Kansas_Jones

When last we met, the Agincourt was escorting the Alliance on its speed trials. The Romulans were, naturally, showing off, when in the middle of the trail something went BOOM! and the Alliance was badly damaged. Agincourt has offered assistance. CourtChatLog10_8_4_.txt

06.23.10 Agincourt Mission Update: TBS: Four days, we'll already be at the Romulan shipyards per Colonel Harper. The Colonels receive new orders: The 'Court is being pulled temporarily from the 7th Fleet operations. We are to head out to the Romulan shipyards and show the colors for the launch of a new Alliance-class Romulan vessel; the new ship is a joint venture, and sports a good bit of Federation technology in addition to the usual Romulan tech. Meanwhile, the CMO has concerns and deals with "shoulder strain" injuries from the Departmental cross training; the Medical doctor questions the GSGT DI regarding the training.

MISSION BRIEF: Time Between Sims has been 30 minutes. The gathered 7th Fleet continues to take part in and coordinate anti-Soltan battle simulations with one another; the scenerio has been reset, and the Agincourt prepares to move out on another simulated battle run. On shift officers are concerned with the flight run, while off shift officers continue to take part in combat readiness sessions. CourtChat10_6_16_.txt

06.16.10 Agincourt Mission Update: TBS: 2 to 3 Days; any novice trainees will have completed their section of the projectile weapons combat training per Colonel Harper. The joint war games continue as the 7th Fleet takes part in some much needed ship to ship simulated combat. while our internal personnel take part in some much needed combat management training. The USS Agincourt becomes the hunter in this second run through of the simulation, taking on a simulated role as the Soltan. Noteably, the USS Huntington feels the wrath of the big exploratory warship. Elsewhere, while the bridge crew takes part directly in the ship to ship games, Department personnel are drilled by their respective Chiefs to insure readiness. Medical, in particular, makes use of a state of the art holographic training program. Off duty personnel (all Depts) report to the Marine NNC command area in order to be inducted into projectile weapons combat training sessions. The sessions are intended to ready all officers and crew for the possibility of having no energy based weapons or equipment to work with. Some of the trainee officers are introduced to the novice firing range, and the session promises to be thorough regardless of rank.

USS Agincourt NCC-81762 "We happy few, We band of brothers" (1007.14) Crew Manifest = = = = Command Commanding Officer: Colonel Charlotte Elizabeth ‘Medusa’ Harper [Human, F] Executive Officer: Lt. Colonel Mrrett Shaow (Kansas) ‘Will’ JoNs [Caitian, F] Bridge Operations Manager: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Tay Nightflyer [The Tay (Nightflyers), F] Tactical (Security Officer): Internal SEC Posting Security Chief Security Officer: Lieutenant, Senior Grade, C.T. 'Junior' Caine [F Vulcan/Human] Assistant Security Officer: Lieutenant Paul Messner [M Human] (LOA) Assistant Security Officer: Ensign Taelya Shra’ha (goes by Taelya) [F Andorian] Assistant Security Officer: [OPEN] Engineering Chief Engineer: Lieutenant Commander Kairi ‘Flux’ Kassem [Human/Romulan, F] Assistant Engineer: Lieutenant, Senior Grade, Gerhard Saffir Murray [Human, M] Assistant Engineer: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Tlak [Vulcan, F] Assistant Engineer: Ensign Felix Karrigan [Human, M] Medical Chief Medical Officer: Lieutenant H'Rasha Trenral (Caitian, F) Assistant Medical Officer: [OPEN] Assistant Medical Officer: [OPEN] Assistant Medical Officer: [OPEN] Science Chief Science Officer: [OPEN] Assistant Science Officer: [OPEN] Assistant Science Officer: [OPEN] Assistant Science Officer: [OPEN] 139th Marine Battalion Marine Commander: Colonel Charlotte Elizabeth ‘Medusa’ Harper [Human, F] Marine Battalion Exec: Lt. Colonel Mrrett Shaow (Kansas) ‘Will’ JoNs [Caitian, F] Marine: First Lieutenant Owen ‘Buddha’ Matthews [Human, M] (LOA) Marine: Gunnery Sergeant Mike ‘Slick’ Hefner [Human, M] Marine: Private Karo Veras [bajoran, M] Recurring Guests: Lieutenant Senior Grade Shadow ‘Casper’ [Energy Being] (Science) Ensign Salir Julio [Male Catullan) (Science) Leave of Absence: Lt. Paul Messner (Security) 1st Lt. Owen Matthews (Marine)

