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Personal Log, Lt.Jr. Adele Mundy, TSN Hawk, 2nd Flt. 4LD
19316-2237Command is sending us lots of new cadets – it’s strange to see the new faces replacing the familiar crew from Hydra, but they’re also a pleasant injection of new life. Maybe that’s why there was so much breaking into almost-song in the Mess Hall before the mission briefing. Of course, when somebody suggested a barbershop quartet, the result was painful enough to qualify as a breach of the Euphini Accords…
During the mission briefing we learned that Command was also sending us two new ships: a missile cruiser and a carrier. One of them was intended to replace Hydra, the other to replace Hawk, which, having gone through several hard missions and taken a lot of serious structural damage, was considered no longer viable, and due to be retired. It was sad news; but since we were told we’d be reassigned, I packed all non-essentials into a couple of bags and moved them into a storage locker on the station before our first training exercise, thinking It would save time after the mission, when the decommission crews would be breathing down our necks and wanting us out of the way, and we’d have to go through debriefing, and packing and moving would be rushed and hectic.
Either Hawk or the universe, however, had other plans: a storm was coming, and Hawk, true to her nature, would not go gentle into that good night… Ah, the Pathetic Fallacy. Not that kind of pathetic, Computer. Look it up, for goodness’ sake, or do you need a reference number? So easy to fall into that trap, especially when dictating with the benefit of hindsight. Wouldn’t it make a wonderful story if I decided that I had a spooky premonition, courtesy of the psi-quirk! But no, I didn’t. That’s not how it works.
So we did an exercise, where I was stationed at the Weapons console on Hawk while two new cadets, Davesoft and Mikkelsen, took Helm and Science respectively, and acquitted themselves fairly well considering this was their first time aboard. All right, so we lost half the ship, and Capt. Evans kindly defined that as “a little rough around the edges”. Specifically, on Weapons I need to remember to call out which enemy vessel is being targeted, so that Science can give me the most effective beam frequency. It is strange to be the person needing to be told, rather than the person providing the reading – so, I’d better get used to asking. At least, that was my thinking while I was still on Hawk.
Some of the cadets took their exams, so Mark Toro is now an Act. Ensign; Act. Ens. Blaze was promoted to full Ensign, and Ens, Parra to Lt.Jr. And there was much rejoicing, which led to more of the so-called singing. It does make one wonder what the catering staff has been using for our rations lately.
Our mission was to close the rift in Arietis system, and gather more data on the rifts caused by the Caltrons trying to break into our region of space; at the same time, to train the crews on the new vessels, and to train the pilots for the new fighters.
For the mission, Lt. Cmdr. Van Leigh came on board to take command, Cdt. Mikkelsen transferred to Valiant, Lt. Kennon Far took Engineering, I went back to SciComms, Cdt. Davesoft took Helm and Cdt. Slate took Weapons; and off we headed towards the Arietis sector, where the Division was to position its vessels around the rift to scan it and close it.
The number of black holes in the sector were an unsubtle hint that the mission would encounter some opposition, and nobody except the cadets was surprised when Caltron vessels started emerging from the black holes. We explained about the Caltrons while in the process of disposing of as many as we could; then, as I was watching the sensor readings creep up towards the 100% that would indicate the rift had been successfully closed, there was one more furious encounter with numerous Caltrons. Red alerts blared, circuitry burst into flames, the screens read out more and more damage, and the DamCon teams were overwhelmed, as Hawk flew through too many beam arcs at once. The Abandon Ship sirens sounded, and we scrambled into life pods as the bridge flared bright, only to vent into the black.Strangely, I felt quite calm. I knew exactly where all the lifepods were, and where our ships were. I could see them on the screen… not the life pod screen, Lancer‘s Science console. I realised Matsiyan had a link to it from his Engineering station, and was keeping an eye on the general situation. So I knew when the battle was over, and when Phoenix was about to pick us up. The little blip of our life pod disappeared into the ship, and then we were being pulled out of the pods by the medics.
Hawk was gone. 20% casualties. I’ve glanced at the list, but haven’t taken it all in yet. I recognised the names of DamCon team members, engine room techs… I need to go and talk to some human beings now, Computer. Pause log.
——-Resume log.
Right. Yes. Where was I?Cadets Slate and Draeco passed their exams and were promoted to Acting Ensigns, and we were back on station for some training on the new ships: the carrier is Dauntless, and Eagle is the new missile cruiser. Hawk‘s crew moved to Eagle – that will take a little bit of getting used to, not having beams. I’ll have to think of some way to keep busy that does not involve calling out beam frequencies.
I brought aboard the two bags of stuff I had stored on the station, which means I still own: one month’s worth of the meds Dr. Chen prescribed, two civilian outfits, one bottle of Barolo, my old ID from the Library, the Little Horror’s rank insignia, a few small odds and ends. Sometimes I think I ought to clear them all away, but the relief I felt when I remembered they weren’t on Hawk tells me it’s not time to let them go yet. The TSN will have to replace all the uniform items, which of course will fit just as badly as the previous ones. I’m concentrating on petty details, Computer, in case you hadn’t noticed: it’s known as displacement.
Capt. Fish Evans took Command of Eagle, Allard was on Helm, Slate on Weapons, Davesoft in Engineering, and I made my acquaintance with the new Science and Comms consoles – barely smudged with fingerprints yet, and no scratches on the screens from debris being flung across the bridge by explosions. We’ll see how long this lasts… Oh, and we had an observer on board, the name was Tuttle, but he was observing so quietly I don’t really remember much about him.
Everything smells of new machine: paint, varnish, sealant, lubricant, plastic and metal and those hybrid materials the engineers are so fond of. I still have that little block of cedar I brought away from the woods near the summer cabin, years ago; I may have to scratch its surface a little to release the scent of something organic into the air before I go to sleep.
[end log]
// OOC game continues: spot the references to Popular Earth culture in Mundy’s log
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