The Timeless Roundtable

Posted on 01/12/2022 @ 4:26am by Colonel Jack Patton & 2nd Lieutenant Erin Inferson & Master Sergeant Robert Schiano & Lance Corporal Brian Zapata & Private 1st Class Raasur & Captain Skol Vek & Sergeant Audie Fitch & Captain Brina Tracy-Hall & 1st Lieutenant Anthony Hill

2,659 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Mission 22: The Other Side of the Mirror
Location: The Throneroom - Poseidon Station
Timeline: MD001 1000 hrs

Jack walked into the Throneroom and with a tone that could not be disputed began to issue orders. "Sparks gather your platoon and get them to the roundtable. Songbird, Sherlock, join us you already know what this is going to be about. Spitfire, Meatball you too." He walked right into the adjacent room that housed a large round stone looking table. Jack was fascinated by the Arthurian legends and ran his unit as close to it as he could. He sat in his customary place at the table an leaned on his hand deep in thought.

"Oh an afterthought there Boss eh?" Anthony joked as he gave Meatball a glance for effect. "Always forgotten about..." he said as he mustered into the Throneroom following the others. He wondered what this was about but the station was abuzz with rumour, with tension.

Robert "Meatball" Schiano smiled at Hill's comment. But the smile left his face quickly as he jogged into the room. There was something different in the air, and about the way Jack spoke. Something that wasn't funny.

There were always mixed feelings at the start of a mission -- of course, it was good to know you were headed out to help someone who needed it, but it was never good that someone needed help -- but Audie figured that if there was help to be rendered, it may as well be the Kingsmen doing it. While no one wanted trouble, idle Marines lost their edge.

Vek nodded as he began to watch the others enter the room. He took his place beside Patton and Brina. This was a huge announcement and even he was excited. He knew not to get his hopes up, but maybe he would find something out about his mom. He shook the thought and nodded to Patton and Brina as he took his seat.

Striding into the room, she nodded to the others, then took her seat, curious, of course, and a bit anxious.

Brina did indeed know what this was about, and knew this was important. She knew though that those who will be left on the station would do their utmost. She took a seat at the round table not too far from Patton. This was going to be a big announcement.

As soon as Jack disappeared into the roundtable room, Erin cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Zapata who had been sitting accross the table from her. "Well you heard him Swords lets get a move on." She called out in cadence and led both Zapata and Flarn into the room. They took their seats at the table.

"Brother to brother. Yours in life and death..." Jack opened the briefing as he did all Kingsmen briefings with their credo. He felt it was good to remind everyone what they stood for. "...About six hours ago Songbird, Sherlock and myself were summoned to a briefing aboard the Herodotus. Before I go on I don't think I need to tell you that what is discussed here remains in this room. This is classified by the highest orders. It seems that we have to go into the Mirror Universe to clean up a mess that was left there a few years back. I am going to watch the Captain's back. Songbird has been requested to fly the ship, and Sherlock to serve as the Chief Security Officer. Sparks I am bringing your platoon as a failsafe. I need a group who can be ready for anything and to that end Spitfire you will join the Swords. A combat engineer is going to be handy when we do not know what technology we are up against. Our mission is a standard snatch and grab..."

Jack keyed in a few commands and an image of a woman appeared in full body in the center of the table, she wore a Starfleet uniform. "Meet Commander Maurelle Valentine. At one point she was the Executive Officer of the USS Nogura under the command of Captain Cornelius Harrington. She was unintentionally stranded in the mirror universe where she has been all these many years. Our mission is to find her and bring her home."

Anthony nodded to the comment about his inclusion into the Swords. He smiled a little, any change to work under Sparks was more than welcome to him and for a moment he wondered what it would be like to be under her more often... but his mind brought him back to the meeting at hand. "What sort of resistance are we expecting Colonel?" he asked.

"Well the story as we were told it is that Commander Valentine had posed as the Empress of the Terran Empire for a time. We are not sure if she was discovered or what but she is not the Empress anymore and in truth we do not know where she is. Resistance we can expect is high from both the Terran Empire, and a group calling themselves the Renegades. Captain Thorrin may be in command of his ship, and this mission however I do not plan to follow him blindly. Meatball you have gotten us out of a lot of situations. I need emergency return plans in two hours." Jack answered Hill and then addressed Schiano.

