Mission 03.1 - Leaving the Nest

 “Take us out.” [Applause]

“Very good, sir.”

“Brought a tear to my eye.”

“Oh, be quiet.”

? James Kirk, Pavel Chekov, and Montgomery Scott "Scotty" 

On the bridge of the Enterprise-B 

Star Trek: Generations

The LCS Leviathan was a buzz of activity as transport pods fairied building materials and supplies to the still incomplete space station, Artemis Terminal. The ten plus kilometer ship was going to be at the station for a while to help with the completion of the headquarters for the newly formed Mobile Crisis Response Units or as others simply referred to as the MCRUs for short. The oversize ship was there since construction began and it was still going to be a few weeks before the station was complete. 

However, that wasn’t the full reason that there was so much activity on the LeviCorp flagship. 

WIth the signing of the MCRU Charter and the competition of the first of what was hoped to become a fleet of ships for these new “space rangers.” The Leviathan was now also playing host to a swarm of media reporters, government officials that were in support of the charter, and a host of alien delegations that had come to see first hand the launch of this new ship that was supposed to be one of many that is supposed to help bring stability to the region of space. So after all the pomp and circumstance of the ship’s christening ceremony celebration, the crew had boarded the ship in preparation for her maiden voyage.

A lone figure strolled into the bridge, her feline tail made short jerking motions as it gave way her current mindset. The Caushae’s thoughts turned to the fact that the empty room will soon be filled up with people to man the empty stations. ‘My ship...’ She had to remind herself. ‘My Crew…’ Even after a week of selecting the rest of the personnel that were going to fill out the needed crew member positions and waiting for the ship proper to be completed, she was still coming to terms with the fact that she was going to be captain of the Valkyrie. The first ship of her class and currently the flagship of the MCRU’s fleet.

Lieutenant-Commander Lynnette Wilkes came around and stood next to the chair that was in the center of the room. Somehow, the solo seat in the center felt daunting to look at, even if it was surrounded by other stations. The only difference between the captain’s chair from the others on the bridge were the displays and control panels that were added to the arm rests. Her hand timidity reached out and felt the material the chair was made of, her mind wandered a little as she felt the faux leather under her hand. Where she stood next to the captain’s chair was on a raised platform, half surrounded by a railing behind where the seat was to possibly give a spectator something to grab hold of if something were to happen. Her gaze shifted behind the chair at the two stations against the back wall, then gazed around the room at the six stations that flanked the captain’s chair to the two helm stations in the front before settling her gaze at the blank view screen. 

Lynnette was so lost in thought that she never heard the bridge door opening.

“First time command jitters?” 

The sudden voice startled Lynnette, making her yowl slightly as she jumped. Turning towards the source, she spotted a familiar human standing there looking at her. “Director Solus. I… I wasn’t expecting you, or anyone…”

Ash held up his hand to stop her. “It’s alright. I figured that I would check on you since you left the ceremony early.”

“I see.” Lynnette sighed. 

“So,” The human said as he crossed his arms. “Having second thoughts about taking command?”

“How?...” 

“Call it a special insight I have with people.” Ash simply said. “But, are you?”

“No… Yes… I don’t know.” Lynnette sighed in frustration. “I am where I want to be, but yet…” She sighed again as she turned towards the view screen. A momentary silence filled the room as waited for her to continue. “I guess that I thought that it would have taken more time to get here and that fact makes me wonder if I’m actually ready.”

Ash was quiet, letting the silence settle on the bridge before moving so that he was standing next to her. “It's a leap of faith.” 

“Sir?” Lynnette asked as she looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

 “Meaning just that.” Ash said, he gathered his thoughts before he continued. “It’s a leap of faith. You don’t know if you’re ready for it until you make that first step. People have seen your potential and are making their own leap to follow you.” He put his hand on the Caushae’s shoulders. “All you need to do is keep doing what you’ve already been doing. If you ever doubt yourself, remember that you’ve already stepped up and took command when it was needed. You've already handled several separate incidents by taking charge and getting out of an extreme  situation that others couldn’t hope of doing themselves, saving people’s lives in the process.” The human gave Lynnette’s shoulder a reaffirming squeeze. “Keep in mind that not every decision you’re going to make in the future is going to involve life or death situations when you sit in that chair.”

