CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

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CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

February 27, 2024, 07:48:04 PM

[Ens. Talia “Shadow” Al-Ibrahim | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Krajin @Pierce
[Show/Hide]

Shadow marched from the SCO’s office, still clad in her exosuit, features set in the typical ‘resting bitch face’ most of the Wolves and crew had come to know. Annoyance simmered just beneath the façade; mostly directed at herself, but also at Janus. It shouldn’t have surprised her when the old man offered her an obligatory pat on the back for not getting herself killed during the whole crazy-squid-from-the-future sortie, only to slap her with a hey you detail – that detail being the huge new arrival she’d seen him with earlier. Allegedly, the mammoth cat-man was a pilot, and guess who got voluntold to help him get up to speed on the Mk. III’s?

Not like I haven’t lived in the damn sims for the better part of the last month, Talia grumbled to herself while she walked; helm tucked under her arm, dark pony tail swaying as she made her way across the deck to the turbolift at the far end of the bay. Dark eyes turned to her bird, attended by service crews – rearming, refueling. I should be out there not stuck in here babysitting – besides, Tessa’s got him covered, Talia’s neutral face cracked into a frown. What could he learn from me that she doesn’t already know?

Once inside the lift, Shadow took a breath and vented the tension from her body and mind; reminding herself that they were a team, and only as strong as the weakest link. The sooner they all flew together and meshed – learned each other’s style’s, strengths and weaknesses – the better chances they had at survival. It made sense, and besides, she didn’t have a choice.

Bitching about it wont help, ace. Let it go.

Her eyes lingered on her bird as the lift doors slid closed. See you soon, beautiful. “Holodeck 3,” Talia sighed, then did her best to clear her head and reset her attitude. There was a new Wolf to meet, and she didn’t want to offer him a poor first impression. Done plenty of that already, ace, she snorted at herself with a smirk.

[Training Simulation | Holodeck 3 | Deck 21 | Vector 3 | The Ranger]

Shadow walked into the simulacrum of the FAB with her head high; she even managed a slight smile – an honest attempt to appear relaxed and welcoming – as her dark eyes locked onto her fellow Wolves. The lack of the usual ambiance, all the noise that typically assaulted the ears in the real FAB, left her footsteps loud enough to echo off the pristine walls of the cavernous chamber. The closer she got, the bigger Atlas became – the newcomer towered over Goldeneye, and Talia wasn’t surprised to discover she barely stood taller than his waist. She stopped far enough away from him so as not to give herself whiplash and waited patiently for a break in their conversation.

“Goldie,” Shadow smiled and nodded to her wingmate, then looked up at the behemoth cat-man with a tilt of her head. “You must be Atlas – I’m Shadow. Welcome to the Wolves. The old man told me to give you a hand playing catch-up,” a shoulder lifted, as her eyes returned to Tessa.

“So, training wheels, or straight into the crazy," Talia asked with a smirk, already knowing which option Goldie preferred.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #1 – March 02, 2024, 01:14:31 AM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Pierce @Dumedion

Dominic had been testing his suit out and giving it a good run through, all the systems, movements, practicing motions and making sure every motor function had worked. Wearing the helmet had been a bit of an adjustment with the impressive heads-up display that it had. However, it lacked the displays and readouts since it was not linked to his Fighter as of yet. He’d been informed that part of his duties today would be to get a crash course in flying the Mark 3 in the Holodeck. So after a good dinner and drink Dom; still in the pilot exo suit went down to the Holodeck and waited quite happily there.

Upon entry into the Holodeck, he spoke up “Computer, generate the Fighter Assault Bay. Adjust Wolf-10 Valkyrie with updated specifications in its landing bay.” He watched as the simulation adjusted the vessel to fit and honestly, it didn’t look to much like it had changed which for him was good! He began to pace around the area, his heavy footfalls echoing through the rather quiet bay as he waited for the others to arrive. Eventually, he even did some physical exercises to test how the strength enhancement systems in the suit augmented his own. Right up to pushups, pulling off a handstand, and more. His finely tuned ears picked up on the sound of the Holodeck doors sliding open and the echoing footfalls of other people walking in.

First came Goldeneye who stood easily at nearly six feet give or take several inches to which Dom with a grin on his face waved to her and adjusted his gear slightly. “Top of the evening to you!” He greets her. Feeling more at ease with fellow pilots and not to inclined to get too uptight over meeting them. Dominic turned fully to face her and tucked his hands behind his back and adopted a more at-ease stance. In part to show off his height and physique and in part to be more relaxed. With his armoured, thick tail swaying slowly behind him. His helmet sat on the hull of Wolf 10 while he watched the woman. Though his ears prickled slightly as the door hissed open and in came another, much shorter female.

Is nearly everyone in the squadron female? He asked himself silently as he studied this one. The empathic aspect of his telepathy picked up on her emotional state, as it did with Goldeneye. This one must be Shadow. She was even shorter than Goldeneye, coming up to his belly. He’s only Seven-Foot-Six after all and she is what he gauges to be five feet tall! Maybe a bit taller. “That I am Atlas. I’m sure the moniker doesn’t need explaining but if it does. I am sure you can dig through my profile.” He responded easily. Though the next question got posed to Goldeneye he decided to weigh in for the fun of it. “I was thinking training wheels eh? Learn the basics. Turn it on, turn it off. How to land properly? Which joystick controls the throttle?” His ears twitched in amusement whilst his tail swished ever so lightly.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #2 – March 05, 2024, 07:35:16 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Tessa heard they'd gotten some new recruits and being the old dog in the group, or at least one of the few survivors of the group, she decided to show up and help Shadow school the newbie. She headed to the deck to get on the holodeck with Shadow. As she approached in her flight deck suit, she ran into Talia and Atlas.

"Nice to meet you Atlas. I'm Golden Eye or Tessa, or Blondie, or..." She laughed. "You get the picture."

"Hey girl!" She smirked remembering their previous encounter and the fact they were going to have fun as usual. She glanced at the newbie and he...was...huge...

Letting her partner make the calls, she nodded. "Let's get right into the crazy. You know how I like it." She smirked again.

The fighter assault bay materialized and she found her own Valkyrie. Feeling the edges of the ship, she realized that it wasn't quite the same but it was certainly close. Afterall she'd been through, she was one of the oldest ones still alive at this point and part of her felt sadness to that fact. But the crazy part of her was still excited for the thrill of the hunt and the speed. She'd lost a lot of friends in the line of this fight in such a short time. But hopefully she could teach the future recruits to not die.

"We don't just play with training wheels, we launch them at the enemy! We squeeze these ships with the massive fire power and take out the beasties on the field. G'argh!" She yelled as she realized she diverted to a pirate in speech as she attempted to ramp them up.

"The point is, we'll have fun." The ADHD in her caught the note about his tail and she followed it with her eyes and head in tilt before shaking her head. "The tail do anything special or is it the pew pew?" She squeaked as she finger gunned him like it was his trigger finger.

"So Shadow, what we doing today? I'm antsy and need somethin' ta shoot lad!" She rolled into a Scottish accent. "Where be me ship?" She laughed in a goofy laugh and in rare form today as she knew it wasn't going to be long before the training commenced and the crazy unlocked fully.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #3 – March 06, 2024, 07:52:40 PM

Her head tilted up at Atlas with a sly curl of lips. Cute, Talia chuckled, then grinned at her wing mate. Tessa never failed to deliver, that was for sure. For all the blonde’s antics, Shadow knew she was one of the most audacious pilots in the squadron; she’d paid for underestimating Tessa before and hoped Atlas wouldn’t make the same mistake – but then Goldie started speaking pirate and brought the giant cat-man’s tail to everyone’s attention. Talia couldn’t help but palm her face with a shake of her head.

