Captain Carnis was intrigued, he had been brought to his destination under the greatest secrecy. According to every official record, he had been reassigned to Starfleet Command, to help assist with the decisions of the war they now found themselves in. He himself had believed so at first, and had protested wildly, maintaining that he would be much more useful as a ships Captain. He had continued to protest until his mentor, Admiral Ark'Vor had contacted him telling him to trust the orders. He had still been fuming when he had been picked up by a shuttle a few hours ago. He had been so angry that he didn't even think to question why they had sent a Shuttle to ferry him back to Earth. But now that they dropped out of warp much too soon for Earth, he was intrigued. He stood up and looked out of the front viewport, "Utopia Planetia?"

"Yes sir." The pilot responded.

"I thought the war effort was being co-ordinated from Earth."

"Yes Sir, I believe it is."

"Then why am I here? I was supposed to be taken to Earth."

"Sir, our orders were to bring you to Utopia Planetia, presumably there is a vessel here that will take you to Earth."

"Presumably, hail them, tell them we've arrived."

"Aye Sir." The pilot tapped at his console and before long said, "Utopia Planetia Operations, this is Shuttlecraft 18 returning with our passenger, requesting further orders."

"Shuttlecraft 18, please dock in bay 12 and report to Ops. All of you."

"Yes Sir, docking bay 12, all report to Ops." The comms cut out and the Pilot quickly maneuvered the shuttle into the docking bay. Carnis had the sudden thought that the young Lt. would make a fine starship pilot someday.

"A nice landing Lieutenant."

"Thank you Sir, but it was just routine."

"Routine maybe, but I've had a LOT worse in my time, you'll make a fine pilot someday."

"If you say so Sir."

"I do say so, but come, we must report to Operations. I wonder what all this is about . . ."

When they exited the shuttle, they found two members of security holding the turbolift for them, to the annoyance of several civilians and some other Starfleet Officers. When they entered, the security men stepped in with them before Carnis could say Operations.

After a few moments, the turbolift stopped and they exited onto the bridge. There he saw someone he hadn't expected. "Admiral Ark'Vor! It's been too long Sir."

"That it has James, that it has. Still, we must waste no time, I have your new orders."

"New orders Sir? I thought I was supposed to be on my way to Earth."

"A ploy Carnis, in case anyone has been intercepting any of our transmissions. These are your actual orders."

"Why all the secrecy then? Surely they can't be anything dangerous."

"You have no idea Carnis, but I shall enlighten you soon, clear the deck please, transfer to the Auxiliary Operations room, I shall call you back when I'm done."

The room rapidly emptied, and shortly after the systems powered down as control was transferred to the auxiliary room. "Here is the situation Captain, we're losing ships, and we're losing crew. We're losing systems, we're losing spies, we're losing the war. The Romulans must have been planning this for some time."

He paused for a moment, tapping commands into the Library computer console, "As such, we have been constructing another prototype vessel of the Prometheus class."

"I'm not familiar with that class."

"No, you have no reason to have been told of it. The first prototype was the U.S.S. Voyager, under the command of Captain Janeway. It was lost with all hands during a mission, it is not believed to have been any fault of the vessels. Until now, however, the admiralty didn't let us construct another. That situation has changed, and we have been given leave to create another prototype Prometheus class vessel. If it proves to be a valuable addition to the fleet, it will be but the first. You have been chosen to command the vessel known as the U.S.S. Pandora."

"Admiral, it is an honour, but surely there are better candidates out there for this."

"Not so Captain, this vessel has a unique aspect to it. I believe you are familiar with the Galaxy class?"

"Yes sir, I have served on them."

"Then you will know about the saucer separation capability. That was mainly to be used as a safety mechanism for protecting part of the ship and crew, though it proved itself in battle on numerous occasions. The Prometheus class was designed to take advantage of the tactical benefits of ship separation." He tapped more commands into the computer and several schematic images of the Prometheus class came up on the viewscreen.

"You will notice the four nacelles, something that we have on some of our ship classes. The hull of the ship can split into three sections, the upper section comprises of the majority of the saucer, and has nacelles built into the hull to power it at warp. The lower section comprises of the bottom of the saucer and the lower two nacelles, whilst the middle is the rest of the saucer and the upper pylons. Each section has its own battle bridge, power supply, warp capacity, and facilities to act as a starship in its own right. We call the idea Multi-Vectored Assault Mode, MVAM for short, it is designed to give the ship an edge in combat. The ability to split and effectively become three ships is the reason it has been approved for retesting, it would be an invaluable asset for sending to system distress calls, able to take on a Warbird easily, or to fight several birds of prey, whatever the Romulans throw at it, it should be able to cope with."

