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Star Trek Ares - Season 1

Prelude - Deep Space Nine

Primary locations

• Deep Space Nine
• USS Ares

Secondary location

• Bajor

Mission Summary

Stardate 58769.1 - The USS Ares NCC-79116, a recently refitted Sovereign class starship, arrived at Deep Space Nine in order to welcome the remainder of its crew onto their new home while taking on relief and engineering supplies destined for delivery to several Cardassian Colony worlds, located along its route to unexplored space in the Beta Quadrant.
Departure is scheduled for stardate 58776.2 : the 220th Birthday of the Federation Charter.

NOTE: Please remember to follow the Handbook rules (especially the formatting basics for Joint Posts) - Here is a formatting example

Also this one is a prelude, so it's a warm-up for all of us - Enjoy

[Allan Hood]

Bajor
Hedrikspool Province – Nature Preserve, Northern Coast
Allan Hood burst into his family’s tabernacle, embracing his wife, Samantha-Josephine, with a hug and kissed. The Hoods have been living on the beach, in their temporary home of Bajoran palm branches and bamboo poles, since the First Day of Feast of Tabernacles, three days ago. The tabernacle was surrounded by Bajoran lilacs, and other native flowers, on a bed of salam grass.

“It’s official,” Hood exclaimed, dodging the hanging dried kava and moba fruit, along with, Terran squash and corn, from the ceiling, “we’re transferring to the USS Ares, thank Elohim!”

Sami-Jo laughed at the revealed excitement, hugged and kissed him back amidst the sound of Bajor’s green-tinted waves crashing in the distance.

“Finally, we’re getting away from Cardassia,” Hood pointed out, pouring himself a cup of sweetened Jumja tea, “I’ll get to do some real science, in the final frontier. No more scanning and cleansing antimatter radiation, no more hazardous conditions, and no more dodging degenerative health problems!”

Since December of 2375, after the Battle of Cardassia, Hood had been assigned to Cardassia Prime for humanitarian aid after planet’s massive devastation of infrastructure, death of eight hundred million civilians, and over seven million troops. His temporary duty assignment was to help cleanse excess antimatter radiation from the planet’s surface and the atmosphere, being extremely hazardous to humanoid life.

Hood decided to join Starfleet to be part of Starfleet’s effort of exploration of “strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations” in 2370, three years before the Dominion War began. Little did he know he would serve in the last two years of the Dominion War, and be part of the Restoration of Cardassia, for six years.

Finally, Hood’s reason for joining Starfleet was being realized. Though he majored in Astrophysics, with focus on Temporal, Quantum and Relativistic Mechanics, Warp Field Theory, Exoarchaeology and Radiobiology, Starfleet zeroed-in on his Radiobiology classes and experience, sending him directly to the Restoration after the war.

“And, I’m officially promoted to Lieutenant and Chief Science Officer,” Hood reminded himself, telling his wife, through another wave of euphoria. Hood had wanted to be a CSO since joining the Academy.

Hood’s daughters came running up to see what the commotion was about.

“Daddy, you’re home!” squealed Gracie, Hood’s four-year-old, curly blonde, blue-eyed daughter, when she saw him. He didn’t know how many years left he had of her being excited to see him after work, but he intended to soak up every minute of the time he had left. Donna, Hood’s one-year-old, curly strawberry blonde, amber-eyed daughter, came running up on not-so-sure-footing, inspired by her big sister’s expression of delight.

While Hood hugged, kissed, and played with both girls, Sami-Jo reflected on their last six years living on Deep Space Nine while Allan was stationed on Cardassia. Sami-Jo had to wait for windows of permission and shore leave to see her newly wedded husband with their children. Now, she’ll get to live with him permanently while he’s stationed on the Ares.

Coincidentally, the ship will be leaving in the early morning on the Last Day of Feast of Tabernacles, scheduling Hood to report for duty the following morning.

“What are the odds of that? I’m taking it as Yeshua Ha-Mashiach blessing our voyage,” Hood laughed, half-jokingly.

Hood explained that they need to pack everything from their quarters and move onto the Ares; they’ll be leaving in three days, taking relief supplies to several Cardassian Colony worlds.

“After that,” Hood finished, “we’ll be heading out into the Beta Quadrant, into uncharted space!”

Sami-Jo finally quit smiling and became pensive. When they decided to have children on the space station, it was relatively secure. They have been taking their proximity to Bajor for granted, spending the Feast Days and holidays on the surface, the Bajoran culture influencing their own. They always cherished that the substantial agricultural activities, flora and fauna, in the northern peninsula, reminded them of their home in Caloosahatchee, Florida on Earth.

Though there were risks involved being in Starfleet, the reality of the additional potential risks and dangers began to dawn. Hood must have come to the same conclusion; he slowly rose from his children, keeping eye contact with his wife, and walked over to her, grasping her hands.

“Starfleet’s been exploring uncharted territory for centuries,” Hood soothed, “this is the whole reason why we all came out here. We have Elohim, keep praying. We’ve made it this far. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

“I’m worried about the babies, Allan,” Sami-Jo admitted while the wind blew gently through their tabernacle, “It’s so dangerous.”

“I know,” Allan began, “I won’t be able to go that far away without you and the girls. I want you by my side; I need all of you in my life, through whatever happens, we’ll be together.”

Allan and Sami-Jo silently hugged as the girls looked on.

OOC: It really is a coincidence haha the Feast of Tabernacles dates are accurate for 2381. I totally forgot to check the dates in the original version; I figured, what are the odds?

[KaiserKirk]

=== Deep Space Nine, 3rd Promenade airlock===


The massive and elegant doors of the bar were just up ahead, Angus could already hear the sounds of cheering and the Duplo tables spinning.

~"Thank god, finally, the wait is over,"~ Angus thought as he stepped through the old and rusted airlock door. As Angus walked out of the airlock he tapped a badge on the left side of his chest.

