Machines and Might - Part One

Posted on Thu Mar 12th, 2020 @ 12:00am by Captain Marcus Duval & Commander Beth Woerner & Lieutenant Commander Tan'ato Tejera & Lieutenant Commander Shorin Gal'jaridd & Lieutenant Commander Kaitlin Nesbitt & Lieutenant Tyla Shrikewing & Lieutenant Rtas "Halfjaw" 'Vadum'ee & Captain Annalee Stevens & Lieutenant Michael Nelson & Lieutenant Commander Jacqui Briggs & Lieutenant JG Sarah Ashley & Master Chief Petty Officer Chen Vaxx
Edited on on Thu Mar 12th, 2020 @ 12:01am

Mission: Mission 85: My Soul's in Arms, and Eager for the Fray
Location: Various Locations - USS Manticore
Timeline: 0900Hrs - May 12th, 2392

Commander Marcus Duval smiled as he regarded the displays before him, he looked at the layout of the battle group on the tactical display on the front of the bridge. The Federation ships were outlined as a series of com badges, with names and registry codes marked as appropriate. His wife was over on the USS Alaska as her Exec, his brother was not present and neither were any of the children, they were all back on B Kayor but his father was assigned to the USS Lancaster while his mother was assigned to the USS Shield of Vega, both of those ships were present. His younger sisters T'Kera and T'Lee were both present, one was assigned to the USS Hyperion and the other, to the Dreamcrusher respectively. He knew that the Duval's would come through this battle alright.

Duval turned his head. "Rtas. Status?" he inquired from his Tactical actions officer.

Lieutenant Rtas "Halfjaw" 'Vadum'ee, slowly smiled. "We are slowly gaining on the enemy, shipmaster." the reptilian looking being answered, his four mouth tentacles flapping and curling in response, the translator turned his speech into English that everyone present could understand.

Lieutenant Tyla Shrikewing turned her head before she pushed her sable colored bangs out of her eyes. "Security teams are all deployed skipper, just in case shit goes downhill from here."

"Good," Duval answered evenly. "Always pays to be prepared."

Lieutenant JG Jacqui Briggs chuckled softly. "Speak for yourselves. I prefer to not have to worry about things like that. It goes against my better judgment." the Operations Officer explained, her Haitian accent really coming out as she spoke.

Lieutenant Tan'ato Tejera regarded the small female before him. "Mmm. You tend to worry too much Jacqui, it's turning you gray before your time." he then smiled but it was sometimes hard to know if the seven-foot-tall science chief who could out bench half the marines on this ship including Captain Annalee Stevens herself.

Briggs chuckled softly. "Well it could be worse right." she regarded him with a look that could have said many things.

Lieutenant Commander Beth Woerner who was the Executive Officer, sat back with a playful smile on her lips. "Yes, it could," she responded in a light tone of voice.

Lieutenant Michael Nelson, the ship's chief Conn officer smiled as he shook his head. "Stop worrying about things you can't control Jacqui, it's not worth it. Trust me on this. I know better than most."

"Oh really?" Beth Woerner added in a playful tone of voice. "Your last bedmate didn't fix your issues properly?" she inquired with a grin.

"Well, I can't really complain Commander. She was available and so was I."

Master Chief Petty Officer Chen Vaxx chuckled softly, more in amusement than anything else as he regarded the small human female in the executive officer's chair with a look. "This, coming from the woman who misses her husband."

"I'm happy with my husband thanks... So what about you then?". Woerner inquired as she batted her eyelashes at him. "You and Siaxx Dvald. I hear she's quite the athlete in the sack."

Vaxx regarded her, his smile only grew. "Well, that's for me to know and you, well. You don't need to know." he grinned at the diminutive female across from him.

Duval chuckled softly. The conversation was getting more and more grungy as the minutes rolled past. "Guys. please?" he inquired in a light tone. "Some of us have spouses and people who we miss. Let's not make things worst by reminding each other of that."

Everyone present nodded, the skipper had spoken and that was the end of that. The com system took that moment to interrupt. "Engineering to the bridge. We're good to go down here, all systems are online and everything is normal." came the voice of the ship's Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Kaitlin Nesbitt who at times could be a real sweetheart but at other times, she was downright cruel and mean.

Duval tapped the display at his right hand, on the display of his command chair. "Fine work Kaitlin, keep an eye on things down there. We should be heading into battle shortly."

"Understood sir. Engineering out." and with that Duval tapped the display a second time. "Duval to Gal'jaridd. Report?"

Lieutenant Shorin Gal'jaridd, the Manticore's chief medical officer, simply tapped her combadge with her left hand while she ran her right hand over her bald head, in a sign of frustration. "Bridge, we're all set down here. My guys are ready for anything," she commented evenly.

"Sounds good Doctor. Duval out." as the com went silent. Gal'jaridd turned to the human female next to her. "You think he's being paranoid?"

Lieutenant JG Sarah Ashley, was the Manticores chief counselor, simply shook her head. "No. he's just being thorough. I hope we won't need to worry about why."