Flight Control Review

Posted on Wed May 1st, 2019 @ 2:14am by Lieutenant JG Nerinath zh'Rhilror [Lalor] & Commodore Evelyn Mountbatten [ADMIN NPC] & Commander Liselle Qwyyn

Mission: Episode 1: Hell is a four letter word
Location: Flight Control
Timeline: MD2 11h00
1126 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

At 11h00 on the dot, the Commodore and her aides, swept into the Flight control area. The room was very quiet as most of the staff were either off ship or at their other tasks.

Ensign Sh'rhilror stood however parade straight when they entered. "Commodore. Ensign Sh'rhilror. I am to escort you to Commander Qwyyn. She is overseeing the Cadets in the simulators. This way if you please."

Evelyn nodded. "Lead on Ensign." She said to the Andorian.

Nerinath turned and briskly led them through scrupulously neat office space to the Simulators down a short hall.

"Commander Qwyyn, Commodore Mountbatten is here." She announced.

Around the Simulators, several cadets straightened and lined up.

Liselle felt her blood hardened in her veins. Desperately she tried not to allow her arms to tremble. But they trembled. Despite whatever social awkwardness she often found herself struggling with, she was a woman who always found her bearings when it was time to put on the uniform and play officer. But this was different. The stress of the upcoming Zhin'tara was overwhelming her, her sister was prowling the ship trying to stir up trouble, and worst of all, she knew to expect this meeting to be overtly confrontational.

"Commodore Mountbatten," Qwyyn said, her voice quivering slightly as she stood at attention.

"Commander Qwyyn, I am sorry to interrupt. I am here for the inspection." Mountbatten said calmly.

"Yes, sir," Qwyyn said cautiously. Her eyes drifted over to Percy Albright. The young aide said little, fingers poised over his PaDD. "Would you like to start with crew performance, or should we start with a full department readiness review?"

"Crew performance. And Cadet performance as well." Commodore Mountbatten replied.

"R-Right," Liselle stammered. She winced, feeling annoyed with her own inability to stay calm.

"Is everything alright?" Percy Albright asked cautiously.

"What?" Qwyyn nearly yelped.

"You seem to be on edge," he continued. His eyes narrowed. "Is there something going on that we should know about?"

"No, nothing at all," she assured him. "It's just. I have a lot on my mind. I'm sorry. Please, this way." Turning toward her office, she led them inside and invited them to sit. She grabbed a PaDD for each of them and keyed it the crew evaluations before handing them out.

Commodore Mountbatten placed hers on her lap and didn't read it. "You recently promoted several of your enlisted personnel. Please explain why you did so in each case. We will start with the crewman known as Railli Feyth."

"She's one of my best," Qwyyn said confidently. "Very smart. Incredibly motivated. She has some confidence issues, but she's working through that. In fact, she has aspirations of becoming a fighter pilot some day. And I intend to sponsor her."

"Interesting," Percy cut in, his voice rather bored of the glowing praise. "And has she ever caused you or your department any issues? Any behavior you would consider unbecoming?"

Liselle cleared her throat. "Well. Um. No. I mean yes. But that has all been resolved. It was a...minor incident."

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Please, elaborate."

"It was a small prank, gone wrong." As the Commodore continued to eye her, Qwyyn knew this question wasn't going away. "Feyth replaced a flight assessment with an instruction manual on how to...become romantically involved with the Captain. Although, this was before she became Captain," she quickly corrected. "As I said, it was just a stupid prank. It was meant to be read by another of my staff prior to a flight evaluation to tease him because of a crush he had. Unfortunately that person only opened up the assessment where Commander Lalor, at the time, was able to see it. It ended up being automatically logged in the official record until I was able to have it properly rescinded."

"And what, was the then Commander's response to the event?" Mountbatten asked.

"Is this really relevant?" Qwyyn asked.

Percy raised a brow at the question. "Do you believe the Commodore would be asking you to clarify otherwise?"

"No. I suppose not," she admitted. "Honestly she seemed to take it rather well, all things considered. If anything I was the one who lost my temper over the entire situation. Well, eventually Phoenix did have a confrontation with the people involved. But obviously things ended up working out for the best in the end." Even as Qwyyn finished her sentence her hand went to her mouth.

"What does that mean?" Percy asked. "Worked out for the best in the end?"

Her hand slowly came away from her mouth. She had to force herself to speak her next words, and even then they were strained. "It's just that..."

"We're dating now." Ken Waters cut in, strolling into the office. He propped himself up against Qwyyn's desk, folding his arms across his chest. "Is that a problem?"

"And you are?" Asked the commodore coldly. "And dating who exactly."

Ken narrowed his eyes at her. "MCPO Ken Waters. Dating the captain, sir," he said firmly. "Is this the part where we start talking about favorite positions?"

"Mr. Waters!" Qwyyn snapped at him.

He held up an apologetic hand. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm getting a little tired of the crew being treated like we're on trial. After everything we've been through, this is the last thing we need."

Percy scoffed, raising his PaDD up for more typing.

Ken kept his attention on the Commodore. "So what now, sir? Do you give me a reprimand? Brig?"

Evelyn merely raised an eyebrow. "I'll pass if you leave the room Master Chief."

He held her look for a moment. Inside he was struggling with the person he used to be -- the freedom fighter for an occupied world. He didn't suffer bullies well, and right now that's exactly how he read these people. But he also knew that he was letting his temper control him, and he wasn't doing Phoenix any favors. In fact, every moment he remained was another moment he was hurting her. These people had been looking for dirt and he was giving them exactly what they wanted.

Pushing himself from the desk, he smartly saluted and left the room.

Qwyyn released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Commodore, I'm -- this is... I assure you I will speak with him about this. We don't tolerate outbursts like this aboard the Elysium. Everyone has just been under an unusual amount of stress lately."

"I understand your crew is passionate in the defense of your captain Commander." Evelyn said calmly. "You must, yourself admit, the circumstances around her being assigned as Captain of this vessel, were.... strange."

The rest of the conversation went aroind the flight control team and the issues facing them.

OFF