Arrival at Legacy

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:12 pm

"Ensign, ensign... Cindy" and in that singular moment he was smitten. As his brain and his reason deserted him, he felt himself fall into the fiery pit at the heart of... she... is... beautiful.

He realised that his tongue had cleaved to the roof of his mouth and his fingers were nailed to his forehead.

'I've got to get a grip', he thought and attempted a smooth transition into the 'at ease' stance.

"I will be at the Nerv station here on the Blidge and in Astlo... Ciiii..Ii..ndy?" All in all, taking into account the refusal of his tongue to detach itself from his palate, rendering his speech much like that of a deaf mute, and overlooking that her name came out as a question, he thought he may have managed to convey an attitude of relaxed efficiency. He didn't think she could see the violent tremor in his left knee below the console.

"I think I pulled it off!"

"Oh flaxseed! Did I just say that out loud? I did, didn't I?" He looked miserably at the blank faces of his colleagues.

"Undiagnosed Toulettes" he offered hopefully.

Cindy just smiled, her eyes brightening and gave another laugh before hearing a rather sharp, "Ma'am" followed by, "Lt. Williams. Bridge tactical officer. Any other relevant information you wish to know is in my personnel file."

Cindy looked at the tactical officer. That was not the reaction she hoped for from her bridge crew. She wondered what he had to hide and why she did not appreciate her informal manner. She figured that she would address it later. There was no need to make him feel uncomfortable before they left. "I am familiar with your file, Lieutenant but the rest of the crew is not and I'm sure that there's more to you than that file."

tag - Williams

Cindy then heard Phil's voice say, "The ceremony is due to begin in ten minutes...."

That was truly a surprise. Where did the time go, she wondered. She stood up from the chair and gave a delighted smile at her crew and said, "I will see you all soon. We will have five years together, so we may as well get comfortable. I'll leave the ceremony on shipwide comm so that everyone can hear it. But I am more anxious to get this ship in the skies. "What say you, Mr. Osswell? Agree?"

tag - Osswell and bridge crew

She started towards the turbolift and saw Phil partially blocking her view to a woman. She noted the glasses on the woman and her eyes darkened a bit. What was this woman doing on her bridge? Cindy had hoped to avoid the PR officer. She had numerous suspicions about her, especially given that the originally assigned officer had been replaced at a rather late date.

New concerning thoughts ran through Cindy's mind. How much had this PR officer heard? Would she lose her Captaincy before it began because of this woman? Not likely but she was not going to win a lot of friends in Starfleet if they heard about her informality. It would have been easier to explain if they had already been away for some time. Cindy cursed her own exuberance. Phil tried to protect her and she stupidly did not listen.

She gave a defeated smile at Phil, appreciating that he did not call her "sir, Ma'am or Captain." Cindy just knew that she was not going to make anymore mistakes in front of Marian. Straightening herself up to her full height, she looked straight into Marian's eyes and said, "I suppose we should be going to the ceremony. Are you just going to want to interview me alone before the ceremony or is it alright with you that my Commander come along with us?" Without waiting for an answer, she entered the turbolift.

tag - Phil and Marian (and others for reactions)

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Jake Sjet » Sun Feb 16, 2014 4:09 pm

Keth looked down at the medical scanner in his hands, turning it over slowly as he pondered on her statement. Most items provided by Starfleet for shipboard use were designed under what was called the H Standard. Keth had been told that meant Humanoid, and seeing as on average most humanoid races were roughly the same size that sounded sensible and reasonable. Of course when one of the Quartermasters assistants had jokingly called it the Human Standard, this had set Keth’s teeth on edge. A fact the assistant found out from across the room when Keth had accidentally growled, leading to his black mark on his record. The minor assault charge that followed was played down to a handshaking accident.

But no had ever offered to make something his size before…

“Erm…well see it wasn’t so much the captain throwing it as…I throwing it, because the captain came in and made me nervous.” He admitted, fighting with his hands as he looked at his feet. He then held up the scanner, shaking it with a little rattle to underscore the conversational importance of it “And..erm…I mean if you’re not, ah, busy or anything because I’d hate to be a bother but…”

He then dropped the scanner, and moved with terrifying speed. Perhaps there was enough time for the primitive part of the human brain to register panic, that small segment of the brainstem that was concerned with sabre-toothed tigers and killing mammoths. But in a fraction of a second Keth had dashed across the intervening space and wrapped his big arms around Nav, lifting her into the air as he provided her a fierce bear hug.

