Selecting a new Captain

"What's this Dam business?" Katla asked, it was three days after the party and she was sitting with her feet kicked up on her desk in her estate's main office, Jaclyn sitting in the chair opposite of her, more reserved than her Commodore as usual.

"As my lady knows but decided to neglect in favor of being able to sound like she's cursing, paternal designations are important. It's meant to act as a neutral connotation than 'mother' would imply. I believe on Asgard you use kone." Jaclyn explained patiently.

"Which is a nice respectful term," Katla said, putting her nose in the air as she'd seen some nobles do before returning to the dossiers. "Regardless of what her parents are called, we do need a decision. I still can't believe the admiralty gave us approval."

"You put your name behind it my lady. That means things even if some people would like to pretend it doesn't."

"And right now it means I have to pick who gets to fly my fleet's fancy new ship. Let's walk through this. From the top." Katla brought up the first file. "The Destroyer is Wu class specializing in dealing damage at laser range. We don't have time to get her into the yards and change that up so that's what we're stuck with for this mission. It can punch but its **** as hell to missiles if left unsupported." Katla said, voicing her thoughts about the ship itself. "McLeod has the most experience at a destroyer's helm. Frontier woman, worked with Redgrave on occasion, seems like an ideal candidate."

"I sense a but?" Jaclyn asked after a pause.

"She doesn't have the good sense to run." Katla said after a moment, "Your assessment was on the mark. I checked her previous engagements and she's refused to fall back. Even when it wouldn't have changed the outcome of a battle. Even worse she's not been hit for it yet. There's skill there, quite a bit, but she's been relying too heavily on luck to see her through." Katla moved on to the next one "Your friend Ryder on the other hand looks like she's had her resume prettied up quite a bit. " Jaclyn did her best to look innocent and failed miserably. "How is she even in a command position already?"

"The Academy my lady. First in class receives an immediate promotion to Lieutenant Commander and receive their first posting as a captain. It's meant to ensure that good officers don't have to wait." Jaclyn explained

"It means good officers don't have a chance to get experience." Katla countered. "I checked her records, she's good, I'll give her that, but she's also reckless." Katla moved on to the next. "Akers is politics. Those guards of her's might be useful in some circumstances but I don't know if that's worth giving up someone who actually knows what the hell they're doing."

"Redgrave is politics too but at least she's the useful kind. I've fucked a Shrike before. They're good people. Heard of the other two groups but never encountered them." Raiders often would double as mercenaries when a nation needed a job done but either didn't have or didn't want to bother with, using their own forces. Katla had met the Shrike when they were on the same side. Neither had managed to score a **** so they'd taken it back to Katla's place. It had been a fun night and was probably the closest she'd ever come to losing her virginity.

"The main problem I see with her that this is a downgrade." Katla continued. "She's used to giving the orders, not following them. Might need to work on that a bit." Katla moved on to the last of Jaclyn's list. "Then there's Strelok. Same issues as Ryder but in this case I feel like money might have changed hands somewhere along the line." Katla noted, not seeing a first in class designation. "Still, it looks like she's the good type of crazy. Unless you're the one who tells her 'no' when she wants something."

"I'm glad to have been of service," Jaclyn said.

"You did miss one though. Admiralty sent six instead of five." Katla said, pulling out her own file. Put together in the same style as Jaclyn's just for a bit of fun though she didn't have her aide's extensive network of contacts. "Townsend. 247 years old. Joined the Navy at 237. Landless nobility she spent 200-something years working as a mining technician in Avalon's inner sphere. I'm guessing a midlife crisis kicked in. No children, no spouse. Probably looking to change the former." She passed the file to her aide to let her read it over.

"She... sounds like a resourceful woman," Jaclyn said after reading over the file. "You're right when you say I've never heard of her. The family's tragedy is known but it's more a lesson about not letting your debts get away from you."

"She seems to adjusted well." Katla noted.

"While I hate to put pressure on it we do need to make a decision soon. Who are you thinking Commodore? Also, the admiralty is still waiting for us to formally give them a name for the vessel."