SNIP

Coryn cracked a small grin at her comment. He had no doubt that she was likely baiting him, a person of her stature didn’t achieve her position by accident… though he was curious to see her skills first hand. “Typical spacer sob story I suppose. Born on a remote colony, lost my parents at a young age. Enlisted at 18 to get out of that hell hole. Worked my way through the enlisted ranks on various backwater contested planets seeing things that most Starfleet personnel aren’t supposed to see. About a year or so ago I hit the wall of how far my career could progress without pursuing a commission so I was transferred to the Academy. Did my time and now here I am serving on my first sterile tin can in space.” Vinoda wasn’t sure if his description of the ship as a can would indicate that he was uncomfortable in the clean confines or if he was just a jerk.

Vinoda Sec

Even if his records hadn’t indicated so, Alita could have guessed it was Vinoda’s first time serving aboard a ship.

“Yes. We are a bit small which definitely doesn’t do well for people who don’t like confined spaces. You could have applied for a much larger ship. How did you end up on this particular tin can?” she asked good naturedly.

• Alita, MO/COS

Small can, big can, they’re still just cans he mused. “Is fate too cynical of an answer?” He joked.

“I was considerably older than most of my cohort and my methods might have leaned a bit towards the phaser happy end of the spectrum for the Academy brass.” He said, his tone light but sincere. “Then there’s the Wolverine’s reputation…” He shrugged as he took a bit of his snack.

“Sounded like a fit to me, and I suspect the Academy folks thought it would keep me far away from them and out of their hair.”

Vinoda Sec

Alita’s sparkling green eyes met Vinoda’s for a few seconds.

“No. Fate is a perfectly acceptable answer, especially here.” she said quietly, “Since we are such a small ship, I believe my security personnel should have some cross training. I have a feeling that’s not going to be a problem for you.”

• Alita, MO/COS

Coryn nodded his agreement, “Nothing wrong with being well rounded especially when all hands on deck may very literally mean all hands in this case.” He was curious which areas she wanted him to cross train in, but there was plenty of time to sort all of that out.

Vinoda Sec

Alita liked his attitude thus far.

“My thoughts exactly so, as I get to know you, we’ll decide what you might be best suited to cross train in. I want to know your preferences of course. Personally, I think this ship needs a little bit of everything but, we excel best at what interests us most.”

• Alita, MO/COS

He took a moment to think before responding to her statement. “I like to think that I’m fairly well rounded, though Engineering has never been a strong suit.” He said matter-of-factly. “I tend to work better in areas that involve people… I figure that has a lot to do with how much of our work is spent studying people and how they react to different situations and stressors.”

Vinoda Sec

Alita nodded and stood.

“I’ll see you in the holodeck in ten minutes. When we’re there, we’ll decide Melee or hand to hand first. You’ve gotten this far, I figure you know how to shoot a damned phaser. I hold those drills every Tuesday and Thursday anyway. Ten minutes, don’t be late.” she said with a smile.

• Alita, MO/COS

“Yes ma’am.” Coryn replied as he rose from his seat and made his way to Deck 7. When the COS arrived she would find the man leaning against one wall of the holosuite arms folded across his chest and right foot resting on the wall behind him. He was still wearing his regulation uniform as there had been no mention of changing clothing. A few minutes later he heard the door slide open and he turned his attention to his superior walking through the door.

Vinoda Sec

Alita hadn’t mentioned changing clothing because it really didn’t matter either way though she had taken the luxury of tucking her hair behind her ears and braiding it tightly. Her younger brother had shown her what a weakness loose hair could be and she would never forget what Donnie had taught her,

“So, hand to hand or melee?” she asked calmly.

• Alita, MO/COS

Pushing off the wall, Coryn made his way to the center of the room. He didn’t drop into an obvious guard, though a trained professional like the Chief would be able to tell a difference in his demeanor that would imply that his guard was indeed up. The thing about physical confrontation is that the more you practiced it the more comfortable you became with it and the compromising situations it could put you in, as such form and technique could appear ‘lax’ when the appearance was by design. “Dealer’s choice.” He responded casually.

Vinoda Sec