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BlackStone
Planetoid
- Joined
- May 16, 2026
Alice Liu found she had not much regret about her career. What was there to feel any shame about when one looked at the surface? She was a vice admiral in Starfleet with over thirty years of service. She had been the captain of a starship for ten of those years, the U.S.S. Roosevelt, a slightly aged Excelsior class heavy cruiser. It was not too much of a surprise as the ship was like the Miranda or D7 class ships whose overall design was versatile enough to be used decades after the first keel was laid down. After those ten years she accepted a promotion to be commander of Utopia Shipyard Seven, a steppingstone to her current career path and thus, her regret.
It was fifteen months and five days after her acceptance of the posting that the Battle of Wolf 359 happened. She had no idea in advance it would happen. She knew the Borg were indeed a future threat, and Spack Dock Seven at Utopia was busy developing the technology and design of the Steamrunner destroyer to counter such threat. It still did not lessen the impact of that historical battle, how the Roosevelt was lost. The bridge had taken a direct hit and if it had not been for the ingenuity of Captain Steve Jensen, her former Number One, standing up his battle bridge, she might have been lost with all hands. No, she survived the first attack and continued on for another nine minutes as Commander Lyla James fought on and gave five hundred of her crew the opportunity to escape.
Some of her people survived the disaster. Some. Not all. She could not help but wonder if she had been there would things have been different or would she had ended up like her close confidant and friend that day and died on the bridge. Worse, had not even manned the flag bridge and turned it into a backup command and control center. It had not been Starfleet policy for nearly fifty years. She would like to have thought she would have, but she was unsure.
Thus, because she wanted a stable life, to start a family, she was alive where three hundred of her people were not. Comrades, acquaintances, even friends numbered among those dead. It came days after the news she had found out she was pregnant. It was a gut punch to her but for a quirk of fate she was alive where people she considered the best, if not better than her, were dead. Such survivor’s guilt might break other people, and to be fair it came close in her case, but she used it to make certain a threat like the Borg never happens again.
She drove herself and it was in no small part the Steamrunner was put back on track and built, but at the cost of her health and almost cost her her child. If it had not been the overprotectiveness of her yeoman, things in her life might have been horribly different. It did cost her and she was not cleared for long term shipboard deployment unless it was on a Galaxy class starship. Not that it mattered much, but it did mean she was going to be tied more to starbases or planetside postings than having a mobile flag like many of her counterparts did.
Still, despite the minor medical restrictions, she was given command of a fleet. Much of it had to deal with her own actions in the Kessock affair as the commander of Deep Space Twelve. Now that the potential threat of the Maelstrom sector had been revealed, the need for a permanent fleet presence in the system rather than a simple deep space base was identified. Even in the modern era things still moved slowly and it was a further nine months before thew newly christened Starbase Stormrider, formerly Deep Space Twelve, was ready for operations.
The turbolift ride ended and Alice stepped out and moved down the hallway, taking the first right. As she did, the traditional pipping in and admiral sounded with someone shouting out the traditional commands that went back nearly a thousand years when their predecessors were on the decks of wooden sailing ships, crossing an ocean and trying to tame the unknown with their own two hands. “Admiral on deck!”
She made a motion with her hand, and she moved to the head of the large conference table. “At ease please, everyone get your drink of choice if you have not had a chance and breakfast from the buffet table. It is all home cooked I am told, so thank Y’Var when you get a chance. We will be here for a while as we do a full staff and operational review of the fleet so we are all on the same page. This will also allow people to put faces to names and their roles and responsibilities. Please, take a few minutes and we will start.”
She herself went to the buffet. Her staff deferred to her and allowed her first crack at it. Rank doth have its privileges and while she was loath to abuse them, she was hungry this morning. She picked some fruit, a bit of yoghurt and a warm, flaky croissant. She put fresh butter over it and snagged a cup of simple, black coffee. She sat down and started to eat and waited a good ten minutes before starting off for the purpose of why everyone was here.
“Why don’t we get the legal stuff out of the way. Captain Dres Harkleon is my Judge Advocate General assigned to the Twelfth Fleet. Dres,” She nodded to the Trill man with a willow peak of silver hair on his head. “Go ahead and kick this off.”
He dabbed at his mouth before tapping his PADD. From it, the holographic display of Alice’s acceptance of command ceremony from the previous day. Nearly everyone here had been a part of it, but this was entering things into the official record which was why Dres was displaying here along with the image of orders from Starfleet Chief of Naval Operations. He began to speak as the images hovered there in the middle of the conference table for everyone to see.
“Per Starfleet Regulation 15, the Chief of Naval Operations with the approval of the Federation Council. has reconstituted the Twelfth Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Alice Kiri Liu. Its mandate in addition to upholding the rules and regulations of Starfleet is the continued, stable, and peaceful exploration of the Maelstrom Sector. To seek out new life and new civilization and to prevent interference in their own governments and sovereignty. Now in addition to this mandate there did come some addendums to general orders and a new general order.”
He tapped his touchscreen, and a new document displayed. Many were familiar with it, at least those who had served in some senior officer capacity on board a starship. “The amendment comes to General Order Twelve, Establishment of Defensive and Communication Protocols with unknown vessels. Full energization of defensive shielding is authorized. There were other recommendations but that falls under personnel and I do not want to steal their briefing so I will let them cover it. I do want to say the powering up of weapons is not authorized unless the captain of the ship brings it combat readiness to red alert. Any such action will result in a review by my office per Starfleet regulations. We are not on any witch hunts here but the last thing anyone wants is a repeat of the Kessok Affair.”
Another tap and this time a whole new order was pulled up. “This leads into the new General Order issued. General Order One Two Seven, Colonization Ban of Maelstrom. Until further notice, Federation colonization of the Maelstrom Sector is prohibited. Any Starfleet Captain who encounters Federation citizens not in the Maelstrom for official duty will detain them and return them to Deep…excuse me, Starbase Stormfront. Also, any civilization encountered who meets the requirement for an invitation to the Federation will not be encouraged to make such a decision. It must come freely of their own volition.”
Then there was one final document which appeared with the others. “The reasoning for this general order is this, the Treaty of Kessok. It states that while the Klingon, the Romulan, and the Federation are free to explore the sector of space, it is not open for exploitation and no colony can appear without equal location deference given to the other galactic powers. The Federation is taking this treaty seriously and will not stand for any violation of it or general order one two seven. It might have its restrictions relaxed as the sector is explored and further diplomatic efforts can be made, but for now it is very much a “look but don’t touch” situation. I will brief the captains of the fleet tomorrow. Other than those items, there is nothing else of a legal nature involving the Fleet, Admiral.”
