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[[Personal Log, Lt. Jr. Eric Aramond, TSN Raven, 2nd Fleet 4th LD
Stardate 23116-2237]]Finally, it’s over. I’m not sure how long we were out on guard duty. Were I not feeling incredibly lazy right now, I could easily find out, but, eh. I do believe that myself and the rest of the division deserve a small bit of downtime. No one is meant to spend that much time straight on a ship. It was only thanks to the DamCom team’s small distillery that I was able to keep from going crazy. I think the only reason they tolerate me now-a-days is because I keep my mouth shut about it. (Gods, I hope Xavier doesn’t read this) Rumor has it that Lt. Zephyr built it when he was still around, but I can’t get a proper answer. Whatever, the booze serves it’s purpose: degreasing engines and killing brain cells. Not that I have much of a choice. Wade has cut me off from the Hjordan ale.
Speaking of Wade, Matsyian and him received Distinguished Service medals for their performance during the event that I’m now calling “The Rise of the XOs.” While it is very much deserved, I find it odd that the other XOs didn’t receive medals as well, but I’m sure command has their reasons. Also, I could have sworn that I was the XO of the Raven at that time. Ah well, I really can’t let it bother me. Wade was doing most of the heavy lifting while I was fussing about with the comms.
The reassignment orders have finally gone into effect. While the crews on the other ships have been shuffled up, however, the Raven remains static. After all, you can’t break up the Raven. There was one change: Ensign Tardov has joined us permanently on Engineering. I think I heard cheers from below decks when the teams realized that I now had less of a reason to come down there during missions. Now all we need is a permanent Helmsman (or for Rim to come back) and the Raven will be complete once again.
We were sent no unassigned officers this time around, meaning that most of us were on our assigned stations. Even Gebbens jumped on Weapons. Wade, shunted off his primary, took Helm. Xavier was back in the Captain’s chair, and thus began our trek back to the Promethean system.
[[Begin Encryption. Password: *************
Permissions: Read: ONI; 2nd FT, 4th LD. Write: None]]There was a brief conflict with Hegemony forces as the Artifact was being prepared for transport. Not much to say other than that we came out on top, as usual. Opposing ships need to learn to be much more wary of the 2nd Light Division. They’re going to need much more than a couple of mixed fleets to take us down. I hope I didn’t just invite trouble to come crashing down on us. I think we’ve had our share, especially after what happened next.
Always being alert should be a SciComms officer’s first priority. If I had been looking at my screens, rather than making some sort of joke, I would have seen the Schroedinger’s cries for help much faster. Unfortunately, I fear I may have gotten the science ship killed through inaction. Before my mouth could even form words, the Schroedinger vanished from my screens. Any words I was about to utter turned into a stutter, followed by silence.
“Sir, the Schroedinger has been destroyed.” I said as my eyes scanned the Science screen for enemies. The only ship I could find that was close was the Phoenix. Moments later comms from that ship were blasted over the division.
It was Commander Expree. He was saying something about how the science ship was a threat and needed to be destroyed. When pressed by Xavier, he insisted that he was under orders to destroy the science vessel, though he never divulged from where, and repeated that it was a threat. This wasn’t good enough. Xavier immediately ordered that the commander be relieved, and gave command of the Phoenix to Greybeard.
During the conversation, I had confirmed that the neither the division nor the Raven had received any orders to destroy the Schroedinger. As everyone on the bridge started to speculate, I was running through the comms logs to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I even went back a few rotations to make sure nothing had fallen through the cracks. Nothing. While I was relieved that I hadn’t given false information, my thoughts went back to Commander Expree. I had only served under his command a handful of times, he had always struck me as thoughtful and calm. If there was an award for it, he would be tied with Xavier for “Least Likely to Lose Their Cool.” With all the talk of spies and traitors floating around, the thought that he might be one of them was unnerving.
Despite all of this, our troubles weren’t over. Promethean Gate had barely come onto our sensors before more enemy readings showed up on screen. Caltrons, and they had been there a while. Normally we get a slight warning, as their arrival is telegraphed by a massive radiation spike and the appearance of one or more singularities. Not this time. And to make things worse, they were directly in our way. Coincidence? I hope not. The last thing we need now is to be worrying about Caltron spies.
Then again, why worry about spies when your own equipment fails you? During the fight, I watched as the readings from the Hydra vanished, followed by the appearance of an automated message that the ship had been destroyed. This sort of news is always told after gritting your teeth, as it’s not what you want to tell your captain. Especially after we had already destroyed one of our own. It felt even worse moments later when I had to explain that the same had happened to the Lancer.
Turns out that, due to the massive damage the two ships had sustained and related equipment loss, the readings of destruction had been false. There was a (hopefully inaudible) thump as I kicked the underside of my console. I could have sworn that I had just fixed this issue. Guess this means more work for me. Might even see if I can requisition an upgraded sensors package for the Raven. Kudos to the engineers on those ships for getting the damage fixed, but I’m tired of these false readings.
Anyway, we beat the Caltrons (surprising no one), made it through Promethean Gate, and were on our way to drop off the Artifact. We had a sector in our sights. There were nebulae to throw off sensor readings, and 3 Stations ready to accept and defend the Artifact. So, of course, there was complete disaster when we got there.
