Captain Addison MacKenzie - Saved From Ourselves

[Addison MacKenzie]

(OOC: Feel free to sim your characters arriving to this gathering, and we’ve got a few days for some mingling to occur after where this sim leaves off, so feel free to break into smaller groups. Our next mission will kick off from this scene [you’ll know it when you see it!] so just don’t sim your characters leaving at all.)

 

 

(( The Fifth Chalice - Oxeania Commercial District, Tharazad Continent – Betazed ))

 

Over the years, Addison had the opportunity to serve with a diverse array of officers with just as many diverse personalities. Some of them thrived in new environments, others hated it. For Addison, the opportunity to explore strange, new worlds was one of the reasons she’d been drawn to Starfleet. She was a good physician and an expert surgeon and would have served the population on Earth perfectly fine, but one of the things that drove her to join Starfleet was the possibility of discovering something new or being on the literal edge of galactic medicine.

 

As a leader and now commanding officer, she felt that she owed it to those in her crew to force them out of their comfort zones occasionally. One of the ways she did this was by trying to make sure the Artemis got scheduled for shore leave in interesting places. For some, the world or location might be home. For others, it would be a totally foreign place. Addison took a certain amount of sadistic pleasure in learning how the various members of her crew handled being in new places. While there were many eager explorers, there were others who were content to hide away in their quarters and go about their business as unsuspectingly as possible. That was even true for some of them on this very trip.

 

Not today.

 

Addison smiled as she looked around The Fifth Chalice – she had enjoyed her time at the bar with Dakora a few days earlier, and she was glad the owner was amenable to her renting it out to be able to throw a party for the senior staff.

 

…And grateful that he was equally amenable to whipping up more wings.

 

As light jazz played in the background, she smirked when Dakora walked through the door carrying several boxes. She raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice in mock subterfuge.

 

MacKenzie: You got the goods?

 

Dakora: Response

 

She smiled and nodded, pointing to a nearby table.

 

MacKenzie: The others should be here soon. You’ll be glad to know I talked the chef into more wings. …begrudgingly.

 

Dakora: Response

 

Addison shrugged with indifference.

 

MacKenzie: Who knows – maybe wings will be the newest food craze to take Betazed by storm.

 

Dakora: Response

 

The sound of the door indicated the first officer to arrive. True to form and never one to be late for a party, it was their Chief Tactical Officer.

 

MacKenzie: Mr. Silveira, a pleasure for you to join us.

 

Silveira/Dakora: Response

 

MacKenzie: Have you had a chance to properly haze the new crew members yet?

 

Silveira: Response

 

MacKenzie: In due time.

 

(OOC: Feel free to continue and we can backsim.)

 

As the other crew members started to arrive, the restaurant’s waitstaff started distributing drinks and appetizers. While she was hungry, she was holding out for the wings.

 

…she was nothing if not consistent.

 

When the entire senior staff had assembled, she gestured for Dakora to join her near the table where they’d set up the boxes of ribbons. It was the first time he’d be joining in his new position as XO, a personnel change many of the existing crew members were only peripherally aware of, but this now gave her an opportunity to lend a more formal introduction to the change in leadership.

 

She clinked the side of her glass with a fork and waited for the crew members to quiet down before she offered a smile.

 

MacKenzie: I’m glad to have you all here with us. Mr. Dakora introduced me to this bar a few days ago, and I’ve been thinking about it as a place to host a little awards celebration. As many of you know by now, Commander Yalu has needed to step away from his duties for the time being, and Commander Dakora has graciously accepted my offer to become our new First Officer. Would you please congratulate – and properly harass – him?

 

She nodded slightly at Dakora as the members of the crew clapped.

 

Dakora: Response

 

MacKenzie: I hope you have all found time to rest, recharge, and take advantage of the hospitality offered by this beautiful world. There were a lot of traumas from our last mission – physical and emotional scars that no doubt run deep after being betrayed by, well, ourselves. But, I’m as proud now as I’ve ever been by how you continue to perform your duties in ways that no doubt make you among the best officers in Starfleet. (beat) Which is why we’re here tonight!

 

Addison moved behind the table, opening the first box.

 

MacKenzie: It’s not often you face your counterparts… From another place, from another time… To be faced with the very real possibility of how you might have turned out differently if you’d faced a different set of circumstances… For your encounter with the Desdemona and their crew, I hereby award you the Quantum Reality Service Medal.

 

(OOC: This is awarded to those who were with us on the last mission: MacKenzie, Dakora, Yellir, Chevalier, Savel, Silveira, Jovenan, Adea, and Sadar.)

 

The red-headed CO took the box and handed it to Dakora, who started distributing the ribbons. When it looked like the last of them had made the rounds, she cleared her throat.

 

MacKenzie: I’d like to continue by calling Ensigns Z’Vahme, Kel, and Chevalier to the front, please.

 

She waited for the officer to take their place beside her.

