Shakedown

[1st Lt Kestra Elbrun]

Kestra listened to him as he told her that he already read the reports on Tolnac II. “That is why I am here for, sir.”, she said to him with a smile. She knew of how much she is depended on the ship. Her duties includes of maintaining the mental health of the crew. To ensure that all crewmembers are capable of performing their duties unhindered.

Kestra stood up from her chair before continuing to speak. “I can go ahead and start my rounds now if there is nothing else for me on the bridge, sir.”, she replied to him. Now would be a good as any to make her rounds. She wanted to make herself available to the crewmembers when they needed to talk to her. She also knew not to push too far. Some do find it as intrusion if someone persists to know every little problem that they have.

She waited until he replied before leaving the bridge and continued to watch different people coming and going on the bridge. After she spoke, Kestra watched Colonel Allen exited the bridge and entered into the Ready Room without one word to her.

Kestra turned, walked up to the turbo lift and entered. She thought of which deck to head to first and thought she could check on Lt Roberts.

"Fighter bay.", she replied. The turbo lift quickly desended to the fighter bay deck and the doors opened for her. She exited the turbo lift, walked down the corridor and entered into the fighter bay. Kestra looked around for Lt Roberts.

[Sergant Thomas Kinsely]

Thomas stopped firing and placed his rifle aside as he rested up a bit. He grabbed himself some cold water to drink quickly, one right after the other. He knew of how hot it will be after a long jog while in a full biohazard suit and did not care too much about it. Thomas wanted to be on the safe side to drink plenty of water before the jog. A Marine should always drink plenty of water, unless he wants to end up passing out from heat exhaustion.

After the ten-minute break was up, he found his Bio Hazard gear and suited up in it. He made sure that every piece of detail on his gear was in place. Once he made sure that he had everything on right, Thomas went in formation for the jog.

Luckily, he already conditioned himself for the endurance. A game of Rugby may look easy, but try to play a game of it during the heat of the day. Any good athlete knew better of how heat can affect a person.

[ltcolonelallen]

Thomas listened intently as Jaylas talked about her home and even showed him a Hologram of a large underground city.He made mental notes on how the clans work names and so forth.

In truth he was very impressed on how ingenious their society was.Resourceful,creative ,and used to family.Except for Akoval she must feel very alone he thought.

"Well Jaylas I can see how your people have made it so far.I must admit your culture is very advanced in many ways yet you have managed to keep its simplicity at the same time."

"I wish I could say the same thing about Humans.We tend to get lost in our technology and it seems family is becoming less important as time goes by."

He sipped his coffee,"I am glad you have Akoval to help you out as I am sure he is glad to have you."

"If you don't mind me asking how was your child hood?"he paused for a second."If I am getting to personal please let me know."

"That is what I am trying to do with the Tarawa,make the crew a family.I want everyone on board to realize they are just as important as anyone else.I am trying to make sure we can all learn to depend on each other."

He stopped and chuckled,"I know this may seem odd to many but that is what I believe makes a great ship.Not her speed or her fire power,it is her crew and the fact they understand that when things get rough they can without question understand they can depend on each other."

"Thats why I am asking you so many questions,we have to be examples of what I am trying to do.I am trying to understand you and become friends with you."

"I understand you hardly know me but I need you to trust me as I need to trust you.If things get bad it will be you and I that the crew looks to."

Thomas stopped and took another drink of his coffee,he hoped she was understanding where he was going with this and why all the questions.He firmly believed in the family concept aboard a Star Ship.

[kellyroberts]

Kelly jumped up from day dreaming about Zar when Akoval came in.He chuckled as he described the physical.

"Thats the Doc for ya,she loves to torture people I think,"He replied laughing loudly.He began to go over the diagrams again when he saw Kestra enter the hangar.

"Hello Kestra how are you doing today?Have you met my new pilot Akoval?He really knows his stuff,the Tarawa is safe with us heroic Fly Boys covering her."He laughed again as he was joking around.

"Seriously what brings you all the way down here?"Kelly smiled hoping she and Zar had patched things up.

[1st Lt Kestra Elbrun]

Kestra sees where 1Lt Roberts was standing at and walked over to him. “Hello and I am feeling very well today. Thank you for asking.”, she replied with a smile.

