driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Wrath
Broadcast: video to everyone
Action: Iskaulit, interfaith center (feel free to treat the action as a mingle)
When: broadcast is current, action happens the next day

[Wrath, all uniformed up and serious. Anyone who's seen it before will recognize this as her "in command" face, though she mercifully looks less pissed-off than she ever has before in this mode. More... thoughtful.]

This is a message aimed at the ship captains and first mates in the fleet, but I don't think it's a bad idea for other people to hear it. I'm Wrath, now captain of the Windrose.

This place is... weird, because we're given officer titles without an actual command structure in place, and without a legal code, oath, or universal moral authority over us. As someone who was a military officer for... I guess over twenty years, I find that really difficult.

It's pretty obvious that the intention for these ranks to be hollow, and for that to be a source of stress and drama that will entertain the audience. But captain is only an empty title if you let it be. And while we don't have any kind of unified mission or directive, there's one part of being an officer that can and should always apply: we take care of the people under our command.

I know a lot of you have gotten these arbitrary ranks without wanting them or having civilian or military command experience. I think it'd be helpful if we talked. I've got experience I can share, and I know other people do as well. And maybe together, we can come up with some ideas that will make everyone's lives better.

Stefan's said he doesn't mind if we borrow the meeting space in the Interfaith Center on the Iskaulit. This isn't for religious reasons, but because it's a nice space with plenty of chairs and hot drinks and stuff. If you want to participate in this discussion, let's get together tomorrow afternoon while we're still drifting, get to know each other, and talk.

Wrath out.

[Wrath doesn't really have expectations as such for people showing up, but she's made sure to get together some refreshments (tea and coffee-esque beverages, juice, and water) and some vegetarian snacks.

The space is set up to be friendly and welcoming, for people to talk in groups large or small, rather than as some kind of lecture thing. She's serious about wanting to keep it informal for now.

To hopefully keep the atmosphere relaxed even if she's in a more focused, serious mindset, Jellybean and Officer Snuggles are wandering around and will be happy to have attention from anyone.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Six months isn't a bad amount of time, but I know it can feel rough if you're kind of floundering. I think... it seems like they do kind of make things random, to try to mess with people. But if you've been doing it that long, you must have risen to the occasion.

[She grins at that.] Well, nobody else wants the job, either. But they listen to me, so that's half the battle. How about you?

That's good, if they respect your word and authority. That's a major battle a lot of the captains seem to have, since it is an arbitrary position.

I was first mate all the time Vision was captain, and then when he left, I stepped up into the role. But before Vision was captain, Natasha was. People on the Windrose have always been pretty used to there being some kind of structure, and we stick together as a crew. Which also helps.

Same here. Most of us have our own thing, but we've had a lot of discussions lately about how to keep the crew safe in general. What with... uh. Well, glitches are something that worries me.

So far, I think glitches are the number one risk factor. That, and loose canon crewmen who have some kind of malfunction going that isn't a glitch. We've been responding to all of those things really piecemeal. I think if we could get more organized, it could save people from getting hurt.

That's pretty much what I thought. We went over a lot of the safety precautions Allen suggested a while back; the biggest drawback is just how often the roster changes here. It makes it hard to organise.

...though captains tend to stick around longer, I've noticed. [So there's that.]

[She nods.] If we can draft at least a basic manual or S.O.P. for captains that we can pass along, it'd be good for anyone new. And if the captain stays the same, there's ramp-up time with a new crewman, but it's not actually too bad as long as the captain and first mate are organized about bringing people up to speed.

A manual. [That's a good idea. It also brings to mind another one.] And a proper captain's log. I mean, that's decent sense to keep track of crew and events so if the crew is shaken up a lot, there's previous record-keeping. You could combine the two.

[She already keeps one, but it's bare bones and kind of sarcastic.]

Hell yeah, that's a great idea! If you get a persistent captain's log, that'll really help out anyone who might be new in the position, and also give the other captains a way to cross check things if shit gets weird.

[Makin' a mental note of this stuff.]

It was a good idea, getting us all together. We might be a little hamstrung by the Atroma, but otherwise...

[Every little bit helps, right?]

Honestly... I think any organizing we do is more at risk from other people in the fleet. That's why I wanted to have an informal conversation at first, since I know there are a lot of people who get really hostile when there's any talk about structure or command authority. And I don't want--I don't want to be in charge or an admiral or anything, fuck no, and I was worried some people would think that. You know what I mean?

I know. I don't really blame people-- I mean, they're here against their will to begin with, so of course they're gonna chafe at any perceived taking charge by anyone else. But in this case, we've got a duty of care, to an extent.

It comes with the territory of being in command. I think where it gets tough is that the duty goes both ways, but it's sometimes hard to realize that as well. And people just aren't used to it.

I guess I have the benefit of being part of a crew before I ever got here. Different kind, but...

[She was the bossiest non-Captain ever.]

You still know what it's like to be part of a single unit. A lot of people here need to learn how to rely on others, and that can be hard.

Edited 2017-01-12 19:43 (UTC)

Tell me about it. It took me years to break that habit myself.