SIM:Reider, Luke/And so it Goes...

Admiral Reider prepares the next mission for the USS Freedom-A. ::Admiral Luke Reider stepped out of his quarters, and nodded his head just slightly to the two guards standing across the hall. There were, as always, stony faced and vigilant. The hallway was otherwise quiet. The residents of this quad were mostly high ranking members of the command staff of StarBase 118. Admirals, administrators of fleet movement and upkeep, shift Captains, and various other people of respect.:: ::The recent weeks on the base had been, for the most part, relaxing. Luke had fallen into a routine with his duty shift, and was enjoying the contact with the few captains he had begun coordinating efforts with. The Klingons had been quiet the past few months, and the Romulans, up till this point, hadn't been much of a problem since the attack on the StarBase over a year and a half ago. Dinora's research was moving along nicely, and she was just a few weeks away from a breakthrough discovery, she felt.:: ::The admiral rounding a corner and boarded a lift, requesting a transfer station. The lift hummed quietly as he waited. A few moments later, he stepped off into the transfer station. The waiting room for the next express shuttle to the station one, near the top of the base, was boarding. Luke's com badge chirped as he moved forward in the line. He might be an admiral, but that doesn't mean he gets a front-of-the-line pass unless there's an emergency.:: CC: =/\= Admiral Reider, the Freedom is about 30 minutes from dock, did you wish to give any further instructions before they arrive? =/\= REIDER: Hopefully if we're lucky, I'll just be making it to the command center by then... ::There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. Everyone on the base had a thing or two to say about the escalating problem of traffic in the turbolifts. More lifts had been inserted into the tubes, and speeds increased, but regardless the lines were growing longer in the boarding stations every month.:: REIDER: Tell Commander Falcon and his command staff to meet me in my conference room when they arrive. We have much to discuss. ::And with that, the Admiral sighed, and leaned up against the wall of the waiting room as the door to the in the station lift closed, full to the brim.:: Luke gives the Freedom their mission. ::After finally making it to the command center, Reider headed into his office for a few minutes of peace and quiet. With all the hassle of just making it up to those levels of the base, sometimes it was just nice to have a few minutes to one's self.:: ::With the full mission assignment ready for the Freedom, Luke touched his desk to get his secretary on the line.:: RENILIAN: Yes Admiral? REIDER: Please summon the crew of the Freedom to my private conference room. I'm ready to give them their next assignment. RENILIAN: Understood. ::Leaning back in his comfortable and plush leather chair, the Admiral took a few minutes to consider the crew. It was his hope that they would have a few more command staff officers before they left. The readings coming in from the once-Dominion occupied Delta-Base 6 were troubling, to say the least. The possibility of an as-yet-unknown Dominion occupied base in that vicinity was something that would need to be investigated, and fast.:: RENILIAN: The crew of the Freedom is on their way, Admiral. REIDER: Thank you. ::Touching his desk again, the admiral requested a hot chocolate from his replicator across the room.:: REIDER: Thank the heavens for modern comforts... ::After a few moments of skimming an incoming message from Fleet Command, Luke stood, grabbed the hot drink, and headed out of his inner office. Renilian, a Bajoran, smiled at him as he walked through the waiting room, and then into the conference room. A few of the officers had already arrived, and were seated. After the usual "Admiral on deck" rigamarole, they sat down again at the table. There was silence for a few moments as Luke put his PADD down. Then, smiling he looked up at the officers.:: REIDER: How's everyone liking the StarBase so far? Been a while since you've been back, eh? CREW: [responses?] REIDER: ::Nodding:: The mission reports for you folks were interesting, I'll give you that much. CREW: [responses?] ::After a few more minutes of small talk, the rest of the crew arrives.:: REIDER: Well, now that you're all here, let's get started. For those of you that don't know, I am Admiral Luke Reider. I am in command of the day to day operations on this StarBase, under Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf. As some of you know, your time here on the base will be short. We are under control of an ex-Dominion base, which was left abandoned near the end of the war, called Delta-Base 6. In the past two months we've been monitoring odd incoming messages from a location that has not been mapped as of yet. REIDER: We would like the Freedom-A to investigate the location and see what you come up with. We have a hunch that there may be another secret Dominion base that is still in covert operations, somewhere in the vicinity of DB 6. You are first to head to DB 6 and pick up all information you can. From there, you are to do what you can to find out what the deal is, and report back as soon as possible. REIDER: Any questions?

