Isadora Lyn: Life, Logs, and Lies

Isadora · March 7, 2024, 2:53pm

Collective thread for stories, logs, and other miscellanea relating to Isadora Lyn

Isadora · March 7, 2024, 3:00pm

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Isadora · March 7, 2024, 3:00pm

[[OId Entry]]
Moving On
STARDATE 94913.2

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Isadora tried her very best not to look judgmental as she made her way back to the table carrying two steaming mugs. A sigh escaped anyways as she glanced around the room. Dev’s quarters were minimalistic by any standard, but positively spartan for an Orion. “Honestly…” she muttered to herself as she settled back into her seat. Her CMO had tried her best to distance herself from the stereotypes of her species, and Lyn respected her for it.

Even still, a little décor wouldn’t hurt. Some wall art? A fish?

The Trill dismissed this and other thoughts as she set her mug of hot chocolate down in front of her before sliding the other mug across the table. She down into her beverage and then out the window at the starscape for a few moments, not quite sure how to start. Eventually, she took a deep breath and began.

“I’m leaving Starfleet.”

Isadora immediately raised a hand, as if to stave off the imminent protest. “I know. And before you yell at me, just please let me talk."

Silence, though in her head Lyn could almost hear the furious tirade. She sighed as she cupped the warm drink in both hands and swirled it slowly.

“I watched my entire life go down with USS Solarium. The crowning moment of a life spend trying to avoid battleground and starships." She paused, letting the bitterness of that statement permeate through the room.

Lyn took a tentative sip from her mug. Still too hot. “But… then I was offered captaincy and honestly believed that if I was in command, I could stop that kind of thing from happening again.”

She thought she heard Devna laugh quietly and couldn’t help but smile as well. “Alright, I was pretty naïve back then. Still shocked that we lived through that one. A lot of our people weren’t so lucky.”

Isadora raised the mug and took a sip. She stared down at the table and continued. “After that, I decided that even if I couldn’t control everything; I could take care of my own. I would protect my crew…my family to the best of my ability, and if I had to make sacrifices then I’d know it was for a good cause. I just never expected my adoptive family to get so large.”

She drew her legs up to her chest. “I was just stuck there… helpless. It was like ESD, or Tyra, or our first flight all over again. I could feel the impacts and hear the station dying around me, and I couldn’t do anything. It didn’t matter what rank I was or what I’d done since then, everything played out just like before. These things are just…too big.”

A few moments passed in silence, broken only by the usual hum of the ship’s superstructure.

“I’m…not a leader. I know plenty of people who are…I’ve been people who are. Lin was, Siro was, and for all his flaws Tobas was too. I can’t do what they do: make necessary sacrifices, accept losses, move on from disasters, turn the other cheek for the sake of the bigger picture, stand for ideals. I can fake it, but deep down it’s going through the motions and always feels wrong. I hate it.”

Lyn took a deep breath before continuing. “I know I’m not command material… but that’s not new. You and Liang have been saying that for years. This is different Dev. For the first time, I don’t want to be command material. My entire reason for taking the chair was a fairy tale. I’m not the kind of person who should be sitting in that chair, and I don’t want to be that person.”
Her voice shook slightly as she finished. She was on the verge of either crying or screaming but managed to do neither, though she very much wanted to do both.

“…I’m done. I guess you can yell at me now…”

A few moments passed before Isadora sighed and slowly stood up, leaving both mugs on the table. She took a last long look at the empty seat across from her.

“Right then. Thanks for listening just like always.”

Lyn moved across to the door, taking several minutes to compose herself before stepping out into the corridor. She smiled warmly at a pair of engineers, who returned the gesture before hurrying past her to wherever they needed to go. At the end of the corridor, she spied an ensign with a pair of Bajorans in cadet’s uniforms.

“Aevin!” He turned around at the mention of his name. “How about a rematch? Holodeck is open right now I think.”

The ensign’s companions nodded politely. He rolled his eyes “A rematch? But you’re awful…”

“Not how I remember it. For the sake of your friends there, I hope you don’t suffer from the same performance issues in your quarters that you do on the holodeck.”

The poor ensign flushed as the two cadets erupted in a fit of giggles. Isadora laughed as she turned and continued down the corridor, leaving Aevin to stammer out an explanation to his new friends. In truth, the ensign was a rather prolific marksman, and she was certainly in for a crushing defeat as payback for that comment. He was also an exceptionally promising young officer, all of them were, which made days like today hurt all the more.

