The screaming of the General Alarm woke him from sleep. John reached for the stim unit on the table as he scrambled out of bed. He pulled his Vac suit from the closet as he rushed toward the bridge. They hadn't even reached Abraxxus yet, he had set his alarm for 0700, it was 0600. If they were on schedule, they should be getting to Abraxxus in 1-2 hours before they even dropped out of warp. "Report?!?!" he barked out as he came onto the bridge. People scrambled all over the bridge, talking and yelling. "Lieutenant Birge, report." John roared over the din.

"Sorry, sir. We should not have called General Quarters. Ensign Sties says that the sensors are picking up some gravimetric disturbances ahead that are dense enough to pull us out of warp 15 minutes early. That will leave us nearly 3 days out at normal speeds. We are attempting to divert off our original course to avoid the masses so that we can have a clean insertion into Abraxxus, but if we succeed we will add another 20 minutes that we will spend in warp." the man responded.

John nodded as "All stations manned and ready" came over from the tactical officer.

'Kate, get me ship-wide' John heard a double click "All Hands, stand down. This is just a drill, I repeat stand down this is just a drill." John said over the ship-wide loudspeakers, 'Elapsed time Kate?'....'5 minutes and 30 seconds Captain'..."You have the bridge Lt, I need a shower and breakfast." John relayed as he walked off the bridge.

John headed back to his quarters but before he got there he was intercepted by the XO, she looked pissed. "Relax Lt Commander Stein, I would rather be woken up a 100 times because Lieutenant Birge wasn't sure if he should, and him not call the GQ when he actually needed too. In other words, don't go in there guns blazing. Ok?" John told her. She took a deep breath and gained control of herself, before saluting him and walking off. He now knew why she had not been promoted too Captain yet, strong anger issues.

A short nap, shower, and breakfast later John was back on the bridge. "So, what is the word Lt O'Hansen. Are we going to avoid those gravimetric disturbances or not?"

O'Hansen came back quickly "By the skin of our teeth sir. We will add 15 minutes in warp though. We will be dropping out of warp in 20 minutes." John nodded his head in understanding. He brought up his ship status and prompts he had waiting.

Ship Status

Shields- Standby Mode

Engines- Standby Mode

Warp Engine- Active

Fore Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Loaded

Aft Missile Tubes- Unarmed/Loaded

Pulse Cannons- Standby Mode

Point Defense Cannons- Standby Mode/100% Manned

Stealth Suite- Standby Mode

Fusion Generators- Online/40% Capacity

Secret Mission Complete: Control the Chaos

Description: Due to your crew's inexperience a General Quarters was called when it was unnecessary. Instead of losing control of the situation you took charge of the situation and asserted your control of the command crew and ship. You also justified the actions of your crew to the XO and had her reconsider her actions before she made an unwise choice.

Rewards: 100 Exp, Friendly status with Lt Commander Stein, Mantle of Command +1, Crew Morale +5

Ok, he just did the right thing cause people were running around with their heads cut off. His XO just needed a chill pill before she ripped someone's head off. She had probably been about to go ahead when the GQ had been called, he would be grumpy too. "Comms, as soon as we get in the system and are secure make sure you get the communications dump from the local Comm Bouy and check the local comm traffic."

The Comm Officer came back with a crisp "Yes sir."

John swiveled to face his tactical officer "When we drop out of warp activate our stealth systems, I want to minimize exposure' He nodded his understanding as his hands flew across his boards. 'O'Hansen, when we drop out of warp, use minimum engines until we are sure we are clear of any possible pirates." He bobbed his head up and down in response.

'Kate, give me a count down when we reach 30 seconds' John told the A.I. before he continued to read through the reports from the previous night and the status updates from the various heads of departments.

SHIP-WIDE ALERT!!!

30 seconds to warp emergence

SHIP-WIDE ALERT!!!

John strapped in and sent out a ship-wide alert about the impending warp emergence. Then it hit him, it felt like his eyeballs were getting ripped out of his skull and suddenly the sensation was gone and the Riptide was in normal space again. O'Hansen immediately came back "Ok, warp drive is spinning down and will be ready to jump again in 1 hour. We are moving sun-ward at 5% of possible speed."

"Tactical?" John asked.

"Stealth Suite is up and running, we are not getting actively scanned by anyone." The Tactical offocer promptly responded.

"Sensors?" John asked.

"We are clear up to 1 kilometer, sensors are passive mode only. Local comm traffic is dead, just a couple of rock collectors talking. Getting the data dump from the local comm buoy." The Communications officer said.

"Ok, Lt O'Hansen, start a spiral course toward the sun. Tactical in 5 minutes if we are still clear, drop the cloak and go active on the sensors. Let's make sure all the survey information is correct people. Stay safe we will be enjoying Abraxxus for the next 12 hours." John sent out the commands to his people.

One day down and he already hated the military-style of life. One of the reasons why he missed the smuggler lifestyle. Yes, he was constantly hunted by authorities and competitors alike but he was free of all the dam paperwork. John still had to go over department reports and initial reviews of the newest crew members.

Suddenly he felt the ship pitch and accelerate "General Quarters, General Quarters, All hands man your battle stations, repeat all hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill!!" came the XOs voice over the ship-wide intercom. She wouldn't call a false GQ, John grabbed his spacesuit and stepped into it. It was a mix between a spacesuit and low-grade power armor. It had enough power, water, and food in it to support the occupant for 72 hours. As the suit sealed shut he rushed out of his quarters and to the bridge.

