Mars

From: Anthony Keen [anthony@sfintel.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 8 January 2002 6:48 PM
To: posting@sfintel.com
Subject: Compile 1 

This is my first compile in years, so, be kind :)

Anthony

=====================
What started it all off
=====================

Stardate: 2378.05.12

Quietly moving around the station, the two unseen humanoids in uniform
performed their assigned tasks with practised skill. The Dominion war
might have been over with but that wasn't going to stop them from what
they had to do.

(USS Firebrande, Bridge, Commanding Officer, Captain Yulin - 0900)

The Firebrande was in orbit of Mars, a scheduled refit had come around
too fast for Captain Yulin.

"Commander, bring us around - Operations has cleared us for the
spacedock framework in sector A5.", ordered the Captain.

Galaxy class starships weren't known for their speedy reaction to
sub-impulse manoeuvring but the CONN was experienced enough to line up
her entrance to the platform with precision and skill.

The huge arms of the structure came down like a giant hand and captured
the ship, holding her in place snugly.

"All hands stand down - looks like we have a few weeks of shore leave to
look forward to."

<< KABOOM >>

White light filled the view screen and the ship was shaken around like a
rag doll, support arms crashed into the saucer section, poking into the
nacelles and then the secondary hull. 

From outside the ship, plasma poured out of the starboard nacelle, parts
of the ship were exposed to space. A small shuttlepod witnessed the
disaster.

(ShuttlePod Gamma Epsilon Two, Cockpit, Crewman - 0915)

Moving around the orbital platform, the shuttlepod kept a close eye on
the ships alignment to the docking arms.

"Operations, the Firebrande is in position, you can begin lowering the
support arms now."

<< KABOOM >>

A shockwave hit the pod and tossed it aside without any effort, around
the pod, the Firebrande was being ripped into by its support beams but
the pilot was more interested in the source of the diminishing light.

The Orbital Command Centre, the station which controlled all Utopia
Planitia functions, which also housed thousands of Starfleet officers,
was gone, only pieces floated where it used to be.

Along with it, several orbit platforms had been destroyed or damaged.
Whatever took out the station, packed a massive punch.

"Shuttlepod to anyone, can anyone hear me? Come in."

=================================
Tanya is still playing with model ships!
=================================

Stardate: 2378.05.19

(Research Facility, Vulcan, Dr. Tanya Dervin, 11.03)

~Alright, now if I can just get that series connected, then, then.....~

Tanya skilfully manuvered a laser welder amongst an array of miniature
parts in a miniature ship to ensure that it would function properly.

Just then a strand of thick red curly hair fell from her head and got
scorched by the laser welder.

"Damn" she cursed, as there were now several red hairs fused into the
pathways of the minship.  "Uncontrolled variables, not acceptable."

She combed her hair back with her fingers in frustration.  She pushed
her glasses off her face and onto her head so that she could hold her
hair back.

Then she began to purge the pathways of her hairs.

~Finally, done~ she thought.  The miniature ship, with systems was ready
to begin the test.  The subspace wave test.  It had been a long time in
the works and finally they had gotten clearance to be able to test it.

She took the model ship and carried it as if it was worth fifteen times
its weight in gold pressed latinum, she did not jostle or bump it as she
carefully carried it to the test site.

The test site for this particular subspace particle wave test was a
converted Holodeck.  Granted this facility was less than ideal, there
were only a handful of sites that were still doing testing on this scale
for this principle and she was lucky to get one of the best equipped.
Still, it was far from ideal.  But, Tanya had resolved that their team
would do what it took to get the testing done and they would succeed,
despite all costs.

"Computer, reset field parameters for subspace particle test alpha 06."
Tanya dictated.

<<Parameters established>>

The computer replied.  A small platform materialized for the small ship
to rest on as the primary contact point of the ship and wave.  An
interface with controls for the miniature lined the wall and the team
was lining the controls ensuring that all the interfaces were operating
at peak efficiency.

Tanya walked over to the field generators inspecting them carefully and
making sure that they were in proper alignment with each other.  Due to
the small scale of this experiment a small misalignment could cause
disaster. That is why she personally was checking them over, personally.
Everything seemed ready for the test.

"Dr. Dervin, we're ready to begin."  One of the other science team
members called to her.

"Alright, let's see what we can do with this." Tanya answered back.

"Bring the mini ship's systems online."  Dervin stated.

