Posted by Gamemaster Emily S. (Gamemaster) in Main Sim: Bridge

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Llakar Harel (Chief of Operations) in Main Sim: Bridge
The doors to the Ready Room whispered shut behind him as Lieutenant Commander Llakar Harel stepped out onto the bridge.

There was a rhythm to this place, even when nothing urgent occupied it. The steady pulse of duty stations, the low murmur of departmental check-ins, the quiet intensity that came from being the nerve center of a ship too experienced to mistake stillness for safety.

Harel moved with quiet purpose across the deck, offering a nod to the officer currently at Ops. The young lieutenant stood promptly and stepped aside without question—no formal handoff necessary. Word traveled quickly aboard the Saracen, and Harel’s name, if not his history, had already made the rounds.

He slid into the seat, hands moving over the console with practiced ease. The interface responded instantly, recognizing his clearance, unlocking the familiar latticework of systems status and internal telemetry. He took a moment to scan the readouts—not out of suspicion, but habit.

The bridge continued around him: status updates, ambient chatter, the low thrum of impulse systems ticking steady in the background.

With a few silent commands, he brought up the encrypted subspace relays—both shipboard and those operating within the Saracen’s standard patrol range. They’d run clean on the last diagnostic, but that had been under less scrutiny. And after what had been discussed in the XO’s office, clean didn’t mean uncompromised.

“Beginning systems integrity audit,” he murmured, mostly for the log. “Encrypted relay grid, internal and external.”

The console acknowledged. The audit routines initialized—layered, adaptive, and thorough. It would take some time.

He didn’t mind waiting.

Harel leaned back slightly, eyes on the data as it began to compile. The chair fit him well—like the ship itself. No drama. No spotlight.

Just the work.

Lt. Commander Harel ○●●
Chief of Operations
U.S.S. Saracen

Ensign Goodspeed nervously chewed his lip as he smiled towards Harel at a snails pace. It hadn’t exactly been a good for him and he was desperate to try and make amends before he got shipped off to some remote relay station.

Standing behind the Lt Cmdr, he awkwardly cleared his throat. “Um…sir?” He squeaked, his voice breaking with nervousness.

Goodspeed shuddered as an uncomfortable bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck. “I mean…I’m sure it’s nothing…we…uh I mean I…detected a small anomaly along our current flight path…” he mumbled and bit his lip again, wondering if he was even talking to the right person but this guy seemed to know what he was doing and Goodspeed feared he might wet himself if he talked to the Captain again.

• GM

Harel didn’t flinch at the throat-clearing behind him—just a subtle narrowing of the eyes as he recognized the voice.

He remembered the ensign from the earlier briefing: the stumble through the captain’s name, the retreat, the correction, and the unfortunate doorframe collision that followed. It had been painful to witness, even by Academy standards. But what stood out more wasn’t the mistake itself—it was the way Goodspeed had returned. Corrected himself. Faced the discomfort.

That took a different kind of nerve.

Now, behind him, the ensign spoke again—halting, uncertain, apologetic in tone. Something about a small anomaly along their flight path. The sort of phrasing Harel had learned to listen to carefully: not for what it claimed, but for what it might unintentionally reveal.

Without looking away from his console, he shifted to a secondary sensor control panel and pulled up their nav telemetry.

“Here, show me.”

Lt. Commander Harel ○●●
Chief of Operations
U.S.S. Saracen