Assistant Chief Tactical Officer

Posted on Sat Apr 20th, 2024 @ 9:51pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters & Major Clay McEntyre III & Lieutenant Eirly Andersen
Edited on on Sun May 5th, 2024 @ 2:08am

1,860 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission Interlude Starbase 76 & Serenity
Location: USS Astrea, Docked at Starbase 76
Timeline: MD: 8, 0730 hours

Commander (soon-to-be-Captain word was out) Remira Johansen, Lt. Commander Nash Winters, and Lt. Commander Clay McEntyre were waiting to greet the newly assigned Assistant Chief Tactical Officer at the boarding dock of Starbase 76. Remy thought a brief walk and talk tour of some of Astrea's refit items might be a good way for them to get to know one another before stopping off at the Security/Tactical facilities.

Clay stood like a large wall of Caitian. He had over a foot over the Captain as he stood there. His tail swished back and forth as he waited, decked out in his armor, and tactical gear, his daily wear even while they were in drydock. He was never seen without his armor and gear.

"I didn't have a chance to read their file, what do you know about them?" He asked looking down at the Captain, mainly because of his height.

Eirly hoisted her gear onto her shoulders a little bit higher and pulled her braids out from under the bags to feel a bit more comfortable. New posting, new ship, she couldn't complain at all. Stepping onto the dock, she saw the figures of who she was meant to meet, including the imposing Caitian that was her department head, Lt Commander McEntyre.

Walking up to those assembled, Eirly gently put the bags down to the side of her and said, "Lieutenant JG Eirly Andersen, reporting as ordered."

"Remy Johansen, commanding officer, welcome aboard. Please relax, Lieutenant. We're not standing on formalities today," Remy greeted, hoping to put the officer at ease.

Clay nodded his head in greeting, a smile blooming on his face.

“Welcome, I’m Lieutenant Commander Clay McEntyre, the third. Welcome the Astrea’s Tactical Department. I hope the journey out was not too taxing?” He greeted warmly, his big tail swishing behind him as he spoke.

"Thank you for the welcome," Eirly stood a little easier and offered a smile back, "The journey here was easy enough, it gave me some time to have a bit of a nap to re-energise and to get some reading in. It's good to finally be here, by the way, especially at such short notice."

“We’ve got a good group here, Lieutenant,” Commander Winters interjected as he stepped forward to introduce himself. “Nash Winters, Engineering Chief. Nice to have you…and welcome aboard.”

"We can have someone take your bags for you," Remy offered. "Or if you prefer, we can let you get settled in and touch base with you later."

"Oh that would be great, thank you. Someone taking the bags, I mean. And it's good to meet you all." Eirly looked between the three of them, she was ready to get started on a tour before she even saw what was on offer at the starbase. "I suppose it wouldn't be too much to ask for a bit of a tour, would it?" She asked.

"That was actually the plan," Remy confessed. "We're pretty happy with the refit. At least Nash will be when he gets what he needs to clean up the mess the engineers made of the slipstream drive. I'll let Clay brag about the tactical facilities, but I just love what they've done with the civilian and recreational areas. The arboretum is beautiful, and cetacean ops has been expanded to let them feel like one of the crew."

“The Commander is correct about the slipstream drive. I was directly involved with the upgrades and the early stages were a disaster. It took some time to iron out all the kinks, but it’s finally operational in a limited capacity,” Nash said.

"That sounds amazing, but unfortunately, I understand very little about the engineering side of ship functions." Eirly laughed more nervously than she'd liked to have admitted, so she ran her fingers through the ends of one of her braids instead.

“I think you’d be fascinated by the science behind it. Right up your alley,” Nash offered.

"I'd definitely be interested go learn more about it, if given the chance." Eirly nodded in response. "In down time, of course." She was always eager to learn new things.

"Our Tactical Operations are second to none. The latest in weapons, munitions, small arms and training. I expect everyone in my department to keep and maintain thier Phaser and Rifle qualifications and train at least once a week in the Tactical Training Center on Deck 17. I also hold classroom instruction especially since we'll be operating near and about the old Romulan Territories. The Federation hasn't fought the Romulans in a proper fight since before the Federation was founded and we're lacking." Clay explained to his new assistant tactical officer.

Eirly nodded in understanding and bent down to her bags and pulled out a data padd that contained a bit more information about herself and passed it over to Clay, "Whenever you get a chance, this contains all of my qualifications, both Starfleet and civilian, to what I can and cannot handle. I hope you'll find that satisfactory?"

She then turned back to the CO, "Cetacean Ops? I've never heard of them before."

"We should head there first then," Remy responded with a smile. "You're in for a treat. All Galaxy class and California class ships have designated space, but not all of them use it."

