What the Hell Is the Sanctuary Protocol
Posted on Sun Feb 12th, 2017 @ 4:19am by Commander Andrew Knight & Brigadier General Christopher Mitchell
Mission:
Another Day in Paradise
Location: Captain Cabin/Ready Room
Timeline: Approximately 45 minutes after 'Aftermath: Zumwalt'
ON:
Christopher, Ja'xon and Drew walked down the corridor near the bridge. Drew activated the door mechanism when they reached the Captain's Cabin/Ready Room. He paused and gestured for Christopher to go first. "You are senior sir."
Turning to Drew, he took a moment and nodded. "Very well." Stepping through the door, he stepped to the side and allowed Drew to make his way behind the desk. Assuming a position of Parade Rest, he looked around the office. For some reason, it seemed overly spartan to him, almost as if the engineers had tried to strip every single creature comfort from the place. There was no mistake about it- this was a ship built for war from the inside out.
Drew looked at Ja'xon and gestured to him as well. "Go on Lieutenant Ja'xon."
Ja'xon followed in behind the Colonel and approached the front of the desk and assumed the position of attention just as Chris came in to parade rest. "Sir." Was all he said as he waited for Lieutenant Knight to come up next to him.
Drew stepped in line with Ja'xon and assumed a stance of perfect attention. He cast a tired gaze at the ceiling. "Computer transfer command of the Zumwalt to Colonel Christopher Mitchell. Authorization Knight Delta Two Four Five Omega."
The computer beeped an affirmative. =A= Authorization Confirmed. Colonel Christopher Mitchell, state command code. =A=
"Colonel Christopher Mitchell. Authorization Mitchell-Four-Nine-Zero-Sigma. Confirm." Christopher said robotically, his shoulders slumping. The past two hours had been emotionally taxing to say the least and it was starting to show.
=A= Command Transfer Confirmed. Colonel Christopher Mitchell is now confirmed as Commanding Officer, USS Zumwalt. Logs noted. =A=
Christopher swiveled his chair to face Drew. "Now that that's done, I want to compliment you for what you did out there, your tactics were pretty impressive and if it wasn't for you, a lot more people would have died." Christopher said, wincing slightly as the names of those that he knew flashed through his mind, filling him with a sickening sense of failure.
Drew gestured at Ja'xon while maintaining eye contact with Chris. "Had a lot of help sir."
Looking to Ja'xon, Chris smiled. "Good job, Marine. Were you doing the shooting out there?"
"In a manner of speaking, sir." Ja'xon replied, "I had to assume the tactical station on the bridge, you could say I shot a lot from there. As far as the combat on board goes, I'm afraid all the shooting came from my men. Our success lies in those men and the NCOs who led them." Ja'xon was very new to this officer way of life, he was used to be that NCO who led men in to battle not the man giving orders from the bridge.
"Even still, you did a great job and when this is over, you can both expect commendations for your work."
Drew looked haggard as he thought of Austin, his older brother, who had died when Star Base 900 was destroyed. He didn't know whether Meredith, his sister-in-law, or Ashley, his niece, had made it to the Hopper or not. He just shook his head. "We should have saved more sir." His expression switched from sad to one of acute annoyance. "Now with this Sanctuary Protocol activated, we can't even contact the USS Hopper to find out how many souls made it off the star base. I'd really like to know what the hell is going on with the lockout to our navigation and communication systems!"
"There might still be more people alive. We'll worry about that once I figure this out. Has Engineering or Ops managed to override the lockout?" Chris asked.
Drew shook his head and shrugged. "To be honest sir, I'm not entirely sure who is even aboard, what with the battle and the dealing with the Borg drone." He gave the matter a moments more thought. "The in-port watch does call for one officer and one senior enlisted assistant in engineering. Though I don't know who those people are off hand."
Christopher nodded. "Then let's find out-" Reaching forward, he tapped the communications console to open a shipwide channel. "Engineering Duty Officer to the Ready Room, at the rush!" Tapping the console again, he closed the channel.
Drew began stroking his chin while they waited for Eleanor to arrive. He was thinking hard on what this Sanctuary Protocol was and more to the point why the Acting Captain could not deactivate it or even access it. He stopped stroking his chin as an idea came to mind. "I wonder."
Christopher looked over to Drew. "I know that look. If you have an idea or you know something about this, then you need to tell me and tell me now."
Drew gave the idea forming in his mind a moments more thought before speaking. "What if this Sanctuary Protocol is so...highly classified...it requires the two senior officers aboard to even access the program files?" He cocked his head and shrugged his shoulders.
Christopher's eyes narrowed. "If you're talking about something similar to the Omega Protocol, that requires Level 10 Clearance which is not something that I have, Lieutenant."
Ja'xon spoke up, "The computer should be able to test your theory, Knight. You gave the command codes to change the leadership on board to the Colonel here. If you both offer up your codes as the CO and First Officer of this ship, the computer may decide to enlighten us." Operating computers and dealing with command codes weren't within his strengths column, but he did have the capability to figure problems out with limited resources. "At this point gentlemen, we should test any plausible theory asap, before we dismiss them."
Drew gestured at Christopher. "You're now the CO. You'll need to enter your code first."
"Computer, initiate coded information release of Sanctuary Protocol. Authorization Mitchell-Four-Nine-Zero-Sigma
Drew followed suit. "Computer, recognize Andrew Knight, Acting First Officer. I concur with release of information regarding Sanctuary Protocols. Authorization Knight Delta Two Four Five Omega."
=A=Release of Sanctuary Protocol files authorized. Please state specific information request.=A=
"State objective of Sanctuary Protocol."
=A= Sanctuary Protocol. Starfleet Command Emergency Order Zero-Nine-Eight-Eight-Three-One- Alpha- One. Order states that in the event of catastrophic attack that incapacitates or kills primary Task Force Command Staff and eliminates Task Force Command base, all ships in the immediate vicinity will initiate the Sanctuary Protocol, which will lock all tactical, communication, and navigation systems until coded radio burst is submitted by ranking command officer. with Clearance Level Ten or above. Upon entry of command codes, Phase Two will activate Navigation protocols and lock in course for designated Emergency Rally Point. Limited Command Access will be restored until arrival at Rally Point=A=
Chris raised his eyebrow. "Computer, what is the designated Emergency Rally Point for Task Force 38?" he inquired, leaning forward in the chair.
=A= Designated Emergency Rally Point is Forward Operating Base Anchorage. Registry DS-367. =A=
Glancing at Drew and Ja'xon. "Your thoughts on this? We need somewhere to go and this Anchorage seems to be the place but if anyone has qualms, I need to know now."
"We are lacking any other options, sir. We may not be able to alter our course anyways." Ja'xon said.
Drew stared at Mitchell for a moment while he collected his thought. "Well, there is an Old Earth naval expression sir, any port in a storm."
Chris nodded. "As always, you're both right." Turning his attention to the computer, Chris spoke again. "Computer, initiate Phase Two of Sanctuary Protocol"
=A= Phase Two initiated. Course set for Emergency Rally Point Alpha. Partial Command Systems restored. =A=
"Heh, easier than I thought it would be." Chris said slightly sardonically. "Gentlemen, you're dismissed. Lieutenant Knight, you have the bridge. I have an engineer to find..." he said as he rose from the chair and walked through the door onto the bridge, his footsteps echoing on the deckplates.
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