02.17.09 Excal Mission Updates: TBS: 30 minutes - Black Marsh Planet: Our Dameon Captain and Al-Ucard Security Officer, both still free on the planets surface, continue to work out a plan of attack against the local Lizards. The captive away team members got into some funny water; a base form of Ketracel White infects the local tree sap, and therefore the planetary water supply. It’s all about the White Water maaaaaaaaaaaan. - Sector Raider Battle: the pirates finally veered off and pulled out. Excal fighters and support craft were recalled and Engineering and Medical response teams were beamed over to the damaged freighter ship to render assistance. The First Officer accompanied the response teams, with the Second Officer left in command of the Excalibur.

MISSION BRIEF: Most of the AT has been captured and lies in a large pit in a cave, while Excalibur battles raiders. Excal2009_02_15.txt

02.14.09 USS Agincourt NCC-81762 “Tatterdemalion” Commander Kansas JoNs was currently neck deep in update reports from the various ground teams that had been deployed to the colony world surface to assess any damage and assist the local repair crews. She had been determined to try and get as many of the field reports cleared out of her InBox or from her desktop surface - in the case of hard copy data Padds - prior to heading up to the bridge for her secondary shift of bridge duty, and had been moderately successful with her plan The ‘Courts damage control teams deployed to the planetary surface had consisted primarily of the ships enlisted officers, and as the chief non commissioned officer on board, Master Chief Petty Officer Keltex had been the shift lead responsible for coordinating the mobilization of the teams with the command team, the chief engineer, and the local planetary civvy authorities. The Master Chief was more than capable of handling such an assignment, and his mission reports on such matters were precise and to the point with no unnecessary rambling, which was good because she was in no mood to read a report from one of the shipboard windbags. The golden furred Caitian tapped at the inset keyboard on the desktop, instructing her personal computer to access and display the update message from Keltex and then settled back and took sips of her tea as she read the report. = = = = Internal Communication Wireless = = = = = = = = Agincourt NCC-81762 Security 7 = = = = = = = = Keltex Red Qi-Jhintok General Encryption = = = = To: JoNs, Commander Kansas Re: Damage Control Deploy Teams, Enlisted The damage control response teams under my supervision were deployed to the second largest city on the colony world. The various offices and businesses within the professional sector of the secondary city escaped damage from the incoming fire. There were a total count of three buildings that were tatterdemalion as a result of the strafing fire, but most of the damaged structures were stabilized and can be repaired. After aiding with the initial mobilization and repairs, my teams and I withdrew, leaving the repairs to the competent local response units. Keltex, Master Chief Petty Officer = = = = End Report = = = = = = = = Encryption Qi-Jhintok = = = = Kansas had choked on a sip of the tea when she had gotten to the tatter-say woot whatsit word. She finished reading the report, dropped down the original document with a flick of a claw to the keyboard controls, and then brought up another application window containing the highly important yet most often overlooked tool of the Starfleet officer – the spellchecker and dictionary program. The leonine feline typed in this unknown word and then read the explanation that popped up on the office computers view screen for Tatterdemalion, which was defined as something or someone that was ragged, unkempt or dilapidated. She had figured that the word meant something along those lines considering that the Agincourt teams had been deployed to a planet that had just gotten the proverbial stuffing kicked out of it by orbital raider ships, which usually resulted in damaged buildings and structures. Why hadn’t the big Klingon enlisted officer just said dilapidated? Why get all fancy? Then again, why didn’t she just call and ask him herself? A big wide paw tapped at the communications badge affixed to her uniform tunic top. “Commander JoNs to the Master Chief.” His response was prompt to the summons. “Keltex here. What can I do for you Commander Kitten?” “Well … I’m finishing up with your report here. And was wondering about the tatterdemalion?” The Klingons patented deep chest belly laugh could be heard over the open communications channel. When he could finally speak again, the humor was still in his voice. “Ah yes! You like my new word?” “It is interesting, I’ll give it that.” “I am merely attempting to expand my mind, and really you should expand yours as well Kitten.” “Master Chief, I do not need to expand my mind. Wait … that came out wrong … “ Another bout of laughter erupted over the communications feed, and even though he couldn’t see her over the two way audio only transmission, JoNs was smiling. Keltex was a jolly and boisterous soul; he always had been, and he always would be. The universe would indeed be a much darker place when his soul spark was finally extinguished and he passed onto the Hunting Realm. She let loose with a genuine purred chuckle that expressed her own humor. “Well, I won’t keep you Mister Keltex. I just wanted to touch base with you about your rather interesting choice for the word of the week. Just keep in mind that I’m the XO, not the Language teacher.” “Of course. Have a good duty shift Commander.” With a wry thought of ‘you mean my second duty shift’ dancing at the back of her mind, Kansas instead responded with, “You as well Master Chief, JoNs out.” When the audio connection had terminated with the enlisted officer, she knocked back the rest of the rapidly cooling tea and then locked down her computer terminal. Satisfied that all was in order within the office that the XO Cait usually called home these days what with the sheer volume and such of the secondary command position, JoNs exited and started to head down the outside corridor to grab the nearest turbo lift conveyance to the bridge. She passed a repair team in the adjacent corridor, and it was obvious that they were replacing a console grid that had burnt out. The feline stopped and a little smile pricked at her muzzle as she regarded the two enlisted officers, and her inquisitive green eyes took on a mischievous cast. The two enlisted men weren’t uncomfortable in the Caitian Execs presence, but it was also obvious that they were curious as to why she was suddenly so intent on what they both were doing. “Uh, ma’am – can we help you? Is everything all right?” Kansas cocked her head to one side and flipped one ear back in amusement. “Everything is fine Petty Officer. I just wanted to comment that it’s probably a good thing that you’re replacing that component; it’s looking downright tatterdemalion. Carry on.” Leaving two slightly befuddled officers in her wake, JoNs continued on her way to the main control bridge with a contented swish in her tail.

