Star Trek: Starbase 777 - etd-shuttlebay

Her first away mission since her promotion, and by the gods, she was going to be put together and Normal. She lingered in the shuttlebay, trying to compose herself slightly before going to join the others. The mission was fairly simple, just investigative, but it did leave her feeling a little uneasy.

As the Eventide hurtled through space towards its destination, Blegh kept herself calm by pacing through the halls poking her head through doors and "supervising". This was her first away mission since her promotion, too. Spotting Suun at a console, tension noticably bled from her shoulders. She hesitated before entering the shuttlebay. There was no reason to be nervous, really, and it was a lot easier for Blegh to convince herself of that with her colleague next to her.

Given the entire nature of the situation, it seemed only natural to send at least one diplomatic corps attaché to help investigate the rumors of an attack. William, being more than eager to assist in anything resembling a diplomatic crisis, was quick to accept a posting aboard the Eventide for this endeavor. In the meantime, he decided the best place to wait would be the shuttlebay. After all, if he was going to be a part of the away team, where would it be better to wait? It'd been his first away mission in quite a long time, if ever. And the fact it was dealing with a diplomacy-related incident? Exciting.

“Lieutenants Tollum, McIntyre.” She nodded towards the others, “It’s a pleasure to be here with you both. It’s nice to see you.” She’d purposely left her hair down today, in hopes of keeping herself humble and somewhat lighthearted. The tight feeling of a ponytail wasn’t much to work with during a stressful mission.

Holly had listened to the briefing and decided to simply follow Blegh. More was more when it came to Security after all, right? Her expression instinctively lightened a little when she entered the shuttlebay to find Suun and William there as well. She nodded a silent greeting towards the group before finding a spot to simply stand guard and wait ... like the good little security officer she was.

William hadn't expected to see a familiar face - or at least, one that he hadn't seen in a while. Had that much time passed already since the glitched holodeck adventure? William tried to restrain from an overly-pleased face at seeing Suun. "Lieutenant Commander! It's good to see you, too." He then noticed Holly as well, following along with the Tellarite that William had yet to meet. He gave her a slight nod as a greeting.

Vesta had shown up to the mission once she had heard it was the Breld Company who was on the offensive. She stayed slightly over to the side, scoping out the people around her.

“Lieutenant.” She nodded towards Vesta, before moving to double-check something off to the side, keeping an ear in the current group whilst busying herself.

"Commander Zalan," Blegh nodded respectfully. It seemed that these three knew each other already. "Commander McGrath," She hadn't known the diplomat's name, so simply greeted him as "McIntyre," thanks to Cdr. Zalan's greeting of the man. Then, turning around, she spotted the lieutenant off to the side and nodded as well. "How are we looking?" She asked, turning to glance at the console Suun was focused on. She wasn't really sure what she was asking.

“Everything looks well. Nothing out of place so far.” She hummed, “Nothing to report, I believe. Although I think I’m expected on the bridge soon.” She let out a chuckle and a shrug. “It can wait a moment.”

"So, I've been looking over the reports on the Breld..." William said, generally directed towards the entire group. He'd neglected to bring his PADD with him to the away mission. "... my understanding is that they're an antagonistic megacorporation, both towards the Federation and to its own workers, correct?" He placed both his hands behind his back and pursed his lips. "Sorry - not being on 777 last time, I just want to get my facts straight."

2

“That is it, I believe. We’ve been hearing tell of a possible attack— this is just an investigation, nothing guaranteed.” She replied, “But it will be what it will be, I suppose.”

Holly had been stuck on some desolate planet when the station had last encountered the Breld, so she was as eager as William to gain any knowledge she could.

“I was there,” Vesta signed, it had been her first mission with the starbase in fact. “Lots of very nice people, but more not so nice people. They had imprisoned workers who were trying to unionize and join the federation.”

Blegh stood, passive and silent, listening to the others around her discuss, filing away the useful information and nodding when needed.

An away mission seemed to be all she needed at the moment. A real one that she signed up from the start, not a simulation that ended up not being a simulation. She had no previous experience with this Company, but from both the reports and the briefing given, things could get ugly and they might need a way out, or even rescue. In came her expertise, getting in and getting out. As she entered the shuttle bay, not very keen on staying behind on the ship sidelines to be honest, she noticed two things. First was the amount of people of higher rank than her and second, one of her bosses. Fucking damn.

