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Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Stardate 57603.62
Day 19 – March 29th 2381
0730 hrs.

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Briefing Room | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy – Vector 2] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Since his alarm has woken up Logan two hours ago, he was ready to jump back into the cockpit. He felt it and he needed it. Two days ago, he and Zeke where cleared for duty and yesterday they had to take some simulations to determine if they fit well enough to go on regular missions again. It was just a formality, but it was necessary. The simulations went pretty well, and Logan anticipated that they would perform on their old highs was just a matter of days.

Always aiming to improving themselves Logan and Zeke discussed about certain actions they did while in the simulations and how they could have reacted otherwise for most of the rest of the day. This went on until they both heard about their Valravn is ready to flight again. Colin Jefferies surpassed himself with that. He promised Logan to fix the fighter by the end of the week and make it flight ready by the beginning of the next week. It was welcome news the Valravn passed all stress test and was cleared to fly again much earlier. This meant a lot to Logan. He needed to thank Colin for his work.

Logan and Zeke, both wearing their uniform and the newly replicated Signature Casual Jacket sat in the Briefing Room and read into the last mission updates from the Lone Wolves Squadron, the very same they are now part of. It felt strange to join the third fighter Squadron in this short time, but he deeply felt his defection was right. He followed his instincts and will now on fight for the Theurgy and its mission. Logan knew that his RIO Ezekiel Jackson felt the same. Both got informed that they are going on a patrol run through the system of Aldea with Wolf-02 alias Ghost. “Do you know her?” asked Zeke. “Sure, I do.” Logan answered. Then with a familiar grin “I’ve nodded to her once. Didn’t I tell you?” Zeke chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid you did not.” He paused shortly “So, as I understand she will be Patrol Lead and we are her wingmen.” Logan nodded “Yep. Any problem with that?” “Nope.” “Good. Let’s wait for her. She must be here any moment.” Logan looked at the chronometer at the wall: two minutes to officially starting his shift. Two minutes to become a pilot once again. “Let’s not fuck this up, Zeke.”

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #1 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Briefing Room | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Nero
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Sauntering to the door to the briefing room, Evelyn Rawley was wearing a rather eclectic mix of uniform and civilian clothes. The sliding doors opened for her while she ran her hand over her shaved head, with the loose Lone Wolf flight jacket riding off-shoulder and her uniform trousers riding equally askew on her hips. Instead of the uniform jacket and undershirt, however, she'd just slipped into a white tank top. Her heavy boots made loud noise as she descended the stairs towards the dashing gentlemen in their seats.

"Golly, aren't you early?" she said with a wolfish grin and stopped when she was level with the row they were seated on. "What are you waiting for though? We have a patrol run to make. I thought you two would be chuffed to bits about flying again, and you'd rather sit out the time here? Come on, let's suit up and launch."

That was why she'd not bothered with the full uniform, actually, heading to the locker room as she was. She turned on her heel and led the way back whence she came, hoping the ol' chaps would follow her quickly enough.

Once they entered the locker room, Rawley walked towards her own locker and gestured towards their own. "There you are. You have the same lockers that you had before we crossed swords with the Borg in the Azure Nebula. Fighter Bay Ops have cleaned and repaired them for you," she added while she tapped her authorisation code into the locker display and shed both her jacket and her tanktop in short order. Bare-chested, she turned her head to add, "Oh, a little birdie told me they are upgrading our exosuits, but right now we'll use the old ones. Evidently Starfleet is rolling out a Mark II iteration of the suits, but we'll be upgrading them a bit with some spiffing Savi tech."

Off with the trousers and the boots, she continued while she yanked out the ol' exosuit from her locker along with the rather worn helmet. "Who would have thought those beastly aliens would actually do some good by us? Abducting our crew and all, along with Captain Ives and the A.I., keeping them on that stupendous ship that skewered the Borg cube. Seems they were merely deceived to follow orders by their leaders, so I guess they a bit shame-faced about it. We're getting some nice quantum propulsion too, I hear."

After sticking her legs into the suit, Rawley had to jump a bit on the spot to get her short legs down the suit, but she could soon run her arms into the sleeves and seal the suit at the back with a button - the hiss announcing the pressure seal being made. With her helmet on her hip, she looked over to the newer Lone Wolves to see how they fared, and not so shyly taking stock of heir finer physical attributes as she did. "All set? Let's head out then, shall we?"