A forcefield sparked as the miniature's shield patterns blinked into
existence preparing it for the wave about to intercept it and sweep it
to the other end of the Holodeck.

"Begin field generator sequences."  Dervin ran down the checklist of
preparations before the experiment would commence.

"Field generator sequences initialized." One of Dervin's colleagues
spouted back at Dervin.

"Initialize wave emission sequence."  Dervin said as she stepped back to
the monitoring system.

"Wave emission sequence proceeding, wave emissions in
5...4....3...2...1" Her colleague proclaimed.

In a fraction of a nanosecond it was over.  The little ship had gone on
a wave, the wave had been dissipated almost as quickly as it had been
created, but the inertia that the ship had carried and the short
distance that it had to travel and the wave dispersal field caused the
wave to disperse but the ship did not slow, it did not have enough
distance to slow, and then,
*smash* it hit the wall and broke into a dozen little pieces.

Tanya threw the PADD she was holding across the room and cursed loudly.
"Why can't this blasted.. UGH" she groaned as she walked around in a
circle.  All that careful work to create the miniature so that they
could run their series of tests and poof or more appropriately crash, it
had vanished in an instant.

"Space, we need more space.  How can anyone in their right mind EVER
create and dissipate a wave in 30 metres, by the time the wave is
emitted we have to instantaneously start to dissipating it, AND to make
matters worse, there is no distance to stop the inertia."  Tanya walked
around and around in small circles ranting to her team.  "This is this
is... " she didn't finish her sentence because her entire scientific
team was staring at her as she ranted and raved to the yellow lined
walls that once belonged to the facilities only Holodeck.

Tanya picked up the PADD she had thrown across the room and stormed out
of the makeshift test grounds to her lab office.  ~This is impossible,
but NOTHING is impossible~ she countered to herself berating her own
failures. ~There has to be a way to make this work, all the tests,
all....~ she stopped, the light was blinking on her personal terminal.

"Computer, play message." Tanya instructed.

An older man appeared on screen, he was dressed in some rather bizarre
clothing, it resembled something Tanya had seen somewhere but at that
particular moment she couldn't trouble herself with such inconsequential
details.

"This is Admiral Tesvant from Starfleet Command"

~And they want what sending me a message?  Maybe they got the wrong
person~ Tanya thought beginning to dismiss the message because Starfleet
was not something that interested her.  Newer and more efficient ways of
travelling at warp speed was what caught her attention.  Nothing else.

"..Request that you Dr. Tanya Leigh Dervin"  Tanya's head snapped
towards the view screen where the middle aged man continued to spout his
words.

"Head up the Warp Technologies team at the Utopia Planitia Yards in the
sol system."

~What do they want me to do???~ Tanya stared at the screen, with
disbelief. She pulled her glasses off her head and set them down on her
desk.  She stared at the screen blankly.  ~If they think I'm going to go
and do some job where I sit behind a desk...~  Tanya began to think.

"...Would be required for research, development and refining of new and
existing warp technologies.  The following facilities would be available
to your use."

The message containing the man's torso winked out and was replaced by
the specifics of a scientific module containing a variety of research
labs and testing facilities.  ~This is amazing~  Tanya said as she
grabbed four times for her glasses before she finally reached them and
placed them over her eyes.

She looked at the details of the fine print and saw all the access and
resources that she would have.  ~Wow. With facilities like that maybe we
could actually...~

Tanya leapt up from her desk, the array of PADD's that usually cluttered
her desk went flying through the air, PADD's landing every which way.
"This is it!!" She exclaimed.  She bolted out of her office down to the
Holodeck/testing grounds that they had established.  "LOOK, LOOK LOOK,"
she stated showing the PADD with the specifications for the UP research
facilities to her colleagues.

The team stared at Tanya with a stunned look on their faces.  Not ten
minutes earlier she had gone fuming and stomping about the facility and
now it looked as if she would fly to the nearest solar system at warp
9.3 without the aid of any propulsion mechanism.

"I'm going." she stated.  And then began turned around, PADD and
miniship pieces in hand she went about making the appropriate
arrangements.

================================
Steve gets his new orders, off to UP!
================================

Stardate 2378.08.15

(Starfleet Academy, Commandants Office, Instructor, Lt sg Newton, 12:00)

Steve entered the commandant's office and stood in front of the admiral
who was responsible for the training of the next generation of Starfleet
officers.

"Lt, you are to transfer immediately, to the Utopia Planitia yard, where
you will fill the role of Theoretical Science Officer, this padd
contains full description o your new role.  You are to report to Admiral
Jopek at the Utopia Planitia yard command facility tomorrow morning.
Dismissed."

He was in shock as he left the commandants officer, he had enjoyed his
time of being a professor passing on his own scientific knowledge and
now Starfleet was moving him on to fill in another role, a role which he
knew nothing about.

(San Francisco, Newton's flat, TSO, Lt sg Newton, 15:00)

Steve had finished reading details on his new role and the chance to do
some real science and being the head of a department that would work on
the scientific equipment, sensors, computer systems, databases and
upgrading the LCARS system.

Then the size of the task hit him, he was to be responsible for the
running of a department with thousands of Starfleet and civilian
personal all working on separate projects, he would have to get on top
of the situation as soon as he could.

===========================
The Admiral heads out as well
===========================

(Earth, Starfleet Command, Admiral Jopek - 16.00)

The Vulcan was in a meeting with Starfleet's top brass, as well as
several civilians whom he didn't recognise, but simply had been
introduced to him as top scientists and leaders in their fields of
expertise.

"Admiral, this is the situation."

The President of Earth addressed the entire room but specifically, he
was talking to Admiral Jopek, the Vulcan may have been nervous but if he
was, it was buried under generations and generations of control. The
President continued his presentation.

"Three months ago, a faction of the Dominion sabotaged the main base in
orbit of Mars; this base was responsible for all coordination of the 31
shipyards and repair stations, plus it oversaw the joint Civilian and
Starfleet research facilities on the surface."

The screen behind the ensembled Admirals showed footage of the event.

"One thousand and twenty one people were killed with several hundred
injured, the command centre was totally destroyed; it took with it eight
of the nearby facilities with it, along with the ships that were in
those docks at the time.

A number of small craft, shuttles and auxiliary craft were also lost.

Fifteen other ships along with their facilities were also damaged,
including the Galaxy class, USS Firebrande. Since then, our construction
plans for the Utopia Planitia shipyards has suffered considerably. Our
ship building program is years behind."

Admiral Jopek nodded slowly and then said, "I am aware of these events,
Mr. President. may I ask what they have to do with me being presence
today?"

"The Jupiter class Starbase project that has been under construction in
orbit of Mars is now complete and we need someone to get things
started."

"Three months? Surely not! Those bases take years to become fully
operational.", stated Jopek.

"I said complete, not operational.", the President corrected.

The screen winked and changed to show a live transmission of the new
base. Around it, several shuttles, shuttlepods and personnel were
working on the outside.

"This base has barely a skeleton crew assigned to it, no command staff
to speak of and in the interim, the entire building and research
programs have been switched to Earth, but at 0900 tomorrow, they are
going to return control of all these programs, to Utopia Planitia, and
you, Admiral. I herby promote Admiral Kriller to Fleet Admiral Jopek,
overall Commanding Officer of the shipyards and all facilities of Utopia
Planitia, effective as of now."

Jopek was silent.

"Admiral, I am ordering you to get those shipyards up to speed. Your
detailed instructions are waiting for you on the base. We want Utopia
Planitia, the Science and Research Facilities and the Mars Defence
Perimeter up and running, bigger and better than it ever was before.

The USS Firebrande, badly damaged as she is, has completed basic repairs
and she has been assigned to you, full time, until further notice. Your
senior staff will begin to arrive tomorrow, I am afraid you'll be short
in many key spots, so, try to hold things together until we can send
more experienced help. 

Any questions, Admiral?"

"No, I'll do my best, sir.", he answered, in his best Vulcan unemotional
way and the ensembled room seemed to be satisfied and began to disperse
after the President had dismissed them.

The entire Federation shipbuilding program and major research projects,
not to mention the defence permitter around Earth had just been placed
squarely on the Admirals shoulders.

One other thing also needed his attention, this group of renegade
Dominion members, who were they, what did they want and what threat did
they pose? Admiral Jopek put it at the top of his lists to find out.

========================
The Chief gathers his flock!
========================

RPG:

Earth - the heart of the terran system. Once upon a time it had been the
sole colonized world in that system, and it had housed all the industry,
growth and administration necessary to produce a galaxy-class power.

As the population had bloomed, so had the sphere of influence
surrounding Earth. So much so, that major industries and research
facitilies began to spread out to the other local planets. The entire
system survived as one organism, and when one part suffered, the rest
had to take the strain whilst it healed and regrew.

