05-24-2024, 01:53 PM
==Voluntary Subplot for anyone who wishes to attend!==
==Twelve hours post-launch==
Jenny didn't remember exactly when she had decided it would be a good time to dine with her officers, but it had certainly been after her initial stint as Captain of the Philadelphia; perhaps that had been the impetus for her change, she'd not known her crew as well as she had hoped, with two members of her senior staff being both total unknowns and professional irritants. Her First Officer, too, had been something of an unknown quantity and she'd felt like she had to fight to remove the influence of Captain Simmons on his former crew before she could mold it in a shape that she could work with - it had probably been a self-defeating move, as she'd tried to make the crew hers rather than integrate with their way of doing things, and the events of that first mission in the Shackleton Expanse had changed her command style.
Sort-of.
Now she pondered the wisdom of her actions as she prepared for the first of what she anticipated would be several large-scale dinners; every off-duty officer aboard the Yeager had been invited, from the most senior to the most junior, and though attendance was not mandatory she knew that the Academy still taught that an "invite" from one's Captain was tantamount to a summons, to be ignored or declined at one's own peril. While she appreciated the sentiment, Jenny often wondered whether that simply artificially reinforced the ideological gap between junior and senior officers, keeping it nice and broad so that there was less chance of fraternisation or instances where personal bias would interfere with duty.
As if they'd ever get rid of that entirely; even Picard played favourites.
Having approved the menu and sent M'Rell to ride herd over the staff catering the event, all Jenny now had to do was show up to the Mess Hall, which had been closed for the function. This was going to be a working dinner as well as a getting-to-know-you event for the newer officers, as Jenny had finally received their orders. As she entered the Mess Hall, she noted that most of the tables and chairs had been moved and discretely stacked against the far wall. The bar was stocked with the finest synthetic alcohol, with its limited supply of real alcohol kept locked under the bar and only distributed with her own approval. The remaining tables had been arranged in a long line with sufficient seating for all, with places arranged by rank and seniority - Jenny would sit at the head of the table, facing down the table, with Jensen to her right and Qi to her left; then Hydish and Black would sit opposite each other; Beinn opposite D'Tor'an, and so on.
As a few Support crew were still laying out utensils, glasses and water jugs, Jenny opted to stay out of their way and instead simply watched the stars streaking past as they headed out on their newest adventure.
==Twelve hours post-launch==
Jenny didn't remember exactly when she had decided it would be a good time to dine with her officers, but it had certainly been after her initial stint as Captain of the Philadelphia; perhaps that had been the impetus for her change, she'd not known her crew as well as she had hoped, with two members of her senior staff being both total unknowns and professional irritants. Her First Officer, too, had been something of an unknown quantity and she'd felt like she had to fight to remove the influence of Captain Simmons on his former crew before she could mold it in a shape that she could work with - it had probably been a self-defeating move, as she'd tried to make the crew hers rather than integrate with their way of doing things, and the events of that first mission in the Shackleton Expanse had changed her command style.
Sort-of.
Now she pondered the wisdom of her actions as she prepared for the first of what she anticipated would be several large-scale dinners; every off-duty officer aboard the Yeager had been invited, from the most senior to the most junior, and though attendance was not mandatory she knew that the Academy still taught that an "invite" from one's Captain was tantamount to a summons, to be ignored or declined at one's own peril. While she appreciated the sentiment, Jenny often wondered whether that simply artificially reinforced the ideological gap between junior and senior officers, keeping it nice and broad so that there was less chance of fraternisation or instances where personal bias would interfere with duty.
As if they'd ever get rid of that entirely; even Picard played favourites.
Having approved the menu and sent M'Rell to ride herd over the staff catering the event, all Jenny now had to do was show up to the Mess Hall, which had been closed for the function. This was going to be a working dinner as well as a getting-to-know-you event for the newer officers, as Jenny had finally received their orders. As she entered the Mess Hall, she noted that most of the tables and chairs had been moved and discretely stacked against the far wall. The bar was stocked with the finest synthetic alcohol, with its limited supply of real alcohol kept locked under the bar and only distributed with her own approval. The remaining tables had been arranged in a long line with sufficient seating for all, with places arranged by rank and seniority - Jenny would sit at the head of the table, facing down the table, with Jensen to her right and Qi to her left; then Hydish and Black would sit opposite each other; Beinn opposite D'Tor'an, and so on.
As a few Support crew were still laying out utensils, glasses and water jugs, Jenny opted to stay out of their way and instead simply watched the stars streaking past as they headed out on their newest adventure.