BYOB

Posted on Mon Jul 6th, 2026 @ 6:11am by Lieutenant Commander Yy & Captain Rovak & Commander Alex Flynn & Lieutenant Commander Intharia T'Zor & Lieutenant Rune Thul & Master Chief Petty Officer Gaz & Senior Aerospace Specialist Mindo 'Riot' & Vestar Khai & T’Shan

1,399 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave [3-4]
Location: Holobeach 1
Timeline: Late Shoreleave

When word came through from Ops that it was ready to activate the first of the holobeach facilities, Yy had the welfare team drop everything non-urgent to begin the planning of events to help celebrate the location and the communities aboard DS13. Ahead of the official opening carnival, Yy asked a handful of DS13's officers for their help, she needed them to test the waters, so to speak.

She called it BYOB - bring your own beach. She tasked each of them with bringing an image or other record of their favorite beach with them, to have the holosystems recreate them and allow others to try them and see if they could be added to the permanent rotation.

The entrance door put arrivals in the middle of an island, in a small tropical open-air town square-type area surrounded by pagoda-topped buildings with restaurants and shops at their base. Through the paths between buildings they could walk in almost any direction out of the square and find a different beach that would persist between visits. So far though, all the beaches were either default programs or random conglomerations of settings that combined into strange or unpleasant results.

A holographic recreation of a Risan woman carried a tray of replicated drinks near the entrance, Yy waited with her, wearing a light Deltan sun poncho, awaiting her invitees.

Alex was the first to arrive, it seemed. She had her Starfleet-issue wetsuit on and everything she needed to smoke a cigarette while immersed up to her neck. "Hey Yy." She said as she finished her look around the bright and cheery surrounds. She had notably not brought her own beach, being someone whose childhood memory of beaches was cold and rocky on even nice days. But that's Scotland for you.

"Commander! Thank you for coming." Yy said, hugging her warmly. "You're the first, have a seat anywhere if you'd like. The holographic staff at the cafes will serve you from the replicators."

"Thanks." Alex said, returning the hug before looking around. "I'm feeling like a margarita." Alex said, mostly to herself, looking around for someone, realising that the woman with the tray of drinks was probably the best place to start.

Intharia arrived wearing a garment that was part towel, part robe, ready to slip off her shoulders with a shrug. She'd done her best to recreate the beach near where she grew up on Thessia, but not being able to do it justice, she chose one that she and Atna had visited many times in their shared memories, a place few knew of, the L'Khai oasis on Vulcan's equator. "Commanders, hello." She crossed the threshold and approached Alex and Yy.

"Commander T'Zor, join us, please." Yy said, greeting the woman with a hug and kiss brushing both cheeks, in the French style. Over her shoulder, she could see the Captain and his daughter had arrived.

Rovak entered as the women greeted each other with T'Shan. He wore a pair of loose martial arts shorts and a hawaiian shirt Ambassador Velt had given him for his last birthday. She wore a wetsuit that resembled the starfleet standard issue. She had selected a beach on Mlavor 6, a world they'd encountered when her father was in command of the USS Mercury, a few months before it was destroyed. It was a warmer world than most, the seas were a balmy 30 degrees C, the air around 35. A natural formation of stone like an enormous amphitheatre leading out into the sand and the surf in a quiet cove.

"Good morning, all." Rovak said to the group. "Hi." T'Shan added.

"Welcome both of you. Thank you so much for coming. I'll bet you've got somewhere interesting for us to take a look at." Yy said warmly as they joined the assembled officers.

Lieutenant Rune Thul entered with 16-year-old Priza Thul awkwardly trying to extract her hand from her father's grip. Vestar Khai had both 21-year-old Sons, Thomas and Kirk, on either side of him. "Dad, let me go." Priza said annoyed.

"Sure honey," Rune said and let her go after the door closed behind them. "You promised to stay," he reminded her.

"Come on, sis," Thomas said as he grabbed her hand. "Let's go," he encouraged, Kirk followed behind as the trio rushed for the water. They were already dressed in swimwear and dropped their towels on the dry sand.

He let Thomas pull Priza free from his grip and watched them for a moment. A grin on his face that they were having fun. Rune and Vestar slowly approached the others, Rune kept an eye on their kids. "Captain, Commanders," Rune greeted after a brief glance around then back at his kids.

"Hello," Vestar added as he put all their food container down and stretched his back.

Tag for any arrivals ?

"Welcome, all of you. Thank you for being here!" Yy said, addressing Thul and his family before focusing her attention on everyone. "Those of you who have brought a beach, I'll set them up, and once they're rendered, we can begin our testing. For now, have a seat, let these lovely holographic people serve you whatever best pleases you, and we should have our beaches in just a moment. Can everyone who has one please join me over here." Yy said, gesturing towards one of the quaint, whimsical multistory buildings that made up the township surrounding the square.

Rune frowned and gestured to his children off in the surf. "You'll have to accept my apologies on my kids' behalf, Counselor. They are overexcited about the beach. Thank you for inviting us."

"Yes, it's a lovely change of pace from business. Thank you," Vestar offered a smile.

"No problem at all, please excuse me, I've got to be in a lot of places at once today." Yy said with an optimistic tone as she moved over to the building, accompanied by those who had brought a holographic location to add, some more hesitant than others to move away from the crowd.

"Miss T'Shan, what have you got for us?" Yy asked her as she took the chip she'd brought the file on. "Mlavor 6, interesting, this isn't one I know, but lovely and warm by the looks of things. A sauna beach maybe?" Yy thought out loud as they reviewed the small-scale holo of the beach and its particulars.

"The water is up to eight degrees cooler than the air. It's quite a fascinating sensation." T'Shan said. She had omitted that the hologram excluded the naturally present carnivorous crustacea found in the sands of that particular world. The locals used sonic disruptors to repel them where they could not simply be edited away by computer command.

"And Dr T'Zor, a Vulcan oasis. Thank you kindly, this is one I've always wanted to try." Yy said happily, having heard of L'Khai for the first time at the academy.

"I can't say I've been there myself either, but I have a certain familiarity that tells me it's going to be a good time." T'Zor said with a smile.

Gaz and his much taller daughter Mindo had shown up late, entering just as T'Zor and Yy were discussing the former's oasis. "Ah, damnit. There is a crowd." Gaz said sounding suddenly dispirited. He was wearing sunglasses and a starfleet trucker hat, as if he might become anonymous with minimal effort. "It's not even a dozen people. Don't punk out on me now." Mindo teased her father playfully, she knew him well enough to know he wasn't going to leave for at least the first 20 minutes. She brought his attention to the woman with drinks, that would buy her at least an hour.

Yy waved to Gaz and Mindo as they entered. She knew the chief well enough to know not to harry him, he'd come in his own time.

"All right everyone, I think it's time we get started. I encourage you to grab a drink or some food, there will be no replicators available once we reach the beaches. I think we'll start with miss T'Shan's contribution, a recreation of Mlavor 6. It'll be warm, but fortunately holographic sunshine doesn't require sunscreen. Once we've had a look at all the suggestions, you'll be given a chance to vote on which ones you prefer, and the options with the most votes will enter the permanent rotation for the carnival and beyond."

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