First Day

Posted on Mon Jan 29th, 2018 @ 3:57pm by Cadet Senior Grade Brady Macleod & Lieutenant Cor Cordale & Lieutenant Renee Salchin

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Engineering
Timeline: July 6, 2399 @0600

"Engineering." Brady called out to the turbolift as it took him from his quarters to the engine room. He wasn't sure what awaited him, but he at least finally got some rest after being on that transport. The door opened and he walked in, almost astounded and amazed by it. He'd seen simulations in the holodeck... But never the real thing.

Renee noted the hesitation in the youngster's steps as he walked in, the almost non-belief in which he looked around. She snorted in laughter as she remembered her own first time in an engineering section. And to think, he was only a few feet away from her! So with surprise on her side, she took the two steps over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Welcome to the wonderous palace of main engineering!"

Brady grinned a little. It was... well.. pretty much everything he wanted. "Thank you..." he said as he continued to stare. "I've seen it a million times in a holodeck but the real thing is still amazing."

"And one hundred-fifty percent different." Renee said solemnly, "of which several dozen things can kill you if you screw up and a few things that can kill everybody!" She said cheerfully, "So if we tell you not to touch something?" She asked him.

"Don't touch it." Brady replied, looking towards her and then at her uniform... The Captain must be pretty easygoing if that's what she was wearing... "I'm Brady Macleod." he added before looking at her. "It's nice to meet you... Ma'am." he said as he noticed her rank.

"Pshh! My name is Renee, not Ma'am, only call me that if the shit has well and truly hit the fan." She was all bubbly and guided him forward, "Come on, we'll find Cor and give him a look at ya'!"

Cordale was not hard to find. Today, he was a pair of feet sticking out from a panel near the floor, working with the inner guts of the machine called Engineering. More like paws then feet, which is why he usually didn't wear boots, cause it was hard to even replicate footwear in his size. "Okay, so that's chipset thirty seven through forty two. We should be just about finished with this whole chip fiasco now." he called out to an assistant engineering hand, before starting to remove himself from his precarious posture. An ancient prosthetic hand clamped around the edge of the paneling, two digits and a thumb in a man-made mockery of a hand, before the Thux pulled himself out. "Oh, hey Renee. Who's our guest?" he wanted to be polite. Maybe it was a boyfriend, maybe it was a dignitary.

Judging from the cut of Renee's uniform, Cor didn't want to assume 'Boyfriend' but man was it tough...

Renee grinned widely, "His name is Brady Mcleod and he's a kid from the Academy on his senior cruise it looks like!" She said jovially, "I was thinking we throw him right into things, have him perform the overhaul on the watp conduit substation a deck up, you know, the one that's been saying there's a point containment failure?" She winked at Cor to let him know it was a joke to mess with the newbie.

Cor stood up like a shot, "No. Absolutely not. That's way too dangerous for the new blood. You and I both know what happened the last time we sent someone in unprepared." and the Thux just slowly looked to his left as he made a fist with his prosthetic limb.

Brady looked a bit gobsmacked. Were they serious? And... Was that a prosthetic. "I'll... do whatever's needed, I guess. I'm here on a field study. I wanted to go into the Delta Quadrant and I guess they were begging for people. Turns out a few of my classmates signed up to explore the galaxy but have a mileage limit on how far they'll go." he smirked.

"Ouch, yeah, I forgot about Jasco..." Renee cringed, "When the containment flickered, Jasco was right there. You know matter-anti-matter reactions? I figured it was only one atom of antimatter, but the fist thing it touched was Jasco's elbow." She looked back to Cor, "Did someone finish cleaning the area up? I know it was really ugly, didn't think an elbow exploding would cause that much of a mess."

Brady paused, looking a little shocked... "Ummm... Ahhh...."

Cor held that face for just a moment longer, then broke into a chuckle. "Oh, oh that was great.... oh..." he hadn't had a good laugh like this in a while. "S... sorry, just having a little fun. Relax, no harm." he held up his hands in a surrender fashion, though quickly came to his senses. "Okay, okay that might have been mean, but seriously everything around here used to be all serious and secret with the previous chief. Go do this but don't tell anyone. Go do that, but keep it a secret. Sheesh, it was like working for Inspector Gadget." he chuckled again.

"Name's Cordale, I'm the chief of these here parts." he said, offering Brady his living hand in friendship. "Yes, it's a prosthetic. Yeah, it's older than us all. No, I didn't get it in Engineering."

Renee's grin was wide again. "And don't worry, outside of truly freak accidents, it's remarkably safe around here. And if you see something not safe, give someone else a yell before you patch it up, just so's we know there's something going on. The Boss here doesnvt like people getting hurt for obvious reasons."

