Pre-Fight Jitters

Posted on Thu Sep 22nd, 2022 @ 2:24am by Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant JG Faith Vianelli

Mission: Pirates! (Or Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Yum)
Location: Counselor's Office

Calypso slowed herself as she neared the Counselor's office, not that she had an appointment to get to or anything. In fact, this wasn't on the books in any way, shape or form at all, this was just her wanting to be sure she was doing the right thing. Until they actually engaged the pirates, there was always an escape route open. She found herself standing outside the office staring at the chime for several seconds before she reached out, stopping before she touched it and sighing. The Captain closed her eyes for another dozen seconds, or was it longer? Finally, she pressed the chime to request the attention of the person inside.

Faith had been using her time between appointments, which was still rather a lot of time, to review crew medical files, making sure she was familiar. Trying to remember names and faces, ranks, positions, details. The sound of the chime, though a welcome distraction, would most certainly give her a chance to put her new knowledge to the test. "Enter," she smiled as she looked up, waiting expectantly as the doors parted, her smile faltering a little as the familiar figure of Cally entered. "Well, you're obvious," she said with a sigh, the crestfallen expression being replaced by horror as she realised what she'd said. She jumped to her feet quickly. "Captain Skyie, I'm sorry! I didn't mean... that wasn't..." she sighed again. "I think I'll just shut up and wait for you to tell me why you're here."

Cally waved her back to the chair, "Don't worry about it, Faith, I'm not sure me being here should be obvious, but I could see why I could be seen as expected." She chuckled slightly, "I'll be honest with you, knowing that I'm going to be taking a ship into combat has always put me on edge wondering what's going to go wrong and knowing I won't know until it's actually happening. May I?" She gestured at one of the seats in front of the desk.

Faith nodded. "Of course Captain," she said quietly. "I've been using my free time to learn crew names and put them to faces," she said, motioning to the crew roster in front of her. "I was excited to see if I could put it to practice, but I already know your face," she added with a smile.

"I sure hope so!" Cally laughed, "If the Captain isn't recognizable, then I'm doing my job wrong." She smiled as she sat down, "But I came for a few reasons... Some general nerves, concern and mostly to check in on you. I want to see how you're feeling and of course, to see if you'll be on the bridge with me when we set off our ambush?"

Faith sighed heavily. "I contemplated not being on the bridge, I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for it.. but I'll be there. Just don't leave me in command this time?" Faith asked hopefully.

"Let's put it this way, if you're left in command of Chimera this time, your best bet will be to negotiate the best terms of surrender you possibly can." Cally gave her a wan smile, "I have no intention of leaving the bridge under any circumstances. I've got no place on any away team in this situation and there are no diplomatic functions for me to get shot at attending."

"The gossip mill is running rampant," Faith said quietly, not quite meeting the Captain's eyes. "Talking about these pirates we're chasing and why we're bothering with them." She paused for a moment. "Gossip always seems to travel faster than warp speed."

"They've been preying on innocent merchant shipping in the sector, taking the ships and murdering the crews. I've got no information on who's running the pirate band, just what sort of ships they have." Cally shook her head slightly, "But they're what we in Starfleet are here to protect the civilians from. Rampant aggression and death dealt against those who don't deserve it. They're a threat to everything we stand for."

Faith thought for a moment, contemplating, both on Cally's words and their past experiences since she had joined the Chimera crew. "The have a reputation for using what ever force they need to get what they want," Faith said softly. "The reports I've read of their skirmishes have been nothing short of horrifying..." her voice trailed off as her eyes fixed on Cally. "If it comes down to it Captain, are you prepared to make the decision to leave the fight to protect the crew?" The tone of her voice was soft and innocent, yet there was something much deeper in meaning of the words. She knew Cally had a tendency to be hot headed and impulsive, especially when it came to her desire to win.

That took Cally aback and she closed her mouth for a few seconds to think. Was she ready to run away to save Chimera and the crew? It truly went against the grain, but she was the one who had to make the call now, there was no more Captain Taylor to do that for her. Her eyes flicked away from the counselor for a pair of heartbeats, then finally returned and she nodded, "Yes, I am. If we can't win, I'll run away. I'm not going to lose another ship and crew to people like them."

The counselor nodded slightly. "The crew has your back Captain, so long as they know you've got theirs." She smiled softly. "Just don't leave me in charge again. If you do that, you might end up with a mutiny on your hands."

“I don’t think it would be quite that bad.” Cally smiled, “Besides, I know where my place is and it isn’t going to be going on any capture missions to another ship. She glanced around for a moment, then nodded, “Did you review the plan for the civilians? I’ll have the children and the civilians holing up in the classroom. It’s in the heart of the ship and we’ll have some security personnel there to keep an eye on everyone. Safest place on the ship.”

Faith nodded slightly. "Mark told me," she said softly. "My concern is what happens if the ship gets boarded. I know that no one wants that, but it's always a possibility, isn't it?"

"It definitely is and without the Marines on board, it makes it even more of a concern. But Mark and his teams are good and they'll keep us safe in the event." Cally agreed, "But that's also why I want to keep any unnecessary movement in the ship to a minimum so we don't have more casualties than we have to IF we get boarded. And why I want the civilians in one area."

Faith gave a slight nod. "I understand, thank you Captain," she said softly.