Conference Room - Deck 1

Thom pretty much thought Mr. Skonch covered it with not making decisions on actions to events they had no idea about. That speculating without any actual facts would do more harm than good. Taking another drink of the cool water, the Commander spoke up next.

Cmdr Cypher: I believe Mr. Skonch hit the nail right on the head, Captain. It's too early for any of us to speculate what could've happened to New Bajor when we're not in range to scan the planet or even the system yet. I think we should hold off on trying to guess what their issue is and concentrate our collective resources on trying to ascertain what happened over there through the use of the sensors, Sir.

The Chief Engineer thought he stated his stance on the matter quite adequately. As Cmdr Skonch had indicated, it is just too early to try and guess what happened on New Bajor to make them either unable or unwilling to respond to communications from SB34.
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Commander Thomas R. Cypher
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Whitestar

Daqtorgh thought about what Mr. Skonch had said about premature speculation of the situation with the New Bajor colony. The Captain felt it would be prudent to let the Senior Staff get back to their duties aboard Whitestar. That is, except Cmdr Ashborn, Cmdr Skonch and Cmdr Cypher. Daqtorgh had a matter to discuss with the three of them.

Capt Daqtorgh: Alright everyone, we are adjourned until we can get sensor readings from New Bajor. Commander Ashborn, Commander Skonch and Commander Cypher, please remain here, I have a matter to discuss with you three.

The Captain looked over towards Lt. Mitchell and gave him an inquiry.

Capt Daqtorgh: Mr. Mitchell, how long before we enter orbit of New Bajor?

As the other members of the Senior Staff began to get up from their chairs and leave the Conference Room, Daqtorgh stopped Yeoman Garcia and praised him for a job well done with the water setup for everyone.

Capt Daqtorgh: Ensign Garcia, nice job. I'm proud of you. After everyone leaves and I'm done meeting with Mr. Ashborn, Mr. Skonch and Mr. Cypher, go ahead and clean up the water from the table and place it in the Replicator for recycling. Then you can return to the Bridge and take a seat beside me so you can observe our approach to New Bajor.

As the Yeoman smiled and exited the Conference Room, the CO felt a lot better that the Ensign no longer feared him. Daqtorgh was internally upset that the young boy was afraid of the Captain striking him and wanted to make sure Luis knew he had absolutely nothing to fear, Daqtorgh would never hit the boy.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

Cole used his PADD to access the ETA countdown timer on the Flight Control Station to get the information Capt Daqtorgh requested. The Lieutenant wondered why the Captain didn't ask Lt. Thomas since Dylan would've had the information right on his PADD and wouldn't have needed to access the Flight Control Station to get the data requested, since he was the Chief Flight Control Officer.

Lt. Mitchell: We're looking at an hour and thirty-five minutes before we reach the system, secure from Warp speed, another ten minutes of using the Impulse Engines at maximum to get to the colony, Captain.

The Chief Operations Officer nodded to the occupants in the Conference Room that were remaining behind to speak with Capt Daqtorgh at his request, then exited and headed for the Bridge where he signed back into his console. Once the station was fully operational, Lt. Mitchell contacted Main Engineering to let them know to release the monitoring of the Ops Systems back to his station on the Bridge. Once done, Cole resumed monitoring all Whitestar's systems for any anomalies, along with shows of any stress on the systems from them moving at Warp 9.
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Lieutenant Cole S. Mitchell
Chief Operations Officer, USS Whitestar

Daqtorgh was hoping the ETA would have been less, but he nodded his acknowledgement and appreciation to Lt. Mitchell before he exited the Conference Room to return to the Bridge. Once the room was only occupied with the Captain, Executive Officer, Chief Science Officer and Chief Engineer, Daqtorgh informed them why he asked them to remain.

Capt Daqtorgh: Commanders, I have asked you to stay behind because I believe a Captain needs advisors and Commander Ashborn, I'm privileged to have you as my XO. Commander Skonch, I’d like you to serve as my Second Officer and Commander Cypher as my Third officer. I’d be honored to have the three of you as my advisors and know you will have my utmost trust and honor, the crew looks up to you three and having you by my side makes me better in the long run. So from now and this day forward you will be known as my Council of Three!

The Captain stood up and shook all of their hands and smiled before dismissing them back to their duties.

Capt Daqtorgh: Dismissed, expect to reconvene when we have the scanner readings.

The CO walked out of the Conference Room and back to the Bridge where he looked around and saw that everyone had resumed their stations. Now it was just a matter of time before they reached the system where New Bajor was located. The Yeoman was now free to clean up the Conference Room, so Daqtorgh watched as Ensign Garcia scurried off to do his duty. The Captain was really pleased with his crew and appreciated every single one of them.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

Bridge - Deck 1

Chase used his console to monitor different systems of the ship as they got closer and closer to New Bajor. Once they got close enough for long range sensors to be used on the colony, the XO called out to the Chief Science Officer manning the Science Station on the Bridge.

Cmdr Ashborn: Mr. Skonch, we're now in range for long range sensors to scan New Bajor! Let's see if we can get a better idea as to why Starbase 34 lost communications with the colony!

