Electric Boogaloo

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:10am by Huyo & Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant K'Laus & Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Commander James Smith & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:44pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: Recreation Deck

A Mission Post by Lieutenant K'Laus & Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Mindo & Lieutenant Mera Richmond MD & Lieutenant James Smith & Ensign Vecon Fick & Huyo
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Recreation Deck
Timeline:
Thu Sep 21st, 2017 @ 9:35am


ON:

Captain Nyx stood in front of the Turbo Lift waiting for the crew to arrive. It was important to him that the new senior officers were socialising and settling into the Pandora, as it was due to be their home for a long time. He had managed to organise a similar event for the initial team before they left Earth, and Nyx wanted to give the recent arrivals the same evening. In doing so, he had used his Captain's prerogative to book the Pandora's Box restaurant just for them for dinner and drinks.

Tugging at the cuffs of his dress shirt, which sat under his favorite charcoal tuxedo, Nyx was equally nervous and excited about the dinner. He hoped the crew would be able to relax enough to enjoy themselves, while also taking the first steps towards this crucial team building moment. As he saw the lift descending, he straightened up his black tie and put a warm smile on his face.

Smith looked around his office and smiled. Everything was back in place and for the time being, all was quiet. He was going to enjoy this down time the best way he could. Smith headed out of his office and made his way to the turbolift. Smiling as he arrived, he noticed that Nyx was already there. Smith said, "Always first, I think it's been that way since I've known you." Smith looked around. "This should be nice. I haven't had a chance to meet everyone yet and the crew needs some down time."

Nyx smiled. "That's the plan, Smithy." He gave the Intelligence Chief a warm pat on the shoulder. "Glad you could make it."

Mera was in her quarters trying to finish getting ready. Her last commanding officer never organized any sort event like this, and the pressure to impress was causing her to second guess herself. Eventually she left for the turbolift wearing a conservative black dress and formal scarf. She was surprised to see that she wasn’t the first to arrive when she stepped on to the Recreation Deck. “Good evening, gentlemen,” she said in the cheeriest voice she could muster as she approached the two officers. “It’s a great idea to get all of the senior staff together in a less formal setting. Thank you for organizing this and inviting me.”

"Evening, Doctor Richmond," the Captain greeted the Counselor with a smile. "I'm happy you approve, and were able to come."
“I would never miss an opportunity like this. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to establish a normal relationship with your crewmates when they think they are being constantly observed and analyzed.”

Ensign Fick had spent the morning going over the duty roster and making sure that he knew when he was expected to be on shift, but as the time neared to go to the gathering that the Captain had arranged he set his PaDD aside and focused on what he was going to wear. It was almost funny to him now to have to pick out clothing from what little he had brought, verses wearing the uniform all the time. To Fick it was easier to just wear the uniform, then he didn't have to think about how he was dressed and what he was going to wear tomorrow, but this was an off-duty event. Even though he figured it probably wouldn't be a problem if he showed up in his uniform he didn't really want to. He settled on a tight fitted black shirt and a colorful vest with an equally tight pair of dark colored jeans. He had discovered jeans while at the Academy and had marveled at how nice they made his rear end look.

Once Fick was dressed he made his way to the turbolift and then to the restaurant. He grinned at the Captain, who was standing at the door and saluted. "Evening, Captain. Looks to be a good night for a party," he exclaimed with a little wink.

Nyx took a step back to admire the Ensign's attire, giving a long and low whistle as he did. He smiled, "Certainly hope so, Mr. Fick. That's quite an outstanding vest you have there."

Fick grinned. "You really like it? My Aunt actually made it. Although, I am feeling a little underdressed." He eyed the captain's tuxedo. "Should I have worn something more formal?" His eyebrows raised in concern and he looked up at Nyx, obviously worried.

Nyx didn't want to hurt the kid's feelings, knowing how new he was to all this, but he also didn't disagree with the question. Instead he put on a broad smile, "You look great, Mr. Fick. Though, if you ever want some help picking out a tux, I'll be happy to take you out shopping on the boulevard."

