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Post Sim - The XO hand-off

Posted Oct. 9, 2020, 9:56 p.m. by Commander Jennifer Wallace (Executive Officer (Incoming)) (Riley W)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Post Sim - The XO hand-off

Posted by Commander Jennifer Wallace (Executive Officer (Incoming)) in Post Sim - The XO hand-off

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Post Sim - The XO hand-off
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Luka stood quietly near the airlock, ready to get off Athena and head home. Home. It was so strange that she was going home. And so painfully soon. It felt like she’d been aboard the ship for months or years, but somehow it had been less than a full month since her arrival. With all the insanity that was the mission to the Mirror Universe, she had lost track of time.

Mukin stood beside her, quietly scratching his neck with a hind paw. She leaned down to scritch right behind his ears. At least one of her new friends was coming with her. Well, Mukin wasn’t a new friend. She had already said her goodbyes, and hopefully this would go smoothly. The Athena docked with the transport ship, and after a little while, the airlock hissed open.

Luka, XO (outgoing)

Not far away…

“I don’t know if I’m ready for command…” Jenn muttered quietly into the subspace comm relay she was using to communicate with an old friend. The voice on the other side of the relay let out a hearty chuckle.

“Oh, come on, Jenn. You’ll do great. Besides, you’ve got a great staff to support you. And, guess what, you’re not the Captain. You’re not always in charge of everything, boo.”

“I know, Shess.” Jenn muttered, almost whispering as she spoke. “That doesn’t make me any less nervous about this whole thing. It’s my first XO position, and I’ve read the files on this ship. The ones that are declassified, at least. It’s like the XO position is cursed. I’ll be the third XO in as many months. What does that say about this ship?”

“It says nothing. Just swallow those nerves and get out there. You’ll be fine, I swear it.”

Jenn sighed. “Oh, looks like the transport is docking. I gotta go. I’ll call you later, kay?”

“Smell you later, pink-skin,” Shess said. Jenn could practically hear his characteristic smirk.

“Same to you, beetle boy,” she replied with a laugh, and hung up. Then she stood up, glad her luggage had been transported ahead of her, so she wouldn’t have to worry about her things. Just needed to grab her carry-on bag and she’d be a-okay.

Jennifer Wallace, XO (Incoming)

From a distance Stark watched as it all unfolded. Normally he would just bull in and damn the consequences or hurt feelings but he’d been an incoming and an outgoing XO himself and he knew what feelings that outgoing and incoming would be feeling so he just watched quietly, one with the background, knowing that Luka would have sensed him by now.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Luka glanced towards the shadows, ear flicking as she met the eyes of the Caitian. He didn’t know why she was leaving. She hadn’t told anyone other than the Captain about her situation. Just that something had called her unexpectedly home. She desperately hoped he hadn’t looked into it. Hadn’t learned of the thing that brought a look of pity to the faces of others.

She turned away from Stark, heading through the gate and coming unexpectedly face to face with another individual. A human woman, red hair exploding from a messy ponytail, and the same number of pips on her collar as the one Luka had recently shed.

“Hello,” the outgoing XO spoke, looking at the woman with a clear realization on her face. She hadn’t expected to meet her replacement.

Luka, XO

Wallace stopped short upon seeing… Luka. Her eyes settled on the woman’s lupine face with shock. She’d never seen an alien that looked like this before. “Well… hello. You’d be Luka, I guess?”

Luka nodded quietly.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Um…”

“I’m going to go past you now.”

Jenn nodded, stepping aside to allow the woman passage. Well, that was certainly an interesting person what she was replacing. She reminded Jenn vaguely of H’Morr, except that H’Morr was much less… intimidating. Darn, was that what she was going to have to live up to?

She shuddered slightly, then stepped forward into the Athena proper, taking a breath. “Welcome home, I guess,” she said to herself.

Jennifer Wallace, XO

Luka sat down in the smaller spacecraft. It was a transport that had already been going on it’s way to Galdor, the stop-by to pick her up and drop off the new XO had been fortuitous timing. When they had warped into this area, she’d almost immediately felt a faint stirring in a place she hadn’t felt in a while, other than with the odd little Raka who had joined the Science team. But this was different from that. A signal from one of her own. She now felt it more strongly, and she glanced around for a moment before seeing the grey-furred Laleri sitting a bit further back in the transport.

She made her way over to him, and learned without words that he, too, had spent some time away from Galdor. A tired, almost creaky voice sighed. “It’s good to be going home…”

Luka, XO (Outgoing)

Stark continued to watch as the incoming XO passed with Luka’s retreating form. Stark was rarely emotional but he was honestly sad to see Luka go. He waited patiently as was his way for the newcomer to alight.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

“Here we are,” Jenn commented to herself, grabbing a device from her bag and holding it at arms-length. She made a funny face and held up her hand in a peace sign. The device made a shutter sound and there was a small flash of light, then she slid it back into her bag. “One for the road, eh?” she said as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

She then continued to step further down the corridor, her dull human senses not noticing the Caitian in the shadows.

Jennifer Wallace, XO (Incoming)

Stark stepped into the light and bowed slightly from the waist.

“Welcome aboard, Jennifer Wallace, I am Stark”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Wallace startled slightly, then smiled at the enigmatic Caitian. “Thanks… you don’t… Please don’t bow,” she replied, shuffling on her feet slightly and making a mental note to mention this funny moment to Shess. “Stark.. that would make you the Chief of Intelligence, yes?”

“Correct” he said quietly.

She was glad suddenly that the others had convinced her to read the dossier on the senior staff. Hopefully it would smooth her usually awkward way of interacting with people and make her look half as competent as her superiors seemed to think she was.

Wallace, XO (Incoming)

“This is your first posting as an XO if I’m right. How are you feeling about it?

Stark Nightstalker CIO

“To be honest, a little nervous!” Jenn gave a slightly nervous laugh and reached up to adjust her glasses slightly. They’d been around for two millennia and humanity still didn’t have a way of keeping the darn things from slipping down your nose. “But I’ve moved up from CMO, hopefully being in charge of Sickbay to being second in command of an entire ship. Some might say I’ve moved down a rank,” she chuckled. “I used to be able to force the captain to take a day off if they weren’t respecting their health!”

Jenn readjusted her grip on her small bag, slinging it over her shoulder. “Would you walk with me? I’m eager to see the captain, my new quarters, and everything else I need to take care of to settle in here on the Athena.”

Jennifer Wallace, XO


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