Season 15: Episode 1 - Dominion Rising pt 1

[Lorut Vila]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 6 - Battle Bridge] (near AR-558)

When he heard the Ensign Lorut's voice over the ship wide intercom, Rayek sighed.  Clearly there had been a misunderstanding of his orders.

Rayek tapped his comm to override "Correction:  All hands, prepare for Hull Integration.  Blue Alert."      He would need to remind the Ensign of the Color codes and have her practice them until she could do them in her sleep.

Unfortunately, her comm must have been sent to all three hulls because the Captain interjected next.

"My apologies, Captain.  I had authorized for the Ensign to announce the drop from Red Alert to Blue on Beta Hull.  I must not have been clear enough in my orders, however.    It will not happen again."

Vila's brown eyes closed at her mistake. However, she just nodded. "I am sorry I misunderstood. I should've clarified." She owned her mistakes. Well. MOST of them-the ones pertaining to work. Her personal life was another story altogether, though. "I'll review the klaxon alert colors again." She promised. "Further orders?" She stood at the ready to move.

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Finally, her first shift was over and they had docked safely and tightly at DS9-one of the most damning places for her. She at once both loved it-it DID circle her home planet, after all-and hated it-it was where her family had been imprisoned when she was a child. Still. She was already looking forward to seeing everyone, and, if possible, taking a shuttle "home."
She said nothing to anyone, and instead, quickly made her way to the visitor's station. She wanted to check the computer, make sure her ex-husband hadn't gotten the assignment here he'd wanted, and that she could relax fully.

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Helga was one of the unfortunate few that remained behind as part of the skeleton crew.   The armory was never to be left unattended, even while docked.   So, knowing that Lek would opt to remain on board to continue his check of the engineering systems, which had been interrupted with the call to Ferenginar and then to DS9, Helga volunteered to remain behind as well.

She messaged him to let him know that she was selected for the skeleton crew.  She hoped that way he wouldn't feel rushed in his work, thinking she was waiting on him.  She did suggest that if he took time for a lunchbreak, that he should come and see her at the armory.

[Lek]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Helga was one of the unfortunate few that remained behind as part of the skeleton crew.   The armory was never to be left unattended, even while docked.   So, knowing that Lek would opt to remain on board to continue his check of the engineering systems, which had been interrupted with the call to Ferenginar and then to DS9, Helga volunteered to remain behind as well.

She messaged him to let him know that she was selected for the skeleton crew.  She hoped that way he wouldn't feel rushed in his work, thinking she was waiting on him.  She did suggest that if he took time for a lunchbreak, that he should come and see her at the armory.

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was just finishing up with the last of his post battle report on the ship's status and he was pleased. All three sections of Discovery emerged from the brief battle without any serious damage. He was also pleased that the new retractable cables were now in place and the hardpoints where they were attached were reinforced.

"Now, it will take less than ten minutes to rig a ship for slipstream towing and less than five to separate."

When his PADD pinged, he smiled broadly to see the message from Helga and he tapped his combadge.

"Lek to Tragnar. Message received. I'm ready to depart whenever you are. Lek out."

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was just finishing up with the last of his post battle report on the ship's status and he was pleased. All three sections of Discovery emerged from the brief battle without any serious damage. He was also pleased that the new retractable cables were now in place and the hardpoints where they were attached were reinforced.

"Now, it will take less than ten minutes to rig a ship for slipstream towing and less than five to separate."

When his PADD pinged, he smiled broadly to see the message from Helga and he tapped his combadge.

"Lek to Tragnar. Message received. I'm ready to depart whenever you are. Lek out."

Helga was surprised to have Lek respond so quickly.  Even more surprising was his message.  Ready to depart!?  What?  Normally it would be near impossible to get Lek to leave engineering while there was any sort of engineering work to do on the ship.   Now, all of a sudden, he had time?!  When she had basically made herself unavailable.

"Acknowleged.  I might be a while.  Maybe you should head down without me? My shift just started."

[Lek]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Helga was surprised to have Lek respond so quickly.  Even more surprising was his message.  Ready to depart!?  What?  Normally it would be near impossible to get Lek to leave engineering while there was any sort of engineering work to do on the ship.   Now, all of a sudden, he had time?!  When she had basically made herself unavailable.

"Acknowleged.  I might be a while.  Maybe you should head down without me? My shift just started."

[Engineering - USS Discovery --> Quarks]

Lek was surprised to learn he was the one with free time while Helga was on shift. He was very disappointed, but managed to keep most of that hidden as he replied.

