Timeframe: 159 days prior to Cylon attack on the colonies
Chapter 10: The XO
Major Sims notified CDR Anders that the Gunstar Ethos and Assaultstar Sabre have arrived in the system which also meant that the new XO has arrived. Sam told the CAG to arrange to have a raptor go over to the Sabre and retrieve the XO and bring her to Zeus. After 45 minutes, the CAG notified Sam that the raptor was on final approach. Sam contacted Master Chief Steele to meet him on the hangar deck for the XO's arrival. Both gentlemen were standing in the hangar bay waiting for the raptor to be towed into the pressure area. What Sam was unaware of was that the poor pilot that was on raptor duty when the XO needed a ride was very inexperienced. Colonel Redman spent the entire flight over critiquing his flying technique making the new pilot extremely nervous. And because of his nervousness, the landing was anything but smooth. The raptor stopped in front of CDR Anders. As soon as the hatch began to open, Sam could hear a female voice screaming her displeasure with the skills of the young pilot. As she stepped out onto the wing, Colonel Redman screamed back to the pilot who was still cowering within the aircraft, "Next time do you think you could land this bird without punching holes in my deck!" As she took a breath, Sam interjected firmly, "You mean MY deck, don't you?" She turned toward the voice that corrected her and after seeing Sam in his CDR's uniform, stood at attention and said, "Technically, that is what I said, Sir." She then saluted, saying, "Colonel Stephanie Redman requesting permission to come aboard, Sir."
"Permission granted Colonel."
What Sam noticed first about the Colonel is her flaming red hair and short height. Then, as he was warned, he noticed deep green eyes. He made a mental notation to watch the color of her eyes in the future to gauge her mood. Stephanie stepped off of the raptor and stopped directly in front of Sam. Sam initiated the next conversation, "Colonel Redman, welcome aboard. This is the Operations Officer, Master Chief Steele, he will show you to your quarters. I have scheduled a staff meeting at 1300 today where you will be introduced to the rest of the senior staff. In your quarters I have had an electronic copy of the ship's schematics loaded onto a tablet. Please familiarize yourself with the ship's configuration. If you have no questions, the MC will escort you to your quarters now." Colonel Redman, acknowledged and was led out of the hangar by Master Chief Steele. Sam reflected over the first encounter with the new XO and came to the conclusion that it may be a difficult growing period to acclimate the new XO to the crew and vice versa.
As Master Chief and the XO were walking toward her quarters, Colonel Redman asked, "Master Chief, you are the Operations Officer on Zeus? What are your duties?" The MC replied, "I am the senior enlisted representative onboard ship reporting directly to the CO through the XO. I am responsible for the ship's daily operations and training of the enlisted in the ways of the Fleet." Redman said, "I have never known an enlisted crewman to be a member of a ship's senior staff before." "CDR Stebbins insisted on it and CDR Anders retained me and my position after taking command" replied MC. Redman said with a little sarcasm in her voice, "Well I am sure this won't be the only thing I have to get used to on board Zeus."
"I'm sure you are correct, sir" said Master Chief Steele.
At exactly 1300, Sam entered the Command Staff conference room. He was used to hearing Master Chief Steele call the staff to attention, but to his surprise, the voice ordering 'Attention on Deck' was the XO's. As everyone rose to attention, Sam made a slight glance at MC Steele to see any reaction he might have to someone else performing his normal duties. To no surprise, MC Steele looked stoically straight ahead, once again demonstrating his deep ingrained level of military professionalism. Sam made his way to the head of the table and said, "Carry on everyone" before taking his seat. Sam started, "Well, it looks like our team just got a little bigger. First, I would like to introduce Colonel Stephanie Redman, the new XO of the Zeus. She comes highly recommended by the Admiralty. I would like to take this time to thank the Navigator for standing in as acting XO and doing an outstanding job." Sam then introduced each senior staff member to the XO. Afterward, Sam said, "XO, coordinate with each department head to spend some time in their spaces to familiarize yourself with their processes. We will meet afterward to review your impressions. A fresh set of eyes is always good. With this statement, Sam could see each of his senior staff squirm a little in their seats. Additionally, I would like to introduce the senior officers of the newest ships on our team. CDR Carr and Colonel Davies of the Assaultstar Sabre and CDR Shipman and Colonel Bevis of the Gunstar Ethos. Lastly, while I can appreciate military protocol, unless it is a formal function, there is no need to have the crew come to attention just because I walk into the space." Then he quipped, "And I am tired of saying 'Carry on' 75 times a day." This made everyone smile…except Colonel Redman. Sam finished by saying, "Now let's get the ship ready to deploy. Dismissed."
