The Federation - Episode I: Voyager

[Aerandariel]

The Federation
EPISODE I: VOYAGER
CHAPTER I

Magecastle Port
Septem 17, 1595

"It's probably going to be the most advanced ship in the fleet for now." says Admiral Patterson to the exuberant Captain, "She won't have the sort of armaments that the Enterprise or the Defiant do right now, but she's got a faster engine and tougher hull plating."

Captain Curzon Dax stopped for a moment, taking it all in. He was about to assume his first full command in the Federation Navy, and he intended to make the best of it.

"What's she called again?" Dax asked.

Patterson replied, "Voyager. F.S.S. Voyager. Registry number FN-VX-01."

Dax smiled. "Sure has the right name. By the time I'm done everyone'll forget about the Enterprise and Defiant."

"I'm sure they will, Curzon. But for right now, you still have take Voyager out for her shakedown cruise. That is scheduled for tomorrow, I do believe. I hope your crew is fully prepared." Patterson said.

"If they're not, we're in trouble already. How far are we going?" Dax asked.

The two officers walked into the Map Room of Voyager and went over to the center console that displayed the regional map and had the trace of Voyager's route. It was something simple: a departure from Magecastle, a quick hugging along the Citadel Peninsula, a resupply stop at Federation Base One, then a run south through the Arrenlander Sea, going around the south Detectatian Island, then churning back north to Magecastle.

"We figured that Voyager might spend a week to a week and a half tops on the open seas. Weather looks pretty good according to forecasts, and there doesn't appear to be any reports of hostile activity in the area along the route. Should be seamless," the Admiral said.

"Except that I'm sure the launching of Voyager will probably set off a few alarms in Adwest and Taeunas. Taeunas especially got interested in the maiden voyage of the Enterprise if I'm not too much mistaken." Captain Dax said.

"Of course they were. They helped us build the damn thing." Patterson said with a chuckle, "Besides we've already taken precautions in case something awry were to occur with one of our neighbors. If anything happens, we'll be ready."

"I appreciate that, Admiral." said Dax.

---

Magecastle Port
Septem 20, 1595

The day had finally come. Voyager was set to take off for her shakedown cruise. A crowd of civilians, military brass, and reporters had gathered at Magecastle Port to witness and document the launch. Voyager was considered the most advanced ship in the entire fleet, with a series of advanced torpedoes, cruise missiles, and powered by a dual purpose experimental fusion engine and a hydroelectric power generator to fuel most ship systems. Because of its experimental nature, Voyager was given a special registry number: FN-VX-01 (Federation Navy Voyager-Class Experimental Build 1), and was designated as the "mothership of the Voyager-class Naval Destroyer".

Captain Curzon Dax was greatly excited in the days leading up to the launch but on the day of, Dax had gotten incredibly nervous. Voyager was the first of her kind, and because of her experimental nature any kind of failure would look badly on both Dax and the Voyager experiment. The fusion engine and hydroelectric generator were especially concerning. But the Engineering crew of Voyager were considered to be some of the best trained crew in the nation, and they were confident that they could handle whatever trouble they would run into.

At about 12:00 PM, a voice came on throughout the ship: "Now hear this! Now hear this! All stations and crew, prepare for departure from Port. Secure stations and take up departure posts."

Suddenly, the different decks of Voyager came alive with activity; people running to and from different areas, working at different stations. On the bridge, Captain Dax and his first officer, Commander Andrew Brees, were awaiting the final go order.

"To think, we're probably minutes away from this maiden voyage." Brees said.

Dax shot a quick glance over at Brees, then turned back towards the sea beyond and said, "Indeed. I just hope everything goes right and we don't end up embarrassing ourselves."

Brees then asked, "Worried about the engine?"

Dax nodded. "No other ship in the fleet has ever had the type of engine Voyager does. Maybe that's why they call this ship 'experimental'." he said.

On the comlink system, chatter began to arise from Navy Command both in Magecastle and in the capital city of Hyperion. Most of the chatter was between those two points and it went on for several minutes before finally...

"Command to Voyager[/]."

Dax tapped a button on a console next to him and said, "[i]Voyager bridge, Captain speaking."

"Captain, this is Admiral Patterson. Can you transmit this audio to your crew?"

Dax gave a quick order to one of the bridge officers, who then connected the Admiral to the rest of the ship.

"Brave men and women of Voyager. Your ship is the first of her kind, and thus her crew is the first of their kind. The eyes of the entire nation, and probably even the world are watching you. If successful, Voyager quite possibly can make every other navy in the world obsolete. Do us proud, ladies and gentlemen. We'll see you in a week."

Patterson paused. A few seconds would pass and then... "Command to Voyager. You are cleared for port departure. Godspeed."[/i]

The engines started whirring. The waters began churning around the base of the ship. Voyager began to slowly crawl out of the docking bay. The crowd at the port began cheering. The military officers gave a salute to the departing ship. Within about thirty minutes, Voyager was free of the docking bay and was in open water.

"How's the engines doing do there, Lieutenant?" Captain Dax asked the chief engineer, Lieutenant Belanna Paris.

Paris was looking at several sensors, making sure the engines were in good shape. "All green across the board, Captain," she exclaimed, "The fusion engine is running optimally and the generator is operating at efficient levels."

Dax smiled. So far so good, he thought to himself...