This is a Fan-Fiction Based on Star Wars. I do not own Star Wars or represent it's owners (LucasFilm) in FanFic is Not For Profit so please don't sue!
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2.5 ABY
The Journal: Chapter One
Ensign Travis Folen , nervously tapping his foot, sits alone in the aft passenger compartment of a Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle. He has just received his first Commission Assignment after graduating from the Imperial Academy on Carida. He looks down at the official letter again, part of him in disbelief at the prestigious honor of his assignment, he checks to make sure he is on the right Shuttle. His eyes dart over the document and focus on one specific section.
"Ensign Travis Folen, report immediately to the ISD Dark Star for duty. You will be tasked with Support and Relief Command of the Ventral Side Turbolaser Control Station Two and its Control Team effective immediately. This Officer will carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the Command he is assigned, performing all manner of things thereunto belonging…."
He takes a deep breath. It is a great honor to be stationed on board an Imperial Class Star Destroyer at any point in an Officers career, let alone right off the bat after graduation. Travis rubs his forehead to dull the headache left over from the celebration his classmates insisted upon him the night before. He worries about how obvious his hangover will be to his new shipmates when he arrives.
Most of his fellow graduates have been sent to various outposts and small patrol Frigates. Not a single one of them was left untouched by jealousy over his fortunate first posting. No one else in his class was given an assignment on board a Star Destroyer. He recalls the words his friend, fellow classmate and now fellow Officer in the Imperial Navy, Ensign Corran Skyblade, said when he first heard the news.
"You lucky SOB! You do us proud out there. Your success will reflect on all of us. You do well, and we do well. You screw up, and we'll all pay the price!"
No pressure, certainly not. Travis sinks a bit in his seat. He feels the ship rumble slightly as the blue glow from the cockpit fades. They have dropped from Hyperspace. He leans over and tries to steal a glance out the front viewports of the cockpit. All he sees is space. Maybe they haven't arrived yet. As the Shuttle turns a few degrees to Port, he suddenly see's his new home.
The wedge shape of the Star Destroyer Dark Star, naval grey, its hull bristling with a thousand lights, it grows in size as they approach and Travis feels his heart skip a beat. It's really happening. He tries to breath slowly to calm himself but the excitement is overwhelming. He bites his cheek to distract himself.
"It's just a job Travis, just focus on your duties!" He tells himself.
The ship shutters slightly as the flight stabilizers fold into landing position. Outside the viewport Travis can see the docking bay. He tries to see the Ventral Side Turbo Laser Batteries, his new station, but they are not visible from his vantage. He sits back in his seat and tries his best to remain patient. As the ship touches down, he has to keep his seat belt on just to keep from trying to leap out of the boarding ramp hatch as it slowly opens. When the ramp finally comes to a stop against the deck of the Shuttle Bay, one of the pilots yells from the cockpit.
"We're here Ensign. You'd better not keep the Lieutenant waiting!"
Travis quickly unbuckles his seat belt and grabs his pack from the seat beside him. He slings it over his shoulder, straightens his black tunic and heads for the boarding ramp.
"Thanks for the smooth flight Sir!" Travis says to the cockpit as he heads down the ramp.
At the bottom of the ramp he sees the jet black leather boots of an Officer. As he reaches the end of the ramp he can see the man before him is wearing the gray-green tunic of a Command Officer, his rank insignia identifies him as a Lieutenant. Travis puts his bag down and salutes.
"Ensign Travis Folen, reporting for duty."
The Lieutenant stares at him, and then slowly looks him up and down. Travis remains till and stares straight ahead holding his salute. He wants to look around the massive Shuttle Bay, it's the largest one he's ever been in, but he figures he'll have plenty of time to get his sightseeing bug appeased.
"Welcome aboard the Dark Star Ensign." The Lieutenant says, "At ease before you hurt yourself."
Travis drops his salute and folds his hands behind his back.
