Starfleet Runs In The Family
Posted on Sun Feb 18th, 2024 @ 2:48am by Captain Takami Karibuchi & Commander Hikari Karibuchi & Yulena Shastakar
2,796 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 0: "A Time To Heal"
Location: Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars
Timeline: June 14, 2403, 0914 hours (Stardate 77997.66)
"Wow... so that's a Constitution III..."
As the Type VII Shuttlecraft Pythia danced around the main administrative complex, it slowly loomed into view; situated in a more obscure corner of the yard, framed against the spider-like superstructure of a nondescript Spacedock, lay the unmistakable profile of Starfleet's latest pet project. Trey had to admit, from his vantage point at the controls of the Pythia, this bold new breed of Explorer was strikingly... unpretentious, though that was hardly to say it was unattractive; rather than the sleek, organic contours that had been something of a precedent for Starfleet vessels since the 2350s, this had opted for a more basic and utilitarian design, much in the vain of the Shangri-La cruisers of the early 2290s. However, this was reportedly far from a nostalgic preference on the part of it's design team; rather, it's shape had been chosen on the merits of its structural soundness, with a shielded deflector array, a heavily-reinforced neck, and sleek, yet sturdy nacelle pylons that were sculpted to perfection- a decision no doubt reinforced by the fact that not a single Shangri-La had ever been lost in the line of duty- at least not as a result of structural failure. Spatial anomalies, on the other hand? They were a dime a dozen.
Of course, implementing such a design onto a space frame that was considerably larger the the Shangri-La-Class was not simply a matter of scaling up its proportions; rather, virtually everything about the ship had been over-reinforced within an inch of its life, from it's already-robust neck structure to the curvaceous Nacelle pylons, and even the housing for the new, over-powered impulse engines that gave it Defiant-like performance.
What Trey wouldn't give to pilot something like that...
Instead, here he was, ferrying this ship's new Commanding Officer on a favor from Skipper- something about treating her sister to lunch a couple weeks ago, but then again, Skipper had a lot of attractive young Captains he liked to treat to lunch, if purely for the company. Not that Trey minded, of course- the opportunity to see a new Constitution III up close was far too good for him to pass up.
As they approached the space dock, Trey briefly shifted his attention to the Pythia's lone passenger- a short, stocky brunette, who had moved from her seat in the rear compartment to get a better view. Having ferried Skipper to the Cerebus for the first time, he knew the look on her face all too well; that feeling of awe when you first lay eyes of a new command, and reckon with the responsibilities that such a duty entails. To lead was not simply a matter of holding that elusive center chair on the bridge; several hundred, sometimes thousands of men, women, children, and all things in between now put their lives in you and your ability to lead- they lived and died by your word, and that was a fact that was humbling for many Captains, this one included.
"Impressive?" he remarked. "I take it you're going to want me to perform a flyover, Commander?"
The Commander glanced over at him and grinned. "Is the Pope Catholic? Take us around, Trey."
"Aye, Ma'am," Trey nodded as he eased the yoke back.
The Pythia pitched upwards before banking gently to Starboard, allowing the two of them to get a better view of the ship. Expertly navigating his way between the hull of the vessel and the arms of the space dock, Trey deliberately made a low pass across the breadth of the saucer section, giving the Commander the opportunity to examine the name of her new Command:
USS YORKTOWN
NCC-91781
It was somewhat fascinating to Trey that such a storied legacy as that of Yorktown had all stemmed from one inconspicuous municipality in Eastern Virginia. He had visited the real Yorktown in person a couple years ago while on shore leave- he didn't have anything better to do at the time, so he figured he'd take the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the America that Skipper so fondly loved- and outside of a few key sites of historic and cultural significance, the meat and potatoes of Yorktown, Virginia- the living, breathing, municipality- was a cozy little village where everyone knew one another. Granted, they were a mostly European group of folk, but that was certainly expected from a settlement that had founded itself as a port of trade with which to be exporting tobacco back to England; but even still, they were an unusually nice band of folk, always stopping on the street to say hello, even if you were a complete outsider, as Trey was. But even outsiders were a fact of life that they had long since grown accustomed to; with a Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, an auxiliary campus for Starfleet's Domestic Affairs Division, and the sixth largest Starfleet Weapons Depository on Earth (the one in Lagos didn't even come close), the citizens here had become accustomed to a revolving door of outsiders from all walks of life, whether they be domestic, foreign, or even alien. He'd passed by a house once and overheard two ladies on the porch talking about a Vulcan that they'd met at the supermarket, and he very specifically remembered one of the women commenting that, had Starfleet not had such a considerable presence in the area, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet such exotic specimens- to which the other replied that if it weren't for Starfleet, Yorktown as they knew it might not have continued to exist.
