Ryan King

A great innovative post from my fellow Security/Tactical grunt Ensign @G'var. Great work! Holodeck 2 USS Veritas )) // Security Officer log - Stardate 239511.18 - Ensign G'var, reporting For the last two days Commanders Blake and Kelrod have been running the crew through combat simulations on the holodecks. Lt. Cmdr. Blake has assigned me the task of training the Gamma shift crew in close quarters drills. I have been assigned Security Chief Endilev along with Crewmen Bicondova and Welling. The Team and I have had little rest. We have been working through the alpha shift for their training time. Commander Kelrod's expectations are that we get all crew through the holodecks for close quarters as well as ship to ship combat. Tholians are an unknown when it comes to hand to hand combat, Starfleet's own records are limited. It seems the Tholians don't board ships, so much as capture in them in their webs and flood them with radiation, eliminating the Crew and any need for close quarters combat. Chief Endilev and I have been working with the Medical and Engineering crewmen on techniques for self defense, while Crewmen Bicondova and Welling have been running ship to ship and spatial combat drills. My Team has worked tirelessly and without complaint, each deserves commendation for their work in preparing their shipmates for any coming battles with the Tholians. // ::G'var stretched her arm as she watched Chief Endilev run the last group of engineering specialists through a simulated combat drill against a pair of Tholian soldiers. She smiled inwardly as the engineering team quickly isolated and contained the Tholians. Moving her hand across the control console G'var decided to add an extra Tholian to the encounter. Crossing her arms G'var watch the Crew's reaction as another Tholian ripped its way up through the deck spraying the corridor in debris, raising its weapon it began firing towards them indiscriminately. Tholians used compressed radiation beams, anyone caught in one would not survive, so as her team had been instructing them, the crew moved to the bulkhead seeking as much cover as the corridor provided. Staying calm the crew returned fire, weapons teams had recalibrated the phasers to fire in the upper harmonic frequencies. One of the computer specialists scored a direct hit shattering the upper carpis of the Tholian. Momentarily disoriented it began firing wildly down the corridor trying to kill whatever had wounded it. Again G'var smiled inwardly as the crewmen continued to follow their training, keeping under cover and laying down suppressive fire. A second team approached from the starboard corridor and neutralized the threat. Letting a small smile show G'var knodded in approval of the crews performance, at least the last two days hadn't been for nothing. If the Tholians did board the Veritas the crew would be as ready as possible. ::As the simulation ended G'var made a few notes on her PADD, the crew performed well, perhaps she need to up the threat level for the next crew. The Tholians were not going to be push overs. If they did board the crew needed to able to handle themselves. G'var looked up as Chief Endilev approached, his White hair mated to his scalp with sweat, antennae still twitching, rifle at pointed down at the deck.:: G'var: don't tell me your tired Chief, we still have 5 more Teams to run through drills before the end of shift. Endilev: Not all of the crew are warriors Ensign, we have doctors, explorers, and scientists onboard too. ::G'var raised an eyebrow at the Chiefs comment.:: G'var: I understand that Chief but very soon they will all become warriors. The Tholians do not care whom they are attacking, just look what they did to Astrofori One. Endilev: That's true Ensign, but if the crew is to exhausted to pick up a phaser rifle they won't be any good when the Tholians do arrive, they need a little rest. ::G'var crossed her arms again, what the Chief said wasn't wrong, but the crew needed to know their limits and how to overcome them. If you don't know your limits your as good as dead in a fight and worse you'll get others killed with you. It was their job to get the Crew ready for a fight. The crew got to be tired when the threat was over, not before.:: G'var: Give'm 10 minutes to hydrate and rest then run them through Drill Theta Alpha Seven, got me Chief. Endilev: Aye, Ma'am! ::Chief Endilev nodded curtly and left the room.:: G'var:-oO I hope the Chief's not to upset, but we don't have time to rest, HA! Time, with all that's happened in the last two days time is a luxury we seem not to have. The crew has to be ready to respond, for whatever awaits us, for whatever these TIC Agents have planned. I cannot fail them. Once this is over I'll apologize to the Chief, but for now we have to get everyone ready.Oo ::Cough:: ::G'var spun around to find Crewman Bicondova standing at attention behind her. Standing almost a foot taller than the crewman G'var new she intimidated the young Terran, she could smell her anxiety, but the Crewman steeled herself and showed no sign of fear on her face. A young face, soon those blue eyes would possibly see real combat.:: G'var:-oO was I ever that