Into the unknown.

Posted on Thu Nov 27th, 2014 @ 7:29pm by Lieutenant Commander Rosaleen O'Donnell & Captain Jey Cleh & Commander Eliana Masters & Commander Andrew Matheson & Lieutenant Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro & Lieutenant Stacy Pierce

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: USS Bettina
Timeline: Day 2: 0800 Taranok Local Time

As Rosaleen made her way down the gangway connecting the station to the Bettina, she quickly realized that she had never been on an Aerie Class, and had no clue where she was going. She was supposed to meet Andrew and Aryll in the ships Medical Center. Not a large craft, it was still a bit of a challenge to find precisely where she was supposed to go. And of course, she was too stubborn to pull out her pad for a schematic...let alone actually ask somebody. After four wrong turns and 2 decks worth of searching, she finally located her target destination.

"Commander LeStrat, Commander Matheson...good to see you again. Is everything progressing on schedule?" They were attempting to load the crafts numerous cargo holds with everything on the supply list that Doctor LeStrat had provided, but it was proving much more difficult than imagined...mainly due to the size of the list. Plus all of the personnel...

"Commander? I don't recall being promoted." Aryll said, caught completely off guard. "Sorry. You asked if everything was on schedule? Yes. I suppose it is. We don't really have a schedule just yet."

Andrew chuckled. "Greetings, Commander O'Donnell. From my point of view, I made it onto this ship before it left so I'm progressing on schedule. "

Adria arrived at the USS Bettina. It would be a good chance to get a look at the forward operating base and check in with her pilots. Things were certainly not quiet from the information that had passed her desk lately.

The sound of boots on deck plating grabbed the attention of the woman sitting furthest forward on the Bettina. Eliana Masters emerged from the pointy end of the Aerie Class vessel, having been preoccupied with the preflight ritual that all pilots went through in some form or fashion. Some pilots found the ritual calming, even borderline therapeutic, but for Ellie they were just a required part of the job at hand. She left her station to join the others.

Stacy made her way into the room as well. It was quite crowded, but that was one of the downfalls of the Aerie Class. Handy little craft, but not much in the way of creature comforts. She nodded at the assembled group, then found a chair out of the way so she could start to review some of the plans that she had been forwarded from CHQ.

Rosaleen's gaze lingered a bit longer than she had planned on Andrew...then she turned to address the now full room. "Well that certainly did not take long. You are partially correct, doctor. We don't have an exact schedule, but we are to proceed as quickly as possible to Taranok and link up with our personnel that are already on site. The problem is, we still do not know exactly what is going on there. But it's obvious that it was something very bad."

Andrew had his eyes wandering around the cabin and was completely oblivious to Rosaleen's gaze. He'd finally gotten the chance to go over his diplomatic updates - not that they had done him a bit of good with regards to Taranok. He had an annoying suspicion that the next report he managed to get sent out of Taranok would be the first update the Corps headquarters received since things went bad. Still, it seemed to be a good time to keep inside his head and listen to people who knew better.

"There will be additional support as far as supplies following us rather quickly. The logistics yard at Denovia has already dispatched two freighters. Originally they were to make for the starbase, but as we are now taking a full command team forward they have been directed to meet us there." Rosaleen pulled out her PADD and glanced quickly down it. "Doctor, if you have everything aboard that you requested, we can proceed immediately."

It was this moment that Lizzy had finally manage to find the rather tiny conference room. As she came through the door, she came to a near complete stop. "Standing room only I see." She said as she took a standing position near where she hoped the head of the room was. "Status report."

Rosaleen turned to address the XO. "Just waiting for all of the docs supplies and assets to be secured. After that, it's a green light." She walked over to where Jey was positioned. "We still do not know what we are getting ourselves into. The plan is to make near orbit then park until we can establish contact with our personnel. Hopefully they have addressed the comms issue locally so that we can make contact with the surface. If not...well, that will be your call."

"Best we can do right now is just hope they have it figured out." Lizzy replied, setting her PADD on the table. Unlike Rosaleen, she'd actually used it to find her way around the ship. "Is there any other pressing information I need to know, before we leave?"

"Nothing on my end at this time. There's not a lot I can do until we reach our destination," Adria commented. "I'll let you know as soon as I have a full on site assessment."

"Loadmaster reports that everything is tied down and the doors are shut. We're ready to depart on your order Captain," Masters lowered her hand from her earpiece, silently anxious to fire up the engines and get moving. Observant individuals might have been able to detect the slight shudder of the deck as the main cargo door returned to its closed position.

