Jinnto Lynn Syunn Dru Rock Haidr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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crux_fleet2014-02-12 10:38 pm
weeabhoo) wrote in crux_fleet2014-02-12 10:38 pm
[video]
[OOC: This is a joint post. Jinto's dialog is in dark grey, Lafiel's in blue. Replies may be from either of them or both.]
[Closeup on Jinto and Lafiel next to an observation window. Jinto, as usual, is nervously smiling, knowing he's addressing potentially thousands. Lafiel on the other hand, looks calm and professional -- and a bit annoyed -- as if this is a necessary yet slightly unpleasant task to accomplish.]
Ah, hello everyone. I'm Front Wing Flyer Jinto Lynn, part of the Abh space navy and also on loan to the fleet while I'm here. This is my captain, Deca Commander Lafiel Abriel.
[Lafiel nods at the introduction]
In addition to Front Wing Flyer Lynn and myself, our ship, the Basroil, was also brought in the accident.
[Pan to a ship, floating outside the window. Then back to them.]
It's a destroyer, hundreds of meters long, armed with several point defense guns and one large antiproton main gun, embedded within the body. Normally it requires a crew of 20 to operate. It could be a valuable asset to the fleet. Only there's a small problem with the controls...
Abh warships use an interface that requires both a user with frosh -- the spacio-sensory organ that genetic Abh possess -- and an alpha which connects to the ship's sensors to allow piloting and targeting of weapons.
[Lafiel had paused at 'frosh', as if she had to remember to explain herself. She also gestured to her tiara at the word 'alpha', indicating that was the device in question.]
Obviously, I can pilot Basroil with the existing controls, but I am the only genetic Abh currently present. Thus, the weapons are inoperative using their existing interface.
That means the Basroil can move and fire but not do both at the same time. While most of the crew positions do not require the frosh interface, there are several on the bridge that do, as does piloting the included shuttle.
That's why we need your help. In order to make this ship functional for the fleet's use, we need to either modify the controls to allow for manual control by a genetically unmodified human...oid. Or find volunteers who have interfaces that may be compatible.
Of course, we will be interviewing people before allowing them to use or modify Basroil's controls.
[Which might provide some insight into Lafiel's mood. Someone was a bit territorial about letting strange foreigners on her ship, even if she had obviously acknowledged she needed to. Such "face work" is, of course, Jinto's responsibility. Oh stars Lafiel, please don't scare anyone away, he thinks.]
We can't offer much more than a token compensation. But our gratitude will be considerable. Thank you very much.
[He looks over at Lafiel. Thank them, Captain. People like feeling appreciated.]
Thank you for your attention.
[Closeup on Jinto and Lafiel next to an observation window. Jinto, as usual, is nervously smiling, knowing he's addressing potentially thousands. Lafiel on the other hand, looks calm and professional -- and a bit annoyed -- as if this is a necessary yet slightly unpleasant task to accomplish.]
Ah, hello everyone. I'm Front Wing Flyer Jinto Lynn, part of the Abh space navy and also on loan to the fleet while I'm here. This is my captain, Deca Commander Lafiel Abriel.
[Lafiel nods at the introduction]
In addition to Front Wing Flyer Lynn and myself, our ship, the Basroil, was also brought in the accident.
[Pan to a ship, floating outside the window. Then back to them.]
It's a destroyer, hundreds of meters long, armed with several point defense guns and one large antiproton main gun, embedded within the body. Normally it requires a crew of 20 to operate. It could be a valuable asset to the fleet. Only there's a small problem with the controls...
Abh warships use an interface that requires both a user with frosh -- the spacio-sensory organ that genetic Abh possess -- and an alpha which connects to the ship's sensors to allow piloting and targeting of weapons.
[Lafiel had paused at 'frosh', as if she had to remember to explain herself. She also gestured to her tiara at the word 'alpha', indicating that was the device in question.]
Obviously, I can pilot Basroil with the existing controls, but I am the only genetic Abh currently present. Thus, the weapons are inoperative using their existing interface.
That means the Basroil can move and fire but not do both at the same time. While most of the crew positions do not require the frosh interface, there are several on the bridge that do, as does piloting the included shuttle.
That's why we need your help. In order to make this ship functional for the fleet's use, we need to either modify the controls to allow for manual control by a genetically unmodified human...oid. Or find volunteers who have interfaces that may be compatible.
Of course, we will be interviewing people before allowing them to use or modify Basroil's controls.
[Which might provide some insight into Lafiel's mood. Someone was a bit territorial about letting strange foreigners on her ship, even if she had obviously acknowledged she needed to. Such "face work" is, of course, Jinto's responsibility. Oh stars Lafiel, please don't scare anyone away, he thinks.]
We can't offer much more than a token compensation. But our gratitude will be considerable. Thank you very much.
[He looks over at Lafiel. Thank them, Captain. People like feeling appreciated.]
Thank you for your attention.
no subject
Thank you for coming to see us, captain. Your help is very much appreciated. I I met someone else from Starfleet actually, Mister LaForge.
no subject
[She tries mirroring the salute, before offering a hand to shake. Jinto looks human, may BE human, but he's still from a different culture, and some gestures clearly need to b respected. She's had enough first contact practice to consider it important, anyway. But those formalities aside, his greeting gets him a smile.]
It sounds like I've fallen behind. But Mr. LaForge is certainly a fine officer -- you've been in good hands.
no subject
[Lafiel, on the other hand, seems exceedingly confident. It could be that Abh adults show very little physical aging; a century-old admiral in charge of a fleet would look little older than Lafiel herself. Or it could just be that Lafiel is a confident individual who sees Janeway as a peer, despite their difference in age and years of experience.]
no subject
Maybe there's a few things that end up being universal about captains. Sorry Jinto, she's going ahead to repeat the gestures to Lafiel.]
