Derek58
Rocket Punch is Best Punch
- Location
- Getter Valhalla
Because Resistance is Futile
To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)
- Thread starter OneirosTheWriter
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- star trek exploration fully automated luxury gay space communism top level canon (canon) #hashtagcontent all-encompassing space amoeba cardassian boy bands cardassian magical girls darkest bureaucracy debate makes the qm cackle like palpatine hoh is an empire quest it has to be foreign infiltrators more ships ship happens singers delenda est starfleet this is not an empire quest ur waifu is collective?
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
would not mind a push toward the itcck or gorn with maybe a side of TF magic setup soon ish
Omake - Academy Extensions: Early Graduation - charysa
Academy Extensions: Early Graduation
Earth, Late November
Kaorssu Kaidoss shuffled down the near empty corridors of Starfleet Academy, feeling like a zombie out of some old Earth entertainment vids. It was barely a day after his last final exam, and he was running on little sleep and the aftermath of a temporary sucrose-high diet. Still, a summons from his academic adviser could not be ignored.
Just as he reached the door of the familiar office, its doors swept open, and the poor Seyek cadet was immediately bowled over by an excitable mass of feathers.
"Wh--aah!" Kaidoss reflexively called out as he moved to disentangle himself from the other cadet, a Fiiral that he only vaguely remembered from some class or other.
"Sorry! Sorry! I should have watched myself," apologized the other cadet, who was also standing back up from the crash. There was a big grin on his face that rather unnerved Kaidoss.
"Hey, you're here to see the Professor too?" the Fiiral cadet asked, somewhat rhetorically, since he immediately continued without waiting for an answer. "I won't keep you then! Congrats and good luck!" And with that, he turned and veritably ran through the corridors.
Kaidoss stared after the other's departing form, utterly bewildered by the encounter. He was then quickly snapped out of his daze by the voice of his professor inside the room.
"Ah, Cadet Kaidoss, you're a little early. Please come in."
"Yes sir!" Kaidos hurried to obey.
Commodore Pavel Chekov looked at his frazzled student in benevolent amusement.
"Haven't recovered yet from your finals, Cadet?" he asked.
"N--ah--I mean, I'm fine, sir," Kaidos stuttered, desperately hoping that he didn't look as much of a mess as he felt. He could feel his pulse fluttering, though he couldn't tell if it was out of nervousness or prolonged stress. "Is there something wrong with my exams?" he blurted out, a chill running down his spine as his mind flashed from scenario to catastrophic scenario.
"No, no, not at all," Chekov was quick to reassure his panicking student. "Just the opposite, in fact. Your scores, and your cumulative grades in fact, are among the highest of this year's graduating class."
"...Oh." Kaidoss blinked dazedly, his thoughts whiplashing from panic back to confusion. "Then..."
Chekov gave him a narrow eyed scrutiny, and internally shook his head. The cadet before him was quite gifted in the sciences, but his temperament wasn't suited to the Explorer Corps. At least, not without a lot of tempering. It was just as well, since it just confirmed that he had made the right decision in pushing for this first assignment.
"I think this will explain things well enough, Cadet."
With a smile, Chekov pushed a padd across the table. He watched Kaidoss pick up the padd, and the Seyek's eyes widen incredulously as he read the formal text.
Cadet Kaidoss,
You are hereby formally commissioned into the United Federation of Planets Starfleet with the rank of Ensign. Your first assignment will be on the USS KEPLER in the Science department. Please report to Starbase Two--
You are hereby formally commissioned into the United Federation of Planets Starfleet with the rank of Ensign. Your first assignment will be on the USS KEPLER in the Science department. Please report to Starbase Two--
"Oh," Kaidoss breathed as he finished re-reading the orders a second and then a third time. "This is..." Exciting. Miraculous. Everything he had ever wanted. There were so many exclamations running through his head that he had trouble getting just one of them out.
"An extraordinary opportunity?" Chekov prompted with a chuckle.
"Yes!" Kaidoss agreed readily. As if a dam had broken, his words suddenly rushed out. "I mean, I never expected to get this assignment, sir! I thought--I was told that the initial crew complement for the Science prototype ship was already finalized months ago, and that there would be at least a year on the waiting list for new transfer applications!"
Chekov nodded sagely. "Ah, you are correct, Mr. Kaidoss. That is the official word. However, you will learn as you climb the ranks and observe the personnel assignments at work across the Fleet, that there are always exceptions that can be made, with the right words and the right people." He knew talent when he saw it, after all, and it was just a little matter of having a quiet word with Thuir and ch'Shennaryth over a few drinks...
"Yes, sir," Kaidoss acknowledged the advice with wide-eyed awe. "Thank you sir. I won't let you down!"
"I will hold you to that, Cadet." Chekov made a shoo-ing motion with his hand. "Now run along now. Your flight to Vulcan is in three days, and you're going to have to do a lot more studying to catch up with the crew already assigned to that ship. My advice is to start packing now. Dismissed, Cadet."