Fuck’s sake, Tessa…

Her laughter at the exchange stifled, barely, Shadow busied herself by calling up the sortie catalog with her wrist PADD to select a mission. “Hm, let’s see,” her lips pursed in consideration while her fingers swiped through a few selections. “Milk run? Eh, done it too many times. Chin’toka 2?” she looked to Tessa, then grimaced with a shrug, “maybe,” then made a few more swipes. “Oh, how bout Airtight,” she grinned with a nod, then flicked the mission brief to each of their respective PADDs so both could read along as she explained the rough outline from memory.

“It’s a bombing run – based off one of the bloodiest Peregrine missions from the war, updated and turned into a Top Gun favorite; four fighters work in tandem teams of two to knock out separate targets simultaneously – each team armed with a single Hellbore torp to do the deed, along with standard munitions. Target Alpha is in orbit, a C2 node, while Bravo’s on the surface. Ingress will be at high speed through an asteroid field, then up through the planetary rings where we split off; the radiation belt of the rings masks our approach, but once we move beyond those we’ll be detected and the clock starts. We’ll have three minutes to knock out both targets before we’re swarmed with enemy reinforcements – fighters and capital ships. Once both objectives are toast we disengage and bounce the fuck out. Sounds simple, right? Here’s the catch.”

Shadow highlighted the tactical assessment of both target facilities; one was a massive station in geosync orbit of some nameless backwater deep in Dominion territory – the other was a subterranean ketracel-white production and Jem’Hadar breeding lab on the dark side of the planet.

“Both facilities have independent offensive and defensive systems; multi-layered shields, phased polaron turrets, torp launchers – as well as their own fighter escorts on standby, that will scramble the second we pop up on their sensors. To negate those, we have to upload a specific scrapcode into their systems via EWAR, which will necessitate max range of 10,000 km and 60 seconds for the upload; during which we’ll be taking fire from everything. Once the virus takes out their shields and teeth, we burn both targets and haul ass.”

She paused to smirk up at Atlas’ look.

“It’s called ‘Airtight’ because we’ll be fucked in every orifice if we lose even a single ship, fail to upload the package, or just run out of time; I sure as hell was every time I’ve tried it. Granted, I didn’t have you two. So, Goldie and I take Alpha – you and Rover, that’s the AI bot flying your wing – take Bravo? Oh,” Talia shrugged nonchalantly, “don’t be surprised if the system throws you a curve-ball or two; surprise environmental effects, system glitches, random power failures, IFE’s…its a nightmare scenario – designed to kill you, plain and simple. Sound fun?”

There were few missions as crazy, as far as Talia knew – Tessa’s recreation of that scrap with the Borg being one of them. Still, she figured Goldie was up for it regardless. Atlas was the wildcard though, but he seemed to have a decent sense of humor, so Shadow opted to twist the knife a little.

“Or, we can spend the next couple of hours reading manuals, if you prefer,” Shadow smirked up at him with a side nod to Tessa. “Goldie here spends more time in the box than I do. I’m sure if you ask nice she’d even show you what all the buttons do, where the gas petal is, how to tune the audio system; you know, the really important stuff.”

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #4 – March 09, 2024, 08:24:39 AM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Pierce @Dumedion

Dominic listened as both spoke and introduced themselves, up until Goldeneye brought up his tail after an episode of becoming a Pirate. Something which amused him as he had come back from doing a stint with pirates. He didn’t quite understand the whole ‘pew pew’ thing about it though. “My tail functions as part of my balance, I can sweep people off their feet with it and if I felt inclined. I could strap a blade to it and make it more deadly.” He said easily. Leaving the ‘pew pew’ alone for now. Figuring if she wished to explain it, she could.

When the mission was suggested, Dominic looked at it and read it over. His ears began to flatten slightly as he got the gist of how it was to go and who was being paired with whom. His expression was one of displeasure if any understood the Kzinti body language. The entire operation sounded like a potential attempt at hazing and he was the butt end of the joke. Her smirk, he couldn’t quite gather if it was conceited, silly, or smug at this moment, and flicked through the tactical read-out that came with the PADD.

“Doesn’t seem like much in the way of training. More a.. Just throw them in the fire and have a good laugh about their performance eh?” He asked with a twitch of the ear. A quick open-shut flare of the nose followed. He understood that this was a test in its own right with his soon-to-be squadron mates, how he reacted to the suggestion, and how he performed. Dom did not approve of hazing in any form, ribbing, practical jokes, and the like are all good. Hazing? No.

“So what I am getting is that you want me to effectively go it alone as we all know Holodeck ‘bots’ are average at best unless programmed specifically to be at a specific skill level or a direct copy of someone's neural pattern. Eh? Whyn't one of you fly with me? Or do you not want to be paired off with the newbie?” He asked with a slight twitch of the tail. “Maybe you’re scared of the trainee.” He taunted lightly. His gaze flicked between the two women to see how well they would bite.

"How about we get the ball rolling on the differences between the Gryphon and Valkyrie and let me get used to flying it before we get into a mission that is patently designed to fail the pilots. I am good and a quick learner in operating a ships helm but given a chance I'd rather a little exercise before.. this."

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #5 – March 25, 2024, 07:29:07 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Tessa nodded at the explanation for the tail which her attention span and ADHD already was moving on from, but wanted to play with it now that she saw it moving around. Shaking her head she looked at Shadow and smirked at the mission "Airtight". "Awe, are we scaring you? But honestly, the stuff we have to go through on this ship, any realistic life or death scenario is going to give you the best sense of what we do here. Not hazing at all. We save that for the locker rooms!" She chuckled at the thoughts of the nekkid shenanigans that take place there. That's also why she slept in her Valkyrie a lot instead of her quarters on those times.

"I will say as far as survival skills, I am one of the few original Valkyrie pilots here still alive and I've seen a thing or two. Just my two cents!" She giggled and skipped around the room like she was partially nuts, which wasn't far from the truth with the mental trauma she'd been part of.

"We also don't have to go it alone. We could do a 3 man squadron and bots! Bots of old comrades though so they're better than the regular holoprojected drones." The taunt of being with the newbie made her eye twitch slightly, "Oh, do I detect a challenge stripes?" Further taunting the tiger man.

Hearing the mention of deciding between a Gryphon and Valkyrie, she nodded. "We can do that. Start you with a flight pattern and then activate the mission if that works for you to get acquainted with the flight controls." She pulled up to a screen to show him a schematic of the Valkyrie.

"While I know nothing of the Gryphon as I've always been a Valkyrie pilot, I can say these bad boys are little jet engines with a payload of ammo that can be customized based on your flight preferences. Valkyrie's have a wide variety of secondary weapons options, excellent hull armor and shielding. Impressive sensors that can dish out as much of a pounding as it takes. Now the disadvantages are low maximum/standard warp speed, unwieldy tetryon pulse canon when extended. But it comes with micro-torpedo's, phaser arrays, turrets, awesome sensors, and much more!"

Her enthusiasm spilling outward for her vessel as she pictured firing holding her hands in front of her and firing with both hands richocheting as if she shot something in an age old airplane.

"So Shadow, Atlas, ready to go?"

