AT/D02 - Ready Room

[Tyra Crawford]

== A room designated specifically for the use of the ship’s Commanding Officer, accessed from the Bridge. The room acts as both office and lounge, allowing the Captain to attend to administrative tasks including private conversations, review of classified material, or to rest. ==

[Tyra Crawford]

As Grant thought on her question, Tyra had settled back into her seat, taking the moment to watch the young man as he considered the question with more care than some. To be honest, she'd found this particular question to be a very good filter for who should and should not be given chances to gather valuable leadership ability and opportunities to further their ambitions. There were two very specific categories of officers that she felt usually made themselves known during these conversations: the clout chasers and the painfully unambitious. The clout chasers were those that passionately expressed their desire to climb the ladder with an emphasis on the glory and esteem that came with such a climb; they were the same officers that would likely crumble when a mission went wrong, shirking the responsibility onto the nearest scapegoat and absolutely leaving their crew to suffer. The painfully unambitious were the ones absolutely unable to name a single goal and were most comfortable being given step by step instructions for every moment of their working lives; they usually were inadequate for command or leadership because they quite literally couldn't think for themselves. They absolutely had a purpose in the fleet, just not in any sort of leadership role.

Fortunately, Grant seemed to fall into a different category, though he made it clear that his ambitions were for command. It was possible that his desire for command involved the sparkle and shine of achievement and accolades but if it was, he, at least, hid it better than most. He understood that reaching such a pinnacle required a great deal of hard work and hard experiences gained and hopefully, his time on the bridge of the Artemis would lead him to understanding what it actually took to be in command. It had always been Tyra's suspicion that if more young officers understood how heavy and suffocating the mantle of command was, they might think twice before desiring the center center. After all, it was largely watching her father command a ship for years that had lead Tyra to desire to be a specialist, an expert in her own field with no desire to promote beyond security, but Fate had other plans for her.

"But I know things don't perfectly line up all of the time," he continued. "Which is why I have to work for those goals. To prove myself worth taking on those positions. Those responsibilities. Where I stand now, with the experience I have under my belt, I know there is a possibility that I could become a Department Head now. I know that's not always feasible, so I would, and plan to, go about requesting to be given more leadership opportunities, some of which I've had, before becoming an Assistant Chief Tactical Officer and moving up from there."

The redhead didn't immediately answer, allowing herself to take a sip and move the drink around her mouth before swallowing it. Either it didn't burn or she was well beyond reacting to the burn of whiskey down the back of her throat.

"Well, I am glad that you're hoping to take on more leadership opportunities," she remarked as she leaned forward once more, her blue eyes watching him closely.

"I've always found that career trajectory tends to be just as much about luck as it is skill and potential. Look at Lieutenant Mayfair: she is skilled and she is talented beyond reason but were she on a different ship, she likely wouldn't have been afforded the opportunity to prove herself as Chief Medical Officer. It's rare for a non-doctor to hold the position and yet, due to personnel issues and personnel losses, a nurse was the best option at my disposal. And quite frankly, I've never regretted it."

"I hope to be able to say the same about you..." she remarked, letting the words hang in the air for him to interpret as she took another sip.

After letting the silence hand for a moment, she continued. "We recently were informed that Mat-- Lieutenant Commander Briggs, our most recent Chief Tactical Officer, will not be returned to the Artemis, which is very unfortunate," she said, her tone sounding a little resigned.

She was getting tired of the revolving door that was her senior staff; she missed when it was an established and cohesive group of officers, who had served together for years. Who knew those had been the good old days with all the war and blood that had tainted them.

"Carol -- Lieutenant Harriman is a good officer and one I have served with for many years. However, she is not a candidate for filling the position left by Mathew; she isn't exactly administratively focused, which is largely what a Chief gets to deal with. I know the role of senior officers seems glorious and glamorous but it's really filled with paper cuts and headaches."

"After looking at the department and what HQ can offer me, I think my best solution for the opening is from an internal source, you, but I am not without my concerns." she stated simply, her gaze unwavering as she gauged his reaction.

"I think you are a capable and competent officer. However, I also think that a great deal of your experience since departing the Academy has been in security, even including the last mission. While you performed well on the bridge, you also acted in a security role during the most crucial portion of the mission. I worry that throwing you into the role of Chief Tactical Officer without actually letting you gain valuable experience as a tactical officer is unfair and is setting you up for failure. One thing you will learn about me as you serve aboard the Artemis is that I value the long term success of my people over the short term ego boosts and I will not put people into positions that I feel will not serve them unless there is no other choice."

