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 Lieutenant Junior Grade Umbri Zayne (Weapons Officer) in Side SIM: The Night Shift (Tag XO)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip, snip!

“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

bump for when you return! 7.7.22

Umbri nodded, feeling the tension beginning to leave them. “Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I tend to close myself off from other people when I’m dealing with loss, but I’ll try not to do that going forward. And you’re right, I do need to be kinder to myself. I’ve always been my worst critic,” they said.

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

“Of course…” her trained expression softened as she tilted her head to affirm their commitment.

They weren’t alone in their self-criticism – it seemed an epidemic among Starfleet personnel – but it affected everyone differently. And she expected the treatment (as there was, to her knowledge, no cure) was equally personal.

“When we met, you said that music was your solace.” T’Aria recalled their conversation, soon after Umbri arrived with a smile and budding ambition that she would not soon forget. “When did you last play or compose a piece?”

— T’Aria

Umbri sighed. “I haven’t had much time for music lately. Things have gotten so busy since the promotion. Plus I’m suffering from severe writer’s block right now. The ideas just aren’t coming to me,” they said.

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

T’Aria frowned (though it looked more like an irked twitch to the untrained eye) and pursed her lips. Writer’s block? They described it like a recurring illness, implying there was a method to treat flare-ups like this. “How do you typically overcome writer’s block?” She asked, curious if their method might offer a distraction (“break”) from the severity of their work.

– T’Aria

Umbri thought about it for a moment. “Well normally, I would observe the surrounding environment and see what ideas come to me. I guess I could give that a try,” they said.

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

“Why not?” T’Aria asked, understanding it was acceptable to respond to a rhetorical statement with an equally rhetorical question. “Is there anywhere on the Chernov where you receive the most inspiration?”

— T’Aria