The Highest Standards (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 09 Oct 2024 @ 10:50pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant JG Saelihn Valenis & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala & Lieutenant JG Nusien & Ensign Mimi & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Ensign Tora Zalos & Lieutenant JG Hovar Kov & Ensign Amanda Turell & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kalliste Bacri & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Chief Petty Officer Katja Becker & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday & Petty Officer 3rd Class Yasmin Aquino & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral

3,420 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 20 - Reconstruction
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 4, Main Shuttlebay
Timeline: MD 03, 0620 hrs

[ON]

Small PADD clasped in her right hand and a large PADD clutched in her left, Commander Morgan Tarin approached the large copper reinforced double-doors to Galileo's main shuttlebay located within the vessel's aft quarter amid-ship. For this particular and rare occasion, the mechanical entrance was secured open to accommodate the large volume of personnel who were presently entering. 60, precisely; a full Nova-class complement which this starship hadn't seen since its commissioning. Certainly when compared to larger ships of the line containing hundreds of crew members this number could account for a mere single department, but within the small planetary survey vessel, the smaller contingent betrayed the unique camaraderie they both enjoyed and at times lamented.

As Tarin walked into the shuttlebay and toward the far end near the closed outer egress, she observed a healthy number of crew already present and semi-formally mingling within their respective departments. A quick visual head count accounted for approximately 4/5ths of all personnel with more continuing to trickle in. Punctuality was an essential trait required of all Starfleet officers and she privately scanned the growing conglomeration while making mental notes of those who'd arrived ahead of schedule. She soon made her way to the aft end of the shuttlebay - to the head of the assembly, then stood in front of the crew in silence while checking her PADDs one final time before calling the group to attention.

Only a few seconds behind Tarin; having slowed her walking pace a little to more easily read a message routed to a PADD she carried from Regula One Jeysa entered the main shuttlebay glad that a decent number of the crew were already there. Quickly she followed her Captain to the far end of the room and stood a few paces off to her side.

Rafe stood in front and to the right of where the captain finally stood. Darius greeted him as he had preceded him by a couple a minutes, much to Caradec's satisfaction. "Darius.", Rafe said in greeting. Bacri walked up to them both and stood on the other side of Darius, just as Rafe had finished greeting Darius. Good, he thought. His present department was present and accounted for, all looking sharp with pristinely pressed uniforms. He turned to his right and walked in front of and greeted Bacri, making it a point that she saw him going over her uniform, taking everything in, making sure she was without blemish. "Chief Bacri, looking sharp this morning. Let's see that the attention doesn't stop with the uniform, yes?", Rafe said with a grin of gratitude.

"The wonders of a clean uniform and a sonic shower, sir." Kalliste replied with smile. "I also clean up after myself after eating those chippy things...po-tay-toes? Delicious."

Darius cast a subtle sideways grin to his new colleague. "Wait until you have one of the real ones...with all the fillings," he discreetly winked to her. After he proposed the idea, the thought of a large, swollen and steamy baked potato stuffed with cheese, bacon and sour cream permeated his thoughts and the inside of his mouth began to salivate. Suddenly he was hungry again despite having consumed breakfast 30 minutes prior.

"Why, is that an invitation, Chief? Is potato consumption considered some sort of Galileo tradition?" Kalliste's eyes sparkled with humor. She had seen--and experienced--stranger ship specific traditions than that of eating a starchy root vegetable, filled or otherwise.

"Not sure," he curiously shrugged. He didn't remember seeing any special baked potato entrees on the daily meal rota, but that certainly didn't mean it wasn't possible. "I don't think so but that doesn't mean we can't start one. Want to meet me in the mess hall tomorrow night? I'll show you how it's done." He then glanced to Caradec, "What do you say, L-T? Word on the ship's that you can pack it down during meal time."

Rafe allowed a small smirk. "Don't believe everything you hear, Chief Darius. However," Rafe continued broadening into a wide grin, "you can take that to the bank!"

"Camaraderie through starch, neh?"

Kalliste thought the other two conn officers were--superficially at least--fun to be around. It was going to be interesting to see the two pilots in action.

