Entry 007 – Date:10.03.3206 – Location: Patrol Cruiser Avalanche

I have decided to try getting this entry done before breakfast. This way I have additional incentive to get this done.

Also, I can spend more time with jake and Miranda this way. Because they were assigned to different departments than me, I only see them during downtime. It would probably have been a bad fit for them as neither is interested in bridge duty.

Anyways, I better continue with the introduction that happened over the last two days.

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In my classes at the Academy, we learnt about the different classes of naval ships. Besides the theory part, there were also several opportunities for students practice crewing and flying some practice ships.

Because of this I thought that when assigned to a ship, I would have to spend a little time to familiarize myself with it, but then I could work with it quite easily. However, I didn’t account for one issue.

The practice ships at the academy are purpose built to fit the class schematics to a t.

The Avalanche is not.

There are a variety of reasons for this. As a ranger class patrol cruiser, the construction of the Avalanche and her sister ships cost tens of billions of credits and took years to fully complete. During the construction process, there were numerous advances in technology, supply issues or just redesigns to make the ships more practical.

And that’s not the only cause for why the Avalanche doesn’t look like she is supposed to on paper. Another main reason would be refits like the one that is currently happening and I’m sure there are many more that don’t immediately spring to mind.

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What I’m trying to convey with this is that the hands on introduction isn’t going as smoothly as I thought. There aren’t huge differences, but they are enough to keep me off balance.

Take the bridge for example. Lieutenant Sorris is the senior officer I have been shadowing, so as one of the comms officers the bridge is where I spent most of the last two days.

The bridge of the Avalanche is recognizably that of a ranger class cruiser. The heavily armored compartment is slightly oval shaped and sits comfortably in the middle of the ship. Towards the back and close to a small conference room are the chairs for the commanding officers. Chiefly among them the imposing captain’s chair.

Along the sides of the room are places for navigation, weapons, engineering, communications, Flight deck and even some space for diplomats or other civil authorities. All these departments have their own operating spaces throughout the Avalanche, but the bridge is where it all comes together.

In the middle of the room is the main display depicting all relevant information about the ship and the space outside.

This is already where some discrepancies occur. Some, like more stations squeezed into existing nooks to make space for more personnel are fine, but some can cause issues.

The ranger class cruisers were originally designed with HD displays in mind. Over the past decade however holographic display technology has taken leaps forward in its utility and affordability.

A retrofit of the main displays was therefore part of the modifications that the Avalanche is still undergoing.

Like most people, I have been using holograms in my personal devices for years. Yet when using the military consoles I sometimes struggle with interpreting the three dimensional display.

It’s rather frustrating. I seem to be the only one in our group with these adaptability issues. Lieutenant Sorris has been very encouraging. He has given me some suggestions for improving my understanding of the displays, but I’m afraid I still get confused at times.

Still, I’m determined to succeed. Even Paola an Nier have started helping me out when I get stuck. I can accept some minor struggles if it means to succeed at my dream.

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I should probably introduce those two. Paola and Nier are the two others that shadow Lieutenant Sorris. I know the two girls from the Academy, we were in the same section after all. While I didn’t have much contact with them then, we have started to get to know each other.

They couldn’t be more different if they tried Paola’s family has only recently become citizens of the UCS, whereas Nier’s has birthed a long line of naval officers.

Paola is brunette, Nier is blonde.

Nier is tall, Paola is on the shorter side of things.

Nier keeps trying to find shortcuts, Paola is one of the most diligent workers I have met.

Select any attribute of one and the other will be diametrically opposed.

Still, they have already shown a couple of times that once thy find common ground, they complement each other and can solve issues better than either could on their own. From what I’ve seen, they are good people to work with.

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It’s time for breakfast now so I’ll end this entry here.

Despite the small issues, I’m not tired of my work yet and it doesn’t look like I will be anytime soon.

Logging off