Joint Log | Gen. Sharpe, RAdm. Denterius & Col. Towers | "Discoveries"

Posted on 241405.16 @ 4:52pm by General Richard Sharpe

Mission: Insurrection [Fleet Plot]

=*= Vesuvius =*=

Kassi was quiet at the moment as she wandered the ship, in her own way doing a bit of thinking and working on things in her mind. She'd taken a moment to roam back down where she'd been working with the Engineers to thank Stevenson for humoring her and putting up with her helping out. Now though, she was making her way towards the Bridge in the hunt for the Colonel.

Stepping onto the bridge, she took a lean against the wall and looked around. She'd already told the Marine that had been walking with her that she didn't want to be announced so thankfully he kept quiet.

It seemed like they never left. Towers, Taylor, Colson and Fischer were all up on the bridge, reading status reports and conversing quietly. The lights were dim as the Vesuvius was under half power as she was towed.

Nobody was more furious about that than the Chief Engineer, not even Fischer. He had been absolutely livid out of his mind when he was told that Vesuvius would be towed back to Klingon space like a piece of debris.

The result was that the man had shut down non-essential systems and been working for eighteen hours straight to try and make the ship warp capable. He was getting there too.

Towers looked up to see Kassi sneaking quietly onto the bridge and raised an eyebrow at her in question.

She caught that look of Towers and shrugged a little. "I needed stretch my legs and think. And if you have some time.... talk." Kassi said softly so not to disturb anyone. Yet hoping she sounded a bit more confident than she currently felt.

Towers said something quietly to the others. Fischer nodded and then Towers walked over to the newly minted Admiral.

"I have a few minutes." He said.

Kassi hesitated a moment, was it really her place to say anything? Than again.... Brows were slightly furrowed as she chewed on her lower lip a little before speaking queitly. "Sharpe is going to need you."

"It wouldn't be the first time. What now?" Towers asked.

"Sarah.... his daughter..." She drew in a slow deep breath and tried to push her own blame and sadness from her thoughts right now, keeping alert to those around as she spoke to Towers. "She was... captured and arrested..."

"I thought she was hidden away?" Towers asked her.

"She was...." Kassi shifted slightly now as she nipped on her lower lip. Part of her wanted to break down, her emotions trying to get the better of her... fueled by the recent guilt of the news of Sarah and the ship. Yet, another part of her knew she couldn't. She had to be strong... the question was, could she though?

From nowhere, a deep heavy English accent asked. "But now she isn't."

Towers, to his credit, managed not to jump, though he tensed ever so slightly as he turned around.

"General. I didn't know you were onboard." He said.

Towers may not have jumped, but she did. Suddenly wishing she'd not taken to leaning against that wall. The wall didn't give... as much as she wished it would open up and swallow her whole. "Umm... General... I didn't see you there." Great, nothing like a very nervous Admiral. This was likely to get ugly. Why wasn't he over on the flag ship talking to Malone???

"I'm sneaky like that." He said, deadpan and cold. "Exactly what has happened to Sarah, Kassandra?" He asked, equally as deadpan and cold, the menace and anger reflected in his eyes as he crossed his arms across his chest, looking at the two officers. With some mild respect, he noted that Towers wasn't flinching.

A couple slow deep breaths were taken to try and settle the drop her stomach did as she heard her full name, screw the rank, and took in the look in Richards eyes. So much for Malone telling him... "The UFP strike force... they intercepted the USS Zhanglao... Sarah was arrested, the rest of the crew killed." She said with as much courage as she could muster up.

This was not a conversation for Towers to jump in on and so he stood, silently listening. He had a feeling he knew what was coming, but hoped that Sharpe would be able to keep his head, given the circumstances.

"I seem to recall a conversation where you assured me that Sarah was perfectly safe on that ship." Sharpe said, not taking his eyes off Kassi - almost like he was boring a hole in her skull. The worst part was, he hadn't even raised his voice slightly. It was still the same flat tone he'd been using the entire time.

She shifted slightly, though it seemed only done to make her stand up a little straight. Likely a subconscious move to keep her from breaking down before the two men she owed a lot to. She felt that inner vibration of nerves and emotions running though her, yet focused hard on keeping strong before them. "I did... and she was supposed to have been safe Richard. Just as I trust you and Towers with my life, I trusted Draven with mine too. That was why I sent her to that ship."

She paused only a moment to take a breath before continuing. "You can be angry with me all you want, you can hate me if you want. But right now you need to focus on getting her back, that was why I was coming to Towers. So he'd be ready for when Admiral Malone told you."

"Oh, this isn't angry." Sharpe said, calmly. "I am waaay past angry." He gave of an aura of pure dread and evil - even the steeled marines would wither under this. He then looked at Towers. "I'm going to be going to get my daughter back, Adam. Can I rely on your assistance?"

"You know the answer to that, sir." Towers said. He rarely called Sharpe "sir". He had once gone on a career and life threatening mission at the request of Sharpe to rescue another woman who was in fact the one standing with them. He was equally as willing to participate in this mission.

"Thank you, Adam." Sharpe said, still as calm as ever. "I am going over to the flagship. When I return, we will be departing for Earth. Assemble a small team of people you emphatically trust - and they must be all volunteers. We're going to give our non-elected government a very severe Colonoscopy."

He then looked to Kassi. "I see the Admiral promoted you." He said. "I offer my congratulations. I merely hope that whatever assignment that Malone has assigned you, you handle a tad better than you did protecting my eldest daughter."

Towers winced at that shot. "I'll start my preparations, sir. We should try and get in touch with Nikkos as well, he's still on Earth somewhere." He used that excuse to extract himself from the situation. Beckoning for Colson to join him, he stepped into the turbolift. Once the other Colonel had entered, the doors shut behind them.

Sharpe's words hit like a ton of bricks, her grip tightening to that cane to keep her standing strong. Her jaw tensed slightly before spoke." Believe it or not, I did the best I could...." Yet once more her best had only succeeded in failing them both. And now... Malone thought she could get Zetari back? She swallowed hard and turned to start off the Bridge, pausing only long enough to look back, pain and guilt shimmered in those haunting eyes as she spoke in almost a whisper. "I'm sorry it wasn't good enough."

With that, Kassi continued off the bridge. She needed to put distance between everyone and herself.

As for Sharpe - he headed off to the flagship. He needed to have a little chat with the Commander-in-Chief.

Rear Admiral Kassi Denterius
TaskGroup CO
TaskGroup 1.4

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General Richard Sharpe

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Colonel Towers