7

She stepped back from her console, accidentally bumping Blegh and shooting her an apologetic smile. “Marze, hello!” She grinned, “Lots of familiar faces here.”

William nodded as Suun and Vesta gave their recollections of the Breld. Good, William wasn't too far off. "Ah, okay. Thank you both." He replied, also tacitly noting that Vesta had their first mission with 777 against the Breld. Apparently the two of them were similar in that way - he was now having his first away mission, and it, too, was against the Breld.

She was partially surprised at the greeting. “Commander…. Long time no see!” She smiled. Actually, genuinely, smiled. How weird. Yes, Suun had been nothing if not cordial towards her, dare she even say pleasant, but that was not a usual reaction for her to have. Weird. “Well, honestly I only recognized you and Commander Tollum.” Her little boss. At least the big boss wasn’t around. Or the bigger boss (XO) or biggest boss (CO). It would probably be fine, right?

3

1

Holly raised her eyebrows slightly. Someone surprised at Suun being nice? Wasn't Suun always nice?

4

“Well, there’s plenty of time to meet everyone.” She replied, “I imagine a job like today’s will lead to everyone having a few shared experiences, at least.” She glanced to the console, furrowing her brow. “I should make my way to the bridge. Blegh?”

Lt. Daso enters, feeling the weird energy of the room.

17:13

She looks around, before speaking “First time on the Eventide for a mission and it all goes to crap. What can I do, how can I help?”

After dissociating for a moment, seemingly missing that one of her officers had approached, Blegh perked up a the sound of her given name. "Hmm? Oh, yes," She nodded, ready to follow Suun out of the room.

When Suun asked Blegh to accompany her, Holly perked up, her eyes widening a little. They weren't going to leave her in charge of a group again?

6

And plenty of time for her usual temper to get to one of the higher ranks. Yippieeee. “Sure, I guess it’s true. I could say I was hoping for a quiet and calm mission… but I’d be lying!” She grinned.

3

“We’ll be alright. I’ll be back, I just want get briefed with the others.” She said, nodding as she moved with Blegh towards the bridge.

Blegh followed, nodding to the two other security officers in the room as well as the many others who'd filed in.

Holly opened her mouth to object, but the bosses – tall and small – were already gone. "Fabulous," she muttered.

5

William shot Holly a bit of a shit-eating grin, overhearing her little remark. He walked over in front of her, snapped to attention, and gave a salute. "At your orders, sir!" He said, jokingly, failing to resist the urge to smile after this.

4

Holly couldn't help a burst of laughter escape her at that. "I hate you." She really didn't.

1

She decided to linger by the shuttle, since Suun was gone and her direct boss was gone and now she was among complete strangers. She sat by the shuttle entrance, a relaxed pose with her back against the frame and, of course, observing the ambient around and the people interacting. The Lt. Cdr. and the Lt. seemed to act as good friends, she saw.

She shuffled into the shuttle bay, her left arm resting lightly on her tool belt as she zipped up her uniform. Her eyes bounced around as looked for anyone she knew, but she also hadn't been in a roleplay scene for 3 months, so she hardly recognized anyone. "Wh... where are the rest of the engineers...?" She muttered under her breath.

”Not here.” Very helpful, absolutely stunning answer. “Probably will join us when we have to leave for tha ground.”

Holly took a breath to compose herself, especially as the doors opened again to reveal ... Oh, an engineer. "They'll be in engineering," she replied to the question, "But you're welcome to stick around here as well." She then turned to address the members of the group she hadn't met yet. "Alright, let's make this quick and painless. My name is Holly McGrath and I hate being the most senior officer in the room. That doesn't mean I won't whip anyone's asses into shape – because if I don't, I have to answer to the small boss that just left. Questions? No? Great. Now you go."

4

“Well I’m here, and I’m an engineer.” She said, fake offended.

17:29

“Lt. Aatha Daso, Shuttle Mechanic, at your service.”

