Stardate: 7588.273
Hendrix sat on the Captain's chair of the Excalibur. Before him was the view screen, which showed the stars as lines, moving across the screen. The view hadn't changed that much for some time now; there's been nothing eventful ever since the Excalibur started its journey to the Diringel system from Earth spacedock. However, since then, Hendrix has been able to explore the Excalibur herself. She was a fine ship, and she had numerous secrets hidden beneath her furanium walls. There were a diverse set of amenities where the crew could go and relax, such as the Officer's lounge, where he found it to be a popular meet-up spot of numerous crewmen. Surprising to Hendrix, there was a holographic rec room, which generated holographic simulations of environments; Hendrix generated multiple environments, such as Miami, The Grand Canyon, and Jerusalem. It was indeed a fascinating experience, and wondered if the technology could be perfected in the future, but that will have to wait. Aside from the recreation amenities, Excalibur made advanced Science, Engineering, and Tactical Systems. Its Engineering Room used the Vertical Warp Core, which was recently installed on Constitution Class Vessel to replace the horizontal warp core. The Engineering Room was vast and spacious, allowing more crew to work more efficiently without bumping into one another. The Excalibur has new and advanced FH-11 Type Phasers, which were the most dominant phasers used in Starfleet ships up to that point. They also had 4 Torpedo Slots, Two in the front of the Section that connected the Saucer and the Engineering Hull, and Two on the back of the Engineering Hull.
As Hendrix thought about his new vessel, he was interrupted by his Helm officer, Sh'erl. "Captain. We are nearing the Diringel System," she said. Hendrix broke off from his daze. "Contact the Commander of Roosevelt Station. We need to be briefed before we investigate any further." Edison commanded. As the Excalibur entered the Diringel System and towards its sun, with planets flying by them, Diringel III came into view. She was a planet that was very similar to Earth. It had a green surface that covered the planet and was surrounded by the ocean. The Comm station produced a Whistle. Rolf, checking it, soon revealed itself to be the Governor of Diringel III. "Captain, the Governor is hailing us." Rolf said.
"On Screen." Edison responded. Soon after, a female Vulcan appeared on the viewscreen. "Hello, Captain." she said bluntly, in the usual Vulcan Fashion. "Ah, T'liluth! It's a pleasure to meet you." greeted Edison. "I request that you come aboard the starbase so that my senior officers and I can brief you and your crew." Edison nodded. "Alright. Atathia, Xehrarv, come with me. Rolf, you have the Conn." Edison commanded as he got up from his chair and went to the turbolift, with Atathia and Xehrarv following. As they all walked into the turbolift, the door closed.
"Transporter room One." Edison commanded, and before they knew it, they were traveling to the transporter room. "So what do we know so far of The Diringel colony? It doesn't hurt to get a refresher once in a while." Atathia asked. "Well, for starters, it's a Class-M Planet, about 1.5 times larger than Earth, and is about 1.6 AU from their sun. So nothing too special, I suppose." Edison said. "Aye. But what's special about it is that it is part of a route that goes to a black hole. So you know the science department will want to take a look at that." Edison responded. As they finished talking, the Turbolift doors opened to reveal the transporter room. As they all walked out, they saw the transporter chief. It was a woman; she had long dark hair and had a dark tone of skin. "Coordinates laid in Captain." she informed Edison. "Thank you, Lieutenant Summers." Edison complimented her. They soon walked onto the transporter pad. "Energizing."
Summers told the crew as she worked on the transporter station. As she pushed forward on the console, the group soon started to fade away, with a blue hue crackling fading where they used to be. Before long, the crew would vanish, and on the station, they rematraziled onto the transporter pad. As they looked around, they got a feel for the station. It had gray walls with Blue lines lining the walls of the station. There were races of all kinds moving about in the station, Humans, Vulcans, Caitians, Tellarties, Orions, and Andorians, to name a few. It was indeed a symbol of the diversity of Starfleet. As they made their way across the station, they saw a certain eeriness in the air. It was a sense of worry and anxiety. The Anomaly was clearly changing the life on the station; computers weren't working, replicators were spitting out random stuff at times, and all around, it was chaos at times. As the command crew has started to notice, the station crew had faces of apprehension, concern, and volatility, to name a few. The Problems with the Anomaly were certainly creating panic at the station. From the look on their faces, it would be only a matter of time before all hell broke loose. As they walked further and further through the station halls, they finally made it to the command room of the station command room. The door subsequently opened for them.