=^= This is Cheif Medical Officer Angus reporting arrival. =^=

After a few seconds silence the voice of the DS9 traffic controller said in his monotone voice,

=^= Welcome aboard Commander Angus, you're arrival has been logged.=^=

Angus had been serving on the Brisbane now as its Assistant Nurse for so long that finally when he was called up for the new CMO position on the Ares he was already out the airlock when Vise Admiral Co'conal asked. The next out where a few science officers and an Andorian named Telshu, he was a lieutenant in the biology labs and had some interesting ideas about fungal medicines that he shared with Angus on the flight. When Angus saw him pass he didn't bother to say goodbye all he was thinking about was the nice and quiet bed that the station was providing him for the next few days. As he started for a wall just outside the Station Security door he looked up and stood still, stunned. Looking through a large oval-shaped window on the second floor of the Promenade he saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen since the first time he left the orbit of luna, there the purple and yellow sparks of the famous Bajoran Wormhole twirled and danced in front of him, and then in a flash it was gone. Still standing in the middle of the Promenade just outside the bar Angus still stared jaw at the floor. He had only seen it on the Holonet and on the odd Holophoto.

Then as his legs and head started to scream in protest and demand the relaxation of a bed he started to walk to the wall again. Reaching it he saw the yellow zig-zag lines of the station's layout on a screen. After spending a minute or two studying the route from his location to the bed that was ever present in his mind he took off with the purpose in his stride for the nearest lift.

~"No matter how hard I try to get some sleep on those cramped supply ships I never seem to get any!"~ Angus protested in silence as the lift neared the habitation ring.

Angus had never liked the Olimpic class medical ship, it was too cramped and stored to the brim with supplies and people, the ship he was on, the USS Saviour was travelling from Yesh, an agricultural world that supplies most of the food and medicine for the entire Yesh sector. Angus spends a week on shore leave on Yesh, exploring the vast crop fields and mass harvest sites, to him this was a wonder and a beauty that he had never seen in person, after all, he had spent his entire life on the Moon and the Brisbane wasn't an exploration vessel. Especially during the Dominion War when he was still an Ensign, she served as a patrol vessel and helped destroy the fleets at Chintoka and Cardassia.


=== Deep Space Nine, habitat ring complex===


The lift ground to a halt as the doors opened. Looking down the dark grey corridor Angus saw two officers talking outside a room 2 doors down, picking up the duffle bag that he had been lugging around since he got off the Savior. He then started down the corridor. When he passed the two officers he saw that one who was talking and had his back to Angus was an Ensign with a dark blue uniform, she was talking about how the Ares had the latest equipment available, the other Ensign was a Vulcan also with a dark blue uniform, he was nodding in agreement.

After the Vulcan caught my eye he lost his thoughtful posture and stood to attention, the human Ensign confused for a brief moment turned around also standing to attention.

"Good afternoon," Angus said politely as he stopped to talk.

"Yes, it is indeed sir." The Vulcan responded in kind.

Just as Angus was about to continue on he saw that the door to the apartment was opened, revealing not a nice and luxurious suite but rather a gutted room filled with crates marked all differently, from Astronomics to Tactical and even Medical. Intrigued by this Angus raised his hand to point and asked;

"What is going on in there?"

"The cargo bays were filled to capacity sir, so we had to use some of the spare rooms," the Human answered while holding his gaze on Angus.

With a final goodbye Angus headed for his room, now only a few metres away. As the door slid open with a hiss he dropped his duffle bag and headed straight for the bed. Not bothering to tuck himself in or even take off his uniform and shoes. As he drifted into sleep he thought of the wormhole still fresh in his mind and then he was out for it.

[Josh Broughm]

Deep Space 9
Lower pylon 3 - Airlock

Sam walks up to the Airlock with his beloved Akyv at his side. He looks at the display just off of the side of the door. "This is it," He says, "This is where we'll part." Akyv took him by the neck and kissed him passionately, to which he returned it. "Stay safe," she said softly, "my love." She pulled a small box from her leather jacket and placed it in his hands. "In case you get bored out there," she said. He opened the case and saw a deck of Magic cards. Sam smiled and said, "Thanks!" a broad grin came across her face as she said, "Call me when you can. I should be back on Earth within a week." He nodded, pecked her on the cheek, then boarded the ship.

USS ARES
Deck 10 - Diplomatic complex

It took him about an hour to set up his quarters to his liking. Small statuettes of various Anime characters, a ancient team Canada Jersey from the very early 21st century. He loved Hockey very much.

OOC: Assume the jersey is from Team Canada 2002. CO CANADA GO!! LOL

When he finished, he had one case of stuff marked DIPLOMATIC MATERIALS. He took the case to what was known as the Diplomatic complex on deck 10. It wasn't much of anything just an office, a small receiving hall for diplomatic functions and a conference room. Of course he had no staff, he didn't need any. He proceeded to place the various books, documents and other things that he's collected in his job in his office. The final item he had left was the D'tagh that was left to him from his last assignment. He smiled and mounted it on the wall, next to the Klingon empire plaque. He then sat as his desk, leaned back and smiled. The great adventure has begun.

[Generator]

Deep Space 9
The Promenade

“I hate to say it, but I’ve gotta get going.” With that, Alex Foster got up from the table he and his friend had been sitting at.

“Too bad the Artemis is only here for a couple of hours.” Lieutenant Jim Cole got up too, and the two young Starfleet officers picked up their raktajino cups, and tidied up where they’d sat. The USS Artemis was scheduled to leave DS9 for a surveying mission into the Badlands. Jim had been transferred from the USS Schirra to the Ares, and had hitched a ride on the Artemis to get to the station and meet up with his new assignment. While aboard the Artemis, he’d had a little time to catch up with Lt. Foster, one of his good friends from the Academy, who was part of the Engineering department of that Nebula-class ship. “I hear the Holodeck in that Quark’s place has a pretty nice baseball field. Woulda been nice to just get some long-toss in.”