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #6 – March 30, 2024, 07:29:24 PM

The curl of a half-smile stayed in place as Talia listened and watched Atlas’ weigh in on the mission; confidence and amusement apparent in her posture and body language. While ignorant of the Kzin’s idiosyncrasies and physical tells, she knew pilots well enough and the egos that came with them – no one liked to look like a fool right out the gate, but to Talia's mind, they died in training to prevent it in reality – so her head dipped in acknowledgment and left it at that. Her attention shifted to Tessa as the blonde chimed in, offering her thoughts on the matter. Talia shrugged and nodded again when her wing-mate spoke up about hazing, though. It was true enough, the Wolves liked to fuck around with each other, but there was a time and place for it.

Training was neither.

Still, Atlas' reaction was amusing. Like I don't have better things to do with my time, Talia rolled her eyes. 'Airtight' was designed to test and push everyone's limits, working as a team. It didn't matter who flew with who - if they'd had a fourth driver, they'd all probably die anyway.

“Just to clarify,” Shadow held a hand up before they went any further, dark eyes turned back to Atlas. Her voice and tone were level, all business, yet spoken through a lingering smirk. “This isn’t about you or your ego, and certainly isn’t about fucking with the new guy. I trained on and flew 307s for two years before qualifying for the 409 program,” Talia tilted her head to the row of Valkyrie’s across the simulation. “So I know exactly what you're facing here. There really isn’t time for bullshit. By the book, we’re talking months of classroom theory and practical exams before quals – I had three weeks to get it done. You have eight hours, maybe less; so why don’t we stop wasting time.”

At least he figured out how to suit up, Talia’s eyes flicked over his armored exosuit quickly as she cradled her helm under one arm, chin jutted to him. “It takes almost that long just to sync these suits to your bird alone, by the way, so regardless how good you are, your reaction time and operating capacity will still be off,” she shrugged, then nodded to Tessa’s recommendation. “Training wheels it is. A few laps to start, at least,” Shadow agreed, then led the way to the waiting fighters without waiting for them to follow. The clock was running.

Talia continued as she walked. “Do yourself a favor and forget trying to compare the 307s to the 409s; the Valkyrie is a completely different animal, designed from the frame out to be superior in every way possible. Beyond the hard point options Goldie mentioned – which you’ll need to qual for individually, of course – it’s a whole new ship. Nothing handles the same. The exosuit and ship are attuned to every driver, offering unparalleled reactionary capability. Your RIO is gone, replaced with one of the most advanced C&C platforms ever designed; HUD function and data integration is faster, crisper, than anything you’ve ever seen – throw in the TVD and you can see through the damned hull,” Talia paused to glance over her shoulder at Atlas. “Hope you handle it better than I did. The sensory load alone made me nauseous.”

She stopped at the nose of Atlas’ bird, head cocked at the obvious modifications to the cockpit; it looked almost the same, at least from the outside. “This is you then,” she nodded to it, then arched a brow at Goldie. “I’ll run him through pre-flight if you want to work us up a route,” she asked with a shrug, “standard CAP, I suppose? Keep it simple?”

Talia consulted her wrist PADD then glanced up at the cat-man. “Pre-flight SOP is in Appendix D, section 3 of the manual if you want to follow along,” she told him with a tight smile. “Or if your the hands on type, be my guest,” she jerked a thumb up into the box of his ship. “Sooner we get going, the sooner we get gone.”

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #7 – April 15, 2024, 01:30:49 PM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Dumedion @Pierce

The big guy was starting to get just a tiny, itty bitty bit annoyed by the two women, though it was more leaning to in part his own pride, experience and understanding that they seemed to assume he had no idea what they were going through. He did know, he was briefed and understood the life-and-death situation they were all in. “I do not need a realistic life-or-death-scenario. I have been briefed on your situation before I took the assignment.” Dominic responded to Goldeneye as she explained the situation. He was about to say something further when he watched Goldie start skipping around the place like she was missing a few fries from that happy meal there.

He did his best attempt at a smile that Humans would recognize. “A little.” At the response to the challenge. “I do appreciate the chance for the flight pattern to get a feel of the ship in its basic form. I don’t mind flying a ship raw with no experience and have done it. But this deployment requires that trial run at least.” He added. Tail tip slowly started to twitch as he relaxed some.

Dominic looked over to Shadow and tilted his head slightly when she spoke her piece. “Firstly, ego has no play here. However I do have some play here, as I am learning to fly and operate a craft in eight hours and be able to trust I can perform at expectation and support my wingmates confidently.” He responded with a touch of sharpness in his tone.

Walking over to the Valkyries with her, Dominic looked at the one he had generated with the altered specifications and walked over to it. “I do appreciate what you are trying to do, understand that. But a few laps will be very beneficial for me, otherwise you’re going to watch holo-paint peel with my frustration when I am trying to figure out aspects of the craft midflight and getting vaped.” There were other reasons to it, the Dominion war was not something Dominic enjoyed reliving in any form and this mission being picked sported stark similarities to missions he had undertaken which were of similar suicidal danger.

He started walking down the side of his ship, running a gauntlet-covered hand down its hull. He understood it wasn’t real in any form here beyond photons and forcefields. But there’s always a certain magic to being introduced to a new ship and learning to fly it. “Every ship is different, each has a personality in its quirks.” There’s a possibility that Dominic might be an aerophile or astrophile in some form. Boys and their toys right?

“Unless the weapons have changed drastically my qualifications for the majority, bar the fancy tetryon cannon should still stand. That is a different story.” He added as he removed the helmet from under his arm and stuck it on and began to climb into the cockpit. He appreciated the explanation of how the ship’s systems worked and functioned, a little bit like a salesman in approach but otherwise a lot better than the manual.

“Is there anything about the system I need to be wary of, bugs, glitches, quirks and things not to do?” He asked, looking to Shadow as he settled into the cockpit. Bringing up on the right-arm PADD the pre-flight checks he had noted down, Dominic did a check out of sheer habit for everything else inside the cockpit that is meant to be there.

Phaser Rifle, Medkit, Rations, knife, Water, shelter. Standard kit. There’s a ritual to it that he had inherited from flying the Peregrines and always needing to make sure everything is present. Even in a Holodeck where it would be likely to an almost certainty that it would be there.

“I like being hands-on, it’s how I learn better. Alrighty. Let's start walking through it and get the first go around finished.” Forearm PADD up and reading with her the steps on this. Dominic is a fairly quick study at least and knows his way around enough that he is figuring things out.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #8 – May 01, 2024, 06:05:43 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

The blonde fighter smiled as she heard the eagerness to get started already. Chomping at the bit for some action since she'd recently had to deal with many friends going missing or suddenly dying, she needed something to get her mind in action mode instead of worry and sadness. Thankfully, the Valkyrie was ready to play. And modded to be like her own, she knew it was a matter of time before she got this thing doing barrel-rolls again.

"Let's rock!" She fist pumped the air and ran to her own Valkyrie, throwing on the cockpit, and the engines. Placing her hands on the controls, she activated the thrusters and jetted out of the fighter bay in response to a test run.

Getting outside the bay, she waited for the others to get out there. Being a holo, she was able to bypass some of the usual security runs and set caution to the winds. Not that far different than a typical operation. "There's a rock cluster ahead, let's get basic navigation down and traversing the asteroid field with the fighters before we activate anything else more."

Not that she didn't want to get into the thick of the action and throw a curveball to her comrades, but she wanted to get them familiar with it first. Cracking her knuckles, she placed her palm and fingers back on the controls again before finally parking nearby to fly in a flanking maneuver with her team. Something she hoped she could retain during this mission and the future was her friends. Shaking the thought off, she waited for Shadow and Atlas to arrive.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #9 – May 08, 2024, 10:02:32 PM

Once Atlas had settled in the box, Shadow followed up the ladder. A shoulder twitched at his question while she synced up her own preflight checklist to her ship, that way they could both launch together. Talia hesitated a second before she replied, her voice modulated back into a tone of blunt professionalism in an effort to reign in her impatience. Most of the Wolves and crew that had met her would recognize it as her ‘default’ approach to people; a monotonous drawl clipped with her Arabic accent.

