Launch of the Frontier

Posted on Thu May 7th, 2026 @ 2:57am by Captain Maddox Greene & Commander Saul Whitford & Lieutenant Varkl Brukh & Lieutenant T'Vei & Lieutenant Jane Belanger Dr

1,421 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Lines in the Vacuum
Location: USS Frontier

The doors to the bridge opened as Captain Greene stepped onto the bridge from the turbolift. Around the bridge, the crew was working, prepping the ship for launch. Everyone was so busy, they hadn't even noticed him standing in the background, watching, which came to an abrupt end rather quickly.

"Captain on the bridge," one of the enlisted men called out.

"At ease," Maddox called out. "Please continue on with your duties." The refitted Ganges class had seen its fair share of battles. It was retired after the Earth-Romulan War. But it was pulled out of retirement a little over a year ago when Starfleet Command made the decision to refit the class. The Frontier was a fine ship, and she would prove herself once more under his command. But whatever little bugs in the system that the Starfleet Engineers missed, he was fairly certain that Varkl would dig up any issues and bring them to his attention.

Staring at the center chair, he wasn't quite so ready to take a seat. Circling the bridge, the Captain tried not to hover or intimidate as he watched everyone doing their jobs.

When Brukh got the call to report to the Frontier, he quickly pulled up the roster of engineers who had been aboard when she arrived scarcely a month before. Sending them the alert to return to the ship he called in the candidate who was leading the choice for Asst. Chief and informed him to take over. The Tellarite then proceeded to the Frontier's berth.

Once aboard he went directly to Engineering and had the few crew already aboard start the impulse engines first, and prepare for the startup sequence for the warp core. As the fusion cores fired up the onboard power gradually began to replace station power until it would be completely self-reliant. More crew reported in and were assigned by Brukh to positions as to their relative specialties.

T'Vei watched as main power came online. She ran a diagnostic of each of the phase cannons and the Frontier's sole torpedo launcher, seeing each come back without errors. Rik'koshvar had reviewed the systems in anticipation of the Nausicaan's initial arrival. Besides a lingering concern about the ship's weapons outdrawing its available power in a prolonged fight, the Frontier was ready for action.

She glanced up, watching Captain Greene move about the bridge and the way his presence seemed to elicit an emotional response from the human crewmen. "Captain," she greeted as his circle drew near her station.

Shortly after the call came in, Jane found herself hurriedly delegating pending matters to Dr Larkin, while a nurse and a non comm fetched her personal medkit and a couple things she would leave without. With all this at the ready, she departed at a quick step, ruminating on the way. Why the sudden departure order? There had been one previous mention of using the Frontier if things went downhill with the Nausicans but their recent embassy seemed to have resulted on some kind of agreement at best, or a stalemate. Had the situation changed for the worst? Was another matter entirely calling them to action?

Whatever the case may be, Jane was satisfied on arrival that all needed supplies listed by the Head Nurse after inspection, a few days back, had been delivered. They needed to be stored properly though. The diminutive "sickbay" that she would have to contend with on this older starship (refit or not) in lieu of her now familiar work settings would have to do... So would she. And so, while preparations were carried on the Bridge and every deck, Jane set down to work.

Now that most of the crew had come aboard, Maddox took a seat in the center chair. Because the Frontier didn't have a Chief Helm Officer, operations would fill that role for the time being. "Comm patch me throughout the ship."

"You have it, Captain."

"Attention crew," Greene announced. "It's been reported that Nauiscaan pirates have been intimidating civilians in the area. Our job is simple. Maintain a presence, monitor traffic, and remind anyone watching that Starfleet isn't backing down from this region. Should be a quick two or three days around the block, per se. All departments report readiness for departure."

Brukh tapped the com panel on the wall "Engineering to Bridge. Impulse power ready on your mark, but we're still running the startup sequence for the warp core. Another 20 minutes should do it".

"All armaments and defensive systems are operational, Captain," T'Vei reported from her station. "Security teams stand ready."

Down in Sickbay, Jane listened to the Captain's mission brief with a quick frown. Nausicans it was, then. She responded with her own status report.

+ Sickbay to Bridge. Medical department at the ready +

'Helm reports ready,' Whitford replied, running an eye across the controls. It had been a hot minute since he'd had to pilot a craft, but he was glad to see the control layouts were broadly the same. Adjusting his seat, he monitored the console for the impulse engine and thruster control monitors, waiting until they became nominal. As the lights flicked green he nodded in satisfaction. 'Green across the board, ready to depart at your order Captain.'

Maddox nodded to his first officer. Whitford at the helm likely wouldn't be a regular thing. But until he could get a more experienced helmsman. Plus, he definitely wanted to bring him along for the task at hand.

Back in Engineering the Tellarite whipped the crew into action. "I told the Captain 20 minutes, but we can get it done in 10! Chief Jacobs what's the temperature reading on the core?"

"1 million kelvin and rising!"

"Increase the flow from the EPS by 30%, but watch the pressure closely so it doesn't exceed 50,000. As soon as the temp hits 2.5 cut the flow back to normal and we'll slowly start the matter / antimatter streams, give me an audible count at 2. Ensign Marcus what's the alignment on the crystal?"

"7.2 CM, we're within tolerance."

"You have less than 7 minutes to get it to 6 or below! A tighter stream is more efficient, I want to find out how well this old bird can fly." Brukh instructed.

Ten minutes had passed as the Captain waited for engineering to give the green light. Curious, he wondered if the Brukh was somehow cutting that twenty minutes in half. Tapping the comm on his seat. "Engineering what are we looking like now?"

Brukh looked expectantly at the computer readout showing the matter/antimatter flow rates which had been slowly increasing for the last minute. He crossed to the comm panel to reply, "Core is at 50% of nominal, 3 minutes and we''ll have full power. That should be about the time we're clear of the station."

"Mister Zinsky, let Ops know that were ready for departure," Greene instructed.

The Ensign at communications quickly got on comm. "Station Ops, this is the USS Frontier, requesting departure clearance."

=Station Ops to Frontier: you are cleared for departure, safe travels.=

"Thank you, Ops. Commander, release docking clamps and take us out one quarter impulse."

Nodding, Whitford moved his hands across the console, slowly, but surely working his way back into an old routine. Gently goosing the thrusters, he moved the Frontier away from the station, coming up and over Sentinel before heading into space. Once clear of the station's perimeter, Whitford eased the throttle on the impulse engines, bringing them up to one-quarter. Excitement fizzed through his body. When accepting the position he had had no idea that he would be able to take duty aboard ship again, no matter what the capacity. 'One-quarter impulse speed,' Whitford confirmed.

Engineering was a hive of activity as everyone felt the ship moving. Standing at the main console for the warp core Brukh impatiently watched the levels climb, and finally tapped the comm again. "Engineering to Bridge, we have full warp power."

Waiting for the ship was clear of the station. "Lay in a course for the outer trade corridor, bearing zero-eight-seven mark two-one-five. Warp four.

'Zero-Eight-Seven mark Two-One-Five,' Whitford echoed flatly as he worked the helm controls, bringing the ship about in a parabolic arc to escape any local gravity wells and gently accelerated the ship to Warp speeds.

"Engage."

=================
Captain Maddox Greene
Commanding Officer
Sentinel Station

Commander Saul Whitford
Executive/Chief Operations Officer
Sentinel Station

Lieutenant Varkl Brukh
Chief Engineer
Sentinel Station

Lieutenant Jane Belanger
Chief Medical Officer
Sentinel Station

Lieutenant T'Vei
Chief Armory Officer
Sentinel Station

 

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