Kestra looked over at Akoval and smiled over at him. Watching the reaction of his antennas unnoticed. She remembers meeting him at the dinner a few nights ago and found it very interesting to have Andorians on board the ship. “Yes, we have meet before at the dinner a few nights ago. I am happy to know that both of you are in the fighters, knowing that USS Tarawa will have a lot of help in dispelling any further attacks.”, she replied.

Kestra could not forget about the Marines as well. They were there, too, to help to dispel any further attacks that will come to be in the future. Each one of them has some kind of hand in the matter, no matter how big or smile the help is.

“I have come by to see how you both are doing. I know that you have come right after the attacks on Tolnac II, but I have learned that sometimes some people are affected by a single attack, even though they were not there when it happened.”, she replied to 1Lt Roberts.

Kestra remembered reading about some of the Earth’s history and about what happened in a place called New York. Even though it happened many centuries before she was born, it still affected her when the Twin Towers fell. So many people had died because of one man’s disregard of life. She did not understand why such a man, like Osama Bin Laden, would cause so many innocent people to die and to have young men go to their deaths for a senseless cause. Kestra always prayed to the Gods that they watch over the souls of the ones that have passed away in the attacks and the fine young men and women who died in the war followed by the 9//11 attacks.

Kestra stood there and waited to hear a response from 1Lt Roberts and Akoval.

[Major Jaylas Aniri]

She listened to him as he spoke. Quietly sipping her ice water. It was a drink that was becoming her favorite or was it that it was needed to remain hydrated. While the temperature was within the high tolerable range, it still required her to consume more liquids then usual. And ice water seemed to satisfy that need more then other liquids.

"My childhood. It was," she smiled while her antennae nodded slightly while remaining curved toward him. "very happy and pleasant except for a few incidents. My Kethni are what you would call ranchers. We maintain a decent size herd of ashklar (roughly equivalent to the Terran antelope), which necessities growing fat grass. The main stable of the ashkar diet. Each year at the need of the mating season, from the herd a number are chosen to become our food for the upcoming winter. Others are chosen to be sent to the market as either breeders or food. Then we would hold a great feast and dance."

"It wasn't until my first puberty that I was allow to attend the dance. It would be too late for one so young. Do we have the technology for replicators, and such? Of course, we choose not to. Besides the taste of fresh meat is far better then what a replicator can produce."

"As a young child, we would play a very dangerous game. Much to our parents dismay. However that did not stop us. We would chase the, " Here is where she showed the holo image.



"they are similar to your caterpillars. However they produce a enormous amount of heat which allows them to bore into the ice. They travel in swarms. And if they fall on you, you will be burned seriously. There was a child," here is where her antennae drooped. "he received burns over 20 percent of his body. He died from a resulting infection"

"I had a zabathu it would be similar to one of your horses. I work hard one year to earn it. When I left for the academy for the Imperial Guard he was old. The first year I was there he died."

"Once when riding the zabathu I was heading in a northern direction. I did not realize the passage of time or how fast I was going at one point and I came upon the fringes of the Northern waste lands. I have an image of it. It so impressed me with its beauty." She handed him another holo image.



"As you can see Andor is a very cold place. Our summers if there is what you would call a heat wave may reach slightly above freezing."

She stopped to have a few sips of her ice water. Allowing all of this to sink in, and to give herself more time to chose what to say next. And to see if he had anything to say or ask.

OCC:: all pictures shown have been taken from Star Trek Memory Alpha. Who without them this post would not be nearly as good as it is.

[ltcolonelallen]

Thomas listened as Jaylas went into much greater detail about her home,her culture and her family.He noticed her antennae bent forward as she talked and her mood seemed to lighten.

He made a mental note of that and listened further.He was surprised to know they had replicators but never used them for meat.He had eaten fresh meat of course but perhaps he was so used to replicators it was not a big deal to him.

He was fascinated when she mentioned her first puberty.He wanted to ask exactly what that meant but decided otherwise.

He watched as she pulled up another Hologram showing for a lack of a better explanation,extremely hot caterpillars.He was astounded that they chased them for fun.

He nodded when she talked of a friend who was burnt during this game and never recovered.He noted the more she talked of her world the less rigid she became.

He looked at the Hologram of the wastelands that she rode to.Thomas was amazed how a culture could be so advanced yet simple at the same time.

