Staying on top of Things

Posted on 30 Nov 2025 @ 11:16pm by Ensign Lucas Scott

1,375 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Displaced
Location: Armory, USS Arawyn

-*- Main Armory -*-

Luke tapped away with a smile on his face, pleased with how the day's efforts were going. He and several other ensigns had been tasked with inspecting and verifying the status of the Arawyn's personal weapons and early that morning had split off into smaller groups to take on what was a fairly large and tedious task. But where others were groaning and venting their frustrations through mumbling and other gestures he was genuinely enjoying himself. Each piece of equipment had to be verified as in proper working order and inventoried then properly secured and made ready for use, the detailed and methodical process ideally suited to his nature. It was like the puzzles his Uncle had given him at the cabin, chaotic pictures holding one tiny detail that he had to spot in order to 'win' though he'd never gotten any prize, now there was the added satisfaction in knowing -should- anything happen where Security had to respond they'd be able to have full faith and confidence in their equipment. It made him feel good, the other teams had found everything to be normal but Luke's team had found two rifles that were showing irregularities. Nothing serious but preventing a potential malfunction down the road could very likely keep one of his fellow officers alive in a firefight.

With all the excitement going on, Arawyn had some special new guests, his fellow ensigns were lamenting not being more directly involved but Luke was fine with that also. If he was directly needed the CSec would let him know and since he hadn't Luke was just as satisfied with getting other department concerns seen to, it might not be as interesting as some of the other things happening but in his mind was just as vital a task as any other going on in Security. He nodded to Nunez as she approached the most unsure of the ensigns working with him, as she closed another arms locker finishing her inspection as the others continued working. "Looks good to me Scott, all five verified ready to fire."

"Awesome, at this rate we'll be done in a couple hours. We've only got two flagged for the armorer, pretty amazing considering how many weapons we have" he said with a slight laugh, honestly quite amazed that they hadn't found more defects so far. "Alright...... uh move to locker 22. I'll hit up 23....." He glanced to his left, four other storage lockers being checked by the rest of the team. "No need to rush Nunez, slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

"What does that mean?" Nunez asked with an amusedly confused expression, she'd been hearing odd things from the younger Scott all day and he'd been getting progressively more 'philosophic' as they day had progressed. It was her first time working with him, she'd seen him around but their duty assignments had largely been on opposite ends of the clock. Luke was a bit too interested in his work but seemed to know his stuff so she'd been observing him quietly for hours before speaking up and they'd instantly found they worked very well together despite their glaringly different personalities. She really trusted maybe a handful of the other Security officers but Scott was quickly becoming one of them.

Luke stared down at his list as he talked, entering the proper serial numbers on each weapon before beginning a basic inspection. "Oh, that one's easy. We make mistakes when we try to do something quickly. Little things get missed." He tapped in a few more details before looking up. "So we try to go slow, get it right the first time. The more times we do that, the smoother the process becomes. We get a rhythm. The more times we repeat that rhythm, the faster each repetition becomes. Ever hear of crawl, walk then run?"

Sarah nodded in agreement. "Okay, I've heard that one before. How many of those little sayings do you have by the way?" she asked as Luke looked back into the locker at the next rifle.

"Thirty-seven thousand two hundred and nineteen." Luke replied in such a level tone that Nunez wasn't sure if he was kidding or genuinely serious. Seeing her expressing Scott kept his face as serious as he could until she turned her attention back to work, only then allowing himself a smirk as he could see her facial expression letting him know his sarcasm was being taken literally. Sarah did have a sense of humor but had maybe talked to him five times the whole shift, luckily he'd never had any problems filling the silence with some jokes which was a valuable skill to have with something as tedious as weapons pmcs. At least he thought so, and Sarah to a degree, but the other ensigns not so much which was also fine with him. If somebody thought he was too annoying to be around it was a large ship and there was plenty for Security to do. "Have you heard anything about the new guests on board Nunez?"

"Only that the UTs are still working on us communicating, but not much else." she replied, the entire ship was abuzz with the excitment which she figured was largely responsible for the grumpy way the rest of the team was going about their assignment. Nunez wasn't bothered at all with their task, it didn't require a cadre of higher ranked officers to supervise which had always made her anxious. She wasn't afraid of much but the more pips she saw the less confident she felt so she hadn't been one to pry the other departments for information.

"Ah well, they'll get that figured out." Luke said as he moved to the final rifle on the rack. "At least now we can know that if things do head south we have other means of diplomacy." He gave the rifle in front of him a gentle pat on its stock. "This guy here is ready to negotiate."

"I don't think that's how diplomacy works Scott." she replied, at times Scott seemed far too eager for a firefight to happen. Like he was just waiting for it as casually as a tram.

"Ehhh, agree to disagree." Luke said with a laugh. "And if they disagree too much, we'll just have to convince 'em. Whoever it is." While it didn't seem they were in much danger at the moment he'd learned back in the woods around his Uncle's cabin that excessive amounts of quiet were often a warning sign like the universe itself was holding its breath in anticipation. After losing his parents it had been a unique childhood, first being shipped back to Earth then raised by 'Uncle Jay' who was a former Marine and had probably never heard a joke a day in his life. Returning his focus to the list he smiled and held it aloft. "Alright guys that's it! All 200 certified and present. I'll get this back to eltee, you guys are good." A few mumblings of relief could be heard as the team dispersed but Nunez lingered for a moment. "Hey...." but never finished the thought as Luke glanced over, she could already guess the answer to her question without finishing it. Luke wouldn't be interested in heading to the lounge. Not with how fast he'd turned back to the list in his hand. "Don't stay up too late....."

"Kay mom." Luke replied another smirk. He needed to get their results to the CSec and then would be free for the day and he'd been itching to do more study on the Arawyn's tactical systems. Other ensigns would be clocking out for the day, relaxing however 'normal' people did, but he had his own plans. The room was quiet now, Sarah barely making a sound as she left, a satisfying hush that allowed him to zero in on finishing things up. "Drop this off..... then it's back to the house Jeeves." he thought out loud. It had been his routine so far; a steady rotation of work, sleep and repeat. And that was just fine with him.

--- End Log ---

Ens Lucas Scott
ASec
USS Arawyn

&

Ens Sarah Nunez
ASec (npc by Dak)
USS Arawyn

 

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