Getting to Know the Neighborhood

Posted on Mon Oct 19th, 2026 @ 4:28pm by Captain Cassandra Hawk & Lieutenant Commander Frederick Kopec & Lieutenant Hank Jacobs M.D. & Lieutenant Elsen Rava
Edited on on Mon Oct 19th, 2026 @ 5:45pm

1,813 words; about a 9 minute read

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

The doors to the captain’s office parted with a soft hiss, opening into the main room of Starbase Mojave’s Operations center. Even with a few weeks of command under her belt, the station still felt fresh and exciting.

Ops was quiet but busy, with a handful of officers moved between consoles. On the central display, the stellar survey of their star system was progressing. A three-dimensional projection of the star system rotated slowly. There were several terrestrial planets, one with a prominent ring system, another a large water world, the debris field of what had once been a third world, a wide band of asteroids and stellar debris, and then a family of 3 gas giants stretching to the other edge of the system. The scan indicator was circling one of the the gas giants in the outer reaches of the system. Sensor data streamed alongside it in a column of flowing information, listing off everything from radiation levels to atmospheric composition to rotation speed.

The captain paused for a moment at upper edge of the Ops pit, hands resting on the outer edge, taking in the scene. They'd been in this system for a while now, but were oddly unfamiliar with what exactly was in it, beyond cursory scans. Turning Mojave's massive sensor array toward local space had given them an opportunity to get to know their little neck of the woods better.

Cassandra turned toward the Science Station where Lt. Rava sat, looking at her display. "It's nice to finally be doing a deep dive on this little star system of ours," the Captain said, breaking the silence.

Elsen looked up from her console, expression brightening almost immediately. “It really is. We’ve been living here for weeks and, scientifically speaking, we’ve basically waved at the neighbours from across the street.”

She turned back to the display and brought the shattered world into sharper focus. “That one’s been stealing most of my attention. It was a fully differentiated planet, and we’re finding crust, mantle and core material throughout the debris field. Whatever happened to it wasn’t gradual, and it happened a very long time ago.”

Her fingers moved across the controls, following one of the reconstructed orbital paths. “There are plenty of perfectly natural ways to destroy a planet if you give the universe enough time and enthusiasm.” A small smile tugged at her mouth. “I’d still quite like to know which one it chose.”

She shifted the display towards the gas giant currently under survey, highlighting one of its smaller outer moons. “And then there’s this. Different density, unusual inclination, composition doesn’t quite match the others. Probably captured.”

Elsen leaned closer to the reading for a moment. “Gas giants collect things, so that part isn’t particularly strange.” The smile returned. “I just want to know where it came from.”

She sat back, looking towards the system turning slowly above Ops. “That’s the nice thing about finally looking properly. The first survey tells you what’s here. The second starts asking why.”

'System like this you could spend the rest of your life asking the why and how of the system's formation,' Kopec said, catching the Elsen's last comment as he walked over to the center pit, a brace of PADDs held casually in one hand, the fruit of his inspection labours of the station itself.

Doctor Jacobs entered the Ops with his head on a swivel trying to take in everything to once. This was the first time he was ever in a Starbase Ops room. The shear size and the amounts of technology visible around the area made a Starship's Bridge seem trivial to what he was witnessing here. Walking over to the group "Captain Hawk, Lieutenant Rava nice to see you both again," then seeing a new face "Lt. CMDR. I don't believe I've had the pleasure, I'm Lieutenant Hank Jacobs the new CMO," as he extended his hand towards Kopec.

'Lieutenant Jacobs, likewise it's a pleasure to meet you,' Kopec drawled, taking his hand in his own bearpaw and giving it a firm shake. 'Commander Frederick Kopec, Chief Engineering Officer. I'm sure you'll be seeing me in a professional capacity soon enough, what with needing my medical and all.'

"Any time you're in need of medical anything, please don't hesitate to stop by; we'll take good care of you" Hank responded with a smile. Turning his attention "Captain I have to admit this is quite the setup you have here. I've never been in a Starbase Ops before now; very impressive."

Hawk affectionately patted the railing around the Ops Pit, letting her eyes roam around the room. "Mojave is something else, isn't she. I still a little surprised Starfleet saw fit to put me in charge of this thing," she added with a bit of a twinkle in her eye. "But don't let the shiny finish on the panels intimidate you. Rava and I were just nerding out about the local neighborhood. We've got a lull between major cargo arrivals coming up in the next day or so. Might give us a bit of time to take a runabout over there."