young and naive? It's good the girl is in control of her fear, she will need that in what's to come.Oo G'var: At ease Crewman, report. Bicondova: Ma'am, Welling and I have completed the last round of ship to ship simulation with the Medical staff. ::Hands G'var a PADD.:: The Average time of survival is 12:15 minutes before the ship is destroyed. At 20 Tholian ships the crew gets overwhelmed . Welling and I feel that we should adjust the simulation to add support from the Montreal as well, it may help the odds a bit more Ma'am. ::G'var studied the PADD for a few moments checking what the Crewmen had reported. A little over 12 minutes before the ship was destroyed, against three hundred ships not to bad. The odds were still long though. Commander del Vedova may be on to something, perhaps a diplomatic solution was the answer, two days of drills had just proved that a direct confrontation with the Tholians only ended in disaster. Mr. Ekal being here proved the future was not set and changes could be made. Kahless always said the greatest victory is the one that came without battle. G'var: Tell Welling to add the Montreal into the next Simulation, but add one more Tholian ship at each 30 second interval, Let's not make it to easy. Bicondova, Aye, Ma'am. > ::The Crewman did a smart about face and quickly headed back to holodeck 1. Studying the PADD for a few more moments, involuntarily flexed her right hand, G'var knew the majority of the Crew had never seen what it was like in hand to hand combat, many had seen ship to ship engagements. However, Spatial combat lakes the intimacy of close quarters combat, seeing the look in another beings eyes, feeling their breath on your skin, hands on flesh, that was an experience few on the ship had. G'var breathed a calming breath, giving a small prayer to Kahless:: G'var:-oO Kahless give us the wisdom to know when to fight and when not to fight, Kahless give us the wisdom to know how to fight this superior foe, Kahless give us the spirit to fight with honor, Kahless, give us the time to prepare for the coming battle.Oo :: Looking at the chronometer it had almost been ten minutes since the last battle drill, strapping on her mek'leth, G'var gripped a rifle from the rack and entered the Holodeck. Nodding to Chief Endilev, she looked around at the engineering team relaxing on the floor.:: G'var:::charging the rifle.:: Alright Third Herd ready for another round! ::looking exhausted the Crew on the floor slowly began to stand:: G'var: Everyone on your feet.::G'var walked down the corridor inspected each crewman and looking each one it the eye.::: I know your all tired and want to go to your bunks. ::beat:: I know each of you is scared of facing over three hundred Tholian ships. ::beat:: To be honest so am I, and if your not afraid then you're either a liar or a Borg. :: beat:: It's what you choose to do in spite of that fear that will make you all warriors. ::The crew nodded in agreement:: G'var: Kahless said that a true warrior wins first then goes to battle. ::beat:: That is what we must to, beat the fear in your heart, then only together can we go into battle and be victorious. ::looking back to the Chief:: Chief spin up the holodeck.-::looking to the rest of the crew::- Alright you Mugatos, lets kick Tholian Carpis! Ensign G'var Security/Tactical Officer USS Veritas V239511G10

An excellent post by Ensign @Geoffrey Teller on board Veritas. Coffee aficionados of the world, unite! ((OOC: During shoreleave, a few days after the awards ceremony)) ::Between the full repair schedule and the personal project Teller had been working on, he hadn't had much time for sleep in the last few days. Exhausted and wiping his hands on his crumpled uniform pants, Teller took a moment to look around the converted conference room that had so occupied his waking hours with a smile. The place didn't look like much yet, but the parts he'd been able to scrounge or build had come together nicely and the crew had been enthusiastic to help. A few empty transport crates stacked two high and three across serving as the bar at the rear of the room, with folding chairs and transport crates covered in spare emergency blankets serving as seating around the room. A large, stylized rendition of the Vertias itself was stenciled on the bulkhead covering the rear wall and, Teller hoped, caught the eye as you walked in. It would distract from the otherwise utilitarian setting, at least until they made their way to the serving station. Teller inspected the converted atmospheric pressure monitoring gear anxiously, making sure the unusual array of tubing and cables still didn't show any signs of leakage or trouble. Content that things were as ready as they could be, Teller headed behind the bar into the small hydroponics bay he'd created out of a disused storage closet. Teller smiled at the small bushes which had already born their first seeds, the very same ones that were rattling through a combination tumbler/roaster he had assembled out of a geological mineral analysier that had been slated to get reclaimed for replication mass. The room smelled of nutrient fluid and the bright lights were well balanced for the needs of