[Galaxy] [SCE] 26 September, 2162, "Fill her up, we're going on a road trip."

[Mark Berry]

OOC: I apologise if my previous log has already been seen by people before.
I received an error from the server regarding it, so thought I'd just
resend it when sending out a few other post that tie to it. As you can see,
we're moving forward with the Daedalus aspects. Questions, suggestions and
comments, send them at me, I'm here to answer them.
Mark

----------

[NCC-100, Docking Slip 2, Utopia Plantia]

NCC-100 wasn't yet the newest ship in the fleet. That honour still
technically belong to the An'ser, an Andorian cruiser that had been
completed and launched two days after the Federation signing ceremony on
Earth. Everyone had paused their construction programmes to try and sort
out the engineering and logistical nightmare of integrating various
military organs into one cohesive whole. NCC-100 was however going to soon
be the newest ship in the fleet. Earth, Tellar and Andoria combined didn't
have a hundred ships, but the decision had been made to move Daedalus to
the 100 slot on the new Starfleet Register as a fresh start for all. NCC
numbers had been assigned to ships across the three main fleets of the
Federation, starting with Earth's Starfleet.

The ship smelt new. Interior lights were crisp and bright, the carpet was
clean. The bridge was a model of efficiency and ergonomics. None of those
silly panels and piping out in the middle of the bridge that had appeared
on a NX refit cycle. Tactical, Conn and Navigation had been condensed into
a single two-man console directly in front of the Captain's chair.
Engineering, Comms and Science had all been expanded, Science less so mind
you. There was less plain exposed metal as surfaces received a matte paint
job to soften edges and ease on reflective surfaces for the ease of the
bridge crew.

The Captain's Chair wasn't sinfully luxurious, but it was certainly damned
comfortable as Commodore Kravchik was discovering. The ship was locked into
her moors at the moment and there was no need for a bridge crew. The warp
reactor was still running, but only because the Warp 7 Engine had a much
longer safe shutdown and startup sequence. She was only in dock for a few
days and took nearly twelve hours just to bring the core online, another
day if one wanted to prime the nacelles without risk of damage to the warp
coils.

He had called the pilot of the ITV over to meet him on Daedalus, to discuss
reassignment. That had been all that had been included in the communique to
Lt Yeager, aside from a simple not at the bottom which read 'Failure to
comply will earn the Commodore's ire.' The whole communique had in fact
been drafted with the ancient and ominous orders of the British Admiralty
of old in mind. A friendly invitation for tea could be made to sound like
one was being called to a court martial.

As the chair spun slowly back to face the main viewscreen, Markus noted the
time on the screen. He had a few 'widgets' running on the screen. The top
left corner was a clock, the bottom right was a counter for how many times
his chair had spun around. Along the sides flowed information that was
arcane to all but those who understood the intricacies of starship
engineering.

-----------

[Shuttle Pod SFC-047, entering Mars orbit]

Yeager leaned back in the pilot's seat, his fingers interlaced behind his
head.  Before him, the Pod's main console hummed and blinked on autopilot
like it had done for the last 45 minutes.  He'd set the tiny craft on
course after flying her out of the cramped bay of the ITV demonstrator,
which now sat in parking orbit at one of the Earth orbit LaGrange points.

As the Pod accelerated to its peak speed on Impulse, Richard had watch the
other vessel recede into the distance.  He remembered feeling an twinge of
disappointment.  The whole team had worked hard, so hard, getting the
systems integrated.  They'd accomplished alot during their test phase but
still hadn't managed to break the "7" barrier.

The pilot did remember the last run.  A nearly strait shot toward the Sun
to use the 'down hill' slide of the gravity well to help the virgin drive
core reach their goal.  They'd been close, so close, until the growing
levels of radiation and gravitic shear had forced them to veer off track.
 He still remembered the alarms and shouts of the monitoring crew.  One
nacelle of the ITV had been wrenched visibly out of alignment from the
stresses.  The little ship hadn't made it to the projected goal but she'd
given the attempt her all.

=^=Shuttle Pod 047, this is Utopia Control,=^= came a voice over the
consoles speaker, drawing Yeager's mind into the present.  With a fluid
motion, the pilot unwound and leaned forward.

"Roger, Control," Yeager replied, hands dancing over the panel.  He checked
the navigational plot, keeping it under auto control, but used the manual
inputs to begin the deceleration process. "Pod 047 on approach for Utopia
High, Slip Two," he said into the pickup.  "Lt Richard Yeager to see
Commodore Kravchik, over."

=^=Acknowledge, Pod 047,=^= replied the distant voice.  =^=We have you on
scope.  Be advised, you are entering a control area.  Follow the guide ship
approaching on your 9 o'clock, over.=^=

Rich had already seen the blip on his scanner.  He made an instinctive scan
out the port side window despite the unlikelihood he'd actually see
anything given the speeds and distances involved.  Still, the old instincts
any pilot develops were hard to unlearn.  "Roger Control," he said,
"matching speed and vectors now, over and out."

As he return his gaze forward, a small artificial constellation was
becoming visible just above Mars' crimson arc.

The orbital facilities of the Utopia Planitia High anchorage.

[NCC-100 Shuttlebay]

Ensign McEnroe was a quiet, reserved woman who barely said a word.
Something which made her the ideal choice for a yeoman for a busy officer
of Starfleet's expanding Admiralty and assorted Brass. She watched quietly
as the shuttlepod entered into the shuttlebay and the bay doors rolled shut
to allow for repressuring. Daedalus had done away with the grapplers and
dropbay style and gone for a landing bay at the back of the ship. There was
no series of catwalks or ladders above the pods, but the 'highbay' did have
the control booth still.

