The Cold of November

Posted on Thu Mar 19th, 2020 @ 5:37am by Post Captain Mikaela Di'Tomasso-Sinclair

Mission: Mission 100: I'm Going to Ruin Somebody's Day
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1400Hrs - July 12th, 2393

Captain Mikaela Di'Tomasso was sitting in her office as the command she was presently looking after was presently undergoing her final shaking down. The tall Orion female knew that this ship would soon become the care of another crew and another commander, this did not bother her in the least as she pushed a locke of ebon black hair out of her purple eyes. She missed her spouse and her children who were presently assigned to Starbase Vanguard (47) which was located in the Taurus Reach. In a couple of months, she would be relieved of her assignment here, then she would return to them and take the shore leave she had not gotten the last time before getting this assignment from Independent Fleet Operations.

The com system beeped at her. "Di'Tomasso here." the tall Orion female lightly tapped her combadge.

"Skipper, you have an incoming communication from Starbase Three." came the unexpected response from the coms officer who's name, Mikaela could not recall.

"I'll take it in here," she replied, she moved across her office in silence as she activated the large wall monitor. "Admiral?" she found herself addressing Division Admiral James Walton, the head of Independent Fleet Operations department.

"Captain. The USS Roanoke-A has been reassigned from First Independent battle group to a new force that's being put together, its called the Colonial Relief Force, for now, she'll be working along with other ships on an as-needed basis," he explained to the Orion female before him.

"I see Admiral." Di'Tomasso honestly thought that this idea was a waste of a super battleships skills and capabilities, this was something that should have gone to a Vikrant or a Vishal class ship, either would have been far better suited to this effort. "Admiral, with all due respect, this ship would be wasted on that sort of an assignment." she regarded him as she spoke. "A battleship such as this should be leading fleets and battlegroups. The Gum Nebula exploration assignment or the Taurus Reach would both greatly benefit from this ship being assigned to either."

"Yes Captain, I already know all of this except others made this choice at a higher pay grade than mine," Walton responded in a dry tone of voice. "You aren't telling me anything that I didn't already say at the meeting ten minutes ago when the choice was made." Walton sighed softly.

"Yessir." JKust like that, it was done and there was nothing Di'Tomasso or anyone else could do to change things, someone high up had made this choice without looking at the specs of this ship but suddenly Di'Tomasso sighed. "It's this ships name, isn't it?" the Orion inquired.

"You mean the name 'Roanoke'?" Walton inquired of her, he wanted to be sure of what she was saying to him.

"Yes, The last ship to carry this name did good work with the few colonies she got to visit. People spoke well of the ship and her crew." Di'Tomasso elaborated. "It could be that someone wanted the same name, only on a much bigger platform, out doing the same job."

"Well, you do make an excellent point, now that I'm thinking about it, Captain," Walton responded. "There are a lot of colonies that require attention," he added.

"What are my revised orders Admiral?"

"Same as before, get that ship ready for service but be mindful of any unusual orders that might come your way or things along that line. How are the ship and her crew anyway?" Walton inquired of her.

"The ship is undergoing her final fitting out before she leaves the dock next week for her trail runs. The crew is determined to get this work done but morale is good." Di'Tomasso explained. "They are not afraid to come to me with issues and concerns. Which I prefer to be honest." the handsome Orion female explained with a smile.

"That's good to hear Captain, No I don't have your next assignment yet but I see you want to go back to a Starbase. May I inquire as to why?"

"My family is presently assigned to Starbase Vanguard. I wish to return to them." Di'Tomasso explained in a gentle tone of voice but there was no mistaking the demand behind them.

"I'll mention it to Admiral St John and see what we can arrange for you." came the expected response, Admiral Walton was going to pass off the buck to someone else, honestly she did not care either. "I will keep you informed Admiral as to the progress of the USS Roanoke and her crew. Will that be all sir?" Di'Tomasso inquired.

"Yes, that's all I wanted Captain, thank you for your time." he sighed "Walton out." and with that, the screen went back. The tall Orion knew that he could very easily have prolonged the chat with her because he outranked her and it was as simple as that really.

The tall Orion female stood in silence for a moment before she turned and went out of her office door, her next stop was Engineering.