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CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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“Hey can you hand me that -no not that- THAT!” Lok unhelpfully asked, his hand waved about from under the Valkyrie he was working on until the crewman assisting him figured out the correct tool her new Kzinti boss was gesturing wildly towards. It turned out it was just a large spanner. Finally after several minutes of the clinking of tools and the occasional muffed curse of Lok, he emerged from under the spacecraft.

“Alright that should do it, just the mounts and we can pull this core out”, he informed while getting to his feet, then turned to one of his leads, “Adara can you get somebody to grab a core jack and a dilithium extractor kit please.”

Lok walked over to the mobile workbench and grabbed a rag to wipe his hands, it never really worked great, he would need to scrub them in the sink or hop in the sonic shower later at some point, probably for a quick bite then right on back to work. His tactic of distracting his mind with work seemed to be, well, working. With his large hands somewhat cleaned, he picked up a few of the parts they had pulled off to reach the core, doing a bit of a visual inspection of them before he used his scanner to check for any interior flaws. Even in this age of industrial replicators where everything is built from the atoms up there can still be a manufacturing flaw, the metals don’t quite agree with each other, he had plenty of first hand experience with such things.

Petty Officer Hussein, having dispatched some of her guys to get the required core jack, sauntered up next to Lok. “So who do you think is taking this one”, she asked, “we are making some major adjustments to the interior, the guy or gal must be pretty tall.”

“I have no idea, Harrold said we needed this fixed up before the end of the day so that’s what we’re doing”, replied Lok a bit dismissive.

“Maybe it’s a Klingon. You aren’t the least bit curious?”

“No, not really. Whoever it is is probably just extra tall.”

He set down the part he was inspecting and reached for another. What did he care who was taking over the craft, no doubt they would get to know the guy the same as everyone else, no need to speculate. But this must not have sat well with Adara who continued to loiter by the workbench rather than working. With a sigh, Lok set down the part and grabbed his TACONN-PADD, his fingers tapping away to reach the fighter database. Adara, of course, turned right around to get a look.

“Alright let’s see…Valkyrie 5027…assigned to Wolf 10, Lieutenant Dominic Winters- there you see, just a tall human.”

He turned his head to face his Lead, a small ‘told you so’ smirk on his face, she merely responded by rolling her eyes. “Still though, guy must be pretty tall, and he might be half-Klingon”, she added before walking back over to the partially disassembled spacecraft.

Lok chuckled and shook his head then put the PADD down as the crewmen had come back with the jack and were in the process of lining it up under the warp core they wished to remove. With only the mounting bolts holding it in place it would take but a couple minutes to have it down then slid aside for further work. This was completed splendidly fast by the crewmen under the supervision of Adara and Lok; the core was gently lowered down but no sooner were the crew about to move it from under the craft did the anti-gravity generator failed and the whole assembly fell the short centimeter to the floor with a rather loud bang.

“Dammit…” Lok said under his breath.

“Here Chief, I'll take a look, it might be a blown inverter.”

“Nah, we need to get into the compartment, so let’s just slide it over, buff out the scratches later.”

Knowing he was going to be the real muscle behind this, Lok unzipped his coveralls, slipped them down and tied them around his waist so he would have a bit more freedom of movement. Having hurried out of his quarters so quickly earlier he had neglected to put on a shirt, leaving his chiseled torso on full display. He hopped under the craft and took up a position, “Alright guys, ready! Two- six- HEAVE!”

With a grind of metal on metal the disabled jack and core slowly slid across the floor out from under the fighter. After a couple more heaves it was out of the way completely. Lok thanked his team and hi-fives (or hi-fours in his case) went around.

“Awesome guys, good work, now extract the dilithium matrix and let’s get a look at the reaction chamber.”
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #1
 [ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

Coming from the locker rooms where Dominic had changed into the new Exo suit and 'wear it in' a bit. The fit was quite snug to the body and in some weird way accentuated his form somewhat well. Even the armored tail cover that was fixed to pressurize and seal the suit fit perfectly to him. He stood admiring himself in the mirror without the helmet on and tested how the motions and movements went. It still had that brand-new suit smell to it which he greatly appreciated and had a certain instinctual need to leave some of his own on it. Flexing his hand and testing it out, he began to walk the bay for a few minutes before heading out to take a proper walk in the exosuit to test how it felt.

