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*Rise of the Warspite*
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by HappyTarget: [QB] Now I know that I said Chapter 11 would have a battle, but character introduction took more than I originally planned. Because of that, the battle has been pushed to Chapter 12. Sorry, my bad! CHAPTER 11 [GSN Warspite, Black Bird Yards dry-dock] "Well XO, you have given me quite a bit to take in. I had no idea that we could even DO things like this, let alone have them already in production on near finished hulls." "And a good thing you didn't too cause if you knew about it, chances are very good that the Peeps would as well!" "Point taken. Well, using these new systems in the wargames scheduled for after our space trials should be very interesting." "Aye Sir, but we can only use them to full effect in simulated attacks on the rest of our squadron. Only they currently have clearance to even know of their existence. As far as everyone else knows we are just a normal, innocent, little BC. By the time we finish our space trials there should be another two Warspite class BCs and three Ghost Rider equipped Star Knight class refits online to join us. Once they arrive, we will become Task Force 55, under the command of Admiral Bruce Cole. Admiral Cole may seem rather young for his appointment, but he is very good at his job. I have personally seen him in action, and will go into battle with him anytime. He knows his stuff backward and forewords and is very creative tactically." "We are also supposed to receive some cruisers and destroyers as screening elements. It is hoped that within a month two more Warspite class BCs will be finished and can join our squadron. Within five months, the first SDs based on our design will be finished. They are scheduled to join up with Admiral White Haven at Trevor's Star as part of Eighth Fleet. Task Force 55 may or may not be going with them, the brass still hasn't decided." "Thank you for the update as to our situation Commander. It looks like the next few months should be very busy. Since that is the case, I think I had better settle in now. I would like a report on what's left to be installed and how long the yard dogs think it will take on my desk by this evening. I'll see you this evening for the working dinner, six o'clock sharp." "I'll be there Captain, and you'll receive the report ASAP." Thad merely nodded in reply. Stooping, Taz scrambled up Thad's shoulder. His 8.5-kilogram bulk was lightened by the fact that the Warspite was kept at 1 G, not the 1.35 G of Sphinx. Thad was thankful for that. Though he was very strong, his muscles had yet to adapt to carrying the extra weight around all day. As he made his way towards the lift, Thad mulled over why Cerberus wanted him here. He was still thinking hard when he approached his quarters. The honor guard at the door stiffened to attention. Thad returned the salute then made to enter his new home. Stopping just inside the door, sheer size of the quarters shocked him. When he had been a middie on his first cruise, he had bunked with many people in a large room. As an Ensign, he had shared a closet sized room with another Junior Officer. Once he got his first command, he thought that his personal quarters were huge. Smaller warships just don't have the room to build large quarters. But even his room on the Victory was tiny compared to this. Perplexed as to why the door wouldn't close, the sentry looked around the corner to see what was wrong. Seeing his Captain staring wide eyed around the room, a knowing smile appeared on his face. Without thinking, he opened his mouth. "Sir, if you think this is large, you should see the Admirals Quarters! They're almost indecently big!" Realizing that he had an audience, Thad spun around, his face bright crimson. The sentry was sure he had said too much, and prepared himself for a verbal beating. It never came. Instead, he got laughter. When he spun around, Thad had seen the marine wince and cast his eyes downward. The look on his face was so comical, Thad lost what little self conscious anger had welled up inside him. On hearing the burst of laughter, the guard stared at his captain again braced at attention. Once Thad had sufficiently recovered from the laughing spell to speak, he let the sentry off the hook. Clasping him on the shoulder, he said, "You know Sergeant, I just might do that." On seeing the shocked look cross the guard's face Thad almost fell into another fit of laughter, but managed to restrain himself. The sergeant made his escape as quickly as he could, not wanting to embarrass himself further in front of his new captain. Thad turned and began a survey of his new home. Next to the far wall was a desk, apparently made from genuine ironwood. On his desk was a terminal, part com system, part computer. There was a high backed, navy blue leather chair behind it. Some kind soul had also installed a perch behind the desk for Taz. Two smaller chairs were placed in front of the desk. To his left was a large video screen. It could be used for either entertainment or communications. There was a comfortable looking sofa along the opposite wall and another chair beside the door. Thad made his way through the