Star Trek: Theurgy

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn:  @Nero   @Lathaniel

Reggie took another sip of her coffee as she reviewed the flight roster.  The night had gone on later than she’d anticipated with the concert and the time she had spent with T’Less.  She’d been able to sleep in but even so it was a hell of a thing to sit in a cockpit while her ears were still ringing.  Still, it felt wrong to delay the exercise.  Reggie had been named flight leader four days ago and still she did not fully believe it.  The last time she’d been in a formal leadership role was during the War.  She had risen through the ranks, proved herself and commanded the respect of the Star Hawk pilots.  When she had been named flight leader, she had earned it.

But here she was not so sure of herself.  Yes she had the skills, the experience in the cockpit, the rank, and the seniority.  Of that, there was no doubt.  But she had not earned it.  She had barely been on board ship four days and the flight leader slot had been handed to her.  She was barely oriented to the ship, still learning the ins and outs of the Valravn fighter and she had just been plopped into flight leader status with the man who had been teaching her the ins and outs of the ship flying as her wingman.

It made sense to her that Sorek would be placed under her command.  After all he had been her student at Omega.  But to place Hale under her…especially when he was training her…that had to be a slap in the face to him.  Sure she had grade over him, but even so.  Hale in particular had seemed like a good man, a well rounded pilot.  When they first met he had tried to stick to the formalities of protocol but she had told him to toss that out the airlock with her, that rank didn’t matter since she was the pup on the unit.  Would she have to re-assert that seniority?

Shit.

She stepped out of the lounge, her coffee in hand and took a sip as she surveyed the deck.  The deck gang was hard at work with their various tasks and she was pleased to see that the three Valravn’s were being prepped for their pending launch.  Detouring, she took a moment to inspect Wolf-13, running her hand gently over the wing as she walked around the craft.  It had performed well against the Warbird and she knew that as she spent more time in the cockpit and simulators, the more effective she would become.

Hey.  You in there?

Kalil’s voice in her head drew her back to the moment and she followed the telepathic thought, turning her head towards the cockpit. 

Just thinking.

You’re worried.

Reggie offered a half hearted smile. I don’t know.  I’m not sure I should have accepted the flight leader slot.  There might be some hard feelings over the appointment.

Kalil seemed to sag as he set down his spanner. 

Yeah, he conceeded.  This might have ruffled some feathers.  But I’ve known you a long time Reggie and you’re a difficult woman to hate.  You’ll win them over.  I have confidence.

Thanks.

She checked the chrono on the bulkhead.  Pre-flight briefing beings in a few minutes.  Don’t be late.

Aye, ma’am.

There was a playful lilt to his voice and she stepped away so he could carry on.

Even though she was only expecting two pilots and three RIO’s for the briefing, she still felt the need to review her notes before they arrived.  After all it would do no good to screw up her first brief when already she was feeling insecure about the situation.

(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png)  Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn:  @P.C. Haring  @Nero

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Sorek had left his quarters with mixed feelings that morning. Somehow he was happy about being posted under Lieutenant Suder's command, relieved in a way to be commanded by someone he knew. But on the other hand, he was well aware of his challenges when it came to working with women. It was not impacting his duties anymore, as was the case back at the Academy, but standing up for himself was still not an easy task. Yet he had managed to not think too much about the upcoming briefing. At least for a while.

As he was standing next to Wolf-15, the beautiful and frighteningly effective fighter he had the honor to be assigned to, he was nervous again. Would he live up to the expectations? It's gonna work out fine, boy. Don't worry! He tried to calm himself down internally. They are all just flesh and bones, like you.

"Hey Sorek!" Owen's voice sounded behind him and a second later, the hybrid felt his RIO's hand on his shoulder. As Owen's face came into view, close enough to Sorek's face so that they could whisper, Sorek noticed again that this man - his buddy - was a lot more empathic than met the eye. "Don't worry so much, okay? I know you, you're the right man for this baby." He patted the Valravn with a proud smile. "We both are. And I'm sure nobody here thinks otherwise. Not even our new flight leader. Just be yourself and try not to be so stiff all the time, okay?"

Sorek nodded. It felt wrong to get this kind of advise from someone younger and lower in rank. He felt a bit inferior for a moment, but at the same time was convinced that when it came to experience, knowledge and flight skills, he was superior to his RIO. But this was no battle, especially not between Owen and him.

