Cropa put the mug of coffee back on the desk and exhaled a heavy sigh. He leaned back in the dark leather chair which gave way with a loud creak as he swiveled around to survey the drab interior of his temporary quarters. All of his personal belongings went up in flames with the detonation of the Chimera-B those short six months ago, and the war left him little time to refurnish.
He had spent his days informing the families of his fallen crew members of their demise at the Battle of SB 234. It was his least favorite thing to do as a Captain, and so far he has had to write at least one letter from each of his missions. All of them were equally hard; from his Security Chief at Antigonis V, to Specialist Zephram Luna in engineering. They all gave the ultimate sacrifice for the Federation and its people.
Rojac stood from his desk and walked to the viewport along the bulkhead of his quarters. The base was thriving with workbees buzzing to and fro working of the renovation of SB 234. The base had been transferred to the Command of Starfleet Special Forces First Taskforce, and was being refit to accommodate those needs.
The man in charge of the refit was 1TF's new Chief Engineer, and Rojac's former CEO, Commander Rick Rodgers. Rojac thought it was ironic. It wasn't long ago that Rick turned down a job at SB 1 under Admiral Geordi LaForge, and now he ended up on a starbase anyway. Perhaps it was for the better. SSF had passed the rule forbidding unauthorized civilians and juveniles from starships, and Rachel had Rick by the collar. He needed to be with her.
But what about Maikai, his CMO and Rachel's mother? Rojac asked her if she wanted to transfer to UNITY, that he was sure he could get her a position under Commander Summers. Maikai declined. Rojac advised her not to be so hasty in her decision, and to take her time to evaluate it. To help her in her decision, he had her assigned to the SB medical staff while the crew waited for the new ship to arrive. There she could decide where her place would be.
Rojac's meditations were cut short by a chirrup from his personal computer. It flashed with a message and he quickly crossed the room to access it. The news was good. Commodore Guzman had approved the awards and promotions he had petitioned for. Cropa smiled, sat down, and began writing the messages to his awarded crew.
Because of Starfleet's stretched resources during the war, many of the Chimera's crew was spread out across the theatre. There would be no easy way to hold an awards ceremony, and now was not the time as skirmish after skirmish erupted along the neutral zone. Rojac was forced to compose written messages and send them to his crew members, where their immediate superior there would issue their pips and ribbons. 'Perhaps it was easier this way' he told himself.
The awards went as such:
Lieutenant Commander Natalia Trzetrzelewska was promoted to the rank of Commander.
First Lieutenant Anya Xerxes was promoted to the rank of Marine Captain. (And given the OOC awards of the Fleet Service Medal with Silver Comet Cluster and the Fleet Ribbon of Merit.)
Ensign Tom Jardan was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and given the position of the Chimera-C's Chief of Security. He was also awarded the Kragite Order of Heroism from Commander Rojac, and a Citation for Gallantry from Commodore Guzman.
Ensign Gustav Kroitzer was given a field commission to the rank of Acting Lieutenant Junior Grade, and was awarded the Technical Excellence Award. (OOC: Fleet Ribbon of Merit, and the Fleet Service Medal with Silver Comet Cluster.)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Pazla Dacour was given a field commission to the rank of Acting Lieutenant and given an Acting Executive Officer post aboard the USS Rapier. She was also awarded the Rising Star.
Commander Rick Rodgers was given another Technical Excellence Ribbon as a final thank you from the Chimera's CO. Rojac was quite sure he had a drawer full already. (OOC: Fleet Service Medal with Silver Comet Cluster, and the Meritorious Service Medal.)
Lieutenant Commander Maikai Rodgers was awarded the Golden Heart.
First Lieutenant Jade Reese was given the Preantares Ribbon, and Rojac being impressed with her performance aboard the Bahamut, asked her to be his new Chief of Operations.
(More OOCs: Fleet Ribbon of Merit to Rangi, and the Fleet Service medal with Silver Comet Cluster to Jass. P.S.: Muma will be giving out some more too.)
=/\=
Rojac smiled. Promotions, he decided, were a much happier affair than consolation letters. The former brought at least a glimmer of happiness to the drab and heavy atmosphere of war. He crossed the room back to the bulkhead as the brightly lit orb of Aeran III came into view. Rojac had only spent a day or two on Aeran III following the battle. Most of his time was spent up on the starbase, helping coordinate attacks and develop defensive strategies with the Taskforce staff. He spent a few days on the surface, taking the Bahamut on searches for the remainder of his crew that were scattered across the globe.
He decided that the Chimera's early end to their last R&R was a disguised blessing. If all of his crew had made it aboard in time, then there might have been many more casualties to the already hefty amount. And he would have had to write many more sad letters.
Rojac flipped on the news with a verbal command to the computer. On the screen battle scenes caught along the neutral zone flashed on-screen with commentators describing the scene. The Romulans had made an incursion into Qualor System, and had sent the Second Taskforce's Ships into a retreat. Rojac hoped Commodore Uhnari could remedy the situation quickly in her theatre, before the Romulans gained too much of a foothold.
First Taskforce had its hands full in the southern end of the Neutral Zone. Romulans kept testing the border, the Erassians were pressuring for the signing of the Mutual Defense Pact while the Council had been stalling it, and the Klingons seemed reluctant to get involved. To Rojac it seemed that UNITY was stuck in a hard place between ruthless adversaries, and pressuring diplomatic obligations, and he could barely wait to get back in the thick of it.
[End Log]
Commander Cropa Rojac
Commanding Officer
USS Chimera NCC 96899-C [In Production]
