If you feel secure , do you still have to check in with security?

Posted on Sun Oct 17th, 2021 @ 5:11pm by Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford & Ensign Edward D'Gracefull

Mission: Season 5: Episode 2: Operation Save Humanity
Location: Deck 18 , Main Security Office
Timeline: MD 8
2384 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Ed entered the Turbo-lift, stood on the back side, then said, "Deck 18 , main Security office, please." It never hurt to be polite to crew members, even if they pretended to be unaware of you. Everyone told him the ship is not alive, and the computers don't feel anything. He still had his doubts. What kept the ship flying when have it if circuits were fired and had gaping holes , where equipment used to be. There was something else at work. He just could not prove it.

His musings were interrupted by the swish of the doors opening. He exited, looked down at his P.A.D.D. and zoomed in on the map. "Ahh!" He said as he turned right, then left, then right again. They did not make it easy to find the security types, it was obvious, they were not Klingon's. He walked up to the door that was labeled Security office, and pushed the announce button. He had expected the door to open right away. Maybe they were to busy for him. maybe... The door opened and in he walked. He looked around, no hulking men in armor holding type IX Phasor compression pulse cannons. he walked over to the desk of a human and said, "HI, I an a newly reporting Engineer, my name is Edward Garnla Gnomomer Chel'Sata, from the House of EL, line of D'Graceful, I am hear to check in and get my access codes. How is your day going?" He was always taught to be polite, unless you were arguing with a Gorn, then it was be polite and carry a giant compressed titanium war club!"

Damien knew that they had new crew members arriving on the ship, but he hadn't had much of a chance to go over the manifests, apart from a quick cursory glance, to gauge a look at their names. Sitting at his desk, a handful of P.A.D.D.s in front of him, he sighed. Being the newbie did, unfortunately, have the drawback of being the one who normally ended up sorting through the paperwork. Not that he minded. It gave him a chance to catch up with his thoughts.

He was halfway through running basic Security checks when he heard the door buzzer go. Glancing up, he pressed the button to open the door, watching as the unknown figure walked in. 'Must be one of the new officers.' He thought to himself. Putting the P.A.D.D.s to one side, he placed his arms on the desk, smiling.

"Good afternoon Edward. I'm Ensign Damien Blackford. I can certainly get that sorted for you. Why don't you take a seat." He said, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the desk.

Ed sat down, and said, "This ship is huge, it takes a while to get anywhere! my last post was a destroyer, it was cramped."

Ed looked at the over worked ensign and asked "While I am here, any upgrades or modifications you need? I seen several things on the trouble call list, and once most of the engineers get back from liberty, we will be getting repair teams out to fix things."

Damien chuckled, nodding, moving closer to the nearby computer, pulling up the required information on the Officer sat in front of him. "I get that. I was on a training cruise on a Nova-class vessel before being assigned here. Only 8 decks and a max crew of 78. Extremely different to where I am now."

Ed smiled, "My brother", he said," Is serving on a Nova class ship, and he keeps complaining, that someone stole half of there warp core."

Looking up, he smiled, shaking his head. "That sort of question would probably be best directed towards Chief Taylor. Apart from the Sonic Shower in my quarters being on the fritz, I don't know of any major systems in need of repairs."

Ed looked on this trouble call list, and said, "I have duty section engineers running around doing things like that this evening, they should get yours fixed before midnight."

He smiled, nodding. "Well, thank you Ed." He said, leaning back in his chair. "So. Why don't you tell me something about yourself?"

Ed briefly considered whether he should underplay his martial arts and close quarters combat ability. "Well," He said. " I was on the Engineering side of the ships self defense team, on my last three ships, because the Jefferies tubes are a nightmare for trying to keep the Riff Raff out. I have 4 black belts in ancient styles of martial arts. I have trained with every martial weapon I could get my hands one, including the Klingon ones. On my previous ships, us junior officers would play war games with the enlisted. We would hide, they would seek and try to not get killed. They always complained my weapons were silent, made no noise, and I had an unfair advantage. So one weekend, I had my brother play. He is 2.12 meters tall, weighs in at 275 killo's and does not use weapons. They quit complaining after that. Although the CO tried to get my brother transferred to our ship after that... but his CO said NOPE!"

Damien couldn't help but chuckle at the story, eyes widening slightly at the mention of his brother's measurements. "They grow them big back on your home planet." He said, grinning, shaking his head slightly. "But those black belts are interesting. I'm a 1st Rank Kyu myself in Karate. Maybe we should look at a friendly sparring match sometime."

Ed said," I studied in Wushu, a traditional Chinese kung fu. Kendo, Japanese swordplay. The Solarian Navy uses SGMAP, it is a close-quarters combat style based on kung fu, tae kwon do, karate, Thai boxing, jujitsu, Judo, plus knife-fighting. Krav Maga and Jeet Kun Do are my primary art forms. I never bothered going beyond the first dan, black is black, and the belt is just to keep your pants from falling down.

He chuckled softly, nodding at his words. "You've certainly kept yourself busy." He said with a grin. "I could only ever find the time to learn Karate, let alone anything else."

"My father insisted that I learn some form of self-defense. He was in the Dominion War and was adamant that I learn not to rely on modern technology, just in case something happened. So he also made sure that I was proficient in using a bow and arrow."

Ed said, " I have seen some masters at bows and I have seen some elegantly made bows. but I prefer to use something that is easily fixed, if I fall on it, or break it. Do you get to shoot much? I have not done any shooting in years."