"I can't blame her. Haven't had a chance to meet the Captain yet. Anything I should know?" Brady asked.

"Yeah, when a Thux offers their hand, you take it." he chuckled. With J'Loni ignored him, he could all but sense her pride in herself. When Brady did it, he felt it more of an honest mistake. Overwhelmed by the awe of the Engineering bay was all.

"Oh, you meant about the Captain? Oh, she's a straight shooter. Treat her with respect, but don't kiss her ass." Cordale advised, "And as for Engineering, I like to think that I run a good ship. And yeah, I'm not a fan of folks getting hurt."

"Oh my god. Of course, sir." Brady said returning the handshake. "Glad to know she doesn't need her butt kissed. A friend of mine went on this one ship and the Captain was very... cold."

"Didn't meet her myself, was trying to get an appoinyment, but she wouldn't see someone wearing Chief Petty Officer's stripes. Short story about that," Renee made a throwing away gesture, "But turns out she was a Cardy, so yeah, probably a good thing." She blinked, "Ohhhh, you weren't meaning Commander Bowman, were you?"

"Commander who?" Brady asked. "I'm afraid not. I was referring to a friend of mine. And wait. We had a Cardassian in charge?"

"Yes, but we disn't know she was. She was a human who was a Cardassian who had been modded to appear human while being a Cardassian in contact with the Cardassian government to destroy our fleet and station out here while blaming a human organization so we didn't realize it was a Cadassian plot until it was too late to realize it wasn't the human organization." Renee deew in a massive breath having somehow gotten the whole thing out in one, "Get it?"

"Yeah, it was weird... but the long and short is we're in the clear now, and the actual legit captain is who she says she is. Just be calm and you'll be fine." Cordale offered, his Thux Brain able to follow any leap of logic Renee could throw out. He was actually pretty impressed with his brain. Impressed that his brain could focus around that uniform.

"So, you probably have like a dozen questions. Fire away." the Thux offered, turning to finish up the project he had started, and replaced the wall panel so no one got hurt.

"I really do." he chuckled a smidge nervously. "Do we have any repairs left from the whole thing?"

"Tricky part of Engineering is there's always a repair job somewhere. A tweak here, a remodulation there. Though, in regards to that whole fiasco, I think we're actually pretty well caught up. Gotta say though, I like that initiative."

"Well.. I wouldn't want to disappoint." Brady said. "Though... like I said.. This room looks a bit more intimidating off a holodeck."

"That's cause it's real." Cor said, and started to give Brady the walking tour. "See, in the holodeck, no matter how close to real something looks, as long as you KNOW it's all part of the holodeck there's always that part of your brain that says it isn't real. Take off the safeties, and you've made the conscious choice to make it real... until then, though, you could walk on a star or juggle neutron degenerate matter or anything else."

He motioned to the pillar of the primary antimatter reactor. "This is real. It's happening. Computer, end program." and when nothing happened, the Thux just gave a nod, "It's intimidating because it's real. Besides, a little fear is good. Teaches respect." he motioned around, "You should respect physics. Gotta know those pesky limits so you know what to bend and what to break. What to mess with and what not to mess with." he took a breath, then gave a short hop in place. Up he went, then back down. "Gravity. Neat stuff. We break it daily. We're bending it now." he pointed out. "Antimatter. Respect. Do not meddle." he chuckled. "But, you use your head, you listen to your gut, and you ask any questions you have... and you'll be safe. And THAT.... is my engineering rant. Just wrote it as I spoke it." he then gave a good laugh.

"I think it'll be all right." Brady said as he laughed in reply. "I guess my station is over here, hmm?"

"Well, probably for today." Renee grinned, "But being who you are, a Cadet and all, part of OUR job is to give you as much of a thorough education as WE can before you go back and choose what area you really want to focus in. So we're going to work with you in as many areas as we can, so that you can find out what really inspires you and interests you."

"And here they said I better find a spot and be prepared to stick there." Brady said, chuckling at a few of his professors.

"Well, Engineering is the best. Everyone here will stick by you and have your back." Cordale said with a smirk. "Also, no one messes with Engineering twice. I mean sure, Marines are big and strong, security is tough, and Ops can prank your access. Engineering, though... mess with us and we turn off your gravity." he chuckled.

"Stick with us. You'll be going places in no time."

Brady chuckled. "Sounds good to me." he added as he loaded up his console.

========

Lieutenant Cor Cordale
Chief Engineer
USS Wellington

Cadet Senior Grade Brady Macleod
Engineering Cadet
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Renee Salchin
Engineering Officer
USS Wellington