20:00 January 8th, 1648 AC Batavian Standard Meridian Date TimeHMCS Bonaventure (DSC 013), Captain’s Cabin on the command deck
It was an interesting space. Much like the Captain, Cassandra noted to herself mentally. It was clearly a Commonwealth ship, with the warmer tones and the use of the wood native to Corlain contrasting with the more utilitarian metals and alloys used in Republic ship construction. The touches that the Captain added were tastefully subtle as well, rather than the mark of an egotistical mind.
A navy blue carpet covered the floor, with warm overhead lighting softening the room in contrast with the light used in the rest of the ship. Her gaze was drawn to the table, and it was possibly the most impressive piece of furniture in the entire room—perhaps even the entire ship; it was clearly an old piece of furniture, made from dark wood which Cassandra would have guessed to be oak—and her Shine helpfully confirmed.
On the other hand, the Captain didn’t seem to have the time to make this space lived in, with much of the main decorations being a few unit insignias that she guessed were from his time as an active aviator. There were also a few books, the requisite flag of the Commonwealth, a photo of the Queen, framed patches from his past squadrons, some personal photographs and a few models of ships, one of which Cassandra identified as…
“The Calgary…” She said, impressed, as she recognized the silhouette of the older battlecruiser. She read about that ship before in paperback format. Not that one needed a physical book with the advent of both Shine-based digital books and audiobooks, but it was just strangely calming for Cassie to actually read a book in this day and age.
The Captain chuckled and nodded as he stood beside his chair, waiting for others to sit down first. Cassie took her place next to Horstra, who gave her a slight nod and smile.
“Ah yes, you have good eyes, Commander van Ness. I used to serve aboard the Calgary back during the war. I was the XO of the ship,” he began with a warm smile on his face, as the officers gathered and sat down at the dining table. “I didn’t get to command her during the war. But they gave me command later, during the peacetime when I returned. Now… In a way I am still aboard that old ship. Her drive and frame is what allowed the Bonaventure to set sail. Someone in the Admiralty certainly has a sense of humour, reuniting me with her in this way,” He finished his story with a chuckle.
That was quite the odd story. The Orions were unusual ships, by the standards of any comparable navy. There were some conversions and refits that changed ships in their entirety, and plenty of the more rugged freighter designs in San Batavia Republic were even designed with the possibility of being converted into auxiliary fleet vessels, but nothing quite like the Orions were. The critics of the ship often pointed out it would be cheaper to build a new vessel from scratch.
After a few brief words were exchanged among the officers, a few members of the ship’s staff walked into the room, setting down silver alloy plates filled with thinly cut slices of beef with local Corlain herbs and spiced sauce, a local breed of salad with cucumbers and tomatoes with a light dressing, and a glass of navy-reg white wine for everyone. It was grown on another planet in the system, which everyone present was quite familiar with, thanks to their career in the Navy. There was a brief moment of silence as every officer took a moment to relax, or prayed according to their own customs, before the group began to dine, and the room soon became full of the sound of polite small talk.
Cassandra glanced over towards Horstra with a grin on her face. “For a moment I thought I wouldn’t see you again, you old devil,” she said in a low voice. “Do your junior officers still try to run away after you do a debrief?”
It was good to be able to tease an old friend. It was the only piece of the past that didn’t sting or hurt when her thoughts drifted towards those days. The man beside her chuckled, taking a drink from his glass, which seemed far too small in his large hand. He took a moment to savor the taste of the wine, and then turned towards Cassandra. “You still got a mouth on you, don’t you? Some would say I mellowed out, though I am sure the old hands from Starlight wouldn’t agree if they saw it. That aside, it was never my fault that the younger ones can’t do their job!” he said with an amused grin and a shrug of feigned innocence before returning to his meal. Both of them knew that his standards were too high, but in the end, he was the best engineering officer one could wish for—at least in Cassandra’s opinion...
The meal gave them a great opportunity to catch up on what had happened since they had last seen each other years ago. It seemed a lot of things changed after that fateful engagement in Cadair Idris, but even so, there were still many things that remained the same. Some stubbornly continued living their lives like they’ve always done, despite losing so many friends. For Cassandra, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around staying aboard the ship, after everything that had transpired, but at the end of the day, she couldn’t say she didn’t understand the sentiment, either.
After all, Starlight still was their home, and it received a battle star award for the action at Cadair Idris. The ship was actually more prestigious now than when she had left it.
With the conversation slowly winding down among the gathered officers after the dinner, with some still sipping the low alcoholic wine served to officers, the Captain of the ship waited for everyone to finish and the plates to be removed before giving them a firm nod. A slight alert on their Shine followed, requesting their attention.
“Lieutenant Commander Winkel, would you please tell us more about the task given to us by the Commonwealth Admiralty?” the Captain said, nodding over to the youngest looking officer in the room. Cassandra’s Shine eagerly overlaid the information, identifying the blond man with short cropped hair and an eagle nose as the ship’s intel officer. The man stood up, his eyes flickering as his Ghost interacted with the holoprojector built into the middle of the table, displaying a model of the Caerleon system: their home.
The central orange K class star is orbited by three solid planets, two asteroid rings and a gas giant with its own ring of asteroids. There were blue dots and icons marking infrastructure, stations and settlements, including the massive Fallhaven installation in the system’s second asteroid ring. Everyone was illuminated by a mixture of red, orange and blue light as the model of the star system zoomed in on Crestfall, showing a model of Bonaventure beside the Navy facilities on the asteroid fortress Wijtschate, which was situated opposite to its moon, Tidemark, in Crestfall’s L3 point.
