He stirred slowly in his sleep before waking up to find Lana still sleeping by his side. He smiled as he took in her beautiful violet colored skin, her long silver colored hair, and the single golden horn that pertruded from her forehead. He softly caressed her hair before kissing the side of her head. He soon stood up from the bed, still naked from the night before. Checking the time to make sure he hadn't overslept, he showered up and then got dressed in his student uniform. Blue and white. Just like the military uniforms the United Galactic Alliance had to wear, "Today's the day." He said to himself before moving to the bathroom mirror to brush his teeth. Today was the day he took the dreaded Captain's Test to determine if he was captain material.
He soon came out of the bathroom and watched as Lana got dressed in a blue colored dress with a small skirt, "Morning handsome." She said smiling as she put her heels back on her feet. He smiled at her before putting on a pair of shoes, "I have to get going, but thank you for last night." She added as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He showed her off before taking his leave. He couldn't be late for the Captain's Test, or he'd never live it down.
"Nervous Maverick?" Came the voice of his best friend Salim Kotch. Salim was a fairly tall young man wearing a similar uniform to his own. It was the uniform that belonged to the students of the Alliance Academy.
"Why would I be nervous?" He asked softly as he laughed nervously.
"You'll be amazing Stannis you've wanted this all your life, and you're pretty brilliant." Salim replied as he walked with Stannis into the large circular building where the Captain's Test would be held. Stannis breathed in softly and tried calming down, but no matter how hard he tried, his nervous demeanor wouldn't change.
They entered into the simulation room where the test would happen. Inside was a large looking room meant to look like the bridge of an Alliance ship. A group of other students in Stannis' senior class: aliens and humans alike were also there. Stannis and Salim were the only Bioroids, genetically grown humans typically made to serve out dangerous jobs or as grunt soldiers in the Alliance military. Stannis and Salim were different. Their parents either couldn't have a kid or couldn't have a human kid, "Oh great, the Bioroid is here." Came the voice of a human student with pale skin named Robert Atkins. He had short blonde hair and soft blue eyes.
"Leave him alone." Said Oceana Ovackos, a tall blue colored humanoid fish like creature with a specialized apparatus around her neck to help her breath.
"Whatever you say, bivalan." Robert responded. Stannis was grateful that his peer was willing to defend him.
Soon, in came the admiral who was overlooking Stannis' test. His own grandfather, Gregor Adrian Maverick. Stannis gulped silently as he looked at the stern looking older gentleman. He had snow white hair and a matching beard. He wore the same blue and white military uniform as everyone else in the Alliance. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Ensign Maverick," the older man said softly as he looked at Stannis. Stannis could see his grandfather's one good eye, the same pale blue as his own while his other eye was covered by a black eyepatch, "are you ready?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." Stannis said, smiling. Gregor nodded, satisfied with the answer before gesturing to the captain's chair. Stannis took his seat before turning to his peers. He had been preparing for weeks and studied up on them to determine who would logically make the most sense for the positions of his officers. He looked them over and thought long and hard, "Oceana, you're my chief engineer." Stannis said softly. She had excelled at engineering and mechanical science, and she was the perfect candidate.
"Yes, captain." She said, smiling before taking her place, off to the side since they obviously didn't have an engineering deck.
One by one, he continued listing off his officers: Sumeria Nozzari was his pilot, Han Po was his co-pilot, Kelvan Darthanus was his weapons specialist, Kanum Danathar was his science officer, Robert Atkins was his security officer, Vulden Chara was his communications officer, and Oriena Rhonari was his third in command. All that was left was his second in command. The first officer. Stannis knew immediately who he wanted to be his right hand, "Selim Kotch, you're my first officer." Stannis said.
"Are you sure, Maverick?" Gregor asked. Stannis simply nodded in response, telling his grandfather that there was no one inside the room he trusted more than Selim. Selim smiled at this.
"Thank you, captain." Selim said as he took his position as the first officer. Gregor nodded before leaving the room and going to the observation room to watch their progress.
The moment the admiral left, the simulation began. Stannis had studied Alliance protocol so he'd be prepared for any moment of any circumstance. Stannis cleared his throat before giving basic commands to his crew: systems updates and engineering reports. The systems were green across the board. Then they received their orders. Their orders in this simulation were to go and lend aid to a cruise ship carrying over two hundred passengers, "Captain, we've received a distress call from the MSV Hiroshima." Sumeria reported to Stannis. Stannis looked at her and asked for details, "Well, captain, it appears they're deep in Dominion territory." She continued.
"What's a cruise ship doing in Dominion territory?" Han Po asked. His race were short and stout looking creatures with a reddish pink skin color and a mouth that ran vertically along their faces. Han had pale yellow eyes and was covered in purple marks, which were common amongst his clan.
