Entry 008 – Date 11.03.3206 – Location: Patrol Cruise Avalanche

Good news.

Yesterday, the last of the modifications were completed. I can finally walk more than five meters without tripping over some unattended equipment. Ever since the engineers have lefts, the Avalanche’s sailors have been getting the ship’s looks up to the same standard as the new technology. By now the Avalanche is almost sparkling.

Things are moving forward for me personally as well. Yesterday, I and the other ensigns were given our roles for when the Avalanche sets sail. Nier, Paola and I are going to keep working under lieutenant Sorris. We will be part of the comms crew on the bridge.

We had already guessed as much. Why else would we have been introduced to the position if it wasn’t what we were meant to continue doing? It’s still nice to have official confirmation though.

Fortunately, I’ve been getting the hang of my adaptability issues. The complaints from yesterday’s entry do still exist, but now I think they were a bit overblown.

I was getting rather frustrated.

I think that part of the problem was excitement combined with a fear of failure. After a good night’s sleep, I have shown marked improvements today. There are more improvements to be made though, my work wasn’t flawless quite yet.

Still, I’m getting there.

But that’s why the navy has procedures and safety checks. Nobody expects fresh ensigns on their first assignment to operate flawlessly, yet we are required to get better. None of us is getting a free ride.

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During last night’s dinner I talked with Jake and Miranda about each other’s assigned roles. Like me, they had gotten confirmed into the roles they trained for over the past three days.

Miranda’s position is as an analyst for the electronic warfare division.

Electronic warfare is in fact a subdepartment of communications. Her department might sound exciting when one first hears it, but the reality isn’t quite what one would guess from the name. EW isn’t just about stealthily hacking an enemy’s weapons systems, though it is technically on its list of responsibilities. What’s significantly more important for the techheads like Miranda is the upkeep of our ship’s firewalls, security clearances and the like.

She is excited about it, so even if it’s not quite my cup of tea, I can be happy for a friend.

Jake on the other hand was a bit subdued. Sadly, he didn’t get the role he was aiming for. I knew that Jake was hoping for a seat in one of Avalanche’s recon craft, but realistically that was a long shot from the beginning.

Recon pilots have to be elite by nature and it’s technically impossible to become one fresh out of the Academy. There have been precedents where it did happen, but those were in cases where the assigned pilots were unable to fly and had to select a replacement.

For now, Jake will have to make do as a shuttle pilot. He claimed that he’s fine with it.

He is never easy to read. Jake has too much self-control for that. But I know him. Last night, he had an air of disappointment about him.

Miranda and I didn’t want to rub his face into our more fortunate assignments any longer, so we spent the rest of dinner talking about lighter topics.

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Today is another day though. There is palpable excitement coating the decks, the reason for which is obvious.

Today the Avalanche will get moving.

With the work concluded, we are preparing to leave Sol. Once we confirm that everything works as it should, the Avalanche will leave the shipyards. It should take approximately three days until we get far enough from the sun to initiate a wormhole.

And then my first glimpse of somewhere that isn’t Sol.

Always moving forward

Logging off