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“Gentlemen, the 4th Light has faced some grim situations in the past. I’ll be honest, there have been times when my confidence was shaken. This is one of those times. However, the Universe provides hope when you most need it.”
“That, my friends…” Donovan motions their attention to Tetra, recognizing that same introverted demeanor from his not-so-distant youth.
“She and the other new officers are the future of the 4th Light, and that fills me with great hope.”
Donovan calls out to the Ensign, “Tetra! Plenty of room here! Come! Sit! These people have already heard most of my stories multiple times. You’re a new audience, and you have stories of your own.”
“Now, where were we? Ah, yes! A toast! To the 4th Light… best damn Division in the Fleet! And to her future!”
Donovan’s confidence was only half-feigned. This is our strength. This is how we make it through.
“Good evening, Garion. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, these are some trying times. I remember Tuor from years ago – I was quite a green junior officer back then. I never imagined we’d be put in such an adversarial position.”
Donovan reaches out with his leg to kick out a chair as Tivianne approaches.
“Thanks, Tivianne. It’s not me, so much, that I’m worried about. This time, it’s not me under the microscope. I almost prefer it, if it were. This is about the 4th Light. I may have done some questionable things in the past, and I’d be willing to take the consequences, if it meant shielding the rest of the Division. This is… different.”
Donovan notices Das downing his first, then motions to Damian and mouths the words, ‘Make it a tall!’ then continues…
“This is the Division relying on me, in a way that it hasn’t needed to, in the past. I’ve got to come up with some irrefutable evidence and some convincing arguments, to make sure the blame doesn’t roll down from Command and obliterate what we’ve built. Leave it to me to open my big mouth and put me in this position, but there was no way I would let Tuor go at Blury without stepping in. You all are…” Donovan hesitates, knowing Tivianne and Das would catch it, and hoping Garion wouldn’t “…family.”
Donovan calls out from his isolated table…
“You know better than that, Damian! No ranks in the bar. Next round is on you!”
Donovan slowly enters. His gait is slow and random, as if he were deep in thought and found the entrance by happenstance, as he wandered the hallways.
“Evenin’, Damian. A pleasure, as always. You know what I need.”
The commander slowly scans the bar, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light, and almost doesn’t notice Damian’s deft placement of a small glass, until he hears…
“Here you are Donovan. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No worries, Damian. Just lost in thought here. Have you seen any of Lancer’s crew tonight?”
“You’re the first.”
“If any of them come in tonight, it’s on my tab.”
Donovan reverently takes the drink offered. He looks down, as if gazing at something through the bottom of the glass before he closes his eyes and bows his head. His lips start to move, his words barely audible over the din of the staff preparing for a busy night. With head bowed, he slowly lifts the glass as his cadence continues and pauses at eye level. The last half-spoken words falling hesitantly from his lips, Donovan raises the glass ever so slightly in what appears to be a toast to everyone and no one in the room, at the same time.
“If any of the 4th Light wanders in, I’ll be over at that corner table. It might be ex parte, but I’ll leave that for the JAG to decide.”
Donovan grabs the drink that Damian has knowingly set on the bar without another order being placed. His apology is soft, but still loud enough to be heard by Damian’s trained ear.
“Das, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. This shouldn’t be your burden to shoulder.”
Clears his throat to make his presence known…
Sector 7 would seem the most likely place to put a hidden, temporary base. Any sector would be only one transition away from the Gate, however, this one contains nebulae and asteroids, with no enemy-held positions. Sectors 4 & 6 would seem like good sectors, except we saw a lot of incoming enemy transitions to Sector 5 from the Spinwards and Trailing borders. Plus, it’s far off any routes that should be likely to be traveled.
Donovan meanders in, taking a seat with his fellow officers
Look at threads the Universe has tugged. Isn’t it just the way that if the loom misses a loop that the rest of the tableau is cinched in to bring try to close up the hole?
No, I’m not a weaver. I can’t even claim that as an original thought. I’ve just been talking with people that I consider to be wise, and some of the questions and thoughts they bring up… It’s not as easy as decrypting a code or hacking into some “secure” system, but they do break my thought patterns and open them up to different paths. I don’t always understand them until later, but, if I keep looking out for possible interpretations…
My friends, it’s been too long, and I’ve missed you. The comfort your presence brings helps soothe the Void in my heart and soul.
motions to Matthew Vaj
Your presence has been scarce of late, as well, my friend. You have not been unmissed.
Guy! That special vintage! A round for everyone, and one for yourself!
Good to have you aboard, Mr. Garion. I’m pleased you enjoyed your deployment aboard Lancer. Just as glad to see a bit of recognition for the unique perspective that Command brings. Your words brought me back to an earlier experience in my own career, when I found myself taking Lancer out as her acting commander. Indeed, I’m sure every command officer and fleet command officer reading your log recognized the same feeling. I’m grateful that someone can start to put the experience of trusting one’s crew/fleet into words. It’s an… “experience”… to put the ship into the hands of your crew – relying on the information flowing from them, while simultaneously trying to direct them as a cohesive unit. It helps when you have talented officers aboard, to be sure. For the newer officers, it’s an opportunity to impart your knowledge and tactics – helping them to increase their own abilities and grow as officers.
