Phasers, Torpedoes, and other essentials

Posted on 11 Apr 2012 @ 5:53am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil
Edited on on 18 Apr 2012 @ 1:37pm

2,657 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - XO's Office
Timeline: MD 02 - TBD

[ON]
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With the new stash of weapons finally obtained from the Starbase, John had moved back to his office once his presence was no longer required in the Intel meeting, he found that this space was much easier to work in, much easier to reflect in, something he welcomed given the hustle and bustle of recent days.

Something was playing on his mind though, the arrival of a new Bridge officer that he hadn't managed to catch up with yet, in fact he had been so tied up in other matters that he hadn't even had chance to read through the latest list of crew assigned to the Galileo, and had only now just found out her name and gotten a look at her service record. John was sure that Commander Saalm would have already been through the meet and greet phase, but the fact that she was going to be the ship's Tactical Officer was enough to get his attention. He wanted to be sure that the person behind that console was every bit a fighter as he was before they left the spacedock. Reaching across his desk, he tapped down on the comm system controls.

=/\= Holliday to Orexil - could you report to my office when you get a moment please? =/\=

Kestra was preparing a second pot of tea when her com badge chirped and the XO's voice came through. =/\=Orexil here. On my way.=/\= Abandoning her desk and giving a nod to her second, she headed to the Lieutenant Commander's office and tagged the door panel outside, listening to the chime that announced her presence. She wasn't sure what to make of the commander, besides the fact that he got the job done, but... that was an XO's entire reason for being, wasn't it? Getting done what needed doing. So that wasn't too surprising. He'd been impatient, but that could easily have been the pressure of the new position and the time constraints of the docking. Really, there wasn't all that much she could glean from the mere seconds she'd shared a room with him. He'd felt irritable and rushed, those senses overriding any deeper empathic deduction she might have made. And she'd been focused on lowering the temperature in the room, not in taking his. Now, she supposed, she'd learn more. Or get an earful about the protocol of command introductions. She smiled a little. There was just no telling.

John's attention was suddenly torn from his work as he heard the door chime announce that someone wanted his attention. As far as he was aware, there could only be one person on the other side of that door. That said, he was still more than surprised that someone had responded to his call as quickly as she had. He was still settling into holding an XO position, and for John, having people responding to him almost instantaneously was still a relatively new experience.

"Come" he called out towards the door, watching as they quickly slid open as soon as he had finished saying the word.

At his word, Kestra tapped the door twice and stepped inside; her shoulders relaxed and down, her brows slightly lifted in anticipation of the meeting, her lips slightly parted as though she were about to speak... except she didn't. Just breathed in the room and him. Surprise. She wondered what had caught him off guard, but didn't make any attempt to sneak a peak at his mind to satisfy her curiosity.

"I thought it might be best if we met on home soil Lieutenant, a Quartermaster's office isn't exactly the most...refined..place for someone to get to know their new Tactical Officer. I'm assuming those torpedoes we got our hands on made their way to the storage chambers quickly enough?"

She nodded succinctly, still watching him curiously. Had he really needed her to come here to tell him that? No. She wondered if he, too, wanted to know her history as the captain had. She could manage the sharing again, though she'd be exhausted by the end of it. Getting that close to her own history, however needful, wasn't just emotionally tiring; it drained her physically as well. Doing it again would leave her with a migraine for the rest of the day, she was sure, but if it was needed, she'd do it. Her lips curved a little more as she reminded herself to stop trying to anticipate. Wait and listen and see.

"Excellent...hopefully a few quantum torpedoes will make the Klingons think twice if they decide they'd rather go toe-to-toe with us. So...how are you finding the Galileo? I assume you've already checked in with our CO?"

