11th Fleet Data Log: Office CZ-34109/04 - Rear Admiral Gates

IC posts from the perspective of the Task Force Commanding Officer.

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11th Fleet Data Log: Office CZ-34109/04 - Rear Admiral Gates

Post by Williams » Thu Jun 11, 2015 5:11 pm

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Checking authorisation....

Authorisation check complete. Access is approved. Request routing via subspace relays to Cestus regional network.

Connection established to Starfleet Command Post GS-C-09A (Starfleet 11th Fleet Command Compound, Pike City, Cestus III)

Accessing recorded archives.

Video log found. Office CZ-34109/04. Office registered to Rear Admiral Gates, Richard. Starfleet service number DS-648-5731-FHG. Current posting; Chief of Fleet Operations; 11th Fleet



[OOC: This thread will be where I will post items from the In-Character perspective of Admiral Gates - this will include IC reactions to events going on in our story arc, any joint posts with other players where they want to have a meeting with the Admiral, and anything else that I feel is worth writing a post about]

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Re: 11th Fleet Data Log: Office CZ-34109/04 - Rear Admiral G

Post by Williams » Thu Jun 11, 2015 6:08 pm

Timeline: August 6th, 2391
Characters: Rear Admiral Richard Gates; Chief of Fleet Operations
Video log partially downloaded from USS Bordeaux, via Starbase 47 communications relays


The journey from Earth had been a long one. Just over a month ago, Gates had been a Commodore, tasked with coordinating single ships and small task groupings via their on-location commanders by Admirals further up the chain of command, not really holding any defined posting of his own to settle down and focus on for more than a few months at a time. It was an interesting job to be sure; being able to take a look at the bigger picture and make decisions and issue directives to those 'on the ground' that he might not have even thought necessary back when he was one of those starship captains, focussing only on the relatively small picture of the situation his own ship and crew were faced with at that time. The added politics and increased sense of meaning even added to the spice of the new job for a while. But after 6 years of moving from one assigned mission to the next, Gates was more than happy to accept the offer from Vice Admiral Quinn to join her team in a position where he could have the time to really make a difference. And so the newly-promoted Rear Admiral had boarded a starship heading to Cestus III and hadn't looked back at Starfleet Headquarters on Earth for the entire journey to the Galactic South.

He stood on the bridge of the USS Bordeaux as the ship dropped out of warp in the Cestus star system, and watched as the viewscreen was filled with the activity one should expect of a Federation member world that also played host to the headquarters for one of Starfleet's numbered fleets. The 11th Fleet had only been reconstituted a little over five years previously - he remembered it being dismantled following the Dominion War due to the losses it had suffered defending Benzar - but it was a fleet with one of the largest patrol zones there was. With their headquarters on one of the more developed worlds in the region, the fleet had responsibility for everywhere from the Klingon and Gorn borders, right out along the Tholian border to Beta Renner, and south down past Betelgeuse. Many of the systems had gone for years or even decades without a regular visit from a Federation starship, and he knew that there were many more worlds still to be explored in the vast region that had been claimed as part of Federation territory. Much of it was distant enough from other powers in the quadrant that the claims had gone unchallenged for as long as a century, which further seemed to lead to a reluctance on Starfleet's behalf to regularly patrol those regions. As the new Chief of Fleet Operations, Gates would assume a position in the chain of command directly above the commanding officers of all the starships within the 11th Fleet, beneath Admiral Quinn herself and alongside the other Admirals which formed her Admiralty board.

"Beam me down to the primary command complex as soon as we are close enough," the Admiral instructed Captain Elston, who was sat in his chair at the centre of the bridge, as he made his way around to the turbolift hatch. He wanted to collect the case with his belongings in it - already packed - before heading to the transporter room.

---Starfleet Primary Command Complex, Cestus III---

The office Admiral Gates had been assigned to was enigmatically labelled CZ-34109/04. Even in his six years working in San Francisco, Gates had never gotten his head around the system that Starfleet's engineers and planners used for designating room and section numbers for planetary or station-side rooms. It had always seemed far simpler on starships; deck numbers from top to bottom, section numbers from front to back, and room numbers, moving in sequence through each section. He had the computer guide him to the office; apparently it was on the 34th floor of the primary tower in the complex, which perhaps explained part of the enigmatic coding system, but the door before his in the corridor was labelled CZ-34843/03, which made no sense. He was quite satisfied however to see that etched into the door panel, above the room label was his name in bold black letters; R.Adm Richard Gates. His office back on San Francisco certainly hadn't had his name imprinted on it, that was for sure.

The Admiral barely took a moment to examine his new work space before he settled himself down behind his desk, eager to get to work. The room was more than adequate enough; it had floor-to-ceiling glass panels looking out onto Pike City, with the front courtyard of the building directly below. His desk was larger than the one he had on Earth, with a large embedded configurable keyspace area nearest to his chair, in addition to the standard mobile computer terminal sat on top of it. He had a large wall screen directly behind him, as well as an even larger one directly in front, which was configured to display the entire patrol zone, with tags showing the reported positions of each of the starships under his command. The desk had two guest chairs in front of it, and there was a couch and pair of arm chairs around a coffee table off in the corner for more casual meetings.