The Command Room was, to put it bluntly, a mess. Command officers were running carrying tricorders, sweaty officers working on their stations, trying to manage the station from falling apart, Security throwing out apprehensive officers, and screaming science officers yelling computer jargon across the room. Potentially essential equipment, such as Navigation, Weapons, and science stations, had to be deactivated, sometimes destroyed, for fear that they would become utterly inoperative due to the circumstances. As the Excalibur made their way to the center of the room, they saw a Female Vulcan, pressing her hand against her head while reading from her PADD. "Commander T'liluth?" Edison asked her. After hearing her name, she looked at them. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't been able to sleep in weeks. "Captain...it is acceptable to see you." she said coldly. "Please join me in my ready room" she said as she stood up and started to saunter towards the ready room, with the Excalibur crew following. They went into her ready room, which was surprising because it was kept well in contrast with the rest of the station. She then sat at her table; there were three seats in front of it. Seeing that they were for them, they all sat down, with Hendrix seated at the front. "Around two months ago…" she began. "The anomaly appeared around 1 AU miles away from Drinigel IV; we believe it's partially caused by gravitational interference from the blackhole route." She said, "The Anomaly appears to affect computers and electronics. Our replicators barely follow our commands, weapons systems are barely operational, and we're going to lose life support soon enough." She explained. "So far, I've evacuated all nonessential personnel to the surface, where it isn't as much affected. But without our thrusters and navigational systems, it'll only be a matter of time before the station smashes into the planet's surface." She said. Atathia gasped while Xehrarv groaned. "Why don't we just blow the station out of the sky?" Xehrarv suggested. "Let's just get rid of this problem and move on!" Hendrix groaned.
"Blowing up the station is the last possible solution. Commander, is there any way that the Excalibur can help?" Edison questioned. "There is actually a way, Captain." T'liluth said, paying forward a PADD. Picking it up, Edison saw what it showed. It showed a diagram of the Excalibur and next to it, not so far away, what seemed to be the Anomaly. "We don't know sufficient information about the Anomaly; all of our scans couldn't go through. But what we plan is this: the Excalibur has been retrofitted with advanced sensors, some of the best in the fleet. It would be logical for the Excalibur to go to the Anomaly at a safe distance and scan the Anomaly so that we would know more about it." T'liluth explained. "Although it's dangerous, we believe the Excalibur is ready for this. But we must ask this: do you think your ship is ready for this?" She questioned Hendrix. Edison thought to himself as he sat in the chair. The risks were high; several things could go wrong. But he had faith in his staff, his crew, and his ship. He sat up after thinking for some time. Every eye in the room was staring at him, waiting for his next move. Edison then looked at T'liluth and would say the words that could change his destiny forever: "We'll do it." Edison grabbed his communicator. "Edison to Excalibur. 3 to beam up." Edison commanded.
"Thank you, Captain; we'll send the necessary shield modulations to your engineering department." Informed T'liluth. "Thank you. We'll put in place those shielding as soon as possible." Commented Atathia. Edison then signaled everyone to get up by shaking his hand upwards. As they all sat up, waiting for the cal to be beamed up, T'liluth stood up and raised her right arm and hand, and performed the Vulcan Salute. "Live long and prosper." She said. "Same to you. We'll try our best out there." Edison responded as he was pulling out his communicator. "Energize" Edison commanded into it. Instantaneously, a blue glow overcame the Excalibur crew, and before long, the unit found themselves back at the transporter pad on their illustrious ship once again.
Edison stepped off first from the pad, with Atathia and Xehrarv following suit. "How was the ride back up, Captain?" Summers asked. "It was alright; thanks for the work, Lieutenant." Edison complimented her as the crew walked into the turbolift. "Bridge." Commanded Xehrarv, who didn't say much during this time. As the turbolift door shut and was heading toward the bridge. The command crew stood in silence as the turbolift shot across the interior of the ship. Finally, after a tense silence, Atathia began to speak. "Sir, with all due respect, are you sure that we are ready for this? It's only been a few days since our shakedown. Do you think that the ship and crew are up for ready this task?" She questioned. "I believe we can. This might be a new ship and a fresh crew, but from the past couple of days since I've been here, I know they can do good." Edison responded just as the turbolift doors opened to the bridge. "That speech could've used some work, Captain." added Xehrarv before he and Atathia returned to their stations. As Edison sat in the Captain's chair, he thought about what his first officer said. Was this ship genuinely ready? We'll there was no other choice, the admiralty gave them an order, and they weren't going to become enemies of Starfleet on their first mission.
"She'rl. Set a course for the Anomaly, warp one." Commanded Edison. "Aye, Captain." Responded She'rl, as she set a course for it at her station. "Course laid in." She said shortly afterward. Edison took a deep breath in; there was no turning back now. "Punch it." he commanded, pointing his finger towards the viewscreen. She'rl would then work on her console, pushing her paw on the screen upwards to Warp One. As she did that, the Nacelles turned, the ship elongated, and, in a flash, disappeared into the blackness of space, with blue exhaust trails leaving behind it.