Captain Nicholas Stirling was anxious. Not only had he been just made a captain, and given a newly commissioned ship, but it also had a very mixed-experience crew, a borderline radical AI, and was set to arrive in a combat zone from Hyperspace in 2 hours. Rebels had been spotted massing forces for a planetary invasion of Sotra, a strategic outer colony with access points to most major Outer Colony systems. As the Convergence of Destiny arced through hyperspace, he lit a cigar, one of his favorite cuban brands, and turned his head to address the shipboard AI "Alice, contact the med-techs, and have them begin waking up the rest of the crew from cryosleep. Marines and combat-essential personal first. And once the marine Dropship pilots are up, have them make all the necessary preparations to launch for the planet as soon as we're within range of Sotra's atmosphere." He took a few puffs of his cigar, exhaled deeply, then addressed the Communications Officer "Ensign, monitor all UESA comms traffic for the Sotra system, and work with Navigation to plot the best coordinates for our system entry, based on where they need us." Another puff of the cigar, and he looked at the Weapons officer "Have all weapons online and ready to fire by the time we enter the system, and make sure all fighter pilots are ready to launch." He keyed the intercom for the entire ship and said "This is Captain Stirling speaking. All hands prepare to exit hyperspace in two Translight Hours. We will be entering into a live combat zone, so I want all personal ready to assume Battle Stations the moment we hit real space. Captain Stirling, out." He sighed, took another puff of his cigar, and leaned back slightly in his command chair. Had a person taken the time to look the captain over, he would have appeared eerily calm, but this was far from an accurate representation as to how he really felt. He was nervous, worried, and even a bit scared. But he had no doubt that neither he nor his crew would fail in this battle, and he was going to see that out to the fullest.