Angels In Space

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 3:43am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Captain Tobias Rao
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 6:47am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: USS Palatine
Timeline: Before "Sail Away"

Commander Nyx decided to spend some time off the Pandora before their departure, to say hello to Captain Rao on the USS Palatine. The Vesta class ship was part of the same Task Force and was likewise getting a fine-tuning at the Luna Shipyards. Temple wanted to meet with her Captain as they would act as the Pandora's guardian angels should she fall into trouble once inside the Inconnu Expanse.

Temple received authorisation to come onboard and was soon outside the Captain's Ready room. He pressed the door chime and waited with a trademark broad smile.

Tobias was stood by the replicator ordering an Earl Grey Tea when he heard the door chime. He kept hold of the PADD in his hand as he moved over to his desk. He knew that he was expecting to meet with Captain Temple from the Pandora and realised this could be him.

"Come in," he called out as he placed the china tea cup & saucer on his desk watching as the Captain walked in.

Temple gave the Captain a respectful salute as he entered, wanting to show his respect for the elder officer. After he dropped his hand from the level of his eyes, he extended it out to shake with Rao.

"Sir, thank you for seeing me," Nyx began with a smile. "I wanted to meet with you before the Pandora departs, especially as you'll be coming to our rescue if we need it."

Tobias smiled as he shook Nyx's hand. "Its a pleasure to meet you Captain...and to know that we'll be your knight in shining armour as well," Tobias explained. He wanted to get to know his fellow CO before the Pandora departed. "Grab a seat by all means."

Temple took a chair and sat down, but still had his body at attention. He didn't want to appear to be a slouch in front of the Captain.
"You've got a beautiful ship here, sir," Nyx nodded, "I thought the Pandora was looking shiny, but the Palatine is something else indeed."

Tobias could see that Nyx was keeping up an appearence in his prescence and decided to relax things. "Please, call me Tobias when we meet...we captains can afford the pleasure to relax a little after all," he offered as he sat down.

Taking a look around the room, Tobias was proud of his vessel. "Yes, The Palatine is only a year out of shakedown...she's a fine ship, in fact the newest I've ever commanded in 20 years as a CO..." he recalled. "We'll be your support vessel whilst you're in the Expanse though... I've asked my Science officer to keep an active link with the Pandora so that we have up to date real time logs of your whereabouts and activities," he explained.

Nycolas relaxed, allowing himself to slouch. Just a little though. He whistled out loud at the Captain's mention of serving for twenty years. "That's an amazing service, Tobias. No wonder Starfleet is giving you such a fine ship. And I thank you for being our knights, or angels, or whatever you want to call it. Truth be told, I'm afraid we might have to call upon your services. The Pandora is an exploration vessel, she's not designed for brute combat and where we're going, we may have a few fights on our hands."

Tobias smiled as he handed a PADD over to Nyx.

"Have no fear, Nycolas, my orders are to provide whatever support is needed by the Pandora. Be it Tactical, Science, Medical... Basically whatever you need, we're here ready to assist," Tobias explained.

"I've also read up on the Expanse...or what we know of it so far and be assured that the Palatine will offer a stern defence against any agressors towards the Pandora," he continued. One thing Tobias knew was that a Vesta Class could hold their own in combat.

Nyx smiled as he reviewed the Palatine's schematics, "We'll all be very thankful to hear that. The Pandora will be the first ship to explore the Inconnu Expanse for a while, we have no idea what we're going to find. Having the Palatine with her impressive endowments will certainly help."

The mention of fear caught Nyx for a moment and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It had been a pointed subject between himself and Emilie of late. Fear was holding her back from joining the Pandora and nothing he could say so far was able to convince her. He decided to broach the subject with the Captain, surely with all his years of service he would have some insight.

"Make I ask a personal question?" Nyx asked, looking at the older officer with an earnest smile, "Does your family travel with you?"

Tobias nodded as he answered the question. "My wife Ellana does...however our two children are grown up and both serving in Starfleet," he explained. "Why do you ask?"

Nyx sighed, "I'm having trouble convincing my wife to join us on the Pandora. We experienced the loss of our home planet a few years ago, and she's been reluctant to leave Earth ever since. I understand her fears, I really do, and I don't want to push her. But the thought of being separated from each other, and me from my child, I know it's filling us both with dread." He smiled. "Don't suppose you have any advice?"

"Be gentle and give her time to come around to the idea..." Tobias offered. "Your about to go on a deep space mission, often you find that family want to be with you instead of being apart...she'll come around."

Temple handed back the PADD, this time showing a picture of himself, Emilie, and little Katrine - taken not long before Nyx left for the Pandora. "That's them. I couldn't stand being so far away from my family."

Tobias took a look at the image before h. im. "She'll come around to the idea and you'll find young Katrine will too..." he explained."However theres always the option of a slipstream capable taxi if she changes her mind..."

Temple laughed, "Thank you, Tobias, I appreciate your candour. Anyway, so while the Pandora is off exploring the Expanse, where will the Palatine be stationed? I hope Starfleet is letting you take this beautiful ship out for a proper shakedown?"

Tobias picked up a second PADD on his desk and hadca quick glance over his orders as a reminder. "We'll be stationed out of Starbase 415 as I understand it," he explained before continuing. "We have an Ambassador to deliver to Nerias Four, Three Runabouts to deliver to a colony on the border of Federation space before heading off to Outpost Solomon-9 to pickup some more personnel."

Tobias was happy that the ship would be busy whilst monitoring the progress of the Pandora. "Theres plenty to do, but we won't be far away."

Nyx could only shake his head and smile. The Captain was so calm and assured, despite the heavy workload thrust upon his ship, saying nothing of his vigilant presence as the Pandora's protector. Nyx himself was a mixture of excitement, nerves, and the dread of uncertainty. He could only hope to have Captain Rao's calm demeanor one day too.

"Wow, they're certainly keeping you busy," He replied with a smile, "I'll have to invite you onboard our ship's recreation deck to properly thank you for your assistance."

"That would be a pleasure, Nycolas... However I'm sure there will be plenty of time to pay you a visit with each support stop off I make..." Tobias offered He knew there would be plenty of chances to look around and compare the Pandora to the Palatine.

"I'll have plenty of time to take a look around your fine new starship...besides, someone will have to keep you up to speed on matters outside the Expanse."

Nyx gave a jovial laugh, "I'll have to count on you for that. Thank you again, Captain, I look forward to your support out there."

With a respectful nod, Temple bid farewell to Captain Rao and headed back towards the Transporter Room, feeling that his chat with the older officer had given him some assurance and confidence. He wasn't any more certain over his family situation but he had hoped that maybe one day it could be settled. The most important thing to take away from this chat was that the Pandora would certainly be protected and assisted while in the Expanse thanks to the USS Palatine. It was now Nyx's job to ensure they didn't need it.

OFF