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #2 –
[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy – Vector 2] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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The doors slid open and Logan heard heavy boots stepping across the deck. A short glimpse showed Logan it was Rawley aka Ghost. “I said don’t fuck this up, Zeke.” Logan punched his friends’ leg, grinned at him and mumbled under his breath “And you fucked it up.” Zeke chuckled.

"Golly, aren't you early? What are you waiting for though? We have a patrol run to make. I thought you two would be chuffed to bits about flying again, and you'd rather sit out the time here? Come on, let's suit up and launch." she said.

She was right and just half a second after Rawley “invited” them to join her in that patrol run both Zeke and Logan jumped up and stormed through the rows of the briefing room. Logan used a shortcut he just discovered and jumped over the seats. He landed just two or three feet behind the nearly bald woman with the British accent and the lose combination of formal uniform. That’s just the style I like he thought. Logan grabbed the Arm of Zeke who tried to maintain the balance. “You won’t need to tell me that twice.” Logan answered her and pulled his friend, so they don’t lose too much time. “Come on, Zeke. Hurry up you sloth. Gotta fly again.”

Logan and Zeke followed her to the locker room. She pointed out at their lockers and added that they were the same as before the fight with the Borg in the Azure Nebula. Logan inspected it with a brief glimpse and began to insert his authorization code. It was fully intact and clean as she mentioned it but somehow Logan expected it to run red rivers of blood as soon as he opens it and was somewhat relieved when he only found the repaired exosuit and the new helmet waiting for him. Logan took off his jacket and uniform and just threw them into the locker, just next to his boots. He then took the exosuit and began to put it on. First, he slipped his legs into it and just as he wanted to begin with the upper part he heard Rawley speaking about Starfleet rolling out a Mark II of this exosuit and that theirs will be upgraded with Savi tech.

“Savi tech?” Zeke asked surprised. Just as surprised as Logan was about the rumor. “Never thought they would actually deal with us.” He added. “Who knows? Maybe we get some nice integrated inertia damper or some palm mounted laser beam.” Said Logan and took a look at the half naked pilot across the room. And that is a style I like even more. Logan continued to put on his exosuit and sealed it with a quick push of a button. “In the end the Savi are just people like us, I guess. If this is some kind of apology I will gladly take it.” Logan pulled his helmet out of the locker and heard Rawley say "All set? Let's head out then, shall we?" Logan closed his locker and looked at Zeke who nodded towards him. „Sure. Take the lead.”

As they stepped through the blast doors into the Fighter Assault Bay the typical hums and smells of the vivid deck reached the ears and nose of the aviator. Logan took a second to take as much impression as he could get. The sounds of howling engines, and automatic wrenches, the smell of oily wipes. Deck crew took his and Zeke’s helmet and brought them to their fighter. There she waited for them sparkling in the light. Their Valravn was as good as new and ready for a run. Logan knew it. It was like a dog was scratching the doors. The fighter wanted to be out there. It wanted to be back in action.

Logan and Zeke both get their helmet back when they seated down. It was that particular moment of silence when he put the helmet on and linked it with the fighters systems. It lasted only a fraction of a second but it was unbelievable relaxing. “Big Z for Wraith. Do you read me?” Logan lifted his arm and signaled though a thumbs up that he could understand him. The other way was the same. Both began preflight controls and readied the fighter. For this patrol they would only use the standard configuration for the fighter. “Are you ready, Zeke?” Logan asked via the private communication channel. “Hit it.” Answered Ezekiel. “This is Wolf One Six to flight control. We are ready for launch.” [“Copy that, Wolf One Six. You are cleared for Launchpad two. Good flight.”] “Launchpad two. Thank you, flight control.”

The Deck crew steered the mighty fighter into position. Just before him he could the see the fighter of Wolf Zero two, aka Ghost. “Patrol Lead, this is Wolf One Six. Ghost, we are good to go. Stand by for your command.”