room and into the adjoining bedchamber. Lying on his bed were two skinsuits, his and a much smaller one. Thad felt relief flood through him as he examined both suits. He had worried that Taz's skinsuit might have been damaged or lost. Very few places sold skinsuits for treecats, and even fewer places sold them. Thad shuddered to think what could happen if Taz was left unprotected in a battle situation. That skinsuit was one of the first things Thaddeus had purchased on Sphinx. Bob Roberts had been thoughtful enough to tell him about a store in Tinnian that sold them. Thad had spent many of his off-hours at Tilley Base's zero G tank, teaching Taz how to use the thrusters on his suit. Taz had been a quick study and was soon jetting circles and loops around his less agile companion. On the small nightstand beside the bed was a small com terminal and Taz's frisbee. Thad had learned firsthand just what Jennifer had meant when she warned him. The side of his head was still slightly tender from where the speeding disk had struck. Thad's reaction had been just a second to slow, and his noggin had paid the price. Taz had found the whole episode hilarious, even more so when Thad had tried to peg him in return. The cat was just to quick though, and Thad had finally relented to being more watchful in their future games. In his closet were his spare uniforms, and his few civilian cloths were stored in a chest on the shelf. Thad was just finishing his inspection when the door chimed. "Enter" A woman strode in, the stripes on her sleeves indicating she was a Master Chief. Her chocolate brown eyes complimented her graying brown hair up in a bun. She was very motherly looking, with a quick smile and warm eyes. Master Chief Leona Gibbons stared up at her charge with a practiced eye. At five foot three, and 160 pounds she maintained quite an athletic figure, despite her apparent age. "I trust you have found everything to be in order sir?" She asked in a rich soprano. Thad looked down at his steward, "Yes Master Chief, everything looks great." "Please Sir, call me Leona." "Alright, but only if you call me Thad" Leona made a noncommittal grunt, then turned to the treecat on Thad's shoulder. "Allow me to introduce my little companion here. Leona, meet Taz. Taz, Leona." Taz preened on Thad's shoulder. Leona reached into her pocket and produced a stalk of celery. Taz was in heaven when she gave it to him, his purring nearly vibrating him loose from Thad's shoulder. "You sure know how to get into his good books." Thad teased. Leona merely smiled and patted Taz's head as he munched nosily on his celery. "Dinner shall be ready for you and your senior staff at six Sir. If you need anything before then, don't hesitate to com me." "Of course Leona, thank you." "Your welcome Sir." With that, Leona left, stopping momentarily by Thad's desk to organize his message chips. Thad walked over and sat down in his desk chair, putting his feet up on the desk. Taz jumped up to his perch and yawned lazily. Thad couldn't blame him, he felt like taking a quick nap himself. But duty called in the form of his com messages. Most were congratulatory messages, some from the fellow captains that would eventually make up Task Force 55. One was from Admiral Bruce Cole himself. He answered these rapidly enough. It was the last two that sparked his interest. One was from Major Sterling, the other was from an anonymous author. The last one could be from only one source, Cerberus. Thad opened it. A plain text message came up on his screen. It said that he needed only to be near a certain set of coordinates in the Grayson system when he took the Warspite out for her space trials. No other information was given, which irritated the hell out of Thad. That Cerberus woman seemed to go out of her way to be cryptic. Thad felt anger rise in him. An annoyed bleek came from behind Thad. Taz didn't like it when his human's emotions turned ugly. "Sorry bud, didn't mean to disturb ya." A huff was all the reply he got as Taz sprawled out to nap again. Staring at the short message wasn't helping his mood, so Thad closed it and opened Major Sterling's. His smiling head appeared on the screen. "Hello Thad, I trust your trip was uneventful? So, how do you like your new ship? Didn't I tell you she was special? Anyway, down to business… Your contact is the commanding officer of your marine detachment, a certain Colonel Linus van Yurgen. You are to follow his instructions as if they were mine in relation to your actions concerning Cerberus. Don't let us down, we really need someone on the inside of their organization! I'll be in touch." [That evening, captain's dining room, GSN Warspite] Everyone was on time. Thad would have been surprised if that weren't the case. From what he had seen so far, everyone on board was competent and good at his or her job. This was understandable given the fact that the Warspite was a classified project and only those deemed most trustworthy and best at their job would be assigned. Thad looked around the table at his officers. Cmdr. Custer sat at the opposite end of the oval table. To her right sat the ships chief engineer, Cmdr. Julia Santos. Cmdr. Santos was a severe looking individual with a reputation of driving her