Posted by Cadet K’sang Duras (Scientist) in CSO’s Office: Cadet Duras Checking In

Posted by Lieutenant Garth (Chief Science Officer) in CSO’s Office: Cadet Duras Checking In

Posted by Cadet K’sang Duras (Scientist) in CSO’s Office: Cadet Duras Checking In
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(snip)

As K’sang entered the room, the smoke was definitely uncomfortable to inhale. But it didn’t burn necessarily, and there was no heat to the room or smell of burning. Likely this wasn’t a fire, but a chemical reaction gone awry. Given that there was someone else in the room who was still breathing and may have been trying to navigate the space for some time, it wasn’t likely that the smog was especially toxic. That being said, it would probably be a good idea to tell sickbay about the incident afterwards just in case.

“Computer!” The voice barked frantically from across the room. “Cancel (cough) that order! We don’t need (cough) sick bay (cough) you just need to (cough*) hit that damn exhaust!” K’sang could probably find the panel easy enough by feeling along the wall, and operating it was a simple press of a button.

If K’sang activated the exhaust, the room would be filled with a loud whirring as the fan turned on, quickly sucking the smog our and replacing it with fresh air. As visibility returned, K’sang would see Garth, a stout tellarite man with aging complexion and balding head, wiping condensation from his goggles.

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

OOC: Great post once again! Writing in STF is collaborative, so it’s a balance between respecting other people’s characters actions and still moving the story along. In this case, I used “if” to indicate what might happen if K’sang takes the expected actions to move the plot forward. But theoretically, you’re allowed to change the direction if you’d like! One small thing: when using alien language, I’d recommend also including the English translation in parentheses. The universal translator is always on in starships I believe, and even if it’s not, Garth (for example) might know klingon even when I (Ben) do not. It would save me the chore of looking it up in a translator if that’s the case!

Ben

OOC: Its not quite seamless yet, but i think i’m starting to get the formalities down. Shouldn’t be long before the rest falls into place. As for the Klingon: qustah nuq jay roughly translates to WTF and qu’valth is a klingon animal that is known for being particularly stubborn.

IC:

“Got it!” K’sang said as the smoke began to clear, the Cadet began picking up parts he had previously knocked over. “Is this… a peripheral interface? It looks like the resolution scanner port might be a little..” he cleared his throat, “bent.”

Garth shambled over to K’sang with a scowl, watching him fix the mess he had created. “And what if it is?” Garth snapped defensively.

Calamity aside, K’sang placed the housing back on top of a stack and rose to attention. “Cadet K’sang Duras reporting for duty”

(K’sang, Cadet)

As K’sang stood up and the smog continued to clear, Garth got his first good look at the cadet. His bushy eyebrows raised in surprise and the lieutenant was stunned for a moment before he spoke again. “Right. Yes, Cadet Duras. Right. I was told to expect you.” Garth was obviously a bit uncomfortable in the presence of the much larger man. “I must admit I was surprised when I read that you were coming aboard, considering your record states you were born in the Klingon Empire. Have you become a citizen of the Federation?”

“No, not yet anyway.” he replied, “This is an internship of sorts, depending on how useful I am in both my duties. As well as my standing among crew mates, I may have the option of becoming one in the future.”
-Ksang, Cadet

Garth crossed his arms. “From glancing over your academy report from DS7 I understand you specialize in xenobiology, yes? What merits have you earned in the field?”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

OOC: STF is a lot about just getting used to things, and that’s what the academy’s for! You’re doing great so far, and I’m glad to see you taking initiative with some of the other threads! What I’ve demonstrated above is that you can respond between paragraphs of other people’s posts. In fact, sometimes paragraphs are intended to have a response inserted before the next. See if you can answer Garth’s first question before the paragraph with his second. This way, it maintains the normal chronological order of the conversation while letting things move forward more quickly. Usually, responses inserted between paragraphs shouldn’t DRASTICALLY alter the situation/conversation, as to not make the paragraph afterwards nonsensicle. Hope that makes sense! To do this, make sure that the inserted line and the line both above and below it have no arrows (>) in your response!

Ben

Clasping his hands behind his back, K’sang placed his feet shoulder width apart and stood at parade rest, “My specialty is synthesizing and manipulating biological devices and systems with artificial recreation in particular. In short, I study species strengths and find practical applications to use in fabrication of equipment to improve quality of life. A good comparative might be an earth creature known as a Starfish and its early role what we now know as Dermal Re-generators. My temporary assignment on DS7 included studying space matter, false vacuums, and metaphasic radiation in the Briar Patch to develop a new transit system in an attempt to not only prevent overheating in impulse manifolds, but to also improve transportation speeds. The end result in theory will allow for more efficient mapping as well as the possibility of more than two inhabitable planets, possibly one that naturally resists the radiation flooding from supernova elements… or genetic fire walling that could be administered for more efficient radiation resistance without leading to cellular degradation.”

