The Wolf Unchained: Part 4/4

Posted on Mon Feb 23rd, 2026 @ 6:39pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Chief Warrant Officer Alexion Wylde & Petty Officer 1st Class Ember Locksley & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon & Lieutenant Azree Kar & Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell & Lieutenant Dr. J.R McEntyre, M.D. F.F.C.S, F.C.E.P & Petty Officer 1st Class Kaelen Jax & Lieutenant JG Amari & Staff Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver & Petty Officer 1st Class Leon Inaros & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun Inant

1,761 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prologue: To Boldly Go
Location: USS Fenrir - Engineering
Timeline: MD 14 - 11:05

= Below Decks - Engineering =

"OK, the warp core is online, but it is low power. The Captain is going to order the power umbilical cut soon. Do we switch the power generation around gradually, then cut the umbilical, or just set it to full straight away?" Amari asked as she stood by the ship's heart

"We did both in the tests," Hel said as she looked at Amari with a small smile. "Chief said it was your call how you wanted to handle it, so...what do you think?"

"The core should be brought to full power just before we sever the umbilical? Anything less could affect ship systems?" Amari asked, though she wasn't certain, powering up a ship about to depart wasn't really what she'd spent much time researching compared to general ship functions.

Hel looked at her, offering a small smile. "It's standard procedure," she assured, because it was. "And you're right, if we sever before we're at full power, there's a risk that the power fluctuations could negatively affect the ship's systems."

"Very good." Rosaleen stepped from the small alcove that she had been observing the team from. "If there were a power dropout during handoff, we could end up having to cool the ship and reinitialize every system from scratch." An impish smile spread across her face as she turned to walk to her office. "I have a bottle of Devonian Whiskey riding on your ability to make the transfer on your own. Operations didn't think that you would pull it off. As you were." Rosaleen disappeared into the Chief's Office, humming a haunting tune to herself.

"Never heard of Devonian whiskey, sounds nice." Amari remarked as the Chief engineer disappeared from view. Her blue fingers hovered over the console she stood at watching how much of the ship's power was being supplied by the warp core and by the power umbilical attached to them from the shipyard, standing ready to increase the power generated by the core as soon as the alert came through that said umbilical was about to be severed.

Hel grinned and gave a nod to Amari, almost silently urging her on to do it. They were ready. And it felt good to be ready to stretch their legs.

Kaelen stood at the secondary monitoring station in Engineering, his boots braced firmly against the deck plates. While the Chief and the junior engineers were focused on the manual handoff, Kaelen’s solid black eyes were fixed on the thermal dissipation rates of the EPS manifold.

He didn't need to check the chronometer to know the umbilicals had been cut. He felt the ship’s "pulse" shift, the mechanical heart of the Fenrir stuttered for a microsecond as it took its first full breath of its own power, moving from the steady, artificial life-support of the drydock to the raw, thrumming energy of the warp core.

"Manifold pressure is holding," Kaelen announced, his voice a calm anchor amidst the rising excitement in the bay. His empathy caught the wave of relief from Amari and the sharp, mischievous spark of satisfaction from the Chief’s office. He allowed himself a small, private smile. The ship didn't just feel alive; she felt eager.


~~~~~


= Below Decks - Sickbay =

Nurse Inaros looked around the others in sickbay, shifting a little where he stood. He had never been in this position during a launch before. He had never...had to consider it. What could go wrong? What could not go wrong? It was just a launch, just a warp trip. Nothing frightening, yet his pulse had spiked with it. He looked over at the others, the Chief Medical Officer, the counsellor...somehow, they had all gravitated here. Default position. Battle stations. He gave a weak smile before he looked down. "Anyone done this before? A launch?"

Alexion gave a vague shrug, as if to say it was all the same to him. Indeed, with almost 25 years of service under his belt, it all kind of merged after awhile. "There was one where it all went so wrong we had to abandon ship for fear of destruction," he replied casually, as if it were just one of those things. "Suffice to say that Captain did not last long..."

Ember Locksley stopped what she was doing, distracted by the casual anecdote. She drifted a little closer, leaning to rest her elbow on a trolley and her chin in her hand as she fixed him with a narrow eyed look of suspicion. "You're making it up..."

"I'm not," Alexion assured her with a slight grunt of laughter threatening in his throat, lifting his hands into the air in a 'honest to goodness' gesture. "I swear, you could hear the Admiral chewing out the Captain all the way down the corridor of the Starbase..."

Inaros grinned as he looked at Wylde, with something close to admiration at hearing something like that. "Well, not likely to happen here and now. Not with the Captain."

"Captain seems to have a good head on their shoulders." J.R commented, taking a sip from his big cup. "I'm going to the bridge, keep an eye on things, Alex." J.R nodded to Wylde as he headed out of sickbay.

Alexion gave a firm nod back, taking a moment to double check they were all ready in case the worst should happen. Although truth be told, despite his story, he didn't truly believe that even he could be that unlucky twice. He supposed they would soon find out.