So it came to pass that when the industrial centres on Mars were...
taken out of commission, the strain was passed back, down the line, to
the now mainly administrational mother planet.

Please note, the key word in that sentence is *strain*.

(Earth Station McKinley, Operations Centre - Lieutenant Black - 1643)

"Construction Bay Six needs more power!"

There were four officers in Ops. The Admiral was in his office, but his
second and third in command were both present, and seemed to delight in
taking turns to relay demands to the struggling Betazoid Operations
Officer.

"Turbolifts nine through seventeen are stuck! There are at least twelve
passengers."

Martin moved, his hands a blur, taking in as much information through
his eyes and ears as he could, and hopefully churning out solutions just
as quickly, although sometimes (like now) it felt that for every
solution he found, two more problems cropped up.

"Chief! The crew of the Wellington need quarters for the duration of
their refit!"

"The Wellington will have to wait as their crew can't go anywhere
without those turbolifts! I'm shutting down main power to the
Wellington's bay and transferring it to bay six! Any problems, sir?"

The Admiral had been in his office for nearly a quarter of an hour, and
Martin had to confess to some curiosity as to what the Starfleet
communique was all about. It was doubtless about one or other of their
babies, and it more than likely contained some ludicrous demand or
deadline thought up by an Admiral who spent all his time behind desks
worrying about how things look on paper.

In any case, the Betazoid had more immediate concerns than an Admiral
who may or may not emerge from his office. Ever since the explosion at
Utopia Planitia the demands on similar facilities throughout local space
had been tripled. Increased security, and ever increasing sensor scans
for anything that might hint at a hit-squad of Dominion troops, were
sending his maintenance schedule through the roof.

And to top it all, he was now in charge of fifteen starships. Large as
it was, McKinley just wasn't designed to handle this kind of turnover,
and so the usually ample power supply was now being juggled and rotated
through as many different docking bays, sensor relays and construction
docks as possible.

And every single one of them wanted more.

~What I wouldn't give for a larger power plant... Or fewer ships... Or
both!~

**BEEP BEEP**

Martin paid only cursory attention to his console as it bleeped another
call from construction bay six to him. He ignored it, largely because he
knew what it would say, and once again began a search of the smaller
bays to see if there was any surplus power he could squeeze out and send
to bay six.

He allowed himself a momentary break to wipe his brow - for some reason,
less power to life-support meant *more* heat - and began syphoning away
the power from bay twelve, praying noone would notice, when the door to
the CO's Office opened.

Silence rang through the deck, as though merely the presence of the CO
was enough to calm the crew and the station at once. Everyone and
everything seemed to be waiting for the Admiral's next move.

Everyone and everything, except Martin, who was still implementing his
last solution. "Which one do they want this time?" he said, without
looking up.

"All of them."

Martin finally looked up and locked onto that deadpan expression. His CO
didn't normally joke, and from his expression this was no different.
"ALL of them? That'll take weeks! The Tolstoi's barely more than a
skeleton, and they want her ready to leave when?"

Again there was not the slightest flicker of humour in the Admiral's
expression as he said, "This evening."

"Impossible!" He turned his back on the CO, arms gesturing to signal his
thoughts of this latest insult from Command.

"Lieutenant, there is a difference between wanting the ships ready for
departure, and wanting them completed. Our entire complement is to set
course, or be towed, to Utopia Planitia."

"What Utopia Planitia?! There's nothing there anymore! Remember?!"

"Apparently there is at least something there, although I feel that
after three months it'll be in barely any better condition than the
Tolstoi." The Admiral stalked his was across the command deck, the
unofficial signal sent that the discussion was closed. "And, Lieutenant,
pack your bags. You'll be leaving on the Magellan. Your new orders are
on my desk."

With those last words the Admiral dipped out of sight in the turbolift.
Martin could have sworn there was an impish grin on his face before
those doors slid shut...

He stalked up the stairs to the Office, moving like a tiger. "Chief!"
came the call from the second officer, but one angry stare from those
black eyes was enough to silence whatever complaint had come through.
For now.

(Earth Station McKinley, Tug Maintenance Bay - Lieutenant Black - 2034)

He had reviewed those orders, and had spent more than half the time
desperately searching for the hidden clause that would make the orders
impossible.

