You Lost What, Exactly?

Posted on Mon Aug 15th, 2022 @ 2:52am by Lieutenant Christoph Ivers & Lieutenant JG Corvin Hartjin
Edited on on Mon Aug 15th, 2022 @ 2:52am

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: Security Office
Timeline: Mission Day 4 at 1630
1158 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Corvin Hartjen wasn't a man known to misplace or waste anything because you never knew when a piece of scrap or other piece of seemingly innocuous garbage or detritus might prove to have a useful purpose. The shanks he had fashioned from garbage first in a Cardassian slave camp had saved his life on more than one occasion and it had horrified his pacifist fools who called themselves his parents with how willing he was to commit violence. They believed blindly in the failed notions of that thrice damned Vulcan Spock and his diplomatic reforms. It was only because of him the other Terran slaves hadn't gutted them, or worse. It was also that violent streak that had caught the eye of the Klingons, plucking him from the slave pits to turn into a gladiator. He'd fought for their blood thirsty amusement, survived when he should have died and had even earned a small measure of respect for his willingness to never lay down and die.

So it was that he was meticulous with his resources, knowing what he had. So when he had discovered there were three missing torpedoes he immediately knew they had an issue since the last inventory found showed that all munitions were accounted for. He made his way to Lieutenant Ivers office, pressing the chime as he waited, PADD held discreetly behind his back.

“Come in!” Christoph called from behind his desk and briefly looked up as the doors opened. When Corvin walked in, he offered an easy smile. They maybe weren’t friends, but they had known each other enough to be cordial. “Corvin. What brings you up here?” He asked curiously and sat back in his chair to give the other man his attention.

"Chris," He gave the other a cordial nod, they were in private so he was a bit less formal and he laid the PADD down for him to inspect the contents. "I wish I could say I'm here because there are a couple of sultry slave girls outside wanting to offer some stress relief, but I've completed the ordenance count as you requested,"

He paused and frowned as he looked at the PADD. "The full report is there but there's an issue in the torpedo logs, a discrepancy that I've personally confirmed and laid eyes on it as well."

“Okay, what kind of discrepancy?” Christoph asked. He hated this kind of song and dance, it’s like people just enjoyed the feeling of keeping someone else on edge with this kind of news. Still, his face remained welcoming and patient even if he wasn’t necessarily quite feeling that way himself.

Corvin had been giving Christoph a moment to review the report, but mentally shrugged and moved on. "There are three torpedoes unaccounted for, I've checked the casings and assembly materials which lines up with what we've used to replace our stores, the Operations supply inventory since those pricks have to have their noses up everyone's arses but we are still missing three torpedoes."

“What the hell.” Christoph sighed loudly and in frustration as he looked down to the PADD in his hand now. “Who, when, where and why the fuck.” He snorted and pulled his display a bit closer so he could cross reference the report and manifest himself.

"I'm not certain I can answer all of those but I'll provide what I have." Corvin watched Christoph as his mood had shifted with the news of there being three missing warheads. "As far as I can tell Security records are the most accurate with no signs of tampering but they also only show the security personnel who did that inventory, not anyone from outside the department."

"As for the when, that's a bit easier to nail down as it was after our encounter with the Ocampans and the Array while Lieutenant Sovas was still in a coma and the Operations department had little oversight but reports were being filed on a more or less... consistent basis." He explained while letting Christoph work but offering input. "The names on the Operations inventory manifest comes back to Warrant Officer Thui, who is currently listed as missing after his disappearance on our arrival into the Delta Quadrant, at this point he is presumed dead but someone has used him as a fall guy."

Christoph let out a long, drawn out sigh and reached up to rub his forehead. He didn’t really need to be dealing with this kind of incompetence right now. “Well… shit.” He finally said and sighed again. “Guess I’ll have to get on that. Not like we misplaced some stem bolts.”

"Stem bolts wouldn't be our problem though," Corvin conceded as he watched his chief looking like he was ready to stab someone in the eye and dig out the other with a knife. "I could take lead on this if you want, I did bring it to your attention."

"No, no. It's fine. I'll deal with it, Corvin." Christoph put the PADD down and rolled his neck slightly. "If it's going to be anyone's head on the line here I'm going to make damn sure the new ops chief is one of them."

"Should be interesting how you'll work that since he was in a coma when the torpedoes went missing." He chuckled softly while watching the other man, though Corvin was a prejudiced man especially towards the Vulcan people since his own parents had been Reformists, the degenerate followers of Spock's simpering democratic ideals. "Though if anyone deserves to have their heads roll for this it's the Vulcan prick."

"Yeah, we'll see." Christoph replied, neither meeting nor dismissing Corvin's insult against the half-blooded ops chief. Generally, remaining neutral on the debate of the worthiness of halfbreeds was the way to go. You didn't make friends, but you generally didn't make enemies.

"Keep me informed and I'll have the armory ready to examine them." Corvin nodded, he was a Terran supremacist, a bit of an oxymoron given the stance of the Emperor and Imperial doctrine when it came to half-blooded Terrans. Though most of his vitriol was reserved for Vulcans. "Just let me know if you need any help."

“I will, but I imagine I’ve got it.” Christoph gave him an easy smile that let him know he didn’t need to try and push his help anymore. Frankly, Christoph just wasn’t in the mood to listen to poorly concealed barbs at Sovas’ heritage. The fact they had torpedoes missing was a much, much more important issue than petty matters.

"Understood Chris, though I should leave you to it," Corvin nodded as he moved to leave, more than happy to let Christoph deal with the Vulcan, other races were fine as long as they remembered that they lived to serve Terrans. He stepped out of the office, leaving Christoph to ponder the situation and their missing munitions.

OFF