“I have yet to run into any issues, personally. R&D split plenty of hairs testing this platform. Every lesson learned from the 307s was incorporated into the mk. III design; software, hardware, the works. Corsair can and will tell you all about it, given the opportunity. He was one of the test pilots. Good guy, friendly. Man is a walking tech manual,” Shadow smiled, “Decent stick, too,” she added with a respectful nod.

She smirked at Atlas' affirmation of ‘hands-on’ instruction, for Shadow felt the exact same way.

“Alright. Step one, power up safe mode – ops console, left – input key access and initialize. Verify power output and system diagnostics...”

Her arms folded upon the edge of Atlas’ cockpit while Talia walked him through preflight – working through the steps and procedures slowly and methodically. After every step, the ritual was paused in order for her to explain where each function was located, activated, then deactivated in order for Atlas to repeat the process; just like Talia had been trained. Time and repetition would take care of the rest, until he could do it in his sleep, like all the Wolves.

A few moments later, Talia watched Goldeneye's ship soar the bay and out into the void, lips pulled into a smirk. “Tessa’s antics take some getting used to, so I’ve been told. We’d better hustle before she gets bored and stirs shit up,” the pilot chuckled to herself, then returned her attention to the task at hand. Atlas’ ship hummed with readiness; only the canopy and ladder remained. “Okay, looks like you’re all set,” Talia threw a quick thumbs up. “Signal ready up to the tower and the tractors will do the rest. I’ll pop your ladder in,” she nodded to him, then dropped down to the deck. Once the ladder was stowed, Shadow flicked him a lazy salute as she backed away to her own bird, then donned her helmet just in time to hear Goldie’s voice again.

“Copy,” Shadow smirked at the excitement in her wing-mate’s voice as she climbed the ladder up to her cockpit. “We’re set for launch, Goldeneye. Be there in a minute,” the pilot grunted as she climbed in, lowering the canopy as Atlas taxied off into launch position. Talia settled in and followed seconds later.

[Space]

She stayed low on Atlas’ wing as they flew to Goldeneye’s position, dark eyes scanning the haptic projection of the system on her navigation console. There wasn’t much to see, really; a binary system of eight planets, two asteroid belts of medium density, with a ranged list of extrasolar celestial bodies – comets, some of them dozens of AUs out.

A brow arched at Goldeneye’s eccentric choice of flight plan; the erratic line glowed yellow as it zig-zagged all over the system in a hap-hazard path. Well, whatever, Talia shrugged. Not exactly conventional, but at least it’s not boring. A finger tapped open the shared coms channel between all of them.

“Coming up on your six Goldeneye. Rocks look pretty – bit surprised you’re not shooting them - easy enough to navigate through, though,” Shadow announced, then smirked at the unimpressive field of ice and rocks ahead, just within visual of where her wing-mate parked. Once they’d all lined up abreast, Talia switched over to manual control and rolled her Valkyrie in a smooth lateral arch that brought her canopy to canopy with Atlas, close enough to almost graze his shields. Her head tilted up to him with a smile.

“Throttle’s on your left big guy,” Shadow winked, then gestured ahead. “After you.”

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #10 – May 11, 2024, 01:48:11 PM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Pierce @Dumedion

Dominic picked up on the complexities of the emotions from his two wingmates here, Goldeneye and Shadow, each with something different to offer. Goldeneye’s want for action and activity was tinged with sadness and worry. Whereas Shadow adopted a colder professionalism to her with a hint of impatience. He listened to her as she described Corsair and his decent stick which had to get his brain buzzing on what that actually implied. Considering that the term ‘stick’ was a euphemism for something else and let's face it, pilots were a randy bunch. Live free, die hard.

Dominic walked his way through the checklist with a precision that you could only get from being a practiced pilot. Every step being done as instructed took time but its time well spent and he followed it well, rather than being a stubborn sort who would rush through it all. A few questions got thrown in, but otherwise, he picked up on it fairly quickly. As soon as the ladder was stowed and Shadow headed to her ship. Dominic looked over the internals and took a deep breath and flexed his hands. In a way, this felt a lot like his first time flying a Peregrine. Something new, rough and wild that would be very unpredictable. He glanced to the control room and then to Shadow. “I’ll do a manual take-off first and guide my way out. Back in my day kiddie-pilots had to do it all manually.” He threw in an old people’s joke to lighten the air. He even switched to an old, strained man voice when he started up in the ‘back in my day’ aspect.

There was a method to his madness though in that learning to perform a manual take-off and landing proficiently increased the Pilot’s survivability and ability to function in an emergency where the ship had no power, low power, or some other emergency. He began to hum a little tune to himself as he took the ship out to the strip with a bit of shakiness at first as he adjusted the controls and got used to the slow speeds first and then took himself out from the landing bay.

[SPACE]

The controls inside were familiar enough for him to handle manual control off the bat with some mild adjustments being needed along the way. He glanced at the navigation display and saw the layout of the system they were in. The Holo-theurgy sat behind them some distance away and he smiled beneath the helmet. The choice of path was certainly unique but not unexpected. This felt a bit like how they did things on the Thunderball years ago when the Peregrines were first handed to a bunch of would-be pilots and volunteers. Though the Peregrine, even when Starfleet manufactured lacked a lot of the fancy toys this thing had. Some of which they shoved into the ship as the war raged from sheer desperation which spurred invention.

He glanced up at Shadow as she did a wonderful lateral arch to be canopy-to-canopy with him and pointed out where the throttle was. “Yeah, I know. It’s why I am petting it like a villain petting their cat.” He responded easily. He’d kept the ship at a matched speed for the time being until they had come to a stop and stared out at the path before them. Now it was to really get a feel for it as he gripped the control stick with one large, armored hand while the other settled on the throttle. He shifted his hand forward and set the throttle to half-impulse at first and shot off along the path. “Lets see what the path holds for us!” Atlas is not the steadiest with the ship as he starts flying in and around the asteroids of rock and ice. Though it is quickly apparent he’s adjusting fairly quickly with how the ship handles, like fitting a new glove and getting used to it. There are plenty of near misses though he has either deliberately or not.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #11 – June 07, 2024, 04:58:16 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Floating in space within the confines of her Valkyrie, or at least a facsimile of it on the Holodeck, Tessa looked forward to the adventure. It'd been a hot minute since she'd had an opportunity and after all the oddities she'd experienced lately between deaths, late night rendezvous and other fun atmosphere's, her Valkyrie felt at home. She looked onward towards Shadow and Atlas who were just now entering space for the test run. Boredom slightly set in as she did a few loop-de-loops around some of the asteroids that would have made a newbie pilot sick, but not her. Crazy was her business, and business was good!

"Acknowledged Shadow. Setting course now for the third moon just after the asteroid belt to do a warp loop, and fire on some of the larger asteroids as targets before we get into anything else more difficult." She'd honestly not attempted this flight pattern in ages but thought it might be useful in the future with them all going in different directions. Something akin to the Picard maneuver but allowing the speed slingshot of the planet's gravity to launch her towards a target.

Still parked for the moment as she awaited Atlas' arrival, she sat back and looked at them gearing up on the sensors before setting a medium speed path through the vast field of rock. Deflectors would get a workout for sure. And the Flight Deck crew if this were real would be upset for the gashes and paint missing.

