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<FONT id=ecxrole_document color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">// Challenger, Mission Operations Area, Bridge \\</FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"... just received word a few minutes ago," Sasha was saying. "The Tellarites and the Andorians are definitely responding to the call to arms. It might take them a while to get to the rendezvous point, though, since they're further away from the Coalsack Nebula than even Earth is." She pressed a button on the Operations table and a hologram lit up over it with a map of Alpha Quandrant. "As you can see, Tellar is furthest away, then Andoria, then Earth." She pointed at the three worlds. "As far as Vulcan goes, they're closest, and although they've said they support us in our endeavor, they haven't yet said they'll commit ships. /That's/ what we need from them -- Command is still hopeful they'll pull through and join us."</FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2><BR></FONT><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2><BR></FONT><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Medium"><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" size=2>Cara looked at the information and listened as Sasha spoke "Do we know how large of a force the Romulans have amassed at this point?" She asked "How many of our ships have been committed to this for now?" She asked wanting to get as many details as she could</FONT><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" color=#000000 size=2>.</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial></FONT></FONT> <BR>
<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT id=ecxyiv1235248931ecxrole_document color=#000000 size=2><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Vic listened to the briefing and the commander's questions. He said, "I'd like to know the answers to those questions too commander. How many Starfleet ships will we have? Have our...allies stated how many ships they intend to send for this op?"<BR><BR>"Good questions," Sasha said. "We don't have numbers for the Romulans -- we'll have to do some reconnaissance when we get there and check out what they're doing." She touched some more buttons on the tabletop and the aspect zoomed in to the Coalsack Nebula. A small planet lit up on the right-hand side of the nebula. "This is Cheron. It's as yet unexplored. But they're massing their Fleet nearby, approximately here ... " another button pressed, and an area was highlighted between Cheron and the nebula, "... so we're going to mass our Fleet on the opposite side of the Coalsack. We'll send out small ships, into the nebula, to approach the other side and see what's what. Unless there's a very good reason not to, I think our best option is to begin our attack by traveling /through/ the nebula on approach. If the Coalsack holds true to form, they won't see us coming."</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
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<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT color=#000000 size=2><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"And our information about the current conditions is reliable?" Cara asked "We're reasonably certain that the Romulans are up to something and that this isn't just posturing on their part. We all know how they like to do that."</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT></FONT></FONT> <BR>
<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT color=#000000 size=2><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Reliable enough for Command to send us all out here. I'd say they're fairly certain."<BR><BR>Vic nodded and said, "Understood captain, but what about our allies?"<BR><BR>"As far as our allies go, I haven't received definite information on /their/ numbers, either. Suffice it to say, they're going to join up. I guess we'll know when we get there. Command has ordered minimum communications between the Fleets in order to keep the element of surprise intact." She paused, looking at the holo-map. "Makes sense."</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial><FONT color=#000000 size=2><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Makes sense to me." She was quiet for a moment. "Perhaps Chris can make any transmissions we have to make look like background noise from the nebula." She suggested.<BR><BR>"Good idea. We'll need to use the nebula's interference qualities to our benefit, any way that we can. It'll hide our presence from them up until the last minute ... at least, that's what I hope it'll do. Once we're given away, we'll have to attack. So I want that on /our/ terms, not theirs," Sasha said, still studying the map.<BR> </FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium"> Vic studied the map and said, "What about those MACO's? Will we be using them for boarding purposes?"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"If it comes to that, yes ... that's what they're trained for. And to protect the ship if /we/ are boarded. We will use them in whatever way we see fit, Vic. I'm sure Corad already understands that," Sasha said. She straightened up, looking at the two of them. "Once we arrive at the Coalsack, we'll wait as long as we can for our allies to show up. If at any time it appears that the Romulans have noticed our presence, we'll have to go ahead as planned, without them. We'll try as hard as we can to give them two days, that should be plenty of time." As she spoke, she turned off the map and began walking back out toward the bridge proper, the other two officers flanking her.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Ensign St. John ... report."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"On course to the Coalsack Dark Nebula, Captain, warp five," the Helmsman stated.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Excellent." Sasha sat down in the captain's chair and accepted a cup of coffee from her yeoman. She took a sip. "Anything on long-range scans, Mister Davis?"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Jason Davis spoke from the Sci console. "Two boomers, bearing 218 mark 73 and 196 mark 44. The Promise is directly aft, on course for Earth, almost out of range. Otherwise the skies are ours, ma'am."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Keep scanning. If you get /anything/, I want to know about it immediately."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">"Aye, Captain."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Another sip, then, "steady as she goes," Sasha said, looking at the main viewscreen. The stars streamed by, turned into streaks by warp speed. It was an illusion, she knew, but still. "Steady as she goes."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878> </DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Captain Sasha Spearling</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Commanding Officer</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">&</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Commander Cara Nelson-Samad</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Executive Officer</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">&</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">Commander Vic Hanley</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">2nd Officer/CAO</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">=======================</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" class=ecxms__id5878><FONT size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Medium">FCL-04 Challenger</FONT> </DIV>
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