Personal log, Stardate: 61629.4. This is the first entry into Ensign Ariana Genesis's personal log. Well, that's pretty obvious. Oh God, I'm so nervous. This is my first day on my first ship. Well, the captain's ship at least. You know, it isn't actually MY ship. Oh no, I'm just talking nonsense now... Anyways, I memorized the names of the senior staff already. Captain Leonard Dixon, Commander Edgar Sargon, Lieutenant Commander Dick Grayson, Counselor Daisy Blakewood, and Lieutenant Scorus Justice. A lot of people call LC Grayson, "Robin" because his name matches the 21st century fictional character. Justice is a Vulcan, and he really intimidates me despite his being only a Lieutenant./em/p
Before Ariana could finish her log entry, the entire ship shook violently. She was launched out of her chair and landed flat on her stomach. The red alert signal blared throughout the ship. Ariana jumped back up and shook herself off. The badge on her left breast beeped, notifying her that she was being contacted. She pressed the badge. "Ensign Genesis here, go ahead." Ariana responded to the beep.
"Get to the bridge, on the double! I know it's your first day, but you're going to have to grow up quickly," said the voice.
"Ariana recognized the strong voice. It was Commander Sargon. "On my way," Ariana answered. She pressed the badge again, ending the communication. She rushed out of her room and sprinted towards the turbolift. The ship shook again, knocking the ensign to the wall. Ariana quickly recovered from the impact and dusted herself off before entering the turbolift. "Bridge," she commanded to the machine. The turbolift traveled across the ship and finally landed on the bridge. Ariana stepped out of the shaft. She looked over to the main viewer. She gasped at the vessels in front of the ship.
There were three Romulan warbirds. Ariana remembered that the Romulans had broken the peace treaty a few years ago and started a full-on assault on the Federation. The assault was halted, but the war still strives. Although, she was confused. This is a Firebird-Class vessel. It has a multi-spacial force field, originally used by One. It had been adapted for Firebird-class starships, and even improved. Also, Firebird-classes are armed with several torpedo bays, with a standard armament of Series 5 long-range tactical armor unit torpedoes, designed by the Druoda. Starfleet had taken this weaponry in and improved them as well. Each torpedo is encompassed in an alternate phase-variant frequency shielding. While in flight, the torpedo can recognize the enemy shields and remodulate itself to pass right through the shields. Our phaser power is that of five times of a Sovereign-class. Even three Romulan warbirds couldn't even hope to take down our ship. Something else was going on here.
"Ensign!" Dixon exclaimed. "Get to tactical!"
Ariana looked over and saw the original man who was stationed there had plasma burns all over him. She was astonished by the sight of this. She wondered how this could have happened. The ensign stared in awe.
"Is there a problem, Ensign?!" Captain Dixon inquired. He opened his mouth to say something else, but several torpedoes were fired from the Romulan vessels and impacted the ship. "Damage report!" Sargon inquired.
"Heavy damage to starboard hull," Justice responded from the helm. "Life support lost on Decks 5 through 10. Fifty-six casualties, evacuation procedures for those decks are already underway."
"Ensign, get to tactical, damnit!" Dixon commanded.
Ariana rushed over to the tactical stations. "Phasers are inoperative," She reported.
"Fire torpedoes, battle-pattern Gamma 3!"
Ariana acknowledged and fired them in that sequence. Three torpedoes shot out of their bays at incredible speeds. They broke off into a horizontal pattern. Each one pierced their respective warbird's shields and instantly destroyed the Romulan attackers.
"Cancel red alert," demanded the captain. "Ensign Genesis, see me in my ready room." He said this as he stood up and walked into his ready room. Ariana took a deep breath and followed him. Captain Dixon sat in his chair and looked the ensign in the eye. His face had an unpleasant expression.
"Ensign, what the hell happened back there?" He asked, disconsolated.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I-I just saw the body of the man who was there and it terrified me." She responded.
"How many people are on this ship, Ensign?"
"3050, Sir."
"You can now make that 2994 until we reach the next starbase for their replacements! Your hesitation just costed us fifty-six lives!"
Tears began to stream from Ariana's eyes and she hung her head down.
"Look at me in the eye, Ensign!" The captain demanded. "You will show respect towards me!"
She raised her head back up, her eyes slightly red and swollen.
"Sir," she said. "How did the Romulans deal that much damage to our ship?"
"I don't know, but it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for your incompetence! Return to your quarters, Ensign! Dismissed!"
Ariana nodded, turned around and left the ready room. She very slowly walked into the turbolift with her head down.
"Deck 56" She said in melancholy. When the turbolift opened on her deck, she rushed to her quarters and laid flat on her bed and sobbed.
