“Cadet’s Log – [July, 2402] – It is the end of our cadet junior year and so we have finally entered exam season – this year, we will be taking part in a three-week vocational training cruise, which has cadets working on a training ship in actual roles, rather than just conducting simulated missions over and over again. For me, Vic and Sally, we are being assigned to the USS Exeter shuttle bay – she’s an old classic Constitution Class… definitely one for the bucket list”
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On the moon of Stinsfor, orbiting the planet of Mellstoxx IV is the Starfleet Academy Pilot Training Facility, which has been home to Cadets Thomas Hunter, Victor Murphy and Sally Tang for the past ten months. Cadet Hunter puts down his PADD and takes a look at himself in the mirror to check his uniform and straighten himself out – he looks… good – stoic and confident, though really he is nervous as all heck. An alarm beeps and there’s an announcement over the PA system.
“This is your 09.00 reminder – Today’s the day!!”
Thomas grabs his gear and leaves his bedroom to go to the kitchen, where Sally and Victor are sat at the table, eating some kind of food and talking about starships – They are always talking about starships.
Sally, the shuttle-head that she is, always picks the faster, more agile ships, “… the Defiant-class means I could warp in, unleash a torrent of cannon-fire and launch some torpedoes then bounce from target-to-target and fire everything at them” – Victor, on the other hand prefers the latest tech and gimmicks “nah… you can achieve all that with the Prometheus-class and take on multiple targets with the multi-vector-assault mode and just go ham on everyone”
Thomas, grabs an energy drink from the replicator and pulls a chair out to sit down, interrupting his two friends, “You are both wrong. What you want is a ship that can inspire hope amongst our allies and apprehension amongst our enemies. You want a versatile ship that can explore the galaxy and still take on the Borg.”
Sally and Victor scoff, jokingly and continue their debate, until they are interrupted by another reminder from the computer:
“This is your 09.30 reminder – Time to go: EVERYBODY OUT!!”
The cadets grab their gear and leave the dorm room, making sure everything is locked and that they have all things they need, as they will not be returning for the next three weeks. Thomas leads Victor and Sally past the other dormitories, and they eventually arrive at the turbolift, which takes them to shuttle-bay three.
The doors open to reveal the open space of the shuttle-bay – complete with a wide array of shuttles, runabouts and fighters, all being attended to by crewmen and auxiliary craft mechanics. The cadets make their way to talk to Chief Petty Officer Ramirez at the Shuttle Control Centre.
“Chief Ramirez?” – The shuttle coordinator looks up from his PADD and walks over to an interactive panel on the far side of the office and pulls up the cadet’s flight plan. “I have a shuttle for you on pad ten. Your pilot is ready and waiting for you – pre-flight checks have been performed and you have a ten minute window to launch.” Ramirez was known to be highly efficient when it came to shuttle coordination, even though the moon didn’t really get much traffic, other than sending out fighter craft and shuttles for training.
The cadets thank the Chief and then hurry themselves to pad ten, where they find the Danube-Class Runabout ‘Gurney’ dispatched from the USS Nightingale, along with it’s pilot, Captain Nickolas Hunter.
“Good morning, cadets. Hope you don’t mind me flying you to the station?” Thomas has always held his father in high regard, both as a parent and as a Starfleet Captain – his stories of heroism and daring rescues as a child became a massive influence on why he and Victor wanted to join Starfleet. “Dad, it’d be an honour and a privilege to have you fly us.”
Nickolas gives Thomas a gleaming smile and a loving pat on the shoulder, before sending him into the shuttle and taking a second with his adopted son “Your parents would be very proud of the man you’re becoming, Victor.” – Vic allows his veil to drop for just a moment, revealing a small sense of pride and the gratitude for a genuine compliment that meant everything to him. They shake hands and Vic boards the runabout.
Sally is not one for idle chit-chat or awkward conversation, she simply gives the Captain a nod of acknowledgement, a vehement “Sir!” and she walks with absolute purpose aboard the Gurney, places her bags in the cargo hold with the others’ belongings and takes a seat with the rest of her team. Nickolas gives a gentle chuckle, as he boards after Sally, while Victor is routing through one of his bags, frantically trying to find one of his gadgets, his set of ‘TekMan’ tools and his personal PADD.
The Captain takes his place in the pilot’s seat and invites the cadets to do the same, “if everyone’s ready, please take your seats and try to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at ll times.” – He then begins pressing buttons and contacts the shuttle coordinator and prepares the automated pre-flight checks. “Chief Ramirez, this is the runabout Gurney on landing pad ten… pre-flight is complete and showing green across the board. Permission to depart the shuttle bay, for Starbase Bravo?”
Ramirez checks his monitors, showing all the flight data and highlights landing pad ten, its flight path and the runabout’s data. “Gurney, this is Flight Control, all moorings and connectors have been recalled, you are free to launch at sub-impulse on your pre-arranged flight plan to the Station.”
The runabout begins to lift off and travels at a slow and steady speed along the designated path that leads to the shuttle bay doors… “Let’s go flying… … … ”
To Be Continued…
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