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Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @JosiahDorn 
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Neko had stayed the night, but when alpha shift had drawn nigh, the slight hiatus for Liam Herrold had come to an end.

Yesterday had been the day the Resolve was destroyed, and its crew named traitors alongside with the Theurgy. Captain Kendrick was dead, as far as all reports detailed, having taken one of the parasite-infested with him in his death. Yet thanks to Captain Ives, the majority of the surviving Resolve crew had been evacuated to the Theurgy-class ship. The Chief of the Deck on the Resolve - Erik Randall - had died during the evacuation along with their Chief Medical Officer, both victim to the death trap that the Resolve had become in her last minutes. On his lost ship, Liam had been the Head of Weapons and Armament, and also second-in-command in their small fighter bay, but as of this alpha-shift - this new day that all survivors faced - Liam had yet to learn what his position would be.

It was no surprise, however, that after he had made a head-count on the present Resolve deck crew and told them to await further orders - just like he was - he received a message on his PADD. A quick glance to it confirmed his suspicions. It was Sten Covington, whom he only knew by name and reputation, knowing the fundamental role he'd played in Starfleet's Valkyrie Program. The grizzled veteran had co-written the maintenance manuals on all of Rennan Cooper's warp fighters. He had been there when the Mk I fighters were first deployed, right in the wake of the Dominion War, and it was no surprise he was highly involved with the prototype Mk III iteration that had been tested on the Theurgy before the ship fled Earth.

"Go over the safety manuals for this bay, and then make yourselves available to the present deck crew until further notice. I suspect I will have the shift rotations for you all in a few minutes," he told the gathering of Resolve deck crew before him, and then walked towards the Tactical CONN briefing room. He hadn't been summoned to the adjacent office, but since it served as the office for both the SCO and the COD, he had a feeling Covington wanted to see him alone.

As he entered the briefing room, he looked at the rows of chairs on one side, and the podium on the farther side. It didn't look much different than the one on the Resolve. It didn't take him long to spot the Chief Warrant Officer.

"Chief," he said, refusing to adjust his yellow jumpsuit as he made his way down the stairs. Rumour had already reached him that there had been unrest aboard during the late evening and night, hearing how these 'Devoted' had targeted some staff. The deck crew had said some of the fighter pilots had been victim to this radical cult, but Liam knew naught more than that. This was the first time he met Covington, and he did not feel he was in any position to start with idle banter.

"Chief Petty Officer Liam Herrold," he said, folding his hands behind his back. "Reporting for duty."

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #1 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

Sten stood there in his yellow jumpsuit facing the panels on the wall.  There could have been details schematics and information on them, or nothing at all.  His mind was wandering over everything from the last few days.  As worn out as he had been when he skipped the gym the night before and went straight back to his room to shower, He had ended staying up until two in the morning with his thankful visitor and woke up later than his usual five this morning.. having slept late until around seven.  So, he himself had just arrived on the deck as he had messaged Liam.  He tried to always be there early and leave late, even though he technically didn't have to as the Chief.  He heard Liam enter before he even spoke and turned around as he called him Chief.

His eyes took in Liam as he introduced himself.  He had already read his information file that was out there for him to look at.  For someone his age, he had accomplished much and risen to a nice rank.  By looking at him though, if he hadn't read what the boy he could do, he would have taken him for just another punk kid trying to prove himself.  He knew looks could be deceiving.  His crew proved that to him every day with what they could accomplish.  His deep grizzled voice rang out as he spoke.

"Chief Petty Officer Herrold, as you have already gathered, I am Chief of Flight Deck Operations Sten Covington.  I am not formal in settings like this, so be at ease."

He was tired.  He had put a lot of energy out last night working out the frustrations from the battle the day before.. the lost of some good men.. It happened many times in his over four decades serving, but it didn't make it any easier each time it did.  He tried to take his mind off things and focus on the task at hand.

"You won't hear this often, so take it in and enjoy it while you can.  Good job on getting the survivors of your crew over on board and on task quickly.  I run a hard and efficient crew and am glad you were on board quickly even without much to go on or really anything to go on at all with all the chaos."

