Free and Clear

Posted on Mon Nov 9th, 2026 @ 6:57pm by Captain Sheyla {MD} & Lieutenant Commander Ken Kudo {Meji} & Lieutenant Regina "Regi" Green & Lieutenant Griffon Resch & Lieutenant T'Pri

Mission: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 09/26
Location: USS Diligent
Timeline: Current

ON:

Captain Sheyla, having been aboard the USS Diligent for the past few days, entered her Bridge from the port lift. One of two lifts in the aft section of her Bridge. As she sat down, Sheyla eyes glanced around at the various stations and the people sitting at them. Lt. Cmdr. Ken Kudo, in his role as Number One was a drifting force, he too glancing at stations as he passed and not bothering anyone unless there was a query in mind. All of them had worked together before aboard the USS Capernaum, and transferring to a new ship was just another day in the life of Starfleet. She heard the lift open and close over her left shoulder, then her antennae and her eyes in the peripheral, caught the movement of someone taking the station to her left. It was Griffon Resch sitting down at his station. "Mister Resch, how are you finding the new ship?" That query got everyone's attention, glances Griff's way as they were curious as to what he thought.

Griffon, for his part, gave a grin. "A damn fine ship, Captain. Small and agile like a frigate should be. But, it is much smaller than Capernaum, so every time I turn around I think I'm going to bump into myself." Grins and chuckles came from around the Bridge.

"It is taking some getting used to, that's for certain," said Kudo, stopping on his Captain's left. "However, Ejo and I can get to system issues much quicker, so there is that." He gave Ejo a nod when she looked his way at the mention of her name.

Sheyla grinned. "Tight spaces, for sure. But, with the other cruisers here now, we can team up with Captain O'Connell and play linebacker and free safety whenever there is trouble." Her antennae danced around a bit at the tips, relaying to those who knew how to read them, that an idea had come to mind. Looking to the COMM/GENERAL station her gaze fell on Regi, who was busy inputting Strategic Operations passcodes and algorithms. "Lieutenant Green, if memory serves, your file says you are a certified helm officer." As she was speaking, Green turned slightly in her chair to look at the Sheyla. "Is this correct?"

"Aye, Captain." Green responded. "I'm an Operations officer first, and as such took all the necessary courses to become a Starfleet jack-of-all-trades. Not an expert in any of them, but certified where it counts with enough knowledge to be handy in most situations."

"You are still listed as the Strat. Ops. Chief," said Sheyla. "Since it has been your duty to learn all you can about this entire region for strategic purposes, it stands to reason that you pretty much know where all of the interesting things are that have already been discovered."

Green gave a nod, a slight grin starting to curl the corners of her mouth. "Captain, are you asking me to be your Flight Control officer?"

Sheyla briefly looked up at Ken, who gave a nod and a shrug, his expression showing he had no issue with it. Her gaze went back to Regi. "Miss Green, if you can handle it, I would like to make you the FC Chief for the USS Diligent. What say you?"

The hint of a grin turned into a smile as Regi responded. "I accept, Captain. Thank you for your the chance." Green's eyes danced around at the other faces before she gave a giggle. "I've been curious about how this ship will maneuver. Now, I get the chance to drive."

All except for T'Pri grinned at that, with Green getting up and moving to the helm console, relieving the FC officer already there. Sheyla could not help but tease a bit. "Miss Ejo, Mister Kudo, I need you to make sure the seat restraint system is in peak form."

Green turned her chair just enough to be able to look back over her right shoulder with a smile. "When I say hang onto your butts I won't be kidding." Her face went forward as she set the station to how she liked it.

Sheyla gave a nod to Green as she said that, then her gaze went up to Kudo's face as the Helm Chief began to adjust her console to her liking. "Are all personnel aboard, Number One?"

"They are, Captain. As we've been discussing, it's taking them a minute to adjust to the new living conditions for quarters but, everyone is aboard and on duty."

"Awesome," said Sheyla, her right hand reaching to the panel on her left armrest, tapping the intercom key. "Attention, crew of USS Diligent, this is Captain Sheyla. Once again we have moved to another ship for those of you who have been with us for some time. To all the new crew, welcome to the family. As a crew we have always tried to think outside the box to resolve situations and I hope that will continue. We may be a fast frigate but, we can still perform miracles when they are most needed. So, with that said, USS Diligent will now be detaching from the facility and at station keeping out of the way for base traffic. If you choose to still visit M-69, the transporters will be open for such. Thank you for listening, and thank you for being "Diligent". Captain Sheyla, out." She tapped the key and closed the intercom.

