Station Tour

Posted on Wed Sep 17, 2025 @ 12:57am by Lieutenant JG Anson Lee & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant JG Jali Andloch

1,829 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Various
Timeline: MD 12 Afternoon

On:

The turbolift opened up on Deck 12, just down the hall from the Command Center.
"Figured the best place to start was Station Ops." Annora said. "After the recent attack we've beefed up security. Re-enforced the main door, added secondary blast doors further down the hall and extra force-field emitters. The goal is to harden the area without trapping the folks inside should they need to evacuate."

Jali took in the improvements that had been put in place, giving an approving nod, "This is good,I am glad to see how serious you are taking security measures. My brother K'doc would approve as well. He was the chief of security at the other station. He is now with the marines."

“Wait, was this the station where you were the Assistant Chief? They let you serve under your brother? Is that allowed?” Anson asked. "I don't think I'd be able to serve under my brother. Of course, he's a cellist, so I don't actually know what he'd do if he joined Starfleet."

"Not blood-brother but more of a brother than my half-brothers. They were--" Jali frowned working out a way to describe them. "They were less than willing to claim me as their sister. I was the runt, I had no way to bring honor to the family in their opinion. K'doc thought differently he put them in their place."


As they talked, Annora led the small group into Station Ops. Petty Officer Barton greeted them as they entered.
"Can I help you?"

"Just showing the new folks around. Lt Lee's finally been confirmed by Sector Command as the Deputy Security Chief and Lt. Andloch will be joining the investigations team. Figured we'd start at the top and work our way down."

Annora pointed out a few key locations in the room.
"Each shift sends two people up to Ops as a security liaison. During heightened alert conditions that number can increase depending on what's going on. I don't imagine either one of you regularly filling that role, but you're welcome to do so if so desired. Personally I try to spend at least an hour each shift up here. Helps me get a pulse on the overall Starbase activities and gives me an excuse to get out of the office."

Jali nodded with approval, "The previous Chief of Security, a childhood friend of mine, he could have learned a thing or two from you. He was a good man but it seemed that he lost his way, in what he needed to go.I do intend on taking my turn a well in tactical."

"Good to hear. Coordinate with whoever the officer on duty is that day and they can get you set up."
She thought back to when she first donned a uniform all those years past. Filling the role of a tactical officer was something she never imagined doing.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Despite being much more comfortable in the security aspect of the job, I recognize there's whole 'nother aspect to the position so I want to make sure I'm prepared."

There wasn't a whole lot more to show them in Ops for the purpose of their tour.
"I think that's about it here. Let's head down to the staging area, which most department members will become quite familiar with."

Jali's eyes lit up, filled with excitement. She was liking this more and more, this place firmly planting itself into the very fiber of her being.

The group took the turbolift down to the top level of the security decks. They headed toward a pair of double doors on the left, which slid open to reveal a spacious three-tiered auditorium. Up front sat a moderate-sized stage with a podium.

"This is where most of the security briefings occur, especially before each shift," Annora said. "Any pertinent information from the previous shift is passed along here, plus any changes to the normal patrol schedule. When fully staffed, we run a four-shift rotation of six hours each: 52 guards on regular patrol, two in Ops, and six assigned to the docking bays. Teams range from two to six, though exact sizes fluctuate. Shifts officially start on the hour, but incoming teams are expected here 15 minutes early, and they return here when their shift ends."

She walked to the rear of the room, where a single door and a large pass-through window marked the armory. Placing her thumb on the recessed scanner next to the door, the light quickly turned green.

"Back here is the armory," she explained. "Standard patrol loadout is a Type 2 phaser and tricorder. If additional gear is needed, it can be picked up here as well."

Anything beyond the standard taken out of the armory would be registered in the system. A rationale could be entered at the time of removal or later, but all the records would go to Anson, as Assistant Chief, to review and confirm the usage was justified. There were a surprising number of them, such as the officer who’d gotten a helmet because he’d had to go crawling through the water filtration pipes to find a child who had been hiding from an upset mother. Security officers were nothing if not creative.

Once again, Jali was impressed, and it showed.

"I like this, not that you need validation from me, but I am most impressed. I feel I have found a place where I belong. and can call home." She wasn't ashamed admitting this.

"Glad to hear it, and as you get more acquainted with the station and procedures this place should feel more at home."

