Going Down

Posted on Thu Jan 19th, 2012 @ 2:17pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Captain T'mpest Michaels & Commander Cailean Fox, M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd & Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Lieutenant JG Leo Flynn & Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter & Captain Alexsa Kendrick & Anaia Viel (Halliwell)

997 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Fishing
Location: Bridge, Deck 1
Timeline: Current

ON:

Elsie gripped the side of her command chair with an enthusiastic, almost riveted zeal that was quite uncharacteristic of the woman. She couldn't quite discern whether to attribute to nervous energy to the excitement of testing the Ranger's ability and pushing her to her limits, or to the anticipation of what she would find on the ocean's floor and being able to pin it on the meddling Romulans. She inhaled slowly and crossed her legs delicately, sitting back into her chair as Commander T'mpest sat beside her. Surveying her own kingdom, she nodded to herself the indication of the time being now, and turned to face to her rear right.

"Mister Shepherd," she indicated, making eye contact with her security chief. "What are the final scans of the Romulans' activities before we dive?"

"The Burton, Baden-Powell, and Speke are on station halfway between here and there, and report no new activity." said Shepherd, standing his station solidly and comfortably.

"Captain, " Jimmy was posted on one of the aft' science stations, "I've located a landing site on the northern hemisphere as its weather is a little more turbulent there aren't as many ships there, but for the Ranger it should be fine"

"All hands," Elsie began stoically, her face remaining now forward on the viewscreen that projected the image of the rippling waves of where Lieutenant Cooper had identified, "prepare stations for atmospheric flight and diving conditions. Report in when ready." She turned to the Ops officer stationed where Blake would have been and nodded.

"Mr. Edsell," she commanded, fully twisting to view him, "Blue alert. And ready the shields. Polarise the hull to strengthen our containment and protect the ship."

The ensign's hands moved quickly over the dancing lights as he did what he was told. The overhead lights dimmed, and blue horizontal bars pulsed to life between the bridge's wall panels. Edsell looked up and nodded to the captain. "Aye, sir!" he boomed, a little more enthusiastically than was necessary.

T'mpest sat calmly in her seat. She was as curious as the rest of them to see what was underwater, but she felt it important to not appear too eager.

"Stellar Cartography ready for archival and supplemental analysis," Cadet Celik, Crewman Sessan's unofficial relief, declared via intercom. Between his eagarness to participate and the ship's non-critical status, Birsi drew the line at two consecutive shifts. Some with flex shift privileges might've taken this opportunity to lean on them out of protest, but all she wanted was a chance to relax. It'd been a long day, and while only the beginning for Ranger as a whole, her brain cramped from all her participation up to this point. Getting through without any major blunders only bolstered her resolve to retreat per the old adage of 'quit while you're ahead.'

Yet presently, the symphony of LCARS tones resonating in the background largely originated from her checking and putting the final touches on the sensor recalibrations. "Almost done here," she murmured over the still-live line.

Jimmy's screen filled with information, as his subordinates got the sensors ready for both atmospheric flight, and diving. He also relayed the presumed pressures to Tactical, for shield adjustments. Finally, a fine scan of the current conditions of the landing zone was conducted, and Jimmy immediately overlaid it to the main screen.

Kendrick's inquiry had been halted for the moment while the Ranger was to dive into the Taylforthian ocean to continue its investigation, and she had retreated to regroup back in her quarters. In short, and on one of only few occasions, Alex was not ready, so she had absolutely no intention of reporting anywhere.

T'mpest continued to monitor reports from the various departments and the bridge crew to make sure all stayed within acceptable parameters.

"Shield integrity is optimal," stated Shepherd, nodding to Cooper.

"Science, sensors ready, Captain." Jimmy reported as the final boxes on his screen were ticked.

"Helm," Elsie then said, dramatically nodding forward to the viewscreen. "Take us down."

"Yes, ma'am." the ensign replied as he ran his fingers across the console.

The Intrepid class starship nose-dived slowly and began to tilt forward as it heading for the atmospheric barrier.

"Entering atmosphere," Jimmy called as a slow, but rising rumble took hold of the ship.

"EM buildup on the shields, levels are as expected" stated Shepherd. Atmospheric flight built a massive electromagnetic charge on the shields as a matter of physics.

"Hull temperature at nominal levels, shields holding." Jimmy reported.

"EM buildup is arcing. Discharges are within tolerance," said Shepherd, as flecks and lances of lightning danced at the edges of the forward view, long dazzling forks stabbing into the cloud cover, and eventually grounding out into the rapidly approaching expanse of the planet's ocean.

"Approaching water surf..." Jimmy was cut off by an automated warning: "Proximity alert. Prox..." As Jimmy disabled the call he smiled "Sorry about that."

There was a perceptible lurch as the Ranger's grav plates compensated for the deceleration accompanying submersion. Most of the bridge crew reflexively grabbed for safety bars and seat edges to maintain position. The viewer turned crystal blue as the ship mostly leveled off, descending very slowly now, voyaging in an entirely new frontier.

"Shields holding, pressure increasing as predicted. Sensors are being adapted for the water, Captain." While his men knew exactly what to do, it took the better part of a minute to actually do it.

Elsie stood up from her chair and surveyed the viewscreen that now depicted the blue mass that the Ranger was coasting through. She walked slowly to the helm and placed a comforting hand on the ensign that was eagerly concentrating on moving the colossal ship through the waters. "Mr. Jones," she said quietly, returning her gaze the screen. "Takes us to the coordinates of the warp variations at one half thrusters."

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