Caradec continued, "If we are going to operate as a department, then we must become knit together as one unit, warts and all. While we may learn the worst of each other, we also can use each other as sounding boards, positively reinforcing one another. That's what I want from you Kalliste, and I've already seen it in Chief Darius here, in fine fashion too."

"Warts? You have warts? Don't amphib...you know..." Kalliste made a gesture of a small creature 'leaping,' as some way to convey what she was talking about...with the blank stares she knew she was getting nowhere. "Oh, the frog? Are we now frogs?" Shaking her head slightly, Kalliste got back on track. "Well that's me sir...almost irrational positivity, but I will support my team." Her eyes darted to Darius in a significant manner and then back to Caradec.

"Just remember: there's no 'I' in team...but there is an 'm' and an 'e'," Lamar lightly jested. Caradec was right about one thing, the three of them certainly had the foundations of a strong cadre.

"Get ready team, it looks as if the captain is almost ready." Rafe ordered.

"Aye sir." She readily replied before winking at Lamar in a conspiratorial manner. ME indeed. Delightful. She'd have to remember that.

Here Tora was, standing with her colleagues in a sea of blue, tugging at her collar with a hint of annoyance. Did these things need to be so tight? She removed her hand from her collar and faced front, though, at the captain's call. If she collapsed during the ceremony from suffocation (not that she likely would), fine. Okay. Better than Tarin's wrath, at least.

Sera arrived later than she had planned on, but her shift had been filled with...unexpected delays. She had returned to her quarters well after the end of her shift, and had quickly worked to make herself presentable for whatever Captain Tarin had called the crew here for.

She walked over to those in her department already assembled and tilted her head to them in a non-verbal gesture of greetings.

Her whole department was looking a bit more presentable than usual, Naime had seen to that. The chief had gathered the rest of the enlisted compliment beforehand to make sure none of them were covered in grease or anything else that would have been inappropriate.

Naime reciprocated the nod and gave a little smile before turning the rest of her flock. "Alright, come on, get in line. We don't want to make the ensign look bad."

John tugged at his shirt and got in line toward the back. That was fine with him. He didn't care to have too much of the command focused on him. "Perfectly fine being a nut buster," he muttered.

"So who is supposed to be making sure the warp core doesn't explode while we're all are here?" Donald asked, he wasn't a fan of these big over the top meetings, pretty much all of it could be done over viewscreens or the comm channel while the crew got on with their regular work.

"Well given that the ship is currently stationary if we happen to suffer a warp core explosion its likely because you messed up during the last maintenance check. I hope you have faith in your abilities Andrews because this is life and death." Naime answered with a joke, of course she had faith in Andrews prowess as a heroic practitioner of engine maintenance. Death was not awaiting them today.

"That would be quite unlike Officer Andrews. That would create a rather significant amount of documentation." Sera replied dryly.

"I built most of this ship remember, I think that shows enough faith in my abilities." Donald said with a slight chuckle.

Meanwhile, Katja Becker considered herself blessed that she felt human enough to make it to the shuttlebay, and having finally tamed her hair and donned a fresh--and non-rumpled--uniform. She looked about the space, and realized she was the first of her department to make it, so in true Katja fashion, managed to stand about looking only mildly uncomfortable.

Allyndra arrived to stand at the head of the medical department. She felt very self-conscious as instead of her normal blue uniform, she was wearing red.

Hovar, feeling the most out of place uniform wise, separated from the group that he entered the area with. Locating quickly his group, Hovar stood, at ease, next to his fellow medical officers.

Nusien arrived at the Shuttle Bay in a spotless uniform. In one hand he held PADD that allowed him to view the status of his patients at a glance. Starfleet may stand on ceremonies but the sick and injured waited for no one. He found the soon to be made XO and smiled ear to ear. "Congratulations Commander. Well earned. Well earned indeed."

"Shhh....that is not common knowledge yet," Allyndra whispered.

It was early and Delainey was tired. Of course, she was professional enough not to complain or let her fatigue show, but at the same time, it had been difficult getting her body moving this morning even after several cups of very strong coffee. She disliked being late, but was relieved to see people were still arriving and getting settled. She made sure to make eye contact with every member of the medical department to offer a small smile. She cared for everyone on board the ship, of course, but she felt a particular kinship with the people she was standing next to. She cared for everyone on board the ship, of course, but she felt a particular kinship with the people she was standing next to.

