"Whose House I'm Standing In"

Posted on Sun Oct 11th, 2026 @ 6:53am by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Commander Kyle Reece & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Lieutenant Commander N'vok Holv & Captain Samuel Woolheater

Mission: Season 6 - Episode 8- The Price of Home
Location: Zyphera Prime — Peacekeeper Headquarters, Joint Operations Briefing Room
1695 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Captain Samuel Woolheater arrived early. Not excessively early. Five minutes. Enough time to know the room before the room filled with people who knew considerably more about some parts of the problem than he did. The doors to the Peacekeeper headquarters had admitted him without ceremony, and Sam preferred it that way.

Zyphera Prime was not a Federation starbase. There were no familiar Starfleet corridors beyond those doors, no LCARS panels glowing along the bulkheads. The architecture belonged to the Concord: unfamiliar proportions, unfamiliar materials, subtle differences in lighting and sound that prevented the station from ever quite disappearing into the background the way Elysium could.

The Joint Operations Briefing Room reflected the same philosophy he had noticed elsewhere in Peacekeeper spaces. It was functional without being austere, designed for people who expected to solve problems rather than impress one another while discussing them. A broad table occupied the center of the room, surrounded by seating intended for several species and body types. A recessed display dominated one wall. Smaller interfaces had been integrated into the work surfaces, their controls Zypheran rather than Federation standard.

His Starfleet Marine duty uniform was immaculate without looking ornamental: dark trousers falling cleanly over polished boots, the green of the Marine uniform distinguishing him immediately from the Starfleet officers who would shortly join him. Captain's insignia identified his rank. The commbadge on his chest identified the service to which that rank ultimately belonged.

There were no weapons on him. That had been deliberate. The Commodore had been specific and Elysium was a guest here. He had not come to Peacekeeper Headquarters to demonstrate boastful strength or power. He had come carrying a PADD. Sam placed it on the table. The display was considerably less impressive than the technology everyone had come to Zyphera Prime to discuss. Personnel and their response times; they were getting slower. Transporter assumptions. Romulan dissatisfaction. He looked over a map for fallback positions and extraction requirements. He looked for ways to augment and help Security. Marines could be their relief and backup. Their reserve strength. And somewhere beyond all of those was a gate that did not exist yet. Woolheater rested both hands against the edge of the table and looked down at the PADD. That was the problem. Everyone was already talking about protecting Erebus. Nobody had built Erebus. Nobody had even agreed to build Erebus.

Science had mathematics. Engineering had theories about whether the mathematics could become machinery. The Rin'thar had geometry. The Varn had power. The Ael'ven might have materials capable of surviving what everyone intended to do to them. The Zypherans had somehow learned to make technologies that had never been designed to coexist stop fighting with one another long enough to produce the first sustained theoretical aperture.

He picked up the PADD again and moved through the figures. The Marine Detachment remained badly reduced after recent operations. That wasn't pessimism. It was arithmetic. Every Marine assigned to one task ceased being available for another. They could do anything the Colonel and/or the Commodore ordered. They could protect critical personnel. Reinforce Security. Maintain a rapid-response capability. They could prep emergency extraction. Protect sensitive Erebus material. And, eventually, perhaps protect construction of a machine that might become one of the most strategically important objects in Circinus.

Elysium had Marines. She didn't have that many Marines. Sam finally pulled out the chair and sat. The Peacekeeper Chief would be here because this was the Chief's jurisdiction. Reece would be here because Starfleet Security already carried responsibilities the Marines were supposed to reinforce rather than duplicate. Colonel Naxea would be here because there was little point pretending this problem could be neatly divided into boxes marked SECURITY and MARINES once something actually started shooting. The Commodore would be here because eventually resources, jurisdiction, politics and acceptable risk stopped being tactical questions and became command decisions.

And N'vok...the Science department. Some of the few people who could tell if this was actually going to work. Woolheater glanced toward the darkened wall display. Science had been Sam's addition. He could read a threat assessment. He could plan a reaction force. He could look at terrain, access, manpower, time and mission and begin deciding where Marines might matter.

What he could not do was defend a machine nobody had yet defined. How large would Erebus be? Which portions of it would be vulnerable? Which systems would be catastrophic if damaged? Which technologies could be exposed and which absolutely could not? Would construction happen in one location or several?

Sam didn't know. That was why he'd invited someone who might. The doors opened behind him. Woolheater rose. Whatever insignia, uniform or face appeared through those doors first, they would find the Marine XO standing beside a table in Peacekeeper Headquarters with no weapon on his hip and no predetermined deployment plan waiting for their approval.