Well, a crew isn't just a ship's operations. They're family. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I had a few of my own officers present, myself.
feel free to summarize
We were only put together last year, when this class of destroyer came into service. But we've already developed a...strong comraderie. [Some comraderies stronger than others, she may notice as Jinto glances at Lafiel, trying to gauge her reaction.]
I'd like to hear more about the Voyager and its crew, if you want to tell us.
Ha, definitely
[She'll be summarizing IC, too, between a desire to keep some elements from spreading to people brought to the fleet from pre-warp cultures, and the simple fact that a detailed account of Voyager's history would turn into an insane lecture. So some things get brushed over or just not brought up. Voyager defends itself with directed energy beams, it has a complement of torpedoes, it's a fast ship but not exactly how fast, etc.
But the basic plight is clear: the ship was taken 70,000 light years across the galaxy by a dying being trying to figure out how to get a successor to take care of a sheltered species. Vital crew was lost, but the outlaw Maquis crew was found and folded into her own crew. Ever since, they've been trying to make their way home, though at top sustainable speed it's unlikely the current crew will still be around to see them reach their destination. So they sidetrack frequently, because they're explorers, they want to help where they can, and maybe they'll chance across a more viable way home. They're now in the seventh year of their journey, two years longer than the standard Starfleet five-year deep space mission.]
Re: Ha, definitely
What is your own background, before you took command?
no subject
Extensive. I actually served two postings on the Al-Batani -- first as a junior officer, and again as the science officer. I also served as a commander on the Billings before being promoted to Captain. Mostly I stuck to the science division [here she gives a you-know-how-it-is shrug, because science ships ships, science division, science science science] but switching to the command track means branching out more. If you're going to sit in the command seat, you've got to understand the different operations you're overseeing.
[Pausing a moment, lips pressed thin. It's worth mentioning, considering the nature of the ship outside that window.]
The Al-Batani was assigned to serve in a Federation-Cardassian border conflict. We received commendations for defense of an outpost. Though I'd say going back to save the enemy wounded was the real thing to be proud of in all of that.
no subject
[He thinks back to how the United Mankind treated the Abh when they won battles. He'd never seen it but he'd heard it: executions for everyone, genetic Abh for being 'organic machinery', non-genetic for treason to their species. Sometimes it went the other way around too, though that was a decision of the individual commander, not regulations.]
So in the Federation someone in a noncombat division can become a captain of a military vessel? Please forgive me if that's a rude question, I'm just still figuring out how it differs from the military I'm used to.
no subject
It's not rude at all. What you need to know is Starfleet isn't a true military organization, though we do have old Earth naval traditions rolled into the chain of command. The truth is, we're more explorers than soldiers. But space is more than a little big, and sometimes you have to be able to field whoever's in the sector for whatever comes up.
Some ships are dedicated to a single purpose, but most have some general utility, and the Academy's training reflects that. We might be out charting a nebula when a ship under attack calls for help. But we might just as easily be called on to provide medical or mechanical humanitarian aid, or serve as a diplomatic delegate.
[Grin.]
Think of it this way. If you've got a cloaked ship raiding colonies, a captain who's focused on combat experience might study the tactics and anticipate the next move to stop them. Someone who came up the ranks in engineering and operations might recall a design flaw in the enemy's cloaking device and exploit it.
And if you've focused on science, you just might adjust your sensors to focus on residual particles from the enemy's propulsion system and follow it on home like a trail of breadcrumbs.
no subject
Do your captains have a rank in your civil government then?
[Lafiel's had to serve as a diplomat, but mostly in wartime situations, handling territorial transfers, mostly because Lafiel and Jinto together meant that they had a Count and a Princess with a viscounty, and Lafiel was not the worst choice for diplomacy among Abh captains. She just hated doing it.]
no subject
[But then, Starfleet tends to attract people who'd chafe at being tied down to a desk. Who really wants to give up flying around?]
It's hard to govern if you and your ship have to be moving on to the next sector next week.
no subject
Typically such assignments are used as a punishment in the Abh Star Forces. Anyway...[He glances again at Lafiel to gauge her reaction.] Maybe you'd like to see the ship from the inside?
no subject
I'd love to. With the captain's permission, of course.
no subject
Please. I would welcome you aboard.
[Because it is her ship, and she does like showing it off. And, foreigner or not, Janeway is a ship's captain.]
no subject
no subject
I should have thought to bring gravity boots.
no subject
The Basroil has artificial gravity. But, don't they train your people in zero-gravity maneuvering?
[Lafiel was willing to assume some clumsiness based on the fact she knew most non-Abh grew up on planets, but she had assumptions about training.]
no subject
"I'm sure Starfleet does plenty of such training. But no matter how much you do, you'll never be quite as comfortable there if it's not your native environment and you don't have a frosh. I know I'll probably never be as good at it as a native Abh..." There, he thinks, a perfect deflection. Keeps either captain from taking offense via self deprecation.
no subject
We have zero-g training, but it's not the sort of skill we get regular experience in. Call it a flaw in advancing technology -- some of these things end up getting a bit rusty.
[She'll catch up to them eventually, sticking near a wall to minimize fumbling, and when she slips into the bridge, she's taking a good look around, taking mental notes. This, she thinks, is the important part.]
Voyager hasn't been in a good position for zero-g drills, anyway. It gets impractical to interrupt operations for it when you're on your own and there's backup systems.
I'll just have to try to brush up on it.
OOC