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #3 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-02 Cockpit | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie ] Attn: @Nero  
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Being asked to take the lead Rawley had grinned as she walked. "Oh, you just want to check out me arse. Got it. Really classy, gentlemen," she had teased quietly as she set off towards her Valkyrie. As she went there, she reached down with her free hand and accessed the LCARS screen on he Knee PADD, tapping in her presence with a personal code. Then, she tapped the comm transciver on her exosuit. "This is Wolf-Zero-Two, come in Flight Ops."

[We read you, Ghost. Over.]

"Requesting permission to initiate a full check on all systems for my Valkyrie, as well a short patrol route. I'm ordered to evaluate Wraith and his RIO after their medical leave," she said in her accent, her hips swaying with her step.

[Permission granted. On standby. Over.]

"You will be hearing from me shortly, Ghost out." Finished with that small formality, Rawley put her helmet on before she ascended the ramp to the cockpit of her gleaming warp fighter. She tapped the side of her helmet to make sure the different visual settings in her helmet were fully operational - including the TVD - whilst doing the outside inspection of the spacecraft, having paused her step. Once she was done with checking the exterior, she punched in the stardate on her PADD, and then climbed up to the cockpit. Seating herself in the single seat, she lit up the HUDs and plugged in her suit to the fighter comm system. "This is Ghost to Flight Ops, do you copy?" she said while she began power up the vessel - running the basic diagnostics on all systems as they lit up.

[Loud and clear, Lieutenant. Short-range comm system fully operational.]

"Acknowledged. Stand by for engines and flight controls..." she continued, and after that, Rawley went through the analysis, making sure that dampeners and structural integrity fields were online, as well as the sensors and the shields, weapons and navigational systems. The hard point slots - which held her standard set-up - were not armed, of course, but they were brought online along with all other functions in order to ensure they were powering up, "...take-off procedures completed, all systems online and functioning properly."

[Acknowledged. You have clearance to launch. Flight Ops out.]

[Patrol Lead, this is Wolf One Six. Ghost, we are good to go. Stand by for your command.]

One of the stand-by deckhands cleared the ramp from the side of the craft and Rawley exchanged a thumbs-up with the man before she tapped the command to close the canopy over the cockpit. "This is Ghost, will you just get your bloody Valravn out of the bay doors, and be prepared to activate your Aldean sensor scramblers so that the whole sector doesn't pinpoint your prototype bird here in this system, okay? You can find the scrambler switch at the bottom of your HUD. Me? I will be watching your smashing arses as you launch this time." Having delivered her orders with a mix of humour and serious reminder, Rawley began to taxi out into the middle lane of the bay. Her launch thrusters were at a minimal setting to begin with, but she slowly throttled up once the bay doors had opened for her.

"Activating scrambers now. Clear the shipyards without hitting any of the struts okay, fellows?" Having said this, she verified that the Valravn got going and then throttled up in full - the inertial dampeners compensating for most of the extreme g-forces that the cockpit interior would have been subjected to. Once both warp fighters cleared the launching strip, she raised her landing gears and switched to 0.3 impulse. It was always a thrill to head out. It was something that never quite abated for pilots.

Once they had cleared the shipyards and orbited Aldea, Rawley yanked her joystick sideways, and made the whole craft lurch forward as she pushed the impulse throttle forward. It pushed Evelyn firmly into the seat, while the planet surface began to move beneath. "All right seems you guys at least got yourselves out of the barn. Now, follow my lead."

She laid a course straight out from Aldea, the main impulse engine not being heard out in space, but she felt in the entire fuselage. When they cleared the gravitational pull, tendrils from their engines followed in their wake. "All right, gentlemen, fire up your ancillary impulse engines," she ordered, and as she pushed her own impulse throttle father, she looked towards the vid feed on one of her screens as the rear ends of the Valravn's nacelles opened up. Instantly, they came alive as well, the thrumming noise likely increasing for the two boys in their big cockpit. The Valravn was built for speed, in both sub-light and warp conditions, and Rawley anticipated how they wanted to show off that propulsion aspect of the ship, which was allegedly better than that of the Mk III Valkyrie.

