Ready for Action, Let's Go!

Posted on Fri Jan 21st, 2011 @ 11:07am by Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Captain Elsie Halliwell & Commander Curtiss Drake & Captain T'mpest Michaels & Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi & Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter & Petty Officer 2nd Class Davey Coltrane & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd

1,032 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Looking for the Future in all the Wrong Places
Location: Bridges. Archimedes, Fairfax and Ranger
Timeline: Current

Bridge, USS Ranger
____________________

Captain Halliwell sat in her captain’s chair next to her First Officer Commander Drake. She shuffled in its supportive bucket before relaxing back into its comfort and then turned her attention to Lieutenant Blake as he tinkered over her left shoulder behind the Operations Console.

“Mr. Blake,†she began, turning her head to the back of the bridge over Curtiss’, “contact the Archimedes and the Fairfax. Coordinate our search patterns and prepare them for departure.â€

"Aye Captain," Blake paused long enough to send both the Fairfax and Archimedes the information string. "Orders received and understood," Blake continued keying open a channel between the three ships.

The answer immediately came from the comm. "This is Captain T'alaal. Our course has been laid in and we are awaiting your command."

Captain Northcutt, from his seat on the Fairfax, gave the command. "Execute Search pattern Alpha Zeta Four," he said to the other captains over their comm signal.

Alex sat at the Engineering station on the Bridge. He'd left Coltrane in charge on the Archemedes, something he was beginning to second guess himself on. He should be over there as the vessel was still pretty beat up, not sitting on the perfectly intact Ranger where his expertise was barely needed. "I'm diverting warp power to the shields." He said in his booming Italian voice.

“Commander,†Elsie nodded to Curtiss, a noun loaded with familiar and instructional meaning.

Drake took the order silently and moved his fingers quickly across the panel in the center between them as he looked to the helm. "You heard the Captain, Helm. Engage, steady as she goes."

Archimedes

Zhukov, from his seat beside Captain T'alaal, gave the proper signal. "Archimedes acknowledged. We are proceeding on search course," he said as he looked to the ensign at the Helm. He was a little jealous. Honestly, he wished that he was the one behind the helm.

He looked at T'alaal. "Captain, recommend maintaining Yellow Alert status for now as we conduct the search," Zhukov said.

T'alaal simply nodded to the lieutenant at tactical, immediately drowning the ship in the familiar yellowish hue.

Ranger

T'mpest was at the science station. It had been a year since she was last there. It felt good to be back in blue. She ran continuous scans of the area to make sure they weren't surprised by the QAR ship.

“Mr. Fletcher,†Elsie interjected, now looking to her right, "keep us at Yellow Alert status and be prepared to engage the enemy on-sight.â€

"Aye, sir," replied Fletcher from the Tactical station, making it so.

“Helm,†Halliwell then said, turning around to face the loaded viewscreen, “take us to the first coordinates of the search, full impulse.â€

Ensign Lange tapped gently on the controls easing the Ranger out of its stationary position and up alongside the starboard side of the Fairfax. The Intrepid class ship smoothly levelled up and began to coax softly to the right of her.

“Halliwell to the Fleet. We’ll remain in constant communications with you both. Stay safe.â€

Fairfax

The Fairfax moved forward slowly, making sure the other two ships followed along beside her. Captain Northcutt had agreed to the search pattern and had even had his people draw it up, but he still didn't like it. They had too much space to cover and time was becoming crucial. If those QAR people figured out how to use what they had stolen, or worse yet sold it to someone who did, the consequences could be dire for the Federation. It twisted his stomach knowing that at some point an entire armada of ships could suddenly appear in Sector 001, and there would be nothing that Starfleet could do about it. In essence, his small fleet of three ships could be determining the very future of Starfleet and of the Federation itself. It was something he tried to block out of his mind as the search began.

The other thing that concerned him was the question of if they found the QAR, would they be able to stop them and recover the artifact? He had a team working on that, and hopefully they would have an answer BEFORE they encountered the QAR.

Archimedes

Davey Coltrane monitored the status updates scrolling down the screen in Engineering. All the temporary repairs were holding. His main concern was the amount of shoring they had to do on one particular area of the ship. Stress on the hull could cause unseen damage elsewhere and he was concerned he didn't have enough time to investigate it further. It was the spot where they were initially hit with some kind of weapon he was unfamiliar with. He'd want to keep an eye on that during any scuffle they might find themselves in.

"Petty Officer Coltrane," Captain T'alaal's voice came over the comms, "Please report anything of interest directly to me."

"Yes captain." The short answer came as Coltrane needed to keep his attention to the ship.

The Archimedes slowly submerged into the nebula at the port side of the FairFax, and pretty quickly the other 2 ships disappeared from the viewport. "Ensign, steady as she goes," T'alaal said encouragingly to the young, but talented, helmsman. She then turned to the Science stations, manned by both a Lieutenant and an Ensign. "Scans?"

The lieutenant looked up briefly, before saying "Nothing - yet." Even though they had backup now, the tension was mounting as most of them were on duty when the QAR attacked the first time.

Zhukov nodded. He was monitoring the scans on the small display in the XO's chair and make sure the Archimedes was staying on its proper course heading. They probably needed a course correction soon. The distance was now growing between the three ships, something that was slightly worrisome for Vladimir. He hated the thought of being caught so isolated by the QAR again. At least they had two larger ships for backup.

[OFF]

 

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