0600 Hours: A staff meeting

Commander Rai was actually no worse for wear after a night of Bloodwine with his crew. He hosted a small headache, which was indistinguishable from the headache that came with psychic noise, like digital static.
The senior staff seated quickly.
"Good morning everyone. I would like to start this with introductions. For those of you who haven't met Tal'Ara, the Lieutenant Commander will be our Romulan liaison. If you were present in the Eel last night, you might have also seen our new Groundskeeper, Da-an. They'll be improving our Pleasure Gardens and station landscaping.
Due to increased tensions between the Cardassian and Bajoran governments, the Federation has assigned us to patrol Bajoran perimeters. Obviously, we can't do this with runabouts.
The Federation has issued to me the command of the U.S.S. Hippolyta. All of you will be serving on this ship."

Regan didn't know why but everything was pretty exciting this morning. The bloodwine was still sloshing around in her head, but it was drowned out by echoes of human jazz music.

A Phylosian in the flesh! A real live Romulan! A sovereign class ship! Wait. Out here in the middle of nowhere? With this threadbare crew? Even Deep Space Nine at the height of the Dominion war only had the original Defiant. What was going on here?

She raised her hand. "will we be receiving supplementary crew with the new ship?

"The Federation has assigned 300 supplementary crewmen to the Hippolyta. They will be stationed here when we aren't on patrol. It's still bare bones, but we've gotten by on less."

Breakfast instead of wandering around the station alone all night was an excellent idea. It soaked up a lot of the alcohol and distracted Pren from her raging lust. She only had to stop by her quarters before the staff meeting to take a quick sonic shower and change into her uniform. So she wasn't hungover at all, although she may still have been a little drunk. She hid it well, at least, sitting next to Regan and carefully reminding herself that professional Starfleet lieutenants waited until after the briefing to make eyes at their best friend to find out what happened. They also did not exclaim in delight when seeing a Phylosian.

She was gonna get all up in that DNA. All. Up. In it.

Despite the fact that her ears were covered -- as usual -- Tal'Ara had no real reason to judge. The half-Vulcan was cleaned and pressed and attentive. Hangovers were for later.

She didn't say anything yet about the ship. She was trying to figure out how much of a hand Section 31 had in the placement of the Hippolyta and just how long they had before the secret organization tried to force them into the middle of a war. So while T'Pren stayed silent, her features told a story of grave concern.

No, wait! T'Pren suddenly realized she did, in fact, have a question.

"Sir, do we have any idea where this crew is coming from? Will we get a say in who they are?"

"The ship will be staffed with recent Starfleet graduates. They were assigned to us by Admiral Moore.
I'll be working with Lieutenant Commander Tal'Ara to provide certain upgrades to the ship to give us an edge. Tal'Ara will be second in command, Inabnet will be on helm, Akhil takes tactical, Ozan is in sick bay."
He couldn't rejoice at the prospect of another war, regardless of a shiny new ship. He still smiled wholeheartedly, knowing at this moment, his crew was looking to him for confidence.
"Other questions?"

Tal'Ara entered the staff meeting in her Starfleet uniform, but chose to keep her blue and green Romulan shawl draped over her shoulder.

She sat at the table, looking at each one of her fellow officers, sharply.

Weak. Inexperienced. Federation.

When Commander Rai formally introduced her, she stood up and gave a curt nod.

"Thank you, Commander," she said with authority, "I look forward to serving with all of you, in hopes of bring our two great societies closer together."

The words tasted dirty in her mouth, and she probably showed it just a little.

When the Commander asked if there were other questions, Tal'Ara spoke up.

"Yes. Romulan technology is very advanced, and probably quite different than anything your officers, and you, are used to working with," said Tal'Ara, with a faint hint of smugness, "Am I to assume that I will be instructing you all, as well as providing the necessary modifications to the ship?"

She did not like the idea of being a teacher, but it was probably for the best that she be in charge of the Romulan technology. That way, she could teach them what they needed to know, and nothing more.

"Why don't you give us a brief overview, you'll be working directly with our engineers to make these modifications," Rai gestured to her, prompting her to continue.

Tal'Ara nodded and stood once again. She began to pace as she spoke.

