Marshalling Security Resources
Posted on 11 Oct 2022 @ 2:44pm by Senior Deputy Marshal: Sven-Erik Lofthammer - FMS & Deputy Marshal: T'Sai - FMS & The Baker Street Irregulars
Edited on on 06 Feb 2024 @ 10:23pm
Mission:
M3 - Into the Deep
Location: FMS Offices
Timeline: M3 D06 - 1100hrs
2400 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure
Once Sikan had things in the security offices mostly squared away, he found himself free to follow up on the other security forces operating on the base. Namely, the Federation Marshal Services. They were a relatively recent addition to the Starbase, and a civilian police force on a Starfleet installation. It wasn’t unheard of, Federation Marshals often used Starbases as places to headquarter. Part of their duties included tracking fugitives within Federation space, and as such could often be found in the most interesting places, to allow for flexibility and speed when tracking their prey. What was less common, however, was for Starfleet security and the FMS to share duties upon the base itself. Sikan wondered if there was a reason for that.
Sikan knew that the current Chief Deputy, Steiner, was currently off the base, but his deputies were still manning the offices. While he would have preferred meeting with the Chief himself, there was value in meeting the people already here. As his own former Chief would have likely said, “We’re all one big, happy family.” Besides, it would be best to learn what quality of people he’d be working with.
The doors slid open and Sikan entered, his hands clasped behind his back as he inspected the offices and looked at the person behind the reception desk. “Greetings. I’m Lieutenant Commander Sikan, the new Chief of Security.”
"Hello, I'm Pardec!" A young Romulan boy was sat behind the desk, dressed in civilian clothes, aged somewhere about twelve or thirteen.
"Do you need somebody arrested?" He asked hopefully
The Vulcan assessed the young Romulan boy, and realized that he was the only person present behind the desk. This was not the most auspicious of starts. “Not at this time,” Sikan replied. “I have come to introduce myself to the Marshals on the station. I was not aware they had such…flexible age requirements for the service.”
The lad looked a little confused for a moment then replied. "Oh, I'm just a... " he looked upwards for a moment recalling the phrase he wanted, then announced it carefully "...Temporary Junior Assistant Trainee Recruit To Be!"
Proud he had remembered it and a little emboldened, he then asked "I thought Vulcans in Starfleet were all scientists? My Grandpa used to say that Vulcans could be like Romulans, but they preferred studying things to having fun!"
“A valuable lesson to learn, young man, is that no one race is all anything,” Sikan replied. “The universe is full of surprises and exceptions to every rule. For instance, are there any Romulans currently serving with the Marshal Service besides yourself?”
"At least five!" the boy replied confidently. "Well, maybe just four... " he gave Sikan a serious look "Rhaeina's only eight, she's too young"
A door to the side of the counter slid open, a small face peered around it. The face belonged to another Romulan, a young girl of maybe eight years old, she looked wide eye from the Vulcan to Pardec and back again, then she ducked out of sight and the door slid shut.
A few moments later the door slid open again, a tall, broad shouldered, burly Human male, mid-forties, wearing a Marshal's uniform. entered. His eyes took in the scene quickly.
"Thank you Pardec, I've got this." he gave the lad a look, nodded towards the door he had come through, then focused back on the visitor "Good morning, I'm Senior Deputy Marshal Lofthammer. How can I help you, Commander?"
"His name is Sikan, he's the new Security Chief!" Pardec announced as he moved to the door "He doesn't like science either!"
"Thank you, again, Pardec" Lofthammer said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and guided him through the door.
“I appreciate that you have a receptionist with such high energy, Deputy,” Sikan said as the boy departed. “Though he is somewhat shorter than I would have anticipated.” He looked at the much larger Lofthammer, his hands clasped behind his back. “As the new Chief of Security, I wished to officially introduce myself to your office. We will be working together, after all.”
"Ahh, yes" Lofthammer nodded, giving the Vulcan a cautious look, not sure if he was serious. "Good to meet you Commander, he's not actually the receptionist.
