Station, Sweet Station
Posted on Sat Dec 31st, 2022 @ 8:32pm by Rear Admiral Yoshi Minawara
Mission:
R&R: The Reprieve
Location: Esquimalt Command Centre | Task Force Commanding Officer's Office
1092 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure
The doors from the turbo lift to the Command Centre slid open in a distinctly Starfleet manner, and from them stepped Commodore Minawara. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes noticeable even from where Captain Penner sat, watching the approaching officer with a smile. Though he looked haggard, he was also clean, having clearly stopped to tend to his personal hygiene before departing the Vesta. The view of the ship was still visible on the main holotable, surrounded as it was in a colony of worker bees. Already sections of the outer hull had been stripped away, and the constant spray of the nitrogen around the ship allowed everything to begin to cool. Initial reports were in, at the very least the entire outer hull would need to be replaced, likely the radiator itself would need to be cut free and replaced as well. The deflector and all of the reaction thrusters were heavily damaged from severe heat exposure, and both nacelles were going to have to be - at the least - rebuilt. It was a mess, a mess that Esquimalt was now equipped to help with.
If the weariness of it all was affecting the Commodore, none of it came through in his voice. "Thank you Captain Penner," he said, stepping forward and extending a hand. They took it in theirs, and nodded back.
"Welcome back to Esquimalt..." they paused, holding the line a second, and ended with "Commodore?" News was no double leaking around the edges to some of the command crew of the Station what was happening, and Yoshi returned to statement with a sigh and a nod. This, if anything, made him look the most tired. Pushing through, they continued with "Reports are coming back from medical ships landing on Vesta and setting up emergency transport enhancers. It appears that things could have been a lot worse, I am sure there is a good story to tell."
Closing his eyes, he nodded slowly, and then looked back to the Captain with a knowing look. There was a story, but for at least the next week it would be classified, probably longer. "Status of Esquimalt?" he asked instead.
"We're fully operational on the starbase side. All repair, refit, and finishing facilities are completed and operational. We have the Marines coming aboard from 2nd Lightyear Division, and from the looks of it the majority of the team is here to ensure we have all the senior staff. I see you have requested that Miss Cerin take over as the official lead of Diplomatic relations for Seventy-Two. An interesting move to appoint a civilian to the position." It was a careful and teasing jab. All matter of jokes aside, they'd read the report and decided to not press the matter, though their own filing for an in-house Starfleet Diplomatic Officer was already on his desk. "Only things missing," the Captain carried on, "are civilian specific facilities. The Promenade is empty so far and the civilian hotel space is currently pending an official occupant. We expect that to be resolved within the week though," they said as though they were done the report.
"Oh!" they tagged on, "Your office is officially complete." There was a long pause, and Yoshi nodded slowly, then turned back to the entrance to the centre.
"Then shall we?"
The Commodore poitedly ignored the box on his desk as he settled into his chair across from the station commander. The chair was firm in a way only a new chair could be, and he let himself settle into it appropriately as Captain Penner sat across from him, a smug look on their face. "Out with it," he said, letting the tired state he was in show, and sounding far more like General MacTaryn than he'd like to admit. This drew a widening grin from the Captain across from him, who pulled up the PaDD they were holding and pushed the information forward to the holographic display that sprung to life.
"Youll see that all Command functions for Task Force 72 have been routed through to Esquimalt officially now, and Starfleet has a few symbolic gestures to take care of before they are fully done. That all said, since Vesta will be in for serious repairs over the next month, while she is docked we will begin transfering remote oversight to her. You have picked out a new Strategic Operations Officer, yes?" When Yoshi didn't immediately respond, they sighed, and pushed a second display with a list of candidates. "Then I'll leave it to you to find one, maybe work in Captain Darrow?" He nodded, and they pressed on. "Next, the USS Nelson has arrived in the finishing yards, and is set to be completed within the week. She'll need a shakedown crew, and Captain Drake - who Admiral Sepandiyar has sent with recommendation to be the Task Force Standards Officer - has a list of recomendations if you'll have it."
"I am sure Edward is enjoying that," he chimed in, a smile creeping onto his weary face. "I am sure that the recommendation comes stearly written and with a heavily implied phrasing. Anything else?"
The Captain put down their PaDD and raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you know the rest," the tone was teasing while underlined with a whisper of seriousness, and the Commodore shook his head, before finally paying heed to the box sat so carefully. The black ebony wood was matched with the red strip and embossed with the logo of Task Force 72. It carried pips, anyone in the Fleet would recognize it for what it was had they served long enough. But there was other things that came with those pips, other reposnibilities. The tiredness returned in force, and for a moment the Commodore wasn't the proud Starfleet Officer many outside of this room thought of him as. In this moment he was a very tired engineer who had spent a great deal of time chasing small issues in engine rooms across the Fleet. He was an engineer who'd stayed up for almost three days straight to get the Vesta power restored to act as a mobile hospital while Mars burned in the background. He was the man that never once thought he'd be wearing Flag Officer titles, let alone be in command of a Task Force. He sighed heavily, and nodded. His hand closed around the box slowly, and he thumbed it open.
"Let's get it over with."
