Encounter at Protector

Posted on Thu 5th Jul, 2012 @ 8:01pm by 1st Lieutenant Aryll LeStrat & Colonel Horatio Drake

1,222 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/2
Location: CO's Ready Room
Timeline: Pre-Briefing

Having been assaulted enough for her first day, and finally managing to make her way up the immense deck-plan that was, Starbase Protector, Aryll was beginning to consider anti-gravity walking assistance boots.

Finally approaching the Commanding Officer's ready room, she tapped the comm-panel on the door with her stick, several steps away, just to save time.

===

Ashton had finally found his way to his Ready Room less than ten minutes ago and this was now the fifth interruption in less than ten minutes. However the interruptions were not the newly appointed Senior Officers, introducing themselves or Department Heads checking in with him. Rather they had been either civilian or low ranking engineering or operations officers who had clearly been on Protector for a number of years... all throughout the Federation Civilian Defence Authority reign over the base... just wanting minor works signed off. They had clearly seen so many 'CO's' come and go that all was important to them now was getting the work done and clocking off.

The base had gone through quite a transition... during the Dominion War, Starfleet didn't have the resources or manpower to keep Protector going to instead handed it over to a civilian contractor... the FCDA (Federation Civilian Defence Authority)... to say they kept the base in a bad state of disrepair was decidedly an understatement. From what he had seen of it so far it was falling apart.

Presently, the second chime sounded seemingly only seconds after the first.

"Come in" he said as he tried piling up the collection of PADDS that were scattered across his desk.

As Aryll walked through the door, she smiled at the man, behind the desk. "From the looks of it, you've already seen how far behind we are on upgrades." She nodded. "Aryll Lestrat, your new Chief Operations Officer."

A relatively normal build female officer with striking brown eyes presented herself to Drake. She would have been almost indistinguishable from thousands of others if it wasn't for the use of a walking aide which she had by her side.

"Ah, Lieutenant Lestrat! Indeed, I have... the whole place seems to be in such a mess." he motioned to the chair opposite his desk, noticing her rank. Seeing Marines introduce themselves as Operations Officers and the like was going to take some getting used to.

"How was your journey to Protector?" He inquired, trying to be as nice as he could muster.

"Long. But decidedly, worthwhile." Aryll said, cryptically. "Very little changes, in the Marine corps. I'm just glad I wasn't the green one who lost a month's replicator rations, this time, in an ill-informed game of change."

Ashton smiled in reply, not really knowing what she was referring to but taking an educated guess. She was right, the Marine Corps did have certain traditions and quirks that weren't reflected in the rest of the fleet.

"Please, take a seat" he said, motioning to one of the two patterned chairs the other side of his desk.

"So, you're aware of the history of the base?" He inquired, presumably they had read the same documents but wanting to make sure.

Collapsing onto the chair, she shrugged. "It's a starbase. Someone in the Federation built it. I suppose you're going to explain it to me anyways, so I'll just save you the time asking questions, and say 'no'."

The sudden hostility caught Ashton off guard... had it been something he had said?

"Lieutenant, I was merely inquiring as to whether you knew why this base is in the state it's in? As to whether you might be able to enlighten me as to anything you heard whilst the Federation Civilian Defence Authority were looking after the place. My intention was not to quiz you?" He posed the last part of his statement as a question.

"Yet you started it off with a question of little relevance to the subject." Aryll said. "My duties lie with it's current operational condition, and what upgrades need to be done. I honestly could not care, whether or not the base was invaded more ways than a Risan hooker on Mardi Gras weekend, during the Dominion war, that's not my job. I don't clutter my brain with such pointless knowledge."

He shifted in his chair, surprised at the hostility of this Marine. "I think you'll find, Lieutenant, that the history of a ship or base often has resounding impacts on it's present and future performance. Without knowing what works and rigours it's been through... one cannot say, with clarity, how it will perform today."

He changed his tone of voice. "I take it Starbase Protector wasn't your first choice of assignment?".

"Sir, with due respect, it's been half a decade, and I still haven't had the opportunity to see where Starfleet buried my husband. Every time I get some semblance of shore leave, it's never anywhere close to earth. The last place I wanted to be reassigned was farther away." Aryll said, in an exceedingly harsh tone of voice. "It's not an insult to you, or to Protector. I love a good challenge, and the antiquated systems we're using certainly present one, but the manner in which Starfleet has herded me away from things I care about, does tend to leave a sour taste in my mouth."

Once again, Ashton's situation seemed to stampede to the front of his mind like a herd of buffalo. True, Starfleet showed little compassion these days in their deployment of personnel. This could be argued... it would have been by the old Ashton, but not the new one. Personally he came back to Starfleet to get as far away from Earth as possible... but he knew that wasn't the case for many.

He wasn't aware of her personal history or circumstances and chose not to pry into them too much; he would purposefully circumvent the mention of her husband. Promising, instead, to bring it up at another time.

"Lieutenant... I understand that Starfleet hasn't been deploying officers, especially Marines, anywhere near their requested locations. I also understand that being posted on Protector, in light of your circumstances must be incredibly frustrating... and I haven't got a defence for it. It's a shit situation!".

He held his hands up, as if surrendering to the facts in front of him. "As cliched as it sounds... until reassignment comes your way again... the best thing to do is just get on with it. And, from what I've seen of you so far, you strike me as an officer who is best at doing just that!". He hoped the personal touch would calm the situation... the fact of the matter was, it wasn't a ploy but the truth.

"It is only the honest answer to a question asked, sir. I don't lie, when asked. I am here to work, and will do just that." Aryll said, sharply.

Ashton smiled and nodded... it seemed this first contact was coming to it's natural end.

"But, if you don't mind, sir," Aryll said, with a nod. "I do have to get unpacked, and that takes longer than it used to."

"Of course" he stood, smiling. Perhaps he would get along with this hard headed, no shit Marine, better than he thought!

OFF:

Lieutenant Colonel Ashton Drake
Commanding Officer

&

First Lieutenant Aryll LeStrat
Chief Operations Officer

 

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