He made a gesture and the briefing, and all its contents were sent to Alice’s PADD. There was nothing new in it for her. She had been instrumental in the writing of both the treaty and the general order. A whole sector of unexplored space was both exciting and terrifying at the same time, especially when such a sector touched on a few galactic governments. The Klingons and the Romulans were only the larger of the powers out there with a dog in this fight. No one wanted round two of the Dominion War, which is what they could have had with the Kessok if it had not been for the actions of several brave heroes. It was why cooler heads had to lay down the rules at the start and not make them up as they stumble along.
Alice sipped her coffee and then turned to a Tellerite male. “Thank you Dres. Next up we will go down the list save for operations which will be last as we will roll that into the Fleet review. Next up is Commander Kros. Commander, bring us up to speed on personnel.”
The rotund Tellerite stood and tapped his PADD and spoke as his race was only capable off, bluntly. “It’s shite, but so is the rest of Starfleet, so we are in good company. It’s what happens when you fight a war and a conflict where you lose ships and crews with them. That said, fleet manning is about ninety-two percent. That comes with some huge caveats. These crews are for the most part green as new grass. You either have experienced captains with green crews, or green captains with somewhat experienced crews. You do not have both.”
Files were transmitted to the staff as he soldiered on. “Your small starships are near full manning. Those ships that can afford to tighten their belts are more at ninety percent. Worse off is the Starbase here. They are sitting at eighty-two percent. I figured, Admiral, you wanted people in ships rather than cooling their arses here at base. Don’t worry, I will catch the flack from the station department heads. It’s started already. The head in my quarters still is on the fritz.”
He waved his taloned hand about as he moved to the last points he wanted to bring up. “To fill in the gaps in the officer corps, we reactivated warrant officer ranks and offered them to experienced civilians. We have a total of one hundred and twenty-eight of them in the fleet. They can fill billets that normally would be filled up to the rank of lieutenant, though they cannot supervise any officer, even ensigns, as stupid as that is. If they want more responsibility, there will be an accelerated officer course offered at Starfleet Academy in the near future. Passing it will promote them to lieutenants with consideration for lieutenant commander in the two years to follow.”
He sighed heavily as he looked down at the data on his PADD. “I do not like how inexperienced we are. I will work with Operations to come up with an exercise schedule to test the fleet’s readiness. I mean, everyone has passed their simulation accreditations but the only way to forge them into a unit is to beat them with a hammer till nothing stands out and forge with fire. Keep me out of a war, Admiral, and I will give you a fleet to make the other admirals weep with envy. Till then, you got what you got.”
He took a seat again with a deal of fanfare which had Alice hide a smile in her coffee. However, Kros was right, and the inexperience on a whole did concern her some. Not to his extent, but enough so she made a mode to schedule follow up meetings. The sooner they put it together and started executing training exercises to see what they were dealing with, the better.
“Thank you, Commander Kros. Next up is Commodore Laan Edon, assigned to us from Starfleet Intelligence. Commodore if you would please.” Alice gave the man a little more deference and respect. He was the third highest ranking member of her staff and as far as she knew, the highest ranking Bajoran in Starfleet. If so, it made him a person of interest and a man of ambition. Excellence was welcome but as had been all to often in the past competence paired with ambition spelled disaster. She wanted a whip smart intelligence officer, not one who was eyeing her job while trying to do his own.
It did say something about how Starfleet was treating the sector by sending only of its few flag officers to the region. They, like the Federation Council, were treating the Maelstrom sector with the seriousness it deserved. It also meant because of the focus other galactic powers were treating the sector the same. Laan Edon was still young looking, barely looking like he was middle aged with close cropped blond hair and rich brown eyes, the color of fertile soil. He had an easy speaking voice as he spoke to a display of the sector.
“We have already spoken about the Klingon and Romulans and their interest in the sector. It is our belief that the Romulans only signed onto the treaty to use it as a means to manipulate each party. Still, they did sign and diplomatic manipulation is a two-way effort, and we will be looking for such opportunities. We have no rumors of new technology being fielded by either side, but that could change. Standing orders for all data and logs with any encounter with either of them still stands. Distributed to the staff here and to starship captains the ships from each side that have operated in the region and the profiles of their last commanding officer, as well as ships we know to be in easy journey. It is coded security level amber.”
Other areas of space which border the Maelstrom sector were highlighted. “The Lyrian Star Empire and the Kzinti are in the region though they have focused on internal struggles with their respective governments and not on expanding their territory. This might change if they can acquire such territory without needing to engage in conflict with the Klingons or each other. Our intelligence on the status of their fleet, and technology they possess is out of date and we will make an effort to correct this. Both races were extremely hostile in the past with the Federation and all encounters with them should be treated with caution.”
Three different ships were brought up next to view. One was the standard depiction of a Ferengi Marauder and the other two were Cardassian ships, the Galor and Keldon classes respectively. “The Ferengi are in the region as they smell profit. As we know, any Ferengi Dae’mon will betray their own Negus for profit so they are a wildcard. As a rule I suggest harassing and making operating in the area as costly as possible. All Ferengi ships should be inspected. Any that refuse we will forward to their government and let their own sanctions deal with them. If they do allow inspection, anything native to the sector is contraband and to be confiscated. We hope word of mouth will get out and cut down on them operating in the region.”
Now the Cardassian ships now come to the forefront. “As for the Cardassians. After the events of the Kessok Affair where a Cardician Legate was responsible for the destruction of two star systems, the destruction of the U.S.S. Venture, and almost destroying a third system, committing attempted genocide of the Kessok, and the attempted destruction of the U.S.S. Sovereign, the Union is being very accommodating. The Union has stated emphatically they have no interest in the Maelstrom Sector. Any Cardassian ship operating in the region will first register here, at Starbase Stormfront. Any such ship that has not are True Way ships and should be engaged and disabled, if possible, destroyed if not. Given how widespread this information has been given, I doubt any Cardassian ship will be in the area. The True Way are the only openly hostile threat to the Federation in the region. Thank you, Admiral.”
Edon closed his briefing. It gave them much to think about. “Thank you Commodore. As had been said, there are several Intelligence actions to drill down with. I want to get through the fleet review today. Get with me today so we can circle around with operations and the ships of the fleet to get into more details. I am also interested in shoring up information on the Lyrians and the Kzinti. Let’s have an action plan to address that. Now next is the person in a small part responsible for today’s fresh food, Commander Y’var from logistics.”
The blond Vulcan inclined her head in the direction of Alice. She was tall and lean, almost ethereal in nature, with how pale her skin was. If the genetic disorder had been possible, Alice would have said she was albino nature. Unlike the other presentations, Y’var’s highlighted planets instead of ships. The reason became clear in a few minutes.
“We do have a local base for such fresh supplies from the following planets. We are still working on developing an xeno-facilities to cater to foods of our more diverse personnel. We are still working on permanent living quarters on Geenese, which is within an hour commute of the Starbase for those who do not wish full-time residence on the station.”
“What is our primary concern is a delay with the military rated industrial replicators. Without them we cannot create locally the munitions the fleet will need. We have two reloads of photon torpedoes and less than one reload of quantum torpedoes, but that does take into account all of the Hornet’s fighter compliment. Any influence you can apply to get them delivered would be most appreciated, Admiral. Until then an order to the fleet to preserve munitions should be given.”
Other details of the planets come to view. “On an order of less importance, recreation facilities on the planets in the area proceed apace. It still will be five months before they will be prepared for shore leave activities. It would be quicker if we had all the industrial replications we asked for. Until then, the work continues.”
Alice was reminded of an old quote that said long ago during Earth’s second world war that battles were won with courage but wars were won with logistics. Many thought it was a boring field of study, especially in this day in age of replicators to craft supplies needed, but at the same time when there were no replicators, it made suppling the whole fleet difficult as the nearest resupply point was more than a week away at standard warp.
It meant for a little bit of time her fleet was on its back foot. She made a note to put in a call to Admiral Nestor about the replicators. The rest of it was important too. When it came down to it, Starfleet were guests to these planets and did not have the right to overwhelm what support they could give them. Shore leave was an important part of crew morale. Holodecks were all fine and good but did not take the place of a beech, or a ski resort, or a number of other amenities. In the end logistics was as important as anything else.
“Thank you Y’var. I made a note. As soon as we are done here, I will call Starfleet Command about the replicators. Next up is Captain T’lok from Science. If you would please, Captain.” Another Vulcan, and to her mind they both were perfect in their roles. If she wanted any officer dispassionate about their perspective roles it would be over logistics and science. T’lok was nothing like his fellow Vulcan, with short and close-cropped black hair. He was thin but not rail thin. He looked like he was a distance runner rather than disdaining any physical activity.
“Thank you Admiral. I do not have much to add here save we are well ware of the limiting effect the sector has on long-range sensors, and we are working on to mitigate its effects. Until then, keeping in mind base security we do have the recommended deployment of sensor nets. That said, in the data shared with the Kessok we flagged twenty-seven new stellar phenomena alone worth of long-term research focus. This sector is a rich area of scientific discovery. Let us not forget Starfleet’s first mandate and embrace it here. That is all, Admiral.”
It was one of the shorter updates Alice received today but that did not make it unimportant. To reach out and explore strange new worlds, the primary mission of Starfleet. Defense had always been secondary. In its early days there were only enough defensive systems to allow a ship a chance to disengage from an encounter. Wars with the Xinti, Kzinti, Romulans, and yes, the Klingons had changed the mindset in starship design to allow a ship to win an encounter against an enemy race, not merely run away. Despite the evolution of military technology, Starfleet’s roots will always be in exploration and discovery.
”And thank you Captain, I look forward to what our ships find as they begin the exploration of the sector. Let us move onto Engineering. Captain Tegral is our representative of the Corps of Engineers, and it is due to his team efforts this base is operational. If you would please, Captain.”
Tegral was a Catlin with rich golden fur and a barrel-like chest of solid muscle. He spoke with clipped and quick tones. “We have many projects still ongoing. Chief among those is continued maintenance support of the station and the sensor nets that will be deployed. We are partnered with Logistics and like them are waiting on the replicators to carry on such projects as munitions productions, space docks for long term maintenance, supply chains production for needed spares, and not least of all, permanent living quarters on the planetside. The details and progress of each project have been sent to you. I ask for any request for my engineers to be submitted to command staff first. They will tell him the priority I should deploy my engineers.”
Alice gave a quick view of the projects. She hated such items which were core to the Fleet’s morale were so low on the list, but morale meant little if the fleet was not postured to meet the challenges such as dry docks to service ships of the fleet. The station itself only had enough docking ports to support six ships and six mobile repair docks. The mobile docks had a limited effective lifespan and still could not handle major ship refit actions. The goal would be to use the mobile docks for minor shipyard actions and the fixed facilities for other actions. The goal was within the year the Maelstrom to be self-sufficient in operations and not dependent on another Federation world for its support.
Next up was Operations. Alice’s director of operations was an Andoran female with skin so blue it was the color of a rich twilight sky. Her hair was long and braided, bound into her hair like a complex crown, Her delicate horns sticking above the sea of white so fine it was like the color of sun kissed snow on a mountain top. Rear Admiral Saerne sh’Thasha had worked hard in her career and unlike Alice had been at Wolf 359 on board the Saratoga. She was among the wounded officers evacuated by then Commander Ben Sisko.
Being a survivor of that ill fated battle did help her career and here she was, the director of operations for a newly formed fleet and the second ranking officer in said fleet. At Alice’s words she pulled up her own files and made a gesture. “Where would you like to start, Admiral?”
Alice made a gesture. “Let’s start with the strike wings and then move onto the specialty ships.”
Saerne inclined her head. “Well we will start at the bottom and work our way up. First up is basically our reserves and the ships we use to escort the supply ships, the 612th Escort Squadron. There are nine refitted Miranda class ships. They have phaser arrays and two phaser cannons, but what spelled the doom of the Miranda class is its warp core. It is easier to build a new ship than to replace the warp core, which limits their effectiveness. They are good enough to discourage people from hitting the supply ships, but not much else. They are automated as much as they can be and the crews are under strict orders not to go to heroic efforts to save the ship. They are to abandon ship. It is far from ideal and we are told if more Saber and Steamrunner classes become available we will get them, but Starfleet is still short of decent hulls.”
She did make a sigh as she looked at the crew listing next to the ships. “What Commander Kros said about crew training is true and all of the reserve wing are predominantly new crews. They are stiffened mostly with the warrant officers and some of the more senior noncoms who have the most experience with the class. The officer corps is young. Nearly all of the ship captains are newly minted lieutenant commanders. The good news, all of them have been through the advanced command and tactical course.”
That was good news at least. Captains new to their first command, but the advanced command and tactics course had come into play after Wolf 359 when it was clear Starfleet lacked ship captains who could get the best from their ship. They were the course that taught officers almost certainly to be tapped to be captain how to win the no win scenarios. Those that failed might one day sit in a captain’s chair, ten to twenty years in the future, not two to three years. They might be green, but whoever was in those chairs were not unintelligent.
