New Recruits (Part 1)

Posted on Fri Apr 17th, 2020 @ 1:01pm by Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Captain Taiga Aisaka
Edited on on Tue May 5th, 2020 @ 9:51am

1,722 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Demons in the Dark
Location: Bridge/Ready Room

-- ON --

Takeshi stood outside the ready room, PADD in hand, which contained a communique from Starfleet including transfer documents for four promising Starfleet officers ranked between Ensign and Lieutenant Commander that Starfleet felt would achieve success as a part of the Tokyo's Starfighter Wing. As the Air Boss, he had already approved of the transfers, but the documents would need Taiga's approval in order to become finalized.

Taiga heard the bell of the ready room. She was just finishing up a lengthy report for Starfleet Command on the incident with the Cassandra. "Come in" she said simply.

Takeshi entered the ready room, and by natural instinct, he stood at attention, saluting with his free hand.

"Captain Aisaka, Sir!" He saluted without skipping a beat.

Taiga looked up from her desk. "You know, I'm a Starfleet captain now a damn admiral Lieutenant. Try relaxing once in a while. Whats on your mind?" she asked simply.

"My apologies, Captain Aisaka. My old commanding officer was an admiral, and a very strict one at that." Takeshi apologized. "Anyway, I received a communique from Starfleet. They wish to transfer four officers of varying rank to our starfighter wing once we arrive back in federation space. I already signed off on them, but they'll need your approval to become finalized."

He handed over the PADD with the documents on them.

"If I may add on a personal note," Takeshi said. "I have a personal history with Lieutenant Shoji, and as such, I would like to appoint him as my deputy Air Boss, so that I may keep an eye on him."

Taiga took the PADD and briefly looked it over. "I see" she said simply. "If you can vouch for them then by all means bring them aboard. You'll need to clear this with Commander Trigman too. He is afterall the leader of the fighterwing pilots. It'll need his comformation as well since they'll be flying in his wings" she said simply.

"Understood." Takeshi replied as he took back the PADD. "Well, if there's nothing else you require of me, then I shall go ahead and take this matter to Commander Trigman."

"Actually there is..." Taiga said simply. "I know its only been a day or two since you joined, but I need to apologise for how I pointed a phaser at you when you first came aboard" she stated.

"If anything, I should be the one apologizing for pulling my own phaser in self defense." Takeshi responded. "And furthermore, setting it to kill."

"Yeah..." Taiga said running a hand through her hair. "We were all a little confused back there. Plus, I had no idea that you weren't some sort of intruder. You can imagine my thoughts since we were stuck in the Demilitirized zone and with all the hallucinations taking place" she explained.

"Regardless, you've had a few days. How are you finding the ship, I know she's not exactly what you expected. I've heard that as much, plus I wanted to discuss your position as second officer" she told him.

The color drained from Takeshi's face when he heard Taiga mention his second officer's position.

"She's... Definitely a rash departure from the Myogi." Takeshi replied. "The amount of indiscipline on board would surely horrify my old commanding officer. But the quarters are nice: I was expecting to have to share quarters because I'm only a lieutenant, so having senior officer's quarters to myself is a pleasant surprise. Plus this whole upset has helped remind me that I miss my wife and kids, which was actually something I wanted to discuss if you have the time."

"Well, if she's a pilot she'll be under both yours and Commander Trigmans responsibility. We have a few fair out of place people on this ship, but as long as they do their job then I'm willing to give them a chance" Taiga explained. "Now, because you're the Air Boss, that means you qualify for the second officer position. You'll be in command of all Spacefigter Operations" she explained simply.

"My wife actually works a civilian job back on Earth." Takeshi interrupted. "And my kids might be a bit too young to even consider bringing aboard a starship. My daughter's 5 and my son is 3."

"Basically, you'll be responsible for deploying the fighter wings and carrying out orders sent from the bridge to the TIC. The bridge is in control of starship operations, as for all starfighters and auxiliary craft its the responsibility of the TIC to ensure they all take off and land safely, as well as deploying them in correct formations to carry out my orders" Taiga explained. "Thats basically your job in the TIC, your skills in tactical deployment and flight control is why you were assigned there"

"And I thought it was because of my history in piloting..." Takeshi muttered. "A bit different than the duties of Myogi's air boss, but certainly something I can easily adapt to."

