[right][b]Col.Andrson and RADM.Locke[/b]
Admiral William Lockes Study
0700HRS Local Ship Time
[sub]Written by [@Boomlover] and [@Sep][/sub][/right]

Admiral William Lockes Study
0700HRS Local Ship Time

It had been a long 24 Hours that was for sure, this time yesterday they were still in pre-flight going through final checks and ensuring that every system was ready. Today he was going through status reports for almost every section on the ship, signing off on paperwork from fuel reports to ration movement requests. There was always a lot of paperwork involved in commanding a ship, this was something else entirely. Especially now as far as this sect of humanity was concerned he was in charge of all of them. Even now he sat behind the desk in his study, the coffee table in the middle of the room was all set up for his meeting later but he still had business to attend to before then.

He pushed one file to the side regarding the security breach that happened yesterday, deciding to deal with it at a later time. The suspect was in lockup, so it wasn’t a top priority at the moment. Realizing the time he opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a bottle of bourbon that he had there, recovered from the bridge thanks to some helpful Ensigns and the assistance of Noah. He was going to need it for his next meeting, after all so long as he wasn’t late Colonel Anderson shouldn’t be far away.

Theodore awoke to the sound of his alarm clock blaring the most annoying sound across the room. His entire body felt like it had gone through a blender and a mixer at the same time. Atleast he didn’t have a headache so that was at least something positive to think about. Theodore rolled of his bed onto the metal floor. The smack partially waking him up. He sluggishly pulled himself up and gave the clock a firm slap ending it’s hellish sound. He yawned and stretched himself and walked towards the shower. He took his damn time washing himself, taking at least 10 minutes. After finally dressing himself proper he took a look at his datapad to see if Leroy had messaged him. 

To his surprise however he saw only one message on his pad.The message had come from Noah and it described that the admiral was expecting him at 0700 hours. Currently it was 0650. Theodore’s sleepiness disappeared like snow melting in the sun. He jumped from his bed and quickly made himself presentable. Considering he did not wanna piss of rear admiral cyclops. In 5 minutes he was fully ready and walked towards the admiral’s office in a quick manner. He kinda looked like an idiot but a lot of people were still asleep and those that were awake barely paid attention to him. As he arrived at the admiral’s quarters he saw a guard standing in front of the door. He approached the guard, did a simple salute and showed the man the message he had received. After a quick look over the door opened and Theodore entered the belly of the beast. At least that’s how it felt that way.

William didn’t look up from his paperwork as Anderson entered the room, he took a quick glance at the clock. Almost late, not quite. It was a power play. “Take a seat Colonel.” He reached back into his drawer and took out a single glass, pushing it over to Theodores side of the desk. “Can I interest in a drink?” It was a trick question of course, but then he could always take the bait.

Theodore pondered the question for a bit as he slightly leaned back into the chair. He had a feeling if he took a glass a certain form of liquor would be filled in it. Plus he had just woken up and while he did indeed have a certain drinking problem he didn’t exactly like drinking in the morning. It made his head fuzzie and would give him even bigger headaches. “ Thank you sir but i must decline the drink.  I rather dislike drinking in the morning. I usually do it in evenings.” He knew he was gonna get screamed at for the bourbon but he wasn’t gonna make it that easy for the man.

“Fair enough, so I assume that this bottle being on the bridge at your station was only a mere accident and not an indication that you had plans to drink it while at your station?” He picked up the bottle and examined it. “I’m not a bourbon fan, more of a Scotch man myself but this bottle probably won’t exactly be cheap. Especially before we left Earth.” He slid the bottle back across the desk towards Theodore as he picked up his mug of coffee taking a small sip. “Which is why I’m giving it back to you. Though it stays out of the bridge, and you never go near that bridge again with the intent to go under the influence or while under the influence, am I understood?”

That goddam cyclops bastard. He wasn’t exactly surprised when he saw the bourbon on his desk. He already knew that he wasn’t gonna get it back though. Though he was surprised how quickly the admiral had spotted the value of the drink itself. Apparently he had some experience when it came to alcohol as well. Though when the bottle was slit back towards him it did make him raise an eyebrow of surprise.  He did have a point though. Drinking while on duty was just a disaster waiting to happen.  And while he was gonna miss drinking that sweet stuff he would still be able to fly at least.” Yes sir understood.”

“Good, if you have a problem I expect you to say something. We do have psychiatrists on board. You wouldn’t be the first, nor will you be the last.” He closed the drawer after placing the glass back in it. “Though now we’ve got that settled, and you know that if this happens again you’ll get more than a warning we can move onto the next piece of business.” 

