Hc Svnt Dracones, Part II

Posted on Wed Aug 14th, 2024 @ 6:15am by Lieutenant JG Rala & Lieutenant JG T'Pinga

Mission: Doing What We Do Best
Location: Chief of Operation's office, Deck 5
Timeline: prior to "Preparing To Intervene"

T'Pinga arrived at her office and looked around. This was her office now, for better or for worse. She figured it could use a little...decorating, as the humans might phrase it. Nothing much - a few small plants here and there would go a long way. She would speak with whomever was overseeing the ship's Arboretum (usually the ship's botanist) about seeing about appropriately procuring a few plants.

She sat down and began working on a padd for the planned ops department meeting that she'd briefly mentioned to Lt. Valleroy earlier.

It wasn’t long before Rala found her way to the office and pressed the chime. She was curious what T’Pinga would be like. She’d met Vulcans before, to be sure, and knew generally of their high regard for logic and disdain for emotions, but she’d never served directly with one until now.

Upon hearing the door chime, T'Pinga said, "Enter." The doors opened to reveal an individual who looked something akin to a dragon from the mythologies of several planets, dressed in a Starfleet uniform. "Lieutenant junior grade Rala, I presume?" T'Pinga said. "Please, come in."

Rala nodded and stepped inside, once again making sure her tail was clear of the door. “Lieutenant T’Pinga, right? It seems I’ve been assigned as your assistant, and I was told to check in with you.”

T'Pinga nodded. "Lt. Valleroy similarly suggested that I meet with you early on when I came on board." She paused for a moment. "Would it be appropriate for me to say to you to have a seat? I admit that, outside of 3 Caitians that I have served with, I am not very familiar with the seating requirements of species that have tails."

Rala chuckled. “Your uncertainty is understandable, but it’s okay. Very few of the chairs and whatnot that seem to be standard-issue on Starfleet ships and stations seem to be designed with tails in mind at all, let alone those of species like Draakri.” Her tail—almost as large in circumference at its base as her thigh and tapering to a whip-like tip—involuntarily swished once. “That said, while it’s not perfectly comfortable, I can manage...for a while.”

"Hopefully we shall not take too long with this meeting," T'Pinga said. "First we should see if there are any questions or issues that we feel might need immediate addressing within the department before we depart. From what I have read while en route here, there have been no major issues to bring up, beyond what might be expected for a ship of this...nature. Do you have any particular immediate questions yourself or feel that there is anything that should be addressed?"

Rala tilted her head, one of her ears flicking uncertainly. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you just came on board, right? So did I. I’m still getting settled in, both literally and figuratively; my promotion, ship transfer, and the shift from Engineering to Operations all came as something of a surprise—plus I never expected to get placed in a position with this much responsibility so abruptly. It’s...rather overwhelming, and I’m not quite sure where to start.”

"Change is something that I have found is unavoidable. Certainly recent events, as you have noted, are proof of that. But we can also use those to our benefit, and do not need to be afraid. After all, from my understanding you specifically requested a transfer to Ops, saying that you did not have a desire to not be buried in the bowels of the ship all the time."

Rala gave a wry smile and a small snort of laughter as T’Pinga spoke, verbatim, the words she’d used when she’d requested that transfer. “I did, yes. But that was almost a year ago; I’d kinda given up on actually getting it.” She paused, smirking. “I didn’t realize my exact phrasing had been included in my file.”

"The person who included it made note that they felt it demonstrated your desire to show initiative," T'Pinga said. "For right now, I plan to handle any major items in the department myself, which there do not seem to be any at the moment. For whatever faults there might be with this vessel's crew and whatever conduct got them assigned here, either past or present, the ops department looks to be largely in order. Early on we should make sure to meet the other members of the department. Once we see to that and make sure that the departmental duty roster is up to date, we can proceed from there."

“It was more a desire to actually see some stars with my own eyes more than once or twice a day. I love tinkering with machines, but machines aren’t the reason I’m here.” Rala idly scratched the side of her snout in thought. “I guess, for now, my only questions are what my duty shift and station will be?”

"For the time being, I will be having you here with me on Alpha Shift," T'Pinga said. "Most of the rest of the members of the department have already been on board for a while, with the exception of the new boatswain, and Beta and Gamma Shifts are, at the moment, sufficiently staffed to meet current needs. Also, from the reports I have seen all are handling their jobs suitably well that I see no need to otherwise...shake things up, to borrow a human phrase. Your responsibilities will to see to various operational aspects that might need more direct in-person involvement than would normally be handled from the bridge ops position. If you feel up to it, there may also be opportunities for you to handle the bridge ops station if I am assigned tasks that would take me away from the bridge, and perhaps even the occasional away mission if the situation calls for it."

Rala nodded. “I would like to get some bridge time in, when feasible.” One of her ears folded back as she thought for a moment, then straightened. “No other questions are coming to mind right now.”

"It was agreeable to meet you, then, Lieutenant," T'Pinga said. "If there are any further questions, please do not hesitate to let me know. I might suggest getting settled into your quarters as best you can before we depart on our next assignment, as we may get busy in the near future."

Rala nodded. “I think I’ll go get my standard medical checkup done, then go start unpacking. Thank you, sir.” With that, she left the office and headed for Sickbay.