The Denobulan’s smile was extra wide as she regarded the Chief Engineer. “Indeed! It’s nice to hear that. People usually go about a training ship as if it’s assumed that you work together, but the cadets don’t know what they don’t know yet. Getting to experience a true team environment that is tested by the unknown will show them more than they ever thought possible. I’m glad you intend to be a partner on the staff.” It was also refreshing to find someone in the role who wasn’t so competitive that they weren’t going to be cooperative when needed.

“Is there anything you’re excited for on this new chapter of your career?” Liadra asked.

Lt. Cmdr. Liadra, CNS

Ang laughed at the woman’s last query. “Excited for? Well…” she had to think a moment because it wasn’t a question she had anticipated. “I would say I am excited for the ‘unknown’. When working with unseasoned cadets, their responses to things are… umm… unusual and unpredictable. Sometimes it works against them. They are unsure what to do in a given situation, and it hinders their responses. Their minds blank and they don’t have the reflexive training to handle it.” She sighed realizing that such delays sometimes cost lives. “The upside is that when they are put in a place of pressure, and ‘forced’ to react, their reactions are a test of their mettle. Some of the out of the box ideas come from a panic, unseasoned mind. I would say, then, that I am excited to see what kinds of unusual responses come from the cadets when time forces them to think fast.”

While it hadn’t crossed her mind before that moment, Ang realized that the cadet’s reactions under pressure were what she would be looking forward to seeing the most. In space, no one had time to pull out a manual when things went sideways.

Lt Ang
CE

Liadra nodded knowingly. She made mental notes, as she never actively wrote during her evaluations. She always found it distracted her from what the persons before her were actually saying. There was always time for reflection later. “What about for you personally?” she found herself asking.

Lt. Cmdr. Liadra, CNS

“Personally?” The question parroted back to the councilor by the Chief Engineer was given with the inflection of a foreign word. “Well, I…” Ang took a breath and shrugged though she wasn’t aware of it. “I guess, personally, I look forward to helping make another generation of stout space officers capable of passing it on in later years. I mean, I came here to work. It’s not like I came to seek promotion, or a certain ‘someone’ like others do.”

A post was a post. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to be? No one had ever asked her what she ‘personally’ wanted from something like this. She chose the places she thought she could be challenged, and help others. What other reason was there? The half Klingon looked at the woman across from her as if the question had been a trick one and she had caught it. Without seeking a companion or glory, there was no ‘personal’ reason at all. It was just a good career move to her.

Lt Ang
CE

Despite popular belief, her job was not to pick apart a person. It was actually quite the opposite- she was there to help keep them together in the moments when they might need support they weren’t expecting. And at some point, everyone did- it was an inevitable part of being a mortal being living an existence. No where was this perhaps more true than in a higher pressure life in Starfleet. “Every choice made in life is an opportunity for learning, for growth. It won’t always be pleasant, and it might disguise itself under other things, but it’s there. And all these choices, these reactions to our circumstances shape us to become who we are in the present moment. And they offer a path forward to who we will be in the next moment.” Liadra gazed softly at the CE. “Would you agree or disagree?”

Lt. Cmdr. Liadra, CNS