crews hard. Yet she drove herself even harder and had a reputation as an amazing engineer. Thad hoped that the mostly male Grayson engineering personnel would accept her. Their aversion to women doing 'man's work' had mostly been obliterated by Admiral Honor Harrington, yet a few diehards still clung to their beliefs. Lt. Cmdr. Fillipe Escobar, the ship's astrogator was next. He was a slight individual, with a timid demeanor to match. Jennifer, his tactical officer sat beside Escobar. Beside Jen sat Col. Linus van Yurgen. He looked like he could rip through a bulkhead with his bear hands. A strong jaw and perpetual five o'clock shadow framed his wrinkled face. His salt and pepper hair was shaved down to stubble. Bushy eyebrows almost hid his deep blue eyes. He was build like a bear, and was said to fight like one as well. Yet, provided you did your job well, he acted more like a father than his crusty exterior would lead you to believe. His muscles were barely hidden beneath his spotless green and black Royal Manticoran Marine Corps uniform. The majority of the Warspite's marines were Manticoran, despite her being a Grayson ship. This was because there just weren't enough Grayson marines to go around. The ship's doctor, Surgeon Commander Viola Romanoff, sat across from Col. van Yurgen. She had an oval face framed by brown curls. Her graceful carriage complimented her petit features. Lt. George Humphry, the ships supply officer sat beside her. He was rumored to be a miracle worker in getting whatever you needed. His eyes looked out from behind a red mop of hair. He was short, even for a Grayson, at only four feet. George's slight build merely accentuated his height. At only 20 standard years of age, he was also the youngest person present. This only served to heighten his nervous personality. Beside him was the communication officer, Lt. Cmdr. Xaiver St.Laurence. Although he was only 4 years older than George, Xavier exuded a competence and authority far beyond his years. He was on the fast track to his own command if he kept doing such a professional job. His curly blond hair accentuated his fair complexion and very pale blue eyes. Having completed the meal, most of his officers were covertly studying him. Some were more entranced by the treecat seated beside him. Thad felt good about this group. They seemed to get along and work well together. There was a very strong sense of esprit de corps filling the room. Thad waited until the dishes were cleared before he started the business part of the dinner. "Exec, fill us in on the extent of work left to be done and when we can commence space trials." "Well, according to the yard dogs, we should be ready to go by the end of the week. About four or five days, depending on weather anything unforeseen pops up. The installation of our port lidar and gravitic arrays was finished today. Our alpha nodes should be installed by Thursday along with three of the graser mounts. By late Friday everything else should be installed and the armor plating all welded on." Custer explained. "Excellent. Lt. Humphry, how are we set for supplies?" Thad was positive that the Lt. jumped when he heard his name. Yet he spoke in an even, calm voice. "Everything looks good sir. Weaponry and powered armor has been delivered to the armory for Col. van Yurgen and his marines. The medical bay is fully stocked, our ships weapons and spares are fully stocked. We're sitting pretty Sir." "Thank you, Lieutenant. Weaps, how are we looking?" "I managed to run through a few drills earlier today Sir. Though the crews are a little rusty, they actually are not to bad." "Once we get out of dry-dock, I want that rust to disappear." "We won't let you down Sir." "I have no doubt about that Lt. Cmdr. Col. van Yurgen, how are your marines doing?" "No need to worry about us Sir. We have been training in the ships gym daily. We even got a chance to play war with some of the other marine companies here in Grayson. Needless to say, we sent them home with their tails between their legs!" "Glad to hear it Colonel. Anything happening in medical?" "Nothing sir. Oh the odd bump and scrape, but nothing major. The crew is very healthy Captain." Thad nodded his agreement. "What about engineering?" "Everything looks good so far sir. We'll be able to tell more once we start space trials though. All three fusion plants are running at 75% capacity without any problems. Once all of our alpha nodes are installed, I can't wait to get out and stretch the Warspite's legs." "Me neither, Miss Santos, me neither. Well, does anyone else have anything to add? No? Then I just want to add one thing. Though I have only just met you all, I have a great feeling about this crew and ship. All of your departments look in very good order, which is a credit to each of you. It is to you that the crew looks towards for leadership, and you have responded handsomely. You are a credit to the service, and I am proud to be serving with you." A round of satisfied smiles and a series of 'thank-you captain' were the officers' responses. Yes these were good people, Thad just hoped he was worthy enough to be leading them. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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