Late Night Departure

Posted on 02 Sep 2025 @ 1:22am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Terry Walsh & Commander John Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monroe M.D. & Lieutenant Ranul Frex & Lieutenant Zayna Ryler & Lieutenant T’Mari Rael

1,319 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Imposters Among Us
Location: Black Hawk, Auxiliary Control
Timeline: July 7, 2390 || 2200 hours

As promised, the missing elements from Task Group Belvedere had arrived at New Risa with the USS Challenger being the last to arrive. Harvey, having just completed a situational review with the arriving Captains, and another review of the plan he and Joey had been formulating, stepped out into the Auxiliary Control Room. There was still no word of what would really await them at G90B's last known location, and the anxiety of which would only allow Harvey's own uncertainty to mirror that of the crew's as they warped towards inevitable danger.

"Status report!" he called out as he made his way to his seat.

"Security and Tactical report all system green, Commodore," Camila called her console. The Security Chief was a bundle of raw tension and hoped that the plan she came up with would lead to G90B and D'Rimo taken down. The information and lack of information from the Karemma was being taken into account, too, but she had no time to change plans beyond a quickly compiled false message.

Joey stood at her console, fingers moving over the display. "Intelligence is ready and waiting, Commodore," she answered. Unlike Camila, there was next to no tension, but still a bit of uncertainty. The refinery was empty now, but after her conversation with D'rimo, she didn't really know what to expect once they arrived.

T’Mari was sitting quietly observing everything and everyone, as she normally did when she was on the bridge. If there was anything she needed to add she would do so.

"Engineering is ready to go and green across the board. Warp and Impulse are at your control, Commodore," Ranul reported from the Engineering station in Auxiliary Control. He could feel the tension within the room, as most everyone could. There was a lot that was riding on this mission and Ranul hoped that all of the plans come together, so that they could take down the G90B and figure out what had been happening.

"Science is as ready as we're going to be, Commodore." Ryler stated as she looked over her screens and doing triple and quadruple checks.

John moved as soon as he had heard the Commodore's voice. He took a nearby station and nodded. "Looking good, sir. Just waiting on your command."

“Medical is fully operational, sir,“ Kennedy reported from sickbay.. She knew the medical staff needed to be prepared for anything, a point driven home more than once lately, but Monroe was always hopeful the worst thing she would ever have to deal with was perhaps treating someone’s cold.

Harvey sat down in his seat and shifted against its uncomfortable padding. He had barely listened to each of the reports as his mind was focused on the larger event at hand. What would they find at Camila's coordinates? Would a vessel be awaiting them? Would the area be empty? Was an ambush in store? He hadn't expected to be facing his brethren so soon following his activation.

The Commodore caught himself before his thoughts sent him on a downward spiral. He could feel the tension and uncertainty in the room. His eyes scanned Auxiliary Control, taking in every face. It seemed that they too were apprehensive about what to expect, and there seemed to be a hint of hope in their faces. Hope that they'd finally gain a comeuppance against their silent adversary. As much as Harvey hated to admit it, a taste of victory would do them all good, especially if it would deter their desperation. Humans, after all, could do very wonderful and unexpected things when desperate.

"And your tricobalts?" Harvey asked Camila, turning to face the security chief who was rightly at her station for the first time in a while.

"They are prepared and ready, Commodore," Camila responded. "The USS Perseus and USS Dauntless report ready."

"Still only one shot?" he asked. It had been planned for each of the waves to have a tricobalt weapon, but whether or not they would get to use it remained to be seen.

"We'll use all three if we have to," the Security Chief said, her voice and tone one that wouldn't be dissuade.

"I do read all three tricobalt devices in their appropriate tubes and ready for launch, whenever we're ready," Ranul said, checking on their status and doing some last minute tests before looking back at the Commodore and Camila.

"Well," Harvey remarked, leaning back into his seat. "Let's hope we don't have a bumpy trip. Miss Di Pasquale, inform the task group we are ready for departure. All ships to follow the Dauntless to Waypoint Alpha for Sentinel rendevzous. Mister Frex, standby for warp speed."

It rankled a bit to be called Miss by the Commodore, not to mention Lieutenant Frex answering when he hadn't been called on. She sent the signal to the assembled task for and gave the go ahead to the USS Dauntless. "Aye, Commodore," she said in a neutral tone.

Harvey's eyes watched the forward viewscreen as the stars moved to the right and the image of the planet they were orbiting disappeared from sight. The moving starfield soon settled and was replaced with aft views of several starships. The signal from the Dauntless soon came through, the directive to make warp speed. The ships in front of the Black Hawk each lurched forward, one-by-one, until it was their turn. Moments later, warp trails streaked past the viewscreen as the ship lept to Warp Eight.

"I need two volunteers," Harvey then instructed. "We'll arrive at Waypoint Alpha in three hours, and our final destination in ten. Two senior staff members must man the bridge with gamma shift until 0100, and then I'll need two more to stick with delta shift until 0700."

Ranul was one of the ones to speak up and say, "I wouldn't mind doing either shift, sir. The engines are doing well and we've got teams working on the doors to the hanger bay. So, it'd be fun to get more experience, if you'd let me."

“I could volunteer for Gamma shift Sir” T’Mari offered. “I have early appointments tomorrow so delta shift isn’t really an option.”

"I'll take Gamma, Commodore," Camila said, not willing to let anyone else sit in Security's place while there was a chance that G90B would appear at any moment.

Joey didn't want to volunteer for delta shift, but given there were other volunteers for gamma, it left her little choice. "I can take Delta."

Harvey nodded before rising from his seat. "Very well. Miss Di Pasquale and Miss Rael, you will finish the rest of Gamma shift. Mister Frex and Miss Geisler, report back at 0100 for Delta Shift. I will stick close in the Aux Ready Room. As for the rest of you, I will see you at 0700." With a curt nod, Harvey looked once over to Joey and departed the room.

T’Mari nodded to Camila before getting up from her seat to head onto the bridge. It looked like she was going to be unexpectedly working late.

Watching the retreating back of her husband, Joey rose to her feet and made her way out of auxiliary control shortly after. There were things she could be doing in the meantime, but planned to make a stop by their quarters to check in on her children.

Ranul nodded slightly and said, "I'll be here right on time, sir. If you guys need anything else between now and then, just let me know!" With that, Ranul headed to the nearest turbolift and headed back to Main Engineering to finish up a few reports before then.

As the bridge crew settled into those normally assigned to gamma shift, a sense of anticipation enveloped the bridge. Would they be successful? Or would this be yet another fool's errand?

Time would tell.

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