"Youze got it Jacko... already formulatin some ideas. Songbird I sure hope you are worth your salt as a pilot. The first plan dat comes to mind is a slingshout round a sun..." Schiano began to punch keys furiously quick on a PADD.

"Hey Blackjack... you know that The Swords are for blowing things up. So I gotta reiterate what Spitfire asked. What do you need us to destroy?" Erin leaned forward as she spoke and both Flarn and Brian did the same. All of this certainly had their curiosity piqued.

Jack nodded in agreement with Erin. She did deserve a further explanation. "Spitfire, we are not sure what tech we are going to be dealing with. That said I am going to need a combat engineer to assist in deconstructing the tech and giving me the best options for what we are up against. As for you Sparks you are going to do what you do best. Any trace that Valentine was in this universe is going to have to be destroyed. That said the easiest way to do it is to blow the base up."

"You tell me where and my boys here will watch my back." Erin said with a smirk. Not being much for words Brian and Flarn simply smiled and nodded.

"With those that are going, we're going to have to address who will be keeping things running while we're gone." Brina remarked.

Anthony had been taking some notes on his PaDD whilst listening to Patton speak. It was interesting enough to handle different tech, but from a mirror universe made it all the more exciting. "I'll be sure to do my best Colonel. Try not blow us up."

"So..." Audie's nose wrinkled up as she pondered her words. But this was an open forum, and she should feel free to express her thoughts. "Um...I'm assuming the Commander is the 'mirror' of the Empress? How, then, does one become 'not the Empress'? I mean, is the 'real' Empress still alive and came back, or..." She shrugged. "I don't know, it just seems that it might be helpful to find her if we have a few more specifics. Lord knows, we don't want to snatch the wrong person, right?"

Well, she should just stop at this point, but as long as she was started, she may as well keep going. "Kinda extreme to just go in blazing away, isn't it? Like, maybe if we try to integrate, at least a little, pretend we belong there, that might buy us some time." Of course, she had no experience with a Mirror Universe, so she wasn't sure what to expect, and she was insanely curious what 'Mirror Audie' was like, if, indeed, there was one.

Jack turned to Audie. "Good questions Magic Hands. The Real Empress is dead. Captain Harrington killed her the last time he was in the MU. This mirror of the Empress has been stranded there and to survive imitated the Empress. However, at some point she was discovered and fled. Integrating is almost impossible. As most of us are incapable of the brutality that the Terran Empire expects. How Commander Valentine did it I will never know. You are correct thought that going in guns blazing would be wrong as well. That said we are going to meet..." Jack paused as he could not believe he was about to say this. "...We are going to meet the mirror of me. Apparently my alter ego knows where to find the Commander."

Jack snapped his fingers as if he had forgotten something that he just remembered. "With all of us away Meatball you are going to be in charge of the Kingsmen. Make sure you check in with Commander Letsul for needs etc..." He smiled broadly Jack knew what was coming.

Robert popped his head from his PADD. He already had two possible escape vectors planned depending up where the ship would be. "Wait what? Youze wanna come again for big Meatball. I mean wouldn't Big Red..."

Jack shook his head no. "You out rank her and with all the officers away the senior NCO has the command and that would be you."

Robert ran his head over his bald pate. "I hope for all of our sake dat nuttin happens."

"Well I have confidence in you, Meatball." Brina remarked, "You have shown you've got the stuff to keep this place together." giving Meatball pointed look, as her memory went back to where he had 'broken' her out of jail.

Skol looked at Patton "Is there anyone who we have versed to take care of things in CID while I am away? I don't want anything to happen, but I need to know someone can at least get the information and have it recorded for me."

Brina cast a glance over towards Skol, "There are others who will be able to gather the information for you." Giving a bit of a smile towards the CID officer.

As the conversation strayed a little off course, to who would hold the fort while the rest of them were on the mission, Audie couldn't help but wonder at just what type of brutality the Empire they were going to was accustomed to.

