Editing Olen Rhinehart (section)

===Do Not Go Gentle===

As the fleet prepared to merge and move on sector 001, Rhinehart eased back into his work uncertainly. Now chief of department, he had a small staff under his command and an enormous job to complete. As well as providing the standard crew evaluation required by the new captain, Rhinehart was tasked to conduct in-depth research into the confidential psychological files of Doenitz-loyal command staff, seeking information that could be exploited tactically. Initially perturbed at the ethical implications, he nevertheless agreed to the captain's request in light of the extraordinary attrition they were likely to face, and any possibility, no matter how slender, that it might be ameliorated. 

The task occupied much of his department's time over the next three trying months. At the same time the crew was drilled relentlessly in preparation for their next mission: to act as the speartip for [[Task Force 19]]. It was a mission that would cause great ambivalence and dread in the amnesiac counsellor, not a warrior by any means. As the ship neared its destination, meanwhile, the existence of a certain black-market video clip came to his attention via his assistant [[Dorga 'cha Nooras]], and thus to the attention of the captain. The contents of the video proved to be the key that unlocked the morass of his suppressed memories, bringing them back to his consciousness in a deluge he could not decipher or decode. He began mind-melding therapy sessions with Lt. Dorga which helped him to reclaim the incoherent memories as his own.

As his therapy continued, he found himself forming an attachment to the capable Klingon/Vulcan counsellor that went deeper than mere professional courtesy, but in the immediacy of battle, he felt it inappropriate to share that fact. It was a mistake he would come to rue, and vow never to repeat. As the Champlain gathered impetus for the forthcoming fleet action, his mind and heart were occupied with little besides dread. He was not a warrior at heart, and found himself by turns resentful and petrified by the uncomfortable mould Starfleet was forcing him to occupy. His philosophical misgivings were many, but, like the rest of the senior staff, he suppressed them long enough to see the Champlain's part in the mission completed. It ended with the destruction of that vessel only a few short months after her launch, and the narrow escape of the bridge complement. Though the action resulted in victory for the 52nd Fleet, the cost of the conflict was too great to be so easily dismissed.