"Yes, sir!" Kaidoss repeated again. He threw a hasty salute before nearly running from the room, just like the Fiiral cadet had before him.
Chekov leaned back in his comfortable chair and grinned. Some days, he loved his job.
~~~~~
Kaidoss made it to the Starfleet Academy shuttle landing pad with ten minutes to spare, his quick breaths leaving trails of white smoke in the chill of San Francisco's winter dawn. His keen eyes immediately spotted the single long range courier, parked among various smaller intra-system shuttles.
There were two other people standing next to the shuttle. One of them, Kaidoss realized with a start, was the Fiiral he had bumped into three days ago, now also dressed as he was in the crisp new uniform of a commissioned ensign. The other person was a human in medical whites.
"Greetings," Kaidoss called out as he approached the duo. "Is this the shuttle for Starbase Two?"
"That it is," replied the human, turning around to face him. "Pierson, medical department, biochemistry specialty." He stuck a hand out as he introduced himself.
Responding to the human greeting gesture was automatic for Kaidoss by now, and he returned the handshake. "Kaidoss, sciences, exozoology." He introduced himself in the same manner as the human, and then looked in askance to the Fiiral.
"Kyris, astrometrics," came the prompt reply, followed by another wide grin. "So we are all here for the Kepler assignment, yes?" the Fiiral asked, though it seemed to be a rhetorical question. "This is so exciting!"
"That it is," Pierson echoed once again. "I've heard great things about its medical facilities. It'll be an excellent place to finish off my medical internship."
"You're a doctor or a researcher?" Kaidoss asked him curiously.
"Both, technically," Pierson replied, "though I don't have my full license for the former...yet." He suddenly focused on a spot behind the Seyek's shoulder. "Ah, and I think our driver is here. Exactly on time at that."
Kaidoss turned, and quickly spotted two approaching figures to their position. The one in the lead was a Vulcan lieutenant. Just behind him trotted a Tellarite ensign.
"Ensigns," the Vulcan greeted them with a nod as he came to a stop. "I am Spren, navigator assigned to the Kepler, and I will be operating this transport to Starbase Two. Since everyone on the manifest is present, we will proceed with departure procedures."
With that, he tapped the controls on the passenger door of the shuttle, which opened up with a quiet hiss. Spren then turned back to the ensigns.
"Please find a seat and secure yourselves for takeoff. There should be a padd on the holder next to each seat. Enter your name into the padd, and it will provide the information you need to know about your assignment responsibilities, rank structure, and applicable training modules. I would suggest reviewing this information during the flight to the 40 Eridani system."
Kaidoss looked around at his silent companions, before shyly raising his hand in question.
Spren raised an eyebrow. "That gesture is unnecessary. Do you have a question, Ensign Kaidoss?"
"Yes, uh, do we need to finish the reading by the end of the flight?"
"That would be impossible," Spren informed him bluntly. "The information contained on the padd and the training modules listed are what you will need to complete by the time the Kepler is launched."
"How long is this flight going to be?" Kyris piped up.
"Assuming optimal travel conditions, we are expected to arrive on Starbase Two in four point four days." Spren paused, then added, "for those of you who have not used long range shuttles before, your seats have an adjustable sleep orientation mode, there is a food synthesizer and a washroom facility at the front of the passenger compartment."
There was another pause while the four ensigns looked between each other. No one raised further questions, and so in silent agreement, they made their way into the shuttle. It wasn't until they had all found seats and the door compartment was closing, when someone spoke up once more.
"I don't think we got your name," Kyris spoke up with a soft titter at the Tellarite sitting not far from him. "I'm Kyris, astrometrics. That's Kaidoss with exozoology and Pierson with medical."
The Tellarite question grunted. "Gev. Communications."
"Huh, sounds like you're the only non-sciences graduate here," Pierson mused.
Gev made disparaging snort. "I'm not a new graduate," he informed them. "I've been working under Intelligence for the last three years."
"Starfleet Intelligence?" Kaidoss echoed in surprise. "You're...a spy?"
Gev rolled his eyes. "Don't be daft. I'm a signals intercept and analysis specialist."
"I suppose...that makes sense," Pierson said, even though his perturbed frown belied his acceptance of Gev's words.
"Do you know if our first mission is going to be intelligence related?" Kaidoss asked further, wondering if the other man knew more than they did, being a commissioned officer already.
"It's news to me," Gev scoffed. "Just because I worked Intel doesn't mean Command tells me anything. I just got my marching orders this morning when that Vulcan showed up at my CO's door. Blasted Personnel and their rotten little power-plays..."
As the Tellarite's complaints devolved into barely legible grumbles, the other three ensigns in the room exchanged equally bewildered looks. It looked like their flight might not be a quiet one.
~~~~~
Last edited:
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
Oh hey the Ittick-Ka! Remember how we were wondering about them? Also oh fuck the Ittick-Ka!
Apparently they're not crap anymore. We may need to start getting intel reports about their fleet. If nothing else, the number of their 2.4MT ships might give us an idea of the scale of their Empire.