It was stiff in places, stiffer than he expected but far more mobile than the first-generation ones he had to wear back in the day. Walking along the main corridor from the locker room, headed up the main corridor and out onto the flight deck. Keeping to the back of the deck and heading across. He kept adjusting things on the forearm PADD. The helmet interface proved to be quite fascinating for him. Though the readouts would not be useful for him until he was in his bird. Course, for that he needed training. But first he wanted to see it up close and personal.

Walking along the back of the bay and heading down to the main corridor on the starboard size to the Maintenance Bay. His ears pricked up at the sound of conversation going on the other side. He was catching the end of it until he heard the BANG of a Warp-core jack and the core hitting the ground. Sure it wasn't far up but metal on metal was not a fun sound. However, what came next proved to be interesting as the biggest engineer among them unzipped his overalls then pulled them part way off, and tied them around his waist. Dom tilted his head slightly as got to see an appreciable view of another doing a little flex in preparation for a heavy lift.

That is until they started to shift the warp core and sled across the ground in a most torturous manner. Dom's ears flattened fully against his skull as they hauled that thing out and into the bay proper from underneath what appeared to be his assigned craft. Approaching them as they celebrated their win and spoke up. "Well done! That looked like a right bastard of a thing to move."

"Though I hope it's not damaged and nobody strained something with that lift. No Klingon or half Klingon will be flying that one though."

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #2
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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Lok had his back turned to the stranger but the sound of his voice certainly struck him in perhaps the best possible way. His ears immediately perked up and he turned around to see who was addressing him and much to his surprise he was greeted by the sight of another large felinoid. His first instinct was to think the flight suit adorned man was a fellow Kzin, he certainly bore a lot of similarities to himself; but the ears, looking more like a typical feline’s, and the lighter colored fur, gave him some pause. What further gave him pause was also the fact that if this man was a Kzinti, what kind would he be?

Perhaps it might seem an odd thing to wonder, but Lok had never actually met another Kzinti. He had been sheltered among the Betazoids for his young life and though Starfleet was open and full of many different alien species, Kzinti amounted to very few, practically nonexistent in the grand scheme of things. Lok only knew of one other though that was some years ago and he never actually met him or spoke to him or saw him in person. When he was a teenager, coming into his hormones and his unique anatomy, a curious Lok had looked up the Kzinti, but while they seemed intriguing their reported culture and customs were quite anathema to Lok’s upbringing. He could not reconcile the violence inherent in the culture, the awful treatment of the females, and the possibility that in another life he could have been like them and the more disturbing possibility that he had those traits of violence and cruelty waiting to be unleashed.

Lok took a moment more to eye up the stranger, and though his eyes did appreciate the tailored form that betrayed the felinoid’s ample muscle that no doubt lay beneath, he was searching for one particular item to clear this whole momentary bout of suspicion up, the name tag.

Wolf-10, LT(jg) Winters, “Atlas”, huh so not a human or Klingon-hybrid after all, he thought to himself before stepping forward to greet the officer.

“Apologies, sir”, he began, though he had no intention of saluting or straightening up his uniform, “we are under a tight schedule right now so we needed to get that out of the way rather than just wait to fix the jack.”

He had to admit it was a little odd for him to be talking to somebody at nearly eye level instead of looking down; actually this Lieutenant Winters seemed to be some centimeters taller than him. Perhaps this change in height instilled a bit of authority that compelled Lok to call him sir, or he was merely just being polite. He crossed his muscular arms across his chest and sidled up to the new officer, facing the ongoing bit of activity around the Valkyrie.

“But I wouldn’t worry about damage, sir. They test those casings back at the factory on Earth by dropping them from like five meters- plus those core jacks are designed to distribute the load so even that little baby fall isn’t going to do anything.”

