New XO Reporting for Duty

Posted on Sun Aug 6th, 2023 @ 1:14pm by Captain Landon Mabrade & Commander Yalee Prar

2,341 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Pirating Typhon resources

A Starbase! Well, we certainly have not served on one of those before, have we? Yalee thought to herself.

Her symbiont responded, Well, you may not have but Hujong Prar did. It was a rather uneventful stay, well, except for the exceptional Trill women that we enjoyed.

Yes, yes, but this is the first time that we're on a Starfleet Starbase. There's bound to be a lot more variety here and excitement here, though from reading the Captain's records, he seems like a bit of a stick in the mud.

Records are not always what they seem, but my initial assessment agrees with yours.

Well, let's enjoy the experience. If we have to transfer out after a period of time to find something more exciting, then we will. For now, everything is new and we should enjoy that. Besides, on the frontier, something is bound to happen, isn't it?"

Yalee's symbiont mused on it and said nothing more. She was still less than pleased that she was not allowed to fly herself her. Apparently being of rank had some serious drawbacks. She made a personal note to take something out for a flight after making her mandatory rounds and getting to know the Chiefs.

When her ship docked, she practically ran out of the hold, nearly knocking over crew as she left. Making sure to slow herself to a "professional on business with no time to wait" pace, she made her way to where she expected the Captain to be, ignoring the all too frequent glances in her direction.

Mabrade stood in his office, the open-door policy in effect; he just took a few moments to really think about the next moves, the attacks had to be a distraction for the attempt at the Ship Yards; still that was easily thwarted by the Commander of the shipyards. Then there are the attacks by what are presumed Pirate elements that are also unsuccessful. There had to be a deeper rad on this and he needed to get a grasp upon it.

So here he stood looking out his office portal trying to make sense of it all.

Yalee walked into Mabrade's office. A man looking out of a portal was nothing new but it could be concerning that he already was concerned. Brightly, she called out, "Captain Mabrade, I am Commander Yalee Prar, your new XO, reporting for duty, sir." She paused for a moment, wondering if he would speak regarding his concerns now or if she would have to broach the subject once introductions were completed.

"I am glad they got you here so quickly." Mabrade turned and gave a polite welcoming grin. "Sorry it is into the fire you might say." He began while moving to sit on the edge of the desk. "Have a seat, we are recovering from an unexpected Pirate attack, they used our Security clearances to do more damage and I am with a conundrum of why this all started, so you might want a seat for the short version of it."

Yalee quipped, "I would have been here faster, if they allowed me to fly, sir." Nonetheless, she took a seat, tossed her head and threw back her chronically misbehaving hair on her right side and sat down. "I'm ready when you are Captain." I like him already. None of that nonsense get to know you chit chat. Straight to business.

After a moment's thought, she jumped ahead, "If they used our security clearances that means one of two things: they have someone on the inside or they were able to hack our defenses. Neither thought is really ideal."

"Inside job of sorts." Mabrade answered. "Someone hacked the Security Chief codes and used them, I am having my Intel Officer take care of any residual and reorganize the Security protocols." Explaining the answer. "I am working on getting a new Security Chief , we have a new CMO and Engineer..." He gave a sly grin. "And a new Executive Officer."

"What happened to the former security chief?" Yalee wondered aloud? "And, unless you're looking for a new XO because you do not approve of me for some reason, I am already here. But with all due respect, with so much new staff, does that not also pose concerns?"

"No, I am glad to have you aboard." Mabrade answered. "And it is unfortunate that the Former Security Chief, while she was not actively allowing it, did have a major lapse of protocols and is under house arrest pending the findings of an internal Security Investigation. The Intel department is looking for the trails that might be left and putting extra safeguards in place."

Looking to the New XO. "Sorry, my manners, would you like something, I could have the Gally bring something as if you want a real run-down it might take some time?"

"I would definitely like to be as knowledgeable as I can be. It is hard to act when one does not know what has happened before. However, if I understand the dynamics, I can spring into action much more quickly and effectively, don't you think?" Yalee moved to the edge of her seat. "As to food, just replicate anything. As long as it is decaffeinated, I will be fine."

"I'll have Lurch get us something." Mabrade said. "Saves time and Lurch is a good judge of what to eat in general." He assured. "The first point is the damage; they blew a ship at the main entrance, jamming the Gates open; I have Engineering on the as a priority. The fact we had to gather up Pirates in the corridors and such just exasperates the problems." He touched his desk to get a holographic display of the station and an adjacent image of the shipyard. "I am not sure if the attack was a diversion for attempted hijacking or they were looking for something?" It was a well-organized piece of work to be sure.

"Wait! Pirates?" Yalee asked excitedly, leaning forward with her face cupped in her hands. "Where are they originating from? What do they want? And why attack a Federation Starbase? That seems rather ambitious! So, what is the status of those gates?"

"The gates are under repair." Mabrade focused the holographic to emphasize the gate. "Luckily the tracks are scorched, and the mechanisms damaged but the doors did not skip he tracks so we can clear the bit of debris and get them working soon." He looked at his XO. "If I knew what they were after I could protect it and us. The attack seems to have been a distraction with a second attempt to steal Federation New Star Ship projects, which is big return in investment of resources should they have succeeded on either attempt, but there is something they want on the station and that is what drives them to extremes. It is imperative to the Pirates to get whatever it is back."