"Oh! I'm sorry. I don't think we've met before...?" She turned her head to the side, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall. "I'm Jayri, by the way. I'm mainly a mechanical engineer, but y'know, I try and keep myself versatile."

Vesta read off what Holly said and smiled slightly. She would go next it seemed. “Lieutenant Vesta Kuzeed, specialist rescue officer, ops.” She signed. “I have no problem being the most senior officer in the room but,” She tilted her neck and gestured to her 2 pips, a smile still on her face. “That’s pretty rare.”

"You'll get there," she winked at Vesta.

Wow. Okay, so she was one of those. Part of Marze was satisfied by the display of confidence, the other part dreaded knowing that she was now the primary possible higher rank for a clash. The part that kinda wanted to see Holly try and whoop her ass. “Another round of ‘say our names and a personal fun fact’ like we’re in kindergarten or somethin? Cool. Lieutenant Junior Grade Marze G’khar, Break-out and Rescue Specialist.” She couldn’t really help it.

She realized the more casual vibe and decided to reintroduce herself better. “Im Lieutenant Aatha Daso, shuttle mechanic, Engineering. I’m not limited to shuttles. I do what I can. I think we’ll get along well. Fun fact about me, as a kid I learned to pick locks from 7 different planets, just for fun. I keep up the skill.”

"That's not a very fun fact, Lieutenant, but I'll take it." It would take a lot more than acting like a moody teenager for Holly to lose her composure, but Marze was welcome to try. "See, that is a useful and fun fact." She gestured towards Daso.

William decided to head on over. Most of everyone here wore yellow uniforms - security, engineering, or operations, apparently. Oh boy, he's gonna look odd, being the only one in the Command Branch. William gave a little nod as a greeting to everyone. "Lieutenant William McIntyre. Diplomatic Attaché. Seems like I'm one of the only ones wearing red today." He says, giving a slight chuckle. What was it that Star Trek says about "red shirts" again?

6

"Which means we're all protecting William in an emergency, since he's the most likely to coincidentally kick it," Holly translated. Now she was the one with the shit-eating grin.

3

She smiled lightly “Welcome to shuttle bay, McIntyre. Don’t touch anything.” She joked

Well, fuck her with a chainsaw, had she started a trend? Aatha… Marze wasn’t sure if she had understood her jab or thought she had been serious. “What a coincidence. I have broken into prisons of at least 7 different planets.” Pre Starfleet joining, but nobody needed to know that yet. “We’ll probably get along.”

She laughed “I think we’re gonna get along great.” Not that she would tell them at this point, but she kept up with the skill out of necessity.

"Well, 7 is a lucky number after all." She chimed in.

“I took a gap year between graduating and joining, lets just say I used the skills quite a bit, if you know what I mean.”

17:44

She sounded like she was joking. Mostly.

Holly leaned against the hull of one of the shuttles as she listened to the jailbreakers bonding. She just hoped they wouldn't need to utilise their skills.

“Its fiiiiineeeee. I haven’t had to break myself out of anywhere in YEARS”

Interesting… another one with an illicit past? Definitely interesting! “Maybe I do. And can’t say the same since part of my job is to break out of places.” And that her gap had been at a much younger age and not even properly a gap.

“Hello, again. No one dead?” She rejoined her officers, “We’ll be on a shuttle down shortly.”

“At least not as far as any legal authority knows.” She shrugged

17:49

“Not yet!”

"You're back!!" Holly grinned, genuinely glad she was no longer responsible.

3

Timi had fetched himself a nice big phaser rifle on the way down that he'd slung over his shoulder, as well as a phaser pistol on his hip. He waved at Marze, before settling near the back of the crowd. He was planning to be the last one in and the first one out again.

Ehlai, despite what might have been his better judgement, joined the away team with a need to prove himself.

“Lovely.” She laughed, moving to tie up her hair (it was time to lock in, of course), “A larger team may be for the better.”

“Welcome to Shuttle Bay. Please try not to break anything.” She laughed

William looked to see Suun approaching again, then gaze a little so-so gesture with his hand. "We'll see. Did you happen to get any new info on the bridge?"

“I might be of help on an away team, since I could fix faulty or broken equipment. Hard to get out of there if your ride doesn’t work.”