She held up a hand to stop any possible objections. "Having thought over this issue for the last week, I think there is a compromise that will provide you the opportunity to prove yourself and give the command staff the oversight needed to make things work. I would like to offer you the position of Acting Chief Tactical Officer with the understanding that whether the position becomes permanently yours will be entirely based on how you perform. As I stated before, CTO involves a great deal of administration and it is a difficult aspect of the job to grasp when you haven't spent an extended amount of time within the department. However, both myself and Commander Coleman will be making ourselves readily available to teach you how to handle that function of the job and we will obviously be on hand to witness your performance on the bridge."

Now, she arched an eyebrow up as she took another sip, clearly waiting for his response. "So?"

== Tag Grant! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Before Recall - Barely ==

"****!" The harsh syllable bounced off the walls of the empty room, only cut off from the rest of the ship by the timely slide of the main doors.

Tyra stood there, just a step beyond the door's sensors, running a hand over her face as her mind tried its damnedest to get it's act together. Because there was no other choice right now. The meeting had been clear and while she felt the plan was foolhardy at best and suicidal at worst, it didn't change the needed objective or the grave consequences that failing would trigger.

This was the price of reputation; all the glory but all the crushing pressure. The knowledge that the very decisions she made and the results of them might very well shape the course of the world her daughter and Ethan and Carly would grow up. And while starry eyed cadets might say they wanted that chance, she doubted they truly understood what they were asking for, the crushing weight of that responsibility. The potential to be directly responsible for destroying everything.

Tyra might have stayed there, standing like a statue, for hours had the back door to the ready room not slid open without a warning. Her former yeoman turned quartermaster walked in, pausing as she took in her boss's posture and seemingly deciding that maybe she should have knocked.

"It sounded urgent," Cera said by way of apologizing.

Truthfully, Tyra barely remembered summoning the blonde or the following summons to Damian.

"It is. I'm about to issue a recall. All cargo needs to be aboard ASAP and we need to make sure we get everything we requested. I don't care if I need to personally beat some dock managers over the head."

Cera nodded, her hair hiding her face as she bowed her head to focus on her PADD.

"We're not taking any dependants when we launch -- I need you to work with Coleman to make sure any minors that might have been accompanying their parents have guardians assigned on DS9 until they can be collected. Any adult dependants need to be given quarters on DS9 until they can arrange travel somewhere. I'm advising everyone to leave pets behind as well so if you can help me arrange getting Colt to Dayune or Mac or Hell, even Bryan," Tyra said, trying to ignore the slight tense at the mention of Dayune. Clearly, he was involved in the current upheaval in Cera's life but Tyra had a hard time believing it was the obvious answer.

Cera finally looked up after she had finished typing. "It's that serious then. I will make sure that we acquire an extra crate or two of certain supplies. I had already made sure that Mayfair got the extra medical supplies she had requested."

"Make sure Elias has whatever supplies he needs in Engineering. He's going to be busy," Tyra remarked, partially as a test and partially because she knew how these things went.

To her credit, she didn't even flinch but Tyra didn't miss the fact that there wasn't even a smile. Under any other circumstances, she would have pounced on it but this wasn't the time. Hell, it wouldn't even matter if things fell to pieces.

"Are we departing without non essential personnel?" Cera asked, her dark eyes seeming a little larger as she watches Tyra intently. Tyra knew she was asking because support usually held the most non-essential personnel but even they were usually cross trained in a department where they might be useful.

"I don't know... Under bad enough conditions, everyone becomes essential. I'll talk to Damian about it when he gets here," Tyra answered, her tone less certain than it had been earlier.

It was an important decision; on the one hand, she would never risk personnel unnecessarily but on the other hand, there was no insignificant role on a starship. Removing even one cog from the machine had unintended consequences and she had enough consequences swirling at the peripheral of her thoughts.

Fortunately, the door chiming saved her from having to summon a more definitive answer and she didn't hesitate to call for the door to open since there was only one person not in the room that knew where to find her currently.

== Tag Coleman! ==

[Miles Grant]

==Grant timeline==

Miles listened intently as the Captain spoke of career trajectory depending as much on luck as skill and potential, giving the perfect example of Lieutenant Mayfair, who was the Artemis' Chief Medical Officer even though she wasn't a doctor. Miles nodded as she spoke in depth of personnel issues sometimes forcing a Captain's hand, but that she had never regretted the decision.

And it appeared this is what lead to the point of this meeting. Captain Crawford continued to explain that Commander Briggs would not be continuing aboard the Artemis, so they would be without their Chief Tactical Officer. Miles had noted that he had very few overall interactions with Briggs during his time aboard, but a lot of that fell to the differences in shifts.

As such, Miles saw this going one of a few way, though he believed the next in line would be Lieutenant Harriman.

He knew the Artemis didn't have an Assistant Chief Tactical Officer, but he felt, during the shifts and overall structure of the Tactical Department, that Harriman had been the de facto Assistant.

However, when the Captain spoke next of Lieutenant Harriman, her standing as a good officer, but overall not the fit to fill the Administrative side that being a Department Head entailed.