“ Business sir? I thought the only reason you called me was to give me a warning.”
“I’m not going to call you to my office at this time to just give you a warning. That’s what an XO is for.” He pointed at the model of the Nightfury “What do you think? That’s the Nightfury my previous command. State of the art Martian Stealth ship, one hell of a fine vessel and one of a kind. She formed the template for the Reaper-Class. You’ll have seen that in person I’m sure, down in the bay. I’d be surprised if a pilot like yourself could avoid taking a look at it, it’s a fine piece of machinery and more importantly it’s your first chance to see a Martian ship up close and personal.”

Theodore had indeed spotted the model of the Nightfury.He had always flown heavily armoured ships and stealth tech was new to him  since roslin never really had the tech. He had never personally flown a Martian ship. Though he knew there designs where more advanced and better than the Roslin counterpart. Then again the Martians might have had the tech but they never really had the number advantage. He had also taken a quick glance at her in dock at least a few times since he had arrived in the ark.” I do admit that i did look a few times sir. You Martians always had the better tech and it shows in your designs. Luckily for us however we had the numbers.”

William scowled at the man. “We were never at war, so luckily we both had skills and designs that the other lacked so that when the Devastators came knocking we could put up a reasonable fight once we joined together. Though let’s not get into that.” He pulled out a file and slid it across the desk to Theodore. “You’re not needed to report to the bridge till 1800HRS tomorrow evening, for preparations in the ship dropping out of hyperspace. Obviously this is just a formality as we’re going to need to spend some time figuring out where we are and where local astronomical bodies are that can be of any use to us. Anyway.” He took another sip from his cup of coffee before continuing.

“The point is we’re going to be sending away teams in the Nyx, be it into interesting astronomical bodies or down to planets to perform experiments or simply to take a look at the scenery. As the most experienced officer with Capital Ship experience you’re going to be in charge of the Nyx on these missions, and all her crew including ground teams though for that you’ll work in conjunction with Chief TreVayne. Doctor Anderson and Mr.Karlson will also join you, we’re busy setting up a lab on the Nyx for them to work from. I’m in a meeting with them later.” He paused, concentrating on Theodore with his one good eye.

“This is a big responsibility, if you’re not up for it I can have another pilot assigned and I can have someone else lead the team. Though everyone on this crew is going to be tested sooner or later and in this case I’m testing you sooner. You up for this son?”
Theodore didn't know how to respond in all honesty. A part of him was surprised by the offer considering the mistake he had made. Another part of him was scared shitless by the fact he was given command  of a Martian stealth ship that he had never flown before. Then there was the emotion of pride that he was chosen to lead such an important part of the ship. He looked at the files for a moment and looked at them in more detail reading everything he could get from it. He was gonna need some help adjusting to flying a martian vessel that was sure. But for the rest he needed no help whatsoever. He looked up at the admiral with a wolfish grin on his face.

“ Sir you just opened the candy pot for me. I will happily accept your proposal. Though i will need more information about the ship itself. And i will need to adjust myself to the controls. Since i have had the pleasure of flying a martian vessel. Though i have to ask sir. Why me? Beside the fact that i can fly big ships.”

“You can ask why you, though at the end of the day you don’t necessarily need to know why I make the decisions I do, hm?” He leant back in his chair with his chin in his left hand. “All you need to know is that I think you’re the particular man for the job-” Even though he had just been told of for having alcohol at his station, though given the circumstances he could let that slide for once. Not to mention every officer worth his salt had broken a rule at some point or another, no. At most for that he’d need to keep an eye on his first couple of missions. “-and that’s all. In terms of flying she should be easy enough, I do have a Martian Officer who is going to be assigned to your command crew with experience in stealth tech to manage that aspect.” 

He reached over and flipped the file to a certain page. “All you need to know is what this page says, stealth systems are a power drain so don’t expect to get much movement while using them. At least not if you want to keep your engine running. We’ve got simulators set up for training, not to mention you can always go and familiarize yourself with the actual ship. I advise you get some time in before you’re needed on the bridge. Unless you have anymore questions, you’re dismissed.”

“ No sir, no questions at all.” He stood up and gave a salute and walked of mumbling something just loud enough for the admiral to hear.“ Here's hoping we don’t reappear inside a planet.”He then closed the door behind him and immediately called Leeroy who responded in his usual complaining ways.” Hey Leeroy guess who just got promoted?”