“IfYouDidThatYouWouldBeTheMostBestAndAwesomePersonOnTheEntireShipAndIWouldLIkeYouMore
ThanAnyOfTheRestBecauseYouWereTheOnlyBaldMonkeyToOfferToHelpMeForFree!” he let out in a long squeak of high-pitched squeak, a sound accompanied by a shaking of his shoulders and genuine tears of joy that felt like a light shower.

That or, considering her size and his, he might be drooling over having another snack in hand. Or considering her relative size compared to a tribble, a second breakfast.

TAG-Nav

Keth Soban
A Hugger and Devourer Of Small Critters and Children

[Amanda Rose]

Postby KendleRJ » Sun Feb 16, 2014 5:27 pm

“Erm…well see it wasn’t so much the captain throwing it as…I throwing it, because the captain came in and made me nervous.” He admitted, fighting with his hands as he looked at his feet. He then held up the scanner, shaking it with a little rattle to underscore the conversational importance of it “And..erm…I mean if you’re not, ah, busy or anything because I’d hate to be a bother but…”

Nav nodded, understanding that things happened, and for the life of her she couldn't imagine anyone or anything large enough or scary enough to make him nervous. "No bother..." she started to say and then, everything slowed down.

He then dropped the scanner, and moved with terrifying speed. Perhaps there was enough time for the primitive part of the human brain to register panic, that small segment of the brainstem that was concerned with sabre-toothed tigers and killing mammoths. But in a fraction of a second Keth had dashed across the intervening space and wrapped his big arms around Nav, lifting her into the air as he provided her a fierce bear hug.

Nav saw what was coming, but couldn't stop it; her human reflexes, albeit better than most, were no match for a determined, excited and apparently grateful Huanni. "Oooof," she said, tools clattering from her hands as she was lifted above the floor. There was no time to say anything else before she was enveloped in an enthusiastic, oversized and surpising big kitty hug. She didn't think she was old enough for her bones to creak, but they did some surprisingly odd things.

“IfYouDidThatYouWouldBeTheMostBestAndAwesomePersonOnTheEntireShipAndIWouldLIkeYouMoreThanAnyOfTheRestBecauseYouWereTheOnlyBaldMonkeyToOfferTo
HelpMeForFree!” he let out in a long squeak of high-pitched squeak, a sound accompanied by a shaking of his shoulders and genuine tears of joy that felt like a light shower.

The Doctor was strong, much stronger than any of the people, or creatures that had ever given her a hug before. It was touching, in the delicately damaging extreme, and she wasn't sure if she should thank him, reassure him, or let him know that the Bald Monkey had a name, and possibly might need a body cast depending on how crushed she might be after he let go. Instead of worrying about it, she felt it was best to wrap her arms around him as far as she could reach in response and pat him gently on the back or upper arms; she really couldn't see.

Well, her arms were working, so that was a relief. She hadn't heard or felt anything pop or snap or crackle, so she took that as a positive sign. Nav also reminded herself that he wasn't a python, so this constriction wasn't meant as a precursor to dining, but with the wetness sprinkling her from above, it could be a toss up. Something else not really part of what she wanted to think on at the moment. And...that long string of words didn't sound like a battle cry or call to feast; it sounded more like a hopeful squeak. Maybe it was her brain slowly losing oxygen, but she actually understood most of what he had said.

"My name is Nav," she said loudly, and slowly, trying to articulate. She mumbled it into his chest, face stuffed fully against it, and hoped that he might remember that she needed oxygen to breathe. Patting him a little harder she tried to lift her face up and away, but only managed to turn it to one side. Her cheek squished firmly, she repeated, "My name is Nav, Doctor." Then tried to say, "Can you, uh... put me down, please?" Trying to take a deep breath to reinflate her lungs, she said in a steadily depleting stream, "I'd be happy to get you set up in Sick Bay; but I need to fix the biomonitor first, if that's ok."

