The Three Stooges

Posted on 23 Jun 2015 @ 8:43pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Tinaro Cyi & Lieutenant JG Manuel Lucero & Jynn
Edited on on 24 Jun 2015 @ 1:21am

2,689 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Atlas - Deck 6, Main Shuttlebay
Timeline: MD 01 - 0840 hrs

[ON]

The shuttle ride to the USS Atlas had sure been a long one, or at least it felt like it to Jynn. Why did I agree to let Tinaro fly, he asked himself. It wasn't that Tinaro was a bad pilot. Jynn was actually quite impressed at his piloting abilities. Besides, there wasn't much to do on such a straight-forward flight.

And that was the problem. The Deltan's mind was contained within such a small space with almost nothing to focus on but THEM. They were lucky he was staring out into the space ahead. If his eyes had met theres, that might have been it for them. Tinaro and Manuel. Such nice names, he thought to himself. He shook his head. Almost there. Almost there. Almost there. He rubbed his eyes then continued his distraction. Thinking stars names to himself as they passed them based off their relative position. He wasn't sure how many he had gotten wrong, but it didn't matter. It was his distraction.

Tinaro navigated the small shuttle manually, enjoying the opportunity to fly for the first real time in many long weeks. He restricted himself to approved speeds... well only going slightly faster than recommended. Still the flight was going to be short and bound to be uneventful. Tinaro enjoyed the manual flight control and read up on his new assignment.

With her steaming mug of warm hot chocolate clasped in her green hand, Lirha paced down the long corridors of the Sovereign-class on her way towards the primary shuttlebay. It had been quite some time since she'd been aboard such a massive and intricately-designed vessel, and it amazed her how much larger it was in comparison to Galileo.

Rounding a junction on Deck 6, the Orion made a beeline to the end of the hallway where the large gray double-doors to the hangar bay were located while simultaneously unclipping her PADD from her belt with her free hand in order to browse through the most recent transfer orders. It appeared there was a new batch of officers in route who would arrive in a matter of minutes, and she felt relief that Starfleet had seen it prudent to ship her some new help following the recent recall of several of her DH's.

As the approached the Atlas, Jynn was in need of a distraction. He wasn't at the helm, so he decided to test his new co-pilot with an exciting maneuver. This would be fun! "Bring us on a perpendicular intercepting course with the rear of the Atlas. I want you to swing the shuttle stern forward and curve our course so we land in the shuttle bay port side first." He paused for a moment. "A drift!" A sideways landing would be rough, but then there was where the fun was! Everything's fun when danger is your friend!

Tinaro nodded his understanding. "Understood." It wasn't a particularly difficult maneuver, especially with self correcting autopilots. Tinaro made a show of turning the fail safe off. When he didn't hear an objection he started the approach. Tinaro remembered that drifting was originally an automobile driving technique in ancient Earth where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels or all tires, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. A car was considered drifting when the rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, to such an extent that often the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn. Knowing how this could be accomplished in a shuttlecraft, Tinaro typed out a quick message to Atlas Control. He knew better than to suprise whomever was monitoring their approach.

Manuel was looking down at some rather entertaining simulations regarding ancient methods of oxidation reduction titration on his PADD when he heard Jynn provide his co-pilot with the daring maneuver. He re-attached it to his belt, in the event that he'd have to brace himself. Not that he doubted the skill of his peers. But there was always a first time for everything, and crashing sideways into the shuttle bay might end up serving as the end of everything, likewise.

Tinaro seemed to be concentrating rather well. His posture at the helm had a thick confidence about it. Manuel sighed and just relaxed a bit. "Eh, why not... Fun is fun," he mumbled to himself while he grabbed his PADD and restored the simulated procedure on the display. At least there was actually some energy present among his fellow officers. His last assignment was so blatantly boring that even a die-hard science-nerd such as himself would find the predicament rather depressing.

He truly hoped that this new assignment would give him a little something to smile about.

Cracking his knuckles, Tinaro set to work. He increased the power to the intera-dampeners so he wouldn't jostle everyone too much. He gave the engines a quick burst of speed to full impulse for 9.1 seconds before killing the engines completely. The shuttle was flying at 1/3 impulse then it neared the Atlas. Tinaro's hands flew over the controls manually using burst of the navigational thrusters to make the shuttle counter-steer its forward motion. Improving on the drifting technique by utilizing his ability to change the shuttles Z axis, Tinaro spin the shuttle into a adverse tumble until it reached the point perpendicular to the shuttlebay's entry. He slapped the short quick burst from the thrusters and shuttle slid though the forcefield. Caught by the ship's artificial gravity, the last fickers of momentum died away and the ship came to a rest hovering near its landing zone. Tinaro clicked his teeth in frustration. He was off by almost 4 inches. He moved the ship and landed it.

