A Tactical Rebalance [Backpost]

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:27am by Cailus Griffin
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:47pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: Chief of Security's Office
Timeline: [BACKPOST] Before "Full Steam Ahead"

A Mission Post by Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Ensign John Logann
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Chief of Security's Office
Timeline: [BACKPOST] Before "Full Steam Ahead"
Mon Oct 30th, 2017 @ 11:19am


In his office Cailus waited for Ensign Logann to arrive, the man's service record on his desk display. The office was austere and simple, suiting the man who occupied it. It helped Cailus focus, and with Logann due to arrive any moment, he ran the decision through his mind, analyzing it again and again. It was, he reflected grimly, an undeniable risk. The rewards were considerable, to be sure, but even so, Cailus was uneasy. Trusting such a man as Logann might well be the compassionate thing to do, but would it be the right thing to do?

The captain trusted me with far less reason, he thought wryly. Stop over-analysing, man. It is what it is.

Standing in the turbolift, Logann straightened his tunic.

Welp, back at the bottom, try and work my way up. He thought as the turbolift deposited him onto the deck containing the Chief of Security's office.

Taking a deep breath, Logann walked up to CoS door, and rang the chime.

Glancing at the door, Cailus sighed. "Come."

Stepping through the threshold, Logann nodded to is new direct supervisor. "Ensign John Logann reporting for duty sir."

Cailus considered Logann with a cold, penetrating look, assessing the man. Good etiquette; that gave him marks right off the bat. "Take a seat, ensign," he ordered curtly, gesturing at the chair across from him.

"Thank you sir." Logann said, sitting down, but still at a stiff attention on the edge of the seat.

Logann took in the office out of his peripheral vision. Sparse. Reminds me of my office on the Pathfinder....... Logann thought, wondering now who had taken his spot behind the desk.

His eyes unfocused for only a second, then focused on the man he would be taking orders from.

Considering the man again for a long moment, Cailus let the silence hang before breaking it. "I'll be direct with you, Mister Logann," he said finally. "I don't do subtlety or hugs and kisses. Starfleet have decreed that the incident that resulted in your demotion is classified, so I'll just ask you the important question. Was it your fault?"

"While the mission is classified, it does not stop me from giving non-specifics. In a simple word, no. In not so a simple word, diplomats have no place in a war zone with active fighting going on. And as far as sutlety, hugs, or kisses, they have no place in the security department of a starship. Subtlety is for Intelligence and the Romulans, and hugs and kisses, well, lets just leave them on Riza."

Cailus nodded, still as severe as ever despite Logann's honesty. "So I can trust that everything in your service record about your competence and skill is still true, and you have not been negatively affected?"

Hmmmmm, trust issues. Interesting. Logann thought.

"Everything that I have had access to..... yes, it is. As for skill, I know what I know. And affected? Heh. No, if nothing, it has given me more of a want to succeed again, to show that...... well, to show there is nothing wrong with my leadership abilities, or my ability to protect my ship and crew."

At that, Cailus raised his eyebrows. "You've found the right place, then," he said with bemusement. "This is a ship of second chances for many of us, myself included." He paused to open a drawer and take out a PADD, sliding it over to Logann. "This is our last tactical readiness report, detailing the current status of our phasers, torpedoes and deflector shields, as well as the action times and efficiency quotients for the tactical teams assigned to each critical defensive system. What do you see?"

Picking up the PADD, Logann activates it and reads the following information:

=/\= Ship and crew tactical assessment for the USS Pandora

Pandora:
All nine of the type-X phaser arrays are in operational status, however, there have been noted fluctuations noted in several of the arrays.

Array 2: After 3 consecutive firings, there is a .2 percent drop in power. After between 5 and 7 seconds of non-firing, full power is restored, until the next 3 consecutive firings. Cycle repeats indefinitely. Power never drops below .2 percent.

Array 5: Same as Array 2, but the power drop doubles until a break in firing is taken. It is believed that this array will be taken off line by power drops if continually used.

Array 6: In Array 6, there seems to be a problem with the focusing crystal. There is a 1 percent decrease in power. Unknown cause.

All torpedo launchers are in operational status. No known issues.

Class 9 shielding system in operational status. 1 fluctuation known. Fore graviton polarity generator has a .5 variance in power, resulting in a 1 gigawatt power loss in the fore shields.

Hull is intact with no issues and both primary and secondary arrays are fully operational and aligned for maximum range.

