Captain Campbell walked onto the bridge towards the Captain’s chair. A Petty Officer shouted out, “Captain on the Bridge!”
Returning their salutes, Captain Campbell looked to Lieutenant Smith, “Mister Smith, I have the deck and conn.”
Lieutenant Smith turned to Ensign Arthur, “Ensign Arthur, pass me the conn.”
Ensign Arthur saluted, “Lieutenant Smith, you have the conn”
Returning the salute, Lieutenant Smith wheeled around to Captain Campbell, “Captain, you have the deck and conn.”
“Thank you Mister Smith and Miss Arthur, you are relieved. You might want to get to your battlestations now,” Captain Campbell sighed slowly. He looked around the bridge and nodded, “Now I’m not one for speeches, so I’ll just get to the point. We’re going into battle. Contact is expected to be thirty minutes out. We’re the lead ship for this, so let’s show those bastards why the Indie is the best goddamn ship in world.” He clicked the switch for the public address and picked up the handset, “This is Captain Andrew Campbell. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE.”
Captain Campbell pointed at a Petty Officer, “Signalman Davies, raise the flag of war.”
“Raising the flag of war, Aye.”
“Quartermaster Scott, all ahead flank.”
“All ahead flank, aye.”
He turned to Commander Blair, “XO, launch the torpedo boats. Rescue Priority”
“Launch torpedo boats, aye,” Commander Blair switched her comm station to the torpedo boat circuit, “This is Commander Blair. All Torpedo Boats launch. Rescue Priority, I say again, all Torpedo Boats launch. Rescue Priority.”
Captain Campbell picked up his handset and switched to public address, “All Priority One stations report in sequence.”
“Engine Room One ready.”
“Engine Room Two ready.”
“Number One Turret ready.”
“Number Two Turret ready.”
“Number Three Turret ready.”
“Number Four Turret ready.”
“Number Five Turret ready.”
“Fore Torpedoes ready.”
“Aft Torpedoes ready.”
“Starboard Defense ready.”
“Port Defense ready.”
“DamCon command All stations ready.”
“Communications ready.”
He switched to the communications address, “Communications, give me the report on the fleet.”
“All warships ready for combat”
Captain Campbell put down his handset and looked back to Commander Blair, “XO, how are the Boats?”
“All Torpedo Boats launched sir.”
Taking a deep breath, Captain Campbell switched back to Public Address one more time, “Let’s do this.”