Isadora · March 7, 2024, 3:00pm

[[Old Entry]]
USS Eminence Captain’s Quarters
STARDATE 95355.7

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Isadora collapsed gratefully into bed, rolling over once to wrap herself partially in one of the fuzzier blankets. She took a few precious seconds to bask in the residual warmth from the shower and contemplated a few of life’s deeper questions.

“Honestly, why would anyone prefer a sonic shower.” she sighed.

Of course the reasons were many, and ranged from efficiency and energy conservation to cross species compatibility. However, none of this mattered in the slightest to Lyn, who’d had the unit in her quarters retrofitted soon after taking command of Eminence. So far as she was concerned, there was no substitute for that pounding stream of hot water obliterating the day’s problems. At times she could almost visualize her worries being carried down the drain along with the spent water, suds, and one time…her class ring.

She rolled upright, still wrapped in a blanket, and made her way to her desk. Several PADDs littered the surface, mostly department status updates and other routine tasks. One contained reports and analyses from the recent incident involving the USS Langley. She mentally and physically set it aside for later as she pulled up a personal access terminal.

“Computer. Display contemporary swimwear.”

The console beeped dutifully and pulled up several pages of designs. The Trill scrolled through the list, selected a few prospects and visibly recoiled from others. “Oh gods. Is that what people are wearing now?!”

She furrowed her brow, as what appeared to be a brightly colored submarine scrolled past. “A Horta swim capsule? Computer, limit results to compatible outfits for human females.”

Several minutes later, she had compiled a short list of likely candidates.

“Computer. Bring up personnel file for Derenzis, Alyx. Starfleet captain. USS Shackleton.”

The computer displayed the requested dossier. Isadora skipped past the rather lengthy service record until she arrived at the standard Starfleet portrait. She hesitated before continuing onwards.

“Computer. Extrapolate details from image and display model.”

Holoemitters embedded into the desk hummed to life and a miniature representation of the Starfleet captain appeared, standing less than a foot tall. Isadora flushed slightly as she mumbled an apology. Goodbye respectable Starfleet captain, hello seedy Ferengi hologram peddler.

“I’m sorry Alyx. This feels so wrong…but I’m just trying to help.” she took a breath and continued, “Computer, overlay option three on subject. Randomize color palette.”

The glowing model distorted briefly before reconstituting in the desired outfit. Lyn took a breath and swallowed her embarrassment for the moment. She eyed the outfit critically, flipping through several different color combinations before rendering her final verdict.

“Nope. Computer, display options sequentially. Ten second delay. Random color palette.”

The computer complied, cycling through the list she had selected at a moderate pace.

“Nope… nope… looks good… maybe… yep… yep… yep… and absolutely not.” Lyn sighed as the computer continued scrolling.

“Not sure what she needs me for… she looks just fine in almost all of these. Reminds me of Sara.” she blinked as a thought occurred to her, “Maybe she’s just trying to show off that she’s in better shape than me…”

The Trill captain entertained this train of thought for another half second before common sense kicked in and banished the whimsical notion to whatever jealous corner of her mind it originated from. Her face colored slightly, and she muttered another silent apology to Captain Derenzis… wherever she might be.

“No. That’s not it. Though I really should get in better shape. Maybe work the arms a little…” she began to idly sketch on a nearby PADD with her finger. “I really should. If this latest incident proved anything it’s that I’m way behind in my conditioning. Without Tala there, it would’ve been a disaster.”

Isadora continued to absentmindedly doodle as she ran through a dozen more options for Alyx before suspending her efforts for the day. She drew her blanket up around her shoulders as she huddled in the chair. “Well, hopefully I don’t seem like a total novice when we go out now. She seems nice, I really hope that wEAAAUUGGHH!”

She nearly fell out of her seat as her eyes wandered over the sketch she’d been working on. She gingerly picked the PADD up, hesitantly, as if she expected the drawing to leap up out of the tablet and strangle her. “What. Is. This. I really hope this isn’t some horrible subconscious image of what I’m aiming for.”

Lyn stared at the drawing for another minute before setting it aside. “I think it’s time for bed.”

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All credit to Konie. Who created this masterpiece. The entire story was concocted mostly to make this canon. Look upon it and tremble.

Isadora · March 7, 2024, 3:06pm

THE BALLAD OF ALISTAR NIMITZ
An original composition by Isadora Lyn, on the occasion of his 65th birthday

Tune: Nathan Evans - Wellerman (Sea Shanty)

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
There once was man in Argo fleet
His name was Alistar Nimitz you see
His arm fell off, his eye grew dim
But he shrugged and let them go (Huh!)