"Understood. See you when you are free."

Lek meandered back to his quarters as he no longer had a reason to hurry. He switched to one of his typically colorful Ferengi outfits and exited the ship. As he had been unable to beam down to Ferenginar, he needed to resupply his cache of tubegrubs and other non-replicated foodstuffs. Since Helga wasn't available, he figured now was the time to restock so they would have the maximum time together once she could join him.

Although he had never been to Deep Space Nine before, there wasn't a Ferengi in the Alpha Quadrant that wasn't aware of Quark's and thus, as soon as he exited Discovery, he made a beeline directly to the Promenade and the most famous bar in the Quadrant.

On entering the bar, Lek was assailed by the raucous sound level inside. He saw a fair bit of the Discovery's crew making the most of their shore leave and it took a few minutes before he could catch the attention of one of the Ferengi waiters.

"I'd like to buy some fresh food. And I mean fresh, I won't pay for replicated. Specifically, I want at least two kilos of tube grubs, as many snail steaks as are available, and Lokar beans if you have any."

The waiter nodded and scurried off to fill the order. As he waited, Lek took a few minutes to observe the patrons of the bar and was envious of the profits the legendary Quark had to be making.

[Kinley Garrison]

OOC- I do want to write something, but I'm not sure where to continue, so MEANWHILE"¦.

[USS Discovery- Bridge]
[As Flight Ensign Christopher Murphy]

No matter how many times he tried to get a promotion, Ensign Murphy was still just that, an Ensign. He probably would always be an ensign, no matter how many times he flew them out of danger or risked his life due to the aliens that had gotten into the plumbing. At least, with this new transfer, he and his duck probably wouldn't be constantly overshadowed by his coworkers' shenanigans or velociraptors in favor of promotions. Again.
The officers should be getting onto the bridge soon, so he began the pre-flight checklists.

[Rayek trLhoell]

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory] (Day 1)

[Engineering - USS Discovery --> Quarks]

Lek was surprised to learn he was the one with free time while Helga was on shift. He was very disappointed, but managed to keep most of that hidden as he replied.

"Understood. See you when you are free."

Helga's shift was long and dull.  By mid-shift, she was regretting her decision to work the extra hours.  She'd caught the disappointment in Lek's tone but it was too late to cancel the swap now.   It was yet another indication of their lack of communication.  If she'd known, he wasn't going to continue his check of the starbase-engineer repairs, she wouldn't have offered to take the shift.

Eventually her replacement, Ensign Dersch, arrived.  She looked to the officer and gave a short report of the armory's inventory and directed him to the list of currently signed out gear.  Then she was free to go meet up with Lek.  Hopefully, he hadn't been too bored.

[ Ensign J.B Dersch | Weapons Locker | U.S.S Discovery ]

It Took only a few minutes to pull up the Database for the Locker and once it fully loaded he began his Search and Locate which was easy for him, Since he used to keep track of the LAPD's Weapons when he was in the force, So this was no different, but it was a little since the LAPD Lockers were on Earth and not on a Star ship with the Constant Humming of the Engines. This is too easy, But Hey What could get harder? Weapon Gone Missing? HA would love to have that One. Weapon Malfunction? Boring since I don't like to take things apart unless it's a 21st Century 9mm Pistol. Every once in a while another Crew member would walk in and ask if needed help and the same reply was No if He thought they looked like they have not had leave yet he would tell them to Take the leave and have some Free time. Every Once in a while he would take out a Phaser Rifle and Just Clean it for fun and make sure all the Spare Back up Cartridges were charged and ready to go if needed.

[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory] (Day 2)

Helga was anticipating more the same quiet shift on her second day, and she wasn't wrong.  Yet when anticipating Dersch again to relieve her, the officer didn't show.  When she checked into where he was and why he wasn't at the Weapon's Locker, she was informed by Lt Addams  - the unlucky officer who got to man Ops while docked -  that Dersch had been assigned to some special training assignment with Commander tr'Lhoell and several others.

When Helga asked who had been assigned to fill Dersch's spot, the mild-mannered Grazerite dipped her head apologetically and answered "You.  He assigned you a double. Did he not inform you?"

Helga grimaced. "No.  He didn't! Or I would have told him I wasn't available. Lek and I made plans for this last evening on DS9."

Torra, on the PADD screen, nodded sympathetically.  "He's really not been his best lately.  I think it's cause he's so worried about Tess and her pregnancy."

Helga's scowl eased up a bit, and she nodded her agreement. "Fine, I'll work the shift, but Lek's not gonna be happy."