~Tag Keth
Need air for bigger tag...
Ensign Nav Biomonitor now posing as a possible deflated Rice Krispie

[Amanda Rose]

Postby T-Prime » Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:48 pm

Amanda Rose wrote:
Cindy looked at the tactical officer. That was not the reaction she hoped for from her bridge crew. She wondered what he had to hide and why she did not appreciate her informal manner. She figured that she would address it later. There was no need to make him feel uncomfortable before they left. "I am familiar with your file, Lieutenant but the rest of the crew is not and I'm sure that there's more to you than that file."

tag - Williams



"Everything you need to know, Captain, IS in that file, and everything anyone else needs to know, I just told them." He replied, with the absolute bare minimum of respect due to a superior officer. It wasn't that TK didn't know where the line was, it was that most of the people he met weren't deserving of his restraint in crossing it. The Captain of the Odyssey was one of a very select few, and most of the positive entries in TK's file were from him.

At least he wasn't required to attend the formal launching ceremony. In fact he was expressly forbidden, unofficially, from attending by half the Starfleet Admiralty. They didn't want him within two light-years of a camera if it could be avoided. That was fine by him; he hated wearing his medal.

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:37 pm

Cindy looked at the tactical officer. That was not the reaction she hoped for from her bridge crew. She wondered what he had to hide and why she did not appreciate her informal manner. She figured that she would address it later. There was no need to make him feel uncomfortable before they left. "I am familiar with your file, Lieutenant but the rest of the crew is not and I'm sure that there's more to you than that file."

"Everything you need to know, Captain, IS in that file, and everything anyone else needs to know, I just told them." He replied, with the absolute bare minimum of respect due to a superior officer. It wasn't that TK didn't know where the line was, it was that most of the people he met weren't deserving of his restraint in crossing it. The Captain of the Odyssey was one of a very select few, and most of the positive entries in TK's file were from him.

At least he wasn't required to attend the formal launching ceremony. In fact he was expressly forbidden, unofficially, from attending by half the Starfleet Admiralty. They didn't want him within two light-years of a camera if it could be avoided. That was fine by him; he hated wearing his medal.

Cindy was about to say something more to the curt Lieutenant when heard Phil's voice say, "The ceremony is due to begin in ten minutes...."

That was truly a surprise. Where did the time go, she wondered. She stood up from the chair and gave a delighted smile at her crew and said, "I will see you all soon. We will have five years together, so we may as well get comfortable. I'll leave the ceremony on shipwide comm so that everyone can hear it. But I am more anxious to get this ship in the skies. "What say you, Mr. Osswell? Agree?"

tag - Osswell and bridge crew

She started towards the turbolift and saw Phil partially blocking her view to a woman. She noted the glasses on the woman and her eyes darkened a bit. What was this woman doing on her bridge? Cindy had hoped to avoid the PR officer. She had numerous suspicions about her, especially given that the originally assigned officer had been replaced at a rather late date.

New concerning thoughts ran through Cindy's mind. How much had this PR officer heard? Would she lose her Captaincy before it began because of this woman? Not likely but she was not going to win a lot of friends in Starfleet if they heard about her informality. It would have been easier to explain if they had already been away for some time. Cindy cursed her own exuberance. Phil tried to protect her and she stupidly did not listen.

She gave a defeated smile at Phil, appreciating that he did not call her "sir, Ma'am or Captain." Cindy just knew that she was not going to make anymore mistakes in front of Marian. Straightening herself up to her full height, she looked straight into Marian's eyes and said, "I suppose we should be going to the ceremony. Are you just going to want to interview me alone before the ceremony or is it alright with you that my Commander come along with us?" Without waiting for an answer, she entered the turbolift.

tag - Phil

Marian painted on a neutral face and followed a step behind the XO - who was a step behind the CO, and still placing himself so as to block her view of the younger woman. Quite deliberately she removed her glasses and tucked them into a discrete pocket in her tunic.

"Ma'am, there are a few things I will have to go over with you concerning the ceremony, at the present. After that we should try and book a time to speak on," she glanced sideways at Phil, "the details of my assignment here and the project I will be working on."

Marian noticed that Cindy's irises were darkening when she turned to speak to her. Cindy deliberately chose her words, "Yes, we will have to discuss those details." She then brightened a bit and asked, "What is it that you need to discuss before the ceremony?"

Marian fought the urge to roll her eyes at the woman's blatant hostility, especially given the fact that it was her job to make Jackson look good to the public. The Admirals had been very clear on that point. They wanted a young, fresh face of their own choosing to compete with Kirk. So she bit her tongue and carried on without acknowledging the CO's "temper."