Tessa chuckled at Atlas' joke about petting the throttle. "My precious..." She said in a sinister tone before darting off in the lead at 3/4 impulse before launching into full impulse twisting and turning through the asteroid field. Large boulders and smaller ones appearing swiftly as she swerved and pivoted the tiny ship through the narrow openings making an experienced starship navigator sweat. But in order for her to do that, she'd have to be worried, which she wasn't.

"Look alive out there!" She laughed maniacally before adding in a good hearty "argh" like a pirate while dodging the blocks of debris.

Looking at the sensors, she could see Shadow following suit and Atlas dodging the ice and rock formations throughout as he acclimated rather quickly to her surprise. Ideas started to form on how she could up the ante, but for now, she wanted to see if they could do the maneuver. If not, they would all be in trouble for what she'd secretly put into the program...

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #12 – July 01, 2024, 12:57:19 AM

Atlas didn’t see or hear her snort of amusement, brief as it was, before Talia’s face returned to its mask of carefully controlled neutrality. As she watched him and Tessa pull away, a gentle push on the throttle lit her own thrusters to take up the rear, and executed a smooth roll to take up position below and aft on Atlas’ starboard wing. Talia made sure to give him a decent envelope of 500 meters to maneuver, then felt a brief nudge as her body pressed back into the cushions when she opened the throttle up to full. A quick tap of her fingers on the ops console adjusted the inertial dampener setting; a tricky balance that never felt quite right. Too much, and she couldn’t feel the ship move – too little, and the G's would crush the blood from her head, regardless of training or equipment.

A quick glance at the nav display showed her the route Tessa plotted as they weaved through the field; Talia’s eyes were never still all the while – a multitude of data scrolled across her HUD as she watched her wingmen fly, arcing in, out, and around the largest of the stately drifting rocks like hummingbirds through an orchard. The rocks themselves were little more than blurs of slate-grey bedazzled with glittering patches of diamond that varied in size from the average human fist to cities, a horizon of stellar debris that seemed infinite.

Tessa’s piratical warning coaxed another flash of a smile from her lips as Talia rolled her fighter with Atlas to stay on his wing; which brought the third moon into focus as well – a dead, wounded rock, the victim of some stellar catastrophe that had given birth to the field they were navigating through. A sizeable chunk of it was missing, down to the very core, which still glowed with fiery lifeblood.

Don’t see that every day, Shadow arched a brow at the planetoid, then her eyes flicked to her sensor display and back to Atlas. For his first ride, Talia had to admit he was doing far better than she did, which helped her to relax a bit. After the Convoy sortie and Javert, it finally clicked why Janus had so strongly advised her into tagging along; somehow, he knew she would brood, and doubt herself, and replay everything in her mind until she beat herself bloody over everything she could control – but mostly over things she couldn’t. Shadow felt herself nod as his stock rose in her books. He’d obviously done his homework, which Talia had not.That would be rectified, soon as she was able, for all the Wolves; she’d spent all her time learning how they flew and how to fly with them, but barely gotten to know them for who they were. Javert was gone, and she hadn't known him at all. Who else would they lose?

Lesson learned. Well played, old man, Talia smirked. I guess I might as well go all in then, she decided, and opened a channel to Atlas. Even though she still felt the claws of time irritating her impatience with the knowledge of all the procedures and operating standards he needed to cover, he seemed a natural stick in the 409 – so far, at least. His movements were a little jerky, in comparison, but...

Stop comparing yourself to everyone. Stop assuming the worst in everyone you meet, Talia hesitated to chide herself with a inward growl of annoyance.

“Looks like you’ve done this before big guy. How’s she feel?” She watched him manuver up and around another asteroid that was larger than the Theurgy. Talia pitched her nose up vertical to the plane of the belt, the belly of her bird to the rock, and rolled sedately. “Here’s another upgrade; see the glowy blue button just under your thumb on the throttle – this is what it does,” Shadow explained, then boosted past both of them in a streaked blur as she micro-warped up and out of the field, pitched the fighter’s nose up and around, then popped right back into formation on the other side of the asteroid. “Mind the cool-down, though; it’s faster than the 307s, but still limited.”

Handy in a fight, too, Talia frowned briefly, then shook her head to refocus. She didn’t know Tessa well, but she knew enough of the eccentric blonde to know it was only a matter of time before the crazy hit, and Atlas was staying right on her six without a clue.

“I’d give Goldie a wider envelope if I were you,” Talia warned Atlas with a chuckle, then opened the shared channel for the flight once more. “Getting bored back here Goldeneye – when are we going to shoot something,” she asked through a smirk, as the broken moon slowly grew ever larger in her canopy.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #13 – July 14, 2024, 10:25:36 AM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Pierce @Dumedion

Atlas found himself rather comfortable as he began to adapt to the controls, the personality of this ship and all its tweaks and conponents. It was considerably more enjoyable than a 307 and he could freely stretch out and enjoy the space inside. He still had to force himself to react slower than he actually could to avoid suspicion of course. Last thing he needed was to be shoved in a locker for what he is. Or msybe they were desperate enough to overlook it?

He chuckled slightly at Tessa's pirate attempt, having been one himself for several months the young man knew how they talked. How they could fly and how they lived. It was a life unlike that of Starfleet thats for sure. As soon as Tessa went full impulse, he followed suit and shifted the throttle to full. The Valkyrie was faster than a Gryphon, but to him as he took turns and corners well, flying between large asteroids and through gaps. It felt different, like it was missing a little something. It needs customization, tweaking to my feeling. he thought to himself. The young man began to hum a tune to himself as he flew with the two women. Taking turns, pulling off an aileron roll almost perfectly as if to show off a little.

"Certainly have done it before. Its like getting a new set of boots. You gotta wear them in a bit to get the fit you want. Controls aren't as I'd like but that I can tweak." He responded to Shadow.

When his eyes fixed on the moon ahead that they were spproaching it turned to be a beautiful sight. The glowing hot heart of its core, the magma of the mantle that still stayed hot. Beautiful. Part of him was worried about the coming trial by fire the two had cooked up. Dom had avoided many of the Dominion pilot training sims that were used as several of them had been built off of missions he had done. The memories, the emotions, they all came back like wrathful spectres keen to claw him back in. The tune, the humming.. he began to hum his tune again to get his mind off of that train of thought. Even if it went through the comm when it was opened to him, he didnt care. The tune was something from older, classical earth music. A tune of old warriors. Very few could place it but it was one of many he knew.

Then Shadow brought up the little blue button. Hos ears perked at that one and a grin formed on Dominics face. His thumb shifted to the blue button and taking the fighter out of position and hit that button, performing that micro-warp jump up and boosting away from them. He hit the proverbial breaks, pitched the nose up, punched the ship to full impulse and rotated its axis to be on the correct level with the others and rejoined the formation.

"I've gotten the hang of it. What's next eh?" he sounded excited for sure as he continued matching thier maneuvers. Yeah its jerky, a little twitchy here and some correction or over correction there but the man is adapting fairly well. Things that wlll certainly iron themselves out with time and experience.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #14 – July 29, 2024, 05:13:38 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Tessa’s fingers danced across the console, her eyes narrowing as she plotted her next move. The debris field was a chaotic ballet of destruction, and she reveled in it. Shadow’s comment echoed in her mind—a spark igniting her determination. She wouldn’t shy away from danger; she’d embrace it.

With a few deft keystrokes, Tessa initiated a sequence that would alter the course of this mission. The dead planetoid held secrets, and she intended to uncover them. Trauma from past battles lingered, but she wouldn’t let it paralyze her. Instead, she’d channel that energy into something equally formidable—a weapon, a revelation, or perhaps both.

