Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath (Chief Science Officer) in Pre-Sim: A Reward for a Job Well Done (Everyone Invited)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Pre-Sim: A Reward for a Job Well Done (Everyone Invited)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Lisa Caldwell (Engineer) in Pre-Sim: A Reward for a Job Well Done (Everyone Invited)
Posted by… suppressed (34) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Sara set up the holodeck just right. A nice reception room made for the crew of the Asimov. She was in command of a crew that had been through more than could be reasonably asked of a crew, and Sara believed they were due a thanks.

=/\=All hands, there is a commendation ceremony for the crew on in the holodeck. You are all invited.=/\=

-CO

Kohana had been checking his contacts for any new chatter about the Federation when the hail came in. logging out the computer and locking it again so he had the only access, he made his way to the holodeck.

Stepping in, he addressed the CO. “Captain, a commendation ceremony? For whom, if I may ask?”

Lieutenant Kohana Black Wolf
Chief Intelligence Officer/Helm USS Asimov

Shara knew about this, of course, but still she was of mixed-feelings about the whole matter. She absolutely believed that the crew needed this, they needed more than just an official note from the powers that be that recognized the efforts that led to the crew from the last mission being awarded the TriStar Cluster. On the other hand, Shara and large gatherings were tough. They had never been easy when she’d been younger, but she had almost relearning how to be present in public. It was sometimes bumpy but she felt like she was making progress. Did that mean she was comfortable? Hell, no.

Still, Calloway stepped in as Black Wolf was asking his question. “For all of us, Lieutenant,” she said as she gave a nod to Sara.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Bethany was quite tempted to take bridge duty so her department could attend, but that wasn’t an option anymore since she was a department head. She entered the holosuite and made her way over to the small gathering. Bethany caught the end of Shara’s comment. “They all deserve it. They did exceptional.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Dr. Sorel quietly entered the holodeck and moved over to stand by the wall out of the way. He watched the crew curiously as he was still trying to familiarize himself with them all. He matched faces to records and reviewed them briefly in his mind.

~Dr. Adrian Sorel

Harry ran in through the door, his hair still damp from the shower he had taken. At the time of the announcement, he had been taking a run along the lower decks, and he didn’t think that him sweating in his gym clothes would be a good look.

Running a hand through his hair, he tried to put it into some form of shape as he joined the other command staff and department heads.

Lt. Archer
Chief Engineer

Lisa walked in shortly after Harry. Her greasy hair tied back in a ponytail. She’d made sure to put a clean uniform for this event but she still had some grease stains on her cheeks. She wasn’t sure why she was expected to be there, she had only just arrived on board. She stood as far back as possible looking around the room.

Lt (j.g) Lisa Caldwell (Eng)

Varnen walked into the holodeck he looked around at some familure faces and smiled warmly. Tugging down one last time on his uniform he walked into the room looking for where he should go.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

Mwezi stepped into the back of the room, silently sitting down. He was… almost late, but had managed to make it on time. Accompanying him were his partners. Kula and Shilo sat next to Mwezi, offering their silent support.

There was seating arranged for everyone, with the Department Heads and senior staff in the front row. Sara stood behind her podium and fixed her smile in place as the crew found their places.

“Everyone. Thank you for coming to this gathering on such short notice.” A staffer no one recognized stepped up next to her. “We’ve all been through an ordeal.” thump thump, thump thump She closed her eyes and did like the counselors had told her. Remember that sound means she survived. “We’ve all… been tested in ways I don’t think we could have anticipated before. I can only say that you rose to the occasion. Time after time. My crew. And in looking back at everything that happened, Starfleet has seen fit to recognize first and foremost all who served on that mission.” The staffer stepped down and began going down each row, pinning medals to each officer in turn. “The entire crew is receiving tri-star cluster medals for valiant service. Well earned.” She stopped and applauded her crew.

-CO

While they had been told about the award, it was always different receiving it. Shara treated her decorations with both reverence internally, but an outward casualness that some people found unnerving. For her though, it meant that she didn’t have to think too hard on the actions required to receive the award. And thus, she exuded her usual calmness and for those that didn’t know her, it might seem like just another day. The reality was far different.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Bethany was outwardly calm and composed. The crew certainly deserved the medal. Every single one of them. Bethany was living with consequences that no medal would ever soothe.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Adrian watched quietly and clapped as the crew received their medals. He had never served on a ship before where the crew had been awarded like this. A few individual medals and honors had been bestowed upon exemplary service but not like this. He thought this ship might be very rewarding to serve upon if he could find his place among them.