And that's when it struck Miles why he had been called to this meeting. Going through the personnel that he knew was already assigned to the Tactical Department, including his most recent promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade, and he quickly came to the conclusion that he would be the next Senior most Officer. The only sign that he recognized this would have been a slight change in his eyes, though the rest of his face remained stoic and focused.

Sure enough, Captain Crawford spoke that after reviewing her options, her best bet to take on the position of Tactical Chief was Miles himself. There was, of course, concerns about the placement. As she laid those concerns out, Miles couldn't help but to agree with her appraisal, especially with his heavy involvement on the Security side of things as opposed to his actual Department. In the end, she offered the position to him in Acting capacity, and how things went from there would determine if the title would become permanent.

After she laid out the expectations and how she and Commander Coleman would be available to ease the transition with the administrative side of things, she raised an eyebrow, awaiting his response, accentuated with a "So?" He took only a moment more before taking a deep breath and responding.

"I am honored in the faith you're placing in me with this position," he said. "I agree with your appraisal about my overall experience, but I accept the role and will endeavor to prove your faith is not misplaced."

==Tag==

[Damien Coleman]

== Before Recall ==

Walking through the corridors, Coleman felt his body rebelling against the fabric of the uniform that he’d put on. Shore leave had been fantastic for him. A chance to stretch his legs, relax some, and enjoy some downtime. Which, apparently, he’d become accustomed to the more casual wear that he’d been in for the last long while aboard DS9.

There'd been his time spent meeting people on the station, and that had gone a long way to alleviating some of his stresses. Though there were the conversations that he’d had with his sister Anita. Oh, there was the usual family drama. That never went away, and was ever present with every conversation between him and his older sister. Despite that, Anita had some wisdom for him when it came to working through whatever was sitting between him and Tyra. That helped Damian immensely, as she broke down the possibilities for where his captain was coming from. Not that he didn’t already understand it, but his sister had a way of talking about things that somehow clarified things. Made them easier to understand and internalize. Not that it always translated into Damian agreeing with her, but it helped.

Then there was actually sitting down with Tyra. After one of his chats with Anita, Damian decided not to go straight into shop talk. Getting Tyra to open up about things was often hard, but on one particular occasion, Damian led the charge. He started with talking about him and his family. There were dynamics at play in his family life that he was sure she’d understand. And understand she did. They shared a couple of laughs along with a couple of drinks. Maybe that had loosened things up, or perhaps Tyra was already coming around to things too. Either way, they managed to talk things out. It wasn’t perfect, as if anything ever was. But it was a start, and it would allow them to move past things; because they were a team at the end of the day.

Which is why Damian was so concerned when he had gotten the summons that he did from Tyra. He’d been lounging in his quarters, doing some writing, when she’d called. It sounded urgent and something else. Something Damian couldn’t quite pin down. It wasn’t so much concern, but it had that quality to it. Either way, Coleman took it seriously, and had changed into uniform just in case. If there was something immediate that needed to be acted upon, he wanted to be ready to execute those actions directly after the meeting.

“Commander,” Ziggy passed him in the hallway as she did a duty patrol with another officer.

“Ziggy!” he exclaimed with a big smile, “keeping busy even on shore leave I see.”

“I could say the same about you,” the enlisted Andorian chuckled and pointed toward his uniform, “you know something we don’t?”

“Not yet,” the smile soured into a frown, knowing that him being readied would get spread about the ship and station in short order.

“Well, good luck sir,” Ziggy gave a mischievous smirk and wink, before carrying on.

Stepping up to the door, Coleman pushed the button for the door chime. There wasn’t much time in between him pushing it, and Tyra calling for him to enter. The doors whooshed apart, allowing a heavy air to settle out of the room, and revealed Cera and Tyra. It was obvious the quartermaster and captain were already having a conversation, and by reading their body language and faces, that there were some difficult decisions on the table. Damian loosened his own body some, hoping to bring a different energy into the room than what was already present. Even then, he girded himself mentally for what was next.

“Hey Cera,” he nodded to her first as he crossed into the room, before turning his attention to Tyra.

“Sounded urgent,” his words were punctuated by the doors closing behind him, “so I got the formals on.”

Damian gave a light chuckle as he showed his uniform off to the present company. Then he walked closer, creating a triangle between the three of them.

“What’s going on? We aren’t at war are we?”

The last part wasn’t a poor attempt at humor. It was something that was actually a concern of his. After everything that had happened with the Brittany, Coleman was growing increasingly worried that that was where things were headed. It was obvious that tensions were rising on the borders, and conversations that Tyra had with brass affected her enough for Damian to feel the tension.

== tag Tyra ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Grant Timeline ==

"I am honored in the faith you're placing in me with this position," he said. "I agree with your appraisal about my overall experience, but I accept the role and will endeavor to prove your faith is not misplaced."

