A Captain & An XO.

Posted on Sat Dec 20th, 2025 @ 4:22pm by Commander Anastasia Aventnova & Commodore Lucian Marshall

3,030 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The Hand That Rocks The Babe
Location: Bridge, U.S.S. Dreadnought
Timeline: Pre-Departure. Earth Orbit.

Anastasia rematerialized in the transporter room closest to the bridge with a sigh. She'd spent much of the rest of her day on Earth after the court martial verdict, taking in one of the oldest cities on the planet: Rome. There was too much to see in just a day, but the parts of the city that dated back to the period known as BC were few and easily gotten to. The inspiration of her own homeworld to cast themselves to the stars in search of a place to call their own to emulate it was crystal clear to her. Simple rock and mortar, crafted exquisitely into buildings larger than anyone had thought possible at the time.

Roman history had been meticulously catalogued in the single museum she had visited, much of it had been incorporated back home on Roma Nueva, the duty to the Republic, the meaning of the word 'Citizen' and how it wasn't just handed to someone, it had to be earned. The differences between that and the Federation as a whole were stark, but not contradictory. The visit stirred her again for what decisions she needed to make, for herself, for the Federation, for Rome itself. Her feet found their way through the familiar passages and found their own way to the bridge as she steeled herself for the decision she had to announce and the questions she'd likely had to answer.

Eyes flitted to her as the door to the bridge slid open, most of them going back to their displays and consoles after a moment, but some lingering on her and her collar before doing the same. There were no calls for her attention nor any notification that higher authority had arrived, which told her all she needed to know about who else was there. With smooth steps, she took the requisite paces up to the spot next to the center chair, eyes never leaving the crescent curve of Earth sitting on the viewscreen. "Commodore Marshall," Her eyes tore themselves away from the view finally, "I'm Commander Aventnova, your Executive Officer."

Commodore Marshall didn’t turn immediately when the doors parted; he finished the sentence he was reading on the tactical overlay before lifting his gaze. The faint reflection of Earth on the viewscreen washed across his features, softening the greying edges of his temples and the hard-won lines around his eyes. When Anastasia stepped into his peripheral vision, he rose from the center seat in one smooth, unhurried motion.

“Commander Aventnova,” he acknowledged, his voice warm but carrying the practiced control of an officer who’d conducted the meet and greet routine more times than he'd like to count. His eyes took her in, posture, collar, the carefully contained tension in her shoulders—the sort of evaluation one only noticed if they were used to giving similar assessments themselves.

He offered his hand. “Welcome aboard the Dreadnought. I’ve been expecting you.”

His gaze flicked to Earth once more, as though he could feel the weight it left on those who’d spent their last hours planetside. When he looked back to her, there was a subtle shift, something between curiosity and understanding.

“I understand you’ve had a… significant time recently,” he continued, voice dropping enough that it wasn’t meant for the rest of the bridge. “But I appreciate your punctuality, and your willingness to step directly into the role.”

He motioned lightly to the seat beside him. “I’d like your eyes on our readiness reports, but first—” he paused just long enough for the words to carry meaning, “tell me if you are fit to stand that post right now. Not by the regulations’ definition, but by yours, Commander.”

Marshall held her gaze steadily, not as a challenge, but as an invitation to answer honestly, the first test of trust between commanding officer and first officer.

There was the way out and for half a heartbeat Anastasia nearly reached out to take it as she had instantly taken the hand offered at his own greeting. However, Anastasia Aventnova had never been one to quit on her own and her resolve firmed even further, “I’m ready and able to serve the Federation, sir.” She stated solidly, the hesitation before fluidly taking the offered seat, the formula for her answer substituting ‘the Federation’ for ‘Rome’. “That is, if you are willing to accept me as your Exec, Commodore. While I have no doubt you have reviewed my file, I am obliged to point out that I was under investigation for a formal courts martial which ended today.” Her own voice wouldn’t carry more than a handful of feet, but her eyes never left his.

She wanted to pause to make him ask for the verdict, or to tell her that he already knew, BUT she needed him to know that she wouldn’t hide anything from him. If he were a ‘normal’ Captain, he wouldn’t ask, wouldn’t feel he had a ‘need’ to know, but nothing about Dreadnought could be considered normal. “Where I was convicted of one of the charges, sir, although the court sealed that aspect of the trial pending… Better decision making on my part.” She’d continued fluidly, though the final words were reflective.

"I'm aware, I was made aware when I was handed this assignment. The loss of Admiral S'iraa is no small matter, aside from being an Admiral the Caitian Homeworld is less than happy over the situation. I should warn you that we have another Caitian on board, a marine Colonel. You may want to tread lightly around him." Lucian answered. "You answered that you were ready to serve the Federation, interesting choice of words considering the question."

"I can understand a certain unease given what's happened and some people might seek assignment elsewhere to start a new chapter, others would choose to face the demons of the past, it's not my place to judge, only you can do that. What I am interested in, is your commitment to this ship and those that serve on her. If you can do that, I have no problem with your resuming your post."

‘I came back, didn’t I?’ Was the quip that went through Ana’s mind, but not out of her mouth. “If Colonel S’er’in’e chooses to blame me for the Admiral’s death, he can do so, even if it’s in error.” She stated carefully, “I am not one to run away from history, sir, mine or others, nor am I one to avoid responsibility.”

She paused for a moment, trying to form the two things she decided she needed to say in words that wouldn’t sound as awkward, but those weren’t coming properly, “I said what I did because sometimes, Commodore, someone can serve the Federation better by being moved to another assignment. While it’s clear my own career wouldn’t be well off if transferred, the optics of my remaining aboard could be suspect given that I’d still be here while under the third Commanding Officer of my tenure.” She didn’t visually grimace, but her tone of voice said it all, “You would be well within reason to ask for an Exec of your choosing, Commodore. I am Roman, I’ll obey whichever option you choose in service to the Federation. That’s part of our nature, our upbringing, why the word ‘Citizen’ means so much to those of us who come from Roma Nueva. However, if it helps, sir, I don’t wish to leave Dreadnought.”

"Good, I was hoping you would say that." Lucian responded. "Every officer will at some point face a similar situation as you had, the real test of character is what they choose to do afterwards. You have chosen to stay and I support that. I don't think the Colonel blames you, having met the Colonel just today in fact I believe it stems more at the loss of one similar to himself as I understand those like him are a rare sort."

"I've yet to read much on the senior staff, I wanted to get your impressions of them before I did since you worked with them. I know what I read lacks depth when compared to actual working experience with them."

“I know what I should have done better, sir, and I can promise those mistakes will not happen again.” It was a solemn oath by her, those she didn’t break. Ever. “As for the senior staff, sir, generally speaking we have a good crew aboard Dreadnought. Colonel Frost is a good strategist and tactician, you can always leave him to his own devices on an engagement and he’ll call for help if he needs it. I’d say your Wing Commander, Lieutenant Commander Beaulieu, is a bit reckless at his job, but what can you say about fighter pilots?” Ana gave a half-shrug in that regard.

“Our Chief of Intelligence, Lieutenant Commander Silask is about as solid as you can expect from any Vulcan, he’s also your technical Second Officer.. The Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Aries, seems to be pretty solid at what she does. She’s your most junior Commander, but apparently good in a crunch and has taken a hand at fighter building.” Ana thought about the others, “Medical is in good hands with Lieutenant Thomas, but I haven’t had much interaction with her yet, and Lieutenant Massy is..” She trailed off slightly, “He’s been someone very interesting to talk to, rather good at logistics and supports Engineering quite well.”

"I would like to arrange a meeting once we depart with the senior staff, meet them for myself, get introductions out of the way as well as advise everyone of our mission. People can't work towards a unified objective if they don't know what that objective is." He replied though he knew time and interaction would be a better teacher of a person than word alone.

"How is moral on board?"

"Morale is poor, Commodore, but that's to be expected after the loss of the Admiral. I'm not sure that my trial helped nor hurt it. The good news is that we did have some starbase engineers aboard to help with the repairs, even though we've got a large corps of engineers on board. Some things really do require a shipyard, even with this ship." Ana gave a waggle of one hand, "Hopefully being able to coalesce around a new CO will help, sir. Have you thought about any flag staff to go along with your new rank?"

"Not yet." Lucian didn't want to mention that his appointment was not down to him earning it, but more of political move to keep the ship out of an Admiral's hands since they all bickered over it. "It was suggested I consider some, but with recent events its been hard to actually seriously do so. I may do so at a later time or at least once we have left the system." Then Lucian remembered. "You used to serve on flag staff if memory serves, correct?"

"Yes, sir, I was the Staff Tactical Officer for Admiral Foraker on the Ark Royal and I acted as Admiral S'iraa's unofficial Chief of Staff whenever it was necessary." She exhaled, knowing the stress it put on her time, but it was at least a very familiar stress, "Ark Royal was a carrier conversion of a Sovereign-class, she was also my first experience as an XO prior to my time on the Admiral's staff."