-K’sang, Cadet

Garth watched K’sang closely as the cadet reported his accolades. “I see,” he said after the cadet had finished, not exactly indicating whether or not he was impressed. The tellarite hobbled over to a stool and plopped down before rummaging through a pile or miscellaneous parts before pulling out a PaDD. “I require each cadet under my command to complete a project of academic rigor during their time on the Challenger, to be presented to be prior to graduation. I assume you’ll want to complete your capstone in the field of xenobiology, yes?”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

OOC: This thread is getting a bit long! When threads get too wordy, it becomes difficult to scroll through all of the previous text to get to the more recent posts. To manage this, we “snip” threads, in which we delete the more ancient posts from the reply. I have snipped the first post in this thread, see if you can snip the next post (aka Garth’s first post). To do this, delete the text and the corresponding “posted by” line and replace it with a (snip) indicator.

One other thing real quick: I’ve noticed that your sign-off doesn’t include your character’s department. That infomration can be very helpful for other writers to understand your character’s role on the ship. So I’d suggest using “K’sang, Science Cadet” as the full sign-off for your posts. Also, when posting between paragraphs you only need to include the sign-off for the last paragraph, because the site presents recent replies in tiers anyways.

Ben

“It would be preferable yes.” K’sang paused, “However, not beneficial. Unless your intention is to evaluate my knowledge in that particular field, its in the duties of a scientist… My duty, to broaden my knowledge when the opportunity presents itself. A knife only meant for cutting is not a very good tool.”
-K’sang, Scientist Cadet.

Garth grunted in approval. “I tend to agree with that sentiment, even if that exact analogy isn’t my first choice. But, your knowledge in more general fields should have been developed at the academy, and you will have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate your holistic skills in everyday operations of the Challenger. When you leave this ship, your new assignment may request you specifically because of some specialty.” Garth narrowed his eyes at K’sang expectantly. “I’m giving you the opportunity to explore the application of your current academic focus on a starship, but if you would prefer to find another area of interest, that is your prerogative.”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

OOC: Great job with the snip! For the record, you don’t have to keep the previous snip line or the OOC part, but I know the OOC stuff is irregular anyways so that wasn’t quite fair to you! Snipping up to the sign-off line is usually exactly right. I snipped the thread further, down to 6 posts. This is usually my go-to, but it varies. In a thread with more than two people, for example, you don’t want to snip the last post any involved character posted, so that when they return to the thread they can easily read what the last thing their character did was. Or in important threads you can also snip to when the last very-important event happened so that everyone who reads the thread can still know the immediate context of the following posts. Sometimes there’s a fine line between snipping too much and too little, but whatever feels right usually is! (Also, you don’t have to constantly be snipping. We probably wouldn’t snip this thread again for a couple more posts, but if you want more practice feel free!)

Ben

“It’ll do” he replied with a nod, “How quickly would you like to see the project finished?”
-k’sang, science cadet

Garth waved a hand dismissively. “By the time you graduate, however long that takes you. Usually, cadet cruises are about 3 months. So if you’d like to leave the Challenger on-time, I suggest that you finish within three months.”

Garth slapped his comm badge. =^= Garth to NEnsign Selik, report to Science Lab One =^=

A moment later, a younger vulcan man with black curly hair entered the room, sniffing the air as he did and raising an eyebrow inquisitively. Garth ignored the unspoken question. “NEnsign Selik, please provide Cadet Duras with his duty schedule.”

The vulcan man approached and handed Duras a PaDD with the relevant information regarding what labs he would be working in and when on his regular shifts.

Garth stood and hobbled over to the exhaust switch, flipping it off. “Now go, cadet. Be a Starfleet officer.”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

OOC: In this post I used an NE or “Nameless Ensign”. NEs often have names, but they’re basically minor background crew that are usually pretty expendable and have minimal impact on the story (think classic red shirts). You can create NEs as you like in side sims but for main sim threads NEs will likely be only the GMs, unless you ask for special permission. When someone posts about an NE, that character is still considered “theirs”, so you wouldn’t control Selik, for instance. Since I introduced him, I’m his writer. Does that make sense?

Ben