Captain John Carter stepped through the doorway soon after the doors had split apart to allow entry, only to see a couple Captain’s in the office. Guess not many Commander’s have been promoted yet for the ‘Captain’s Orientation’ ceremony, he figured. He simply nodded his head to the two other Captains who had turned to see who else entered the room before nodding back to him. John then noticed another officer, a Commander with a blue collar, which they were either in the Medical or Science Division of Starfleet.

The Commander had looked up when the door opened and was visibly marking something on the Data PADD, using one of those writing utensils for those who still like the feel of writing. “Captain John Carter of the USS Centaur, I presume?” The Commander asked.

John nodded his head, “Yes, Commander.” He extended his hand out to the Commander but it was ignored by him, who got up from his desk, walked around it and went to the door to enter a code which magnetically sealed it shut. But there was more to it, John could hear a slight hum of a forcefield and the illumination in the room lowered to the point it was barely there. “This isn’t the Captain’s Orientation ceremony, is it?”

The Commander turned to look at the three before shaking his head. “No. It is not. Captains. This is something that me and my fellow colleagues of Starfleet Command have to do every time someone reaches the rank of Captain and obtains command of a Starship. What I am about to tell the three of you does not leave the room, otherwise you will face penalties that could lead straight to a Court Martial. Am I clear, Captains?”

All three of them ‘Acknowledged’ clearly to the Commander, aside from Carter adding, “What exactly are you going to be telling us, Commander?”

The Commander looked at John before returning to his desk where he pressed one button on the touch panel on his desk and part of the wall behind him opened up, merely a sliver the wall was, as it had hidden a screen behind it. Soon as the screen was completely revealed, it came on and one single symbol was displayed. The Greek Symbol Omega. “This, Captains, is the Omega Directive.” The Commander then goes on a lengthy explanation of what it means, what it is about, what pertains to the Directive, the orders and the secrecy of it, along with the dangers of the Omega Particle and what would happen if someone tried to control it and fails.

John had folded his arms across his chest half way through the briefing, only to frown at the end. “I don’t know about the other two Captains in here. But the Centaur is nearly a hundred years old, and certainly far too small to have any equipment on board to handle these…Omega Particles and destroy them.”

The Commander picked up his data PADD and did some tapping until he was on the page he wanted and skimmed it over. Something tells John that this Science Officer has no clue what a Centaur is. “Ah. I suppose considering the losses we had back in the Dominion War, it would make sense for a ship as yours to still be in service. Nevertheless, if you ship detects an Omega Particle, the Omega Directive will kick in and you will have to follow all the proper procedures that will be given to you. Originally and what you will have to do in your case, any Starfleet vessel that comes across an Omega Particle and the Omega Directive activates, they are to contact Starfleet Command and we send a specialized team along with a vessel equipped to handle and destroy the Omega Particle. But thanks to the USS Voyager, who had to come up with a way to destroy the Omega Particle on their own due to their special circumstances, most Starships in Starfleet are able to destroy the Omega Particle with the specs that we have in order to do so, thanks to Voyager. Of course, those specs will not be revealed until the Omega Directive is activated on one of your ships.” He said to the three Captains. “But if you do not have the resources to build it, the Omega Directive will compensate and give you exactly what you need to do. The Directive is redundant in these situations, because we cannot risk an Omega Particle destabilizing. The dangers and the risks are just far too high. So if your Omega Directive activates, follow the procedures you are given, to-the-letter. Do I make myself clear, Captains?”

All three replied with a ‘Understood’ to the Commander. “Good. And I know what you are all thinking. No. We do not currently have the technology to properly contain an Omega Particle and thus I strongly advise not to make that attempt. I know in your hearts, as Starfleet Captains, the nature of exploration and discovery, that you want to be the ones who finds a way to contain and harness the power of Omega. I have done this a hundred times with thousands of Captains and this briefing will not be my last, so believe me when I say this. Do not attempt to contain it. It must be destroyed.” With that, he turned off the screen, walked back to the door, and released the room and the magnetic seal. “You are all dismissed.”

John followed the other two Captains out of the room, his thoughts dwell on the briefing he just had and how he would react if that moment ever happened to him. But of course, in the briefing, it was said that the chances of encountering the Omega is extremely rare, so what are the odds of him ever coming across it? He smirked, thinking that he is betting that the rest of his career will go without a single Omega encounter. So he just shrugged his shoulders and followed the other two Captains to the real ceremony, his ship was undergoing a refit anyway, getting the next set of upgrades to keep her running as efficiently as possible in this age, so he might as well enjoy himself while he waited.