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Personal Log: Lt. Jr. Quinn of the TSN Hydra (CM-008), 2F 4LD
StarDate: 16116-2238
——————————————–Quite the interesting shift today. From what I heard, Commander Verok was called away to Division HQ for some urgent clerical matter, which sounds like an oxymoron if I ever heard one. He should be back next shift, if the scuttlebutt is accurate, but I hope he stops by to see Captain Alice while he’s there and says hello for us. I’m curious to see the desk she’s flying these days, but in the meantime, Acting Fleet Captain Expree decided that the Hydra couldn’t be spared in the upcoming shift and assigned Lt. Cmdr. Del Pino to take command.
If I had to describe the Lt. Cmdr.’s command style in a word, it would be relentless. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to say that he is cruel or harsh, or even overly aggressive. He is exceptional, however, at keeping the enemy on the back foot, and keeping the pressure on them. As such, he expects initiative and anticipation from his bridge crew to keep the war machine rolling, and it was certainly invigorating.
The rest of the bridge crew consisted of Lt. Jr. Fulvus on weapons, Lt. Jr. Matsiyan on engineering, Ens. Deverin on communications, and Ens. Morlock on science, marking one of the few times the Hydra had a full crew, with no multitaskers. The difference was felt in our first simulation as well, as Ens. Deverin pulled quite a few surrenders from enemies. Unfortunately, many of these surrenders came just as we launched a volley of torpedoes… Thankfully JAG officers don’t bother investigating simulated infractions.
The fast pace of Lt. Cmdr. Del Pino did result in two aborted Echo runs, when he ordered me to fly the run before the mines were finished loading in the tubes. There’s no blame to assign, though, this is one of the unfortunate side effects of a blitzkrieg. With more drilling and a cohesive permanent crew, combined with the Hydra’s significant range, I am sure we could keep that pace going for a long time.
Lt. Jr. Fulvus had to report for duty elsewhere before our patrol, and wasn’t able to join us for the action that came after that either. I’ll have to remember to ask him what pulled him away. Ens. Deverin shifted over to the weapons station, Ens. Morlock picked up comms in addition to science, and we found ourselves with a multitasking crew once again.
Next up was our “routine” patrol that, as per the “routine,” ended up a lot less “routine” than initially expected. Besides the usual pirate presence, we encountered significant resistance from the Unukalhai Space Forces and the Lt. Cmdr.’s fast pace really came in handy to intercept them before they could escape the sector. They seem to be trying to use hit-and-run tactics against some of our more poorly defended stations in the Promethean Sector, but we always manage to drive them off before they do any meaningful damage. Their boldness is getting more and more concerning every time we encounter them, though. I hope I never see the day when we can’t handle their incursions.
We picked up three life pods from one of the USF ships and dropped them off at station M-33, but we learned later on that there was something suspicious going on in the cargo bay at the time. According to the station’s staff, their security team found no survivors in the life pods. I have trouble even speculating what could have happened to them, but it is certainly unsettling to think about. As the only permanent bridge crew present at the time, I volunteered to submit a report on the incident to the newly-elected Division Security Manager, Lt. Jr. Chuck Finley. I hope my report helps him get to the bottom of this incident but I’m worried that this might be the start of a long and invasive JAG investigation.
Our patrol ended with an impromptu race back to Promethean Command, initiated by the Phoenix, who seemed eager to return. Not to be outdone, each captain seemed to order their helms officers to arrive first at any cost, and away we went. Lt. Cmdr. Del Pino had the idea to navigate through the protective minefield at high warp, but the Lancer apparently had the same idea. I was worried for a bit, because the Lancer’s engines are nearly twice as powerful as ours, but their helms officer overshot the station by a wide margin, nearly ending up in the minefield on the opposite side! I am proud to say I took advantage of their mistake and made the Hydra the first to dock at Promethean Command.
We didn’t have much time to gloat though, because as soon as we came back from patrol we were sent right back out on a mission. I barely had time to hit the head and get a bulb of synth caf from the galley before being called to the mission briefing room. I overheard Matsiyan mumbling something about “the real thing” while nursing his own bulb–I should remember to ask him if he knows how to get hands on some authentic, dirt-grown coffee. What a treat that would be!
The details of the mission are classified, and I promised to keep them need-to-know. In the past I may not have worried about including details in a personal log, but today’s suspicious events have me more cautious than normal. I’ll try to tiptoe around the details, I hope that will be ambiguous enough to throw off any would-be spy. Then again, any spy looking for sensitive details in a personal log would have to dig through a lot of gossip and scuttlebutt before they found anything even remotely interesting.
I heard that our mission was related to a secret mission that the Lancer crew went on last shift, regarding an objective that seems to draw the attention of all of our enemies. We ended up going on somewhat of a wild goose chase looking for it while escorting the PSE Schrodinger and fending off any pursuers. We eventually found it, but it might as well have transmitted a beacon to all of the TSN’s enemies, screaming, “Come steal me!” Needless to say there was heavy resistance.
I’ve never seen it before, but all of the command officers went into a private conference to discuss the fleet’s next actions. They must really be worried about the implications of the mission to recuse themselves like that, and it lasted long enough that the fleet came under attack while they were discussing. Lt. Jr. Matsiyan, being the ranking officer on the bridge and acting XO, had to quickly take command and protect the science vessel. I was really impressed with his reaction time, especially considering he was sitting at the engineering console, which doesn’t exactly give a great sense of tactics or strategy, situated in the back corner of the bridge. I hardly realized what was happening before he was up pacing the deck like a well-seasoned captain.
We came through that conflict all right, but the command officers came back with some bad news: we wouldn’t be returning to Promethean Command any time soon. The plan was to park the fleet somewhere safe and secluded for a while and stay on alert for any enemy activity. Looks like we’ll be eating MREs for the next few meals, at least.
Protecting a stationary science vessel isn’t the most exciting of assignments, so we ran a simulation to keep the crews sharp. The Lt. Cmdr. was eager by this point to put the Hydra through her simulated paces, and made liberal use of her 4 tubes. This meant lots of Omega and Echo maneuvers that, if we weren’t careful, could have ended in some simulated friendly-fire. Thankfully that didn’t happen, because we certainly do not need to earn the Hydra a further reputation for reckless use of ordnance.
Finally, in the debrief, it was reported that Promethean Command was missing a shuttle full of MREs. I can only imagine this is further evidence of USF infiltration and it really makes me eager to start my duties as the Ancillary Craft Officer to keep my eye on our own equipment. The last thing I want is for the Hydra to be the poster child for “loose lips sink ships.” Not to mention with the Hydra’s history of destruction, I want to personally ensure that our life pods are ready to launch at a moment’s notice.
My watch on the bridge is coming up soon, so I’d better grab another bulb of synth caf and get going. Sitting attentively for the next few hours is going to be a struggle to say the least.
——————————————–
Lieutenant, Junior Grade Quinn
Helms Officer
TSN Hydra (CM-008)
2nd Fleet, 4th Light Division
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