Mei'konda

There's a type of cat called a tuxedo cat. Can't beat this!

Very proud of our little Bynar crew members! Recently promoted to full Lieutenant, the joined pair showed their rank when attempting to reign in one of our Security officers. And good work from you too, Matthews.

Astraeus' Most Wanted! Our enlisted crew put up the extra 25,000 Latiunum. They're really tired of vacuumiing all the fur. [[ This, and all of the other Astraeus posters, are for showcase only. We will not be participating in the contest this year, so no votes for us please, but do enjoy our shenanigans! ]]

Congratulations, everyone.

Welcome aboard, Ensigns! Happy to have you!

Welcome aboard, Ensigns! I hope you love your time with us!

Good ol' @Valin Dermont. Not just humorous, as he almost always is, but this time, he shares a wonderful anecdote with @Noa T'Nessa Levinson about why his beloved coffee is so, well. Beloved.

Welcome aboard! I hope you love your new postings!

Wow. Just WOW. That is amazing!

More Vulcan humor, during a wonderful medical scene being written by @Solok and @Elizabeth Snow as they replace our chief Nurse's spine, during a post-mission surgery!

(( Had to share this great sim from Lieutenant Amuro McKnight, as he and his wingman flew in their Valkyrie fighters and created a wonderful fireworks display above the Astraeus' saucer as a New Year's celebration occurred! )) (( Main Arboretum, Deck 7, USS Astraeus, 239912.31, around 2350 hours )) After Amuro accepted his award, he quietly stepped away from the crowd and nodded to his lady, who was already waiting for him near the entrance. As everyone else was distracted, the two made their way to the shuttlebay and into their fighters where the others were waiting. In total, he got at least 5 of them for the demonstration. Amuro caressed his fighter with his hand and stopped at his personal emblem, a Knight on a horse. Then, he hopped in. McKnight: =/\= Alright, love. Let's dazzle them. =/\= Zarax: Powering on his Valkyrie, Amuro took a breath, he synced his craft up with the others. An upgrade from his last ship, the ship's complement of fighters were the latest Valkyries. A good way to ring in the new century by showing off some new toys. McKnight: =/\= Everyone good? =/\= He listened to the others chime in as they prepare for launch. Zarax: McKnight: Alright, love. Let's go. Control, this is Spartan Zero-One. Taking off. Zarax: The 5 fighters came soaring out of the shuttlebay before getting into formation. They came about and headed straight for the ship. McKnight: =/\= McKnight to Serala. We're coming in, Commander. Everyone better look up. =/\= Serala: On cue, the Arboretum's windows changed so the attendants could view the space outside and see the approaching fighter wing. McKnight: It's fireworks time. Getting very close to the ship, Amuro held his course until the last second. McKnight: Steady....and..break! Break! Almost too close for comfort, the fighters went up and over the ship's saucer, skimming along the hull as they deployed their "fireworks", creating trails of epic multi-color displays across the ship's outer surface. Amuro's fighter did a bit more showing off by spinning around in a barrel roll as he flew over the ship. Normally such a demonstration would take weeks to months of practice for even skilled pilots, but Amuro was able to quickly plan a complex but simple flight path for the fighters' computers to follow. They were mostly on auto-pilot and would only take control for the more hard turns. Syncing all of their systems is critical for this to work correctly, less they start getting into each other's flight paths. McKnight: We're doing good. Keep up. Zarax: Once over the saucer, 2 of the fighters broke off and remained close to the hull. They began to circle the ship from the tip and made their way around, flying in opposite paths, one clockwise and the other, counter clockwise. Amuro's flight path made sure the two would not cross and endanger the pilots or the ships. Once their circles are complete, they would meet at the top and fly straight up, deploying more fireworks. From inside, the crew can see the demonstration in full with external images looking outward and from many angles so they can get a full picture of what is going on, with the computer changing viewpoints to keep the audience engaged in the spectacle. McKnight: Time for the finale. Amuro in the lead with the other 2 fighters came back towards the ship after the first pair had broken off and made their circles. The 3 deployed something that gave the effect of "smoke trails" in space, each with different colors. As they flew past the top of the Astraeus, the "smoke trail" began to sparkle and started to dissipate but Amuro turned his head to look back for one last thing to top it all off. McKnight: Missile away. Amuro's fighter fired a flare that flew towards the smoke cloud. It was harmless and designed to explode, igniting the "smoke" above the ship to create one last great fireworks display. McKnight: =/\= This is Lt. McKnight to Astraeus. Happy New Year's, everyone. =/\= As the fireworks started to burn out, Amuro smiled a bit at a job well done. McKnight: Alright, gang. Fun's over. RTB. Zarax: And with that, the fighters returned to the shuttlebay to conclude their performance. Lieutenant Amuro McKnight Security/Tactical Officer USS Chin’toka D239302AM0