HyperJet certainly knew what they were doing when they built these warp cores, they seemed to embody a much older mindset when making their products that made them rugged and easy to fix. Give me one of these over some bio-neural snot filled bag powered over designed piece of junk any day.

“Oh I’m Chief Lok by the way”, the half naked Kzin finally introduces, “I’m Head of Propulsion here on the flight deck and also the Assistant Chief of the Deck, so if you need anything looked after down here, come find me or Mister Herrold and we’ll get you taken care of, sir.”

His nose twitched a little as he picked up the pleasing scents of the Lieutenant’s perfume or perhaps cologne. There was a certain absence to the scent that Lok recognized was probably meant to be sweet but that he could not really diserne over the other odors. There was another scent too that he couldn’t quite put his finger on that tickled something in back of his mind, but that could also just be his slowly building nerves. Being in his element, on the flight deck, would only insulate him so long to the ball of nervousness that was forming in his stomach at having met another of his kind for the first time.
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #3
[ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

Dominic kept a more easy going disposition with Avandar Lok as he turned to face Dom and introduced himself, along with his explanation of what happened. His head tilted slightly as with what he knew of Kzinti he had encountered in the past had their own earned names. This one did not have such a name, but rather one that appeared more given by different parents. Or perhaps it is an adopted name?

Tucking his hands slightly behind his back and maintaining a fairly professional and confidant demeanor. It’s nice being able to communicate with someone of roughly equal size rather than someone shorter who may feel they need to assert themselves due to the size difference. His ears twitched slightly and shifted this way and that as different sounds got his attention even as Lok spoke. “A tight schedule yeah, getting Wolf-10 refitted to fit my heavy arse in there I bet.” He responded easily.

“Nice to meet you, Chief Lok. Now I know who to butter up if I need something done or approved then for the craft yeah?” He added in. As the Chief stood next to him to watch the flurry of activity around his new ship, the large, exo-clad feline twitched his armoured tail slightly.

His nose is already filled with a lot of scents here, oil, lubricant, subtle hits of Lok’s own scent mixing in as well as his own scented cologne. “I am rather excited to be flying something new over the Gryphons. I hope the resizing of the craft hasn’t been to much of a pain so far for you. By the way, I am Dominic Winters, Lieutenant Junior Grade. Or Atlas. You can call me Atlas, or Dom. Nick. Or Sir if you want to be formal.”


He glanced to Lok a moment and then back to his ship. “How do you find working on the ship? Crew? Curious what your perspective is so far?” He asked as he looked to the half naked Kzin. Taking a moment or two to examine his form rather briefly before focusing back on the ship and activity. He happily appreciated an officer who showed off their fitness even when working, of course, the Pilot had to maintain some professional decorum.

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #4
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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“Well I don’t have anything to do with those cockpit modifications, they just wanted me to make sure it was taken care of on time, besides you aren’t the first big guy that needed to be crammed into a fighter and I’m sure you won’t be the last.”

Lok turned his gaze back to the ongoing work, his eyes keenly fixed on his team’s removal of the dilithium matrix from the warp core. While dropping the dilithium was generally not the best idea because it could break the articulation frame there was also the possibility the crystals could become microscopically unaligned leading to poor modulation of the anti-matter stream which could lead to an explosion. He also just wanted to distract himself from staring at this new officer. The man had hardly been there but a few minutes and Lok felt an instant physical attraction to him, his scents, his physique, but most importantly his rather handsome face.

Certainly Lok found other species to have their fair share of handsome men, but Lieutenant Winters or Atlas as his callsign turned out to be, was a bit different, his feline features appealed to Lok in a way he only ever kind of experienced whenever he met certain Caitians. The shape of his snout, the pattern of his stripes, the way his fur lay, how the light glinted off his sharp teeth, and much more. It was certainly a feeling far different to the square jawed humanoids he was used to.

“As for being on the ship”, he continued, “I honestly couldn’t tell you more than what I have witnessed in the oh…five hours that I have been awake?” He glanced at a nearby panel with the time, yep 1541, just over five hours.

