Lieutenant Rai watches the exchange between Lt. Anderson and the CPO uncomfortably. Whatever his intentions, Anderson's intemperate remarks seem to be crafted to put the junior officer on the defensive. If this is how he makes first impressions, she's glad she isn't going to be under his command.

" Lieutenant Dul," she says, striding up in front of her new commanding officer," I understand I'm to report to you. Lieutenant Rai, Life Sciences Department. I'll be your science officer aboard the Cuyahoga."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:20, Fri 15 July 2016.

In reply to Gian Seingalt (msg # 2):

Cynthia grins and says, "Why, Lieutenant, are you trying to chat me up?" She is a dark blonde with a peaches and cream complexion and deep blue eyes, with a dimple in her left cheek when she smiles. "I've been here for 2 years as the Commodore's aide. I'm hoping to someday command my own ship; maybe one of the big Explorers. So, I'm an ambitious type of gal. Look, you have work to do and so do I. Maybe we could grab a drink at the O-club this evening - say 1900 hours? You're not scheduled to leave until tomorrow at 0800 hours."

Admitting nothing, Gian flashes an unassuming grin to Cynthia's question. When she suggests a drink later, he responds, "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll see you at 1900."

He departs with a friendly goodbye and a nod, and heads over to the Cuyahoga. "Let's see how this bird is put together."

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 5):

Petty Officer (third class) Faisal Altanin wanders over to Mac and comes to attention. "Salaam," he says to Mac, "I see you're the FC on the Kitchissippi. Fine ship, sir, fresh out of the Utopia Planitia Yards on Mars." Altanin is a swarthy Human male in his mid 30's with short black hair, a trim pointed beard and a nose like an axe blade.  He turns to Shione, "She does have a minor fluctuation in her Simmons Array, but still within specs and it should settle down as she gets broken in."

In spite of his clearly distinctive appearance and his Starfleet uniform, Argent was often perceived as some sort of 'pet'... not anyone's specifically, but served that function in the human scheme of things. That meant he went unnoticed, about as much as a normal house cat was... until it wanted attention, of course.

So he arrived at the launch bay without fanfare and immediately blended into the background. He made a circumnavigation of the runabout because it seemed like it was something he should do. At the end, all he could saw was that, 'yes, it was a runabout', even a shiny one.

He then found himself by his group leader, one Mac Anderson. He was just in time to hear Mac's 'barely civilized' comment. Despite what he was saying, Argent knew the man would not be in Starfleet if that was the case, and certainly not in charge of anything!

"Hello, Lieutenant Anderson," Argent began when he'd caught the officer's attention. "I am Argent Merawdr, your science officer."

He gestured at the runabout as he added, "Have you kicked the tires yet?"

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 9):

An announcement comes over the tannoy. "USS Lena arriving. All personnel clear the bay doors." The launch bay force field flickers into existence with a blue flash and the huge doors slide open. An amber rotating light over the doors calls attention to the spectacle.

A Runabout glides into the launch bay, guided by the transparent blue beam of the tractor array. It settles silently into a vacant space and three crewmen hurry forward. The hatch opens and a short Tellarite steps out to greet the maintenance crew.

"Lieutenants Anderson and Dul, please report to the USS Lena to receive your crew members." chirps fron Mac's and Cassiadora's combadges. A male Caitian with tan fur steps out and begins to walk nonchalantly to the group, followed by a short Human female and a Saurian, both in Science blues.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:17, Fri 15 July 2016.

Following alone, Cassy observes.  Gian Seingalt - Flirty.  Over confident.  Too cute for his own good.   a'Ndruhsgn (she makes a mental note to remember the name), MacArthur, Anderson - passive aggressive.  Possible unwillingness to trust his crew?  Shione... A passionate Betazoid-Vulcan... maybe.  Diplomatic and enthusiastic.  Argent Merawdr.  Cassy had little experience with the Caitian though this one seemed unassuming.   Prashanthi Rai....

She turns to the woman and smiles as she introduces herself.   "A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Rai.  I look forward to seeing what you can make of this thing."  (A 'technical' term of course but referring to the Sphere rather than the shuttle.)   And as Gian walks over to the ship Cassy will add, "Lietenant Seingalt - good of you to join us."

The arrival of the Lena cuts further conversation short and Cassy nods to the pair.  "If this carries on long, why don't you two take a look around her and brief me when I get back?"

And with that she'll turn and head towards the Lena as bid.

In reply to Cassiadora (msg # 12):

The Caitian Lieutenant Commander greets Cassy with a grin which bares his teeth slightly and says, "You must be Lieutenant Dul. I'm M'Rel," holding out a hand which has white fur, in contrast to the golden tan hue of the rest of  what you can see of him. He gestures to the Saurian Ensign. "This is Ensign Sosal, your Physicist and junior Science Oficer. He's on his first tour out of the Academy."

Sosal is a short, wiry semihumanoid creature with purple microscaled skin and large amber eyes. He fairly quivers with nervous energy. "Very pleased to meet you, Ma'am. Or do you prefer 'sir'? It is my greatest hope to serve under your command to your satisfaction." His voice is high and piping. He reminds you of a scrappy little pet you met in San Fransisco called a chihuahua, eager to please.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:08, Sat 16 July 2016.

