New Kid on the Block

Posted on Mon Oct 19th, 2026 @ 4:26pm by Captain Cassandra Hawk & Lieutenant Commander Frederick Kopec

2,296 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: A New Sheriff in Town
Location: Starbase Mojave

::ON::

Kopec caught his reflection in a transparisteel viewport that looked out into the inky black. Frowning, he tugged on his beard, attempting to get it to sit right. No matter how many times I comb that cheek ... he grumbled, moving to brush imaginary lint off his uniform shoulder. The man took a deep breath. Held it. Breathed out. Steady as she goes, he reminded himself.

Mojave was huge. He'd taken time on the long voyage over to familiarise himself with the state-of-the-art Copernicus class of Starbase, but it had still been jarring when he arrived on-station. Kopec found it incredible still that humanity could contribute to such massive structures in space. The place had been a veritable maze when his transport vessel had docked, and the only way he had found his own quarters was by following his PADD directions to the letter.

The same for the Starbase's Operations Center. Walking through, he skirted duty stations and their attendant personnel, still unused to the deferent nods his new hollow pip on the collar afforded him. He searched out the Captain's Ready Room, pressed the chime, eager to get his assignment rolling.

"Enter," the call came from behind the door.

As the automatic doors opened, the ready room beyond, lit with the slightest hint of violet light issuing from the nebula not that far off, came into view. It was a moderately sized space, not the luxurious open plan offices of planet side commands, but also not the cramped little things aboard a starship. It had enough room to comfortable house several of the senior officers, but not much more than that. Though the center of the room was dominated by the desk, either wall held a variety of personal effects. To the right was a small saguaro cactus in a simple pot, clearly a transplant from the desert of North America on Earth. The wall next to it was occupied by various artifacts and souvenirs from the captain's travels, and most notably, her brimmed hat and rope from the ranch she'd grown up on. The nearer wall was lined more than few mementos, models of ships that had been previous assignments, a memorial to what appeared to be the Captain's mother, and a few others. Outside the viewport behind the desk, Mojave's Docking Rings 2 and 3 were visible, backlit by a nearby violet-cyan nebula.

Seated at the simple desk in the center of the room, was Captain Cassandra Hawk. The young woman's ridged nose was looking even more exaggerated than normal as her brow was currently furrowed intensely. She was in the middle of reading yet another report about the supply requisitions on Deck 9. This one was enumerating the ways in which her decision to delay bringing the replicators on that level online were an affront to....She put the padd down, more than a little relieved have a visitor.

As she looked toward the door, the furrowing of her brow lessened substantially, replaced by a welcoming smile, and she pushed her chair back and rose to her feet. "Ah, Lt. Commander Kopec, I presume? It's great to finally have your aboard."

She extended her hand in greeting. "Captain Cassandra Hawk, it's pleasure to meet you."

Kopec closed the space between them, extending his own bear-sized hand to engulf hers in a firm handshake. 'A pleasure Captain. It's great to finally get my feet on some solid ground so to speak - the trip out was longer than I'm used to,' he said with a smile, then nodded to the memorial wall. 'If I'm not mistaken, that's a bona-fide rancher's hat and rope? You grew up ranching?'

Cassandra couldn't prevent the smile that immediately reached her face. It wasn't often that her personal history triggered someone else's recognition. "It is indeed. I was born aboard ship during my father's command of the Hamilton. We were out by the Cardassian border in the 70s, so suffice it to say...an interesting time to be over there. Spent a few years between Bajor and the Hamilton. But we moved back to Earth when I turned 7 for my parents' planetside postings. My Aunt Selene had a ranch in Sedona and I essentially lived there through my time at the academy. A lot of good years there. There's nothing quite like just taking off into the open countryside on horseback."

The barest hint of a wistful look flashed across her eyes. "I do enjoy the stars, but I still miss it sometimes. I will say though, the dust on that hat is in fact fresh. A few days ago, I was on Calidus IV delivering some supplies for their settlement. Their weather makes Arizona feel very tame by comparison."

He chuckled, 'that's quite the statement. Weather in the southwest isn't easy at the best of times. I grew up on a ranch, next state over, New Mexico. It's a tough life, still. But I loved it growing up, heading out to the cattle was always great.' A rueful look crossed his expression. 'Starfleet takes precedence unfortunately. I'll have a place at the family compound, but my brother will get the ranch.' Kopec looked from the hat, to the floor, conscious he was talking about himself a lot. Then he looked up at the younger captain, and smiled, 'so we go out to our neighbours here, we don't expect them to rock up at our door?'

The response elicited a chuckle from the young woman who settled back in her chair, relaxing her posture a bit. "Oh, don't worry, we get plenty of knocks at our door too. More and more every day. But this region has a bit of an issue with marauders. They've apparently always been a bit of a factor in the region, but Mojave's construction seems to have stirred up a lot more activity than usual. Trading ships are being harassed on the regular. Settlements aren't safe either. We've even had a few skirmishes with them ourselves. Our runabouts have been getting a workout of late. That's actually part of the reason getting Achilles finished and ready for proper combat has been such a priority."

Kopec leaned forward in his seat, excitement growing in his belly. 'I wasn't aware that the Achilles wasn't in a fit state to take on its duties.' He smiled, 'I suppose there's a tight deadline and a lot of work to be done?'

