Mission 0 - Pre-Launch

Lou took a deep breath as he looked at the Nebula Class Starship, U.S.S. Sutherland in it's berth that he was now in command of. The Captain took pause for a moment at the gangway before he boarded the Fleet's newest ship. He walked up the gangway to the nearest Turbolift to take him to Deck 8 getting himself to his quarters to prepare himself and the ship for it's first mission into the Gamma Quadrant.

With his belongings stowed away he knew the ship would have a great crew and staff with the hustle and bustle of a ship coming to life with many adventures ahead of them. When he finished in his quarters he headed to the Turbolift to carry him to his Bridge. For the first time he felt what he thought was the slowest movement in his life, when in all truth it was just a few seconds. Lou waited for the doors to open and he slowly saw the shine of a new Starship Bridge coming into the view. Knowing that he's been ready for the big chair for a while, he couldn't help but smile when he saw it. He then walked across the Bridge to his Ready Room where he wanted to greet members of senior staff when they came aboard. To wind this down he went to the Replicator to order something he always enjoyed.

Capt Marino: Computer, Earl Grey, hot, with a dash of lemon.

The Captain took the cup and saucer from the Replicator when it appeared and took his seat behind the desk and recorded his first Captain's Log before putting together an invitation to Adm Arayuss and Como Carpathia to give Sutherland a proper send off. He really appreciated the position and the vessel under his command. Now he just wondered what his first mission would be out here in the Gamma Quadrant.

Gangway Entrance - Deck 7

The Ensign made it up the Gangway and entered the Sutherland on Deck 7. She went down the corridor and found a Turbolift, before entering she asked the ship's computer where Capt Marino was.

Ens Russ: Computer, where is Captain Marino?

Sutherland-Com: Captain Marino is in the Ready Room on Deck 1.

Andrea entered the Turbolift and took it to the Bridge. As she exited she looked around the deserted Command Center and wondered who would be manning those stations. The Ensign walked over to the Ready Room doors and pressed the chime. She called out to let the Captain know she was there.

Ens Russ: Captain Marino? It's Ensign Andrea Russ, from Admiral Arayuss' office. May I come in?

The Administrative Assistant to the CinC waited patiently to hear from Capt Marino. She was told to give the messages personally by Adm Arayuss and that was exactly what she was planning to do.
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Lt. Junior Grade Andrea M. Russ
Administrative Assistant, Starbase 34

Ready Room - Deck 1

Lou was just finishing his tea when he heard the door chime and the voice of Ens Russ outside the doors. He stood up from behind his desk and called for her to come in.

Capt Marino: Come in, Ensign!

The Captain waited on the Ensign to enter the Ready Room. He was understandably curious as to why the Admiral's Administrative Assistant was making a "house call" to him aboard the Sutherland.

The Ensign entered Capt Marino's Ready Room and saw that he was standing behind his desk to greet her. She greeted the Captain in return and gave him the message from Adm Arayuss.

Ens Russ: Hello Captain, I've come to tell you that Admiral Arayuss and Commodore Carpathia will be in attendance for the launch of the Sutherland. Also, the Admiral as asked me to invite you to the Ceremony for the Fleet's return and the Memorial service for Captain Adonis, who was killed in action aboard Whitestar in the Battle of Sector Epsilon.

Andrea thought she had told Capt Marino everything, when she remembered the last thing Adm Arayuss told her to tell the Captain.

Ens Russ: Oh yes, one more thing Captain. The Admiral said he expects you to be in your dress whites, Sir.

As the Ensign waited on Capt Marino's response, she looked around his Ready Room. It was devoid of any personal touches, such as decorations, family pictures, maybe even an aquarium. She understood that he must have just come aboard and did not have the opportunity to make the Ready Room his own yet.
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Lt. Junior Grade Andrea M. Russ
Administrative Assistant, Starbase 34

Lou was pleased to hear of being invited to the celebration for the Fleet coming home from Sector Epsilon, along with the memorial for Capt Adonis. He only met the Captain a few times and thought of him as a respectable man. It was such a shame that he lost his life in the battle against the Deltaurans.

