Racking up the Armory

Posted on Thu Dec 28th, 2023 @ 9:17pm by Colonel Josiah McEntyre & Commander Saul Whitford

1,401 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: First Deployment
Location: Unicorn Shuttlebay, Deck 11 - San Fransisco Shipyards
Timeline: MD 0

"How did they expect him to have this ship ready for launch inside of a week?" Colonel Josh McEntyre thought to himself on the way down to the Shuttlebay on deck 10. The orders had came in in the middle of the night. Deploying Unicorn and her sister ship, Yorktown, inside of a week in response to the attack of Starbase Salem One at Berengeria VII.

He shook his head as he thought to himself, the hum of the turbolift making him feel uneasy. He was Special Operations, of course he was used to seemingly impossible deadlines but still, he hadn't found a command crew yet. He'd struck gold this morning over breakfast when his PADD beeped that a Chief Armory Officer had been found for him and that he'd be aboard in record time since this Lieutenant Saul Whitford was already assigned to Starfleet Academy.

The lift beeped as the door slid open. Josh brushed his tunic, making it as smooth as possible before stepping off the turbolift to the docking port airlock.

He nods to one of his MACOs acting as the Airlock sentry to open the doors, the panel confirming hard seal with the transport shuttlepod.

Peering through the airlock viewport, Whitford felt a growing excitement within him. He could see the officer on the other side, and the dull metal of the Starfleet vessel's interior. United Earth still hadn't learned the benefits of good aesthetics. 'Not that I mind,' Whitford thought. 'Just get me out in space again.'

He grinned as the airlock finally completed its cycle, lights turning green. With a faint hydraulic hiss, the door opened, allowing the Lieutenant - a promotion that was a perk of the assignment - entry on to the ship. Clutching his shoulder bag close to his side, he snapped off a salute to the MACO Colonel he had seen through the port.

'Lieutenant Whitford reporting for duty, sir!'

Josiah saluted the young lieutenant in greeting, proper with his stance, moving fluidedly into a position of attention before returning to at ease.

"Welcome Aboard, Lieutenant. I'm Colonel Josiah McEntyre, welcome to Unicorn. I apologize for the quickness of your ordering here but we're racing a clock. Walk with me, please."

Josiah nods as he turns on his heels to start for the armory and weapons deck.

Whitford's smile turned to bemusement as he watched the Colonel turn on his heel and set off at brisk pace. It wasn't a problem for the man to match his superior's pace. He prided himself on his physical fitness. 'You're the Unicorn's Commanding Officer then, sir?' he asked as he caught up.

“I am. I know that might take a little getting used to. Believe me I’ve seen weird, but Starfleet and United Earth needs experienced officers helming and crewing ships. The attack at Berengeria is kicking things into high gear.”

Josiah explains as they get to the lift waiting a moment before it arrives and opens for the two to enter.

'I guess so,' Whitford replied as he took his place beside the Commanding Officer. 'The Romulans have been harassing us for years now. Must think there's some advantage to taking out Salem One now.' Smiling lopsidedly, he looked over at the Colonel, 'lucky for me I was just down the well.'

Leaving the lift to hum in the silence for a moment, Whitford finally gave in to temptation and eyed the MACO officer. 'So ... MACO. What's that been like?'

Josiah keyed the button for the armory deck before he turns his head.

“Lots of Ops that I can’t speak of, files in black ink sort of thing. Not as exciting as what you might think the MACOs do on a day to day basis. Outside of combat ops it’s mostly PT, and weapons training.”

Josiah said casually at the lift descends.

'Fair enough. Sounds a lot like shipboard life to be honest,' Whitford replied with a shrug. 'Lots of tedium punctuated by some action sometimes.' He laughed suddenly, 'but at least you don't have cargo inventory to do.' Lapsing in to silence once more, Whitford frowned, thinking. 'Any word on any of the other senior officers?'

“Our Chief Medical Officer arrived last night. I just came from sickbay when your shuttle docked. We should be getting our Chief Comms officer this afternoon and possibly our Chief Strategic Intelligence Officer and XO if they’re shuttles get here today.”

'That's good news,' Whitford said approvingly, 'Starfleet needs to show she can punch her weight - we've established that we're good at exploring. Hopefully the Unicorn can show we're good at holding what we've built.' As the shuttle slid to a stop, Whitford opened the door with a smile. 'After you, Sir. She's a big ship. I'd hate to get lost.'

Josiah nods as he heads down the corridor towards the massive armory, punching in his access code before pulling the door open and standing aside to let the new Armory Officer go in first.

Looking around, Whitford whistled in appreciation. 'There's a lot of hardware in here,' he said, turning to the Colonel. 'Should give the Romulans a run for their money - even their big guns. What we packing here?'

"6 Duel Mounted Type 2 phase cannons, 2 pulsed particle cannons, 8 torpedo tubes with the new Mark 2 Variable Yield Photonic torpedoes, and a ten cell VLS missile launcher. We're also the test bed for a prototype Deflector Shield system."

'Andorian tech?' Whitford wondered aloud. 'There's some advantage to this Coalition thing,' Whitford replied with a smile as he walked over to one of the torpedo racks and popped a panel on one of them. 'The Em-Kay-Two is a massive improvement,' he commented idly as he looked over the components before popping he panel back in place. 'I hope we're going to have time to train with these - it's no good just shooting and hoping.'

"I plan on running drills while we're en route."

Josiah turns to his new Armory Officer with a somber look.

"I should also advise you that Unicorn will also be taking on at least 30 of the old Minuteman-V Nuclear Missiles from the old Atomic Stockpile. The Romulan's have been employing thier own nuclear arsenals against Coalition forces so Earth believes that we should be fighting fire with fire."

'That bad, huh?' Whitford replied with equal sombreness. 'I suppose reports from the front haven't quite filtered back.' He licked his lips, looked away for a moment with hands on hips before skewering his Commanding Officer with a look. 'We looking at Romulan atomics used against colonies?'

Josiah nods his head.

"We believe so, but until the 1st MACO MEU gets back, I don't have any solid intel. Earth only knows what is being picked up from Echo 6 relay and what intel filters through our various allies."

'Well I guess we hit them where it hurts when we get going,' Whitford replied, a determined set to his shoulders. 'I'll need any information you can give me on those weapons - I've not been briefed on their use, at all, during my time in Starfleet. I guess they thought they were done with such things.'

“I’ll get you a full briefing and code book. It’ll be a three key system needing Myself, You and the XO to authorize a launch of them.”

'Thanks Colonel,' Whitford said gratefully as he eyed up the Armoury room. 'I'm going to have to run an inventory of what we have - make sure Earth sent up everything she said she would. And I'm sure you have other matters to attend to?'

Josiah gives Saul a nod.

"I'll leave you to it then. If you need anything before we leave dock, you can send the paperwork to my desk and i'll see it transferred up."

Whitford looked across to the Colonel, hand already in his duffelbag digging out a PADD. 'You got it, Captain. Anything I need, I'll wire it straight over. I'll get to work right away.'

"Colonel, Actually. And thank you, Lieutenant. I'll let you get to it then"

Josiah said as he turned on his heels to exit the armory, confident in his new Armory Officer's ability to get the job done.

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