There was another pause before the Admiral turned from surveying the viewscreen, "This is why you were chosen, commanding a single crew over three separate vessels is a task that few are cut out for, to be able to use those three vessels in co-ordination with each other in a tactical situation. That is what you were chosen for, we believe you are the best Captain for this vessel, prove us right."

"Yes sir!" James took a step forward, taking a closer look at the pictures of the class, it looked magnificent, he ran an eye down the specifications list and noticed it was armed with the newest weapons in Starfleet's arsenal. "What about a crew?"

"They are being assembled as we speak, they are being told that they're being reassigned to a newly constructed vessel, but nothing more."

James nodded, "When are we due to ship out for the shakedown?"

"Within the week, we're running the usual shakedown, followed by a debrief before you get sent out on the real thing."

"And these two?" He asked, gesturing to the other two Officers in the room.

"Section 31 Operatives, they will be accompanying the ship for security reasons, and in case you need them for any reason. To the rest of your crew, they are to be advisors in your testing of this prototype ship."

"Section 31? I don't like this."

"Nor does anyone who works with them, but they get the job done. The importance of this vessel is vast, we cannot allow the Romulans to get hold of any information about it."

"I understand, they shall be accommodated. Though I can't guarantee any more than that."

"We're used to it Captain, and let me tell you, we dislike working with those outside of our Section just as much as you dislike working with us."

"That makes me feel even better." Carnis replied sarcastically. "When can we expect the first of the crew to arrive Admiral?"

"We have a reasonable number here already, but they have been kept in the dark until you have seen the ship yourself, then we shall introduce the crewmembers to it. The relevant files for the ship and crew have been added to your security clearance, feel free to access them whenever you like."

"Thank you Admiral, until we meet again."

"Indeed. Live long and prosper Carnis." The Vulcan said, dismissing them.

"Live long and prosper Admiral." He said before striding back into the turbolift.

Returning to the shuttle they had arrived on, the men from Section 31 sat up in the cockpit again, whilst Carnis stood behind them, waiting for the first view of his new ship. It didn't take long, in the distance he saw a separate drydock, surrounded by several lights, among the lights were other vessels. He couldn't make out the classes from this distance, but he realised that those lights were probably turrets. Such defences for a new ship? They must be pouring everything into this effort, such cost, surely there could be no risk here, at the Fleet's main shipyards?

"What haven't they told me?" He asked the Section 31 Operatives, he didn't expect an answer, but maybe they would leave a hint.

"Sir?"

"Why is there such protection around the Pandora? Do they fear an attack?"

"Surely not sir. The Romulans couldn't be in striking distance."

"Too programmed Lieutenant, you know something."

"Need to know Captain, our hands are tied."

"How long have they been stationed here? Surely you can tell me that."

"A few days, we shipped in with them."

"And the ship has been under construction for just over a year. Why now? Why at the completion if there were no risk."

"Captain Carnis, do not think too hard on it, if you need to know, we will tell you, if you don't, concentrate on getting this ship working and in the field. Starfleet needs it to work, too much has been put at stake."

"I know my job Lieutenant, maybe you should stick to yours. If I think I need to know, I will find out."

"I have no doubt Captain, when we let you know."

"I'd heard about you lot, do not interfere with the running of my ship and I will tolerate your presence on it, you may even find yourselves becoming useful. Offer advice if you think it worthy, but don't waste my time, particularly not at inopportune moments. You guys aren't used to the way ships run I hear."

"We know our orders." Came a venomous reply from the one who was clearly in charge of the mission.

"Whatever." They were getting close now and Carnis wanted to pay close attention to the ship. It was a work of beauty, even more so than a Galaxy class, and to think that it had so much power hidden inside. He wondered what his crew would be like.

Kouji sat silently the whole way. He was unbelievably nervous. He had no idea where he was going, why he was going there, or even where the heck he was going. He had just received the rank of Ensign just last week after graduation from the academy. He sat with other starfleet officers, waiting. Possibly for the same fate as Kouji. Next to him, Ingus was yapping away with other members, trying to kill some time. "Hey! Where are we going, anyway!?" Ingus called out to an invisible foe. "I think we have a right to know!"

This didn't help Kouji's nervousness. "Umm, could you please keap it down? Screaming and complaining won't help..."

