Assuming Command

Posted on Sun Jul 2nd, 2023 @ 3:11pm by Captain Mitsu Sato & Commander Eva Grey

1,091 words; about a 5 minute read

Mitsu stood at the view port overlooking docking slip four and took in the sight of her new command. The Eclipse floated beyond, moored in place to the station and yet still looking sleek among the construction work that went on around her. Another two star ships, a pair of Norway class ships, were being constructed beside the Eclipse but Mitsu's eyes never wavered from the ship she had been given command of. Even without a closer inspection, she could already tell a number of differences between the Eclipse and the Sierra, her previous command.

Eva had been informed that the new captain had arrived at the docking platform, and rather than wait she had decided to take initiative and meet the captain. The short Japanese woman was easy to find, and Eva was glad she had taken the time to glance at the woman's service record beforehand. A case of mistaken identity wasn't a very big deal, but Eva was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to minor details. "Captain Sato?" Eva asked as she stopped beside the shorter woman.

Mitsu pulled her gaze off of the Eclipse and turned towards the voice. She smiled towards the tall commander standing there. "That would be me, I'm afraid," she replied.

"Commander Eva Grey, I'm your first officer and chief of science," Eva said with a smile as she held out her hand.

"Captain Mitsu Sato, but I usually don't like to stand too much on formality," Mitsu said as she accepted the commander's hand and shook it. "Have you been aboard long?"

"A few hours. Just long enough to settle in and get familiar with the ship a little," Eva answered as she turned and invited the captain to walk with her. "I believe Commander Kia has been on board since her maiden voyage, along with the some of the others in the operations department."

Mitsu fell into step beside her new first officer and nodded. "So we have some people in operations and science already aboard, I assume?" she asked, trying to get a feel for how many crew were already assigned.

"Right now, it's mostly operations, and if I understand correctly engineering on the Eclipse is an extension of operations," Eva said in reply. "We have a skeleton crew in science and flight operations, although I received a report that our medical staff has been assigned and are on their way. We're still waiting for Starfleet to assign personnel for security and tactical."

Mitsu nodded silently. It was entirely possible that the Eclipse would launch with a skeleton crew and the officers assigned to the empty positions routed to a location where the ship would be scheduled to stop at, but she hoped not. It was a common enough practice that Starfleet employed when trying to meet deployment schedules, due to the vast size of the Federation and the fact that Starfleet was simply undersized. That solemn thought alone spoke volumes of just how serious the role that the Eclipse was playing into Starfleet's current problems. She shook the thought off as they arrived at the docking port for the Eclipse.

"Starfleet Command has given us a week for the crew to arrive and report aboard, after that we've been ordered to report to the Romulan Neutral Zone to assist with a joint science mission between the Federation and the Romulan Empire," Mitsu said.

Eva raised her eyebrows in curiosity and managed to not blink in surprise. She had never heard of a joint mission between the Federation and the Romulans taking place since the Dominion War. True enough that the Federation had been sending aid to the Romulans since the Reman Uprising, but that couldn't count as a true joint mission.

"What kind of a joint mission will we be assisting the Romulans with, if I may ask?" Eva asked.

Mitsu hid a smile at her first officer's reaction. It mirrored her own when she had first read the mission outline. "The Eclipse and the science ship Cortez will be assisting the Romulan science ship Sanantius with setting up a scientific research colony that will house a joint research team from both the Romulan Empire and the Federation. The specific details will be released once we arrive," she said as they finally stepped through the airlock and boarded the Eclipse.

Eva nodded silently, but she decided to table the conversation for later. Instead, she waved her hand to indicate the ship they had just boarded. "Well, here we are," she said. "Do you want a tour of the ship first or do you want to jump straight to work?"

"We have a lot of work to do, so I'm afraid we need to go straight to work," Mitsu replied as she looked around. "We'll hold a briefing tomorrow morning with the command staff, and a senior officer's briefing later in the week once everyone gets settled in. We have a week, so I'll have time to get to know the ship and her crew."

"Understood," Eva said with a nod. She needed to check in on the science department and finish getting the department ready for departure herself. The dual role of chief science and first officer had been one of the challenges that had brought her to the Eclipse, and she wanted to make sure that she did her upmost best in keeping things in order. "What time do you want to hold the meeting tomorrow?" she finally asked.

"I'll send out a message this evening, but I was thinking of holding it around 0900 hours," Mitsu said. "Before we both forget, however," she paused and stepped over to a nearby computer terminal. "Computer, log a formal change of command for this ship. Captain Mitsu Sato, by order of Starfleet Command, hereby assumes command. Authorization code Alpha Seven Nine Zero Gamma Zero One."

"Authorization code accepted. Captain Mitsu Sato assumes full command of this ship on Stardate Two Four Two Three Seven Two," the computer responded.

Mitsu nodded and smiled towards Commander Grey. "Now that we have the formalities out of the way, I'm going to go find Commander Kia and take a look around the ship before I go find my ready room. I'll let you get back to work."

"Good luck, Captain," Eva said with a small smile. She did indeed have some work to get done.

"Thank you, Commander," Mitsu said as she returned the smile. "Good luck to us all," she finished before they both turned and started off in different directions.

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