Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim - The Black and Silver Ball… Promotions, and Revelations Galore! (All Hands)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Max Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Side Sim - The Black and Silver Ball… Promotions, and Revelations Galore! (All Hands)

Posted by Lieutenant Jasmine Wynter (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim - The Black and Silver Ball… Promotions, and Revelations Galore! (All Hands)
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<Snip>

Celina clapped happily again for Pretha. The woman worked hard at her job just like all the rest of the crew that had received medals or promotions. “Congratulations Oberon,” she commented with a smile. While she did not often get to hang out with the woman, Pretha was fun to hang with in the times they had hung out in social situations.

Lt. Celina Rodriguez

Faye wolf whistled for Pretha, truly happy for the woman. As she gazed out over this group, she mused how much had changed since they had gathered in this same lush garden for her award ceremony. Bizarre. And wonderful too. Though there was a tiny irritating thought that came to mind, Faye just sipped on her sparkling juice and smiled at Walker, happy to be on the edge of the crowd and now right in the middle of it.

~Faye Calloway

Cochrane let the applause begin to fade before saying “And now, ladies and gentlemen, our next victim… er, I mean… awardee. Will Lieutenant Celina Rodriguez please step forward. Oh, wait… she probably can’t hear me over the XO’s coat.” and he spoke in a stage-yell “Lieutenant Rodriguez! To the stage please!”

The laughs at the coat’s expense were numerous.

Cochrane, CO

“See,” she gestured to the stage and the captains standing there as she set the shot glass down with a clink. “It’s not just me.” Looking over at him, Celina gave him a smile. “I had better hear you clap,” she gave him a wink before turning and heading up to the stage. Reaching the stage she paused a moment to look at Cochrane.

Jack was gonna do more than that as he stood up clapping, he was whistling but it was a very distinct tune as she sauntered to the stage. Anyone who could tell the tune would know it was from an old Earth song called Lady in Red as she approached the front. “No he fallado, simplemente he encontrado formas que no funcionan!” Jack shouted out to her, it was a phrase she always said to him whenever she felt like she needed a pick me up and right now he felt the night to shout it for all to stare at him wondering.

Celina felt a smile crossing her face as the first few bars of the song floated through the air. Tonight she fit the lyrics perfectly. She was literally the only person in red. As the to dancing cheek to cheek part…the vertical tango would come into play later. Hearing his Spanish inspirational quote she turned slightly winking at him before taking her place next to the captain.

“Lookin’ good cappy,” she said in a low whisper and then waited for the Captain to start his speech. Rarely if ever did someone actually say how nice men looked when they got dressed up. Sure it took women longer to get ready and men only had the three S’s in their routine but still, they did put forth the effort and times like this men needed to get a compliment.

Celina Rodriguez

“Someone has to.” he whispered. “You really let him walk out in public in that thing?” and he smiled before turning to the crowd.

“It’s like a bad Broadway play. One night showing and then the show is going to shut down,” she snickered.

“Ladies and gentlemen. As I am sure you are aware, we are dedicated science vessel and have… thankfully… had little recent issues that required us to flex our more forceful capabilities. That is a very good thing… but it also means that one particular member of the crew has not had to utilize her skills. Lieutenant Celina Rodriguez is our ship’s Chief Tactical Officer. And even though she has had little to do in that vein, she has still made herself an inextricable member of our crew. Off duty she is helpful, engaged, and always ready to assist wherever needed. On duty, though she is more than likely very bored -” and he smiled and some people chuckled softly, “- she is still professional, attentive, and prepared. For the consistent and unwavering attention she pays to the ship and her crew, I am happy to award Lieutenant Rodriguez a Commendation for Exemplary Performance. A round of applause, please, for the Lieutenant.” and the crowd clapped and cheered. He turned and handed her a black box with the ribbon for her ribbon board in it and shook her hand. He then leaned forward and said “Oh… and I saw a picture of the dolls. Get them off my ship. They’re creepy as hell.” and he smiled and winked.

Cochrane, CO

Creed, XO

“Not a chance Cochrane,” Celina laughed at the doll comment and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Everyone thought they were creepy, including Celina but nothing was going to stop her abuela’s from bringing them so the best she could do was prep the crowd coming to the reception.

Looking at the commendation she gave Jack a side glance before addressing the Captain. “Thank you sir however if you could do me one favor? Order the XO to take two weeks leave so it can say Creed instead of Rodriguez. I need a legally binding document to control his wardrobe.”

“Only if there are no dolls.” Cochrane said with a grin.

Taking the commendation in one hand she gathered the hem of her dress in the other to make her way back to her seat.

