A Good Assignment

Posted on Wed Sep 28th, 2016 @ 10:59pm by Commander Soleck & Lieutenant Commander Le Austin & Commander Titus Livius Drusus PhD & Lieutenant Colonel Edward Maxwell & Colonel S'er'in'e & Major Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Commander Thomas Byrne & Commander Anna Komack

Mission: Brave New World
Location: Command Level Conference Room
Timeline: Backpost - Prior to "The Philosophy of Diplomacy and War"

S'er'in'e had prepared for the meeting as best he could, gathered the information, figures, operational equipment and the like. It made for a grim reading but an accurate one. The battle was costly both in pilots and craft, some were still off duty while others especially the new ones were still rebuilding confidence to sit in a craft again. He'd heard nothing about resupply of the lost craft which so far put the operation capability of the department down by just over 42%. CAP was still being flown but at a much reduced capacity and while pilots were pulling together all S'er'in'e could do was wait.

With information in hand and the summons given S'er'in'e made his way to the Conference Room on the Command Level. The walk there was brief, an advantage of being his height and unobstructed, another advantage of being as big as he was as people generally stepped aside. When he arrived Warrant Officer Talelle directed him straight in.

Soleck was already in the meeting room, going over staff dossiers for each of his appartment heads. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and motioned for a nearby chair, "Colonel, welcome. Please have a seat." He said.

Behind the large Catian, Le Austin entered the room, "Commander," He said, nodding to the Vulcan as he took his seat.

"Commander," Soleck replied, a hint of a grin at the corners of his mouth.

S'er'in'e walked round the table edge to take a seat coiling his tail about his waist as he did so since the chairs didn't have holes at the base of the backrests. Placing the information he had on the table in front of him to read again they bore the brunt of his bad news while he patiently waited for the others to attend.

"Commanders, Colonel," Lieutenant Commander Byrne said with a nod, as he walked into the room with a large PADD tucked under one arm and two smaller PADDs in his other hand, dressed in his new navy blue uniform of station security. He picked a seat at random to drop his PADDs in front of before moving to the replicator to grab a coffee.

Commander Titus Livius Drusus strode into the conference room just in time to see the new security chief dump a pile of PADDs at the seat he, Titus, had intended to occupy. There wasn't assigned seating, of course, but the Magna Roman was a creature of habit and this interruption to that was not welcomed. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath before deciding it wasn't worth making an instant enemy of the new security chief by making a big deal out of it. Instead, he quietly took the seat next to the pile of PADDs and tried to focus on something else.

After her various interactions with the other officers and department heads and finally the Captain, Naomi arrived in the conference room and nodded in greeting to those who looked at her. She went and replicated herself a mug of Bajoran tea and took a seat and waited for the briefing to begin.

Soleck looked around the table after a few more members of the crew wandered in and did a mental count. Certain that most had already arrive, he stood and clasped his hands behind his back, "Good afternoon, everyone. I am Commander Soleck, the new First Officer of the Starbase. I appreciate you taking time to meet with me today. I will be taking the oportunity to meet with you all on an individual basis, but I wanted to gather a quick overview of the tasks you're currently engaged in and introduce myself formally to you," He explained. "I am not one for flowery speeches or grandiose soliloquies, so I will spare you the usual rhetoric and simply say that I am looking forward to serving with you all and I'm confident we will all serve well together," He said, simply, before taking his seat.

"Colonel S'er'in'e, could you please give me a brief overview of what is currently on your plate," He asked, looking to the caitian closest to him.

S'er'in'e observed this new Commander as he spoke, the usual speal so nothing special. When prompted for information S'er'in'e looked what he brought with him. "Following the attack on the station we have been focused on repairs, rehabilitation and attempting to form a CAP around the station with what is left. Of 240 combat capable pilots I am down 63, a few are still recovering or in rehabilitation from injuries. I am also down 102 craft from 242 reducing department combat capability by approximately 42% but that is set to get worse as ground crews are overworked and with not enough supplies for a repair operation this large."

He sat back having read that out. "I have yet to hear any news from my request for replacement pilots or craft." It was plainly obvious that S'er'in'e was displeased with the state of his department but the lack of information about resupply was equally frustrating.

"I can only assume that is due to the departure of your former first officer," Soleck replied, nodding. "I'll get this information to you as quickly as I can find it. My apologies for the delay," He said, bowing his head slightly.

"Lieutenant Commander Le, what about you?" He asked, turning to the Bajoran next to him.