He paused a moment and collected his thoughts as the way this went could mean great things or disaster for his department.  He needed the crew that had transferred over from the Resolve to be one hundred percent on board with his operations or things would fall apart quickly instead of the rebuild that they needed to get the ship back together and the team in sync.

"So firstly, Please give me a quick run down of status of your people and how you feel they should integrate.  I would like your opinion before I make decisions."

He felt his communicator on his thigh vibrating with non urgent communiques but ignored them for now as he was conducting this interview with Liam. 

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #2 –
Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @JosiahDorn 
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When given leave to be at ease in the Chief's presence, Liam dropped his hands from his back and put them on his hips instead, walking out on the podium towards his new superior officer. He was quiet, attentive, and waited for his turn to speak - answering when spoken to.

At first, the Chief thanked him for handling the deck crew from the Resolve unbidden, and he simply nodded, clearing his throat. He had a feeling that it was just as the COD said, praise would not come too often, but Liam would have been more grateful for it hadn't it been for the fact that he'd rather have Erik Randall alive and accounted for instead of being forced to try and fill his shoes. Nontheless, when Covington paused, Liam pursed his lips. "My thanks. They are good people. They know the drill. I just had to settle their unease, show them that the right thing to do is just to keep doing what we've done for three years, even if we've finally reached Federation space."

Liam hadn't really expected to be asked about what his recommendations would be for the people he'd brought to the flight hangar. He'd thought it would be the Chief's way or the highway, but he realised that the man was not such a renowned name by being an asshole. He actually had the common sense to take advice, which Liam was grateful for, since he knew how hard it would have been to make them all adjust to roles they hadn't held before. New Captain, new ship, new mission, new COD and unwanted tasks or shift rotations? That would have been a tinderbox, for certain. Already, Covington seemed like he knew what he was about.

"You have... heard what the Resolve went through before coming here, Chief, so I suppose I don't have to tell you that they have been getting by day by day, week by week, month by month, for three years - living in uncertainty of what may come next. There were eighteen Gryphon-class fighters on the Resolve from the beginning, and in the end, there were merely five left, led by Daniel Havenborn after the former SCO died. We had to re-purpose old shuttles to become replacement small craft, adding weapon systems and upgrading the engines as far as safety regulations could allow for. My point is this, the deck crew I bring are survivors who have made do with what we could scavenge along the way back here. I instructed them to study the safety manuals for this bay before coming here, because they are in sore need of re-learning the routines... since there were no routines left. We had to throw out the manuals and make our own."

Humility was a strong trait in Liam, and he felt a bit self-conscious in telling the Chief what to expect. "By what I have heard, you run a tight crew. I fear that discipline may have deteriorated to make way for on-site adaptability. Worst case scenario is that my people are in for somewhat of a culture shock today, but I do think..."

He paused, corrected himself. "I know they will re-learn what they once knew to be the Starfleet way to serve on a flight deck. They just need some time, understanding, and they must feel trusted. I vouch for each and every one of them, even if they might do things differently by now. They get the job done."

He cleared his throat, because the obvious difficulty had yet to be addressed. "If I am to make a request on their behalf, myself included... I think the best way to make them adapt is to have them learn something new. Something to focus on, and the rest may solve itself over time. Specifically, we need a in-depth briefing on the Mk III Valkyries, since none of them have worked with them before. If I may be so bold, I would suggest you held this briefing personally. To show them that you see them, and hold them equal to your old crew. Otherwise... We'll quickly devolve into a we-and-them mentality."

This was something Liam had already picked up elsewhere on the ship, and he feared what it might lead to in a place like the fighter bay. He was not quite done, however, the last idea something he hoped the COD would see merit in. "The Valravn-fighters that are now parked down in the Lower Shuttle Bay. In regard to them, we have no deck crew familiar with them, right? They are fresh out of their test bed on Luna Base. My last suggestion is that - since we have become so adaptable - perhaps assigning many of us to handle those fighters would be in everyone's best interest. The pilots from the Orcus might just give us enough information about them to go on."

Feeling like he'd gone out on a limb with his suggestions, even if he meant every word he said, he hated to make the Chief think he was anything but humble to the prospects ahead. He knew quite well how hard things would be, but he'd said his piece, and hoped Covington would see some merit in his words.