Nothing had sprung to mind, which struck him as odd. There is always
something in Starfleet's orders which is impossible, otherwise there's
no point to the orders in Command's eyes. Yet nothing jumped out from
the PADD and made him want to scream.

He had returned to his console with the calm air Mohammed must have had
as the mountain began to approach on the horizon.

Calmly he struck off the two ships that could run on their own impulse
power already, and mentally he had removed the three whose impulse
engines could be patched together within the allotted time.

~That leaves ten.~ Bending his brain to these new circumstances, Martin
began chalking up the requirements of the task. ~Ten ships to move
against their will. That'll take at least twenty tugs, and a mimimum of
two support craft. One, if we can get the Magellan's cargo transporters
operational.~

Structured rationality seemed to flow through his veins, and it has to
be said that it seemed to be contagious as he stode through his
department detailing the work to be done. It was only when he reached
the Tug Maintenance Bay and saw the state of their virtual armada of
tugs that his web of pose and posture began to come undone.

Eight functional tugs stared back at him, within the ranks of thirty
two. The vein behind his right eye began to throb.

(USS Magellan, Bridge - Lieutenant Black - 2300)

"Switch to rear view."

Pride filled Martin's face; he felt himself blush and a massive grin
spread wide across his features. On the screen fourteen starships,
twenty-two tugs and a type-four cargo shuttle were sprawled out in
formation just infront of McKinley station.

The sight was impressive, even if you could see the planet through the
holes in hal the ships' hulls. In a way the way the flotilla and the
planet seemed to weave into one image just added to the sense of
majesty. They were at home here...

But now they were under orders to leave.

"Helm, set course for Utopia Planitia, one quarter impulse power." He
waited to hear the confirmative beep from the helm console before
saying, "Engage."

==============================
UP is only a short shuttle ride away
==============================

(In Earth Orbit, Spacedock, FltAdm Jopek - 0900)

Catching a shuttle to Mars didn't pose a problem, shuttles, ships and
personnel were regularly shipped around the sol system. Starfleet
Command had suggested a special arrival, a ceremony and lots of
flamboyance. The Admiral had dismissed all those ideas, the base, by all
accounts was a mess, and such Human rituals could wait until later,
until it was fully manned and operational.

A runabout was docked close by and the Admiral wasn't the only passenger
but thankfully, no-one seemed to want to talk to him, instead he
concentrated on his PADDs for the short journey to Mars that would take
less than an hour.

==============================================
Jenna has a job to do, everyone, get out of the way!!
==============================================

(Runabout Marchuse -  Ops -  Captain Jenna Rulestaad - 0930)

Jenna crossed her arms, as she looked out upon the mess that was to
become her new duty station. Not since the war had she seen such
problems. Then again, not since the Dominion war had any faction dared
step so close into Starfleet territory and deal a major blow. It had
been a black day for her and all of Strategic Ops, they had failed to
foresee just how deadly and motivated a splinter group could be.

The result had been over a thousand deaths, and setbacks that would be
felt in the fleet for years.

In the end,  Starfleet had decided that no more setbacks would be
tolerated, no more mistakes allowed. They had promoted and sent a full
fleet admiral to run the blinking place! Most of the senior staff was
being replaced by old hands, people who really knew what they were
doing, and did it well. Admiral Viceroy, head of Starfleet Strategic Ops
had pulled her aside not more then two weeks ago and had pointed a bony
finger at her. Two minutes later, he walked out.

She had been given a PADD with her new transfer documents and only one
order. She was not to fail.

And, she had no intention of failing, it was not her style.

She was being sent for one major reason, redesign. Strategy and
breakdown, she was going to take the entire compliment of Stratops on
Mars and turn it on its head, give it a few shakes and see what fell
loose. She had been removed as Assistant Chief of Fleet Strategic
Operations and placed on Mars for the express reason of getting Stratops
on UP to work better and more smooth then any other place in the
Federation.

One didn't go to Starfleet Headquarters intelligence and Stratops by
being an idiot. One didn't *leave* Stratops on Earth with their job and
rank intact by being less then the best, with one hell of an attitude
and not a little fanaticism. However, the added note that success here
might give her flag rank hadn't hurt her feelings either.

A small, somewhat cruel, smile curved Jenna's bird lips.