Alice inclined her head and made a gesture. “Speaking of the Sabers, I see we do have a few.”
The Saber ship filled the hologram next. “Yes, the 332nd Escort Squadron. It is supposed to be eight ships strong, but we only have six at this time. Much the same manning situation as the other escort wing, only in a better ship. These ships are the combat air patrol of Station Stormfront. Until science has figured out a way around the long range sensor issue, they will spend much of their time setting up and helping maintain a sensor net around this system.”
Next a Challenger and Steamrunner class starship come up. “In the case of one of these starships all have experienced senior officers. The Challenger destroyers make up the 55th Destroyer Squadron and we should have five of them but for now we only have three. The 76th Destroyer Element has the Steamrunner class. We have all of their compliment, though one of the captains is new to command. I am concerned with how she was put in command of this particular ship.”
Alice looked up and knew what Saerne was talking about. The ship in question was the Lyla James, named after Commander Lyla James, the executive officer of the Roosevelt who took command and as a result of her command actions, saved over six hundred of her crew. She died on board when the ship was destroyed by the Borg. Like all of the Steamrunners assigned to the Twelfth Fleet named after heroes of Wolf 359. The captain in question was one Dia James, and the name was not a coincidence.
She was Lyla’s younger sister.
Dia had been a science officer content to work on research. She had been at the Daystrom Institute in a highly competitive science officer slot. The day after news of the battle happened and the death of her sister was officially reported. Dia left behind what had been a very promising career as a science officer and transferred to helmsmen training. Having just lost thirty-nine ships and over eleven thousand personnel, they were not about to turn anyone away. She lost four years of career progression in order to gain command of her own ship one day, to make her sister proud.
Alice thought they could use more officers with Dia’s drive in the Twelfth Fleet.
She waved a hand at the image and looked to both her directors of operations and personnel. “I know the story and I was the one who approved her command. Of all young captains out there, none will be more determined to do that ship’s legacy proud than she. We will monitor but for now I do not see an issue there. Let’s move onto our heavy units.”
Saerne inclined her head just so and then pulled up the heavy units which made up the core of the Twelfth Fleet’s strike element. Two Sovereign class advanced cruisers and one Akira class heavy cruiser appeared next. “Here we have our teeth. The 12th Task Group. Two Sovereign class ships, the Sovereign herself and the Resolute. Partnered with them is another ship you are familiar with, the Geromino. Standard Akira class but they are basically heavy weapons platform. If it was alright with you, Admiral, I was going to take the Geromino as my ship of choice for my flag when I am out in space. I will leave you with either the Resolute or the Sovereign.”
The last ship to appear was a ship which looked much like an Akirai class but had enough differences if one knew where to look. This was confirmed as Saerne continued. “Ths is the last of the combat ships of the line but it is more experimental in nature so it is off by itself This is an Armitage class escort carrier, the Hornet. She makes use of new programable matter replicators to create UV starfighters. They are piloted remotely on board and can be replaced through the replicator stores. This however runs the risk of depleting energy and needed material for the ship and thus is not considered a deep space ranging vessel. Her combat potential is impressive as each fighter can launch up to three quantum torpedoes. Across eighteen fighters, that is one impressive first punch. The Honert combined with the 12th Strike Wing and other elements of the fleet make it a force to be reckoned with despite the lack of experience among the escorts and destroyers.”
Alice pulled up the full combat elements of the fleet before her. On the surface it was impressive. “Let us see what we can do to improve upon that next week. We can use the sensor deployments with those exercises. We can use the fighters to simulate enemy raiders and one of the Sovereigns as an enemy capital ship. Food for thought. Now, let us talk about the specialized assets.”
The display shifted to three Nova class vessels and a Nebula class starship. “The 112th Recon Squadron. They are here to help provide command and control if we go into combat. The Mortara is configured with a reconnaissance and sensor module. They act as the integrating platform for the other ships. Now, the Nova’s are negligible in the way of combat power and the Mortara only has the two torpedo launchers so they will not be effective in combat. When out in space I have been told by the Commodore he will be using the Mortara for his flag.”
Another shift, and another Nebula class starship, one which Alice was familiar with. “And here we have the Nightengale, a medical/science ship. Her module is a medical one and she is here to assist with relief efforts in the region, as well as lend assistance for additional science support. She is like the Mortara and only has enough teeth to defend herself and to flee, not to get into any scraps.”
This time three newer class starships appeared. “This is the Eighth Exploration Group, comprising three Intrepid class ships. They are solid ships and do not deserve the reputation many in the fleet are giving them just because one went missing in the Bad Lands. They are a balanced class and can operate independently for up to a full five year mission if necessary. We should have had five, we got three. They are also combat capable. Not up to the same weight class as a Galaxy or a Nebula but more than a Saber. They are good assets and we should be glad to have them.”
Next up on the screen was, of all things, a Norway class light cruiser. It was one of the newer classes but it was only the singular ship and not a group of them. Next to it was something which would raise an eyebrow of many about the table, the caption read “Diplomatic Envoy.” “Last but not least is the Redemption, a Norway advanced light cruiser configured for diplomatic functions. She carries on board with her an ambassador at large for the Federation and the support staff of a full embassy. This ship will augment the exploration wing but her specific mission is any diplomatic issues in the region that arise. They will be handling a majority of the first contact missions in the sector as well as any diplomatic issues with other galactic interests. Now while there is a diplomatic presence, the ship is also fully combat capable and a potent combat asset we should not ignore if there is a need.”
All of the information was sent to the respective PADDs and Alice ran a finger over it. Thirty-three ships, of which nineteen of them were modern combat capable, but among those nineteen, five of them were considered heavy hitters. Enough to defend the base till reinforcements could arrive. It was far better than the eight combat effective ships she had during the Kessok Affair. She could have been dealt a worse hand. Every commander complained about lack of experience and training. It was time to do something about it.
“Okay, that takes care of the ship review and staff introductions. We have been at this a while. Let’s get up, stretch our legs and come back here for a light lunch and hash out some exercise plans. After lunch, another break and we will perform a senior officer review. The top two of the escort and destroyer wings, top five officers for the other ships. Let us see if there are some glaring rough edges I need to speak to the ship captains about. Okay, twenty minutes and back here on time please. We have a lot of work to do.”