"Thanks, Owen. I think I needed that." He smiled and parenthetically caressed the other man's flank with his left hand. Feeling the Ensign's well defined external oblique muscles sent a thrilling shiver down Sorek's spine. He could barely supress the tremble in his voice when he continued. "Let's get in there, I want good seats and a box of nachos." With a giggle he broke the touch and headed towards the door to the briefing room.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Lathaniel @P.C. Haring
[Show/Hide]Somehow, nothing was the way it used to be. Within a short time, he was set to hunt his own friends, deserted, fought Borg, Klingons and Romulans. He suffered severe injuries and lost good friends and family. Logan had to see one Valravn after another put out of action in just as short a time. Logan wanted to see the birds fly. Seeing them tied to the ground broke his heart.
"Terrible, isn't it?" It was Ezekiel's voice, and he was right.
"Yes, unfortunately," Logan admitted.
"But now that we have some new pilots, maybe you should show them how it's done?"
"I've been toying with that thought, too," the pilot said, deep in thought. He would be happy to teach one or two of them a trick or two, but as things stood, he had to go back to the back of the line. Logan turned to his best friend, who had traded exciting duty in his back seat for a boring job in flight control. His gaze seemed to linger wistfully on the two-man spaceship. Apparently, he did miss it.
"Say, Zeke." the pilot began. "Aren't you going to get on again?"
"What, why? Don't you want to see your new co-driver anymore?"
"Nonsense, but you look like you're up for taking another spin."
Ezekiel started laughing and it infected the pilot.
"Dude! What's wrong with you, Logan? You know damn well I'm going to have panic attacks if I get into a death trap like that with you."
Suddenly, a kind of pain shot through his heart. He knew he was partly to blame for his condition. Logan missed his cool sayings and even a little of his whining whenever the maneuvers got a little more dangerous.
"But what if it's not me? Do you get back in the back then?"
"Depends. If it's Rawley, or Lance, or the new girl, the one with the green skin."
"Ah, I see." Logan patted him on the shoulder. "That explains a lot."
"Besides, I'm really happy with my job. I even have my own desk."
"A desk of your own? Well well."
"Even got a chair."
"A chair too?! Wow!"
"Yeah, it came with a back."
Logan and Ezekiel laughed heartily. It did the pilot good to let off a little steam. The two men turned toward the exit. Logan had a briefing to attend, and Zeke was sure to be busy as well. They parted way as they reached the briefing room.
"Rawley? Seriously?"
"Are you kidding? Yeah, man! She's mega hot and she also scares the crap out of me."
Logan could only agree with that.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Fighter Assault Bay - Flight Ops Briefing Room| Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel  @Nero

It felt damned odd to be standing at the podium, to address a room of five others, most of whom already knew each other better than she knew them.  It was not that she shied away from leadership roles.  Far from it.  But in this case, it just felt off, like that feeling someone gets when they walk into a room that isn’t just quite right but they can’t put their finger on exactly what it is.

She did the headcount.  Wraith, Chaos, Janus, Hunter and the new RIO assigned to Chaos.  Owen…something.  Damn would that she remembered the name.

“All right,” she said by way of calling the room to quiet down and hear what she had to say.

It was the podium.  Yup.  That damned thing.  Too formal too official.  If it hadn’t been mounted to the deck she might have kicked it over or thrown it off the briefing platform, chopped it to pieces, and used the debris to fuel a camp fire down on the surface of Qo’Nos.

Instead she stepped out from behind it.

“Thanks for coming,” she said.  The disadvantage of not having the podium was that now she had to figure out what the hell to do with her hands. She opted for the classic ‘clasped behind the back’ look and tried ot keep her demeanor as relaxed as possible. 

“I know a training flight isn’t exactly everyone’s idea of a great time, especially after the recent engagements, and that we have time to let our hair down.  But with the re-formation of this flight unit and the new team we’ve been assigned to, I felt it appropriate that we get a couple of short flights under our belt to team build.”

It sounded pathetic even to her, even before she said the words.  But here she was.

“So the flight plan is simple.  We’ll do a standard Combat patrol of the Qo'Nos ship yards.  From our position it's about a ten minute ride out.  We'll buzz the the yard, then sweep the perimeter after which we’ll head over to the scrap yard for some maneuvering, and some target practice.  The Klingons have some old hulks they’d like to get rid of, so we’ve been given permission to help them out.  If all goes well, we should be back within the hour.”

The board behind her displayed the map of local space, a red line representing their flight path drawing across it, as she narrated. 

“That’s pretty much it,” she said.

She wasn’t sure how long the pregnant silence held in the room but as she stood there she felt more and more awkward.  She could, of course, end this with a single word.  But that felt too curt, too bossy.  No.  She had to address this if for no other reason than to let herself breathe for a moment.

“Look,” she sighed. “I know this seems elementary given all of your history both with this squadron and as a whole.  But I want this flight to be tight knit and the weird dynamic we have is going to hinder that.”

“Wraith,” she said as she looked directly at him.  “In terms of experience with the Valravn, you fly circles around myself and Chaos put together.  You took me under your wing just a few days ago, welcomed me to the squadron, and oriented me to the Valravn.  Now I’ve been assigned as your flight leader.  I can’t imagine how awkward or hurt that must make you feel right now.”