Sam was sitting at his desk in his stateroom reviewing Colonel Redman's service record. While she had her fair share of awards and accolades, what bothered Sam was the review from several of her previous commanding officers. On numerous occasions, she initiated confrontations with other officers in her crew. She has demonstrated a history of quick tempered decisions. While most of the decisions ultimately were proven correct, what bothered Sam in the technique in which she interacted with her fellow crewmen. Sam knew he had to address his concerns and expectations early with the new XO. He contacted the XO and summoned her to his stateroom. After about 15 minutes, the marine guard announced the XO's arrival and Sam told her to enter. Colonel Redman marched up to Sam's desk and began to report her presence, "Sir, Colonel Red…" Sam stopped her mid-sentence. "Stop; that is not necessary. I asked you to come and we are alone here. Have a seat so we can talk" and he motioned to the comfortable couch in his lounging area away from his desk. Colonel Redman took a seat on the couch while Sam took a seat in the individual lounge chair adjacent to the couch and a small table. Sam started, "I wanted to get together to discuss how I want this ship run. As you well know, Zeus is a one-of-a-kind ship with an unprecedented purpose. In order to achieve this purpose, there are some substantial differences between us and normal Colonial Fleet ships. Most obvious are the number of civilian personnel working on Zeus. Although they are government contractors, we need to remember they are not Fleet personnel. CDR Stebbins and I have created some variations in our chain-of-command from standard Fleet practices to enhance the operation and communication on such a large vessel. The system has worked up to this point and I intend to keep these arrangements." Sam paused for some kind of response or retort from the XO, who just sat very still listening to Sam. Anders continued, "You have permission to speak freely." Colonel Redman said pointedly, "Sir, is there anything in particular you wish to address about me?" Sam could tell he was going to have to change his approach with the conversation. He decided to 'punch the bully in the mouth'. Continuing the conversation, Sam spoke more directly and meaningfully, "Colonel Redman, your record indicates that you have been a pain the ass to several of your senior officers and a bully in your interactions with your subordinates." Colonel Redman didn't even flinch at hearing Sam's assessment; but Sam did notice her eye color was changing from blue to deep green (good, maybe I am getting through to her…). Is this a fair assessment?" Without any emotion in her voice she said, "If that is what my record says, then yes." Sam waited for her to expand on her statement but nothing came. "Colonel in order for Zeus to succeed, the top two officers must work together for a common goal; the crew needs to see unity. Stephanie turned toward Sam and said, CDR, I am well aware of this ship's mission. I understand that you have a leadership style that works for you. The crew likes you and follows you. But in my opinion, they seem a little too comfortable. I feel it is the XO's responsibility to put a little edge into their processes and reduce the level of comfort a notch. An XO isn't doing her duty unless the crew isn't a little intimidated by her." Sam interjected, "The key words being 'a little intimidated'. I will admit that philosophy has had some merit, but I will not tolerate anything that jeopardizes the cohesive functionality of this crew; is that understood?" Stephanie's responded, "Yes sir" as her eyes began to change back to blue. The meeting continued on for about an hour with both parties talking about their childhood, Academy days, and military careers up to this point. They both grew up without parents and they were very dedicated to the mission of Zeus. When the meeting was concluded both parties agreed they could each compromise a little to try and meet somewhere in the middle.
19 days prior to Cylon attack on the colonies
The weeks that followed their initial meeting went by productively. Each department seemed to move just a half step faster and the repairs were almost complete. Sam was working at his desk in his stateroom completing a report to Admiral Corman. He informed the admiral that the repairs and refit were almost completed and he was standing by for his orders. Sam contacted Major Sims and told her to send his message to Admiral Corman, eyes only, and encrypted. He knew it would be a couple of days before he got a response; that should be just enough time to ensure everything was running perfectly.
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10 days prior to Cylon attack on the colonies
Cylon Command Basestar in cylon space
John, a number 1 cylon model, stood in the control center of the cylon Command Basestar, reviewing the preparation status for the attack on the colonies. The Command Basestar was approximately 150% the size of a standard cylon basestar (cylon version of a Capital ship / Carrier). Besides the size difference, the command ship was equipped with improved sensors and long range communication equipment to better coordinate the efforts of multiple cylon strike forces. It was also armored better and possessed more powerful advanced offensive weapons. The standard cylon basestar had changed their configuration since the cylon war 40 years ago. Earlier versions resembled a two circular disc construction joined at a center point of the disc's center diameter. They housed numerous small attack aircraft that resembled an upside down saucer. Each one was manned by two standard pilot centurions with one command centurion issuing orders from a raised seat behind the pilots. There basic construction was of a bipedal robot, very robust and shiny with a red vision sensor that contained a single red light that bounced back and forth from left to right and back again. They were very strong and durable. You could tell the difference in centurions by their color; chrome for standard and gold for command centurions.
The new basestar configuration represented a change in cylon battle strategy. The cylons don't want to slug it out with an enemy toe-to-toe using guns and missiles anymore. Instead, their new basestars carried a greater number of fighter aircraft, (called raiders), than older versions and along with Carrier support ships doubling or tripling the number of raiders available. The cylons intend to overwhelm an opponent with the attack craft in a zerg offensive. While the enemy was forced to focus on the raiders, the basestar could wait until the raiders softened up the enemy and then the basestar would finish their opponent off with guns or missiles. To the cylons, it did not matter how many raiders were lost in a battle, they were machines and not lives, and therefore they could simply manufacture more. In order for the basestar to house the increased number of raiders, the two disc configuration of the old ships were replaced by ships with three spires on each half and joined in the middle. Instead of the raiders housed inside a hangar bay as before, they are housed in each of the three spires external to the ship's centerline. This greatly increased the basestar's raider capacity and reduced the time required to launch large numbers of raiders simultaneously. There was one drawback to this configuration. Since the basestar had so many raider staging and launch sites, it reduced the amount of armor on the ship. The cylons considered this a good trade-off since in their opinion, if an enemy was forced to focus on the raiders to survive, they won't be attacking the basestar as frequently.
John asked the number 8 model cylon standing beside him if all preparations for the attack on the colonies were on schedule. She said she wasn't sure; the number 6 model that was the key to the attack had not reported in for almost two days. John knew this was unacceptable and made arrangements to contact an identical number 1 model on Caprica to ensure all preparations were progressing as planned.