“Before that I was uh frozen for six months and before that I had a little over a day to get a look around before I was partially spaced- but other than that I think the people I’ve met are alright, the ship is certainly big and new, and looks like I have a good bunch of guys with me on the deck.”

He gestured to the group working on Lieutenant Winters’s spacecraft. Barring some odd interactions, no doubt caused by being on edge or just out of the regulatory loop of Starfleet for months, everyone he met certainly still embodied the spirit of Starfleet. Lok knew though what could happen to a crew that lost its way, he read the reports brought back by the USS Voyager on what happened to the crew of the USS Equinox. He had known somebody on the ship, they had died early in the ship’s voyage, but the incident that ultimately doomed the ship was certainly not committed by a crew adhering to the best traditions of Starfleet. These guys on Theurgy seemed ok, but only time would tell.

“But yeah, you need anything sir you just come find me or Mister Herrold if you need something looked at. Oh and the Gorn over there, Chief Sithick, he handles all the weapons and ordnance.”

Lok took another chance to perhaps gaze at this handsome feline once more before quickly turning away again. Then the thought hit him, if he is Kzin like me…is he also empathic? He felt his ears grow a bit hot from embarrassment, he had not taken the precautions of mentally guarding his emotions. He hoped that maybe the new guy wasn’t paying attention or was perhaps a weak telepath because it wasn’t like Lok was being mentally subtle with how he felt about him.

To perhaps try and distract from the personal awkwardness of the moment, Lok waved his hand for Atlas to follow him over to where the work was being done. “Perhaps you would like to come take a closer look at what we are doing to the propulsion systems sir, I know some pilots like to be in the loop more than others when it comes to spacecraft maintenance.”
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #5
[ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

Dominic listened and nodded along as Lok explained things to him, the dilithium matrix being removed held the big feline’s gaze as the crews expertly removed the matrix and went about wheeling it away for whatever task the engineers sought to do. Replace the crystals? Realign the matrix? He didn’t know. There’s a myriad of reasons for taking that part out. His ears twitched slightly as his empathic abilities picked up on Lok’s surface emotions that bubbled through the surface. It was interesting to say the least as he picked up on some of the overt parts that weren’t being masked by the intent to observe the team. “You know, it’s not often I hear people say it’s not their first time trying to cram a big guy in there. Nor would it be their last!” He held back a laugh, more a forced grin with his ears twitching rapidly. Dominic focused a little on how Lok would react to that terrible line and joke of his, considering the fragments of rather overt emotion he was picking up. Attraction? He is certainly a different kind of Kzint than others that Dominic had encountered, save one.


“Frozen for six months? Sounds rough! Looks like you were chilling out for a while eh?” He offered in light humor. “That’s rather rough, partially spaced and waking up. Six months having breezed by. I do agree, the ship is new and it even has that.. New starship smell. Would love to get behind the CONN station of this beast and take it for a spin. The whole ship, not sections. Or all four!” Dom’s ears twitched more in excitement at the mental image he had of making the Theurgy dance in space. Of course, he had a feeling that the Captain would not appreciate a random Fighter-Jock taking the controls of this ship and making it perform acrobatics and maneuvers that'd make their hairs go grey and test the inertial dampeners.

“I do appreciate the work you are doing and undergoing all the stressors that come with this unique situation. Hopefully, we all survive and come out the other end!” He said that in a rather confident sort of manner. Confidence had always been something that Dominic had in excess and this was no different.

“Don’t worry, when I need something I will find either of you..” His gaze was directed to a Gorn on the ship who handled ordinance and weapons? Fascinating. He decided not to reveal his telepathic status to the Kzin when he picked up on the free-floating thought up close to him. “I trust the crews working on my ship. But sure! I do enjoy knowing what is going on with the ship. It helps me learn its personality.” He motions for Lok to lead on. “Lead on!”

