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Star Trek: Destiny's Charge
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"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave..."
- Patrick Henry
"Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material"
- Spock
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Prologue
U.S.S. Destiny NCC-71387 – Earth Station McKinley
3 Months After The Battle of Cardassia
Commander Jorge Valdez leaned back in the chair behind his desk inside his office, looking at the PADD just handed to him by the station engineers. He had been sitting there for hours, looking over the different status reports that were handed to him. "I hate paperwork" he murmured to no one in particular. Most of it was pretty standard, transfer requests, requisition forms, things of that sort. On the PADD he held in his hand, was their repair and refit status of the ship. The Destiny had taken a few good hits during the Battle of Cardassia, and by the time they reached the Sol system the ship was nearly falling apart. But time (and a good team of engineers) heals all wounds. According to the report, the repair and refit of the Destiny was proceeding on schedule, the new Warp Core and primary ODN networks had just been installed, and the Ablative Armor upgrades are close to completion. Good he thought we should be ready to go underway by the time everyone gets back from leave.
The Destiny had been at the station for a couple of months now. When they first got to McKinley the first thing just about everyone on board wanted to was leave the ship. Valdez remembered joking that he thought the crew was going to mutiny if Captain Raymer didn't open up the air locks as soon as they arrived. But, fortunately soon after they arrived not only did she open up the airlocks, but granted extended leave for all hands. Including Valdez, who spent his time catching up with his wife Isabel and his son Gabriel on Earth. However a few weeks later Captain Raymer ordered Valdez to return to the ship in order to assist with the on-going refit. Valdez, not being one to refuse an order, he found himself back on the ship, much to his family's disappointment. Shoot, he reminded himself, Isabel is coming on board in a few hours… I really should start cleaning up around here before she arrives. he remembered, pausing for a few seconds noticing the large pile of PADD's on that covered his desk, the various clothes that cluttered what open space was left inside his quarters. Well... He thought making a mental list of what he had already done, before he moved on to cleaning. Most of the Transfers are complete and the…
"Captain to Commander Valdez" The Captain's Voce sounded on the ship's communication system, interrupting his train of thought.
"Valdez here" He responded quickly.
"Number One would you please report to my ready room". She asked politely.
"Aye, Aye Captain" He replied, already half way out of his quarters, carrying the red engineering PADD in hand. She probably wants to see the repair Schedule. He thought as he walked briskly toward the turbo lift. After serving under the Captain for 3 years, He had finally begun to anticipate his commanding officer needs.
When he transferred from the Jefferson he was just the chief helm officer. He had no ambitions about moving up the command chain. As a cadet at Starfleet Academy, he was flight leader of the flight demonstration team known as Nova Squadron. Although a lot of his instructors saw this as a sign of his future in command. Valdez, never even gave the idea of starship command a second thought, simply enjoying his duties as a helm officer. However it seemed that fate had other plans him. As he entered the Turbolift, he reflected on those chain of events three years ago that not only reveled his inner strengths as a leader… but also reveled man he was destined to become.