The First Assignment
Posted on Sun Oct 20th, 2024 @ 6:28pm by Commander Hikari Karibuchi & Yulena Shastakar & Captain Patricia Cooke
1,295 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 1: "Ooze"
Location: USS Yorktown (NCC-91781)- General Shastakar's quarters, deck 2
Timeline: June 23, 2403, 1152 Hours (Stardate 78020.56)
"Thank you, Kanzlar," General Shastakar nodded. "I shall see to it that Starfleet is informed of this situation."
She proceeded to stand up and pound the knuckle of her right thumb against her left breast. "Unoş sutemnaye!" she saluted the Kanzlar before terminating the video feed.
Knowing that they were going to have a lot of work ahead of them, General Shastakar wasted no time in setting about her next task: seeking out Commander Karibuchi. After a brief stopover in the restroom to straighten out her uniform, she exited her quarters and proceeded to make her way over to the nearest turbolift.
She arrived on the bridge at just after noon, and after speaking with a (rather nervous-looking) yeoman as to Commander Karibuchi's whereabouts, she proceeded to make her way over to the Commander's ready room and ring the door chime.
"Enter," the Commander's voice called out from the other side.
The doors to the ready room snapped open, and General Shastakar was keen to observe the Commander seated behind her desk, her chair reclined all the way back as she nursed a traditional human beverage that she referred to as "tea"; situated just to her left was a stack of paperwork that had yet to be filed.
"Ah, General Shastakar!" the Commander greeted. "What can I get for you?"
"The Provisional Government has seen fit to give you your first assignment," General Shastakar announced as she made her way over to Hikari's desk. "They shall consider it to be something of a "trial" period with which to gauge Starfleet's effectiveness in rendering aid to our colonies."
The Commander's eyes widened with curiosity. "Oh? Do go on."
"For the past year, the incumbent governing bodies of the greater Annexari state have been made aware of a mysterious blight that has been impacting productivity on the remote farming colony of Dacaris IV," General Shastakar elaborated. "Before contact was lost with Dacaris IV, local officials had reported a noxious black sludge bubbling up from the soil in the impacted regions. Unfortunately, this was right before the outbreak of civil war, and with the activation of the Bistrița Minefield eight months ago, contact with fringe colonies such as Dacaris IV has been limited."
"Color me intrigued..." the Commander pondered. "Do you know the status of this Bistrița Minefield?"
"Active," General Shastakar reported. "The Provisional Government has lacked sufficient resources with which to adequately clear the mines."
"Well, that's certainly going to complicate things..." The Commander surmised. "Right; so if we're to coordinate this effectively, I'll need specs on the mines themselves, as well as the latest intel that the Provisional Government has on Dacaris IV."
"I will see what I can do, Commander," General Shastakar nodded in affirmation.
The Commander glanced over at her desktop chronometer. "I'm thinking it would behoove us to schedule a senior staff meeting at 1300 hours- bring everyone up to speed, throw some ideas around so we can strategize our course of action from here; will that give you enough time to gather everything I've asked?"
"It will have to be enough time, Commander," General Shastakar replied.
"Then make it so, General," the Commander nodded as she opened the doors to the ready room. "Dismissed; I'll see you in an hour."
General Shastakar gave one final nod before quickly turning to leave.
As she watched General Shastakar leave, Hikari sat back in her chair and sighed. Her first real assignment in the center chair, and from the looks of it, a fairly tall order; with the limited information she'd been provided, there was no way of telling how bad this blight had gotten, so by all accounts she was going to have to go into this expecting the worst. Fortunately for her, she happened to know a certain someone who specialized in matters such as these.
"Computer, open a secure communications link with Captain Patricia Cooke," she ordered.
A small screen rose out from the center of her desk and flickered to life, revealing the image of a young, blonde woman with a slender physique and striking blue eyes. Like Hikari, the blonde woman also wore the Starfleet Command red uniform. Though, unlike Hikari, she had four pips on her tunic as opposed to Hikari's three.
"Commander Karibuchi." She spoke. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"I have a small favor I'd like to ask of you, Captain," Hikari began. "We've recently been tasked with investigating a blight that's been afflicting a remote farming collective. I realized that Master Chief Jinryo's agricultural expertise might come in handy for this type of assignment, so would you mind too terribly if we borrowed her for a couple of weeks?"
Patricia looked down. So, this was what Starfleet meant when they said 'be on standby'...
"Unless you have a quartermaster to trade for Jinryo, I'll have to deny your request." Patricia said. "We're scheduled to undergo a crew rotation for the two weeks you're asking to borrow her for, and she would be needed here on the Missouri to ensure the rotation goes smoothly."
Hikari briefly considered her options before reaching over and furnishing a PADD.
"I may just have a couple that I can loan to you," she offered as she pulled up the crew manifest. "I'll send you the personnel files to review and you can have your pick of the lot."
Patricia nodded.
"Commander, why don't we cut the malarkey for a second?" She asked. "If you need Jinryo this badly, why not just ask for Missouri herself? As the old adage goes, 'two ships are better than one.'"
Hikari blinked in surprise. "You'd be willing to arrange that? I mean, I certainly didn't want to pry you if you had any other obligations at the time, but if you're willing to lend us your services, I certainly wouldn't say no."
"It's no skin off my back, Commander:" Patricia said. "Missouri's on the list of standby ships for Annexari relief. Plus, the Bellerophon class is quite an ideal learning platform for them."
"Well, if you can manage it, I will be more than happy to take you up on your offer," Hikari nodded. "I'm planning on holding a senior staff meeting regarding the mission at approximately 1300 hours, do you think you can get your crew together in that time?"
A mischievous grin spread on Patricia's face.
"Commander, I wouldn't have earned my extra pip if I couldn't organize my crew in a timely manner." She gloated. "We can be ready at 1300 hours sharp. I take it this will be a joint meeting between our crews?"
"Pretty much," Hikari nodded. "We're currently in the process of gathering everything we have to go off of concerning this blight, so we'll convey the information to your crew at that time."
"Sounds like a plan." Patricia responded. "We'll see you at 1300 hours. Will there be anything else you'll need me for, Commander?"
Hikari smiled. "Say hi to Uncle Kenji for me?"
Patricia smiled.
"I'll tell him you send your regards." She said. "Missouri out."
The connection was then terminated, the image of Patricia being replaced with the Federation symbol.
Hikari sat back and sighed. Well, this was certainly going to be a long week...
She reached up and tapped her comm badge. =A= Commanders Fan and Reagan, could you please report to the briefing room? We have business to discuss...=A=
Posting by (in order of appearance):
General Yulena Shastakar
Annexari Special Representative
Commander Hikari Karibuchi
Commanding Officer, USS Yorktown (NCC-91781)
Captain Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer, USS Missouri (NCC-78316)
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