Capt Marino: Ensign, you can let Admiral Arayuss know that I will be attending and I'll be in my dress whites.

The Captain noticed she was looking around his Ready Room which was notably sparse of decor.

Capt Marino: I'll be decorating my Ready Room with some personal affects as soon as I get unpacked. I'll also be adding an aquarium in the corner with some very colorful fish inside. That should liven my Ready Room up.

Lou escorted Ens Russ out of the Ready Room while he continued...

Capt Marino: I'm going to head to my quarters on Deck 8 and freshen up. Please inform me when the celebration is taking place, so I will not be late. Thank you for delivering the message to me personally, Ensign. I look forward to meeting you again.

The CO walked to the Turbolift and allowed Ens Russ to enter first before entering himself. The lift stopped at Deck 7 to let the Ensign off so she could make her way back to Adm Arayuss, then continued to Deck 8 where Capt Marino made his way to his quarters so he could freshen up and make sure his dress whites fit properly for the celebration and memorial, to be announced.

Bridge - Deck 1

James arrived on the Bridge and took a quick look around at the newly designed command center for the Nebula Class Starship. Needless to say, the XO was very impressed. It was very similar to what he remembered of the Galaxy Class, with major modifications. The Commander went over and took his seat while waiting for other members of the Senior Staff to take their positions.

After a few minutes passed by, Lt. Thomas entered the Bridge and James could see that he mouthed the word "WOW" at the layout of the command center. The Lieutenant walked over to his console at the front of the Bridge, beside the Ops Station.

Cmdr Kee: Welcome aboard, Mr. Thomas. Please begin your pre-flight test and system checks of the Flight Control System. The Captain will be here soon and we want to have everything ready for him when it's time to depart.

James smiled at the Chief Flight Control Officer as he waited for another member of the Senior Staff to arrive. Which this time it was LtCmdr Boffi, who entered next and quickly walked over to the Ops Station, next to Lt. Thomas at the Flight Control Station.

Cmdr Kee: Welcome aboard, Mr. Boffi. Please begin your pre-flight test and do a system check of the Operations console. Captain Marino will be up here shortly and I'd like us to be close to ready when he arrives.

The XO smiled at the Chief Ops Officer as he again waited for another member of the Senior Staff to arrive on the Bridge. This time it was LtCmdr D'Shoua, who strolled over to the Security/Tactical Station which was located behind where the XO was seated.

Cmdr Kee: Welcome aboard, Mr. D'Shoua. Please start the pre-flight test and systems checks of the Security and Tactical systems at your disposal. I know the Captain will be pleased to hear that all is running well on his ship.

James smiled at the Chief Sec/Tac Officer as he continued to wait for more members of the Senior Staff to arrive and take their stations on the Bridge. When the Turbolift doors opened it was Counselor Elbrun who walked out onto the Bridge. She walked pleasantly down to the row of seats where the XO was sitting and took the seat to the left of the Captain's center chair.

Cmdr Kee: Welcome aboard, Counselor. We'll be departing soon, we're just waiting for a few more Senior Staff members to arrive at their stations before the Captain himself arrives.

The XO smiled at the lovely Betazoid Counselor as he waited for another member of the Bridge Crew to arrive. This time it was their Science Officer, LtCmdr Joffee who glided across the Bridge to the Science Station.

Cmdr Kee: Welcome aboard, Mr. Joffee. Please run a Level 5 diagnostic on all the sensor palettes and make sure they're ready for whatever we may run into out there in Sector Epsilon.