John was a little unnerved that the woman in front of him had managed to enter his office and answer his question without uttering a single word. It was entirely plausible that she simply preferred taking a more silent line in a conversation, or perhaps she was trying to figure out what best to say. As a Tactical officer, she didn't strike him as the sort that was likely to be shy, afterall, there's no real way to hide yourself from someone if you're the one with a weapons lock on their vessel, or the one who's locked them away in the Brig. This was shaping up to be a rather interesting meeting even this early in.

Kestra's focus flickered over his face, watching the thoughts there as clearly as she might have read them. A little perplexed, his brows told her. "Yes," she agreed, though it wasn't really an assumption. She'd told him as much earlier. Then again, he'd had other things on his mind, like how to get requisitioned torpedoes from a power-hungry desk jockey. It was entirely possible he hadn't heard her. "I have been here for less than a day," she reminded him, smiling easily. "First impressions? She's small. Tidy. Functional. The crew is excited, anticipatory, in good spirits. Their thoughts are focused and ordered, for the most part. An excellent complement. The security personnel appear competent individually. I need to put them through a training simulation cooperatively, in order to assess how well they will function as a team, should the need arise. I hope it doesn't. I am curious as to the cadet's function in my department, as is she. She seems eager, intelligent, disciplined. I understand you taught her at the Academy and presume her presence in in my department means you intended for her to learn something in particular. I gave her an assignment, responding to one of the complaints that were registered with my department; she needed something to do. I can work more specifically with her if you tell me what lessons you're hoping to impart." She hummed thoughtfully. "I quite like her. I'm terribly curious about the Tarkannans; I've never met any before and her mind is... not unlike a deflector shield. Impressive. I'm also curious about the research personnel; I'm used to dealing with pilots, warriors, medics... This ship is... calmer in some ways. More..." she breathed in, feeling the air on her tongue, "heightened in others. Intellectually. Better vocabulary, certainly." She smiled at him. "How are you finding it, sir?"

John took a moment to digest the diatribe that had just been flung across the desk to him, it was not often that when he asked for someone's opinion he ended up receiving such a detailed and lengthy analyis of the situation. That said, he approved of her appraisal of the Galileo herself, it was true that she was indeed a very small ship, but John had great hopes for her, hopefully forging a name for her crew amongst the much larger vessels of the fleet.

The XO was surprised to have his own duty assignments brought up so readily, in face he had not anticipated doing any work at all with the young cadet at this point beyond her reading requirements for the Red Squad assignment she had been given. He took a few moments to compose himself before settling on an answer.

"Cadet Im'er was indeed in one of my classes...she was rather adept at most of my modules if I remember correctly. For now I don't want to overwork her...she's never served on a starship before and getting used to shipboard procedures is going to take some time....that said I expect her to shadow you at Tactical during any Bridge shifts you might share."

John had to admit he was a little jealous, the amount of time he had been spending either in the centre chair commanding the beta shift, or simply carrying out his duties as XO had made him miss being behind the tactical station. He had become so used to that set of actions that it had taken him a couple of days to start seeing beyond his normal domain and into the bigger picture.

"If push comes to shove and we end up going up against a Klingon vessel I need to know that there's enough people on the Bridge who knows our weapons systems...just in case. Think you can bring her up to speed quickly enough?"

Kestra nodded, then - because he seemed to appreciate her speaking - added, "Definitely." She tilted her head to the side. "I can see to it that she learns the Tactical console, that's not a problem. But she's fiercely intelligent. You may be underestimating her ability to acclimate." She flexed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "Are we anticipating an altercation with the Klingons? Have threats been made?"

"Not directly" John took a moment to consider the situation. He had never been overly trusting of the Klingons, and the current state of affairs didn't seem to do much to make him want to change his mind. They always seemed to put combat and violence ahead of any real achievement, in fact to him, it seemed almost wonderous that they had ever managed to develop into the power that they were today.

