RP Log: Easing Transitions
| Roleplay Log | |
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| Participants: | |
Location(s):
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Stardate:
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| 2023-01-21 22:54 | |
- XO's Office - Saucer <USS Phoenix NCC-170100-A>
- The XO's office is a mirror of the Captain's Ready Room on this deck. It is separated into two sections by a low railing and a small step. The first tier is at the same level as the main bridge, and is for more formal meetings with the Executive Officer, and includes a wooden L-shaped desk with a single chair on the far side, beyond it is a sliding door into a private lavatory.
- The lowered tier, down a single step between the low railing, has a long sofa along the outer bulkhead just below a window. A small glass oval coffee table is in front of the sofa. A food replicator is also available along the far bulkhead. A section of the sofa can pull out, revealing a single-sized bed, should the XO not be able to get below to their quarters.
T'Shaav is sitting at the XO's desk, working across three pads. She hasn't had time to arrange the office to her fashion, but her lirpa sits on display in a corner. She looks up as the door opens, studying the man who enters.
Worthington enters and snaps off a salute. He sees the familiar looking Vulcan seated behind the desk that was once his. "Reporting as ordered commander," he says. "I've moved all of my things out and vacated the deck 5 quarters as well. If there is anythin else I can do to assist your transition to USS Phoenix, please let me know."
"Your attitude is commendably appropriate, Lieutenant Commander. Sit down. Refreshments?" She offers.
Worthington shakes his head as he takes a seat. "No thank you commander," he says. "I must admit, I'm surprised to see you again. Pleased, but surprised. I had no idea that they would assign you here. You do bring considerable command experience to the table, and our mission will be extensive, so the choice is logical."
T'Shaav nods. "Objectively speaking, I do bring some useful experience to the extended mission which is planned. But that is not why I have summoned you here." A beat. "First, though you surely do not need me to say this, I assure you that I will treat you without prejudice, either for or against. Your actions at Volan Three were not taken under my command, and I am of a completely neutral disposition about the particulars. It is a matter for Captain Shulon which, so far as my thoughts are concerned, was concluded before I arrived in its entirety." A beat. "You may speak freely."
Worthington nods. "I freely admit that I was in error. I misinterpreted an order. However, I do believe that a similar situation would have likely resulted regardless. The Tzenkethi until Volan have shown a dicotomous attitude, fight or flee. They never did anything as suffisticated as attempting a ruse of any kind. This was them with their perverbial backs against the wall here. They did make no effort at subspace comms, and had the Huang He not been a ruse, I have no doubt they would have fired upon her, Starfleet or no. They seemed to care more about tactical disposition rather than the identities of the vessels they attacked." He pauses. "I believe they still would have engaged us, even if they did move to leave. 1 vessel self-destructed, and the other 2 only fled after being engaged. I gave a report on this commander that is freely available for your review, but I see no logic in the Tzenkethi behavior. We did gain some insights into how they engage in combat however."
"I have read your report," T'Shaav says, "and I agree with your assessment in part, that the Tzenkethi would likely have chosen to fire. However, the operational rules of engagement for that mission required us to allow them to do so. Even if the same battle had resulted, them firing first was the difference. So, it is now closed, pending any final disposition by the captain. I am more interested in what you have learned as an officer from this incident."
Worthington considers. "Chiefly, I have learned that regardless of how much we think we know going into a situation, we can never truly predict the actions of an adversary well enough to be completely certain of their actions. We had an idea of who we thought the Tzenkethi were. A good amount of our perception of them was completely contradicted by their behavior in this situation. It was this that caused me some confusion. I was expecting them to either flee at the sight of a vastly superior force, to ignore us and call our bluff, or to directly engage. This half in half out initial pose they gave us was out of character for them to say the least sir. I had never seen them lock weapons on anyone they didn't intend to shoot, and I hadn't see them hold their ground against a numerically and physically superior force. There is always room to underestimate an adversary."
"There is another thing you should reiterate for yourself from this," she says.
Worthington nods. "As captain Shulon put it, don't be so eager to fire," he replies. "I should have waited for a clear order to do so. That was the mistake I made."
"That was indeed the mistake you made, and not for the first time, Lieutenant Commander," T'Shaav says stirnly. "Do not make it when under my orders."
Worthington nods. "Understood commander," he replies.
"You need to think before you act, as I have tried to teach you repeatedly. Especially when contemplating actions that will almost surely lead to the loss of life. That is all I am going to say about it. If Captain Shulon puts a letter of reprimand in your jacket, it will have been earned. If he does not, count yourself a beneficiary of his mercies. He does not wish to end your career. nor do I. Have I made myself clear?"
Worthington nods. "Both of you have sir," he replies.
T'Shaav nods. "Very good. Now, tell me of your department. You finally, as the human saying has it, have my old job on the Phoenix. Your thoughts? And please begin," she adds wryly, "with something other than the torpedo deficit I know you well enough to know you are thinking of."
