New Vs. The Old

Posted on Sun Jun 19th, 2016 @ 12:33pm by
Edited on on Sun Jun 19th, 2016 @ 12:33pm

2,049 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: New Faces and Terror Beyond
Location: Hanger Bay / Lt. Luthar's Quarters
Timeline: Current

Following the discussion with Dr Xavier Patrovski which left him somewhat perplexed as to what to do Captain Ra had one other person that he had to see. Lt. Zan Luther, formerly the ships Commander Air Group. Ra had read the mans file and the detailed reports he submitted during the last mission. From them Ra was able to ascertain he was a very capable pilot, acutely aware of developing tactical situations, a strong leader and a driven individual. Certifications and qualifications coupled with experience would have meant he was eligible for a much larger posting should he have chosen it. So why then resign?

Since Admiral S'iraa had yet to action the request there was not much in the form of official records about it. The resignation itself was typically generic in its reasoning but there had to be more then that, something left out.

Hanger Bay

Captain Havrelli entered the unexpectedly larger Hanger Bay, two neat lines of fighters stood proudly on the flight deck ever ready for launch. The other craft such as shuttlecraft and other support ships hugged the edges of the vast space leaving a clear departure line for the fighters. All of the fighters looked fresh off the production line, immaculate, highly polished and presentable. It came as no surprise that he saw nobody around, having given everyone a day off to come to terms with the Admiral departure he used the time to roam without interrupting anyone. He wanted to settle in, not rock the boat.

"Can I help you Captain?" Deck Chief Alex Bollard called poking his head through an access walk under one of the craft. He heard someone enter and popped his head up to see who it was. "Chief Bollard, Alex Bollard."

"Yes." Ra spoke adjusting his glasses slightly. "I was looking for Lt. Luthar, could you direct me to him?"

"Sure, he's in his quarters." Alex told the Captain where that was, a detail most of the flight crew and pilots knew in case they had to contact the CAG some way or another.

"Could you tell me what happened to prompt his resignation?" Ra asked taking a few stops closer to Alex.

Alex placed his tools on the lip of the accessway which came up to shoulder height. "Respectfully Captain that is probably something the CAG should talk to you about."

"I intend to see him momenterrily, but the offical reports are lacking in detail and generic of nature. I'd like some clearer insight to the matter if you wouldn't mind." Ra spoke coming to a stop a few steps from the fighter being worked on.

Alex sighed. "Commander Bawden is what happened."

"Mark or Ayla?" Ra asked wanting to clarify.

"Ayla." Alex rubbed his chin between finger and thumb. "Before the Admiral departed us we had a flight of experimental fighters and pilots. Some hot heads from School, full of hot air if you ask me." Alex leant back against the other side of the access way. "Of course Zan didn't know about this group and to put it short they caused some issues. Commander Bawden came in and put a stop to it faster than a core breach."

"I see, but that hardly seems to warrant a resignation." Ra spoke.

"That's not all Captain." Alex injected. "CAG and Ayla got into it fierce, walls are thin but not that thin when it comes to a heated argument. As it's told, Commander Bawden accused him of some colourful choices and Zan just lost it. Hes a proud man and yeah he just blew his lid. I'd rather not go into what exactly was said because that's up to him to say but things have not been the same down here since."

Ra was clearly thinking things over. "Where can I locate his quarters?"

Alex told the Captain the deck and section. Even asked him to convey his regards to Zan.

Zan's Quarters

Zan was alone again, Amanda had left to file the paperwork needed for a developing romantic attachment. An elegant way of putting it her thought. Still it was the right thing to do, he loved her and cared for her. Things had been rough recently both after the last mission and before the Admiral's departure, her so especially because of her part in the whole ordeal.

He didn't know the full extent of what happened, felt it wasn't exactly his place to ask but things were different now. They were engaged.

Now that was done though it left one major question left to answer. What now?

Captain Havrelli at first had difficulty locating the Lt's Quarters, going so far as asking the computer for directions. He followed the wall indicator to the door and pressed the chime.

"Come in." Wondering if it was Amanda.

Ra stepped through the doors once they had opened. "I hope I am not interupting you Lieutenant?" Ra asked as the doors closed behind him.

"Not at all Captain, please, take a seat." He offered on of the chairs with his hand. "Lt. Zan Luthar."

"Captain Ra Havrelli." Introductions out of the way it was time to get to the matter at hand. "I understand you used to be this vessel's CAG?"

"That's correct." Zan said taking a seat in an opposing chair to the Captains. Zan had not seen an Efrosian in a very, very long time and that one didn't wear glasses so seeing Captain Havrelli wearing them forced him to really try to not stare.

"You submitted a letter of resignation, however Admiral S'iraa didn't action it. I suspect he felt that with his departure so soon that it was more prudent that I action it instead." Ra explained.

