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Personal Log, Lt. Adele Mundy, TSN Horizon, 2nd Flt., 4th Lt. Div.
They named her Horizon. I was secretly hoping for Brynhildr, or at least Brunhilde, so that we could hum The Ride of the Valkyries as we fly into battle. Still, better than Viper, which is all right for the fighters, in my opinion, but a bit lightweight for a cruiser. Also, in this case I stand by the authority of 200-year-old popular media and a fictional archaeologist.
All the above are petty details, of course. We were, we still are, in the middle of a Hegemony invasion, and expecting to be attacked at any moment, so the training sims and live fire exercises were particularly important, as two crews were familiarising themselves with the new ships. Eagle‘s crew reported to Horizon (I’d like to call her Hildy, just between her and me and the Computer, but it doesn’t seem quite right: after all, we’ve only just met), and I ended up on Helm station, which in truth I badly need practice on, and also in truth I handled disastrously. Just as well it was a sim, I keep telling myself.
Meanwhile, the cheering on Lancer was a joy to hear, as they celebrated Jemel’s promotion to Captain.
The second sim and the live fire exercises went better, as some of the technical problems on the new ships came to the surface and were sorted out. And also because I was on Tactical for one sim, and back on SciCom for the live fire, while Lt. Jr. Parra, who actually knows what he’s doing, took the helm; Lt. Assassino was on Tactical for the live fire, and Cdt. Timonix was on Engineering. We continued to learn what Horizon can and can’t do, and she seems a fine strong Valkyrie – those beams of hers are quite a sight to see.
Briefing for our mission was, if possible, a more serious affair than usual, as the Fleet Captain outlined the situation in Volantis sector, and gave us our orders: to go through the gate into Volantis Sector, attack enemy fleets and recover occupied Volantis Command, doing as little damage as possible to the base, because, dammit, we’d be the ones who’d have to fix anything we broke going in.
We had some more tech problems on our approach to the gate – a little worrying, as we were heading into battle – and some strong ionization phenomenon that played merry hell with our sensors, and caused fleet-wide blackouts. We were lucky to recover in time for our encounters with Hegemony ships who tried to stop us coming through, but we did recover, and Horizon and Viper distracted the fleets outside Volantis Command’s defensive minefield while the other ships dropped off their marines contingents to recapture the base and the shipyards. I can only imagine what it was like for the troops that did the dirty work of fighting – and I don’t think asking will endear the “Navy boys” to the people who “work for a living”.
That’s correct, Computer, I’m not a “Navy boy”. And though, in the old and epic rebuttal, I am no man, I don’t consider “Navy girl” a more flattering term. There is an ancient hierarchy of worth being considered here, replete with archaic, outmoded values, whereby those who risk their lives by shooting and being shot at are seen as braver than those who risk their lives by sitting inside an alloy shell, staring at a screen. I am quite aware that my grandfather and my father shared this world-view, and in their own way took it to extremes – hence the horse-riding, shooting with old-fashioned bullets, and fencing – and it stands to reason that I am not immune to it myself. We lived on Paragon, after all. The whole place became a larger-than-life theatre for battles between people who saw themselves as hero archetypes, and people who built their very being on the concept of villainous antagonists. Growing up in that kind of society has a pervasive effect, as the Librarians were well aware. And that’s why I have to sit here and argue philosophical points with myself; and then I have to put the argument aside and go back to work.
Lancer, meanwhile, being too small to carry marines, danced around the way only Aposine can lead her, and lured enemy ships onto the mines. There was quite a gap in the field by the time they’d finished, but, as they pointed out, mines can be re-laid.
There was more to it than that, and it’s strange to think how fast the re-conquest seemed to be, compared to the painful ages it took to lose Volantis Sector. We haven’t won yet, and know full well the sectors adjacent to Command Base still need to be cleared, and then held. But we’re back.
There is some considerable maintenance work to be done on Volantis Command Base, apart from repairing the damage from the fighting: Fleet Command office was wrecked, Gebbens’ office was vandalised, and those are just the ones I heard about. Naturally, maintenance and security crews are scouring the base searching for any devices the Hegemony may have left behind, whether offensive in nature or simply hidden transmitters; and everyone is scrubbing and reinstalling software at their stations. Living quarters don’t seem to be greatly affected, because, after all, the occupying forces had to live somewhere; but just the fact that someone else was there, some intruder, makes most people want to thoroughly search and clear out dorms, cabins, storage, everything that might have been accessed.
While all that was going on we held another sim exercise to test how the newly reinstalled systems were performing. Zelreich was coordinating from C&C, and van Leigh was in charge of the fleet, as the senior officers were busy with planning our next action. It was intense enough that any hardware or software problems should have surfaced (they didn’t, so that’s a good sign), and a good stretch for us at our stations. Since crews were reassigned for the exercise, I was on Viper with Cmdr. van Leigh in command, so I heard the comms chatter between ships, which I find illuminating, especially as there were some instances of miscommunication. My personal disappointment was the sensor speed, as orders to taunt enemy ships would come as I was still in mid-scan, and I spent frustrating seconds staring at the screen waiting for the scan to complete before I could appropriately insult their captains. Perhaps I should see it as an indication of the speed of the action, that sensors just couldn’t keep up. We concluded the sim in good time with no lost stations or ships – and Lancer danced her lethal dance with Skaraans, luring them into a singularity. She is so lovely to watch, it can almost be distracting.
On our return to the briefing room we saw that promotions to Acting Ensign had been posted for Raiden, Strider and Timonix, so that seemed another good reason go and explore how much damage, if any, the station bar had incurred during the Hegemony occupation. QRF crews are off alcohol, but fortunately that did not include Lancer, so Jemel’s promotion could be properly celebrated. It’s not Benjamin’s, and I miss Guy, but it’s a place to gather with familiar faces, and be glad they’re there to complain about not being able to drink.
// Great log! The character’s everyday thoughts and attitudes, more backstory, details of the actual mission, impact of the war on the station, the new ships, Lancer and fellow officers. And all written in beautifully flowing prose.
//Beautiful log, as always, but wasn’t it that you were reasigned to Wiper after we had to break up Horizon for the final sim?
//Thank you, all.
//You’re right, the crews were reassigned, and I thought we left Viper in dock and took Horizon – so actually it was the other way round? Oops.
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