Such a fascinating local culture, no doubt; having grown up in the urban sprawl that was Cape Town, he didn't have the luxury of such small-town familiarity as Yorktown did. But what did America- no, what did humanity continue to see in this humble little town? Why did Starfleet have such a vested interested in this specific locale, when there were so many more populous cities nearby- Williamsburg and Richmond, for instance- that would've benefited more from their presence? Well, the easy answer- and likely the answer that Skipper would've given- was the historic precedent it had set for America; a great many centuries ago, it was here that the American revolutionaries claimed their last great victory over their English oppressors, firmly establishing themselves as an independent entity. But his respect for Skipper aside, Trey would've argued that excuse to be irrelevant- America and England were equals now, and had been for a mighty long time; they had fought together in the First World War, and the Second, and the Third, and now served together amongst the stars as part of the greater human equation. Rather, Trey argued, the victory of the American forces that day set a historic precedent for humanity- that the weak and the downtrodden did not always lose to the strong, the powerful, and the unjust; and with the right amount of organization, there lay the hope- no matter how slim- that their voices would one day be heard.
And, so, it could be argued, that the legacy of this victory carried like a voice- first across the globe, then across the stars, living on in spirit through such equally-storied vessels as PG-1; CV-5; CV-10; CG-48; DDG-162; NX-150; NCC-1717; NCC-2033; NCC-75640; and now, here, in NCC-91781.
Expertly maneuvering the Pythia across the smooth hull plating, Trey made great pains to showcase the oversized and over-powered impulse engines- a feat of modern engineering, especially given it had been so seamlessly integrated into a smaller explorer, rather than a larger ship-of-the-line such as the Odyssey. circling around and dancing between the starboard nacelle pylon, he brought the Pythia astern and swung her around, as the large, clam-shell doors leading into the aft shuttlebay slid back, with a gentle hum that could be discerned even from this distance. Trey then proceeded to power down the engines, allowing the ship's tractor beam to take over and guide them in for a landing.
"My hat's off to you, Trey, that was a fantastic flyover," the brunette complimented as the Pythia was set down with a gentle plunk.
"Always a pleasure, Commander," Trey smiled. "Are you going to need help with your luggage?"
"Me? Nah, I've got this," the brunette assured him as she stood up to retrieve her personal belongings. "But thank you for the offer."
Trey nodded and shifted his attention over to the control interface.
"I'm opening the rear hatch," he announced, his fingers gliding expertly over the controls. "Stand back."
With a soft hiss, the rear hatch powered downwards, leading out into the main shuttlebay, as well as a small crowd of curious spectators who had gathered to witness the arrival of their new Commander. The brunette stepped forward- pausing briefly to take a whiff of that "new ship smell"- before shifting her attention to the onlookers.
"Permission to come aboard, Gentlemen?" she inquired with a smirk.
The spectators looked at one another, a look of confusion plastered on their faces.
"Permission granted, Hikari."
the crowd slowly parted to reveal two women: another brunette, this time with waist-length hair and a full four pips denoting her status as Captain, and a tall, silver-haired woman, with piercing amber eyes and sporting a tan, military uniform that was definitely not Starfleet-issue.
"Sis!" the Commander exclaimed as she all but dropped her belongings and ran over to hug the other brunette, whom Trey was only now starting to realize bore a passing resemblance to his passenger.
"Missed you too, Hikari," the Captain chuckled, playfully ruffling her sister's hair. "And congrats on receiving your first Command; am I hearing right that you outscored Annika Hansen at the Command Seminar?"
"1,214 points to her 1,196," Hikari boasted with an evident swell of pride. "I'll bet it was that trick question about the Parallax Matter Echo that threw her off..."
"Well, regardless, I'm very proud of what you've managed to accomplish," her sister smiled warmly. "Ah, to think it was just yesterday that I could hold my baby sister with my own two arms... now she's all grown up and commanding a Starship!"
"Well, what can I say, Takami? This command's been a long time coming for me..." Hikari grinned.
It was at that point that her attention shifted over to the other woman, who up to that point had been standing quietly off to the side.
"And... who's this?"
"General Yulena Shastakar, Ground Forces Sub-Commander for the People's Revolutionary Army of Annexar," the silver-haired woman announced, standing rigidly at attention. "By dictation of your superior officers, I am wholly submitting myself to your care; I trust you will be responsible in upholding my well-being."
