Resupply and Low Morale

Posted on Sun Mar 24th, 2024 @ 3:46pm by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi & Lieutenant Commander Drauc ie-Jia'anKahr & Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi Dr & Major Achilles Aurelius & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Raazym & Lieutenant JG Eradaar Ezazzan

1,353 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: I-402

First Officer's Log. After losing the Dilithium, the crew seem rather deflated... The mood on the ship is low. We were tasked with something so simple, and we totally screwed it up. I screwed it up. People are always comparing me to my sister. She's a great Starfleet Commander, but I am always the one walking in her shadow.

I was lucky to even get this close to the center chair. I doubt that Commander Cooke will want me around if I mess up much more. I am considering resigning from Starfleet and going to Starbase Frontier. At least I can be useful there, even if my sister commands the base. I can at least do something on the galleria.

Regardless, the Missouri is currently on the edge of an Asteroid Field. We're not really doing much apart from some basic repairs. Commander Cooke hasn't been to the bridge in days, it seems she's just as deflated as the rest of us after our failure.

End Log

Tsukasa sat in her chair staring out at the abyss of space. The Missouri had been sat still for several days, they had no orders and the crew were merely 'keeping busy'. She slumped in her chair, on the verge of falling asleep the silence on the bridge was deafening. You could cut the tension and mood with a blunt butter knife.

Suddenly without warning something unexpected happened. In one moment the viewscreen showed nothing but empty space, and in the next there was a Galaxy Class Starship. The huge starship dropped out of warp and was closing slowly towards the Missouri, it began to grow on the viewscreen, looming over the much smaller vessel.

"What the..." Tsukasa said as she bolted upright and literally jumped out of her chair. She had not expected to see another Starship here, and why such a heavily armed ship?

"Commander Cooke" She said as she tapped her comm badge. "You should get upto the bridge, sharpish..."

"Understood, I'm on my way." Came Patricia's response.

Within minutes, Patricia was on the bridge. The expression of slight concern on the commander's face faded when she saw the Galaxy class on the viewscreen.

"That must be the resupply ship that Admiral Soryuu sent." Patricia said as she made her way to her chair. "Ops, get me a name and hull number for that vessel. I want to know who to thank for this."

It was no secret that when they had set off, the Missouri had only the supplies aboard for her shakedown cruise, which wasn't much. While they had been running replicators, they were barely keeping up with the crew's needs, and a resupply was desperately needed. So, after their kerfuffle in System HW-35, Patricia had contacted the flag officer which would have jurisdiction over the Missouri: Vice Admiral Asuka Langley Soryuu, and requested a resupply.

Tsukasa crossed her arms. "It feels a bit much to be a 'supply ship' doesn't it?" she asked. As she also turned to the Operations console.

"Maybe so, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Patricia said as she sat down.

Ensign Banks who was manning the Operations console looked up from the console. "I have a positive identification of the ship." he reported before looking back down at console. "Galaxy Class Starship, Hull Number N-C-C-7-4-5-3-8. USS... Ermiana..."

"Hmmm..." Patricia muttered. She was familiar with the name, but had no emotional connections to it. "Hail them, Ensign." She ordered.

"They're hailing us Commander..." Banks said simply.

"Open a channel, then." Patricia ordered.

The viewscreen switched to that of the bridge of a Galaxy Class Starship. Although it had been refitted and was now various shades of grey and blue instead of the more known creams and browns. A woman with greying brown hair rose from the center chair.

"Commander Cooke." She stated simply. "I'm Captain Mikoto Misaka of the Starship Ermiana. What the hell are you doing sitting here in a sulk?"

"Captain, with all due respect, we took a hell of a beating back there." Patricia responded. "I-400 has some... Enhanced help, and they kicked our asses. Not like you'd know; because it seems we're the only ship actively working to stop that damned AI..."

Misaka frowned. "You call that a beating?" She asked her voice a little annoyed. "Commander, you have much to learn if you're going to sit in that center chair!" she told her, scolding her like a child. "Come and tell me that once you've had six Jem'Hadar attack ships blasting your hull plates off leaving over half of your ship exposed to space!"

She crossed her arms as she took a step closer to the viewscreen. "We've been sent by Admiral Soryuu. I've been ordered to meet up with you and then contact her on a priority one secure channel, just me, my XO, you and your XO in a secure room." Misaka explained to her. "We've also got a cargo bay of 'stuff' you left behind, plus the remainder of your assigned crew that you also left behind."

The older Captain took a slight pause. "We'll be beaming over in..." she looked up at the ships chronometer above her viewscreen. "Ten minutes. It seems that Admiral Soryuu thinks you need a 'kick up the ass' so to speak. Thats why I'm here." The viewscreen cut off as the channel closed.

"Seems like someone hasn't had their morning coffee today." Patricia grumbled, turning to Tsukasa. "Schedule a senior staff meeting in 90 minutes. Hopefully whatever the hell this is won't take that long..."

"Aye Commander," Tsukasa said with a smile. She tapped her comm badge. "All senior staff, there will be a senior staff briefing in ninety minutes in the conference room. You are all required to attend." She turned to Patricia. "Should we greet her in the transporter room?"

"I've got a feeling that if we don't, she's going to berate us for dereliction of duty." Patricia sighed, standing up.

"After you..." Tsukasa said motioning to the turbolift door.

"Deck 4." Patricia called out as she and Tsukasa boarded the turbolift.

The doors closed and the turbolift began its descent. However, it had only been descending for a few seconds when Patricia suddenly called out "Turbolift halt!"

When the turbolift came to a stop, Patricia turned to Tsukasa. Her expression had turned to one of frustration. She knew she wouldn't have long, but she had some grievances with her first officer that she needed to get off her chest:

"Commander; I think we both know that part of that fiasco was our lack of a united front:" She said. "No doubt I-400 exploited it, and that's how she managed to kick our asses."

Tsukasa nodded. "We're both finding out feet still," she replied.

"I'd say that's an understatement." Patricia responded. "Commander, be honest: Do you want to be here? Or are you just here out of some obligation?"

"Like I've said before. I'm not here to be my sister," Tsukasa replied. "I'm here because I want to be."

"Then start acting like you want to be here, Commander!" Patricia suddenly snapped. "Because all I've seen you doing since we came aboard is meekly carrying out my orders like you're scared of repercussions! This isn't engineering anymore: You're not going to get in trouble for suggesting an alternative to my plans. In fact, I'd praise you for it! Captain Carson taught me something valuable when I was XO of the Sandusky: Any suggestion, no matter how dimwitted, is better than no suggestion. I'd rather you toss out an alternative that could be dismissed rather than having you sitting there and saying nothing!"

Patricia facepalmed and sighed.

"And don't even get me started on the away team I was expecting you to beam down on by my side that I got stuck leading fully and we got our asses handed to us because of it!"

Tsukasa lowered her head. "I will try harder commander." Was all she could really say. "Maybe I should take some lessons from my sister..."

To be continued...

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