"Yes, Ma'am. Firstly, we need to make sure you know your parts. Your speech will be recorded from several angles, and I have to stress that you maintain proper posture and refrain from any fidgeting, because not all of the cameras will be under my control. There will be several civilian news agencies present."

"Yes, my speech...." Cindy sighed audibly. She thought to herself, "Couldn't we just go?" Returning her gaze to Marian she asked, "What parts do you think I do not have ready?"

"I am sure you have everything in hand, Ma'am," Marian said in her best soothing voice. "It is just my job to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. Think of me as a wedding planner, if you will. You shouldn't need me unless something goes wrong, and I highly doubt that."

Smiling kindly, she extended a hand, "by the way, congratulations on making Captain, it is very exciting to be part of both yours and LEGACY's first voyage.... Well, sort of." Her eyes strayed for a moment to the barely noticeable seam in the metal bulkhead beside her - one of the millions of little scars holding the ship together. Her melancholy lasted only seconds before she brightened again, "I am most looking forward to the next five years, Ma'am."

"I look forward to the next five years, as well, Lieutenant," Cindy replied shaking Marian's hand as if she were clutching the neck of a viper. "This ship means more to me than you possibly know. Tell me, Lieutenant Wedding Planner, where did you last serve? I did not have time to review your records give that you were a last second replacement."

"I spent the past few years at HQ, working on various recruiting projects, several of them with Lieutenant Xiang, the PAfO who was previously intended for this position. I believe you were well acquainted with him?"

"I was," suspicion leaking back into Cindy's voice. "Have you ever actually served on a Starship, Lieutenant Wedding Planner?"
tag

The temptation to grind her teeth was becoming ever stronger. My God, but this woman had some nerve! "Why yes, Ma'am, I have," she said quite a bit more 'sweetly' than she should have, "I also spent ten years at sea during my time in the Armed Forces. I believe you were 6 at the time."

She turned to the XO and gestured to the opening turbolift door, "Sir, do you have any questions for me as well, at this time, or shall we carry on the the ceremony?"

Cindy decided that she did not like this woman at all, especially trying to pull rank on her. She would do her best to avoid this woman. "Is there anything else that I should avoid when I give my speech? Or would you prefer that I just be a statue?"

"No, not a statue, Ma'am. Just use your judgement and remember you are in the public eye - more so than usual." Marian was certainly now regretting the jab at the woman's age, but she had decided going into this she wasn't going to let every 20 year old with a few stripes walk all over her. She'd drawn her line. "Just as you wouldn't fidget on parade, don't fidget while you're on the podium. A nose scratch here and there while the Admiral is speaking is fine, just no sudden movements that might get caught by the cameras."

"And as for during your speech - just stand naturally. A touch of informality goes a long way, but slouching is a bit too far," she watched with slight approval as the Captain straightened up at her words. "You will do very well, Ma'am."

Cindy tossed her hair slightly and told Marian, "I have never had to worry about handling a crowd but I appreciate your suggestions." She paused before continuing, "Just so that we are clear, where will you be standing? I would like to make sure that you get the best view."

"Of your ass?" Marian joked to herself, allowing a small, real smile. "Oh, don't worry about that, Ma'am, I will have access to much of the feeds, so I will be able to pull footage from those for the project. But as it happens, I will be in the third row on the center aisle."

Cindy gave a grimacing smile at that. She had hoped that Marian would have been off to the side so she could pointedly look away from her. Instead, she decided that she would look straight ahead and over the old hag. It would likely make for a commanding video, anyways and is that not what the brass wanted? "I appreciate that information. I will do my best not to disappoint your audience."

"No worries about that, Ma'am. While normally I'd say, 'It's my job to make you look good,' I am sure you have no problems with that." It hurt her soul to sound like such a suck up, especially after that little spurt of cattiness, but she couldn't have Jackson walking out bristling like a porcupine. No point in ruining the woman's big day over a petty squabble. Granted, the whole squabble was really about Marian's presence, but that was neither here nor there.

Cindy gave a fake, winning smile at Marian, thanked her and thought to herself, "Just who does this woman think she's fooling?" as she stepped off the lift and headed towards the ceremony platform. "I was not born yesterday."