Crew:
The tactical crew have excellent response times with above average repair times, gunner accuracy and manual torpedo reloading. Morale is high after the victory against the Tzenkethi warships in the Carnwennan Corridor. However, there has been serious problems when the crew is presented with unusual orders for phaser modifications, photon torpedo adjustment and deflector shield modulation. Quantum torpedo maintenance is barely adequate. Technical education for the Tactical department is severely lacking with a very shallow knowledge base for a Luna-class starship. This has resulted in unnecessary drains on Engineering's resources to compensate.=/\=

Hmmmmm, with a bit of training, I think this crew will be good. But why give this to me. I am just an Ensign again. Logann thought, nodding as he read. The thing that worries me is the issues with the weapons and shields. If that power variance should spike and we lose shields, it would be the Romulan incident all over again.

“Well sir, it appears that there are a couple of things that need to be…..worked on, but nothing that is impossible to take care of.” Logann says, leaving Lt. Griffin to direct the conversation where he may.

"Good," Cailus said, frowning despite himself. He despised what he was doing, but doing otherwise would be foolhardy. "Ensign, the problem is that all of my tactical and technical training is ninety years out of date. Modern ship-scale weapons and shields are much more powerful and complex than they were in my time. Security is satisfactory, since personal combat, brig protocol, bodyguard protocol and counter-boarding ops do not change much across a century, but Tactical is different. I simply do not have the technical skill required to elevate the Pandora's weapons and shields beyond average, and average simply will not be enough for the Inconnu Expanse. We are a long way from the Federation."

Cailus paused, then plainly forced the next words out. "You, however, can most likely build an entire phaser array out of spare parts or take apart a quantum torpedo in your sleep. The efficiency numbers for your Tactical department on the Pathfinder during the last couple of years were very impressive. The solution is obvious."

Loganns left eye raised slightly, something that he had mastered due to close contact with the Vulcans on the USS Pathfinder.

Obvious? Ok... Logann thought a moment before speaking, something that he had just recently gotten a grasp on.

"Well, a leader is only as good as those he trains. Now, I can see why you are having problems in the tactical department. It is hard to keep up, when you are trying to work, and teach, on a tech that is 90 years ahead of your last training. I would be more then happy to assist with bringing you up to speed with some of the newer tech that we have."

"I'm talking about more than that, Mister Logann," Cailus said sternly. He was somewhat amused at the man's Vulcan affectation, but still he kept his amusement tightly concealed behind his usual gruffness. "You will be working harder than I suspect you have ever worked before. The standards I set for Sec/Tac are extremely high, and as deputy chief, you will be as much an example to the officers as I am. You will be required to maintain physical fitness considerably beyond Starfleet norms, achieve phaser scores within a percentage point of my own and demonstrate superior skill in the leadership of security teams. This will be in addition to your work with the Tactical department. Should you choose it, I will also provide certain training that Starfleet has allowed to lapse in the last ninety years, relating to law enforcement, forensic analysis and company-level groundside infantry command."

Both of Johns eyes peeked up at the mention of deputy chief, before he got them under control, taking in the rest of the conversation.

"If you prefer, Mister Logann," Cailus continued, having allowed a moment's silence for it to sink in, "I can keep you purely as a tactical officer to take advantage of your skills in that capacity, and no more. If you choose the harder path, to be the full deputy chief of Sec/Tac, you can be back to being a department head in a matter of months, or even weeks." He paused, then added thoughtfully, "Or you'll break from the workload and require medical leave. That's what happened to my last deputy chief."

Oh, wouldn't that just piss off whoever had me demoted. If I were the type, I would take it just to send a message. But......that's not me. Never has been, never will be. You always land on your feet John, might as well charge in full ahead.

"Well, momma always said I had to learn the hard way. Sir. And it sounds like your last deputy might have been allergic to a bit of hard work." Logann said, his tell-tale smirk returning to his face for a moment, before his calm exterior returned and he nodded.

Cailus harrumphed, shaking his head. "Close enough. Turns out going on medical leave saved her life, since she wasn't onboard the Churchill with us. Apparently she ended up a vice admiral. The universe can be a weird place."

Logann simply nodded at this.

At that, Cailus picked up another PADD off the desk, tossing it to Logann. "There is a torpedo drill in Holodeck 1 that starts in twenty minutes, simulating a sabotaged quantum torpedo in the forward magazine. All of the torpedo technicians will be in there. Run the drill as you see fit. I'll be running a boarding simulation in Holodeck 2, just in case the Ravagers manage to track us to Sylvaxe."

"Copy that sir." standing up to leave.

"And Mister Logann!" Cailus added sternly, as Logann turned to leave. "Welcome aboard the Pandora."

Ensign Logann nodded curtly then stepped out of the room, headed toward the holodeck.