It was the expected answer after he had explained his goals for his career but nonetheless, it was good to be made official. She truly hoped that he was up for the task but having made the jump from security to tactical (and then, back), she knew he had an uphill climb as tactical was one of the more technical arenas.

"I'm glad to hear that. I will give you a few days to bask in the warmth of that new jacket supply will need to issue you and, of course, get up to speed on the deeper workings of the tactical department but then, you, Commander Coleman and I will need to have a sit-down to make sure the department is heading in the right direction and that we've got all the bases covered for whatever might be thrown at us next."

She took a bigger mouthful of whiskey than she had previously, emptying the glass and setting it down on the low coffee table. "Are there any questions before I release you to go tackle this new mountain?"

== Tag Grant! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Coleman Timeline ==

If Tyra had to compare her current first officer to her previous first officer, she'd have to concede that in many ways they were night and day. Jenny would have entered the room like a full blown thunder storm at such a summons, ready to rain down destruction at the slightest indication it was needed, but Coleman had entered with an optimism that Tyra had hoped lasted through his time on command. While Jenny and Tyra had been a formidable pair, they'd also fed off of each other in ways that weren't always the healthiest so maybe it was a benefit to have a different approach.

“--so I got the formals on.”

Tyra's eyebrow arched, the slightest sign of appreciation, but Cera actually smiled, the tiniest of chuckles following.

“What’s going on? We aren’t at war are we?”

Cera's nose crinkled at the question but Tyra let a wry chuckle escape, the remnants of another coping mechanism. "I wouldn't mark the possibility off the board just yet..."

However, her lips settled into a slight frown instead of the grin that should have accompanied the chuckle. Her blue eyes shifted from Damian to Cera, who seemed to understand her part.

The blonde waved the PADD in her hand. "I'll begin on this. Do you want me to go ahead and issue the recall?"

The redhead shook her head. "No, we need to make a decision related to that first and then, we'll issue recall."

Cera merely nodded before going out the way she had come in, entirely avoiding the bridge altogether.

Tyra waited for the doors to slide closed before moving towards her desk, refilling her own coffee cup before flipping over one of the empty cups and filling it. She offered Coleman the second cup before walking towards the upper deck and the view port.

"You'll likely want something a little stronger after this chat but coffee will have to do."

She motioned for one of the seats for Damian to take, though she didn't sit down. Instead, she paced as she spoke, recounting the details from the meeting in all their grave details. There were a few times she had to pause for coffee and to add needed context. After all, the Artemis had been chosen for this God foresaken task because of their experience, particularly Tyra's with certain aspects, so the context was important.

When she'd finished laying the entire thing out, she finally sat down, letting the silence hang for a moment.

"It's a ******* stupid plan and I would know as the creator of many stupid plans. Which is why we need to come up with a better one before we brief the crew."

"But right this second, we need to issue recall. We need to make it abundantly clear that all dependants need to be left behind without causing panic. I'm leaning towards bringing non-essential personnel with us, even under the circumstances. At minimum, bringing all non-essential personnel that are cross trained but I'd like your thoughts on it."

== Tag Coleman ==

[Miles Grant]

==Grant timeline==

Miles nodded in agreement as Crawford outlined the plan moving forward, allowing him some time to get acclimated, updating his uniform to include the Department Head's jacket, and then checking in to see the trajectory of the Department under Miles' leadership, and the steps going forward from that point.

She then downed the last of her drink before asking if he had any questions before she sent him to begin this new, fairly gargantuan endeavor.

"None at this time, Captain," he replied. "Though I'm sure as I get acclimated, there more than likely will be questions that arise in the...growing pains, as it were...of this new position. Thank you, again."

==Tag, or ETL==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Grant Timeline ==

Tyra smiled warmly at the younger man as she stood up to see him out. She hoped for his sake that he rose to occasion but even if he wasn't ready, he'd gain valuable experience from the situation.

"I have no doubt that you'll do well but don't let any ego keep you from asking the needed question," she advised.

"Get settled in and then, we'll schedule a sit down to go over everything," she added.

Once the door closed behind the young man, Tyra began gathering her things to follow suit. She still had some more free time to take advantage of.

== ETL==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline - During recall, before launch ==

The time spent game planning with Coleman in Strat Ops had, at least, allowed Tyra to wrap her head around the detailed specifics of Artemis' task in this but it hadn't resulted in a detailed plan. Oh, she knew what needed to be accomplished but she couldn't quite see the how just yet.

She just kept coming back to how this was all entirely avoidable if command would just stop giving starships to officers that had proven themselves in efficient at command time and time again. Now, usually, Tyra wasn't one to Monday morning quarterback but the Artemis had been selected for this assignment due to their knowledge of the ship in question thanks to their adventure in the Delta Quadrant, along with their experience with the Cardassians.

