It had taken all night to pressurize docking area three and fill it with breathable air. Within that time, the area was abuzz with personnel preparing the floating platforms, press boxes, audience balconies, ceremonial ribbons, banners and speakers. By morning, the air in the dock was perfectly balanced, but still a little chilly. The ribbons and banners were hung in such a way as to make the entire dock look like the galactic presidential convention had come to town. Sample music from each Federation member world played from the speakers in anticipation of the guests. The platforms' gravity plates were at exactly 1G. The security guards were in place and the Starfleet Spacedock personnel were nowhere to be seen. All was perfect outside for the official launch ceremony for the Warlord.

"This is twice in less than two weeks I've had to wear this God-forsaken tunic." Kirk commented angrily as he fidgeted with the collar of his dress uniform.

"Commander, let's not start this again," T'Nia suggested with a cocked head. Kirk merely narrowed his gaze at her as he let his hands move slowly down to his sides. The rest of the bridge crew, including Box, who had stopped by to say 'hello', chuckled.

The bridge crew had assembled near the airlock near the aft cargo bay doors. They occasionally watched the small view screen to the right of the door as the audience grew. The crew recognized some of them from the celebration a week earlier. This time, however, the group wasn't nearly as nervous.

"Hhhhhthis is a lot of effort just to watch someone break a bottle... which I will probably have to clean up." Box remarked.

"If it helps," Kirk started with a smirk, "each member of the crew will get a bottle of the same stuff they break."

"Hhhhit does not." Box replied with a toothy smile.

"Yeah," commented Tony, "if they're willing to splatter it all over the front of a starship, how good can it be?"

From the corner of his eye, Tyler saw someone approaching. He turned his head to see Captain Bolerov coming towards them also in his dress uniform. Tyler waved. Everyone else continued on with their discussions. The captain approached Tyler and stood upright. "Ensign, you should announce me."

It took a few moments for Ensign Bristol to understand. When he did, his eyes bugged. "Sorry, Sir," he offered quickly. Tyler stood up straight and snapped his head forward. "Captain on deck!" He announced.

Everyone stopped and looked over. Almost instinctively, Kirk stood to attention. Their discussion last night was a rather humbling reminder that Andrei Bolerov was definately NOT Lydia Velasquez. Tyler, Rass, Tony, Elaine, Tom, Box and T'Nia saw Kirk's reaction and snapped to as well. Their discussions ceased immediately.

Bolerov raised an eyebrow to the Hamalki in the lineup. This place was going to shape up. He would make it more of a military vessel. Lydia, for all her talent and experience, obviously let these people get away with too much. That would have to change. "Lieutenant Box, is something here broken?"

"Hhhhno, Sir." Box replied with his typical loud whisper.

"Then, I believe you have a more appropriate place to be for this ceremony. This area is for bridge crew only."

Being a large, crystalline spider meant having eight eyes, but no facial expressions. That being said, his closest friends could still tell Box was a little hurt by that statement. Still, in typical Hamalki fashion, it didn't come through his voice or his body language. It was just something his friends could 'feel'. "Hhhhi understand, Sir." He bowed his head momentarily, then scampered away down the hall and out of sight.

Kirk pursed his lips. Box didn't deserve to be dismissed like a second-rate citizen like that. Tony looked down the hall after his friend with pained eyes. T'Nia momentarily watched her friend as he left, too. The others seemed a little surprised the quick dismissal as well.

Bolerov seemed a little surprised that his bridge crew would have this visible a reaction to forcing his people to adhere to proper protocol. There was just no way around this. It would be a culture shock to them initially, but they were going to have to learn this was a military vessel and needed to be run with military precision. "You're still at attention, ladies and gentlemen," he stated flatly.

Everyone's heads snapped forward and their shoulders squared. "That's better." Bolerov continued with a smile. "Now, let me look at you fine people." He dressed the crew by walking past them. "Excellent, everyone... excellent. You'll make fine dogs and ponies for our show." He finally past Kirk and turned around. One at a time, he looked at the eyes of each of his senior officers. Confident their eyes were fixed forward, he finally said, "Alright, at ease."

The group finally relaxed. "Lieutenant Davies, keep an eye on that monitor over there." Captain Bolerov pointed to the viewscreen with the external display. "Once the party starts, give the rest of the crew the okay to disembark onto their appointed floatillas."

"Aye, aye, Sir." She replied professionally. She walked over to the screen and stared at it. She felt better about looking at the screen, anyway. Something about Captain Bolerov made her uncomfortable. It might be just because he's a man, she thought... no, that wasn't it. He was obviously more confrontational than Captain Velasquez... and much more stern. She hoped her disquietting feeling would eventually pass.

