Log Matsiyan 31216-2237

[Matsiyan]

Personal Log, Lieutenant-Senior Conrad Matsiyan, Acting CO TSN Excalibur, 4th L.D.
Stardate: 31216-2237

“Who so pulleth out this sword from this stone and anvil, is the true born King…”
Excalibur has been drawn and blooded.

This shift, honestly has been a bit of a blur. The plasma storms in the Euphini Expanse abated a little and the shift briefing called for sims to calibrate ship systems and crews and then a reconnaissance mission into the Barrion Nebulae in Sector XII. With the crews available Raven, Horizon and Lancer were launched and then also Excalibur.

I was awash with anticipation: a sim with the designated XO to shakedown before her first actual physical sortie. That of course called for a serious pot of heirloom-brewed espresso and a careful adjustment of the uniform temporary assignment insignia. I wondered what my grandmother would have thought of the uses to which her coffee maker had been put and the places it had travelled. I would have liked her to see me at last in a command uniform. I smiled to myself as I realized I had now completed all the branches. I had started out with Operations Red as an Engineer, donned the Blue after I took my specialization exam and transferred to Science. And now I bore the coveted colour of command. I looked soberly at myself in the mirror. Can I hang on to it?

Tugging down my tunic I stepped onto the bridge feeling properly prepared, poised, eagle-eyed, all nervousness carefully hidden thanks to the shakedown sim of the previous shift.

Immediate frustration. My console software locked me out. I then had to spend all the sim diagnosing, restarting and revalidating my access credentials as the live mission window came closer and closer.

Finally I got it working just in time to start the mission to explore Sector XII’s Barrion Nebulae. Her maiden crew were Lt. Sr. Hall as XO covering SciCom, Lt. Blaze at Tactical, Lt. Jr. Vaj at Engineering and Ens. Strider on the Helm. Mr Hall accepts no shilly-shallying and brusquely had the bridge stations checked in and confirmed for departure. Crisply I depressed the inter-ship comm and reported to Fleet Captain Xavier aboard the flagship, TSN Raven, that Excalibur stood ready.

On receiving the command, I keyed the ancient fanfare, and at one quarter impulse she eased out of the shipyard docking array, razor-edged pools of light reflecting hard off the passing superstructure, smoothly accelerated and brought her head around to fall into formation. My first actual assigned command of an actual TSN vessel on an actual live sortie. Actually! I let the fanfare play on for an extended moment until the melody got underway and the sweeping keyboards started to rise.

I know that we made the transition from the command post’s Sector XIII to Sector XII without incident and that we then were assigned to slow scouting patrol through the dense nebula. After that it is a bit of a blur as I attempted to ensure the crew had what they needed, that we coordinated with the division and that we reacted appropriately to combat engagements. Because we were not the only ones interested in the mysterious sector. Both pirate and Kralien intruders disputed our passage.

Ens. Strider is still developing his skills and so despite the excellent skills of Lt. Blaze at the tactical board, and good work by Vaj at Engineering the ship did not run as smoothly as when the practiced team of Nhaima and Quinn put her through her paces.

We prowled through the nebula and engaged some hostiles successfully. We attempted to execute some of our new tactical doctrine but Strider needs some more practice at smoothly executing a Delta-1. We noted that our Sensor Buoys were no longer in place and then havoc broke loose. We encountered, or stirred up, the unstable jump point in the middle of the nebula.
Instantaneously we found ourselves dozens of klicks across the sector. And that became the pattern as the division deliberately sought out the terminus and tried to map the exit point against entry angle and speed. Before we jumped on our third pass I managed to capture a brief glimpse of the phenomenon’s appearance in normal space. I was a lattice work of sheets and spikes of golden energy banded with fractal patterns of blackness. Quite striking. Maybe this is why people go into Stellar Cartography.

Eventually we took our readings and headed back to our temporary home at CP27-X in Sector XIII.

I will do everything I can to be worthy of this badge and these crew and the principles of the USFP that the TSN protects.

Now what shall I uncork to celebrate?
[End Log]

[Blaze Strife]

//Excellent log and story! I really loved it! And not because of the praise you gave me, but because you managed to describe the feelings of a newly fledged captain. This is one of the top 10 (if not higher) logs I’ve read.

//And I love that it comes so long after the shift, that it also has a bit of nostalgia to it. 😀

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