Kill Em With Kindness

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 12:22am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant John Sandoval
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:18pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Captain's Ready Room

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant John Sandoval
Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline:
Sun Oct 21st, 2018 @ 3:28am

Nycolas Temple was getting back into the swing of running the Pandora; his nightmares were under control and he was starting to feel like a proper Captain again. The Bubble would always be with them, of course, as would the terrible events that had transpired in there, but very slowly he was starting to move on. It helped of course that Starfleet had given the Pandora a new mission immediately following their return, and this gave Nyx something to focus on. In addition, there had been arrivals of new crew and supplies to help them recover.

Finally the Pandora was receiving a Chief Diplomatic Officer. They had been sailing through the Inconnu Expanse without one for all these months and although they had managed not to start an intergalactic war, Nyx was going to feel a lot better having a professional diplomat onboard. Especially now they were travelling to Paradise Outpost - where they would definitely need a Chief Diplomat to help navigate those murky waters. Nyx was keen to meet with the new CDO and had called Lieutenant Sandoval to his Ready Room for an introduction.

Lieutenant John Sandoval arrived on the Pandora by high-speed shuttle that morning. He had never served on a Luna-class, nor had he led a department. It would be an interesting new challenge ahead of him, especially in an area as rife with conflict as the Inconnu expanse. Sandoval had been on negotiating teams brought peace, even temporary peace, throughout the Beta Quadrant. But leading his own department was new.

So much violence in this part of the Galaxy, though Sandoval. I can do a lot of good here. The shiny new solid pip on his collar, marking him as a full lieutenant, gave him a renewed sense of confidence.

The Pandora wasn't the largest ship he'd ever served on, but it was still quite big. A Yeoman agreed to bring his bags to his quarters, and he took the turbolift to the Bridge. After so many hours in the shuttle, his left leg was stiff and sore, such that he opted to take his on-duty cane with him the bridge. He chimed the door at the Captain's ready room, took a deep breath, and waited to greet his new Captain.

Nyx decided to get up and greet his visitor at the door, instead of just calling out for him to enter. He had a little jig in his step as he approached the door and it opened with a trademark “swoosh”.

“Lieutenant Sandoval, I presume?” The Captain said immediately as he was faced with the Chief Diplomat.

"You presume correctly, Captain," Sandoval replied with a smile. He shifted his cane to his left hand and extended his right forward. In his experience, a friendly handshake was the best greeting for virtually anyone. Even when dealing with cultures where it was not the custom, it helped build a bridge with a short explanation that it was the custom in his own culture. Often it was met with a similar explanation of his counterpart's traditional greeting, thus beginning the dialogue.

Nyx took the extended hand and shook it vigorously. “Oh finally. The last two people turned out to be someone else.” He laughed at his own joke and stepped aside. “Come in and take a seat.”

"Before we begin, Captain," said Sandoval, taking a seat opposite his new commanding officer and having a quick chuckle at the joke, "I want to thank you for accepting my transfer request. I look forward to seeing the good we can do in this area of space."

“I was thrilled to receive your request.” Nyx nodded as he sat down as well. “You come highly educated and experienced, we’re lucky to have you. This isn’t going to be an easy assignment. Are you aware of the latest developments with the Alrakis Pact?”

"I read the files, and met with some of Starfleet Command's experts back on Earth before coming out this way." John leaned back a bit, getting himself comfortable. "It's an interesting development. The Federation was in a state of war with the Breen, the Tzenkethi, and the Talarians each at some point, but as recently as last year we were friendly with them. This new bloc in the region is dangerous, and now the Pact is banishing the Federation from this area of space. If we fully concede, then it's a lot of territory, resources, and unaligned planets suddenly in the hands of a hostile power."

“It’s caught us all by surprise.” Nyx nodded in agreement.