As the Admiral stood, there was a flash that caught her eye. As she did her eyes rested on the Redemption. A diplomatic ship of all things. She did not know how effective they were going to be in the field but if nothing else they were as capable of long range exploration as the Intrepid’s were. Still. She had to admit she was a nice looking ship. Her captain was among the first to sit in the command chair. At least he had been an executive officer in the past. Still she did feel sorry for him. If he was hoping for something not boring, it was hope misplaced unless he found state dinners exciting. She did not and better him than she. She gave another shake of her head and walked away. The name continued to pulse on her PADD as she walked away.
It was fifteen months and five days after her acceptance of the posting that the Battle of Wolf 359 happened. She had no idea in advance it would happen. She knew the Borg were indeed a future threat, and Spack Dock Seven at Utopia was busy developing the technology and design of the Steamrunner destroyer to counter such threat. It still did not lessen the impact of that historical battle, how the Roosevelt was lost. The bridge had taken a direct hit and if it had not been for the ingenuity of Captain Steve Jensen, her former Number One, standing up his battle bridge, she might have been lost with all hands. No, she survived the first attack and continued on for another nine minutes as Commander Lyla James fought on and gave five hundred of her crew the opportunity to escape.
Some of her people survived the disaster. Some. Not all. She could not help but wonder if she had been there would things have been different or would she had ended up like her close confidant and friend that day and died on the bridge. Worse, had not even manned the flag bridge and turned it into a backup command and control center. It had not been Starfleet policy for nearly fifty years. She would like to have thought she would have, but she was unsure.
Thus, because she wanted a stable life, to start a family, she was alive where three hundred of her people were not. Comrades, acquaintances, even friends numbered among those dead. It came days after the news she had found out she was pregnant. It was a gut punch to her but for a quirk of fate she was alive where people she considered the best, if not better than her, were dead. Such survivor’s guilt might break other people, and to be fair it came close in her case, but she used it to make certain a threat like the Borg never happens again.
She drove herself and it was in no small part the Steamrunner was put back on track and built, but at the cost of her health and almost cost her her child. If it had not been the overprotectiveness of her yeoman, things in her life might have been horribly different. It did cost her and she was not cleared for long term shipboard deployment unless it was on a Galaxy class starship. Not that it mattered much, but it did mean she was going to be tied more to starbases or planetside postings than having a mobile flag like many of her counterparts did.
Still, despite the minor medical restrictions, she was given command of a fleet. Much of it had to deal with her own actions in the Kessock affair as the commander of Deep Space Twelve. Now that the potential threat of the Maelstrom sector had been revealed, the need for a permanent fleet presence in the system rather than a simple deep space base was identified. Even in the modern era things still moved slowly and it was a further nine months before thew newly christened Starbase Stormrider, formerly Deep Space Twelve, was ready for operations.
The turbolift ride ended and Alice stepped out and moved down the hallway, taking the first right. As she did, the traditional pipping in and admiral sounded with someone shouting out the traditional commands that went back nearly a thousand years when their predecessors were on the decks of wooden sailing ships, crossing an ocean and trying to tame the unknown with their own two hands. “Admiral on deck!”
She made a motion with her hand, and she moved to the head of the large conference table. “At ease please, everyone get your drink of choice if you have not had a chance and breakfast from the buffet table. It is all home cooked I am told, so thank Y’Var when you get a chance. We will be here for a while as we do a full staff and operational review of the fleet so we are all on the same page. This will also allow people to put faces to names and their roles and responsibilities. Please, take a few minutes and we will start.”
She herself went to the buffet. Her staff deferred to her and allowed her first crack at it. Rank doth have its privileges and while she was loath to abuse them, she was hungry this morning. She picked some fruit, a bit of yoghurt and a warm, flaky croissant. She put fresh butter over it and snagged a cup of simple, black coffee. She sat down and started to eat and waited a good ten minutes before starting off for the purpose of why everyone was here.
“Why don’t we get the legal stuff out of the way. Captain Dres Harkleon is my Judge Advocate General assigned to the Twelfth Fleet. Dres,” She nodded to the Trill man with a willow peak of silver hair on his head. “Go ahead and kick this off.”
He dabbed at his mouth before tapping his PADD. From it, the holographic display of Alice’s acceptance of command ceremony from the previous day. Nearly everyone here had been a part of it, but this was entering things into the official record which was why Dres was displaying here along with the image of orders from Starfleet Chief of Naval Operations. He began to speak as the images hovered there in the middle of the conference table for everyone to see.
“Per Starfleet Regulation 15, the Chief of Naval Operations with the approval of the Federation Council. has reconstituted the Twelfth Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Alice Kiri Liu. Its mandate in addition to upholding the rules and regulations of Starfleet is the continued, stable, and peaceful exploration of the Maelstrom Sector. To seek out new life and new civilization and to prevent interference in their own governments and sovereignty. Now in addition to this mandate there did come some addendums to general orders and a new general order.”
He tapped his touchscreen, and a new document displayed. Many were familiar with it, at least those who had served in some senior officer capacity on board a starship. “The amendment comes to General Order Twelve, Establishment of Defensive and Communication Protocols with unknown vessels. Full energization of defensive shielding is authorized. There were other recommendations but that falls under personnel and I do not want to steal their briefing so I will let them cover it. I do want to say the powering up of weapons is not authorized unless the captain of the ship brings it combat readiness to red alert. Any such action will result in a review by my office per Starfleet regulations. We are not on any witch hunts here but the last thing anyone wants is a repeat of the Kessok Affair.”
Another tap and this time a whole new order was pulled up. “This leads into the new General Order issued. General Order One Two Seven, Colonization Ban of Maelstrom. Until further notice, Federation colonization of the Maelstrom Sector is prohibited. Any Starfleet Captain who encounters Federation citizens not in the Maelstrom for official duty will detain them and return them to Deep…excuse me, Starbase Stormfront. Also, any civilization encountered who meets the requirement for an invitation to the Federation will not be encouraged to make such a decision. It must come freely of their own volition.”
Then there was one final document which appeared with the others. “The reasoning for this general order is this, the Treaty of Kessok. It states that while the Klingon, the Romulan, and the Federation are free to explore the sector of space, it is not open for exploitation and no colony can appear without equal location deference given to the other galactic powers. The Federation is taking this treaty seriously and will not stand for any violation of it or general order one two seven. It might have its restrictions relaxed as the sector is explored and further diplomatic efforts can be made, but for now it is very much a “look but don’t touch” situation. I will brief the captains of the fleet tomorrow. Other than those items, there is nothing else of a legal nature involving the Fleet, Admiral.”
