Commander Tristam Core, "Priorities."

[Deliera Jay]

((Meanwhile, on Amity Outpost))

Commander Tristam Daneil Core was well aware of the inner workings of starbases and space stations. His time on Deep Space Seventeen had prepared him for the station politics that came with running the reconstruction of one. In a place where resources were not necessarily plentiful, or quick to arrive, departments had to make do with what they had on hand.

Amity Outpost was in a lucky position. They had enough fuel to sustain them for multiple Rodulan lifetimes. Tristam would be long dead before Amity's fuel reserves ran out. The issue was more than their location made it troublesome to get parts and resources quickly. It wasn't nearly as bad as Outpost 3 -- a tiny floating death-trap in the middle of the Shoals that he'd held together with little more than a sturdy amount of duct-tape and pure determination. But they'd had to negotiate a resource schedule.

Also, the Terrellians were of excellent help. It'd be poor of him not to mention the Terrellians.

oO I wouldn't have needed the Terrellians if Kyo was competent. Oo

Stuck in the cramped room housing the deflector's mechanical panels, Tristam shook out a hand recently zapped by the wayward Independence-B. It was a Defiant-class starship, rivalling the size of Roshanara Rahman's first command, USS Syracuse. Independence came with Amity. In fact, it'd ferried most of Amity to its current location in the Barossa sector of the Delta quadrant. Though small, it was a useful gunner (not that Tristam endorsed that kind of thing) and could haul a surprising amount when it needed to.

Core: Computer, located Lieutenant Kyo.

Computer: Lieutenant Kyo is on Starpad Three.

Core:::grumbling:: Oh I bet he is.

ZAP.

Tristam's yelp echoed off the electrical panel. 

Core: That's it!

He scurried up, stumbling out of the small compartment.

Core: Loupaz! Handle the rest of this. 

The petty officer frowned as he passed her, brown eyes incredulous.

Loupaz: Where are you going?

Core: To give Mister Kyo a piece of my mind.

((Starpad Three))

Stepping onto one of Amity's starpads was a surreal experience. The starpads were the loving name of the top of Amity Outpost's numerous docking rings. During it's refit from Copernicus Station, Tristam had a thought -- it was an unutilized space they typically would only access through spacewalks. What a waste.

Now, Tristam stood on the hull of the outpost, staring out into the dark depths of space with flickers of starlight peeking through -- without an environmental suit. Roshanara had warned the idea might burn through Amity's power, else every other starbase and outpost within the Federation would already be using magnificent sights as tourist traps. But Tristam being Tristam, the components engineer found a way.

The life support and environmental controls on the starpads, not to mention the forcefield separating everyone from the vacuum of space, sucked an unhealthy time away from Tristam's schedule. But being able to get an organic view of the Delta quadrant, without a window, was worth it. 

What was not worth it, however, were the hovercrafts zooming around the top of the hull like this was some kind of race track.

A glower crossed Tristam's face as he stepped up to a guard rail. The hovercrafts were only two or so metres squared each. One of them was bright red -- the love-project of one Kyo Seung Gi, the refit's flight operations officer. He'd been working on the death trap for a few months. As bitter as Tristam was about the hovercraft's existence, it was doing wonders engaging diplomatic avenues with the Terrellians, their new trade partners. 

A pale yellow craft shot past Tristam, taking a hard 90-degree turn -- and it was reasonable to assume it was their Terrellian representative driving it. Sparks flew as its left side scraped against the makeshift track, its pilot bearing down on the controls like a madman. Kyo's craft wasn't far behind -- but he was behind. Unable to catch up, the yellow craft passed through the final lap lights.

Kyo lost. Again.

Tristam leaned away from the rail, making his way down to the line. 

Meanwhile, Kyo ripped off his helmet, a wide smile donning his face as he pushed his hair out of his face. His eyes sparkled, and he beamed even brighter at his Terrellian opponent.

Kyo: I almost had you!

His opponent exited his craft, unbuckling his helmet. Cassa's orange hair clashed against his racesuit -- pale yellow with bright orange? Why? Regardless, he shook his head of ridiculously bright hair out before pushing it back into submission, careful to avoid the elongated tips of his ears.

Cassa: You say that every time.

Kyo: This time I was close.

Cassa: Keep telling yourself that, Seungi.

Core: Lieutenant Kyo!

Kyo's shoulders fell. The Terrellian raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his lips.

Cassa: Busted again...

The flight ops officer turned to his superior strolling over.

Kyo: Commander Core, sir.

Core: Remind me again where you were supposed to be today?

Kyo: ...ah crap.

Core: Mmm. "Ah, crap" indeed. Independence needs its deflector relay aligned and we've got new staff arriving soon. I can't afford our ship to be damaged before their arrival because its pilot can't avoid the big rocks.

Kyo: I'm sorry, sir. It slipped my mind.

Cassa: That's my fault also. I asked Seungi to accompany me today.

The Rodulan had to resist glowering at their guest.

Kyo: If it's any consolation, ::he adds quickly:: the Terrellians have agreed to supply us with access to their trade network...?

The Rodulan sighed.

Core: I appreciate that, Cassa.

Cassa: Every little bit helps. I know we haven't got much to offer Amity given what you already have, but we believe in the validity of your project and claim here. We look forward to continuing to work together with the Federation.

Core: Thank you. In the meantime, I hope you can appreciate that I need my officer back at work.

Cassa: Of course. I can take your craft back, Seungi?

Kyo: Thanks.

Tristam all but led Kyo away, waiting on the Human to follow him before finally leaving the starpad and its make-shift racetrack. Despite his frustrations, there was a small pride the Rodulan felt in Kyo's efforts. Kyo, though a little absent-minded, wasn't a slacker. But if he wasn't constantly being challenged, he tended to drift off... and run the ship into otherwise entirely avoidable obstacles.

At least Tristam knew now why his Paladin commanding officer had recommended he not be given standard helm duty. Especially on precariously "boring" trips.

As Kyo pulled his racesuit off, Core addressed him.

Core: Your work with Cassa is admirable, but please try to remember you have other jobs first.

Kyo: Understood. It won't happen again.

Core: Thank you. ::sigh:: I'll meet you at the Independence. Hopefully, Loupaz has reconnected the repaired deflector array...

Tbc . . .

Commander Tristam Core

Chief of Operations

Amity Outpost

C238803SB0

--