Marian gave a weak smile to Phil as the CO strode out of the lift. "Well... that went well."

tag - Phil

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Foxy » Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:35 pm

Phil followed Cindy into the turbolift, politely waiting for Marian to join them before setting it in motion, relieved to see the woman take the hint and tuck her glasses away. He nestled himself toward the rear of the lift and enjoyed that match. It put him in mind of tennis, to the point where he began mentally counting the score – 15-love, 15-all, 15-30, 30-all...

He winced at Cindy's use of Lieutenant Wedding Planner, followed by the low blow at the Captain's age.

Deuce.

Marian turned to the XO and gestured to the opening turbolift door, "Sir, do you have any questions for me as well, at this time, or shall we carry on the the ceremony?"

“Let's get the official stuff done, eh?” He confirmed. “Plenty of time to discuss terms of reference after that.”

There was another smattering of small shots between the two, but not enough to call it anyone's game. Looked like this was a match that could take some time. Phil wondered whether he would have to referee...

As the door opened, Cindy shot out with a determined strut. Marian gave a weak smile to Phil. "Well... that went well."

He smiled back, she wasn't going to have an easy gig. “She does take a little... getting used to,” he nodded reassuringly, “but wait til you see her in action.”

tag – Marian

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Jake Sjet » Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:18 pm

"Your name is Nav Doctor?!" he squeaked, and squeezed just a little harder as he turned about with his human sized Engineering ragged doll "Oh I can tell we're going to be good frie-....what is that?"

Between the ruined biomonitor and Keth, and by that extension Nav as well, stood Nurse Greenberg. With a determined set to her jaw, and a hand held behind her back, the nurse with long blonde hair turning to silver at the temples gestured to the pair of them.

"What do you think you're doing?" she drawled, waving the hand to indicate the apparently co-joined Engineer.

"Well...well I was going to take her to the biomonitor." Keth said, pondering this for a moment.
"Hun, I think she can walk there her fine self."
"Well, well yes I imagine so, but it seemed rude not to offer-"
"Why don't you put her down and let the nice lady get back to work."
"...But she my friend."
"And she still will be when she's done fixing the thing you broke."

Keth pondered this for a moment, and was about to come out with the rather obvious reply of 'But you don't know that!' when Nurse Greenberg revealed her secret weapon. From where Nav's head was pressed against Keths uniform she couldn't see what this was, but when Keth let out a rattling feline hiss of displeasure, jumping back a meter or so, the idea that the Huanni had kryptonite came to mind. His arms released her, dropping her to the floor as Greenberg stepped past her, holding out before her her weapon the same way a priest might ward away a vampire with the Holy Cross.

It was a spray bottle of saline used for moisturizing the skin of long term bed ridden patients.

"Now why don't you go and find your quarters and get all settled down before we have to get to work?" Greenberg asked a Huanni doctor whose whiskers now drooped with water droplets and looked ever so slightly miserable. He raised a hand and opened his mouth to pose a question, but yelps as Greenberg raised the bottle again. He was out the door so fast he scored a strike on the chevron of red shirts that were walking past.

"I'd say you'll have to forgive me for that, but from the note his last CO sent me as a warning I think I should hand one of these out to all the crew just in case he gets clingy." Greenberg side with a delightful Southern drawl to her words, before looking down at Nav "You alright hun? New doc's about twenty times larger than my old tabby was, but damn if he ain't got a rock breakers arms. No breaks or bruised ribs I hope, cause so far he's the only MD Starfleet assigned to this cobbled together asylum and rest home for the misfits and retirees."

TAG-Nav, and anyone who wants to be run over...er...I mean run into Keth. And did he remember to lock his lunch box of tribbles I wonder?

[Amanda Rose]

Postby KendleRJ » Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:13 pm

Nav saw spots. Dancing in front of her eyes. Like little angels, floating... and then suddenly, she was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. The vice grip, known here in the USS Legacy Sick Bay as the Huanni Hug, had been released.

Blessed air flowed into her lungs, and she heaved it in as fast as she could inflate them, only vaguely aware of the huge blue uniform receding rapidly out the doors and down the hall. Was it a frightening monster that sprung from the recesses of her nightmares? A snake that had found its way into Sickbay from a rogue prank that may or may not have been pulled at least three days prior? And that Nav would deny all knowledge of? Apparently, neither of those things. Instead, she looked up and saw a spray bottle hanging from the fingers of the Nurse above her.