"I'm Lieutenant Jeet Dorien, Command Officer of Ventral Side Turbolaser Control Station Two. You're colleague Ensign Nevran couldn't be here to greet you, she's holding down the fort so to speak, you'll get to meet her later. I assume you've been briefed on your duties?" Lieutenant Dorien asks.
"Briefly sir." Travis replies. "I will be one of your relief Officers in the Turbolaser Control Station."
"Correct." Lieutenant Dorien says. "You'll have the night shift, and provide support Command during any tactical operations. But before we get into that we had better take you up to the bridge to meet the XO. Follow me."
Travis quickly picks up his pack and hurries after the Lieutenant.
"The Bridge?" Travis says to himself. He suddenly finds himself self conscience about his hangover. "Damn it guys, you'll get me discharged on my first day!"
The Lieutenant enters a hallway with Travis right behind him. They pass by several other Lieutenants and Travis briefly makes eye contact. He quickly salutes. The Officers give him a strange look as they pass.
"Ensign." Lieutenant Dorien says as he comes to a stop, Travis stops suddenly to avoid walking right into him. "There's 30,000 men and women on board the Dark Star, a good deal of them outrank you. Stop making eye contact. It'll take 2 months to reach the bridge if you salute everyone along the way. Just focus on the task at hand "Get to the bridge". Got it?"
Travis feels like such an idiot. His curiosity is getting the better of him. He's starting to feel like his chance for a good first impression is falling apart at the seams.
"Yes sir." Travis says with a quick nod.
Lieutenant Dorien continues down the hallway. As they pass by more crewmen and officers Travis looks far past them avoiding eye contact at all costs. The pair approaches a turbolift and the Lieutenant hits the call button. They wait there for a few moments.
"Permission to speak freely sir?" Travis says, he tries his best not to fumble the words.
"Granted." The Lieutenant says, his eyes remain fixed on the turbolift level indicator above the doors, watching as the lift gets closer.
"How long have you been on board the Dark Star sir?" Travis asks.
"About 2 years. I came on board a year after the loss of the Death Star." Dorien says.
The lift arrives and the doors open, inside are several crewmen, they smile and nod at the Lieutenant who steps in and seems to ignore them. They then nod at Travis. Travis smiles at them before stepping in. The ride up to the Command Deck is uncomfortably quiet for Travis but he decides it's best to just keep his focus and keep quiet. When the lift finally arrives, all 4 passengers step out. Travis follows Lieutenant Dorien towards the bridge. As they enter, Travis cannot keep his eyes from wandering, scanning every amazing sight before him, he doesn't see the First Officer approach them.
"Good morning Commander Tydon. We have a new Officer on board today." Lieutenant Dorien says as he looks over to Travis.
Travis quickly puts his pack down and salutes the Commander. The Commander has an obvious aura of confidence in him, and he holds a small lock box in his hands.
"Good Morning Commander. Ensign Travis Folen reporting for duty." Travis says holding his salute firm.
The Commander looks at Travis and smiles.
"Welcome aboard Ensign, at ease." Commander Tydon replies as Travis drops his salute. "So as you know you will be reporting directly to Lieutenant Dorien here, and he in turn reports to me. We can try to set some time aside to get better acquainted at a later time, but for now we need to get you ready for your duties."
Tydon opens the lockbox he holds and pulls out two Code Cylinders, he hands them to Travis.
"These are your Code Cylinders. Do not lose them. Do not lend them to others. You are responsible for their remaining secure in your possession at all times." Commander Tydon says.
Travis takes the Code Cylinders and puts one in each of the Code Cylinder pockets on either side of the chest flap on his black Officers Tunic.
"And this…" Tydon says as he removes a black officer's cap from the box, it has an Officers Disk embedded in the center of the cap. "This is your Dark Star Officers Disk equipped cap. This will allow you access to all areas of the ship you are permitted to enter."
Tydon hands the hat to Travis. Travis removes the simple, diskless cap he is wearing and puts on the new one. He quickly folds the old hat in half and places it behind his belt in the small of his back.
