As the HoS who you got into the argument with, as well as the one who dropped the fax and spoke with the RD, I'll chime in.
You, in round, were extremely argumentative and rude in regards to orders given by the chain of command, in particular to your own head of staff. I very strongly recall the phrase, from Tachika: "It's like you haven't even been here for this conversation"
The issue with the phaser? You outright stated that the pilot was on higher priority to be equipped with a recharging weapon, so they could leave the ship. The issue wasn't with the phaser not being given, it was that there was one free to give, and you were choosing to give it to the man inside the ship. Phi, my HoS, treats Virgo-2b as a focus when he's with the expedition team. He's well aware of the engineering/ion hivebots, and the dangers they pose. The frontier phaser and the Advanced Energy Gun are the only two energy weapons that can be recharged without returning to the ship, and as such, I made my terms clear. Either the officer was to be equipped with a Phaser, and AEG, or the officer wouldn't be coming. After a near thirty minute argument in the hangar, I waved it off, and pulled security support from the team. The RD joined shortly after, got a brief from me, and we had our meeting in the Head of Staff meeting room. There, as stated above, you were argumentative, belligerent, and held a clear disdain for the fact that another individual was in your chain of command. It took a threat of arrest for you to finally agree to accept the order given to you, an explorer, by the Research Director.
I was well aware of the issues and points you made. You said the officer was heavily armed (which was false), you said they could order AEGs from cargo (also false), and that the officer was to be the lowest in priority for the team being equipped. As part of the research team (Explorer is still research), I would have, at the very least, expected you to ask on science comms about getting an AEG. Instead, you chose to follow me down the hallway, shouting to me about how wrong I was, after I stated the issue was closed and that I was done with the conversation.
After that, things progressed nicely- until about 15 minutes after the expedition left, where we got reports on comms about how the mission had gone tits up. Tachika and I spoke to several members of the expedition team, and here's the report we compiled after speaking to the team members. This was the fax sent to central command. First is the incident report from security.
Leading up to departure of expedition, Explorer Roy Tilton assumed command of the team without consultation of command staff. The issue has been dealt with, but consisted of a refusal to properly outfit security accompaniment, and a stated desire to have the pilot outfitted with weaponry in order to leave the ship and function as fire support.
By reports, the team on Virgo-2b was unorganized by all accounts. Officer Starsong was the only one, by reports again, to accompany the expedition lead as per orders. After engaging with two groups of hostile forces, Rockwell sustained heavy ballistic fire, and went down. Starsong managed to remove them from the firing zone, sustaining heavy laser fire in the process. Starsong and Rockwell were on the point of the expedition, with Tilton and Ilyinshna wandering off and disappearing in the initial encounter. Tilton was encountered once more later, with the deceased medic en tow.
Reports that Tilton provided upon returning to the station are strongly at odds with those provided by the rest of the team members, stating that the team ran off alone and separated, that Tilton the officer ran ahead of the group solo, and make no note of the activities involving the medic. Pilot reports indicate the falsehood of these claims
The report compiled by the RD (who has trouble with writing in common, as per him being a vox):
Request for demotion of (ROY TILTON) following expedition: 2562 - 02 - 21
Assigned squad leader: Truce Rockwell
Squad was seperated soon after landing on Virgo 2.
Roy Tilton and accompanying medic fled the group during first contact encounter with hostiles.
Prior to trip, Tilton was belligerent and trying to take command of the group even after reprimand. Very disrespectful.
Soon after seperation, the only squad medic was disabled while Tilton took superficial collateral scorches.
Tilton's report indicates that they did not keep up with the group and wandered away rather than stay and request a retrace of the path.
Several accompanying photos indicate that Tilton stayed behind to take pictures rather than stay with the group.
Final notes: Tilton is unfocused, disrespectful, and unable to work with a group for any serious outing. A small hunting trip on the beach perhaps, but even that seems to be a risk.
I would not like to send forth another squad with him as a member, given the large amount of disruptions and argument before the shuttle even left the station.
These are the reports sent to Central, as stated above, and why I feel central was so willing to demote Tilton- especially given he was JUST allowed back on the expeditionary teams, after a number of similar problems.