Pardec is part of a group of five young Romulan orphans. They were abandoned here, and we caught them scrouging for food on the Promenade a couple of days ago.
Chief Steiner got them settled with some other refugees on the environment level and we found them part time jobs helping out some of the food cart vendors. They stop by each day before they go to work.
Which, er.. is actually about now. Do please come through sir" Lofthammer tapped the door control on the desk and the entrance to the inner office slid open for Sikan, waited for him to enter then we back himself.
Sikan followed the deputy back, and wasn’t prepared for the scene of controlled chaos into which he was walking. He stopped short as a child ran past, clearly getting ready for the day.
Inside the main area were five Romulan children, three boys, two girls and a female Vulcan Deputy, she was on one knee helping the youngest girl with her jacket. She finished and stood up as Sikan entered
"All right guys, time to go" Lofthammer came over and held the door open for them. "Behave yourselves, stop back when you're done and tell Urak not to send us any more free sample Redbat rolls! I'm all done with Andorian flying squirrel sandwiches ok"
He ushered the group out, each of whom gave Sikan a long look as they pasted. Pardec nudged one of the others and in a whisper said Hes the new Security Chief!"
The littlest girl stopped by Lofthammer and gave his leg a big hug. he reached down and patted her on the head. "I'll see you later Rhaeina hon"
Once the children had departed, Lofthammer introduced the Vulcan.
"Commander Sikan, this is Deputy Marshal T'Sai"
"Greetings Commander, you are the new head of Station Security, welcome to Obsidian Command" T'Sai said.
Sikan nodded an acknowledgment of T’Sai’s greeting. “Deputy T’Sai.” He had read up on both Lofthammer and T’Sai before coming down. “Have you been caring for the refugee children for very long?” He asked them both, glancing at a half-eaten pastry one of the children had left behind on a desk before leaving.
"This is the third day" T'Sai replied
"Seems longer" Lofthammer commented, noticing some of the clutter and moving to tidy it up
"They are perhaps not as... organized as we are used to Commander" T'Sai continued, "But then they do not have the benefit of Vulcan parents"
Sikan gave the slightest of nods to T’Sai. “Many do not have that benefit. They will overcome that in time, I would expect.” Sikan picked up the half-eaten pastry and tossed it in the trash.
"Or any parents at all" Lofthammer added, dumping some trash in the disposal. "Right now, the group that has taken them in, is awaiting permission to resettle on the planet, but the Council of Chieftains can be somewhat fickle about numbers and they may not be given permission to go down with that group...
Alright, that's better" He finished tidying up. "Would you like to come back to the Briefing room , we can talk there Commander?"
“Certainly, Deputy,” Sikan replied. He followed Lofthammer back towards the briefing room, his hands clasped behind his back. “How many refugees in total do we currently have awaiting permission to settle down on the planet?”
Lofthammer showed Sikan to a chair, he and T'Sai took seats. "As I recall Hathor's group, the one caring for the children, is around two hundred and fifty, all Romulans. There are a further several hundred others, various groups and species, currently camping out on the environmental level. It's a big space, and they have put some amenities up there, replicators, emergency housing and so on. But it's recreation and sporting area, it's not set up for housing large groups of people"
"There are also the security considerations" T'Sai added. "With the additional alert, the division is short of sufficient personnel to adequately patrol the area. "
“I have noticed the strained duty rotation,” Sikan replied. “Officers have been pulling longer and more frequent shifts than usual.” He took his seat and looked at the two deputies. “Several of them have noted your assistance in attempting to cover the gaps. "
"We have come to serve" T'Sai offered the traditional saying
"You’ve both been here longer than I have, and I am attempting to hit the ground running, so to speak. Is there anything special I need to get caught up on?”
"This is just our first week Commander" Lofthammer replied. "So, we're still settling in ourselves."
He waved his hand around the room "We are the first assigned Marshal's to occupy this field office, it was not opened prior to the station being dragged into the void. As such most spare time we have has been focused on setting this up.
We will be fully operational in a day or two, at which point we will be open to receiving assignments from the Area Director's Office. Those could be warrants; fugitive apprehensions; Federation investigations; prisoner transports and so forth.
As for getting up to speed, besides the refugee issue on the Environmental level; Chief Steiner was working with your predecessor on a patrol roster for the Promenade and Civilian housing levels.
That rather fell by the wayside with the alert and his assignment to the Pathfinder, so that still needs to be established."
“The previous chief left some notes regarding that conversation,” Sikan replied. “I will be reviewing our options in the matter.”
"As far as jurisdictional matters go, under the terms of the agreement between the Marshal's Service and Starfleet, we have been assigned to your Security Department and placed within your Chain of Command.
I do not anticipate any legal issues. We are here to ensure everyone is accorded their due rights and liberties as Federation citizens, that said all persons on this station, Starfleet or civilian, are subject to Starfleet jurisdiction. In the event of offences being committed civilians, we may lay further civil charges if relevant."
“I have never officially worked with the Federation Marshals, myself, though I have met several in my time. We provided transport for two marshals and a prisoner on my last posting. They were…interesting, but professional. I foresee no difficulties between our two offices.”
"The Promenade occupancy has been steadily increasing, now that it is open for business. It would be useful to assist the merchants with establishing a business owners management committee or association, get some involvement in helping us to ensure their safety and security and help us to build relationships with the people we are here to protect."
”I concur. It has been well-documented that a security and police force is more effective when they have the support and respect of the community they serve. My officers will provide all necessary assistance in that, as well.”
"I believe they are also looking for a Civilian Administrator" T'Sai added " As the population increases there will be a need for a level of civilian governance. It would be appropriate for us to work closely with that person, once they arrive"
Sikan was interested in seeing what sort of governance would build up on the base. Already Obsidian Command was providing a number of interesting facets to this job than were usually found on a ship. There was no consideration given to community-building or civilian associations. Almost everybody was a Starfleet officer. Readiness was paramount, the chain-of-command and authority well-understood. Things would be much different, here. “Yes, you are correct,” Sikan agreed. “It will be of the greatest importance to ensure all of us are on good working terms.”
"Beyond those few matters" Lofthammer concluded "How can we assist you, Commander?"
“Simply that if you require any assistance from my department in carrying out your duties, do not hesitate to ask. Consider my officers at your disposal. And you would all be most welcome in our offices. I am aware of the tendency for jurisdictional pride to sometimes cause friction between two groups doing similar work. I wish to avoid that. Just as we must build a relationship with the civilian community, we should build one between ourselves, as well.”
"Thank you, Commander," Lofthammer nodded "We usually come up there for the Alpha Shift briefings, and we've been issued access to the terminals and security systems"
“Excellent,” Sikan replied. “Then I shall let you attend to your duties. I will see you at the next briefing.” He stood to go, content that he had the measure of the marshals on-base. It remained to be seen what sort their Senior Deputy was, but he looked forward to finding that out, as well.
T'Sai showed Sikan the way out, as she did so she asked. "By your accent, I believe you to be from the Shikahr District, Commander. Did you attend the Academy there? "
Sikan glanced at T’Sai as they walked, his own hands clasped behind his back. “An astute observation, Deputy. Indeed I am. I focused my attention on the Institute for the Defensive Arts over the Science Academy. It was a decision viewed with some…skepticism in my family. And you?”
"I am from Raal. My father is a Federation Judge, my mother is a legal scholar; when I was younger it was not deemed appropriate for a future lawyer to study the defensive arts. Although once it was accepted that I had chosen a career in law enforcement, it was seen as logical for me to train in Suus Mahna and Sha'mura. Perhaps you may wish to spar at some point?"
Sikan’s eyebrow quirked in a very slight acknowledgment of the offer. “It would be my honor. It has been some time since I have had the opportunity to test myself in the disciplines of our homeworld against another Vulcan. I quite look forward to the opportunity.” He gave T’Sai a nod. “Deputy.”