She'd spent what time she'd had looking over the files on what occurred that were both readily available and restricted. And all it had done was left her frustrated at being in this situation at all, being forced to risk her people to fix someone else's grand mistake, but this wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last time either.

No amount of being irritated with the actions of others was going to help her solve her current issue, which was why she had summoned one of her more creative problem solvers; if his partner in crime were still aboard, she'd probably have dragged him in as well.

If she could lay out what they needed to do, there was a good chance he could, at least, point her in the right direction. That was all she needed, truthfully.

== Tag Elias! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline - after quarters but before engineering==

Benjamin stalked the hallway towards the ready room, cursing his big mouth. Of course a disaster begins to loom, he thought as he recalled how he'd tempted fate. And now here he is, called to the captain's office before he could get any more coffee than the raktajino he'd had in his quarters and with nary a word as to what it was about. He had a feeling he knew, and he was almost afraid to face Tyra if she were acting not as a captain but as Cera's long-time friend. Suddenly he regretted the gift of the sword he'd made, and wondered if he was going to be the first Starfleet officer beheaded by his own captain - or possibly worse.

But, of course, there wasn't anything for it. His captain had called, and he was duty bound to answer. Also, he was pretty sure that if Cera or even Tyra had it out for him they would strike when he wasn't expecting it, and that death would be the least of his worries. He rubbed his forehead, somehow feeling the static that crinkled across his artificial eye as he did so, and pressed the door chime before he had time to reconsider that duty. She let him in fairly quickly, and Benjamin stepped into the captain's sanctum.

Somehow, it felt wrong for her to not have her dog in her office and the room felt a little emptier as a result. He couldn't help but note the fact that her office was a little disheveled, as if another meeting had taken place here not too long prior. He made the assumption that recall was going to happen soon, and assumed that Cera had been here. Part of him wished she still was, but as he took in Tyra's face and he knew there were deeper problems to solve. He presumed that if this were about the quartermaster she would look angry and frustrated. 

Instead, she looked irritated but determined, a look he'd seen on her before. Specifically, it reminded him of that Kazon outpost they had helped to defend. It spoke to having to clean up someone else's mess, but knowing that there was nothing for it but to get on with the job and get it done. He assumed that they had been given their mission; what he didn't know was why exactly she'd summoned him, particularly alone. He walked up to her desk, trying - and only partially succeeding - in banishing the tiredness he still felt.

"How can I help, Captain?" he said to her. He dispensed with anything resembling chit-chat and cut straight to the matter at hand; this wasn't the time.

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline ==

When the door chimed, Tyra was watching the docking crews through her ready room's large window, trying to ascertain what her husband would make of this situation. Or more accurately, what he would recommend as a tactician.

She called for the door to open rather absently, not bothering to hide the traces of frustration and exasperation in her expression. The more she thought about what they were being asked to do, the more she felt like it was a rather impossible and unfair tasking. Oh, she enjoyed a challenge but she didn't enjoy a challenge where the deck was stacked against her due to poor decisions of other people.

In fact, this was the same feeling she had had when the damn colonists on Liotu IV had refused to evacuate until it was too late and who had to go hold the line on the advancing Romulans to allow their evacuation? Oh just some young, green security officers, paying the ultimate sacrifice because of the hubris of others. The bitterness she had felt after that bloody endeavor had been a black hole that had lasted for years.

"How can I help, Captain?" Elias asked almost immediately, seeming to sense this wasn't a personal meeting.

"You might want to grab some coffee," she suggested, motioning her own cup at the carafe sitting on the edge of the desk.

"Someone monumentally ****** up and we are somehow suppose to pull a miracle out of our asses and un-**** it up. And if we fail, we're likely the opening volley of the next war," Tyra's tone was hard, tinged with a mix of annoyance and resignation. "No pressure."

"The Callisto has been located in Cardassian hands. We'll have a full brief on how, where and why later but the short of it is that a team from Artemis will be responsible for either bringing it home or destroying it. Preferably the former but I'm not above the latter. Lord knows that ship is as cursed as the Philly, which ironically enough will be assisting."

"Coleman and I have a plan for taking over the Callisto once we get aboard but we need a plan to get aboard. Ideally, I'd like to get a craft into the Shuttlebay so we have a secured area to fall back to if needed but that might be asking a lot."

"Artemis is a little big to be sneaking in so she will be remaining with the assault aspect. Philly will be the team's ride in to the system but there's limits to how close they can get us or what they can do."

She paused to take a drink of her coffee, allowing Elias time to sort the details and wrap his head around the implications.

"I need options and you have consistently proven to be one of my more creative problem solvers. I don't care if it's a way through the Callisto's shields, which might not even be online, or a way to boost the Philly's transporter. Or hell, a way to sneak in under their noses. I'll take freaking space walking in EV suits if that's what it takes to make this work."