Before Lynnette could fully comprehend what he had said and respond, the woosh of the door opening and people talking interrupted the two of them as several of the crew started to enter the bridge.

“And then he said, "Joke's on you, turd-blossom. Because I don't know anything."

“Oh my gods. You’re kidding.” Rayne laughed as she entered onto the bridge. “Your grandfather actually said that to a Caushae Warlord?”

“Yes, he did.” Trip chuckled as he followed behind the white fox. 

“How did you ever find that out?”

The blue avian shrugged. “I was poking around my family ship’s mainframe and found that old communique from when my grandparents got together.”

“That’s just… Wow.” Rayne shook her head as she thought about the story the Liunerthan hybrid just told her. Her attention moved to where Lynnette and Ash were standing on the bridge. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding. Sir.” She said with a cheeky grin as she gave both the feline and the human a playful salute.

“I wasn’t hiding.” Lynnette deflected.

“Sure you weren't.”

Marus was the next to enter as Rayne and Trip went and found their stations. “Captain. Director.” He acknowledged as he strolled up to the two. “Everything alright?” 

“Yes,” Ash spoke up before Lynnette could open her mouth. “I wanted to check in on the ship one last time and offered some last minute advice to your commander.”

Marus cocked an eyebrow. “I… Think that I understand, sir. Though I am a bit curious as to what the advice may be.”

Ash just grinned knowingly. “Now that would be telling.” He said before turning back to Lynnette. “Well Lt. Commander, I leave this ship in your hands. She has a good name, and now a good crew. Take care of both of them and they will always bring you home.”

“I… Thank you Director.”

“You’re welcome.” Ash said with a slight tilt of his head. “May the wind be ever at your and your crew’s backs.” The Director took one more glance around the bridge that was now filling with people coming onto the bridge before leaving out the closest door.

Marus watched as the human made his way off the bridge and turned to Lynnette. “What was that about ?” He asked in a low voice.

“Nothing really.” Lynnette said before looking at the black wolf. “Well... I… “ She started as her shoulders slouched as she turned back to look at the chair. “I Don’t know how to explain it. I guess you could say that I had doubts.” 

“Oh?” Marus raised an eyebrow.

 “I guess that somewhere deep down, I have questions on whether I’m fit to command or not. I’ll admit that while it's not in my records, I do not have a good history with being in command of others. Usually, it ends up with them doing their own thing and I get the blame for the resulting failure. The director somehow felt that some advice was in order to relieve me of my doubts.”

“Did it work?”

Lynnette shrugged. “Kind of, but there are still a few misgivings that I have.” 

Marus blinked as he looked at the snow leopard. Here he was looking at a person who had not only fought with a superior officer, but took charge and got them out of a disastrous situation while also saving another ship in the process. The same person was now admitting that she had misgivings on taking command because of how others had ignored her orders in the past and she had taken the fall for the insubordination. When she was given command of the Mimosa, he couldn’t understand why. Her record had shown her to be arrogant and insubordinate when it comes to following her mission orders. His original assumption of the Caushae snow leopard was based on what he had read. Now… he wasn’t so sure what to think.

“Lisen,” Marus said after some thought. “I don’t really know about your past and I’m not sure if I do want to know. The majority of this crew chose to be here and to follow your orders, and that is what they are going to do. They saw first hand what you are capable of and while I might not speak for everyone, I for one want to see how far you will go.”

“Hell Yeah!” A shout came from the front of the bridge. Lynnette turned to see that Rayne was looking right at her with one of her devious grins. “As your friend, you should know that I have your back. Anytime, anywhere. And I am certain Faelynne would say the same in her own way.” 

“The XO is right.” A human on her right said. “We volunteered to be here. A ship and her Commander are only as good as their crew, so it wouldn’t reflect well if we started to do our own things.” 

“And as the XO said,” Anoixi piped up from her station “We want to see where we go from here. The journey’s starting and we are as ready as can be to follow.”

Lynnette felt stunned. “I… don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing more to be said aside from, Let’s take our stations people!” Marus barked. “This ship isn’t going to fly itself.” Everyone turned or went back to their stations. 