John thought a moment. "We'll need to evacuate many ships and people from this area, for their safety if anything," he said. "But it the Pact takes the entire Inconnu Expanse without issue, it's almost certain to lead to war. Not today, and maybe not for twenty or even fifty years, but war will come. We'll have given ground without resistance, and they'll think they can push us around. Plus, there are countless unaligned worlds in the Expanse, many pre-warp, but many with control over their local space. They'll be devastated by the Pact. I actually think a short- to medium-term solution is getting many of these worlds to align with the Federation and permit a Starfleet presence in their territory. I can do a lot with that. In the long term, keeping a Starfleet presence in defiance of their order might actually bring them to the table. We need to find the balance. To avert war, keep people safe, but not appear weak before the enemy."

“We’ve made some in-roads with a local planet called Salvaxe, home of the Mendazians.” Nyx added. “Luckily they’re pretty isolated from the rest of the Expanse, so I don’t think they’ll be under threat while we’re away. But they could be a potential ally to the Federation. It’s a shame we won’t get more time to formalise relations though, as you say, Starfleet are being cautious by ordering our withdrawal. I hope we will get to explore the region once more, once the dust settles from the Alrakis Pact’s appearance.”

“We can also make new friends at this civilian station we’re going to,” John added. “Representatives from many worlds, almost certainly nongovernmental, but still useful prospective allies, will be there. I don’t know much yet about this station, but the more people who see the Federation, Starfleet, and the Pandora as good people who bring positive things, the better.”

"Agreed." Nyx replied. "It'll be a good opportunity to build some support. Lieutenant Parrino from Intel suggested we provide medical supplies to Paradise, and proclaim we are part of a humanitarian aid mission? As a means of both covering our presence at the station and helping to endear us to the locals. Do you think we could find a way to legitimise our cover story?"

"Let me look over the files on Paradise," John suggested. "I'm sure there's some group that I can make contact with and make arrangements to hand over medical supplies. Representatives of a foreign government experiencing a civil war or natural disaster. Nongovernmental aid organizations are always seeking new sources of assistance. A corporation wanting to acquire goods for charitable work and public relations. There could even be an epidemic or major problem on the station itself we can assist with. I can come up with options in the next few hours."

“Absolutely.” Nyx nodded. He took a deep breath. “Well, I won’t overload you too much. We’re going to have a meeting soon with Intel and Security to plan some ideas, so we can work together on an approach. For now, please feel free to get yourself settled in and acquainted with the ship and I’ll let you know when we’ve got a scheduled time for the meeting.”

Taking that as a dismissal, John grabbed his cane and stood. "Thank you, sir. Before I go, I want to reassure you that this," he gestured to his leg and cane, "will never be a hindrance or a burden. I have a medication that I can take which completely blocks out my pain and lets me function without it; I just don't like taking it regularly. And I work to keep my skills with a phaser -- rifle included -- sharp. I prefer not to use them; I think most conflicts can be solved with words, but if it comes to it and you need another fully trained person to help defend the ship or a mission, I am capable."

Nyx looked down to the cane and back up to the man. He nodded slowly. "You're not the first to serve with the assistance of a cane. But to hear you're still in pain troubles me. We have a very capable Medical team onboard the Pandora. They helped to give Lieutenant Griffin a new arm, they've patched me up when some Ravages decided to impale my leg with a rusty arrow. Whether you're serving as a Diplomat or with a rifle, I can't have you dependant on medication to function."

“I’ll meet with medical staff before we get to Paradise Station,” assured John. “Most days it isn’t too bad. The shuttle ride aggravated it a bit. Maybe your doctors have come across solutions that will reduce the number of bad days, but the best medical experts on Earth couldn’t solve it completely. Something about the crash also shocking my nervous system. I keep a short-term pain medication on my person for when the going gets rough, and I plot through when I need to. I’ve served on starships for years like this, Captain. Please rest assured that it isn’t a liability. But I do plan to check in with sickbay and bring this up with them.”

With that, John left the ready room and took the turbolift back to his quarters, where he began unpacking and looking through the files on the people represented at Paradise Station.

OFF