Rendezvous

Posted on Thu Sep 26th, 2024 @ 5:38am by Captain Maho Takahashi & Captain Koko Kaga & Commander Ichika Misono & Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair & Crewman Recruit Yoshiko Tsushima 'Yohane'

1,309 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Captains and Contraband
Location: Outside Rheuysian Space
Timeline: 1320 hours

Captain Koko Kaga stood on the bridge of the USS Kaga. The Cheyenne-class carrier had been waiting at the Rendezvous point since 1130 hours, and the USS Myogi was behind schedule. At about 1230 hours, Koko had ordered some of the Kaga's starfighters scrambled on the off chance they were ambushed by Confederates.

The Starfighters had been in flight for almost an hour before the warp signature they were waiting for was finally detected:

"Captain, the fighters have detected an incoming warp signature:" The Ops officer reported. "It's the Myogi, sir:"

"At last." Koko scoffed, turning to the viewscreen to watch the New Orleans class starship drop out of warp.

"They are hailing us."

"On screen:" Koko ordered.

The main viewscreen switched to a view of the Myogi's bridge, as Koko found herself staring down her younger, heavily pregnant counterpart on Myogi:

"Captain Takahashi:" Koko greeted coldly. "You're late."

"I can see you're happy to see us, Captain Kaga." Maho responded.

"Well, when you keep a carrier waiting out in the open, vulnerable to Confederate attack, nerves are bound to wear thin." Koko explained. "What was the reason behind the holdup?"

"Starfleet Intelligence insisted on a rolling delivery." Maho responded.

"I see:" Koko responded, folding her arms. "Once we recall our fighters, we shall make immediate headway to Rheuys. We will send you our heading so that you may match our course. I would suggest you don't find any more ways to incur further delays. Kaga out."

When the Kaga terminated communications with the Myogi, the viewscreen changed back to that of the Kaga as her fighters made their way back onto her flight deck.

Kurumi scoffed at the other captains words. "Who is she joking." She said. "The Kaga might be a carrier variant of the Cheyenne Class. But it shares the same armament and weapons compliment as us. They're no more vulnerable than us..."

"And it's not like we're an Oberth-Class, either," Commander Anzai adjoined.

"Carrier captains:" Maho grumbled. "They all have the same ego: Just because their ships are now part of Starfleet's new fleet doctrine, they suddenly think they're all hot shit."

As the Kaga began executing a turn to jump to warp, Maho looked over at Jane.

"Helm, do we have the Kaga's heading, as they promised?" She asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jane reported. “Two-nine-seven, mark zero-one-eight. Direct to Rheuys. And for the record, carriers are shit. If it can’t maneuver to save itself from fire and relies on its attached craft for everything, then it’s not worth flying.”

Maho nodded.

"Prepare to follow them to warp, and match their speed as best as we can." Maho instructed. "Let's hope Captain Kaga doesn't decide to stretch our legs too much to make up the delay we incurred."

“Course aligned and warp is ready,” Jane said. “And we have long legs, Captain. We can keep up.”

Maho nodded, turning to the viewscreen in time to see the glow of the Kaga's nacelles increase in intensity before the Cheyenne class starship jumped to warp.

"Take us to warp at your discretion, Lieutenant:" Maho nodded.

“Entering warp now.” And with a few keystrokes, the ship sped forward past the speed of light. The warp effect was all they saw now. “We have matched speed with the Kaga. Holding at Warp 8.1.”

"Kaga must be going easy on us." Maho commented, turning to Ops. "Shipwide comms, if you please, Ops."

"Broadcasting your voice through incorporeal mediums," the Blunette seated at Ops announced with overly-dramatic flair as she tapped away at her console. "May your words reach far and wide across this Mortal Coil."

Ichika pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Attention all hands; this is the Captain:" Maho said. "We will be arriving at Rheuys at approximately 1537 hours, ships time: Now, I understand many of you are looking forward to breathing some fresh, non-recycled air, so everyone will be granted one shore excursion, should they want it. In the 146 years since first contact, the Rheuysian people have set out and reclaimed several lost cities north and south of their equator by enclosing them in giant domes. These 'domed cities' are a major tourist draw, as the climates inside the domes are considered close approximations of what those cities' native climates were like prior to the Rheuysians' failed terraforming experiment. Should you wish to visit one of the domed cities or anywhere in the equatorial region, normal clothing will suffice. However, the fact remains that more than 80% of Rheuys' surface remains a frozen wasteland, as such, cold weather gear and an emergency transporter tag are strongly recommended if you're an 'adventurous' type who wants to see parts of Rheuys quite literally frozen in the 21st century."

Maho had to stop a couple of times during her tourism pitch to catch her breath.

"Once everyone has gone on their authorized shore excursion, you will need to submit a request for a second one to your department head, who will then need to forward it to the command staff for final approval. Department heads will need to submit a report directly to the command staff for themselves to go on additional shore excursions." Maho explained. "Security will be posted at all transporter rooms and the entrance of our shuttlebay, and only authorized personnel will be permitted into those areas during our time at Rheuys."

Maho looked over to Jane as she said that last part, as she was going to make sure that there was no repeat of what happened at Gamma Zednor.

"Lastly, I'd like to remind everyone that while on the surface, you still represent Starfleet, so let's try and avoid conduct considered unbefitting of a Starfleet officer." She said. "I know this all might seem excessive, but if we are to resolve this situation with the Rheuysians peacefully, your full cooperation will be required. And remember, we are the Starship Myogi family- everything we have gone through, whether you have been here for just a few hours or many years, we have done together, and this assignment at Rheuys will be no different. We are Myogi Strong!"

"You're making this out to be some sort of holiday, Captain?" Commander Anzai remarked, clearly not all that impressed with Maho's sales pitch.

"So, you expect the crew to just sit around here twiddling their thumbs while we have all the fun talking to the Kaiser?" Maho responded, pointing out the flaw in Commander Anzai's logic.

"I expect this crew to expect the unexpected, Captain," Commander Anzai stated. "Given that we'll be dealing the Confederacy a major blow by taking out one of their largest weapons suppliers, I wouldn't be half-surprise if they retaliated once word of this reaches them."

"She does have a point, Captain," Ichika agreed. "Within reason, I'd say it's best that we be prepared in the event of a surprise attack."

"It's not like we're riding into a completely unguarded system." Maho countered. "Rheuys is the primary base of operations of the Rheuysian Self-Defense Force- one of the finest non-Starfleet militaries in the Federation. The Kaiser has given us no reason to suspect that she might change sides, so a Confederate attack on such a well-defended stronghold would only speak to their desperation."

"I agree." Keisuke said. "The Rheuysians are about as loyal as they come. We should have no reason to suspect that they might change sides. If anything, that makes us look more paranoid."

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer
USS Myogi

Captain Koko Kaga
Commanding Officer
USS Kaga

Commander Ichika Misono
Executive Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Myogi

Crewman Recruit Yoshiko Tsushima
Operations Officer
USS Myogi

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