Celina Rodriguez

“Thank you!” Creed said slapping his hand on the table loudly as he point toward the Captain could be heard from everyone.

“Pipe down Ardashir. Remember you have to go home with me,” she pointed a finger at Jack and made a playful scowl. “The rest of you,” she waved her finger around, “suck and deal with the creepy as hell dolls. I don’t want the dolls,” she patted her chest. “Jack obviously is going to have to make an appointment with you Rollo,” she waved her hand about dismissively, “for therapy after but we need that ol’ Manny team spirit. That hutspah that says we are a team and we all will show up to the reception, we will all as a collective voice say to my abuela’s ‘why yes…those dolls are charming. What a lovely Puerto Rican tradition’ instead what we all are saying in our heads which is ‘good god you hideous little porcelain devil, you should be crushed into a million pieces and scattered to the wind so you don’t steal my soul later when I sleep.” As the old saying went about firing up the old wood chipper…Celina was just revving up with her speech. “So don’t lock eyes with them. Just nod to my grandma and pin a 20 credit to the dress. We have all made sacrifices in Starfleet. Let’s make and take one more for the team.” It was obvious Celina found the humor in the doll situation as everyone else but the liquor was allowing the truth to spill from her lips a bit more easily.

“Wait we have to touch them,” an ensign said in the back looking a bit concerned.

“Yes,” Celina threw up her hands and then patted her palm with the back of her other palm. “Tradition. Tradition. Tradition. I can’t escape it and therefore all of you lucky devils that get to come get to participate too.”

“Maybe you could make the dolls wear the coat. Maybe that would cause them to destroy themselves.” Cochrane shot back.

Revna watched the proceedings with interest, it would tell her a lot about the people she’d be working with, putting her life in their hands and vice versa. Despite their initial meeting, Cochrane was easily earning her respect for his easy banter with his crew. She clapped for each of them, listening closely to the conversation around her and Cochrane’s words. And none were rehearsed and prescribed. He knew personally why he was calling them foreword. She approved, not that he needed her approval. She leaned over and whispered quietly in Mike’s ear. “I like my tradition better. You get a blade and then you can cut the heads off of anything demonically possessed.” She did feel for the woman though, Revna’s family was also very traditional, though they didn’t have demonic dolls. It was hard to just pick and choose those traditions the ‘fit’ but to respect them all. She wondered what Mike would think of the fact he was expected to lead a raiding party to go ‘collect his bride’ when they finally made it back to Earth. She squeezed Mike’s hand where they had found an out of the way place to watch.

“Tradition my ass, you just can’t say no to your Abuela! Do you know how new traditions start? You make them! Everyone… we accept credit chits in cards and would love anything from Cole’s Department store she has her eye on some coffee set… or even a nice gift card from IFEA. Honestly, anything to not touch those dolls… they are possessed… they move in random spots in our home… whispers in the dark… no one deserves to have to live that evil.” Creed, said as he made his counterargument to the idea of the creepy dolls.

Looking at the crowd, she knew Jack, Cochrane, Jasmine, Max, and anyone that had any idea about the wedding was right. Licking her lips she took a breath and sighed. “Yeah…I got nothing,” she laughed essentially admitting defeat to his comment, “except,” she wore a sly smile, “there will be open bar all night and with as much as Jack could spend on that coat, it will all be top-shelf liquor. The booze will protect your soul,” she ended her impromptu speech in a soft whisper playing on the mystical and foreboding feeling surrounding the dolls. Stepping down she headed back to her seat. These dolls were going to be the death of her. She had no doubts, and hoped that somehow they disappeared at the reception.

Celina (not a Creed) Rodriguez

Alex turned back to the crowd and said “And now will Lieutenant Commander and Lieutenant Wynter please come to the stage? I’m sure all of you know our illustrious Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer. The Manhattan is very fortunate to have not only two highly regarded experts in both of these positions, but also that they can get along well enough to actually be stationed on the same ship simultaneously.”and there was a ripple of laughter.

“It’s because we are smart enough to know we either have to get along or face the holidays alone and single again,” Jasmine joked laughing at Cochrane’s joke. Taking Max’s hand, Jasmine could not help but smile. She was one of those lucky few in the galaxy to have everything she ever wanted in the palm of her hand. “Besides there are worse wedding traditions,” she held up their hands showing the matching bracelets, she and Max wore. “You could have Bob your on the spot Emergency Marriage Hologram.”

“I’m hurt. Deeply wounded,” Bob feigned sadness with a hand to his chest. “They would not have made it this far without me,” he added to the junior officer to his left batting the air in front of him as if he could push the invisible words away.

