Commander

Archer immediately made his way the Charger's main shuttle port and got a ride to his ship, the Lietinna. As the shuttle was making its way out of the Charger, Archer couldn't help but think about what's to come.

Type 2 ships commanded by lieutenants and Lt. commanders make up approximately 75% of the ships in the fleet so he's not too worried about standing out too much in any conflicts that might occur as a result of this upcoming war.

But there is no chance that the entire 330 ships in the 7th fleet will fight in a single engagement, so the most support Archer can expect is from one or two combat wings of 6 ships each and at most a strike group of 30 ships. So Archer needed to ensure that he wouldn't be caught without support and to make sure that he was no point being dragged along by large fleet maneuvers lest he be a statistic in some after action report.

While Archer was contemplating his survival, he suddenly felt the shuttle slow down before a small jolt shook him in his seat. He immediately looked up to see the helmsman of the shuttle get off his seat and walk towards him while speaking:

"We've arrived Sir. The crew of the Lietinna is waiting for you on the port dock."

"Thank you so much for the ride."

Archer immediately responded while carrying his suitcase and heading to the shuttles door which the helmsman was opening. Archer stood silently behind him as anticipation mounted in his heart. The Lietinna was, as of this point, his greatest means of self-preservation and their fates will be intertwined until he finds a way back to safety.

Archer saw the door of the shuttle open at the same time as the Lietinna's overhead dock doors were fully rolled up. Standing directly Infront of the door was two rows of five men each wearing black uniforms and at full attention.

Archer composed himself for a second before striding forward towards the formation. The ten men immediately saluted crisply without anyone specific calling the commands. Archer was a bit taken back but also immediately stood at attention and returned the salute before cutting it quickly and speaking:

"At ease. Thank you for the reception. I am Lieutenant Chase, your new commanding officer. Who is the highest-ranking soldier on this ship?"

One of the soldiers from the front row stepped out. She was barely five foot three with black hair in a loose bob and wearing glasses. She saluted again and spoke in an uncharacteristically loud voice:

"Klimt reporting to the Lieutenant. I am a third-class soldier and currently am the ships operations officer."

Archer nodded appreciatively while speaking:

"Thank you, Klimt. Please show me to the captains' quarters and then give me a quick tour of the ship. For the rest, we'll have an all-hands staff meeting in 15 minutes. Please meet me at the command room then. Alright, dismissed."

"""Yes Sir"""

The crew immediately fell out of formation and dispersed while Klimt walked towards Archer and took his suitcase from beside him while speaking:

"Right this way sir."

"Thank you, Klimt. How long have you been serving on the Lietinna?"

Archer allowed her to take the bag and asked the question curiously with which Klimt responded briskly while walking forward in a voice that can only be described as brisk and loud:

"Almost 3 years now sir. I was assigned here when I got my promotion to the third class."

"I see. That's impressive. You should be getting ready to be promoted to chief petty officer soon. Will you be leaving us soon Klimt?"

"I doubt it sir. I have been promotion qualified for months already now and there hasn't been any news. I either must have less merit than others in my positions, or there simply isn't a position open for chief petty officer."

Archer couldn't help but sigh at Klimt's words as he recalled Lt. Commander Naimes' words about the navy been a pool of still water with not many paths of progress available to those in there. He can empathize with those who prefer war because there is no better stimulus for progress than war. Unfortunately, he who did not want progress is now also dragged along. He simply sighed and spoke:

"Hopefully soon. Who knows, maybe a spot will open somewhere on the admin side of things, you are an operation officer after all."

Klimt simply chuckled without a response as archer continued speaking:

"How's the ship and crew been faring these last few weeks since Lt. Commander Johnson left?"

"It has been a rough couple of weeks sir. We have been beached here the entire time. We even reached out to the chief of staff about getting an interim commander, but the news we got was someone was being dispatched. I guess that was you."

Archer couldn't help but wonder about the reason behind why command didn't dispatch a Lt. Commander to take Lietinna. Maybe it was because they didn't have enough time or that they just didn't care who filled this command and he just happened to be available. Either way, he couldn't understand it so he simply moved past it and spoke:

"How about Lt. Commander Johnson himself. How was he during his tenure?"

There was a bit of silence from Klimt forcing Archer to turn his head to look at her only to see a steely look on her face before disappearing as she spoke:

"He was an alright officer. Somewhat too motivated, but competent enough."

Archer was curious at what Klimt's words implied, but he didn't pry too much as he saw got to the front of the ship and saw the bridge directly Infront of him. He looked to his right where he found a door with the words command above it and opposite it was another door with "captain's quarters" on it.

Archer pressed his communicator against the captains quarters keypad as he spoke to Klimt:

"I'll go set my bag down and we can do a quick walk through the ship."

"yes sir." Came Klimt's quick reply.

Archer then took his suitcase from her and walked into the captains' quarters. The whole room was approximately 15 feet by 15 feet with a small desk, monitor and couch on one said, a single bed behind a small partition, there was also a toilet and shower in the room. The entire room seemed to be intentionally designed as no more than a place to sleep and maybe do some work but with no further flourishes or frivolities which is common for a ship of this size.