"And how did you feel most useful, as a member of staff or as First Officer?" Lucian asked. "I ask because I didn't know the Admiral well so I'm not sure what he had you do, in the same token as First Officer, this ship is markedly larger than the Ark Royal and I suspect the requirements on time and effort are equally considerable." Lucian liked having his people feel like they were actively contributing, making a change, doing their part so if felt natural to ask her where she felt she was best suited.

"If we're talking just aboard Dreadnought? As First Officer, sir." Ana stated definitively, "The one guarantee I can make about service aboard this ship is that no matter what goes wrong, we're going to be in the wrong place for it, Engineering has that problem very specifically. The Admiral and I had an understanding that one of us would remain on or near the bridge at effectively all times when the other was somewhere else on the ship. Being Staff here really just meant handling as much of the paperwork as I could while coordinating the maneuvers of the fighters and the Defiants."

She glanced up at the ceiling, "On Ark Royal, I was more useful as a Staff officer, because I was coordinating the maneuvers of an entire Task Force. The biggest difference is that we're just one ship with some supports versus a real group of fleet units. Honestly, sir, you could easily get away with a trio or so of yeoman or even some junior officers to handle the bulk of the scut work of your flag, I can handle the coordination of us with the escorts as needed, leaving you to handle the ship herself."

That was a lot for Lucian to digest, but filled with valid points. He would have to see how things would go on this new assignment before deciding if he needed a staff for himself. "I noticed this ship has Escort class ships of its own, have you commanded one before with the Admiral?"

"No, sir, I haven't, although I feel like I could do it with relative ease." Ana responded immediately, "Lieutenants Jankowski and Tolas are the putative CO's of the two, but they're rather inexperienced and aren't ready for any truly independent command. We can use the ships for any detached duties as needed and they do add a fair bit of maneuver capable firepower. As I'm sure you know, sir, while she can take on anything else in the Fleet, ours or anyone else's, and probably a full task force as well, Dreadnought isn't the most maneuverable ship Starfleet has."

"I'd like to replace one of them with yourself as one of the CO's should we need to deploy the escorts. You'd still function as my First Officer while on board, but should I need to launch one or both, I'd like you commanding one, command experience is valuable in the field especially in a fluid situation requiring action and as you said, the Dreadnought is not exactly the most maneuverable ship." Lucian replied.

"Of course, sir, I can absolutely do that." Ana couldn't help but let her surprise show, then had to mention it, "Are you sure, sir, given the findings of the trial?"

"Unless you doubt your ability to function in the capacity in which I've assigned to you?" Lucian asked. "Nobody likes a trial and I am sure that, will not be your last. Be is as a party in or a witness, or matter expert it will happen. This crew suffered a loss, a personal one, if I were to start replacing officers the message that would be sending and impact it would have would be disastrous." Lucian added. "You served with this crew, you know them, I am the outsider here and if I'm to command I need to help solidify the crew again."

"And I'll do everything I possibly can do to assist, sir." Anastasia stated, "And I'm fully confident in my ability to handle one of the escorts. As for the second one, I'm not sure who you should have command it aside from the current officer, despite their inexperience. Lieutenant Massy may be the best choice, or Commander Aries, even though she doesn't have any actual command experience aside from her time in charge of Dreadnought's engineering corps. I'd say Commander Silask, but if I'm handling an escort, you do want some experience with you acting as Exec while I'm off gallivanting around."

"I'll pick from available officers for the second escort should the need or situation arise to require it, especially given the skill sets the officers have, a combination of sets might be more beneficial towards the goal at hand. At some point I would like to run a practice deployment drill, if I'm to command this ship I need to know for myself what she can do which will mean a complete and full deployment of the entire fighter wing as well as our escorts coupled with tactical readiness of the Dreadnought herself." Lucian knew that was a tall ask, but if his command depended on his understanding of the ship and how to handle her, experience was the key and not reading it on a report.

"Once we get away from Earth space, it would be a good idea, I agree." Anastasia agreed with him, "I wonder if we could get some other fleet units to act as aggressors in the future. I've got a couple contingency plans already developed for deployments, depending on who and what we're up against."

"A wargame....interesting." Lucian had not considered that. "Interesting...." He rubbed his chin as he pondered on it. "In the meantime I'd like to get underway as soon as possible, recall anyone delayed, use transporters or shuttles if you have to. A lot of eyes are on us and not all of them are supportive of our situation."

"Of course, sir, I'll find out who all isn't aboard and have them either on board within four hours or a plan on having them arrive mid-stream, even if we detach one of the escorts to follow us out with them." Ana's mind started planning for the latter as a backup plan.

"Very well, I look forward to working with you Commander. Dismissed." He knew that both of them had a score of work that needed to be done before they departed, and he wanted that departure to be smooth and issue free as much as possible.

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