"All is well so far, sir. We've still got a repairs list ten kliks long, but we're knocking it off pretty quickly. The major issues have been sorted out already," He explained. "My teams are worn out, but they all see the light at the end of the tunnel," He replied "We don't have any real headway on the bugs on the Monty, but I'm sure we'll find something on that soon. Other than that, it's business as usual."

Soleck nodded, "Good. Please let me know if you need any additional supplies or man power," The Vulcan offered.

"Yessir, will do." Austin replied, nodding his thanks.

"Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell, Do you have anything to report?" He asked.

Ed looked up from the PADD he had in his hands. "So far Commander, Strat Ops has nothing showing on the immediate threat board, luckily for us. Starfleet is of course promising us all the help we need, however when I press for a timeline on said help, they start hedging around the question, so take that as you will." He shrugged. "Both our internal investigation as well as Starfleet's formal one, are still ongoing in trying to track down Vaishaa after she escaped from the attack on us. Neither of which have turned up anything promising of yet."

During the meeting she remained silent as she listened to what was going on, if her Marines were needed she would dutifully respond, but she looked up at the others and cleared her throat.

"Ahem! I have already spoken to some department heads, but not all of you yet, it will be about assigning some of my marines to various fleet departments, I will assign the tech savvy and such to these posts" she said then looked at the CAG "Colonel S'er'in'e I have a few marines that are qualified fighter jocks, if you want them as replacements they are yours, I will need the marines who can fly shuttles to remain under my command, but the fighter pilots are yours if you want them?" Griffiths said.

"Have them report to Lt Mason, she will assign deployment instructions." Ser'in'e replied. A few additional pilots would help but he really wanted new craft and new pilots. The lack of information on these things displeased him but it was out of his hands and all he could do is wait and see.

She looked at the Officers who spoke and politely nodded "consider it done" Naomi said and sent the commands on her Padd, then fell silent again waiting till something else cropped up.

"The assistance is much appreciate, Major," Soleck said with a nod. "Lieutenant Commander Byrne, do you have anything pressing to report?" Soleck asked, turning his attention to the security chief.

"The station has had a run of security incidents since the battle," Byrne answered, leaning forward in his chair as he spoke. "Mostly opportunists taking advantage of the temporary state of disarray the station was in. My people are running them down now. The one particularly troubling incident on our books is that of a murder." He picked up one of his PADDs to check the name. "One Lothar Laux; owner of Fine Jewellery on the Promenade. Circumstances are peculiar; the store was smashed up, yet nothing was stolen. We're processing the evidence and generating leads now, but I'd like to raise the security alert on the station and increase security scanning sweeps in the meantime, in case this wasn't an isolated incident."

"Indeed," Soleck said, nodding. "Please do so, Lieutenant Commander. I'd like a full report of that incident when you have time. Theft and larceny are one thing... murder, is quite something else," The Vulcan replied.

He turned his attention to the remaining people at the table, "Commander Drusus? Commander Komack? Do you have anything to report?" He asked.

Drusus cocked his head and half-shrugged. “All systems go in the sciences, sir,” he said. “We’re welcoming aboard a new rotation of junior officers shortly, our labs are functioning at peak performance, Ensign Gor’thara is about to finish her dissertation on mapping subspace resonance eddies inside brown dwarf stars and we’re planning an expedition to the Gaven system; there’s a comet there that’s due to impact with one of the moons of Gaven VI, so that should be pretty exciting.” He paused and looked around the table. “We don’t have the go ahead to observe it yet, but I’m hoping the boffins at Fleet will see sense and let me take the Montreal to check it out.”

Soleck gave him a nod and a true appreciative smile, "I will reach out to them personally, Commander, and ensure that they do," He said.

"Medical facilities on the station are still under more strain than usual, as a lot of the casualties we suffered during the course of the battle require longer periods of treatment and recovery," Komack responded, reading through reports on the PADD she had brought with her. "My staff is dealing with the situation admirably, but resources are stretched a little thin. It would be very helpful if you could pressure Starfleet Medical to expedite the delivery of the prosthetic limb components I ordered; they require a lot of fine manufacturing work that can't be accomplished with a replicator, and we have a lot of beds being taken up by personnel who are awaiting delivery and fitting of their new legs before they can start rehabilitation and return to their duties."

"Thank you, Commander," Soleck said, bowing his head slightly. "I appreciate you all taking a moment to meet with me in person, however I am well aware that you are all busy. You are all dismissed. I have the information that I need. I am, of course, available to all of you night or day should you need me. I look forward to working with you all going forward," He said, spreading his hands to let them know they were all free to go.

Soleck nodded, a slight smile blossoming on his face as the chiefs all departed the room. They were good officers, a solid crew. Good leaders. Yes. This would be a good assignment. A good assignment, indeed.