been done. I need fighters that I can use IF I need to use them!" Captain Ke'varr bellowed. Robert shrunk at the avian explosion, mentally scrambling for answers.

"I could- I can reverse the polarity of the hull, and replicate additional hull plating for extra durability," Robert said posthaste, afraid of another confrontation with the Captain. The one in his ready room was enough, considering its severity. He sank deep into his chair, knowing very well that he had, once again, made a poor impression on the Captain.

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Junior Lieutenant Robert Polito): Good job, Rob. You ruined it again. Just when I thought I was out of the crossfire...]

"It's better than nothing, I suppose. Could mean the difference between a dead crew-man and a living crew-man," Lieutenant Ma'Juk added, trying his best to support his friend, but it came off as a desperate attempt, and even patronising, instead. In truth, he found it hard to defend Robert.

"A few minutes or seconds difference, maybe," Junior Lieutenant Hronn prodded, snorting his disapproval.

"It is decided. You will get to work immediately, Mr. Polito, and you better come up with something better in the meantime," the Captain said, then turning to Kimberly, his expression changing, he said: "Thank you, Kimberly," the Captain ended the discussion right off, moving on to the next. "It's your turn, Lieutenant Ma'Juk. Ever since I've entered Starfleet, I've noticed one glaring problem in its security: our men are completely unprepared for war. It is a wonder how the Federation has lasted this long. The Technocracy I came from had lasted a millennium because it made no compromise in preparing its warriors for battle. How will you correct this for our little nest here, at least?"

"We make hand pha-sers and tri-corders standard issues to be carried around at all times, by all personnel from deck 1 to 15," Lieutenant Ma'Juk suggested.

"What about personal protective gear?" the Captain inquired. If he could frown, he would. Starfleet officers had less initiative when it came to matters of war, he realised.

"Cap-tain, there had been virtually no advances in that area of Star-fleet this century. I could replicate bo-dy ar-mour of the latest specs, but they are virtually use-less against anything but outdated weaponry or civilian weapons," the Chief of Security said.

"Hrhm, not to mention it will slow us down. I wore one before in the holodeck, and it always made me itch," Junior Lieutenant Hronn added.

The Captain paused for a second, then turned to the secondary bridge crew seated around the periphery of the conference room. Thus far, the Captain found the secondary bridge crew had shown themselves to be as capable as the actual bridge crew... "Any other concerns and suggestions for the implements of war?"
 
Jack's eyes widened with fear at the mention of carrying phasers onboard. Security was the only field of duty in Starfleet she hadn't attempted yet, for several reasons. "Captain, considering the... delicate nature of many of our crew's mental states, I don't recommend phasers to be in the hands of anyone except security." Her mind was racing with the the thought of Bradfield, or even herself, with a phaser in hand.
 
Varra had been listening at the back of the room mulling over everything being said. She was glad as well as shocked that Savir got something out of the captain. Kimberly’s point about the using the shuttles was good and got Varra thinking. The talk about arming the crew and modifications to the shuttles made Varra feel this was more like warship than a ship going on a rescue mission. It even made her wonder if the rescue mission was a cover for something else although it was unlikely. Thinking over what was said Varra has a few points to make. Adding to what Jack said she added “I agree with Jack sir. At the very least we need to limit the weapons with those who have some training”. Waiting for her comment to sink in she then continued, “Further more sir we could make some phaser proof roit shields. Also if we are using the shuttles we should link there sensors with the ship to boost are sensor range. Lastly sir instead of up armouring the shuttles could we make them more stealthy”. On the last point she was imagining the shuttles would be more useful as ambush craft. Though with the captains military mind she doubted she needed to explain her reasoning.
 
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Savir supressed a sigh as Polito's hopeless thoughts pushed past his barriers. This man was so intensely miserable and knew literally nothing of assertivity... Clearly, it was difficult to pull oneself together while working directly under Bradfield, but the Lieutenant was consitently useless even when the First Officer wasn't present. Meanwhile, the Captain proceeded with preparing the ship for... battles and bloodshed. Savir honestly couldn't decide how much of it was necessity, and how much was the Captain's habit - or paranoia. He found it virtually useless to remind anyone that there were certain Starfleet regulations regarding the carrying of weapons by personnel, as well as a number of rules pertaining to space battles, such as never firing first. It seemed only logical that if the Vigilance had such unorthodox rules for mentally challenged officers, they would disregard other typical proceedings as well.

Perhaps that was why it came as a surprise that not one, but two of his fellow officers took the stance he normally would have and pointed out that arming everyone was unwise. Deciding who should be allowed to carry a phaser could provide for another lengthy argument, which was why Savir decided to suggest something that would hopefully satisfy the Captain and keep the crew alive at the same time. "If I may," he said primly, "I believe we can arm the entire crew, if we disable the kill setting on everyone's phaser except for the security. That way all crew members will be able to effectively stun the enemy in case of invasion, while not causing permanent damage to fellow officers in case of ill judgement."
 
Noticing the resigned look on Polito's face, Kimberly made a point of logging a note in a PADD and routing it to him. When he checked his messages, he'd see her open offer to help him. She hadn't been designed to be an engineer but she was technically minded, quite strong and fatigue meant nothing to her. Surely the other Lieutenant could use all the help he could get.

The suggestions of the rest of the secondary bridge crew were excellent and Kimberly nodded agreeably.

"In the matter of personal protective gear," Kimberly added, "We could deploy personal force fields of course. In practice, they can restrict with mobility and interfere with sensitive ship systems which is why they're not worn as a matter of standard issue but the design is in the replicators and I'm certain we could stockpile them for the crew. A revision to crew uniforms may also be fruitful; impact resistant fabric, ablative and reflective material, there are a variety of possibilities we could try if you'd like to bypass Starfleet regulations on uniform standards."
 
The atmosphere in the briefing room reminded Taris of the air after a storm, fresh and soothing, yet echoing with the memory of thunder. Trying to move past the conflict, most officers were actively contributing, and with Bradfied as well as the jealous Kraekiran out of the picture, they were enjoying moderate success. Most importantly, the topic of discussion moved to an utmost interesting area. Taris was curious what safety measures would be employed and which tactics the Captain was going to introduce. The prospect of carrying a weapon felt oddly empowering, even though id wasn't inclined to violence at all. If the Captain agreed to equip everyone with clean records on psycho tests, id was certain to make the cut.

"I seem to recall that personal force fields used to be common in Captain Kirk's era," id tied in to Kimberly's words. "Only for a couple of years, though. They were mostly used instead of space suits, rather then as protection against phasers, even though they could withstand a multitude of hits. Space suits eventually proved to be more effective. so the force field belts were decomissioned. It does seem risky to use a design that old, but we really do not have anything better." Taris was a source of endless information regarding Starfleet, giving ids earlier obsession with the Federation and all it stood for. Id suspected that could be a reason why life on the Vigilance would be harder for idre than for others, who were not going to lose such an amount of illusions. "In addition to the ideas we have already heard, I used to be an expert on pilotless crafts before entering Starfleet. I could offer to weaponize some of our probes and control them remotely, or even pilot a shuttle from here in case we needed to send it into a dangerous situation."
 
The Captain listened with more patience than he would have normally mustered had he been on a Kraekiran voidship. Kraekirans, as a culture, would spare no expense when it came to warfare and neither would they spare a thought to limiting their distribution and firepower. His yeoman, normally quiet, had given the customary face of fear and questioned the viability of distributing weapons at all. The gynoid thought that the weapons should just be limited to those with the training to use it - Captain Ke'varr interpreted this to mean those who were specially trained to maximise its use, rather than just any Starfleet officers, who all had at least basic training in the weapon. Savir had suggested locking the weapons on stun in case of poor judgement - which chaffed at the Captain as it would mean the lower power setting would have rendered the weapons useless against barriers and well-protected boarders.

While he was beginning to think once more of his secondary bridge crew as stereotypical pacifists who were like sheep to the slaughter, extraordinarily lucky to have fought the Kraekiran Technocracy to a standstill (eventually, after horrendous casualties inflicted on the Federation) and lasted over two centuries (fleeting compared to the age of the Technocracy), they had also levied suggestions for his considerations - and this was where they shone. It became another wonder why these mammalian creatures did not came up them by themselves even on pain of death - time and again, Federation officers had fought with laughable equipment outfits throughout the years.

Kimberly, the gynoid, had suggested a complete overhaul of the Starfleet uniform to one more akin to something Ke'varr was used to almost A CENTURY ago. Kraekiran Voidfleet uniforms had doubled as armor back then, and at present. Then Varra, the pilot, suggested riot shields, which Ke'varr thought might be useful for the security department. Kimberly had then suggested personal force field and Taris supported her. And they had, in their enthusiasm for scientific and technological solutions, suggested even more modifications for their shuttles.

"What do you think, Doctor Kwan?" Ke'varr started after silence had descended upon the room once more, with the most unexpected of questions. The doctor - phasers?

"About 80% of security has one psychological issue or another. The majority of that department is made up of veterans, mostly from the Cardassian wars. So if we were to disarm all mentally affected personnel, it will render the security department ineffectual," the Doctor reported.

"Des-pite their scars of war, they are still competent officers!" Lieutenant Ma'Juk hastened to interject, sensing that his department's reputation was on the line. "They are strong, they fight well. They will never harm their own! They are honourable war-riors, all!"

"Settle down, Ma'Juk. No one is questioning their honour," Ke'varr said, somewhat serenely as he stood up once more, finding his chair uncomfortable. He turned to look at the secondary bridge crew, at Jack first, then Savir. "On any Kraekiran voidship, mental scars are a sign of wisdom and experience. While Vigilance is not Kraekiran, I want my children to fight as dignified warriors in the face of adversity, not cower behind their consoles because their Captain thought them to be invalids. I appreciate your opinions on the matter, but I prefer fully functional phasers on every single officer..." But then Ke'varr stopped, and turned to Ensign Jack. "Except you, I'm afraid. Your records bar you from handling a phaser, cupcake. You will get a stun baton instead."

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Captain Ke'varr Sel'kir): Must not let kill Jack be hurt kill whether by the enemies kill hands or by her own hands kill good thing there are kill ammunition for this just cause kill in her record kill I have done much harm kill in the past kill HER FLESH TASTED GREAT kill But not anymore kill even if it is still true now kill]

"Lieutenant Ma'Juk, see to the arrangements. Begin replicating enough phaser rifles and armoured uniforms for the entire crew. Arm your security teams with riot shields and personal energy shields. See if you can give them weapons heavier than phaser rifles."

"Gladly, Captain."

"Mr. Polito, begin implementing your juniors' ideas," Captain Ke'varr had turned to the shrinking man, "and you better come up with more as we journey to the Badlands." he had said this with a sharp finger pointed at the hapless tactical officer, who looked like a midget next to the intimidating Avian captain. "Let me remind you that you are the ship's Chief Tactical Officer, not a Photon Torpedo Tube Operator. The entire ship is counting on you in the heat of battle."

[Tele-Empathic Reveal (Junior Lieutenant Robert Polito): I'm a dead dead dead man. Oh, what's this on my PADD?]

"If there are no more objections, you know your roles," the Captain said to everyone. "We will bring light to the lost Voyager where there was none."
 
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