Challenge accepted

Posted on Mon Dec 1st, 2025 @ 9:17pm by Rear Admiral Jarred Wallace & Lieutenant Commander Jorel Torin II

1,590 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Match sticks and Gasoline
Location: (Some random office for now)
Timeline: TBD

On:

The day had been off to a slow start even by the Admirals' standards, he'd been flagged down by one of a number of assistants he seemed to have at the moment that Commander Torin wanted to talk, he like the younger officer and made an effort to talk with him despite his busy schedule, as he walked from one part of the station's offices too the other he caught a glimpse of the officer, "Commander Torin!" he called out.

Jorel stood up with PADD in hand as he walked into the Admiral's office. He didn't want to look too eager about what he wanted to do or anything, so Jorel tried to put on his best stone face. Keep himself looking rather neutral. But, even Jorel could tell that he was nervous.

Once he was in the Admiral's office, Jorel said, "Lieutenant Commander Jorel Torin. It's good to see you again, sir. I'm sorry to request a meeting on such short notice, but I wanted to get this by you as quickly as possible."

Jarred motioned to a chair for him to take a seat, "Truthfully I've wanted to talk with you and the other senior staff one on one about a number of things so since you're first up I'd like to get your feedback on a number of things."

Jorel took a seat at the desk and once he was seated, Jorel asked, "Well, what did you wish to discuss with me? Anything I can help you out with, I'm glad to offer up, sir."

Seeing that he wanted to cut too the chase "How do you look at the direction that Starfleet and the Federation have taken in the last few years?"

"How so, sir? I can definitely talk from a diplomatic standpoint. If that's what you're asking, then I would have to say that the Federation has definitely been going in some interesting ways, sir. We've slowly gotten back from the Dominion War. We've been trying to get back from the incident with the Romulan supernova back in '87. Heck, even the synth ban was stupid and I'm glad that it was rescinded." Jorel offered up as he thought about some of the few things from the last couple of decades.

The older man smiled clearly he's met his match here, "You're right on the diplomatic front it's been going in interesting directions, the supernova has become on of those where were you moments in history, but your perspective on the Dominion war is a bit...lacking compared to mine, we screwed up and it could have ended way worse, we never really resolved some of the major events in the months leading up too the war in reality." he paused offering his guest a coffee "Former Admiral Leyton for example, he got a fifteen year prison sentence along with many of his followers some of whom never got more than a slap on the wrist."

Jorel thought about it for a moment before replying, "If you're talking about Captain Benteen, I thought she had to step down after another affair? Even after the whole thing with Admiral Leyton. It had to do with the Maquis or something, if my memory serves me well. But, I was also just a kid back then."

The Admiral looked at the man "You're about half right, there's more too those days than just the official story, there was the Lakota which is still in an impound yard, the Olympia which if you check the records was listed as missing, which is untrue, intel has spent twenty five years chasing them off and on and one other ship which isn't even part of the official record either, the super carrier Universal which is still on the run as well." Jason took a drink "Three ships, plus a few rouge officers from other ships decided to go it alone, until the Campor mission we hadn't seen many of these officers for years and now they're coming out of the preverbal woodwork."

"Sir...you aren't talking about Ro Laren. Are you? Cause, I heard she like went deep undercover for Starfleet into the Maquis. She even had a hand in the whole thing with Michael Eddington and getting him to give himself up to Captain Sisko. But, a lot of what I've heard was a bit myth, a bit legend," Jorel said as he thought about a few things.

The Admiral smiled "I was there from some of that, but no Ro Laren made some choices she would atone for later on, Admiral leyton and several of his followers, well actually about fifty of them relocated too Campor which we knew but we figured they wouldn't bother anyone since they'd largely been behaving excluding Captain Memphis who until recently hadn't been seen much, there's a rumor he's been in contact with the crew of the USS Universal who've been on the run for too long." The Admiral paused "Commander I'm going to be blunt when Jason came too me and said you were worthy of being brought into the inner circle along with several other officers of the Columbia I thought he was joking, but I see he's right." he stood his aging frame still held some of it's prowess, "He made the right choice choosing you as second officer, and I think you've got some potential for more."

Jorel's jaw was nearly on the floor, if not already on the floor itself. Second officer? Plus, the Admiral and Jason both thought that he was worthy of such a position was amazing. Jorel collected himself and brought his mouth back up off the floor to say, "Thank you, Admiral. I don't know what to say except for thank you to both you and Jason for believing in me so much.

Jarred smiled, the scarring making it look crooked, "Commander the future isn't certain, but having good officers as part of it will be essential."

"Thank you, sir! I won't let you guys down! Now, when should I go ahead and take the Bridge Officer's Exam? I know we've discussed that before, too," Jorel said as he was still reeling in from what the Admiral said.

The Admiral looked at the man, "I have a specific scenario for you picked and I have you booked in on earth in two days, you have until one hour before the test to pick your bridge crew you'll have to forego Mrs Wiseman as she's moved on to her next assignment, but otherwise you have free reign on who you choose."

"How would the test go? Is there anything in specific that I would need to study or bring with me to the testing location or anything? Jorel asked, trying not to ramble off like a scared first year cadet. But, in all honesty? He was both excited and nervous at this moment. Jorel had never thought that something like this was possible. He had been a career diplomat. So, to be able to take the Bridge Officer's exam was huge for him.

"The testing isn't pass fail, it's more of a look at your decision making in a critical situation that any captain will face, but if you need something to study the station's holodecks have some of the past Kobiashi Maru sessions you can study and well..."he paused "fail."

Jarred looked at the man and the slight shock "Excluding Kirk no one has passed the test, hell I did poorly, but the idea of facing the challenge that isn't winnable is the biggest part of being a captain, it's being able to make decisions under pressure."

"Didn't Kirk cheat by reprogramming the simulation? Isn't that why they made it where the system had like 10 extra layers of encryption. To make sure that nobody would be able to pull another Kirk?" Jorel asked as his right eyebrow raised, thinking about how Kirk completed his Kobyashi Maru simulation.

The Admiral smiled again "He did, but that didn't come out for several days after according to the history books."

Jorel scratched his chin and said, "Well, I heard that he got a commendation for original thinking for that. I guess that I'll just have to find my own way to save as many people as I can, even if I can't save myself. When did you say that I could do the simulation?"

"You've got two days, fifteen hundred hours at the Presidio training center, my best advice is too keep calm no matter how tense the mission gets, I will give one thing though, you'll get too wreck the bridge of the new ship before the captain does." Jarred said attempting to be humorous.

"Well, as long as I don't wreck nearly as badly as Captain Saavik did during her training mission, I think I'd count that as a win. Heard that she had to even do it with Captain Spock and Admiral Kirk. So, that must've been fun to break the simulator in front of them," Jorel replied, also trying to attempt a bit of humor.

Jarred laughed "That's okay...you should have seen what I did on my time in there."

"Well, I think that as long as I can make it through in one piece, I should be okay. But, was there anything else that I might be able to do for you, sir?" Jorel asked, not wanting to take up too much of the Admiral's time.

"Then I'll see you in two days Mr Torrin." The admiral said.

End

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