growing plants, but Teller could already see he'd need to expand this part of the shop soon or they'd be opening a new arboretum on this deck. The beds themselves were amazing technology and had cut the growing time of the trees to a tiny fraction of what they'd need in soil on a planet, he just hoped it wouldn't affect the flavor badly. As he inspected the readouts on the hydroponic beds the tumbler/roaster chirped successfully and ejected a vacuum sealed canister out one side. Teller looked at it apprehensively. Either this canister would contain the thing he'd been desperate for since he came aboard or it was another failed experiment and he'd have to try again with a completely new batch. Opening the seal gingerly, Teller took a tentative whiff of the freshly roasted beans, judging their color and casing with a practiced eye. Eyes widening in surprise as the heady aroma of the caffeol, Teller smiled widely.:: oO Oh these will do just fine. These smell better than anything the replicator can spit out on its best day.Oo ::Teller took the beans back to the bar in the main room and poured a portion into the grinder he'd assembled. One part modified ore sample processor thanks to a colonist on Havelys Hope, one part molecular analyser lifted from the remains of a tricorder, the grinder automatically calibrated itself to produce a grind perfectly tailored to the bean, not too fine or coarse, or so Teller hoped. He had started this project with nothing much more than the dream of a decent cup of coffee on his mind but, like most projects, this one had sprawled and took on a life of its own as soon as he started building. Tapping the controls on the side, the grinder whirred to life and began crumbling the beans down into a fine powder. While he waited, Teller resealed the precious beans into their storage container and tapped a few buttons on his makeshift pressurized water pump and brought the temp to 91c and the pressure to 58kg.:: oO I'm going to need to train a team of monkeys to run all this for me, or I'm going to need to get to my shift an hour early. I wonder if anybody on this ship knows how to run a bar. Maybe once these poor people have a real cup of coffee, they'll start lining up to do it. Yeah, right.Oo ::The grinder completed its work and dispensed a perfectly formed puck into the waiting filter basket with a chime, smoothly tamping down the edges into what used to be a biological sample collector, now re-purposed. Lifting it away from the grinder and connecting it to the pump, Teller was pleased to see his machining skills hadn't degraded in his time at the academy. The flush connection between the pieces looked perfect and Teller could see no liquid or steam leaking from the seams. Teller went to draw the first shot but then realized he had forgotten something critical.:: oO I didn't make any mugs! Replicator has made me lazy, it always provides the cup and the drink at the same time. Hmm... Oo ::Teller walked to the replicator embedded in the wall and considered his options briefly. The catalog had a wide variety of cups and containers he could choose from already on file and with time, he could design and fabricate his own design from scratch. Looking around the room again with a smile, his sights set on the stylized Veritas behind the bar.:: Teller: Computer, load image file 'Teller theta six one.' Resize and apply it to mug design sixteen, variant c and produce two dozen, half tumbler sized, half full sized. Execute. ::The computer churned on the request for a moment and then materialized a tray of mugs, each bearing the artistic Veritas in silver on the black vaccum flasks. Teller was pleased, these would keep peoples coffee piping hot all day and wouldn't spill on a duty station due to their sealed lids and adhesive base. He hoped the Captain wouldn't mind the bit of artistic license. Lifting the tray, he returned to the bar and stashed the mugs underneath. Setting the pump for a quadruple shot, he placed a small shot glass under the dispenser and hit the switch with crossed fingers. Within moments, the rich aroma of dark brewed coffee began to fill the small space and Tellers smile spread further. Checking the pressure gauge, Teller was pleased that the deeply re-purposed gear was performing as hoped and within 20 seconds, the very first real shot of espresso ever brewed aboard this ship was ready for him:: oO Looks good...got three bands of color from light to dark, a nice crema on the top...nice even blend. Only one thing left to do. Oo ::Teller inhaled the aroma of the shot with a happy sigh, brought it too his lips and took a hesitant sip which quickly turned into a desperate gulp.:: oO Perfection. Absolute heaven in a cup. I haven't had a cup this good since I left the yards. Old Jan would be proud. Oo ::Energized by his success, Teller began drawing additional shots into the newly printed mugs. Teller briefly considered making a cappuccino or a cortado, or even a 'Vulcan Hello,' but stopped himself. He had traded for some 'milk' from the colonists as well but he didn't think he was up to that much experimentation just yet, especially when the coffee itself had come out so perfectly.:: oO