"But you know the Klingons - shoot first and ask questions later. I've never trusted them, and I'm not about to start doing so right in the middle of a vital mission"

Kestra tilted her head slightly. "At the risk of speaking out of turn, sir, that's a rather limited perspective on their culture. They focus on prowess and combat, that's true, but there's a great deal of honor inherent in their reasons for that." She spread her hands innocently, hoping that he would see her comments as they were meant - to be helpful and enlightening rather than undermining his authority. It was entirely possible - and probable - that he had access to information that she did not. But he hadn't given her any examples of such, and he had a right to her background and perspective. It might even be of use. "My CO on my last ship - Lieutenant Commander Klask - was a full Klingon and loyal to the Federation, and he was known to ask one or two questions before shooting. What they have - as a culture - is a sharply defined awareness and a keen interest in survival; if they sense a threat, they will act before the threat has a chance to culminate. If no aggression or intent of aggression is offered, they tend - generally - to be honorable in their treatment of others. Of course, there are always the extremists of every group. Have there been unreported attacks in recent months in the areas we'll be passing through? My clearance level isn't extremely high, but I didn't see anything amiss."

"To each their own I suppose Lieutenant - I've never had much experience with the Klingons outside of combat exercises and Academy required courses - the few I have met didnt exactly...enamour themselves to me....I would rather plan for the worst rather than be caught off guard by Klingon boarding parties. I can't give you the specifics from the Intel briefing I attended on the Starbase - but suffice to say the Klingon Empire isn't exactly being the most...generous...of our allies right now."

After a few moments he picked up a PADD from beside his left arm and tapped a few commands into it before reaching over the desk and extending the offering to his Tactical officer.

"I want all our security teams to be running drills to deal with Klingon boarding parties - use the holodeck if you need it, I want them ready for anything, and start developing containment protocols in case we find ourselves overrun. Worst case and we take on combatants at least we can cage them rather than finding ourselves in a running firefight through our own ship."

John even felt himself that this was probably going to be a little over the top in terms of being prepared, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen at some point soon. He had always believed that if the worst case scenario was preventable, then anything else that happened was nothing more than a mild annoyance.

Kestra inclined her head. "As you say, sir." She made a notation in her PADD to setup the appropriate holodeck drills. It was a reasonable precaution, considering they were about to enter Klingon territory; she just hoped that the ship's precautions didn't give the Klingon's the impression that they were defensive or skittish - those translated to aggression in the other culture's mind. No matter how many torpedoes they had or drills they did, this was a research vessel with only basic defense and attack systems. If they came head to head against a Klingon defense team, she wasn't sure they'd survive. "I'll organize the drills and see to it that we find appropriate containment staging areas throughout the ship. Once appropriate areas and tactics are identifies, I'll forward the information to you..." She looked at him, gaze flickering over his face.
"I'm good at my job, sir, but the best thing we can do is not give them any reasons to attack us. Keeping the crew calm and steady will go a long way towards that. One scared crewman can do a lot of damage in a diplomatic situation. Perhaps some educational seminars can be arranged to show the crew aspects of Klingon culture? Fear comes from a lack of understanding, and knowledge is the best weapon in every battle."

"Hmm...might be worth a try, at least then we won't be in a situation with junior officers shooting anything that moves because they think they've seen a Klingon boarding party moving down the corridor, alright, get it done. I'd rather avoid a fight if I can, but, if worst comes to worst, I wanna make sure we at least give them a bloody nose in reply"

John was glad to see his seniors taff coming up with their own ideas, he had to admit, he couldn't deny her analysis of the situation, a science vessel against even a single bird of prey was more than likely going to end in the Klingon's favour, those ships were built for war, and nothing else.

"Good to have you aboard Lieutenant, is there anything else you need to bring to my attention at this time, or can I leave you to get on with things?"

Kestra shook her head. "No. I think we're right on target." She grinned at him, "You know where to find me if you need me." She saluted him sharply, although the grin remained, and lifted her brows waiting to be dismissed.

"Excellent, good work lieutenant, you're dismissed" John nodded to her before returning to the PADD he had been working on moments before this meeting had begun.


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[OFF]

LtCDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Galileo

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