Ens Lyara Alroyo - Thinking Like Starfleet Officers
Lyara Alroyo
((Ready Room, Deck 1, Artemis-A))
Lyara had nervously taken a seat in front of her new Captain. She recognized her from the academy where she yelled at the other half of her cadet group, and worried that it might affect the questions she asked her.
MacKenzie: Why are you here?
She was shocked at the bluntness of the question, even if it was a fair one to ask. It was true she hadn’t been on Denali long, but the current events made it to where manpower needed to be replenished. Lyara was one of many volunteers sent to help fill in the personnel they lost.
Lyara: Well, after… ::She hesitates:: frontier day, I was ordered to be stationed on a ship to help out.
Even if that was the truth she felt unsure saying it. During that day she had been at Bajor, and she could feel a sense of grief rising in her as she brought up helping out.
Mackenzie: And we need help?
Lyara: Yes, sir. I was ordered by Starfleet to be reassigned here as helm and ops.
Lyara looked to her commanding officer for confirmation. Usually, she was very confident in herself and in answering questions, but in that moment she was nervous under the captain's scrutiny.
Mackenzie: And you think here is the right place?
Lyara: Maybe the prophets guided me here, maybe I was just needed elsewhere. But, I feel like here I will be able to help others and assist the crew.
She was still nervous, however, she felt she had finally broken the ice. Lyara was still optimistic about her posting, and that she could help others like she intended when first joining.
Mackenzie: Your academy class was a memorable one.
What she feared would happen was mentioned, the academy. The way she said it did not sound like a compliment, but Lyara wanted to be courteous incase it was a compliment.
Lyara: Thank you sir.
Mackenzie: That was not a compliment. Your class was a mess.
Lyara: ::She nodded at what she said:: Yeah… I remember a lot from that class.
Mackenzie leaned forward causing Lyara to sit up straight in response. She had not expected her meeting with the CO to feel like an interrogation, but here she was.
MacKenzie: What did you learn from that class? Clearly enough to pass, obviously, but I’m not interested in the information you gleaned from working with your colleagues than anything else, because if there’s one thing I don’t tolerate on this ship, it’s mess.
Lyara nodded in understanding, that group was particularly chaotic. The cadet that somehow got a knife onto the bridge and then threatened a Klingon’s life, and the doctor that hypo’d the same Klingon multiple times. And on the bridge, all the cadets jumped the gun, her included. Not to mention when the simulation ended she was told “they wouldn’t have survived”. That had shocked her, but she understood one lesson from that exam.
Lyara: If I’m being honest, that class was… ::She searched for the right words:: well a mess. There are a lot of other words I would have used. But I agree it was a mess.
Mackenzie: Response
Lyara: What I did learn from that experience was the importance of a clear head.
Mackenzie: Response
She thought for a moment as to expand on it. There was a lot to learn from that academy, but she kept thinking back to how real it felt, and how she almost lost her focus because of the moment feeling life or death. One piece of advice that had stayed with her was Promontory ordering us to think things through with all their collective knowledge. He used the phrase, “now you’re thinking like Starfleet officers” and that helped her calm down.
Lyara: The ship was almost a mess when those birds-of-prey decloaked, and it felt so real like they were going to kill us. We all jumped to different ideas until Commander Promontory helped us clear our minds. ::She thought for a moment:: And once we all had a chance to make our own estimations we were able to formulate a proper plan. At least until one of the other cadets suggested we blow up the ship.
Lyara sat back in the seat feeling more relaxed, she thought of more to say as she felt like she hadn’t expanded enough on what she meant. Once she formulated her thoughts she straightened back up and continued.
Lyara: But, all in all, after the exam ended I felt really good. We may have lost the ship if we kept going, but I don’t think that was the point. The point was we were thinking like Starfleet officers and when we faced an uncertain situation we pulled ourselves together and worked on a solution. I can’t speak for all cadets, but, I learned what it meant to keep it together under pressure and work with others.
She looked to Mackenzie now that she had finished expressing her thoughts on the exam. It felt good to talk about the exam with someone who was there firsthand, and with the one who yelled at those cadets.
Mackenzie: Response
TAG/TBC
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Ensign Lyara Alroyo
USS Artemis-A
Helm/Operations Officer
D240108LA4