Clear all moorings - Part 1

Posted on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 6:16pm by Captain Daegan Baas & Ensign Garath Of the House of Varal [Baas] & Lieutenant Commander Ridge Maguire & Lieutenant Liam O'Riley & Lieutenant Morloth & Lieutenant Urushi Yaotome & Lieutenant Erin Cussen & Ensign J'Haz Sasha & Ensign Stevie Thomas [O'Riley] & Ensign Nayeliz Smythe
Edited on on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 6:18pm

1,926 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Utopia Planitia Space Dock
Timeline: 0815

[Ready Room]

Setting the padd aside he looked up to an excited Yeoman. She said nothing but here eye were full of anticipation. All cargo was aboard and stowed, all crew members in the vicinity that were to report had done so. All final system checks and post shake down diagnostics and reviews were complete. The Valkyrie was ready.

Taking a final sip from his coffee he set on the replicator a was walking towards the door as the cup dematerialized.

[Bridge]

Daegan stepped out of his ready ready room and crossed the bridge. As of his taking command, no one not even himself had sat in the ship's command chair. Standing in front of trio of seats in the center of the bridge he looked down to his first officer as the slightest grin formed. Looking up, he then scanned the aft sections of the bridge before stepping closer to the center seat where he turned and eased into his chair.

The tall Orion/Klingon hybrid had arrived early. He was in the midst of running a full technical diagnostic on the tactical systems targeting and operational capabilities. His seemingly glowing eyes watched the readout as a timer counted down the last few items to be scanned. Morloth ran his hand along the cool banister alongside his station. He wanted to connect to the ship.

Morloth studied the weapon controls in front of him. He knew how to control every one of the Vesta-class ship's weapons, manually or through programmed firing sequence. Reading over the ship's weapon's load-out excited the warrior. There were eight Type-12 phaser arrays and two Type-12 phaser cannons at the ready. Six torpedo launchers wielded 712 projectiles, two of which were rapid fire launchers. The latest in auto-modulated, metaphasic shielding was their safeguard.

Morloth knew it all relied on him. He was the hand guiding the tip of the spear.

Both Erin and Dan decided to join the bridge crew. A new ship clearing out for the first time was too important and exhilarating to miss. "Morning everyone," Daniel said as a general greeting. "We don't want to miss this," he explained their presence with a wide grin. Erin retreated to the back to the bridge as she had to answer a query from the medical officer on duty.

Daegan gestured to the advisor's seat, "Have a seat Doctor."

Dan was already stepping towards the back of the bridge. It would give him the opportunity to observe and get to know the crew a bit better and take in the activity that was bound to take place.

"Thank you Captain," Erin said with a wide smile. "This is a first," she mused to herself. "Commander," she greeted Ridge on the other side.

The Captain looked from the view screen to the various stations within his view before opening a channel throughout the ship. "All sections report departure status."

[Engineering]

Liam and his team had spent the last few hours checking, then rechecking all of ship's systems making sure everything was at or above Star Fleet specs. Hearing the announcement, he tapped his comm. "Captain, engineering has all systems green for go and at your disposal, Sir", he informed Baas eager to get the show on the road.

Ensign Thomas walked over to O'Riley "Chief the new computer system is working like a charm but I'll keep a close watch on it just on case" she commented knowing how touchy computers can be. "Would you mind if I went to a viewport to watch the departure."

"Excellent Ensign. Certainly but just this once; I know it's something to experience but please return to your duties as soon as we clear the base" Liam ordered his specialist. Stevie gave a nod of understanding then left main engineering.


[Bridge]

"Captain!" Morloth's booming voice reverberated across the bridge. "Tactical systems are fully operational and standing by. We have a full complement of torpedoes on reserve. Phaser banks are charged. Security threat levels are currently green, with no significant threats or events to report." His voice became slightly quieter as his last sentence trailed off.

Daegan looked over his shoulder towards the tactical station with a smirk at the... exuberant reply. "Well I would hope so...being in Space Dock." Facing forward with a quiet chuckle.

Morloth met the Captain's gaze with radiant confidence. "Sir, if you would prefer to assume... I can be less descriptive."

His lips flared upwards into a wide, jovial grin. As someone who first saw hand-to-hand combat at the age of 16, Morloth had trust issues. He would not simply assume all systems were operational. He would not assume all torpedoes were accounted for. He would check and double check.

For example, if the Chief of Security didn't continuously account for every torpedo, one could get stolen. This was not the hybrid's first sendoff. One of the first lessons in Starfleet Academy's Tactical Cadet curriculum talked about the time the Enterprise-B left Spacedock without torpedoes. An administrative officer scheduled everything to arrive the following Tuesday... Morloth wouldn't let anything like that happen on his watch. He grinned, knowing the CO would come to appreciate his attention to detail.

Daegan looked back, "Better to have too much information than not enough. Not to worry Lieutenant, I once stood right were your stand. Leaving this very dock as a matter of fact."

