Lt. Commander Laria Herren - Congratulations to One and A-, I’m the New What?
Laria Herren
((Ballroom - Castrum Hibernum Portum - Monkbel Foothills, Arentis))
Rajel: May I have your attention!
Laria quickly noticed, calling out a variant of the typical call of “captain on the bridge” while grinning.
Herren: Commodore on the stage!
If she wasn’t going to easily deprogram herself out of proper protocol and formal Starfleet procedure, why not have some fun with it?
Anyone: Response
Rajel: Thank you! To the majority of you this will be no surprise, to those of you who are new let me welcome you to the post-mission party. To the few of you who have not met me yet, I am Jalana.
Anyone: Response
Jalana. She knew who she was. And yet, somehow, really had trouble calling her that. Laria wondered if it still irritated the commodore when she did that, if the commanding officer thought she was doing it on purpose to spite the commodore. Not that she could help it, like she had just done not ten minutes earlier when entering the ballroom.
Rajel: One of the favorite parts of my work is to get to this part of the parties ::She crinkled up her nose in delight.:: So let me get to it, have my fun, so you can go back to celebrating even more! ::She cleared her throat, before chuckling.:: Well that last mission was quite a doozy wasn't it?
Quite a doozy. That was one way of putting it. Liars, mobsters, gunfire, and a lack of gravity. All that and more had been wrapped in a shell of caution and excitement over getting to meet living history. She heard several remarks from the people around her, including from one of the operations officers standing to her right.
T’Ama: ::mostly to herself:: Indeed.
T'Seva: I had to pretend to be a pure Vulcan for days.
Herren: Especially there at the end, would not recommend to a friend.
Anyone: Response
Rajel: Because this is a party and you are not necessarily equipped to carry things home, I have arranged that any accolades will be delivered to your quarters and will wait for you when you return. Now let me begin with the Starfleet Investigation Ribbon. This ribbon is rewarded for investigative skills to solve a crime, defuse a threat or resolve a dangerous situation. Quite surprisingly we had to do all three of these during our stint with the apparent Enterprise, and even more surprising, it was all of us who had to deal with that. With that I reward this ribbon to all Officers who actively were part of the teams on the Enterprise as well as those investigating things remotely on the Constitution. Congratulations.
An investigation ribbon. Not a service ribbon she had been expecting. Granted, a big part of her job was “investigating” things. But that was research. Not investigation. That was something she associated with intelligence, security, and law enforcement. However, they did admittedly all have a part to play in finding out what was really up on the Fakerprise.
Anyone: Response
Rajel: When meeting the Enterprise of course the hopes are high to meet our heroes, ancestors, predecessors that laid the foundation for our work. What we did not anticipate was that we would have to save lives. Not only due to the decrepit state of the ship in the Nebula but due to hostile forces on the ship a few lives had been saved. So it is my honor to award the Lifesaving Ribbon to the following Officers. Lystra. T'Seva, Ozameen Malyz, Ellie Park and Indrid Yirah. Thank you and congratulations.
Laria applauded. Indrid was the only one she knew personally to any degree. She was proud of them all, though. Saving lives was not just for medical officers, it was a core mission of all Starfleet officers.
Yirah: Thank you for this award.
T'Seva: Thank you.
Lystra/Park/Anyone: Response
Rajel: After reading the reports it became apparent that one of the heroes of this mission was Engineering. Not only has Engineering found out that something very fishy was going on, they also used this knowledge and their skills to surprise the Iotians and help avoid a complete blood bath with their methods. From aimed loss of gravity, to increase of gravity, hacking into the systems and ... ::She blinked slightly.:: I am still not quite sure how a little dinosaur fit into this. But these methods deserve to be recognized and so it is my honor to reward the Innovation Ribbon to Kimberly Stapledon and Mingxing Shimisi. Congratulations.
She had been there for all of that: except for the dinosaur part. That didn’t make any sense to her either. She had been there for messing with gravity and had signed off on Stapledon’s idea to cut the gravity during a firefight. It was a brilliant idea in the moment.
Stapledon: Oh thank you.
Shimisi: Thank you, hope it's not the last one.
Spotting Shimisi nearby, she smiled and offered a joking congratulations for the well-earned service ribbons.
Herren: Well done you two. Although those of us with weak constitutions would appreciate remaining under normal gravity if possible.
Anyone: Response
Rajel: We also have been resorting to diplomacy to defuse the situation on two fronts that dealt with the Iotians face to face, using words and understanding or the one or other firm decisive verbal kick in the butt to make sure things do not escalate. For that it's my honor to reward the Diplomacy Ribbon to Laria Herren.
Laria smiled and spoke up in brief acknowledgement.
Herren: Thank you.
It wasn’t wrong to say that she had talked down the Iotians until the fake Scotty started a fight. But she still wasn’t super comfortable being recognized for that. She did still feel like she’d accidentally started it.
Herren: oO At least I talked myself out of the situation I caused. Go me! Oo
Anyone: Response
Rajel: Now... ::she clasped her hands:: That is it for Ribbons. ::She grinned widely.:: And for the first time in a long while that is not the end of it and that is my upmost joy as a Commanding Officer to share with you! ::Clearing her throat she looked around.:: Kimberly and T'Ama, where are you?
If that was it for the ribbons, but she was calling on more people, that could only mean… The wheels started to turn in her head as the woman to her right and another hand awkwardly shot up.
