RP: SNV Gam'trosha [Prologue] The Gathering, and Launch?

"Aaah," Tite'Yanus said as he bumped in to answer Def'leor's question. "But if there was a saboteur looking to sabotage a ship, what better way to throw them off than by leaving before they have an opportunity to sabotage it? If I wanted to destroy a ship, I would plant bombs no more than an hour before the crew was set to board in order to avoid any last minute maintenance work from stumbling onto the bomb. Not to mention that, with the commotion outside, the next little while would be to most opportune time to plant such a bomb. If one factors in travel time for a saboteur, then us departing immediately means that we would have a good chance of either leaving before he arrives or catching him in the act."

Sa'kira smiled and gestued at Tite'Yanus. "C'bar Tite'Yanus is correct, I'm guessing command wants us off the ground to help reduce the chances of our ship being sabotaged. But, in any case, it'll still take a bit of time to go through the checklist and ensure all systems are operating correct. So during that time, our marines," she looked at their marines in turn. "Will sweep the ship for bombs."

After that, Sa'kira headed downstairs. When the fifteen minutes were up, she called the crew down to board the shuttles. Two seperate shuttles, Ti'saren class, were waiting for them.

Hanger Seventeen

Hanger Seventeen could be seen once the shuttles landed just short of the covered ceremonial stage. People had already gathered around, family members of the crew, military police who were assigned to protect the ship, and EMS workers in the event something went wrong.

Behind the stage was the Gam'trosha, the ship looked fresh and new, it's paint still looking new despite the storm that was beating down on it. Walking around the ship were a few marines, their rifles up and ready in case they needed them, the marines kept an eye on both the crow dand Sa'kira's crew.

By now the storm had opened up with a furious barrage of lightning, every few seconds, there was a flash followed by a thunderclap. In the audiance, kit's who were afraid of such displays were either crying or trying to find a places to hide, their parents trying hard to calm them down - but the constant thunder and the somewhat heavy winds drowned out the sound of crying.

The sky itself, despite the storm, was full of activity now. Shuttles, patrol craft including starships and fighters, flew overhead.

The Shipmasted looked up at the sky, the rain didn't bother her one bit, and then she looked back at her crew. "Ok everyone, just like you were taught back in basic, line up on stage at attention please," she said and walked up on stage. The stage was made out of hardwood and had the nation's flag painted into the wood, on the front of it was a microphone and standing in front of that was a soldier wearing a full uniform, the armband showed him as being a Q'Abrinal and the man officer was conversing with another officer who was showing him something on a number of displays.

Def'leor still thought the ceremony and rush were just as much a risk. A saboteur if in the service could easily move about pretending to be doing their job. That and all the people gathered about just added to the risk, easier to lose track of a person in a crowd. But it was not her decision.

She walked towards the stage, she did not even bother glancing at the crowed. There was no reason, she had no family. As she walked up the stairs she briefly wondered where the rest of the crew were. Surely it could not just be this group of C'Baruce. Protocol was for the crew to line up by rank. But without the rest of the crew exactly where to form up was problematic.

She marched across the stage until she was sure there was room for others regardless of rank. She executed a turning maneuver and stood at attention.

Several minutes before departure
Shar decided she was going to try it. She could not just go to the ceremony and stand like a dumbass there being all sober. She needed little something to stay calm and endure the torture of having who knows how many people watch her. Shar stood up and walked to the bar, carrying her glass towards the bar.

"Hey there," she greeted that owner and bartender in one. "Here is the glass back, say you sell cigarettes?" She asked at first.

The bartender looked up from his work, he had been cleaning the counter top while some of his employees were preparing for more customers. "Cigs huh? No, I don't currently have any in stock, why?" She asked.

"Well my pack is getting empty so I though I might stock up." Shar explained and let out a sigh. "Say care to help a weary marine who will leave this mudball soon?" She then asked with mischievous grin on her face.

Curiously the bartender looked around and leaned inward. "What kind of 'help' are you referring to?"
"Well you see, this all sit together was all nice, but now we are going to super boring ceremony soon. And well you know... it will be like torture to me. So I was thinking..." Shar paused for a while looking into bartenders eyes. "...that well you could sell me bottle of that nice tomato juice for a road and well... spice it up a little."

The owner stared at the marine for a moment before saying. "Spice it up huh?" he asked and grabbed a bottle of the juice off the rear counter and set it down. "What exactly did you want me to put in it? And you do know this will cost right?"