Remy gestured to one of the noncommissioned security officers manning the boarding dock. "Officer Eman, Please arrange for Lieutenant Anderson's personal items to be transported directly to her quarters."

The officer nodded an affirmative. "Yes, Captain." He turned to Eirly before taking custody of her bags. "Lieutenant, may I?" He asked, standing ready to take control, but not touching them without her permission.

Eirly gave the Officer a smile, "Oh yes, please. That would be extremely helpful, thank you so much." She then turned to the CO, "By all means, please lead the way."

"Let's go then," Remy said and started walking toward the nearest turbolift. "The department main operations center is on Deck 13, along with an observation lounge accessible to both aquatic and nonaquatic lifeforms. Parts of Deck 14 are also devoted to with living quarters and recreational facilities, additional lab space. We're picking up our first two cetacean crew members when we rendezvous with the Arcadia, so things are quiet there now."

The group entered the turbolift and Commander Johansen gave the command, "Deck 13, Cetacean Ops," and the lift hummed to life.

"So Cetacean crew members deal with everything aquatic, I'm guessing?" Eirly asked honestly. She had no idea a team like this even existed until just now.

"Mostly navigation actually. Cetacean species have far superior capabilities in that realm, which is where their petition to have positions on Starfleet vessels began. But with other aquatic races joining, it's grown beyond that," Remy explained. "I guess the name just stuck." Remy shrugged as the door opened to deck thirteen, just a short walk away from their destination.

"That's actually really interesting to know." Eirly nodded in understanding as she walked with the others, "I can honestly say that I've never crossed paths with anyone from an aquatic race before, just the standard ones who have been in cultures that are part of the Federation."

The group rounded the corner which opened up to a large open deck. Approximately three and half meters in front of them the deck opened up to a marine pool. Locker rooms were situated to the right. The lights to a few of the control terminals were visible under the water.

"This would be the main work space where the rest of the crew would interact. Though there are wetsuits for getting into marine environment, and several other points of contact here - and they have transport to a corner in ten-forward as well," Remy explained.

Eirly nodded, taking in the scene. It was impressive and made her want to learn even more.

"The Intelligence Facilities and Tactical Training facilities are a part of the stardrive section a few decks down, I know Commander McEntyre is eager to show those off," Remy suggested.

“Some of the best facilities in the fleet. Tactical Holodecks and training gyms, the latest phaser small arms that R&D has put into service. I also loaded training programs of my own based on the MACO Special Operations handbook and training manuals.”

Clay elaborated like a giddy schoolchild, quite animated as he spoke.

"As the Assistant Chief, I'm sure the Commander would also like to hear what ideas you have for training programs as well," Remy added. "Security officers should be part of that training as well. The two departments need to be able to function as one unit if we do find ourselves in a battle situation."

Eirly thought about it for a split second before answering, "I believe there should be some training programs that allow us and the Security department head and their assistant department head to show each person's physical and mental strengths, along with physical capabilities, so that we can co-ordinate specific teams that don't have any one advantage of other teams. If that makes sense?"

“It makes perfect sense and I entirely agree. I’ll forward my Training Manuals and the MACO handbooks over to you so you can help me refine the process. I want this ship and its security detachments to be able to respond to any situation in the most productive and professional manner. We’ll be operating in some of the most volatile regions of space and I want us to be ready.”

Clay nodded to his new assistant chief.

She smiled back, "Trust me, Sir, they will be once we're finished with them."

“I should also mention that these trainings are necessary to guarantee the safety of ship and crew. For example, how to manage emergencies in Engineering such as power failures, coolant leaks and such. I know we all have taken part in at least two or three simulations. The programs should reflect the updates in technology like the slipstream,” Nash said.

"The Security Department is prioritizing those types of issues at the moment, but I agree that it will be important for the tactical officers to know their way around the ship. If they ever give us a moment to properly run a shakedown of the ship and her crew, perhaps we can find a quiet place to run some shipwide simulations," Remy suggested.

"So essentially, if we run a kind of health and safety simulation, that should pass standards, and then we can run additional simulations for anyone else interested in additional knowledge and have it like an on-the-job learning?" Eirly offered, not sure if she was thinking in the right direction as they moved along.

"Sure," Remy agreed. "Though I think the crew should be fairly well-versed in most of that. But, I'm also thinking hull breached, boarding parties, combat simulations. It's a brand new crew. We need to instill trust as a team - shipwide."

"Could even be fun?" Remy quipped with a mischievous smile.

"I'd be keen to help implement that." Eirly replied with a wide smile.

"Consider yourself on it," Remy replied.

[End]

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