~~~~~


Below Decks - Shuttle Bay 1 =

In the shuttle bay, Oliver Sylver frowned slightly as he sat inside the shuttle, hands folded in silent prayer. There was a tension in him, one that stemmed from years of experience, yet there was nothing he was truly worried about. No. He was here with the emergency evacuation procedures. Just in case. It was standard.

Did this feel standard? It felt...good. It felt good to be on a new ship, to be ready to go. To step out amongst the stars and stand for what the Federation was all about. What he loved and had fought for. What he would still fight for, or live for. It sounded cliche. It sounded over the top. But no one ever stayed as long as he had in Starfleet without believing in it.


~~~~~


= Bridge =

J.R silently entered the bridge moving to lean against the rail behind the captain's chair to watch the launch.

Blake took a soft breath where she stood in the middle of the now calmer bridge. All reports were in, they were green across the board and all departments were ready for launch.

They had nothing left to wait for, it was time.

The slightest flutter in Scarlet's stomach threatened to blossom into a wave of nerves, but it was impossible to tell by the cool expression on her features. She shook it off as quickly as it had arrived. "Helm, retract the umbilicals."

"Aye ma'am. Retracting umbilicals" Azree reported as she worked swiftly to carry out the order. Within seconds the umbillicals and moorings retracted. "We're ready for departure Captain."

Blake nodded at the all clear, meeting Kit's eyes for just a moment before heading back to the centre seat. Her hand touched the top of it for just a moment before she finally sat in it, crossing her legs neatly as she brought up the display in the arm of the chair for confirmation of their readiness to launch. But in truth, she was savouring the moment. Just a moment. But an indulgence all the same.

Finally, Blake lifted her chin and gave a firm nod towards the helm. "Take us out, Lieutenant."

"Aye Captain" Azree tapped her controls and in seconds the Norway class cruiser was floating smoothly out of the drydock. "We've cleared drydock and are cruising at full maneuvering thrusters."

"Lay in a course for the Huldrea system, warp four," Kit said with a smile and looked over at Captain Blake. It would get them underway to their next mission. He could almost taste the anticipation on the bridge, the tension simmering.

"Course laid in, ready for warp factor four," Azree reported.

Scarlet held her breath for just a moment, letting her emotions settle. It would be impossible to see outwardly, her features as cool and calm as ever, but this was the moment she had been working towards for so long, and she couldn't help but feel the jangle of nerves and doubt. Would she be enough? Was this what she was meant to be? Would she let her crew down?

Blake dismissed the fleeting thoughts with a brisk nod, settling back comfortably in the seat that meant so much. "Engage."


~~~~~


= Below Decks - Engineering =

As the Captain’s "Engage" filtered through the comms, the low-frequency hum of the warp field began to climb. Most crew members felt the jump to warp in their stomachs, but Kaelen felt it in his teeth. The Norway-class had a specific "shiver" at Warp 4, a high-tensile vibration that told him the structural integrity fields were tuned perfectly.

"Structural dampeners are at ninety-eight percent efficiency," Kaelen reported, tapping a few final adjustments into his console to smooth out the transition. "The 'old bones' are holding up just fine, Chief. I think we just earned you that bottle of whiskey."

He stepped back from the console, crossing his arms over his chest. Through the bulkheads, he could feel the collective exhale of the bridge crew and the steadying pulses of the medical team in Sickbay. The "noise" of the ship had changed from the static of a dockside repair to the purposeful, synchronized symphony of a vessel in motion.

"Welcome to the deep dark, Fenrir," he murmured to the bulkhead. "Try to keep the breathing steady."

OFF:

---

Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Fenrir

PO1 Kaelen Jax
Engineering
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant JG Amari
Engineering Officer
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Masters)

PO3 Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineering
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Hanlon)

Dr. J.R McEntyre, M.D. F.F.C.S, F.C.E.P
Chief Medical Officer
USS Fenrir

PO1 Leon Inaros
Nurse
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Hanlon)

Dr. Alexion Wylde
Medical
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Blake)

Dr. Ember Locksley
Counsellor
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Blake)

Staff Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver
Flight Control
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Hanlon)

Commander Scarlet Blake
Commanding Officer
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant Azree Kar
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon
First Officer
USS Fenrir

 

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