“Marus…” Lynnette said, stopping the wolf in his tracks. “Thank you.” The wolf nodded as he went to his assigned station on her left. She turned back to the chair, standing there for a few more seconds as she gave it one final look before she settled down in it. Giving the armrest a bit of a feel to let the moment settle in her mind before activating the two consoles that were attached to either side of her chair. A whistle sounded as the snow leopard activated the ship’s internal communications system, gaining the attention of the rest of the crew.

“Attention crew, this is the Commander speaking.” Lynnette started, gaining everyone’s attention as they stopped to listen to the announcement. “I am not one for speeches, as some might have noticed during the ceremony,” There was a low chuckle from a few members of the crew as Lynnette steeled herself to continue. “However, there’s a few things that I need to say so I shall try and be as brief as I can.” 

“As we are all aware of, not only are we a part of a launching of a new ship and with it a new class; but we now stand at the start of a journey that very few, if any, have actually traveled. None of us knows for sure what we shall be facing in the coming days nor do we know where such a journey will take us. As someone said ‘it is a leap of faith.’  Which to me means that even if we are unsure of ourselves now, we are brave enough to be willing to move forward and… I don’t think that I could have made a better crew than all of you that have volunteered to join me.”

There was a low murmur among the crew as they listened to Lynnette’s speech, both of approval and curiosity of where the feline might be going.

“However, not only do I want to express my gratitude to everyone that is here, for choosing to walk this path with me; but I want to acknowledge and remember those that have sacrificed themselves to the great beyond so that we have this chance to start and continue our journey.” Lynnette paused for a few seconds to let her words sink in before she continued. “For those that have sacrificed themselves and for those that have volunteered to take this leap of faith with me, I thank you.” A few of the crew murmured to each other as they thought back to the last year or so, remembering some of their fellow cadets who weren’t as lucky as they were. Lynnette’s thoughts drifted to Reg and in some ways, wished that he was sitting here instead of her. 

“Now,” Lynnette said, regaining her composure. “Let’s get this show on the road. All hands to departure stations.” 

There was a chorus of “Aye, aye captain!” That sprang up from around the room as well as throughout the ship as the crew finished getting to where they were supposed to be. The bridge soon  became a flush of activity as everyone went to their tasks and the bridge was filled with chatter.

“All departments report when status is ready.” 

“Reactor coming online, three hundred and seventy seconds until full power.”

“Engine startup sequence initiated, five hundred and fifteen seconds until idle ready.”

“Communication equipment online and showing green across the board.”

Lynnette listened to the chatter around her as she waited for the ship to be ready for launch. activating the small consoles attached to her chair, she input her personal code into the computer and soon the small monitors sprang to life. A combination of touch screen controls and displays lit up, giving her access to whatever she may need with a touch of a finger. Bringing up the ship’s ready levels, she watched with some facenation as the internal power increased and became less and less reliant on the external power being supplied by the Leviathan. Soon the schematics showed that the ship was now operating mostly on its own power with little draw from the cables that connected the Valkyrie to the construction docks of the Leviathan.

“Reactor is now showing optimal power levels for flight M’am.” An engineer started from his station on the side of the bridge, drawing the snow leopard from her thoughts. 

“Thank you.” Lynnette said as she nodded to the officer. She swiveled in her chair and faced the black wolf that was listening to his earpiece. “Commander Marus,” She said, getting the black Lykain’s attention. “Crew status?” 

“All departments and crew have checked in and are showing ready for departure. Except for one.” Marus said as he faced the Caushae in the center of the bridge. “Captain status?” There was a light laugh that rose from the bridge crew, even causing Lynnette to chuckle some.

“As ready as she’ll ever be…” she muttered before turning to the aft station and the avian communication officer that was sitting there. “Mr. Chriton, would you please do the honors and notify dock control that we are ready for departure?” 

“Yes mam.” Came the chipper avian’s reply. “Leviathan control, this is the LCS Valkyrie. Ship is reporting ready and requesting launch clearance.” He listened to the ear piece for a few seconds as he received a response. “Launch clearance has been granted.” Trip finally said as he turned to face Lynnette. “The requested flight plan data is being uploaded right now and I have been instructed to inform you that we need to dock with the station to pick up some additional personnel that are to help us with the shake down cruise.”