He made a gesture and the briefing, and all its contents were sent to Alice’s PADD. There was nothing new in it for her. She had been instrumental in the writing of both the treaty and the general order. A whole sector of unexplored space was both exciting and terrifying at the same time, especially when such a sector touched on a few galactic governments. The Klingons and the Romulans were only the larger of the powers out there with a dog in this fight. No one wanted round two of the Dominion War, which is what they could have had with the Kessok if it had not been for the actions of several brave heroes. It was why cooler heads had to lay down the rules at the start and not make them up as they stumble along.
Alice sipped her coffee and then turned to a Tellerite male. “Thank you Dres. Next up we will go down the list save for operations which will be last as we will roll that into the Fleet review. Next up is Commander Kros. Commander, bring us up to speed on personnel.”
The rotund Tellerite stood and tapped his PADD and spoke as his race was only capable off, bluntly. “It’s shite, but so is the rest of Starfleet, so we are in good company. It’s what happens when you fight a war and a conflict where you lose ships and crews with them. That said, fleet manning is about ninety-two percent. That comes with some huge caveats. These crews are for the most part green as new grass. You either have experienced captains with green crews, or green captains with somewhat experienced crews. You do not have both.”
Files were transmitted to the staff as he soldiered on. “Your small starships are near full manning. Those ships that can afford to tighten their belts are more at ninety percent. Worse off is the Starbase here. They are sitting at eighty-two percent. I figured, Admiral, you wanted people in ships rather than cooling their arses here at base. Don’t worry, I will catch the flack from the station department heads. It’s started already. The head in my quarters still is on the fritz.”
He waved his taloned hand about as he moved to the last points he wanted to bring up. “To fill in the gaps in the officer corps, we reactivated warrant officer ranks and offered them to experienced civilians. We have a total of one hundred and twenty-eight of them in the fleet. They can fill billets that normally would be filled up to the rank of lieutenant, though they cannot supervise any officer, even ensigns, as stupid as that is. If they want more responsibility, there will be an accelerated officer course offered at Starfleet Academy in the near future. Passing it will promote them to lieutenants with consideration for lieutenant commander in the two years to follow.”
He sighed heavily as he looked down at the data on his PADD. “I do not like how inexperienced we are. I will work with Operations to come up with an exercise schedule to test the fleet’s readiness. I mean, everyone has passed their simulation accreditations but the only way to forge them into a unit is to beat them with a hammer till nothing stands out and forge with fire. Keep me out of a war, Admiral, and I will give you a fleet to make the other admirals weep with envy. Till then, you got what you got.”
He took a seat again with a deal of fanfare which had Alice hide a smile in her coffee. However, Kros was right, and the inexperience on a whole did concern her some. Not to his extent, but enough so she made a mode to schedule follow up meetings. The sooner they put it together and started executing training exercises to see what they were dealing with, the better.
“Thank you, Commander Kros. Next up is Commodore Laan Edon, assigned to us from Starfleet Intelligence. Commodore if you would please.” Alice gave the man a little more deference and respect. He was the third highest ranking member of her staff and as far as she knew, the highest ranking Bajoran in Starfleet. If so, it made him a person of interest and a man of ambition. Excellence was welcome but as had been all to often in the past competence paired with ambition spelled disaster. She wanted a whip smart intelligence officer, not one who was eyeing her job while trying to do his own.
It did say something about how Starfleet was treating the sector by sending only of its few flag officers to the region. They, like the Federation Council, were treating the Maelstrom sector with the seriousness it deserved. It also meant because of the focus other galactic powers were treating the sector the same. Laan Edon was still young looking, barely looking like he was middle aged with close cropped blond hair and rich brown eyes, the color of fertile soil. He had an easy speaking voice as he spoke to a display of the sector.
“We have already spoken about the Klingon and Romulans and their interest in the sector. It is our belief that the Romulans only signed onto the treaty to use it as a means to manipulate each party. Still, they did sign and diplomatic manipulation is a two-way effort, and we will be looking for such opportunities. We have no rumors of new technology being fielded by either side, but that could change. Standing orders for all data and logs with any encounter with either of them still stands. Distributed to the staff here and to starship captains the ships from each side that have operated in the region and the profiles of their last commanding officer, as well as ships we know to be in easy journey. It is coded security level amber.”
Other areas of space which border the Maelstrom sector were highlighted. “The Lyrian Star Empire and the Kzinti are in the region though they have focused on internal struggles with their respective governments and not on expanding their territory. This might change if they can acquire such territory without needing to engage in conflict with the Klingons or each other. Our intelligence on the status of their fleet, and technology they possess is out of date and we will make an effort to correct this. Both races were extremely hostile in the past with the Federation and all encounters with them should be treated with caution.”
Three different ships were brought up next to view. One was the standard depiction of a Ferengi Marauder and the other two were Cardassian ships, the Galor and Keldon classes respectively. “The Ferengi are in the region as they smell profit. As we know, any Ferengi Dae’mon will betray their own Negus for profit so they are a wildcard. As a rule I suggest harassing and making operating in the area as costly as possible. All Ferengi ships should be inspected. Any that refuse we will forward to their government and let their own sanctions deal with them. If they do allow inspection, anything native to the sector is contraband and to be confiscated. We hope word of mouth will get out and cut down on them operating in the region.”
Now the Cardassian ships now come to the forefront. “As for the Cardassians. After the events of the Kessok Affair where a Cardician Legate was responsible for the destruction of two star systems, the destruction of the U.S.S. Venture, and almost destroying a third system, committing attempted genocide of the Kessok, and the attempted destruction of the U.S.S. Sovereign, the Union is being very accommodating. The Union has stated emphatically they have no interest in the Maelstrom Sector. Any Cardassian ship operating in the region will first register here, at Starbase Stormfront. Any such ship that has not are True Way ships and should be engaged and disabled, if possible, destroyed if not. Given how widespread this information has been given, I doubt any Cardassian ship will be in the area. The True Way are the only openly hostile threat to the Federation in the region. Thank you, Admiral.”
Edon closed his briefing. It gave them much to think about. “Thank you Commodore. As had been said, there are several Intelligence actions to drill down with. I want to get through the fleet review today. Get with me today so we can circle around with operations and the ships of the fleet to get into more details. I am also interested in shoring up information on the Lyrians and the Kzinti. Let’s have an action plan to address that. Now next is the person in a small part responsible for today’s fresh food, Commander Y’var from logistics.”
The blond Vulcan inclined her head in the direction of Alice. She was tall and lean, almost ethereal in nature, with how pale her skin was. If the genetic disorder had been possible, Alice would have said she was albino nature. Unlike the other presentations, Y’var’s highlighted planets instead of ships. The reason became clear in a few minutes.