"I wouldn't call myself a master. Not at all. But I'm a decent shot. Top marks in marksmanship classes." He shook his head. "Not as much as I'd like to. It's difficult, being onboard a ship. The Holodeck is good, but it's nowhere near as good, or interesting as the real thing."

"One of my Brothers", said Ed," Is good at what he calls calling the target, or calling the shot. I could never figure out how he did it...He could make amazing shots, in high wind. If I ever get time, I will have to camping again, I had a week, but my shore leave was interrupted a day into my camping trip. I used to have an ironwood recurve bow with a 160 kg draw. It was practically unbreakable. but over the years and 6 duty stations, I have no clue where it is currently at."

"I own a recurve bow and compound bow myself. They don't get much, what I'd call, practical use. Mainly the Holodeck with static targets. There aren't many places in space you can use a bow." He said, chuckling slightly. "I haven't been camping since my second year at the Academy. Well, unless you count Survival training. But somehow, I think that differs from most people's idea of camping."


Ed chuckled when he heard the talk about survival training, then said "I hid in the trees the first night of the evasion course, then I proceeded to a set of underground caves I had spotted earlier. I did have a slight advantage, I love spelunking, and had memorized the topographic maps and all subterranean maps of most of North and South America. I spent all of my weekends on my second year searching for lost treasure. I found and cataloged over 100 artifact sites in South America. So on our senior year, when we had the evasion course, They put me and my group down a mere 10 kilometers from one of the underground sites I had found. I thought they did it on purpose, that is why I was in the trees on the first night. I started stalking and tracking the senior members of the red group, tasked with capturing us. The tricorders were a pain to evade, but they were limited to a 200-meter scanning range. It was rather easy to avoid them, they sound like a heard of your earth rinausours, the fat assault unicorn that is found in Africa. I got in trouble for stealing federation equipment and liberating a few of the captured. I told them that they were lucky that I had not been pissed off at the treatment of the captured, I would have left the entire alpha team that lead the RED team in the underground caverns. Seems that the leader of the team thought I was making up my record, so I let them think I was harmless... Then they got back to the academy and started gloating about how easy it was to grab half of this year's crop of students. The senior advisors were laughing and pulled up the satellite and sensors showing me planting artifacts in each of their quarters along with the documentation of what the artifact was and where it came from. I caught hell the rest of the year. Seems that they all were given bad evaluations for letting themselves be made into fools. But the archeology department loved their new acquisitions. So I would be careful about hanging around with me, I will give you a bad reppitation."

Damien listened to the story, his eyes widening, shaking his head and laughing as he finished. "That's probably one of the craziest Academy stories I've ever heard!" He exclaimed, before grinning and shaking his head. "I don't care about reputation. As long as you know how to get the job done." Looking down at the P.A.D.D. which contained Ed's information, he raised an eyebrow. "With skills like that, may I ask why you're in Engineering? And not Security? Or even the Marine Corps?" He asked, "Sir." He hastily added on, only just now realizing that he was actually addressing the new Assistant Chief.

ED smiled, then said " I come from a long line of Engineers, I am Scottish, and I have a sister who is a scientist, a brother who's in Operations, Another brother who is in the brig, something about rescuing a admiral in the brig from a ship from another universe. He claimed that he could not tell us anything about it because the whole incident was totally classified. Both parents are Engineers, and I love taking things apart, putting them back together. I under stand machines, I don't speak their language like my brother and father. They could just tell by the sound what was wrong. I have to brute force trouble shoot to solve problems. I have many friend's in the Solarian Guard Marines and Army. I was in the ships self defense force on my last three commands to keep the Riff-Raff out of the Jefferies tubes, so I tend to meet a lot of security and marine types.

He chuckled nodding. "That makes sense. My father was Chief Medial Officer during the Dominion War. I think he wanted me to follow him into Medical, but during my Academy training, something about Security just made more sense to me." Sighing, he leant back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "So, just out of curiosty," He asked, sitting forward again. "Why the transfer to the Elysium?"


Ed smiled and said,” That’s easy, I was far from the top of my graduation class, top dog gets the best orders, and when your closer to the bottom, they sometimes pick for you. Or I am being groomed for something by some fleet admiral or captain with pull. I was 18 hours in to two weeks shore leave, when I received short fused orders. And was beamed up from my campsite onto a destroyer that jumped into warp just as soon as I was safely onboard… less that 48 hours later and … I am here. “

"Same here. I ended up taking part in a training cruise after my final year at the Academy. After we finished, I received my orders to come here. I was quite surprised at being given such a decent posting straight away." Damien leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "The sudden short orders may have to do with recent events though." He said softly. "We've suddenly found ourselves short a few crew members." He trailed off, before shaking his head. "But, I'm only speculating. Whatever the case, we're happy to have you on board."

Ed said, " Well i am still getting used to the huge ship, but so far I like it. but I have not had anyone chasing me around with a battleaxe yet! So I reserve the right to make judgements later!"

Damien smiled, nodding. "We don't have anyone quite like that on board... At least I don't think we do." Chuckling softly, he picked the PADD back up, inputting a few commands, before passing it across to Ed. "Alright, here's your access codes, and everything important that you'll need to know. If there's nothing else, then let me be the first to officially welcome you on board the USS Elysium." He smiled, standing up, offering the young Engineering Officer his hand.

Ed stood and grabbed the warm handshake saying, " Well I will be seeing you around!"

End Transmission