Rajel: Ah there. Hi! ::She wiggled her fingers.:: Since your arrival on the Conny, you both have stood out with your exceptional work, curiosity and persistence. It is a joy to see officers come from the Academy and find their footing on the ship. It's been a joy to work with you, hear about you from your colleagues and superiors and we are in agreement. Due to that, it is my pleasure to promote both of you to Lieutenant Junior Grade with all rights, privileges and responsibilities. Congratulations.
Promotions! Of course. Laria smiled and applauded, looking between the two officers who raised their hands. It was always fun to see someone get promoted. She had been a little bit sad to get promoted for the first time by mail when getting her new assignment PADDwork. But she was happy to see T’Ama and Kimberly be recognized in a ceremony.
Stapledon: ::Smiling broadly:: Thank you so much.
T’Ama: Cool.
Cool. An atypical response. She glanced over at T’Ama, curious as to why she reacted that way. It was an unusual response to the great news of being promoted. Was something bothering the ensign-turned-lieutenant? Or was there something else going on? T’Ama was partly Vulcan. Not that “cool” was a typical Vulcan reply either.
Anyone: Response
Jalana moved along down the list and called out an unexpected name.
Rajel: ::looking around the place.:: Laria, where are you?
She looked up and had enough forethought to repeat the commodore’s first name in her head before she spoke out loud to be sure that she got it right.
Herren: Here, Jalana!
Rajel: ::smiling brightly:: Laria, I know that you haven't been with us for a long time, but you already have proven yourself to be an invaluable asset to the crew and to myself. Your assistance and decisive power has been one of the driving forces during our last mission. Therefore it is my pleasure to promote you to the new Second Officer of the Conny today. ::She paused and raised a hand.:: In addition with that, it is also my sincere pleasure to promote you to Lieutenant Commander with all rights, privileges and responsibilities. Congratulations!
Laria froze and stared up at the stage, letting that sink in.
Herren: oO I guess she’s not upset with me. Oo
Second officer and a promotion to lieutenant commander. Laria liked to consider herself competent. She had voiced a desire to take a further step towards command duties. And part of her duties as mission specialist had been to support the CO and XO in their duties and getting to know the crew. So it made a certain kind of sense. But she was still shocked to actually receive the position and the promotion. There was a moment of silence before she spoke up to assure everyone that she was ready and eager to do her best.
Herren: Thank you. I will do my best to live up to my new role.
Anyone: Response
The moment of her promotion stayed in the air for a moment before Jalana moved on. Laria’s brain didn’t move along, focused on what had just been said. The commodore went on about something, the chief science officer who was formerly the first officer. She only zoned back in while the CO was explaining that they were expecting a new first officer.
Rajel: As some of you may have heard already that Azura has resumed her duty as Chief Science Officer. That means we will receive a new First Officer and I have gotten word that, though I have no details yet, Starfleet apparently has already assigned us a new First Officer and there is a chance that they will show up at some point during the party.
As Jalana was saying that, an Andorian appeared on stage behind her. She noticed him before he spoke up. Although the commodore, with her back turned, seemed more surprised when he started talking behind her.
Ch'Nilmani: Response
Rajel: Excuse me?
Ch'Nilmani: Response
This had to be their new XO.
Rajel: Well in that case. Please welcome our new First Officer. Diz'mim.
She joined in the last, biggest round of applause welcoming the new first officer. She watched him carefully, curious to get to know Diz’mim. As the new third-in-command and another member of the command division she would probably be working with him a lot in the future.
Herren: Welcome, sir!
Anyone: Response
Rajel: That was it for today. If you have not found yourself in the line of fire for a new pip, your time will come. ::She smiled:: Now enjoy the party! We have the place for us the whole night. Again congratulations and thank you for being the best crew I could ask for.
Anyone: Response
After the end of Jalana’s presentation, Laria made her way to the edge of the dance floor and stood there with her best “someone please invite me to dance” look. Someone took her up on the offer. A Human man in a navy suit approached her with a smile, seeing her sway along to the music and extending her an invitation.
Drummer: May I have this dance, commander?
Laria nodded and held out her hand, offering it for her dance partner to take.
Herren: Of course.
The Human man took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. They danced a waltz while the holographic band picked back up with the announcements over and their stage returned to them. She enjoyed being in her element, dancing across the icy dancefloor that had been treated to prevent slips, following her dance partner’s lead on the floor. All was going well until his foot caught on something. He slid towards the edge of the floor and that pulled her along with him.
Drummer: I- ::He stammered as he slipped and lost his footing.:: woah!
He and Laria landed at the feet of someone who had been going about their own business. She had let go of the man’s hand and caught herself halfway. At least she managed to land on the ground with a smidge of dignity remaining. Her partner was not so lucky and landed on his back. She watched him push himself up off the floor and smiled. Since neither of them were hurt, the joking could begin.
Herren: Two left feet, huh?
The man looked mortified, helping her up with a short apology before beating a hasty retreat.
Drummer: So sorry!
Laria looked to the person that she and her dance partner had landed at the feet of so suddenly. She smiled and tried to make polite conversation after that display.
Herren: Hello there, hope we didn’t startle you.
Anyone: Response
Herren: I suppose no method for preventing slips is entirely effective.
A typical ballroom floor wasn’t foolproof either. She’d seen plenty of missteps during formal dances before.
Anyone: Response
Lieutenant Commander Laria Herren
Mission Specialist/Second Officer
USS Constitution-B
A239402AG0