"I hear the one who developed the Valravn used to make interceptors, like the Knight-class," she said to Wraith and his RIO while they flew at impulse, the pressure against her slim suit keenly felt. Rawley pushed the throttle even farther forward, and they were at maximum impulse. She could see from the vid-feed of the Valravn how both the main impulse engine and the two auxillary ones were flaring brightly, leaving three white trails in Wraith's wake. "Is it true that the difference with the Valravn - compared to those Knight-class glass cannons - is that your kind of bird is no interceptor any more, but actually handle like a true warp fighter? If that's the case, care to give me a demonstration of your manoeuvrability with that thing? Ladies first, so follow me, will ya?"

Ghost suddenly made her Valkyrie dive into a barrel roll - changing course and heading straight down into a small particle cloud. She plunged into the cloud and then yanked the joystick back again, breaking off the barrel roll and straightening the craft into a level trajectory.

Soon, they would go to warp, and head out on the patrol. She just wanted to make sure they could keep up first.

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #4 –
[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Aldea System] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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[This is Ghost, will you just get your bloody Valravn out of the bay doors, and be prepared to activate your Aldean sensor scramblers so that the whole sector doesn't pinpoint your prototype bird here in this system, okay? You can find the scrambler switch at the bottom of your HUD. Me? I will be watching your smashing arses as you launch this time.]

Logan smiled at the radio transmission from Rawley and nodded as he gets the information to switch on the Adean sensor scramblers of his Valravn. He knew about the importance of this little device. To hide the presence of the Theurgy there were quite a number on tactics in use. The Aldean sensor scrambler was just the one in use for the Theurgy’s warp fighters. “Oh, that’s for. Thought it was some kind of new self-destruction device.” With a flick of his finger, he switched the scramblers on an added via radio: “Scramblers activated. Heading for start. See you in the Void.”

Logan initiated the start sequence and shortly after the bay doors opened the pilot and his RIO were pushed gently into their suits and seats as the inertial dampeners worked against the g-forces. As the Fighter left the Hangar Bay Logan pulled the Joystick and cleared the perimeter. Feeling the Valravn working and responding well to his commands let him feel some kind of pride and joy. “Could you please...?” it came from the backseat passenger. “I think… I’m throwing up if…” he heard Zeke over their private radio and couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s up, buddy? Did you become unfamiliar with flying?” “What!? Me? Never!” he shouted. “But you fly like an old woman smells and I have to puke if you continue.” “Wow.” Logan stuttered. “Just wow. Never noticed you were such a keen critic you ungrateful Bastard.” Silence. Then laughter filled the radio for a second or two. “Scrambler is working fine, Wraith. The fighter is in better shape than your flying skills.” “Thank you, Z.” “You are welcome.”

[All right seems you guys at least got yourselves out of the barn. Now, follow my lead.]

“Copy that.” Logan set a course and caught up with Evelyn’s Valkyrie. Her course followed a straight line away from their guest home world Aldea. Logan could see the tendrils from her engines. To keep up with her Logan had to adjust his speed slightly but steady.

[All right, gentlemen, fire up your ancillary impulse engines.]

“Alright.” The pilot of the Valravn confirmed the order with an audible grin and pushed the impulse throttle further. “Buckle up. This will be fun!” The humming sounds from the engines swelled on and soon filled Logans ears. That beastly engines were made for running at high speed. They were roaring wildly as Logan lose the leash. Instantly both the pilot and his RIO were pushed back into the seats and Logan began to use his trained breathing method until the inertial dampeners could compensate. Within moments he passed the Valkyrie and pulled past her giving her a glimpse of what the Valravn was capable of. While that he yanked the joystick to fulfill a barrel roll and screamed for joy into the microphone.

[I hear the one who developed the Valravn used to make interceptors, like the Knight-class. Is it true that the difference with the Valravn - compared to those Knight-class glass cannons - is that your kind of bird is no interceptor anymore, but actually handle like a true warp fighter? If that's the case, care to give me a demonstration of your maneuverability with that thing? Ladies first, so follow me, will ya?]

Without waiting for his confirmation Ghost suddenly started into a barrel roll and broke off into a particle cloud. “Got her on the sensors, Wraith.” “Understood.” Logan redirected the Valravn into the particle cloud, too. Her head start melting in just seconds.
“I would like to say it’s the latter case.” said Logan via radio transmission and joined her course in formation. “And thank you for the warm-up, Ghost. Is there something else you wish to see?”