"Failure isn't an option. Failure got us into this situation and I'll be damned if we make it worse," she added, her voice resolute and firm.

== Tag! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline==

Benjamin was about to reach for the offered coffee when Tyra started into her description of the situation, and he never quite made it to the carafe. No pressure, he thought after her blunt declaration of fact. Right.

He listened as she continued, describing the situation in more detail and trying to wrap his head around it. The Callisto. He remembered her from their excursion to the Delta Quadrant, and had even leant a hand while they were trying to repair everyone after their disastrous arrival. It had taken a not-insignificant amount of time to get her back to a slipstream-worthy state so she could go home. He remembered hearing that she was lost a year or two ago, but hadn't known any details; evidently he would learn some of that soon.

But that wasn't why he was here. He was here, evidently, to figure out how to get them there. He didn't know much about the capabilities of the Philadelphia, but as it happened, he'd already sketched out something that just might work...

"So, Captain," he started. "I might, in point of fact, have a solution for this, but either this is going to be completely off the books, or I need your permission for it." He knew he was being cagey, but he waited for her to give some kind of consent to go on - a head nod, a verbal request, anything. Of course, he also knew that he'd get it; Tyra wasn't going to simply wave him away at this juncture.

He picked up a padd and called up one of his project files from his personal database, something he kept sequestered in his quarters, and handed it back to his captain. "I know it isn't exactly standard issue, but I couldn't help but keep a little... souvenir of that trip Nathan and I took. It's in crate C-86237 down in cargo bay 7. I know it's functional, and I've worked up ways to connect it to a modern ship. It's gotta be a small ship, however; it won't help on something as big as Artemis, or probably even Philadelphia."

Of course, there were other problems with his plan. Strategically it was sound, but there were other realms than the battlefield where issues could crop up. He was likely to land in a lot of hot water for it, but if it gave them a path to success he was ready to do what needed to be done.

==Tag!==

[Tyra Crawford]

After laying her cards on the table, Tyra wasn't exactly sure what she had expected out of Elias but she could attest that she hadn't expected him to so quickly come back with a request for either discretion or her blind permission on an idea that must be less than above aboard.

She didn't answer either way initially, her blue eyes focused on the engineer in a way that suggested she was weigh his words against everything else.

Benjamin Elias was one of those unique cases where she had gotten the honor and pleasure to watch him grow from a troubled and trouble finding young man into the reliable and dependable officer that sat before her now. He'd come along ways from the young man knee deep on Pomn or who had run on the Rogue Planet. Yes, there was whatever rumble had occurred between him and Cera but when it came to her view of him as an officer, there were few she was more proud of and even fewer, she trusted as much. If he had an idea that he thought might work, she trusted it would and if he was asking for her permission to disclose something sensitive, she had no real choice but to give it.

"Of course," she answered with a nod of her head.

Ben fiddled with his PADD before handing it over to her. "I know it isn't exactly standard issue, but I couldn't help but keep a little... souvenir of that trip Nathan and I took. It's in crate C-86237 down in cargo bay 7. I know it's functional, and I've worked up ways to connect it to a modern ship. It's gotta be a small ship, however; it won't help on something as big as Artemis, or probably even Philadelphia."

Tyra stared at the PADD for a moment before her blue eyes came up, her facial expression, for once, entirely readable as an eye roll was followed quickly be a disbelieving shake of the head. The implication was that this item had managed to be on her ship for years, likely through collusion with a certain quartermaster, and she'd been none the wiser. It was impressive on the one hand and entirely irresponsible on the other.

However, the matter at hand wasn't the smuggling of contraband on a Federation star ship but whether that item could be used to meet their mission goals and whether it should be used.

When 20 year old Tyra Crawford had graduated from the Academy, she had graduated with an idealism that might have given Nathan Ramius a run for his money. She would have balked at the mere idea that an older version of her was considering such an action but the young woman had been swallowed rather quickly in the tide of war, spitting out a more hardened version. Whereas that bright young woman would have argued that the ends would never justify the means, that bitter and angry war veteran would have said the ends always justified the means because someone had to do the dirty work that allowed civilians to sleep peacefully at night.

Now, Tyra understood that the argument was more nuanced than straight black and white. Yes, she still believed that as an officer, a captain and a soldier, it would always fall on her shoulders to do the dirty work that needed to get done and sometimes, her hands would get dirty. However, she also understood that a blanket belief in justified means was a lazy excuse for not having any convictions or standards; there were still things not worth selling your soul for, as the Krynar had taught.

However, what Elias was proposing didn't require the sale of a soul; it just required the willingness to possibly be a political sacrifice when everything was said and done. There was a very real chance that, even with success, there would be hard questions and no good answers, but Tyra could say with full confidence and no regrets that there was very little she wouldn't do to make sure that Evie and Ethan didn't grow up under the banner of war.

