Anybody Home?

Posted on Mon Jan 2nd, 2012 @ 11:18am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson & Lieutenant JG Miranda Blackfur & Ensign Matthew Lessly

Mission: Episode 2.3 - "Hippocratic Oath"
Location: Main Bridge, USS Pandora
Timeline: Mission Day 05, 0720 hours

ON: [[Main Bridge, USS Pandora, Mission Day 05, 0720 hours]]

It had been nearly twelve hours since the Pandora and the Clara Barton had crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone on course for the colony on Nerus V and they had yet to encounter a single Romulan vessel, warship or otherwise. Iluvar remembered how easily they had mistaken a vessel representing the Romulan Imperial State for one which was supposed to have been their escort on behalf of the Romulan Star Empire during their previous visit. Since that time, the infrastructure of the Romulan Empire had been thrown into chaos by natural disaster and the threat of possible foreign invasion on two fronts...to the point where two Federation vessels on a mission of medical relief were likely to be given free pass without a second thought.

"Helm:," Evans ordered from his seat at Command, "take us out of warp at the edge of the system. Continue at high Impulse to Nerus V."

~~ Nerus V~~ The thought flashed through her mind as Miranda looked at the time and location of the Pandora. She nodded to her co-pilot and getting a confirmed nod back. Working together, brought the ship out Warp into high Impulse. On the view screen shown in the distance, a marble with colors that only a planet could produce. "Nerrrus System directly ahead!" Miranda spoke up softly as she worked the controls to bring the USS Pandora closer to the Nerus system. Soon other marbles of vibrant colors began to appear behind the outer most planet. It was going to be fun maneuvering a ship this big in a star system this compact.

The individual planets which made up the Nerus star system were too far from one another to be able to see each one clearly without the aid of the Pandora's sophisticated sensor palate. Even then, their colorful appearance masked what Iluvar knew to be a colony which had struggled greatly just to survive another day.

"Still no sign of any Romulan vessels," Joe spoke up from Tactical. "Like getting invited to a party and finding no one at the house..."He frowned. Last time the Pandora had been in this region, they had also had issues with finding the Romulan ship - at least, the correct one. Joe didn't like the similarities he was seeing.

Miranda steadily slowed the ship to half impulse speed, coming in above the orbits of the planets and passing the outer most planet without challenge or a blip on the radar for anything that resembled a ship, except the escort ship that tagged along with them. Even that was a bit behind and to the port side of the Pandora. "No sign of any ship except our escort, Admiral," Miranda spoke softly, ears a bit flattened, expecting ambush of some sort. Her tail wove slow, sweeping curves from the base to the tip. "Watch the yaw pitch Ensign," she said a bit too sharply with a growl to her co-pilot, displaying she was tense and alert for any sudden threat against the ship. She was ready to send the Pandora into extreme evasive maneuvers.

Mike couldn't quite relax in his chair. He leaned to the side to look more 'nonchalant' but probably looked instead like he had a crick in his back. In a way it was odd that there was no one here to greet them, but on the other hand it wasn't too surprising considering the current political state of things.

Jason (NPC) patiently looked around the bridge from his station at operations. He didn't really know what to make of everything that was going on, but he hoped that the "excitement" would be limited. As his attention returned to his console, a light began blinking and a small beep came from it. "Sirs, we're being hailed."

It had come as no surprise when Captain McBride (PNPC) had insisted they proceed with all due haste toward the Nerus V Colony. Of course, there had been a few concerns as to whether or not the Clara Barton would be able to keep up with the rather brisk pace set down upon their departure from Deep Space Four, but the fact they were now entering orbit nearly twelve hours ahead of their original schedule clearly indicated otherwise. "Put him through, ensign," Iluvar said as he turned his attention to the forward viewscreen.

Just as the second of the outermost planets slipped past at one-quarter the speed of light, the view shifted to the brightly-lit interior of the Clara Barton's main bridge. Captain McBride looked up from a PADD he had just finished reviewing and gave a wry smile. =^= Good morning, admiral =^= he said, handing the device to a nearby crewman =^= My helmsman tells me we will be entering orbit within the next ten minutes and, as much as I know we would both like to see this operation commence as soon as possible, we will need to make an initial assessment of the situation. =^=

"Sounds reasonable enough," Iluvar replied. It had been a year since any Federation vessel had visited the planet. Given what they had witnessed at that time and the non-existent intelligence information available, there was no way of knowing what condition the colony might be in without running their own scans and deploying an away team to make contact. "My executive officer will be leading the primary away team," he continued, "if there is anyone you would like to see included in that team, I'm sure something can be arranged."

=^= I think I know just the woman for the job =^= McBride said with a twinkle in his eye =^= We'll see you in ten minutes. Clara Barton out. =^=

Michael felt a small lurch in his stomach at the mention of leading the away team. He'd been First Officer for some time now, but there were some aspects that hadn't quite settled in as routine yet. His mind began to whir with who would be best to assign to the team, but he forced himself to 'back burner' it while he focused on the present.

Miranda kept the ship steady along with her co-pilot. There was some soft communication between them, but without the usual soft banter between commands given by her. "Coming into a stable orbit about Nerus V," she said over her shoulder toward the Admiral. ~~Way too easy. Something big must be happening elsewhere to draw away the Romulans from escorting us.~~ She glanced at the Ensign next to her. "'Pologise for snapping at you," she said, getting a smile in return from the Ensign.

"Maintain this orbit for now, ensign," Iluvar told the Catian, "We may need to make a few adjustments once we have a better idea what's been going on down there."

"Holding orbit and current altitude," Miranda inputted the orders for the ship to maintain curret orbit.

Giving the flight control officer a nod of acknowledgment, Iluvar turned his chair so that he was facing the officer who had just stepped up to replace Thompson at the tactical station. "The Imperial State may be aware of our presence here, but with everything else they're dealing with, I wouldn't be surprised if we did end up running into any surprises," he said slowly, "Let's make sure we keep a weathered eye on that horizon, just in case..."

Senior Chief Petty Officer Felle (NPC) nodded curtly as he took up position at Tactical. He was glad to be taking a bridge shift again; maybe this time he'd actually get to shoot some Romulans. Turning to his console, he accessed the sensor logs. Fighting or not, he was going to be ready for whatever showed up.

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Vice Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

Captain Elias McBride, MD (PNPC)
Commanding Officer
USS Clara Barton
Played by: VAdm Iluvar

Commander Michael Evans, MD
Executive Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Second Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Miranda Blackfur
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Pandora

Ensign Matthew Lessly
Chief Science Officer
USS Pandora

Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy Felle (NPC)
Tactical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Thompson

and

Unnamed Operations NPC
Operations Officer
USS Pandora