Well, yes, but I gathered that this breakthrough in Tel Aviv is the current continuation of the initial tech from '95. I mean, I've always figured that the medical community around the world is continually reworking and continuing the advances and any past works in the Medical field or what have you. Otherwise, just as one example, people would still be wearing eyeglasses instead of having the contact lens option or even laser eye surgery. I'm with Chell - that's pretty cool overall.

02.11.09 Agincourt Mission Update: TBS: None Given Word of the Week: Tatterdemalion. Look it up. Colonel Harper has no sympathy. - The Engineering team (Commander Kairi and junior officers Karrigan and TLak) completed the damage control procedures; the local colony militia and repair teams will be able to handle the repairs from here. Likewise, the command team completed their meetings with the colony administration officials. Both sets of away teams beamed back to the ship. - Resident Sciences Bat Tay was instrumental with visual damage spotting as she flew through the colony planets lower atmosphere. - Sciences junior officer Julio contacted Colonel Harper with some informational leads: 1.) the analysis of the Raider technology and goop found at the previous planetary site to be attacked (re: the colony with the craters, goop, and the close quarters damage that seemed to be inconsistent with the building damage) has no link to previously encountered Soltan technology. 2.) as for the Ferengi and Breen Raider ships that attacked this current colony: there are certain modifications recorded within the warp trails of the Breen ships, so the Agincourt crew intends to manipulate this modification trail to track definitely the Breen, and possibly the Ferengi ships that attacked this current colony. - Sciences Energy Being Shadow was educated by Chief of Sciences Lieutenant Commander Condacin on war, love and conflict. Gods save us … wait, I typed that out loud … - Lieutenant Senior Grade Murray was left in charge of the bridge while keeping the coordinated data incoming and at a smooth data flow. We think that he did manage to retain his sanity … although he is an Engineer so it’s hard to tell at times ... they tend talk to the “so what’s the matter with you today Mister Flux Entry Deflector?” equipment, etc. - Commander JoNs is claiming that the tiger like Kzinti dispatch officer working for the colony offices is cute … hormonal cat! Le Meow!