"I wouldn't know, after I submitted my resignation I pretty much kept to myself." Zan answered leaning back in the chair, his arms laying on top of the arm rests. "I figured it would be dealt with sooner or later, or until I sent a reminder."

"I'd like to ask about the reasoning behind your resignation. You submitted a very standard resignation with the usual generic details but I have read the reports of what there are and spoken to some of the crew and they tell me Commander Ayla Bawden is at the centre of it."

Zan paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Commander Bawden and I had a...disagreement."

"A substantial one from what I am told." Ra added.

"Let's just say that Commander Bawden acted without all the information, blamed me for that. Then accused me of a few things that went against the very fabric of what the uniform goes against. I nearly died doing my duty in the last mission, no way I was going to let some trumped up, oversized rodent tell me what's what."

"You dislike the Commander?" Ra asked, an important question considering this 'rodent' was his First Officer.

"Before, no. I actually respected her. She's been through a lot with the crew and as I understand she was with the original Dreadnought years back. But I'm not going to stand there and take being accused of conspiracy, no sir!" Zan explained.

"I see." Ra answered, but having read the reports, especially those from the Admiral he'd come to understand that Ayla did have some trouble fitting in to her new role. Something all new First Officers have. "Have you two spoken recently?"

"We have nothing to say to each other." Zan remarked. "She was in the wrong, she came in heavy without any consideration to what her actions would do to my department and my reputation at home. I had friends, contacts I could use to get equipment, we all do in some way or another but when she busted my balls and closed shop, everything was lost. I suspect the only reason we have new fighters is because you have taken over."

It was clear for Ra to see that the whole issue still wound Zan up slightly. "I provide a service, my duty. I do it as best I can with what I can and how I can. I don't appreciate people coming to me and questioning how I provide that service."

"Everyone has a right to question what motivates a person, it's how we develop and evolve." Ra spoke.

"Captain, you are where you are because of your lifes choices, fair to say you have probably had to make some difficult choices in your career otherwise you wouldn't be here. Does that mean I can look upon your action and accuse you of things without all the facts or simply jumping to my own conclusions?" Zan asked.

"You can question if you please of course. But when it comes time to prove it, that is when the facts will speak for themselves. If the Commander was right then the information will prove it, if not then she has made an error and she has to admit that." Ra answered.

"Still waiting." Zan snapped.

"I see." Ra spoke. "I came here to talk to you about your future, more so about what you wanted. If you like I can action your request, ask if there is someone who you feel would make a suitable replacement or I can disregard it."

Zan now had to consider his options. In the one hand he could go someplace else, probably a place with a marine contingent assigned and hopefully the need for a pilot. Or he could stay on board. "If I stay, I want to run my department. We are pilots, not bridge officers. I can't lead a flight if I have someone steamrolling my authority like she did. You want something done fine come see me, don't muscle in, undermining me and then toss in the conspiracy card and expect then the flight to perform as normal. We are a team."

"Commander Bawden is the First Officer, she can issue orders." Ra returned.

"And I respect that, but I was the CAG and those are my pilots. If you need something done fine I'll get it done. But not like she did it, I lost two very good pilots because of her. An effective flight is only as good as the pilots in it, if we have to train new pilots then we suffer for the short term. I'm surprised they didnt scrap the whole wing from the ship when the Admiral left." Zan answered.

"They almost did. The Admiral however felt that a squadron of fighters was a tactical advantage too important to give up." Ra answered him. "Being a part of a team also means working with others even if you dont see eye to eye with them. Grudges are bound to happen, mishaps and misfortunes arise. What makes us better than most is our ability to overcome these problems and continue to function."

"And I'm all for that Captain, I really am. But I'm not going to have her walk all over me again like that, accusing me like that. She's damaged my team, how badly I don't know because I've not been able to speak to many since I left. But I've lost pilots, friends, people I trust because of her and as a pilot trust is critical because that person could end up saving your life. I'll work with her, but she better not repeat what she did to me."

"I will discuss this with the Commander, in the mean time however, what would you like me to do with your resignation?" Ra asked, getting back to the reason he came.

Zan thought, this was no longer just about him. Amanda too was part of this, part of him and he had to consider that. "I'll stay, there are others involved now and I have to consider them in this. I don't want to drag her away from her friends and her posting."

Ra looked at the man, he understood a woman was involved.

"Staff Sargeant Amanda Winters. We just got engaged." Zan spoke.

"Congratulations." Ra replied with a smile. "I will return to my office and delete your request. You are to resume duties at 0600hrs tomorrow."

"Understood Captain." Zan spoke. "Welcome aboard by the way."

"Thank you." Ra stood up and with a parting smile he departed.

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