JDL | Cpt DiAgessi & Cmdr th'Zarath, CO & CEO | "Melding of minds and metal..."

Posted on Sun Nov 5th, 2017 @ 1:19am by Commander Thelin th'Zarath & Captain Aine DiAgessi

Mission: The Round Table
Location: Station Operations, CST

He was like the proverbial dry martini from a certain set of spy novels from the 20th century on Earth, shaken, not stirred. The doors of the turbolift jammed as Thelin made his move to exit into operations and the half opened door also revealed another issue that he added to the PADD that threatened to fall from his hand with every jolt along the trip, the lift had finished it's journey almost three feet short of the level it needed to actually reach to have considered arrived at it's destination.

Clambering out was distinctly undignified and used all of the strength he could muster from his cybernetic arm to force the doors to open completely, he dragged himself to his feet and kicked the doors which slammed shut, the lift juddered for a moment before tearing away from it's partial destination and disappearing down the turboshaft.

The sound of ruckus stirred the young Commanding Officer from behind her desk. At first it was something gentle, just noises filtering through her open door, and then it became much more violent with metallic screeching and grinding and the primal grunting of a creature trying to free itself. She followed the sounds, one foot after the other, until she witnessed (with gratuitous horror, mind you) the Andorian pull himself free and kick the lift doors. The thing promptly disappeared and with it dropped her jaw, "I knew it!" She hissed, feeling the familiar chill of fear running along her spine until she realized the Andorian was still standing there, "I mean... Jesus! Are you ok?!"

"Those damned things are going to be the end of me, remind me to beat some sense into whatever idiot has been given the job of fixing this bucket!" Thelin replied with a laugh as he turned from the death trap that had just tried to claim him and looked over the woman who'd commented on the situation, his eyes flashed to the collar and the colour of the uniform as he slipped his PADD into his uniform and came to attention, "Captain! Commander th'Zarath, reporting for duty."

"At ease, Commander... Please. After that performance, no need to stand at attention." Aine chuckled lightly and shook her head, waving the Andorian down from his quick hop to respect, "So long as you handle whoever is responsible for the lifts, you never have to come to attention again. Promise." Some things were more important that salutes and the tradition of greetings between officers and their superiors; the swift ass kicking of lax engineers that nearly kill everyone on a station being chief among them as far as the young Captain was concerned, "Follow me to my office, we'll get you taken care of and back out in the wild."

"Wild indeed," Thelin replied as he fell into step behind her as she led him towards her office, "And if I'm not mistaken, Starfleet have decided that I'm going to be the one responsible for these death traps, I'm to be your new Chief Engineer, Captain." he added as the pair made their way into the office, he'd regarded her carefully and noted the way she definitely seemed to own the space she'd been given, from his own experience he knew what it was like to be in her position, albeit on a much smaller scale.

"Well at least they sent someone who isn't afraid to man handle the things. I think they've been allowed to get away with murder for far too long. Pun intended." She smirked and found her seat, fingers gesturing to one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, "I didn't enjoy being stuck in one of the freight lifts. I was actually wanting to ask you if it would be possible to install some kind of signal repeater in them? I understand that they're intended to haul rather interesting materials, but we could have been free a lot sooner if we'd been able to use the coms."

"I'll see what I can do, Captain," Thelin replied with a slight smile and a nod at her sense of humour, it was a rarity in his experience to have a Captain who had retained theirs, his antennae twitched slightly and angled towards her, "From my brief inspection of the spares manifest, I can see that we should have what I need in stock, however I know that these are not always as accurate as we would like on a station of this age."

Aine's shoulders rose and fell in a quick shrug, "I'm going to leave that up to you, Commander, ultimately that's your wheelhouse. Whatever you need in order to accomplish the task of getting things settled and fixed, just ask and you shall receive and if you receive push back from anywhere... I'm sure we can find ways to overcome it." She nodded briskly, the chair beneath her hissed as she cocked backwards and settled in, trying to relax in a venue filled with calamity. "I think the station as a whole is proof that anything is possible, though I warn you that it's quite eclectic and that you'll likely need to proceed with an open mind if you're going to make it through without losing your sanity in the process."

"Oh it's very rare someone pushes back against me, Captain," the Andorian replied with a sly smile as he watched her recline into the comfort of her chair, "I find that they would rather give me what I need than face the wrath of an angry engineer, plus keeping on my good side is always good when you need to call in a favour." he added with a chuckle, his right arm shook with his chest but his left arm stayed comparatively still, "As for my sanity, my former Captain on the Anderson used to say that sanity is for the weak."

"Then I suppose it's excellent that I have no intent to piss you off." The tawny woman smiled, "I have better things to do than irritate my Chief Engineering officer, especially one that was once in command himself. That would just be stupid." She chuckled lightly with a shake of her head, "I think I rather like the idea of the station eventually running correctly, you know... Priorities... Hopes... Wants... Needs. You get the idea, I'm sure."

"Well, Captain, it's my job to make those wants and needs happen and I hate to disappoint, the station repairs will have my full attention until this place is running in fine form." Thelin replied with a broad smile, he reached up to rub at the line in his chest where his prosthetic met flesh and bone, "As for being in command previously, that can still be a bit of a sore subject at times, at the close of the war Starfleet Command decided to decommission my ship and reassign my crew rather than keep her in service, I was rather... bull-headed and suffered for comments I'd made to my superiors."

"We all have skeletons in our closet, Commander," The tawny one nodded, her eyes unconsciously following the movement of his hand to where it met the flesh of his chest. Briefly, her brows furrowed and she caught herself, dragging her eyes back to his. "If you're having difficulties, I'd recommend talking to Doctor Valeese. She may be able to ease some of the discomfort." She offered, well aware of the Andorian's history. It seemed unfair to send him down to see the little Vorta in sickbay. Unfair to both of them, but she could only hope that differences would be cast aside and life would be able to be lived. Vindicator had shown promise of that philosophy and shone as an exemplary example of what she hoped could, and would, be achieved by her own crew in the near future, "Take my advice, or leave it. It's just that," Aine smiled almost apologetically, "Regardless... You're here now. I don't care about those skeletons. I care about what the future holds for you and for Cold Station Theta as a whole."

"It's nothing, sir." the Andorian replied as he allowed his hand to drop to his side and flashed her a quick smile, his antennae flattened out and moved back to a more central position, "It aches occasionally but that's just due to the nature of the graft, I will be booking myself in to see the medical staff at the earliest opportunity though." he filled in with a bit more detail, the smile never leaving his face even at the thought of having to interact with a Vorta, "The future, Captain, is certainly going to be interesting for me personally if the turbolifts are a good barometer when it comes to the state of our systems as a whole."

"It's something. If the turbolifts being a good barometer when it comes to this place, then I need you to be at top form." Aine chuckled lightly, watching his hand drop, "Just say 'yes, Captain, as you wish, Captain. I'll get it checked out.' and realize that you'll never win that little game." Her own smile blossomed in good humor as she addressed him.

"If there's nothing else, Captain, I'd like to get on and go and tour the rest of the station and perhaps take a look around the engineering sections, I'd like to get a feel for the place before I schedule myself in for my first duty shift." the Andorian replied with a chuckle that shook his chest.

"Of course." She beamed, "Enjoy the rest of your time off and beware the man eating lifts."

"I think... I'll take the other lift down." Thelin replied as he turned on his heels and headed towards the lift on the opposite side of the room, "I might survive the trip back down."

---

Captain Aine DiAgessi
Commanding Officer
COLD STATION THETA, SB-1170

&

Commander Thelin th'Zarath
Chief Engineering Officer
COLD STATION THETA, SB-1170