MISSION BRIEF: The Agincourt has been station keeping at the compromised colony world for five hours; the ground teams (Engineering) and air spotter teams (Resident Flyers Tay and Shadow) are still assisting the local militia and the damage control teams. The Command Team is still speaking with the local administrative authorities. Repairs will continue at the colony by the local militia and engineering companies. Court2009_02_11.txt

MISSION BRIEF: Wireless communications are unavailable between the Excalibur and the landing party down on the Black Marsh Planet. Sciences had been monitoring the away team, but when the wireless went blinkity, there was no longer a tracking fix on them as well.The XO made the decision to break orbit, leave the away team in an unknown situation, and investigate the distress call.The landing party, with the exception of the Captain and the Al Ucard security officer, who were both on separate patrols away from the camp, were all ambushed at the camp and drugged by darts and then dragged away by Lizard-like beings. The Excal will be entering sensor range of this unknown originator signal. The Away Team with the two exceptions will be held in a hole in a cave. Excal2009_02_08.txt

Nice entry guys; you both gave us the "hole" picture.

Now that's some gooooood stuff; nothing like trekking across an atomic wasteland to induce a freak out level of "is anything following me?!". My question is: did you blow up the town? :-P

02.06.09 USS Agincourt NCC-81762 “Neutral Ground” The main government administration building had escaped the worst of the raider attack. It was a typical pre-fab colony office building, exterior gray with interior whites and grays and blues, but the plasti-steel construction was solid, and had offered just the right amount of protection in order to keep the building standing upright rather than having bits and pieces of mortar and industrial grade plastic scattered all over the business sector of the main colony. Even the windows had stayed intact, but the outside view wasn’t exactly pleasant what with a few buildings still on fire and the damage control and rescue teams running here and there. Every once in a while, a rescue hover copter could be seen air lifting supplies to distant points and areas, or bringing in supplies and extra personnel and such to ground zero. The colony damage response plans were indeed in full swing, and when the Agincourt’s command team had beamed down to the planet, the two women had seen evidence of the local colony militia mobilizing for a full on anabasis, no doubt to be on guard just in case of any future attacks in the coming weeks. Commander Kansas JoNs bolted through the ground level hallways of the administration building, double timing it down to the sub-basement level where the crisis response dispatcher offices had been located in order to field and direct all the support teams working out in the damaged locations. Colonel Harper was still in talks with the main colony leaders regarding the whole situation, while Kansas was going to touch base with the middle management personnel who were on the co-coordinating side of the relief efforts and get a read on where the general response system was at. The golden furred feline was switching on the fly from walking on all four paws to walking upright on her hind legs, depending on which method best worked for her in order to navigate around the various government officials, rescue workers, and administration staff as they moved between offices, makeshift offices, corridors, dispatcher offices, or supply areas; everyone was just trying to get the small city, neighborhoods and business districts back to some semblance of normalcy and they were darting about like angry wasps as they went about their business. The young executive officer arrived at and entered the open doorway that had been designated as the coordinating office for the local police and rescue deployment and promptly spotted the shift lead - another Caitian?! – at what she assumed to be the chief dispatchers desk. He held a wireless communicator in one paw, and was issuing orders and movement co-ordinates to several team captains at once; the local planetary wireless satellites hadn’t been knocked out by the attack, but it had been thrown for a loop and certain areas were still disconnected and so the response teams had fallen back on so called old time site to site comm technology. The office looked like the typical sort of office during a crisis – ordered chaos, with flimsy reports, data pads, and ramshackle computer equipment that had been booted up to meet the communication and data transfer demands. But for right now, Kansas couldn’t take her eyes off the feline office worker. He actually wasn’t a Caitian as she had first thought; he was a Kzinti, judging by those black stripes and tawny furred coat. His build was also stockier, more akin to an Earth Tiger in comparison. The Caitians and the Kzinti had at one time many, many moon cycles ago been embroiled in a bitter war. The Kzinti, a warlike species similar to the Klingons, would swoop in with raiding parties, touchdown on Cait and proceed to conquer, rape and pillage the various villages or plains tribes. The constant fighting would go on for years before finally coming to an end. The current bloodlines of Cait were still rife with the tiger-like genetics that popped up here and there due to the inter-breeding in the aftermath of the rapes and attacks. An Earth Human example of this years long skirmishing would or could be compared to the constant fighting and war fare that had gone on regarding the disputed possession of a little section of land simply known as “Gaza” during the old world mapping. Even