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #6
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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You know it’s not often I hear people say it’s not their first time trying to cram a big guy in there… Lok repeated silently to himself. It had made him smile in the moment, partially distracting him from his other feelings. This fellow Kzin certainly was one for jokes Lok noticed. Though part of him still wondered as he led the way over to the spacecraft, was it perhaps innuendo or did he just think it was innuendo due to his current mental state. Either way, he liked jokes even if he wasn’t particularly good at telling them, although he did apparently say funny stuff on occasion if his fellow crewmates were any kind of barometer for that sort of thing.

First he started his general speel about the Mark III Valkyrie. While he had only been here a few hours plus a day six months ago, he was actually quite familiar with the Mark III. In the two weeks leading up to his transfer, having found out that the new model was being first tested on Theurgy, he gathered all the relevant data in order to be fully prepared and hopefully impress the Deck Chief upon his arrival. It certainly felt as if this was all just last week but as the day wore on that changed to feeling like a lifetime ago.

“So the Mark III is pretty similar to the Mark IIs you probably are used to, their internal frame is almost identical with the main modifications being new mounts for the new Quantite warp core, the modified cockpit, and of course fuselage mounts for the sleeker paneling.”

He squatted down, tail slowly swaying from side to side while his rump filled out the coveralls nicely, and pointed a flashlight up into the empty compartment where one of the warp cores had been removed, part of the frame and mounts visible through the bundles of cable and EPS conduits. If Atlas was remotely familiar with the design of the ships he flew, and in Lok’s opinion any pilot should know every component of their craft, then he would surely recognize the similarities mentioned earlier.

“Now the big difference”, Lok continued as he stood back up and shoved the flashlight back into his pocket, “beyond just how the thing looks is the power systems. The good people back in Toulouse on Earth, were able to somehow shrink a reactor that would normally have the power output for something like a runabout and cram two of them into this ship. Not only do they power your engines but also the new tetryon cannon.”

He led the way further over to where the one warp core had been extracted, several of its major components had already been removed such as the matter injectors. You guys are quick, Lok thought to himself with a smile then continued.

“There is also some avionics and computer changes since this doesn’t have a RIO spot but other than that it shouldn’t be that much different feeling when you fly it compared to the Mark II.”

He turned around fully to face Atlas once more, his little spouting of technical information was certainly enough to distract his mind from all those feelings of attraction he had earlier. Not to mention being back amongst the grease and lubricant covered up whatever scent was emanating from his fellow Kzin that aided in spurring those thoughts on. Yes he was back in his element.
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #7
[ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

His ears twitched and with a mimicry of Humans he had lived around, a brief grin flashed across his muzzle as he picked up on Lok’s amusement at the innuendo-laden joke. At least this kzint doesn’t have a stick in his rear and likes humor! Dominic noted this down mentally and kept an easy pace with the man as he spoke. Explaining everything about the Valkyrie, he’d never heard of it at all and had heard the Gryphon was the top end of the fighters that the Federation was fielding for the moment. So this was all new to him.
“If the frame is similar then it should have no issue being altered to accommodate my size.” He commented easily, musing on the situation. As Lok squatted down and swayed his tail, the movement caught his sight and he watched it swish about. Not to mention that rear that it was attached to. “Twin Warp-Cores. The bigger the core, the bigger the boom if something goes wrong. Anything there to prevent issues like that?” He asked curiously.

Judging by how Lok got into his talk about the technical specs which, Dominic didn’t mind at all. Kind of gave him the impression that Lok was the type not for dirty talk, rather nerdy talk. The mention of no RIO confirmed what he had seen about it earlier. “No RIO which has me very glad for. I tried to fly my own without one allot as I found having a backseat driver to be... Quite frustrating. Or the complaints when I pull High-G turns and maneuvers.” He chuckled.

He walked around the ship a bit and then back to Lok. “Who do we see about potential ideas for customizing such a fighter? Paint job, little personable things? Or maybe experimenting on things with it such as sensor baffling coatings on it?” Dom loved the idea of experimenting or adapting his fighter for other scenarios that came up. They did it a lot on the Thunderball. Stealth coatings, armour, different weapons. “While I doubt the Theurgy has the access to resources that could potentially assist in this unless it raided a depot. I am curious… how are modifications handled since these ships are experimental?”

