Return of an Orion

Posted on Sat Jul 5th, 2014 @ 11:44am by Commander Aztala Germond & Captain Jacob Lambert & Lieutenant Colonel Elena Wright

1,998 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 3 - Winds of Change
Location: Boarding the Unification

So they renamed the Cassiopeia. THAT was the new Unification. Looking out over the old Nebula class ship from the shuttle window, it looked like it was almost done with repairs. Aztala just hoped they had repainted a few of those halls well enough to cover the battle that had taken place aboard her. As the shuttle crossed the saucer's plane to the top side and began its approach to the main docking bay, she sighed heavily. She still blamed herself for what had happened on the bridge. She knew there wasn't any better way she could have done it and her team was forced into a fight of attrition, but it still felt like there was more she should have been able to do.

As the shuttle entered the docking bay and settled to the deck, she got up from the co-pilot's seat, thanked the pilot, and started the door cycle to let herself and the maintenance team she was with out of the tiny box of a shuttle. She was still using her cane, which garnered a funny look from the others, but she didn't care - the doctors still wanted her to use it for at least another 2 weeks. Her nerves were still grafting slowly.

Stepping out onto the deck, she looked around. Yep. It was a big shuttle bay. Easily almost bigger than the old Diligent class she had missed the destruction of. Having already received her quarters assignment, she just skipped the rest of the boarding procedure and headed to her new room. Thankfully, the few people she met were busy with repairing the ship, so she didn't gather nearly as many lustful gazes as the last time she boarded a ship. The turbolifts worked fine too, which amazed her. She was almost used to crawling through the jeffries tubes by now, though she was glad for the expediency by which this turbolift deposited her to within 30 feet of her door.

Her quarters were a mess. Furniture was overturned and broken still. Nothing too major, but enough to get in the way as she entered. Uprighting a chair, she checked the bedroom. Her things had been beamed aboard some time ago while she was in the hospital, it seemed. That was good. She just had to clean up a little and all would be well.

Tapping her comm badge, she spoke to the air. "Captain Lambert, Colonel Wright, this is Commander Germond. I've boarded and I'd like to meet with one or both of you at your earliest convenience in my quarters." Sweeping the broken pieces of a vase from the table into the replicator, she sets her cane aside and awaits a response.

Elena had just been on her way to her own quarters when the call came in. Opting to make a quick stop at the former XO's quarters first she tapped her combadge. =A=I am on my way=A= she said as she headed for the quarters of Aztala where she tapped the panel next to the door to indicate she was there.

Turning towards the door, Aztala composed herself to greet the marine, triggering the door to open. "Greetings Lieutenant Colonel. Welcome to my humble abode. I hope your transfer to the ship is going smoothly?"

Elena nodded at the Orion "Very well, I hope you are settling in again well?"

Looking around the room, Aztala smiled weakly. "It seems we have a new ship. Hopefully I don't have to use the jeffries tubes to get around like on the old one. May I offer you a drink?" Grabbing her cane again, she headed towards the replicator.

Jacob peared in through the still open door. "Ill have a kava juice, if you wouldnt mind." He watched as both of the officers in front of him started to straighten up. He held up his hand. "No, at ease. I still haven't taken formal command yet. That doesn't come until 0700 hours, tomorrow. Until then, I am just a visiting Comma....Captain on this ship." He still wasn't used to the fact that he was a Captain yet. It was still settling in. It had literally happened 2 days before, without all the pomp that usually came with a promotion.

Elena nodded at Jacob before turning back to Aztala "I'll have a Raktajino please"

Punching up their drinks and a spiced apple cider for herself, Aztala carried the tray of drinks to the coffee table and sat down. "Please, have a seat." Setting the other 2 drinks before the others, she sipped at her own. "I was hoping to get some news from you two and to see how you've been since I was hospitalized. I see we have a new ship, for one. And a familiar one, at that."

"Well" Jacob began. "For some reason that is utterly beyond me, they promoted me and gave me the ship! It still hasn't sunk in Aztala. First they put me and the Colonel here together, without telling either of us why, and then I find out and I still dont get it." He stopped to have a drink of his kava juice.

Aztala nodded slowly, sipping her cider. "What I gathered of my reassignment is they wanted to put me in essentially a desk job so I can heal after pretty much losing an arm and a leg. As your new Chief Strategic Operations officer, I'll be keeping track of every ship in the quadrant and basically doing my old personnel assignments job with ships. We're not the new flagship for the area, are we?"

"As I understand it we basically are" Elena responded after taking a sip from the Klingon coffee.