After separating from the Klingon, PO3 Yasmin Aquino accompanied the others in the Operations department to their specific spot in the "parade." There were a number already present, and she was intrigued by the number of people who were expected to be present. It looked like everyone on board was attending this ceremony, and she was highly interested as to what was going on.

"Good morning Yasmin." Mimi said greeting one of her new subordinates as she approached the other assembled operations staff.

Yasmin looked up at the Ensign and a fellow member of the Operations department. Life had been hell for her since her arrival, which was understood. Every department was in a similar boat as Operations, and going through the onboarding process was a pain.

"Good morning ma'am. It's been a hectic few days, hasn't it?"

"It certainly has, not every day is like this." Mimi replied giving the slightly short woman a reassuring smile.

Yasmin took a breath of relief.

"I've been through two of these before: once aboard the Excalibur, and the other aboard the Monitor. The Monitor was worse though. The Skipper made the entire crew stand at attention, in full dress, and made his inspection one by one. All seven hundred and fifty of us."

Mimi took in a relatively sharp breath. "My species do not have anything compared to hell but I think that would be my idea of it."

Yasmin thought about a reasonable comparison, leaning over as best as she could to not let anyone else hear.

"Hell is the absence of love, and trust me...no one loves it when an officer thinks something boring is a good idea. With all due respect, ma'am."

Over in the sea of blue uniforms that was the Science department Ullswater turned to her deputy with a wry smile "Well there's quite a lot of us aren't there?" It was the largest department on the ship and seeing them all in one room for the first time was really making Sofie feel that weight of responsibility.

Vala gave a nod, "It would be nice to make the most of our numbers. Stretch their legs as it were." He glanced to Sofie and then to his fellow officers. "A nice straightforward planetary survey perhaps," A sly smile spread acros his lips, "or some only mildly dangerous anomaly? One can dream."

"I do hope that we can move down to mildly dangerous. I feel my life has been in immediate danger a few too many times recently." Her response was light hearted but genuine. Just once she'd like a nice unclassified mission that gave her a chance to look at some soil.

"Mildly dangerous is nice." Tora added. "I'd like to do something related to my field for once. Go explore a dig site, or something."

Sensing an opportunity for humour Sofie began to expound in a most lyrical cadence "Ah dig sites, beautiful things inside beautiful dirt. We all pray for Captain Tarin to bless us with such an auspicious assignment. That we may, for even just a few days, do some actual research."

Saelihn had forgotten what these ceremonies used to be like. To have all the crew in one space definitely raised the temperature of the shuttlebay if only by a little. She had been mingling before the entrance of the Captain but quickly got herself in line with the rest of the security department, their yellow uniform shining a little brighter than normal. To her left was Amanda, Lysander and the new arrivals of Sova, Rachel and Giles. A small, compact group of protectors in order and waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Amanda hated these big events, the whole crew gathered in one relatively small place was a hazard both in a safety and security sense, one quick command in the wrong place and the main door would open and blast everyone out into space, one explosive set in the right place would wipe out most of them in one go but orders were orders and she stood beside her El-Aurian boss waiting around for the ceremony to begin.

Toren strode in with his usual heavy gait, his boots clanging on the deck below in rhythmic succession. It did not take long before he found himself in his position next to Tarin.

"Commander," his gravelly tone matched with a quick nod, "Apologies for m'lateness, sah. Jus' roundin' up some of the new transfers."

Galileo's captain resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'd hoped it wouldn't be difficult to find the largest compartment within a seven-deck starship and report on time. Maybe our orientation protocols need an overhaul," she casually proposed in subdued tone.

Toren nodded, his antennae bobbing slightly as he did so. "I'll add it to the list, sah." It was difficult not to agree with her assessment - six months transfer had softened a lot of the newcomers up a little too much...