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #5 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-02 Cockpit | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie ] Attn: @Nero 
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At least Wraith was able to keep up with her through the particle cloud, so when the Valravn levelled out behind her, Ghost replied to the question over comms with a grin.

"Oh, I'd be chuffed to bits if I could see how you'd handle yourselves in bed, but for now, I think I'll have to settle with your flying skills," she said, always a casual flirt, and then she tapped in a few flight patterns, sending them to the Valravn.

=/\= INCOMING TACTICAL DATA =/\=

1] THETA-3
2] OMEGA-3
3] DELTA-4
4] OMEGA-4
5] GAMMA-5
6] ALPHA-2
7] BETA 1-4-0

"Try to keep up, lads," she said, and then began the sequence at full impulse throttle, grinning as she meant to put the two old White Wolves through their paces. She'd used the same flight pattern when she tested Neko for resumed flight duty, and if the two lads in the Valravn could handle themselves well enough, she didn't see any problems with beginning the patrol.

In all honesty, the patrols around the Epsilon Mynos System were often quite dull, with the occasional break where there were pirates trying to gain access to Aldea, thinking they were in the clear after fooling the KDF. Rawley hoped the day's patrol wouldn't be entirely uneventful.

OOC: Click the blue text for references of what they're about to do. :)

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #6 –
[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Aldea System] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Logan chuckled as he heard the radio transmission and fed the computer with the wanted maneuvers. „Received.” The pilot pushed the Joystick slightly to side and pulled it back to himself. The Valravn peeled off the formation and raised up. Just seconds after the he initiated the sequence, he jacked the stick to the front and forced the fighter straight down.
“Oh. Sorry, Z.” he said lightheartedly. “Please fasten your seatbelts.” The Valravn dived further down into the void. “You don’t…” his RIO grunted. “Don’t you dare say that to me ever again.” Zeke send him the next sequence and added “Show her what’s a Valravn is capable of.” Logan smiled. “Sure thing. Hold tight.” He rolled the agile Warp fighter to starboard and started climbing up the previously dived down meters. While that he began with a long S-turn. This little maneuver ensured that the Valravn to outrun a possible dangerous threat and will help to get a better position in fighting enemy ships. This and the maneuver before where standards in flight school. Every pilot had to train them. No matter if said pilot went to Tactical CONN or regular. This where essential evasive maneuvers. Trained to feel the movement long before his head had recognized the next maneuver of the Delta-series the ace pilot engaged an all-out straightforward frontal attack on Rawley. Sorry, girl. The sensors keeping track of his movements and the computer calculated the shots fired. Logan ended the attack as he pulled the joystick back to him forcing the fighter into an arc but just moments before he reached the zenith of said arc he quickly leveled out and pushed the impulse throttle to max. The Valravn was the fastest fighter in the sector so it took only a blink of an eye until the ship got into a steep dive and began rolling to side. As they reached the bottom of the trajectory Logan again jacked the controls back and forced the ship to climb back until he leveled out.
“Good one.” Said Zeke from behind. “Mostly done. Next Alpha-2. Bring us up and initiate Beta 1-4-0.” Logan’s neurons fired up in his brain and he was sure he could see in slow motion. His hand reached for the throttle again but instead to start with Alpha-2 he directly began with the last Beta maneuver. “What are you doing, Wraith?” asked Zeke through his heavy breathing technique. The ship began to hook like a hare hunted by a fox or better hunted by a wolf until its pilot pulled the joystick one last time and let the ship raise to the sky. He passed the trajectory of Wolf-02 on her port side and let the ship fall over. The Valravn was now facing the Valkyrie at gunpoint. “Getting her.” He said. Then he opened a channel to Rawley. “Sorry for the last part. I messed it up. But ehm… What was it about this bed story?” Anyone could hear him grinning over the radio.

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #7 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-02 Cockpit | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie ] Attn: @Nero 
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Surprised as she might have been by the finisher that Wraith pulled off, Rawley could but chuckle at the comment he made.

"Oh, wouldn't you want to know?" she teased back and activated the vid-feed for the transmission, and through her visor and the small HUD screen mounted on Logan's flight controls, she gave him a wink. Then, she veered off to the side with her Valkyrie and ended the vid-transmission. "Okay, you've had your fun. Come on now, chaps. I'll report that you're approved for flight duty, but we still have a patrol round to make."

