Getting Underway
Posted on Tue Jun 16th, 2015 @ 1:04pm by Captain Julius Whitlam & Commander Elliot Drake & Lieutenant Commander Alexander Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Anders Odegaard & Captain Melody Windsor
Mission:
Prelude to War
Location: Main Bridge & Elsewhere, USS Manoora
Timeline: MD01: 2145hrs
The ready room doors sighed open and Captain Julius Whitlam strode out onto the bridge, looking every bit the commanding officer.
The operations officer on duty - the most junior at that moment on the bridge - sat up straighter in his seat and barked, “Captain on the bridge!”
“At ease,” Whitlam replied reflexively; he’d be hearing that a lot from now on whether he liked it or not. He stepped up to the centre of the bridge, where Commander Drake waited for him. “Report, Number One?”
"Captain," Elliot said as he greeted Whitlam with a nod. "All decks have reported ready for launch. We can get underway at your command."
“Excellent,” Whitlam replied with a nod and a reassuring smile to Drake. He turned to Commander Gunning up at the broad tactical console. “Mister Gunning, do we have our clearance from control?”
"We do indeed, sir." Gunning replied, tapping up the launch clearance to the main viewer. The tactical overlay which he had always been so keen on but had rarely seen used seemed to be a feature of his new ship. "Clearance granted and waypoint marker buoys engaged."
The captain nodded in acknowledgement and said, “Signal the Baltimore and let them know we’re departing if they’d like to join us.”
"They'll be right behind us, sir." Gunning reported.
“Thank you, Mister Gunning,” he said and turned back to the front of the bridge before sitting down in the captain’s chair. It occurred to him that this was the first time he’d sat here. He ignored the significance of the moment and focused on the task at hand. “Ensign Sel’alla,” he said to the young Saurian at the helm. “Take us out. Thrusters only.”
The ship, unshackled from its moorings and umbilicals, seamlessly slid forward in space, gliding free of the skeletal Spacedock 14-C.
“Clear of spacedock, Captain,” Sel’alla reported.
“Very good,” Whitlam said, shifting forward in his chair slightly. “Lay in a course for Starbase Three-Ten, Alpha Trianguli System. Warp seven.”
“Course laid in, sir.”
“Engage,” he ordered without any preamble; they were on a deadline after all.
In a blinding flash of unimaginable energy, the Manoora, flanked by the Baltimore, streaked off into warp, leaving Earth behind perhaps for the last time.
Drake slowly exhaled as the ship slipped into warp. He knew that when they embarked on their voyage that it might be some time before he saw the heart of the Federation again, but he had hoped it would have been in the opposite direction, and not off to war. Now that they were underway, the reality was starting to set in even more.
With the ship safely at warp, Whitlam had one last thing to do right now. He stood up and turned to Gunning. “Mister Gunning, open a shipwide channel, if you please.”
A few quiet chirrups signaled the order's response. "Shipwide channel active, Captain."
“All hands, this is the captain,” he said, injecting as much calm authority into his voice as he could muster. This came pretty naturally to him, so it wasn’t difficult. “We’ve departed Earth and are on course now for Starbase 310, along the Cardassian Frontier. As of right now, we are on a heightened level of alert. Sidearms are to be issued, outgoing communications will be restricted and monitored. We are on a war footing.”
Anders had set up a console at the far side of the Bridge, this allowed him to monitor the latest Intelligence from Starfleet and the Klingons as well as examine anything intercepted from the Dominion. He had seen time on the front lines with the Klingons and the Cardassians before now, but the Dominion were a different animal to contend with. The Intelligence Officer listened to the Captain.
“There has been no declaration of war; nobody is shooting yet. We still hold out hope that cooler heads will prevail on both sides and this crisis will pass.”
The captain's desire for peace was admirable but Gunning noted that the chances of anyone aboard the Manoora believing that war was anything other than inevitable were slim to none.
In times of Conflict you had to rely on Diplomacy instead of the Foot Soldier, in this case a Shooting War only seemed inevitable given the brash actions of the Cardassians and the Dominon. But for once Anders wanted to be proven wrong.
[[Marine Barracks]]
Melody and her Marines were listening intently to the Captain's address, all activity having ceased as soon as the familiar whistle had played through the comm system.
Corporal Winslow looked over at his CO, "Think that's possible, bosslady? Cooler heads and all?"
Melody blew a Raspberry, "If it is, I'll shave myself bald from head to toe," she replied, flatly.
[[Bridge]]
“But we need to be ready for anything. That’s our job. None of us wants a war. But if war does come, then it is our duty to defend the Federation.
“You would all know by now that the Dominion has been sending fleets of warships through the Bajoran Wormhole bound for their new allies, the Cardassians. We’ve seen the Klingons suffer defeat after defeat. We’ve witnessed the annihilation of the Maquis. What we don’t know - what we cannot know - is where the Dominion plans to stop.”
“Well we’re putting a stop to it. Just before we left Earth, the XO and I were advised that Starfleet Command has ordered Deep Space Nine to mine the entrance to the Bajoran Wormhole.”
That news came unexpectedly to Anders, he had been briefed on some proposed actions from Starfleet Intelligence but this was new. The Wormhole was the most tactically valuable asset readily available to both sides and mining it seemed like a good option. But then again it would be a problem if the enemy got wind of this.
Drake's gaze dropped to the floor. Like Whitlam said, he had already heard the news. Such a bold move would like be considered by the Dominion nothing more than a call to arms, and would likely evoke an aggressive response. Elliot could feel it in his heart. No matter what his captain said about hoping cooler heads prevailed, war was coming.
[[Marine Barracks]]
That announcement started an impressive chatter, a ruckus that Melody had to yell to be heard over, "Shut your damn mouths, nuggets!" She bit, angrily. "It's a smart move. It's a dirty move, but it's a smart one. If we're this close to war... It's probably the only move."
[[Bridge]]
“We cannot allow more fleets of warships to enter the Alpha Quadrant and so we’re taking steps to stop them. The Dominion won’t stand for this. Make no mistake, it will attract a response.”
And one hell of a response, Gunning thought as he stood stoically at his station. Nothing they had been told so far had surprised him too much- war was inevitable, their deaths weren't, and it was his job to make sure they came out of the next- god only knew how long- alive.
“And so we must be ready. Know your job. Trust in your training. Remember your duty. I have the utmost faith in each and every one of you. I know you can do your job. I know you will do your duty. And we will get through whatever they throw at us.”
Whitlam turned and looked at the faces on the bridge that were now fixed on him. These were the faces of his crew. They were the faces of people who were scared, people who were excited, people who didn’t know what was going to happen to them. They looked to him for leadership; they depended on him for that.
He refused to let them down.
“All departments,” he continued, “submit action readiness reports to the XO by zero-eight hundred hours. Whitlam out.”
Captain Julius Whitlam
Commanding Officer
Commander Elliot Drake
Executive Officer
Lieutenant Anders Odegaard
Chief Intelligence Officer
Lieutenant Commander Alexander Gunning
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Captain Melody Anne Windsor
Marine CO, USS Manoora