Having managed to recover from the fun and frolics with both Richmond and Griffin earlier in the day, Owen managed to make himself look presentable in a black tuxedo before heading back to Pandora's Box to join the other senior officers gathering there.

As he arrived on deck, Owen noticed Counselor Richmond straight away and admired her in the dress she'd chosen. A smile crept across his lips as he recalled the fun that had taken place earlier and recognised he made have made a couple of new friends.

"Commander," Nyx greeted Nash with a firm handshake, his First Officer's grin becoming infectious. "You appear to be in a good mood."

Owen smiled as he heard the Captain's comment. "Oh it's nothing sir...just recalling a conversation I was involved in with Counselor Richmond and Lieutenant Griffin the last time that we were in here," he answered. Seeing the Captain's quizzical look, he carried on. "Pay it no mind sir, there was plenty of harmless fun discussed between us."

Mera noticed her new friend arrive. “Good to see you again, Commander Nash. You clean up well.” A big smile snuck out. “That’s a great tux. I have seen more of those this evening than I have since leaving Earth.”

Mindo had forgotten his leg apparatus again, and was almost stepped on by Mera while trying to navigate the crowd, going mostly unnoticed.

"Excuse me," he said to Mera, hoping she would notice him and not step on him.

“Oh, I am sorry”, she exclaimed looking down in surprise. “Lieutenant Mindo presume? It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Doctor Mera Richmond, Pandora’s new counselor. I have read the ship reports just after the Pandora entered the Expanse, and I must say that I was impressed by you and your staff. I am sure the Captain wouldn’t be comfortable enough to hold an event like this if it weren’t for you.”

"I think Cap is the type who would've had this event anyway. He's a pretty social fellow." Mindo smiled. "And thanks for the confidence. I have the best staff of engineers in the fleet."

With everyone gathered, Temple took a step back and admired the group. "Before we go in, I just want to thank you all for coming and indulging me in this off-duty team bonding exercise. Since we are deep into our first tour on this ship now, it's so important that we quickly find our rhythm as a crew and start to build the trust between us that will serve us throughout our journey."

He continued, "The Pandora will look to all of us as the leaders of this ship. We are entrusted with the responsibility to take care of our departments and our crewmates, and ultimately, to see ourselves back home safely again at the end of our voyage. We must work together to navigate these troubled waters, and hopefully, make some really exciting new discoveries along the way."

Clapping his hands together, Nyx smiled. "Alright, enough chat. Let's eat!"

With his arm raised, Nyx led the way into the Pandora's Box for dinner. As he pushed open the doors, the group could see the restaurant's usual seating arrangement had been changed for the evening; with one single, long table now in the middle of the room, and decorated formally for the senior crew. There were no set placings, Nyx was happy for the officers to mingle as they pleased, though he deliberately took a seat in the middle for himself.

Owen rubbed his hands together as he looked upon the new seating arrangement and promptly headed for a placing that was two seats in from the top of the table. As he took a seat, Owen look around to the others behind him. "So, who fancies a chinwag then?" he asked.

Fick followed Owen and sat down across from him. "What's a chinwag?" he asked, grinning at the second officer. "I've never heard that phrase." He put both hands on the table and cocked his head to the side curiously. He had hung out with plenty of humans at the Academy, and even made really good friends with a few, but there were still phrases in the language that he didn't get. Of course he came from a planet that so many words for sex that other cultures couldn't keep up either, so he wasn't judging.

Owen smiled as the young Ensign enquired about his choice of words. "A chinwag my dear Ensign is another way of asking who fancies a chat or discussion whilst we enjoy a polite dinner," he explained. "Its an Earth slang term."

Fick grinned. "It's definitely colorful." He chuckled. No matter how many humans he was exposed to in his lifetime, he was pretty sure they would never stop amazing him. "Which part of Earth are you from?" Perhaps the phrase was a dialect and Owen was from somewhere Fick had never heard of or met anyone from.

Owen grinned as Fick as the question. "Me? I was born in the Southeast sector of England. Centuries before, the country was divided into local counties and the one I was born in is a very picturesque place called Kent," Owen explained.

"How about yourself Ensign? I apologise for not being too inquisitive about where your from and where you were born...Care to enlighten me?" Owen asked in return.

Smith watched as different members of the crew began to sit down, making his way to were the Captain was sitting he sat down and continued to observe those around him. He was looking for Lieutenant Wakefield but noticed she had not shown up yet.

Fick was beaming, "I've never heard of Kent." He had been right in his assumption. It was always good to ask where someone was from, you never knew what you were gonna learn. "I'm from a city called Nuvia on the planet Risa. It's pretty typical of a larger city."

Nyx let out a low and meaningful chuckle, "Risa is one heck of a planet."

Mera took a seat beside Ensign Fick near the end of the table. “It certainly is. Watching the sunset from the beach on RIsa was one of the most peaceful experiences I have ever had.” She looked away for a second, latching on to the memory for moment. “Ensign, I don’t think I have introduced myself yet. I am Pandora’s new counselor, Dr. Mera Richmond. That is a fantastic vest.”

Fick grinned at Mera. "Hello there Doctor. Thanks so much!" He tucked his thumbs into the edges of the vest. "My grandmother actually made this one. It's comfortable. I suppose I will find myself in your office soon for a review. Yes?"

“Yes, and feel free to come by whenever you feel it necessary.” She looked around at the rest of the officers at the table. “That goes for the rest of you too. My door is always open. We can talk about all the things you did on Risa.” she said with a sarcastic smile.

Smith chuckled and smiled, "Yes, Risa is quite a planet had a lot of good times there, of course during a few shore leaves Nyx and I always seemed to find trouble, or it found us." Smith looked over at Nyx, "Remember the twins that we took out, they forgot to inform us that they were already married, of course, shortly after that we both got married."

Fick laughed. "There's so much trouble to get into on Risa it's hard to know where to start sometimes. Of course we don't really define it as 'trouble'..."

Mindo turned around and joined the conversation. "Did someone say 'trouble?' That would be my middle name, if I had three names."

Owen smiled as he recalled previous troubles and visits to Risa. "Risa and Trouble come hand in hand, Mr Mindo... Although its good to know the Captain has had his fair share of fun there too," he added to the conversation. "In fact I'm sure we've all got stories to tell...but what happens on Risa, stays on Risa..."

"Sounds like fun," said Mindo. "I've always heard of the place. Never been there myself. I've heard stories though."

Almost as if summoned by those words, the ship's resident chef, Huyo, appeared behind Nyx as if by magic. The Deltan was in an understated pale green dress, beaming at everyone with her usual wide smile. "Welcome, everyone! You can all access your menus by voice command which will generate a holographic display, so please feel free to do so at your leisure. I've prepared a variety of dishes and drinks suited for humans, Fesarians, Klingons, Tamarians, Bajorans and Risians. We will be beginning in the Earth tradition with a starter dish, in honour of our captain and the moon in Sol System that our lovely ship is named after. I hope you all have a wonderful evening, so relax and enjoy yourselves!"

"Thank you Huyo," Nyx replied warmly, "If you haven't tried the food here yet, you are in for an absolute treat. Huyo is the best chef in the galaxy, I stake my entire reputation as your Captain on this fact."

Looking at the holographic display, Nyx pondered for a moment before smiling, "I will have the creole shrimp pasta for my main."

Fick was staring at the menu and having a hard time making up his mind. "Pardon me chef, I mean no disrespect, but is your Racht fresh? It's really gross if it's half-dead."

Huyo smiled pleasantly at Fick in response, although there was a wicked gleam in her eye that belied her smile. "Of course Vecon, all of this is very fresh. I have a little place next to the kitchen where I grow much of this under artificial sunlight, although it will take a while for me to breed more Racht worms after tonight. You should always be careful with Klingon food, they really are some of the most exacting culinary critics in the galaxy!"

Fick chuckled. "Right you are, Chef. I will have the Racht then as well as some Hasperat. Thank you." He smiled at Huyo. "Perhaps a Mai-Tai to drink?"

Smith looked up at Huyo and smiled, "I think I'll start out with a salad, then the biggest steak you have, with a baked Potatoe, and maybe some collard greens." Smith looked up again, "How about some whiskey from your private stock as well."

