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"Gar's Critique" JDL

Captain Michael Holden, Commander Zarian Lobren, Lieutenant Sierra Gar,
Posted on 202006.27
  "Gar's Critique
  Email from KB3MUZ: "Gar's Critique
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  6/9/2019 10:55 AM
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  To  KB3MUZ,   Kitty Gio   and 7 others
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  “Gar’s Critique”
  JDL: Captain Holden, Commander Lobren and Lt. Gar
  The U.S.S. Excelsior sat docked in one of Starbase 077’s larger ship docks. While the battle with the Dcimitar-class warbird was quick, the Starfleet ship had taken some good shots. Engineering crews were hard at work on the starboard nacelle, which had been weakened in the skirmish.
  Captain Michael Holden now sat in his ready room. He was waiting for two of his officers who had been heavily involved in the situation on Xionus IV. He knew both would be arriving any moment.
  Sierra had been summoned to Captain Holden's ready room. The reason was not stated, although she had a pretty good idea why. This had been her first mission since returning to duty after some time of being in a frankly... precarious mental state. More than that, this had been her first mission as away team leader. As she rang Holden's chime, she thought that the next several minutes would go either swimmingly, or disastrously.
  The Brikar came lumbering up behind Lt. Gar, just after she had rung the ready room chime. Maverick was at his side, as usual. He did say anything, immediately, to the operations officer, because he had his own notions as to whyhe was called to the captain’s office.
  “Enter,” Holden called out.  He rose from behind his desk as the two officers entered.  The captain moved to the small conference table and indicated for Lt. Gar to have a seat. He knew Lobren would probably remain standing. On the table was two pitchers, on containing water and the second a citrus juice. There was also some small snack sandwiches.
  The doors slid open and Sierra was the first one to enter, relaxed and calm. As she moved to the side to allow Lobren and Maverick to enter, gently scritching the ears of the latter. "You wished to see us, sir?"
  Commander Lobren  moved to one side of the table. He grabbed a glass and poured himself some water.  The glass looked small, almost toy-ish, in his large hand.
  Pouring himself a glass of juice, and two small sandwiches wedges, Captain Holden took a seat at the one end of the table.
  “Thank you both for coming,” the captain started. He looked at Gar. “I am sure you are wondering why you are here, and I assure you it is not for any trouble.  In fact it is a critique, mostly by you, on your performance on Xionus IV. It is the first time I have asked you to lead an away mission, and it may have been your first time in your career. My policy is to always spend this time with my officers so they can express their opinions on the particular mission beyond the official mission report.  So, Lieutenant Gar, how do you feel you performed on Xionus IV?”
  Sierra nodded her head in affirmation as she crossed to an indicated chair, pulling it out and lowering herself into it gracefully. The lieutenant lifted her head in a contemplative gesture before speaking. "Yes sir, this was my first time in such a position of leadership. Initially, it was... challenging to adapt to, some of the ideas I had to deal with the situation at hand were misfires which were, thankfully, not put into action. However once the initial difficulties passed I feel as if I used the people, and resources, at my disposal as effectively as I was able to given the situation."
  As Sierra spoke, she remembered the initial confrontation with Buffens in his office, and frowned deeply, a touch of irritation creeping into her features as she looked between the three other occupants in the room.
  Holden ate one of the sandwich wedges as he listened to her. When she stopped talking, he took a sip from the glass of juice. Allowing her the moment, he finally said, “There seems to be more, Lieutenant.”
  Sierra's frown deepened as she looked to Lobren, then to Holden. "I am greatly dissatisfied with the conduct of a member of my team. Lieutenant McNillian's performance was... deeply troubling. He seemed intent on taking things into his own hands, going so far as to feint, or at least he claimed he was feinting, a death threat against the administrator unless he would talk, rather than letting me handle the situation as his superior officer. If I cannot count on him to follow the chain of command, if I feel he has the potential to fly off the handle as he seems to display the tendency to do... I feel I cannot trust him in a crisis situation. And as the leader of an away team, I need to be able to trust those under my command, with my life if necessary. I felt I could not in that moment."
  The captain again nodded.  He was well aware of the loose cannon Peter McMillian posed. The man had pointed a phaser at him with full intentions of shooting him when Holden first took command of the Excelsior. He looked over to Lobren.
  “I’ll definitely take th’ hit on this one, Cap’n,” Lobren said.  “I thought getting’ Mick off th’ ship might help him get his head back in th’ game, but then he gleaned onta that little girl and it was bonkos all over again. I will definitely be talkin’ wit’ him about his conduct on th’ planet, I jus’ figured I would give him  a little space as he an’ Waite worked out the details on th’ girl.” He took a swallow from the glass. “Gar is right, though, in her assessment and feelin’s of not bein’ able ta trust him.”
  “Indeed,” Holden agreed. “I will let you handle this, Commander, but we cannot let this happen again.” Looking back at Lt. Gar, Holden said, “Now, for a talk like this, I would normally have Commander Carishai in here, but seeing as Commander Lobren was on the surface with you, I wanted his perspective on your performance. Before we hear from him, do you have any critique of your own performance? Anythng you could or would have done differently?”
  Sierra considered the question for a moment before nodding. "I was able to keep a level head, which is... nothing short of a miracle given previous events and given how I returned to duty in the middle of this whole thing. As I said I was a little slow starting off, I failed to realize given the situation that Ruwan could be an asset at the time, which seems obvious in hindsight."
  “Indeed,” Holden agreed. He then looked to his security chief. “Commander. You are not usually one to mince words. What observations do you have concerning Lt. Gar’s performance?”
  “Ta be honest, Cap’n,” Lobren started. “I think she did real well. She made sure the relief efforts got under way an’ pretty much rolled with th’ punches when things started goin’ south. She wasn’ afraid ta admit she needed some advice when it came to an officer she wasn’ sure how ta deal with, namely Mick. I wouldn’ hesitate ta assign ‘er another away mission.”
  “Thank you, Commander.” The captain then looked back to Gar. “I am sure you might be thinking that the commander would say that while you are in the room, but I assure you, Commander Lobren speaks his mind despite who is in the room.
  “I will say that I am also pleased with your performance. All of the colonists remained safe, and they were all fed. Plus, you also got to the bottome of the situation with Buffens.  Do you have anything you would like to add?”
  Sierra raised an eyebrow. She knew Lobren was blunt and no nonsense. The thought that he might sugarcoat something hadn't really occurred. Still, did she have anything to add? She thought on it for a moment before nodding. "The away team performed well given the... difficult circumstances. A leader is only the sum of her parts and I have..." she trailed off for a moment, her face softening as she looked between Holden, Maverick and Lobren. She reached out to softly stroke Maverick's fur as she spoke again. "I have been blessed to have such people at my disposal... to be a part of this crew. It feels good to be... me again."
  Captain Holden gave a small smile. “And,… “ he started, wanting to remind her of her little “sojourn” into soul searching after the Mirror  Universe Sierra Gar had sacrificed herself and her ship, but not wanting to push too far. “… always remember that. We are all here and the only way we survive is when we work together.” He looked between the two officers.  “Dismissed.”
  ###
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