Alright, I need to make good on my promise now that I'm relatively sure this won't kill anybody. Oo ::Senses buzzing with the infusion of caffeine, Teller finished making drinks and shut down the apparatus. Putting the pump and grinder into a cleaning cycle so they'd be ready for the next customer, Teller looked around his little contribution to ships morale with a deep sense of satisfaction. Teller decided now was as good a time as any.:: Teller: Computer, where's the Captain? Computer: The Captain is in her quarters. Teller: =/\= Teller to Captain Rahman =/\= Rahman: =/\= Response =/\= Teller: =/\= Sorry to disturb you Captain. Wanted you to be the first to know I've completed the project we discussed at the party and I've got some very promising results I'd like to share. =/\= Rahman: =/\= Response =/\= Teller: =/\= Understood Captain, I'll be right there. Teller out. =/\= ::Teller grabbed two of the sealed mug and the vacuum sealed container of beans, then headed out of the converted conference room.:: oO I really need to think of a name for this place. Maybe...Veritas Brewing? Nah. Core Breach Coffee? Nah. Warp Plasma Roasters? Damn, this was going to be harder than building the place. Oo ::Teller headed to the turbolift at the end of the hall, whistling off key to himself, an extra bounce in his step.:: ((A few minutes later, Outside Captain Rahman's Quarters)) oO Hope she likes strong coffee. This stuff could take the paint of a hullplate but damn if it isn't tasty. Oo ::Teller depressed the call button on the Captains door and was asked inside. The Captain was at her desk working, a cup of replicated coffee cooling at her side. She stopped working on her console long enough to look up at the diminutive Ensign and the items he was cradling. Teller snapped to attention as if in a parade line.:: Teller: Captain, thanks for letting me run with this. I hope you're as happy with the result as I am. ::Teller placed one of the vacuum sealed tumblers on the Captains desk reverently and took a respectful step back.:: Teller: What do you think, Captain? Good enough for the Veritas? Rahman: Response Tags & TBC =============================== Ensign Geoffrey Teller USS Veritas - NCC 95035 Capt. R. Rahman, Commanding V239509GT0

As a Californian who picked up and moved to Washington D.C., I just want to say that the Admiral is 100% correct.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a quick moment and introduce myself. My name is Ryan King and I sim for the newly graduated Ensign and HCO officer aboard the U.S.S. Excalibur-A, Daniel Underwood. I'm originally from Sacramento, California where after a few years of getting my act together, I attended junior college and transferred and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. I now reside in Washington, D.C. where I work in communications for Congress. ::Ducks the rotten eggs.:: I came across the group on a google search and remembered the fun I had simming for other groups in the past. Many thanks for the awesome welcome, I look forward to the experience!

The hiss of a broken seal brought Daniel Underwood mind back to reality. He had only been standing in front of the hatch for five minutes. But the glass in front of him had caught his attention. There was nothing new about his reflection. Disheveled, thick dark brown hair crowned his head. A strong, pointed German nose, a biological gift from his fathers ancestors and a square-set jaw line. His face barely betrayed the fact that he was nearly about to turn 30. Most folks that met him barely thought he was in his second year at the Academy; let alone about to graduate. Daniel yawned quietly. He felt as though his mind had atrophied on the brief ride to Starbase 118. He hadn't flown so much as a holodeck simulation in two days and he hated not being in control of his own course -- whether it be in life, or on a starship. Daniel reached down and grabbed his small bag, hanging it quietly over his right shoulder and placing his right hand on it to keep it firmly pressed against his side. He'd already gotten the side-eye from an elderly Andorian for accidentally bumping into her with it and hoped to avoid a similar altercation. Though he was known for his lack of patience, he had even less patience for testy old ladies, no matter their species. The great huddle of people -- around 50 in all -- gently moved as a great lumbering mob as the passengers disembarked from the transport. Daniel weaved around a little to try and get a better view of the area. Luck was not on his side though; three six-foot Klingons formed a pungent wall in front of him. "Thank God I didn't sit next to them." He thought aloud, a slight southern drawl escaping his lips, and then winced. Daniel stood quietly and attempted to fall back a little. If the Klingons had heard that comment, he wanted to give them a little space so he could duck any knives being thrown at him. Fortunately for Daniel, the Klingons didn't seem to hear the petite 5'6" Human and proceeded on their way. Heaving a sigh of relief, Daniel moved further from the airlock and into the Starbase proper. "Here we go." He thought, keeping his mouth firmly shut this time.