"Fantastic," Jynn shouted with a clap of his hands. "And not a scratch of paint to be found, I'm sure! I don't think I could have done it better myself!" He would certainly have to try sometime.

Meanwhile in the shuttle bay, Lirha had entered just in time to watch a very unorthodox shuttle landing, one which definitely violated at least a few protocols and regulations to say the least. At first she had stared wide-eyed after seeing the small craft increase speed then rotate a full 90 degress off axis, but as the shuttle approached and she could see it would safely clear the tiny shuttlebay's entryway, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, as the craft touched down on the landing pad, she began to pace towards the shuttle's exit hatch and stopped in front of it, waiting for the daredevilesque pilots to emerge and present themselves.

Another ship, Jynn's mind shouted as he leaped out of his seat and walked briskly towards the shuttle's exit hatch. He punched the button in eager anticipation and tapped his left foot furiously as he awaited its opening.

Great Green Goddess! It was an Orion. Jynn had met them before and had always wondered to himself who would win in a pheromone-off between the two species if they ever found themselves locked in a room together. Before jumping out of the hatch he stayed himself. In that brilliant flash of energy and excitement he had not even noticed if he said his exclamation aloud or had just thought it.

Lirha peered at the figure which emerged from the aft end of the shuttle. He was very bald...and tall with a slender physique. She had been around the quadrants enough to know a rare Deltan sighting when it happened, and she was so intrigued that she almost temporarily forgot her displeasure for the unauthorized maneuver the man and his team had performed upon arrival.

Instead, she regained her composure after which her green eyes traveled to the man's red collar and subsequently identified his rank, which she then matched with the three personnel files contained in her PADD. "Mister Jynn, I presume?" she asked using deductive reasoning, having unclipped her tablet from her belt while browsing through the different Starfleet files for the new transfers.

"You are correct, my love." He couldn't help himself. Apparently pheromones were not needed when a purely sensual being was staring down such a notoriously frisky race. "And call me Jynn. I'm not a fan of formality," he spoke as he stood beside the hatch awaiting the lateral alignment of his two newly acquainted friends, his blood still pumping from the excitement just moments earlier. It was as if he was surrounded by invisible electricity.

Tinaro reinforced his mental barriers to block out the feelings radiating from his new CO and his new Department head. His telepathic barriers a this point where so strong it would make Borg shielding jealous. He was not looking forward to being between those too for long.

Lirha did a bit of a double take at the man's slight disregard for proper protocol when addressing an officer, but she was not particularly upset. Amused was a bit more accurate of a description, though she did her best not to show it. "I believe aboard this vessel, my appropriate title is rear admiral. 'Ma'am' will also suffice," she responded in a light and neutral voice. "That was quite an interesting shuttle landing you and your colleagues performed...not exactly regulation."

Tinaro coughed a bit. "That would be my landing. I was off bit, my apologies Rear Admiral, Ma'am." Tinaro confessed.

The officer who spoke to her was a bit shorter than the Deltan, and his brown hair and deep black eyes betrayed the Betazoid in him. With a quick glance down at her PADD to match his profile with the appropriate dossier, she identified him as Galileo's new assistant chief flight controller. "I see," she mumbled, tapping her lithe green fingers across the slim device to input a set of notes before looking back up at the man. "And you are Mister Cyi, yes?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Tinaro Cyi." Ti replied sheepishly. She seemed to be used to asking questions and expecting prompt replied so Ti waited for the other shoe to fall in response to his landing of the shuttlecraft.

Lucero straightened his uniform and stepped through the shuttle exit. He saw everyone around a woman of rather impressive stature. Rather interested in acting uninterested in being interested, he made his way from the shuttle's aft side. For a moment he stood there and listened. A light smile gave the impression of pleasantry, but not giddiness. Agh, he was so lame.

Lirha eyed another new arrival who appeared from the small support craft. Unlike the other two red-collared officers, this one belonged to the sciences as his teal undershirt revealed. His blond hair and blue eyes were also strikingly different from the others, and he had what appeared to be a strong physique.