"I don't friggin' give a crap!" Ingus snapped back. "I'm a professional pilot! All I'm saying is that if the ship we were assigned to is a complete piece of shit, I'm demanding to be out of this black hole!"

Kouji was appalled by this man's words. "De-demand?? You can't just drop out of direct orders--"

"Ha!" Ingus huffed. "Like I care! Listen, to get what you want in this galaxy, you got to force them to hand it over! Gotta be forceful! That's the only way we're gonna win this war is aggressiveness!"

The Ensign couldn't argue there. Aggressiveness was the only reason the Romulans even pushed starfleet had been pushed so far as to use prototype weapons and ships. "Look, we just need to follow captains orders, everything will be fine!"

Ingus scoffed. "Ha! Right. Whatever you say." The rest of the flight over was basically silent, when the ship finally arrived. Utopia Planetia. Both men were somewhat surprised, as the ship lowered to the surface. They were taken by carts to a secret location. And it was here, where both officers stared in gawk and amazement as they finally got to see their new post. The USS Pandora. Starfleet's latest model next to the Voyager.

Though wondering just where the heck they were taking her, Third remained silent through the trip, even as a different officer started demanded explanation, only to be met with the nervous voice of an Ensign. Sighing, she relaxed in her seat, deciding that whatever was going to happen, it couldn't be as bad as what expected her if she ever revealed her identity to someone she couldn't trust. As she thought this, the two up front continued their argue, the nervous person doing his best to keep the other one calm, and obviously failing.

The Q watched as the ship arrived at Utopia Planetia. She raised an eyebrow, not having expected this, but said nothing as the ship made its landing. Finding it better to make friends later than before she knew who could be trusted, she decided it best not to speak, even as others around her talked excitedly in wonder of what was going to happen next. It was then they arrived to their destination, and saw their new assignment. The USS Pandora, as beautiful as one could imagine. Third couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Trenton sat in his quarters. He had arrived on board the new ship a few minutes ago, and pretty much went directly to his quarters. He'd spend a lot of time in there, just sitting. It felt goo to relax, and just listen to the environment. He had done it many times. One time he even sat in his room without moving for three hours. Of course the captain wasn't too thrilled about that, but what could he do?

Apparently the war wasn't in their favor. It was a shame. As much as Trent was a man of action, he was also a man for peace. And he would gladly take peace over war any day. He was willing to bet anyone would now these days. They had found peace with the Klingons, there was probably a way to find peace with the Romulans.

Trent sighed and closed his eyes. He wasn't sleeping, he was more in a meditative stance.

Andrus watching his staff running around engineering. Trying to prepare Pandora for the Captain's arrival. Warp Core reactor is in working condition, and the computer bug they were having earlier seems to be gone. He is very impressed with his staff, well organized and they all know what they're doing. He's even worked with a few of them before, and knows them well.

Andrus sits down at the console to double check everything making sure the ship is at peek efficiency. Remembering his errors as an ensign on the USS Simplicite, double check everything before the captain arrives. Working for the last 20 hours, his was getting hard to keep his eyes open as he stares at the console. Though he knew he couldn't sleep, plus the excitement of being a Chief Engineer on a beautiful ship like the Pandora will keep him running.

Kouji didn't have any major issues on the new ship he was assigned to. Besides learning how to manage the new systems, receiving a few 'suggestions' to work faster, and figuring out out to fix a bug in the system he wasn't sure if he had caused or not, Kouji was just as anxious and worried as ever.

This was his first mission outside the academy so he wanted to make sure he was doing anything and everything he did right. So he double checked everything he did. Absolutely everything. And this annoyed more or less, the people around him a lot. But he couldn't help it. That's just what he did.

---

Ingus walked into the bridge. There were already people there, walking around tending to their work. This was the center of it all. The control room for the USS Pandora. Ingus thought that they had pulled him out of his previous station as punishment. But now it was apparent to him. This was his dream! Here he was, now about to test out Starfleets newest, and most advanced ship.

Ingus sauntered over to the helm. He ran his fingers over the console. He could almost feel the surge of energy from the engines through these computers. He was real excited. He took his seat, anxiously waiting to receive orders for takeoff.

As the shuttle arrived into the Pandora's control zone, the helm was handed over to the ships computer. They were given priority landing, holding up a cargo shuttle. As they cruised in, the three of them gazed at the ship. It was beautiful, smaller than some of the cruisers Carnis had served on, but bristling with hidden power. To the untrained eye, it would look like a single ship, but knowing its secrets, James could see the joins between the three hull sections. The shuttle landed in the bay, and they opened the door to an honour guard.

"Attention! Captain on the deck!" The group snapped to attention, James surveyed the man calling the orders, noticing the Commander's rank on his dress uniform.

"Clearly I didn't dress for the occasion Commander, you should have sent me a warning."

"Sorry Sir, we didn't know we were to expect you today. Otherwise I would have asked the Admiral to warn you."

"Oh well, thank you all for the welcome, I hope my time as Captain here is beneficial to us all. Dismissed." The group snapped a smart salute and filed out. Once they were out of earshot, Carnis said to the Commander, "As for you, Commander, I don't like unnecessary ceremony, consider yourself warned." He cracked a smile, "But I think I'm going to like you. What's your name?"

"Commander Steven DeLant, Sir."

"Well then Commander, I guess it's time for the grand tour."

"Yes sir, though might I ask who the officers accompanying you are?"

"Ah, yes, this is Lieutenant Mallinson," he gestured to the one who had been most talkative, "and Lieutenant Nerb. They have been assigned to us as advisors for the time being."

"Advisors? That's a new one, though I guess this is an exceptional situation." He gestured for them to follow, then turned to lead the way. "I am one of the longest serving Officers on this ship, as if that can count for anything! I was brought in at the start, after they had picked a Captain, but long before you were even contacted. The ship had been under construction for a month when they brought me in, but having been around so long I have a good knowledge of the layout of the ship. This is the shuttlebay obviously, we've been outfitted with 2 Starfleet fighters, as a precaution, as well as 4 trained pilots, doubling up in other departments. We also have the standard loadout of shuttles. We'll head to Engineering next, I believe the Chief Engineer has already checked in, so you'll get the chance to meet him."

"Good, oh and schedule a meal with the Chiefs for tomorrow night, informal, I want a chance to get to know them informally."

"Already booked Captain, you're not the first new Captain I've had."

"Efficient, though I'd like you to invite our helm officer as well."

"Very well, I shall send an invitation when I get a chance."

During the talk, they had taken a turbolift to Engineering and they now walked into the main bay. It was bustling with activity, engineers hurrying around, checking and double-checking systems. There was one that stood out, sat at a station, seemingly puzzled over something. They made their way over to the main station where the Chief was overseeing the proceedings.

"Chief, report." Carnis stated, he had found in the past that most people responded better to duty rather than informal introductions when faced with unfamiliar circumstances.

Lieutenant Commander Tumek S'dnuoP stepped off of his personal shuttle and looked up at the magnificent Starfleet vessel before him. He wore the recently acquired uniform of a Chief Tactical Officer and carried an old Klingon phaser at his waist. He had received it from his father on his trip to Qo'noS, the Klingon home planet, just days before arriving at Utopia Planetia. He had visited to inform his father of the news.

This had been Tumek's first trip home since he had run away that he had been greeted warmly by his father, who on other visits had scorned the young Starfleet Lieutenant. This time, Tumek was able to convince his father that joining Starfleet had been the only option to experience true space travel.

"The Klingon fleet is shattered, father! It barely even exists anymore!" He had yelled furiously at his father in a message he had sent home after being informed of his promotion.

Finally, his father had given in and decided to truly respect his son's choice and had presented Tumek with the phaser that he had used as the captain of the warship, the Tumek (after which he had named his son).

As Tumek S'dnuoP stared at the USS Pandora, he felt pride in being able to prove his worth as a leader and a warrior.

Ingus sat at the console, going through the systems and features. It was pretty impressive to say the least. Simple, efficient, he just couldn't wait to fly this thing. You watchin' pops? He thought to himself, beaming with pride. 'Cuz this ship and I, we're shootin' for the stars! Ingus held his father in the highest esteem. He would always read of his dad's exploits as the ace pilot of the USS Artemis and it's fighter ships. It was unfortunate though, during the war, his ship had fallen into a trap by the Romulans. Surrounded by their ships, the Artemis was doomed to destruction. It had taken down two ships with it, but even with Ingus' father's skills the vessel was destroyed. But the entire crew had lived, and died, as heroes.

Now it was Ingus' turn. He was going to do everything in his power to try and surpass his dad.

His thoughts were interrupted by an officer who came up to him. "Lieutenant?" Ingus turned around and acknowledged this new acquaintance.

"Hm?" He then noticed the badges on his collar and saw that he was a commanding officer. "Oh! Uh, sir!"