Plotting a path that would take them to the designated patrol area for the day, she powered up her fighter's quantite warp core. "Lay in a course bearing three-four-niner mark eight. Warp six. Let's go."

Said and done, she set off at warp, expecting her wingmates in the Valravn to follow her lead. "So how did you fellows fare in the battle with the Borg Queen? Well, obviously, you were hurt and had to spend your due in sickbay, but what about before then?" she asked while idly checking her sensor readings for any anomalies. "Weren't you guys escorts to the Allegiant? I think I saw that scoutship right in the thick of it, so I take it you got up close and personal with the cube as well?"

Rawley had flown through it along with many other Lone Wolves after that Savi dreadnought had punched three holes in it, which she believed might be something she'd never get to do again. Not that she minded, since a cube was just too much bloody mass to take on in a small warp fighter.

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #8 –
[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Aldea System] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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[Lay in a course bearing three-four-niner mark eight. Warp six. Let's go.]
“Copy that.” Said Logan and plotted the course as well. “Course set and ready to go.”
As Logan fired up the Warp drive the fighter, he could see the stars elongated to long white stripes outside their window. The ship now accelerating to Warp six was cruising alongside the Valkyrie he could see through a marking in his visor. That is one of my favorite parts of flying he thought. This is what true freedom means. His face showed a small but peacefully smile. Additionally, he caught himself thinking of what he could do with Rawley and that said bed. That’s why his smile also seams a little bit cheeky. That damn wink caught him off guard. He shook his head as he heard her voice again via Radio and frowned as he heard her questionnaire about the Borg attack back in the Azure nebular.
“Personal indeed. That fricking cube.” He sighted. “We where escorts to the Allegiant, correct. And as we saw that little ship became stuck in a fucking tractor beam we changed our targets from cleaning the way for the Allegiant to engaging a fucking Cube. Never saw something so strange like that thing. We attacked the beam emitters in – what was it? Two or three attack runs – I don’t know. But then we could disable that thing eventually so the Allegiant could leave to do their part. Everything after that is gone. I have no memory on that. I know only that what was told to me.”
His eyes scanned the different interfaces and information panels. Velocity, course, structure integrity field. All in normal parameters. But when he saw the vital signs of his RIO there was something off. His pulse was slightly higher than normal.
“What about you, Ghost?” he asked just to cover up for his buddy. He switched the channel to private. “Hey buddy, are you okay back there?” Logan didn’t recognize if Rawley said something or not. If so, her voice just blended in with the rest of the background noises. His RIO was the only important thing in this moment. “Yeah.” It took him a second to answer. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just some unwanted ghosts from the past.” Logan nodded. “Good. Just don’t let that hear our ghost from the present, okay?” “I’ll try.” Zeke said. “By the way. We are reaching our destination. Ten seconds.”
Logan switched back to flight radio and added a sighed “That damn cube.” Until he began to decelerate back to Impulse speed. They left Aldea behind. Infront of them laid the inner end of their Kuiper Belt. Astonishing view Logan thought. Sadly, we are here to work. “Sensors are clean, Wraith.” "Okay." Than he added via radio “So, this is the place to be, I guess. Pretty empty if you ask me.”

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #9 –
[ Lt. JG Evelyn "Ghost" Rawley | Wolf-02 Cockpit | AC-409 Mk III Valkyrie ] Attn: @Nero 
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Hearing how the two chaps had been responsible for freeing the Allegiant and likely saving all the lives aboard that scoutship, Rawley could but state the obvious.

"No pain no gain, lads. You put your lives on the line and you made it through, all things considered. The scientist that later helped de-Borgify some of the crew was on that ship, and I heard the Klingon liaison was on it was well. Natauna-something. Apparently she was what it took to make Martok believe the Theurgy wasn't responsible for the death of his son. We wouldn't be allies with the Klingons if it wasn't for her, and you guys made sure she lived to talk to that ridge-head."

There was no reply to that, at least not at first, so Rawley guessed she'd turned the chaps in the Valravn contemplative. Perhaps they didn't know what they'd managed to do, what it meant, and how it should prove that their time in sickbay might have been worth it.

Once they dropped out of warp, Ghost could confirm that the sensors didn't show shite in the first part of their patrol route, so she laid in a new course.

