Ensign Mi'shune sh'Sonora - Figure It Out!
d.reinhart
((Beachfront - Raskor II))
Commodore Taybrim, left Lt. Jg. S’zurak and Ensign sh’Sonora for the podium, leaving the excitable Ensign to find her spot to watch the ceremony. She found a patch of unoccupied sand, planted her Targ H.O.G. hoverboard on her claim, tapped the cargo hammerspace on the hoverboard to summon her towel, and spread it on the ground. Satisfied, she sat and watched the ceremony.
It was no surprise Ensign Munshi received high praise. Out of the two members of her group who lost memory, he was the one who kept it the most together. But hearing about the disaster from the perspective of the diplomatic and medical teams opened her eyes to the wider scale of the disaster. She only had her own perspective, and though it was catastrophic to one runabout and a small section of the space station, it was easy to see it being lost in the smattering of the day’s unusual events.
It was a miracle the station survived it all, in retrospect.
The ongoing theme, laid down repeatedly by Commodore Taybrim, emphasised why they had a space station and not a floating wreck. Affected or not, the crew of Starbase 118 stepped up, creating a miracle on their own.
Mi’shune’s face flushed with pride, her antennae swayed in approval, her body relaxed under the cooling evening seabreeze.
Then she heard her name, and regained her focus.
Taybrim: Ensign Voss, Ensign sh’Sonora and Commander Foster – all three of you experienced the memory loss effect. Now, I will admit there is no award in the Starfleet database for those who experience memory loss and still focus your will and your actions towards working with your crewmates to make the mission a success despite the hardship you are undergoing. But I did want to personally recognize that each of you made the choice, even with the memory loss, to focus on what needed to be done. To trust your fellow crew, and to work together to successfully reverse the memory loss, protect the starbase and keep over one hundred thousand civilians safe.
It wasn’t how Mi’shune remembered it. She was a panicky, reactionary teenager who found herself sectors away from home and no recollection on how she got there, doing the best she could in a disastrous situation, banded together with strangers for the group cause of survival and disaster mitigation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.
Taybrim: If any of you ever doubted that you belonged in Starfleet or that you have earned the accolades you receive, wipe that doubt from your mind. Under the greatest duress you all achieved what others in the galaxy could only dream of.
Was there something in their character, their DNA, or both, assisting in their ability to respond to the crisis? And did it exist in them that far back, like they always had the potential to do so? Mi’shune didn’t think she was a hero at 15 cycle, even if wanting to be one took her on a life path of adrenaline sports, tinkering, and general badassedness. All she wanted to do was something extraordinary to escape her clan’s gilded cage.
If she predicted greatness, it was from a place of a malignant narcissism she kept under control.
Taybrim: Ensign sh’Sonora, you had some close encounters. But you also were an integral help in getting the Beau Soleil back on course and helping your team control the weather patterns in the civilian sector. Your skill at piloting was critical, and it is even more impressive how much your retained of that skill with the memory loss. For your extraordinary focus in your chosen discipline, I want to recognize you with the Spliced Mainbrace Distincition.
sh’Sonora: Whoa! Thank you, Sir!
sh’Sonora’s Inner Dialogue: oO Not bad! Only an Ensign and you’ve got the Spliced Mainbrace with oak leaves. Way to go! Oo
As her comrades got their own commendations, Mi’shune basked in her newfound sense of genuine confidence.
Taybrim: Now, before we break, I of course have some important announcements. First… ::oh who was the first person he would settle his gaze upon?:: Ensign sh’Sonora, if you could please join me?
sh’Sonora: ::Points to herself:: Me? ::She gets the hint quickly, rising up from her seat to approach the podium.
The last time she was called up to the podium she got a commendation, and a warning not to let her reckless behavior turn a clutch moment into a disciplinary hearing. There was no such mixed feeling as far as she could tell from his facial expressions. She had a hard time reading anything from his eyes, those pure black irises…
sh’Sonora: oO He does have pretty eyes… oh frell, he’s Betazoid! I know they got rules against reading minds without permission but… umm… think parisi’s squares, powerball, cold showers… what’s grandshen Midori say about white-noising telepaths? Frell! Pay attention! Oo
Taybrim: You have had quite the ride so to speak in your time with StarBase 118. From piloting the Theirr, to rescuing civilian vessels to test flying some of the ships in the impound bay, you have proven yourself a capable pilot, a clever thinker and a teammate that your fellow crew can rely on. These are all strong skills that will carry you forward in your career. Beyond this, you have an unstoppable energy that brightens up a room, something I hope you can carry with you for years to come.
Unused to flattery, and hit with half as much as she’d ever received from her own parental units, Mi’shune flushed with embarrassment, her antennae arching in an amused gesture.
sh’Sonora: Ummm… yes Sir, thank you Sir.
sh’Sonora’s Inner Dialogue: oO Don’t salute you dumba…. Oo ::Her arm immediately reacts.:: oO Oh gods, you’re saluting… Oo
Once done with the parade-ground perfect salute, she let Taybrim continued.
Taybrim: In recognition of the progress you have made and the contributions you have given to this crew, I am very pleased to promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade with all rights and responsibilities that come with this rank.
The tiny wooden box, elegant and luxurious in its polished simplicity, opened up to a single black and brass-rimmed pip.
sh’Sonora: Oh… umm… wow… that’s… wow! I mean… WOW! Thank you, Sir!
She was too wrapped up in the moment to hear the others. This was it, barely a year in and she was a Lieutenant Junior Grade. How?! She expected, due to her wild tendencies and the standards of Starfleet, to not see a half-pip for at least another few years. She even heard of one poor Ensign who was stuck on the USS Voyager for seven years without so much as a promotion. It wouldn’t have surprised her if she broke that record.
Yet here she was, staring at a box with her promotion in it.
Taybrim: Congratulations, Lieutenant! Now, my firm and very strong order to you is that you fly safely and do not cause myself nor Captain Fairhug to have to bestow a Purple Heart upon you in the future, understood?
To an Andorian, a purple heart was a great honor, a testament to putting it all on the line, including their fragile mortal bodies. She found the sentiment quite odd.
That, and not being injured yet either.
There was something to be said about luck.
sh’Sonora: ::quips:: Don’t worry, Sir. I wouldn’t want to tie up any medical resources unless I have to.
She let the applause die down before she returned to her spot in the sand, nearly forgetting to take the box and its half-pip with her. While the others were promoted, and she clapped and waved with the rest of them, there was the rosewood box, by her side, filling her with a sense of pride.
And a foreshadowed warning.
She was a Lieutenant Junior Grade now, first jump among many on her way to… what did she want from Starfleet, other than to escape her own life? Did she want to chase the adrenaline dragon wherever it took her? Find adventure through the cosmos? Rank up and climb the ladder of Starfleet Command until she had her own ship, her own fleet, her own sector? Or all of Starfleet?
What did she want?
Foresight wasn’t Mi’shune’s greatest strength. She was more of a live in the moment kind of Andorian shen, stellar dust finding its orbit around the nearest solid mass.
The new promotion had one message.
Figure it out.
Before events and people figured it out for her.
FIN
Ensign Mi’shune sh’Sonora
Helm Officer
Starbase 118 - Ops Department
O240208MS1