Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness" - 'The GB part I'

OOC: We decided to make this a two-parter to give everyone the chance to

post while we're in the GB. And since the bridge crew is a team, we had to

make some of the other characters act. Hope you don't mind. Enjoy!

'The GB, part I'

by Alison Donucci and

François DeMontigny

<<Stardate 47307.31 - 8:50>>

<<Bridge>>

Making one last check of the ships propulsion systems to make sure

everything was in perfect working order, Alison then goes over the

flight-plan one last time. Checking the time Alison is expecting

Lt.jg François DeMontigny to report to the bridge as odered to free

her up to interpet the continuous influx of data from the ships

sensors and make the apropriate adjustments to the ships flight-path.

François wasted little time when making his entrance onto the

bridge walking strait to conn. "Lieutenant DeMontigny reporting as

ordered."

Looking up at François then rising to her feet. "Very well lieutenant

you have the helm." Alison then steps aside and allows François to sit.

He had always thought the Conn was the best seat in the house. The

reclined chair was very comfortable and gave him an excellent view of

the main viewscreen. He then looked down at the console and sighed.

'No wonder she once ran into a space station,' he thought as he

adjusted the console

to his settings, 'her console is as organized as Janopian finances.'

With a couple minutes to wait before the ships starts through the

great brightness Alison walks over to the tactical station to get the

latest readings from the sensors and to get away from François' cheap

smelling cologne. Giving Fionn a smile he allows her to have access to

his console.

Once his console was set and he was satisfied with the latest data

on the GB, François turned to the Captain.

"Capitaine, we are ready to enter the Great Brightness on your

order." he said, his voice slightly trembling with anticipation. The

battle against the gravitational forces of the Great Brightness was

about to begin.

Epic took his time, his gaze falling on each station, making sure

his crew was ready. If this was going to work, everyone was going to

have to work their best. Finally, his eyes fell on DeMontigny. He

nodded.

"Warp factor 2, Lt." Terrakian ordered, "Execute."

"Here we go!" François added as he sent the ship on it's way.

On the main viewer, the star cluster began to approach quickly.

If not for the automatic shading, they all would of been blinded by

it's brightness. It was still quite breathtaking. François instructed

the ship toward the entry point.

"The pull from the Great Brightness is adding to our speed, sir.

We are now at warp 2.5... 2.7... warp 3..." François informed the

bridge, even though the acceleration had been taken into account

beforehand. "Entering the Great Brightness... now!"

As they passed between the two entry stars, the ship shook

lightly, but the stabilizers quickly compensated. François kept them

on course, following the gravitational borders. His excitement was growing

by the second.

"Radiation levels are increasing, but the shields are holding,

sir." reported Lt. Fionn..

Surveying the situation from tactical, Alison notices that François'

actions show that he is on top of the situation and not allowing any

animosity between him and herself hinder his job performance in any

way.

A closer look at the sensor readings and Lt. Fionn notices something

omnious developing on one of the stars. A gigantic solarflare had erupted

and

with all the gravitational pull, it's intensity and size had the

planned route of the ship blocked.

Moving back over to conn Alison points out the impending obstacle.

"Mr DeMontigny, we'll have to get the ship around that flare, it's

intensity could overwhelm the shields."

"Yes ma-am." replied François, a grin forming on his face.

The solar flares size was enormous, but Alison noticed a gap in the

flare that the ship might be able to pass through.

Looking at François. "Do you see what I see?" asks Alison.

"I'm on it chief." he answered.

François takes manual control of the ship from the computer

then pitches the ship to its port side and accellerates figuring the

less time spent near the flare the better.

As they passed through the opening, the entire ship shook again, this

time triggering the automatic red alert. The solar flare's radiation was

incredible.

"Shields down to 92%, but holding." reported Fionn as he recalibrated

them.

François did an impressive job of getting the Grail past the

solarflare, but now the ship was terribly off course. Alison

scrambles to to figure out a way to get the ship back to the original

flightpath. "Mr. DeMontigny set a course to bearing 037 mark 30, that

will put us back on course."

"Oui chef." François replied enthusiastically as he adjusted the ship's

bearing. The solar activity was even more intense than the probe had

reported. It was as if the Great Brightness didn't want them to get

through.

"The star's gravity is holding us back." François reported, as he tried

to compensate.

"Shields down to 79%." Cut in Fionn. "If we don't get back on course,

the radiation will overwhelm us."

"Mr. DeMontigny," it was the captain's turn to cut in, "Increase

speed."

"Increasing to warp 5." confirmed the helmsman as the ship got back on

course. For the next hour, it was pretty smooth. François concentrated on

keeping to the flight plan while the rest of the bridge crew monitered the

Great Brightness and the ship itself.

As they approach the next star, however, new solar flares began cutting

through their flightpath, licking at the Grail's shields. The ship rocked

with each new flare and François had to use all of his skill to dodge the

blunt of the hits. Although he was having the time of his life, things were

getting a little too dangerous. "Chef," he called out to Donucci, "How

about some info here?"

From tactical, Alison had been busy trying to find a way around all of

the sudden flares. There was no pattern, but she thought she found a way.

Tapping on the console she answered DeMontigny: "Try the course I sent

you..."

"Shield at 56%, sir, and going down fast. The flares are too strong."

the Koheen tactical chief reported.

"Increasing speed to warp 7." DeMontigny said as he entered Donucci's

course with lightning speed.

In his center seat, Epic Terrakian turned to Janice Hargen at the

engineering station. "Reroute the power of all non-essential ship functions

to the shields." he ordered, but the chief engineer was already on it,

doing everything she could to keep the ship together.

A half hour and many flares later, the ship cleared the second star and

Fionn reported the shields stable at 47% while the ship had reached warp 8.

"We won't be passing too close to any other stars before the last one,

Captain." informed Alison from behind the tactical station, "However, we'll

be passing very close to that one. It'll be rough. We have about two hours

before we get there. We should use it to strengthen our defences."

"Agreed Lt," answered Terrakian. "study that last star to make our

passage as smooth as possible. Commander Hargen, Lt. Fionn, work with

Commander Hunt to get more power to shields. Also Fionn, stand down to

yellow alert."

<To be continued and concluded>