"All right lads, let's begin the circuit, and let me know if you pick anything up. Eyes out, and full impulse speed so that senors catch most stuff out there. Sending the route now, confirm it will you?" She tapped away the tactical data to Wraith and his RIO, and then set off, the HUD showing her sensor readings and keeping a proverbial eye out for her. "So how was it back on Luna base? Had to be nice to be able to beam down to earth and lead ordinary lives when off duty right? The Valkyrie Program was set on the Theurgy, ours being the spiffy prototypes tested on Thea before all hell broke loose."

Little did they know what laid ahead along the patrol route...

Re: Day 19 [0730 hrs.] Patrol Run

Reply #10 –
[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Aldea System] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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"Data received and entered." Logan pulled his joystick and moved the Valravn in the opposite direction of Ghost's Valkyrie. Both courses would form an ellipse along the Kuiper belt where they could cover the greatest possible area. The pilot and his RIO, as well as the patrol lead, would keep their eyes open for any potential danger. The lone wolf slowly pushed the throttle forward to the maximum and thus brought the hunter to full impulse speed. The sensors covered a large part of the belt but could not see into the shadows behind the asteroids. Therefore, the fighter was occasionally flown deeper into the Kuiper Belt. Logan and Big Z could not discover anything unusual in the first trials. During the flights deeper into the asteroid belt the task of the observing the sensor readings alone was penned to the Rio, since Logan had to concentrate on not flying the fighter into a stony potato. Logan skillfully avoided the boulders and used the inertia of the larger stones to hide from smaller boulders and thus avoid them. Should there be any pirates here, they would use similar flight patterns as he did. This was not easy territory. If you wanted to smuggle here successfully, you had to be a world-class pilot and have a whole bag of experience. When Logan thought about how difficult it was here, he was glad that he didn't have to come along with his old freighter.

A large stone approached from a shadow of an even larger asteroid and cut the trajectory of the fighter. Logan had to reverse the thrust, pushed the nose down and flew under the approaching rock. "Welp. That was a little bit to close for my liking." The Valravn nearly scraped the surface. "There's a hell of a lot of stuff in here that's messing with the sensors. I don't think you can navigate this place reliably. Let's not fly too deep," sounded the voice of his best friend in the back seat. "I think you got that right, buddy." Logan explained. "We really shouldn't go in any deeper than we have to." So, Logan grabbed the controls again so he could bring the fighter safely back on the pre-set course.

He heard Rawley asking over the radio how it was back on Luna. Logan smiled a moment before he answered. Then he explained: "Those were some nice days back then. Going down to San Francisco on Fridays to have a few beers at Don's bar and laugh at some pretty girls. I was never cold in my bed when I left the bar." He could feel how Zeke turned his eyes behind his visor. Eventually, his mood became a little more serious. "I can't imagine what it was like when the first charges were brought against you and the Theurgy needed to flee."

Logan flew a long S-curve to adjust the course. He was not sure if Rawley was going to tell him or not. He would not blame her if she didn't want to. A story like that was hard. He knew it himself. He'd been through something similar himself. Except he was running away then, and he was not being chased. "Got something on the sensors here, Wraith," Zeke says. "Looks like a ship floating in the belt." "Smugglers?" Logan asked. "It's possible, but I can't pinpoint it. Too much interference." "Okay." Logan reopened the voice channel. "Ghost, this is Wraith. Got something on the sensors. Looks like a ship. Sending coordinates now. We're gonna take a closer look."

Again, he pulled the joystick and changed course. It took them a moment to reach the freighter. They had to dodge some asteroids, but they made it eventually. All that time, the ship didn't make a sound. "Are they hiding? I mean, they can see us coming, right?"  "I don't know, but now that we're closer, I can run new scans." "Do that. In the meantime..." Logan opened a channel to the freighter. "Aldean patrol to unidentified vessel, do you require assistance?" He waited a moment before trying again. "I repeat. Aldean patrol to unidentified vessel, do you require assistance?" "Let it go, Wraith. The ship has no energy signature and I'm not detecting any life signs either. It is abandoned."  Logan closed the channel. "Are you sure?" "Affirmative."  "Okay. Then we mark the spot, fly back and report back to Ghost.”

- FIN
 
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