"Excellent question, Mr Po. We'll find out more once we're there." Stannis replied.
"Captain, I feel like I must remind you entering Dominion space violates the treaties and could lead to war." Selim responded to his acting captain. Stannis nodded at this he was well aware of the risks. The Dominion and the Alliance had been long-time enemies for almost two centuries now, so much so that the galactic community went through three galactic wide civil wars with Alliance and Dominion at eachother's throats.
"I'm well aware of the risks, but I'm not gonna leave those civilians at the mercy of the Dominion." Stannis said to his long-time friend. Selim nodded in response before Stannis told Han Po and Sumeria to set coordinates for the Hiroshima. The two pilots nodded an affirmative and did as commanded.
It had taken them about an hour to get to their destination. They could see the ship out within the vast void of space, but they could only see the Hiroshima. No other ships could be seen. It was suspicious. A little too suspicious. Stannis sat there in silence and thought to himself about what to do, he studied up every tactic he might use, he was prepared for any outcome but he wasn't sure what to do in this instance, "Go to yellow alert and ready all weapons systems," Stannis ordered. Kelvan nodded and readied all weapons systems, and Robert Atkins raised the ship's security level to yellow, "Mister Po and Miss Nozzari, take us as close as you possibly can. Mister Chara, see if you can hail them." Stannis continued.
The three did their respective jobs with a 'yes captain' and a nod. Stannis waited with bated breath for an answer to his hail, but none came, "No answer, captain." Vulden responded.
"Any other ship signatures?" Stannis asked.
Kanum Danathar began running a series of scans that ultimately turned up negative, "Negative captain." He replied. Stannis thought long and hard about it. In the past, certain Dominion ships were more advanced than the Alliance. The Dominion had cloaking technology that the Alliance scanners couldn't track. This was a trap.
"Go to red alert!" Stannis ordered. Robert Atkins obeyed and went to red alert just in time as the cloaked ships appeared. They glowed an eerie shade of green and appeared long and slender in appearance even for small destroyer class ships. This was common for the hellions, a race of humanoid cacti known for being one of the most technologically and scientifically advanced races in the galaxy.
The destroyers began firing upon Stannis' ship dealing massive damage, "Shields at sixty-five percent and decreasing!" Han Po yelled as he tried doing evasive maneuvers but no dice. The destroyers fired again, knocking out the weapons and crippling the engines. It was a lost cause.
"Abandon ship, I repeat abandon ship!" Stannis ordered, but it was too late. The destroyers attacked one more time, and according to the simulation, no one on Stannis' crew survived. Stannis couldn't believe it. He failed the captain's test. Admiral Gregor entered and looked at his grandson. All of the students stood at attention as the admiral entered.
"You seem confused, Maverick." Gregor said.
"Permission to speak freely, admiral?" Stannis asked as he looked at his grandfather. Gregor nodded a silent nod, and Stannis slowly breathed in, "Admiral, I have to know, did I do something wrong?" Stannis asked. He soon began going on a panicked tirade about how he had studied every type of scenario he'd be under, and this seemed textbook, but he had still failed.
Gregor rose up a hand and actually smiled, "You did perfectly, Maverick," he said to his grandson. The three other supervisors who were with Gregor in the observation room entered. Stannis knew them as well: Admiral Adrian Rucker of Earth, Admiral Thrawn Ravine of Che'lathia, and Vice Admiral Olai Usha Farran of Belath the three admirals all began to shake Stannis' hand congratulating him on passing the test.
"I passed?" Stannis asked.
"Yes, the purpose of this test isn't to prove whether or not you'd succeed at the mission. It was to prove whether or not you could handle the pressures of a no-win scenario." Admiral Thrawn said. He had short black hair, golden eyes, and a deep shade of blue for skin color common amongst his race, the che'lathians.
Vice Admiral Olai smiled and nodded with soft hiss as she moved her serpentine body around. She had no legs, just the body of a golden cobra with arms and she was around the same hight as a tall human, "We were also trying to determine how you'd react to the situation, you thought things through and made logical decisions and more importantly you care about your crew." She added.
"These are all the makings of a good captain Maverick," Gregor said with a nod as he shook his grandson's hand, "I'm so proud of you and I'm sure your father will be too once we give him the news, captain." Gregor continued with a smile.
Stannis' class all began to applaud him in passing, and all gave him a hug. Some of the girls gave him a quick kiss as a way to congratulate him, "Way to go, Stannis." Selim said applauding.
"You did it!" Han Po declared.
"I think we should celebrate over drinks and maybe dinner?" Sumeria asked in a flirty manner. Stannis was just happy he was one step closer to achieving his dream. He was gonna be a captain and make his father proud. He could see his whole future ahead of him. He could even see it in the history books. Stannis Maverick would become the greatest captain in Alliance history.