Elsen looked across at Cassandra, eyebrows lifting.

“Nerding out is...” She glanced briefly towards the display, as though it might provide a more defensible term. “Actually, no. That’s fair.”

The mention of taking a runabout out there caught her much more completely. She turned back towards the projection, eyes settling first on the remains of the shattered planet.

“I’d like that. We’re getting good data from here, but there’s only so much you can reconstruct at this distance. If we can get into the debris field safely, we could take proper compositional readings and maybe narrow down what happened to it.” She paused, already following the thought somewhere further than she’d intended. “Or rule out several things that didn’t happen, which is considerably less exciting but still useful.”

Her attention shifted to the outer gas giant and its peculiar little moon.

“And I want a closer look at that.” A faint smile appeared. “I know, I know. It’s probably just a captured moon with a perfectly ordinary history.”

Elsen considered it for another second.

“But probably is doing quite a lot of work there.”

She looked back at Cassandra, only then seeming to appreciate another part of the proposal.

“Also, a runabout means nobody has to suggest transporting me there, so really this plan is improving by the second.”

'I'm sure we can give a runabout a quick once-over for the team that's heading out,' Kopec replied with a smile, leaning across the railing himself to look at the gas giant. 'The permutations necessary for that system to form just so ... incredible to think about isn't it?'

"Sounds like we've got ourselves a field trip. Commander Kopec, let's go ahead and give Denali that once-over. I think she'll be a perfect fit for this mission," Cassandra replied, realizing that she'd apparently developed a favorite runabout already. "Elsen, are you comfortable writing up an agenda? I think we could probably tick off the debris field and the moon in one little round trip. Not a deep dive yet. But we can at least dust up our boots a bit."

Elsen glanced towards Kopec. “It is. Although I’m starting to suspect the universe considers ‘incredible’ a perfectly acceptable substitute for explaining itself.”

At Cassandra’s question, she nodded and was already reaching for her PADD.

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll put something together. Debris field, then the moon, mostly reconnaissance rather than trying to answer everything on the first trip.” She paused, thumb hovering over the display. “Which I realise is me saying I’ll exercise restraint, so feel free to keep this conversation for the record.”

A smile crept in.

“I’ll have it to you before Denali’s ready. And I promise not to turn ‘dust up our boots’ into a six-day survey unless something out there gives me a very good excuse.”

'The race is on then,' Kopec replied, winking at Elsen. 'We'll give Denali a once over - the maintenance team needs to be put through its paces in any case.' He looked to the Captain and the Chief Science Officer. 'All I ask is you bring back the ship in one piece, yeah?'

Hawk gave a curt nod. "Seems a fair trade," she said, looking from the Engineer to the Doctor. "I don't suppose either of you would want to come along?"

Thinking for a brief moment "I'm game besides it'll give me a chance to check out Sickbay on the ship and it'll be a nice distraction for a few hours. Who knows maybe I'll even learn something from Lieutenant Rava while I'm at it" Hank responded with a grin.

Kopec gave it a moment's thought, then nodded. 'Can't help to know what's local to us - I'll tag along.'

Cassandra knocked the toe of her boot against the deck plating, a sort of punctuation to settle the decision. “Then it’s settled.”

She looked around the little group, and for one of the first moments of late, felt a bit less isolated. The crew was really starting to come together. And if she could keep her walls down...

“Let’s plan to launch from the main bay at 0900 on Thursday. That gives Commander Kopec and his team time to put Denali through her paces, and Elsen time to write up an agenda that is, I’m told, going to exercise restraint.” She let the barest hint of a smile show at Rava’s expense before turning to Jacobs.”

“Captain.” The call came from the Ops crewman at the nearest console, a young Petty Officer with a PADD held a little tighter than the situation warranted. “Sorry to interrupt. We’re receiving a transmission from one of the outlying colonies. They’re requesting to speak with you directly.”

The smile didn’t vanish entirely, but something behind it shifted. Cassandra had been in command long enough to know that “requesting to speak with you directly” might be a bit of a preamble to an airing of grievances. Out here, it was usually supplies, marauders, or both.

“Route it to my office,” she said evenly, already turning toward the door. She glanced back at the others, her expression easing again. “Alright everyone, duty calls. Carry on. I'll catch you around the station."

The doors to her office hissed open at her approach, and as she stepped through, the hum of Ops faded behind her. With a deep breath before hand, she gathered as genuine a smile as she could and activated the comms. "Governor, what can I do for you today?"

 

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