"You've been issued quarters on level 23, in the Junior Officers section. If you ever get lost don't hesitate to use one of the directories at any computer Terminal. Getting lost will never be accepted as an excuse for tardiness. That's your only warning." Commander Tydon says. "I would introduce you to the Captain but he is unavailable right now. Perhaps another time. Welcome aboard and good luck."
Commander Tydon nods, Travis gives him a quick salute and watches as the Commander turns and heads back to the front of the bridge.
"Let's go." Lieutenant Dorien says as he heads off the bridge. Travis picks his pack up again and chases after him.
The Lieutenant remains silent as they board another Turbolift and make their way down to level 23. Travis counts the deck as they descend. When they arrive Travis follows the Lieutenant out and into the corridor. The deck is far more crowded than any area of the ship they've seen so far.
"This deck houses all the Junior Commissioned Officers. You won't have to bother saluting so much down here." Lieutenant Dorien says with a smile as he looks back at Travis.
"Yes sir." Travis responds with a smile, he's sure the Lieutenant can see the blood rushing to his cheeks in his embarrassment.
"Unless of course you wanted to start asking which of these guys graduated before you?" Dorien sarcastically asks.
"No sir." Travis says with a light laugh.
The Lieutenant reaches a doorway and stops, above the door is a small plaque. It reads. "Ensign T. Folen."
"This is you. You're not on duty tonight so take your time getting settled." Lieutenant Dorien says. "The mess hall is on Level 35 and chow is available anytime between 0530 and 2200 so long as you're not on duty. Don't forget on Imperial Ships the decks count up going down from the bridge. Don't try to take the lift up or you'll end up in a secured area and I'll have to come get you out of the brig. You have a personal terminal in your quarters, use it to get familiar with the layout of the ship and find directions to the Ventral Side Turbo Laser Control Stations. Any questions?"
"No sir." Travis says as he looks at the door plaque with his name and smiles.
"Report for duty at 1700 tomorrow, I want to introduce you to your team and get you up to speed on our system before your shift. Come well rested. See you then." Lieutenant Dorien says as he nods, turns and walks away.
Travis watches the Lieutenant weaving through the small crowd of other Ensigns milling about the corridor. Travis turns, hits the control for the door, and enters his quarters. They are not the largest quarters but they are bigger than his dorm back at the Academy, and here he doesn't have roommates. The room is about 4 meters by 6 meters. There is a small single person bed in the corner, next to a small desk with a computer terminal on top and a small wheeled chair underneath. The walls are flat grey, like the rest of the ship, and the lights are embedded in the ceiling casting a soft glow throughout the room. On the far wall across from the desk is a small closet and beside it a small door. Travis heads to the door and it opens as he nears. It's is a very small washroom, with a sonic shower, small sink and toilet. Travis turns and tosses his pack on the bed, removing the seat from under the desk he sits down. He looks around his room and takes a deep breath.
"Well, I'm home."
On the underside of the Star Destroyer Dark Star, mounted at the forward most point of the Docking Bay are the two Ventral Side Turbo Laser Batteries. Inside of each of them are their control stations.
The inside of Control Station Two is separated into two levels, a Command chair sits at the middle console on the upper deck overlooking the whole of the control station. Beside the Command Station on the right side is the Fire Controlman's station currently manned by Petty Officer Erran Cormin. Below the Command level reachable by small access ladders on either end of the Command Level, is the Turbo Laser firing deck, where the Gunners Mate stations are located, currently manned by Crewman Callista Redd and Crewman Wolan Alder. There is a large angled viewport on the far wall across from the Command Station level looking out into space and providing a view of the firing arch of the Turbolaser battery, the large barrels of the XXY-9 Dual Medium Turbolasers take up a small part of the view. The entire TurboLaser Control Station is attached to the ship by a circular hydraulic gear that rotates 360 degrees with relation to the ship. A small access lift descends into the Control Station Command Level from an access Corridor in the ship above.
Ensign Dayana Nevran is sitting in the Command chair filling out reports. Below her, she can hear the Gunners Mates joking with one another.
