<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/rrLZaAV.png)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><strong>Name/Rank:</strong> Captain Meredith Atkinson<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Command Deck of U.S.S. Resolute<br/><strong>Activity:</strong> Overseeing approach to Earth Spacedock<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong> Anyone/Everyone<br/></span></span><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;">Captain Meredith Atkinson sat in the command chair of U.S.S. Resolute as she approached Earth Spacedock. The massive structure was unique to almost anywhere in the entire Federation, and it definitely dwarfed almost all vessels that approached. Even the Galaxy Class, the big bastard of the fleet could fit inside, which was impressive considering that there were only a handful of stations that could host that particular honor.<br/><br/>The Resolute was not a Galaxy class but instead her predecessor, a smaller Ambassador class. While she lacked the speed of the Galaxy or Intrepid, she was still a tanky little thing, built in an era when Starfleet wanted something beefy that could be more stately than the already aging Excelsior. The Galaxy would follow her design legacy but on a bigger scale, with Starfleet deciding that the slower Ambassador was more suited for second-wave duty. Which suited Meredith fine, let the crazy fools like Picard run off and deal with weird aliens and space gods, she was quite happy letting things go slower, following up and sorting out the details while Picard runs around doing god knew what.<br/><br/>As the Resolute closed to 50,000 kilometers, her communications officer hailed Spacedock. "Earth Space Command, this is U.S.S. Resolute on approach bearing two two eight mark zero niner zero, 50k kilometers."<br/><br/>Spacedock was quick to respond, handling thousands of vessels in and out of Earth space on a given day. <em>"Copy Resolute, maintain course and speed to two zero kay and await further instructions, over.</em>"<br/><br/>They were going slow through space, though slow in this case was entirely relative. At just 5% of impulse, they were still traveling at 3,750 meters per second, or just under 4 kilometers a second. It would take them just over two hours to approach, but that was alright too. Space dock had enough traffic flowing at any given time that having a starship go slow for a change was probably a welcome relief. Captain Atkinson used the time to go through reports and crew rotation and manifests. She had a full time job trying to maintain the ship, and she liked keeping a steady hand on things where possible. She could only wonder if she'd get a new XO this trip, or if that would come later. <br/><br/><em>"Resolute, adjust course to two one niner and increase speed to .1c, maintain for two minutes, then reduce speed. We've got a megafreighter in your vicinity."</em><br/><br/>A freighter that could probably swallow the Resolute was on scanners, the large barrel shaped vessels had six warp nacelles dotted around it like fins. It was large enough it would be far easier for the Resolute to just avoid it rather than the other way around. After accelerating and changing course, the Resolute scooted out of the way of the big ship as it settled into orbit around Earth. No doubt a ship that size, even with automated cargo transporters, would take days to fully offload its cargo. <br/><br/>Finally Spacedock was close enough to see visually, and the Resolute slowed as the automatic pilot signal directed their course and speed. On approach, Spacedock tended to want to guide ships in, though some captains prefered to maintain control of their own vessels. Meredith wasn't so concerned, though on the way out she fully intended to fly her own way out thank you very much. The final approach was always a bit hair raising, and she was glad she had the pilot directing them on how to align just right. There was no official figure put out, but they reinforced the doors of space dock for a reason, and no doubt quite a few pilots had to return for re-certification after a passing swipe. It was probably also why at least one ship in Spacedock was also getting a new paint job. <br/><br/>Finally, the Resolute slid into her temporary berth and was secured by tractor beams while large mechanical arms extended. They locked on to hard points on the Resolute's hull, guiding her gently into final place before airlocks extended to lock onto the hull. Captain Meredith was already heading down to the ship's neck to meet the dockmaster, and with a shrill whistle played across the entire ship's announcement system, the ship was officially docked. </span></span>