Jacob nodded in agreement to Elena. "Basically. We wont have a flag officer on board, but we are at the beck and call of Gamma Command. They want us to keep our ears to the ground for the group that took the Galavant and the Cass."

"That makes sense then. I'll be tracking and coordinating all ships under our jurisdiction for blah blah blah. The orders went on and on but basically it seemed to be saying I'll be the one to keep tabs on our ships out here to make sure they don't vanish again." Aztala leaned back in her seat, her warm cider cupped in both her hands.

"Yeh, the Admiral mentioned that." Jacob replied. "We even get a dedicated comm channel to DS11, so they must be taking this new threat pretty seriously. Which given what we lost from so new a threat is hardly unexpected really. The recommissioned some more ships for this side of the wormhole too, the USS Arizona and the USS Aquarius. They are scheduled to arrive as DS11 in about 3 days."

"Starfleet is smart to give us some more firepower considering the circumstances" Elena said.

"Personally, I would normally think the Scorpio and the Unification would be enough, especially with the Katana out here doing who knows what hunting pirates but things being what they are..." Aztala paused long enough to sip at her cider. "We may need all the help we can get. In the end, the Arizona and the Aquarius may not be enough backup."

Jacob looked to Aztala. "They are obviously taking this group seriously then. Thats just the ships that are on the patrol routes out here. Not including all the other ships bringing in personnel. There are about 300 new personnel assigned to DS11, about 100 of which are being assigned to Gamma Command"

Elena sighed "It's starting to look like we are preparing for war. Again"

Aztala just stared into her drink. "I hope not. I really hope it's just a small faction of raiders and pirates. We settled the peace treaties with the Dominion so hopefully they're sticking to them and not funding these attacks."

"I dont think its war we are planning for. The likes of us have seen wars, and I dont want to have another one. I think its more defensive posturing. We lost 2 ships, so we bring in 4 more. We don't want these people thinking us weak." He drank some of his kava juice.

"I agree, but there is no way the increase in ships is going to make the Dominion very happy and it might not be appreciated by local species too much either" Elena said before drinking the final bit of Raktajino in her cup.

"True. An increased presence may be seen as a threat and may cause diplomatic issues. The Dominion tends to see Starfleet as more of a military than anything so the worlds once under their control may feel the same way. Rather than being thankful for any services, they may see us as an invading force trying to take the Dominion's place." Finishing her cider, Aztala set her empty cup back on the tray.

Jacob nodded in agreement with his two officers. "I think that may cause issues further down the line. The Dominion I don't think will see it as an issue. This group threatens them too according to SI reports. There have been skirmishes detected on long range scans from sensor buoys along the Dominion border. This group may be attacking the Dominion too."

"I haven't seen those reports, but it wouldn't amaze me if the Dominion were somehow involved in the creation of the organization. Even if it was only a minor role" Elena replied.

"Same here. It's something I was taught to beware of when growing up. 'A hand that feeds wild dogs will soon be bitten when the food isn't forthcoming.' One of the reasons my colony never dealt with pirates unless we had to." The memories of her home reminded Aztala of happier times but she tried not to show it on her face. Normally she'd have her normal stately composure, but after her hospital visit, she hadn't felt very centered and that was the key.

"Yes, but even if they had a hand in it, it wouldn't be the first time where a group grows out of its creators control." He took another sip of his juice, emptying the glass. "Either way, its alot of blustering. Officially our orders are that of defence, but they are very broad orders. If we believe something to be a credible threat to Federation Security either in the Gamma Quadrant, or indeed the whole Federation in regards to this group, we are authorised to deal with it in any way we see fit."

"Well let's hope it blows over then" Elena responded not at all interested in a war.

"With any luck it's an isolated incident by a small group of radicals. Either way, there are enough reports of pirates to worry about as it is." Aztala nodded slowly, a mildly concerned look on her face.

"Well heres hoping its something isolated then." He stopped and changed the subject. "How are the crew coping with all the changes, new ship, new XO?"

"Honestly, I've really only spoken to new crew members so far so they don't have experience with the old way but I expect it will take some time for them to adapt" Elena responded.

"You two are really the first people I've been able to speak with since getting out of the hospital so I can't say one way or another but from the looks of the people I met in passing, they seem to be taking it in stride at the very least." Aztala replied.

"Glad to hear it. Im glad you are both coping with it too. I know it must be quite a change for both you." Jacob replied.

"I'm used to change. It's a pretty immutable constant in this universe." Aztala replied somewhat zen-like.

"I've never been one to stay in a single place for too long to be honest" Elena responded with a smile.

"Change isn't always a bad thing." He turned his head to Elena. "And hopefully you will stick around this time." Jacob returned the smile.

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