As the console hummed, Tessa’s grin widened. The Dominion War might haunt their memories, but this moment was hers. She’d redefine “crazy” and leave her mark on the universe—one calculated risk at a time.
"Soon Shadow...very soon..." She stated ominously as her vessel warped out of range.

The silence hung heavy in the void, broken only by the distant echoes of destruction. Tessa’s ship flickered on the viewscreen, a spectacular explosion engulfing it. But appearances could be deceiving. As the smoke cleared, a darkened cube materialized—a relic from the depths of space, its green hues pulsating ominously. The Borg. Ancient, relentless, and insatiable.

Tessa’s heart raced. She’d heard the stories—the assimilation, the loss of individuality, the inexorable march toward perfection. The Dominion War had been brutal, but this? This was a different kind of terror. The Borg didn’t just destroy; they consumed. And now they were here, their tractor beams charging, ready to claim her ship. Unbeknownst to her comrade in arms, she'd summoned the digital facsimile on the holodeck to really test their grit.

But Tessa wasn’t one to surrender. She’d faced adversity before, and she’d adapt. Her fingers danced across the Valkyrie’s console, interfacing with Borg-like implants. Nanoprobes surged through her veins, enhancing her senses, and her resolve. Her once-human eyes glowed with determination. The Valkyrie transformed—a fusion of sleek Federation design and Borg efficiency. Assimilation-resistant alloys covered her hull, and her weapons hummed with newfound power. Tessa’s voice echoed through the ship, a blend of defiance and acceptance.

“Resistance is futile,” she stated coldly with some manner of sarcasm present, her voice carrying the spark of individuality in a sea of uniformity.

As the Borg cube loomed closer, Tessa’s ship surged onward toward her comrades. But she wasn’t just a fighter pilot or a survivor of war. She was Tessa—the crazy, the daring, the one who’d rewrite the rules. With a primal scream, she began chasing after them. "I am Tessa of Borg. Surrender your vessel and victory will be mine. We are, I, am Borg-ish"

Tessa grinned—a defiant spark in the darkness of cybernetics. The Dominion War might have scarred her and the others, but the Borg? They’d find her resistance anything but futile.

And so, in the shadow of the dead planetoid, the Valkyrie danced with the Collective’s hungry void.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #15 – August 05, 2024, 06:02:28 AM

When her sensor feed blipped a new contact, Talia frowned at it in confusion. It was big, and read like some kind of gravitational anomaly with structure, which didn’t make any damn sense. A warning was on the tip of her tongue, but then the bogie resolved into something far worse. That’s a cube – that’s a damned Borg cube! she realized, and sure enough, Tessa confirmed it with her own words. The fact that she was crazy enough to think they’d actually engage a Borg cube on their own made Talia want to laugh, but she didn’t, even if Goldeneye sounded like she had a vibrator lodged in her throat.

“Surrender,” Shadow snorted, then flipped her ship over and slammed the throttle open. “Bitch, please – come get some,” she added, then switched over to a private channel with Atlas. “Guess the training wheels are off, welcome to the crazy.” A quick glance over her shoulder verified he had chosen to run, too.

Fuck sakes, Tessa, Shadow shook her head. She knew her wingman was a tad touched, but hadn’t expected this level of complication. There was no way in hell they could do anything but run, and that was just bullshit. We need...Talia blinked rapidly as an idea popped into her head. The moment was ruined as every alarm in her cockpit lit up with orange and red lights, however. Target lock, evade – evade – evade. “Fuck me,” the pilot grunted and banked hard, flipped the ship over, then banked again. Emerald beams of energy lit up the void, painted her in flares of sickly light. How the hell Tessa had gained on them so quickly was a mystery, one Talia dismissed for a time when she wasn’t getting shot at. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

“Computer,” Talia grunted, trying to bite off every word clearly as she strained through evasive maneuvers. “Edit program – render every ship that’s engaged the Borg on record – fleet formation, red alert status. Designate target priority: Alpha, Borg cube. Bravo, assimilated Valkyrie.”

“Unable to comply; specified additions exceed safe processing capabilities of holographic projection system – safety protocol level one is in effect.”

Shadow hissed through her teeth while her shields took a direct hit. “Override safety, authorization: Al-Ibrahim Two-Nine, Zeta Epsilon,” she yelled without thinking. They needed reinforcements – the details didn’t really matter - all they had to do was keep the cube busy to give her and Atlas a chance to turn on the offensive. Borg or no, Talia doubted Tessa could take them both with the odds evened. “Hang on to your tail, it’s about to get crowded in here,” she called out to Atlas in warning, just as the computer verified the safeties had been overridden.

The whole sim seemed to glitch for a micro-second: imagery lagged, then jumped back into place, the resolution distorted, then corrected itself. Sounds echoed, haptic feedback rippled through Talia's body in a dull wave of nausea. It was there and over in a blink, but it definitely happened. There really wasn't time to consider what she had done, nor the potential consequences.

Flashes of light directly ahead of her, and indeed - all around her - sprang into being. Wave after wave of sleek-hulled starships leapt from the stars; some were outdated by several decades – the ghosts of Wolf 359 given new life. Talia watched as they appeared, their names and hulls well known: Melbourne, Saratoga, Yamaguchi... but still larger, brighter flashes eclipsed them - as the true heavy hitters joined the field. Talia couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight. One of them, a quad naccelled beauty, by far the largest and deadliest among the armada, lead from the front: the Theurgy herself. Legends flew at her heels and flanks; Enterprise - in all her sovereign glory - Voyager, phaser banks alight - Defiant, plowing ahead with reckless abandon.

Now then, where were we, Tessa? Shadow smirked.

“Safeties off, weapons hot, Atlas – call the play,” Talia twisted her bird around as every last one of them opened fire on the cube. “Wolf Four,” she grinned, “engaging.”

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #16 – August 07, 2024, 02:13:38 PM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Dumedion @Pierce

Dominic happily continued along with their trip up until Tessa shot ahead and vanished off their sensors for a moment, then something began to manifest on the sensor net. At first, it appeared to be an anomaly up until his sensors tagged what it was. His ears pinned against his head momentarily as the Borg Cube was recognized. Was this bitch crazy? God damn Borg cube! Something Tessa confirmed when she comm’d them with that strange, multifaceted voice that all Borg used.

I’m not engaging a Borg cube with another Fighter. Dominic frowned as he recalled their tests on the Thunderball about engaging the Borg. Fighters could handle the Probes with the right load out, spheres were playing with fire and a 50/50 chance. But a cube? It’d be like farting at a Hurricane. “You’re a pretender..” He commented quietly and pushed his throttle to keep up with Shadow. If anyone was to watch his vitals they’d see them settle to a strangely calm demeanor that one would associate with most Kzint warriors. “Wolf 10, we are engaging the Borg.” His voice was smooth, calm and collected.

Atlas was about to speak and call in some reinforcements for this fight when Shadow did it for him, though what she brought him was everything. Was this a fear reaction? As the sim glitched as she overrode the safeties and forced it to manifest every single ship that had faced the Borg. It's not a smart move. Desperation. Terror. Yes. He took a deep breath in and then exhaled as he began to evade incoming green tractor beams as the cube attempted to get a lock on him. He had a feeling that Goldy-Borg over there might be in on the comm channels but decided to try this anyway. Responding over the private channel “She knows your skills as a pilot, she will know your tricks. I hear some individuality still in there with how she says 'I'. Lets play into it, lull her into a false sense of security with that. I got a trick in mind to overcome the adaptability without relying on the shredder guns. I'll prime two quantum torpedoes for airburst and play some chicken. When they detonate the blast waves should throw her off. If we pull it off, you come in for the kill.” He wondered if Shadow knew what chicken was, or if Goldeneye did.

