Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Izak Waryn (Chief Engineer) in Side Sim: An Unexpected Opportunity
The doors opened, and Izak stepped into his new quarters on Deck 4. Quite a distance from my old room on Deck 45.

The situation felt surreal. It wasn’t the room itself, though… that was just an aftershock.

Lt Waryn hadn’t been sure what to expect when he’d been called to the CO’s ready room earlier today, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The Commanding Officer and Chief Engineer were both inside waiting for him. It only took a few moments for Izak to notice that Lt Cmdr O’Nell had been promoted to full Commander… and appointed as Ark Angel’s Executive Officer.

That promotion left an opening in the Engineering Department. It was an opening they appointed Lt J.G. Izak Waryn to fill.

He was now the Chief Engineer.

The appointment was provisional, of course. Given Izak’s low rank and relative inexperience, he could be replaced if he failed to fulfill his duties. But they had faith in him. They believed in him and granted him this opportunity.

An opportunity to excel. An opportunity to rise to the occasion. An opportunity to prove himself.

He was excited… and terrified.

Izak felt like he was finally getting a good understanding of Ark Angel’s systems, but knew he didn’t have an intuitive feel for them as Cmdr O’Nell did. He also didn’t know a good portion of the personnel in the Engineering Department. Its my department now. Stars… I don’t know if I’m ready for this.

Lt Waryn dropped a pair of duffel bags on the couch and stared out the viewport for a few moments as he tried to wrap his head around everything.

It’s just like any other problem… I have to break it down into smaller components. Izak rationalized. We don’t have an Assistant Chief Engineer… they would have been appointed Chief Engineer if we did. The department is pretty junior across the board, actually. The Duty Shift Leaders are good…and they handle a lot of the day-to-day maintenance. He shook his head. Though I suppose I’ll need to replace myself as Gamma Shift Leader now.

Now that he was on a roll, he continued his mental tally. We have some good senior Crewmen. O’Nell told me to leverage their experience when he gave me Gamma Shift, and Senior Chief Vo was a huge help.

I suppose I can also reach out to Commander O’Nell. Just because he moved up doesn’t mean he’ll have forgotten anything. He’ll probably be busy with his XO duties, but the first lesson he taught me is that we don’t have to do this alone. That the crew is a team.

Lt Waryn was still nervous… but planning made his duties seem a little more manageable. And I don’t have to do everything myself. Izak tapped his combadge and contacted the Engineering Department’s senior Crewman, a grizzled Klingon Warrant Officer. =/\= “Waryn to Kotok. Please swing by my quarters. I’d like to get your thoughts on the department.”

Lt J.G. Izak Waryn - Chief Engineer - U.S.S. Ark Angel

OOC: good luck little grasshopper

Commander Riley O’Nell (XO)