"Er...?" Hikari glanced back over at Takami for further elaboration.
"General Shastakar hails from what was formerly known as the Annexari Republic, a space-faring civilization that we had previously established contact with in 2297," Takami went on to explain. "They ultimately chose to pursue isolationism at the time, but they've just recently come off of a devastating civil war that's killed millions and upended infrastructure within their territory."
"In our current state, the Provisional Government lacks sufficient resources with which to rebuild," General Shastakar added. "Thus, we have elected to break with our centuries-long policies of isolationism and pursue collaboration with the Federation; we are of the understanding that you are in a better socioeconomic state with which to help us in achieving our ends."
Hikari blinked. "You're... requesting relief efforts from Starfleet?"
"Whatever nonsensical terminology you use to refer to it," General Shastakar dismissed.
Hikari scowled. "Hey, I was just trying to understand-!"
"Don't let her get to your head, Hikari," Takami quickly held up a hand. "General Shastakar still has a great many things to learn about our customs, so this is her way of processing it."
"By copping attitude?!" Hikari gawked. "How did she even get through Customs with that mouth?"
"With a great deal of patience," General Shastakar stated bluntly.
Hikari pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Okay. So, let me see if I'm getting this straight; these... Annexari, or whatever they call themselves, are in the process of rebuilding from a civil war; but since their internal resources are virtually exhausted, they're opening their borders up to Starfleet so that we can assist them in the relief efforts?"
"That is precisely the matter at hand," Takami stated as she unclipped a PADD from her belt and handed it over to Hikari for review. "As a matter of fact, Theta Fleet Admiralty has already decided that administering relief to the Annexari will comprise the bulk of the Yorktown's first deployment."
Hikari took the PADD and examined the mission statement that was contained within. Off the bat, she could tell there were a ton of big names attached to this document- Curzon Bennett, Samantha York, Kaede Kayano, Maximilian Hunter, and even Kathryn Burke, were amongst five that immediately stood out to her.
"Don't worry, this assignment will be far from menial work," Takami assured her. "the Brass at Theta Fleet are banking big on this new class of Explorer, so they're looking to put it through its paces and see if it's capable of delivering upon what Admiral Krause and his design team originally promised. A war-torn region of space that we've not yet explored seemed like the perfect chance for us to put the Yorktown to use in it's intended line of duty, and the data we hope to gather from its in-field performance, coupled with the overall quality-of-life on board, will go a long way in helping us to better understanding the class's overall practicality."
"So... it's kind of like a trial period?" Hikari surmised.
"Precisely," Takami responded. "And don't worry, I had to do something just like this when they first gave me command of the Hornet; of course, what with our being an Intel Heavy Cruiser, I'm not exactly at liberty to say what we were up to..."
"You tease," Hikari chuckled as she handed the PADD back to Takami. "Well, it's certainly going to be a tall order, but it's one I'm willing to carry out to the fullest of my given ability."
"And I wouldn't expect anything less from my baby sister," Takami smiled as she playfully ruffled Hikari's hair. "So, what do you say? Ready for the tour?"
"Lead the way, Sis," Hikari gestured.
"Right then," Takami replied as she began to lead Hikari and Yulena over to the nearest Turbolift. "So, first thing you ought know, we have about 28 decks and 950 people living and working here at any one time..."
As the three of them disappeared out of view, Trey decided he'd take the time to have a look around; he had an hour or two to kill before he had to start getting back to the Cerebus, and given this would be his first real opportunity to see several experimental new craft, such as the Type XIV, the XV, and even the Volga-Class Runabout up close, he knew it would be too good an opportunity to pass up. He began to disembark from the Pythia with the intent of seeking out a Volga, but his attention was immediately captivated by a strange-looking vehicle he had never seen before; it was a land-based transport, much in a similar vein to that of the Argo's built-in ground vehicle. However, compared to the Argo, it looked to be somewhat lacking in terms of versatility, with narrow wheels, plastic buffers, and... was it just him, or did the front end of that thing look like a smiley face?
"Seriously, what is that..."
Posting by (In Order Of Appearance):
Lieutenant, Junior Grade Trey Amukamara
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Cerebus (NCC-75110)
Commander Hikari Karibuchi
Commanding Officer, USS Yorktown (NCC-91781)
Captain Takami Karibuchi
Commanding Officer, USS Hornet (NCC-42025)
General Yulena Shastakar
Annexari Special Representative
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