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #3 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

Sten listened carefully as Liam laid out things as he saw them.  A lot of what he had said, were conclusions that he had already come to himself, but hearing them from the capable young man helped him to know that his plans, even if he altered them slightly, would work and that they two crews could effectively meld into one cohesive unit with as little friction as possible. 

"We lost a lot of good men in this battle as well.  Vector 2, which includes Fighter Bay Ops was probably hit the hardest on the ship, my former Deputy Chief, and about a few dozen good mechanics are now gone.  I am glad to have your guys to bolster the ranks and am sure in time, as you have said, they will be able to adapt back to the regulation way of doing things."  He paused a moment and took in the rest of what Liam had to say.  His face studied him as he talked.. his bullshit meter was not detecting anything that should alarm him from this man, so he felt he could trust him to get the job done and he wasn't just blowing smoke up the Chief's ass.

"Have your people ready, and we will do that presentation when their shift ends and they are relived, and send out a message that any other of the existing crew that wants to be re-briefed, or if they haven't already gotten the information that they are welcome to attend, but they will need to arrange coverage if they are on shift.  That recommendation I agree completely with that the Valkyries are our bread-and-butter and they need to know about them." *he cleared his throat and mulled over the rest of what Liam had to say.  The guy was not stupid and had good ideas.  "I am going to to send you a list of what my standard crew listing was.. and what is left, I want you to put the crew that you have in their proper departments and check the numbers to see if we are up to the levels that I set.. any area that is now lacking, offer open transfers to your guys that wish to learn something new as long as it doesn't hurt any of the other areas as well."

Sten took a few steps away from the front of the briefing room towards Liam and looked at him in his eyes.  "I would like a joint group of roughly half of the new guys from the resolve and half of existing crew put on learning the new ships.  Make sure there are people with detailed experience in their ranks that could help actually document what we are doing with these things time wise and procedure wise.. so that we know what we are up against and can adapt our procedures to handle them.  If I had my way, I'd just move the pilots to Valkyries and be done with them.. they are big, take two pilots and as base prototypes seem like they are going to take a lot more time of our guys for the return in firepower, more than it is worth in my opinion, but that is not my decision..."

He paused a moment and then addressed one more thing.  "Also, as far as your crew's variance from StarFleet protocol, go ahead and come up with an evaluation program for them.. no pay increases, but extra allowances on leave time from ship, any perks we can throw at them with the Quartermaster's approval to get them to want to be back in shape as quickly as possible.  I want morale up more than anything.  The skill we can teach over time, but a dip in morale will kill the crew faster than a routine maintenance mishap." He paused again going over every thing in his head that he remembered the man saying.  "Does that cover all the bases you brought up?"

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #4 –
[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @JosiahDorn 
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When Covington began to give his orders and instructions, Liam pulled up his PADD from his thigh pocket and began to make notes with his fingertips. He glanced up now and then but made no comment until asked for his opinion.

Overall, it seemed like a fair assessment of the situation to complement his own, and he had no real objections to make. He found himself appreciating the confidence put in his abilities to handle his people, ranging from adding them all to the shift rotations and coming up with some kind of reward program to encourage them in conforming to the duties aboard the Theurgy.

In fact, he felt like he was given quite a lot of leeway in his tasks, and it puzzled him a bit that the new Asst. Chief of the Deck wasn't asked to handle the shift rotations. If he was in that person's shoes, he would feel a bit out of the loop. Some officers might even take offence to having to learn what someone else had done in his or her stead, when the tasks were clearly their responsibility to handle. He really didn't care to step on people's toes straight off the Resolve's deck, even if under orders from his new Chief. In the interest of avoiding the very situation he'd just described, where the Resolve deck crew would feel alienated and considered unorthodox in every task they preformed, he did not want to upset the one Covington had appointed after the battle.

"It think it does, Chief," he said in answer, "I will make sure to coordinate with the new Assistant Chief so that they know who the new people are and what tasks they are best suited for. I have a couple ideas for the reward system as well, and I'll handpick the ones I think will handle the Valravn-class fighters best. First priority, I think, would be to find out what needs to be done to them between flights, and see how much maintenance are involved since they are not fully tested yet. As for the Mk III Valkyrie briefing, I very much look forward to it myself, Chief, since I only heard about these new birds in the Valkyrie Program before the Resolve went missing. Is it true that they carry a tetryon pulse phase cannon?"

Frankly, he couldn't wait to wrap his head around the new payloads and cannons of the Valkyries. It would serve as a good distraction from the day before, and the fact that he still half expected Eric Randall to be right there with him.

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #5 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

Sten watched him as he made notes while he gave him instructions.  That was good, it means the man would be thorough and was taking the instructions that he was giving him seriously.  Then when he heard the man's reply he raised his eyebrow a bit and smirked.. He was going to fuck with him a bit with that one.

"Alright, if you would like to work closely with the new assistant Chief, then I will need you to follow these instructions closely." He walked over towards him and put a hand on his shoulder and made motions with his other hand as he lay out each of the steps. "First I will need you to report to sickbay and ask for Doctor Nicander.  Second you will tell him that Chief Covington has authorized you for a Class three, Officer Replication and cloning procedure.. because.. if you didn't understand what I meant giving you the assignments is that you are the new assistant Chief of the deck, you crazy bastard!" He patted him on the shoulder a bit as he took a step back and let him take it in.

"A good portion of my crew is now going to be former crew of the Resolve.  I need them to have confidence in me and the way I run things.  I see the fastest way to get them on board is to make it so the man they are already used to reporting is who they will continue to report to.  Confidence in you and your abilities will translate down to them as confidence in theirs and we will rebuild this department together faster than we could otherwise.  Chief Petty Officer Ji is more than competent, and I see her, if my callused hands ever get tired and need to step back, that she would step nicely into my shoes.. but at this moment, I need you, and your men, and this is the best way to accomplish that is putting you where you already were and keeping it all running well lubed, so to speak."

He paused and reflected on a bit on what he had said.  "Yes, I look forward to briefing you all on the Valkyries and what they can do.  and yes, they have a tetryon pulse phase cannon." He looked at him and smirked.  "I am not a hard man to work for.. I will give you the freedom to do your job up until the moment you fuck up and I have to clean up the mess.  Just don't make me every have to come behind you and we will get along great, the three of us working together.  You keep all your old positions and rank and they are fully transferred over under my Command.  Any questions?  If not, get your ass back to work.."

Re: Day 02 [0815 hrs.] Fighter Bay Operations

Reply #6 –
[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @JosiahDorn 
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At first, Liam had not caught on to Covington's strange instructions, at least not until he began to talk about cloning, that's when he understood - seeing the missing piece of the puzzle. It make him chuckle and shake his head, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Okay, okay, I got it, and thank you," he said, clearing his throat as he sorted things through in his head a bit.

It made a lot more sense now, all of it, and when the Chief had talked things through a bit more from a strictly managerial point of view in how to best deal with the current situation, Liam could do naught but agree. He had few thoughts on continuing what he had been doing on the Resolve, knowing every single one of his own people, but he was humbled by the challenge of leading some of the veteran Theurgy weapons technicians as well, who knew the Mk III Valkyries like the back of their hands. He would have to win them over with his experience and tales from the past three years, just to make them understand that despite his age, he might have more experience than them with unforeseen situations.

Once Sten Covington finished explaining, and answered Liam's brief questions about the Valkyrie, Liam put the PADD away in his thigh pocket and took a deep breath, frowning as he considered whether there was more to ask at that point. In the end, he reckoned it was better to just start up the integration process and learn as they went along.

"All right," he said when Covington suggested that he'd get right to it. "I'll let you know through messages if any questions arise, but I'll make sure to keep my people in line and out of everyone's hair for now. Thank you, also, for the confidence shown. I'll not let you down, Chief."

Saying this, Liam left when dismissed, thoughts coursing through his head. This was not going to be easy, but he had faith in this new Chief, that he'd be Erik Randall's equal in many things, and he had even more faith in his crew to adapt. After all, they had done little else than adapting at whatever unknown space had thrown at them, so re-adapting to Starfleet protocol wouldn't be too hard...

...would it?

- FIN
 
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