"I bet you can't hit that asteroid at 45 degrees." Crewman Callista Redd says to her fellow Gunners Mate, pointing a small blip on his console.
"I bet you I can!" Crewman Wolam Alder says. "Permission to fire on enemy target bearing 45 degrees?"
Ensign Nevran shakes her head at her station and frowns with annoyance.
"Don't even think about it." Ensign Nevran says to the crewmen below without looking up from her reports.
"It may pose a danger to the ship sir, we should definitely consider shooting it." Wolam says with a smile.
"I'm glad you two have so much free time to fool around, but I have some reports to do, so if you'd please just play quietly amongst yourselves, I can do my job." Ensign Nevran says as she leans over and looks down at the Crewmen below.
"Yes sir. Sorry sir." Wolam says. He turns and lightly slaps Callista on the shoulder. "You got me in trouble!"
"I did nothing of the sort." Callista says as she holds back a laugh. "You hear we're getting a new Ensign today?"
"Oh yeah, finally Lieutenant Dorien and Ensign Nevran can get some free time. These 12 hour shifts are killer." Wolam says.
"Maybe someday they'll get a third shift for the Gunners mates?" Callista suggests.
"Doubt it. Us NCO's aren't so lucky!" Wolam says with a smile.
"Hey if we can pull 12 hour shifts, then why can't our Officers?" Callista asks.
Above them on the Command level, Ensign Nevran shakes her head as she listens in on their conversation. She glances over at Petty Officer Erran Cormin sitting beside her. He shakes his head as well. Eventually Erran leans over.
"Because your Officers have about a hundred times as much work to do than you two Mynoks!" Erran says to the crewmen below.
Callista and Wolam exchange looks and slowly nod as they shrug their shoulders.
"Touche." Wolam says as he returns his attention to his console.
"I wouldn't mind having a hundred times more things to do." Callista says under her breath. "Let's see them stare at this screen for 12 hours with nothing to do."
Wolam leans over closer to Callista.
"Shoot the asteroid. It'll be fun…" Wolam whispers.
"As if!" Callista yells as they both start laughing.
Ensign Nevran sighs silently as she closes her eyes in frustration. She hears the lift behind her descending into the Control Station. She turns to see Lieutenant Dorien approaching.
"Welcome back sir." Ensign Nevran says.
"Thank you Dayana." Dorien says as he nears the console, he looks over the edge at Wolam and Callista below, they are poking each other and laughing quietly to themselves. "The children behaving themselves?"
"Barely." Petty Officer Cormin says from his station.
"Nothing I can't handle Lieutenant." Ensign Nevram says. "You meet our new Officer?"
"Yeah, seems like a nice guy, maybe a bit of an over achiever but he'll fit in I think." Lieutenant Dorien says. "Maybe you can stop by his quarters tonight after your shift. He won't be on duty until tomorrow."
"Maybe I will." Ensign Nevran says. "I remember my first night onboard, it's pretty intimidating and lonely."
"My first night on board I got tossed in the brig!" Wolam says from below.
"That's because you tried to get into the Officers Mess Crewman." Lieutenant Dorien says. "You should've have known better!"
"They could have just asked me to leave!" Wolam says.
"They did ask you to leave! But you just had to take that bread roll off the Ensigns tray before you left didn't you?" Lieutenant Dorien says.
"It looked tasty." Wolam says. "Better than the rolls they give us down in the NCO mess."
Lieutenant Dorien and Ensign Nevran smile as they roll their eyes. Crewman Redd and Alder might be jokers, but they are just kids, barely 18 years old. Despite the constant bickering and joking, they make passing the time that much easier and more enjoyable.
"The new guy is lucky he doesn't have to deal with these two for an entire 12 hour shift. He doesn't know how lucky he is." Ensign Nevran says.
"Well, I'm sure he'll have his own challenges." Lieutenant Dorien says as he looks out the viewport into space. "He is about as green as it gets. Fresh out of the Academy, we'll see if he's in over his head soon enough."