Showing Off

Posted on Sun Jul 8, 2018 @ 1:37pm by Commodore Michael Aravan & Ensign Athyle sh'Paveress

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Quartermaster's Office
Timeline: MD 1 || time? [Backpost]

Ensign sh'Paveress knew they'd be busy on this mission. So many refugees would be beamed aboard, and there would so much to look after while glancing over your shoulder just to make sure there wasn't a Romulan ready to strike. Relations with the Romulans notwithstanding, she didn't have to be Betazoid to feel the tension around the ship. Everyone was happy to help, but they were just unsure how things would go.

What she hadn't expected was to deal with in all of this was a bit of ignorance from the Operations department. Chief Barnes was occupied with the particulars of the mission, and he'd left her to deal with another officer, this one being the ship's quartermaster.

Until the mission was over, every use of phasers was to be taken seriously, even if they were just being used as a welder. It was the quartermaster's recent use of a phaser, even in a controlled situation, that brought her to the quartermaster's office. Athyle hoped that Chief Barnes' attempt to keep security at bay would work, even as he juggled the primary mission parameters.

"Ensign Mol?" she called out, entering the room, carrying nothing more than a PADD.

The chirpy blue Ensign poked her head out from behind a holographic terminal. "Yes?" she responded politely and then paled a bit when she saw it was the Andorian who was a stickler for protocol.

Athyle looked around the room, and found it as orderly as it could be. "I'm surprised you're not stretched thin given our current status."

"I'm Bolian, not elastic," Mol replied. "We don't give much. Besides, there's only so much that can be replicated or pulled from stores at one point. What can I do for you, Ensign sh'Paveress?" she asked as she looked back at the terminal and made a few adjustments.

Straight to business it seemed. "I understand that you outfitted Lieutenant Stone today for a standard duty uniform."

"Stone....Stone," Mol mused before she pulled up the record. "Yes, Ensign," she said. "He was here at zero eight hundred this morning for it."

"Am I correct in assuming that it was a uniform that is considered standard issue aboard the Triumphant for security, marines, and command staff?"

The Bolian frowned and pulled at the fabric of her own uniform. "Then why am I and everyone else I know wearing the new uniforms?" she asked with a bit of confusion.

Of course Athyle knew that the uniforms had been disseminated to everyone by now. Shoot, she'd even handled the paperwork on that herself. "Sorry," she said. "It's been a long week."

"Are you as overwhelmed as the rest of us with all these new changes and this amazing ship?" Mol asked her with a bit of sympathy.

"By the ship?" repeated the Andorian. "Overwhelmed by the upcoming mission, yes, and also trying to keep members of the Operations staff out of trouble."

"That's Chief Barnes' job, isn't it?" the Bolian Quartermaster asked.

"It's his and mine," replied Athyle. "When the Chief gets detained, he expects his Assistant Chief, me, to keep an eye on things."

"So I expect you're here about Lieutenant Stone's uniform and after review?" Mol asked.

Ensign sh'Paveress presented a confirming nod. "Internal sensors registered the use of a phaser in this room before 0900."

"That is correct," the Ensign replied. "It was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the new uniforms on setting one."

"And if there had been a defect in the uniform?" Athyle asked. "Besides, even though the uniforms are capable of absorbing that low amount of energy, it still causes stress on the fabric."

"Then he would have been stunned for about ten minutes," Mol responded. "And we have the capacity to replicate new ones for the next twenty years."

"We have the capacity to replicate as many as we need, yes," Athyle said, attempting to mask her frustration. "But why did you feel the need to demonstrate on a live subject, a member of the senior staff, no less?"

"Uh, what if it had been defective in a situation where there's a fight?" the Bolian asked. "I thought testing was standard procedure. Besides, he stripped his uniform off here in the office before I had his new one replicated."

The ensign had a valid point, and it would be one that she'd take up with Chief Barnes. "Testing isn't a requirement. While we as operations staff can rationalize shooting a member of the senior staff," and there were a number of people on board that Athyle wouldn't mind seeing shot at setting one once, "Security might frown upon that."

Mol couldn't help but smirk. "I don't see them volunteering to shoot each other," she pointed out. "Besides, if we didn't test them...we'd get blamed for someone thinking they could take a phaser hit, then complain when they lose a limb."

"Then what would you propose, Mol?" Athyle asked. "Testing every uniform that pops out? Each crewmember has at least five uniforms issued to them. That's over one hundred thousand uniforms on this ship. We can't keep shooting every single one that pops out of the replicator the first time."

"How about we set up a phaser tester for the uniforms as soon as they're replicated?" he other Ops officer asked.

"Something like that is going to need security's purview. I don't know about you, but I prefer something with less hands in the cookie jar." Athyle gave it a moment's thought. "We just need something to come up with a burst of energy. Something that can act as a phaser without attracting attention."

Mol pulled up the personnel manifest and looked at it for Security. "Wow...Security has six hundred personnel. They can spare one for every shift."

"What about something a little less daunting?" Athyle asked, thinking that not everyone relished the idea of willingly submitting themselves as test dummies. "Perhaps we can build an apparatus that tests the uniform using a jolt of energy within a shielded, but transparent, cage?"

The Bolian thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. That's feasible. I still like the idea of shooting officers, though."

"Perhaps we should consider a transfer to security then," suggested Athyle. "Or a career as a mutineer? I hear those are often short-lived though."

"I'll have to pass on those," Mol responded. "What's next?"

Athlye shook her head. "Nothing else. I'll get the fabrication teams on the apparatus for you. In the meantime, no more shooting personnel. Leave that to security."

"Very well," the other Ops officer said. "I'll see you later, Ensign."

"Carry on," Ensign sh'Paveress replied, providing a slight nod before departing the Quartermaster's Office. She had a few stops left on her journey, and she knew that her next meeting with the janitorial staff would be far less pleasant than the trigger-happy Bolian.