“We are expected to finish our departure preparations from Crestfall by Friday 1600 hours and arrive at the gathering point near the outer area of Vidar’s asteroid ring on Sunday the 13th…” The eagle nosed officer continued, the map shifting over to the gas giant, its two moons and asteroid ring. “... to meet up with the frigates HMCS Haida, HMCS Bataan, the supply ship SBRS Olifant and the destroyer HMCS Assault to form Task Force 14, henceforward to be referred to as Taffy 14. After a day of exercises, we are expected to depart from the Caerleon system towards the Carmarthen system with further orders to be revealed by Lord Rear Admiral’s staff on the way.” The man finished as the system map was zoomed away from, revealing the wider star map of the Commonwealth of Corlain and its surrounding star systems.
Orders being hidden until departure? That was odd, Cassandra thought. And the low mumble from the other gathered officers revealed that she wasn’t the only one to think so. Everyone seemed deep in thought while looking at the holographic map before them.
“Captain, if I may…” she heard the cold, emotionless voice of Radish speak up, but there was a hint of something else in his voice… Genuine concern? “... this sounds like a quite dangerous mission, if we aren’t being given all of our orders until departure from the system. We have a lot of reserve personnel aboard the ship. Is it wise? I cannot say I am thrilled,” he said, shooting a sharp glance at Cassandra. She felt a slight chill, as if his Shine was digging into her.
“Wise or not, CAG, our lords and masters from the Admiralty and Her Majesty’s Government decided it is necessary. We will do our best and our duty. Which brings me to my own question… Can I ask for a preliminary readiness report from all of you?” the Captain responded simply, seemingly ignoring the tension between the two of his officers.
“The regulars of the air wing had good readiness reports from their past postings, Captain. They will be ready on departure. I have prepared exercises and we will begin as soon as we depart from Wijtschate. Most of our ordnance and the new starfighters are loaded. We still need to handle that before our departure.” Radish continued.
Cassandra thought that he was quite the prick, but she had to at least admit he was professional. “I cannot speak for the reservists, however, you will have to ask the deputy CAG about that, Captain.“ He then said, passing the report to Cassandra with a faint glare.
“I only just arrived, but I’ve read the readiness reports from my administrative staff and past records of the reserve air wing. I can’t say that they are ready for a full deployment, Captain. They pass… but barely. I am hoping that we’ll be able to shake off most of the rust before leaving the system. As for our equipment, we are due to receive our own Typhoons and Starfire missiles tomorrow around 1400 hours,” She said honestly. She already felt the headache this would cause in the future.
The Captain accepted this, then nodded over towards Croes, who spoke up. “Operational readiness is… acceptable, Captain. We’ll be able to meet the departure timeline. We’ll need to finish working the ship up on our way to Vidar though. Most of our stores and supplies are loaded and we should finish by 1800 on Thursday. Communications reported some shortcomings but we should be green by tomorrow 1300 hours,” He finished with a firm nod.
Anderson followed soon after. “Our spinal lance is in order. It was tested before being installed on Bonaventure, Captain, though I still recommend that we do a test fire exercise before we reach Vidar. Missile stores and other ordnance are all loaded. Sensors seem in order as well, and our electronic warfare systems and decoys are ready to be deployed.” Anderson listed off before she grimaced—Cassie could tell that she didn’t particularly like what she was going to say next. “I am a bit worried about some of the port side shield emitters. If it was possible, Captain, I’d like to request some of the port contractors to stay aboard the ship as we set course for Vidar.”
The Captain thought for a moment before responding to the CSO. “Very well… I’ll have my XO, Commander Calder, arrange it with the Brinework yards.” He nodded over towards the mature looking woman wearing a Starfleet Commander’s uniform. Her brown hair was in a military cut with her face bearing a stern look. “Yes, Captain,” she smoothly responded.
“Now… how are we with Engineering?” The Captain finally turned to Horstra.
The man scratched the side of his chin before responding with a less than formal sigh. “Our zero point cells are in order and are within operational boundaries. Backup power is in order as well; the yard engineers made damn sure that the power systems work correctly.
“I already looked over our damage control personnel, and they will keep our lady fighting as long as you need her to.”
There was a slight pause that Cassie was sure only she caught before Hostra continued. “With your permission, Captain, I’d like to run drills on our way to Vidar as well. Life support is also fully functional , but we’ll be running one more check before departure.
“Lastly, the propulsion system still has techs from Brineworks looking over them and I’d like to kick them off the ship as soon as possible and do the final check myself… but I’d imagine that won’t be possible,” he said with a final shrug.
The captain nodded slowly in response. “We lobbied for the right to repair for quite a long time. I am sure Commander Calder can check with Brineworks if they can accelerate their schedule?”
“I will see what can be done, Captain,” the woman began, “However, people from Brineworks can be a bit… stubborn. Though I do believe they will appreciate the urgency. I should be done by noon tomorrow.”
She gave a glance in Connor’s direction. “Yeah, yeah… That should work,” he said with a final shrug.
“Perfect,” The Captain declared, joining his palms together in a simple motion. “Very well, gentlemen. We all have our tasks and it was quite a long day for most of you. I will leave you to do your duties. I’d like to talk to some of you individually later and we will definitely have a few more opportunities for a meeting before our departure for Vidar. Dismissed.” The officers all stood and saluted him, and Cassandra was on the way out as well as she saw a blinking alert projected on her Shine.
Apparently one of those meetings was with her.
She let out a mental groan as she rearranged her schedule again for the third time today.