"Report?" John asked his XO.

"One of the rock crushers has sent out a distress call that they were under attack by a couple of pirate ships. We are in route to their coordinates and are 20 minutes away. All stations should be manned and ready within 1 minute, I am heading to the secondary bridge." Lt Commander Stein responded with a salute and dashed off toward the secondary bridge.

"Tactical put the combat drones on standby mode and launch them when we are 2 minutes out. Comms, try to get ahold of that ship that is being attacked and try to figure out what we are running into. If they cannot respond, update the tactical feed as soon as we are in scanning range" John ordered as he sat down in his chair and pulled up his ship and tactical feeds.

Ship Status

Shields- 100% Capacity

Engines- Running 100% Capacity

Warp Engine- Standby Mode

Missile Tubes- Armed/Loaded

Pulse Cannons- Charged at 100% Capacity/Standby Mode

Point Defense Cannons- Standby Mode/100% Manned

Stealth Suite- Standby Mode

Fusion Generators- Online/80% Capacity

Drones: 4-Type IV Combat Drones/Ready for launch

The tactical display showed his ship with a 360-degree view around it. He could zoom in or out, highlight various parts of his ship and get an in-depth analysis of any damage sustained by his ship or enemies. As he zoomed out on the display, he could see the damaged mining ship fleeing toward the Riptide. The comm officer managed to get the Miner to forward its sensor data to the Riptide and is updated with the information immediately. The box-like mining ship, Dorthy, was running from a similar-sized freighter, Blood Cutter. Although the Dorthy was not a warship, it still had some point defense cannons and they were doing their best at destroying 6 combat drones or fighters. Four more had launched from the Blood Cutter and were in route to the miner, "Tactical how long until we can target and launch missiles at the freighter and those craft? Comms standby with an offer for their surrender." John commanded.

The tactical officer came back immediately "5 minutes until we are at max range, 10 minutes until we are at optimal range. We can get off four salvos off before we get to point-blank range." John nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"The comm line is ready to go sir as soon as you need it" the comms officer came back.

"Attention Blood Cutter, this is Captain Port of the Riptide. Recall your attack craft and power down your engines, weapons, and shields. If you do not we will destroy you, you have 1 minute to decide." John called out to the pirates.

1 minute later the attack craft, drones, were still pounding the Dorthy and the Blood Cutter was still closing. "Ok, tactical as soon as you can lock onto the Blood Cutter and target her engines. As soon as we are in the optimal range start launching salvos and have the PDC start knocking out those drones that are attacking the Dorthy. Navigation, I want to put us between the Dorthy and Blood Cutter in case the Blood Cutter starts targeting her were anything heavier than a combat drone."

10 minutes later the first salvo was launched, the Dorthy was slowing down now as the damage mounted and half of her PDCs had been knocked out of action. They had taken 5 of the drones though, "Tactical when we get in range to launch drones have them target the hostile drones and support the Dorthy. Comms make sure the Dorthy is aware we are going to launch combat drones shortly to support them and please don't destroy them!!!" John called out. Of the four missiles in the first salvo, only one missile got through the Blood Cutters PDCs and slammed into her shields and knocking off 1/3 of her shields. The second salvo was at the halfway point and the third had just launched with the combat drones.

John zoomed the tactical display on the Dorthy and watched the Riptides combat drones swoop in and cut through the Blood Cutters drones. In 30 seconds they downed 3 of the remaining 7 hostile drones. The remaining four broke off and raced toward the Blood Cutter while the Riptides drones remained on station around the Dorthy. The Blood Cutter started to turn away, "Tactical keep hammering her. Navigation, bring us alongside the Blood Cutter, as soon as we get within range of the Pulse Cannons hit them hard." The salvos of missiles kept going out but between the PDCs and the drones, none were getting through. The Blood Cutter had been damaged though, one main engine was still working and she was leaking atmosphere. As the Riptide pulled parallel of the Blood Cutter the captain of the pirate ship tried to reach out but the Pulse Cannons fired and ripped through the remaining shields she had. Multiple explosions walked the length of the Blood Cutter as she was torn apart.

"Navigation plot a course back to the Dorthy, tactical recall the combat drones. Comms, get on the line with the captain of the Dorthy and see if they need any further assistance.' John called out quickly. 'Kate get me ship-wide; All hands, stand down from General Quarters, repeat stand down. The enemy ship has been neutralized, good job people. XO, please come back to the main bridge so I can finish up all my paperwork. Chief Letts, we might be needing one of your repair crews for the Dorthy if they need assistance.' John pulled up the visual sensor feed on the main display, she looked like she had taken a bad hammering, but her hull was intact and not leaking atmosphere.

Mission Complete: Save the Dorthy!!

Description: The Mining ship Dorthy is under attack by the pirate ship Blood Cutter. Nuetralize the threat and assist the Dorthy.

Rewards: 500 Experience, Friendly Status with the Rock Breakers Alliance, Hated with the Outer Ring Pirates Guild, 4 Type I Combat Drones

According to the captain of the Dorthy, she would need assistance for about an hour. That would delay their departure but not by much. John compiled a quick report and sent it to the comm officer with orders for it to be forwarded to Fleet Command immediately. The XO walked onto the bridge and John headed back to his cabin. He needed to compile a more in-depth report and add it to his log for the day, i.e. more paperwork.