Making New Friends

Posted on Sun Apr 11th, 2021 @ 6:27am by Lieutenant Nilo Rodis & Civilian Jessica Haugen
Edited on on Sun Apr 11th, 2021 @ 6:29am

Mission: The Silent Scream
Location: lounge
Timeline: After the Hide and Seek Finale

ON:

Flanked by some his usual post-work meal friends; Ensigns Joran and Larson, Will came through the doorway into the lounge. "Hey, Jessica." He called out.

Jessica popped her head up from beneath the bar, smiling when she saw the trio arrive and head in the direction of their usual table near the window. "Hi, the usual for all three of you?" She asked though she knew what they liked after work and they almost never deviated from it.

"You know it," Joran answered as the group say down.

"Coming up, no Amanda today?" Jessica asked it hadn't taken long for her to notice that one of the usual group was missing.

"The Doc is keeping her in sickbay a while longer," Joran told her, "she's recovering well though."

Jessica smiled. "That's good to hear, she'll be back with you lot in no time I bet, a woman like her is hard to keep down."

Nilo had made his way down to the lounge to grab himself a small meal and a drink as he took a break whilst on duty. It had been a busy time onboard the Wolff since his arrival and he'd not had a chance to catch up with all of the senior officers, let alone the rest of the crew that he'd been working with now that he was assigned full time to the Luna Class vessel.

Once he grabbed his meal and drink, Nilo made his way over to a table with a PADD that he had brought with him and took a sip of the fresh orange juice he'd ordered.

Coming out from behind the bar Jessica headed in Nilo's direction, she didn't recognise him and that, even on this ship of 300 people was a rare thing.

"A new face graces my lounge," She said to him with a pleasant smile. "I'm Jessica, the manager."

Nilo looked up after taking a sip of his drink, placing it and the PADD back down on the table. "Hello, I'm Lt Nilo Rodis, I'm the Wolff's new Chief of Operations," he said before standing up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jessica, you have a fine establishment here."

Nilo looked down at his meal and drink. "Would you care to join me, if you are free?" he offered.

Jessica smiled. "It's not too busy right now so I can spare a few minutes to get to know a new face." She sat down opposite him.

Nilo smiled as he saw Jessica take a seat at his table. "I've not been on board long, so I have yet to meet other members of the crew and put names to faces. After the recent mission, its good to enjoy some quieter times abroad. So may I ask how long you've been on board the Wolff, Jessica?" Nilo asked.

Whilst he listened to her, Nilo also realised that this was probably one of the best ways to get to know others and also wondered why he hadn't done this before.

"I offered my services to the previous Captain about a year ago, decided to stay on all through the chaos that led to our little six month stay in drydock. and here I still am." Jessica replied.

"Ah, well that seems like it was a clear and good decision to take, you run a good hardy establishment from my previous visits here, although this is about the longest I've managed to stay and enjoy a meal...and the company as well," Nilo admitted. "I'm just glad that there isn't another alert going off and that I can enjoy this visit further."

"That was certainly a most interesting time, not all of my stock survived that little explosion we had." Jessica said heavily understating the events of a few days ago.

Nilo nodded as he took a sip of his drink. "Yes, the Wolff did take quite the beating during our last mission and three are quite a few repairs going in currently," he explained. "I'm just glad of being able to take a proper break from the work for a change...the benefits of being as Senior Officer on board."

As he stopped for a moment, Nilo thought. "Did you lose a lot of stock during the attack? will you require replacements or have you already placed orders for what you need? As Chief of Operations, if there is anything I can help with," he offered.

"I lost a little, most of it is easily replaceable whenever we get near a supply post, most of the rest is special stuff, the good stuff, not the kind of stuff people will give to any old chief of operations." She gave him a sly wink.

"Ah, that's a shame, there always seems to be some sort of casualty when a starship is involved in combat, whether its crew, ship parts or something that's a lot more valuable or precious," Nilo said.

"Of course, if any specific Chief of Operations can help, let him know, it's amazing the kind of people you come across whilst serving in Starfleet and visiting these amazing wonderful worlds," Nilo added.

