Meeting of the Wolves

Posted on Mon Aug 11th, 2014 @ 8:21am by Lieutenant Commander Charon Edomar & Commander Angelica Fairchild
Edited on on Mon Aug 11th, 2014 @ 8:35am

Mission: Something Amiss
Location: USS Hera - First Officer's Office
Timeline: MD1

Charon was sitting in his office and was going over the crew roster. He would have to get used to assign duty shifts and crew rotation. For now id didn't seem to be more complicated or difficult than triage. So he was confident he would get a handle on the large number of people he was in charge of organizing.
After he had looked at the time he put down the PADD he was using to create his first draft of the duty shifts. He asked the computer where Lieutenant Fairchild was currently at and energetically activated his combadge after the computer had given him a location an the human woman. “This is Lieutenant Commander Edomar to Lieutenant Fairchild. Please meet me in the first officer's office.“
He was looking forward to meeting the rest of the senior staff and he made a point to get in a bit of conversation before they had their first meeting to discuss the mission they had ahead of them.

Now? Angelica thought rather crossly, having just started Bravo team on their qualification range. Higher ranking officers always seemed to have a knack for interrupting things! Forcing a smile and carefully smoothing all traces of agitation from her voice, she tapped her combadge to reply, signaling for another qualified officer to take over the range. "Of course, sir. I'll be there once the range has reset to take input from my assistant."

Charon let out a very drawn out breath. This day had not started off well and it seemed his mood just plummeted further down with every item on his self imposed schedule he approached.
“Make it quick, Lieutenant.” he snapped over the established comlink. The fact that he cut it directly after was attributed to his mood steadily moving to a all time low. There were few things as frustrating as a mission that none of the participants were properly trained and or equipped for and where almost no useful information had been given as to how they were to approach this mission. The fact that they had been dealt a bad hand to play in a high stakes game of Tongo was already making him feel very uneasy.

"What a jerk," a young ensign said, and Angelica walloped him in the back of his head, just hard enough to get his attention. He turned around and stared at her, disbelief written on his face.

"Jerk or not, he's the first officer and you will show him respect," Angelica said firmly, manually resetting the range instead of waiting for the computer. She didn't think Charon had been very nice either, but no sense in breeding dissent so early in their mission.

Once the range was taking orders from her assistant, she quickly left the area and made her way up to Charon's office, where she rang the doorchime and waited politely for an answer.

“Come!” the single word spoken by the first officer seemed to reverberate and hover in the room for an agonizingly long moment. Charon's mood was poor. There was no mistaking it. He got up from his chair and leaned slightly forward with his hands steadying him on the table. That way his size was displayed to full effect. Just a little something he had learned during his time as a Counselor.

That tone of voice was a bad sign, and Angelica groaned inwardly despite the genuine appearance of her smile. Great. Still, she wasted no time in entering, taking a moment to study Charon's posture. It seemed he meant to be intimidating, but the man had nothing on Franklin Drake... and she wasn't even afraid of Drake. Regardless, it was a poor way to greet people into his office, and she wasn't sure she liked that sort of attitude in her boss. "I do apologize for the delay, but you called as I was setting up the firing range." She paused, carefully watching for signs of a flaring temper. "I did make the schedule available to all the senior staff."

"And we will have to throw that schedule overboard Lieutenant," Charon said with a much calmer voice. He took a moment and his face seemed to clear up. The foul mood was banished for now. “I don't know how much you have already been told about our upcoming mission by the captain and fairly it is not my place to brief you.” he explained. “But, for the next few days I have a whole lot of things to do for you.” He reached for a PADD which was lying distinctly separate at the edge of his desk. He picked it up and held it out for her to take. “On this are the orders to conduct a thorough examination of your security personnel. I want them fully evaluated. You are going to work closely with doctor Cage, the ship's counselor and me in establishing a ranking of all crew members under your care.” He sighed. “Please sit down Lieutenant.” He did so himself and pointed towards the replicator. “Feel free to get yourself something to drink.” His hands, now both at his temples, were busy trying to massage away the headache that was now flaring up with a vengeance. The neural suppressant was wearing off.