"As you know, the Romulan Star Empire has decided to grant you access to some of our technology. We will be fitting the U.S.S. Hippolyta with a Romulan Cloaking Device, as well as outfitting the armory with Plasma Torpedoes, which as you know, provide higher damage yields than Federation Photon Torpedoes and Quantum Torpedoes. In addition to the Plasma Torpedoes, we will be fitting Disruptors to both front and aft weapons banks. Now, in order to meet the energy demands of this technology, we will be replacing the Matter/Anti-matter Core with a Romulan Artificial Quantum Singularity Core. I have had detailed schematics on its operation uploaded to each your PADD units. Once the core is activated, it can never be shut off. It operates very differently than anything you are used to, and it can be highly unstable if used incorrectly, so I suggest you all take your homework very seriously. Any questions?"

She stopped pacing and gave the staff an incredulous look as she waited for someone to chime.

"Yes," T'Pren replied seriously, looking between the Commander and the Romulan. "Is this amount of firepower really necessary? We're trying to prevent a war, right? Not start one." Her attention landed on Rai.

"This kind of firepower is to be used on the defensive, not the offensive. Intelligence has picked up on a number of new threats from Cardassia. They're slowly rebuilding their fleet. There's intelligence indicating possible biological warfare. We're exercising the ounce of prevention needed for the Federation and Bajor to recover."

"Additionally Lieutenant, I have an individual assignment for you, let's meet after we're all done here."

When the Commander started talking about Cardassian biological warfare, T'Pren's face went completely impassive, revealing none of the worried or suspicious feelings behind the Vulcan mask, but her brows lifted in surprise when informed of her individual assignment. "Yes, sir."

"Additionally, relations with the Klingons post-Dominion war have been becoming increasingly tense. It can not hurt to take extra precautions, especially considering how much damage both the Federation and the Romulan Empire sustained during the war."

Akhil stood a little behind the table around which command gathered, his arms folded behind his back, a dark and menacing figure. He listened patiently and attentively, showing no signs whatsoever of last night's binge. He met the Romulan's arrogant gaze readily and pointedly when she swept the officers with it. His shoulders straightened when Commander Rai announced his new appointment as tactical officer aboard the war ship. He listened closely to the exchange that followed.

"If the Hippolyta is being assigned to DS15 as a precaution against a potential Cardassian threat," he spoke in the silence that followed Tal'Ara's words, "What precautions do you mean to take against Klingons?" He looked directly at the Romulan over the heads of the rest of the officers.

"That is a very good question, Counselor. The precautions we are taking against a potential Cardassian threat are based on reliable intelligence that they are rebuilding their armies and might be experimenting with biological weapons. As for the Klingons, it is well documented that since the disbandment of the alliance during the Dominion war, Federation relations with the Klingons have been deteriorating rapidly. They Klingon Empire is rebuilding. To what end, we do not yet know. But since they sustained significantly less damage than Cardassia, their recovery is happening at a much more expedient rate. And while, there may not be any overt signs of aggression, they are certainly not taking any steps to forging any kind of peace..." she paused, and smiled, "Like our two governments."

She looked him directly in the eye.

"So when you ask, 'what precautions do you mean to take against the Klingons?', it is simply that - precautions. Nothing more. We will not be venturing into Klingon space, trying to start a war. But should the Klingons - or the Cardassians - or even the Breen - come knocking, we will be ready."

Akhil listened Tal'Ara, his jaw set. "The Federation has at least two Klingons in its employ whose loyalty can be relied on," he replied firmly, then turned to Commander Rai, "Commander, how do you wish me to proceed with my counseling duties while I serve aboard Hippolyta?"

Tal'Ara thought about firing back at Akhil with a nasty remark, but decided against it. This was not the place for that. Besides, better to let him think he has won. His rage will be his downfall. A Klingon counselor... honestly.

"Akhil, You'll have designated counseling hours, in addition to availability by appointment." His mind raced to diffuse the tension.
"We will have to adjust, all of us, to these changes. I know it's going to be difficult. I have faith in you, as my crew, to rise to the occasion. Tomorrow, Admiral Ross will be present for the promotion ceremony. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you there. Any further questions?"

Akhil's ire was palpable even to half-Vulcans without empathic abilities. T'Pren didn't dare glance behind her to give him moral support; not with the Romulan looking. Instead, she focused her attention on the Commander.

As she had no other questions she could ask in this company and no way to help the Klingon/Romulan tensions, she instead offered quietly, "Congratulations, sir."

Cmdr Darren Rai wrote:

"Any further questions?"

"No, sir," the counselor replied firmly, controlling his voice. He did not offer congratulations, letting Pren pull focus while he quietly seethed and waited for the briefing to be over.

Tal'Ara simply shook her head to the Commander.

And then snuck a mean smile at Akhil. And then a lighter smile at T'Pren.

"Fantastic. Dismissed." He said with a placid smile, his chin held high. This wasn't going to be easy. It never is.