Getting back to normal

Posted on Mon Feb 7th, 2022 @ 5:21pm by Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant Ileah & Lieutenant Commander Raelyn Mckenzie & Lieutenant Torvin Anor & Ensign Magnum Rhodes
Edited on on Mon Feb 7th, 2022 @ 5:22pm

Mission: Arista
Location: Bridge

It had been two days since 'Junior' had been born and the Wayfarer was now back en route towards Federation Space. Captain Misaki had been discharged from sickbay and was due to return to duty.

The turbolift doors opened and Akeno walked out onto the bridge. Sheepishly she made her way to the command area and took her seat. "Not quite the maiden voyage we all wanted huh..." she said casually as she rubbed her belly. She still had a little bit of 'baby fat' on her which she was told would disappear in a couple of weeks.

"Status reports?" She asked.

"Ship systems are green and ready to go Captain" called out Torvin, currently taking the role of engineering bridge officer for the moment. "She's a little worse for wear from the nebula's troubles. But we've got all major systems up and running, the rest is nothing we can't fix with elbow grease and time." he summarised quickly, adding with a hint of apprehension "I'd... just suggest being a little easy on the throttle for the next few days."

"I don't think we'll be pushing the engines anytime soon" Akeno responded with a small smile. "At least, I hope we won't be" she added.

Lieutenant Mckenzie spoke up. "Agreed. Speaking of which, all of our tactical systems are running smoothly, and my team has made sure the ship is as secure as possible after that incident."

Ileah stepped to the Captain and handed a PADD. "It seems our resident Spook has also restored the Command Codes in the computer and that we have full function of both the Main and Secondary Computers." She reported. "Spooky apologized for being hidden so long but the ship had to be secured absolutely before the computer codes were reinserted."

"Let's put in some more protocols to stop this happening again" Akeno said. "Lieutenant Mckenzie, you're the next senior officer on this ship. Since Starfleet are sending us a new First Officer, I'm promoting you to second officer" Akeno said with a smile. "You'll also hold one third of the ships command codes, then no one person can take full control. That should stop this happening again if one of us becomes compromised"

This took her by surprise. Shortly before her transfer, she had been demoted for the incident on the Sovereign. And now she had been promoted in position twice over the course of a few months. Even if she was the next full senior officer, and she did help save the ship, she wondered why she was being trusted with this position, given her demotion. Even if it was an uncalled for demotion. Nevertheless, she would prove to the Captain that she could hold that position and carry out her duties to the best of her current ability. "Thank you Captain. I won't let you down."

"It's well deserved" Akeno smiled back. She turned to towards the viewscreen over the forward helm console.

"Set course for Starbase Eighty Three" Akeno ordered.

Ensign Rhodes sat at the helm. Their current mission was rather hectic for the young officer, especially for it being his first on the Wayfarer. But then again, not as intense as him landing a Sovereign class ship on a deserted planet and being able to fly that same ship again. But that was a story for another time. "Aye Captain. Course is laid in for warp factor eight. Ready to depart on your command."

Akeno sat back in her chair and relaxed. "Engage" she ordered simply with a casual wave of her hand.

Magnum worked quickly and took the Intrepid class vessel to warp. Even if he had downsized from a Sovereign to an Intrepid, the Intrepid class was faster than the heavy cruiser. This is something he genuinely enjoyed about the Wayfarer.

It was nice to be back at Warp again, the slight vibration of the deckplates was hardly detectable, but after being at Impulse for so long, it was a nice change.

Akeno relaxed as she opened up the console between the two command chairs. "We're due to pick up supplies and replacement crew at Starbase Eighty Three, then we are due new orders. However Starfleet haven't given us any yet" she explained to the bridge crew. "I just hope its not exploring any more Nebula's!"

Raelyn was still in shock about her promotion. But by now she had mostly recovered. She tapped her console to stay updated about the status of the Wayfarer's tactical systems before she spoke up. "Agreed. But while exploration is nice, I personally would like a change of pace for our next mission."

"Something quiet for sure, perhaps chaperone an admiral around? Or even shadow a ship testing some experimental technology." Torvin pondered as he worked "Oh I heard talk that some federation technicians had worked with the Bynars, and were reaching their final stages with a new fractal networking system for ship computers. I'd love to see what that could do." Remembering a brief detail in an engineering journal he'd been reading before the chaos of their adventure.

"Chaperoning an admiral sounds kind of dull doesn't it. We'd have to get out the good china dinner set too. You know, if we had one" Akeno joked back. "I heard about the Bynars, didn't they help work on the computer systems of the Prometheus?" Akeno asked. She had read somewhere that the experimental Prometheus Class had one of the most advanced computer control systems in the fleet, and the Bynars had assisted in its programming.

"Indeed! I heard it's an expansion from that development, into a more generalised fleet-wide function, I'd even heard rumours of fleet-wide computer networking to allow for real-time distributed processing. The more ships in the local communications range you have near you, the quicker their processing. It could do wonders for large interstellar research projects." He replied, happily responding to the Captains knowledge on the matter. His voice in an echo as the engineer was now below his console, having pulled a panel off to fix one thing or another.

Akeno couldn't help but chuckle quietly to herself. It as nice to have a bit of small talk on the bridge, especially during long warp flights between distant places. Some Captains never allowed it, prefering their crew to be constantly be working. However after going through a bloody war just over a year ago, Akeno recognised that some Captains had become too militarised. They were much more than just a starship crew, out here they were a community of different races and personalities.

"Anything you got to add to that?" Akeno asked looking back towards tactical. "Surely, there's some sort of tactical advantage to such a fleet wide function?"

Mckenzie thought for a moment to choose her response. "Well, I mean for starters, it could allow for fast communication between ships and bases. On a tactical level that is very helpful, especially in combat when you are talking about coordination between forces, as well as fast reaction times to systems and weapons. On a little bit of a side note, I think that the Prometheus is also the right ship for that kind of test, but that is sort of beside the point."

Akeno nodded. "I guess" she pondered for a few moments. "By the way..." she directed her attention back towards Torvin. "What exactly are you doing under there?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, one moment captain I just finished down he-" a pause as the sound of forehead on metal is heard, a pause for his own embarrassment, used to doing this far from where anyone could see it, let alone senior bridge crew. "...I was getting a few seconds of delay on my command inputs. The computer was relaying around a couple of broken wires, all fixed now." He said, dusting himself off as he closed the console and got to his feet. "It's a small thing, but they add up."

"I can imagine" Akeno smiled. She turned her attention back to the middle console.

The Wayfarer continued through space at warp speed, gradually crossing the ever lasting void back towards Starbase Eighty Three. It was nice to see that for once, things were starting to return to normal.

Posting by

Captain Akeno Misaki
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Raelyn Mckenzie
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Torvin Anor
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Ileah
Yeoman

Ensign Magnum Rhodes
Flight Control Officer