Gian acknowledges the lieutenant with a nod and a "Ma'am." When she moved on to the Lena, he turns slightly toward Rai.

"Lieutenant," he says by way of greeting. "Feel like joining me in a walk through?"

"Ship Shape, Chief," Mac said approvingly. Then he listened patiently as the EO somehow imagined that he was incapable of reading maintenance logs... but EOs were notorious for being off their rockers a bit. Continuing to let Kurasa talk, he let himself in through the port entry and stepped inside, nodding absently and breathing in the 'new shuttle' smell.

"That's ah, great Kurasa. Great." He slid into the FC station and began to tap systems power on in cycles and compare their readouts with the maintenance logs.

Only flicking a glance from the console, Anderson smiled at the PO as he poked inside the shuttle.

"I see! It's an ugly name, but she looks straight. Does she have a dedicated sensor pod we'll need to grab before we take her out to the Dyson, or will we be picking up station stores there as needed? I know it's a little bit more involved than just normal mission loading, even though I'm more of a Class 2 kind of guy... I read up on the process but the Danube's are still new to me," he explained.

He was about to reply to the Caitian Science Officer, Argent when the deck reporter chimed in with the Lena's arrival.

"I guess it's time for me to stop fiddling with my g'Khagzk and get back to work," he said sheepishly. "Hold that thought," he told PO Altanin as he got up and stepped down out of the
Kitchissippi, blinking a bit at the slightly different lighting.

"Kurasa, Merawdr, let's go smooth our skirts and smile pretty for our final crewmember!"

In reply to Mac Anderson (msg # 15):

Shione smiled at the FC's brisk manner,but followed him into the ship and in a few minutes satisfied herself that the Kitchissippi was up to specs on all systems.

When Lt Merawdr stepped up she waited until the lietenant turned away before moving up to introduce herself
Lt Merawdr.? I'm Shione Kurasa.It would seem we are to be colleagues "

She hesitatingly extended a hand unsure of Caitian social protocol
I hope we may become friends.

When Lt Anderson mustered them to go meet their fourth crew member Lt Merawdr notes a slight raising of an eyebrow at the "Smoothing of Skirts "comment,but no other sign ,showed as she answered with an Aye,aye Sir

OOC Assuming the maintenance logs would be accessible from her station.BTW,What is the Simmon's array?

In reply to Shione (msg # 16):

OOC: Dunno, just made the term up on the fly like they do on the shows. It's just a non-vital piece of the sensor system with multiple redundancy.

The final member of your crew is a Human woman named Talia Gröen. Talja is short, with pale skin, grey eyes and dark hair, and pretty, though not really beautiful facial features. She wears her uniforms slightly loose to soften the effect of her physique, making her look slightly dumpy. To Shione's and Mac's practiced eye, she appears to be rather muscular rather than chubby and moves with a gymnast's grace. She seems somewhat shy and speaks with an ever-so-slight German accent. She says softly, "Pleased to meet you."

M'Rel looks around at the crews and says, "Once we're all done here, I'll meet you all at the O-Club for an inaugural drink. On my tab..." He seems cocky and self-assured, and walks off with a swagger. He stops briefly by Argent and says in Caitian, "Hi, there. Nice to see another cat on the team."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Sat 16 July 2016.

One of the hardest things Argent had to learn at the Academy was to suppress his natural instincts when in the presence of others. Caitians still got a lot of sensory data from the sense of smell, so his natural instinct was to 'sniff' new people. Very few humans realized that.

When Shione introduced herself and extended a hand, he had no problem shaking it in response.

"Pleased to meet you, Shione," he replied, making sure he pronounced her name correctly. "That would seem to be the situation... working together."

He noticed her raised eyebrow when they were directed by Mac to accompany him to greet the fourth member of their team, but he had no idea what it meant. Human facial expressions still tended to confuse him. Caitians normally picked up that sort of emotion indication from scent, not visual clues... except, of course, when someone was agitated.

At M'Rel's greeting, Argent replied in Caitian, "Yes, a familiar scent is always nice." He looked around the floor for the mentioned 'cat' before he realized that M'Rel had meant him! Fortunately, Caitian's can't look sheepish.

In reply to Argent Merawdr (msg # 18):

M'Rel notices Argents's surprise at his use of the term "cat", "Sorry, been picking up bad habits from Seth," He says indicating the sharp-faces Bajoran who followed him out from the Lena. "My crew," He says indicating the Bajoran, Tellarite and a smart-looking Haliian woman. "Lieutenants Seth Bern from Bajor, Tal from Tellar and Aquaal Leiliri from Haliia."

"Bad habits?" says Seth, "I'll have you know I'm fully trained in handling both cats and swine!" Tal kicks him lightly in the ankle but grins widely.