~Dr. Adrian Sorel

Kohana accepted his medal and nodded to the staff member as it was pinned to his chest. Outward, he smiled at the recognition, but on the inside, felt that he hadn’t really earned it. He had arrived late to the mission with very little background intel on what was truly going on. As a result, he had butted heads with a number of the senior staff that had more personal reasons to see the mission to a successful conclusion.

Fortunately, once the mission was over and the intense emotions had settled back to almost routine, those that he had issues with reached out to him and apoligized, For that, he was extremely grateful. They were all willing to start with a clean slate and accept him for what he could to the Asimov’s team.

Heck, Capt. Kiernan had even offered him the position of Chief of Intel after Shara had accepted the XO position He was finally feeling like part of the ship’s family. . . .

Lieutenant Kohana Black Wolf
Chief Intelligence Officer/Helm USS Asimov

Mwezi accepted his medal silently, giving a quiet nod to the staffer handing them out.

When the medals were pinned to uniforms, Sara spoke again. “And then there are commendations. First to Lieutenant Commander Gadi.” She gestured to the CoS. “Over the last few months, you have been tasked with more than some officers handle in the span of a career. Thank you for your commitment, for your service, and all you gave. This is not thanks enough, but it is the thanks we can provide.”

Bethany appreciated Kiernan’s support. Especially considering what fate she could have forced on Gadi. Bethany would never display the commendation or talk about it, but the thought and respect from Kiernan in giving it would always be remembered. She bowed her head just slightly, “Thank you, Captain.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Sara spoke again. “And to Lieutenant Patrick McMillan, the counselor who will be at the center of our collective recovery. The man who will put the rest of the crew first in making sure we are mission ready. Making sure we find ourselves again.”

“And to Lieutenant Eulailia Dacascos, an officer who accepted the hand she was dealt and made the best of it. She worked hard to make operations happen and made herself a significant member of the team.”

“And to Lieutenant Kohana Black Wolf, who came in with no context and bore the brunt of the crew… myself included externalizing the depths of the place we were in. We do not speak often enough of the emotional and psychological strain of this career.” Sara paused.

“And lastly to Ensign Mwezi. The leap he made in coming to serve with us… there is no adequate explanation. And the sacrifices he made in holding the post he does. It is an honor to serve with him.”

Mwezi gave another silent nod from where he sat at the back of the room, smiling ruefully at his Captain.

“That brings me to promotions. Lieutenant Black Wolf is taking over as Chief Intelligence Officer. A role being vacated by Commander Shara Calloway. Congratulations Lieutenant. Commander Calloway, will you join me here please?” Sara smirked, only Shara knew what might be about to happen next.

-CO

From his seat, Kohana nodded and offered a silent thank you to the captain.

Lieutenant Kohana Black Wolf
Chief Intelligence Officer/Helm USS Asimov

Shara slipped out of her chair, aware of the attention that was suddenly on her. Nope, that wasn’t going to be comfortable anytime soon. She approached Kiernan and came to stand beside her, partially facing her, with her hands behind her back. Outwardly she looked calm, but underneath she was trying to steady herself.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Sara smiled at her friend, who probably hated her in that moment. “Commander Shara Calloway. After much… persuasion and negotiation, is the new XO of this ship. We have the honor of having a fine officer, and a good friend second in command. A round of applause for Commander Calloway!”

Sara leaned over to her new XO and whispered “Scale of one to ten, how much revenge should I expect for this?”

-CO

Shara flicked her foggy blue eyes at Sara. “Five?” It was a maybe, maybe-not sort of situation. She certainly wasn’t mad at Keirnan- after all, she was the one who took the damned position. The crew, aside from a couple of people, would never know just how dicey a decision it had been for her during that dinner, nor how hard it had been for Shara to say yes.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Bethany clapped along with the rest of the crew. She thought this was a good change for Shara. She would never say so, Shara would just roll her eyes at her, but it was good for her.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Lisa declined the medal when the staffer came to pin it on her. She hadn’t been on the ship at the time. She hadn’t earned it and it wouldn’t have been right to have been given it. She clapped along with the rest of them and tried desperately to appear normal. She hoped she wouldn’t make any outbursts.

Lt (j.g) Lisa Caldwell (Eng)

“Now. Promotion and commendation comes with celebration so everyone is invited to have a damn party. God knows we’ve earned it.” Sara smiled as a bar was rolled in. Enjoy yourselves, relax. Remember that we are the USS Asimov. And we do great things.”

-CO

Mwezi smiled to himself at the promotion. Shara was a good choice. A great choice. He knew she’d do a better job than him in the position. And she had the backing of the top brass, unlike him. That might help things in their future endeavours.

He made his way over once the ceremony of it all was complete, performing the standard Galdori bow to Shara. “Congratulations on your promotion, XO. I’m glad the ship is in such great hands.”

