To the Stars (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on 25 Mar 2012 @ 11:46am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant JG Robin Hilyer MD & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Tarishiana Barel & Crewman Nazhzhalh & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Ambassador Si'tar Del'an

2,294 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: San Francisco Fleet Yards, USS Galileo
Timeline: MD 06 - 2350 hrs

[ON]

With the bridge crew all assembled and manning their stations, Lirha reached down to her chair's armrest console and activated the ship's internal communications system. "All stations, report status." she said as her voice echoed loudly throughout the ship.

"Operations ready," Remington said, "Ship's computers operating at full capacity, all sensors are active, auxiliary systems are online." He glanced over at Mor'an as she stood beside him, wondering who the cadet was and whether he was supposed to assist her.

Robin turned his chair, "Sickbay status, clear and ready to disembark."

Quinn looked up from the Warp Core central console, "Engineering is a go, just give the word Skipper."

"Science reports ready for launch sir." Tarishiana said easily. It was easy to hide the nervousness she felt. This was the first time that she was the bridge officer for her department. All in all the nervousness and her excitement were balanced.

Ziyal chirped and squeaked happily as he worked at his station, now once again sat down. "All science labs are reported operational and unpacked, sir!" he said in his usual jaunty, though precise tones.

"Things are good on this end Captain." Evelyn reported eager to get underway.

As the myriad of status reports came in from each and every member of the Bridge crew, John began to relax a little more, settling into his seat as he watched the various indicators on his panel turn green and indicate that they were preparing for launch.

"Excellent, well done everyone" He said, not wanting to take the attention away too much from his Captain, who was busily preparing for her first starship launch, that said, he didn't want to feel useless sat beside her and giving no input whatsoever.

"Cadet Im'er, set up a datalink with Starfleet satellite telemetry, I want to make sure we get a record of our launch in the database, as a memento of the day." He smirked towards his captain.

"Aye, sir," Mor'an said from her station. She swivelled around and her fingers danced across the appropriate buttons. "Datalink open, sir."

Thumbing his own comms panel, John decided to add his own comments to the Engineering team hidden in the bowels of this awakening metallic beast.

=/\= Bridge to Engineering - your teams have done a great job Chief. Bring our power output up to maximum and prepare to reconfigure the intake manifolds to stellar mode as soon as we clear Earth's atmosphere =/\=

Quinn looked around to his engineering staff and gave a nod to the Propulsion Specialist standing next to him, then replied. =/\= Power at one hundred percent, plus six, sir. Intake manifold reconfiguration is ready on your mark, Commander. =/\=

Markus spoke aloud to his team, "Okay everyone, let's get this lovely lady space-bound."

The Galileo's dark nacelles began to flicker, emanating a soft light blue hue across the ship's midsection. As the warp core came online, the ship's engines came to life and increased in brightness until they glowed a bright shade of cyan. Slow red swirls began to manifest themselves in the bussard collectors as the ramscoops reached operational status.

=/\= Great job Chief, as soon as we clear the moon we'll be needing warp speed, I'll leave that in your capable hands. There's a spot on the Bridge going if you want it? =/\= John looked across at the currently empty Engineering station, it was true that whilst the Chief could easily run the show from Engineering, it just felt right to offer him his space in the nerve centre of the ship.

=/\= I thought you'd never ask Commander. I bring the drinks. Quinn out.=/\= Markus gave a salute to Ensign Slak, "Keep an eye on my baby until I get back...and make sure the kids behave Ensign." Quinn didn't wait for a reply. In only moments he was in the nearest turbolift, and walking onto the bridge to his Duty Station. With a few commands on the console, the MSD lit up. "Main Engineering Commands are transferred to Bridge Engineering Station Alpha."

Lilou followed him up, PADD in hand, in case anything was needed while they were on their way from Main Engineering to the Bridge. She hadn't been on the bridge of a starship since... years. It was fascinating, heart-warming, to see the collection of people all gathering together and focusing on the ship. If she'd had to believe in a religion, this would have been it. She came to a halt beside the MSD console and waited until the commands had been transferred before crossing her arms behind her back, scanning the data on the panel.

As everybody continued on their way to making Galileo's flight happen, Ziyal vibrated with anticipation at the energy and rhythmic order that flowed around him. He settled himself a little, using three arms to press commands into the console he was at as well as the fourth to operate a PADD in his lap.

With a final glance around the crowded bridge, Lirha noticed one final station of rather crucial importance which was currently unoccupied. Despite being assigned several flight control officers, one of them had recently contracted a rather nasty flu virus, and the other two were down on Deck 7 prepping the shuttle bay. The captain glanced around at the different personnel on the bridge before her eyes finally settled on her XO. "Mister Holliday, would you like to take the helm?" she asked him with bright green eyes. Lirha felt that it was only fitting to reward the commander for his hard work and assistance over the past six days.

"Yes ma'am!" John replied almost too excited to contain his emotions. It had been a while since he had last piloted a starship and he was looking forward to another chance. Almost jumping from the XO's chair John made his way to the front of the Bridge and settled himself at the conn, watching as the panels lit up as they acknowledged his sign on codes. His hands flying across the console, the commander watched as the power that the teams in engineering had worked so hard to provide began to surge through the engines.

"Warp and impulse engines standing by. Manoeuvring thrusters powered and ready on your command configured for atmospheric flight. Antigravity fields and landing struts prepared for deactivation and retraction."

He turned back to the captain's chair with a broad smirk on his face

"Helm ready when you are ma'am"

Lirha returned his smirk and squeezed her hands together as butterflies began to manifest themselves in her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she looked back in her chair towards her operations chief and the young cadet.