With the other Senior Staff members reporting to their stations on other decks on the ship, he waited for them to call in their status to the Bridge. With everyone working at their stations around Sutherland's command center, James found a little time to relax in the XO's chair and waited for the Captain to arrive.
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Commander James L. Kee
Executive Officer, USS Oriskany

As Lou exited the Turbolift he straightened out his uniform to look proper before stepping onto the Bridge of his Nebula Class Starship. Walking down to where his Executive Officer, Cmdr Kee was seated, he gave him a report of the status of their arriving Senior Staff members.

Capt Marino: Commander, all the Senior Staff members have boarded. I'll be in my Ready Room to receive the pre-flight reports as the Staff reports from their stations. Be sure to let me know when we're ready to launch.

The Captain walked to the door of his Ready Room, he was very pleased at how his Yeoman set it up and saw why the Commodore spoke so highly of him. Jansen's touch for the details was astounding. Lou walked by his desk and took some fish food from a small container and dropped a pinch of the nutrients into his fish tank which housed one of his two betta fish, the other being in his Quarters. The Captain sat down behind his desk and began going over the mission parameters again on his terminal, making sure he had it memorized by the time his XO called him out to the Bridge.

James was very happy to see Capt Marino on the Bridge, even though he didn't stay very long. He seemed to be in hurry to get to his Ready Room, perhaps it was to feed his fish? The XO was pleased to hear that every one of the Senior Staff members was now aboard Sutherland, getting ready for their departure.

As the Commander waited to hear from the Department Heads below decks, the first call to the Bridge came from LtCmdr Waters, the Chief Engineering Officer. Zac reported that Engineering was standing by with all systems operating at full capacity.

Cmdr Kee: Thank you, Mr. Waters! You'll be hearing from us soon, Bridge out.

While the XO waited to hear from the next Senior Staff member calling to the Bridge to let him know their department was ready, when he heard the voice of Dr. Jovic, the Chief Medical Officer, calling up to the Bridge to tell him that Sickbay was stocked, ready and was very much to her satisfaction.

Cmdr Kee: Thank you, Doctor! I'll be sure to pass that on to Captain Marino, Bridge out.

As the Executive Officer was filling out his report for the Captain, another call came into the Bridge. This was from LtCol Carrera, the Detachment Wing Commander, stating that the SA-43X's were inspected and they'll be ready to launch when the time comes.

Cmdr Kee: Thank you, Colonel! I'll pass that information on to the Captain, Bridge out.

James continued filling out his report from Engineering, Sickbay and the Aft Hanger and waited to start hearing from the officers seated at their stations around the Bridge. As soon as they reported the status of their consoles to the XO, he'd fill the information out on the PADD and submit it to the Captain in his Ready Room.
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Commander James L. Kee
Executive Officer, USS Oriskany

Dylan was working out the pre-flight details on his console while running a system check on the whole Flight Control System and everything was coming back with exactly the same status: READY

The Lieutenant made his report to Cmdr Kee with some excitement in his voice.

Lt. Thomas: Commander Kee! According to the Flight Control System this baby is ready to rock! All of the pre-flight tests shows us ready to go as well, Sir.

The Chief Flight Control Officer shut down the completed testing and logged the results into the Flight Recorder, so it was on record the pre-flight tests and system check came back "ready to go" at the time of launch. Dylan was getting more excited as he waited for Capt Marino to come to the Bridge and give the order to maneuver out of their berth and head for the Space Doors.
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Lieutenant Dylan S. Thomas
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Whitestar

James was happy to here from Lt. Thomas that all the Flight Control Systems were running at peak efficiency. He thanked Dylan for his due diligence in completing his task.

Cmdr Kee: Good work, Mr. Thomas! I'm glad you're at the Con to keep us flying on the straight and narrow to our destination. You've piloted Whitestar to Sector Epsilon before, so this should be a walk in the park for you!

The Commander added Lt. Thompson's report to his own so it could be sent to Capt Marino in his Ready Room once everyone on the Bridge informed the XO of the status of their stations. James knew it wouldn't be long before he'd be getting his next status report.
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Commander James L. Kee
Executive Officer, USS Oriskany