Checking In With Operations

Posted on Tue Oct 6th, 2026 @ 10:27pm by Lieutenant Benjamin “Ben” Ashford & Lieutenant Callisi Veera

2,167 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 01 Shakedown Cruise
Location: Operations Office
Timeline: Current

:: Operations Office, USS Churchill ::

Ben stopped at the door and tapped the chime once... He had a padd tucked under one arm and that old beat up multitool clipped at his belt like always. Short brown hair a little messy on top. Gold collar... He waited.

The call was answered quickly, guests shouldn't be made to wait. Callisi's office was decorated sparsely, which made what she chose to use meaningful. Various certifications on the wall, some in a language that wasn't Federation standard, A flight jacket hung on a coat hangar near her desk. Soft leather, with several campaign patches pressed in, now forever a part of the jacket. Some had whimsical avatars of delivery methods, others had bolts of lightning.

She herself rose from her desk as the door was opening. Cream colored fur, blonde hair up and neat in a bun, long lapine ears. The only blemish to her features was her missing right eye, the wound hidden under an eye patch, but the tips of a scar poked out along her eye ridge and her cheek.

He stepped inside and offered a short nod. "Lieutenant Veera. Ben Ashford. Chief Engineer. Thought it was time I showed up in person instead of just sliding reports across the network..."

She introduced herself, taking his hand as was the custom.

He held the padd out if she wanted it, then let his other hand run through his hair and drop again.

"I have been tracing a small drain on the primary EPS taps that feed Operations, Comm, and the transporters... Nothing that will bite us today... Still sloppy for a Sovereign. I want a couple of hours to realign those taps and park the affected systems on auxiliary while we work... I need your call on when the boards can live with that..."

A grin. "I would rather hear it from you than find out mid-shift that I just killed a transporter lock..."

She took the padd as it was offered, her attention a 60/40 split between him and it as he explained. "Intertwined. Jacobs." She called out, and her department second stepped to the door. "Sir." Crisp, neat.

"I need a usage analysis from the past hour, and a projected usage analysis for the next fifteen." She requested, and Jacobs nodded, "Sir." before he left, and turned to the operations department. "Projection, history. One hour back." He called, and someone in Operations made that their job. "Sir. Projection, history, one hour, Sir."

Jacobs called up again, "Projection, upcoming, fifteen hours." and again, another Operations staff, "Sir. Projection, upcoming, fifteen hours, Sir." and the task was assigned.

She offered a smirk, "I run things here like back in the Navy back home. Smooth, efficient, responsible. The projections will exclude Transporters. Accounting for their need is next to impossible. I usually run Operations at 75% power during standard operations. I didn't even notice the power slip. Good catch."

She examined the Padd's findings before handing it back. "The reports will come back in a few minutes, as a guest i should offer you something to drink while waiting. Tea? Coffee? S'varta?"

Ashford was impressed to say the least. "Wow... Is all I can say." He chuckled. He was impressed by the handling of instructions and how everyone repeated orders down the line. "It harkens back to many Navy protocols. Fascinating. How do you find your dynamics and attention to details?" Damien as an Engineer was always interested in the performance and metrics of assembly, technology... Is this was useful to Veera, he would definately institute the practice in his own Department.

"It's familiar. It's how we do it back home. It leaves no room for doubt or uncertainty in the task at hand. Everyone knows exactly what it expected, and from whom it is expected. It means there's little to no chance of two crewmen handling the same task." she offered as a critique of the system. "In the end, it isn't as friendly or considerate as the Federation way, but orders and crisis situations don't care for friendly." she offered.

He scoffed playfully, gesture of his hand. "Honestly. Its not a big deal. I kind of used it as a ploy to take a trip up and sit down. I'd love a coffee thank you, Lieutenant Veera." He didn't know how she had liked to be referred to as. For right now he would opt for standard greetings unless otherwise.

"Do you like coffee as much as me?" He asked. "Down in Engineering we like to call it liquid dilithium!" He cracked a joke.

"It's not a big deal, to you." she offered in retort, but didn't seem offended. "A coffee indeed." the rabbitess went to her replicator and produced two mugs. One for him, coffee, and another for her, with a drink that looked and smelled like coffee... except it was blue. "Here you are. Please sit, relax. You're a guest."

"Thank you." Ben smiled as he received the coffee from Veera. Taking a sip from the mug. He paused, then took another, more concerted sip... "Hey! That's not bad. What did you do?"

The obligation of the hostess to her guest achieved, she smirked softly at their enjoyment, "Salt." she said simply. "Operation's Strength coffee has a slightly higher salt content to compliment the normal bitter of Terran coffee." she holds up her own mug. It smelled like coffee, it moved like coffee.... except it was blue. "Dalacari Coffee, or s'varta as they call it, doesn't need it. Their beverage of choice for the mornings is differently caffeinated. It's hard to explain without one of them here to explain it, and believe me, they'd enjoy that greatly." she snickered into her mug.

He relaxed back into the department seat. Ben posited as he thought over the slight drain of EPS taps. "I believe you might not have had the indicators within Operations, because the System in Engineering was showing up as a precursor to a temporary set-change..." He thought and then turned to his PADD, and taped in a few LCARs changing the diagnostics... And then showing them to Veera at her Operations desk. "Its showing as type one integration nod sub-set alarm." He then lent a cheeky smile... "I think this might be my own false reading." He then shrugged. "Either way, good of us to both know." He took another sip of the coffee and then set it nearest a small table.

