A New Job
Posted on Mon May 16th, 2016 @ 10:33pm by Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant Colonel Edward Maxwell
Mission:
Brave New World
Location: Main Operations, Deck 12
Ed had hung around for the last two days after the battle, helping where he could, and spending some time with Lynsi when they had the opportunity. Now though, he was sure it was getting to be about time for him to try and locate a ship headed back to Earth. His transfer had only been temporary after all and he had an assignment, as well as his son, waiting for him back there. Repairs were going slow, everyone thought his or her problem was or should be at the top of the priority list. He didn't envy Commander Le Austin or Lieutenant O'Hara their jobs in trying to make things happen and keep in line the folks shouting for their problem or system to get fixed first.
Stepping out into Ops, he found it was only about half the disaster zone it had been after the battle was over. That didn't mean Ops was in good repair though, far from it actually. It just wasn't quite as torn apart as it had been. It took him a moment to locate Captain Von amidst the mass of shirts in the room. Ops could be busy on a good day, this crap was crazy.
"Have a minute Liarra? Thought I'd pay a visit before I see about wrangling a ride to Earth. Don't wanna overstay my welcome." Ed said with a small, almost humorless smile.
Von was doing her best to make sense of the chaos in Ops. She knew that it was better off if she wasn't hovering over the engineers doing the repairs, but she still had a lot of stranded ships in her space dock, and someone had to manage the traffic to get them out. But to do that they needed their equipment. She had hoped that her impatience would make repairs complete faster, but she knew better than that. Von turned her attention away from the repairs when she heard her name. "Ah, Colonel. I'm glad you stopped by. I actually wanted to ask you something."
"I'm all ears." Ed said with a nod as he looked at the 'pool' and its view of the various parts of the station that were currently being worked on. "Damn did we take a beating." He said with a shake of his head. "Are the totals compiled yet or we still figuring out what the losses were?"
Liarra shook her head. "Medical teams are still compiling numbers. So far it's looking better than it could have, but that's not saying much." She glanced around at the damaged command center. "Still, we're lucky to still be here. Anyway, I've been chatting with Lieutenant Nvaiden. He's a competent tactical officer, and he knows the station's defensive systems very well. But he'll be the first to admit that his expertise is in weapon systems, not regional strategy. We need someone that has a better grasp on the big picture. Know anyone between assignments that might be interested in sticking around?"
Ed looked at her out of the corner of his eye and took a breath, closing his eyes. It could have been worse, but from the way things looked around the station, not by much more. They'd been a hairs breadth away from losing the station before the fleet showed up. "Strategic Ops?" Ed asked as he opened his eyes again. "If I remember correctly that guy gets stuck with running all the Starfleet assets in the whole region. Sends out mission orders to the local ships, all that sort of thing..." Ed shook his head and took another breath, slowly letting it out. "What the hell, at least it'll keep Lyns from slapping me again. Okay Skipper, you've got me."
"Don't knock it until you try it, Colonel," Von replied somewhat mockingly. "I used to be strategic operations chief on this station. You'd be surprised how many different areas you get to visit. Besides, the biggest part of the job is keeping tabs on our neighbors. I'd prefer not to get in a situation like this one again."
"So you're telling me I get the Jackal back, or is it the Montreal?" He asked with a smirk.
"I was thinking the Jackal. It helps to have someone in command that knows how to use her like a fighter." Von smiled. "Besides, I think the crew misses you."
"I'd dearly love to get a load of black ops guys and go follow our visitors home and let the boys go to work." He admitted with a sigh and shook his head. "We got our teeth knocked out Liarra. It took months to fix the hole from the bomb, this is damage on a whole other scale. Just looking around, without a crapload of outside support, we're looking at an easy three to five years to get back to full strength."
Von's smirk went away as Maxwell got back down to business. "You're right, but at least we are getting that outside support. We caught the attention of a lot of people with what we pulled off, for better or for worse. At least Starfleet is sending some construction ships to help us rebuild this time. We won't be completely on our own. And believe me, I'd love to knock some teeth in too, but things are complicated. Isn't that what ever soldier hates to hear the most." Liarra sighed. "The people that attacked us have already been betrayed by their so-called allies. The Ritorians moved right in during the battle, laying claim to Sojourner controlled space using fleets of cloaked ships."
"Wait a second there Skipper." Ed interrupted. "Did you just use the phrases Ritorians and cloaked ships in the same sentence? Ritorians don't have cloaking devices, and if they do and we don't know about it, Intel seriously dropped the ball."
"From the intel I've received, this is a new development. They've never shown cloaking capability before. It's possible that they've been working on one for a while in secret, but I find it a little doubtful that they were able to equip that large of a fleet without us noticing. Safe to say, it's of significant interest to Starfleet."
"So which ship do I have at my disposal to use to look into this development?" He asked leaning against the edge of the table.
Von held her hands up at chest level and shook her head. "Don't get too carried away just yet. I'll be heading to Cestus III for a conference soon to discuss this very issue. You can be sure that's a question that I'll bring up. But that's not my only concern. There are a number of Federation protectorates that have either willing joined the Sojourners or have been swept up under their control. And now they are controlled by the Ritorians, who are far more disciplined militarily. If we didn't rush in to retake those worlds from the Sojourners, I'm not sure what the response will be now that they've been taken by a legitimate government. It's a tricky situation, and one we can't afford to make worse by being hasty. We're in a vulnerable position here, and we need to focus on getting the station back to working order first."
"That's no small order on its own." Ed shook his head. "Hell when was the last time we were at top form around here? As long as I've been here we've been making the best out of what we've got."
"Sometimes that's all we can do. At least Starfleet is becoming more sensitive to our situation out here." Von shrugged it off. "Anyway, Colonel, if you're going to be staying with us, then I'll make the transfer official. I'm sure you'll want to get settled back in. I think you're old quarters are still available."
"I'll take them if they are." Ed agreed. "I'll send for my son in a week or so, let things start to settle down." He said thoughtfully. Maybe he'd see if Lyns wanted to move in this time around... "Anything else you need from me Skipper?"
Von shook her head. "I think I'm good, Colonel. Welcome back to Three-Three-Two."
"Hell Skipper, it's almost like I never left," Ed commented with a smirk.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Lt. Colonel Edward Maxwell
Chief of Strategic Operations