Ridge shared a private smile with the captain as he too came from a security background. In time, the Lieutenant would, most likely, relax into the position. Come to understand the level of detail required. Still, he appreciated the enthusiasm.

Urushi was loving the new Science Station. "Science ready," she said simply as she played with her new console. It was far quicker and more advanced than her previous assignment, something she was grateful for.

The duty officer at Ops finished her systems check as the Lieutenant over science finished reporting in. "Captain all systems are reporting ready."

Daegan that was everyone, well almost. Looking to his XO and then to the CMO who had taken a seat in the advisors seat across from the XO.

"Doctor," Ridge said, not missing the glance, "Medical needs to report their operational status."

[Below Decks]

Garath had taken advantage of his patrol end up in one of the crew mess areas only to others assembled near the window to watch the ships departure.

Sasha was off duty for the moment. The chief science officer had things under control on the bridge. She decided to observe the departure from the panoramic view in the lounge. As was her custom, she did not wear her uniform during off-duty hours. She wore her blue unitard with athletic shoes. Over the top she wore a white T-shirt with an artists rendering of a planet covered with colorful cartoon characters. The planet had two round ears perched on either side of the top. The colorful graphics had a slogan underneath in several languages.

"Come to Disney Planet! It IS is a small world after all!"

The blonde passed through the crowd looking for a good vantage point. She noticed the young security officer that she had met at the crew mixer. She lifted a hand in greeting to catch his attention.
"Gareth, it is good to see you again."

Hearing the familiar voice behind him he turn to put the voice to a familiar face, nodding. "Hello Sasha, Come to watch the big moment as well I see."

The junior chief nodded with a warm smile. "Absolutely. Opportunities to be aboard a brand new ship of the line upon her first departure from space dock are rare indeed. Pomp and circumstance for the Valkyrie and her crew are quite appropriate. And we get the best view right here."
"is this your first deep space mission, Gareth?"

"I was stationed at Utopia right out of the Academy. I've seen many ships depart, but no from this point of view."

Ensign Thomas had received permission from the CEO to watch the departure; this would be the first time she would witness firsthand such an historic event. Waking into the lounge Stevie saw a couple familiar faces, from the recent get together, and walked over to the two Ensigns "Garath, Sasha nice to see I'm not the only junior officer here witnessing the departure" she commented with a smile.

"Hello again Stevie, I'm surprised to see you here. Lieutenant O'Riley wanted to be in Engineering and not on the bridge?"

"Ship's computers are all set to go, but as soon as we leave Utopia I'll be returning to main engineering. To answer your question; at least for the first time out. If something happened to go south the Chief would rather be in the thick of things directing his team than being confined to the bridge" Stevie replied thinking that was a rather odd question "I guess that's why he gets the big bucks" as she grinned.

Sasha nodded as she contemplated Stevie's response. "I can understand that perspective. After all the bridge is considered the brain of the ship, even if engineering is the actual heart of the ship. In the depths of the science labs, some of the most important discoveries are made that can turn a mission objective into a success. But who wouldn't want to be where the decisions are made? It's certainly more adventurous for lack of a better term, to be on the bridge as opposed to the depths of the science wing. I can do my work in either place." She tapped her Temple with a wry grin. "I can do most of my work up here. Physical Location is irrelevant. I can't say the same for engineers or security specialists."

A bronze woman had been standing nearby, staring out of a massive window. She studied the many ships docked at the Fleet Yards. Tiny shuttles and worker bees floated between hulking grey vessels. Occasional runabouts dotted galactic horizon. The conversation seemed to catch her eye as she turned to face them.

"It sounds like you all have such interesting jobs", the woman said playfully. There was a light accent to her voice, one rarely heard. She carried hints of Latin and Caribbean sounds in her words. "I just work at Ops. I spend most of my time in Jeffries tubes." A large, warm smile embraced her features. "The name's Nayeliz..." Her accent sounded strongest on her name. Each syllable had a unique inflection. Nye-eh-leez. The last part of her name seemed to linger in the air with a hiss. "Ensign Smythe", she added.

"What do you all like most about your work?" Nayeliz continued. "I love to tinker with gear and tech. Starships are fun to work on." A grin spread across her face as she added, "The Jeffries' Tubes aren't even that bad..." Reddish, chestnut-brown colored eyes warmed as she giggled and walked closer to the others.

Stevie looked over seeing a very intriguing looking young women "Hi Ensign Smythe, it's nice to meet you. I'm ensign Stevie Thomas, computer systems specialist", she stated with a smile. "Working with computers is what I like the most about my work. Of course when I'm not doing that I lend a hand in engineering."

"Computer maintenance is so complicated!" Nayeliz sounded excited as she spoke. "Nice to meet you, Ensign Thomas. I should brush up on them with you sometime. I need the practice." The young officer felt comfortable around the other women. She was about Sasha's height and two inches shorter than Stevie.


TBC

 

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