Jack smiled at Meatball. "I am going to have to side with Brina on this one. I need someone in charge. You're it, until you're dead or I find someone better..." He turned to address the members of the platoon that would go with him. "Be aware that the MARVEL/EAS will have to remain here. There is to much potential for contamination to the timeline if they were to fall into enemy hands. So make sure you are prepared to work without them. Now if there are no other questions. We have an Op to prepare for."

Brina looked at Patton and then at Meatball, "I trust you and I know that you can do this Meatball. And I'll be seeing you on the flipside." then she looked at Patton, giving him a nod. "No questions from my part. Prepare to be dismissed." she stated to those there and looked back once more to Patton giving him a nod. It was time to get prepared.

Vek backed up his other two leaders "Meatball if anyone can do this it is you. There is no doubt in your abilities and you will keep the Marines in check. We have the utmost confidence in your abilities. Always remember sometimes the biggest challenges bring the best opportunities." He nodded and stood in unison with Patton and Brina as the group was prepared to be dismissed.

Zapata and Flarn rose and began to prep some rifles and munitions cases from the locker in the back of the room. Zapata spoke with a smirk. "You know I wonder if the souls reaped in the mirror come here. This is something to ponder." He always waxed philosophical just before a mission. Flarn grunted in response. "Whatever you say sir..." The Tellarite stressed the sir as a tease. Even thought Zapata outranked the Tellarite he hated being called sir.

Erin sat at the table for a moment lost in thought. She knew that when she had signed up for the Corps she may lose her life in the service. However, she did not expect to lose it in another time or another universe. This was a lot to absorb, she thought as she leaned on her hand. As the rest of the team began to leave Erin decided to speak up. "Sir, universe hopping is a thing for the fleet. I am sure that time ship is equipped with quantum torpedoes at the very least. So what the heck do they need us for?"

If Jack did not know any better he would have thought that Sparks was actually scared. He cocked an eyebrow as he thought that perhaps she was. "The fleet does the looking and we do the cooking as it were. They are going to look for this Valentine and once she is found it will be our job to assist in her extraction. Then blow the whole thing to kingdom come...." His voice trailed off as he walked a little closer to her. "Listen Sparks, none of us likes the idea of going through the mirror. Least of all me. We get in and get the job done after all that is what the Kingsmen do best." Jack clapped her on the back.

Erin smiled as she stood up. "It is and always will be. Thank you sir." Erin turned toward Hill. "Come on handsome we have to figure out how to blow up a timeline..."

"Too right love." Anthony said with a grin. "I have just the thing..." he said trailing off. Quietly his conversation continued as he put his arm around her shoulder and leant into her to talk. Something about chroniton charged explosives and tech he'd been tinkering with in his engineering lab. A small laugh here and there could be heard almost as if two children were plotting their parents downfall.

Jack watched as the two left and came to attention. "Right we have our orders so lets get to em. Dismissed." He was out the door before most of the people. Jack wanted to get home to Aer before he had to leave. There was something about this mission that he didn't like. Something that did not sit well in the pit of his stomach.

Schiano watched as everyone left and he was the last one sitting at the table. The usual robust New Yorker was at a loss for words. He was to be in charge of the unit. Robert could not believe it and although he refused to admit it he was worried, about his first command and about what Jack and the team were walking into. Robert Schiano did not know much, but he knew that despite a timeship nothing would be the same from this moment forward.

---

Marine Captain Brina "Songbird" Tracy-Hall
Marine XO
The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

Marine Captain Skol "Sherlock" Vek
CID Officer
The Kingsman
Poseidon Station

Lance Corporal Brian "Reaper" Zapata
Rifleman, The Swords
The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

Private First Class Flarn "Puumba"
Rifleman, The Swords
The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

1st Lieutenant Anthony "Spitfire" Hill
Platoon CO, "The Castle"
Combat Engineer, The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

Cpl. Audie "Magic Hands" Fitch
Medic
The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

Lieutenant Colonel Jack "BlackJack" Patton
Commanding Officer, The Kingsmen
Poseidon Strategic Command
Poseidon Station

2nd Lieutenant Erin "Sparks" Inferson
Platoon CO, "The Swords"
Demolitions, The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

Master Sergeant Robert "Meatball" Schiano
First Sergeant
EVACC Specailist, The Kingsmen
Poseidon Station

 

RSS Feed