Archer exited form the Tame's command room a few minutes later. It could have been five or fifteen minutes as time seemed to have been replaced by a foreboding sense of malaise as Archer listened to Lt. Commander Naimes talk about how war was the path forward for those who want to make a mark on history.
It wasn't clear when, but he stopped processing her words at some point as his mind kept fixating on the possibility of war. There was no way out as far as he was concerned. He still had 4 years left on his contract with the navy so he couldn't just resign his commission like those folks before him. Similarly, he neither had the wealth nor connections to use to get himself away from the frontline. For all intents and purposes, there was just no way out for Archer.
"Lieutenant?"
"Lieutenant?"
Archer who was slowly walking down the main hall of the Tame lost in thought was suddenly aroused by someone calling him. He immediately focused ahead and saw the same soldier who took him to the command room a while ago.
He immediately tried to put a smile as a response but subconsciously couldn't help it coming out strained. He nodded and spoke:
"Yes. What did you say?"
The soldier was visibly confused by Archer's mannerism, but he couldn't figure out what the young lieutenant discussed with the Lt. Commander, so he just dismissed it and continued speaking while gesturing to the room he was standing next to:
"We'll rendezvous with the Charger in 2 hours. In the meantime, we've prepared a room for you to rest in. It might not be adequate as a proper officer lodging, but it should be enough for a few hours. Please let me know if you need anything."
Archer cared very little about the accommodations, so he simply waved his hand and spoke in a reassuring tone as he stepped into the room.
"Its fine. Call me when we reach the charger. Thank you."
Archer immediately stepped in the room and locked the door behind him. There is a lot on his mind, and he couldn't help replaying the whole situation in his head repeatedly hoping to see a thread or a means of escape.
However, resignation didn't seem like the best plan to him. He immediately sat down at the console in the room and opened the Naval Archives, a collection of the navy's literature, standard operating procedures, plans and general orders.
He immediately started browsing through the discharge procedures and the means in which one can resign their commission. There wasn't much information aside from what he already knew, which is that the only way to leave the navy before your contract ends is either through a dishonorable discharge, catastrophic or irreparable injury including death and finally, buying out your commission which is how those other officers in the 7th fleet were able to leave without warning.
The first two options are not possible for Archer. The first would cause him to live the life of a second-class citizen since a dishonorable discharge from the navy is considered a dereliction of citizen duty and causes one to lose the many rights, one of which is the right to own property.
While the latter is the one thing Archer is trying to avoid. Leaving buying his commission out as the only viable option. Unfortunately, the renumeration required to be able to buy out a commission is astronomical, requiring one to pay approximately 1 million credits.
Archer remembered learning about the sale of commissions in his history classes at the institute and remembered that it was an archaic practice put in place to enable nobles and those of means to buy and sell desirable postings to one another at the benefit of navy's budget. For example, nobles would buy high ranking commissions during time of war to avoid being conscripted which gave the navy a decent influx of funds for the war effort.
During class, this practice was framed as a redundant yet practical compromise that kept nobles invested in war efforts and the navy's coffers filled. However, the professors failed to mention that it was a means of escape for those who had the means to afford it while those who didn't were given the choice between a life of dishonor and misery or death.
An hour and a half later, Archer heard the chime of the doorbell ring through the room and was roused from his research into naval procedures. He looked up the monitor and saw the time before speaking as he stood up:
"Enter."
The door to Archer's room opened slowly revealing the black unfirmed soldier who has been guiding him around. The soldier saluted briskly before speaking:
"Hope you had a good rest Sir. The Lt. Commander is requesting your presence as we approach the Charger."
"Sounds good. Let's head there."
Archer spoke as he walked outside along with the soldier. His research has not been very productive on an immediate course of action, but he did run into a few ideas that may be feasible but will require some time and luck, neither of which made Archer confident as he has been rather unlucky lately and is rapidly running out of time. But hope is hope and Archer felt the panic he felt an hour ago slightly subside.
He turned to the soldier next to him and spoke as they were walking to the bridge in the distance:
"How long have you been in the Navy Peters?"
"3 years in two months of so."
"2 months huh. Are you going to resign or will you leave for the private sector."
Enlisted soldiers in the League Navy are mandated to serve 3 years minimum before being allowed to sign a yearly contract extension or leave. Peter's spoke with a slight grin as he spoke:
"The navy is the only plan I've ever had Lieutenant. I am about to be promoted to second class and will immediately offer to sign another 3-year contract to get a raise and a merit promotion to third class. I absolutely don't want to resign"
As an attempt to maintain a core of the most competent enlisted soldiers and incentive longer contracts after the initial 3 year mandatory period, the navy implemented the merit promotion scheme. Essentially, if you're a second class soldier who signs an additional 3 year contract, you're immediately given a promotion to Third class and almost guaranteed path to promotion to Petty Officer.