“Well, them’s the breaks, Jimmy,” Alex grinned as he put the mugs onto the reclamator pad. “Maybe we can get in a few innings when you’re back from God-knows-where.”

Lt. Cole rolled his eyes. “C’mon Alex, I’m begging you, no more with the ‘Jimmy’. We’re adults now, Academy graduates. It makes it sound like we’re nine years old.”

“I’m sorry, where do you get ‘we’ from there?”

“Yeah, you too, for saying it. ‘I can’t play baseball with Jimmy ‘cuz my ship is leaving,’” Jim raised his voice into a childlike mimicry of Alex’s.

“Okay, fine-fine-fine. No more... James.” Alex grinned.

Jim shook his head. “You are such a pain. I’ll miss you.”

Alex’s face grew slightly more serious. “Yeah, I’ll miss you too. Come back safe from your great voyage, okay?”

“I will, Alex. If you see Clint and Stacy, give them my best, okay? I left them messages, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to either of them before I left the Schirra.”

The men shook hands, and Alex started walking back to the pylon at which the Artemis was docked.

Down the Promenade, Jim saw the entrance to Quark’s. ~I wonder if there’s a chance in hell of an open holosuite~, he thought as he walked toward the bar.

[Silynn]

Deep Space 9
Promenade

Jei found the walk from the runabout docking port to the ARES docking bay draining. For some reason the runabout docked on the exact opposite side of the station from the ARES. Of course, the other crewman, transfers like herself, thought it was good fortune. It gave them time to see the sites and experience the fabled Deep Space 9 station, the center piece of the Dominion War.

For Jei, she had been here before in passing. It brought back a lot of suppressed thoughts and memories that she had long buried deep and locked away. Instead of the rich aromas of fine foods and exquisite perfumes, Jei smelled burnt flesh from polaron weapons. Instead of the music and laughter, she heard the screams and cries of the wounded.

Jei leaned against a wall and tried to regain her strength and focus. She closed her eyes and did a breathing exercise a counselor taught her for situations as these. As she tried to recover, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Her vision still a bit blurry, looked up and saw a starfleet uniform. “I… should be fine in a moment.”

“Nonsense.” The tone was gentle but firm. “Here, let’s get you to that bench over there,” replied the man in the Starfleet uniform. He matched action with words as he guided and supported Jei to a nearby bench.

Sitting down did feel much better. After a few moments, Jei was indeed feeling better as her dizziness was fading.

“Well, look at that, you’re not a ghost…” chided the man who saw the color return to Jei’s face.

Jei looked and saw him clearly. Starfleet uniform, ARES patch, and rank of Chief Petty Officer. “Thank you, Chief. I guess being cramped up in a runabout with thirty other crewman for a twelve-hour journey took a little toll on me. I will be fine in a few minutes,” explained Jei.

“Yeah, I can empathize, I was on the same runabout. Edward Nakamura, but you can call me Eddie.”

“Thank you, Chief. I’m Han. Crewman Han, maintenance technician,” introduced Jei.

Eddie furrowed his brow a bit at Jei’s overly formal response. It was only momentary, but he shrugged and smiled. “Welcome to Deep Space 9 and the Beta Quadrant, Crewman Han.”

“No need for the welcome, Chief, as I am not new to this quadrant or station. I just haven’t been here since 2376.”

Eddie’s smile disappeared as he understood Jei’s subtle meaning. He was lost in his own thought for a moment but his smile returned. “I see, well, allow me to start over. Hello Miss Han, I’m Eddie. I believe we’re both going in the same direction, so how about you allow me to help my new shipmate… you… get there safely.”

Jei looked at the Security Chief, likely a team leader, and saw his sincerity. “Ok, I suppose that would be rude for me to turn down.”

Not skipping a beat, Eddie picked up Jei’s duffle and slung it over his shoulder with his. “Good. Shall we?” smiled Eddie as he extended a hand to help Jei up off the bench.

Jei pretended to not notice the extended hand and stood on her own. “Ready, Chief.”

Eddie sighed a little before smiling again. He started to walk with Jei a little behind and to his side. “So Miss Han, were you assigned to DS9 or a ship operating in this sector?”

“I was aboard the USS HOOD, Chief. Technician and field medic for away teams.”

“Field medic huh? How’d you wind-up with that collateral duty?” inquired Eddie.

“Out of necessity I suppose.” Jei continued looking at the deck plates, not wanting to talk more about it.

Eddie was at a loss. He wanted to tell her. He tried to get the conversation going in the right direction, but he saw Jei’s body language and knew the war was an unpleasant subject for her. Not that he didn’t understand himself, but the whole scenario totally went different from what he imagined when he found the courage to talk to her.

The promenade was fairly crowded at this time. Jei followed the Security Chief as he cut a path through the denser parts. It wasn’t hard for Jei to notice that Eddie often looked back, with an almost caring look. She would just nod at these instances, assuring him she was ok. Perhaps he was just making sure she was ok and not lost to the crowd. With Eddie being in security, Jei surmised it was just his nature to be protective.

The pair reached the lift to take them to the ARES docking bay. Exiting the lift, they walked down the ramp to the crowded docking bay. The bay was nearly full of cargo containers, supplies and material for the ARES voyage. In an open section to the side, a throng of officers and crew were processing aboard through security and the current Duty Officer.

Once they reached the line, Jei retrieved her duffle from Eddie and thanked him. While in line, Eddie chatted up with some other crew he knew. Jei was thankful as she wasn’t in the mood for idle chitchat. Dealing with the anxiety of a new ship, new assignment, and other unknowns was keeping her occupied enough. After passing through the security check, Jei approached the Duty Officer, a Lieutenant junior grade from Operations or Engineering.