“We do have a local base for such fresh supplies from the following planets. We are still working on developing an xeno-facilities to cater to foods of our more diverse personnel. We are still working on permanent living quarters on Geenese, which is within an hour commute of the Starbase for those who do not wish full-time residence on the station.”
“What is our primary concern is a delay with the military rated industrial replicators. Without them we cannot create locally the munitions the fleet will need. We have two reloads of photon torpedoes and less than one reload of quantum torpedoes, but that does take into account all of the Hornet’s fighter compliment. Any influence you can apply to get them delivered would be most appreciated, Admiral. Until then an order to the fleet to preserve munitions should be given.”
Other details of the planets come to view. “On an order of less importance, recreation facilities on the planets in the area proceed apace. It still will be five months before they will be prepared for shore leave activities. It would be quicker if we had all the industrial replications we asked for. Until then, the work continues.”
Alice was reminded of an old quote that said long ago during Earth’s second world war that battles were won with courage but wars were won with logistics. Many thought it was a boring field of study, especially in this day in age of replicators to craft supplies needed, but at the same time when there were no replicators, it made suppling the whole fleet difficult as the nearest resupply point was more than a week away at standard warp.
It meant for a little bit of time her fleet was on its back foot. She made a note to put in a call to Admiral Nestor about the replicators. The rest of it was important too. When it came down to it, Starfleet were guests to these planets and did not have the right to overwhelm what support they could give them. Shore leave was an important part of crew morale. Holodecks were all fine and good but did not take the place of a beech, or a ski resort, or a number of other amenities. In the end logistics was as important as anything else.
“Thank you Y’var. I made a note. As soon as we are done here, I will call Starfleet Command about the replicators. Next up is Captain T’lok from Science. If you would please, Captain.” Another Vulcan, and to her mind they both were perfect in their roles. If she wanted any officer dispassionate about their perspective roles it would be over logistics and science. T’lok was nothing like his fellow Vulcan, with short and close-cropped black hair. He was thin but not rail thin. He looked like he was a distance runner rather than disdaining any physical activity.
“Thank you Admiral. I do not have much to add here save we are well ware of the limiting effect the sector has on long-range sensors, and we are working on to mitigate its effects. Until then, keeping in mind base security we do have the recommended deployment of sensor nets. That said, in the data shared with the Kessok we flagged twenty-seven new stellar phenomena alone worth of long-term research focus. This sector is a rich area of scientific discovery. Let us not forget Starfleet’s first mandate and embrace it here. That is all, Admiral.”
It was one of the shorter updates Alice received today but that did not make it unimportant. To reach out and explore strange new worlds, the primary mission of Starfleet. Defense had always been secondary. In its early days there were only enough defensive systems to allow a ship a chance to disengage from an encounter. Wars with the Xinti, Kzinti, Romulans, and yes, the Klingons had changed the mindset in starship design to allow a ship to win an encounter against an enemy race, not merely run away. Despite the evolution of military technology, Starfleet’s roots will always be in exploration and discovery.
”And thank you Captain, I look forward to what our ships find as they begin the exploration of the sector. Let us move onto Engineering. Captain Tegral is our representative of the Corps of Engineers, and it is due to his team efforts this base is operational. If you would please, Captain.”
Tegral was a Catlin with rich golden fur and a barrel-like chest of solid muscle. He spoke with clipped and quick tones. “We have many projects still ongoing. Chief among those is continued maintenance support of the station and the sensor nets that will be deployed. We are partnered with Logistics and like them are waiting on the replicators to carry on such projects as munitions productions, space docks for long term maintenance, supply chains production for needed spares, and not least of all, permanent living quarters on the planetside. The details and progress of each project have been sent to you. I ask for any request for my engineers to be submitted to command staff first. They will tell him the priority I should deploy my engineers.”
Alice gave a quick view of the projects. She hated such items which were core to the Fleet’s morale were so low on the list, but morale meant little if the fleet was not postured to meet the challenges such as dry docks to service ships of the fleet. The station itself only had enough docking ports to support six ships and six mobile repair docks. The mobile docks had a limited effective lifespan and still could not handle major ship refit actions. The goal would be to use the mobile docks for minor shipyard actions and the fixed facilities for other actions. The goal was within the year the Maelstrom to be self-sufficient in operations and not dependent on another Federation world for its support.
Next up was Operations. Alice’s director of operations was an Andoran female with skin so blue it was the color of a rich twilight sky. Her hair was long and braided, bound into her hair like a complex crown, Her delicate horns sticking above the sea of white so fine it was like the color of sun kissed snow on a mountain top. Rear Admiral Saerne sh’Thasha had worked hard in her career and unlike Alice had been at Wolf 359 on board the Saratoga. She was among the wounded officers evacuated by then Commander Ben Sisko.
Being a survivor of that ill fated battle did help her career and here she was, the director of operations for a newly formed fleet and the second ranking officer in said fleet. At Alice’s words she pulled up her own files and made a gesture. “Where would you like to start, Admiral?”
Alice made a gesture. “Let’s start with the strike wings and then move onto the specialty ships.”
Saerne inclined her head. “Well we will start at the bottom and work our way up. First up is basically our reserves and the ships we use to escort the supply ships, the 612th Escort Squadron. There are nine refitted Miranda class ships. They have phaser arrays and two phaser cannons, but what spelled the doom of the Miranda class is its warp core. It is easier to build a new ship than to replace the warp core, which limits their effectiveness. They are good enough to discourage people from hitting the supply ships, but not much else. They are automated as much as they can be and the crews are under strict orders not to go to heroic efforts to save the ship. They are to abandon ship. It is far from ideal and we are told if more Saber and Steamrunner classes become available we will get them, but Starfleet is still short of decent hulls.”
She did make a sigh as she looked at the crew listing next to the ships. “What Commander Kros said about crew training is true and all of the reserve wing are predominantly new crews. They are stiffened mostly with the warrant officers and some of the more senior noncoms who have the most experience with the class. The officer corps is young. Nearly all of the ship captains are newly minted lieutenant commanders. The good news, all of them have been through the advanced command and tactical course.”
That was good news at least. Captains new to their first command, but the advanced command and tactics course had come into play after Wolf 359 when it was clear Starfleet lacked ship captains who could get the best from their ship. They were the course that taught officers almost certainly to be tapped to be captain how to win the no win scenarios. Those that failed might one day sit in a captain’s chair, ten to twenty years in the future, not two to three years. They might be green, but whoever was in those chairs were not unintelligent.
Alice inclined her head and made a gesture. “Speaking of the Sabers, I see we do have a few.”