Jeysa smiled. "Yup, that's why I eventually decided to get out on a ship and do some exploring, before here I was on the USS Almathia, and before that, I worked in one bar then ran my own on starbase 54. While I might not get to go down to some of these new worlds you fleeters get to, I don't know many aliens that don't know what a bar is and want to find a good one to drink at."

Nilo smiled. "If there is one constant in the universe, its that you can always find your self a good bar, regardless of what planet its situated on and if your lucky, you find the added bonus of a gracious and welcoming host," he said, before raising his drink. "May the prophets always grant you the rewards you deserve as a host in this line of work," he added.

"Thank you," Jeysa said, she didn't have a drink of her own to toast with though. "What bought you to the Wolff then?" She asked. "We've a wide array of species on here but not many Bajorans."

"An interesting story, which I believe you'll probably understand," Nilo said before taking a sip of his drink and placing it down on the matt.

"I graduated from Starfleet Academy back in 2378, where my first assignment was, one of irony. I was assigned to the Jefferson, where we were ferrying aid to the various planets in the Cardassian Empire after the end of the war with the Dominion and their allies. It was strange to think that growing up during the occupation I wanted to hurt all Cardassians...and then years later, there I am helping the same race that I wanted to hurt and I began to pity them instead of hating them."

"A most unusual irony," Jessica remarked letting the man continue.

"It was...an interesting and character-building time in my life. After an exploration assignment in the Gamma Quadrant, another result of the end of the war, I was assigned to one of the newer Vesta Class starships that Starfleet was sending out. I joined the Palatine under Captain Rao, however, two years into the assignment, the Hobus Star in Romulan space...went supernova. Suddenly, we are doing all we can to help those Romulans that wanted our help. We often made regular runs to the colony that Admiral Picard set up on Vashti," Nilo continued.

"Did you serve anywhere other than the Palatine?" Jessica asked, she knew it was common for fleeters to change ship every so often, sometimes willingly sometimes getting transferred.

"Once my time was up, I was transferred to another Vesta Class starship, the Capitoline, where we were sent on out to follow up on the exploration of the Gum Nebula already begun by both the USS Titan and the USS Tokyo. We spent two years out there before Starfleet re-assigned us to patrol the Cardassian border, so it was almost like going full circle in some sense I suppose," Nilo said before he took another sip of his drink, feeling his mouth go a little bit dry as he realised that he was talking about being near Cardassian space once more.

"As it turned out, the Cardassians reducing their borders and Starfleet moving out ships for other duties whilst re-inforcing their own borders...and once that tour of duty was complete, I was offered the chance to join the Wolff...which I gratefully accepted."

"It looks like you have had quite the adventure in your time, I hope you're not looking for a break in the excitement on this ship," Jessica said. "It has had its fair share of excitement and drama."

Nilo nodded in agreement. "As I understand from speaking with Lt JG Binea before the previous mission reached a most exciting climax," Nilo explained. "She gave me some insight into how old the Wolff is and the various engagements that she's been through before I arrived."

"However I expect that my time aboard the Wolff will also continue the current trend that I have experienced previously in my career...to expect an assignment to be boring and not to have any excitement and action would be an oversight surely?" Nilo offered.

"I for one am hoping for a little peace and quiet for a change, can't run a business when everything is exploding all the time." Jessica chuckled slightly.

Nilo smiled at her reply. "Yes, I can imagine how some might prefer the peace and quiet against the backdrop of shipboard explosions and pieces of debris taking off, it does detract from the quiet atmosphere," he said. "However, I can say that so far I'm enjoying the company and the peacefulness of the bar...hopefully our next mission will be a bit more quieter and meet your needs?

"Hopefuly." Jessica smiled slightly. "Too much drama isn't good for business." She saw a gaggle of the crew coming into the lounge. "Speaking of business, if you'll excuse me Mr Nilo, I have customers to serve."

"Of course," Nilo said. "Thank you for your time and I wish you well. Should you need anything, just let me know." Nilo smiled as he saw Jessica make her way back to the bar area and saw that several more officers had arrived. He was glad that he'd made a friend today and carried on with his meal.

OFF:

Jessica Haugen
Lounge Manager [npc Taliserra]

Lieutenant Nilo Rodis
Chief Operations Officer