She looked over the diagnostic, "Makes sense, if it's further down the line than isolinear relays or power distros, it wouldn't directly show on an Operations workflow. A classic case of S.E.P." she offered, "Someone Else's Problem." she clarified, an old Naval Term perhaps. A play on S.O.P.

"So. How long have you been in Operations on the Churchill Veera. Having transferred over recently, this is a very impressive ship. In operations and efficiency. There has been little, so far, that I've had to work on."

"Operations was the closest parallel to my duties in the Ts'usu Navy during my nine. Well technically during my Three, but I re-upped twice." there was a weight on the term, 'My Three'... maybe mandatory military service? But to be asked Three and give Nine... maybe that's where she got hurt?

"It feels like forever. This ship is too soft, too comfortable. Like sleeping in soup. I handled logistics, transfers, supply economics, and troop transport during my time. I knew the numbers, knew the systems, and knew how to make them work. The Federation opted that Operations was the closest parallel, so I signed up. Been years." she looked around her office, leaning against the edge of her desk. "Quiet makes me worry." her lengthy ears twitched.

She motioned to the PaDD he brought with him, "Your diligence does you and your department justice. I believe you'll excel here." she complimented, from one department to the other. As she did, her department second arrived with a PaDD as well. "Sir." he started, and handed over the PaDD, "The actuals and projections you requested." and Callisi gave a nod, "Excellent work. Thank you Jacobs." and after a brief review, the rabbitess handed the PaDD over, "This should let you know the optimal time to work on the issue, Chief." she offered. "As expected, what you refer to as Gamma shift, around 0230, should be optimal. If you need an extra pair of hands, wake me."

Ben nearly spat out his coffee, laughing at the S.E.P. comment! He found the rabbitess to be very endearing right off the bat. He felt he would have a good working relationship with Operations.

“I had to test the coffee twice…” Ben took another sip of the Dalacari Coffee, really enjoying it. If the level of caffeine was the same, then he might look into switching his own brew to Dalacari. “This is some of the best coffee- I say coffee, because that is the only way I can describe this. I could definitely get hooked on it!” He then set aside the cup before asking one last question regarding the hot blue liquid. “Does this have similar caffeine content, or even caffeine similar to a substance to it, Callisi?”

"S'varta." Callisi corrected with a smirk, "If you ever meet a Dalacari, the pronunciation will make sense. As for the caffeine content, I think it's roughly the same. Though, unless you specify, Dalacari dishes are served in pairs, so you get used to either being specific, or having a glass in each hand." she offered, "I drank a lot during my deployments. The caffeine doesn't do anything to me anymore, but drinking it wakes me up."

Nodding, Ben accepted the PADD from Callisi and reviewed it for himself. He then ran his fingers through the ID identifiers on the pre-nodal scans. “I shall be there with the Gamma Team, and no worries. I think it should be standard work. However, I might have you join just for fun. You're very humorous! I loved that S.E.P. comment. I will have to start using that for reference with my own Engineering Teams.” He chuckled and shook his head. Veera was a blast!

“Returning to the Ts'usu Navy. That is the actual Navy of your homeworld? Forgive me. I am still learning much of the Federation's multi-cultures. It has been very rewarding to see everyone working together. You have Starfleet's standard protocols, and then you have every other culture's differentiation adding to overall effectiveness. Such as your own expertise.” He relaxed further in the chair. “Starfleet can become very compartmentalized. It has always been a Human trait that is slowly learning it needs to be reformed and back down. There are many other ways of doing things.” Ben still could not underestimate the actual impressiveness of the Operations Department under Callisi. The very fact that he didn’t even have to ask, or re-ask, for a work projection was simply wondrous. Engineering relied on work projections because projects often were complex. Operations would be another department understanding this completely.

"I'm still learning about the Human condition. Just when I think I have them figured out, they change the rules." she said, more as a compliment. "And yes, my people are the Ts'usugi, our home world is Ts'usu. We were initially concerned that our own culture would drown in the pool that is the Federation. So many cultures, would there be room for our own?" she mused. "So far, we're finding room."

“If you ever run a training session, I would like my Engineers to sit in on one if you don’t mind. Me included.” He quipped as he took another sip of the coffee. “As you said. Our department is literally sleeping in soup!” He laughed. Why was he laughing so much?!

"Of course. Cross-training is vital to making sure that we all know what each department can, and cannot do. Who to ask, and how. I know that the Federation has a history of miracle workers, but we're a little more practical back home."

"Excellent." Ashford gave a respectful nod. Then looked at his chunky silver analogue wrist watch. "Well. I thank you for the report. And the S'varta." He gestured. "Do you mind if I take it as a to-go cup?"

"A timepiece from your heritage?" she inquired, but it was a question for later. "Another time, then." an unintended pun, from her lack of reaction.

"Of course, the cup belongs to the ship. I'll arrange for the replicator recipe to be in your shared file structure by the morning database refresh." she offered, the modern equivilant of 'I'll share you the deets'.

"Thank you. That would be very kind of you." Ben had then gave a nod of his head as he held up the mug. "You have a good day, and I will see you around Lieutenant." He smiled.

[OFF]

Lt Callisi Veera
Chief Operations
USS Churchill

&

Lieutenant Ben Ashford
Chief Engineer
USS Churchill

 

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