"Cadet Im'er, notify the docking crews that we are ready for departure and have them seal all hatches and airlocks. Mister Remington, open a channel to the dock master." she said.

"Aye, ma'am," Mor'an said. She looked around quickly before turning back to her console. No one could contain their excitement, herself included. "Docking crews notified, ma'am."

Remington nodded, mostly to himself as his hand slid over the LCARS. He was calm and collected, not nearly as excited as most of the people on the bridge seemed to be. "Frequency to docking control open, ma'am."

As the operations officer finished speaking, the turbolift doors opened and a woman dressed in amethyst robes walked onto the bridge with swift, fluidic motions. Her head was covered by a cowl of soft fabric; the jewelled dagger at her waist probably gave at least the security chief cause for initial concern. As she glided across the bridge, she held the air of one who owned everything she saw. She made her way to the captain's chair and took up a position to the side. Si'tar Del'an had arrived.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lirha saw a robed figure walk onto the bridge and make her way next to her. With a quick glance, Lirha took note of her elegant clothing and strong presence, and quickly identified her as Del'an, the Ta'rkan observer whom she had met several hours previously. The captain gave her a polite nod and a warm smile, then turned her attention back to the open comm channel.

"Dock control, this is Galileo, all systems are online and we are ready to begin the launch sequence. Request permission to depart." she said.

Several seconds passed and the dock master's voice sounded clear through the comm and across the bridge. "Commander Saalm, this is Control, we confirm all main systems at operational status. We're withdrawing the umbilical along with all final personnel. You are cleared to bring your warp core to full capacity and begin departure on your command. Godspeed Galileo." he said, then the comm closed with a chirp.

Lirha smiled at the dock master's blessing and sighed, then turned her attention back to Del'an, greeting her with a slight bow. "Welcome to the bridge, Ambassador. Your timing is impeccable, I must say." she said with a grin. "We are just about to get underway. Please, have a seat." she said, and motioned to the currently vacant captain's chair right behind her. Lirha wasn't interested in sitting at the moment, instead preferring to stand and supervise the launch of her ship.

"I am always on time," Del'an said matter-of-factly. Her robes shifted color in the lighting of the bridge as she moved to the captain's chair and lowered herself to perch elegantly in the chair.

Quinn reviewed the incoming data from Main Engineering. He pointed to the small command console on the bottom right side of the MSD screen. There were several green bars spanning the bottom of the console. "See that Peers? That means all mains are online, and engines and manoeuvring thrusters are all ready for launch. Now you get the privilege to let her know."

Lilou blinked, glancing askance at the Chief, then, flushed with pride, she inclined her head gratefully to him. The information on the console was in a slightly different configuration than she was used to, but the data was clarified with the adjusted perspective. "All mains online, Captain," she repeated, lifting her voice. "Engines and manoeuvring thrusters ready for launch." Soon, they'd be back among the stars and this brand new Nova would have a chance to prove she was more than just shiny.

"Thank you, Miss Peers, well done." the captain replied. With all stations reporting green status and ready for launch, she had only to give the command and they would be underway. Lirha tapped a button on her chair's console and opened a channel through the ship. "Blue Alert. All crew, prepare for departure."

The overhead lights on the bridge dimmed, casting shadows across the metallic walls and highlighting the bright purple and yellow colors of the bridge's LCARS displays. The alert panels lining the walls and consoles glowed blue and began to pulse in a methodical manner as they shrouded the room's personnel with their on-and-off pattern.

Mor'an glanced discreetly from her station to where her mentor was. Del'an had not acknowledged her student's presence, but that didn't mean she wasn't aware of every movement Mor'an made. On the contrary, Del'an was probably cataloguing every gesture, eye movement and body shift that not only Mor'an made, but every other crew member on the bridge as well. If she wasn't already used to it, Mor'an would find her mentor's sense of perception uncanny.

Quinn gave a cheeky smile, then whispered to Peers, "Let's hope I remembered to turn on the inertial dampeners and set the auto-grav." then motioning to a set of indicator lights he added, "These are the ODN's associated with propulsion, and this indicator is for the landing gear. Planetary launching always exhibits the greatest amount of stress to the engines, and frame. Gravity can be a real bummer. Now," pointing to the highlighted ODN's, "you want these to always be green during planetary launching." Almost on cue one turned yellow. With a flick of his finger against the MSD it returned green, then without any change in his demeanour, "Green, right. Yellow is okay. But red is always, always, always bad.....unless I say it's okay." He then pointed to the landing gear icon, "Now that is green now, and once we lift off and achieve a height of fifty meters, it will turn red if not closed. Warp is theoretically impossible with them hanging out. So once the gear is retracted, you will confirm it after the helm states it is closed. I hope you have your talking voice tonight Peers."

Ziyal looked up as the final docking procedures commenced, staring at the viewscreen in fascination, a hand halted hovering above a command sequence at the console he was sat at.

Lirha moved forward next to Commander Holliday and stopped next to him, resting her green hand on his shoulder. "Take us out, Commander." she said as she gazed at the viewscreen and across the night-time skyline of San Francisco.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Chauncey (Will) Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Robin Hilyer MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

CWO Markum Quinn
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

MWO Tarishiana Barel
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

MWO Lilou Peers
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

CN Nazhzhalh
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo

CDT(SR) Im'er Mor'an
Red Squad Cadet
USS Galileo

Si'tar Del'an
Ta'rkan Observer
USS Galileo

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