“Send them our acknowledgement.” Lynnette said before turning to face forward. “Have you received our course Rayne?” The vixen was busy typing on her console, probably looking over the requested course before turning to answer her Captain.

“Exit the big, movable construction ship and do a few loops around the big ship so that the media hounds can take their pretty picture of our new ship, while avoiding the worker traffic to dock at the station?” Rayne asked jokingly, ready to say that she didn’t receive it only to get cut off by the deadpan stares that were focused her way. The white vixen sighed at having some of her fun ruined. “Course plotted and ready to go. Just need your order, Captain.”

“Take us out.”

The sound of docking clamps being released echoed through the hull, letting the ship drift lazily in the drydock berth that it was in. The ambient noise of the ship’s power core noticeably magnified as Rayne began to increase the demands on the reactor output as power was routed to the ship’s thrusters and engines. Outside, observers watched the spectacle as the Valkyrie slowly rose out of its snug position in its birth and the crowd clapped in celebration of the ship’s first launch. The engines flared to life to propel the ship forward on a course to the massive doors and out of the massive hangar cavity. 

The Valkyrie sailed smoothly out into open space as Rayne followed the plotted course around the massive mothership that they had just exited. Cameras tracked the small delta shaped ship as it flew past the forked bow of the massive construction ship, giving the spectators that were there multiple views of the new ship class. The group let out a gasp and a bit of cheer as parts of the ship began to move and spread from the body, revealing a sleek fighter like design with forward swept wings.

“Really Rayne?” Lynnette asked her vixen helmsman with a raised eyebrow. “Wings? In space?”

“What?” She said innocently as she spun the chair to face Lynnette and the rest of the bridge. “First off, this is a new ship and we’ve been ordered to show her off to the news hounds. Second, while the ship is still sleek like a fighter, triangles are boring. Showing off the wings adds some much needed personality and stylization. Besides,” She said, turning back to her console. “I wasn’t the one who designed it.” 

Lynnette just shook her head as she rolled her eyes in response as the ship continued to circle around the massive mothership, giving the spectators multiple angles to see the newly christened vessel as it flew the course given to it. Eventually, the LCS Valkyrie peeled away from the space around the Leviathan and made its way to the space station. The only complication was that the original course would have sent the scout ship into a small flotilla of construction pods that were trying to manhandle a section of station that had accidentally gotten away from them while one of the pilots was distracted. 

“LCS Valkyrie, you are cleared for docking. Be advised, automatic docking approach is currently non-operational. Manual docking is required.”

It was about fifteen minutes after the ship’s initial launch that the Valkyrie found itself nearing the station. Spirits were still high and the crew were still looking forward to their first mission.

 “Understood Artemis Terminal. We have the ball.” Lynnette answered before she nodded to Trip to close the communication channel. “Well Rayne, it's still in your court.”

“Understood Captain.” Rayne said with a bit of a chipper voice. “Starting docking sequence, docking in one hundred and eighty seconds.” 

The ship’s wings folded back and locked into place, giving the ship back it's sleek delta shape profile as the wihte vixen guided the ship on its tradetory between two protruding arms of the station. Two clamps reached out on either side of the ship and latched onto the hull with a soft, resonating thud. Once secured into place, an umbilical docking arm reached out to the main loading ramp of the Valkyrie’s forward underside of the main hull. There was another soft thud as the external docking structure made contact with the hull of the blue ship followed by a slight groan as air was rushed into the fragile corridore and the pathway between the ship and station was slowly pressurized.

“Docking complete.” Rayne announced. 

“Umbilical has soft seal and is pressurizing.” Marus said from his station before turning to his captain. 

“Thank you.” Lynnette said softly in acknowledgement, then she looked at her XO. “Shall we go and greet our guests? 

“Aye sir.” The black wolf said as he stood up to join his captain.

“Rayne, you have the Con.” Lynnette said as got up from her seat, followed by the black wolf.

“Yes ‘mam” Rayne said as she stretched out in her seat as the two walked out of the door.

“So, any information about these last minute arrivals?” Lynnette asked Marus as they walked through the ship to the elevators. 