"It does not make sense," Yalee replied, her mind whirring. "Is there something that we recently obtained that they perceive as theirs?"

"Initially, I think they wanted the security information to plan raids, but as we closed that loop and the attempted hijacking failed, they were trying to get someone or something out by making a huge smokescreen, is my guess. Like a bombardment of a fortification to cause a little chaos to get the true goal out." He crossed his arms in throught. "But it has to still be here from all signs," he theorized.

"Well, then we have to figure out what they want. Do we have any contacts within the pirate's organization? Or could we send someone to be a spy? Being new, I could certainly do something like that, while coordinating with intelligence." The XO moved forward in her chair eagerly. "Infiltrating would certainly be much easier than continuing to guess."

"If I okayed you to do something like that My Intel Chief would have my head." He smiled. "She is more likely a candidate for those Operations; if she is not already planning one." He looked his XO in the eye. "I need an XO that is for the station, not trying to be some Human type Cowgirl riding off into the range at the moment. The station is damaged and we have a responsibility to get things set right, then we might go looking for the Pirate organization." He stood to go on the other side of his desk. "I am having our weaknesses fortified; including the computers especially so until we are able to properly repel boarders you will be helping get this place into that condition of readiness. Not so glamourous but pays well in the end."

Yalee stifled the sigh that was rising from her gut. "I will check with the Chief Intelligence Officer regarding her plans, sir. And, of course, I will help get this station back in readiness condition." The Trill's energy was noticeably deflated. "I assume that there's a great deal of damage reports that I can review to ascertain priorities and assign crews?"

"Actually, if you would not mind a little possible action, the Garrison Vessels, namely 3 Saber Class vessels are working close patrols. And there is the fact we have several pirates that are incarcerated and being questioned. Your Trill insights might be helpful in either of those projects. I have resigned myself to fortifying the Station." He noted. "Also, Raven is a fine officer and our 2XO so getting to meet her might be a good call."

My Trill insights? What exactly does he mean by that? Yalee wondered. Just because I have some past lives to pull on does not mean that I'm omniscient. "Once I know the entire situation here and what needs to be done, I plan on meeting with all of the Chiefs of Staff. I'm particularly interested in meeting your former XO who is now the Chief Medical Officer and the 2XO. But I am surprised that you have not asked about me personally. And I have not done the same for you. Is that standard with you, Sir?"

"I wanted to let you in on what to expect and see if you bolt." Mabrade chuckled. "I have had one XO step down I do not want to do it again." He leaned back and thought for a second. "Right now, I am caught up on the rebuild of the station and getting the Pirates; we have confirmed it was a pirate raid, from doing more harm and not my usual self and my manners are suffering. Can we call it stress induced bad manners?"

He sighed.

"I think we will get to know one another pretty quickly in what we have to achieve; like you are dropped in a station fighting a siege, I am one who trusts my crew to know their jobs and I do not micromanage, I am objective minded. My staff are my concern. I was close to Rii'Na and may feel a little burned by the loss, as I might have gotten too close? So please forgive me if I seemed aloof. I have a wounded crew and damaged station. That is my focus and I am trusting you will be a help, according to the SLeev on your transfer, I can see we might disagree as all Senior Officers do, but I also noted you care for your crews and do what is best in the end for the crew at large."

He got too close to his XO? Was he in love with her? I thought that I read that she just got married. Did I misread? I hope he isn't planning on forming some sort of personal relationship with me. He's way too stuffy. "Do not worry. I was curious. I actually preferred that you got down to business."

"When we get things back to operational, then we can have a sit-down dinner; both you and Raven so we can all get on the same page you might say." He offered. "Main thing is not to fall prey to the Pirates again. I want to get a handle on what they want and decide if it is worth the cost to keep it or send it to fleet security for Long Term containment."

"Why not just take out the pirates?"

If they were that easy to find we will have dealt with them sooner." Mabrade said. "I am increasing the Saber patrols and we have a Nova at our disposal to add to the mix. Might see what other resources we can scramble to help out but that is another time consuming endeavor that is a waiting game while the pieces fall into place.'" He explained. "I seem to get the impression we are the sole target of pirate activity for the moment."

"Though, there is not much else out here that would really pique the interest of a pirate, is there?" Yalee wondered aloud.

"That question might have to wait until we get the fires out," Mabrade said. "Get an inventory of damage and anything that might point us as to what they value?"

"OK. So, I will inventory the damage, report that to you, start patrols for pirates, and interrogate the ones that we have. Is there anything further that you would like me to do, sir?"

"Let us start with that and see how things go from there. He stod and offered a handshake. "And welcome to Typhon, Number One."

"Thank you, sir," Yalee informed the Captain and stood up. This man seemed to be one who respected formality. She shook his hand and waited to be dismissed. "I will give you my report as soon as I have gathered everything for you."

" I am glad we are working on the same pages."Mabrade replied. "We keep each other in the loop and ..." He nod with a sly grin. "Welcome to Typhon Commander.

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