Entreaty
Posted on 17 Apr 2021 @ 6:05pm by Captain Corvus DeHavilland & Lieutenant Commander Roman Kavalar
Mission:
M2 - Sanctuary
Location: Command Center
Timeline: MD02 1807Hrs
1776 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure
Riding the turbolift to the top in his duty uniform, minus his flight jacket for a change, Roman felt like he was taking a journey up into the heavens. Built in inertial dampeners in the lift prevented him from being pressed against the floor at a speed he imaged would be uncomfortable to bear. He noted the rapid change of the decks level indicator on the display, so fast it skipped some of those levels listings. A small ding sound indicated he had arrived and the doors slid apart as he stepped through.
Open space was the first thought that came to mind as he strode to the nearest stairs and continued his climb. Pausing at the top he glanced around to get his bearings, noting there was still a number of people at their stations, his sense of open space stayed with him as he took it all in. Still, he was here for another purpose as he looked for and found the Captain talking with another officer at one of the stations.
Approaching, Roman considered the person he wanted to speak with, most of his dealings with command had been with the XO, Commander Calliope Zahn but she wasn't available for some reason and to be fair those big brown eyes she had, for some reason unsettled him the last time they conversed. On top of that he still had yet to get a good feel for his CO, rumour had it that she had been scrambling around the starbase trying to organise a defense before the Admiral showed up with his task force, the thought of that still played on his mind as a moment of concentration briefly appeared on his face but he was here for another purpose.
"Captain?" Roman uttered seeking DeHavilland's attention.
Turning away from the massive holographic table that dominated the main CIC area, Captain DeHavilland smiled slightly in greeting. "Lieutenant Commander," she nodded, "Join us," she said, gesturing to the table and then the blonde-haired man on the opposite side who she had been talking to. Commander Zayne moved the holo in front of him aside so he could see Kavalar better.
Nodding to the Commander in acknowledgement across the way he recalled seeing him on occasion and knew he had a history with the starbase, beyond that he knew little else as he returned his attention to Captain DeHavilland. Glancing about he expected to see the XO. as he hadn't heard about her current situation and put it down to the fact that she was a ball of activity as was usual, off somewhere else doing what she did. His concern was aerospace, he lived and breathed it and it was high time he got to know his Captain so he could get a sense of what kind of person she was and what she expected of him.
"Thank you", Roman replied cordially, "I thought it was time I come present myself to you and get your thoughts on our present tactical situation and where aerospace can help"
"I would suggest the best place is relieving the ship-based squadrons manning the external patrols," Commander Zayne chimed in. "They have smaller compliments but have been running regular sorties since they arrived. I'm sure they could use the break."
Corvus nodded in agreement, "Have you met Commander Zayne, Mr. Kavalar?" she asked, gesturing to him. "He's assumed the role of Executive Officer," she clarified. "What do you think? Do we have to strength to relieve the others to a degree?"
Roman looked sharpely at Zayne as he took his comments personally, his attention returning to DeHavilland at the mention Zayne was now the XO. and it showed in his tone, "I hadn't heard, I hope Commander Zahn is okay. As to our aerospace assets, after the attack on our starbase we lost 3 fighter crews, two crews are listed as MIA as they were on patrol on the other side of the star system and a search showed some debris but little else. The third crew bailed during the attack but they're still recovering as their escape pod was damaged along with their fighter and they suffered accordingly. Of the remaining nine fighters, half received enough damaged to require being recalled to fighter bays. We've have since received replacement fighters and crews to get our numbers back up but it'll take time to get them integrated and up to speed where I'd like them".
Turning to the holographic table the aerospace lead paused, "May I?", and once he received consent from his Captain he operated the controls with a deft hand bringing up the star system with highlights around planets, moons, floating installations and their starbase, "I agree with Commander Zayne", a determined tone in his timbre, "I would like to take back control of our space with starbase fighters and I appreciate the Admiral's taskforce looking after it temporarily, however we were woefully undermanned in the first place". Turning away from the table back to her, DeHavilland could see Roman's concerned look, "We need more fighters and their support ma'am, this time we got lucky and even though the starbase is back up and running now, the word will be out that we're still vulnerable".