“Only a brief glance as we were doing our flyby.” Marus said as he followed her. “A few engineers and techs that will remain aboard during the shakedown cruise I suspect. Being a relatively new design and ship class, there’s going to be more bugs than usual to work out of the system. So I assume that they’re going to be onboard to make detailed notes.”

“I’m surprised that they weren’t shuttled over before launch.” Lynnette mused as she stepped onto the elevator. “I mean, why not be on the Leviathan or the Valkyrie and be done with it?”

“Right now only they know for certain.” Marus shrugged. “We’re just the ones dealing with the effect of their decisions.”

Lynnette nodded as they dropped the four levels to the bottom of the ship where the forward ramp and main docking airlock was. The doors opened and deposited them into a wide hall with the adjoining elevator on the other side. Two sets of double doors were on either side of the center of the hall perpendicular to the facing elevators, one was closed at the moment while the other was open with the noise of people moving about in the connecting rooms. The two stepped off only to be quickly replaced by several of the crew quickly making their way with various boxes and loaded trolleys to claim the now vacant car.

The two went to the closed door and Lynnette pressed the panel on the side for the door to slide open with a hiss of air. Beyond the door was a long chamber that made up the forward section of the hanger deck. Lights flickered on as sensors realized that someone had entered the vacant chamber, revealing two securely parked Defiant trucks inside with multiple conversion parts mounted on the walls and the tall ceiling by hoists and cranes. 

Upon seeing the two ATV trucks, Lynnette froze in place as she stared at the two Defiant ATVs. Memories of the events that had happened over eighteen months ago flooded back to the forefront of her thoughts. The sudden reminder didn’t sit well with the feline, causing her to visibly shiver from it. It took Marus a second to realize that Lynnette had stopped and when he turned around, he stopped in his tracks when he caught the feline standing in place like a deer in headlights.

“Everything alright?” Marus asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“It's nothing.” She said coolly before quickly walking away from the vehicles. 

Marus blinked and frowned. It's been a while since he’s seen this side of her personality and the reappearance of it now has him worried. After taking a quick look back at the two inanimate trucks, he shook his head and rejoined her in matched steps. A side glance at her revealed a stoic face on the Caushae.

“You know,” Marus said to break the silence. “If you ever need to talk, I’m willing to listen. Just as I’m sure more than half the crew will be willing to open their doors for you too if you ever needed them.”

Lynnette was silent for a moment, possibly contemplating an answer for him, but she just responded with, “I… Will keep that in mind.” The two continued the remaining few meters in silence, walking to the end of the long hall like room. When they reached the end, Lynnette went to a console on the side and tapped a button. “We’re at the main airlock.” She announced.

“Confirm.” Trip said through the speaker. “Umbilical has just finished pressurizing. Station reports that there are twelve engineers on their way… And someone else?”

“Details?” Marus asked from over the feline’s shoulders.

“Only that there’s the one extra coming aboard besides the engineers. Sorry.” Trip apologized.

“Thank you for the information.” Lynnette curtly replied and deactivated the coms.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.” She said a bit sharply to her first officer. “Bad memories.” 

Before Marus could try and press the issue any further, the mechanism for the airlock started to cycle with a metallic groan and a thunk. Soon the hydraulics gave off a hiss as a decent size door opened before them and allowed the engineers to enter the ship with some trailing equipment. The lead, a rather tall human wearing a yellow jumpsuit and a pair of specialized goggles, approached the two.

“Greetings.” He said as he raised his hand. “The name is Timothy McIntosh, lead engineer of the Strix Project.”

“Welcome aboard the Valkyrie.” Lynnette said as she shook his hand then indicated towards Marus. “This is Marus'Cal, my XO and I’m Lynnette Wilkes. Commander of the Valkyrie.”

“I’m afraid that you are mistaken and incorrect!” A feminim voice shouted from the back of the group. There was a series of mutters and grumbles as a small brown Mauluse forced her way past the mostly human engineers. Marus looked rather bewildered as he watched the small mouse force her way past the humans. However,  Lynnette’s eyes grew wide with recognition as the small alien woman marched up to the front. “Your ability to command a spaceship is questionable at best, completely incompetent at worse. You are in need of a thorough psychological examination to determine if you are even fit to be a part of society. Therefore, you should consider your commission as the commander of this ship is hereby suspended immediately and indefinitely!”