The Saber ship filled the hologram next. “Yes, the 332nd Escort Squadron. It is supposed to be eight ships strong, but we only have six at this time. Much the same manning situation as the other escort wing, only in a better ship. These ships are the combat air patrol of Station Stormfront. Until science has figured out a way around the long range sensor issue, they will spend much of their time setting up and helping maintain a sensor net around this system.”
Next a Challenger and Steamrunner class starship come up. “In the case of one of these starships all have experienced senior officers. The Challenger destroyers make up the 55th Destroyer Squadron and we should have five of them but for now we only have three. The 76th Destroyer Element has the Steamrunner class. We have all of their compliment, though one of the captains is new to command. I am concerned with how she was put in command of this particular ship.”
Alice looked up and knew what Saerne was talking about. The ship in question was the Lyla James, named after Commander Lyla James, the executive officer of the Roosevelt who took command and as a result of her command actions, saved over six hundred of her crew. She died on board when the ship was destroyed by the Borg. Like all of the Steamrunners assigned to the Twelfth Fleet named after heroes of Wolf 359. The captain in question was one Dia James, and the name was not a coincidence.
She was Lyla’s younger sister.
Dia had been a science officer content to work on research. She had been at the Daystrom Institute in a highly competitive science officer slot. The day after news of the battle happened and the death of her sister was officially reported. Dia left behind what had been a very promising career as a science officer and transferred to helmsmen training. Having just lost thirty-nine ships and over eleven thousand personnel, they were not about to turn anyone away. She lost four years of career progression in order to gain command of her own ship one day, to make her sister proud.
Alice thought they could use more officers with Dia’s drive in the Twelfth Fleet.
She waved a hand at the image and looked to both her directors of operations and personnel. “I know the story and I was the one who approved her command. Of all young captains out there, none will be more determined to do that ship’s legacy proud than she. We will monitor but for now I do not see an issue there. Let’s move onto our heavy units.”
Saerne inclined her head just so and then pulled up the heavy units which made up the core of the Twelfth Fleet’s strike element. Two Sovereign class advanced cruisers and one Akira class heavy cruiser appeared next. “Here we have our teeth. The 12th Task Group. Two Sovereign class ships, the Sovereign herself and the Resolute. Partnered with them is another ship you are familiar with, the Geromino. Standard Akira class but they are basically heavy weapons platform. If it was alright with you, Admiral, I was going to take the Geromino as my ship of choice for my flag when I am out in space. I will leave you with either the Resolute or the Sovereign.”
The last ship to appear was a ship which looked much like an Akirai class but had enough differences if one knew where to look. This was confirmed as Saerne continued. “Ths is the last of the combat ships of the line but it is more experimental in nature so it is off by itself This is an Armitage class escort carrier, the Hornet. She makes use of new programable matter replicators to create UV starfighters. They are piloted remotely on board and can be replaced through the replicator stores. This however runs the risk of depleting energy and needed material for the ship and thus is not considered a deep space ranging vessel. Her combat potential is impressive as each fighter can launch up to three quantum torpedoes. Across eighteen fighters, that is one impressive first punch. The Honert combined with the 12th Strike Wing and other elements of the fleet make it a force to be reckoned with despite the lack of experience among the escorts and destroyers.”
Alice pulled up the full combat elements of the fleet before her. On the surface it was impressive. “Let us see what we can do to improve upon that next week. We can use the sensor deployments with those exercises. We can use the fighters to simulate enemy raiders and one of the Sovereigns as an enemy capital ship. Food for thought. Now, let us talk about the specialized assets.”
The display shifted to three Nova class vessels and a Nebula class starship. “The 112th Recon Squadron. They are here to help provide command and control if we go into combat. The Mortara is configured with a reconnaissance and sensor module. They act as the integrating platform for the other ships. Now, the Nova’s are negligible in the way of combat power and the Mortara only has the two torpedo launchers so they will not be effective in combat. When out in space I have been told by the Commodore he will be using the Mortara for his flag.”
Another shift, and another Nebula class starship, one which Alice was familiar with. “And here we have the Nightengale, a medical/science ship. Her module is a medical one and she is here to assist with relief efforts in the region, as well as lend assistance for additional science support. She is like the Mortara and only has enough teeth to defend herself and to flee, not to get into any scraps.”
This time three newer class starships appeared. “This is the Eighth Exploration Group, comprising three Intrepid class ships. They are solid ships and do not deserve the reputation many in the fleet are giving them just because one went missing in the Bad Lands. They are a balanced class and can operate independently for up to a full five year mission if necessary. We should have had five, we got three. They are also combat capable. Not up to the same weight class as a Galaxy or a Nebula but more than a Saber. They are good assets and we should be glad to have them.”
Next up on the screen was, of all things, a Norway class light cruiser. It was one of the newer classes but it was only the singular ship and not a group of them. Next to it was something which would raise an eyebrow of many about the table, the caption read “Diplomatic Envoy.” “Last but not least is the Redemption, a Norway advanced light cruiser configured for diplomatic functions. She carries on board with her an ambassador at large for the Federation and the support staff of a full embassy. This ship will augment the exploration wing but her specific mission is any diplomatic issues in the region that arise. They will be handling a majority of the first contact missions in the sector as well as any diplomatic issues with other galactic interests. Now while there is a diplomatic presence, the ship is also fully combat capable and a potent combat asset we should not ignore if there is a need.”
All of the information was sent to the respective PADDs and Alice ran a finger over it. Thirty-three ships, of which nineteen of them were modern combat capable, but among those nineteen, five of them were considered heavy hitters. Enough to defend the base till reinforcements could arrive. It was far better than the eight combat effective ships she had during the Kessok Affair. She could have been dealt a worse hand. Every commander complained about lack of experience and training. It was time to do something about it.
“Okay, that takes care of the ship review and staff introductions. We have been at this a while. Let’s get up, stretch our legs and come back here for a light lunch and hash out some exercise plans. After lunch, another break and we will perform a senior officer review. The top two of the escort and destroyer wings, top five officers for the other ships. Let us see if there are some glaring rough edges I need to speak to the ship captains about. Okay, twenty minutes and back here on time please. We have a lot of work to do.”
As the Admiral stood, there was a flash that caught her eye. As she did her eyes rested on the Redemption. A diplomatic ship of all things. She did not know how effective they were going to be in the field but if nothing else they were as capable of long range exploration as the Intrepid’s were. Still. She had to admit she was a nice looking ship. Her captain was among the first to sit in the command chair. At least he had been an executive officer in the past. Still she did feel sorry for him. If he was hoping for something not boring, it was hope misplaced unless he found state dinners exciting. She did not and better him than she. She gave another shake of her head and walked away. The name continued to pulse on her PADD as she walked away.
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