Leaving Home

Posted on Sun Aug 8th, 2010 @ 9:05am by Captain Vorn Krace & Commander Acle Walex & Commander Peter Brown & Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Abigail Valera & Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Lieutenant Yolana Fargo & Lieutenant JG Jourdan Abbott & Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson & Lieutenant JG Winter Balmorra & Ensign Erich Ciliax & Lieutenant JG Christopher Rogan

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: USS Iapetus - Bridge
Timeline: MM2 MD7 1030hrs

Vorn tugged his uniform tunic straight as he stepped out of his ready room, and paused to observe the officers working on the bridge. The command centre was the epitome of efficiency; everyone had a job, and they were all seeing to their tasks with the professionalism Vorn had come to admire in Starfleet. He felt a smile quirk at the corner of his lips as he made his way down to the centre chair.

"Status report, Number One," he instructed Acle, as the man vacated the centre chair for his own, to the starboard side of the bridge, allowing Vorn to sit down.

"All crew are accounted for Captain." Acle said as he sat in his own chair. "Quartermaster reports all supplies are onboard and secured. I report the ship ready for departure." Acle finished formally. Although he usually dispensed with such things, this was somewhat of a momentous occasion.

"Very good," Vorn replied, pleased that there had been no major hiccups to delay them on their departure from Earth. He'd already had Jordan run a security sweep to ensure that all of the visitors had since departed, and so they now had nothing left to do but to set a course and go. He tapped the control on his armrest to open a channel to the rest of the ship. "All hands, this is the captain. Prepare for departure." Releasing the control, he spoke to the bridge officers. "All stations report in."

"Helm ready, sir. Impulse engines at optimal levels, warp power at your command," the fresh faced ensign manning the helm reported smartly.

"Tactical systems are operating at peak efficiency," Jordan said as his hand dragged down one of the consoles, double-checking the readiness of the security staff, "Security squads Delta through Lambda are standing by, Captain."

"Engineering reports all clear." Luc said, looking round from the Engineering station and grinning "Looks like we're going to have a good trial run for the new stuff."

Abigail turned from her station and said, "Science reports all clear sir. Ready and waiting."

"All power reserves are good sir, systems are running at peak efficiency" Jourdan reports from ops. "We're good to go"

Sara barely looked up from the mission ops station. "All intelligence matters are taken care of, Captain. We are ready to leave on your command."

"Diplomatic Corps ready at your disposal, sir." Chris announced.

[Counselor's Office]

Yolana Fargo had just finished up with a readiness report from her staff when she recieved the Comm.

"Counseling Department at the ready." said the new counselor.

"Mister Ciliax, set a course for Starbase 400, warp factor seven," Vorn said, his smile remaining affixed to his face as the final few readiness reports came in.

Erich's hands flew across his control board, quickly selecting the most efficient navigational plots for current stellar conditions on a route to Starbase 400. "Course laid in, sir."

Vorn looked around at the crew around him. They were about to set off towards a region of space few of them had likely ever been to, and they would then be going beyond that, through tumultuous territory, before heading through an alien device that would send them thousands of lightyears away from the Federation. This was a big moment.

"We are about to embark on a journey," he said, after making sure that the channel to the rest of the ship was once again open. "This journey will take us thousands of lightyears. Right across Federation territory and beyond it. The journey will not always be easy; there will be danger along the way. There will be tough decisions to be made. But there will also be friendship to be found; adventures to be had and new regions of space to explore.

"We will likely not be able to come back home for a long time. Months, maybe even years. But a famous poet, right here on the planet below us, once said that every day is a journey, and that the journey itself is home. Take comfort from those around you. They are your ship mates; your colleagues, friends, confidants. We will all feel the stresses of being so far from the places of our births, but we will pull through and triumph because we will stand together, always.

"Let's show the Delta Quadrant what the Iapetus is made of," he finished.

Jordan felt as if he should applaud the Captain's words but decided that such enthusiasm would likely be unbecoming of a senior officer on a Starship. Instead he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander to the sights he was likely to see, out there in the great unknown. This was adventure. The adventure of a lifetime.

Lucas sat there for a moment, not sure what to say. On the one hand, he was kind of looking forward to all the cool new stuff. Not to mention all the new alien women that he hadn't met yet. On the other, though, he'd seen some of the Voyager mission reports. Things could get a little difficult in the Delta Quadrant.

Acle's lips quirked into the attempt of a smile before the stone-faced XO conquered it. Over the years, he had heard many of the Captain's pre-launch speeches. But, he was pretty sure this one topped the list to date. Acle's well-honed mind started to drift before he concentrated on the task at hand. Using a hand, he pulled up over-all system schematics.

Jourdan just concentrated on keeping the Iapetus running. She couldn't help but wonder whatw as out there, what there was to yet explore.

Winter could only imagine what she would encounter as a Doctor out there. Only roughly outlined by one ship before them, then a few more, and a few more after those. But still the Delta Quadrant was still a large ocean of unexplored space and Winter could think of no better assignment for a Luna class Starship. "It's going to be exciting isn't it?" She asked aloud, to no one in particular.

Vorn looked to the helm station, his speech done and the ship-wide broadcast over. "Engage."

Smiling, the helmsman pivoted his seat back to face his station. "Aye, sir," the ensign replied as he punched the execute control with just a bit more panache then was required. On the viewscreen, the stars elongated into starlines and space became momentarily painted by the vibrant colours into which the visible sensors translated the affect of a warp transition as the Iapetus leapt forward like an animal too long caged.

-----------------------------
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer

Commander Acle Walex
Executive Officer

Commander Peter Brown
Chief Strat. Ops. Officer

Lt. Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief Tac/Sec Officer

Lt. Commander Abigail Valera
Chief Science Officer

Lt. Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer

Lieutenant Yolana Fargo
Chief Counsellor

Lieutenant JG Jourdan Abbott
Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson
Chief Engineering Officer

Lieutenant JG Winter Balmorra
Chief Medical Officer

Ensign Erich Ciliax
Chief Helmsman

&

Ensign Christopher Rogan
Chief Diplomatic Officer