There was a roar of shocked chatter that came over the engineers while Marus and Lynnette were left flabbergasted. Meanwhile on the bridge, Trip had found a camera that was in the forward bay and had directed the feed so the bridge crew could watch what was going on the main view screen. When the Mauluse made her statement, there was an even bigger cry of outrage from the senior officers on the bridge.

“What the Hell?!?”

“Who the hell does she think she is?”

“Can she do that?”

Rayne, who was normally one of the more vocal personnel, was just sitting quietly at the helm. Glaring disbelieving at what they all had just heard, she felt a growing rage well up inside herself. She didn’t realize until later that she was gripping her fist so tight that her nails were drawing blood from her palms. “That bitch…” She finally growled. “That fucking BITCH!” The bridge crew went quiet at Rayne’s outburst, all eyes were on the white vixen. Rayne barely acknowledged the pain in her fist, both the droplets of blood from her nails and the ache of her hands hitting the console in front of her. Without another word, Rayne got up from her seat and made her way to the door in back. Trip, figuring out what was going on, had quickly jumped out of the seat in an attempt to bar the raging vixen’s way.

“Out of my way!” Rayne snarled at the communication’s officer.

“No Sir…” Trip said, swallowing hard. “The last thing I think you and the commander need right now is for you to act on emotions and get yourself sent to the brig before our first mission. Besides, you think that you’re the only one who wants to go down there to find out what the hell is going on or smack that mouse upside the head for whatever game she’s trying to pull?”

Rayne bared her teeth and opened her mouth to bark at Trip to move again, but she quickly shut her muzzle as his words slowly sunk in. “...No…” She finally growled in frustration.

“Alright…” Trip sighed. “So you need to settle down now and let calmer heads prevail. If the Commander needs our help, either her or Marus will call us. Until then, we can only wait and watch.”

“I…” It was Rayne’s turn to sigh. “You’re right.” She admitted.

Meanwhile…

“Excuse me…” Marus spoke up once the stunning effects of the Mauluse’s words wore off. “But, who are you and why are you here making such a bold claim?”

“I would very much like to know that answer myself. Miss Talyna.” Lynnette said, cutting the Mauluse off before she could speak up. “What the hell are you doing on my ship and why the hell are you trying to strip me of my command?”

“Do you know this person captain?” Marus asked. The tension in the bay was drawing extremely taunt as the two women stared each other down. It seemed that there was crackling electricity where the two gazes met. Those gathered could only stand and watch, afraid of possibly causing the pressure to explode.

“The name is Doctor Talyna.” The brown Mauluse said this time before Lynnette could speak. “I am Miss Wilkes Psychologist…”

“Former Psychologist.” Lynnette interrupted. She turned to Marus and added. “I had to change doctors when she refused to sign off when I passed my psych evaluation multiple times.” The snow leopard turned back to face the mouse with her arms crossed. “In fact, I thought it was made clear that you were supposed to stop meddling with my affairs some time ago.”

“I have no knowledge of what you are talking about.” Dr. Talyna deflected. “Besides, I am only acting with my responsibility as a doctor.” She then handed Lynnette a tablet that was under her arm. “As of the moment I came aboard, I am now the senior medical officer on board this ship. So as the senior officer, I am exercising my right to remove you from active duty.”

“On what grounds?” The XO growled out, not liking where this was heading as he took the tablet to also review the contents.

“The grounds of multiple past psychological trauma that has formed into a unique PTSD. Not to mention that your record shows that you are emotionally unbalanced and have shown bouts of mental instability that has led to multiple questionable decisions and orders that have put both her and those around her at risk. And that’s just since she joined LeviCorp, not including her troubled history that she has.”

“Leave my past out of this!” Lynnette snapped, obviously frustrated with what’s going on.

“You are only proving my point with that outburst, Miss Wilkes.” Dr. Talyna smirked. “A ship commander needs to keep a level head and calm in almost every situation to be able to perform objectively. Something that you’re proving right now that you can’t do. So in my professional opinion, LT Commander Wilkes is unfit for command and should remove herself immediately.”