Changing of the Guard

Posted on Tue Feb 9th, 2021 @ 4:50am by Commodore Loatha Targaryen & Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Galatea & Lieutenant Commander Sawbones & Captain Nathan Bishop & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Commander Ash Randall & Patton O'Sullivan & Lieutenant Commander Lily Snow PhD, MD & Lieutenant Commander Chire & Lieutenant Dylan Blake & Zoey Parker & Petty Officer 2nd Class Corvus Hannah & High Commissioner Jasmine Haynes

3,205 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Cheese
Location: Main Bridge, Starfleet One
Timeline: 2430-08-30, 12:00

OOC: Let's starting wrapping this up. If you have any additional tags please answer them as soon as possible. We're going to get going.

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"Admiral on the Bridge," Galatea announced loudly as the Turbolift doors in the front of the Bridge slid open.

Admiral Willian Targaryen stood back as his wife, Fleet Admiral Luzol, was the first one to enter the Bridge of the ship. She tugged on her newly acquired uniform and looked around the command center of the ship. This wasn't the first time that she had ever been on the Bridge of the vessel now known as Starfleet One, he hoped it wasn't going to be the last either. She smiled at the crew, "As you were."

Luzol turned toward Willian, "We need to proceed as quickly as possible. The President has a very strict timetable."

Willian nodded in answer, "Indeed." He looked around the Bridge of the ship with a look of melancholy on his face. She was a fine ship and would be his again soon enough. For now he was an outsider looking in in a sense. This was where the fun was going to begin though.

He stepped away from his wife and toward the center of the room. He studied the surroundings and rested his hand on the armrest of his chair. The Admiral turned, "Attention everyone."

Patton looked up, waiting to here what the Admiral had to say, giving him his utmost attention.

Luzol's arrival was a surprise to Hawkins as William addressed the bridge, however given the recent meeting he'd attended with Bishop Nathan understood why she was here and what was about to transpire.

Commander Randall silently wished she'd opted to stay in Main Engineering as the bridge was suddenly awash in fleet admirals in a hurry to get out of Dodge. She was hoping high warp was going to be fast enough at the outset because the engineer wasn't about to use the coaxial drive while still in the Sol system.

Lieutenant Rrawran looked away from his wall mounted workstation for a second at the gathering of Fleet Admirals before them. He knew this wasn't going to be anything good. The last time that Luzol was aboard and on the Bridge things didn't exactly go well. He still had nightmares about that mission when he first came aboard where she took command.

Turning from his work Lieutenant Blake swallowed hard at the sight of the two senior Admirals occupying the bridge. Their joint presence could only mean one thing - trouble, big trouble.

Admiral Targaryen looked at Admiral Luzol then slowly looked at the others on the Bridge as he spoke, "I'm sorry that we haven't given much notice to each of you, but President Gruzy himself has assigned us to a high security mission to Ni'Var. Due to the nature of the mission the President, myself, and Admiral Luzol have agreed that it would be best if I were not to be in command of the ship and come along as an advisor." He took a breath, "Galatea, transfer all command codes to Fleet Admiral Luzol. Voice authorization: Teagarden One Sigma Seventy Alpha One Pi."

Galatea's eyes glowed a silver color for a second as data entries scrolled over them quickly. The moment her eyes returned to their normal coloring, she spoke, "Transfer complete. USS Enterprise now under command of Fleet Admiral Luzol."

Luzol stepped forward, "I relieve you, Sir."

Willian nodded, "I stand relieved." He stepped aside and toward the guest chair at the corner of the command arena.

Rrawran stifled a sigh and wondered if he should request a transfer as soon as possible.

Admiral Luzol approached the Captain's Chair, "We need to depart as soon as possible for Ni'Var so there will be time for a proper briefing while underway. All nonessential personnel should return to Earth before we head out. I want all Departments ready for departure within the hour. Let's get to it."