"As for the second officer role. Thats pretty self explanatory" she said. "You will be the second ranking officer aboard this ship, directly after myself and Commander Tau'Ri. You must be ready to assume command of this ship if the bridge is incapacitated in a tactical situation. You will also have other responsibilities aboard such as co-ordinating with Commander Tau'Ri on crew assignments, promotions and departmental reports. The TIC can act like a secondary bridge as you know, so having you as the Second Officer down there make logical sense as you'll be in a position to keep this ship out of danger in case of a bad situation. Also, should Commander Tau'Ri take command of this ship you will become essentially the ships Executive Officer. In that case you may be needed on the Main Bridge. Thats only if something ever did happen to me that caused her to take over command duties" Taiga explained simply. She knew this was a lot to take in, but she liked the Tokyo to run the way she wanted it.

"You forget that I was the Myogi's third officer." Takeshi explained. "I am well familiar with the duties of a higher officer. If I may add on a personal note, I do find it a shame that the second officer also has to double as a department head. My old commanding officer believed in a clear chain of command, not this mottled chain of command that goes all over the place like what you have in place. Again, he'd be horrified at how you run things."

Takeshi was hoping that going on about Admiral Miyahara wouldn't annoy or frustrate Taiga, because the last thing that needed to happen was for him to get embarrassed just a few days into his reassignment.

"You may consider it 'mottled' Lieutenant" Taiga said. "However, it works and this ship is very different from the Myogi. We're not a fancy luxury explorer here, we're here to protect The Federation and we're a rapid response attack carrier. We have to act quickly when needed and without warning. This ship has good people aboard and sometimes we all need to pull our own weight or more. Do you think you'll be able to handle that?" she asked, her tone firm but understanding. It was often a bit of a culture shock for new officers coming from a more comfier assignment to suddenly find themselves on an advanced ship like the Tokyo. The ship was more orientated to deep space tactical and military missions unlike most other Starfleet vessels.

"Captain Aisaka, with all due respect, I did not rise to where I am today by not being able to handle things." Takeshi responded, his tone clear and firm. "If I wasn't able to take on the stars and all the dangers they posed, I would have never joined Starfleet or left Earth in any capacity. I'll admit that I've had pitfalls along the way, but it's my personal belief that you don't have the right to call yourself a Starfleet officer if you can't get up after you fall, and that you certainly don't have the right to call yourself a Starfleet officer if you're incapable of pulling your own weight."

A smile that formed into a grin emerged on Taiga's face slowly. "Thats what I like to hear Lieutenant" she said simply as she rose from her chair. "Well, I think you'll fit in here now that thats sorted" she told him. She held a hand out to him. "Welcome aboard, officially"

A smile crossed Takeshi's face. It felt good knowing that despite getting off on the wrong foot, his new commanding officer felt like she trusted him enough to give him a chance.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Captain." He replied, accepting Taiga's hand. "And also for not shooting me back in engineering." He added sarcastically.

Taiga nodded. "Don't make me regret it" she said sarcastically. "If there's nothing else?"

"There was the subject of my family if you have time." Takeshi said. "As I said earlier, my wife works a civilian job and my children are only 3 and 5 respectively. I don't know your stance on bringing civilians, especially young children, on board, but if there's no chance at bringing them aboard, then at the very least, I would like a leave of absence when we arrive back in sector 001. You know, just to catch up with the wife and kids, and so my son can see what his father's really like."

"The Tokyo may be a ship built for tactical missions, however families are allowed on board. Just as long as any minors stay out of sensitive or potentially dangerous areas" Taiga explained. "Consult with Commander Tau'Ri to organise their transfer if you wish to gave them aboard, you'll need family sized quarters"

"The biggest catalyst in such a decision would have to be my wife." Takeshi explained. "She can be a bit strong-willed, and if she doesn't want to leave earth, then the transfer won't happen. I'll be sure to get in touch with her and see what she wants to do. Otherwise, unless there's anything else?"

"Not that I can think of. Once you hear from her, please let Commander Tau'Ri know" Taiga said. "Dismissed".

Posting by

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato
Air Boss
Second Officer

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