<div class="floatleft">(https://scifanatic-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dsc-s2promo-becomingpike-head2.jpg)</div><strong>Name</strong>: Captain Decimus Courcel (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=309788.msg15070492#msg15070492)<br/><strong>Location</strong>: Bridge > Captain's Ready Room> Main Engineering><em>USS Avenger</em><br/><br/><strong>Condition</strong>: Healthy (No Stress, No Injuries)<br/><strong>Attributes:</strong>Control 11 | Daring 11 | Fitness 8 | Insight 7 | Presence 11 | Reason 8<br/><strong>Disciplines:</strong>Command 5 | Conn 3 | Engineering 2 | Medicine 1 | Science 2 | Security 3<br/><br/><strong>Talents:</strong>Bold: Command, Supervisor, Call to Arms, Cold Reading<br/><strong>Equipment:</strong>Uniform, Tricorder, Communicator<br/><strong>Notes</strong>: N/A<br/><br/><hr/>As soon as the official log of Decimus assuming command was finished, it was a bit of a whirlwind of activity for him as he made his way to his ready room.  Decimus did stop in the bridge and got the shift report from the senior officer who had the conn.  Decimus told him he still had it till the change to alpha shift, he merely was "checking in".  While there were a few rough edges about, there was no major risk to departure time from dock for their mission.  Decimus thanked everyone and then buried himself in his ready room for the next hour or so, going through all of the correspondence which did require the captain's eye before a ship got under weigh, little nit-nod details such as last minute crew transfers, signing off on change of supervisors, the dull stuff which never made it into any form of historical data.<br/><br/>Decimus also put in his first official ship's log before closing down his work terminal and heading out of the bridge, informing the Conn to let Engineering know the Captain was going to be "on deck".  If was one of the small things Decimus learned hard when in a senior officers position was the fact one did not just pop on over to a department without giving notice.  Doing so implied you did not trust to crew and were trying to catch them "by surprise."  All it too was two such incidents on the<em>Lexington</em>for Captain Korolev to pull Decimus aside and inform him of what he was doing and how it was perceived by the crew.  It was a hard habit to break, but eventually he managed too.  If the ship's "XO" dropping in unannounced was bad form, it was doubly so for the captain, which was why Decimus gave Engineering a "heads up" before he stepped onto the turbo-lift.<br/><br/>An ensign met Decimus at the entrance to Engineering, the petty officer on duty the one to bark out the age old tradition of "Captain on the deck" for the rest of the Engineering work shift.  Decimus quickly waved off of them off and politely informed them to please return to work, he was merely passing through.  He assured the ensign there was no censure to be read into his being there, and he had every confidence Engineering would be in "the green" when it was time to ship out.  Decimus merely wanted a few moments alone next to the warp core.<br/><br/>Decimus came up on the core, seeing the new advanced model in place giving the ship far more power output than the original design of the<em>Constitution</em>class.  He ran his fingers over the console first, then put his hand out to touch the casing to the warp core itself, speaking softly.<strong>"Hello there girl.  I know you are ready and eager, and trust me I will put you through your paces and give you your head when the time comes.  Know I looked over every crew detail, and you have a great crew.  Anyone of them, even me, willing to give everything for you.  I only ask the same in return.  Together, we will get back home.  I trust you, now I only ask you trust me.  Alright?"</strong><br/><br/>The ensign was floored and stunned.  What type of...special...did command dig up to send to them on their first voyage?  The ensign was unsure of what was going on and stepped forward, the look of confusion both clear in his tone and in his body language.<strong>"Captain, is everything alright?"</strong><br/><br/>Decimus did not turn away from the core, but spoke in a calm voice, with more than a bit of awe and wonder in it.<strong>"From time immortal, sailors have called a ship a "she", giving it a female gender.  There are many reason behind it ensign, but in the end, they knew, even back then they knew a ship was more than wood and tar, tack and sail, just as the <em>Avenger</em> here is more than isoliner chips, antimatter core, and other composited materials.  She is more than the sum of her parts, she is more than only her crew.  All of it together makes her more than a simple object hurling through space and time."</strong><br/><br/>Decimus moved about slowly, and it was more than the ensign who was observing him, near all the staff on hand had stopped working and were listening to the man speak out loud in a tone which bordered near reverence.<strong>"You have to treat her right, you have to treat her with respect, to let her know you ask no more of her then you would of yourself.  Do that, and she will treat you right in turn.  When your warp core should breech from the damage it suffered, it won't.  She will hold out her structural integrity field long enough to allow you to escape a vented hull.  Even when against the odds you should have abandoned her, she will fight for you.  Till her very last breath she will give it if you display to her to same loyalty and conviction and belief in her."</strong><br/><br/>Decimus stopped then and turned to the small audience he had.  There was not a trace of embarrassment in his voice when he spoke.<strong>"We should have been dead at the battle of Rigel IV.  We were outgunned, and the Klingons had the <em>Lexington</em> dead to rights, but we did not.  We lived because we fought on, for her, the Lady Elle we called her, and she did the same for us, getting her warp core back on line for us to leave the engagement, to live on to fight another day.  I make no bones about it.  I did not save over three hundred people during the battle, my crew did, the Lady Elle did, because a ship is more than simple machine built into complex machines.  She is a lady in her own right, and I am letting this lady know I am here for her, <em>we</em> are here for her.  I wanted to do so now before we got under weigh.  Keep up the good work now."</strong>With those last words said, Decimus left Engineering and headed back to the turbo lift.<br/><br/>The ensign made his way over to the petty officer, a shake of disbelief in head head.<strong>"Can you believe that nonsense Mr. Coles?  I mean a ship is a ship.  A fine piece of engineering yes, and the <em>Avenger</em> is finer than near anything out there, but still in the end, its a ship.  There is no life here, no sentience."</strong><br/><br/>The petty officer gave a shake of her own head, but this one was not with the body of disbelief, but in disagreement with her supervisor.<strong>"I have to agree to disagree with you there "Ensign".</strong>She said, giving the age old nick name to the officer.  There might bee many ensigns on board, but in the petty officer's eyes, there was only one "Ensign", her "Ensign".  Everyone else were merely "nuggets".<br/><br/>The petty officer's words cause the ensign to look away from his pad and give her a scrutinizing look.<strong>"What do you mean?"</strong><br/><br/>Coles did not miss a beat in her response, leaving over the main engineering console before continuing on.<strong>"I mean there must be something to it, as when the Captain was making his little speech there, the number three line finally came on-line and in spec.  We have been working the damned thing all shift, and I was about to down check it and start the process of replacing the whole unit.  Did not want to do it, as it would delay us getting out of dry dock, but nothing was working.  Now..."</strong>Coles made a gesture with her hand.<strong>"I am having them run the diagnostic again, but she is within spec and ready to go.  It might be a coincidence, but its hard to do in light of everything the Captain said, in the face of everything I know what happened on board the <em>Lexington</em>, I thing I can spare the new girl here some belief in her." </strong><br/><br/>The ensign looked over the situation, calling up his own check on the auxiliary power check which he had been banging his head against the bulkhead trying to solve as well.  A false negative with one the the iso chip in its diagnostic sub routine.  No one had corrected it since its replacement.  A temperamental part.  Now they were in the home stretch and can complete the rest of the work needed to get the ship launched, with time to even spare if no other problems reared their ugly heads.  The ensign looked over to wear Decimus had been and softly said.<strong>"I'll be damned..."</strong>A tone of belief in his voice now.