Starfighter tactics wasn't something that Corvus had any experience in dealing with, other than in the theoretical, so she was leaning heavily into the Lieutenant Commander and her First Officer to know what they were doing. Still. What Commander Zayne was suggesting made sense it just presumed that they had the equipment needed to handle the task. If Kavalar was saying that they didn't have the equipment or the pilots, that was a problem. One she hadn't been aware of. A simple oversight that had a far-reaching effect.
"Major General MacTaryn's already volunteered Marine fighters from Falkirk to supplement our numbers as needed," Commander Zayne chimed in, "It could buoy our numbers until new squadrons can arrive from Fleet. I know Commander Fienneman at Starbase 99. I can see what he has to spare."
"How many squadrons are we short, Kavalar?" Corvus asked.
Finger on the pulse crossed Roman's mind as he turned to Zayne with an interested look on his face, deciding he needed to get better acquainted with Commander Zayne as any strategic knowledge he had was well worth learning. Then returning his attention back to DeHavilland, "A starbase of this size should have 12 squadrons, we have one", he said flatly. "If we had another three squadrons as a temporary measure I think we could manage until replacements arrived. It'll also be good working with marine fighters again, I had some under my last combined command, they never disappoint", speaking confidently and reminded of Steve Hansen and his Devil Dogs.
A sense of relief was beginning to wash over him, he had been prepared for disappointment and the prospect of pleading for more aerospace assets and now, well now was apparently a different matter altogether.
"Did the Major General indicate how many squadrons he'd be willing to spare?" Corvus asked. She hadn't specifically talked to the General, other than to thank him again for the Marines that had saved their collective asses. She certainly hadn't asked him for any more assistance, but she wasn't going to say no if he wanted to rotate any of his pilots here for front-line action.
"No, ma'am. But Falkirk is home base to the 3rd Aerospace Group of the 2nd Marine Division. Four separate Air Groups, each the size of ours," Thaddeus explained, "Not including the two training wings," he added. "My guess is that the General isn't offering his wings as 'support' as much as he's offering them for the combat experience," he shrugged, "Which is probably to our benefit, as he'll send his best to log combat hours."
"Always an angle..." Corvus shook her head. "Alright, Mr. Zayne. See what units you can get from Falkirk, and then from 99 to supplement that, if they have them to spare. I'll have a word with the Admiral to see if he can expedite getting our squadrons to full strength," she said, looking between the both of them.
Roman was pleased with the outcome but there was just one thing amongst many things that bothered him in recent times and this was a big one as he was always looking at the big picture. He wasn't sure how he was going to approach it, however he felt it needed to be raised, "Ma'am this maybe outside my paygrade or intelligence clearance level but, how was it that the Admiral was able to arrive and save our asses in the nick of time? Don't get me wrong, I for one appreciate it a lot, but I don't hold a lot of faith in luck".
"Obsidian Command just came out of the void, where it's been for eighteen months," Zayne chimed in before DeHavilland could. "The whole of 9th Fleet, and any other Starfleet asset in this area has their eyes on us. If we so much as twitch out of orbit a micrometer, we're going to have half the Fleet coming down on us, ready to fight."
"It helps that I was on an active holo-call with the Admiral when power went offline," Corvus added with a patient smile. She certainly understood how it looked, but there was nothing else to it as far as she could see. But she'd been First Officer long enough to know that everyone, including exhausted XO's, loved a good conspiracy.
"Oh," was Roman reply with a sense of relief showing on his face and coming through in his tone. He had, had his share of high level intrigues in the past but it made sense at hearing DeHavilland and Zayne explaining the circumstance. If it highlighted anything it was that outside of command, no one else knew anything about the big picture and did reinforce to him that they really were in the center of it all. "Ma'am, Commander, thanks for the update. I have a group to prepare for," smirking in pleasure at the thought.
DeHavilland nodded and gave him a friendly smile, "We'll do what we can to get your squadrons at full strength as soon as possible."
"Mr. Kavalar," Zayne added as the man had begun to turn away. He wasn't really capable of the same kind of disarming smile that DeHavilland was, but he'd been watching her interactions with the crew and was trying to at least try to appear approachable. "If you need anything. Don't hesitate to come and ask," he said, managing a slight upturn to his lips that somewhat resembled a smile.