"Nothing is cheap mate." Shar said with grin on her scarred face. "Well what was the cost of two shots of vodka? 50 RN? 100RN?" She asked simply to show she is willing to pay.

"One hundred," he said and grabbed a small bottle that was under the counter. "How much in it?"

"Two shots will be fine, I cannot get wasted. Just do it so my boss does not see." Shar said and leaned on the counter, moving the glass she brought towards the barmaid. A bill of 100 RN was under it now. She winked at the barmaid.

The owner quietly accepted the bill and ran it under the counter so no one would notice, then he did as Shar had asked before handing off the bottle to her. "Just be sure not to drink it somewhere your boss can see," he warned.

"Oh well if you say so. Though she should hardly notice it in all that tomato juice." Shar said. and took the bottle. "And thanks nice doing business with ya." With that Shar turned back and returned to the table. When she got back, others were already getting up. Time to go.

Shar made sure to board different shuttle then the shipmistress. She then drank her bottle to the bottom slowly enjoying the taste of bloody mary. She had plenty experience with alcohol and this would make her only slightly tipsy. Not that anyone would test her right now. And even if then would this would not be enough for discharge. Probably.

As shuttle landed and they moved towards the place where the ceremony was supposed to take place, Shar discarded the bottle in the nearest bin. She then followed everyone else. She was very glad she got that drink because sight of hundreds of people watching them was horrible thing. Her eyes narrowed in front, her face shaped in something like disgust, but then she noticed her brother in the crows. Of course he would be here. That made her grin a little as she moved on top of the podium.

"Darn how I would love to light a cigarette right now," she muttered so only the other crew members could hear that. "This is going to be utterly pointless."

As Sa'kira watched and waited, she mentally recalled how the formation was set up during ceremonies such as these. Enlisted personnel always stood in the middle center of the stage, while warrent officers stood on the left side of the stage and regular officers were on the right side. Daurs were always up front due to their small stature, while My'leke were permitted to sit down, and the Laibe were always in the back. Kit's always stood forward, however, since they were always smaller than the rest due to being kids.

Sa'kira herself stood just behind the ranking officer who would be giving the commissioning speech, but right now she standing beside the stage stairway watching. Her eyes moved from the shuttle to the stage, then they caught site of someone running toward them from the rear of the Gam'trosha. At first she couldn't make out who it was, distance and the driving rain being the issues, but as the person got closer she realized it was a Kit.

The kit ran up to her, winded and out of breath, taking in a few breaths before she spoke. "X'Muyeia Quin'trema Xeui'na, reporting for the ceremony mah," spoke Quin'trema, she stood regid.

"At ease, I'm glad to see you arrived, though I'm saddened you couldn't make it to the celebrations at the Garden," Sa'kira spoke with the same sense of calm that she given to the crew when they were arriving at the Garden.

Quin looked at the Shipmaster somewhat nervously, before saying. "My apologies mah, I wanted to help get the ship space ready."

She nodded in approval. "That's fine, you'll be able to return to your work once the ceremony is over, now go ahead and get into formation," she said and watched the Kit give a salute then run up the stairs and onto the stage.

Quin looked around, curiously pondering where Keri was, before walking over and infront of Shar. There, she waited for the ceremony to commence.

Hanger Seventeen

Keri didn't know which to be more nervous about -- standing up in stage in front of all those onlookers, or the possibility that their ship might suddenly burst into flames due to sabotage. He tried to turn his errant thoughts to the systems diagnostics he'd need to perform once aboard, confirming that all ship's critical hardware was up to specifications.

As the platinum-furred kit stepped upon the wooden stage, his gaze briefly turned to face those assembled to witness. He thought he caught a glimpse of his elder sister and mother -- though he could've been mistaken as from a distance the features of the spectators were hard to make out.

Once the young engineer came to the area upon the stage intended for the enlisted kits, Keri was confronted by the sight of Xeui'na already standing there and waiting for the ceremony to progress. The young noble's eyes immediately widened in stark surprise behind his silver glasses -- it had been some time since he'd last seen Xeui and he had no idea whatsoever that she had joined the military.

With a visible effort, Keri stifled his initial shocked expression and assumed a more calm countenance, flashing the young female Daur an unsteady grin as he fell into his place on the stage -- though beneath the surface his mind was still reeling. Once the ceremony was over, Keri had a question or two for his old friend that felt needed answering.

