Log Vaj 29717-2237

[Matthew Vaj]

Personal Log, Lieutenant Matthew Vaj, TSN Horizon, 2nd Flt, 4th Light Div.
Stardate 29717-2237

It’s been a long shift. We started with a sim, as usual, although today I was aboard the Horizon. I had requested assignment to the TSN Horizon, under Captain Verok, as Science officer. Science is my secondary of course, but Engineering takes its toll and I’ve been ready for something different for awhile now. So, instead of managing power and coolant levels, I was tasked with sensor data analysis. I was glad for the sim, since it gave me a chance to practice on a station I don’t get to use too often. Following the first sim, we started a second. A border war sim this time. Border wars always take a long time, and this one just dragged. Maybe if I’d been in Engineering I would’ve been kept busy. On the upside, it seemed like the Horizon’s crew worked quite well together.

Our first mission took place in Volantis, but since we were headed in that direction, we delivered a cargo of warhead components to Volantis Command, which had a shortage. Once the cargo transfer was completed, we moved to meet a fleet of Zolmari ships who were returning to Kralien space via the Sierra gate. Our orders were to “chase” the Zolmari ships through the gate. We decreased power to beams significantly so that our “attack” would appear genuine. As we approached the gate, a couple of Hegemony fleets came through the gate and attacked us. Captain Verok, in fleet command for the shift, ordered us to take as many surrenders as we could to hide the Zolmari ships among the surrendered enemies. It was quite an exercise to keep track of our allies-who-looked-like-enemies and our actual enemies, although Lt. Nhaima had the foresight to make a note of our allies’ callsigns. During the battle, our allies managed to sneak to safety through the gate. Once the Hegemony fleets were eventually defeated, we returned to Volantis.

We remained at Volantis long enough to meet up with several other officers in the station’s mess hall. However, I was called away early to meet with the station’s Command and Control staff since I would be on CIC duty. Apparently, a science convoy had been attacked by Kraliens. Their last known position was Volantis XI, and the 4LD was being ordered to search for and rescue them if possible. In addition, ONI wanted the division to capture some high-ranking prisoners from any Kralien ships, especially if they might have been behind the attack. The division met in the Briefing Room, where I briefed the other officers, and we were dismissed to our ships.

As I settled into my seat on the Command and Control deck, I once again felt the heavy weight of responsibility that comes from sitting in that chair. I was responsible for communicating our situation to Command, and relaying orders to the division. I kept remembering what happened the last couple times I was on CIC duty: Cerberus Command destroyed, and later two more stations destroyed along with the engineering fleet assigned to rebuild Cerberus Command. A lot of lives lost, and that combined with the loss of the two ships I considered home in the fleet is still painful for me to think about. Regardless, I had a duty to perform, and I was going to do it.

Thank heavens, it wasn’t too difficult of a mission. Although there were several marines who were injured, and a couple of them lost their lives assaulting a particularly defensive Kralien ship, most of the crews in the division were in little danger. The division managed to prevent the destruction of the remaining science vessel and rescue the life pods from the others with little difficulty, and boarding the Kralien flagships was quite successful. ONI has seven hostages to interrogate over the next few days. And the science vessel’s logs were forwarded to us for analysis as well, although we don’t expect to get any useful intel from the logs.

It was quite a relief once we got back to Volantis Command. Our energy supplies were replenished, I stepped down from CIC, and autopilot is bringing us safely back to Promethean Command. Looks like I have twenty minutes before my next meeting. Power-nap time, then back to work.

[Matsiyan]

// Read and enjoyed. We haven’t seen the mental burden of CIC before. Thanks for helping me understand a shift I was absent.

[Adele Mundy]

//I agree with Matsiyan, thanks for filling in a shift I missed, and RP-ing the stress of CIC.

[Matthew Vaj]

// Thanks! I hope both of you will get back into writing logs soon!

[Matsiyan]

// I am feeling the urge, but currently it is being directed into the ONI report and the FNS. Plus I more of my TSN time is taken up with Senior officer stuff. Principally that makes it harder to take relevant notes during shifts.

[Matthew Vaj]

// That was my primary reason for not taking a more active role in FNS, so I understand. Though I’ve found helping write the ONI reports makes it easier to remember stuff for my logs.

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