"Maiden Voyage" (LAUNCH)

"Maiden Voyage"

Captain Varissa sh'Orthamu, Commanding Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, First Officer
Lt. Korn Zaje, Chief Tactical Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar, Chief Ops Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lt. Cerys Rowan, Chief Science Officer
Crewman 1st Class Dagh bim Braffin, Pilot
(Other characters as needed)

Stardate: 58807.11, 08h00
Location: Bridge, USS Vanguard

***

The time had finally arrived. The warp engines had been brought online and run through a series of tests, all the supplies and equipment for the ship's launch was in place, and her crew was mostly complete. Everyone was at their posts on the bridge preparing to leave Utopia Planitia. 

Shirik sat at her console monitoring systems as the ship prepared to launch. She was a bit nervous as she'd not spent much time on a bridge position except during Gamma shift. This was her first launch. "Captain, we have received final clearance from Launch Control to leave drydock." she reported.

Cerys rested one hand on the edge of the science console, more to remind herself she was standing still as the Vanguard prepared to move out of dry dock. She always got motion sickness.

This was it.

For years, she had imagined this moment on the bridge while buried in xenobotany texts. Somehow the real thing was quieter than she’d expected.

Except, of course, inside her own head.

In her head, an orchestra had decided today required a full overture. French horns swelled. Strings climbed. Percussion waited just behind the curtain, ready for the instant the ship cleared the dock. If someone had opened her skull, they might have found an entire symphony packed between her ears.

She glanced around the bridge at her new colleagues. Everyone carrying their own mixture of excitement and responsibility. Soon these strangers would become like family.

Cerys drew one slow breath, fingers dancing lightly over the science controls as the sensors fed out information.

Let’s go find something wonderful, she thought.

The imaginary timpani rolled.

The familiar rumble of the warp engine that had become such a calming, centering vibration for Varissa was humming… the pitch, the cadence all new… but the familiarity was there. This was a Federation vessel like all the others she’d served with. This one was just hers. Hers and her crews. This was the USS Vanguard. They needed a bit of pomp and circumstance; this was her coming out party and the galaxy was watching.

Captain sh’Orthamu ran a finger down her control panel before standing from her seat and looking to each of her senior staff members and tapping the comm on the left chest of her uniform.

“Computer… patch me through shipwide comms, please. I’d like to address the entire crew for a moment…”

The artificial voice of the ship confirmed her order before she took a deep breath and continued.

“This is your captain speaking. I want all of you to remember this moment as we pull away from the shipyard and Mars and everything familiar. Not every crew gets to christen a ship, so this is one of those times you’ll be telling future generations as they look at you with awe in their eyes and adventure in their hearts. We are the USS Vanguard. Our ongoing mission? To explore places known and unknown… to conduct science to better understand this existence… to meet new beings and discover new wonders the likes of which we do not yet comprehend. That’s our job, people… to define the undefineable. To explain the inexplicable. To chart the unknown. To find logic in the illogical. I am not a scientist… but I’m in charge of making sure each and every one of you is given the space, resources and security to do your science… stuff. I will be with you every step of the way as your personal cheerleader and ringleader, so do not hesitate to come to me with ideas and suggestions and whatever else you are cooking up in those brains of yours. I welcome it! I’m a fighter pilot that just has the experience to make a ship run the way it needs to. I’m your captain and you’re my crew. I work for you and you work for me… and we’re going to have a hell of a lot of fun doing what we do. We are the Vanguard; we lead the way where others only dream to follow.”

Another deep breath… and the Andorian sat down, letting the shipwide comm halt.

“Alright, team… let’s let those ample nacelles breathe a little bit. Slow and steady away from the dock. Once we get far enough out, it’ll be warp nine on my mark towards Alpha Centauri. We have a little delivery quest with some supplies before we get into the meat and potatoes.”

Greggory sat upright, a small smile on his face as he listened to the captain's speech. As she finished, however, he crooked an eyebrow at her orders.
"Helm, take us out, 1/4 impulse.  Once we're clear of Mars' gravity well, full impulse to the Oort Cloud."
Buying a few minutes to execute the next stage of her orders, he leaned over slightly as he spoke softly to Varissa. "Captain, I don't recall anything in the mission report that said this was an emergency situation.  I understand you're used to going as fast as a fighter will carry you, but is Warp 9 warranted?"

Raikon caught shirik's glance after listening to the captains speech. He gave her a "it's alright nod". Turning towards his console he started sending messages down to his team in engineering. "Prepare yourself going warp 9, keep an eye out on the field integrity" a few seconds later a beep from his console let him know the team received and acknowledged the message.

Shirik kept all her opinions to herself. The captain made an unusual order to test her crew. That's something she's never experienced before. She focused on monitoring ship's systems as the impulse engines came online and the Vanguard began to move smoothly out of drydock.

Greggory nodded to the Captain's remarks. He checked his own side panel to monitor the ship's systems as they crossed the outer planets. "Everyone, remember that this is a shakedown cruise. Let's make sure everything is working before we stress-test her.  All departments, status report before we clear the system."

A deep breath in…

… and out.

“Time to see how she purrs." Varissa called out, leaning forward with a fingergun towards open space on that brand new viewscreen. "Helm: engage the core.”

“Delivery quest,” Cerys thought with an amused smile.

It was an unexpectedly way to describe their first mission. And she was curious.

She looked up from her science station toward the captain.

“Captain… if I may, what exactly are we delivering? I’d love to know whether Science should be preparing for anything beyond enjoying the ride.”

Raikon was half listening to the chatter on the bridge, the warp 9 bit was a bit weird. He was looking at all the data that was coming in from engineering and the current performance of the ship. It was all looking good.