The primary crew gathered on the main bridge, where Captain Reilly stood, ready and awaiting the unfolded plan. Receiving the brief from his CO was bold but effective.

“Parker, please confirm that the shuttle is prepared for departure,” he stated in a heightened tone.

Eliza contacted the shuttle bay and requested a status update. Once she received it, she took the flight plan programmed to her bench and transferred it to the main viewer.

T’Praal started to prepare for the actions that may follow. She knew this would work and hoped an additional fleet would be ready to engage as soon as the ship entered sensor range. During the initial setup, she detected a fluctuation from the nebula and reported it to the crew as a slight anomaly.

Cadet Tim Shore sat in the corner of the bridge. His posting on the USS Burbank surprised him, but the CO requested he be posted here via Starfleet Command. This was his first real engagement with a crew, and the blackout had caused his emotions to be thrown around. Deep down, he was afraid, but he knew this was part of the job. He continued to observe the crew throughout the mission.

Eliza explained the plan during a full briefing with the bridge crew and the rest of the ship.

“Today, we will be embarking on something a little different. We all know our duties and what has been requested of us, and I’m sure we will all do our best, regardless of the outcome. Please report stations ready within the next 10 minutes, Parker out.”

Captain Reilly had not said much at this point. His eyes were not taken off the viewscreen and the nebula. His focus was sharp, but he could sense the crew were engaged and ready to act this out. He did not want to interrupt the flow and allowed what was happening to play out in front of him.

“All stations report ready, Captain,” Eliza said. Reilly nodded to his CO in a ‘well done’ way, making Eliza smile.

She rarely gets any recognition from her superior, but it was nice to receive it, nonetheless.

“T’prall, let’s send our shuttle on the way, shall we?” he said

She turned back to the console and started to initiate the programmed sequence, all systems had reported back and the fake life signs appeared active.

A few moments later, the viewscreen had the empty shuttle set off with lifesigns coming from it, the plan was in action and the combined sentiment of the crew was tense.

Parker couldn’t help but notice how tense the Captain looked, she knew this was a huge weight on his shoulders with a relatively new command, even she knew this request was too much of a risk, too many unknown variables to make good choices could be used.

The bridge was silent, all that could be heard was the announcement of the shuttle leaving, all eyes were forward.

All that was left to do was wait, and hope.