The Engineer - USS Carthage

Posted on Tue Feb 12th, 2013 @ 11:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Le Austin & Captain Liarra Von

Mission: Reindeer Games
Location: Starbase 332 Main Engineering

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"McMillan, right?" Le Austin was asking as he peered up at a set of plasma conduits in the third random access hatch he'd decided to open since arriving on SB332. He wasn't even in full uniform yet, doing his "pre-on duty" checks in a pair of black slacks, a grey t-shirt and his yellow deck jacket opened, with his pips neatly fastened and his comm-badge in place. So far he'd never actually gotten in trouble for this get up, since it was presentable enough and he never wore it when he was actually on duty.

"Aye, sir. Stanley McMillan," The young deck officer standing by him said.

"Did you like your last CEO?" Austin asked from his spot in the floor.

"I... uh... well... yessir, I did." McMillan replied.

"Then you'll like me," He said, pulling his head out of the access hatch and standing up with a smile. "They ran a tight department and things look great," Austin said, walking over and pulling up various and sundry screens to look at mix ratios and other such data.

"Yessir, Reggie did a really good job of keeping the station running smoothly," McMillan said with a proud smile.

"It shows. I'm really happy with what I'm seeing here today. This is the first time that I've taken over a department that I didn't want to immediately throw right back out," He said with a chuckle. "I think... yeah, I can improve our matter/antimatter ratio though. But a decent chunk."

"You think so?" McMillan asked, walking over to look over Austin's shoulder.

"Yeah, see here? We're losing .9 percent in this relay, and another .23 in this one. If we can tighten that up, our ration would increase what... two fold?" Austin said, trying to factor numbers in his head.

"Yeah, I think you're right about that..." McMillan replied.

A distinctive cough was heard from behind the engineers. Two red collared officers, a man and a woman, had entered main engineering quietly. The woman, a Trill in her 30s, was looking over a PADD. The man was a little older, a tall human, and spoke with a thick Scottish accent. "Sorry to interrupt. You must be Lt. Le. I heard that you had snuck aboard."

Austin turned to face the voice and offered a sharp salute after a quick glance at the rank pips, "Sirs, wasn't sneaking on. Just arrive a bit early," He replied with a friendly grin. "What brings you down to the guts of the station?" He asked, conversationally.

"Actually, It's a good thing that you arrived early. I have an assignment for you." Captain Gunning gestured to the woman to his right. "Commander Von is leading our garrison vessel USS Carthage in a series of training exercises to prepare us for the Sojourners." He turned to face the Trill. "Would you care to elaborate, Commander?"

The woman nodded. "The Carthage will be acting as the Sojourner ship in these exercises. I have been given a list of objectives to complete, which I will reveal to the crew after we have left the station. The USS Jackal will then be pursuing us, trying to prevent completion of our objectives. However, the Carthage is short one chief engineer at the moment, and I was hoping to enlist your services. I know you've only just arrived, but we need to leave tomorrow. I hope that's not too short of a notice."

Austin pondered it for a moment, shaking his head slowly, "No, not a problem at all, ma'am. I think I can trust mister McMillan here to keep the station in one piece until we get back," He said, giving the man next to him a grin. McMillan returned the smile and gave a confident nod.

"When do we depart?" Austin asked.

"We leave at 1300 tomorrow," Liarra answered. "It might be good to get on board and speak with the engineering staff already there to get up to speed. That doesn't give you a lot of time to pack though, so I suggest that you just take what you need. I know this is short notice, but we didn't expect you to be here in time."

"No worries, ma'am," Austin replied with a nod and a self-assured smile. "I spent six years in the Resistance learning how to move in a hurry. This pace is downright leisurely."

"Well, I hope we can use that knowledge. We'll need to think creatively if we're going to make it tough of the Jackal. I still have a few preparations to make, but I'll see you on the Carthage tomorrow."

Austin saluted with a smile, "Yes, ma'am! I'll be there and ready to go!"

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Captain Alexander Gunning [NPC - Von]
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332

Commander Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
USS Carthage

Lieutenant Le Austin
Chief Engineering Officer
Starbase 332