This was a small risk in the grand scheme.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, her tone level and calm. "The Philadelphia has a Waverider. If I can get Jenny to agree to its use, is it small enough? Will you have enough time to get it installed and working during transit?"

Now, she finally looked up from the PADD and looked Elias in the eyes. "And are you sure? Even if we succeed and bring Callisto back, there's likely to be some asshole at HQ that's going to want to dig into the how. We can't claim we just found this thing laying around," she waved the PADD for emphasis. "I'll run interference, you know I will, and I will absolutely take the blame for approving it. However, there's a good chance it won't stay quiet with another ship involved and they're going to want to know where it came from."

== Tag! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin hadn't been sure what response to expect. A stoic stare, maybe, or a detonation of anger. An eyeroll and disbelief hadn't exactly been his expectation, though it was definitely somewhere on that spectrum. He wasn't sure if it was the speed that he'd brought up the plan, or the fact that some creative bookkeeping had kept this hidden from not just the captain but from Starfleet at large that merited the eyeroll, but he couldn't exactly blame her. He'd been toying with this particular plan for a few years now, knowing that eventually it was going to come into play. Given the nature of the missions the Artemis seemed to be given, it was inevitable that out-of-the-box thinking would be required to get them done, eventually. 

And sometimes, that required sacrifice.

Sure, some sacrifices were harder than others. He remembered the creative thinking that had cost him his eye when he'd tried to make do with substandard "parts" for an EPS conduit, but he'd also had more successful attempts such as the plan that had won him a medal when he saved the Artemis' from a warp core breach. The fact that had given him his current post wasn't entirely lost on him, even if he still, on occasion, was haunted by the Vulcan who preceded him. But this plan had been thought through for a while, and he'd come to terms with the cost.

If that's what it takes, so be it.

He nodded as he listened to her finally reply, her words even and calm. He understood there was likely a storm underneath, but he felt she saw it like he did; he wouldn't have even brought it up if he didn't trust her judgement. First, she asked some technical questions before continuing to the more existential ones.  "And are you sure?" she asked. "Even if we succeed and bring Callisto back, there's likely to be some asshole at HQ that's going to want to dig into the how. We can't claim we just found this thing laying around. I'll run interference, you know I will, and I will absolutely take the blame for approving it. However, there's a good chance it won't stay quiet with another ship involved and they're going to want to know where it came from."

He sighed and nodded, deciding to answer the last question first. "Yes, ma'am, I'm sure. I kept that thing because I knew there'd be a day when it would be needed, and given the situation you laid out for me this is the only solution I can think of that gives us a fighting chance to make it to Callisto and make this thing happen. I don't expect you to take a fall for me; I knew when I held on to it that there'd be a price if it was discovered, much less revealed like this. I've been party to much worse than this in my life, and if I have to pay for this one maybe it's just justice catching up with me. But for now, we'll focus on the mission and trying to make it back to face that music.

"To that end," he continued, "a Waverider should be just fine, though I'll want to run some tests once it's installed. I'll get the schematics up as soon as I have a chance and start checking how best to install the damned thing." He just hoped it was the device that was damned, and not them.

==Tag==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline ==

Ben's answer was well reasoned and thought out as he answered her in reverse order, though likely in the order of importance. It seemed that he understood that eventually he would have to pay the man so to speak but at some point in time, his little project would have become known, whether due to needing it or its existence being discovered.

Still, Tyra wasn't certain it was fair to be asking this, not when it was due to command asking for a miraculous performance without giving them the tools for a miracle. But what was new? She was starting to lose count of how many miracles she'd been asked to pull out of her ass and while that was likely a self induced problem caused by success, she didn't have to like it.

"I won't hang you out to dry on it," she stated simply. "After all, it's sat in my cargo hold for how long? Someone's going to want an explanation for that, at minimum and it's been a while since I've had to bullshit my way out of a command meeting," she stated with a wry grin.

"I'll get permission from Jenny to utilize their Waverider and make needed modifications. If possible, I'd rather she not outright know what we're doing; she's the junior captain and has already had a bit of a rough start. She's smart but I'd rather her have plausible deniability on it, if it turns out I'm not in a position to defend my decisions after the fact. We also need to keep the number of people that know to a minimum; the less that know, the better."

"It'll be hard. I don't expect Philly's Chief Engineer will like you making modifications to his vessel without his input but he can suck it up. They all can," she stated dryly before taking another mouthful of coffee.

"I would strongly suggest that you make whatever arrangements you need to make. As soon as we're launched, we'll be headed full steam ahead with little time to get things set," Tyra instructed, her words surprisingly pointed and Ben might get the feeling that she was no longer talking about this little project. The arch of her eyebrow and slight sharpening of her gaze didn't help.