As the doors clanked shut, McEnroe departed the control booth, nodding
thanks to the operator and headed down the short flight of stairs that
deposited her to the portside entrance to the shuttlebay and proceeded in
when the pressure light flicked to green.

Inside the Pod, Richard let his hands go through the craft's shut down
sequence on automatic.  His eyes were scanning through the cockpit bubble.
 They quickly spotted the approaching form of the Ensign.  "So much for a
leisurely tour," he muttered under his breath.  By the time he'd finished
closing down the systems, the woman was already by the side hatch.

Yeager spun the pilot's seat around and crouch walked to the back of the
craft.  Grabbing the small duffle that had accompanied him, Rich popped the
entry way.  "Permission to come aboard," he said, flashing a smile to the
woman.

"Lieutenant Yeagar, Ensign McEnroe. Commodore Kravchik's yeoman. He is
expecting you, Sir, on the bridge."

"Righto," Yeager said.  As he climbed out, a rating stepped up and accepted
his duffle.  Nodding, Richard kept hold of the small shoulder bag that
served as his briefcase and turned to the Ensign.  "The Commodore's message
was as terse as it was urgent," he said.  "Any idea what he wants to see me
about?"

"Not for me to say Sir. If you'll follow me however, I can lead you to the
Bridge and your appointment with the Commodore."

"Lead on, McEnroe," Yeager entoned, paraphrasing The Bard.  The Bridge?
 Richard fought to keep his eyebrows down, his hopes in check.  As he
followed McEnroe, he looked around the hanger.

Daedalus was a good 150% larger than her ITV predecessor.  The size
increase had already been calculated into the program.  The Icarus Test
Vehicle had been laid out as a proof of concept, with only those systems
deemed necessary to verify performance parameters.  Daedalus, and her
progeny, we're intended to be fully functional Ships-of-the-Line with all
the features experience with the NX class had shown were needed 'out there.'

"Love what y'all have done with the place," he said, piling on the Southern
charm, as they exited the Hanger Bay.

"Daedalus has spent the last three months undergoing serious system
overhauls and replacements in light of the Federation. She truly is a
multicultural ship with components from all the Founding members aboard and
even operational now."

Rich took in the gleaming walls and various iconography in the corridors
alone.  "So the rest of the Coalition members did step up, huh," he asked.

"The Vulcans provided new warp coils for Daedalus. As our approach to warp
7 had initially been very brute force with an overly powerful core to
compensate for inferior material sciences for coil manufacture, the new
Vulcan coils should let Daedalus blow past warp 7 with ease and set a
Federation speed record."

Thanks, Yeager thought, rub that one in.  "Vulcan coils," he asked,
remember his previous experiences with the first aliens Earth ever dealt
with.  "About time they brought something to the table after the grief they
gave us over the NX Program."

As they had talked, McEnroe had led Yeager to a turbolift and entered, a
hand typing in a destination code into the control just beside the door.
When the lift slowed and finally stopped, she stepped out first and cleared
her throat mildly.

"Commodore Kravchik, Lieutenant Yeager to see you Sir." The bridge was
empty and quiet save for the sound of a chair gently spinning around and
the occasional beep and chirp from consoles. "Send him in Ensign and then
leave us please."

Yeager stepped onto the Bridge, the cacophony of an operational vessel
striking.  He drew himself to an erect position as he stepped out of the
Lift.  "Lieutenant Yeager reporting as ordered, Commodore," he said.

The Captain's chair spun slowly around to face the turbolift doors.
Kravchik's fingers were steepled in front of him, elbows on the armrest as
the chair stopped moving. "Lieutenant Yeager, how much would you like to be
the helmsman on Daedalus' commissioning flight and her first mission?"

Whahooo, Rich's inner voice screamed.  "Yes, Sir," he said
enthusiastically, "I'd be honored, Commodore."

"Excellent. I've already cleared it with Personnel and Admiral..." he
stopped to look at his aide, McEnroe, who piped up with 'Smith' in a very
quiet voice. "Admiral Smith, yes. Until further notice you are assigned to
NCC-100, which will within twenty four hours be commissioned as USS
Daedalus and embark on her first mission for one Admiral Brown. I assume
you are familiar with NCC-100's final technical specifications?" A question
Kravchik knew he would answer in the no as the specs where still classified
at the highest levels.

Cocking his head a little, Yeager considered before voicing his answer.
 "I'm familiar with the ITV's specs and the what the drive core we
prototyped there can do, Commodore," the pilot said.  "I'm not coming in
blind, Sir," he continued, "but I'll need to get up to speed on the
specifics here, though."

"Then I suggestion Lieutenant you do. After a brief sprint confirm Daedalus
can achieve warp seven we will be embarking on a two week journey at that
speed to rescue a Starfleet vessel. Mission parameters will be relayed to
the skeleton crew that will man Daedalus for this operation
post-commissioning."

"Aye aye, Sir," Yeager said, drawing to attention.

Standing up, Markus strode over to the Lieutenant and extended a hand, a
smile finally appearing on his face. "Welcome aboard the best ship in the
Fleet, Lieutenant. We're going to be doing some wonderful things."

Rich took the offered hand firmly.  "Yes, Sir," he answer, "and I'm looking
forward to that, as well."  His smile matched that of the Commodore.


-------

Commodore Markus Kravchik
Commander, Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Resident Mad Scientist

&

Lt Richard Yeager
Starfleet Test Pilot
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