Owen looked through the menu and tried to decide what he was going to have. As he heard Lieutenant Smith order the steak, that seemed to help the situation. "I'll have the Italian Lasagne please my good man," he started. "I'll also take a healthy salad with the meal and if possible, a portion of Garlic Bread as well," he requested as Hyo took his order.

Deciding on a old favourite of his meant that Owen could relax a little more and not worry about trying food he'd not seen before. "Oh, I'll have a pint of fine Earth English Cider with that please Hyo. I have several options programmed into the replicator system...I'll let you decide on that one."

Mera skimmed the menu and was surprised by the vast selection of Terran food. "I will take a few pieces of the eel sushi followed by a tsukimi soba soup. We will stick with the Japanese theme and get a nice cold gree tea. What ever blend you have will be perfect."

With their meals served and eaten, the new senior crew were laughing and discussing various subjects around the long table. Nyx, for his part, ever the showman and constant conversationalist, was recalling an incident from earlier in the evening.

"So I thought Ignatius, the store owner, was just out there," He spoke with mirth, "And he'd been so snide with me earlier, I decided to throw my pants out of the changerooms. Little did I know that Lieutenant Mindo had arrived and unfortunately my airborne trousers landed right onto him! I was mortified, I'm pretty sure that's a level two code of conduct infringement."

"I've had plenty of people throw pants at me," said Mindo with a chuckle, "but usually not in public, and typically not commanding officers."

"I miss having pants thrown at me..." Fick said wistfully, over the edge of his glass.

"I swear I didn't mean it!" Nyx cried, his voice heightened in emphasis, giving a pleading look to the Lieutenant before continuing, "Suffice to say, because of my blunder and Mindo's return fire not long after, Ignatius has now decided to call his clothing store The Flying Pants."

Owen looked up from his drink and looked over first at the Captain in mock laughter and then at Fick. "You miss having Trousers being thrown at you... has this been a regular occurrence for you then?" he asked, curious to find out more.

"Of course, if it's regular, it sounds like the Captain could happily oblige you as he's well practised," Owen added, raising a glass to his CO with a smile on his face.

Fick laughed, grinning at Owen. "It has happened to me a couple of times. I am from Risa... after all. I'm also a smartass... so that has gleaned me a lot of ducking from the closest item to throw over the years." He feigned innocence.

Attending this get together had not been in Lieutenant K'Laus' plans. For the longest time, he had avoided doing so. But curiosity killed more than just cats, it also ticked the occasional Talarian raised Klingon. He had picked up a glass of punch. It was a disgustingly sweet beverage undoubtedly an Earth concoction. He was listening to the crew converse when he heard the annoyance of Ensign Vecon Fick.

The Klingon grunted and scoffed. "Many unsatisfied guests no doubt. The boy has probably had dozens of horga'hn thrown at him," said the Klingon, making a small joke at Fick's expense.

Fick, always being one to roll with the punches, laughed. "Definitely! They do make pretty good items to throw at smart asses. I don't know about the unsatisfied part. No one ever complained about that." He grinned up at the Klingon, sipped at his drink and reached for the last of his wiggling Racht. He picked them up with his fingers and tipped his head back dropping them into his mouth.

Owen chuckled at the banter between both Fick & K'Laus after taking a sip of his drink. "Well it sounds like he's had plenty of practice ducking and diving K'Laus, all good qualities that a well spirited helmsman should have on every starship," Owen admitted.

The Klingon looked at Fick and then looked at Lieutenant Commander Nash. "That remains to be seen," the Klingon retorted and crossed his arms, after setting down the punch. "He may be good at ducking and diving, Commander, but he probably is the reason we will get shot at anyways."

Owen let loose with a healthy belly laugh at the Klingons response. "Oh I'm sure that's not the case my friend, besides back in the day, there's always been one reason or another that the Pandora got shot at... We're a Federation Starship...it's part of the fun of being out there and exploring," he paused for a moment. "Everyone who isn't an ally wants to shoot at us!"