The large frame of the Elysium's security and tactical chief, Commander Kyle Reece, strode into the conference room. He was reading a PADD, which contained the possible deployment orders for his security personnel, Starfleet and Romulan alike.

Looking up from his reading, he grinned a friendly grin and nodded to Samuel. "Hey, Sam. You ready for this...whatever it'll be?"

Woolheater nodded, "Oh hell's yes, that's an affirm. Whatever it'll be. Fuck it. Send it. We'll do it live."

Naxea entered next, carrying a PaDD in her hand. She looked at the two other officers, Reece and then Woolheater, whom she had invited to the meeting as he had a keen eye for tactical deployments and it would be a good experience for him to attend such a meeting. "Hey. I should have guessed you two would be here first,* she chuckled.

Kyle chuckled softly as he looked over at Naxea. "Well, Sam is your exec. And I..well," he chuckled again briefly as if the next words would be reason enough. "I'm a Reece." Had he said that to anyone other that two Starfleet Marines, then it would more than likely have fallen on deaf ears. However, the Reece name still carried considerable weight and influence in the Starfleet Marine Corps, as Kyle's maternal grandfather, CSM William "Wild Bill" Reece, had been the Starfleet Marines Corps Command Sergeant Major, during the Dominion War. The exploits that that man had had were legendary, even still taught in the various academies, when it came to ground tactics.

Naxea's arrival brought Woolheater properly to attention for a moment. “Colonel.” The formality lasted approximately as long as it needed to before Sam relaxed again. “You know me. Five minutes early is on time.” He glanced toward Kyle Reece at the explanation that followed. 'I'm a Reece.'

“Yeah, yeah.” Sam shook his head. “I've heard of the Reece clan. The thing about Circinus is...nobody else here has.”

"Perhaps that's a good thing,* Naxea joked


N'vok drifted in, wearing a grey Vulcan scholar's robe for the occasion. He was moving slowly, studying everything around him. He nodded politely to his compatriots from the Elysium. "Another fine day for seeking out new civilizations," he said.

N'vok's arrival drew Sam's attention back toward the door. The Vulcan's observation earned a small smile. “Commander. That's actually why I'm glad you're here.” Sam gestured toward the table. “I'd rather Science tell us what matters and what needs protecting before we start assigning people to guard doors somebody eventually discovers weren't important.”

Across the way, Sam could see the spaceframe of the ship docked. Sam took his seat and looked to Naxea. She had called the meeting. This was her table, “Its good to see all of you up and about with your recovery. Ready when you are, Colonel.”

"We're still waiting on the Peacekeeper Chief to arrive," Naxea said, placing her PaDD onto the table. She looked at N'Vok. "Commander, have you had time to go over the gate schematics?"

Sam settled back into his chair and said nothing. The Colonel's question was directed at N'vok, and this was precisely why Sam had wanted to listen to Science in the room in the first place. His forearms rested loosely against the edge of the table as he turned his attention toward the Vulcan. The PaDD remained beneath one hand, forgotten for the moment. Gate schematics. ~Good.~ Sam wanted to hear this. Not the mathematics behind Erebus. Not how the aperture worked, unless understanding it became necessary to keeping it alive. He wanted to know what the machine looked like when theory became hardware. Sam's thumb moved once along the edge of the PaDD. He listened.

N'vok looked to Naxea. "In an overview, yes. The theory is sound and I am convinced we have the technical skills available between the Elysium and our allies. But, as they say, the devil is in the details.

Tag: Naxea

Sam nodded. “Okay. Let's start with the devil.” He leaned forward slightly. “Forget how much the projects costs. Forget what's difficult to replace. I'm talking mission kill. When this thing becomes hardware, what are the pieces we absolutely cannot afford to lose? What gets damaged and Erebus stops working? What gets stolen and we've handed somebody technology they shouldn't have? I need it really that plain and straight up.” Sam tapped the PaDD beneath his hand, “And if the answer is that we don't know yet, that's useful too." He looked at N'vok. “Tell us what matters. We'll figure out how to protect it.”

"The control elements and the energy emitters will be the most valuable and most vulnerable parts," said N'vok. "Possibly others besides. As you say, we do not fully know yet."

Making notes, Woolheater gave a slow nod and glanced down at the PaDD beneath his hand. "Control elements and energy emitters," he repeated as he entered the two items. "Okay. That's something we can build around." His eyes remained on the display for another moment before returning to N'vok. "And the things we don't know yet stay on the list as unknowns. I'm not going to pretend we can secure something before we know what it is."

[OFF:]