"Captain Anderson to Sentinel Portland what's your present location?"
"Engineering Captain, we were about five minutes away from a silent warp core breach when I abruptly left" (sighs) "I need to contact the right people because the new computer system interfered with the warp core design causing the warp core to do things that aren't supposed to happen normally, it also heated the core to dangerous levels without any warnings going off, how many ships have the new computer system?"
"Only us so far, we're field testing it"
(Sighs) "Figures, guess this means our mission is going to be delayed a bit because this ship is not safe to fly with the interactions going on"
"What's needed to fix the problem?"
"Do you have an engineering or computer background?"
"Neither"
"Than I'm afraid I can't explain it to you Captain, at least not in simpler words not yet anyhow"
"Ah it's too technical at the moment"
"Exactly, it's way too technical to get into it right now, just know that I understand what needs to be done and can relay it to the proper people so that this never happens again"
"Then that will be your first assignment, after that you're assigned to the bridge except at need"
"Understood, I'll officially start my duties in...oh two hours give or take five minutes"
"Very well, see you in about two hours then. Oh one more question Portland, is the solution you used temporary or permanent?"
"Temporary Captain, I did just say a few minutes ago that the ship is not safe to fly"
"Right, forgot about that, I'll inform Sisko about what's happened and ask for men if the solution is easy to implement"
"It's actually not as easy as you think Captain, but doable here, I just wish we were at a dry dock that's more...established than a space station"
"I know but from what I can tell from your voice unless we're under tow we can't move"
"Once I finish explaining the full solution and we do it ourselves we should be in no danger, but it will take several hours of physical labor to correct the problem so I guess I'll officially be starting much later than expected"
"Well best make your report first while I explain the situation to Captain Sisko"
"Yes sir"
It would turn out that Ashland needed three hours with the appropriate people because while everyone could understand the mechanics of what she was saying, it was the order that the fixes needed to be done that were causing the problem mainly due to the fact that the newest ship they were building was about ready to be flight tested and they had already done most of the work that caused the problem in the first place
"Okay, let's go over it one last time to ensure you have it and then I need to report to the bridge and see where I'm needed next since this ship is not safe to fly currently"
"Does Starfleet Command know your mission had been further delayed?"
"I have absolutely no idea but I'm about to send them a message myself just in case which includes the reason why the mission has been further delayed"
"Okay, if we have further problems we'll be in contact"
"I know, now let's just hope we can fix the problem relatively easy on a completed ship"
"Well you've got the warp core stable at least so that's something"
"True, that does give me a beginning doesn't it?"
Ashland then went to the bridge to either start her shift where she was supposed to be or be told that she was to continue fixing the issue that almost cost them a ship
"Portland, have you finished explaining things with the group you needed to?"
"Yes, though it will be a bit difficult because the ship is mostly completed"
"Well, they'll figure it out, now then Sisko can't spare anyone for another three to four days so we're going to have to do what we can to keep busy but until we get that help we're stuck"
"Okay, oh I sent a message to Command about the fact that our mission has to be delayed until further notice because of how dangerous it would be for us to move"
"Then they'll be getting two messages about that because as soon as I finished talking to Sisko I told Starfleet Command about what's going on with the ship, they're a bit surprised at the fact that there's a major problem discovered after the test run"
"Well guess there should have been a longer test period, because I'm sure that everyone was rushing to replace ships destroyed in the war"
"Yeah, we were rushing a bit"
"Then it all makes sense, now then I was told that I wouldn't have to worry about retraining due to being thought dead for three years and that when you guys arrived I would understand why"
That's when she noticed a Vulcan at tactical, but this Vulcan had the star pips of a Sentinel
"This is Entry Sentinel Soketh, he discovered he was Force sensitive when he joined the Academy and decided to take accelerated Jedi training while at the Academy"
"So he's going to help by transferring his memories to me through the Force"
"Exactly"
"Wait, how did you guys continue training while fighting a war and then rebuilding?"