Lieutenant K'Laus shook his head. "Not entirely true, Commander. If we used that philosophy, then all new species we encountered would be immediately an adversary. Everyone who isn't an ally nor enemy would be neutral until they make themselves an enemy or an ally. Even then, sometimes your allies become your enemies and your enemies become your allies," stated the Klingon. "I still think the ensign makes for a target," teased the Klingon.

Fick laughed again. "I'm really not sure I'm important enough to be anyone's target," the ensign said with humor. "I mean I am just a lowly ensign. I'm not even sure I'd fetch that much in latinum." He grinned.

K'Laus raised a brow. "I guess that depends how well you perform oo mox, Ensign," replied the Klingon with a smirk and a bellyful chuckle. "You may just fetch yourself a few bars of latinum with your exotic features alone and that boyish charm," teased K'Laus. "Some of those conservative lobed Ferengi elders have been known to pay the Orion slave traders fairly generously for a few slave boys and to keep quiet."

Nyx had been caught in a side conversation but heard the end of the Klingon's sentence and almost choked on his wine. "My goodness! How on earth did you people get from flying pants to slave trading? Actually, I don't think I want to know."

Fick pointed at K'Laus. "It's his fault..."

"My apologies, Captain," said K'Laus. "The Ensign and I were... bonding. I thought it would be beneficial to crew morale if I were to participate in this 'get together'," said K'Laus, but he looked at Fick. Don't get any ideas he thought privately.

Nyx let out a breath, trying not to get too upset, "Let's keep things appropriate to the setting, folks." He answered before giving a small sigh.

Fick snickered just a little. "Of course, Captain." He looked over at the Klingon, getting all sorts of ideas. "Maybe you should sit down, K'Laus. Join us." He smiled. "The Racht is really good here."

The Klingon grunted. He was not going to pass on Racht, and the Captain had apparently taken that grunt as a sign to surrender his seat.

Standing from his seat without saying a word, Nyx moved further down the table and sat down next to Lieutenant Mindo. "So, Lieutenant, how many heads did you turn on the way to dinner tonight?"

"A few," said Mindo. "Had to make a pit stop in Engineering shortly before I got here. Turned some heads there! Saw a nice-looking Ensign from Science checking me out on the way here. How about yourself?"

"Only the missus," Nyx replied wistfully, "And even she agreed with Ignatius about my waistline. No more dinner parties for me, I'm afraid, I have to get back into my training regiment." He took another swig of his wine and shrugged, "Starting tomorrow."

The Klingon was in the middle of enjoying his Racht when the room's illumination 'flickered' on more than one instance. He shot a look down to Lieutenant Commander Nash. "I do not appreciate eating my Racht in the dark, Commander," said the Klingon just shy of the power to the deck completely cutting. K'Laus looked at the Captain. "It would appear as though we may be needed on the Bridge," he grumbled.

Nyx carefully placed down his glass on the table as the room was flooded with the dim tinge of emergency lighting. "That damn dark matter." He cursed, pushing back in his chair to stand. "Mr. Mindo, please check in with Engineering. Mr. Nash, can you ascertain how many decks are effected. And Mr. K'laus, we will adjourn to the Bridge."

Lieutenant K'Lus grunted. "I will see you on the Bridge, Captain" replied the Klingon, proceeding to the exit.

Mindo set down his glass and hopped off his chair. Back to work, he thought, and made his way out of the restaurant, making a pit stop at his quarters to quickly change back into his uniform. He hung his beautiful new suit carefully in his closet.

"Dammit, just when things were getting interesting..." Owen answered as the light flickered. "Apologies everyone for this, if anyone needs me I'll be in the Auxiliary Ops Centre."

Owen stood up from the table and bade everyone a good evening before heading over to the Auxiliary Ops Centre on the same deck. Despite turning a few heads, he managed to atune the internal sensor to scan the ship and do a deck by deck check.

"Bloody Dark Matter..." He mumbled after seeing up to six decks were affected.

"Everyone else, I'm sorry," The Captain sighed, "Hopefully we'll get this sorted soon so we can continue on. Otherwise, we may have to end the evening here. Even so, it's been a pleasant night and I wish you a warm welcome to the Pandora." He couldn't help but laugh. "With or without the lights on."

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