Smoothing her hands down her front, damp with unknown liquid she hoped was from the bottle, Nav stood up, and assessed the damage. Stiffness? Oh yes. There was a slight tug in her muscles but nothing she couldn't stretch out later. Soreness? Um... her ribs were aching but not enough for her to stop taking deep, life giving breaths. There would be bruising, but not enough to worry about. Stretching her arms out and swinging them, she twisted her neck and then pushed up on her toes. Full range of motion. "Nothing broken, no. I'm good thanks, Nurse..."

"Greenberg," she said in that slow drawl.

"Nice to meet you," Nav said. "You need anything from Engineering, just ask for this number one misfit. " Smiling, she eyed the bottle still swinging from the Nurse's fingers. "Um, can I have one of those, you think?" she asked. Being a new friend of the Doctor she might find herself in need of discouraging an overenthusiastic hug or maybe simply toning one down. Taking the offered bottle, she tucked it into her tool belt.

But she had a job to do. "I'm just going to get this equipment up and running, and then I'll be on my way," Nav said. It wasn't involved, but it would take a few minutes to get everything hooked up, connected, tested and looking as though no one had thrown a large sharp object through the biomonitor after getting spooked by the Captain. Nav checked the wall, and did her best to smooth over the slice mark and anything else that might be a remnant from the accident.

Snapping all of her tools into their proper place in her kit and packing up the smashed husk of the old biomonitor, she took one last sweeping look over her workspace. It looked as good as new, which meant that it looked out of place on the (what did the Nurse call it?) 'cobbled together asylum and rest home'. She wasn't sure precisely what that meant, but to be fair, she'd only met a fraction of the crew. Plenty of time to find the rest of the inmates.

On that note, Nav excused herself and headed back to complete the report in Engineering, unsure how to phrase the incident. Upon leaving, she didn't notice whether the lunch box she'd seen earlier revealed the hinting peek of fur through a sliver of an opening, or not. Her head was already composing; good thing she had creative writing in her background, because this would be one hell of a story.

~Tags all around
Misfit, Inmate and all around Clean Up Crew

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Azaria » Wed Feb 19, 2014 12:57 am

As the door opened, Cindy shot out with a determined strut. Marian gave a weak smile to Phil. "Well... that went well."

He smiled back, she wasn't going to have an easy gig. “She does take a little... getting used to,” he nodded reassuringly, “but wait til you see her in action.”

Marian withheld a groan, "I've heard that phrase before... I think I'm going to be glad my quarters are near sickbay." She rubbed her temples, took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face and nodded to Phil appreciatively. "Sir, shall we take our places?"

tag Phil

They exited the lift together and each hustled to their assigned spots - his a step to the left and a step behind the CO, hers... she frowned at an ensign with a gold braid looping his shoulder. An Admiral's Aide de campe, sitting in the chair clearly marked 'PAfO'. lovely.

Well, she would make do and find another spot... she spied an unoccupied stool behind the curtain wall used to hide equipment from public view & make the christening area look a little more 'spiffy'. It gave her a good view of both the podium and the audience, and from an angle she had not yet utilized with other cameras. Perfect.

'Well, that first meeting with the CO did not go well,' Marian mused, 'but at least the XO seems to be a decent guy - from stories and his file, it seemed like it could go either way, but I think we hit it off.'

As she set up her camera and checked that all the audio equipment was working, she reviewed the footage she'd taken of the 'events' on the bridge. She still couldn't help wincing at the unprofessionalism the Captain displayed, flirting with the bridge crew... then she noticed a face - a face she couldn't help but stop the feed to stare at, just to be sure it was who she thought it was... yes, indeed, that was TK Williams.

'Son of a...' she hissed under her breath. 'Xiang you sneaky bastard! Never once did you mention that HE would be onboard!'

Somewhere at Starfleet HQ:

Lt Xiang chortled as he watched the live feed come in from the LEGACY christening. Sure enough, there was Cindy, front and center, Queen of her domain.

He raised his glass of orange juice - as it was only 5 am in San Francisco - in toast to two women he would not be seeing for five years. "Have fun, you two," he laughed, "and fight nice!"

Back at LEGACY:

"NOoooooooOOOOoooooooooooooo!" [cue pigeons exploding into flight, dogs barking, and tribbles... tribbling with tribbleness]

taggles all

[The "NOoooooOOOooooo" was for comedic effect. Marian would never shriek like that in public.]