~Oh yes, Ill kick some enthusiasm into the personnel at UP, whatever the
cost. One step at a time...~

Success for her was not a goal, it was a given. She would beat them into
submission if she had to, for nothing more then the pure joy of seeing
the Starfleet which she served grow stronger for it. Her goals were
simple, one step at a time she was going to take Stratops and make it
more efficient. She didn't believe her methods to be to strong,
apparently neither did Starfleet. She had ruled her part of Stratops on
Earth with an iron rod, and had done well.

NRPG: Yup, Nietche is her hero >:O)

RPG:
She closed her eyes after a moment, and ran a vulcan Matura that her
vulcan mother had taught her through her head. She would need calm for
this, and she would need logic. Running Stratops was not an emotional
business, it required precision and foresight. Shaking up a department
however, that required some good gut instinct. For this job, this
*mission*, she would need both cold logic and emotional ruthlessness. It
would be a drawn out process, changing *everything* at once only led to
folly.

The pilot beside her pressed a couple buttons, and opened a hailing
channel. "Runabout Marchuse hailing Utopia Planitia flight control.
Requesting landing instructions for Captain Rulestaad and Envoy."

A few seconds passed, and a rough voice came over the comm. =^=Runabout
Marchuse, follow flight pattern Alpha seven to docking bay One Ten. An
escort will be waiting. UP out.=^=

Jenna stood up in her chair, and turned to walk out. "ETA?"

The Lieutenant at the helm punched a couple buttons to put the runabout
into auto-pilot, then said. "Five minutes, Captain."

"Very well."

(Starbase TBA - Shuttle Bay 24, Docking Bay 110 - Capt. Jenna Rulestaad
- 0955)

Jenna put her hands behind her back and looked at her five most trusted
associates in the business of Strategic Operations. She gave a nod, and
all but one of them filed back into the runabout. The main offices of
Strategic Operations were located in a deep bunker on the planet itself.
Their were outposts and offices at other places, depending on need.
However, the main information center was buried against attack. Her four
associates would be traveling down, to take tentative command while she
was here on the station. Her only companion, the one that had stayed by
her side as the others reboarded after she gave them their orders, was
to be her second in command. His name was Shondar Dorkin, a loud mouthed
little cuss that had small eyes, big mouth and bigger brain. She had
pulled him with her when she had gone to Earth, and now she was pulling
him to UP with her.

He sniffed the bay, since his eyesight was horrible (being a Tellarite),
and said "Brand spanking new. What is it with Starfleet, building
everything new when used will do?"

She didn't even bother to look at him, "Shut up commander, or I will
loose my shoe so far up your butt you will taste leather for two weeks."

He grunted, and looked back up at her. "You don't have the leg length,
Captain."

If anyone thought it weird that a vulcan was speaking to a Tellarite in
this manner, and vice versa... they didn't show it. A lieutenant, whom
Jenna assumed was the Chief of the watch, walked up to their position,
and Jenna handed over the PADD with her orders. "Permission to come
aboard, Lieutenant?"

The Lieutenant didn't look at her, and concentrated on the PADD instead.
Nor did he immediately pass her, something that made her nod in
agreement. He actually took his time, and confirmed many parts of the
orders. After thirty seconds, he handed the PADD back and came to
attention. "Permission granted, Captain."

"At Ease." she responded. She handed the PADD to Shondar Dorkin, and
said "Ill be back commander, make sure the shuttle doesn't walk away,
since that's about all you are good for."

"Captain, be glad you have those pips11s. I would truly hate to inscribe
your name on the Book of Grudges on Tellar."

Jenna gave him a hard look, then shorted at his piggish grin. "At Ease,
commander."

Shondar was a pain in the butt, but she dealt with him, simply because
he had one of the best tactical minds she had ever seen. On an average
day, she thought seriously that he might very well head Starfleet
Stratops one day.

On a bad day, she sometimes thought she would kill him before he made
Captain.

A small guard formed around them, and a senior Lieutenant stepped
forward. "If you will follow me, Ma'am, I will take you to the Admiral."

"Very well."

====================================
Jopek assess the mess and the job at hand
====================================

(Starbase TBA, Main Operations, CO, FltAdm Jopek - 10.05)

Beaming onboard the station, Jopek arrived in Operations. he found it
less than full occupied.

"I am Fleet Admiral Jopek, by the order of Starfleet Command; I herby
take command of this station and all operations in this sub-sector."

He was looking around; trying to find a senior officer. approaching him
was a Petty-Chief-Officer.

"Admiral, welcome aboard, I am Chief Grant. Starfleet has sent your
transfer of command orders."

