[MISSION END/START SL] Capt. Promontory, Cmdr. Herrick, Lt. Cmdr. Saa: Of Sprinkles, Soup, and Simulations
Mark P
(( Ready Room, Deck 1, USS Thor ))
Trake Promontory palmed the small crystalline stone that he had been gifted by the sentinel of the Second Ones. It was now up to three of the mysterious digits on the countup–whatever that meant.
He put it down and turned his attention back to his command team.
Promontory: And then what happened?
Josh produced a small vial filled with cake sprinkles. They, of course, were not the same photonic ones he’d been doused with in the holodeck. He’d replicated them as a gift he’d soon hand out to Morro, Nera and Wyatt, as a memento of surviving the occasion.
Herrick: Thankfully, rather than detonating, we were showered in these guys ::setting the vial on the obsidian table:: which I’m not complaining about, all things considered.
Turning to Sevantha, he tilted his head towards her.
Herrick: How about you?
Sevantha pulled out Bat’leth the size of a pizza cutter and set it before the two of them for the mission memento.
Saa: Holodeck 2 suffered a malfunction and mixed our scenario with a cooking competition where I nearly got turned into soup, the actual Kobayashi Maru scenario, and then back to the original after we found a misplaced wire. ::she shakes her head:: Then when the scenario ended, there never was a wire.
Trake let out a perturbed sigh. They had a state-of-the-art capital ship. It should have been able to run four holoprograms simultaneously.
Promontory: And have they isolated the cause of the… complications?
It had been a while since Josh had leaned into his holography background, and as an engineer, dabbling on occasion hadn’t been enough to keep the rust from accumulating.
Herrick: Caras and Ral are looking into it; perhaps the fact that we are state-of-the-art was part of the problem, as the programs seemed too adaptive with a significant number of branched permutations.
Saa: Holoprogram inception and gaslighting.
Herrick: (nodding) Looking at one of the logs, at one point the holodeck had completely rendered out the entirety of the Invicta; Naledi’s simulation. After that ::waving a hand in the air:: it was pure chaos.
Promontory: I suppose the Cardiff class is fairly complicated, at that.
He got up, sending Reverb skittering off through her transporter gate.
Promontory: But let’s get back to the actual assessments. I’m glad the programs completed that bit successfully, at least.
He pulled up their roster of Lt Commanders.
Promontory: Our mission specialist acquitted herself quite well. I’d like to look for additional leadership opportunities for her, if we can.
Saa: Considering our excess number of pilots onboard, I’m sure we could easily see her work with them in tactical drills.
Taking a sip of his chai, Josh parsed through his own mental records of Sasch’s performance since arriving on the Thor.
Herrick: Kreshkova had also had a number of successful runs whilst leading away teams… despite the odds thrown at her and the group. I’d definitely be into expanding that further to her duties on board.
Promontory: Commander DeVeau sent a serling report re: Lt Commander Naledi. (beat) It was a taxing twist on the base program, but you can see the scores for yourselves.
He projected the file to the holo screen above his desk.
Alongside each of the assessed officers’ faces, there was a short summary of both the program that had been run and the scenario they’d been handed. When he saw the insectoid’s assignment, Xindi versus Xindi, it was clear that the computer had also been working up a psychological profile as part of the assessment.
Herrick: Quite the curated test, but I don’t expect less from the same test designers who build out the academy scenarios. Challenging them at their core… which brings us to Morro.
Tapping one of the controls, various candid and action shots of the Orion man appeared on the wall displays. Despite the malfunctions, the recording subroutine had remained intact until the ‘sprinkling’.
Herrick: He’s a creative problem solver with great improvisation skills. Like anyone on the greener side, he sometimes flirts with the edge of the limits but seems to intuit when to pull back.
Trake raised an eyebrow at calling Morro someone on the “greener side”--was that an Orion joke?
Sevantha didn’t need to read Herrick’s mind to know there was more to say. Morro was a much more complex individual than he let on and she was sure he might have waffled in accepting the position.
Saa: Yet?
Herrick: It occurs when he’s in the moment. It’s when he’s left to his own thoughts, processing his actions, that I worry about him. He’s questioned his placement more than once, I ::with a frustrated sigh:: just wish he could see the potential I did in him.
Sevantha frowned and looked down, debating how much to elaborate on. What she knew wasn’t because of her position as Counselor, but her relationship with the Chief Engineer. Was this why they were at odds suddenly? Closing her eyes, she sighed before speaking up.
Saa: You cannot undo the conditioning of an abuser so easily. ::she avoided looking either of them in the eye:: It’s an upward fight to get Morro to believe he belongs or that he’s not always on the edge of being ejected from Starfleet. You can tha-
Finding herself about to ramble, Sevantha paused and corrected herself, this was about the immediate performance. She could speak to Herrick in private about the details he may have been missing to understand what he was contending with.
Saa: We can review this specific subject with a little more depth later.
Trake closed the open files and moved on to their last command training candidate.
Promontory: Why don’t you report on your experience Commander Saa?
A ding alerted Sevantha that the replicator had finished, granting her a moment to let the subject drift. After a minute she returned with two plates, one of bulgogi beef pizza and a jelly mold with gortak worms. Plucking up the bat’leth pizza cutter, she cut slices for the two officers.
Saa: The winning dishes of the cooking competition. ::staring at the jelly mold:: I think this might actually be a dish from the Leian colony…
She handed a plate of pizza to each of them.
Saa: Lieutenant Commander Tam was in fact the best chef among us. ::Cutting as she talks:: Besides that as a leader, she is talented and adaptive to chaotic environments.
Trake nodded along as he sampled a slice.
Promontory: Mmmmm.
Surprisingly good.
oO Chief chef! Oo
Lifting the pizza slice and poking the wormed jelly with it, Josh elected to taste the more usual fare first. Delightful hints of sweet, savoury, and smoky flavours crossed his palette. He tapped a note on one of the PADDs beside him to add it to the next movie night smorgasbord.
Saa: And most impressively, she handled Lieutenant Taj’el struggle to accept the chaos of the environment with grace, both challenging them and refusing to let them give up even when they declared themselves incapable of certain tasks.
Promontory: Well, looks like Ops is in good hands. (turning to his XO) What else do we have on the docket?
Herrick: Just our upcoming mission profile for the next several weeks… though it certainly looks to be more akin to milk runs, not that I’m complaining.
He looked toward the CO for confirmation.
Promontory: The Thor will spend the month ferrying minor diplomats between Deep Space 14 and various locations in Little Alpha. Apparently the Federation thinks the presence of a large ship in and around the premise will… what was the phrase… “improve the property values of the neighborhood” or somesuch.
Saa: Isn’t Little Alpha usually the USS Meili’s territory?
A small single scientific Nova-class vessel was all the Federation had offered the region up until now despite being neighbors with Deep Space 14.
Promontory: Yes, and I think there more than a little guilt involved. The colonies may be independent, but they still reflect on the whole of the Alpha Quadrant.
Saa: Hopefully this is a sign the Federation is finally deciding to expand outwards as opposed to inwards with their resources again.
Promontory: That too. We want to increase the percentage of “good neighbor” incidents. Hopefully the crew can help with that sort of soft diplomacy over shore leave!
Herrick: (poking the jelly again) And, at least we have something to brave in the interim!
[END SCENE]
[[BEGIN SHORE LEAVE!]]
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Captain Trake Promontory
Commander Josh Herrick
First Officer
USS Thor
O240005JH3
he/him/his (player/character)
