Settling A Few Bits Of Routine

Posted on Wed Jul 23rd, 2025 @ 10:59am by Commander Anastasia Aventnova

1,498 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Let That Be Your Last
Location: USS Dreadnought's Bridge

Anastasia didn't like this, she didn't like this one bit. Without the Admiral on board, she was in command of the space station-sized ship that was the USS Dreadnought and while she had her orders, this was not conducive to a stress-free operation. Technically, her Acting Executive Officer was the Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant Commander Silask, but he was FAR too junior to actually contemplate taking over for her. She had years of experience as an Exec as well as an aide to an Admiral and SHE felt inexperienced as hell for this job.

She began another tour of the bridge as she thought about the current situation and exhaled as she paused by the operations console. Yet another new face from since the attack on Dreadnought and she remembered his name almost automatically, and the name of the one who'd flown out the front viewscreen. "Anything new on the sensors, Max?" She asked him, already knowing the answer.

"Nothing, ma'am, if there's anything, I'll make sure you're the first one to know about it." He gave a quick glanced up to her, seeing her arms crossed in front of her chest and fixed his eyes on the readouts again as soon as he saw the look on her face.

"Good, good." She mused as she stepped away and started to make her way over to the science station as a deviation from the path she seemed to have been making on the deckplates. Something was bothering her and she didn't know what it was. It was just that little niggling feeling in the back of her head that SOMETHING was happening, even if they couldn't see it.

She found an empty station and punched in an inquiry and brought up the data on the planet they were orbiting and their most recent state of war between the three factions. It hadn't been an easy state of affairs, in fact, there had been few civil wars that had been much more brutal, but they were due for at least a break in the action if not an outbreak of peace. Naturally, that latter state was likely just a temporary cessation of hostilities before another round of war broke out, but if Admiral S'irra could get them to negotiate in good faith...

IF. That was the key word.

She'd been ordered to do nothing that could be seen as provocative, to react only if something happened and even then to keep it on the minimal side. She'd kept fighter squadrons on a thirty percent standby, rotating them through rest and sleep cycles every four hours, which would give her forty-eight fighters in space within five minutes and she could launch the rest of the wings within an hour and a half if need be. The pair of Defiant-class escorts could be launched within two minutes if needed, but that would be a major escalation.

After re-reading the data once more, she cleared the screen and paced back towards the command chair which was where she was expected to be, but she couldn't sit there. Entitled to? Yes, but it just didn't feel right. Nothing felt right. Something was wrong and she couldn't place it at all.

She just felt... Naked. "Omnia oculis habe." She whispered to herself, one of the sayings of the Roman Navy. If she covered her rear end properly, maybe she could get away with a recon flight. Ana finally made up her mind and hit the comm key.

"Hanger One, prep one squadron for immediate launch. I want a Combat Air Patrol on station, one flight on close support, wingpairs on the Alpha pattern." She considered the other two sets of four craft, "Set up another flight at Two-K-clicks, Omega pattern." That would cover most of the quadrants at any given time, but not be seen as aggressive.

And it was always easier to ask for forgiveness and permission, "Last flight I want on a recon sweep around the planet. Weapons cold, shields down on the recon sweep. Avoid any and all ships in orbit by a minimum of fifty kilometers, but I want all sensors going and live feeds coming straight back here."

"Yes, Commander. we will be ready to launch on your command." It was one of the junior grade lieutenants on duty in the hanger as it clicked off.

Finally, Ana sat in the command chair, "Comms, open a channel to planetary flight control." She waited until one of the natives came up on the screen, "This is Commander Aventnova of the Dreadnought, I am hereby informing you that I am launching a single squadron of fighters for a standard escort patrol. As I'm sure you're aware, it is standard operating procedure when a Federation carrier is in one place to keep a patrol out to give us extra eyes in our immediate space." She was stretching the 'SOP' to the limit, it was merely a single flight, but she could explain the full squadron given her ship's size.

"Miss Avent-a-nova," The officer mispronounced her name, "We were assured that you were here in peace and we have guaranteed safe passage for your ship and personnel. There is no need for you to have your fighters in space."

"I'm sorry to have to say this... What was your name?"

"Administrator Shi'kali."

"Administrator, I am bound by not only protocol regarding our mission here, but also by Starfleet protocols involving our major starships. As I'm sure you know," She meant 'Now look here you idiot', "There have been several incidents regarding third parties who do not wish for a peaceful resolution to conflicts making trouble with Federation starships attempting to resolve the issues. As such, non-discretionary orders have been passed down to prevent such parties from conducting a zero-notice attack from happening. Our patrols are non-aggressive, weapons will be powered down, just maintaining a security zone around the ship." She let that sit for a moment, "I also intend to launch a flight to make a patrol around the planet, again just for a sensor sweep of the orbitals."

"I cannot allow that!" The Administrator objected, "That would be a violation of our territory!"

"Calmly, Administrator, calmly." Anastasia said in her most soothing voice, "That sensor sweep can go in without weapons or even shields for that matter. Besides, you have our senior officer down there and as a gesture of peaceful cooperation, Dreadnought is already sitting up here without shields up. That makes us extremely vulnerable to a surprise attack from anyone. All we wish to do is see what's going on around us, is that too much to ask?" She reached out forward, palms forward and clearly empty, a gesture of peace.

The Administrator looked around uncomfortably, then not seeing someone to make a decision, shook his head slowly, but grudgingly also nodded, "Very well... You can have your escort patrols, but any sign of intent from your craft will be acted upon."

"Thank you, Administrator, you have the Federation's Word that we will not give you any cause for concern. Dreadnought, clear." She cut the comm without another word and sighed deeply. Now it was time to give OTHERS something to do.

A tap on the comm, "Commander Beaulieu, one squadron out on patrol. One flight each on Close Alpha, Mid-Omega patrols, one flight to sweep the orbitals, I want a pass near the meeting complex where the Admiral is at, make it two if you can get away with it. Launch when ready."

Another tap, "Lieutenant Massy, I need you to evaluate the data that's going to be coming in from our orbital sweep. ANYthing that looks out of the ordinary within the atmosphere, I want to know about it immediately." She kept this one hundred percent professional.

ANOTHER tap, "Lieutenant Swiftpaws, I want you to keep an eye on everything in orbit and that breaches the atmosphere. If it's moving towards us, evaluate it and let me know what it is and how it affects us."

Yet another tap on the comm, "Commander Silask, I want an assessment on each of the factions, come at it as if Intelligence hasn't already made one, go from the raw data if you can make it yourself. Also coordinate with Massy if he comes up with something new."

Another one, "Lieutenant Thomas, can you give me an evaluation of the state of medical needs groundside? I want an 'in' to getting feet on the ground if you can find a report of untreated casualties, or a health crisis somewhere down there from anything we've got or come up with."

One final tap and she hesitated for this one, "Colonel Frost, Major Snyder, I want a contingency plan to extract the Admiral. Assume a hostage situation and a direct attack on him. Let me know when you've got something to go over." She released the comm button for the final time and exhaled.

Now it was time for them to go to work.

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