Lhandon Nilsen/Shore Leave - SD:240009 - Esh-O System

Lhandon's first shore leave was spent getting to know his ship and his crew. He was also introduced to an organization known as JOPA, which would become very near and dear to his heart. His shore leave began by taking care of Toxin Arlill, who had returned from a traumatic away mission. He helped to keep his "bro-roomy" company as he recovered. Soon after, Nilsen had to go to sickbay himself for a standard medical checkup, and it was there that he met V'Len Kel, who he learned was a pilot like himself. Nilsen opened up somewhat about the events of the Echo Squad crash.

After this, Nilsen was summoned by the First Officer, Commander Etan Iljor, who spoke to him about the events of the mission and learned a little more about Lhandon's context. Lhandon recounted his actions during the mission: retrofitting the Oumuamua into a giant sensor, piloting through the nebula, and responding to the distress call from the Nautilus. His recount was devoid of self-praise or positive self-talk. Etan shared a personal story from his own early days in Starfleet, telling of a harrowing mission that almost cost him his life. This helped Lhandon see the parallels between their experiences. Lhandon soon opened up about his worries and revealed that he had written a resignation letter, but Etan's support led him to delete the letter and stay aboard the Oumuamua. He would later comment that this was the first time since joining Starfleet that he felt he might have a place.

This shore leave also saw Lhandon saying goodbye to some new friends as they were transferred to the USS Ronin. Lhandon also met Josh Herrick for the first time, as he came to help Nilsen install the new operations centre. The two quickly struck up a friendship, and Herrick was sure that he recognized him from somewhere, but did not ask. Rather, he investigated privately. Nilsen found that he really enjoyed Herrick's company and his friendship, finding him easy to talk to. Quickly, Lhandon started to develop feelings for Herrick and was curious to see what happened next. Unfortunately, Herrick's investigating and questioning about Nilsen's time at the academy and Echo Squad started to hit a nerve. Lhandon snapped at Herrick, thinking that he was looking to get dirt on him. Lhandon soon regretted this and, with Toxin's help, smoothed things over and apologized. As a result, Lhandon pushed his feelings for Herrick aside, realizing that his snap had hurt him.