"Chief, I am going to need a full report, as best you can as soon as
possible. The senior officers will be arriving today and tomorrow,
please make sure they all come and see me."

"Yes sir, your office is over there. I should warn you that most of this
station below deck 3 isn't ready for habitation yet; our defence systems
are offline as is main power. The rest of the information is in your
office."

"Carry on Chief.", the Admiral headed into his office and the doors slid
behind him.

(Starbase TBA, CO's Office, CO, FltAdm Jopek - 10.30)

Reading the PADDs, Jopek wasn't impressed. Starfleet had completed
upgrading, building and replacing the orbital shipyards. Twenty nine
shipyards were online, of those; five were being used and were manned.
They were being used to repair or upgrade existing starships.

Fifteen starships were under construction, there were still in the orbit
of Earth. They were being towed to Mars in the next couple of days.

They varied in completion from the bare framework to a few nearly
completed ships. They would have to be tested soon, including the USS
Firebrande. 

Over ten of them weren't being used at all, mainly due to personnel
shortages. Mass transfers of people, numbering in the many thousands
were happening over the next few weeks. A logistical nightmare was about
to drop on them all.

In addition, the Mars Defence Perimeter was non-existent. The ships
being used had been de-commissioned due to age. A new Perimeter would
have to be constructed from the ground up.

Research and Development was rated high on his list as well, but so far,
the offices on the surface on Mars were so brand new, that they hadn't
been used. They contained state of the art equipment; that was one thing
that made pleasant reading for the Admiral.

He was looking over the roster. this was unlike anything he had
experienced before, Utopia Planitia had many different officers,
Starfleet Command Liaisons, Strategic Operations, Starfleet Academy
Liaisons and a host of specialists in Engineering and Science.

Finally, the 5th fleet was due to arrive in a week for an overhaul,
forty five starships were going to be parked on their doorstep, all
wanting the latest upgrades, enhancements and general repairs and
everything else a fully operation shipyard would be able to provide.

Jopek sat back in his chair for a moment, trying to organise what needed
to be done first and how. All the senior officers assigned to the bases,
both in orbit and on the ground would have their work cut out for them -
that was for sure!

====================
Uh-oh, Jenna is in OPS!
====================

(Starbase TBA - Operations - Capt Jenna Rulestaad - 1035)

After many detours and walkarounds (since the station wasn't fully
completed), The group finally made it to Main Operations.

The Lieutenant nodded to the doors to the CO's office, and said "The
admiral is in his office."

Jenna nodded, and said "Thank you, Lieutenant."

She walked up to the office, and pushed the chime, and waited for an
answer."

====================
Tanya tells it like it is!
====================

(Runabout Lisbon, Dr. Tanya Leigh Dervin, 10.35)

They were about to embark on their last part of the journey Tanya was
watching as the last of their research equipment were being loaded onto
the runabout.

"BE CAREFUL WITH THAT"  Tanya launched herself out of her seat and flew
to where some crewman was trying rather unsuccessfully to load Tanya's
most sensitive and favourite piece of equipment that was encased in
carbonite suspended in a case so that it would not react or decay with
contact with any substances in transport.

"If you even jostle it by the slightest, you can upset the matrix
suspending the apparatus.  Can you at least be a little careful?"  Tanya
snapped at the crewman.  "Do I go around your quarters throwing your
fine china plates like Frisbees in an intergalactic sporting event? NO,
then treat my equipment with respect."

Tanya delicately snatched the container away from the crewman who at
that point was stuttering some form of pathetic apologies.  And she
stowed it carefully and securely in the compartment in the runabout.
They began their final journey to the Starbase.

==============
Steve reports in
==============

(Starbase TBA, Ops, TSO, Lt sg Newton, 11:00)

Steve had made the most of the morning reading the personal records of
the other senior members of his staff, each one of them were as well
qualified for the job as he was, which made him wonder why he had been
chosen as the head of his department.

He had decided to visit the Starbase first to meet admiral Jopek, but he
also wanted to visit the small number of facilities that his department
had access to for the testing of new equipment and research.  Before he
made his way down to the planet.

The young Ensign who had escorted him to the admiral's ready room,
turned to face him, "The admiral is in their sir."

Steve just nodded as he stepped forward and pressed the buzzer next to
the door, a deep voice from within said, "Come in."

Steve opened the door and entered the admiral's office and stood to
attention before he spoke, "Lt Newton, reporting for duty sir," he
handed the admiral his copy of his orders.