The commander simply said, "At ease lieutenant, you name is Forbes, correct?"

"Yes?" Ingus was a bit off-put by this man, who seemed a bit more lax than other commanders that he worked with.

"The captain is calling all senior officers to have a meal with him tomorrow night. Including the helms officer. Informal of course, would you be willing to attend? He wishes to get to know the crew first before anything else."

"Of course. Sure." Ingus replied a bit surprised.

"Good. By the way, I'm commander DeLant."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Out of curiosity, Ingus then asked, "When do we take off?"

The commander chuckled. "Not for a little while hot shot. We're still getting all the preparations done. Don't worry, you'll be the first to know when we'll leave."

"Oh, ok, thank you sir." Ingus said, a little sad. Ah well, as long as it was soon and not never.

Ensign Virjok Ru was extremely confused as she sat on the Star Fleet transport to this new ship, not so much because of the secrecy and mystery that seemed to surround it but more as to why this human was acting so strangely. In her experience humans were always very strange but this was particularly interesting as his body language and tone of voice indicated that he was seeking to mate with the vessel. She understood that he was actually complaining to some unknown watcher about the general lack of information about this new assignment but this did not stop Virjok from letting out a small, suppressed giggle. It sounded more like a sound one of Earth's dolphin's made, however, and wasn't recognized for what it was. The one shouting, apparently the helmsman, may have been angry but the Ensign trying to calm him's heartbeat was abnormally fast to her sensitive ears, she could smell his sweat. There is no physical strain here for them... Hmm. The Doctor thought, she herself did not have sweat glands to gain more insight on this but had heard that mental strain may also have an effect, Must be anxious about this assignment. Dr. Ru was bursting with excitement as the ship docked, pratically running out the door and onto the U.S.S Pandora.

Virjok wanted to she what a real star ship's sick bay would look like and begin working even if it was to be under another doctor, a Vulcan female from what she had been told. However, it would be inappropriate to take her personal belongings, collected from her time on Earth and stuffed into the bag slung over her shoulder, to the sick bay and decided to stop by her quarters first, fortunately on the way. Her lower arms fidgeted uncontrollably as she speed down the halls, literally throwing the bag into her room before racing off to her work station. Soon it stood before her and with an excited 'Vrrr' sound she stepped through the doors into the currently deserted Medical Bay, obviously the CMO and her other subordinates had not arrived yet. Ensign Ru began to explore the facilities and examine its equipment with great enthusiasm.

La'Piri

The shuttle whizzed through space towards the planet, it's occupants patiently waiting. The Vulcan on board, Dr.La'Piri, sat calmly in her seat, watching the stars whirl by as they sped towards the destination. It had been some time since she'd been able to relax in a shuttle. Usually she was stuck in the sick bay, putting sutures on one of the Ensign Engineer's legs that had been severed when he forgot to pull the pressure valve down before running the simulations.

Young for a Vulcan, Piri had the privilege of working with Starfleet immediately after she graduated at the top of her class from the Vulcan Science Academy. She'd been an Ensign on the U.S.S Synergy until her commanding officer died in a training run from a freak warping accident. They had promoted her on the spot and she had taken over as commanding Medical officer. Although still only a Junior Rank Lt., she shows promise.

The shuttle slowed as it entered the dock on the planet. Piri had visited Utopia Planetia once when she had to pick up some medical supplies for the ship. Odd planet, by her observation. Their rituals, while not very different from humans, still seemed obsolete and flamboyant. Both she and her crew obtained their luggage from the back of the shuttle and exited. She had brought two other Vulcans with her in order to work, along with one human who seemed to have a fair knowledge of medicine and how to operate. She was also supposedly receiving a deputy Medical Officer when arriving; race of deputy, still unknown. In addition, she would be assigned two lackeys in order to compensate for the large number of crew members.

Quickly, they briefed both her crew and her when they arrived and sent them to the U.S.S. Pandora to prepare for departure. Piri could tell the human seemed excited about the mission. The other Vulcans held their composure throughout the debriefing. They understood excitement is illogical. They changed into the official Starfleet uniforms and headed to the ship.

Piri looked like a pixie (from human lore, of which she knows more than she cares to) as she walked to her quarters, the attire she wore hugging her skin. Her long hair flowed slightly when she walked; they always showed off her Vulcan ears. A black headband fit snugly on her head, its colors complimenting those within the uniform. She walked gracefully but forcefully, she had purpose and she knew it. Her crew departed after they arrived on the ship, each of them going to their own quarters; they proposed to meet in the Medical Bay in fifteen minutes.