Gates studied the wall graphic for a few moments, noting the starships that were furthest out. The USS Highlander was up near the Talarian and Cardassian borders, much further north than the fleet's defined operational zone usually extended, but it wasn't uncommon for ships to travel further out if they were the logical choice for the mission at hand. There were clusters of starships as to be expected around Cestus III, and Starbases 332 and 47. The Tomcat was out in the Mira sector, and the Praxis - Gates paused for a moment to reflect of the particular relevance of the starship's name to its last assignment - was returning from an assignment to the Klingon world of M'Char. Satisfied with the overview the screen gave him of the fleet's movements, he activated his terminal, and began working through the long list of communiques and memos which had been building up waiting for his arrival.

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Re: 11th Fleet Data Log: Rear Admiral Gates

Post by Williams » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:32 pm

Timeline: Date unknown, 2391
Characters: Rear Admiral Richard Gates; Chief of Fleet Operations, Captain Nathaniel Hunter; Commander USS Kumiho
Video log downloaded from USS Kumiho's Captain's ready room, via Starbase 47 communications relays


Being told that he had a priority channel had put Nathan on edge a bit, what repairs could be done by Engineering were almost complete and at the least assured they'd be able to continue on to 332 for more extensive work. It was possible that someone in the higher ranks was unhappy with Kumiho or more specifically her CO which was always a risk when commanding a Starfleet vessel. Nathan sat at his desk and opened the channel, waiting to see the other end of the conversation before speaking. "Admiral..." Hunter gave a short nod of greeting, not immediately placing the officer looking back at him.

"Captain Hunter," Rear Admiral Gates said from the other side of the line, returning the nod of greeting. The view of him didn't give much away as to his location - he was in some sort of office, but with no windows directly behind him, it was hard to tell whether he was in an office block, on a starbase or aboard a ship. "I understand you've had a rather trying time on your current mission. I've read your reports, but I want to hear your assessment of the situation directly. What's the state of play out there?"

"Yes Sir. As I said in my report it wasn't the pirates that were the major problem. With fully functioning weapons we would have...." Nathan shook his head, blaming the ship was just not acceptable. "We did manage to force their departure from the area but could not continue the fight. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before they return." Unable to confirm if the pirates had anything to do with tensions between the Federation and the Gorn there wasn't much for Nathan to discuss there. "We deployed about twelve sensor buoys, however they're of a low-power design so anyone attempting to retrieve their observations must be in close proximity."

"Very well. I'm assigning the USS Blackwater to relieve you and resume your mission. What is your current course and destination?"

"We are making way for Starbase 332 Sir. We should be there by the end of the week." Nathan replied.

"Very good, I'll inform Captain Von to be expecting you. Your engineer's reports indicate that the Kumiho is in need of serious repairs to be able to return to duty. With the current situation with the Klingons and the Gorn, we can't afford to have a crew the size of yours sitting idle for the amount of time it would take. As such, I've taken the decision to temporarily decommission the Kumiho whilst repairs are carried out, and transfer her crew to another vessel." Gates paused as he delivered the news. He knew as well as any who had once sat in the Captain's chair how precious a ship could become to her captain and her crew. Hearing the ship was to be taken out of action for the foreseeable future wouldn't be the easiest thing for the captain to hear.

Nathan sat back, this had always been a possibility but he had hoped it a slim one at best. What would happen to the Kumiho now would not be under his control. While the ship did need extensive work to be made combat ready, not that the Luna class had been designed for it as Lieutenant Ishcrio had said more than once, being put on a 'spare' ship was not how he'd envisioned completing the mission. A simple nod and "Sir" were all the response Nathan gave, it would take time to digest this information and decide how he felt about it.

"I'm en-route to Starbase 332 now with a newly commissioned vessel. We will confirm the transfer of your command to her once I arrive, and your crew will be transferred to her as well." the Admiral continued. "I'm sure you will find her much more suitable to the missions you will be assigned going forward."

"Newly commissioned Sir?" Hunter's mouth scrunched. "If this does risk becoming a permanent assignment I would have one request." He paused for a moment debating how to put it best. "This crew has been through a lot together, even if we've only been assigned to Kumiho for less than a year. They will probably be just as unhappy with recent events as I am, and with being reassigned to leave Kumiho behind. But we could take Kumiho with us, or rather her name itself."

"Any ship without a crew is merely a highly engineered asteroid Sir. This crew, they are Kumiho." Nathan wasn't sure if it made sense or if he'd gone over the line but some things just had to be said. "Re-christenings have happened before...."

Gates sat in silence for a few minutes as he considered the captain's request. "It's not unheard of to rechristen a starship to honour a former command," he said at length. "I'll have to discuss it with Admiral Quinn, so I can't make you any promises Captain, but I'll take your request into consideration. We will arrive at Starbase 332 approximately two days after you do. I'll speak to you again then, Captain. Admiral Gates out."

Nathan stared at the federation insignia on his monitor for a few moments, there was a lot to process and the random thought that he was spending some of his last hours in his current office came to mind. He looked around for a moment wondering just where to start, there was suddenly an insane amount of work to be done. For everyone. "Computer, ship wide channel."
The first step would be to spread the word.

(This was a joint post on the USS Kumiho simulation, with Admiral Gates guest starring)

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