I had to send an appreciation out to Esa Kiax for this great description her player came up with for the Ops center of the Astraeus! ((Operations Centre, Deck Four, USS Astraeus)) Esa had spent the first four days on board the Astraeus familiarising herself with the ship, it’s layout, and generally getting herself settled in her new quarters on Deck 5. They were much bigger than her quarters on the Chin’toka and Atlantis – possibly even bigger than the square footage of them both combined, but of that she wasn’t certain. Now, however, it was time to ingratiate herself with the 206 new members of the Ops team. Well… not all of them were new. But the Astraeus had a much larger crew compliment than the Chin’toka, so the majority would be. The moment Esa had arrived on board, she’d been told by the transporter operator that she should really check out the Operations Centre when she had a moment. That moment was now. As she stepped through the doors, she was instantly halted in her tracks by the sheer scale of the room before her. The double entrance doors actually didn’t open out directly into the room, instead forming the end of a short tunnel-like section. As she walked toward the centre of the room, it became clear just how much of a central hub for all shipboard operations this room was. Along the wall directly opposite the door was a large Master Systems Display, with a number of smaller displays showing a variety of different monitoring states. In the centre, an interactive 3D-hologram of the ship was lazily spinning in the middle of a small plinth, surrounded by a number of small stations. Several officers and petty officers alike stood at the stations, manipulating the holographic ship as they went about their tasks. Every now and then, a group of other officers would rotate in and use the projection to zoom in on a specific area of the ship, helping them visualise the resource use in that area and enable them to make more informed decisions. Around the edges of the room stood a number of large stations for mission ops, shuttlebay ops, life support, environmental systems, cargo bays and logistics, and the holodecks. Along the left side of the room, raised above the pit-like hive of general activity from the bulk of ops stations, there were dedicated stations for the Transporter Chief, Quartermaster and Flight Operations Manager. On the right side of the room, atop the other of the raised platforms, stood a glass fronted office which overlooked the space. It was nestled in the back corner of the room, and cut the corner at a 45-degree angle. Emblazoned two-thirds of the way up the middle panel of glass was the traditional Operations insignia, with the words “Chief of Operations” printed underneath. Inside was a large, three-panelled half-hexagon shaped console against the window facing outwards, with a desk placed centrally behind it facing in, allowing the occupant to utilise the rotatable chair to switch between desk work and console work. In the other corner, was a large open plan area, with yet another holographic projection unit, and accompanied by a few wall mounted stations and a large Plotting Table. The wall behind it was printed with large red letters that read “STRATEGIC OPERATIONS”. The plotting table was an interactive surface, showing a map of the current area of operations for the ship – the Par’tha Expanse – though it was fully reconfigurable to show any other areas as desired. Esa marvelled at the space, and the sight of finally having all the individual areas of the ship that fell under her jurisdiction managed from a central location. She could already see the intra-departmental cohesiveness and collaboration increasing with such a space, and no doubt it would encourage a significant rise in inter-departmental cooperation as well. With this, they could work seamlessly with Noa and her Science department, and those in the Command division for managing shipwide activities. It almost reminded her of a mix between the historic Launch Control Centre at the Kennedy Space Centre, and the old European Space Operations Centre in Germany. Kiax: I could really get used to working on these types of cruisers… And with that, she set off into the fray – meeting and greeting all of her new officers.

I've never looked so delicious!

Welcome aboard, everyone!

My dignity! Ouch, it hurts!