Apparently they're not crap anymore. We may need to start getting intel reports about their fleet. If nothing else, the number of their 2.4MT ships might give us an idea of the scale of their Empire.
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Without knowing what the stats are, it's hard to say what this proves lther than them being large and fairly rich, which we already could guess. If it's the size of an Excelsior but only has the stats of a Centaur, we don't need to be too worried.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That actually does make sense; Kepler is doubtless expected to produce ludicrous quantities of scientific reports and communications chatter as part of routine operations, so having someone onboard capable of handling the workload is a good thing.
Being useful at processing signals intelligence is simply a convenient bonus.
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
Simply being able to build something that size indicates a decent BR income if nothing else. (Also I find it...interesting, that they settled on that size. Are they delibrately aping the Excelsior based on our early encounters?) More to the point, if this is how they use their 2.4mt ships, we can establish a rough bound on how big their empire is by that number. That'll tell us roughly how rich they are.
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
Real talk he drafts his logs to ensure that every time he stealth drops a Justice pun it's in a place where it makes whoever reads it do a double take.
We're never finding more about the Vulcan Mirror Universe ship, are we?
We will. It's just that the GM writing that has other things going on, as I understand it. Note that we also have not heard anything from Ambassador or Enterprise yet ...
Chaos Blade
Procrastinating Writer
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
Or... make the planet go away assuming you have a sufficiently powerful phaser and/or Deflector dish to harmonize with it (now, if they inverse the polarity there.... that would be a crime against all existence)
which is why they use Prussian uniforms and have a french style mustachios
are they? they were centuries behind us and we haven't seen that they have overtaken us or come anywhere close.
Still, if they have advanced rapidly... somebody has been doing something with them?
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
2.4 MT is an Excelsior. Even if their tech is bad, they can build to a scale that suggests sufficient resources and infrastructure we need to care about their actions and fate more than we previously have. If nothing else, we don't need another Sydraxi Phony War.
Chaos Blade
Procrastinating Writer
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
it could also be built of what we consider civilian grade parts? Tonnage by itself is not a good metric, we'd need to see its capabilities to know that
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
That doesn't matter. We know the primary driver of BR cost, for example, is tonnage. The Ittick-ka had the resources, a berth, the people to crew this ship. Even if the argument is it's a 2.4MT Miranda, that doesn't change the fact they still had enough crew units and BR and the berth that built it, and that this is a significant amount of resources even by Great Power standards. Even to Starfleet, the cost of an Excelsior is not quite trivial and losing one stings. There are Federation members who can't build and crew 2.4MT starships. I don't think a single Federation member has more than single-digit numbers of explorerweight ships, and most of them have less than five.
Even if an Excelsior can spank them in ship-to-ship combat we still have to care about in whose hands those resources end up and how they are used. They represent a great deal of potential power even if it's not being put to optimal use.
Last edited:
*hides classified files from Starfleet Intelligence* Yes. That's precisely it. *shifty eyes*
Ensign Gev is also a long time member of the Academy Theater Club, and has been known to give Oscar-winning (or whatever future equivalent) performances in faking injuries and spoofing transmissions.
Last edited:
I guess with graduation, you missed your chance to include Q shenanigans in the series.
The only one with more than 5 is the STO, who has 6 because they squashed two navies together and kept all the Explorers. The Caitains are next at 5 (4 Fatherships and an Excelsior), the Amarki have 4 Riala, and everyone else has 1 or 2. (Or none.)
Eh, Kaidoss isn't the kind of personality that Q would bother toying with. Historically, Q has been more interested in EC-caliber people. Also, he has no interactions at all with Thuir.
On the other hand, Qute is probably the reason that Oizzizuichi is still serving as Thuir's yeoman rather than moving on to the Apiata embassy after his queen takes over the Ambassador position. There's a 50/50 chance he'll keep being Thuir's yeoman even after he leaves the Commandant job.
Also, it's not the end of the Academy series, per se. The series is just about people at the Academy, not only about specific people. If I write future fics about Cadet Picard, they'll likely still be part of this series.
Last edited:
Forgothrax
Not Going Gently
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I doubt it's a direct response to the Excelsior. They encountered us in 2313 and it's 2321. Research and prototyping time for a 2.4mt ship is going to be around 8yrs at minimum and likely more. For them to build a 2.4mt ship as a direct response to the Excelsior, they would have had to have reported the Excelsior they encountered to their decision maker(s) who would have had to almost immediately begin work on an Excelsior-alike to get it done in time.,.. and then they would have had to put the one and only prototype where we would encounter it. Seems unlikely.
More likely it's a T0 Excelsior equivalent that they already had when we met them. Maybe not a lot, but a handful. The base Excelsior is 2280 to 2290 after all.
- Location
- A state of cleverness
Oh hey, TBG!Qrow was undercover on one of the ships.
- Location
- Patriarchova
There were no undercover agents on either ship.
There was a reference in that entry, but not to that.
Last edited: