Star Trek: Starbase 777

Pessimistic and optimistic, as well as ever so slightly not looking forward to literally everything that could possibly go wrong when dealing with the Undine yet again, Xaran was once again on the bridge of the Eventide as the final preparations were made for undocking. Checking in with various divisions and departments, it was only a matter of time before all stations had checked in and confirmed that they were ready to begin the undocking sequence, and that clearance had been granted. Time to get this show on the very metaphorical, practically non-existent road. "Helm. Begin undocking sequence and move us out to a safe distance at impulse."

It didn't take too many guesses as to who was at the helm - of course it was Syrax, all to excited for the prospect of where they were going, despite the myriad of dangers that would, most likely, collectively bite them in their asses. Nonetheless, the Romulan shot Xaran just the most sunshine smile he could muster, then giving them a two-fingered salute and an "aye sir!". He turned to the console, initiating the undocking - all the while communicating with the people on the station. Not soon after, the ship began to slowly move away, swimming gracefully through the cold darkness into the further distance, where the Eventide could fasten it's pace on it's way to the crew's adventure...

Giving a small smirk in response to Syrax's grin and salute, appreciating the enthusiasm immensely, Xaran waited patiently from their position in the First Officer's chair until the Eventide was well and truly clear of 777, at which point they spoke up once more. "Helm, plot a course to our predetermined destination, warp eight and engage when ready."

It didn't take long for the course to be plotted in the accordance of the Intel coordinates - Earth GPS's 400 years ago could never - and for the Eventide to pick up her speed, entering warp as soon as it was deemed safe to be done.

Having been at warp for a while the Eventide eventually dropped out at its predetermined destination that Intelligence had provided. Having been re-reading some of the provided briefing material on their PADD during the journey, Xaran looked up from the screen as they felt the ship drop out. “Right then. Science, create the graviton beam.” They instructed as they looked over at the officer manning the associated console. Once the officer had obliged, - a rift into fluidic space having now opened in front of the ship, - the XO spoke once again. “Helm, take us through that rift to the coordinates we’ve been provided. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can do what needs to be done.” And once the helm officer had done just that, the Commander very simply went back to reading over the information they had available. The last thing they wanted was to forget something important or to be caught off guard.

Flying through fluidic space was strange to say the least. It was immediately evident where the term 'fluidic space' came from: instead of flying through a vacuum like in regular space, it was like suddenly putting a starship into an ocean... An ocean of thick, viscous, orange liquid. There was a constant sense of strain against the ship as it fought its way through the liquid at warp, constantly being buffeted by a strange tide. There were no stars here; just swirling orange matter, seemingly all around.

The man sitting at the helm was left a bit speechless as soon as they entered the fluidic space; suddenly the insides of the bridge were gently illuminated by the orange color of the liquid, swaying before and besides the Eventide like ocean waves; it felt like they were suddenly on water, their ship fighting it's push and pull, and Syrax focused on ensuring that they were maintaining the direction, meanwhile staring at the view before him with honest awe. Wasn't he just so hellishly lucky, to be navigating through such place?.. The feeling of genuine excitement, despite the danger lying ahead of them, reminded him of just why he joined Starfleet. "Oh this is so cool!" he couldn't help himself but say that out loud, because he was already willing himself to sit still and he would explode into tiny Romulan confetti if he didn't express his feelings somehow! "We're like-- it feels like we are very tiny and are swimming in a cell or something, oh I hope Saren is seeing this right now, and-- oh, what is that spiky swimming thing?!"

[Comms] Having a comms channel open with the bridge so they could co-ordinate the beaming out of the away teams, Kena heard the question over the line. "I'm not looking out the same window as you, but if they're kind of flat with spikes on top, they're probably gekli. They look pretty funky, huh? Apparently they have some sort of symbiotic relationship with another species, but I don't really know the science of it all."

[Comms] "Oh, gotcha, so like... bug whales. Can we have a symbiotic relationship with them, perchance?.." he asked, kind of half-heartedly, but also a little bit hopeful for a positive answer? The man could dream!

[Comms] "Uhm, I'm not sure... But it would be pretty cool!"

Syrax and the others on the bridge got quite a view on their trek (no Trek pun intended) to the co-ordinates that marked the terrasphere. Small groups of gelki floated (swam? sailed?) on by, seemingly not caring about the ship cutting through their space. Here and there were large, coral-like structures, as large as some asteroids that colonies could be formed on.

Having been primarily focused on revising for the mission ahead, Xaran had generally spent little time looking out the viewscreen, but every now and again they had glanced up. Deciding to force themself to make the most of this moment of calm before the storm, they forced their PADD down into their lap and their eyes up to enjoy the view. "Okay, I'll admit, this is pretty cool." They said, a small smile crossing their face as they did.

After a while, the Eventide - cloaked and with its warp signature masking active - came to a halt just short of the terrasphere. It was a hulking structure, as big as a spacedock... Although even from the outside you could tell that it was run down. Lights flickered on the structure's exterior, and scans indicated that their shielding systems kept dropping out before starting up again. That was a good thing for the crew, though. That was how they were going to beam over.