Shilo and Kula came up behind Mwezi, each standing beside and behind him, as though he were the leading point of a v formation.

Ensign Mwezi
Security USS Asimov

Shara gave an uncertain smile but bowed her head in response. “Thank you, Mwezi, I appreciate your confidence in me. It’s still very weird, though,” she said with a chuckle.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Mwezi grinned. “Well, if you ever need advice on being XO, I’m around. I’m glad SI let me stay on the ship, even if they don’t trust me in command,” he added, in a quieter tone of voice. “I’ve found a family here and I didn’t want to lose it.”

Shara gave him a genuine (and rare) warm smile. “I appreciate the offer and will keep it in mind. And I am glad for you. Family is so very important and it can be hard to hold on to. Do whatever you can to.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Shara said to Mwezi, dipping her head. Duty called.

Varen stood and worked his way to the bar to grab a drink and then move to the corner of the room in an attempt to slowly work his way to the door and out of the social time to get some extra time in the lab. He slowly sipped his drink and inched ever closer to toward the exit.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

Ensign Mwezi
Security USS Asimov

Calloway meandered towards the exit, gazing about in a casual manner until she came to stand near Jorath. “Rushing off so soon?”

~Shara Calloway, XO

Varen turned not realizing she was there apparently he would not sneak away. “I ” he started. “Well yes I was going to try and get some paperwork done before I had to sleep” he said a little embaresed. “Fraid I’m not much for parties.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

Calloway leaned in towards him even as she surveyed the room of people chit chatting. “Want to know a not-so-secret fact? Neither am I? I enjoy a good gathering of close friends and or family but never been much for larger groups, even when I lived on a colony that loved to throw a celebration. Usually I found the piano on the side ad played. It was my out. Now I’ve gone and made myself the person meant to mingle. And you’e now a department head. Your team deserves to see you out and about as part of them. You don’t have to stay long, but consider it a kindness for them, and eventually for you too.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

Varen lowered his head looking at the glass. “I never really thought about that, thank you” he mustered. People being inspired or wanting to spend time with him simply because of his position was not something he was used to. “I think I could feign some enjoyment until the time comes where I can actually enjoy it” he said with a slight chuckle. “So hard stepping out of the shadows of my work, I’ve never really had to think about other people at this level.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

A half-chuckle, half-sigh escaped her lips. “Ahh, Lieutenant, you have no idea how much I know that feeling. I’m only a little bit ahead of you on that fact, so I’m no expert, but what I can say is that all you can do is try. Expect some failures, but then you just try again. I think we’ll both get the hang of it sometime.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Well I do like new experiences, it’s always good for the symbiont and it’s future hosts.” he noted as he took a sip off of his drink. He looked around the party seeing if any of his people where here.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

Bethany slowly made the rounds, speaking to the officers in her department. She commended them again for their service, making sure to specifically state what they had done and not just make vague compliments. She also made sure to ask how they were feeling about it all and how they were adjusting to ‘normal’ life again.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

OOC: Sorry folks, I’m trying to jugle, two classes a week at night school with about 2 hrs of home work a night, 50 hrs of work, an other 8 doing volunteer work all while trying to not neglegt my family ;) I’m slowly geting things optimized so I’m multi tasking some of these things.

IC:

Varen was mingling with some of his staff, when he noticed Gadi approaching . “Lieutenant Commander Gadi, ” he called trying to get her attention, he had only spoken breiefly to her at the table and wanted to get to know her better.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

The entire event was causing Lisa great discomfort. She had become increasingly uncomfortable. She had eyed the door but noticed that Shara had stopped Varen from leaving. She’d groaned inwardly at that. She tried to make herself as non-descript as possible. She moved slowly to the back of the room and near to the door so that she could duck out at the earliest opportunity.

Lt (j.g) Lisa Caldwell (Eng)

Bethany looked up when her name was called. She smiled and nodded. She finished her conversation and turned toward Jorath. She noticed Caldwell inching towards the door. Bethany felt the same way. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the luxury of sneaking off. Well not just yet anyway. She silently wished Caldwell luck on getting out. She smiled as she approached Jorath. “Lt. Jorath. How are you this evening?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Varen was finally enjoying himself a little some of the Junior officers had snuck their way out so it was a little less crowded. “I am well. Lieutenant,” he noted. “How about you? ” he asked wanting to return the interest. Maybe he could get a conversation going so that he could get some of the time past.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Varen Jorath
Chief Science officer U.S.S Asimov

“Settling back in. The vacation was much needed, especially since I have so many new crew in my department. It keeps me on my toes, though,” she smiled and grabbed a drink from a passing tray. “What do you think of the Asimov so far?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS