Once More Unto The Breach...
Posted on 14 Jun 2016 @ 4:08pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Thiago Teixeira & Commander Terry Walsh & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Adam Casey & Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Parisa Rykov DCS & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Ensign Kelly Khan
2,916 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Risky Business
Location: USS Black Hawk || Various
Timeline: MD 1 || 1100 hours
Captain Geisler exited the turbolift, pleased to see a bustling bridge for once. The events of the last few weeks had certainly been a downer for most of the crew, and at last they were finally about to do something they were made for: go out on assignment and do something.
Aside from the Senior Staff, not a soul aboard the ship knew what was going on. Harvey could see uncertainty in the crew's faces. He didn't blame them. It was difficult to prepare when you didn't know where you were going. Still, they moved just as quickly as if they knew their destination. At least they would not be sitting and waiting for a storm to blow over.
Harvey nodded at his new Executive Officer as he approached the command platform. For once, Harvey decided that he would not sit. Rather, he'd stand near the helm, behind Cadet Khan who had been assigned for the shift, during the departure process. He had to project confidence, and this was one of the few ways he knew how.
"All stations, report," Harvey demanded as he took his position.
Following Geisler's lead, Teixeira moved forward and took up a position just over the Captain's right shoulder.
"Operations ready," reported Bast. "Starbase Unity has cleared us for departure. All surrounding traffic has been placed on hold until we clear the area."
Mark sat in his newly commissioned strategic operations office. The new sensor system had a direct feed for him to both his office and the bridge, but given the nature of it, he didn’t want to risk using it yet on the bridge until the radio blackout was in place. Even in the security of his office, he didn’t want to risk using it to its full potential. Things made so much more sense now given the increased background, and he was shocked he never thought that the nebula contained something of importance. And now, he had to find a way to outsmart some of the consortiums finest. "Lt. Davis ready Sir."
Samantha was still at the starbase side getting in the last lot of cargo, "COME COME COME ON, GET THAT CARGO ON BOARD." She'd watch as the blue lines of the transporter appears and the cargo disappeared from the pad. "Right, roll in the next lot, move move move. =/\= Captain, chief of the boat, nearly done sir. Just a few bits here. =/\="
"=/\= Chief of the Boat to cargo bay one, how's it looking? =/\="
"=/\= Just awaiting one more crate ma'am =/\="
"=/\= Cargo bay two =/\="
"=/\= All done here =/\=" Someone approached Samantha, "Hey dude, where do I go?"
"Who are you?"
"Crewman Francis." Samantha checked her PADD of AWOLs and he was indeed on that list. She scrolled and looked at the picture and then looked at him.
"You carrying anything that you shouldn't do?"
"No ma'am." Samantha looked at him good and was good at telling if he was lying or not so believed he was telling the truth.
"Where's your luggage?"
"Already on board ma'am."
"Pets, anyone else that I should know about that's on this list?" Samantha showed him the list.
"No ma'am."
"Fine, I'll get them later."
"Anyway, you're late, sit on that crate over there and report to me at seventeen hundred hours." Samantha watched him go and sit on the crate that the two yellow shirts rolled into the transporter.
"Energise....." The crewman disappeared along with the crate.
"=/\= Security to cargo bay two. One to go through security. =/\="
"=/\= Chief of the Boat, captain, last crate on board for the unsecure items. =/\=" Samantha then headed to the secure area where the armoury items and torpedo armament.
She then headed for secure area of the base. As she got there, she saw the security detail present, guarding the area. "Access codes" Demanded the petty officer in charge of the guard and showed Samantha a PADD. She typed in the base access code and the force field dropped, "Enter."
"Thank you." Samantha walked down the long corridor of large doors that contain several items. Her access code only gave her access to items authorised by base security which meant that the place was so locked down and a critical area. She couldn't take anything more than she was allowed to take and it was only her that was allowed in the complex as Chief of the Boat.......well, the only representative available base side. If an officer would come along and take these items, Samantha thought it would be nice but it's her and it might as well be her as everyone else has more important work to do. A yellow shirt then approached her, "Name?"
"Senior chief Petty Officer Hanson, USS Blackhawk."
"Follow me senior chief." Samantha followed the lieutenant commander to a single cargo bay door, typed in his access code, "Now yours." Samantha typed in hers and the doors opened.
"Is it always like this?"
"No, increased security protocol around the secure areas of the base." The officer walked in with Samantha with his own inventory, "Right then, tick these off, transport them out. Ten of those."
"Yup, ten. =/\= Cargo bay three, prepare to transport crates....=/\="
"=/\= Ready =/\="
"=/\= Energise alpha =/\=" The crate of ten then disappeared. As Samantha continued to check everything off, the crates would disappear upon transporting out.
