Goodbye Starbase 11

Posted on Fri Sep 6th, 2019 @ 2:39pm by Major Naomi Sylan Griffiths & Lieutenant Commander Arianna Sky Kamar & Lieutenant Commander Yarinna "Fanthom" Hawkins & Lieutenant Oscar Vladinchi & Lieutenant Thegog Grun & Lieutenant Cyrin Xanth

Mission: Onboarding & Departure
Location: Viewing Lounge Penny
Timeline: Episode 001 DAY 008 Evening

[ON]

Frank stepped into the lounge, from the window he could see the lights of Starbase 11 and the stars in the background. The twinkle of warp engines arriving and departing lit up random areas. The events of the last 24 hours were a bit hectic as the Penny went through the tests necessary to be dubbed Mission Ready. With this final check in the box, she was leaving in the morning for the Graviton Catapult and ultimately the Delta Quadrant. He had called together his senior staff to discuss the events of the last 24 hours and to prepare for their departure in the morning. When the Penny pulled out, it would be years before she was in friendly space, the gravity of the situation was not lost on Frank. He nodded to an Ensign as the final tray of celebratory drinks was set on a table in the centre of the room. Frank's reverie was broken by the sound of the door opening as his staff arrived.

Thegog walked in and looked at the spread. "I must say, Sir, I do not remember the last time the Commanding Officer handed out drinks this often. I hope this isn't an ongoing theme. I can take a lot of liqueur, but even I will have to draw my limits."

Arianna waltzed in with her bloodwine mug, "Captain", she said smiling sheepishly and took her seat.

Yarinna strutted in and snatched a fast raktijino and sat next to Arianna, "Good day Captain she added.

The doors parted again, allowing Cyrin into the room. He stopped just inside, a little surprised by the display of drinks, but then grinned broadly, "Well, that's a nice start to a long mission! What are we drinking?" He flashed a quick smile and slid his lanky frame into a seat next to his fellow pilot. "Captain, Commanders, Lieutenant." Cyrin nodded around at the others.

Oscar walked in, briskly taking his seat as he maintained a composure of professionalism and greeted those around him with a nod. To the Captain, he greeted, "Sir," before taking his seat proper.

Yarinna looked at Lt. Xanth, "Well it is a pleasure not to be the only pilot on here", she grinned at him.

Standing tall and proud her green undershirt on full display, her blonde hair, groomed and gently laying over her left shoulder Major Naomi Griffiths entered the lounge and paused in the doorway and looked around, now she knew how a goldfish felt everyone looked her way if only to see who was entering next.

"Greetings, all I hope I am not late?" she asked and looked at the Captain "Captain," she said nodding politely at him.

Arianna was somewhat deep in thought going over the warp intermix and trying to figure out why the ship behaved the way she did and made a mental note to add several safety subroutines to protect the engines and the engineering systems from tampering.

"You're not late, I was hoping to see the rest of the officers show up soon," Frank replied, "Lieutenant Grun this will not be a frequent occurrence sir, I wanted to get everyone together one more time before we are officially underway and in the Delta Quadrant."

Looking at the Tellerite "relax El-tee, no need to be so... On edge, she asked taking her seat.

Thegog gave a sort of piggish sounding chortle before grabbing a glass. "I am not on edge Major. I'm more concerned that those of you that don't do as well with alcohol might get out of control and break something."

"Lieutenant if anyone gets that drunk they will be serving extra duty, cleaning the waste excrement systems," Frank said with a mischievous grin.

Frank spoke as the last of the officers arrived, "Tomorrow we will enter the Graviton Catapult, and arrive in the Delta Quadrant the following day. I want the ship to remain at Yellow Alert during the transit, so security you will be on standby and ready to respond, Ops you need to keep a close eye on the shields, engineering your focus will obviously be keeping this ship moving. Helm this may be an office but you're flying. Upon our arrival, we will have a day or so to give the ship a once over before heading to our designated mission area. Any questions so far?"

Thegog chugged his drink down in one shot, not understanding the concept of polite sipping. "We will watch the shields. Is there any precedence or known issues we should be prepared to potentially deal with?"

"There are no known issues at the moment, Starfleet has thoroughly tested this system multiple times and has been in use for a while,"Frank replied.

"Security will be on standby, by your command," Oscar replied nonchalantly.

"I'd like a chance to look over the specs on this Graviton Catapult, Captain," Cyrin chimed in. "Starfleet must be pretty confident it's going to work, but for something capable of hurtling us tens of thousands of lightyears in a matter of hours...well, I'm not going to trust until I know what we're getting into."

"I apologize for misspeaking, it will take closer to three days to travel, but I do agree, it will definitely be quick, Cyrin" Frank replied.

*rolls eyes* "three days to get there, I think the holodecks are going to be overworked by those off duty," she said then looked sheepishly "I might even be one of the ones using them" she clarified with a smile.

"I also want to look at the specs for that Catapult as well. I still don't trust the bloody thing", Arianna said.

Yarinna stifled a chuckle at Arianna's comment. She knew full well that her friend was over protective of the Penny and her crew.

Cyrin flashed a quick grin Arianna's way, glad to know he wasn't the only one that didn't trust this tech yet. Three days? The math rolled through his head as he calculated speeds that should have been impossible as far as he understood the physics. Exponentially faster than Warp 9.9, perhaps approaching the ever-elusive Transwarp speeds. Maybe he was a bit old school, but Cyrin felt a lot safer dealing with just warp and impulse engines. "Will we have time to run a few tests before going through, Captain?" he asked, turning that way. "I know it'll be impossible to see what happens to anything once its been launched, but I'd feel a good deal more confident if we can maybe start with a couple of probes before bringing the whole ship."

"We can send a probe first if that makes you feel better, but Starfleet has been using this tech for a little while. I will make the specs available to anyone interested in looking into it. Other than concerns about the Graviton Catapult, are there any issues or concerns that have not been addressed?" Frank asked his crew.

I have one thing that does make me a bit wary about coming out in the DQ from the Carapult. I would like to put 'Ghost' on flight readiness just in case.", Yarinna said eyeing Cyrin smiling

"I don't believe that will be necessary, we will be arriving at the Iota system which is Starfleet's main base in the Delta Quadrant. This is something that has been happening for a while, but is fine, trust me I'm not the kind of person that blows hot air just to talk. I've poured over the schematics, double checked the Starfleet reports, this part of the evolution should be simple," Frank told his crew hoping to calm any fears or misgivings about the catapult.

*Looking up suddenly* from where she was sitting "come to think about it, the mention of this catapult does not instil me with confidence, I know it has been used before, but for those here it is the first time Captain, surely you can understand the crews trepidations?" Griffiths asked.

"I do understand it Major, we will approach this as safely as possible. I will make available the contact information for the Engineering team that overseas it. I understand this is a risky evolution, but I will do everything in my power to protect my ship and her crew."

*shrugs* "I am happy" was all Griffiths said in response.

Hopefully Frank was correct in his statement. The mere thought of losing another ship chilled her to the bone. Arianna looked at Yarinna and nodded as she nodded back, both in agreement, stay alert!

"If no one else has any further questions, please feel free to mingle and socialize, I will need all of you at your stations tomorrow at 0800, to prepare for departure to the Graviton Catapult. We should arrive tomorrow afternoon and arrive in the Iota system three days later," Frank concluded.

"Aye, Captain," Oscar replied. "If you'll excuse me, I must resume my watch."

The Chief of Security stood, nodding to everyone present politely, then departing back to his station.

Arianna grabbed Yarinna and two glasses of blood wine and found a quiet corner to quietly drink and talk about some flying lessons.

[OFF]