His new CO was certainly… different. Jaxon Reid settled back into his seat on the bridge as they prepared to leave SB86 and slid a sideways glance at the man next to him. He was a bloody big guy for one thing, and with the way he moved it was obvious he knew how to handle himself in a fight. 

Which he did, Jax knew that, he’d read Mason’s file and then made some enquiries himself. Through… non official channels. It was illegal, he knew that. He also didn’t care. His dad had taught him two things: always know who you were getting into bed with, and always sleep with a knife under the pillow. 

So when the chance of a posting on a Manticore had been dangled under his nose like a carrot on a stick, he’d sure as hell checked out who was holding that stick. It was the kind of posting he’d never expected to be offered in a million years. 

With his background and history, there was no way anyone was going to offer him a plum assignment on one of the bigger, more prestigious ships so he’d resigned himself to expect second line ships, or even Reliants. Somewhere that wasn’t front and center where the powers that be could pretend he wasn’t who he was. And that he’d only joined the fleet to avoid going to jail. Technically.

So he certainly hadn’t expected to end up on something like a Manticore. It was a solid assignment, and he was sure Mason had had his pick of officers for XO. But for some reason, he’d picked Jax. Why, he had no idea yet. 

Shaking his head, he shoved the memories back in their box and focusing on the bridge crew as they smoothly went about their duties. Before long, they were clear of the base and heading off out into space, free and clear. 

“I’m shooting over our patrol route,” Mason said, tapping out commands on the small screen built into the arm of his chair. He looked up, catching Jax’s eye. “Take a look, yell if you see any problems with it.”

Jax nodded, opting to send the file to his padd instead. The route was interesting, looping through several systems Jax knew well from his youth. 

He looked up. 

“The route doesn’t make sense. There are pauses and stops here that—“ He stopped and studied the screen again. “There’s not just one ship.”

He knew the Manticore was part of a squadron, and that the other ship, the Resolute, had left just ahead of them. “We’re patrolling with the Resolute. She’s running point.”

Mason’s face split into a grin. “Very good. They said you were sharp. Knowing that, do you see any issues with the route?” 

He nodded toward the screen and as Jax watched, a second ship route appeared. Now it made sense. The Resolute, small and fast, was recce, while the Manticore hung back, ready and waiting in the shadows to strike if needed. 

Jaxon paused, assessing his commanding officer. He knew these systems well. Which he suspected was why he was getting the pop quiz. It was a little basic for his level of experience, but, what the hell… he always had to prove himself on each assignment. Might as well get it out the way on day one.

“Are you asking my opinion as a starfleet officer?” he asked bluntly. “Or because I spent my childhood running guns in this area of space?”

“Both.” Mason’s voice was firm and unapologetic. “If you’ve got non-fleet information, then I’m going to use it if I can. Will that be a problem?”

“No, sir. Not a problem.” 

To be honest, Jaxon was a little surprised. Most of his CO’s had preferred to gloss over his background. To have one that not only acknowledged it, but wanted to use… skills he’d acquired back then was something new. 

“Okay, we need to watch these three systems—“ he pointed them out on the screens. “Used to be good places to do business. You’re going to find the lowest of the low there, and pirates. Some of them like using the girl in the road scam.”

Mason frowned. “Girl in the road?” 

“Yeah. You know like the dirtside one where you lie someone down in the middle of the road to get a vehicle to stop, then jump them when they do?” He carried on quickly. Why people didn’t think of shit like this, he had no clue. But if they did, then it wouldn’t work. “Same thing, only they do it with a small ship, get a pretty woman to make a distress call, then jump whatever ship responds.”

He moved the map with two fingers on the screen. “There are off the books shipyards somewhere near here. More like platforms than real shipyards. They move around a bit but they don’t go far. Most captured are processed within a week and gone.”

Mason’s lip quirked. “That’s going to be interesting when they start in on the Resolute and the Mant drops in on them.”

Jax tilted his head slightly. “Yeah. I doubt they’d try for the Manticore but if they’ve got a big enough team, a prize like the Resolute… they might over-estimate their own abilities.”

Mason nodded. “Agreed. So we need to be on watch for that. But we also have the Breen angle to consider.”

Jax rubbed his chin, feeling the scratch of stubble against his fingers. “Yeah. Well, if they come through in certain areas, the local residents aren’t going to be happy about it, but most will be able to defend themselves to a certain extent. There’s a few that are useless though. Those we’d need to keep an eye on. Colonies,” he added. “Crackpot ones fleeing whatever people like that need to run from, or ones that are convinced they can go it alone and hug trees and shit.” 

“We’ll alter the patrol routes to ensure we check in on them all,” Mason said. “The ones we know about anyway. I’m fairly sure there are others that aren’t listed.”

Jaxon gave a small snort. “Hell yeah, there are. But they’re fairly easily found. Comms channels and small traders drop into them all the time.” 

“Okay,” Mason nodded, raising his voice. “Okay, let’s cross reference all recent trade traffic and build a map of every colony, outpost and trade station that might not be on the maps. We’ll make sure to get within comms range of them as we sweep by. Ensign Haye, get me a line to the Resolute and route it through to my ready room. Ensign Thane,” he frowned as he noticed the unmistakable tall form of the young llanarian. “I’ll want to see you in my ready room in… twenty minutes, please.”