Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Umbri Zayne (Weapons Officer) in Side SIM: The Night Shift (Tag XO)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Umbri Zayne (Weapons Officer) in Side SIM: The Night Shift (Tag XO)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander T’Aria (XO / Navigation Officer) in Side SIM: The Night Shift (Tag XO)
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(Snip!)

“Precisely…” T’Aria lifted her gaze to the corridor when laughter touched her ears. A pair of Ensigns that she recognised from their late-night stints on the Bridge bimbled past. The navigator had his nose buried in a PaDD, his antennae writhing to disguise the fond smile tugging at his lips, as the engineer pestered him with what sounded a dreadful attempt at comedy. Puns, she believed humans called them. T’Aria didn’t invest enough attention to grasp what they were saying, but the encounter gave her an idea. “What worries you most about leadership, Umbri?”

— T’Aria, XO

Umbri shrugged. “I’m worried about a lot of things, but the main thing is that I’m worried I’ll make the wrong call and possibly put the lives of the crew in danger. I really don’t want that to happen. I’m also worried that people won’t take me seriously as a DH, considering it’s my first leadership position ever on my first ship ever,” they said.

Lieutenant (j.g.) Umbri Zayne, Weapons Officer

Bump

T’Aria listened with narrowed, attentive eyes that followed their words as if on a coiled track.

“You were a Cadet 1st Class,” she said, “and I suspect you were required like most to complete rotations and field assignments. I cannot speak for the security track, but I understand leadership exercises were not uncommon for cadets of that class. Did you ever make the wrong call on a field assignment or simulation?” T’Aria paused to gather her thoughts. “More importantly, how did you cope with the consequences?”

— T’Aria

Umbri thought back to their Academy experiences. “There was one time in a simulation when I was given the task of defending the ship from invaders. I made the call to split up so we could cover more ground,” they paused, scoffing to themselves. “What a fool I was. The simulation ended with everyone on my team being killed by the invaders. Thankfully, my supervisor was very kind and said it was a common mistake. He stressed the importance of teamwork and making sure that no officer is left alone in those types of situations. And from that point on, I never made that mistake again,” they said.

Lieutenant (j.g.) Umbri Zayne, Weapons Officer

Bump

“In response to a threat,” T’Aria reflected, “you made a decision that endangered your crew. You could have attributed your error to inexperience or stress, but you chose to take accountability and grow. Command is no different. We make half-second decisions on which our team’s lives may rest. There is no margin for error, but that error is an inevitability in our profession. Your leadership is therefore defined by how you react to it.”

T’Aria lifted a hand to signal the patrol to halt, just for a moment, and turned to face to Umbri.

“Captain Taggart would not have entrusted his crew to you if he did not believe you were ready,” she relaxed. “You are more than qualified in skill and ambition, Umbri. The only thing you lack is a gentleness for yourself.”

T’Aria realised she was starting to sound… ‘preachy’, as her human colleagues had so often pointed out, so she swiftly found her point.

“You will make mistakes, and those mistakes may cost lives. When that happens, know that you have a support system in this crew, myself included.”

— T’Aria, XO