Log Vaj 22717-2237

[Matthew Vaj]

Personal Log, Lieutenant Matthew Vaj, TSN Viper, 2nd Flt, 4th Light Div.
Stardate 22717-2237

I thought losing the Raven was bad. But when the Phoenix was destroyed… The Phoenix was my home for a long time. And since I was planning on returning to the Phoenix eventually, a part of me still thought of her as home. I blame Commander van Leigh, of course. He was in fleet command at the time, while Fleet Captain Xavier, Captain Evans, and Captain Jemel were discussing various things on station. I’ve read his report over and over, and while I won’t say he made the wrong decision, the Phoenix’s destruction came as a result of his direct orders.

Here’s what happened. The Zolmari and N’Tani in Euphini had called for reinforcements against an assault by a major Hegemony fleet. Apparently, there were some amongst the more recent groups of defectors who were not, in fact, defectors, but were Hegemony loyalists who provided their Kralien superiors with intel regarding the Zolmari and N’Tani. This breech of security has numerous potential consequences, and myself and the other ONI members in the division are working overtime with our Zolmari counterparts to tighten security and root out any remaining loyalists.

Anyway, since Captain Verok has been otherwise occupied lately, Fleet Captain Xavier has commandeered the TSN Viper for the time being for the displaced crew of the Raven. For this mission, Lt. Cmdr. Aramond was in command, and since Lt. Quinn and Lt. Sr. Mundy were both absent, I was his XO. In addition, I gave up my seat as Engineer to Cadet Eaglestallon, who I know has at least some experience with keeping ships intact, and took Science and Communications myself.

There were a few small fleets from the Zolmari and N’Tani assisting us in defending the Expanse. And a significant Hegemony fleet was closing on our position. I don’t remember the battle in much detail, but the Viper was diligently working to eliminate a heavy Hegemony fleet when sensors indicated that the Phoenix had been destroyed. I immediately executed a sensor refresh to confirm those readings, only to find life pods moving from the Phoenix’s last known position. To keep myself from dwelling on the Phoenix’s loss at the time, I focused on sensor analysis of the various ships we were fighting and angrily demanded surrenders. Woe to the ships who didn’t heed my demands! They were slaughtered with extreme prejudice. Irrational as it is, part of me thinks we defeated that fleet by sheer angry willpower.

Fortunately, as far as I know the Division didn’t lose any lives. The N’tani and Zolmari, on the other hand, lost a significant portion of their ships before we were able to drive back the Hegemony fleet. In fact, the N’tani contingent was annihilated, and the Kraliens were significantly weakened. I am worried that they will be attacked again soon. With the fleet’s austerity measures in place, and with the loss of two ships in the Division in recent weeks, we may not be able to assist our allies in Euphini as well as we would like.

I found out upon our return to Promethean that Lt. Slate had been piloting the Phoenix at the time of her destruction. Normally I would place at least partial blame for the destruction of a ship on the officer at helm, but considering she was given direct orders to stay put, it will be entirely on Cmdr. van Leigh’s head this time. To be honest, I’m not really mad at him anyhow, especially considering how long he was my commanding officer. I have a lot of respect for the Commander, and like I said, I won’t say he made the wrong decision. I’m just frustrated that I’ve lost a home that I planned on returning to eventually.

Moving on, the destruction of the Phoenix wasn’t the only exciting thing to happen this duty shift. Upon our return to Promethean, we were in the midst of a briefing for a mission to escort a merchant convoy out to Cerberus when a priority message came through from command. A USF fleet was closing on Promethean Command and we were told to scramble to our ships and repel them. It wasn’t a huge fleet, and with the Phoenix’s crew staffing the Excalibur, if I remember right, we defeated them. We were almost done wiping out the USF fleet when a group of Caltrons appeared. It appears that it was some sort of probing unit, although we are unsure what they were looking for. A temporary artificial space-time rift was detected, and I made sure to get a boost to sensor systems while scanning the rift. The data from those scans are still being analyzed. Once the rift dissipated, the Caltrons were quickly dispatched, and we resumed our mission to escort the merchants. It was a nicely uneventful mission, although Commander van Leigh apparently bought a few units of coolant without authorization. I can’t really blame him, though. A unit of coolant can be the difference between a ship’s destruction and survival. I’m sure he was wishing for a couple units of coolant back on the Phoenix. I can’t blame him for that. But, until I have a new place to rest my head, I will blame him for the Phoenix.

I don’t know what the Unukalhai were doing in our neck of the woods, but I think I might use my next leave to visit the Orson. My old shipmates still have connections in the USF, and they might be able to help us figure out what the USF want with Promethean Command.

Anyways, I have a meeting with Lieutenant Tinru of the Zolmari in a few minutes. We have a few things to discuss about their vetting procedures for incoming defectors. We don’t need any more intelligence leaks than we already have.

[Matsiyan]

// Read – and enjoyed. And thanks for keeping those of us off shift informed.

[Draeco]

//nice log, the feel comes through.

[Author]

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