“Crewman Han, engineering, requesting permission to come aboard, sir,” announced Jei as she saluted.

The lieutenant checked their padd and nodded. “Permission granted, Crewman Han. Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As Jei filed passed the officer, a Yeoman gave her a padd. “Here’s your data packet, Crewman Han. Your quarter’s assignment on Deck 8, your supervisor, team leader, and their preliminary briefing. Your other personal belongings from the shuttle have already been sent to your quarters. Have any questions?”

“Thank you, and no ma’am. I’ll find my way.”

This is it. A fresh start. An opportunity for a new beginning, putting the war behind you.

With a deep breathe and exhale, Crewman Jeihee Han stepped into the turbolift and the beginning of her voyage aboard the USS ARES.

[Bugsy6]

=== Deep Space Nine, Cargo Bay ===

T'Mor stands amid masses of stacked high crates, barrels and boxes of medical and other aid supplies. Her Vulcan logical brain is in overdrive, and she couldn't be happier, checking her manifest of required items on her PADD and marking them of with her stylus.

The pressure of her new role was at the back of her mind, sadly her strength of mind has started to slip and her neurotic tendencies start to creep into her conscious thoughts. She finds this seems to happen when shes at her most tired and is exacerbated when she has spent large amounts of time with Humans.

~"Gosh, I wonder what my CO is like. I hope they're someone I can learn from. Maybe they will give me kind enough to give me guidance on further advancement in Starfleet"~ T'Mor optimistically daydreamed as she thought of who her potential new CMO might be.

T'Mor snaps out of her daydream as she notices a dock hand placing a crate of supplies onto a pile without her say so.

"Hey, Hey you!" T'Mor calls across the cargo bay to a dock hand, he freezes supply crate weighing heavy in his arms, he starts to tremble with the weight in his squat position.

T'Mor starts pacing towards him as she checks through her manifest.

"Ensign T'Mor, apologies where do you want this crate?" he asked politely as he straightened up and adjusted the weight in his arms.

"On that pile there, thank you" She requested while pointing over to a group of stacked high crates, all of the crates serial numbers seeming to start with a similar set of numbers, she smiles as the crate finds its new orderly home.

~"Excellent, we're moving through the manifest with good speed, shouldn't take long to get the rest checked in. I wonder if I should call the new CMO to inform them we are ahead of schedule"~ she pondered to herself as she waited for the next set of cargo to arrive. ~"Perhaps I should let them make the first contact, I don't want to be overly forward, I need to make a good first impression and showing my ability to work independent is probably a good first step."~

She nodded firmly and contently to herself just as the next load of cargo was arriving. She hopped to action directing the next batch of cargo to her meticulously organised stacks.

[KaiserKirk]

OOC: Bugsy6, I plan to do a co-lab when we meet, In my opinion, after CMO Angus orders the Medical supplies to be moved onto the USS Ares via comms, after some other work is done Angus would go to the area where the medical cargo is being held, then witness you question the dock hand, at this point it is my opinion that the stories should interact and the two characters could have a brief conversation followed up by my new orders to get the Medbay on the Ares functional. Please PM me with any ideas or changes to what I have proposed!

=== Deep Space Nine, Habitat Ring Complex, CMO Angus Temporary Quarters===

Having spent more than a week in transit from Yesh to DS9 on the crowded USS Savior sharing bunks with four other crewmen... all of them snoring as loud as a howling Targ! But as Angus came to from his slumber, still in his uniform he knew what he had to do today.

After replicating some smashed avocado for breakfast he walked over to the couch in the centre of the room, it was only a few shades darker than the walls, behind it was the bronze and oval window that stared out into the vastness of space, in front of the couch was a small table with a bowl full of pink and yellow fruits and to the side was a notepad. As Angus took his breakfast to the couch he picked up the notepad. On it was a list of tasks he had set for himself for today:

=== CMO Angus, sub files===

// CMO Hems logged //

// Access granted at 06:34 hours //

// Pre-launch task file opened at 06:42 hours //

// Loading...//

Tasks listed from major to minor priorities:

Primary goals:

1. USS Ares medbay to be fully operational before launch.

2. All personnel to be examined and files downloaded.

3. Medical supplies to be loaded onto the USS Ares and stored into correct compartments.

4. Department rundown of medical personnel.

Secondary goals:

1. Meeting senior staff.

2. CMO office complete furnished and functional.

3. USS Ares quarters to be furnished and functional.

// List completed //

// List closed at 07:12 hours //

// CMO Hems logged off at 07:12 hours //

After reviewing his list of goals Angus finished his breakfast, took his plate to the bench next to the replicator and then strolled to the mirror in his bedroom to check his uniform for the final time before he strode to the door of his quarters with his duffle bag and notepad.

=== Deep Space Nine, habitat ring complex ===

As the door to his temporary quarters opened with the all to familiar hiss he saw that other officers were also carrying their duffle bags. Angus assumed that they had the same idea as him, they all wanted to get everything set up and ready to go as soon as possible, it only made sense that they also set up their new sleeping quarters when they get downtime.

As Angus strode through the corridors, now in less of a rush as his legs weren't complaining as they did yesterday, he passed the same room that the two Ensigns where talking in front of. Though today they weren't there, but the door was still opened. Coming to a stop at the entrance he peered inside only to almost immediately jump back as out of nowhere two Ensigns, one was an Andorian with a yellow uniform, the other a species Angus had not seen before with a blue uniform carrying a large rectangle container marked ASTRONOMICS.

"Goodness, you lot gave me a fright!" Agnus declared as he took two more steps back to let the Ensigns through.

"Serry Ser, It wes ouir bed." The Alien answered as it re-adjusted its grip on the heavy load.

