Promotion
Posted on Wed Nov 1st, 2017 @ 7:17am by
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 11:29am
1,581 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 1 - Pioneering Spirit
Location: USS Pioneer- XO's Office
Timeline: MD002 1000 Hrs
Tags: SD 71364.1000
Jaxs had those butterflies in her gut that some people talk about. She was the type of person that feared very little. But for some reason coming on this new ship. Knowing that she had just gotten promoted and was now the Chief Flight Control really had the nerves working over time. She had greeted the quartermaster when she came on and had her things taken to her room. Her first stop was to check in with the XO.
Finding her way around the ship was not a big deal as the Hawk was the same class. She stood outside the XO's office fighting with herself to calm down. Stop being silly its just another day and a new post. She pushed the door chime and fixed her uniform.
Patricia looked up from where she sat, her good leg propped on the table as she mulled over the communica in her hand. Starfleet has landed her with a whopper this time around. Seemed that although she was technically the HR of the ship, the number of officers was by far out weight by the enlisted. It meant is needed to make a note of getting a Chief if Boat as a matter of urgency...it’d help relieve her stress but the Chief was more knowledgable in the way of enlisted than she herself was and he or she could prove to be vitally important in that regards.
As her thoughts were interrupted by the door chime, Patricia swung her leg down before sliding the PADD into her desk drawer. A brief glimpse checked that her desk was in order. “Enter.”
As the door slide open. Jax experienced a subconscious calming sensation when she saw another female sitting on the other side of the desk. There was something about a fellow women that calmed her. She had her share of walking in a room and a man looking back at her like a piece of meat.
Jax walked up to the desk. "Hello, Ma'am. Lieutenant Junior Grade Storm reporting as assigned." She said as confidently as she could handing over her PADD with her orders on it.
Moving to her feet, Patricia collected the PADD from the Lieutenant with a small smile before indicating to the chair on the other side of the desk. “Lieutenant your very welcome to the ship. Please take a seat, can I get you a drink or anything?”
"A sweet tea would be great." As she took a seat taking in the decor of the room. It was a very clean and orderly looking office. The chair was much more comfortable than her seat on the transport she had taken to get to Empok Nor. "So I wasn't able to get much info on her but is the Pioneer a new ship or did they just do such a good job cleaning it has that new ship smell?"
Moving across to the small personal replicator, Patricia issued her request for one sweet tea and one tumeric tea, removing both as they materialised, bringing them back to her desk. “She is indeed brand new. Newly commissioned and we get to be her first crew. Which will also mean you’ll be one of the first to test her driving capabilities.”
Jax smiled at that idea. "Intrepids are an amazing ship. They have so much automation my job will be rather boring." She laughed. Jax felt at ease around Patricia. "But I heard we have all sorts of cool shuttles I might get my hands on."
“I’ll be completely honest...the Captain would know the technicalities of this place better than me.” Patricia replied with a laugh before taking her own seat, holding the tea between both hands to savory the warmth. “On last count I believe we have eight shuttles, a runabout and a workpod.”
Jax grinned at the thought of all those toys to play with. "Well Ma'am I am excited to serve here. This will be my first time as a department head."
As they had been speaking, Patricia had freed one hand from her cup and started to scan through the woman’s file in order to get a proper feel for her. “Well now...I’m not sure I’ve seen a record quite like your own before, Lieutenant. Why the move from fighters to piloting space craft?”
"Well I had gotten the chance to work at the Helm when I was station at 39 before I went to the Academy. I enjoyed managing the multitude of systems it takes to fly essentially a brick. I loved the quick maneuvers and response of the fighters but the challenge of making a flying brick do some amazing offensive or defensive maneuvers makes me get very excited." Jax started rambling before she knew it. She showed her passion for flying and sometimes it was hard to bottle that.
"After I graduated from the Academy they decided due to how well I did in my schooling that instead of sending me back to a fighter group they thought it best to put me on the Hawk." She finished her overview.
"That must be some difference, changing from such a lightweight and maneuverable vessel? A Starfleet ship must feel heavy and clumsy in comparison?" Pushing the PADD to the side of her desk, Patricia turned her focus back to the woman infront of her as she tried to learn more.
"It took some getting use to, but like I mentioned I love thr challenge to push the limits of the bigger ships to prove just how effective they can be." She oozed passion in her words.
“What was it about flying in the first instance that attracted you to the career?” The passion was hard to miss, in some way it made Patricia feel relieved that the person driving the ship would do so well but on the other hand the officer found herself hoping that their trips didn’t end up being a little hair raising and wild as that same passion might create a wild streak in the woman.
"It started young I was by my dad's side while he fixed any and everything including hover-bikes and transports. I would help him fix them and sometimes test drive them. Once I learned what was going on I started to build my own custom things and fly them." She said explaining where her passion came from.
“What brought you to the Starfleet Starflighters? Why not come straight into the academy and into a ship?” Patricia sipped her tea after she spoke, watching the woman over the rim of the cup.
She took a sip of her tea as she thought of the best answer. "Well to be honest I think I was used to going fast with small craft that it made the most sense to jump in a Viper class and tear stuff up. They are very fast and can maneuver like a dream."
“It must have been difficult going back to the Academy at a mature age? How did you find the four years and integration with your fellow cadets?” Patricia probed a little deeper to see if she could find out more about the woman herself.
"You know I got the question a lot when I first arrived. I think it is because I just don't really care if I fit in or not, that I didn't have a hard time. I found that the younger cadets especially the male ones paid special attention to me due to my age." Jax chuckled at the thought of all the young boys and some girls hitting on her. "I was glad I waited because I would not have had the maturity to do well right away. Going later I had grown up more and had experienced a bit in the field."
“What do you think you might be able to bring to the ship and your staff with your experience in the field? Do you plan on an element with your people of exercises based on small craft as well as big?” Patricia smiled.
"I have started to look through the files that have been assigned to us and plan on having them split in two specializations with the chance for cross training. The ones with the most experience in ship ops will be my dedicated Helmsmen. While those that have more experience in fighter or shuttles will be assigned there." She laid out her plan for the department hoping the XO would approve.
Patricia nodded her head and appreciation of the ground work the woman showed she had already undertaken. “It’ll be primarily enlisted that you’ll find amongst your ranks as our officer entitlement is lower than the average. It would be good for you to also keep in touch with our Chief of Boat if assigned one; if not please let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
Jax nodded in understanding. "I am looking forward to this new adventure and working with you. Thank you for being so welcoming.”
Moving to her feet, Patricia held her hand outstretched as a smile crossed her lips, “Welcome onboard Lieutenant Storm.”
A Joint Post By:
Lieutenant Commander Patricia Montgomery M.D.
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jacqueline Storm
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Pioneer
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