"It wasn't easy trust me, but after your death we realized that we could have continued training and classes so that's what we did"
"And once the war was over the Sentinel's could continue the accelerated training program as well"
"Exactly, what really helped was the fact that most of the Jedi turned Sith were returned to the Jedi because of that Sith artifact and stayed behind to help rebuild"
"Bet part of that was punishment"
"Yes, but part of that was them wanting to help rebuild what they helped destroy even if it was against their will"
All of a sudden Ashland's PADD started beeping and so Ashland took a look at it and paled
"Portland what's wrong?"
"Someone's accessed a file that they shouldn't have been able to access"
"Why not?"
"Because I put a level 15 security code on that file"
"Portland hate to break it to you but a level 15 security code is enough for a regular cadet to access the file, surely you know that"
"Yeah, if I was talking Federation security levels it would be enough for an ordinary cadet to access the files, however level 15 security codes in the Republic are the equivalent of Presidential security here in the Federation. That means that only the President, the person that sealed the files, or finally the person the file pertains to should be able to access that file without having to go through the rigors of having to go through paperwork to get the proper security clearance to see the file"
"Oh, that's some pretty intense security"
"Yeah, and it was needed when I put that security code onto the file back in the day"
"What for? I would think that you would want information about the Sentinel's out there"
"Captain, the reason I put a level 15 security code on the file someone's managed to hack into is because that file could start a war between the Federation and the Republic. That file contains information so classified by the Republic that if it got into the wrong hands a war would be started because what's in the files is not only not the full story but they may also not have the political background needed to understand why certain decisions that were in that file were made in the first place. The reason why that file is basically President's eyes only is so that the President of the United Federation of Planets can learn about the Republic in private whenever he or she has the time, with the knowing and understanding by me that they understand that there's a lot of politics going on at the time of the decisions made. I made that file without the Admiralty's knowledge back when I was debriefing them with the permission of the Jedi Council and Republic Senate because when I was sent on the mission that brought me here they understood that the highest authority of this region would need to know information that ordinary people might not have access to. As I was debriefing the Admiralty they were debriefing me on how the Federation works and once I learned that the President was voted every few years I made it so that only the current President would be able to access that file with an automatic note for the President the first day they entered office that the file was there for them to read so that they could learn where the Republic they are currently allied with came from"
"And now someone who might not understand the full story has that information and could cause major problems if it's not dealt with in an expedient fashion"
"Exactly, if the President was the one that accessed the files I wouldn't have been informed because they have the security clearance but since it's not the President I now have a huge problem on my hands that needs to be dealt with ASAP"
"What can we do from here though?"
"For one I need all the Sentinel's to talk to their Captain's in case of information release giving them permission to explain some of what was going on during the time period of the report, then I am going to send a separate message to all the Captains and Admirals that they need to talk to the President about the information before doing anything stupid, I'll also have to inform the President about what's happened so that he can call a meeting to inform all the Ambassadors who can then tell their planets that what's on the file they were given has more to the story than just what's written down and to keep cool heads. We'll also have to communicate with our allies and explain a little bit about the Republic and how that information affects them even to this day. Once all of that is done I also need to inform the Republic about the file being hacked so that they can prepare for repercussions"
"Anything else you can think of at the moment Portland?"
"No sir, none, at least not until that information is given out by whoever hacked the file in the first place and even I don't know when or even if that will happen"
"Okay, send out your messages and by the time you're finished hopefully we'll be able to fix the ship and you'll be back in Republic space in no time"
It would turn out that Ashland needed several hours to make sure the right messages went to the right places, but once that was done she and the engineers of DS9 were able to fix the ship so that they could move without blowing themselves up. As it was Ashland wondered how they managed to get to DS9 in the first place after she saw just how bad it really was but she was glad they got their in time for her to save them, after which she meditated with Soketh to make sure she knew what she had missed. She went to Quarks one last time the next afternoon with the permission of the Captain because she did have a small debt to settle first and that's when she was attacked by a species she recognized in the Republic as assassins and the assassin was about to get Colonel Kira so she got there first and took the knife in the side instead of the heart where it would have been otherwise. Once she got in the way of the attack she used the Force to subdue him long enough for Odo to secure the person and that's when she spoke, but not in English or Basic but Huttese because she recognized the assassin and knew that they spoke Huttese