 

MacKenzie: I haven’t had a formal opportunity to introduce the three newest officers to the rest of the senior staff. Ensign Z’Vahme will be joining us as our new helmsman, Ensign Chevalier in the operations department, and Ensign Kel as our newest security officer. Also, it is my great pleasure as your commanding officer to formally award you with the Starfleet Academy Graduate Ribbon. Would you please welcome our newest officers?

 

Addison nodded and started the applause as she watched Dakora hand out the ribbons to each of the men.

 

Z’Vahme/Kel/Chevalier: Response

 

MacKenzie: Mr. Chevalier, if you’d remain a moment… And if I could ask Commander Dakora, Lieutenant Yellir, and Ensign Savel to join him…

 

She watched as the bright-haired Yelikan and other members of the crew made their way through the crowd.

 

MacKenzie: You each faced particularly perilous circumstances on our last mission. ::looking at Savel:: The catastrophe in Sickbay… ::looking at Yellir:: Facing off with alt-Dakora in Engineering… ::looking at Chevalier and Dakora:: Trying to make sense of which me was the real me, and facing off against… whatever that cybernetic being of theirs was…

 

She paused to look at each of them, taking a deep breath through her nose.

 

MacKenzie: For the way each of you has handled your respective situations, I’m proud to award each of you the Good Conduct Ribbon.

 

This time, it was Addison’s turn to pick up the box and distribute the ribbons behind the applause of the others. When she had finished handing them out, she joined in the applause and finally nodded her dismissal of the officers.

Yellir/Savel/Chevalier/Dakora: Responses

 

MacKenzie: Lieutenant Jovenan…

 

She gestured for the blond scientist to join her. As the woman made her way through the crowd, the commanding officer’s eyes followed her until she was standing next to her, on display for the other officers to see.

 

MacKenzie: Lieutenant, without your scientific intuition and incredible work ethic, I’m not sure that we would have been able to figure out how the prismagons worked… and if we wouldn’t have been able to sort that out, I’m not sure we would have been able to send the Desdemona crew back to their universe. For your work, I hereby award you the Innovation Ribbon.

 

Addison started the applause as Dakora handed the ribbon to her. When the applause died down and it looked like Jovenan was ready to retreat to the crowd, Addison held up a finger.

 

MacKenzie: Not so fast…

 

The redheaded commanding officer picked up one of the wood boxes and circled the table until she stood in front of her. Addison stood taller than the Edo scientist, and while her stance wasn’t intended to be intimidating, her duty required an air of professionalism and formality, even more so than had already been displayed.

 

MacKenzie: Lieutenant JG Jovenan, you have continued to act in accordance with the best traditions of Starfleet. You have displayed good leadership qualities, mindfulness and empathy toward others, and you continue to serve as an example to be followed by everyone on this ship. It is both my duty and my privilege to promote you to the rank of full Lieutenant.

 

Addison opened the box in her hand, removed the hollow pip from the scientist’s collar, and replaced it with the solid gold pip from inside the box.

 

MacKenzie: I also continue to be impressed with your creativity and your scientific ingenuity. On countless occasions, I think about how your contributions to our work have in some instances been singularly responsible for getting us out of tricky situations. And that’s why I can think of no better person to serve as our Chief Science Officer, effective immediately.

 

Addison smiled and led the applause.

 

Jovenan: Response

 

Nodding to Jovenan, she gestured back toward the crowd, a sign that the scientist could retreat from the limelight.

 

MacKenzie: There’s just one other matter. …Doctor Sadar?

 

Addison gestured with her finger that Mizarian was summoned to approach. While the medical officer made her way through the crowd, the commanding officer picked up another box. Her eyes narrowed when Sadar was in position, sizing up the woman who now stood taller than she did.

 

MacKenzie: Doctor Sadar, you are… weird. When you came aboard the Artemis, you were timid, and skittish, and I’m pretty sure you were on the verge of wetting yourself every time I walked in the room.

 

She paused, her gaze softening, allowing for her wry sense of humor to be felt.

 

MacKenzie: But you are also an exceptional physician. I have watched the way you have interacted with your patients and the way you have started to form friendships with your colleagues. I have also seen the way you stand up for what you believe in, even if that means offering a dissenting opinion. Despite whatever insecurities you may have, I hope I no longer cause you any anxiety, as I believe you have the makings of an exceptional officer. One that has certainly earned my respect and the respect of everyone gathered here. It is my privilege as your commanding officer to promote you to the rank of Lieutenant JG.

 

Removing the hollow pip from the box, she placed it on the Mizarian’s collar and patted her shoulders before joining the applause behind her.

 

Sadar: Response

 

Addison held up her hands.

 

MacKenzie: Alright, that’s it! Food should be out shortly – congratulations to all of you!

 

(OOC: Now go mingle for a bit! lol)

 

 

Tag, and TBC!

 

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Captain Addison MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A

Captains Council Magistrate

V239601AM0