"Nonsense... say do you lot need any help?" Angus queried, he was raised to always be helpful and kind to others, this was the main reason he became a doctor in the first place.

"We can manage to thank you, sir." The human pitched in, giving a weak smile.

"Rightio, you lads better get moving then anyway." Added Angus as he held his hand out for them to go.

The two Ensign both gave a nod and then heaved the container forward. Angus then took another look inside, a little more cautious this time, to see that the once filled room was almost completely bare, only a few small crates stacked in a far corner remained.

=== Deep Space Nine, Promenarde ===

As the lift came to a halt and the doors swung open Angus saw how packed the Promenade had gotten, the once loud and exciting cheers from the bar was now drowned out by the sheer amount of people. A former of many different conversations all mixed into one massive chorus of constant white noise. Though Angus could not see it through the sheer amount of people he remembered his way to the station map.

After bumping into people and others doing alike he finally managed to squeeze through the crowds and find the map. After studying it for a minute Angus started to push through the main crowd that was heading to the Ares, As he was heading to the cargo area he saw a lady with dark brown hair lean against a wall, her eyes where closed shut and she looked like she was in distress. But before Angus could make a decision on whether to see if she needed help she saw one of the Ares security personnel, his name escaping Angus come up and help the lady. Not thinking twice about it Angus continued walking.

OOC: For reference to Silynn's post, Jei leaned against a wall and tried to regain her strength and focus. She closed her eyes and did a breathing exercise a counsellor taught her for situations as these. As she tried to recover, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Her vision still a bit blurry, looked up and saw a Starfleet uniform. “I… should be fine in a moment.”

=== Deep Space Nine, Primary cargo hold ===


One of Angus's priorities was to have all the medical equipment loaded onto the Ares as soon as possible, this would free up manpower and enable the medical department to set up all the equipment, he knew that was going to be a pain, especially due to the fact that new and rather strange technologies where being added, some of which he had never seen before. As the reinforced door of the cargo bay slid slowly open he saw his new Assistant Nurse striding with purpose and a notepad to a rather tired looking crewman. As Angus started to walk towards T'Mor he overhears her:

"Hey, Hey you!" T'Mor calls across the cargo bay to a dock hand, he freezes supply crate weighing heavy in his arms, he starts to tremble with the weight in his squat position.

T'Mor starts pacing towards him as she checks through her manifest.

"Ensign T'Mor, apologies where do you want this crate?" he asked politely as he straightened up and adjusted the weight in his arms.

"On that pile there, thank you" She requested while pointing over to a group of stacked high crates, all of the crates serial numbers seeming to start with a similar set of numbers, she smiles as the crate finds its new orderly home.

Angus stopped to hear the conversation before proceeding, He had never really thought about what the people under his command would be like, hell he had never actually thought about what kind of department head he would be, would he be tough and grumpy or would he be soft and compassionate. All these thoughts went away as he watched T'Mor eye the new load of equipment as he walked up to her.

As T'Mor ordered the next load to another area Angus cleared his throat and spoke.

"Good Morning Lt. T'Mor, may I have a word?"

((TAG T'Mor))

[Saelanna]

Bajor
Gytaik Family Residence



The final morning was here. All of Oma’s family had arrived the evening before for her farewell dinner. In spite of the considerable amount of springwine that had been consumed, Starfleet Lieutenant Gytaik Oma rose early to attend morning prayers at the temple before breakfast. The sunrise was particularly beautiful this morning.

When she returned from the temple, Oma was greeted by her mother who was preparing her favourite breakfast of groatcakes with a generous dollop of syrup of squill. There was no replicator in the house, everything here was good old-fashioned home cooking; months in space living out of replicators made Oma really appreciate her mother’s cooking when she came home on leave. And the tea! Fresh deka tea for breakfast was just perfection in Oma’s humble opinion.

“Are you all packed?” Zilke asked her eldest daughter.

“I think so. Most of my belongings from the Imladris were transferred direct to the Ares when we arrived at DS9. I didn’t bring much home with me.”

“Have you got room for a packet of tea?”

Oma grinned, “If I haven’t, I’ll make room for it!”.

As if the smell of breakfast cooking summoned them, Oma’s two younger sisters arrived in the kitchen. Erduta, a prylar at the Vedek Assembly, and Nerjilo, the youngest and a musician, had both taken the time to return to the family home to say goodbye to Oma and wish her well on her new adventure on the Ares. Oma really appreciated the gesture. The two young women were quickly followed by their father, Ussaro, a handsome man for his age with the same piercing grey eyes as Oma. He kissed his wife and each of his three daughters in turn.

“So today’s the day? What time does your shuttle depart for Deep Space Nine daughter?” he asked.

“In two hours father, so I have plenty of time to enjoy my breakfast.”.

“We have presents for you Oma!” said Nerjilo, handing Oma a box. It contained a Bajoran music player. “It contains all of my latest works!”.

“Thank you!”. Oma hugged her youngest sister.

Erduta produced her gift, a beautiful book written in traditional Bajoran script. “A hand-written copy of ‘The Way of The Prophets’; to help you keep your faith when you are far from the Celestial Temple.”

“I will never lose my faith, sister, but this is beautiful and I will treasure it.”. Oma hugged her, “I will miss you all and I will send you letters home whenever I am able!”.

The rest of the morning consisted of packing and repacking her bags as her mother and sisters kept bringing her things to take with her: more tea, some vacupacked groatcakes and hasperat, a bottle of home-made syrup of squill…

The groundcar arrived to take her to the waiting shuttle. Oma said her farewells to her parents and sisters; she had asked them not to accompany her. Zilke cried, as she always did when any of her children left, even if it was only for a few days. Without looking back, Oma climbed into the groundcar and left her family behind.