after a few hundred years, there was still some tension between the respective species and these tensions could flare depending on the individuals involved. Although, like Caitians, the Kzinti were usually sought after for work in the civilian or fleet communications or security fields, so it was not that unusual to see them working within the administration offices of a colony world. If anything, the colonial development offices at Fleet command probably needed the felines more than the Fleet ships at times JoNs however was still trying to get past the surprise of seeing the male Kzinti. She was still on all fours, paws flattened to the floor, legs straight, her tail in a curious “question mark” shape, her ears pointed and forward: despite her black uniform trousers and crimson red uniform command tunic, she looked like a kitten about to play for lack of a better description. The Kzinti dispatcher’s scent was all over the office. This was his territory, and would she be welcome in it? Like the past tribal wars, feline territorial issues, even among sentient felinoids, could be complicated depending on the individuals involved and what species they happened to be from. And with a Kzinti and a Cait, there were of course even more nuances to consider what with the shared background of strife. The stocky tiger Kzinti noticed the leonine Caitian right away, his whiskers quivering with his own curiosity and wariness. “You the rep from the orbital ship? It’s about time. I’m Virro; we were wondering if we should send some search parties out for you, you were taking so long to get down here. You get sidetracked in one of the supply offices?” Like Kansas, he spoke in a pleasant purring voice, but his tone was all business, and sharp. The Kzinti species, again as a whole, were often on par with the Klingons when it came to brash directness. What was that about tensions flaring? And now we have jerk wad Kzinti government administrator and a feisty Caitian executive officer in the same room together? Oh, this is a party. Is there a doctor in the house? “Look – Commander, is it? I really don’t need an outside administrator interfering with our police and response team operations. If anything, we need your ship to provide a presence in orbit for the next few hours to deter any more attacks, that’s all.” Kansas stood upright in a woosh of indignation and promptly le poofed out with her golden tail and neck ruff fur flaring in response to Mister Personality. The problem was that Virro was a civilian. And if JoNs were to open up Pandora's Box and go all territorial feline Boo Yah on him, it would de-evolve into a Civvy/Fleeter incident, Medusa Harper would kick her ass, and all would not be right with the universe. And there was way too much going on, and the priority was the colony, the damage control teams, and any injured out in the neighborhood sections. And so, maybe it was a sign of maturity, or maybe she just didn’t have the desire to start a cluster frag, but Kansas refused to lose her temper and reined it back in and consciously de-poofed her fur. The leonine feline, very much like Xenophon leading the defeated Greek mercenaries back to the Black Sea (obscure tactical historical Fleet academy class subjects – gotta love ‘em), chose to back away and allowed Virro to maintain his own territorial office space, saying with body language rather than words that she was not there to invade his grassland so to speak. “Look, Mister Virro, I’m not here to interfere. My name is Kansas JoNs, I was sent ahead by my commanding officer to meet with you and get a general idea of where you stand with your portion of the rescue and clean up operations. I’m also authorized to offer the services of the Agincourt – our ship of course – damage control teams if you need some extra patrols out there on the grounds.” “You got any Kzinti in your tribal blood line?” The question wasn’t spoken with malice, just curiosity, backed up with a pair of inquisitive yellow eyes. The out of the blue question threw JoNs, but she also felt a surge of irrational prejudicial anger. With an exasperated sigh and a choked purring noise of annoyance, she huffed out a response, “If we do? The stripes haven’t been spotted, no pun intended, in any of our family generational lines within the past fifty or so years that I know of.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Are we done with the question and answers here Mister Virro? I’d really like some sort of update report … “ Finally, after regarding Kansas in silence for a few moments, Virro rose from the chair he had been seated on and approached Kansas. With a smile bordering on a smirk, he held out his paw for a classic tribal handshake. She likewise regarded him for a few moments in silence before completing the forearm grasp. “Are you always this much of a hard case with the whole territory thing Virro?” The response was instant. “Only with the really cute females.” Oh, he’s a winner. Still … he was sort of attractive. Then, Kansas got a rein on her hormones as well and got right back to business, or tried to, again. “Mister Virro. Update.” She did offer him a lopsided smile. Knowing that it was the time to drop the hard case act, the stocky Kzinti offered a trilling purr of acknowledgement and nodded to his Caitian counterpart. “Right … it has been a long day Commander.” Kansas cocked her head to one side in sympathy. “I know it has.” Virro’s eyes, which had been bright with the escape that the banter had afforded him, suddenly went sad again as he led her over to his desk area and started to update the Agincourt’s executive officer regarding the rescue progress of some of the planetary damage control teams. It had indeed been a long day.