"And leave us not knowing who on the security teams can actually shoot and who needs more practice? I have to respectfully disagree." Easily spotting the signs of a headache brought on by too much mental strain, Angelica kept her voice low, with an even pitch. "The safety of this crew is my responsibility, and I am not comfortable with the idea of discontinuing Security's training schedule. As for the evaluation, that was already in progress before you ever asked for it." Sitting down as she'd been bidden, she took the offered PADD and set it back down on the edge of Charon's desk. "You'll need my teams in top fighting condition, I know that much. But I can't get them there if I don't keep them on schedule."

“Noted, Lietenant.” he said and pulled his hands away from his head. He put them down on the table in front of him and let them rest there. There was an awkward silence for a moment. “How many of your men have seen death? How many will falter in the face of imminent danger?” Charon asked. Out of the blue he squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. His left hand shot back to his temple.
Sadly their crew complement was lacking the kind of veteran material and specialists Charon would have liked for the mission ahead of them. And he had looked at all available crew members. The pile of PADDs with personnel files in front of him gave tribute to that. So his concerns were not at all misplaced. On top of that he really did not like to loose people. Not as a doctor and not as a first officer.
“I can feel the anticipation amongst the crew. They are not ready.” He let out slowly and under his breath. It sounded like he was hesitant to even admit it. Still the combined presence of hundreds of beings tested even his mental defences. He forced his eyes open and it seamed like he had to put up a real fight to be able to open them at all. After steadying himself he continued. “I have seen strong willed and courageous people reduced to whimpering, empty shells by what they have lived through in battle, Lieutenant. I don't want someone to go out there who is not ready for it. Be it physically, mentally or training wise.” He took a break from his rant and after a sip from his now cold tee he continued with a more empathetic voice. “I am not here to tell you how to do your job, Lieutenant. Far from that. I am here to tell you that what ever you think is enough is going to be barely adequate when push comes to shove.” He didn't seem to happy with how that had come out but he left it at that.

"None of them, which is why I have to keep them on schedule. The right response must be reflex or they die on their first away mission. This isn't my first rodeo, Commander." For once, Angelica actually wanted to tell someone what work she really did, but her cover was much too valuable to risk. "As for myself, I've watched men and women die, some at my own hand. It's a moment when training and reflex is all you have left... I don't want these boys to kill. But when the time comes, they will be ready, and they'll do their job... even if it means taking a life. Or giving their own. It's part of the job and they knew that when they signed up."

"And I expect nothing less.“ Said the first officer with a reassuring smile on his face. He didn't doubt her. She was a capable officer from what he could read out of her personnel file and from what her previous superiors had written about her. But that was not all he was concerned about. This mission was not looking to go very well. He sure as hell did not want her to develop any kind of self-doubt over the course of this mission. He was certain she would do her best and if he asked it of her she would probably go beyond that. But he could not let her doubt herself even for a minute. Determination was a powerful driving force. It could be contagious. If she could inspire a few of the crew members she was in charge of all the better. She didn't even have to be aware of it. “I want you to push not only the people under your command but yourself as well. Your service record is quite a read and I wish to see more of that.” He stood up and held out his hand for Angelica. “I expect nothing short of perfection from you Lieutenant. Don't make me doubt the high opinion that others clearly have of you.”

"Perfection?" Angelica couldn't help laughing a little at that. "I think I can manage that. I'll certainly do my best." Grinning, she got up and shook Charon's hand. "If there's nothing else, sir, I have a lot of officers left to assess."

After shaking and releasing her hand he was ready to dismiss her. “Nothing more, Lieutenant.” Charon said now a lot more at ease and almost jovial. “Exept, ...” he began and paused for a long moment. “... if you ever have something to contribute on the bridge or off it, I want to hear it. I don't know the captains policy, but that's mine. Never hold anything back that might be of use to the ship.” He pointed towards the door and nodded. “For the time being I want daily reports on your progress, Lieutenant. Keep up the good work.” And with that he send her off. Returning to his own work and his other responsibilities.