On her way to her quarters, she passed many but never talked, only looked forward, examining the ship, marveling at its engineering. She found her room to be of suitable size and acceptable cleanliness. Her things were easy to store, giving her little time to process. After what seemed like moments, she found herself with in the Medical Bay, face-to-face with her new deputy.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke, extending her hand as she did so. "J.G. Lt. La'Piri of Vulcan. I presume you are the new Medical Deputy assigned to me, Chief Medical Officer?" She blinked at the deputy and waited.

The Ensign turned from looking over some of the medical equipment found on the ship to face the one who had spoken to her, unsurprised when she walked in having heard someone coming down the hallway though she did not know it was the Chief Medical Officer. "Ah, yes, that would be me!" Virjok grinned broadly, making a small, friendly popping sound as she passed the hypospray she was examining onto on for her lower hands which fiddled with it a little, "Always a pleasure to meet another Doctor... Sorry, it seems I left my manners back on the transport. I'm Ensign Virjok Ru, Deputy CMO." She held out her right hands to the Vulcan, she had heard they suppressed their emotions but beyond that she knew little, hoping shaking hands worked just as well as it did with humans. "Take your pick." Dr. Ru smirked, wondering if they still had a sense of humour.

Hearing a voice from behind him, he turned from his console facing Captain Carnis. Surprise to see the captain here already, he quickly stands up and put his hands behind him.

"Captain, Sir. " Andrus said, not sure how he should address Carnis. "All systems are online and operational. We've just been having some bugs with a few consoles, and a replicator on deck 8. Besides that we just need to double check everything. Pandora should be ready to go to warp in less than an hour."

"At ease Lieutenant, it looks like you're already running a shipshape department here. How long have you been aboard?" He surveyed the massive room, some of the crewmembers were casting a glance at him as they noticed him, but quickly returned to their tasks. No-one was slacking, a good sign.

"Well, make sure she's ready to fly out smoothly on launch day, I don't fancy any hiccups before we're in the field. Say, who's that Ensign over there? He seems to be having some trouble with his console." Carnis replied, having noticed that the young lad seemed to still be having trouble.

Andrus relaxes his stance at the word "ease". Too tired to figure out how long he's been aboard, he decided to skip that question and move on to dicuss the ensign.

"That's Ensign Masato, sir. " Andrus responded. "He's fresh from the acadamy, probably having trouble with the new system architecture. I'll go check if he needs any help."

Andrus walks over to Masato who was busy working on his console.

"Do you need any assistance ensign?" Andrus gently asked.

Piri blinked and looked at the outstretched hand, returning the Earth gesture; she had studied their culture for a lunar semester while at the Vulcan Science Academy - she found them fascinating yet primitive. "Well, Dr. Ru, we will be departing soon, and I would like you to meet my team." At that moment, the two Vulcans that had accompanied her stepped into the bay along with the human, who seemed fascinated with the ship itself.

La'Piri pointed to the first Vulcan, a tall, pale skinned male with short black hair who appeared to be in his thirties (Earth speculation). "This is Ensign Serith, he served with me on the U.S.S. Synergy." The Vulcan flashed the traditional Vulcan simple and nodded to the other Ensign.

The Vulcan next to him stepped up, extending his hand. He was the shorter of the two. His skin had a blue tint to it that showed in his black hair as well, giving him an otherworldly look. "Ensign Y'Tu*." He blinked and waited for her to shake his hand.

The human pipped up from the back, walking to the woman, "Jacob Williamson." He smiled and extended his hand.

[[*Pronounced [Ya-Too] ]]

Ensign Ru smiled when the Chief Medical Officer shook her hand, glad her assumption was correct in at least this case and hoping she would get to learn more about Vulcan culture and physiology. "Departing soon? Good, I can't wait to try this facility out..." The Jakyu said, more to herself than anyone else before turning to meet the rest of the medical team she would be working with. The tall Vulcan made an odd hand symbol, one she could not replicate fully with only 4 fingers and so opted to return a peaceful gesture used on her world, bringing her larger arms into a sideways 'T' shape with palms open and facing the man whilst the smaller pair outstretched themselves downward, "Serith." Virjok made another one of her stranger sounds, a greeting in her language before making the sign again to the other two Ensigns, bowing slightly. The way the shorter Vulcan blinked was similar to flipping someone off on Jakya 3, making an insulted face but decided that it must have been more out of surprise at her appearance and shook his his hand with the smaller hands, using her 4-fingered ones to shake that of the human Ensign, "Y'Tu and Jacob Williamson... An honor to meet you all." At least this human is not quite so... Stiff.