Ken gave a crooked grin and a mirthful expression. "Nice touch, Captain. The many variations as to how that name can be used in a sentence amongst the crew will probably become a social contest." He gave a slight shaking of his head and a chuckle.

T'Pri spun her chair halfway to look to center Bridge. "The crew has always been "Diligent", Sirs. Logically, there is no reason why that would change due to the class of vessel." Having said that, T'Pri turned back to her SCI station and went back to work.

"See?" said Kudo, another grin forming. "Leave it to our resident Vulcan to be the first to add to the little social experiment."

Sheyla gave a quiet giggle. "Well done, Miss T'Pri." Her mirth quickly vanished and she sat herself up straighter in her command chair. "Helm, prepare to disembark from the umbilical and the attached gangway. Mister Resch, have Security secure the airlock and lock it down."

Both officers acknowledged the orders and when finished with the tasks, reported all was ready.

Captain Sheyla could not help but feel a thrill of excitement as any Andorian would. They were a warrior species, after all, and any type of action involving duty and service always made an Andorian feel a tingle go through their body momentarily. "Prepare for thrusters, Miss Green. Full thrusters aft and follow Sixty-Nine's flight path designations as we reverse. Activate when ready, Lieutenant."

Regi Green tapped away at the controls, and once set for reverse thrusters, she announced they were moving as they began to back away from the station. "Turning the aft to port, Captain, so we can activate impulse and pull away when safe to do so."

"Acknowledged," said Sheyla, her eyes busy watching M-69 slowly start to gain distance between itself and the USS Diligent. As the aft was turned, the forward viewport swung to starboard and showed the array of vessels around the facility, the nebulous lagoon sights beyond them, and the open stars passed all that. The view stopped swinging to the right and looked to come to a stand still. "Helm?"

Green spoke up. "We are free and clear to navigate, Captain. Orders?"

Sheyla leaned back in her chair, relaxing into it as she needed to get used to sitting in it for hours at a time. "Bring us to one-eighth impulse and clear from the station, Miss Green. Avoid traffic vectors and find us a good place to park."

"You got it, Sir." Green began to bring up the actual sublight engines, with Kudo not only watching her, but looking over at the data he could see from here on the Engineering station where Ejo sat. All systems were in the green, no pun intended.

The forward viewport showed the ship suddenly accelerate, moving much faster than it had when backing up. With the hands of a prodigy, Regi flew the frigate easily through a slight obstacle course to avoid the flight vectors for the civilian traffic. A good twenty minutes went by before the view showed the ship come to a halt. "Found a parking spot, Captain. Shall we go to station keeping?"

Grinning at Green's easygoing personality, Sheyla gave a nod from behind the woman. "Thank you, Regi. Yes, put us at station keeping and secure the E-break."

Kudo spoke up as he looked at Sheyla. "Crew may come and go to the station at their leisure, Captain?"

"Yes, Ken," said Sheyla as she got to her feet. "Allow for transporter shoreleave. However, limit it to a small portion at a time, and not all-nighters. Rotate the time for R&R."

Ken gave a nod. "You got it, Captain."

"Number One, you have the Bridge." Stated Sheyla, turning and heading for the starboard lift. "The rest of you, carry on." The doors opened and the Captain stepped in, spun about to look outward just as the door closed again.

"Can you handle the ship while parked, Lieutenant Green?" Asked Kudo, his face stoic but his eyes mirthful. The look he received as she turned her head to gaze at him was as cynical as he had expected it to be...and why he had asked what he had.

"Aye, Sir. I'm not a left-handed hydrospanner." The expression Green gave was cynical, but as playful in the eyes as his own. Pseudo-frustration playing across her face as she gave a dramatic shaking of her head to reinforce her antics.

T'Pri spun her chair again, quirking an eyebrow. "A left-handed hydrospanner? I do not understand the reference."

Kudo looked over at T'Pri and shrugged, stating matter-of-factly. "If you know, you know." He then sat down in the Conn and began to tap on a PADD, not going any further with an explanation. T'Pri hesitated a few moments, realized she was not going to get an explanation, then turned back to her own station. The Bridge continued to monitor the ship as it sat off to the side of all traffic vectors.

OFF: