First Day

Posted on Thu Sep 23rd, 2010 @ 7:25pm by Captain Alexander Gunning & Commander Dietrich Reinhart & Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant JG Jonathan Royce & Lieutenant Commander Nilani Prax & Lieutenant Commander Melissa Daniels M.D. & Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Maddux

Mission: Ten Little Diplomats
Location: Main Operations
Timeline: MD00 1200hrs

[ON]

Gunning looked beyond the doors of his office, the enlisted personnel had long since changed out of their dress uniforms and were going about their business all around the massive Operations Centre. It seemed that the Intelligence department was well represented. According to Starfleet, they were to host an armament conference with the Cardassians many sectors away from the Empire.

He reclined in his chair, awaiting the arrival of his senior officers.

Royce knocked the ashes out of his pipe into the reclamat. "I've got a staff meeting, Rat. I have no idea how long I'll be. There's a new station a commander and a lot of new department heads, so it could be quite some time. Keep the patrols cycling and the ready crews and craft on rotation."

"Aye, Hammer, I have the hangar."

Royce gave him a nod of acknowledgement, picked up his PADD from his desk, and headed for Op's. He stopped on the promenade to grab a large cup of coffee in an insulated cup with an internal heater that would keep his drink at optimum drinking temperature, then went directly to the CO's office.

Once granted entry he walked through the door. "Good afternoon, Skipper." He said crisply and professionally. He stood relaxed before Gunning's desk and waited to be invited to sit down.

The XO walked into the office with a relatively slow pace, a growing beard and what looked like a three-day headache. His eyes told it all - stress at unreasonably high levels. Dietrich was far too young to look this old, and it was obvious to everyone. He had not even been on the station that long, but it looked like he had been on the front lines for years. Sitting in silence, he only nodded to his commander, and friend, then to the young man with the coffee.

Royce nodded back to the commander, then took his lead and sat down, but at the far end of the table. In the company he would be keeping during this meeting he knew he was so far down on the totem pole that he was underground.

Among the horde of nameless, faceless enlisted personnel that filled Ops, one in particular moved out of the crowd of Intelligence personnel and headed for the CO's glassy office doors. It took most people two looks to realize that this middle-aged, average-looking grunt was, in fact, the station's new Intelligence chief; he tended to blend into his surroundings, rather than stand out. Some considered this a flaw in his ability to lead. Maddux himself probably agreed. He never thought of himself as a leader; rather, he though of himself as a jaded but finely tuned tool of Starfleet Intelligence.

Entering the CO's office, Maddux quietly took a seat, nodding to the others. He rapidly took note of the demeanor and appearance of the XO, and wondered at the man's appearance. People in that man's position, especially on a large station, should never appear defeated, he believed. Filing it away in his memory and letting it slide for now, Maddux decided he would have to get used to the habits of these people, who had so suddenly and unexpectedly become his new crew.

Liarra strolled into Ops with a smile on her face. Unlike the XO, she was showing signs that she was very much proud to be there, despite spending most of the previous night reading through reports and mission briefings. The trill found her new position exciting, and was anxious to get started. She carried several PADDs in her hand, all of them containing some of the minutia of fleet operations in the sector.

She entered Gunning's office with a gleam in her eye, a stark contrast to the dull expression of her colleagues. "Good morning," she stated with annoying cheeriness.

Dietrich nodded, with his own version of annoyance. Alex knew the circumstances and the tolls they took on Reinhart. Trying to keep as upbeat as possible was difficult at best, and for the last twelve hours a true tribulation. He read the reports, operations summaries and manuals the entire last night without sleep to keep occupied. Though he was sure that he missed things, he was "familiar". Familiar and tired.

Melissa entered Ops with her usual cheerful demeanor. That was until she noticed Commander Reinhart. The cheerfulness disappeared from her face. She recognized the tell-tale signs of extreme exhaustion. She approached the Commander and opened her Medical Tricorder and began to scan him. "Commander, I am not happy."

"About what," the disheveled commander replied, harshly.

Melissa spoke, "Commander, you are extremely exhausted. I do not believe you'll be able to even stay awake for another thirty minutes. Do you even understand what the risks are for chronic stress and exhaustion? At this rate, you'll be lucky to reach fifty."

Under his breath, and without drawing much attention (hopefully), "anything for my brother." He ignored the doctor, and looked at a PADD that he picked up off the table.

Melissa sighed. She was going to have to speak to the Captain about Reinhart. In the mean time, she punched a timer onto her PADD for thirty minutes.

"All right, everyone." Gunning eventually said, noting the differing levels of excitement and trepidation on his staff's faces. "I want you to all be on top of your game. We're expecting a couple of Archaan convoys to set off from the base this afternoon and I'd like to make sure they feel safe on their way out of the system. Commander Reinhart, Lieutenant Royce, I want you to coordinate an escort for them until they're beyond our systemic jurisdiction."

"Aye, Skipper." Royce responded, typing the orders into his PADD. He checked to see who was on rotation and made a few adjustments.

"They'll be escorted," Reinhart declared, tiredly. He realized his appearance was disheveled and his attitude grumpy. If he were to maintain a command presence on this station, he'd need to turn his attitude around.

"There's also a number of vessels due to arrive this evening. A Cardassian delegation and a Federation one. Commander Von, I want you to make sure that we're ready for them coming. There will be an armament conference beginning tomorrow and I want to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Coordinate with Maddux and look into every potential little problem, okay?" The Captain drew breath. He'd barely came across any Cardassians since the end of the war. "Lieutenant Hart, I want you to get them on long range sensors and keep an eye out for any interference on their way here. If need be, we'll send the Jackal to intercept and bring them in."

"Aye, Captain," the strategic operations chief answered as she took some notes on one of her PADDs.

Melissa spoke, "And I suppose you want me to patch up the Cardassians in case there are still some hard feelings on this base from the war?"

"That's pretty much it exactly, Doctor." The Captain responded.

"Do you want me to schedule extra patrols for the conference?" Royce asked.

"Standard CAP (Combat Air Patrol) should suffice, Lieutenant. No need to startle any of the crew," he offered. "Substitute extended patrols by training more." It was not necessarily a suggestion as much as it was a realization that the station's budget was a little thin. They would need to make as many flights as possible with what little they had, even if they were a central hub for the expedition fleet. "Understood?"

"Aye, Skipper." Royce acknowledged. The change would be easy enough.

"Commander, I should be able to give you a better idea what we should be expecting after conferring with the Chief," Liarra added. "You should be able to tailor patrols to match any suspected traffic."

"Starfleet should be keeping official traffic light with most Starships being re-routed through Starbase sixty-five. Still, you'll have plenty of civilian traffic to deal with so make sure that any stop and searches that are carried out are balanced with the patrols. Just make sure you have a couple runabouts with security personnel if things get messy."

Liarra nodded. "Understood, Captain. Once the delegation arrives, it would probably be a good idea to keep the Jackal out on patrols along with the fighters. If nothing else, she could hold any suspicious ships while the fighters continue their sorties. I'll work with the security chief and make sure boarding teams and runabouts are standing by."

"Agreed. All right, then. Lieutenant Commander Von, I'm placing the Jackal in your hands. Have the computer program a variant pattern of stops and searches and make sure you're running routine scans of every ship which passes into our airspace." The Captain took a long look around his office at his officers. "All right then, dismissed."

[OFF]