The group stood in silence for several minutes. Then, Elaine saw the audience members stand. Over the small speaker next to the display, she heard the anthem of the Federation. She tapped her comm badge. "Shipwide communication." She paused. "Attention, Warlord crew... disembark to your assigned seats. I repeat; disembark to your assigned seats." She tapped her badge again. The group huddled around the wall-mounted screen to watch the crew exit the Warlord via the five walkways and onto the floating platforms with seats. The audience applauded.

Bolerov was suddenly concerned that he may have been too harsh. Perhaps a little adjustment time couldn't hurt. It wasn't as though they were going on any life-or-death missions right away. Perhaps he should lighten the mood. It had been pretty jovial until he arrived. "So, everyone," he started, his voice a little higher, "everyone has their rooms cleaned up for the tour later, right?"

"Yes, Sir." they all replied. They turned back to the viewscreen. Well, Andrei thought, that attempt at lightening the mood didn't work at all.

Eventually, Elaine turned back around. "Captain... it's our turn."

Bolerov nodded. "Okay... Ensign Bristol, open the door. Let's go meet our adoring public." That warranted a few smiles from the crew.

Bristol opened the door and the crew walked out, led by Captain Bolerov. As they made their way down the gangplank and up to the presentation platform, the audience clapped as their names were announced. The crew eventually sat down next to the senior cabinet members of the Federation. Federation Presiden T'Ken and his wife were present, of course, as were a number of admirals. Fleet Admiral Prescott was standing at the podium.

Fleet Admiral Prescott was noble in appearance and graceful in his speech. He still used old-style notecards for his speeched, however, which almost seemed quaint. "Mr. President, Federation Representatives and honored guests," he began with sweeping gestures with his hands. "the Federation had seen difficult times in our recent past. We had just started recovering from the losses of the Cardassian War when were thrown into a short, but deadly conflict with the Borg. It seemed we had just taken a breath from that, when we were faced with the bloodiest wars in Federation history with the Dominion. Thankfully, because of the dedication, valor, and training of our Starfleet personnel, we were victorious."

He paused to give the audience time to applaud. "Now, we finally have a moment to breathe again. This time, however, we'll take that breath constructively. As we resume our efforts to explore this galaxy of ours peacefully, in the hopes of finding new friends, we renew our dedication to the safety of the Federation with this." He then motioned to the Warlord. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the USS Warlord." More applause. "The first of an entirely new breed of starship, the Dreadnaught series." Even more applause. "... the most advanced starship in the history of Starfleet." Eventually, the applause died down. "With this ship, and soon, others like her, the Federation will never have to fear another enemy. This vessel is equipped with the latest and more powerful offensive and defensive systems, which are controlled by the most sophisticated computer systems, which are under the control of some of the finest officers in Starfleet. Now, we can go forward in peace knowing our homes are finally secure." The audience gave a standing ovation. "Mr. President," Admiral Prescott said finally, "I present you the United Starship Warlord."

The admiral sat as the vulcan President took the podium. "My fellow members," he started. His voice was airy, as most elderly voices were. His stance was tall and his appearance rugged. "Most of us realize that war and bloodshed are not logical. From time to time, unfortunately, it is necessary. Recent history has shown us that the dangers of this galaxy are not confined to the outer rim, but can also be deep in the heart of our own home systems. This starship has already shown some of its capabilities in defending the Romulan homeworld from Reman extremists. While this vessel will never constitute the majority of Starfleet, neither will it become the primary mission of Starfleet, it will keep us safer. The dreadnaught fleet will, no doubt, prove a formidible deterrant to would-be aggressors. For that, and the service of the vessel already completed, we are grateful." The crowd applauded once again. President T'Ken continued his speech.

Stephen leaned over to his friend, Tony. "Notice how they keep downplaying our mission?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Tony answered in simliar voice.

"Shhhh." Captain Bolerov quipped. He leaned over to the other two. Without looking at them, he commented, "This project still has many critics; afraid this will turn the Federation into some kind of police state. Guard your words carefully, gentlemen. They are still looking for a reason to shut us down."

The audience applauded again. Absently, the three applauded and smiled as well. Kirk leaned over to the captain. "Who is still trying to shut down the program?" He asked in a whisper.

With eyes still locked on the President, Andrei replied, "One of them is standing at the podium right now." The audience applauded again and the senior crew members applauded in kind.