Lt. Jasmine Wynter CMO

“You know,” Max said quietly to Jasmine, “we could always arrange for Celina and Creed to have their very own EMH bracelets and hologram. I’m sure our mothers could arrange that, yours in particular took that liking to Celina over holocom. They could always improve it by making it look like a creepy doll.”

As it died down, Alex added “We can only wish the same level of compatibility between the XO and his coat; because I’m pretty certain Lieutenant Rodriguez is gonna leave him over it… not that any of us would blame her.” and the crowd laughed heartily.

Cochrane, CO

Cochrane, CO
McKenzie, DA

Pretha applauded and smiled with all the others. It was nice to see a Captain who knew what kind of crew he had, and recognized them as well. As more and more came and went on the stage, she made a mental note to get to know them. The Department Heads, especially, since CRIT would have need of them assuredly. Either they would be part of the team, or would know which of their crew members would be a good asset to the special team.

She took another drink as a server passed her and leaned back on the wall. Glancing around the room, she saw Zef and reminded herself she should make an appointment to see the woman. She was curious what she wanted to see the Lieutenant about.

Pretha
CRIT Ldr
((Wrote too many posts too late at night, my apologies everyone))

Jasmine held onto Max’s hand as they moved next to Cochrane. She smiled at everyone feeling a bit on edge. She preferred to fly under the radar instead of glowing like a beacon on it. It was not that she had stage fright or a fear of public speaking. Jasmine just liked to live in anonymity as the old saying went. Luckily Max was there and could bear the brunt of the jokes, thank yous, and pull out a few laughs from the crowd. He tended to be the more outgoing of the two in a public setting.

“Cap’n,” Max acknowledged Cochrane as they took the stage. If he was indeed the one who was better in a public setting, he didn’t show it well. At the moment it looked like he would rather be tucked away in the Engine room but with Jasmine wearing the stunning blue dress that she was, he very much doubted any eyes were on him. Suddenly sporting a grin, he gave Jasmines hand a squeeze.

Looking out at the crowd, a bright light as brilliant as any flash bang erupted from the crowd making her squint and rub her eyes. “Sorry. Sorry,” Bob raised a hand from the back of the room. “That was on me. All me. Didn’t realize the flash was on and there wasn’t anything about no pictures. Their mom’s are gonna love this. Keep going,” he waved his hand towards Cochrane. Bob was not allowed to interfere with the daily aspects of their job yet off duty, it was all his time. The image of Max and Jasmine wasn’t the best but it would appease Genoveva and Issy when they how things are going. “You know how it is. Moms they want a minute account of your week and when all you have done is work five shifts, eaten a couple of tacos, and ran around the gym, they get all frustrated that you aren’t sharing.” Raising the camera, Bob pointed at Max. “You will thank me when you can use this gem to chat to ol’ Genny tomorrow. Please proceed,” Bob took a seat position himself so that he could still digitally record the event for posterity and the Ministry of Harmony’s records.

“Sorry,” Jasmine mouthed to Cochrane as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear waiting for the Captain to continue.

Jasmine Wynter

“Wait we have another call with my mother tomorrow?” Max’s grin dropped and he looked sideways at Jasmine. “They really are getting antsy that you aren’t pregnant yet huh. Reckon we can make Bob look like a baby every time they call, just for a few years?”

Max Wynter, CE

Cochrane looked at both and said quietly “Marriage counseling on your own time, you two.” and then turned to the crowd. “Our Chief Engineer and and Chief Medical Officer have done a stellar job, and this last mission was no different. Mr. Wynter put himself in harm’s way to assist the Graviens; and Dr. Wynter was crucial to lending medical aid to injured Graviens… individuals who were key in the resolution. For their actions, it is my pleasure to award them both the Commendation for Dutiful Service.” He took the last two boxes from the tray and held them out the Wynters. He looked at Jasmine and said “You’re still not off the hook, Doctor. We will discuss that Sickbay conversation tomorrow.” and then he stood back and clapped, and the crowd followed.

Cochrane, CO

Jasmine nodded to Cochrane and then smiled at the crowd. Her team, especially Shon, had gone over and above in the latest missions. Casting a glance at her colleague she winked at the Bolian. Without the both of them, the loss of life could have been more. She handed Max her box as she took a corner of her dress in one hand and his arm in the other. Watching a waiter pass by with a bottle of booze, she half thought about grabbing it an sticking it in her purse. Depending on how the meeting went tomorrow she might need it. Still no matter how the meeting with the boss went, the Manhattan was still the best place in the universe to work and that was never going to change.

Jasmine Wynter CMO