Jayla and her staff had been working frantically to make sure that Sick Bay was ready to go. All medicines were stocked- including the recent cure for the whatever virus (they really had to name that thing)- and all medical devises were in perfect working order. She glanced around quickly before replying, "Sick Bay is ready for departure."
Cooper was in her element. It was a long held belief that one could do one thing at a time well and that multitasking could occur only at the suffering of quality. That was true but with Cooper only to a point. As long as the other items didn't require her full attention they worked well to act as a break on her mind. Occupying enough of her monkey mind so she could focus marvelously. And focus she did, she was in the security offices. reports flowed in from the various points throughout the ship, information about personnel readiness, weapons, contingency planning and on and on. It was Cooper who took in that deluge and arranged it into bullet points with the ability to get more detail if one wanted to the Chief on the bridge. She noted the crewman who arrived late on a crate and made sure a security officer scanned him to confirm ID as back up and do a full check in.
She stood at the main console like a musical conductor pulling in the random noise of raw information and turning it into effective action so that her Chief would simply have to indicate what was to be done and they'd be ready. Cooper often thought this was a kind of surfing trying to keep on top of all the data...then she thought she'd like to learn to surf and made a mental note to schedule time in the holodeck when she could as she answered a security officers question seamlessly moving to the next thing.
Joey and Rico stood in Security when the ship-wide announcement came through. "K-9 units are ready."
Terry had briefed the pilots on as much as they needed to know per the orders in the briefing. The Black Knights were all on standby and awaiting further orders. When the shipwide order came through to prepare for departure, Terry tapped his commbadge. "The Black Knights are ready and standing by."
Kilmartin had finished seeing to the requirements of not only the additional Valkyrie but also the training fighter that he had brought aboard and was stood near to the Squadron Commander when the shipwide communique came through. With the Black Knights listed as operational, he couldn't help but let out a small grin at the prospect of going back out among the stars in a way that would truly test him once again. He lived and breathed for situations where he was in the cockpit.
"Security reports ready, Captain," Camila said from her spot at the Security station on the bridge.
"Helm is ready," Kelly reported. She had been surprised to learn that she would be at Helm for the mission and wondered what had brought about the change. Still, she had been pleased to be assigned the Alpha shift and the chance to do more than hold the ship in a steady orbit and she had no plans to do anything other than what she was told to do.
Adam stepped out of the turbolift, in his fresh uniform, and made his way over to the science console. He made a few checks, and then looked over at Harvey. "Ready on my end, Captain. I've gotten everything we'll need aboard." Adam said.
Although normally Avery would choose to stay in sickbay or her office during departures, today, she had chosen to take her seat on the bridge. Given the secrecy and uncertainty of their upcoming mission, Stuart thought it wise to observe the staff on the bridge to assess how everyone was coping with the natural tension, including Harvey, who seemed to intellectualize his emotional reactions when they spoke one-on-one, but who seemed to react more naturally off-the-cuff when he wasn't overly concerned about managing the impressions he made. Staying on the bridge also helped her maintain a visible presence, so if necessary, people could reach out to her more easily. "Counseling is in order, sir, and is prepared to respond in whatever capacity we are required."
"That's very nice of them," Harvey finally replied to his Second Officer. Feeling an unusual presence near him, Harvey glanced behind to find his new Executive Officer standing there. Looking back to the viewscreen, Harvey took note of how automatic the man's responses were. When he'd reviewed the available candidates looking to fill the vacated position, Harvey's only thought was wondering why he hadn't yet taken a command. Teixeira would be Harvey's fifth XO. Unless Kos was ever able to return, Harvey hoped that this would be the last time he'd see a change in that chair.
A thought then struck him, primarily because Harvey had become so used to doing everything himself these last few weeks. A little delegation couldn't hurt.
"Commander," Harvey said, still looking at the barren rock upon and within Starbase Unity was built. "Let's go. Take us out."
"Yes, Captain," Thiago replied. He'd done this more than a few times before. Having served as first officer for the last eight years, on two different ships, and three years as second officer before that, Teixeira was familiar with the procedure. "Commander Bast, please inform the crew. Cadet, inform Engineering to prepare for warp speed."
Bast hit the comm panel, and opened a channel to all decks. The familiar whistle was heard throughout the ship. "All hands, prepare for departure," he announced before closing the channel. He felt a shiver going through his body, the tingle of anticipation that usually accompanied the start of a new mission, of facing the unknown.
Samantha heard the whistle over the comm being repeated "=/\= All hands, prepare for departure =/\=" so as the last secure crate disappeared, she stood on the pad "=/\= Cargo bay three, one to beam up =/\= Bye for now. =/\= Energise =/\=" With that, the light appeared and she disappeared off the pad to appear in cargo bay three.
"Permission to come aboard."
"Granted," the transporter operator said with a nod.