Tal, a short and relatively lean Tellarite addresses Shione and Gian, "I take it you're completely type-rated on the Danube class? M'Rel and we are on our second - the Thames was destroyed in the battle with the Kapecki - you do know about them? The Lena is our replacement and we hope it lasts longer. Say, are any of you into archery?" Seth grimaces at that last.

In reply to Gian Seingalt (msg # 14)

" An excellent idea, lieutenant'" she replies."We're going to be spending a good deal of our time in close quarters; may as well start acclimating to it now."

She enters the Cuyahoga through the port hatch, lingering on the bridge as she gave the stations cursory glances. In her capacity as a science officer, most of these systems didn't mean much to her, save for sensors and environmental controls.

" Haven't had to share quarters since the Academy. Any preferences for climate settings?"

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 19):

Shione laughs merrily at the banter and when Tal asks about archery she speaks up

"I've tried it.I'm a hunter and prefer the natural methods.More fun that way.",she grinned at Seth's reaction

I do have a bow,but haven't yet managed to get the best out of it.
Any pointers would be welcome Lt"

She turned and looked at both M'Rel and Argent "Do you get the "Cat" comment much?I'd hope that Starfleet personnel  were better mannered than that!?"said with a nod and a smirk for Seth

In reply to Shione (msg # 21):

Tal replies, "Just stay away from Bern, here. He's an arrow magnet. How many times is it now, Seth?"
Seth replies grumpily, "Just the two, and the second was an accident!"

M'Rel says with a grin, "It's just too bad nobody has a Bajoran handling skill. It's just in fun - nobody takes it seriously. When Bern is managing not to get stuck by arrows, he's actually reasonably professional. And Leiliri is around to patch him up when that happens."

(spelling corrected)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:16, Sat 16 July 2016.

Cassy will accept M'Rel's hand and shake it appropriately before smiling at the introduced Sorian, "Ensign Sosal.   Pleased to meet you and Ma'am will do, thank you.   I expect this assignment will be one to remember and one the other Ensigns would have given their eye teeth for!"

The O-Club....   Cassy hadn't intended taking the evening 'off' but it made sense.  Meeting the crews in a social setting would hopefully set them at ease and begin to foster relationships.  "Thank you.  I'll see you there."

With M'Rel chatting with the others she'll focus on her Ensign, "Shall we go and meet the rest of the crew?"   Assuming a positive response, she'll head towards the shuttle.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 22):

Over the next few hours, the crews do a thorough checkout of the two Runabouts. Shione manages to find the cause of the fluctuation in the Simmons array. It wasn't a problem in the array itself, but in the EPS relay which powers the array. After the Engineering check, Mac and Cassy take the Runabouts out for a few quick orbits of the Felakon system along with the Lena, engaging in a few mock wargames and astrobatic manoeuvres. Both Runabouts perform flawlessly, and M'Rel pulls a few manoeuvres which surprise both Mac and Cassy. Argent and Rai do a number of sensor calibration scans which also go flawlessly. Both Runabouts check out green across the board, and at about 1600 hours they rendezvous back at the launch bay. The day's tests on the ships has left everyone with a thirst and a growling stomach. The O-club is starting to sound tempting, even to Cassy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:42, Sun 17 July 2016.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 24):

As the crews disembark from their ships Shione speaks upCommander M'Rel!.What's the dress code for supper ,sir?
And when are we meeting?

OOC This was spoken loud enough to carry to all 3 crews

"Dinner? Are we doing a crew dinner tonight?" Gian asks, slightly confused.

In reply to Shione (msg # 25):

"Nothing so fancy as a dinner, Gian. Just drinks and supper at the O-club. Shione, we'll keep it simple, just come as you are," replies M'Rel non-chalantly. Except when actually dealing with duty-related matters, "non-chalant" seems to be M'Rel's middle name. "Tal, no sucker-punching Klingons."

Her ship's 'once-over' and its shakedown went smoothly and for that, she was grateful.   It was also good to get to know a little bit more about the ship and her crew and their skill sets during the 'shakedown'.  M'Rel's showing off revealed a little more about his character too - but there were no surprises there.  That said, by the end of the day she was ready to relax and while the O-Club was not her thing, she's already made up her mind to join the crew.

Then as M'Rel suggested they head for the O-Club and remain in their uniforms, she nodded.  Good.  Keeping things 'formal'for the time being made far more sense to her - especially considering Gian's flagrant flirting earlier!

"Good work with the array, Kurasa," the bronze-skinned Xenexian said earnestly on their way out of the Launch Bay.

"Now, if you don't mind I'm going to catch a sonic and change clothes whether M'Rel thinks it's necessary or not."

When the man arrived to the Officer's Club later on, he was indeed cleaner having piled his braids up and perhaps added a few more colorful beads to his beard, along with wearing his Xenexian religious alternate kilt and clan baldric. Even before he arrived he was sipping carefully at a long-stemmed pipe filled with mellowing f'Tczmon herbs and blue sodium silicate solution, blowing a rather sweet-to-iron-tainted-rancid smelling smoke out in small puffs afterward.

In reply to Mac Anderson (msg # 29):

"Thank you,Sir.Glad to be able to solve it"