MISSION BRIEF: the Agincourt is moving into orbit above the colony world to render assistance and aid in the aftermath of the pirate/raider/unknown attack. chatlog2009_02_04.txt

02.04.09 Agincourt Mission Update: TBS: 5 Hours Word of the Week: Anabasis - The cleanup at the colony planet continues; the Ferengi and Breen raiders who attacked the planet and tangled with the Agincourt are no where to be found. - Resident Sciences Bat Tay and Resident Energy Being Shadow got a birds eye - or maybe a Bat’s eye? - view of the damage as our resident flyers were sent off the ship in order to fly about in the lower planetary atmosphere. Tay was the lead spotter with Shadow as her wingman. - Chief Engineer Kassem along with Engineering junior officers Karrigan and Tlak were deployed to the surface to assist the local damage control teams and assess the damage. - Lieutenant Murray was left in charge of the bridge, which is in minor chaos what with all the incoming planetary data and comms. - Colonel Harper and Commander JoNs beamed down to the surface to talk with the colony administrators.

"Wow. Looks like Devastator is going to be missing an arm. Or maybe a leg? .... I forget what vehicle attachment this was." (Bonus Geek points for anyone that gets the reference. Pardon my nerdly self. :-P)

Whats in your wallet? Oh wait - y'all weren't speaking about the Vikings from the Capital One commercials? :-P

Oh, Snow Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger are all cousins of mine! ::is so happy::

*That* would make a great poster!

So we have a secret stash of the Captains Brandy, taken hostage by the Chief Engineer for negotiation purposes? Okay, I really need to be back up and running soon. I totally can't be missing the aftermath of this. Interesting take on a log Tandy, it's almost Mirror-ish. - K >^..^<

Heads up STSF community at large for you book readers and anyone who is a Mirror Universe Nut like myself. Can you guess what I'll be reading this weekend? Star Trek: Shards and Shadows was released Tuesday 01.06.09 and is a follow up collection of short stories to 2007's Obsidian Alliances and Glass Empires. The first paragraph on the below book synopsis, quoted from the Barnes and Noble site, is probably the most accurate description of the Mirror Universe that I have ever read. Star Treks MU is an alternate extension of what and who we know, and it just so happens that the characters have a darker honor:

Oh, I'm a big fan of the Mirror gratuitous sex and violence, Eagle - and that just looks really wrong typed and sounds even worse out loud. :-P But there is a point as I said earlier in the topic where it can get stupidly cliche rather then entertaining. Case in point: the Intendant of DS9's Mirror 'Verse entries. Not to get the DS9ers up in arms, and Nana Visitor was fantastic with the vampy portrayal, but if the alternate Kira was taken in another direction, less mature or whatever you want to call it, and Visitor didn't do the good job that she did, the Intendant could have gone the way of stupid. As the episodes left it, she was a dangerous character with a wicked sense of duty/humor - made a pretty good pirate queen. A Mirror balance with the sex, violence, and dark pirate adventures can be hard to do, but it is doable and thankfully the Mirror book entries have been pretty good about keeping it real so to speak. Happy Reading Sorehl! There's enough content there that no matter your level of interest in Trek, or what show(s) you prefer over the other Trek shows, you can find one or two entries that you like. **MINOR SPOILERS** The Enterprise entry was sorta kinda predictable, but had a classic dark ending - I liked it. I also liked the spot light on Robert April as the pre-Captain Pike/ Captain Kirk era entry, and it was an interesting look at what can go through a Mirror commanders mind while they carry out the orders of the Empire. Loved. It. I resisted the urge to skip around and read the stories out of order - because I know a certain Sarvek went for the Mac Calhoun entry first :-P - and this is as far as I've gotten, but Shards is looking good.