Deep Space Nine
Docking Pylons

After several hours, Oma arrived on Deep Space Nine; she was tired and thought she could really use a shower but she decided to head directly to the docking pylon where the USS Ares was berthed. She’d been to DS9 many times before so wasn’t really interested in looking around on this occasion. When she arrived at the Ares she joined the line of officers and crew checking in with the duty officer, a Lieutenant JG wearing the gold of Operations/Engineering.

“Lieutenant Gytaik reporting for duty.” She said when it came to her turn, “Permission to come aboard.”.

“Permission granted Sir; the yeoman over there will have details of your assigned quarters, initial duty roster and your scheduled meeting with the Captain.”

Oma took a PADD from the yeoman, noting that she was due to report to the bridge in just over an hour and headed straight to the nearest turbolift; exchanging pleasantries as she went with the crew milling around as they arrived on the ship that would become their home.

“Deck 5.” Oma said to the turbolift.

When she entered her quarters and saw the crates containing her personal belongings were, indeed, already waiting for her. Deciding to leave the unpacking until later, Oma took off her uniform, leaving it strewn across the boxes and headed straight for the shower.

[Generator]

OOC: It just occurred to me that my post, while descriptive, didn't actually get Jim onto the Ares. Wouldn’t do to have a Security Team need to track him down...

Lt. Cole left Quark’s, a little grumpy and humbled by the ability of the bar’s holosuite to throw a good curveball. ~Those old holos make it look like something a kid could do~, he thinks to himself as he walks across the Promenade to the docking pylons.

After Jim checks in with the duty officer, and confirms his belongings were transported from the Artemis, he takes out his PADD, and familiarizes himself with the file on the squadron CO.

~Lieutenant Lechiem... wait a minute. Pendari?~ Jim calls up the file’s picture. ~Whoa, I remember that guy!~ Jim had been a first-year cadet the year Dnari graduated. Jim hadn’t started flight school until his second year at San Francisco, so they hadn’t really had much interaction; Jim just remembered him as “the big red Cadet FC who could probably fold a Jem’Hadar in half.”

OOC: I took the liberty, based on bios, of assuming Jim and Dnari had a year in common at the Academy. If you feel that's not accurate, we could just retcon that out, yes?

Still perusing the PADD, Lt. Cole heads for a turbolift. Without looking up, he says, "Deck Seven." After looking at the PADD a few more seconds, he realizes, ~This isn’t the Schirra, buddy, you don’t want Deck Seven.~ "Computer! Um, belay that request for Deck Seven. Take me to..." ~Dammit, Sovereign-class, with a refit, what the hell deck am I looking for...?~ "Take me to the Flight Deck, please."

It’s then that he looks over and realizes he isn’t alone in the turbolift. He shrugs, a bit embarrassed but, what can you do? "Third ship I’ve been on in a week and a half,” he admits with shrug. "I’ll consider the day a victory if I don’t accidentally walk into the warp core reactor."

[Scarlett]

Deep Space 9
Quark's Bar

The lighting on the third level lounge was intentionally subdued, meant to provide some sense of privacy and intimacy. The couple held hands while looking onto a large PADD together. The image of a Sovereign-class starship rotated slowly with various statistics scrolling to the side.

The male Vulcan glanced to the doorway when he heard another couple stumble into the room. They half collapsed into nearby chairs from a drunken stupor and remained silent and still. After a few seconds he looked to the other Vulcan who was still starring at the PADD. “You are confident with your decision.” It was not a question.

A’Mand looked up and nodded. “Yes Nubok. It is the path that secures the most optimal outcome.”

“That is not reasonable from where I sit.” He pulled his hands away.

“But it is the truth.” A’Mand deactivated the PADD. The room seemed darker until their eyes adjusted. “This mission is intended to take years. You know traveling in uncharted space may exceed the expected time frame of the mission. That variable demands we … you … take such time to find a more suitable mate, if possible.”

Nubok looked back to the couple who had found their way to the floor. The Humans were kissing rather forcefully and Nubok shifted in his chair to have A’Mand block his view of their public, and sloppy, affections. “What if I believe I found my suitable mate?”

A’Mand raised an eyebrow and looked serenely into Nubok’s eyes. She gently placed a hand to his cheek. “But I have not.”

Nubok sat still, as if to savor her touch. “Our last time on the Sixth Wave then-“

“Was the last,” interrupted A’Mand patiently. She lowered her hand.

“Even if the Ares does not depart for a few more days?”

“We should spend the time to complete our mediations, to prepare for our respective duties.” A’Mand stood and lifted the PADD.

Nubok stood. “Indeed.” He pulled at his uniform jacket to smooth out wrinkles. The Ensign pip reflected a stray light source quickly. His lips tightened as he resigned to the moment. “My affections for you will remain.”

A’Mand frowned slightly. She stepped forward to hug Nubok, who embraced her. They stood for a minute in silence before she pulled away. Raising her hand to make the Vulcan salutation, A’Mand declared, “Live long, and prosper, Nubok.”

“And to you A’Mand, live long, and prosper.”

She turned on her heels and walked out of the lounge, ignoring the still writhing couple on the floor.

OOC: A’Mand and Nubok were involved in Pon Farr, instigated by A’Mand, aboard their ship three days ago.

[Asteropax]

Deep Space Nine
Habitat Ring

Dyrell Teriir is relaxing on a couch in his quarters on Deep Space Nine, reading a data pad on Sovereign Class starships. He scrolled through the information rapidly until he came upon a section labeled "Tactical Systems". Sitting up, he started reading more thoroughly.

"Sixteen phaser arrays, ten torpedo tubes, and heavy shielding . . . quite a change from the Akira Class I've been serving on for the past several years," he commented to himself, "Still, I asked for the change."

A tone played over the intercom as the computer chimed into his thoughts, *"You have an incoming communication."*

"From whom?" Dyrell asked, knowing it could be several different people who had met him over the past few days. Several crewmen who were to be assigned to the USS Ares were among them and he was aware the future science officer of the ship was on the station but hadn't had a chance to meet him yet.

