Docking

Posted on Tue Jun 22nd, 2010 @ 3:18pm by Captain Alexander Gunning

Mission: Welcome to Archa IV
Location: USS Endeavour - Bridge
Timeline: 4 Days Before Arrival of USS Jackal
Tags: endeavour, docking, manoeuvre, tractor beam, thrusters, thunderchild, priority, dockmaster

It was Endeavour's night by the time the ship arrived at Starbase 332. Throughout most of the ship, lights had been dimmed, and many of the crew were either sleeping or enjoying some off-duty time. Ben had opted not to call any of the senior officers to the bridge at this hour to conduct the docking procedures - instead, he stood amongst the gamma shift crewmembers, watching on the viewscreen as the streaked lines of warp travel resolved into stars, a planet, and the enormous structure they would be docking with.

Benjamin had done some research on Starbase 332 since the Admiral's departure, two days ago. It was a stardock class, which was surprising considering its proximity to so much unexplored space. Most so-called frontier stations were smaller outposts, or re-purposed civilian or foreign installations. Ben understood now why there was a need for a Sovereign-class to oversee the command handover. Such a large station would require a large party to have the guts to try anything against it, and though the station itself had enormous firepower, the Endeavour's own firepower, consolidated under a stable captain, would be a significant deterrent.

"Bring us in nice and slow," he said to the helmsman, a young female trill - unjoined, he believed - who was looking particularly nervous, having the ship's captain standing watch over her - especially for a docking manoeuvre. "Send station ops our request to dock," he said to the officer on the other console at the front of the bridge, as he stood between them with his hands clasped behind his back. He watched the duty operations officer - Ensign Kitnonuh - tap in a series of commands on her console, followed by a green light starting to flash slowly at her.

"Request sent, sir," the officer said. "Receiving a response."

Chief Petty Officer Onogawa tapped out the docking sequence to allow the Endeavour to enter the Starbase. He knew that a ship the size of the Sovereign class would need a wide berth and assigned them one close to the newly docked USS Thunderchild. It was a Steamrunner so wouldn't take up a huge amount of space compared to the larger vessel. He sighed as the computer responded with a negative response. The Endeavour was to be assigned a berth as close as possible to the Spacedoors. Onogawa had been Dockmaster of Starbase 332 from day one and was only a week away from being retired off and being allowed to live out his days gambling on Risa and decided that he would not be dictated to by the computer.

He assigned the berth next to the Thunderchild and opened a communications link to the Endeavour. "USS Endeavour, this is 332 Dockmaster. You are cleared for docking. Please set to manoeuvring thrusters and follow the guidance coordinates currently being transmitted to the helm. Dockmaster out."

He was done with pleasantries. Every new ship brought the possibility that this could be the station's new commanding officer being reassigned. For some reason, their identity was being kept from the station's staff, apparently due to the fact that the vessel had lost contact with the Fleet a number of days previously. A few of the communications buffs had been gossiping in the Carthage Lounge the night before. Apparently the only vessels that had been out of contact with headquarters were the USS Utica and the USS Jackal so it was widely rumoured that either one of their COs would be brought in.

"Thank you Dockmaster," Benjamin replied, watching as the guidance coordinates came through first to the Ops station, but were quickly redirected by the officer to helm. The Stardock class was designed to house a large number of ships within its protective shell, and as such the internal chambers had been meticulously planned to incorporate 'lanes' through which starships could fly to reach their assigned berths without knocking into the hulls of any other starships. Over the years, as starships had become progressively larger, the plans had to be altered slightly, but the internal structure of such a large station was a hard thing to redesign every decade. As such, certain routes had been designated as only safe for vessels below a certain size, and some routes had to have the berths either side lined with the smallest of craft - or with berths left empty while the station was supposed to be operating a t full capacity - in order to prevent unwanted collisions. As it was, the Endeavour's route was currently clear, but Ben could tell it would be a tight squeeze for the large starship if the bay filled up any more than it currently was. Ben also noticed how the station had assigned them a berth away from the spacedoors, which would make life complicated if they needed to exit in a hurry to respond to a threat. Speaking again to the operations officer, he said; "Make sure to confirm with Station Ops that we are to have priority departure clearance, should we need to make any rapid response." He didn't want the station's most capable battle cruiser stuck in a queue behind freighters, escorts and science vessels should they need to get out.

"Aye Sir," Lhamepha responded, feeling an immense weight lifted off her shoulders as the captain moved aft to take his chair at the centre of the bridge.

"Switch to thrusters," Ben ordered the helmsman, "and take us in. Nice and slow."

The helmsman altered the projected course toward the berth. Lhamepha sat quietly before reporting. "Dockmaster reports that we have priority clearance."

Benjamin nodded his satisfaction as he watched the helmsman direct the ship towards the berth, allowing the station's internal tractor beams to take over temporarily for the delicate repositioning movements required to get the ship seated properly in her berth, and for the docking clamps and airlocks to connect properly, without damage. As the multiple blue beams emanating from the station shut off, Benjamin ordered the ship to go into condition blue - essentially, systems such as the engines, shields, weapons, and most other things would be shut down while they were docked, leaving just the internal systems online to conserve power.

"Inform Station Ops I will be up to see Captain Tae shortly," Benjamin said, as he stood from his chair and began heading towards the turbolift. "Ensign Kitonuh, you have the bridge." As the doors shut on the command centre, he changed his tone slightly as he spoke to the computer. "Port-side airlock." With the station the size that it was, and its various airlock umbilical corridors as manoeuvrable as a workbee, all of the Endeavour's port-side airlocks were active and engaged, and so it didn't matter which the computer took him to, though it was likely to take him to the nearest.

As he stepped through the airlock on deck 11 into the connecting tube-like corridor to the station's internal hub, he stopped in wonder at the sight before him. The corridor had large, immaculately clean windows on the walls and ceiling, giving him an amazing view along the body of the Endeavour, and at the numberous other starships docked and moving about in the cavernous interior. How can any one man come to grips with commanding something this big? he thought to himself.

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Captain Benjamin J. Byrne
Commanding Officer
USS Endeavour

&

Commander Alexander Gunning
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332
Playing Station NPCs