Archer remembered Wil talking about this a long time ago. Back then Wil was also contemplating going the route of a full navy career, thankfully, he got an offer from a civilian transport ship and couldn't resist, so he signed a single year extension which qualified him for a single rank promotion to second class. A year later, he was free.
Knowing what might occur in the navy and especially the 7th fleet, Archer immediately frowned as he spoke with a confused tone mixed with worry:
"Aren't afraid that something might happen. Why not go into the private sector and make a decent living away from the navy. My brother was a second-class soldier and he left in 4 years and now makes a very decent living as a chief engineer on a transport ship. You could do the same."
"Oh man, your brother was an enlisted solder huh. No wonder you're so easy to talk to. But no, I have neither the skills nor patience for the civilian world. I like how straight forward and clear everything is in the navy. Also, all the skills I have picked up in the navy are only suitable in the navy, your brother was lucky to have learned how to work on engines."
"I guess that's fair. Either way, congrats on your upcoming promotions then. Next time I see you, you might be sporting 3 golden crosses."
Archer decided against telling Peters anymore as he didn't want to start a panic amongst the ranks on his first day in the fleet without any solid evidence.
Archer then proceeded to enter the bridge of the LNS Tame. The first thing that captures the eye when entering the bridge is the commanding officer as they stand directly in front of the door with a large console facing the viewing screen on the front of the bridge.
Immediately after that, Archer noticed the 4 auxiliary consoles Infront which make up the main operations of any ship which are the communications console, the engineering console, the operations console and the tactical console.
Finally, Infront of the auxiliary consoles is the helm which is situated at the front of bridge with a direct view of the viewing screen.
Archer took the scene of the bridge in quickly and noticed that only the helm, comms and ops consoles were occupied, no doubt a consequence of Lt. Commander Naimes' 50% operational model. Archer took a few steps forward and stood next to Lt. Commander Naimes before speaking:
"Hello ma'am. How's our approach."
Lt. Commander Naimes didn't even turn her head as she spoke:
"We should be within range of a drop out of high lumin travel soon. Comms announce all hands brace. Helm drops us out of HLT as soon as we're in range of the charger."
"Aye Captain, HLT drop in 10 seconds."
"Aye Captain. Attention all hands. Attention all hands. Brace for HLT drop."
Archer immediately reached for the brace bar built into the commander's console. He turned his head and saw Naimes just standing there with her feet at should width and her arms folded Infront of her.
Before he could even understand why she was just standing there, he felt an almost the surprisingly jerky tug of a HLT drop accompanied by the characteristic humming of the SF modulator shutting down. But before he could even release the brace bar, he felt Lt. Commander Naimes turn her head to him and speak in an uncharacteristically humorous tone:
"No need to grip the bar so strongly, its only a small jolt."
Archer simply rolled his eyes as he knew why Naimes' mood was uplifted enough for a joke. But before he could respond, he caught sight of the image on the viewing screen.
Out in the depths of space, there floated a colossal ship, a mix of deep blue and black, its imposing form almost blending seamlessly into the darkness. This mighty vessel wasn't holding back on its firepower – it proudly showcased an array of nearly a dozen large guns and turrets, giving it an air of both strength and intimidation.
As faint red lights intermittently blinked across its hull, the ship took on an almost mystical aura, like a creature of the night lurking in the shadows. These crimson flashes hinted at the immense power contained within, and they added a sense of unpredictability to the ship's otherwise foreboding presence in the vast expanse of space.
Archer also noticed two smaller ships near what he assumed to the LNS Charger but he couldn't spare any more attention to them as his gaze kept returned to the Charger. Archer turned his head to Naime's and spoke:
"That must be the charger. It looks bigger than the Type 3s that I've seen before."
"That's because it's a destroyer class ship. Almost a thousand feet long and heavy armaments. It's a league above normal type 3 ships. But you should really focus more on that ship to the port side."
Archer immediately turned his head to where Naimes was pointing to and saw what seemed like a small type 2 ship floating in the darkness of space.
The ship has a silvery gray coat with two large cannons on each side and 2 smaller guns under each large cannon. The whole ship seemed couldn't have been more than 200 ft long with a generally cylindrical shape and two stabilizing wings on each side.
He felt like he understood what Naimes was getting to, but before he could confirm he heard her speak again:
"Type 2 Escort class ship. The LNS Lietinna, previously commanded by Lt. Commander Johnson of the 14th Combat wing of the 7th Fleet. And now to be commanded by the newly minted Lieutenant Chase. Most lieutenants wait six months to a year before a command is ready for them while you had one waiting for you. How does it feel?"
Archer simply ignored Naime's words as he scrutinized what was to be his ship. There was a part of him that was excited at the prospect of commanding a ship of his own, but it was overshadowed by the part of him that realized that the Ship he was looking at was more likely to be his vehicle to war and a potentially gruesome death.
The dichotomy of these two emotions were cause Archer to be stuck with a crooked smile on his face as he responded to Naimes:
"I would be more excited if I was given the Charger instead."
Naimes beside him just chuckled without speaking and let him take in the view in silent contemplation.