The systems were unfamiliar to Kouji. It wasn't that it was hard though. It was just different. He experimented with it a bit, making sure that he understood what he was doing as thoroughly as possible. Then did it again to make sure he did understand it. And for good measure, he went over it once more. But as he did so, he had heard an unexpected voice from behind. "Do you need any assistance ensign?"

Kouji jumped at the sound, not expecting anyone to be behind him. He turned around suddenly and with a panicked voice, said "I-I-I wasn't slacking! Er, Sir! Just um, just making triply sure I got the systems down!" Kouji had his hand raised in solute. "Th-there were several bugs and kinks in the system, so I quickly resolved the problem! At least, I think I did..." He glanced back at the console. "I wasn't sure if I had gotten rid of the problem completely, so I was just checking the systems a fourth time, to make sure it really was resolved, but then I keep finding other bugs and kinks to fix, and..." Kouji continued to ramble without realizing.

Piri stepped passed the Ensign and proceeded to examine the medical supplies, Serith and Y'Tu followed in suit, but Jacob stood watching them with a confused look on his face. He finally got the courage to talk, "Dr. Piri? Do you need me to do anything?" He smiled nervously at her as she turned around and gave him a slightly blank expression.

"My apologizes, I often forget humans and other life forms do not share the bond Vulcans commonly do. Your duties, Ensign, at the moment, are to get settled in. I suggest you proceed with caution, don't make enemies - this could lead to a swift downfall." She nodded to him and went back to examining a large row of needle-less syringes.

Jacob nodded to the Deputy and took off towards his quarters, eager to see the new ship in all its glory.

Piri looked to Dr. Ru, "Once we're done examining these, we'll retire to our quarters for the night, I suggest you do the same. We'll convene in later, when time permits." She moved on to one of the beds, smoothing out the sheet on it. She had to keep busy or she'd slip. Life seemed to be zooming by her quicker than she had thought it would; she was already a Chief Medical Officer. Her hands moved over the lines of bottles, like Klingon soldiers, lining up for battle. The universe seemed infinite to Piri. To her, it wasn't something to be conquered, but rather, something to be cherished and molded - not beaten into shape. Violence wasn't the way to win. That's why she became a doctor, to help save lives so that maybe this war would end, and peace could return to the universe.

She snapped back into reality when Serith walked over to her, looked into her eyes and said, "Be careful. The road you travel on is steeper than you may have first judged."

She nodded and straightened, walking out of the bay, towards her room. She needed to meditate.

The ensign just goes on his rambling about the system. Andrus understands that this is Kouji's first assignment, and that he would be nervous about messing something up. Andrus is still the same way, double checking everything, making sure he doesn't make a mistake.

"Your doing a fine job ensign, don't worry too much." Andrus said, trying to calm down Kouji. "I can finish up here if you could go and check the Replicator on deck 8. Reports are coming in that it's not replicating correctly."

Everything in the engineering room is going fine, he had to find someone to go fix that stupid replicator. Ensign Kouji seems to be the right person for the job.

"If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask another engineering officer or myself." he added.

Trent felt the ship begin to hum to life. He opened his eyes. He reported to where he needed to be. No doubt his captain would soon introduce himself...and Trent would rather start on the captain's good hand.

(sorry for short post, I'm tired)

"Y-yes sir! Right on it sir!" With that, Kouji saluted and excused himself from engineering, quickly grabbing his tool kit and headed past the others, bumping into others accidentally, apologizing constantly. When he finally got to the turbo lift, he finally calmed down a bit. He didn't like being around other people. It always made him a bit nervous. Well, very nervous. Ridiculously nervous. So nervous the tension could be cut with a knife. It was always his problem. He couldn't help but want to be a people pleaser all the time. Ever since he was a kid, he always had to do whatever his parents, teachers, even what his friends wanted. And he felt like he'd be letting them down if he did anything wrong.

Kouji went to counseling for this kind of obsessive behavior of course, but the therapy sessions didn't help much at all. So now he was still the obsessive maid he saw himself as since childhood. He reached Deck 8. He felt his anxiousness come back, as people came and went. "Hey uh... where's the broken replicator?" He asked one of the officers. Once he got directions, he went to down the hall, and past the crowd of rushing workers, until he reached the replicator.

