[Galaxy] [Earth] 2158 April 18, Joint log RAdm Suzanna Batenburg & Capt Roger Finney

[Suzanna Batenburg]

~~Captain's Quarters~~

Rog was not looking forward to this chat one bit. Still the admiral had
to be informed and it was better to do it sooner rather than later. He
made sure the door to his cabin was secure as he didn't want any
unannounced visitors. Then he sat at his computer and tapped a few
buttons that would insure that they were speaking on an ultra secure
channel. He said, "Cmdr. Finney to Adm.  Batenburg on secure channel
Alpha Zeta."

Back at Starfleet Command HQ after her visit to New Darwin, Suzanna
looked up when her aide announced that Commander Finney was on a secure
channel. She'd been waiting for a call to find out what happened. And
irrespective of the outcome... a decision had been made regarding the
faith of Commander Finney by the Senior Staff. "Put him through, and no
interruptions, please."

A moment later, the viewscreen of her computer changed to show Finney.
"Commander... Good to see you again. How did it go?"

Rog replied, "Hello admiral, it's good to see you too. Not well I'm
afraid. It was a set up admiral; the Rommies knew we were coming."

It took a great effort to not show much of a reaction. But the news
bothered here a great deal. Starfleet Intel had been so sure of its
information and now they had been had. "Please give me a succinct report
of what happened, Commander."

Rog said, "We arrived on the other side of Theta Ara III undetected. The
MACOs were sent over and they found the station seemingly abandoned
except for automated defence systems. Shortly after these internal
defence systems were deactivated the Armoury personnel were sent over.
The Rommies sent out a distress call and two scout vessels responded and
after a hard fight, we destroyed one of them. The other got away I'm
sorry to report.

"My communications officer found out the Rommies outgoing message was on
a loop and that's when I suspected everything was a set up. In the way
station the Rommies suddenly ambushed the MACOs by transporting in and
out. Capt. Mason saw they had some type of punishment collars on and
believes they were forced to do this, although he couldn't even be sure
they were Rommies. When his people got to the computer core, they found
it had been wiped clean of useful information. They also found it had
been booby trapped. This booby trap set of a self destruct sequence,
which has destroyed the waystation. By some miracle we were able to
transport the survivors of the MACO and Armoury teams off the station
before it blew up. I'm also sorry to report that we lost twenty four
personnel in addition to a small number of wounded."

She couldn't say what she was thinking, but she hadn't liked the orders
from the President one bit to start with. But he and the Security
Council had made their decision, and as a result 24 people lost their
lives. As the result of a trap. "I'm very sorry to hear about the
casualties," Suzanna said, How many of them are Starfleet personnel? I
will make sure their families are looked after properly."

Rog replied, "Two Starfleet personnel were killed ma'am. One from my
ship and one who was from the Morningstar. I'll supply their names in my
final report ma'am. The remaining dead were all from the MACO
detachment."

Suzanna nodded and knew that General Casey would be doing the same.
"Commander, there is one thing I need to say and do, even though the
outcome of this mission isn't what we hoped or perhaps some even
expected, that is not something that you, or your crew, could influence.
The fact that you managed to bring home as many as you did speaks of
your abilities." Suzanna paused a moment. "I want to take this
opportunity to promote you to the rank of Captain and confirm your
position as Captain of the Meridian. You earned it, Captain Finney."

Rog was stunned for a moment. Despite failing in his mission, he'd just
been promoted to captain. He smiled and replied, "Thank you ma'am. I
appreciate the confidence you and Starfleet have shown in me by this
promotion." Rog thought he'd save his happy dance for later. He hoped
that the quartermaster had the appropriate rank insignia. "Is there
anything else that you'd like to know about this operation ma'am?"

"I want to know all the details, but not over this channel. I will read
it in your report, Captain. Please pass my thanks on to your crew as
well. I will brief the President and the Senior Staff. Batenburg out."

Capt Roger Finney
Commanding Officer
NX-06 Meridian
-- 
RAdm Suzanna Batenburg
Fleet Commander
Starfleet: The First Era
"Everything fits, otherwise we will make it fit."
http://www.firstera.net