Let's do this!
Posted on Tue Jan 24th, 2023 @ 9:08pm by Ensign Cihl Theidi & Ensign Nala Rider & Cassandra Frost
Edited on on Thu Jan 26th, 2023 @ 12:15am
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
The Hunt Begins
Location: Holodeck 1 - Deck 4 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD003 1100 hrs
Nala stretched as she waited for her crewmates in the Holodeck, excited to try out the new parkour course she had programed. Since her run with the Captain, Nala had been tinkering with the idea of adding not only more obstacles, but inviting her crewmates to join the fun/training! "I hope Ensign Theidi and Frost like it," Nala thought, giving her course the once over. "Hm...I wonder if a SLIDE would be a hindrance, or a help?" Nala grabbed the parallel bars and flipped upside down so she could think.
Walking into the holodeck, Cassie looked around at the program with a curious expression. From what she could see, she wasn’t exactly dressed properly for the occasion as she was in her newly issued Starfleet uniform where as this program would’ve been better suited for her more rugged ‘bounty hunter’ clothes. Spotting someone hanging from a set of parallel bars, Caddie made her way over to them, “excuse me? May I assume you are Ensign Rider?”
Nala had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't realized someone had joined her until they spoke. "Ah! Oh, hello, Miss Frost! It's a...hang on...there...it's a pleasure to meet you!" Nala carefully got off the parallel bars, wiped her hands on her jade green and sapphire blue leotard, and stuck out her hand happily.
Taking the offered hand, Cassie gave Nala a friendly smile, “you as well, so what’s this about?”
"I wanted to have a little friendly competition and learn a bit about my crewmates outside of work," Nala grinned.
Giving a nod, Cassie took another quick look around, “well, If it is a competition you want, I think I better change into something more appropriate” she said before returning her attention to Nala, “is it just the two of us or will there be others joining us?”
Nala giggled. "I'm hoping Ensign Theidi'll be joining us," she said as she went back to stretching.
At around the same time as Nala made the comment the doors to the Holodeck opened with a loud bang. The Chief Engineer of the Artemis looked around at the obstacle course before him, somewhat surprised by the structure that lay ahead. Tugging on his uniform the Chief Engineer commented, "I was asked to be here?" Not exactly sure at what he was seeing.
"Welcome, Theidi! Yeah, I wanted to have a little friendly competition and maybe learn some new things about each of you," Nala grinned, bouncing around on her toes excitedly.
“Well then, if you’ll excuse me for a second, I’ll go get dressed more appropriately for this competition and then we can see what Ensign Rider here has in mind” Cassie said before she quickly headed for the exit and hurried to her quarters to change.
The Ventaxian shifted uncomfortably on the balls of his feet. He was actively working on two separate projects in Engineering when they called him to engage in this competition, and what type of competition it was he was uncertain. He studied the holodeck for a moment then spoke up, "If I may inquire why am I invited to this 'friendly competition'? I have several projects I am working on in Engineering."
Nala's shoulder's dropped as her heart fell. "Oh. I just thought...that is...sigh. If you don't want to, you can go back to Engineering. I just thought you might wanna take a breather and have some fun. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," Nala walked over to the bench where she had dropped her gear to keep him from seeing her tears. "He's busy, Nala. Of course he doesn't have time to play games. How could I be so dumb?" Nala fiddled with something in her bag that she couldn't even see through the tears that were threatening to fall.
The Chief Engineer looked at the other surprised to see that the other officer had become so upset by his comment. He was about to speak when he heard the calamitous clanking of the holodeck doors.
Walking back into the holodeck, Cassie was now wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants, a short sleeved black t-shirt, a maroon leather jacket and a pair of black leather combat boots to complete the outfit. She was about to say something when she noticed how the situation had changed in the past few minutes. Freezing in place, Cassie wasn’t sure exactly what to do. She could just leave and let this situation play itself out, but the Captain had told her to try and get to know at least some of the crew. Choosing to sit down in the sand off to one side, Cassie simply waited and watched.
"You will have to excuse my directness. I merely meant to describe that I have a lot of assignments currently going on in Engineering that are a priority," Cihl explained. "With the vessel facing the potential for combat, and the Luna class not being an exceptional Tactical platform, I have a lot of responsibilities to ensure we are combat ready. I could, potentially, offer a few minutes if we were to start now." He sounded almost mechanical, like a machine rather than a person.
Nala's head jerked up as she whirled around, which thankfully dispersed the tears. "Yeah, we can start now! Let's do this! Computer, set obstacles and timer! Um...if ya'll want a timer?" Nala looked at Cassandra and Theidi eagerly.
The Engineer shrugged, "It doesn't matter much to me either way."
"Alright! How bout you, Frost?" Nala asked, bouncing around on her toes.