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #8
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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“I wouldn’t worry about it”, Lok dismissed, “plenty of sensors and computer warnings as well as an automated SCRAM and shutdown, so essentially if they ever blew up it would be for a rather direct reason…odds are you probably wouldn’t have known it even happened.”

It was an antimatter explosion after all. They typically didn’t leave much left of a fighter and its occupants that couldn’t fit in a dust pan. He untied the sleeves of his coveralls and slipped them back over his muscular arms and shoulders before zipping the whole thing back to about midway up his furry chisels pecs. He didn’t want to get more of his fur dirty than he had to, it would be way more annoying to get out later. As he rolled up his sleeves to expose his forearms, he continued.

“Well I don’t think the computer will complain too much”, he offered with a grin while picking up some left out tools around the spacecraft and putting them back over on the workbench. Unless he overworked the frame or overclocked the engines or any number of things these hot dog pilots like to do and this Atlas certainly seems like a hot dogging type.

“I’m sure they will go over all that lack of RIO stuff in your training on this thing…at least I assume they’ll train you, I’m not quite up to speed on how they do things around here just yet.”

With the tools put back up to Lok’s satisfaction and a quick glance to check on his guys to make sure everything was going well on their end, he then turned his attention back to Atlas in full. Though notably avoiding a bit of direct eye contact with that handsome striped face. He was curious about the man’s other stripes as well. For Lok’s part his own stripes covered most of his body and was of particular fascination to one Andorian he had a small fling with. The man liked to massage and trace the shape of his stripes. Lok was brought back to focus and his ears perked up when Atlas asked about modifications.

“Well if you want anything done to the fuselage, paint or whatever, you’ll need to find the Chief that oversees that and ask him. Might have to ask tomorrow, I think he went and got some bunk time, it’s been pretty busy down here.”

He pondered the question some more and wondered if perhaps Atlas was asking about nose art then added.

“You could always find our painting equipment in the tool room or replicate some paint and brushes if you want to do it yourself, lot of pilots did that in the war…no kill counts though, that’s against regs.”

Lok personally he found the whole idea of keeping track of how many people you killed to be a bit callous. Why celebrate the death of others? Though he did have to admit that it wasn’t as if he held back when a report came over the speakers on the flight deck that another Jem’Hadar or Cardassian fighter or ship had bought it when deep in combat. He did feel bad about such things later of course, but in the moment the sheer rush of a vicarious victory was rather heady.

“Any modifications of the systems…that is a tricky subject, you can do it…well actually WE will do it for you”, Lok said, continuing their conversation, “but nothing that will jeopardize the safety of the craft, the ship, or the crew on this deck.” While it might come across as a bit harsh and aggressive, Lok did not shirk when it came to safety and he was going to let Atlas or any of these pilots know that. “The safety of this deck crew always takes top priority for me Lieutenant, remember that alright.”

To keep the mood from being soured with his moment of seriousness, Lok then added, “...but I think we can accommodate any modifications you need, this thing has a ton of computer storage and is highly modular. To make room for you in the cockpit that really only required lowering the floor to put in a bigger seat and adjusting the position of a few controls…I mean it is a little more complex than that but far more simple to do in this than older craft.”
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #9
[ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

“If it’s going to go up in flames with a boom there is an ejection system and an emergency transporter. I’ll be up and out hopefully before it goes off. Maybe put in a redundancy..” He trailed off as he thought on that for a moment. Dominic knew of the safety systems; hopefully, the core's emergency ejection would also kick in. Ships like this all had emergency systems involved in them in various forms.

His thoughts stayed trained on Lok’s surface thoughts as they discussed and he looked quite amused as he picked up on the Hot-Dog pilots comment. Well, I am a hot-dogging pilot sometimes and enjoy seeing just what I can customize to fit my flight profile.