Cassandra sat back, a mischievous look playing across her face. "Oh, she's spaceworthy. That's not really the problem. In fact, I think I owe you a good deal of thanks for that. When I saw your name come across the transfer request, I was particularly excited. Your work helping bring the Protowarp drive back to a functional, modern state has already been monumentally helpful for Mojave, and frankly, for me personally. I don't think Achilles would be spaceworthy at all if you and your team hadn't been working on it."

She leaned forward, lacing her fingers in front of her and tilting her head. "The issue is more my custom modifications, if you will." She gave him a sidelong glance, letting him know she was at least partly to blame for the ship not being quite where it should be. "We're out here on the frontier on our own, and with the marauders around, I wanted something... let's just say intimidating enough to keep them off our backs. I ordered a series of custom modifications to Achilles' existing frame, including a substantial increase in her armaments."

"Your predecessor put in a great deal of work under a tough timeline, no thanks to me, before he was called away to the Tzenkethi border. Brilliant mind, and a bad time to lose him. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of the work was only partly done." She shrugged. "I've been taking Achilles out on a few missions of late, nothing combat related. She can fly, and she can fly fast. I've even had her back to the heart of the Federation. But I want her to be able to fight, and her pulse phasers and quantum torpedoes still need work."

Her smile faded a little as she glanced toward the viewport. If she were being honest with herself, the last round of negotiations over Achilles' priorities hadn't gone the way she'd have liked. She had pushed hard, maybe harder than she should have, and the conversation had gotten away from her in a way she wasn't proud of. Then he'd been pulled away in the middle of that difficult work, and she hadn't had the chance to make it right. She'd have to live with that one.

She looked back up at him, slightly seeking forgiveness. She didn't want to start things with Kopec the same way. Still, she got the feeling he might be up for the challenge. A chance to finish a ship that already carried his own handiwork was something they could both be invested in. She turned her hands open, trying to convey that this was a request, not a demand. "So, that's the situation."

He knew in his heart that this far from the Federation, Mojave and the Achilles would have to stand on their own. Go toe-to-toe with those who objected to Starfleet's presence coreward. Weapons, however much he disliked firing them in anger, came with the territory. And the chance to put a final stamp on a ship of her class. If it worked, he might make a name for himself.

'It's an interesting situation to be sure,' he said, poker face cracking as he let a small smile escape. 'I don't mind tight deadlines. And I don't mind a custom job.' Kopec came to a decision, 'if the work has already begun, all I need are the existing notes to the schematics and we can keep cracking on. Achilles won't be toothless for long, I can assure you that.'

A wave of relief washed over Cassandra, which she likely only partly kept internal. Her shoulders noticeably relaxed, regardless of her efforts. "I'll make sure you have every bit of information you need, right down to the last detail on the check out records," the Captain said with a bowed head in appreciation. "And I do appreciate you indulging my bespoke upgrades."

She leaned back once more, regaining a bit of the composure she'd had externally earlier. "Now, I imagine the ship isn't the only thing you have questions about around here. Anything else I can help bring you up to speed on?"

'If you have a general rundown on our systems I'd appreciate it,' Kopec replied affably. 'Mojave's new, but this far from core Federation territory, if a part fails, it could be a while before we get a replacement - I just need to see the early wear and tear reports, what's being degraded fastest you know?' He pointed to the ranching memorabilia, 'and maybe, if you don't mind, a chat sometime about home?'

Cassandra felt something in her settle at how quickly he’d gone to the practical. It was the right question, and that hit-the-ground-running attitude would greatly benefit Mohave out here on the fringe. “That’s easy enough to arrange. I’ll have Operations send you everything they’ve logged since we arrived, along with all the previous incident reports.”

She considered how much to say beyond that. The honest answer was that the data was thin. The station was very recently online, still standing up larger systems, and a good deal of what she knew came from complaints rather than reports. “I can tell you what’s been brought to my attention so far. The replicators have been unreliable in a few places, particularly Deck 9, which has elicited some...enthusiastic advocacy for its repair, if you will. Engineering traced the core issue to the raw stock supply rather than the hardware, which is part of why I’ve held off on the actual repairs of Deck 9. But that obviously hasn't done anything to resolve the complaints. There’s been a minor irregularity in the power flow as well, particularly anytime we use the attitude thrusters. With the galactic core this close, the station’s compensators are working harder than I’d like. None of it is alarming...yet. But I’d rather you hear it from me now than find it in a report when something finally gives out.”

She leaned back slightly. “A lot of this place was finished under a tight timeline. Obviously there are priorities to complete, but once that is done, I’d treat anything marked complete as a starting point and see how 'complete' it actually is.”

Her gaze moved to the hat on the wall, then back to him. “As for indulging some nostalgia, I’d like that. It’s easy to let the work swallow everything out here, so it's good to remember what got us here. Whenever you’ve settled in.”

'Very good then,' Kopec replied with one final smile. Noting down what his new Commanding Officer told him were the issues he was pleased to be leaving with a clear idea of what his Engineering Department would be facing going forward. He was looking forward to assigning priorities and handing out the assignments to get the station just so. 'If there's nothing else, Ma'am?'

Cassandra gave a shake of her head. "No, I think I've held you up plenty. Go ahead and get yourself settled, Commander. And, welcome aboard."

'It's my pleasure, I assure you,' Kopec replied, getting to his feet and making for the door. 'I'm looking forward to this,' he called as he stepped out the door.

 

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