Annora motioned for Jali to follow her inside, opening the standard locker on the left wall.

"These racks contain the hand phasers and tricorders," she said. "As units are taken, the racks rotate downward to present fresh replacements."

She activated another recessed biometric scanner on the opposite wall, and the panel slid open to reveal its contents.

"Here are the heavy weapons; rifles and stun batons as needed."

Moving to the rear wall, she opened a large locker.

"This is your PPE. Helmets, vests, and any other gear required for higher-alert status."

Finally, a touch on a panel below the locker opened a small drawer.

"And last but not least, stun grenades. Unless active combat is expected, they mostly stay in the armory."

After closing everything up, she headed back into the briefing room.

"That's pretty much it for here. We'll take a quick stroll through the Promenade before making one last stop. Unless there's somewhere else you’d like to visit."

"A quick stroll sounds really good, as for any other place, I'm good with what we're doing." And she was, was she being too much human?

Leaving the briefing room/armory, Annora and the others headed to the heart of the station. Along the way they passed a few security teams going about their patrols. As they walked, Annora pointed out a few points of interest along the way. When they stopped at Hogan's Hoagies, she made a quick call to Petty Officer Tihr. The Andorian was more than willing to meet the trio at their last official stop.

Entering the turbolift, Annora gave their destination.
"Deck 467."

"This last location is fairly unique to DS5, although I wouldn't be surprised if a few other locations have something similar. Officially it's Auxiliary storage Gulf 4. Among those in know, it's called Echo Bay."

The turbolift deposited them into a corridor with a few scattered shops and various storage bays. Several meters down, the corridor made a wide sweeping curve, hiding what lay beyond. At the end lay another turbolift, but Annora stopped where Tihr stood waiting for them. Once the proper introductions were made, Annora revealed what was hidden.
"Mr Tihr is in-charge of what we call DART teams. Think of them as a quick reaction force should the need arise. During normal operations one team is on duty at all times, but folded into normal patrols. During heightened alert, one or two teams will be placed on active standby ready to quickly deploy. Should the need arise to pull them from their regular duties, they're rerouted here to first gear up. Lt Lee, you'll have access to here. Lt Andloch, while your current assignment doesn't grant you access, it's still good to be aware of."

When Tihr placed his thumb on a hidden sensor inside the door-frame, the double doors opened with barley a hiss. From the entrance, the room looked like an auxiliary crew annex more than anything. A lounge with chairs was off to the left, with 2 small tables and a display screen. The other side contained a compact gym and sonic showers.
"This area sees light traffic. However, we wanted to keep it innocuous all the same." Tihr explained, leading them to the back half of the room. Entering his authorization codes, the back wall slid open into a hidden crevice to reveal a compact staging area. Much like the main location, tactical gear and weapons were strategically placed around the room.
"We have enough gear to equip three teams of six. If need be, the others can gear up at the main armory."

Jali paid attention to all of the details nodding as Tihr spoke, once again she was impressed. "When will we be doing drills with the other teams?"

It wasn't hard for Tihr to see that Jali was impressed with the setup. He dipped an antennae towards Annora.
"Our teams have a training session scheduled for next week. As for the general security staff, I'll defer to the boss."

As he exited into the main annex the walls closed behind, once again concealing the armory.

At that cue, Annora answered the question.
"It's rare that the entire department trains together. We try and rotate at least half the department through a mass training event once a month. I know there's one coming up, don't remember the exact timing. When I get back to the office, I will make sure you get a copy of the training schedule. Feel free to continue exploring the station on your own. Although I'd steer clear of the Raddon corporation. They tend to look down on anyone not human, and the fact that we served a warrant on their offices due to illegal operations on the planet didn't help anything."

She glanced around the room.
"That's probably the end of the tour, unless there's something else you wanted to see. Lt Lee, anything to add?"

"I think that's almost everything. Just one additional bit of safety advice. Avoid the Bolina cafe on deck 357. They're really not geared towards non-Bolians," Anson said.

"Thank you, I truly appreciate the tour of the station." And Jali meant it, "I look forward to seeing the training schedules." Looking to the others.

Off:
Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief Security Officer
DS5

LTJG Jali Andloch
Investigator
DS5

Lt. JG Anson Lee
Assistant Chief Security Officer
DS5

 

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