There were USF ships inbound for one of our stations, and the other two had problems of their own. One was going through an irreparable core meltdown, demanding that it be evacuated. The other one had somehow gotten its IFF corrupted, meaning that on my Science screen, it was reading as an enemy, and the message from it on my Comms screen said that if we came close, their automated systems would treat us as one.
Fighting ensued, with the division coming out on top due to our standard efficiency. Though throughout the fight, I was more concerned with a resupply ship that had come with us when we left the Cerberus system. Standard practices would have had the ship dock at a station until the fighting had ceased. With the aforementioned issues, none of the stations were safe. So in between calling out frequencies and making sure that there weren’t any more threats popping up, I had my eye on that little ship, making sure it wasn’t flying into danger.
After the fight, we left the Artifact under the watchful eyes of the (now two) stations, and made our way back to Promethean command.
[[End Encryption]]
We had barely made it to the galley before we were called to the briefing room for one last mission. We were to fly to Atlantis command to have our security systems upgraded. I downed the small drink that I had been able to pour and headed back to the Raven, grumbling.
Due to some work that needed to be done, Xavier took his leave and gave command to Wade. There was some station re-shuffling and I went on Helm. I’ve been getting a lot more comfortable at the position, and this mission only reinforced that. Aside from some very minor skirmishes with pirates, there was little to do but fly in a straight line and make corrections when necessary. Wishing for more action is probably a bad thing, but the thought was certainly on my mind.
Upon return to Promethean command, our debrief included what had happened to Commander Expree. Much to our relief, there was no treachery involved. More worrying was the fact that…no, I’m not encrypting any more of this log. What’s important is that the commander’s loyalties still lie with us. With any luck, he’ll be joining us again for the next mission, hale and healthy as ever. With more luck, we won’t have to deal with that thing anymore.
Then again, when have we ever had that kind of luck?
[[End Log]]
//One thing I find interesting is how everyone has managed to blame themselves for the Schroedinger incident.
//The worst part is that this isn’t just an In Character feeling. I honestly think that if I had seen it slightly earlier, we might have been able to save the ship. Also, this should be officially called the Schrodinger Incident.
//I agree. I was thinking “If I was still in engineering, I could have cut power to weapons systems or something.” And I do hope that is it’s name.
//There are a good number of people on both the Phoenix and the Raven that could have changed this outcome. Engineering could have cut power, Weapons could have cut power, Helm could have turned the firing arcs away with enough warning, and the XO could have put a stop to the order. Meanwhile on the Raven, I could have acted faster, and perhaps there’s something that Xavier and our XO might have seen to tip them off that this was going on.
Greybeard actually put it pretty well that we’re so used to obeying orders, that we should learn when not to obey.
//To be honest, my reaction was more along the lines of “Anyone knows what the hell they’re going on about?” My crew was more patient with me that they could have when they had to explain me that Expree sank the Schrödinger.
//I love the reaction to all this. Watching the Phoenix closely was interesting as Expree was deliberatly not following orders and moving the ship out of position.
To be perfectly honest, we had discussed and agreed the whole thing beforehand. The genuine reactions have been fantastic to watch though 😉
/ If I was there I could’ve stopped him.
// That’s the difference of expectations for an XO. With the experience, you not only should be able to follow orders, but understand them too.
Junior officers should be able to follow orders (it takes a lot of discipline to do so!) and trust their commander. In this instance, it shows that the crew is well trained and disciplined. The last thing you want is an officer questioning an order in a critical situation, which it very well could have been. Those officers followed their orders because a commander ordered it. For all they knew, Expree had suddenly discovered something critical about the Schrodinger and needed it destroyed. Had he been justified, he would have been cleared easily. In that regard, it shows how well crews work and respond to orders and how they trust their commander.
An XO should be listening carefully though and understand the orders being given. They should begin to spot when the commander is doing something that is odd (as they will know them pretty well I reckon). The Schrodinger incident was caused because the ship’s XO wasn’t there to question the order, not because the crew did the wrong thing.
In summary – we blame you Dante!
/ Bollocks! I knew you’d figure a way to pin this on me Captain.
//Goddamnit, Dante.
Xavier is right with this one, still. We are talking about a cadet on weapons that was, indeed, forced by a situtation that was beyond what an officer that junior could possibly comprehend (and this comes beyond mere ability: the only way of knowing what’s normal for us is through experience) by his CO, who, by all means, should be the highest authority on his ship.
And that CO was Expree, of all people. As a matter of principle I never praise anyone I’m not comfortable criticizing as well, and yet I can say that he is one of the best people I served with. Hell, I would have hesitated before questioning him, and even then I would have shot to cripple instead of dowright countermanding him.
We had a similar instance on Lancer a couple of weeks ago, when I picked a pop-up on Science that said a pirate axe we were engaging was about to overload. The obvious order was to get out as soon as possible, and yet our helm officer hesitated. Aposine is a competent one, and his hesitation was justified (as he didn’t have the same information I had), despite the fact that we served together for a long time, not only here but on the old USN as well. Jemel supported my order because, even when we have significant differences on method and theory, we trust each other as CO and XO to produce results; and Lancer managed to pull out on time.
Unexpected situations trigger very interesting crew dynamics. The Schrödinger incident was an unfortunate side of it, but discipline serves an important purpose. The ultimate responsibility of what happens under Expree’s command is Expree’s, even though this was out of his hands. Shit happens. And even with the benefit of hindsight, I’d trust him again if I were there.
/ I know he’s right but still I wish I was there.
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