JP: Cmdr. Karrod Niac & Lt. Cmdr. Toryn Raga: For All Your Tomorrows (Part 2)
Rameses
((Main Shuttlebay, Deck 9, USS Ronin))
Karrod tapped the padd and tucked it away, turning his attention back towards his crew. He’d considered writing a rousing speech or extolling the virtues of teamwork and comradery but in the moment, he put all of those thoughts aside and looked towards the far end of the shuttlebay, across the collected sea of expectant faces. He stepped out from behind the podium and focused his attention on one officer after the other, trying to truly see each and every one. When he finally spoke his deep baritone was colored with rare but entirely genuine emotion.
Niac: For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Commander Karrod Niac, your new commanding officer. Many of you are volunteers drawn from very different commands scattered all across the Federation. For others this is your very first assignment straight out of Starfleet Academy and your first opportunity to find out if a life in Starfleet…this life…is for you. The simple fact of the matter is that we don’t know one another yet. We don’t know our ship and all that it’s capable of. You don’t know me and the other officers to whom you’ve entrusted your lives. And some of you are wondering, right this very moment, if you should trust us. I know I did when I stood in your place, when I heard my CO’s talk about duty or valor, about heroism and sacrifice. About all the things that make a ship so much more than just conduits and bulkheads holding the air in.
He paused and stepped down, slowly walking past the first rows of assembled officers and crew, speaking to each of them in turn.
Toryn remained beside the lectern, but slightly in front of and to the side to watch their CO impart his words of wisdom.
Niac: If there is to be trust between us it begins here, now, in this moment. When you look at the men and women standing next to you and promise yourself that you’ll do whatever you can for them. That you’ll sacrifice and suffer for them. That you’ll lay your life on the line for them. And you’ll do it because you’ll know that everyone in this room…everyone on this ship…would do the very same for you. That I’d do the same for you as your Captain. That’s the beginning…and from that beginning we can build something unique. Something precious. Something that belongs to us and no one else.
Karrod stopped and found himself almost dead center in the rows and rows of people standing at attention, listening with rapt attention. He turned and pointed towards the tall banner hanging from the center of the shuttlebay ceiling, displaying the ship's crest and motto in letters five meters high.
Toryn glanced up at the banner.
Niac: “For your tomorrow, we gave our today.” That above all else is our mission...to do what we must in service to our fellows. To sacrifice the present to provide for the future. We do that with every duty shift…with every mission. With every sector of space explored, with every new planet visited. With every question asked and every riddle solved, we do that. And we will do it together.
Karrod turned and began walking back towards the small lectern, feeling the eyes of hundreds on his back as he did. The only sound were his footfalls upon the deck and within him, even Niac had grown still and quiet. When he finally stood behind the lectern again he could see something new in the faces of the men and women he would serve. Hope.
The Al-Leyan’s keen hearing let him hear every footfall, every inhalation of breath, the sea of heartbeats that, to him, was as if he had his ear against a bulkhead and was listening to a power conduit. Every inhale and exhale like waves that crashed along a shore.
Niac: As your Captain I make you these promises. I will never give you an order I would not carry out. I will never assign you a duty I would not perform myself. I will never ignore an idea simply because I don’t agree with it. And I will never ever stop fighting for you and for this ship. If you can trust that…if you can trust each other…if you can trust me…then there is no limit to what we can accomplish together.
The Al-Leyan looked out at the crew, his gaze paused on a couple of faces from his previous ship who would understand this most. He gestured to the banner that stated the ship’s name. USS Ronin
Raga: Once a Ronin, Always.
Karrod took a breath and allowed himself a smile while the moment stretched out towards eternity. Shortly before then he tapped at the lectern with a knuckle and looked to the assembled crew expectantly.
Niac: Ladies and Gentlemen and various non-gendered entities, let’s get to work. Dismissed.
Karrod stood back from the podium and turned to his first officer who seemed to be having a hard time keeping the smile off his face.
It was a wide, proud smile that he shared with his CO. The man’s speech had reminded him of one he’d given long ago. On the Atlantis, during a memorial service. The one whose final words he referenced just a moment ago.
Niac: What’d you think? Too much?
Raga: Can’t speak for everyone else, but I know I was able to cross off ‘endure a speech from the Captain’ off my Bingo card.
Toryn smirked and extended a hand towards the man in the Human custom. The Al-Leyan customary greetings and farewell were a bit different. As he’d demonstrated to the CO when he first arrived on board.
Karrod chuckled and shook the man's offered hand.
Niac: Let's go see if we can keep me from being a liar to all these people. Call a briefing of the senior staff for one hour from now in the main conference room. I’ll try to make my way there without ending up in the catamaran again.
A slight chuckle escaped the otherwise stoic Al-Leyan who merely nodded.
Raga: I’ll alert Security to check for you in an hour. Just in case.
The Al-Leyan watched his CO leave and turned to look out of the shuttlebay at the stars beyond. It was so strange. Not seeing the oranges, lavenders and blues of the Par’tha Expanse. It was also exciting. There was a whole new region of space for him to experience for the first time.
He tapped his comm badge.
Raga: =/\= Raga to all Senior Staff. Report to the Conference Room on Deck Three, primary hull, in one hour. =/\=
((ooc: For clarification senior staff refers to all PCs, regardless of your actual rank. Now consider the ship officially launched! Welcome to the Ronin! Let’s get to writing! )))
================================
Commander Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0
&
Lieutenant Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga