Entry 006 – Date: 09.03.3206 – Location: Patrol Cruiser Avalanche

I have been busy since the last entry. I’m sacrificing some of my breakfast time to get this entry done.

After I finished the last entry, I had to make my way to the Avalanche. To get there, I first met up with Jake and Miranda. Then we took a shuttle to the navy shipyards where the ship is docked. From the shuttle’s viewscreen, we got our first view of what the cruiser really looked like.

The designs of private or even some company ships can get quite outlandish sometimes. Decorative structures and impressive paintjobs are not uncommon. As a navy ship however, the Avalanche conforms to the navy’s general design philosophy. This means that practicality is written so far above aesthetics that they aren’t even on the same page.

The Avalanche looks like an amorphous grey cylinder with a length of 700m and a diameter of around 200m. Its only recognizable features are the engines at the back as well as the two gundecks that emerge from the cylinder’s left and right sides. Of course there are a variety of different sensors and emitters, but they can easily be overlooked if you aren’t specifically looking for them.

The sole decorative feature of the ship is the name Avalanche that is written on the bow, just above its registration number. Other than that, the hull is coated with a silvery black paint that helps avoid detection and reflects stellar radiation. There aren’t even windows as those are structural weaknesses in a potential combat engagement. Instead, the designers have dotted high-definition cameras around the hull. Their feeds are streamed directly to several screens which provide a full view of the ship’s surroundings.

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It didn’t take long for our shuttle to reach the shipyards and we were soon faced with the Avalanche’s executive officer, who was awaiting us and the other new officers. Commander Hong is a blond man of average size. He looks quite friendly but as the captain’s right-hand man, he is the second highest authority on the ship. I was glad that my group wasn’t the last ones to arrive.

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Once all of us 50 newcomers were present, Hong gave a quick introduction. He announced himself as the executive officer and explained that he would give us a tour of the ship after which we would be split into groups of three or four and assigned to shadow one of the more senior officers.

With all our bases cleared, the tour could begin.

The front of the Avalanche contains the general storage and the crew quarters. We were shown our rooms in the officer’s section where we left our respective luggage. This is also where I am currently writing these words.

Next came some recreational areas, followed by operating rooms for various departments. Then we got to the heart of the Avalanche: The bridge.

We met captain Answing when we reached it. She is a very imposing woman. If I was tasked to put a picture next to the textbook entry for captain, I would ask for her portrait.

Ainswing welcomed us abord her ship, but she was also in discussion with one of the engineers, so we quickly moved on.

Our tour brought us to the gun and flight deck, the latter of which was particularly appealing to Jake. Then we reached the engineering section.

If the bridge is Avalanche’s heart, then engineering is the ship’s guts. Sadly, we couldn’t get a full tour because workers were still rushing around and working on the machinery there. We would have posed too much trouble, so Hong cut the tour there.

The activity was not just limited to the engineering compartments, however. During the tour, I noticed that the modifications to the ship were not yet fully completed. While walking through the Avalanche we had to repeatedly dodge workers and their equipment who were finishing the final touches.

Therefore, I was a little surprised when Commander Hong announced that after our introductory period and a thorough systems check, the Avalanche will begin her patrol right away. We would be leaving Sol within the week!

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I got assigned to shadow Lieutenant Sorris who is a comms officer. Needless to say, I’m quite excited about that. Though I’m afraid that I can’t elaborate on that now.

Time is running short. I will have to describe the rest of introductions in the next entry.

It’s exciting to finally put years of study into practice.

Logging off