Atlas was going to lean into playing down his skills as a pilot to try and get her into that false sense of security as well if she chose to target Dominic. All the while he would continue to evade just enough to try and keep her shots to misses or glancing hits. All he needed was a little time. He quickly reprogrammed a pair of Quantum torpedoes with airburst capability rather than contact detonation for his surprise. The plan was simple, he needed to get her into a game of chicken and lean into that crazy this lady had. Then, initiate a micro-warp jump and veer his fighter off to the side. Whilst a few seconds just before the jump initiates, fire the torpedoes and use the energy charge of the jump to mask their firing. If all went to plan she would get caught by one or both of the Quantum torpedo shockwaves which would throw her fighter into a spin. Allowing Shadow to swoop in and deliver the killing blow!

((Edited to fix some issues and make it read better.))

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #17 – August 12, 2024, 09:55:32 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Tessa’s grin widened as she watched the chaos unfold. “Oh, this is going to be fun,” she muttered, her voice dripping with glee and slight metallic tones. She flipped a switch, and her ship’s systems hummed with renewed vigor and Borg cube ambiance. “Alright, Borg-ish Tessa, let’s show them what we’ve got!”

She darted through the battlefield, dodging phaser fire and torpedoes with the agility of a cat on a hot tin roof. “Resistance is futile, so kiss my metallic butt!” she shouted, laughing maniacally. “You want a piece of me, Starfleet? Come and get it!”

Her ship twisted and turned, weaving through the onslaught like a dancer in a deadly ballet. “Computer, play ‘Ride of the Valkyries’!” she commanded, and the epic music blared through her cockpit. “Now we’re talking!”

Tessa spotted Shadow’s ship in the distance, struggling to evade the Borg’s relentless pursuit. “Hang tight, Shadow! Reinforcements are on the way...for the BORG!” She punched the throttle, her ship surging forward with a burst of speed, unlike the cube-shaped vessels on her side.

As she closed in, she saw Atlas in action. She could see torpedoes arming but wasn't totally sure the tactic he was going for...at least not yet. Tessa’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Oh, Atlas, you sneaky devil. Let’s add a little spice to this party.” Tapping the controls, she summoned a few extra cubes and spheres to spice things up for the Federation vessels so she could secure the real prize.

She activated her ship’s holographic emitters, creating a swarm of decoy fighters around her to add to the confusion. “Try and catch me now, fellow Wolves!” she taunted, her voice echoing through the comms.

Momentarily confusion was seen from by the sudden influx of targets. Tessa seized the opportunity, launching a barrage of phasers and micro-torpedoes at the small ship's as she and her squadron closed in. “Take that, you overgrown toaster!”

"Time to go full Borg-ish!” Tessa replied, her ship diving into the fray with reckless abandon.

"Victory is mine!” Tessa declared, her voice triumphant. “We are, Tessa of Borg!”

The cube's and Federation ships meanwhile began to explode in a brilliant flash of light, and Tessa’s ship soared through the debris, victorious. “Well, that was a blast," she said, leaning back in her seat with a satisfied grin as she flew nearer. “Who’s next?”

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #18 – August 15, 2024, 10:43:32 PM

Fuck me, this escalated quickly.

With her hands full and mind focused on evasive maneuvers, Shadow didn’t fully understand Atlas’ plan, but she got the gist – even if she frowned in confusion at the mention of ‘playing chicken’, having no clue what that meant. She juked, spiraled, and strafed between emerald beams of energy trying to capture and cut her ship into ribbons and their fiery counterparts; all while she rolled around and under the hulls of the Federation fleet she’d called in. Needless to say, Talia was in no position to argue or offer a better plan. They were losing ships faster than she could track; everywhere she looked hulls burned, came apart, or were simply atomized as warp cores breached.

“Whatever you’re gonna do make it quick,” Shadow answered Atlas breathlessly, then glanced over her shoulder. Several of Tessa’s copies rode her ass, but not all; more than enough to overpower the shields and take her out of the game though. Talia laughed at Goldeneye’s commentary, then opened the channel to reply. “If your gonna ride so close, pull my fucking hair while your back there,” she joked, then pulled her ship up and over in a sweeping roll as they opened fire.

Shadow hugged the saucer section of the Bozeman on her way out of the turn, pulling up at the last second. Bright flashes of impacts lit up behind, as the Borg-Tessa’s fire strafed its hull. Talia grimaced as even more Borg ships drifted into view, then hissed a curse. Fuck sakes, Tessa…lesson learned, never challenge Goldie’s crazy. "We keep this up and we're gonna break the damn holosuite," she warned no one in particular.

Warning alarms blared around her as Talia’s shields lit up under fire, then sparks flew from repeated hits to her hull. “Fuck,” she grunted, and hauled the fighter over in another desperate roll, right back onto Atlas’ wing. “Getting toasted out here Atlas – do the thing already!”

The Defiant exploded as it rammed into the hull of one of the cubes. Voyager was trailing one nacelle, on fire within but still in the fight. Enterprise was caught between three cubes tractor-beams, being systematically cut apart – the rest of the fleet wasn’t faring any better. “This is bullshit,” Talia growled, pissed at the prospect of losing. “Fuck this,” her fist slammed into the OPS console to clear the annoying chorus of alarms, then primed her own warp core for overload. I go, you go, her eyes hardened at Tessa’s borgified Valkyrie with a smirk.

Throttle up to max, Shadow watched for Atlas to make his move – primed and ready to drive her wounded bird in for the kill. All she had to do was stay in the game a little while longer.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #19 – August 17, 2024, 04:56:37 AM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Pierce @Dumedion

Atlas armed the torpedoes and left the distance for detonation open until he could get into the approach he wanted. Though as the situation changed his plans changed drastically. Goldeneye dragged in her decoys, something he had not expected as to him. The Valkyrie lacked this capability as standard unless she was running some modifications or tweaked the program. His ears twitched as the targeting system lit up with so many decoys it confused what he was looking to target. As with so many things going on at once, Dominic pushed the fighter into a dive to evade the incoming hail of micro-torpedoes and phaser fire, weaving off to the right. While he managed to avoid the majority of the incoming fire, they managed to land a few hits with his shields flaring up.

He wove through the debris field and returned fire with the rear aft phaser arrays which threw them off. He swung up and around the core breach in progress USS Melbourne and used its detonation to take out his tailgaters. Sure it rocked his world and threw his fighter off into an awkward spin which did get corrected. It still kept him out of the fight for a brief moment or two. That was until Goldeneye brought in even more Borg.

This is getting out of hand. Way out of hand. Atlas’ ears flattened slightly against his skull and his tail started to twitch as he did a check of damage to his ship. Shrapnel embedded in the hull along with his warp engines knocked offline. Atlas huffed and pushed on when he spied the Borg Tessa weaving amidst the wreckage, doing her thing. Hearing Shadow’s request and report, Atlas pushed the engines back on and rushed to intercept. “You know, if the Borg assimilate for perfection. Why did they assimilate you?” He directed towards Borg-essa. Priming the Torpedoes with the range for detonation, Atlas didn’t go for a target lock. Preferring a Dumb-fire approach to avoid giving her an idea of where he was at or what was about to happen.

