An Impossible View

Posted on Mon Apr 26, 2021 @ 5:34pm by Commander Ajani Carter & Lieutenant Commander Ethan Brash & Lieutenant JG Maximillian Schott & Lieutenant Sibyl Danzer

Mission: Episode 4: Infiltration
Location: Bridge
Timeline: 7th day out of spacedock
1420 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The Eagle had just entered orbit around the planet Illiran, while not a member of the Federation they were contracted to Starfleet for repairs and refits of fleet ships. There were three points of interest that all Captains are briefed about. First the population was mostly human. Second the system was protected by an immensely powerful defence network, one that held off a Dominion fleet during the war. The Third, and the one that is the reason for their visit are the repair docks.
Carter could not help but lean forward in her chair with excitement and interest. They had just been given clearance to enter the flight path that would lead them into the atmosphere of Illiran Prime and to the anti-grav dry docks.

"Ethan, can you please follow directive and restore the warp plasma and place the core in ready stand-by mode."

A full slate of glowing indicators slid into view with the swipe of his blood-red hand. "Of course!" He replied, bringing his hands together. Inverting the interlocked fingers together, he stretched his arms forward, the stiff tendons and knuckles crackling together. His entire posture relaxed for a moment as if he were preparing to direct a symphony. The results, however, were far less impressive, as he tapped the indicators one by one, and they all went out.

The ever-present grin shined as he turned his head back toward her, "It's done."

"Sibyl" Carter said glancing around at his active Tactical Chief, she was waiting for authorization to promote her to chief. "Please angle the shields for planetary flight, give our fine ship as much lift as you can."

Sybyl found it interesting that the Captain preferred to address everyone on a first name basis on the bridge. She made a mental note of it as she addressed the shield form dynamics. It wasn't a primary use of the shield generators but Sibyl understood what was required and the computer already had the necessary shape mapped. "Aye, Ma'am. Adjusting shield geometry." She could set up some of the desired effect for aerodynamics but hopefully Helm wouldn't get carried away with the idea that they were a plane.

"Max, i know the sabre class isn't meant for this kind of thing but can you please do your best. Take us along the course they sent. Try and avoid the other ships" she added with a wink as he turned.

He fought the urge to try and glide like he would in his plane. He reminded himself that as nimble as they could be in space, once they were in actual atmosphere they were basically a big metal box playing chicken with physics. A big metal box with pieces falling off of it at the moment. The ship jerked slightly as he felt the impact of a bulkhead giving way to the atmosphere on a low deck. He brushed some left-over debris off of the console from when it exploded on Jak. He reminded himself he should check in on the other pilot.

"Yes, Captain, aim away from other ships, got it," Max smiled and played with the controls, "I should rule out a barrel roll, right?"

The Captain smiled a little. "Maybe this time" she said. Her chief pilot was just as cocky as she imagined others thought she had been while in her early career.

Her bridge crew were good, the Eagle slid into the traffic lanes, Illiran the most unique and interesting shipyards in the Federation. This generated a lot of traffic, their own defence ships were in some cases larger than a Galaxy class and they plied the atmosphere as easily as a shuttle would. For their part the Eagle was using a lot of power staying afloat, the shields and ventral thrusters were working at near maximum and they were reliant on Sibyl tailoring the shields into an aerodynamic shape for the lift.

The tactical officer bit her bottom lip as she had to make finer adjustments. She couldn't help but feel like she were trying to keep a kite in the air by letting out or pulling back the string as the computer managed the data on air pressure above and below the shield bubble and she reacted accordingly. She remembered flying kites in a park with her Dad on a stop over on Bajor and could even still feel the tug and the release in her memory as the Kite took up the wind in it's wings and she was coached to let out the string or reel it back and give it tension again to capture more air.

The ship yards came into view, and they were glorious. Massive structures, each able to dock a dozen medium ships and each hovering 10 kilometres above the sprawling city below. There were dozens of these yards and they were heading towards one in the middle.

Sibyl was impressed. She'd seen a few floating cities but most of them had been processing centers for resources. None of them had sported more than landing pads. This place was alive and bustling with incoming and outgoing ships. Which meant it's spires were bustling with industry and people. Where there were people, there would be stories, and culture, and information.

Max whistled. This was definitely different than what he'd seen so far. An insistent beep reminded him to watch traffic. He checked their position against the course they had been given and adjusted. They slid through the shadow of an Illiran ship and he felt more than a little out-sized. He instinctively leaned with the manoeuvres he was making, as if the slight tip of his hips and twist of his shoulders was just what they needed to ease their way through.

As Max flew the Eagle through the traffic and Carter noted the many different designs. The Illiran yards were experts in may fields, so she wasn't surprised to see Klingon and Romulan ships docked, even a few Breen vessels and even a Tholian battle cruiser. It was a sight to behold.

"We're nearing our berth, Captain," Max notified the bridge, "Any requests? Should I back her in?" Max joked around.

Before she could reply blue tractor beams reached out and snagged the Eagle. They started to pull the ship in, "Cut our engines Max, Sibyl, drop the shields. Ethan" she turned to her second officer, "Prepare the ship for docking and repair mode."

Sibyl waited for the right moment to let go of her kite string and powered down the shields so Max could complete the docking procedure.

Max swiftly cut the engines, feeling the shift in inertia to being pulled instead of being pushed. He held his hands up to make sure he wasn't idly messing with their thrusters. He still found himself trying to urge the Eagle with his body to make sure she didn't hit anything.

With the engines cut the Eagle was pulled into the dock, once in place large mechanical arms swung around and clamped onto the hull in four places. Umbilical snaked out and locked into place and Ethan switched them over to station power shutting down the ships primary power generators.

For her first foray on the bridge of the Eagle, Sybil considered it not that bad. Working with these crew felt natural. Her Captain was affable, the Conn light-hearted and ready, the Ops Chief eager and skilled. In spite of the losses suffered, she didn't feel weighted down or as if she were hexed by taking up the seat of a lost officer. To the contrary, she had a sense that, going forward, there were new opportunities for all of them, and that she might even find something like the sense of family she'd grown up with on her father's ship.

"Let's hope they don't drop us now," Max offered, his arms still in the air.

"That wouldn't be an idea situation. Whats the hull stress like? Its not everyday the Eagle is held in place with giant claws!"

Max dropped one hand and swiped around a display, "Tactical can check me on this, but I think it's fine. I'd feel better if we were on a surface, but they're the specialists!"

Sibyl cleared her throat. They would have seen warning alarms had there been an issue. She was evaluating the how and the why of the lack of alarms. "The docking clamps have incorporated a field which is distributing the weight so there is no direct point force. Structural integrity is unaffected."

"Nice" she said somewhat impressed.