With a curt nod and a stiff: "Yes Ma'am," Nathan began to pull his department into shape prior to the deadline and ensure the ship would be ready for whatever eventuality came their way. Hopefully, it won't be on the same scale as the previous time Luzol and himself were together last upon the USS Spock resulting in its current damaged state.

Jasmine had walked onto the bridge, acting as a representative for the President. "Admiral are we under way?" Jasmine asked, as she noticed her in the big chair. Her tone was almost cold, and unwelcoming in nature. The nature of the mission was a little tense to say the least.

Patton listened as command was transferred over. There had been so many changes since he came on board nothing surprised him anymore. He continued to watch his station and listen to what was going on around him.

Ash alerted all engineering shifts and recalled all essential engineering personnel from shore and shipboard leave.

Blake glanced at Chire mouthing a single word: "Ni'Var?"

Chire didn't turn her head but her eyes shifted to him. She gave a small shrug of her wings. Obviously they were going to find out soon enough.

Admiral Luzol looked up from the armrest panels of the chair. She brushed her ponytail aside, "Not yet, High Commissioner. We have some last minute preparations to complete beforehand, including the loading of our new mission support vessel." She crossed her legs and glanced at the Flight Controller, "I am certain that we will be underway within the hour."

Bishop had vacated the center seat as soon as he saw Admirals Teagarden and Luzol come onto the bridge. "Any orders for me Admiral? " He asked wondering just what his role and authority he would have with Luzol. He and Teagarden had formed a solid working relationship even if he didn't always agree with the Admiral's decisions. As he waited for her to acknowledge his question, he followed it up with another. "A new support vessel Admiral?"

Snow had been sitting at her station review several of the biological experiments that where being conducted down in the science labs. She stood and went down to stand next to Bishop, as she had a question herself, but she was going to wait until the Captain's question was answered first.

"Yes. Starfleet Command has assigned the Starship Galileo to us as a mission support vessel. Willian will see to it being brought aboard," she nodded to her husband as she sat in the chair. "I would like for you to work seeing to Miss Haynes needs while she is aboard the ship," Luzol glanced back to the former Security Chief. "While she is familiar with the vessel, and may well know it better than most anyone else, she is here as a representative of the Federation Government."

Bishop bit back a sharp retort. He was a Captain! Executive Officer of Starfleet One/Enterprise and he was being asked no, told to be an errand boy for Jasmine. Not that he had anything against her but a junior officer could do the same thing. It was clear to him just what his importance was on the ship. Not trusting himself to speak, he simply nodded.

"Admiral is the Science Department considered nonessential personnel?" Snow asked as she wanted to make sure that this was going to be a mission with science needed. "Also Admiral, allow me to tend to Miss Haynes needs here on the Enterprise." She knew that Bishop should be on hand to the Admiral to deal with crew issues.

Patton thanked his lucky stars he didn’t get assigned to Haynes. His goal was to steer as far away from the witch as possible. He considered himself the luckiest man in the universe to have steered clear of her. He felt bad for Bishop, the woman had ice in her veins.

Luzol looked at the Science Officer and was about to respond when Miss Haynes spoke up.

Jasmine felt the tension on the bridge. Even though she was a former member of this crew, she now represented the Federation Government. She was a direct representative of the President. "Captain Bishop, it appears that we will be working together." Jasmine said, in a calm and collected voice.

Bishop turned to face Jasmine. "Yes Commissioner, it appears we will be." Bishop answered Jasmine diplomatically. It was clear he wasn't happy over what he viewed as a demotion.

Luzol looked at Commander Snow, "If you would like to attend to the Commissioner as well, Commander, I would personally appreciate it."

Bishop quietly seethed at this slap in the face. Granted he had never served with Admiral Luzol but there was no reason for her to doubt his capabilities, which was apparently exactly what she was doing. He glanced at Lily to see her reaction to all this.

Snow's face remained neural, but she gave Bishop a warm smile. She knew that her was very upset, but he didn't need to suffer alone or at all. She was willing to shoulder the bulk of the Commissioners requests and needs. "It is no trouble at all sir." She said.