LeStrat idly scrolled through a list of delivered goods and was checking it off against her requisitions. "That should about do it." Aryll said, nodding. "May fortune favor the prepared." She added. At that moment a soft chime sounded on her PADD. Quickly checking it, she muttered a soft curse. "Looks like I have to catch the next ride. Special case just arrived in Medical. I've got to go handle this." She unstrapped and moved towards the door. "My assistant can handle things until I make it out there." LeStrat disappeared through the door and quickly made her way to the exit before the craft departed.

"Report to your stations, and let's get this ship moving." Lizzy gave the order. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can figure out what's going on, and provide some support." She picked up her PADD, and looked at the people gathered in the crowded room. "Dismissed."

Masters had been the last to arrive, so she was closest to the door when the order to depart was given. Of course, this was to the benefit of everyone involved because despite their good intentions and willingness to follow orders, she would be at the helm for the mission. First to arrive back on the bridge, she sat down at her station and began to power up the Aerie class vessel.

"Bettina to ground."

"Go ahead."

"We're locked and loaded - ready for engine start."

"Roger. Power and air are removed, doors are closed - they told us that there wouldn't be any launch assist today ma'am so have a great flight."

"Understood, Bettina out."

"Starting one," Masters called out as one of the ship's impulse engines roared to life. Even on a single engine, the Bettina had enough power to maneuver towards the departure area. It was common courtesy to use low power settings while operating close to other vessels and structures, and the urgency of the situation was not great enough to dictate a deviation from the norm.

"Fully ready Captain," the pilot called back to the center chair.

"Go Commander." Lizzy ordered from her place in the center chair. This was the first time she'd ever been in command of a vessel of any kind, though she imagined it wouldn't be too much different than running a starbase. "Once we're clear, punch it."

Andrew, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor with regards to actually locating a station he could be useful at, tucked himself into an out of the way nook and awaited further developments. He suspected he was going to be rather busy once contact was re-established, but right now he was about as much use as the cargo crates down below.

Stacy squeezed into the chair next to Andrew, and after a brief smile of acknowledgement, set to work on her PADD pulling regional inventories. She needed to start getting assets moving now, or they would be playing catch-up from the start.

Meanwhile Rosaleen fell back into old habits, and made her way to the ships tactical and defensive systems workstation. Running a quick check on the ships limited systems, she was satisfied that everything was functional should they need it. "Tactical and Defensive systems operating within normal parameters and at your command."

The Bettina accelerated forward, clearing the station's superstructure. Masters sat at her station and tapped away at a few buttons, reaching across momentarily to flip the odd switch or two. The end result of this tinkering was the unmistakable hum of the warp engines charging the coils with the energy required to create the subspace displacement field necessary for warp flight. The sound never failed to put a huge grin on Ellie's face.

"Wheeeeee!" she emoted as the inertial dampers set to work.

For once Adria wasn't in the pilot's chair. That happened to be a different feeling for her. She hoped they could get a better view of the current situation once they arrived on site.

Before long, the ship was configured for high speed cruise and that meant it was time for Eliana to change roles from stick jockey to systems manager. The computer performed millions, if not billions, of calculations each second - all in the name of providing a safe, comfortable, and efficient flight. The power management unit had its hands full with the engines, all while ensuring that the deflectors had enough power to prevent any space dust from ripping through the hull. Even the smallest particule could case spectacular damage at the speeds the Bettina was flying.

"Settle in folks, we've got a few hours to kill," Masters announced to anyone within earshot.

Andrew felt his stomach catch up with him and pulled out his padd. Getting himself up to speed on the culture of Taranok was probably the best use of his time right now. Wasting time figuring out why the Diplomatic Corps was continually failing to hand him useful information on the planet regarding recent events was just going to frustrate him, and he didn't need that right now.

With the time they had until their arrival on Taranok, Adria chose to review a pile of reports that had reached her desk. Before leaving Starbase 80 she'd transferred them to a PADD. Now they could be read in more detail to pass some time.

Time was a luxury they would not have for long.

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Commander Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer
Starbase 80

Lt Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro
220th CAG
Starbase 80

Lt Commander Rosaleen O'Donnell
Commodores Personal Assistant
Starbase 80

Lieutenant Stacy Pierce
Director-Starfleet Corps of Engineers Division 16F
Starbase 80

Lieutenant Commander Andrew Matheson
Chief Diplomatic Officer
Starbase 80

Captain Jey Cley
Executive Officer
Starbase 80