He considered doing the painting himself for he had done it on the Gryphon of his on the Monarch whilst serving on the Thunderball. Something he and his prior CO had clashed several times over repeatedly in the past. His armoured tail twitched slightly when Lok brought up the kill counts being done. “I used to paint my victory marks on the hull of my Peregrine and Gryphon. They aren’t celebrations of death, but rather the success of the missions you’ve been on. Sometimes they served as reminders of where it's been, and what had been done. Many pilots have their own meanings to the markers. Regs or not we did it and it served as a source of morale for us. Other times they were reminders for us.” He explained. With an open-shut nose flare and a huff of irritation as Dominic found himself reliving some of his old memories of the Monarch.

“Some do not appreciate the marks or the history. Getting a holier-than-thou attitude that they can shove right up their own arse. They need to live what it is out there or get over their own guilt.” He grumbled. The Kzint took a moment to cool off as he felt his temper rise slightly having had to deal with such people in the past.

Dominics eyes shifted slightly as he turned to face the man fully and studied him slightly. He noted the way the engineer had rolled up his sleeves and his furry chest mostly covered up to about half way. “On the topic of modifications.. If I get caught doing some unauthorized tinkering..” He leaned into Lok slightly, making shoulder contact. “Would you put me over your knee and spank me?” Dominic asked. His ears twitching and the closest thing of a cheeky grin on his face. He took a sniff and then stepped back so as to not stay within Avandar’s personal space. He would never normally make such a comment or ask that question with other officers. But with what emotions he had picked up from Lok, he had to see just how the man reacted.


“I know adjusting it to fit my rear in there is a little complex but its not by much. I could fit into the Gryphon quite comfortably. When I have some ideas in mind from test flights I will see if there is anything to tweak. Learn Wolf-10’s personality.”


 

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #10
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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Lok listened quietly as he input some information on his TaConn-PADD while Atlas gave his own personal thoughts on kill scores. While Lok disagreed with it on principle, he wasn’t going to get into an argument about what was ultimately just some paint on a bit of metal.

“Well we all have our views on it, but it’s against regs is all I was saying, if the CAG says its ok then go ahead”, he concluded, putting a bit of a cap on the subject. He then glanced at the time, then back to the still in pieces Valkyrie next to him. The building pressure of falling behind schedule started to form, like a gentle but persistent push against his back. Without really thinking about it Lok started to move back towards the work bench and toolboxes, an array of parts for him to work on called his attention.

He almost forgot that Atlas was standing there until the slightly large Kzin started to ask about unauthorized modifications. Lok, with his sixteen years of living and breathing Starfleet was about to quote the book regarding unauthorized modifications down to the word when he was suddenly taken by surprise at Atlas’s followup question regarding…spankings… His ears folded back almost completely and felt burning hot as a wave of embarrassment tinged with curiosity and perhaps arousal washed over his entire body. The look on his face no doubt gave away his moment of shock and bashfulness. Is…is this guy coming on to me?

He stammered a bit over his words as he tried to regain a bit of composure, “Uh..I..well- y-you should p-probably should ask…us uh before you make any modifications.” He tried to act as if he didn’t hear the second part of the question, but those feelings he thought he had under control from before, the attraction, almost primal, to this new Kzin made a return with a vengeance. Normally he wasn’t this way around other guys, sure he could be shy and bashful when somebody particularly attractive took a fancy to him, but he still had sense enough to throw back his own flirtatious comments or a lewd joke. Perhaps with most other people he could sense their emotions and intentions, not to mention he was also just physically bigger so had a certain power in any interaction.

The sound of a falling piece of equipment followed by some curses broke Lok out of his momentary trance. He turned around and spotted some of his guys picking up some tools and what appeared to be a spilled box of stem bolts. He immediately jumped on the opportunity to one, get back to work before he fell behind schedule, and two, perhaps get away from Atlas before he did anything foolish.

“Hey I need to get back to work Lieutenant, but we’ll have your bird ready to go before tomorrow”, he said with a shy smile. Not wanting to waste the opportunity to perhaps see where things were going with this Atlas he then stepped in close, the other Kzin’s scent making his spine tingle, and spoke in a low voice so nobody else could hear. “Hey if you uh…want to get a drink some time, just let me know…I think they have a bar on this ship.” He was about to step away then, from perhaps a bit of confidence or maybe lust he added, “-and I guess play your cards right and we will-”, he paused to make sure nobody was paying attention then lowered his voice practically to a whisper, “-we will see about that spanking.”

Clearing his throat he stepped back to where he was before.
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #11
[ LT. JG Dominic Winters | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @joshs1000

He could tell that Lok was not the sort of Kzin who liked the idea of these markings. Was he a pacifist type? Someone who didn’t take well to violence. Huh. That was a fascinating thing considering the only few Kzin he had met were in some form warriors or otherwise capable of fighting. Then the emotional shift came with that hot wave of embarrassment and a touch of arousal came rather overtly from him.

This tickled Dom in many ways as the poor man stumbled over his words as he stepped over to the workbench and turned to face him. Dominic on some level thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing as Lok went from cool and calm to bashful, shocked, then fierce attraction. Emotions that rose to the surface and were easily detectable by Atlas. “Sure, I’ll ask about the modifications before I go tweaking anything. I am after all, unfamiliar with the inner workings of a prototype vessel like this.”

Dominic enjoyed teasing certain people at times and reveled in the whole thing for a bit, up until the sound of a tool falling over cut it all short. He leaned in slightly when Lok posed his question and answered it with a husky whisper to tingle the Kzint’s hearing. “Whetstone Lounge on Deck 13. Or if The Den is open to the ground crew.” He didn’t see why not honestly. They all were part in some form of the squadron but he didn’t want to assume. Then added on to build on Lok’s confidence. “Just be careful those cards aren’t a certain type of Poker. I’ll be done in eight or so hours. Or come by my room on Deck 16.” To that he patted Lok on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it! Thanks for the chat!” Dominic said at normal volume and began to walk off. Giving Lok a light swat on the thigh with his tail in the process as Dominic headed out from the Hangar bay.

Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1533 hrs] Il Dolce Suono mi Colpì di Sua Voce

Reply #12
[CPO Avandar Lok | Maintenance Bay 2 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Krajin
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The places that Atlas mentioned, Lok was not familiar with, well he knew about the pilots’ lounge area, but kind of figured that was off limits to the knuckle draggers like him. The offer to possibly even come to the other Kzin’s quarters did perk Lok’s interest, not to mention his own nervousness, but considering the hour that was mentioned, he was unsure if any of these places would work out for the evening. It just all depended on how tired Lok was he guessed.

“Alright well I’ll uh…I’ll see what I can do”, he said kind of quietly with a bashful smile.

With a pat on his shoulder and a couple of parting words, some filled with a bit too much innuendo, Atlas left to attend to his own duties. Lok smiled to himself, mulling over the possibility of what could be in store for him later. Excitement at the prospect of perhaps some sort of intimacy but nervous as well because of who that could possibly be with. Luckily he had his work to keep him occupied until such time.

With a crack of  his knuckles, Lok returned to the group of mechanics, busily refurbishing the warp core for the Kzin Lieutenant’s spacecraft. His mind going through its mental checklist as his eyes scanned over the disassembled components lying about on work benches and pallets. His eye was drawn to the magnetic constrictors that ran the length of the injection channels, quite small to what one would see on a ship but functioned the same; he noted several appeared to be a little warped and discolored. Hm, must be getting overheated, he mentally inferred. The damage was relatively small, but had implications elsewhere.

“Hey guys”, he said to c a couple of mechanics disassembling the final components from the reaction chamber so it could be resurfaced, “can one of you grab the diagnostic kit and put all the components for the coolant system on a free pallet, I have a feeling it’s not dissipating the heat properly.” He started to walk away then added, “oh and get somebody to pull the heat exchangers from the fighter.”

With that he got back to work, the thoughts of what might come later dancing around at the back of his mind.

FIN
CPO Avandar Lok | Head of Fighter Propulsion & Asst. COD - "The world I have known is lost in shadow..."
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