"=/\= Chief of the Boat to security, armament, spares, maintenance items have arrived in cargo bay three.=/\=" Samantha thought she'd better tell them. She then stepped off the transporter pad and organised the resident crew to complete the inventory and scan everything for anything threatening to the ship.
Samantha headed for her quarters to drop her things off. She knew she couldn't do a lot let alone head for the bridge; critical areas would be off limits to her pending security clearance.
"Bridge to Engineering," Kelly called over the com. "Prepare for warp."
"Preparing for warp, Captain. Aye" came the reply from an engineer on duty.
"Cadet, lay in a course for the Haydn Nebula."
Kelly's fingers flew over the helm and she entered the course into the navigation computer after accessing the stellar cartography maps. "Course laid in, Sir."
Teix remembered his first assignment out of the Academy as a helmsman on the Ambassador-class USS Seattle. It wasn't the most glamorous of jobs, but then Thiago didn't really enjoy piloting. He was decent at the helm, at least average -- slightly above in a smaller craft, but he didn't enjoy it. He looked at the female Cadet. "Move us away from the starbase, half impulse. Once we're clear, warp seven."
"Warp seven, aye, Sir," Kelly said as she brought the Black Hawk away from Unity on thrusters until she was at a forty-five degree angle from the base. Once she was facing away from the starbase, she edged the speed of the Akira class ship up to half impulse until she was the required distance away from the ship and engaged warp. The ship jumped forward in a blaze of light and entered warp a moment later. "Warp seven engaged. Course laid in for the Haydn Nebula, Commander," she said. "Estimated time of two and a half to three days."
Teix was pleased with the cadet's performance. He made a mental note to review her file. As XO, one of his jobs was to oversee officer training and development, something that he enjoyed. He wanted to help shape the captains of the future, and this cadet seemed like she was on the fast track. "We are underway, Captain," he said to Geisler.
"Thank you, Commander," Harvey replied, about to give his XO further instruction. "Initiate radio silence. When done, open a ship-wide channel."
Thiago looked over his shoulder to where Bast was manning the Operations console. He gave the newly-minted Lieutenant Commander a nod to complete Geisler's orders.
Bast nodded in acknowledgement, and hit the appropriate controls on his console. The bosun whistle was heard, signalling that intra-ship communications were open.
Harvey nodded, exhaling a deep breath. "All hands, this is the Captain. I know many of you have been anxious to strike back at the Consortium, especially since they have bested us on two occasions now. You'll be glad to hear we finally have that chance.
"We are on our way to the Hadyn Nebula, two and a half days away from our current position, to intercept the USS Chimera and the USS Cochrane. I wish I could say this is a simple matter. Reports suggest that the Nebula is home to a derelict Romulan warbird, almost forgotten by time itself. Aboard this warbird is a Thalaron weapon."
Harvey looked around at his bridge crew, seeing surprise on a few faces, as he continued. "The nebula is Mutara-class. We'll have no defense if the Consortium finds it first, so our objective is to destroy the weapon, no matter the cost. And, hopefully we can bring our fellow Starfleet officers home with us.
"Without a doubt, I believe this is the finest crew in the Quadrant. We're the best Starfleet has to offer, which is why we've been given this task. We can, and we will, beat the Consortium at their game. Your department heads will begin giving you more information. There is much to do before we arrive. Good luck, everyone."
With a nod, Geisler indicated to Teixeira to close the channel. Teix shot a quick gesture to Bast.
"Well," Harvey said to his bridge crew as he moved to his seat. "We have much to do. Commander, keep an eye on the duty roster and make sure no one takes a double shift until we arrive at the nebula. I want everyone rested and ready for when we face the Chimera and Cochrane."
Following Geisler back to the command area, Thiago took his seat next to the captain. "Yes, sir," he replied. "Does that go for the senior officers as well?"
Harvey nodded. "No exceptions," he replied, knowing he was speaking to himself as well. It would be difficult for him to sleep on the precipice of this mission, but he would try.
Coming onto the bridge, Kaylee looked around, seeing the Captain sitting at his chair, she headed over and stood in front of him, her uniform slightly dirty along with her hands and part of her face she saluted. "Sorry for my appearance, Captain, Last minute repairs needed at the station and I didnt have the time to change. Lt JG Kaylee Williams, Assist Chief reporting sir. I was a last minute replacement so im lacking my transfer orders, sir." she said saluting.
Harvey looked over to the new arrival, and immediately noticed her soiled uniform. The crew had little warning as to the sudden departure, and he assumed Lieutenant Rykov per her crew into instant action to finish their quick repairs. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Williams," Harvey said with a nod, noting to ask his yeoman to check the final transmissions from Unity for her transfer orders. "Relieve the ensign at the Engineering station up here, and check in with medical after the shift change."
"Sir." Kaylee said as she moved off and relieved the Ensign.
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