Cassie gave a shrug, "sure why not, let's see how far behind I am after lounging around in a 5 by 10"
Nala's jaw hit the floor. "Wait...what? Never mind, she's one of us now," Nala thought. "Alrighty, friends. Ready, set, GO!" Nala shouted, and they were off.
Cihl started as soon as he heard the 'GO' signal. It was a strange sensation to be in competition with no defined goal. In his homeworld such sports and contests were not very common.
Nala was in her zone, deftly maneuvering through the obstacles, glancing to either side to keep track of Frost and Theidi.
lagging behind the pair of them a little, Cassie wanted to get a feel for the two of them. Nala seemed to be quite the athlete, being able to handle these obstacles with little effort. Cihl also seemed to be quite fit which for her ment this was going to be an exciting challenge. The last time she was in a situation similar to this was when she was chasing down one of her bounties in Orion space. She didn't let her mark get away from her then and she wasn't going to let these two Starfleet officers get away from her either.
The Ventaxian was not far from the lead as they ran, but his thoughts kept drifting back and forth between preparations for what all he needed to do to prepare the Artemis for potential combat. As he thought about the Warp Core modifications he had planned he started to slow down a bit.
Nala noticed both Frost and Theidi were lagging behind...for different reasons. "Theidi! You can think work AFTER you beat me! Well, IF you beat me that is!" Nala laughed, then promptly fell flat on her face. "See, MIGHT beat me," Nala clumsily got to her feet, and took off again.
Theidi, surprising himself, almost stopped to offer assistance before continuing after Nala rose. The Chief Engineer bounced forward, momentarily taking up position next to Nala, "I like my work, it helps me focus."
"I saw that, and thanks, Theidi. I respect that that's your thing, but every once in awhile, you gotta do something outside of work to keep a hand on what's around you," Nala flashed Theidi a quick smile, then dove through a swinging hoop.
Waiting for the right moment, Cassie put some speed into her run to catch up with the two of them and give both of them a tap on the back as she passed, "Tag you're it" she said as she kept up her fast run. True she couldn't keep this pace for long, but she was hoping that by the time her 'competitors' had decided to give chase, she'd be far enough ahead that she could regulate her speed a little.
"Yeah! Oh, you're so on!" Nala laughed as she fully regained her footing and chased after Frost.
Theidi had, surprisingly, also given chase and had a little bit more bounce in his step than even he had thought he would. Bounding forward, he went through a separate ring that put him equal to Frost. "Guess I engineered a surprise," he ran off.
“Let’s see how long that engineering holds up” Cassie said as she started to struggle to keep up the pace. Although she was only half Andorian, she definitely inherited the Andorian stamina, or rather their lesser stamina than humans.
Nala watched her fellow crewmates happliy for a moment, then dove through a ring and rolled to her feet before continuing the chase.
As the chase continued, Cassie began to lag behind again, although this time it wasn't intentional. With her breathing increasing, she lost focus on where she was going and tripped over her own feet, tumbling to the ground. thinking quickly, Cassie curled up into a ball rolled a few meters before coming to a stop on her back, "well, that was graceful" she said before giving a grunt.
The Ventaxian Chief Engineer saw Cassie fall to the ground. Knowing that he was nearing the end of the route told him to keep running, to win the race, but instead he stopped himself and came alongside Cassie. "Are you alright?"
Nala was slightly behind the others and saw Frost fall and Theidi stopped to help. "Everything ok, guys?" Nala asked as she trotted up.
“Yea, I’m fine” Cassie said between breaths, “just tripping over myself”
"Glad you're ok," Theidi answered before going into a dead run toward the finish line.
"Uh...he...oh you're so going down!" Nala sputtered as she helped Frost up before shooting after Theidi.
Taking a few deep breaths as she watched the others dash off, Cassie gave a sigh before jogging after them. Even at the academy, her Andorian stamina kept her from winning any race other than short dashes, and even now she wished there was some way for her to improve her stamina but nothing seemed to help more then a little.
It was all for naught. The Ventaxian dove ahead and reached the finish line.
"Oh man! I haven't had to bust butt like that in awhile! Good race guys!" Nala held out her hands to both Frost and Theidi.
Jogging up to the pair, Cassie took Nala's hand before giving her a nod, "indeed, good job you two."
"Indeed," Cihl answered matter-of-factly. "I regret that it is over, but I must be getting back to Engineering."
Nala shook Cassie's hand before nodding to Theidi. "That was fun! I'm glad you guys were able to come. Have fun, and be careful, Theidi! Nala threw him a friendly salute before walking to her gym bag and grabbed a towel, running it over her hair so it would be dry enough to get to her quarters. [Hm, maybe I should consider getting a haircut] Nala snickered to herself.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Cihl Theidi
Chief Engineer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Cassandra Frost
Criminal Apprehension Officer/CO ESU, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Ensign Nala Rider
Facial Reconstruction Specialist, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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