On a personal note Patton got why Bishop was upset, he had been bounced all over the place until he finally was settled into security. Having become Haynes personal assistant would have pissed him off but Patton had learned a long time ago to do what he needed to.

Bishop saw and appreciated Lily's offer to help with Haynes and he would tell her so privately when they were alone. For now all he could do was give a nod of thanks.

Jasmine tried not to take Bishop's negative feeling to heart. She could understand the frustration that Bishop felt. It was never her idea to become Chief of Staff, but when the President calls on you to serve, you serve. She knew she would need to talk to Bishop alone and at a more appropriate time.

Hannah clearly had no idea what he was walking into once the turbolift doors opened onto the bridge. He didn't know several admirals were aboard the ship, that the ship was due to depart a lot sooner than he'd been led to believe and he certainly didn't know about the tension that was palpable in the air. No, as a petty officer combat medic, he wasn't aware of any of that. Until the doors opened and he stepped onto the bridge. Then, even with everything, all he knew was that something happened and all these higher up people seemed to be...tense.

That, in his much too experienced opinion, was not good. He came looking for Hawkins, seeking advice and, well, honestly, he wasn't one hundred percent sure but he might also get a signature and a recommendation.

Since being transferred to Starfleet One...or was it Enterprise now? He still wasn't sure about that...but since being transferred to this ship things had been going differently than he ever thought. Since leaving his home colony he was happy to be an enlisted. He liked being a tactical corpsman. He got action but also got to help people. But lately he was thinking differently. He was thinking that maybe, well, just maybe he needed to be more.

Perhaps he needed to upgrade his skills. By a factor of ten. Or maybe fifty. He was happy being a combat medic but...

He wanted to talk to Hawkins, see if he could get a command recommendation for much more extensive training. Instead he felt like he'd just walked into the Khitomer conference right after the Klingon chancellor was murdered. He turned to leave the bridge but the turbolift doors were just finished closing. Leaving him stuck for several seconds.

From his station Commander Hawkins remained mute as Bishop locked horns with Luzol at bending to Haynes every beckon call. It was certainly a strange turn of events given that several months ago Jasmine was serving on aboard as security chief before being poached for the Presidential team. Now judging by how Bishop glared at her his opinion of her had dipped somewhat, then again seeing to the needs of the VIP's always felt like a chore. His interest in the scene had wavered at the knowledge they'd been assigned another support vessel, hopefully this one won't become matchsticks he thought.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention - it was Petty Officer Corvus Hannah, judging by how he was now trying to make a quick escape he was out of his depth and started to tread water. The atmosphere upon the bridge had taken a unusual turn with Luzol calling the shots before departing to Ni'Var and leaping into the fire. He didn't envy her position, but he did pity Hannah's plight.

"Petty Officer," he called softly waving Hannah over to him before he drew too much attention to himself during the standoff. "A moment of your time please?"

"Yes, sir," Hannah said, turning back. He wasn't sure if he was grateful to be acknowledged and brought to the Commander's attention or worried that he'd walked into some high level thing completely above his pay grade...well, his entire pay scale as it were! But, he walked across the small area to where the Commander waited.

Commander Randall spent a moment to look up the Galileo and assess what changes would need to be made to accommodate the additional mass for the jump to warp. While the Galileo was not a significant fraction of the total mass of SF1 it did represent an appreciable addition to that total mass and needed to be accounted for. Having checked specifications for the Galileo. The Chief Engineer transmitted the new change order for warp field recalibration to the on duty engineering/operations manager to make the appropriate change within the hour and flagged the request for immediate action. Ash could have made the change herself but that wouldn't be protocol and she would be stepping on the authority of a sub-ordinate specifically tasked to to handle such a request.

With Hannah now close-by Hawkins studied the medic briefly before speaking, noted how assured he looked compared to the weary version he'd seen on the Spock on that awful occasion. "Take these to Doctor Brooks and Counsellor Rigby," he said softly passing him data PaDD's with new orders from Luzol's arrival. "We have one hour before departure to Ni'Var, though this is a diplomatic mission there's no cutting corners. Admiral Luzol is in temporary Command for the duration. Understood?"

