Best RPG Post for the month of April

ON:

Interstellar dust and debris clouded the forward view screen with a sheet of gray sludge as the Federation starship Shinto maneuvered clumsily through the nebula at a mere one-eighth of her maximum impulse power. Forced into the dust cloud on one of the training runs that had become all too common for the Shinto, her controls were at the hands of the relatively inexperienced... at the hands of Starfleet cadets who, with a few exceptions, were only in their third year at the Academy. As far as their service jackets went their only experience outside of the simulators were random jaunts around the Earth in shuttles or runabouts.

On the Bridge Lt Commander Richard Gutierii Ramos, "Rico" to his friends and colleagues, traveled from station to station on the Bridge of the excelsior class cruiser as he checked up on the seven individual cadets who were at stations that were normally manned by officers, aka Academy graduates. Captain Turoc, the Vulcan CO, observed casually from the comfort of the sole command chair present, allowing the acting exec to shape and mold the recruits.

"Bow up one quarter" Lt Commander Ramos instructed, venturing from science to engineering, addressing the strawberry blond young woman at the helm. "Rotate axis 45 degrees to starboard." He stopped at engineering, the station that he was accustomed to operating prior to the cadets replacing most of the Shinto's crew. "First chance you get blow the ramscoop. I don't want the nacelles getting clogged, Cadet." He took a few steps forward and leaned against the railing, having the helm and tactical stations, side by side, in his sights. "Mr Seaward" he address the pale skinned, ginger haired young cadet undergoing training for tactical and security. "Any sign of the drone on sensors?"

"Negative, Commander" Cadet Seaward replied. "This junk is really mucking up the deflector and sensor pallets."

Richard glanced back at the engineering station. "Fix that, Cadet!" he demanded in a tone that could be considered a bit too harsh. Richard was use to running engineering, and he knew the limits of "his" ship. He knew what could be done, and what couldn't.... and the deflector should definitely not have been a problem to properly maintain.

"God help us if this stuff gets past our shields" the helmsman mumbled under her breath, though loud enough for Richard to hear.

The acting first officer ducked under the railing and approached the forward stations from behind. "I would not count on divine intervention, Miss Bateson" he advised, leaning forward and supporting himself with one hand on either chair before him. He looked to Seaward on the left. "Cadet Seaward... that drone?"

The tactical redhead paused for a second, then replied with a bit of a victory cheer "Yes, sir!" He slouched down a bit, slightly relieved, before stiffening up again. "It's... it's directly aft of us, Commander!"

"You should've saw that from the beginning, Cadet!" Richard scolded as he went to work, his demeanor switching to one of urgency. "Helm, straight and steady. Mister Seaward, reinforce the aft shields. Aft phaser spread. Zero elevation..." He barely let a split second pass, uneasily relying on Seaward's less then perfect reflexes. "Fire!"

Indicators on the tactical console lit up to confirm that the aft banks had discharged on random arcs. Further alerts confirmed at least some contact was made with the drone on the Shinto's tail. "Three confirmed hits, one of them direct" Seaward reported.

"Damage?" Richard asked of the cadet as he turned and returned to Captain Turoc's right hand side.

"The drone registers a direct hit to their power plant. We got 'em, sir."

"We got lucky!" Richard barked back. "If that was an actual ship manned by a conscious crew we'd have risked being slagged." Leaving over to confer with the captain Richard lowered his voice to avoid any attempts at eavesdropping by the cadets. "That was too close a call, sir. Cadet Seaward was barely able to keep up with my instructions. If he took another two seconds longer to fire those phasers..."

Turoc raised a hand to cut off the acting XO's speech. "You're expecting too much of them, Rico."

Richard shrugged off the Vulcan's observation. "Mister Seaward is suppose to be graduating in two months. If he is this slow with ship mounted weapons I would hate to see him on the phaser range."

Nodding, the captain agreed. "It would present a problem if he were to be tasked with the protection of an away team. His reflexes can be improved though."

"But not in two months, sir" Richard persisted. "I'll be recommending that Cadet Seaward be held back for remedial training, but only in the tactical field. When I speak to the commandant in the morning I'll inform him that stripping Seaward of his security major. He doesn't have what it takes to be a security officer."

"File your report and send it off in the morning, Rico" Turoc settled. "Return us to green."

"Aye, sir." Standing straight up, Richard returned his attention to the cadets. "Stand down from red alert! All department heads submit crew evaluations to the first officer by oh-seven-hundred tomorrow to be fired off to Earth."

Rising from his chair, Turoc was already proceeding aft as he said to Richard "Join me in my ready room, Commander."

With a nod, Richard followed the Vulcan, announcing "Cadet Ryan has the Conn."

INT. USS Andromeda - Ready Room

Standing behind his desk, Captain Turoc ignored his chair behind him, reaching down to type something into his computer terminal. "Read this, Lieutenant Commander, and let me know if you agree." He turned the monitor around, allowing Richard to view its contents.

As he read through the document displayed on the screen in front of him Richard mumbled random pieces of text aloud. "Reassignment... Andromeda... executive officer..." He eyes grew wide. "To be accompanied by a battle field promotion to full command with all privileges and responsibilities there of?" He looked up at Turoc. "Um, sir?"

"You're not dreaming, Rico" Turoc assured his acting XO, finally taking a seat behind his desk. "The orders have already been approved by admin."

Richard hesitated to reply. He wasn't quite sure of how to defend his position. It certainly wasn't feeling apprehension because he lacked experience... he had plenty of that, and he was more then ready to even take command of a starship if need be. "Sir..." He studdered, attempting to find a footing. "What about the cadets here on the Shinto? I've been with them since day one of their tour. With their luck they'll get a battleaxe of an instructor when I leave."

"Do not think, even for a second, that you're easy on your cadets, Rico" Turoc replied, almost with a quite un-Vulcan twitch at the corner of his mouth, denoting a smile, and perhaps his version of a laugh. "But still, some of those boys and girls are beginning to look up to you like a big brother."

Richard straightened up, cupping his hands at the small of his back. "I'd give my life for any one of them, sir" he said proudly.

"I know you would" Turoc replied. "But the way they are bonding with you, is not a particularly good thing, especially on a cadet cruise. They stand little chance of returning to serve on the Shinto after they graduate."

Taking a seat himself, Richard rested his head in one of his hands, crossing one leg over the other. "So, I'm being kicked off the ship, so to speak?'

"I a manner of speaking, yes" the captain confirmed. "But there is more to this transfer then meets the eye, Commander."

Richard's left eyebrow rose, continuing to be interested in what the the Vulcan officer had to say but at the same time, disappointed that he would not be able to continue his service on the Shinto where he had served for the previous four years as her chief engineer, second officer, and now first officer while the official XO was on maternity leave.

Captain Turoc continued. "You have enormous potential, Commander" he explained. "You can go as far as that potential... to the admiralty and beyond. Frankly, it is my opinion and that of admin that you deserve to be more then just a school teacher."

Richard opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as his CO concluded with "These orders are final, Commander. At the termination of this training exercise we will rendezvous with the Dune Star. She will transport you back home to Utopia Planetia."

Though he wanted to further discuss the transfer, or rather, the possibility of getting out of it and remaining on the Shinto, Richard knew better then to argue with a Vulcan. With a nod he complied, though against his will. "Yes, sir."

OFF:

Commander R.G. Ramos
Executive Officer
USS Andromeda