Disembarkation

Posted on Fri 14th Oct, 2016 @ 3:25pm by Colonel Horatio Drake & Commander Zachary Hunt & Lieutenant David Anthony & Commander Paul Graves PsyD

1,185 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Deck 352: Internal Docking Port #9
Timeline: MD-02: 0700 Hours

Drake had been on the Bridge for the past hour... paying particularly close attention to the weapons and defensive systems. This ship boasted only six type nine and four type eight phaser arrays and only four torpedo launchers. It was hard to imagine these ships once being formidable, ships of the line... patrolling the neutral zone, responding to distress calls, carrying out scientific missions... Drake wasn't even sure they would make it out of the space dock in one piece, let alone anything else.

Having done some research on the Repulse, Drake had discovered that she was one of the originals. Commissioned in 2291, she was a destroyer type ship replacing the older Poseidon Class, with a strong tactical and multi-role ability due to her interchangeable roll bar. Along the years the main chassis of the Miranda had been used to create various other classes of ships including the Anton Class cargo ship, the Phlox Class medical ship and the Reliant Class tactical variant. The Repulse had lived many lifetimes, performing virtually every role Starfleet threw at her and outliving many of her crew. Finally decommissioned in 2368, her retirement didn't last long and she was re-commissioned after the outbreak of the Dominion War.

In 2386, Starfleet undertook one of the most ambitious upgrade programmes they had ever embarked upon. The Miranda Class, many of whose hulls had reached the end of their life span, was to undergo a total refit and once again bolster the fleet as the workhorse ship everyone knew and loved. Starfleet fitted her out with the latest power and data transfer systems, updated sensor and communications arrays, upgraded phaser arrays, new shield generators and a thicker layer of ablative armour. Her internals were also totally reworked as a result of the power transfer and computer upgrades needed to support the new systems, which enabled Starfleet Engineers to bring Miranda class vessels up to standard internally. Some say that this upgrade gave her another thirty or forty years of active service.

As interested as Drake was in starship design and configuration and as much respect as he had for the workhorse ships of days gone by, he couldn't help wishing he had a Defiant class or similar under his command at this very moment. Inspecting his PADD, he double-checked the cloaking device... he had a feeling this was going to be invaluable on this mission. Smiling he put the PADD on his lap and looked around the old Bridge... it was good to be back on the Bridge of a Starship... no matter her age.

The turbolift doors hissed open, and Paul stepped onto the Repulse's bridge. Even if he hadn't already known it, a glance at the bridge layout would have told him that this was a smaller, older, more utilitarian vessel than, say, a Galaxy class. The room was roughly shield-shaped, with a seat for the CO, the Helm/Ops console in front, and seats for the other bridge stations arrayed behind the Captain's chair rather than in a circle all around it.

"Good morning, Colonel," he said to Drake and sat at the Communications console, as there did not seem to be a specific station for a Counselor on this bridge. Paul familiarized himself with the console layout. He was more comfortable with a shuttlecraft's or a runabout's comm board than he was with this elaborate set-up, but he could operate it if he had to. He inserted an earpiece and began listening to a brief tutorial to refresh his memory.

"Lieutenant" Drake replied, taking a cursory glance round before burying himself back in his PADD.

Drake, Paul noticed, felt happy, the happiest Paul had ever sensed from him. Good, he thought. Knowing what a person genuinely cherished, what gave real joy, told him a lot about that person. Whatever Starfleet might feel concerned about, the fact that Drake felt deeply content at this moment told him that the colonel was, at his core, psychologically healthy. Everything else can be dealt with, given time, Paul thought. I just hope he will give himself and me that time.

The turbo lift hissed and Lt Anthony enters the bridge. He had come on board earlier, stowed his gear in his cabin, then had proceeded to check on the status of the weapons, shields and sensors. Once he determined that they were at least operating normally, for these systems anyway, he proceeded to head to the bridge.

As he entered the bridge he saw Cmdr Drake, looking content and relaxed, if not happy. Whether it was because he was on board a ship and not a run down star base, or the captain's demeanor, Anthony wasn't sure.

"Good morning commanders. Tactical is as prepared as it can be expected." Anthony looked around at the stations until he found the tactical station. He proceeded over and started to familiarize himself with the controls.

"Morning," Paul said to Lt. Anthony with a wave and began following the hands-on instructions from the comm tutorial. Soon he had the console set for normal, modern hailing frequencies and was monitoring voice traffic from Vanguard to keep track of instructions from the Flight Control Officer, which he would relay to the helm console or the CO as needed.

"Engineering, report" Drake said.

"Lieutenant T'Vel here, sir. Engines are operating, surprisingly, within normal parametres. You have thrusters, impulse and warp drive at your disposal. Power distribution seems stable and all systems are functional. These ships were certainly built to last." The stern Vulcan voice responded. It was certainly unusual for a Vulcan to provide an opinion... even if that opinion was based in fact. Nevertheless, it reassured Drake.

Placing the PADD down on the side of the chair, he took a deep breath... he hadn't done this in a while.

"Lieutenant Graves, contact Vanguard Operations... request permission for disembarkation." He kept looking straight, "Helm, prepare manoeuvring thrusters before engaging impulse engines when we are clear of Vanguard."

Paul hovered a hand over the comm board, found the control he wanted, and keyed in the request. After a couple of moments he frowned and rotated a dial on his console before turning back to look at Drake. "There's an unusual amount of static on the station bandwidth--it doesn't respond to correction."

"Hunt here, you've got the all clear." Hunt responded over the comms.

"I've informed them. Vanguard Ops reports that we are cleared for departure, sir." Paul said.

"Sir, tactical reports no sign of the unidentified ship. Shields and weapons report operational and on standby, Sir."

"Very good. Let's see if she can still fly. Helm take us out. Once clear of Vanguard set a course for the site of the last known attack in sector three-four-five, warp 4. Mr. Anthony, continue long range scans."

And just like that they were space borne, the ship lurched into life and shot into warp in a stream of blurred light. Once again the old Miranda class was on a mission, perhaps not too dissimilar to one she might have undertaken over a century ago.

 

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