The XO waited to hear back from Cmdr Skonch on his findings, while looking at the console by his seat to the right of the center seat where Capt Daqtorgh was sitting. Once the Chief Science Officer compiled the data from the long range sensors, he would be able to forward the information to the First Officer's console. With just under an hour left to go before they reached New Bajor, Chase could see the growing concern for what they would discover on the faces of the officers on the Bridge.
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Commander Chase S. Ashborn
Executive Officer, USS Whitestar

Mr. Skonch immediately started using the long range sensor palette to focus their scanning on New Bajor's location. After a few moments, the Science Officer was able to detect that the colony had no power emanating from it. This really perplexed the Vulcan Scientist since the colony used hydroelectricity from the local river to power the city of New Rakantha. There should be no reason for an large magnitude power loss of this size.

Cmdr Skonch: Long range sensor scans indicate there is no power emanating from the colony, Commander. Without power, their communications would not be possible. However, I cannot ascertain why the colony's backup batteries have not activated to allow the bare necessities, like communications to be functional. This is a very fascinating situation, I will continue to scan the colony as we approach. When I learn more, I will inform you immediately.

The Chief Science Officer forwarded the data he had on the colony so far to the XO's console by his chair so he could review everything Mr. Skonch had alluded to. Being that there was less than an hour before they would drop out of Warp, the Vulcan Scientist would know more as they got closer to the planet. Mr. Skonch stayed focused on the sensor scans, looking forward to a more in depth revelation as to why the colony lost their power completely.
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Commander Skonch
Chief Science Officer, USS Whitestar

The XO rubbed his chin as he looked over the data on his console and was perplexed, as well, at what could've knocked out all the power in New Rakantha to this extent. Chase spoke out to the Second Officer and thanked him for his report, before speaking to Capt Daqtorgh.

Cmdr Ashborn: Thank you, Mr. Skonch! Captain, I find this to be damned peculiar. What could've taken out their entire power supply? This just doesn't smell right to me. What do you think, Sir?

The Executive Officer waited on the Captain to respond with hopefully some insight into what a cause could be that could wipe out a planet's power supply like this. It was just too weird and spooky in a way. Chase wondered if it was possibly the Deltaurans? The XO wasn't sure, he hoped they had been obliterated at the Battle of Sector Epsilon. But what if there was another infestation?
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Commander Chase S. Ashborn
Executive Officer, USS Whitestar

The Captain leaned towards his XO and responded to what he was saying regarding the lack of power the colonists were experiencing. Daqtorgh had two possible solutions on how to investigate the situation in New Rakantha. The CO hoped whatever happened down there that no lives were lost.

Capt Daqtorgh: Commander, this is a perplexing problem. I can suggest a couple of ideas, for one, we send a probe once were in orbit to go down there and explore the hydroelectric plant, or two, we send an away team to see the problem first hand and see if someone stopped up the river or cut the power for nefarious reasons.

Daqtorgh looked towards the Flight Control Station and spoke aloud to Lt. Thomas regarding instructions on what to do when they reached the system they were heading for.

Capt Daqtorgh: Mr. Thomas, drop to Impulse Power when we reach the system. Take us in at full until we reach New Bajor. Place us in a geosynchronous orbit above New Rakantha.

As the CO waited for Whitestar to get closer to the system to drop out of Warp, he listened for a response from Cmdr Ashborn on his two suggestions for investigating the power outage in the capital city. If they were going to send a probe, Daqtorgh would inform Mr. Skonch on which type to send. It would definitely have to be the type that could be controlled like a drone to get a close look at the inside of the facility without there being any lives at risk.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

Chase thought about the investigational options Capt Daqtorgh mentioned and decided on the safest one for the crew at this time, considering all the unknown variables. The XO thought it best to go with sending the remote probe down to New Rakantha to investigate the hydroelectric facility. The thought of sending an Away Team was just too risky right now in Chase's mind.

Cmdr Ashborn: I honestly believe the best choice right now would be send a remote probe, Captain. Until we know more about what's going on down there, I don't want to send anyone to the surface of New Bajor at the time, Sir.

The Commander voiced his opinion and hoped the Captain would oblige and send the remote probe. Chase just didn't feel they had enough information right now to warrant sending an Away Team. The position of Executive Office took on the responsibility for every life on Whitestar, including the life of Capt Daqtorgh. The XO would do all he could to protect every crewmember of the ship, especially the Captain's, even if it meant sacrificing his own.
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Commander Chase S. Ashborn
Executive Officer, USS Whitestar

Dylan heard the Captain and planned on doing exactly what he ordered. The Lieutenant announced his intention as soon as they were around 15 minutes from the system New Bajor was located.

Lt. Thomas: Aye, Captain. We're fifteen minutes from the system, I'll be dropping us from Warp and engaging the Impulse Engines at full till we get to New Bajor. Then I'll place us in a geosynchronous orbit directly over New Rakantha. Our ETA to orbit is twenty-five minutes, Sir.

The Chief Flight Control Officer monitored their approach to the system and made sure they were not coming across any anomalies along they way. If one was to rear it's ugly head, Dylan would report it to the Captain right away.
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Lieutenant Dylan S. Thomas
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Whitestar