Seriously going through withdraw; had to sneak out a quickie WotW log. Woo! – Kansas >^..^< 01.23.09 USS Agincourt NCC-81762 “Doctor JoNs I Presume?” All told, the tactical skirmish with the Ferengi and Breen attackers could have gone much worse; as it stood, the colony that had initially been on the receiving end of the rogue ships had been spared any further attack thanks to the timely arrival of the Agincourt. Kansas was riding shotgun with the Alpha and Beta shift Damage Control teams as the support operations officers checked various decks for damage as well as damaged personnel, getting a cat’s eye view of the fallout from the skirmish. All told, while the damaged equipment and personnel was not to be taken lightly, the damage was also no where near as critical as it could have been. The Caitian was fielding one last verbal report from one of the on site lead officers when Shift Lead Hadrian approached the golden feline and Kansas picked up on her approach through her peripheral vision. Her left ear swiveled towards the enlisted officer, acknowledging the auburn haired woman’s approach in cat sign language. Once the Executive Officer was done with the last on the fly report for the deck area, she turned her inquisitive green eyes on Hadrian; her pupils were slits, since the area that the teams were currently working in was lit up like a proverbial Christmas tree with portable work lanterns, and her eyes adjusted to the intensity of the work lights. “What’s up Chief?” Hadrian offered a good natured smirk. “Hate to impose sir, but I was wonderin’ if you could play Psychologist for a quick talk with one of my men?” Both of the feline’s ears flew back in her full on curiosity or surprise gesture; she sometimes forgot that not everyone was fluent in feline sign language, but Hadrian picked up on the gestured and just continued with her explanation. “One of my new kids, Crewman Majors? This was his first quote real space battle, unquote. He’s a good officer, great worker, and a real asset to the team. But, he can’t quite shake some lingering fear. I can talk to him sure, but not to be insulting sir, you’re much closer to his age then me. It’ll be a boost to him not only if he can talk to a, uh, young senior officer like you.” “So you want the kitten with the nice shiny commander rank pips to talk with him?” JoNs smiled a genuine smile, her green eyes sparkling. The evil looking fangs peeking out from her muzzle were offset by the warm tone of the Caitian. “Enough said. He’s the one over there wearing yellow specialist jumpsuit?” She cocked her head in the general indicated direction. “Aye, thanks sir.” Kansas clapped a paw on the woman’s shoulder a she walked past her and headed down the corridor entry way towards the crewman in question, her tail swishing back and forth as she went. A tall, reedy kid with an olive complexion, he was going about his work re-splicing some console wires that had fried out on one of the corridor control panels during one of the weapons barrages from the rogue ships. “Crewman Majors?” He turned and focused his full attention on the big lion. “Commander?” “Your boss asked me to talk with you; you’re a little freaked out with the attack?” Kansas was direct, but her tone was friendly and matter of fact, and she kept it low so as not to embarrass the man. Majors’ eyes flitted back and forth to make sure his teammates and the other workers weren’t in direct earshot before he answered the question. It was obvious from the look in his eyes and his unsure body language that he was at a nadir with his level of concern. “A little sir.” “It’s okay to feel that way; it’s like a gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next? You won’t ever really lose that feeling – I still get it, and I won’t lie and say I don’t feel any fear right now that we won’t have another attacker show up out of the black – but with time and experience, it just becomes less of a deciding factor on your overall, uh, feelings or whatever you want to call ‘em. And in another situation, these so called ‘scared’ feelings may keep you alive.” The young man smiled a pleasant smile, showing rows of gleaming white teeth that contrasted with his olive toned skin. It was also a self deprecating smile, showing that he was well aware of what he needed to do with any unsure feelings in order to be able to continue his damage control work. “I get it sir; Chief Hadrian was joking with me that she’d track down a shrink or something.” “Doctor JoNs? Oh please, the gods save us all? I’m just offering command advice straight outta the text books. Dry reading, totally.” Kansas offered an easy purring chuckle. “Just be careful, watch your back, and trust yourself and your team and you’ll be good to go Majors. Okay? Sound good?” “Okay sir. Thanks.” “Carry on Crewman.” The human crewman and feline commander then parted ways, with him continuing his repair duties while she continued on with her command level duties, unsure about where this mission would take them but both representatives of each species willing to go forward. Soon, the collective dark times that the quadrants found themselves in would be outshined by the tiny rays of lights that emanated, figuratively, from the men and woman that served the causes of what was good and maintained a personal honor and sense of duty no matter what or how they happened to feel in that moment. One could hope.