Surprise Khirena appearance! She’s driving! Don’t worry, though, this wasn’t her first time behind the controls of a shuttle craft by a long shot. It was one of the first things she’d ever flown for real, actually. She waved to everyone as she walked into the shuttlebay. “Hi everyone!” She said cheerfully, heading up to the front so she’d be ready to board first and get to the helm to get started.

“We should prepare for hostility, even if it’s in vain. Better safe than sorry.” She told him, before nodding to Aatha. Seeing a cadet at the helm was a surprise, but a pleasant one, as she smiled at Khirena.

”A pity, Commander. You guys should learn how to party like Klingons!” And as soon as those words came out she noticed a very familiar face. Well fuck her with TWO chainsaws. She wasn’t sure if she felt happy he was here or if her stomach had dropped in anticipation of fucking up big time in front of him. Wait… since when did she care about that? What? She waved back, still indecisive about her own feelings on the matter.

“Besides, I’m good shot if anything goes down.” She said, not joking anymore.

"Driver, jailbreaker, diplomat, ..." Holly counted off the people she saw and recognised, "Fun bunch."

Coordinates for the landing spot was already plugged into the shuttle, a couple miles out from the scientific facility the away team was to investigate.

“Functional and multi-talented. We’ll be just fine.” Suun replied, “How many do we have with us?”

“Sounds more like a heist then an away mission.” Though, it wasn’t really clear why they were going down to the planet, she supposed that I could be a heist. Hm.

“Me, Marze, and the Cadet who I haven’t been introduced to yet. Not sure about anyone else.”

She whispered a head count, just for her own sanity, eyes darting around the group before nodding. “Ready?” She looked to Timi with a friendly tilt of the head.

She steeled herself “Whenever you are.”

17:59

She pats herself down, making sure she has her tools and weapons.

“I’m Khirena!” She said, assuming the Cadet Aatha was talking about was her. She didn’t stick around long, though, hopping into the shuttlecraft and getting into the helmsman’s seat. Their course was already plotted, and once she started everything up, they were ready to go. “Everything’s ready on my end!”

"I hope I am ready..." Ehlai mumbled quietly to himself before he looked at everyone else -- noticing how confident many of them looked.

And go together they did. Hey, the doctors were here! Dakom was of course not going to be participating in the introductions, so he just stood off to the side looking far too moody for a middle-aged man. Even on inhibitors, a crowd could still give him a headache. Or maybe that was just the tense anticipation of what would surely go better than every other mission he'd been on, right?

As if appearing out of thin air Aoife spawned next to Timi, likewise with a phaser rifle held in front of her as she tinkered with its settings, you couldn't take the tactical training out of the girl.

Timi motioned toward the shuttle with two fingers in response to Suun, a universally understood sign for "let's go". Then, he started herding everyone into the shuttle, taking up the rear with Aoife.

Holly glanced around at all the Intelligence officers suddenly appearing out of thin air. Perhaps this was going to be more intense than anticipated after all.

She looked over at Ehlai “Hey, you got this. Don’t be scared.” *She said as she took out a phaser rifle out of seemingly nowhere.”

With a nod, she boarded, rolling the number of people around in her head to quell some of her nerves. She took her seat, folding her hands in her lap.

As soon as the shuttle was ready to go, it was time to set down in #ber-forest.

"Wait! don't leave without your science detachment!" He waved his hands as he came out of breath, woah the away team was a decent size, hopefully they had a doctor "Hello holly! hello suun!."

She quickly maneuvered her body inside as people made her way in, making sure to find a seat and her rifle. Of course she had noticed Aoife coming in along with Timi, she chose to simply to keep to herself on that matter. Professionalism, right? Right.

“Good timing, Ensign. Nice to see you.” She greeted Vokk. And so, they were off!

Sak was just behind Vokk and stopped behind him. He saw a few old faces.

Vara'l, with a hand phaser secured in a holster on his person and a phaser rifle in hand, headed onto the shuttle with the others! He nodded as he passed to some people he recognised.

She stepped into the shuttle, finding a seat and finding her confidence.

"Are you..." He had a hand halfway toward Dakom's shoulder, then dropped it. "Let's go." And so he go-ed.