*"Arynn Ikkaro"*

Teriir got up quickly, almost tripping on his own feet while doing so, and neatened his uniform before heading over to a table mounted viewscreen, "Open the channel."

Sitting down in the chair and facing the viewscreen, he pressed one of the little buttons on the table and a trill woman appeared a moment later.

=^= Hello there, brother. =^= Arynn smiled.

"Hi sis," Teriir smiled back, "How are you settling in?"

=^= What makes you think I'm settling into anywhere? =^=

"I can see stars out one of the viewports over your shoulder," Teriir chuckled back, "Did you get the posting you requested?"

=^= Science officer of the USS Tethys, =^= she was beaming with pride before rolling her eyes slightly, =^= Well, one of them. I'm currently the backup science officer. =^=

"You'll move up eventually, just like your little brother."

=^= Little? You're a full 30 cm taller than me! =^=

Teriir laughs, "You know what I mean,"

=^= I guess I do. Are you still on Deep Space Nine or have gotten on that sovereign? =^=

"I'm still on the station," he winced. Teriir had an estranged relationship with his father after his mother passed away and had gotten worse once he joined Starfleet. His sister had kept in close contact with each other and talked about just about everything. He had told her about the other times he was at Deep Space Nine and this was one of only two times he was happy to be there, the other being after the victory of Operation Return. The Icarus wasn't supposed to be there but was swept up to participate by the fifth fleet. All of the other times were to transport survivors from other ships after combat operations or for repairs.

Arynn piped up after a few moments, =^= I know it's hard to be back there after everything that happened. Just remember; that was then and this is now. You're going out to explore, not fight. =^=

Teriir shook himself out to clear the memories from his head, "Thank you, Arynn. Let's get back on topic. How do you like the Tethys so far?"

=^= She's currently still in drydock. They'll be officially launching her in two weeks and then we're off to study the Bassen Rift. Some of my classmates have also been assigned here so I've been joining them for things and also got to meet our senior officers. =^=

"Are Jessica Stevenson, Vle'tak Sheen, and Jason Hopkins there with you? I know the four of you are good friends."

=^= Jessica and Vle'tak were assigned to the Umbriel, a sister ship of the Tethys. Jason's here though and . . . well . . . =^=

"I know the two of you started dating at the Academy," Teriir grinned, "You talk about him pretty much every time we open subspace channels."

Arynn glanced away sheepishly before responding, =^= Well, he's great. =^=

The intercom pinged loudly, interrupting him before he could express his happiness towards her, =^= Ops to Commander Teriir. =^=

Sighing, irritated that his conversation with his sister was interrupted, Teriir looked away from the viewscreen, "Go ahead."

=^= The USS Ares has just arrived. =^=

Arynn smiled at him as he turned to say goodbye, =^= Think you two are about to get aquainted. =^=

"Yes, we will. I'll contact you again soon."

His sister nodded before closing the channel. Almost as soon as she did, Teriir was on his way out of his quarters and heading off to find a good spot to view the USS Aries.

[Vox]

Deep Space Nine
Habitat Ring, Guest Quarters 198
"...You push your luck Ral, one day it will run out." said the woman on the screen before him causing the young man to roll his eyes, the action earning him a slight glare from the person on the other side of the monitor.

"Oh come on Alexia you know I wouldn't be me if I didn't push my luck." He countered with a smirk "Besides if my luck does run out so be it, I've had a good life." He added as he took a sip from his glass of Romulan Ale "Eight of them in fact." he said with another grin.

A reply which did nothing but earn him an even sterner glare from the woman "This isn't a joke, we can't afford to lose any Symbionts given how few of them there are, even more so when it comes to you and your habit of nearly getting yourself killed."

"None of which has ever been my fault." He countered.

"Not directly." Alexia replied "But each of them has happened while you were serving in Starfleet..."

"...I like serving in Starfleet, it's the place I feel most at home." Logan interrupted only for Alexia's glare to deepen and had to admit he didn't know eyebrows could furrow that far down on a face, apparently they can.

"It's also the place that has cost you several hosts and nearly your own life on four separate occasions. Never mind the fact the whole point of the joining is to provide new experiences for the future generations of Trill." the brunette replied, her tone more a mix of either frustration or annoyance he couldn't tell. Probably both he suspected.

"I am aware of that and what better place to gain that than in Starfleet? Every lifetime I've lived in Starfleet has been unique and provided me with different experiences each time. I was at the Battle of Wolf 359 for example and let's not forget my 7 years stuck in the Delta Quadrant on Voyager so you can't really throw that one at me can you?" He replied and had to suppress another smirk when it looked like her brow furrowed a little more, if that was even possible. "As will the Ares provide even more experiences I'm sure."

"Just remember Ral, you're walking a very thin line. The Symbiosis Commission isn't very happy with you." Alexia said.

"Technically they haven't been happy with me in at least a hundred years." He grinned "Besides what are they going to do? Keep me in the pool for the rest of my days?"

"Don't tempt them." The woman replied and Ral wasn't entirely sure if she was joking or not.

"Uh huh, well I've got to go, I need to get to the ship so uh this was fun Alexia and say hi to the Commission for me." He said with a grin before hitting the end transmission button.

Downing the last of his ale he sighed and shook his head "128 years, 4 hosts and it's the same conversation every time." He muttered as he stood up "You'd think they'd get bored of it by now." He added as he took his glass over to the replicator and recycled it before grabbing his already packed bag and swinging it over his shoulder, heading for the door.

Deep Space Nine
Docking Pylons

Luckily his guest quarters were in the habitat ring closest to the docking pylon the Ares was stationed at meaning he didn't have a long walk to get to his destination, taking a few moments to glance at the Sovereign class through the window before he boarded. He'd always liked the look of the Sovereign class she was a beautiful looking ship and the Ares was no exception.