Tite'Yanus quietly got into formation, too much on his mind at this point. He was trying to recall the plans of the ship and start formulating search plan, but it was difficult since he had never been on the ship before...or any ship for that matter. Shaking his head, he snapped into attention once he was in place.

Erm'olai stood at attention with the others and made an effort to keep his tail still. There was yet another kit in Engineering it seemed. The Laibes couldn't help but wonder if he was going to be the only adult of Engineering. It would have been nice to actually speak to an experienced as well as intelligent individual.

He couldn't fault either kit, since they had to have been trained to some capacity to recieve a position on a ship, but could they handle themselves in an emergency?

Oh well, nothing else to do but to get the formalities out of the way before shipping out. Maybe he would even get a room to himself.

The ceremony began, Sa'kira stood off to the side of the Q'Abrenal as he began his speech. "Citizens of the Kingdom, I welcome you to today’s commissioning ceremony, due to recent events this will be a short ceremony. We have here the NSV - Gam'trosha, a vessel that completed construction only a few days ago. Her crew," the officer turned toward the Enlisted for a moment, "will be part of a grand mission to explore deep space, find worlds for us to colonize, and possible allies for us to talk to."

"They will undoubtedly encounter hardship along the way, but we are the navy, our day wouldn't be complete without something to test our skills."

The Q'Abrenal stopped and grabbed a plaque from beneath the podium, the plaque had the ship and the names of the currently serving officers and crew already listed. Sa'kira took a step forward and, when offered, accepted it.

"Lead your crew proudly-" was all the officer managed to say before the base alarms suddenly went up.

Sa'kira looked up and around, noticing several of their sister ships suddenly taking off from their hangers and heading up into the sky. Star fighters could be heard in the distance taking off.

~This is a scramble order from all ships issued by the First Fleet! We have a fast mover inbound, all ships are to scramble at once and intercept! This is not a drill, repeat, this is NOT a drill!~

The message repeated both via the bases loud speakers but also as text on several terminals that appeared around the stage. Sa'kira took a few steps back toward her crew and looked them over, before the Q'Abrenal turned toward her.

"Shipmaster, get your crew aboard your ship and into the air, head for space," the officer ordered.

Sa'kira did just that, giving a quick salute before turning toward her crew. "You heard the order, ceremony is cancelled, get to the ship and bring her systems online. Engineers, we need to hurry up the reactor start up, lockout the safety systems and bring her systems online fast. Marines, once onboard, I want you to start sweeping the ship right away," ordered the Shipmaster as she pointed toward the open rear ramp, then she took one last look at the chaos that was now ensuing in the base. People running everywhere, citizen’s panicking at the suddenness of it all.

Whatever was going on, the crew would notice the MP's ushering the citizens toward fallout bunkers.

Def'leor did not need to hear the order a second time. She exited the stage, grabbed her duffel bag and headed for the Gam'trosha. As she ran her mind pondered the possibilities. What could this fast mover be... if it was a ship, why wasn't it picked up further out. The fact that people are being ushered into the bunkers implies there is a significant threat. she thought. She rounded the end of the ramp, grabbed the hydraulic rod to swing herself in without loosing her momentum. When her feet hit the deck she resumed running. She had no idea what her cabin assignment was, and for the moment she could not care. She had one destination on her mind, the bridge.

Hanger Seventeen

Keri'cruen turned his gaze towards the other engineers present upon the stage and flashed them all a small, excited smile. "Let's get a move on, shall we?" His eyes then focused upon Xeui'na. "After things settle down a bit, you and I should have a chat X'Mue Quin'trema." The young kit said, placing a slight emphasis on his childhood friend's unexpected military title.

"First things first though... you and I need to get to the Engineering Bay and get the ship's main systems online -- if you have no objections X'Mue, I'll handle the Lunebaren reactor's start-up when we get there." Keri then turned his blue-green eyes to focus on the Laibe, Erm'olai. "This is also just a suggestion C'bar -- but it would probably be a good idea for you to check out the ship's mainframe and see to it that the Gam'trosha's AI is fully on-line and working correctly."

His piece said the young kit followed shortly behind Vail'ant, breaking into a run -- he reacquired his duffel bag and made his way up the cargo bay access ramp and into the Gam'trosha's interior.