"Hello, lieutenant," said the Orion admiral politely. "And you must be..." she looked down at her PADD and cued up another personnel file that seemed to match, "Mister Lucero? The fifth?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Our family wasn't very original with naming first-born sons, it seems." He smiled.

Lirha could relate to that, especially with certain races that did not even use surnames and instead used only a limited number of single names. Even Klingons shared a few similar names depending on the family's lineage and the house they belonged to.

"I am sure it will be quite alright," she replied with a sideways smirk. "Unless there are any other 'Luceros' aboard, we can make it work." Her thoughts then turned to the next order of business, and she quickly began to address the entire group of new officers.

"Thank you all for joining us on short notice, and welcome to USS Atlas," the Orion then said with a sweeping green hand to the large and expansive Sovereign-class' shuttle bay. "I am sure you have all been briefed on the basics of our current assignment. Currently we are part of a larger Federation task group preparing for training exercises with the Klingon Defense Force. All simulated, of course."

Lirha looked down at her PADD and double-checked the personnel assignments for the three new officers. "Lieutenant Jynn, you will be staying here with me aboard Atlas for the duration of the exercises. Lieutenant Lucero V, you will also be assigned to Atlas...we are in need of an extra hand at science. ....And...Lieutenant Cyi, you will be transferred to USS Nautilus, an older Miranda-class. I believe Commander Kohl needs a pilot and you just so happen to be one," she grinned.

Jynn began hopping on his feet with his hands behind his back, obviously in a surge of excitement. Whether it was the come-hither Orion in front of him or the come-hither feeling he got at the thought of running through a new ship he was not sure, but he was excited, and very much so. His body impatiently awaited his mind's signal to move.

Manuel made it a point to seem not too excited. But within, he was ecstatic. A series of combat exercises was exactly the kind of thing that he'd hoped to experience on this new assignment. Whatever it was that his duties would entail, he was ready for. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

Ti smiled. "I do just happen to be one." He was eager to get behind the controls of a real starship after months of just simulations and shuttles to wet his appetite. He was slightly disappointed he wasn't on the Sovereign but at his point he would pilot a Constitution class happily.

"You will all receive more information in the coming hours as we prepare for our simulations, but before I dismiss you all to your new assignments, are there any questions?" Lirha liked to afford the newest members of her crews the opportunity to inquire about anything on their mind as it pertained to the mission at hand, and was happy to answer any queries if the new junior lieutenants had any.

"None at all, Ma'am." Lucero smiled. He liked the sense of surprise.

"No Ma'am." Tinaro replied.

Jynn raised his hand with an innocent-looking smile.

Raising her eyebrows towards the Deltan, Lirha nodded for him to continue. "Yes, Mister Jynn?"

"Do you have any plans later tonight?" It was an honest question. He had always preferred more personal meetings over the coldness of on-duty conversations. He just hoped he would get a pleasant answer.

Lirha did a bit of a double-take, straightening up for a brief moment while her irises circled as her brain processed the man's question. It wasn't exactly in line with a common 'new assignment' query. "...plans?"

Reaching up and pushing a stray lock of dark hair from her cheek and back behind her ear, she then thought about her evening schedule. "We will all be participating in a social diplomatic event aboard General Ja'taQ's flagship later this evening..."

Not the answer Jynn was hoping for. "Sounds exciting," he spoke in an upbeat tone.

Cyi remained quiet but had already begun to think of suitable excuses as to why he would not be attending. A social event with dozens of minds Klingon minds at that did not seem the least bit exciting to Ti.

Jynn's eyes grew wide with excitement. "A Klingon flagship? Will they be giving tours?"

"They will," nodded Saalm with a wry grin. "And I hope you do not mind gagh?"

"I'm just gaga for gagh," Jynn exclaimed. It was almost sickening. Not so much the dish, but the twisted outburst of excitement he had just shouted out.

Lucer simply chuckled to himself.

"Very well, then. Once again, welcome aboard. Dismissed," said Lirha with a curt nod of her head to indicate for the three new officers to proceed on their way.

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Atlas

Lieutenant JG Jynn
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Atlas

Lieutenant JG Manuel Lucero V
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Atlas

Lieutenant JG Tinaro Cyi
Asst. Chief Flight Contol Officer
USS Atlas

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