He joined the long queue of officers and enlisted personnel waiting to join the ship and tilted his head from side to side, popping his neck as the people in front of him slowly started shuffling their way forward like a group of red, gold, blue and teal coloured penguins, a thought that made him chuckle as the line continued to moved until eventually it was his turn to step up to the lieutenant JG serving as the duty officer.

"Chief Technician Logan Ral reporting aboard."

The duty officer's eyes scanned the PADD until finally finding his name and tapped it "Welcome aboard Chief, the crewman behind me has your welcome packet, if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them."

"I'm good." Logan answered.

"In that case sir, welcome to the Ares."

With a nod of thanks Logan walked over to the crewman who sure enough had a welcome packet for him, which he took with a smile as she greeted him.

"Welcome to the Ares, you've been assigned quarters on deck 8 and your PADD contains your scheduled appointments with the Captain and Squadron Commander but according to this it seems your belongings haven't been brought on board yet I'm afraid." The young woman informed him.

"Thank you crewman although I don't know what you're talking about in regards to my belongings." He said as he glanced at the bag slung over his shoulder "They're right here."

"Sir?" She asked, confused causing him to smile.

"I'm a light packer." He told her, seeing even more confusion make it's way onto her face "A very light packer." he added, as if that would answer all the questions she had and smiled even bigger before deciding to put the poor girl out of her misery "All the rest of my belongings were blow up along with my last ship, this is literally all I own so I didn't need to send anything to the Ares."

"Oh." The young crewman replied before fully realising what he'd said "Oh god I'm so sorry that's awful."

Logan smiled and shook his head "Don't worry about it crewman, it's just stuff, easily replacable. So deck 8 you said?"

The crewman shook her head to get her focus back on her job and nodded "Yes sir, deck 8."

"Thank you crewman."

Making his way through the crowd of people and down the curved corridors of the ship, he made his way to the turbolift and down to deck 8, eventually finding his quarters and walked inside. Slipping the bag off of his shoulder he casually tossed it across the room onto the couch and looked around, taking in his new living space.

"Home sweet home." He chuckled as he sat down on the couch and glanced at the PADD to take a note of when his scheduled appointments were before wondering just what adventures would he find himself on this time.

[Eaglesg]

10 years - 5 months - 16 days

This was the time since Matt went on Deep Space Nine.
Back then, he was an Engineering Lieutenant transferring on a new ship going for a two week mission.

A ship named Voyager.


USS Ares
Ready Room

Matt was looking from the window, staring at the space station above him.

~"Well, at least this time I know I'll be away for more than two weeks..."~ ironically thought the newly promoted Captain.

He was very calm. After all, he chose to apply for the Semper Exploro Project during his time as XO on the USS Aeron.
The past months of training had been quite easy for him, but he still had this feeling that he had been so easily promoted as Captain because of Voyager and that he will have to prove himself to everyone.

While he was lost in his thoughts, the ship's comm bell sounded:

=^= Captain Wilson, Colonel Kira wants to see you in Ops =^=
"Acknowledged. Tell her I'm on my way."

Deep Space Nine
Operations Center - CO Office

As Matt was stepping through the doors, Kira Nerys smiled at him:

"Captain Wilson, welcome to DS9 !
- Thank you Colonel, it's a pleasure to meet you.
- Pleasure is mine. Don't worry Captain, I'll be brief: I know the Ares is not staying long here and you have plenty of supervising to do. I just wanted to personally give you the latest information we have about activity in Cardassian space. Everything is on this PADD."
Matt was puzzled: "On a PADD ? Why not transmitting the data directly to my ship ?
- Temporary security measures. We're having Station-wide intermittent sensor failures and thus cannot track everything in here. You know, spies and stowaways are common things on this station...
- I see. Well, thank you very much Colonel, I hope you'll resolve this quickly.
- I will, you just picked a bad time to come. My Chief of Station Operations is working 26 hours a day on that. I know someone who would have already fixed that, but that's another story. Good luck with you mission Captain, may the Prophets be with you !"

The Captain then returned to his ship, preparing to meet his new staff and begin a new chapter of exploration for the Federation.

EDIT - OOC:

let's not forget my 7 years stuck in the Delta Quadrant on Voyager

Just read your post after posting mine: looks like you'll be my "old man" Vox

[Bugsy6]

=== Deep Space Nine, Primary cargo hold ===

As the final set of assets are organised into place, T'Mor marks the final box on her manifest. That sense of completion and fulfillment that comes from a job well done is a feeling she strives for, or perhaps is almost addicted to. It has become a compulsion of hers to do any task no matter how small with all the efficiency and logical thinking that she can afford. Achieving a level of meticulous detail is as exciting for her as betting on a spin of the Dabo wheel.

~"Excellent, the supplies are all here, I'm so glad there was no errors I would of dreaded having to explain an error to my new CO on the first day of..."~ T'Mor's train of thought was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind her.

Angus cleared his throat and spoke.

"Good Morning Lt. T'Mor, may I have a word?"

She spun on the spot, lowering her arms to her sides and straighten up to attention as she did so. She finished her mini pirouette standing to attention looking at a Starfleet uniformed individual. She quickly analysed the person taking in all the minor details of the face and uniform, including the rank insignia on his shirt.

"Good Morning, Commander Hems," She quickly pulled her COs name from her memory of looking over the Ares crew roster. T'Mor has an eye for detail that sometimes borders on obsessive "I have taken the liberty to organise the medical bay supplies into the most logical areas of use, they are ready for transport onto the ship at your request".

T'Mor spoke quickly and with a twinge of nerves, she was desperate to make a good impression on her new CO. She finished her line and then lifted again to attention waiting for the COs response.

((TAG Commander Hems))