Gam'trosha Engineering Bay

After running his way through the interior of the ship, Keri'cruen stepped into the Gam'trosha's engineering bay for the first time. The silver-furred kit cast his glance toward the massive lunebaren reactor that rested in the center of the two-story chamber, and then walked over to stand beside the control terminal. The young kit's attention was focused upon the holographic controls for several heartbeats as he familiarized himself with the terminals set-up -- then he began the reactor start-up sequence. He started a system diagnostic to monitor the reactor as it began to come to life -- absorbing the ambient energy radiated from the giant crystalline shard located within.

Bridge

Def'leor flew into the bridge and made her way to the pilots station depositing her duffel bag along side it.

She logged into the command console and started going over the emergency launch check list. Def switched on the comm and routed it to the bridge speakers so she could monitor the alerts.

"Navigation systems online, sensors online...." she called out to her self as she checked each system she would need. "Come on engineering, I need the drives or we are not going anywhere." she muttered.

Shar sighed and took a deep breath right afterwards. Shit hit the fan apparently and even Gam'trosha was called out. Dumb idea in Shar's mind, but it seemed that they want every ship read for some reason. Even one with rag tag crew that never worked together before. Maybe that will be what will make it interesting. Shat took out her pack of ciggaretes and checked its content. Last 9 deathsticks. She frowned and put it back. She will have to save them for later.

"Hey Tit," she said to Tite-Yanus. "Let's move, we got shit to do. I will get scanner and we will start with cargo hold. I hope you have good sniffer on you." She said and laughed as she headed out to Gam'trosha.

"I prefer Tite," came the response as Tite-Yanus took off after Shar. He noticed the ships taking off, but was in too much of a hurry to even worry about the citizens. He had one priority, and that was get to the ship and sweep it. "Grab me one Shar, I'll meet you there." Tite'Yanus called back as he bounded towards the ship. He thought it was stupid that the Shukaren was getting the gear instead of him, since he had four legs and was thus faster, but it seemed she had beat him to the punch.

As he ran of stage, Tite'Yanus grabbed a very small bag with his teeth as he continued sprinting on all fours to the ship. Once he arrived, he tossed the small bag carelessly to the side and waited for Shar.

The ceremony was interrupted, which made Erm'olai's tail twitch noticably. However, what got his tail swaying was the kit's suggestion. What did his boy think he was!? However, he didn't let the irritation color his tone of voice --- much. "Of course. That's only common sense." Yeah, that suggestion had ruffled the Laibe a bit.

Nothing more was said as Erm'olai began to dash towards the Gam'trosha, a vessel that would hopefully be his home for the near future rather than a wreckage falling from the sky.

**************

Unlike the two kits, the Laibe Engineer had to go up one deck and forward (under the bridge according to the deck layout guide). A quick scan of his PID Crystal allowed Erm'olai into the Mainframe. Luckily, he was just in time for the main generators to start up.

The holographic interface responded to his touch as he set his PID Crystal into a nearby reader to gain the appropriate access. From there, it was the mere task of coaxing the mainframe into operation. Though part of his mind couldn't help but wonder if his luggage had been delivered to the ship as he requested.

The base was so active now that the only thing that could be heard were the sounds of starship engines and fighters, easily drowning out the thunder that was going on.

Sa'kira stood on the ramp, watching the crew head inside, and waited for a few moments before rushing up herself and into the bay. The cargohold was empty, there were no crates minus a few used by the dock-workers for small items like tools and cables.

This was an annoyance other, they were being sent out yet had no cargo, no repair tools, nothing. This would be a fine way to start the day. I can only hope that whatever it is doesn't damage us, because we have no repair parts, she muttered angrily. Originally they would get thier cargo loaded after the ceremony, during the loading they'd be stress testing the systems, an easy one hour process but in this case they had no time for that.

The lights in the bay flickered for a few moments, indicating that the ship was switching to onboard power. Sa'kira could hear the hum of the ships reactor in the distance but what she couldn't hear were the engines yet.

So Sa'kira quickly ran down the corridors, taking a turn here and then heading up to the bridge. When she arrived she was surprised to see she had been beaten, she hadn't even noticed Def'leor run past her, and it left her doing a double take as she looked at the door then at the aviator and back at the door again. With a slight shake of the head she walked over to the captains chair. "C'Baruce, once the engines are online contact the tower for clearance. We aren't part of any squadron yet, so we'll need their clearance to leave. Ensure the rear ramp is closed before we leave though and that all external connections are disengaged, such as the external power feeds and water, just to name a few."

