Better late than never - Part 3
Posted on 13 May 2020 @ 12:55am by Captain Ricardo (Rico) Montoya & Klingon Lt Commander Kreval of the House of Torath
1,143 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
M-17: Blood Moon Rising
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 4 1000
[Previously]
"I very much believe that is true, Captain. I have my fair share of things that I hold close to my chest out of old habits, but it is a slowly changing world." He looked over the captain again. "as for the history I have lived, it has had its moments of excitement, its rewards, but also has had its fair share of tribulation and heartache."
[...and now the conclusion]
"That seems to be a constant regardless of time period. Just as the hard part of life is to find a balance between those elements; but enough philosophy, tell me about yourself. Personnel files never tell the whole story."
Dante smiled "That is a lot of information, but I suppose I will start simple. I was born in Italy, Venice to be exact, to Starfleet Researchers. Lived an... interesting childhood and enlisted when I was 18. From that point you may have to be more specific, Sir."
Getting up Rico moved towards the replicator. "Likes, dislikes, pet peeves, hobbies, interests, plans for the future...that kind of thing. For example. Every now and then I enjoy an old whiskey and a good cigar. Can I get you anything?"
"I enjoy the arts Captain, and I intend to at some point have my own Captaincy. As far as whether you can get something..." he pondered for a moment and then chuckled "...if the replicator has the pattern there is an Imbruglio Chardonnay that I am rather fond of"
Adding the wine to his Jamaican coffee the replicator hummed and the beverages materialized. Hand the XO his selection, "I would have thought with your experience you would have been well past the Captain's chair by now, but no matter.
"You mentioned the arts. Anything in particular; painting, music...sculpture?"
With a smile as he looked through memories he replied. "Over my years I have developed an appreciation for all of them, though I am particularly fond of Music and the Theatre"
Nodding his head slowly, "An eclectic appreciation...good and well round. Well down to business.
"I take a more traditional naval approach to security when a ship has Marines aboard. Not only is it something I picked up from previous commanding officers but there are other considerations, some specific to the Phoenix. First and foremost, in our situation, we had to reduce the security department to make room for the Marines it's necessary they pick up some of the load. That and I've seen the efficiency, cohesion, and moral of Marine unit fade when all they do is train, train, and train. Too much training dulls the blade.
"So the Marines, working with ship security, cover routine operations like patrol, guard duty, escorts, etc.. In an emergency situation they revert to their regular duties and take up their assigned positions in order to repel boarders or in the event of multi-vector assault mode.
"Everything else is pretty standard except for one thing."
Dante raised a brow as he took advantage of the pause to respond. "I will work alongside the Commander of the Marines and the Chief of Security and see if we can optimize duty shifts. With your permission I would also like to run a round of Boarding drills as soon as possible so that I can get a gauge on how the two departments are integrating and see where improvements need to be made."
He paused briefly to think. "As for the nonstandard thing? You have my interest, Captain."
"Actually we just had a battle drill. With the Phoenix having holo emitters on every deck, what the crew thought was a live situation was actually a simulation. Get with Commander Kreval to go over the crew evaluations.
"An area of special concern were both the actions and lack of actions by Lieutenant Barnes. After the apparent death of the two senior officers on the bridge he took command. No problem there. However he failed to call for any assistance from Deeps Space 5, nor did he attempt to retreat; which is always an option. The other thing is that when we were boarded by the opposing force, he took phaser in hand and was about to leave the bridge. I guess he thought he was going to take care of them all by himself. Granted he's just a lieutenant thrust into command during the situation but a commanding officers place is on the bridge. Probably just the heat of the moment but something to remind him of.
"As to that 'nonstandard thing' one of the Lieutenants in Operations is my wife. So...to eliminate any appearance of impropriety, since she refused to resign her commission, you will have final say in her personnel matters. If something need to go further up the chain there is Captain Soran at Deep Space 5, our home port."
"Sir, I like to run a tight ship in an effort to take the stress off the Captain. When you are sitting in that chair out there you have to make life and death choices on the fly; choices that affect not only the lives of those on board this ship but that can potentially affect the lives of entire civilizations beyond our bulkheads.
I have always believed it is the job of the XO to ensure that the burdens of command are clear of the Captains mind when those choices need to be made and to ensure that when I offer council on them that I can reasonably predict how those choices are going to affect the crew."
Dante paused to sip his wine.
"As far as your wife, she is another officer in operations and I will expect her to meet the same standards as the rest of the crew. I doubt very seriously I will have any issues however judging by what you've just told me."
"Excellent. Well I will let you get settled in. Tomorrow morning, after the start of the day watch we will need a meeting of the senior staff to go over our current assignment."
Dante grinned wickedly at him and finished his wine before he responded. "Leave that to me Captain... I need to get them together to get to know them anyway. I'll call an early breakfast meeting that you are of course welcome to crash, I'll ensure there is enough food for you."
Nodding approvingly, "Good idea. I don't know if I will 'crash' but we'll see. At anyrate..." Rising he extended his hand, "...welcome aboard."
He took the offered hand and shook it, his firm grip and then with practiced military precision he turned on a hell and strode out, calling back over his shoulder. "I look forward to working alongside a Spaniard, Captain."
Captain Ricardo Montoya
CO
Lieutenant Commander Kreval
Chief Strategic Ops
Commander Dante Ambrogio
XO
Lieutenant Roge
CMO
Corporal Colton Renth
Marine
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