He moved to line up the shot from her 8’oclock and fired! One torpedo came in just below the Borgified Tessa while the other came in from just above to detonate within a couple of seconds of each other to detonate just ahead and behind respectively. The shockwave of the Quantum Torpedoes would be enough to damage even larger ships, let alone a smaller fighter surviving the blast. Depending on how much of it would catch said fighter. Certainly enough hopefully that it would give Shadow her opening.

Atlas however peeled off into the wreckages of both fleets and took a moment to assess the situation. From a realistic perspective, they were pushing the holosim beyond its limits and this felt like a big game of one-up-manship between Talia and Tessa. Each bringing in more and more. In their current situation, Atlas did not want to be partly responsible for burning out the Holodeck while the Ranger was heading into Romulan space. “Computer, End program. Return us to the FAB of the Theurgy.” The computer beeped in response and slowly the program shifted from the over-the-top battle back to the Theurgy’s blissfully less taxing FAB. Atlas stole a glance at the Enterprise and Voyager, both adrift as they began to fade out and the new scene set in.

"I am not sorry for cutting that battle short. As far as I am concerned that battle and all the elements being dragged into it went to far. We were going to burn out the Holodeck at the very least, not to mention all the other shenanigans going on. Why go so far?" He asked.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #20 – August 19, 2024, 08:26:41 PM

[ Lt. JG Tessa May Lance | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: @Dumedion @Krajin [Show/Hide]

Sitting comfortably in her Valkyrie, Tessa observed the chaotic scene unfolding before her. Her comrades were engaged in a fierce battle with the Borg fleet, and she herself was disguised as a Borg drone. With a bucket of popcorn in hand, she leisurely munched away, thoroughly entertained by the spectacle. The Starfleet vessels and Borg ships clashed with such intensity that the Holodeck resembled a dazzling Fourth of July fireworks display. Amused by the unfolding chaos, Tessa momentarily set aside her popcorn as the program began to shimmer and shut down. The fleets of Borg Tessa’s and the opposing forces vanished, leaving Shadow and Atlas alone as their Valkyries also faded away.

Standing in the corner, Tessa continued to eat her popcorn, a smirk playing on her lips. She chuckled, attempting to speak with her mouth full. "Hey guys! Have fun with Borg Tessa and her crew? I’ve been camped out waiting." She laughed maniacally, dropping the popcorn and shrugging nonchalantly.

"Well, I was planning to come to help you guys after the fleets destroyed each other. My copies were firing harmless shots, just enough to test a theory on how you’d handle pressure from unexpected threats." She paused, pacing thoughtfully. "It was a test, considering the Dominion War, the Borg, and now the infested. I wanted to see how you’d perform when a friend turned foe. You both did well, to a point…"

Realizing she was sounding more authoritative than usual, Tessa shook her head. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to come off that way. I just needed to see how you’d work under pressure. And I’m glad to have you on the team. Just remember to expect the unexpected in battle. I’ve survived this long on that premise."

She clasped both of them on the shoulders, her expression softening. "I mean, I love you guys!" she added with a playful smirk and a wink.

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #21 – August 23, 2024, 03:35:37 AM

Well that kinda worked, Shadow grimaced and rolled into a hard dive, aiming the nose of her fighter at Tessa’s borgified Valkyrie. Beyond the smoke that filled her canopy, ships continued to die; either immolating in the fires of their own internal damage or wrenched apart by emerald beams of fire – the end result was the same. For what it was worth, Atlas’ gamble was an impressive display of improvisation, one that Talia figured would have worked, under different circumstances; she made a mental note to ask him about it later – if it was something he’d seen during the War or just made up off the top.

Tessa’s bird limped, shields flickered then died as she tried to roll away after Atlas – wide open.

The throaty hum of the warp drive behind her continued to raise in pitch, then shifted into a whole new octave she’d never heard the damn thing sing before, which was altogether alarming. So that’s what death sounds like, Talia snorted, then her eyes narrowed in focus as she closed in on her prey.

To anyone that might have witnessed it, Shadow’s bird had already started to come apart well before she’d hit; forks of plasmatic lightning arced out as they blew from over-pressurized couplings – the maintenance panels blown free from their housings along both ventral and dorsal sections of the hull. Still she flew, venting contrails of blue-white plasma, which then mixed with deuterium fuel and promptly ignited; the chain reaction that ensued would have destroyed her ship and likely damaged a few others…

But then everything froze and promptly de-rezzed, leaving Talia to fall to her ass on the familiar decking of the FAB with a grunted curse. Once she’d sat up and pulled the helm free, the pilot looked around with a cocked brow, then snorted at both Atlas’ question and the sight of Tessa with her popcorn. Helm clasped under one arm while her free hand raked through the damp mess of her hair, Talia joined them, then smirked at Tessa’s explanation and lifted a shoulder at Atlas.

“Every run is an opportunity to learn something, this was no different,” she huffed at Tessa with a grin, then turned her eyes and nodded up at Atlas. “Yeah, it got a little crazy, but that’s what we do, yes? So, what did you learn?"

Re: CH2: S [Day1|1900hrs] Show us what you got!

Reply #22 – August 23, 2024, 01:52:12 PM

[ Dominic Winters | Holodeck 3 | Vector 2 | Deck 21 | The Ranger ATTN: @Dumedion @Pierce

Atlas took a moment to reorient himself now that the Sim had fully changed back to the FAB and the others joined him. Goldie came over with popcorn and did what he considered to be a right crime and irritation, speaking with her mouth full. A crime second to that of chewing loudly with the mouth open, an action that could bring him to incoherent rage. His left ear twitched along with his tail-tip. “Well, I am glad you sat on your ass and watched while munging out on Popcorn. Please.. For the sake of my hearing don’t speak with your mouth full. Or chew loudly.” He asked her.

“You were going to come in after the fleets were destroyed? After we tangled with a threat that is known for being virtually unstoppable due to its potential for adaptation and.. You were going to do.. What exactly? Save us? Be the added threat to pick us off after we’d been fucked six ways from Sunday? Atlas enquired sounding a little terse but also analytical. Likely he was looking at it from several points of view. To add to that with a teasing hint to his body language he adds on in an almost perfect Vulcan-like impersonation. "Fascinating."

“As to what I learned? An unexpected threat the Borg are not. You becoming one of the Borg and yet far from it? Eh, you’re an unknown to me both in skill and ability so you were still an unknown threat. Throw in the Borg adaptation and you become even more of a pain in the ass to get rid of. Against a Borg Cube, we had no hope, probes, sure, spheres.. Fifty-fifty. Cube? Nah.” Atlas tucked his helmet under his arm and shifted his feet slightly.

“Your Holo-decoys were a pain in the arse though and while harmless, create issues with trying to figure out who is who and which is the threat.” He began to pace a little with the sound of his heavy footfalls clanking off the deck plating. “I learned a lot about you two. There seems to be something competitive between you two or something a bit off here. Call in a cube and self-borgify in a.. Half-hearted Locutus of Borg kind of approach. Then we up the game by throwing in an entire fleet of Starfleet who faced the Borg. Then the ante is upped again with the risk of burning the Holodeck out by throwing in Borg Reinforcments for.. What exactly? Stress? Pressure? What?” Atlas shrugged and then turned to face the duo.

“Crazy is one thing, all that was something else. Or maybe I come from a different environment, training and approach.Or this functioned as an unspoken outlet for something?” He asked curiously. “I like the Valkyrie though it is slightly fatter than the Gryphon. When I get a chance I’ll need to prod one of the engineers to tweak the controls if that is exactly how they fly. Or tweak it myself.” He nodded. “What about you two? What did you learn? And did you have any questions?” He then asked with a single ear twitch. The Kzint equivalent of a grin.