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:13 pm

Whatever the venue, ceremonies always seem to take longer than the actual task requires. This particular Christening was no exception. There was a military band that played before the ceremony began and before the introduction of each successive Admiral, the band would again strike up an upbeat and jubilant tune. Throughout the ceremony, Cindy pleasantly smiled at the crowd and beamed at admirals as they wished her and her ship well on its upcoming journey.

However, her excitement was starting to spill over. She knew that the time for her speech was coming near as the final admiral took the podium on the stage. Admiral Wheeler, a man with thinning grey hair, who seemed hardened by countless battles, wearing a smile reminiscent of a toy soldier nutcracker, grabbed each side of the podium firmly. The gathered crowd hushed, as if debating whether Admiral Wheeler was going to pounce on them, was going to lift the podium and throw it at the crowd, or preparing to actually deliver a speech.

Admiral Wheeler took a deep breath and with a booming voice called out, "Good morning, everyone!" With a note of skepticism, he told those gathered, "It is so nice to see so many fresh faces." He paused again, clenching his teeth, before continuing, "Indeed, it seems that we have a fresh face in our newest Captain, Cynthia Jackson. Congratulations again to you, Captain Jackson."

He paused as applause washed over the crowd. "Certainly the last few years have been trying times. Few in this audience have been left untouched by these recent difficult circumstances. The fleet is continuing to be rebuilt so that Starfleet can return to its mission of discovery and exploration. A new dawn commenced when Enterprise was re-launched as the first ship to leave on a five year mission to seek out new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and to boldly go where no one has gone before.

"Legacy will continue that purpose. Today, it represents the further rising of the sun of Starfleet. This is a morning that sets forth new hope and new dreams. May they all be recognized before evening falls."

Wheeler then turned to Cindy and said, "I probably have little need to tell you this for your mission as it seems that you exemplify the philosophy of which I now speak. But I will leave you and your crew with these words from Anthon St. Maarten before I turn the podium over to you: 'Dare to dream! If you did not have the capability to make your wildest wishes come true, your mind would not have the capacity to conjure such ideas in the first place. There is no limitation on what you can potentially achieve, except for the limitation you choose to impose on your own imagination. What you believe to be possible will always come to pass - to the extent that you deem it possible. It really is as simple as that.'" Wheeler then left the podium, walked over to Cindy, and saluted her.

Cindy beamed as she returned the salute and headed to the podium. Her eyes were sparkling green and perhaps a bit glossy as she pulled out a small piece of paper. It fell as she pulled it out. She laughed, bent down and picked up quipping happily, "And here, I wanted this day to be perfect." The crowd responded with polite laughter.

She then started, "We are here today to celebrate the Christening of the Legacy, a starship that has been pieced together from the remnants of ships destroyed at Vulcan. This is their rebirth, as it is ours. For today, we will once again take to the stars. It would have been easy enough for us to say that we have had enough. That life out there is too dangerous. That we must embark on a defensive military strategy to keep others out. However, in my opinion, Starfleet has made the right decision: to dedicate ourselves to exploring the unknown.

"In the words of C. Joy Bell, 'We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.' Of course, it is a risk that there is something worse out there, as well. I do not believe that. I believe this is exactly what humankind and all of Starfleet was built for. As Henry David Thoreau stated, 'We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.' I know that this is especially true for me. I cannot get enough of solving what we perceive to be unsolvable - the sheer nature and joy of discovery."

Cindy threw her long platinum blond hair to another side of her unintentionally dramatically. Cindy gave a wider smile when she realized what she had done and looked directly at Marian, hoping that the spy was losing control of her bowels at the gesture.

tag - Marian

Looking back up at the audience, she continued to smile and restarted her speech. "Robert Frost said that there was freedom in boldness. And he is right. One must be bold to explore what has never been explored and amongst the vastness of space, the Legacy will be free to roam. However, freedom is not free. Sigmund Freud noted that, 'Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.' Freedom, thus conceived, is a burden and a privilege - one for which I am grateful that Starfleet entrusted me. I will not disappoint Starfleet, my crew or those who died before me giving rise to this ship, Legacy, in exercising such responsibility. Thank you again to all of you Admirals, Starfleet and crew members for making this journey possible."

tag - everyone