A lot of birds with one stone -

Posted on 19 Jun 2015 @ 1:04am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Master Chief Petty Officer Lance Nelson & Commander Travis Stone & Ensign Micah Flanigan

1,378 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: M13-B: The Big Goodbye
Location: USS Achilles - Auditorium
Timeline: En route to DS9

[Auditorium]

Da`nal, the ship's XO, and MCPO Nelson all stood 'off stage' while the mass of junior officers and junior enlisted continued to file in and took their seats. The senior officers and enlisted he met with one on one, but the junior troops got taken care of all at once. Da`nal had used the method of mass address for the initial reporting in when there where large numbers that needed to be taken care of, on a ship this size it was almost mandatory. If he had meet with every crew member before they left Earth it would have taken longer than he care to imagine.

There was a dull roar of hundreds of conversations filled the room as they waited to meet and hear from the ships commanding officer and he glanced to his companions; "Let get this over with."

"Yes, before the masses decide to leave. I don't think we could pull them all back. Master Chief, if you would call them to?" Travis asked as he straightened out his uniform a final time.

The conversation came to and abrupt end an everyone came to their feet has Lance barked out the order. "GROUP ATTENTION!! COMMODORE ON DECK!"

The nearly instant cessation of the conversations as the mass stood internally pleased Travis, discipline seemed to be running high. The trick would be in keeping it going.

Da`nal made his way to the center and as he came to a halt Commander Stone and MCPO Nelson took flanking positions behind him. "Take your seats. As I am sure you already know I am Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal your commanding officer. As you may have noticed I am a Klingon."

A couple of chuckles caused Travis to shake his head, but he couldn't fault them for it since Da'nal had invited the reaction. "Thought you were a quarter human?" He asked directly while the noise was higher, by now Da'nal was probably used to his being exact.

He paused long enough to see if it got a reaction and let the chuckle roll across the room for a moment before continuing. "On this ship we have Humans, Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians, Betazoids, Tellarites, almost every known race in the Federation and some that are not, even a Horta now calls this ship home. Regardless of where you or anyone else comes from we all have one thing in common. We ALL volunteered to be here.

Waving his had to the man on his right. "This is Commander Travis Stone, your Executive Officer."

Travis stood, and caught the attention of the group assembled. "Victims of the mass assembly, be glad I didn't have time to construct a presentation to bore you with. The Commodore will be filling you all in on the mission goals and such, my few moments are to emphasize again that on a ship this size, following your chain of command will be paramount. You have good Department Heads. As always, if there is something you can't bring to them, my door is open. Let me warn you ahead of time though, unless specifically solicited" he shot a knowing look to Da'nal for his habits "Please do not brings things to the Commodore without giving me a heads up, or I promise you will see the Marine in me come back out alarmingly fast," He stepped back to let Nelson be introduced now.

Mirroring his previous gesture he motion to Lance. "This is Master Chief Petty Office Lance Nelson, He is the senior enlist man on this mission and has been with me since my first command. He answers to me and to me alone."

Lance took his cue from Da`nal, as he stepped forward. "Like the XO said, follow the chain of command. While I may be more accessible at times there is a right and a wrong things to do things...so keep the gorilla will all pips on his collar of my back and I'll stay off yours."

With everyone introduced Da`nal continued. "A mission of this type has never been attempted; on purpose at least. What we will find during our journey...there is no way to know what we might encounter, what phenomena we will discover, what wonders we will see, what friends we will make,or what foe we might face. Some of you will never see this part of the galaxy again; either due to falling in the of duty or do to the slow progress of time. For those of us that are of species with longer life spans we will have an epic story to tell upon our return. That said it has been requested that you all log your experiences for posterity; both the good and the bad. But make no mistake we will not be completely cutoff from home. During our journey we will be constructing and deploying a network of communication relay buoys that will keep us in touch with Starfleet Command as well as friends and family. Should that network fail for whatever reason know that the Pathfinder Project has been reactivated and will be on standby to restore whatever communications they can.

"Whether or not he are able to reach those back home, no matter what we find out there know that I will never out of reach. As you may or may not know I am the head of my House but for the next 70 years I will have two Houses....one back here in the Klingon Empire and another consisting of the Achilles, the Freedom, and the Berlin. These three ships are our homes, the men, women, and children aboard are our family. As family my door is always open; as your commanding officer, before an issue hits my desk it had better have gone through you chain of command. So if something can be handled 'in house' that is, within you department, handle it there.

As with any House or family there are traditions. One tradition that is universal is a good meal. Not only is it an event to bond and come together that can be found in society but in Starfleet as well. I have long held the belief that you lead you must those you lead. To that end, as I have done ever since I first took command of a starship, I will be initiating a Captain's mess. Each of you will be invited to join me one on one...or it you have family aboard they will be invited as well. Now it will take some time to get to everyone but I will meet with each and every one of you."

Micah observed and listened to the words spoken by his new Commanding officers. He had learned from an early age that any information was better than no information and the more info you got, the better. He intently listened on, but became a little nervous with the thought of meeting with anyone was daunting. He just hoped he didn't have to go right away.

Lance stepped forward and handed Da`nal a PADD. "The first of you that I will have the honor to meet is....Ensign Micah Flanigan." Looking out into the assembly, "Which of you are Mr. Flanigan?"

"Bloody hell," Micah muttered silently under his breath. No one heard him, thankfully, since that statement would of course be deemed inappropriate. He took a step forward, trying not to look obnoxiously nervous.

"After the commodore is done with you all, I'll take my bite. Schedules and appointments will follow." Travis called out.

Da`nal nodded, he could see that his first victim was nervous, though he did his best to hide it. "Excellent. I will see you later this evening, officers lounge at 1900 hours." Looking out at the rest of the auditorium; "Dismissed."

Micah nodded at the Commodore. The man held an impressive figure, easily able to draw the attention of the crowd, and not just because of his rank. Micah responded, "Yes sir!" He left with the others wondering what he had done in his life to merit this much "luck."

---

Commodore Da`nal
CO

Commander Travis Stone
XO

Ensign Micah Flanigan
Ops Officer

MCPO Lance Nelson
Yeoman - NPC

 

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