Worthington smiles. "This would be my second time in this position, though this Phoenix is quite different from the last one," he says. "The department has been performing admirably sir. We have a notable civilian population aboard, larger than the original Phoenix's, and facilities similar to those of a Starbase. There have thus been more minor security incident reports that used to come across my desk when I was in that chair from the head of security. Minor things, the occasional bar fight, disputes over living arrangements, things of that nature you would expect from large numbers of people crammed together with a civilian complament that's not as used to our standards of procedure. We also have to insure that the children aboard don't get into sensative or dangerous areas. We routinely have security personnel stationed around airlocks, shuttlebays, and the cetacean area entrances to keep children from accidentally wandering inside and potentially getting themselves hurt." He pauses. "I'll leave the torpedo deficits out, but tactically, we do have a few of our stardrive phasers that do not function when the ship is joined due to the way the stardrive fits up into the saucer. The dome of decks 9, 10, and 11 actually come up into the center of the saucer section, and this is how the ship connects. It's a peculular configuration commander, but one you will adjust to. Likewise, we have 3 bridge facilities aboard. The main bridge here, the battle bridge on deck 9 stardrive, only accessible through the battle lift, and the auxiliary bridge in the engineering section, deck 27."
T'Shaav nods. "Noted," she says. "That matter of the phasers sounds like something of a design flaw, but one which is compensated for by the Phoenix's other assets." A beat. "When we complete our duties in the Alpha Quadrant, we will be departing for a long mission in territory far away. Some of our civilians may find that discomfiting, and your security officers will be among some of the most visible and accessible personnel. I suggest you tell your people, reiterating to them actually, that talking is often the most important action they will take at times."
Worthington nods. "I will commander," he says. "I don't think the phaser issue is a design flaw per say. On the grand scheme of things, 2 banks and 2 cannons out of 42 total is not that much, and the battle bridge when connected is actually sheltered well. The main design flaw with the ship I've noticed is that jeffries tubes don't provide full coverage. Particularly, outside the cetacean areas, there are no tubes connecting decks 7 and 8, and the same is true in the deflector area, so while you can go between decks 25 and 27, you can't access most of deck 26 through tubes in case of an emergency. The same goes for the port stardrive section between decks 12 and 17. Also, no lift access below deck 32, and none in the central area of the stardrive from deck 12 to 15."
"Noted," she says again. "I may discuss that with the chief engineer as a point of interest. Do you have any other items? I realize that you have just assumed that post."
Worthington nods. "Fusion reactor 1 is out of the rotation until an internal issue is resolved. Engineering is working on this presently. Science and medical are working on a plan to revitalize soil for Orias III and other Cardassian worlds. We collected samples recently from Orias III, but had to cut that trip short to join the fleet that liberated Volan 3," he says, thinking. "Have you familiarized yourself with the ship's layout? There's also our auxiliary craft, all of which save Huang He are classes we did not have on Phoenix and you would not have seen during your tour at Lya Station."
T'Shaav nods. "I will be walking the ship deck by deck and inspecting all of the auxiliary craft," she says. "I tend towards thoroughness in such things as I am sure you recall. Tell me of the people. You were their executive officer for 1.5 years, and this crew is quite large. Is there anything concerning the crew I should know about?"
Worthington considers. "The senior officers, most of them, are people you are familiar with," he says. "They have all adjusted well to the large department sizes aboard commander. We have some new engineering personnel who are aclamating well. No major issues as far as the crew are concerned, and I heard no complaints from department heads regarding individual crew members sir. This vessel can be a little confusing, and this mostly applies to new crew and the vastness of the ship's internal structure. They adjust well over time though, and I've not seen the scale of the vessel be an issue for new crew members for very long. There are just a lot more of them than we are used to seeing, so think station sized in terms of crew complament. Lya Station afterall is vast in its own right, and there are crews constantly coming and going. The latter is not the case here, but I don't expect anyone to get to know everyone as fast as you would on a smaller ship. For junior officers and especially enlisted personnel, you could go weeks without seeing people at the other end of the ship if your duties or recreational activities don't take you that way."
T'Shaav nods. "Thank you, Commander," she says. "I have nothing else for you at this time. Except to state that I am confident that you will adjust quickly to your departmental duties and work alongside your fellow department heads with the professionalism the matter requires. Also, perhaps we should set up a sparring practice at some point, but only if you wish. Many of my junior officers aboard Lya Station were ... less than experienced at hand to hand practice. Does this interest you?"
Worthington nods. "I can use some practice commander," he says. "When you sit in that chair, you push more paper than one usually prefers. Such a humbling experience as sparring with you definitely helps me have a better perspective, and stay in shape. We have dojos aboard actually, so some ship designer invisioned that people might want to spar for recreation or practice when they built this ship."
T'Shaav nods. "Then we shall schedule it when time permits." She stands. "Now if you will excuse me, Lieutenant Commander, we both have much work to do."
Worthington nods. "Yes we do sir," he says, rising. "I'll be below if needed."