Post by Tanner Dale on Jul 24, 2014 8:07:49 GMT
One Day Ago
USS Jian
Blind Tiger Officer's Lounge
"Cadet Peltzer! You have ten seconds left!" Tanner yelled over the chanting of the crowd in the Blind Tiger lounge. Cadet Emil Peltzer had his forehead resting against the handle of a wooden baseball bat that he was pressing down on the deck, and was circling it as fast as he could, while everyone in the crowd egged him on. It was his last day as a cadet on the Jian -- His commission had come through, as had the commissions of the six other cadets who were serving their cadet cruise on the Jian. And while there would be pomp and circumstance when they made it back to the academy for their graduation, tonight their shipmates were giving them a proper sendoff.
"Ok, go!" Tanner said, pressing a combadge into the reeling cadet's hand. From the combadge there dangled a long tail of hair, and with a friendly shove, Tanner sent the kid lurching towards a poster of a rather prominent female admiral's profile superimposed over the body of a donkey. "I expect good things from you, Peltzer!" He yelled after the cadet, who could barely wipe his own arse when he first got onboard the Jian. One year of rough patrolling along the Federation's frailly-maintained borders, working full time on Gamma shift and fill-in on Alpha had shaped him up -- and now he would be off to fly some Nebula class cow.
Good for him. Tanner refused to go anywhere near those things. It would be like flying a four-star hotel with phasers. Peltzer stumbled and reeled towards the poster and then lurched and pinned the combadge right onto the donkey's upper thigh. "Close enough!" Two of the burly guys from Security took hold of Peltzer's shoulders and led him back to Tanner. The cadet's freckled face had a decidedly greenish tinge to it, and his strawberry-blonde hair was tousled, but the kid was all grins. "Cadet Peltzer, for meritorious service aboard the Jian, for always getting my coffee and not spitting or pissing in it half the time, and for pinning the tail on the Janeway..." He recited as he reached out to pull the golden cadet bars from the kid's collar. "I am giving you my first insignia, which were handed down to me by some Training Officer that I have long since forgotten. Or possibly replicated ten minutes ago while I ran off to the head. May you wear it with honor and distinction as you take the helm of the USS Do-These-Nacelles-Make-My-Aft-Shuttlebay-Look-Fat..." That one got some raucous laughs from the hardened veterans of the Jian.
He removed the single golden insignia from his own collar, pinned it to Peltzer's collar, then smirked. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you... Ensign Emil Peltzer! Now, I think the least-appreciated Chief Science Officer in the fleet has some things to say to his Cadet." Tanner said, patting Lieutenant Coop on the shoulder. Coop was an effusive, friendly Bolian, and would probably be weeping sentimentally over the commissioning of his cadet by the time his spiel was over. That's why Tanner went before him -- To give everyone else's buzz time to kick in.
As he headed back to the bar, one of the Security guys, Williams, came up to him and said, "Janeway's ass is chirping, Dale."
"No rest for the wicked." Tanner lamented with much rolling of his eyes, heading over to the poster and swiping his combadge off of it. =A= Dale here. =A= He said, heading towards the door. Last thing he needed would be for some higher-up to get the wrong idea about him. Again.
=A= Ensign Dale, we have a priority message for you from Starfleet Personnel. =A=
=A= Acknowledged, patch it through to, um... My cabin. =A= He replied, double-timing it to the turbolift and his quarters. When he got there, the message was already flashing on his desktop, and he answered it with a tap of his finger.
"Ensign Tanner Dale here." He said, taking in the rather harried-looking Trill officer on the other side of the comm. She looked to be in her fifties; at least, that was the closest he could equate her in human terms, and her dark hair, tied up in a bun, was beginning to come loose of its moorings, wild strands poking up here and there.
"Ensign Dale, good. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, but we've had a last-minute change-up and we're going to need to reassign you."
"Reassign me off the Jian?" He counted the insignia on the Trill's collar, and they outweighed his own, so it was probably best not to piss her off too much. After all, he was pretty much a career Ensign, long past the point at which his Academy buddies had gotten a half-pip. Despite years of good and faithful service, the Fleet had a long memory and wasn't long on forgiveness. "Do I have any say in the matter?"
"Afraid not, Ensign. We've got a ship that needs a CFCO with your skills and your unique insight into things."
Tanner frowned at that. His "Unique Insight?" Well, that could be just about anything, really, but it was probably something of a rather dangerous nature. "Acknowledged. What's my new billet?"
"The USS Deimos, a Steamrunner." She smirked a little. Ship class was important to all men, even if they didn't come out and say it. "Your ship will be passing by the starbase where she's docked; you'll be transferred then."
"Alright." Steamrunners were tough little ships; jinky, but high maintenance. Like dating a Trill who'd been turned down for a symbiont. Too many tricky high-impulse maneuvers and it'd need a week in stardock. "But, Lieutenant, I expect that, when I get back, you're going to be buying me dinner to make up for all this last minute stuff." He said with a playful little grin, working the old bad-boy charm.
"Yeah, right, flyboy. You'll forget me ten minutes after I hang up the line." She wasn't wrong. "I'm transmitting the data on your transfer now. Good hunting, Lieutenant." With that, the line went dead, and Tanner arched a brow. Had she called him lieutenant?
If she had, then that sounded like a good reason to go back to the party.
OFF
Lt. (jg) Tanner Dale
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Deimos
USS Jian
Blind Tiger Officer's Lounge
"Cadet Peltzer! You have ten seconds left!" Tanner yelled over the chanting of the crowd in the Blind Tiger lounge. Cadet Emil Peltzer had his forehead resting against the handle of a wooden baseball bat that he was pressing down on the deck, and was circling it as fast as he could, while everyone in the crowd egged him on. It was his last day as a cadet on the Jian -- His commission had come through, as had the commissions of the six other cadets who were serving their cadet cruise on the Jian. And while there would be pomp and circumstance when they made it back to the academy for their graduation, tonight their shipmates were giving them a proper sendoff.
"Ok, go!" Tanner said, pressing a combadge into the reeling cadet's hand. From the combadge there dangled a long tail of hair, and with a friendly shove, Tanner sent the kid lurching towards a poster of a rather prominent female admiral's profile superimposed over the body of a donkey. "I expect good things from you, Peltzer!" He yelled after the cadet, who could barely wipe his own arse when he first got onboard the Jian. One year of rough patrolling along the Federation's frailly-maintained borders, working full time on Gamma shift and fill-in on Alpha had shaped him up -- and now he would be off to fly some Nebula class cow.
Good for him. Tanner refused to go anywhere near those things. It would be like flying a four-star hotel with phasers. Peltzer stumbled and reeled towards the poster and then lurched and pinned the combadge right onto the donkey's upper thigh. "Close enough!" Two of the burly guys from Security took hold of Peltzer's shoulders and led him back to Tanner. The cadet's freckled face had a decidedly greenish tinge to it, and his strawberry-blonde hair was tousled, but the kid was all grins. "Cadet Peltzer, for meritorious service aboard the Jian, for always getting my coffee and not spitting or pissing in it half the time, and for pinning the tail on the Janeway..." He recited as he reached out to pull the golden cadet bars from the kid's collar. "I am giving you my first insignia, which were handed down to me by some Training Officer that I have long since forgotten. Or possibly replicated ten minutes ago while I ran off to the head. May you wear it with honor and distinction as you take the helm of the USS Do-These-Nacelles-Make-My-Aft-Shuttlebay-Look-Fat..." That one got some raucous laughs from the hardened veterans of the Jian.
He removed the single golden insignia from his own collar, pinned it to Peltzer's collar, then smirked. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you... Ensign Emil Peltzer! Now, I think the least-appreciated Chief Science Officer in the fleet has some things to say to his Cadet." Tanner said, patting Lieutenant Coop on the shoulder. Coop was an effusive, friendly Bolian, and would probably be weeping sentimentally over the commissioning of his cadet by the time his spiel was over. That's why Tanner went before him -- To give everyone else's buzz time to kick in.
As he headed back to the bar, one of the Security guys, Williams, came up to him and said, "Janeway's ass is chirping, Dale."
"No rest for the wicked." Tanner lamented with much rolling of his eyes, heading over to the poster and swiping his combadge off of it. =A= Dale here. =A= He said, heading towards the door. Last thing he needed would be for some higher-up to get the wrong idea about him. Again.
=A= Ensign Dale, we have a priority message for you from Starfleet Personnel. =A=
=A= Acknowledged, patch it through to, um... My cabin. =A= He replied, double-timing it to the turbolift and his quarters. When he got there, the message was already flashing on his desktop, and he answered it with a tap of his finger.
"Ensign Tanner Dale here." He said, taking in the rather harried-looking Trill officer on the other side of the comm. She looked to be in her fifties; at least, that was the closest he could equate her in human terms, and her dark hair, tied up in a bun, was beginning to come loose of its moorings, wild strands poking up here and there.
"Ensign Dale, good. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, but we've had a last-minute change-up and we're going to need to reassign you."
"Reassign me off the Jian?" He counted the insignia on the Trill's collar, and they outweighed his own, so it was probably best not to piss her off too much. After all, he was pretty much a career Ensign, long past the point at which his Academy buddies had gotten a half-pip. Despite years of good and faithful service, the Fleet had a long memory and wasn't long on forgiveness. "Do I have any say in the matter?"
"Afraid not, Ensign. We've got a ship that needs a CFCO with your skills and your unique insight into things."
Tanner frowned at that. His "Unique Insight?" Well, that could be just about anything, really, but it was probably something of a rather dangerous nature. "Acknowledged. What's my new billet?"
"The USS Deimos, a Steamrunner." She smirked a little. Ship class was important to all men, even if they didn't come out and say it. "Your ship will be passing by the starbase where she's docked; you'll be transferred then."
"Alright." Steamrunners were tough little ships; jinky, but high maintenance. Like dating a Trill who'd been turned down for a symbiont. Too many tricky high-impulse maneuvers and it'd need a week in stardock. "But, Lieutenant, I expect that, when I get back, you're going to be buying me dinner to make up for all this last minute stuff." He said with a playful little grin, working the old bad-boy charm.
"Yeah, right, flyboy. You'll forget me ten minutes after I hang up the line." She wasn't wrong. "I'm transmitting the data on your transfer now. Good hunting, Lieutenant." With that, the line went dead, and Tanner arched a brow. Had she called him lieutenant?
If she had, then that sounded like a good reason to go back to the party.
OFF
Lt. (jg) Tanner Dale
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Deimos