(Replies Jopek, Any)
(Posted by Sean Barnes)

=========================
Tanya reports in, eventually!
=========================

(Starbase TBA, Docking port 13, Dr. Tanya Leigh Dervin, 13.02)

The Runabout had docked.  Tanya got up, stretched her arms and legs, her
shirt lifted showing a small portion of her midsection. She was glad she
was still in civilian clothes, those uniforms looked soo uncomfortable.

Some Crewman thinking that they were being efficient went over and began
to unload Tanya's crew's equipment.  When they got to the well fastened
and anchored crate Tanya's voice stopped all movement inside and outside
the Runabout.  "DON'T TOUCH THAT"

Immediately every crewmember that was in the process of unloading the
runabout backed away from whatever they were about to touch their hands
held high in the air, almost as if they had been part of a robbery in a
historical western.

"THAT"  Tanya indicated to a golden brown case "IS THE MOST SENSITIVE
PIECE OF EQUIPMENT ON THIS STATION, SO DON'T TOUCH." she commanded.

The crewmen filed out of the runabout, vowing that this woman could very
well unload whatever she wanted however she wanted herself.

Tanya sighed shrugging off the shocked looks that the people in the
docking port were giving her.  There was no way that such common people
could understand the mere sensitivity and depth of her work and how
serious it was.

Gingerly she picked up the case and set out onto the deck.  ~So this is
a Starfleet Starbase eh?~ she thought to herself, she had been on
several research starbases but nothing to this magnitude.

"Just a minute, Dr. Dervin, Dr. Dervin, "  The pilot called as he ran
out of the runabout.  "Here are your orders, you have to have these."

"Whatever for, they asked me here, I'm here.  That's it, where's my
lab?" Tanya stated without any deviation.

"No, no, no, no," the pilot began, "You need to report to the CO, the
Admiral, Admiral Jopek, he's in charge of running the station."

"He runs the Starfleet bit.  Not me!" Tanya stated.

The pilot was looking rather exasperated, it was obvious to any
onlookers that he'd been trying to reason with this woman for several
lightyears.

A lieutenant on duty stepped up.  "Welcome to the base Ma'am, please if
you would come this way, I shall escort you to the CO's office."  The
lieutenant took the PADD from the exasperated pilot's hands and then
began to lead the way.

"If I must."  Tanya muttered under her breath wishing to get to her lab
and begin the set-up immediately.

(Starbase TBA, Operations, Dr. Tanya Dervin, 13.25)

Carrying the golden brown case in her hand delicately, Tanya was
escorted to the office of the CO for the Starbase.

The Lieutenant pressed the enunciator.

<<Reply Jopek>>

The Lieutenant motioned for Tanya to enter the office, he followed suit
presenting the PADD onto the Admiral's desk.

"Admiral, I am pleased to introduce, Dr. Tanya Leigh Dervin."

<<Reply Jopek>>

Stardate: 2378.08.15

=========================
Martin brings the fleet home!
=========================

(USS Magellan, Bridge - Lieutenant Black - 0317)

Relaxing in his chair once again as the image of the USS Julius Ceasar
fell into position at the rear of the fleet. It's impulse engines had
cut out due to some over enthusiastic patchwork, but with some creative
rearranging of the tugs he'd managed to get the entire fleet back
underway in less than half an hour.

He reached over and pulled up the PADD containing his new orders. He
quickly skimmed through the first half, after all that was just details
of getting all fifteen ships en route to Utopia Planitia, and he had
done that, albeit about twenty-eight minutes behind schedule. Still, he
doubted anyone at headquarters would be able to complain.

He allowed himself to slowly reread the rest of his new orders. Soaking
up every word about the new Jupiter-class facilities still under
constructing in Mars orbit, about Starfleet's ambitious plans for the
new top-of-the-line outpost, and about the role he was to play in
ensuring its success.

~Chief of Operations for Utopia Planitia!~ It had been a childish dream
for years, and one he thought had been failed permanently when UP was
blown up by Dominion troops. ~It's not gonna be the station it was
then... but it's the name! The prestige that name carries! Oh wow!~

"Lieutenant, coming in on approach vector to Utopia Planitia."

"On screen." The viewscreen clicked round to show the silhouette of the
outpost against the deep red heart of the Sol system. "Oh wow... Hail
them!"

(Reply from any)
(Posted by Michael Drake)