Cavalier Rendezvous

Posted on Wed Mar 24th, 2021 @ 9:49am by Commodore Jacob Kane & Commander Taeler Santu M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Xavier Leiko & Lieutenant Ausra Danton & Lieutenant Commander P’rel M.D & Lieutenant JG FalenvralLi Zh’kyhrihr

Mission: By Artemis' Bow
Location: USS Athena
Timeline: MD03 - 1000 Hrs
1077 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

As the Athena dropped out of warp in the Iuvat system, most eyes were on the main viewscreen. Ahead of them Iuvat III shone brightly with purple-blue hues of atmosphere. Wrapped around it glittered the glorious sapphire rings looking like something out of an oil painting. In themselves, it was a beautiful sight. But most eyes were scanning the screen for the mysterious space creatures they had heard so much about.

"Magnify," Kane called.

The screen flickered inward, closing in on an area of the shining rings. Casting large shadows over the rings themselves moved five large shapes; elongated and moving a little like space fish (rather than the space cows everyone assumed) the most extraordinary feature was their glistening, glowing fins that extended out from their core. They were as incredible as the planet they orbited.

"Well. That's a sight," Kane noted.

P’rel stood in her usual position toward the aft of the bridge, noting she received something of a nasty bang the last time she had been in that spot, and made a mental map of where the nearest things to grab hold of were, this time. “Space Cows” she repeated, obviously unimpressed. A herd of interstellar creatures held no interest for her as such, more so the value they represented monetarily and furthermore what that financial element could be funding.

Savin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, eyes fixed to the screen. "They are magnificent," he offered to no-one in particular, "so graceful and elegant."

At the helm, Lt. Li ignored the understandable center of attention, working to get updated nav scans of the system to compare to Cavalier's last transmission. Astrometrics would be remapping as well - with more detail - and natural phenomenon didn't tend to behave unpredictably in the sort of time span it'd been but, if anything had changed unexpectedly, it would be worth noting.

Ausra had been watching with her mouth hanging open. She wanted to study these things for the rest of her life based on just seeing them for a few moments. "Beautiful." She said quietly, her lips moving but barely any sound making it out.

Santu nodded in response to Ausra, who was standing close enough for her to be able to hear the remark, they were indeed awe-inspiring creatures. She wondered how long they had been 'grazing' in this area, if this is where they had come from. All questions that the Cavelier was looking to answer, "To seek out new life..." she murmured to herself remembering why she had pushed herself to join Starfleet, the recruitment ad really emphasising that part of the organisation's mandate.

"Captain, we're being hailed by the USS Cavalier."

"On screen." Kane straightened.

"This is Captain Ramirez. Good to see you, Athena." The grey-flecked hair and beard of the Nova-class ship's commander appeared on the screen.

"You too, Captain. Certainly one of the more interesting assignments you have here." Kane acknowledged. "We're here to keep the sector quarantine secure, but I know a few of my crew would be interested to see what you've learned about these Pilgrims of yours."

"They're welcome to take a look at the data we've captured so far," Ramirez nodded with a smile. "Professor Summers and his team are having a field day, no doubt he'd love to fill them in."

Ausra practically bounced in her seat wanting that data now and the chance to study them with colleagues.

"My XO Commander Taeler will be happy to take you up on that. In the meantime, any intel on this rogue element operating in the system?" Kane asked.

"Not much. We caught sight of a destroyer-sized ship lurking near the outer planets, but not much recently." Ramirez's face shifted a little. "I'm glad you're here, Captain. They looked like they might be packing some advanced hardware for mere traders. Not sure we're equipped to handle much in the way of armed threats like that."

"That's my job, Captain," Kane smiled thinly. "We'll be in touch when we've investigated. Athena out."

Kane turned to his senior staff scattered around the bridge.

"Commander Taeler will be assembling a team to join up with the research team. In the meantime, we'll make for the outer planetoids in the system and check in on any unwanted guests. Any questions?"

Ausra opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. Wanting to ask but also assuming that she would be allowed to.

Xavier turned to face the Captain from his position at Ops. "Sir, Lieutenant Finnley and I have prepared a couple of long range sensor buoys that we can deploy at the outer edges of the system. They should give the Athena and the Cavalier a bit of a tactical advantage in case there are any surprises."

"Good initiative, Lieutenant. Deploy the buoys," Kane nodded.

Xavier nodded as he turned back to face his console. He lightly tapped a few buttons and released one of the buoys. "Buoy One has been deployed," he reported. "We can deploy the second one closer to the reported mystery ship's coordinates, this should help with sensor coverage and triangulation, should we need it."

Li tapped through the new data from Cavalier and cycled several options before settling on one. Eyes still on her screen in case anything changed, she said, "I have a course plotted to the last sighting of potential hostiles, sir."

Taeler got up from her seat, knowing that they only had a small window of opportunity to make their way over to the Cavelier before the Athena flew out of transporter range and she wasn't planning on taking the shuttlepod over, "Lieutenant Danton, Leiko, please come with me." She walked over to the turbo-lift and stood inside waiting for the two to join her.

Ausra nodded, happy to have the opportunity to study these creatures. She was up at once and nearly skipping after the Commander.

"Aye Sir," Xavier said as he rose from his seat and joined the two women in the turbolift.

"Helm. Once the team are aboard the Cavalier, take us out at full impulse. We'll follow that thread and see where it leads," Kane said.

"Aye, Captain." Li quietly messaged the transporter room to confirm that the team had completed the transport then said, "Making way toward the outer system at full impulse now, sir," and punched the command to execute her plotted course.