[Raiser, farewells]
Solon arrived and apologised for being late. Cathy nodded and replied,
"That is alright, Lieutenant."
Finally doors slid open finally, revealing Lieutenant Sam Redson, acting CTO Lieutenant Ti Daniels and Ensign Forster. It looked like they had been in a discussion as Sam was caught saying,
"I'll take a look when I get back to my console..." as they entered.
Ti moved straight to his seat that was usually occupied by Sinclaire - something that Cathy was not used to. It had been a blow to lose Lieutenant Sinclaire, the woman had reminded the Marswoman so much of herself when she was younger. Still, when duty dictates that one needs to be elsewhere, one cannot argue with it. Her eyes moved to Sam Redson, the officer had recovered well from the recent attack but still showed signs that she was a distance away from being at her top performance, the way she favoured her right arm in tasks was evident. Forster was quiet as usual, moving to her seat and sitting down without a word.
Eventually, they were all in the room and, as the last one sat down comfortably, she placed her hands on the desk and pushed herself to a standing position. Her body didn't move as fast as it used to, things that used to be easy, like standing up swiftly and without complaints from portions of her body, had become more challenging. Waiting a moment for the eyes to focus on her solely, she spoke,
"Good evening all." her voice was reserved, but still the same one that commanded the attention she needed.
"I..." her voice wavered, making her grimace, this was not as she planned it in her mind. It seemed so much easier in her mind, without the gaze of her subordinates looking at her. With a slight twitch of her face, she reset her expression and spoke again, this time with conviction,
"I have resigned my commission as Commanding Officer of the Victoria, as effective of immediately."
She didn't know what to expect from her group. Whether to expect relief, shock, sadness. It was a traumatic time for a crew to lose its captain, she remembered saying farewell to quite a few when she served on the Broadsword. The last time she had left a ship, other than being promoted, it had been ugly, messy and unprofessional. It was one of the rare occasions that she had broken every tenant she had as a person - She had openly challenged her Commanding Officer, in front of the entire crew, questioned her orders and left without saying goodbye. She remembered the flames that followed her as she had walked the halls of the Perseus, she remembered sending the request to Starfleet to be enrolled in their Wing Commander training, and she remembered watching the Nova class starship disappear into the distance as she left.
This departure was very different from that one, this one was motivated by... by something that she thought she would never admit to. This move was motivated by love - once something she questioned why people said was the most powerful force in the galaxy, now something that was enough for her to hand in her pips. Enough to leave her beloved crew, her career, her life. Her jaw tightening, she kept her gaze resolute as she added,
"Are there any questions?"
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OOC: Don't forget we are on summer break, but I will keep posting as per normal
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Capt. Catherine Raiser, USS Victoria (ret.)
Cathy Knights