== Tag! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Mission Timeline ==

As soon as the doors slide shut behind her, she let a deep breath escape, the careful expression of calm and control slipping just a fraction. She was under no illusion about how things were going to go; this was very likely the last moment of peace and quiet she would have before all hell broke loose.

Her steps were careful and measured as she moved to her desk, setting the thermos on the edge as she opened one of her bottom drawers. She gentle rolled the emergency bottle of bourbon out of the way, her fingers curling around the edge of a well worn PADD before pulling it out.

As she held it in her hands, it felt impossibly heavy as if its emotional weight had manifested itself physically. She swallowed at the implication of having to pull it out yet again before setting it in its customary place next to her console. Occasionally, it had been left with someone in safe harbor but usually, it sat right there so that it could be found by whoever took her mantle. This time, if worst came to worst, Cera would find it and know what to do with it.

She hoped that it never needed to be delivered but if her career had taught her anything, it was to be prepared for the worst. There was nothing she could imagine worse than those she loved being robbed of closure.

After a moment of considering the PADD, with another sigh, she reached up and began to unfasten the necklace around her neck. She gently tugged it out from under the collar of her, allowing the gold chain to dangle in front of her face. Her fingers traced the edges of her engagement ring and then, her wedding band, her lips tugged into a wistful smile before she caught herself. Carefully, she refastened the necklace and gently placed it on top of the PADD.

If nothing else, she'd be damned if she allowed her Cardassian to take them from her like some trophy.

The last thing she did was type a short message to her husband. There was no code word between them for critical missions but she knew the four word message would catch his attention.

She could imagine the way his brow would furrow at reading the message the first time, how he would lean forward for the second reading and shake his head at the third. He wouldn't understand what she was trying to say immediately but he was a man that couldn't leave a mystery unsolved. He'd likely wonder across the hall into her office, examining the books on the shelves for clues as to what she was referring to. He might even go through her music before likely wandering into Evie's room. There was a chance he'd get a hunch if he looked through Evie's books, noting the hand written notes she left in some of them, but there was a chance he might not. He'd eventually end up back in his own office and maybe out of frustration, he'd pick up one of the many books she'd gifted him. He'd read her looping handwriting with its careful note and maybe, it'd jog a memory of an inscription that fit her message. Eventually, because she knew he wouldn't let it rest, he'd come across the inscription on the book she'd given him right after they'd married. In those early years, the quote had been a promise to work through the hard times but now, it was a promise to always come back to him, even if it was hard.

Oh, she could have been more blatant about her reference but she knew this puzzle would keep him occupied for hours. By the time he realized what she meant and attempted to message her, she'd likely be unable to receive or answer messages. That was assuming he tried because he'd know, he'd know why she had written it that way. After all, he knew her best. Maybe it was a coward's way out of that hard goodbye but she couldn't keep torturing them with those moments. He'd forgive her for her cowardice, he always did.

She didn't allow herself to consider the PADD, the rings or the message for long after hitting send nor did she allow herself to remain long enough to carefully consider the appropriateness of some liquid courage. Instead, she took a deep breath and released it, forcing her shoulders to relax. No, she was far from relaxed but she didn't need that tension to seep into every midshipman she ran into on her way to the transporter room.

The curse of being a CO was that their mood was infectious and she didn't need to let everyone know that she was worried, maybe even more than worried. That was why she moved out of her office and through the bridge like a woman on a mission with no intentions of idle chit chat.

>> Transporter Room >>

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline==

Benjamin listened as she continued talking about the challenges, but as was typical she seemed to be of a mind to simply bullrush through them. He'd learned years ago that when Captain Crawford had a mission and a plan, woe betide those who got in her way. Fortunately in this instance, he could simply follow along behind and take advantage of that. He knew that working on a Waverider was going to be a different challenge, but he was confident he could get it done. 

"I can keep it secret if I need to," he told her. "It's not a difficult operation to get it attached and working, but the thing is fairly bulky. Fortunately I should have a pair of hands with me from Artemis to help in that way, unless you want to get your own hands dirty," he said teasingly. She was right; the fewer people that knew what was about to happen, the better.

"I would strongly suggest that you make whatever arrangements you need to make. As soon as we're launched, we'll be headed full steam ahead with little time to get things set," Tyra instructed. She arched her eyebrow at him, and the look in her eye was as sharp as the sword hanging behind her on the wall.

He swallowed, and nodded. Now that they were away from the mission and technical talk, he was less sure. He'd seen the message from Cera as he was getting dragged to Ori's going-away party, and then saw the dozen or so "Message Recovered" indicators from the week previous, and knew he was in deep trouble. Of course, he'd known that while he was back home with his dad, too. The fact that a painful conversation had been coming anyway didn't make him want to contact her any more than he already did. "Yes, ma'am," he said simply, and stood back up. "Is there anything else, Captain?"

==Tag and/or ETL==