Takes a seat next to Sebasti.
How goes it, Cadet? Word has it among the fleet that you’ve had some experience on a few of the ships. Glad to see you’ve made it this far, while still in one piece.
Motions subtly to the bartender that his drinking companion’s credits are no good while I’m chatting with him.
I hope you’re holding up, Mr. Sebasti. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Things are about as bad as we could imagine, out here on the front lines. Command probably won’t appreciate me sharing this with you, but, your thoughts probably aren’t far off the mark… mostly. We’ve withdrawn from many neutral sectors. It almost seems as if we’ve given up the fight – that we’re not ready to stand up defend the independents that we’ve come to call erstwhile friends. Truth be told, these “friends” haven’t done much more to maintain that friendship, other than to let us know that we’d best be on our way… that they’d signed a non-aggression pact against those that oppose our way of life.
It may seem that we’re always, “tactially withdrawing our forces,” “consolidating our resources,” and, “leaving sectors to be overrun by enemy forces.” Don’t let that get you down. I have seen worse, and I’m not worried.
Throws back a shot, and motions to the bartender to set himself and the Cadet up with another.
Ok, I’m a bit concerned, but not worried.
Orders another round.
Drink up, son… I not often in the generous, buying mood…
It’s a long way home if we’re limited to warp drive.
starts running mental calculations, using assumptions for Arcturus Sector’s position relative to “known” space.
We’re talking measurements in years, not weeks or months.
Until we’re able to reliably resupply, I recommend the fleet adopt strict conservation measures – restrict to Delta engagements, with the use of heavier ordnance to be saved for extreme circumstances. Perhaps the length of any engagement where there is the possiblity of the loss of even a single DamCon should be re-evaluated. Survival-level water and replicator rationing should be implemented immediately. We should also re-analyze the sensor readings of the planet we discovered to see if there are any biological or technological resources we may be able to scavenge.
Exploring the unknown sectors is a calculated risk – we may encounter more enemy ships and hostile cosmozoa, but we must weigh that against our need to locate raw materials and the means to refine and utilize them. Search grids should also be executed in each sector to detect any possible natural jump points.
Recommend we do what we can to boost our sensor and communications systems. Any advance intelligence from sensors or intercepted communications could mean avoiding a costly engagement. At the same time, we should engage Silent Running as much as possible. Coded, data-stream burst communication between ships should be the order of the day to avoid detection by hostiles.
Before we encounter any more Rumarian vessels, Command should also evaluate whether our ideals for preserving life are overriden by our own need to survive.
Donovan half-notices heads turning towards him and imagines the judgment behind the stares as comprehension of his train of thought sinks in…
Respectfully, Sir, a single Rumarian ship, even though it has offered to surrender, could alert their fleets to our presence and put us in more jeopardy. At the very least, we should actively jam their communications channels while in proximity. If we let them leave, we should offload engineers to their surrendered ships to sabotage communications systems and sensor logs.
// I do not do that to frogs, can’t deny the rest of it, though! (Someone else here is a Firefly fan, too!)
…nodding at Adele…
“I know ranks aren’t allowed – it’s just been every transmission that we’ve managed to intercept and decrypt so far were sprinkled with ‘Sir’s’ and ‘Ma’am’s’ and, generally, well… not so much groveling as making sure that a superior officer is reflected as just that. Superior. Forgive me if I add a few here and there, so I don’t get out of the habit of it when I have to communicate outside our little fleet here, which isn’t exactly our little fleet.”
Donovan’s tone turns hushed, as if he’s sure everyone and everything in the room is surely listening in on the conversation.
“From what I’ve discovered, biometric scans and simple voice pattern recognition systems recognize us for us… I mean them… ummm… Don’t make me go down this rabbit hole!”
“What I mean to say is that passwords and such seem to be a bit of extra work to crack, and simple scans like DNA, retinal, and voice register as authentic.”
Donovan looks at his fingers, not so much to check for damage, but tapping them for feeling and to reassure himself that they’re still whole.
“Mr. Vaj, I recommend an extra measure of caution if you try to circumvent the password lockouts. The systems here seem a little less ‘tolerant’ of imaginative bypasses.”
“I was going to test a theory and see if there were any EEG patterns on file to compare to, and, maybe, run some scans on my hand, but I was a little weirded out by the equipment in sickbay. Voiddamnit, I’m a Scientist, not a Doctor, but I don’t think everything in there is meant to patch the officers up and make us feel better!”
Donovan hesitantly enters the mess hall and nervously glances around until he finds familiar faces. Somewhat paranoid, he makes a circuitous route – checking out the menu of the day, dispensing a large mug of coffee, staring out the porthole – before he finally approaches.
“Nhaima. Is that… is that you? I mean… are you… _you_? I’m just not sure about anything – it’s like everything here is familiar, but just a bit off. Have you noticed that? The stellar cartography charts look the same, but there’s something even there that puts me on edge. Even looking at the stars… there’s… just… You know? Tell me you know what I’m talking about and that this isn’t just a new neurosis.”
Sips his coffee…
“Ugh! Well that hasn’t really changed!”
Noticing the senior officers present, “Sir, Ma’am. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Could we bring back the old Bar posts somehow? I’m really quite proud and fond of that last one with Aramond.