The three red-collared Command personnel - Zeror, Vral and Tarin - stood at the forefront of the crew body and accounted for three-quarters of the starship's Triad and admin-level personnel. There was no mistaking the absence of one important officer, however, and Commander Blake's familiar spot next to the captain's left shoulder was currently unoccupied. Tarin thought back to her first encounter with the former Marine many weeks prior as well as their ever-present differences in command style. The arguments. Many arguments, as well as contradicting philosophies they'd maneuvered against one another. It'd been a challenge to get to know the woman and gain confidence in her, but in the end, she'd earned Tarin respect and gratitude. Then, as was often the Starfleet way, she'd summarily been plucked for reassignment and transferred elsewhere in the Pleiades Cluster to pursue another journey. Such was the lifestyle they'd committed to, but that acknowledgement never made it any easier to lose valuable colleagues.

Tarin glanced down to one of the PADDs in her hand to take note of the time. 0629 precisely. She handed both of her administrative devices over to the yeoman then looked over the entire ship's complement with her sharp hazel eyes before turning to the master chief and giving him a private nod to execute the ceremony's proceedings.

Toren immediately stood impeccably straight, his legs moving into position and his antennae bobbing slightly as his chin rose up.

He took a mighty breath and projected his voice to the farthest corners of the carbo bay. "Atteeeeen-shun!"

Attention was one of things that came somewhat hard to Nusien. However, when the order was given his three arms dropped his left and right arm went behind his back and the third down his chest. His three legs rose to their full height and became rigid. He towered slightly over most of the crew and was a true sight to see.

The Andorian COB's voice filled the shuttle bay in a thorough manner. Sera immediately shifted her stance to 'come to attention.'

As the order came, Allyndra stood tall, shaking her blue streaked hair slightly to make sure it was not hanging over the front of her uniform and put her hands behind her back at her waist and her feet apart.

There was a unified sound of everyone in the shuttlebay as they moved into action. Saelihn and her department moved in one quick movement with their heads held high.

In the last moment before the assembled crew slotted into the demanded posture Ullswater turned her head to give a little glare at the assembled scientists to remind them of what was expected. She would not stand for anyone making her department look bad.

Commander Morgan Tarin took a step forward to present herself while looking across the numerous and diverse faces present, both new and familiar. "Crew of Galileo," she began, projecting her voice across the shuttlebay with dry intonation, "today is an important day. Not just for those of you who might be seasoned officers and NCOs, or those fresh to this assignment from Yuron; not for our starship or our ongoing mission out here along the frontier." A slight pause developed. "Today is important because it represents our commitment to duty. Duty as members of Starfleet and representatives of the Federation. Duty to your shipmates; duty to yourselves; duty to our institutions which provide us this opportunity to explore the unknown and blaze a trail throughout the surrounding sectors."

Tarin paused again to softly let out a breath while she continued to observe the ship's company before continuing. "Duty requires responsibility. Responsibility demands honesty, and honesty necessitates integrity." Her head turned to her right and she half-extended an arm to both the COB and the yeoman. "Master Chief Vral - define responsibility for us. And Petty Officer Zeror - define honesty."

Toren remained impeccable attention and despite not expecting the Commander's request, immediately responded crisp and clear.

"Responsibility is the commitment to act when action is needed, sah, and the courage to accept the consequences when things don’t go as planned. It’s about trust - earnin' it and keepin' it. Responsibility ain't just given, it's proven, day after day, with every step."

Jeysa blinked several times not having expected to be asked to speak in front of the entire crew, public speaking was never a strong point, always being the support role in most discussions and briefings. Taking a breath she took a small step forward. "Honesty is a character trait highly valued in many cultures related to integrity, truthfulness, sincerity, fairness and loyalty."

A momentary pause followed while Tarin allowed the combined words from the master chief and petty officer to permeate the room then take hold. "Courage," she repeated Vral's pointed distinction. Its weight carried far more than just verbiage and her eyes locked on to those of the tall winged Akkadian officer standing at the head of the medical department's column. "Commander Warraquim, step forward and define courage."

Allyndra did as she was asked. "Courage, ma'am, is the ability to both be mentally and physically prepared to face situations in which danger and harm are present. Further, the ability to control yourself and maintain focus in difficult or dangerous situations. Utilizing what you can, with what information you have and do so with the idea that failure is not an option."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

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