What Every Commander Should Know
Posted on Fri Oct 31, 2025 @ 2:29am by Commander Cara Letsul & Commodore T'mpest Michaels & Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant JG Anson Lee
1,408 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission: Time After Time
Once the initial rush of meetings and greetings was over, T'mpest set up an appointment with Cara, Curtis, Annora, and Anson to go over station security and to have a quick tour of any areas the command team needed to be aware of. Security was fairly easy to schedule. It was the rest of them that proved more problematic. But, eventually she found and scheduled the time.
Carrying two PADDs in her hands, Cara stepped in. "Greetings Commodore, it’s been a fine day so far, how about for you?" she walked over to the table and set her PADDs down. "Care for some tea Commodore?" Cara wanting some peppermint tea.
"At least things seem to be settling into a routine..."
"It is comforting that things are settling down, compared to earlier." Cara remarked bringing her tea to the table. She moved the PADD's out of the way, setting the cup down.
"And, as soon as we say that, something goes wrong." T'mpest couldn't help smiling, even though she'd seen it happen far too many times.
Curtis had a timer winding down in HUD and was dressed in a flight suit. He was due for a patrol aboard the Huaihe, a late model Danube class runabout. His idea of dragooning officers with flight training and having them fly missions to keep their qualifications had caught up to him.
Entering the Commodore's chosen meeting area, Curtis found a seat and pulled up the itinerary. "Commodore. Commander."
"Thank you for joining us, commander," T'mpest said by way of greeting.
Anson was rushing. He still didn't have a strong grasp of how long it took to get from one place in the station to another, and it seemed like he was always a little bit late. He slowed as he approached the Commodore's meeting room, a quick breath of relief when he wasn't the last one there.
Annora arrived just behind her deputy, coffee in hand. The meeting had required some rearranging of her schedule, but when your boss wants a meeting you do your best to accommodate them. She nodded to the guard outside the door. While he did a good job at blending into the background, Petty Officer Nevin was one of the augmentees from her division.
T'mpest smiled as the two security officers entered. "Thank you for coming. I know your schedules are as busy as ours, if not more so. Please, have a seat."
When they were all seated, the commodore began. "This is a little late in coming, and for that I apologize." She was gaining a new appreciation for the work involved in running a station. "The three of us would like you to give us a rundown of what we need to know and may not about the station. If that involves you showing us, we are available for that as well."
It was a pretty broad question, but Annora did her best to give a satisfactory answer.
"All things considered, we're sitting pretty well security wise. Manning is at 90 per-cent. A handful have been pulled for additional duties, and Commodore Zuhod's office assures me DS5 is top of the list for reinforcements. While we have no hard evidence to suspect any booby-traps left by the Cardassians, Security is working with engineering to sweep every deck for any potential security concerns. Generally speaking, the station is safe. Although, I always caution newcomers against the Raddon corporation, as they tend to be Xenophobic in their thinking."
"I can now report that Melvin Raddon is in Federation custody and all his assets have been seized," T'mpest reported. "There were complaints about his facility on Pangaea, and the former captain filing a formal complaint that started an investigation. A team of Federation investigators searched his holdings on the station a few days ago. I received the final report this morning." She raised an eyebrow. "I was not told of this in advance. I take it you were not as well?"
None of that came as a surprise, other than the fact Raddon had actually been evicted.
"I requested and served the original warrant, with the help of then Lt Haines, following the revelation of their corporation conducting illegal operations on the planet. Once it was handed off to Federation security it was out of our hands."
"Yes, I read that report. Apparently it took them some time to do a thorough check and decide there was enough evidence to confiscate all his assets. I have received a request from a group on Empok Nor to open a branch of a club called Neverwinter Nights in one of the Raddon buildings on the station. Lasuma's may want some of the property as well." T'mpest raised an eyebrow. "What can you tell me about the man and what he did here?"
The report was probably buried in one of several messages she hadn't sorted through yet.
"When we're done here, I'll get a joint team together to go through what was the Raddon complex. I didn't have a lot of dealings with them, outside of official duties. Always thought it a bit odd that such a human-centrist company operated on the Station, suppose the benefits of interstellar commerce outweighed any perceived risks. Their main focus was on the dilithium business, they seemed to do well for themselves. That is until they overstepped their bounds."
T'mpest nodded. "From what I read, they seemed to do that a lot. The Marines turned the Raddon building on Pangaea into a rather deep pit. We will either have to fill it, or turn it into something."
That sounded like a task for the research team planet-side, with perhaps some assistance from the Marines and Engineering department.
"Speaking of the Marines." Annora, said to change the subject.
"It's been decided to hold a competition between our two departments, best 2 out of 3. The details are still being worked out. The Colonel and I agreed to use independent 3rd parties to create the challenges, so neither side has an unfair advantage. Will be an obstacle course, hostage rescue, and a head to head competition. The Forge is nearing completion, so we can utilize that for one of the events. Maybe the final one, as we can run the other two concurrently on the holodecks."
While the holodecks were quite handy and versatile, Annora liked that idea of a physical training space that could be arraigned as needed for different training requirement. Working with engineering, she had identified some space down in the bowels of the station that could be utilized.
"That is an excellent idea," T'mpest said. "Let me know if there is any way command can help you with that."
Grinning, Curtis said, "Perhaps the command staff should test out the course, Commodore?"
T'mpest smiled back. "An excellent idea. I agree." She turned to Annora. "Ultimately, however, the decision is yours." But she did think it sounded like fun.
There had been some discussion about doing an official opening for the Forge.
"Maybe not the exact course used for the competition, although I'm sure the rank and file would love to see the Command staff run through a version of the obstacle course. Once the conversion is complete, I will schedule a time for y'all to test it out. For the actual events, we'll let you hand out the trophy. How's that sound?"
Not as interesting as running the course, but T'mpest knew that, as station commander, she should. "That will be fine." She looked around at the others. "Is there anything else we need to be aware of?"
Cara was intrigued by the thought of the Forge, as for anything else she didn't think so. "I believe we've covered everything that was needed." her eyes drifting over towards Curtis. "What do you think Commander Thibideaux?"
"I agree, ma'am," Curtis said. "I think more work will spin out from this. It's a good place to springboard from."
T'mpest nodded. "In that case, I believe we are done here. Thank you all for your time. Please let me know if there is anything that requires my attention." Then she gave them a half-smile. "Or if you think of anything we should implement."
Commander Cara Letsul
Executive Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Strategic Operations Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Annora Tessaro
Chief of Security
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant JG Anson Lee
Assistant Chief Security
Deep Space 5
Commodore T'mpest Michaels
Commander
Deep Space 5
RSS Feed