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The Admiral ties up loose ends and sends the crew on their way. ANDREWS: Umm, sir. Yeah. Do you plan on us encountering Dominion or Breen troops in the area? REIDER: That's hard to say. If our suspicions are correct, and a Dominion base is operating near that location, then you will undoubtably be dealing with some Dominion forces. We believe this will be negligible however, and not a severe threat. We have not monitored any excessive number of ships through the nearby systems, and we thereby must assume that the crew of this base, if it exists, is operating on their own. ::Nodding slightly as he notes that there are no other questions, the Admiral takes a seat to allow Commander Falcon the floor.:: FALCON: I have something to add. I'd like to say that I'm proud of you all for your actions during the last mission. I could not ask for a better crew. I'm sure this mission will go easily. We'll be launching at 0800 hours tomorrow morning, so be at your posts on time. Please be back to the ship by 2000 hours. You'll need your sleep. That is all. ::Reider dissmissed the crew, taking a moment to shake Falcon's hand, and then headed back into his office. There were a number of messages waiting on his desk, but he had little time for them at the moment. He touched his desk a few times, and his screen illuminates.:: DINORA: Yes dearest? ::The amused grin on her face betrays a sense of defiance. She discouraged Luke's repeated calls to her during the day, chiding him for not focusing on his work.:: LUKE: How's it going? DINORA: ::Sighing happily:: Wonderful. The cultures are coming along beautifully. How are things up there? LUKE: ::Shrugging:: Not so bad. The Freedom is on it's way back out... I worry about them... such a green crew. DINORA: ::Waving her hand dismissively:: You always were overprotective. And besides, you barely know them... you yourself said they performed admirably on the last mission. ::Luke blinked, and looked away from the screen. Dinora knew well why he was overprotective... The Crockett mission still haunted both of them...:: DINORA: I... oh Luke, you really have to put that out of your mind. How long are you going to torture yourself for? I thought we had gotten past this. ::The Admiral looked back at the screen, frowning. It wasn't like her to prod him like this.:: LUKE: Get past this? ::Unhappily:: I suppose I'm going to torture myself for as long as I look like ... THIS. ::Luke was referring to his perpetually young visage. The body and face of a 43 year old, the mind of a 66 year old. With a deep breath, Dinora cocks her head to the side.:: DINORA: I'm sorry. I know being up there... sending these people out into space, it harps on you sometimes. I don't see it as often, and my work keeps me busy enough that I don't get to think about it that much. LUKE: ::Smirking, deadpan:: Are you implying that I'm not busy enough? ::She blew air threw her teeth and raised an eyebrow.:: DINORA: Well we all know that you sit around with your feet up on the desk most of the time... ::She giggled, making him smile himself.:: LUKE: Yeah, yeah. Why don't you get back to work? DINORA: You called me!! LUKE: A likely story. ::He winked and cut the connection. A few seconds later his secretary, seeing on her display that he was no longer occupied, rang in.:: LUKE: Yes? RENILIAN: Commander Hunter VanGault is here, Admiral. LUKE: Send him in. ::The door to the Admiral's spacious office hissed open. The proud looking young commander stepped in, his arms clasped behind his back. With a grin, he waited as Luke made his way around the desk to shake hands with him.:: REIDER: It's been a long time! VANGAULT: Only because you're so busy, Old Man! ::They laughed.:: REIDER: Better watch it. Even Intel doesn't hold the upper hand to the Admiral upstairs. I have connections you know. ::Luke motioned to the floors above him as he leadi Hunter to the nearby sofa. He was of course referring to the ever infamous Fleet Admiral Wolf. VanGault gave him a look of indignance.:: VANGAULT: He's got nothing on us. REIDER: ::Chuckling:: So how are things in the black tower? ::The Black Tower. Perhaps the best known icon of all that occured behind closed doors. The building Luke was speaking of was part of the administrative complex on the stardock, almost identical to StarBase 118, which stood over Earth.:: VANGAULT: Busy, as always. Besides that, I don't know too much. I stick to my duties and don't ask questions. Just like the rest of the officers there. ::With a looking of quiet knowledge, Reider nodded. The intelligence sector of StarFleet loved to operate under the cloak of mystery. Most of the time it only managed to amuse Fleeters, who considered Intel both pompous and big headed. After all, they rarely managed to be of any use to anyone.:: REIDER: Well, you're here now. I did the best I could, but I'm afraid a stint on the Freedom was all I have available at the moment. Most of the other ships are heading out for rather mundane missions. It wasn't like Intel requested anything specific for you. ::Hunter shrugged, sitting back slightly on the sofa.:: VANGAULT: It's my first real mission. Anything is a welcome departure from HQ, or the Academy. REIDER: I thought you liked teaching! ::Again, Hunter shrugged.:: VANGAULT: I do. But they don't trust me to teach much more than 100 level courses. It gets boring after a while. REIDER: Understandable. ::Pause:: Well, I suppose I should give you your formal directives and send you off to work, eh? VANGAULT: ::Smiling:: Something like that, boss. ::The two stood, and Luke made his way to the other side of his desk again, picking up two oversized PADDs, then handed them to Hunter.:: REIDER: The top one has your mission assignment, duty station, etcetera. The bottom one has information on the Freedom-A, including the location of your quarters and the like. VANGAULT: ::Skeptically:: I don't have to share quarters, do I? REIDER: ::Laughing:: No. Intel officers get the full ride, don't worry... I assume you already contacted logistics about transferring your personal items to the Freedom? VANGAULT: They said they would have it all there by 1600 hours. REIDER: Good. Well, that looks like everything. I wish we could have at least taken a lunch together. VANGAULT: ::Shaking his head.:: Just seeing you after so long was pleasure enough, Admiral. Tell Dinora I said hello. ::They shook hands again.:: REIDER: Will do. Good luck. ::Taking a seat, Reider watched Hunter leave the room, then started sorting through his messages.::