It was not a bad simplicity at all,in fact it sounded wonderful how they could keep their heritage and not loose any of it as they advanced.

He smiled and took a sip of Coffee,"Thank you Jaylas for painting such a wonderful picture of your home and your life there."

"I must admit a summer just above freezing is a little cold but I would love to see it some day.Who knows perhaps one of our assignments my take us close to your world and you could give me the grand tour."

"I am beginning to understand more about you and your people.That will go a long way in our working together."

He offered her more ice water,"Now do you have any questions about me?"

He leaned back and waited to see if she did.

[navycob]

Chuck continues his scans of the surrounding area. Long range of the local nebula and short range for anything else that might slide into sensor range. Recording all of the data for his reports.

[navycob]

Gas cloud densities. Particulate matter and composition. Heat traces. Gravitaional forces and variations. Al of these things Chuck scanned, measured and logged. To most, maybe very boring work. But to Chuck, one of the most exciting things he does. Since childhood, he has looked at the stars, wondering how they worked, how far away they were, what affect they had on the surronding space. Now here he was, studing a star nursery. To coin a phrease from a famous Star Fleet Science Officer..."Facinating!

[Lt Cmdr Melvin Moon]

He walks onto the bridge, and sees Col Allen and his XO go into his ready room. He breathes a sigh of relief, knowing he was late for his shift. He glances over to Helm and sees Zarlena, working at her console. He smiles at her back, some of the feelings he has for her coming to the surface. Then knowing she is Betazoid, he stamps those same feelings back down again, deep down. He then focuses on his Tactical station and checks what readings it shows him, and checking weapons inventory

[kellyroberts]

Kelly nodded solemnly as she mentioned Tolnac."I am fine Kestra I only wish I could have been there to help.Then maybe I could have somehow saved some lives."

He smiled,"As a pilot you do learn one thing however.Things happen so fast you have to learn to put regrets behind you."

He leaned up against a fighter hoping he was making sense."If you dwell in the past when you are in a dog fight or think about too many things thats when you get killed."

"I know it may sound cold but its not.I hurt like everyone else does and yes I have lost good friends on my last ship.I miss them everyday."

His smile disappeared."But I cannot let that affect my flying,to tell the truth when I am out there i use my piloting skills to honor the fallen."

Kelly knew even though he had a major crush on Zar and they were good friends he had to put that in the back of his mind.

If not once he was in a fire fight he was a dead man walking.

[justmeamh]

Amy was amazed at the information she got on Major Aniri and Akoval as well.She kept looking it over trying to understand their physiology.

She had underestimated their strength,they were stronger than Klingon's.They had an incredibly fast metabolism as well.And their immune system was so complex as well.

She looked up from her Medical PADD,"Mathew,Kasia I think we need to get together and take a look at this."She transfered here info to their Data PADDs.

Mathew would you please pull up the additional data you put on the mainframe?We need to have a closer look at it as well."

She waited for the information to come in and the others to join her in her studies.

[morganconner]

Morgan waited for the break to be over and watched as the marines quickly formed up.Nodding she activated her comm in her helmet.


"OK LADIES we are now going to do a ten kilometer run.Remember to breathe evenly and stay in formation.If anyone feels faint or short of breath stop and see the Doctor.''

She started the run her Comm still on,"I don't know but Ive been told navy bars are made of gold.Come on marines sing in cadence with me!'

She wanted to test their stamina but she knew singing in cadence kept their minds off the run and helped them control their breathing without even realizing it.

She lead the formation around the track glancing back making sure they ran in formation.

[kasiakaz]

::Kasia came over to rejoin the two doctors and takes a data padd from Amy.:: "Very interesting" ::She commented looking at all of the data.::

[1st Lt Kestra Elbrun]

Kestra stood there and listened to what Kelly was saying. She senses what he is feeling and thought for a moment of what right words to say before speaking. “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leaving footprints in our heart, and we are changed forever. They are the ones that we all want to honor. We all have to learn to put regrets behind us or we have a hard tome walking forward.
, she replied to him.

Kestra knew that we learn most of what we know from mistakes. If we get burnt, cut, bruised, scraped, or a knot on our head, we just do not do that way again. Good judgment always comes from experience, but, unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment. Moreover, a person who never made a mistake has never really done anything.

Kestra understood what he was talking about.