She then turned her attention to her systems status display, which appeared right in front of her.

On Def'leors terminal, she'd notice a flashing green light indicating that they had an incoming message. She'd also notice something was amiss with the ships mainframe.

Mainframe

The mainframe began to slowly come online, but then suddenly powered down, the rumbling of the system slowly dying out. Something went wrong.

Engineering

Down in Engineering, a holographic display appeared next to Keri, warning him of a problem with the ships mainframe.

Bridge

"Srisa" Def'leor muttered as half her panels on the station blanked out. "Ma'am the main frame just crashed, automatic systems are completely offline. Still no sign of the engines either." she called out.

She then activated the communications and radioed the tower, "Flight control, this is the NSV Gam'trosha. Requesting emergency departure authorization and flight vector." She sent a separate message to the dock system "Docking control NSV Gam'trosha we are preparing for emergency launch, disengage and retract external power, data, water connections or will forcibly blow them clear."

Def'leor then pulled up the incoming message to see what it was, and sent a call across the internal speakers. "Attention all hands this isVail'ant-C'Baruce. Preparing for emergency lift. Main frame has crashed, manual flight mode pending. Is there anyone close to the Cargo bay who can shut the doors? "

Erm'olai's black and crimson tail was acting as if it were trying to swat insects now as his nice clean boot-up turned out to be a dud. Ears cocked back, the Laibe's mind began to ponder the issue. A Quantum Computer didn't just suddenly power down when a crash occurred. But without the error messages an operating system normally came equipped with, Erm'olai was stuck trying to figure it out the old fashioned way.

It was powering up just fine and could only power off due to reasons such as: improper/faulty cooling systems, loose power connections (which was highly unlikely but certainly possible), something wrong with the boot-up procedure, or sabatoge via erasure.

In the latter case, the ship was pretty much in for trouble until Erm'olai could take back-up and reinstall everything. Either way, most of the issues pointed to a hardware issue. Popping a nearby storage container, the Laibe Engineer grabbed a tool kit and proceeded to open up the access panel in order to diagnose the issue.

Gam'trosha Engineering Bay

Keri swore faintly under his breath when he noticed the holographic warning at his terminal, indicating that the ships main computer was non-functional. "...you're kidding me." He said aloud, as the young kit had a slight tendency to talk to himself when distracted or working out a problem. "What do we have here? Hmmm..." His ears flicked as he assumed a curious expression.

He shifted his attention to the full system diagnostic he had previously started when beginning the power up sequence. With a few quick taps against the controls a holographic model of the ship appeared above his terminal, which then changed into a 3D cross-section which revealed the layout of the ships interior. The display changed again -- systems around the ship which were off-line were colored blue, which were changing to green as they became functional and were powered-up. One area of the ship beneath the bridge was was indicated with a angry red blip. Tapping a finger against the blip, another holographic window appeared next to Keri -- it detailed the source of the mainframe malfunction as a fault in the hardware located within the maintenance conduit between the mainframe and the bridge.

Using his communicator, he contacted Erm'olai. "C'bar, this this Keri'cruen in the engineering bay. The system diagnostic I've just finished has picked up a faulty power connection in maintenance conduit 1C -- the one that leads between the bridge and the ships mainframe -- it seems power to the CPU's cooling system is being interrupted. You'll have to manually divert the power in order to bypass the faulty hardware."

Bridge

~Gam'trosha this is flight control, please confirm your ships reactor is online and engines are functioning properly. This may be an emergency, but we still have protocal to follow~ said a slightly frustrated flight controller.

outside

Dock-workers began to clear out of the area of the Gam'trosha, a signalman ran up toward the front of the ship to check to make sure there was nothing on the underside then quickly ran 'out' of the way to ensure they weren't pancaked when the ships main gravity-based engines came online.

Marines likewise got out of the way, those on the walkway above the Gam'trosha began to move toward the sides as the walkward slid apart to present the ship with more room once their engines came online.

Some vehicles that had been parked behind the ship were hastily moved out of the way, transports carrying the crews personal effects still hadn't been loaded due to the suddenness of the ceremony and the emergency situation, which meant the crew would have to deal with just what they brought on themselves.