"Aye, sir," Hannah said, reaching for the PaDDs on autopilot. He started to turn, really grateful to be given a way out of the mess he barged in on and then remembered why he came in the first place. "Sir," he urgently whispered, "can I speak with you when you have time?"

Luzol turned from her chair, "Commanders Hawkins and Chire. A moment please."

Chire looked at Luzol wide eyed but then again her Creoli eyes were rather round to begin with. "Yes sir." She said, stepping over.

Nathan winced at her timing. He gave Hannah a sympathetic look: "We're have to take a rain check on that for now. I'll catch up with you later."

"Yes, sir," Hannah said, glancing sideways at the admiral and wondering if he'd gotten Hawkins in trouble and if things were going to be as badly different as they seemed right then.

Slapping the enlistee on the shoulder gently Hawkins stepped toward the Luzol and Chire wondering what they'd been summoned for. If they too were supposed to entertain the VIP's he'd protest louder than Bishop.

Clutching the PaDDs Hawkins gave him, Hannah made his way to the turbolift and off the bridge as fast as he could.

"For the remainder of the mission I will be making some minor changes to the crew roster and assignments," she said pulling a PADD from nearby. "Commander Hawkins, I am reassigning you to serve as the Operations Manager for the duration of this mission. Commander Chire, I would like for you to serve as my Attache while I am aboard the ship for this mission." She handed off the PADDs as she spoke, "These will be temporary assignments only, but I feel that this will be the best use of resources while we're on this assignment."

Nathan's brow knitted as Luzol explained herself. This was unexpected, perhaps this was her way in kicking him in the teeth for the Spock Mission he thought. He glanced at Chire briefly trying to read her expression on her reassignment to Attaché before responding to the Admiral attempted to mask his surprise. "Very good Admiral," he responded professionally.

She gave no outward sign that it either pleased or nor upset her. "Of course Admiral," was all she responded. She was certainly curious as to why this had happened. She had wanted a change but had not expected it to just fall into her lap.

Across the bridge Lieutenant Blake felt himself deflate. Of course he knew Chire was going to be reassigned within the crew roster but he hadn't expected her to become an Admiral's attaché. In his opinion it was a waste of her talent and a insult. His eyes turned to his new superior officer: Commander Hawkins whom looked slightly bemused by the change of order but wisely didn't comment further. He liked the man, tended over think things a little but was certain he'd run the department well enough, or until someone else stepping into the fold.

Luzol stood, "Commander Randall?"

Ash looked up from her console after being addressed by Admiral Luzol. "Yes, Admiral?" Ash responded, expectantly.

"When the Galileo is aboard we will have to make arrangements and allocations to ensure that the Warp Field is stable for our travels. Please work with Miss Bishara to ensure that we are prepared for high speeds."

The Chief Engineer glanced down at her work station and then back to Admiral Luzol and swiped the warp field recalibration request for herself with a, purposeful flick of her little finger. "Aye. I have taken the warp field realignment request and will see to it in, cooperation, with Lieutenant Commander Bishara." She announced, with a glance to Bishara. "Preliminary, recommended field adjustments have been made and queued, Commander." Ash announced, quietly. It was apparent the engineering chief already had the realignment in mind the moment Admiral Luzol announced the Galileo would be joining them as a service vessel. The preliminary adjustments were based upon the Field Guide Manual published, quarterly, by Star Fleet and Ash, knew well, that the mass of the Galileo might vary by as much as 1% based upon her ordinance and weapons modules. The preliminary calculations would need to be adjusted once the Galileo was aboard but would make the overall process much faster.

Luzol took a breath and looked around the Bridge. It was a good group, but she knew that this had taken a lot of them by surprise. They would do well with this mission, she knew that, but it would take time to build them up. She knew that.

"Let's get to work people."

 

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