"Let's see what's wrong here..." He ordered a cup of regular coffee. He got the coffee. Just not the cup. "Hmm...maybe the problem here..." He opened up the hatch on the bottom of the machine, and looked into the machinery, and had assessed what was wrong with it. He picked up his tools and quickly went underway with the repairs.

Dr. Ru raised a quill-like eyebrow as her Chief Medical Officer simply went straight onto examining the medical supplies, confused as to this behavior despite her knowledge of their apparent lack of emotions, feeling a little insulted. When La'Piri finally gave instruction to herself and the equally confused human ensign she was glad for an explanation, interested by this bond shared by Vulcans and would have asked about it had the Doctor not seemed so preoccupied. Virjok opted to simply get on with checking out the sick bay silently, wiggling her clawed toes on the floor a little before moving off to a bio-bed past the Vulcans to take a closer look. As she passed them the Jakyu placed the hypospray back on its tray, turning on the bed's scanner to see if it was functioning correctly. Everything was in order and, with a trilling sigh she walked to the door, "It was a pleasure meeting you all and I will see you when our first shift begins..." She fare welled her associates and walked down the hall. Vir did not feel like retiring to her room just this yet and so went off in search of the mess hall, unsure of its exact location. After some wandering the ensign somehow found herself on deck 8 nearby the broken replicator, she was obviously lost but all the officers were too busy to help her. Seeing another of her rank working on the replicator she decided to ask him, "Excuse me, Ensign... Uh, could you direct me to the mess hall? I'm somewhat... lost."

Kouji had basically almost finished repairs to the broken replicator. "Just a pull this out...insert that here then--" He was interrupted by another sound from behind him, asking where the mess hall was. Again, this catches the self-conscious ensign off guard, and jumps once more, but this time, hitting his head on the console right above him. "Ow!! Geez..." He looked up. And saw an alien he hadn't seen before. He (or she, Kouji couldn't tell) seemed to be an officer though. An ensign, like Kouji, judging from the lack of badges on her collar. But the creature still intimidated him. He hadn't really encountered a species with more than two arms before.

Kouji had found himself gaping a bit, but quickly stood up and straightened himself out. "Th-the uh...the mess hall?" He stuttered. "Boy, um...I'm not sure exactly." He looked around, like he'd find it just lying on the ground or something. "Probably deck 7. Or 6...was it 7? No! 6! 6!" He nodded quickly. "Definitely 6!" He then turned around, then did one final thing before closing up the panel on the replicator. "Actually, the replicator here should work just fine now!" He turned to the machine. "At least...I think it should. Maybe... I dunno actually." He kept mumbling to himself in a worried attitude.

La'Piri's Quarters
La'Piri pulled herself from meditation, distracted by the overwhelming emotion seeping from someone outside her door. She stood up swiftly and walked to the door, opening it quietly, not surprised to see a messenger human, looking more confused than ever. "Yes?" Piri blinked at the messenger, awaiting his message.

The Corridor
He spluttered slightly, "Uh.. Erm... Well..." He coughed and fidgeted, "You're supposed to administer the vaccines before take off." He looked around wildly, hoping he hadn't said anything wrong.

Piri nodded and stepped past him, her door closing behind her. She stopped and turned around, looking at the messenger, "You may leave now." With a worried look in his eyes, he scattered quickly, still intimidated by the Vulcan. Piri closed her eyes, turned around and then opened them, only to be face to face with Serith. She stopped and looked at him, "Yes, Serith?"

He pulled a box out of his pack and handed it to her, "I already retrieved the vaccines." He looked at her intensely as she took the box.

"Thank you, Serith. Do you need anything else?" She returned the look, her blank face never showing emotion.

"No." Serith bowed slightly and stepped backwards, then turning away, walking back to his quarters.

Emotions didn't register with Vulcans. They didn't feel. It interrupted with logic, and logic ruled all. What Piri wanted to do, it wasn't logical. Pon Farr wasn't near; she had no reason to be attracted to Serith. She had no mate, and no need for one. Having one at such a time seemed irrational and illogical. Then why did she want, only moments before, to embrace Serith? Her brain searched for an answer; obviously the humans were affecting her. She needed to meditate later, cast out the emotions that scratched at her mind like cats at a closed door.

Engineering
Piri looked at the vaccines and wanted nothing more than just to sigh. Instead, she began walking towards the engineering deck. She ran into an ensign on her way there who seemed to be blabbering on about a replicator. "Ensign?" She watched him carefully, waiting for his reply.