Archer did not waste much time in the bare room as he set his suitcase on his bed and then immediately moved out to the hallway where Klimt was waiting.

As soon as Archer walked out he saw Klimt snap to attention which caused him to feel a bit awkward but he still didn't show it as he spoke:

"At ease Klimt. Let's go take a look at the bridge first."

"yes sir."

Archer and Klimt then walked on to the bridge that was right next to them which immediately opened. Archer saw a similar layout to the LNS Tame with the commander console direct Infront of the door and the four auxiliary consoles ahead of it followed by the helm at the fore front. The only difference is that all the auxiliary consoles had no chairs Infront of them which confused Archer slightly as he took his spot on the command condole and spoke to Klimt while logging in his credentials:

"Why aren't there any chairs for the auxiliary stations Klimt?'

Klimt was silent for a second before speaking with some hesitation clear in her voice:

"Umm, Lt. Commander Johnson believed that chairs reduced efficiency, so he did away with them."

Archer who was fiddling with the command console paused at the ridiculousness of that who statement. For ships that travel hours or even days on end, how is standing for the entire time supposed to increase efficiency. The former Lt. Commander seemed like a rather callous person.

Archer simply continued with his tinkering as he responded with a playful tone:

"I guess the former Lt. Commander Johnson knew more about efficiency than I do. Let's go ahead and get chairs installed for the stations. We can always remove them later if efficiency decreases, although I am not sure how that would happen."

Klimt was taken aback by Archer's words before immediately assenting and typing something into her communicator. A few minutes later, Archer was done inputting his credential on the command console essentially giving his full access and control over all operations and functions.

He then turned to Klimt and spoke:

"Let's go take a look at the rest of the ship."

"Yes sir. Right this way."

Archer and Klimt walked out of the bridge and down back towards the stern of the ship. Klimt immediately started speaking as they walked past a few doors:

"The Lietinna is furnished with six cabins, with 3 on each side. Each cabin sleeps two crew members with one reserved for visitors. We also have a dining room and a small exercise room."

Archer looked at the sets of doors on each side of the hallway while nodding as Klimt continued the tour.

"Here are the port and starboard docking port and directly past them is the engine room, cargo room and supplied depot. We have elevators to the secondary level where the weapons connections are, and anchorages are located. Would you like to go up there sir?"

Archer looked at the wide doors for the engine/cargo room and the two elevators on both sides of it before shaking his head and speaking:

"No need. I'll go look later with the tactical officer. Let's go back and meet the crew for our meeting."

"Sounds good sir."

"By the way Klimt, I was informed that the ship is lacking a chief of staff, how would you feel about filling the spot and having someone else take over operations since you have the seniority?"

Klimt didn't even waste a second before speaking:

"Thank you for the offer, sir, but I would prefer continuing to be an operation officer."

Archer was surprised by her response as he didn't expect her to turn down a promotion if only in title since it's a great way to improve one's resume and earn merits. He paused for a second but opted against asking her for a reason as he spoke:

"I understand. I'll have someone come in and fill the spot then, I hope you can help them as much as you can when they do."

'Yes sir. Thank you very much."

She seemed grateful that he didn't pry so Archer simply went with it as they reached the command room. As soon as they stepped in, archer saw the crew standing around two continuous semi-circular tables with consoles 5 consoles per table. Archer immediately spotted the lack of chair and looked questionably at Klimt who saw his look and nodded with a helpless smile on her face.

He simply shook his head as he walked to the front of the room as Klimt took a spot on one of the tables. Archer proceeded to speak immediately:

"Hello again everyone. Am lieutenant Archer Chase. I have just taken command of the ship and I hope to get to know each of you as we work alongside one another. I have a lot of personal philosophies that I will no doubt bore you with over the coming days, but my first and foremost is safety. My goal as your commander is to keep all of you in as good a shape as I found you."

"The first order of business is to get me report on every part of the ship by the end of day. I want a report from each auxiliary stations, I want an engine report as well as inventory of armaments, fuel, cargo and food. I also want a physical hull walk done and no less than 2 system wide diagnostics done. Klimt will arrange this. Any questions?"

Archer paused for a second to look across the room before continuing speaking:

"We've been instructed by wing command to be ready and operation in two days, I want all of this done by today and we can conduct a practical ship shake exercise tomorrow. I know I just got here, but the navy hasn't been happy about you all not earning your pay so they sent me here to sort it."

Muffled laughter sounded through the room as the crew chuckled at Archer's joke as he continued speaking:

"Alright Alright, let's get to work and we can be on the road. Dismissed."

""" yes sir"""

The crew immediately saluted and started trickling out of the room as Archer stood the front watching them leave. He couldn't help but feel a heavy sense of responsibility as the safety and well-being on this crew now rested in his hands which would have been stressful enough if he wasn't aware that war might soon be coming and that he along with the 10 souls on this ship would be dragged into it.