Amara had lined up smartly with the other graduating cadets, feeling a thrill of achievement and excitement as she did so. She wasn't the first Caitian to attend Starfleet Academy, and she wouldn't be - all going well, anyway - the first to graduate.
Nor was she someone gifted or burdened with any kind of specific of exceptional circumstance. There was nothing 'special' attached to her that singled her out for exceptionalism. But she was proud for herself that she had made it this far, and was standing here within the sea of other cadets. She felt like she was part of something bigger, yet also still herself; her own skills, talents, and personal qualities had been recognised, put to the test, and found to be made of the ill-defined, but much vaunted 'right stuff', as the humans called it.
This final task, the test cruise, had been the buzz of talk for the last few weeks, and sifting out grains of truth from rumours, hyperbole, and exaggerated accounts passed on by those who had graduated was an impossible task.
None of it dampened the mingled feelings of excitement and trepidation that fought in her belly and they were only briefly stilled as Admiral April gave his speech. She listened with interest, her tufted, cat-like ears perked. It was a brief, brisk address and with nothing of surprise - she imagined that he must have given dozens of such speeches over the years - and then it was time to receive her assignment. She cottoned on quickly to other names as they were assigned to ships, glancing to catch a look at prospective crewmates - and then as her own name was called out, she stood to rigid attention and alert, calling out a firm 'aye-aye, sir!' and quickly getting out of the way as more of her fellow cadets crowded the space to receive their appointments.
It didn't take her long to get herself ready; her bag had already been packed in an attempt to use up nervous energy earlier on... energy that she now had more of to burn off somehow, with an hour and forty minutes to kill. She shot off a quick subspace message to her parents, telling them of her assignment and the name of her ship... that used up all of five minutes. She considered eating, but she was too anxious and excited to do more than scarf down a snack.
Finally settling on just walking, she made a quick lap of the Academy grounds, letting the San Francisco sunlight beam down on her fur, letting it warm her up. She watched birds wheel overhead in the blue skies, paused to look at the enormous red, metal bridge that stretched across the bay - although, why it was called the 'Golden Gate' when it was clearly red, she never quite understood - and people-watched for a short while, finding it starting to calm her nerves, the anxiousness being replace with excitement as the time approached.
A chime sounded on her personal PADD as the clock wound down, and she made her way to the shuttle pad.
The trip was uneventful; and as she waited with the rest of the group assigned to the Athena she got good glances in at her fellow cadets. Some faces she recognised from around the Academy, even though she'd never spoken to them in person... Should their glances have met, she exchanged a nervous smile with a typically Catian swivel of her ears in curiousity and the tip of her tail twitching, but no words were exchanged for now, other than a sibiliant and smooth 'G'Rfeld, Acting Chief Tactical Officer, Reporting in, Sir'
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