She turned to Morgan.  “Chaos, I was your flight instructor back at Omega and I’m sure you didn’t expect that we’d carry on that dynamic once we got here  while you’re getting your feet wet on a new platform with a new RIO.  I’m no different.  I need to log more cockpit time in the Valravn as well as does my RIO,” she said with a pointed glance towards Kalil.

“The point is,” she said.  “This isn’t about technical training as much as it’s about ironing out the bugs and getting into a rhythm both as individual pilots and as a team.  So, please, if you have questions, comments, concerns, consider the floor open for the duration of this flight.  Beyond that, my door is always open.”

She paused to let that sink in.

“With that said, are there any questions or concerns anyone would care to voice right now?  Open permission to speak freely, and we keep it within the six of us.”

---

OOC - Minor modifications made to the mission given that Theurgy is not at the yards

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Lathaniel @P.C. Haring
[Show/Hide]Logan had his legs resting on the back of the chair in the row in front of him. He had sunk deep into his seat and was practically lying there, hands clasped behind his head. Surely this was going to be another boring speech like he'd had to hear a dozen times lately. Again, new faces, again new team, again new superiors.

Inwardly, Logan screamed with misunderstood anger. Liliana was no longer there. Dev was no longer there. Alessia was no longer there. Alessia... Logan owed it to them. To all of them. Even for Jhoza, he wanted to continue the legacy of the Valravn. But now he was stuck. Again, in the second row, again he was getting nowhere. How could he teach anyone anything if he had no authority to do so? If every decision he made could be reversed, it was no small feat. It was bitterly serious. The pilot didn't know why exactly it frustrated him so much. He also knew it wasn't Reggie's fault that she was now his superior. After all, she had the higher rank and the man, who was ultimately a soldier and thus had to obey a chain of command, had to accept that.

Still, he had lost practically everything. Logan didn't even know if his parents were still alive or had died in the cowardly attack on Paris. After all, they liked to vacation there. He could only hope that they had been at home and had only heard about this catastrophe from the news. Anything else would drive him crazy. He didn't want to think about it. There was so much going on. So much had happened. Logan didn't know why he was so frustrated, but not getting the line on the Valravn was part of his problem. He couldn't absolve himself of that. That's probably why Reggie had to suffer through his bad mood.

Reggie explained that she was a little uncomfortable with the situation herself. She pointed out her plan and talked about her training flight, which was coupled with a patrol at the same time. It was no surprise, she needed to know exactly what her individual pilots were capable of first. Logan would do it no differently. Then she asked Logan to keep a watchful eye on them, who had yet to settle into the plane. It was what Logan didn't really feel like doing. If they had wanted him to train pilots on the Valravn, they would have put him in charge of those beasts. It wouldn't work out that way, the pilot was sure of that. Still, he would comply.

When Reggie opened the room for questions, Logan stepped in. "The Klingons really don't mind Starfleet playing in their backyard? What kind of presence from them should we expect? Are they escorting us? What does reconnaissance say about any more Romulans in the area?"

(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png)  Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Fighter Assault Bay - Flight Ops Briefing Room | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn:  @P.C. Haring  @Nero

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Sorek had entered the briefing room and sat down in the second row. As he had expected, Owen had taken the seat behind him, having Sorek's back as his RIO and making sure not to push himself to much into focus. The last thing Sorek needed was his buddy to take him out of the spotlight by shadowing over him. And Owen, with his impressive figure and charming demeanor sure had the potential to achieve this unwanted effect.

Sorek observed his superior and listened to her every word. He hung on her lips and had a hard time to only seem interested and not outright interested. Until she turned to the team dynamics, no word she said really surprised him. He even smirked at the junkyard duty they would perform, not having a doubt that they would be watched closely by some Klingon officials.

But when Suder reached the topic of dynamics, he started to get a nervous feeling in his guts. He almost let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it as about Wraith's position in the team's hierarchy, only to feel awkward again when she turned to him. For just a moment he feared that she might have noticed his affection and was about to rip him apart in front of everyone. This time, when she finished this passage of her speech and turned her focus away from him, he audibly exhaled in relief before nodding towards Suder, trying to demonstrate that he did not mind working under her.

Behind him, he could hear the silent chuckle of his RIO, and he was sure that Owen would not fail to mention this later on.

When Logan spoke up and asked about the possible dangers of the junkyard action, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Was it really likely that after everything the Theurgy and the Oneida had done to help keep the Klingon Empire intact, that they would engage a few fighters on a practice flight? He did not think so, but was curious about their bosses opinion on that.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Fighter Assault Bay - Flight Ops Briefing Room| Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel   @Nero 

Reggie observed her pilots and RIOs as they took in her briefing.  From the corner of her mind, she thought she sensed something a little odd from Mr. Morgan, something not quite fully professional, but the fleeting emotion disappeared from her perception just as quickly as it had popped in and she dismissed just as quickly.

The question from Hale was a fair one even if she did detect a slight edge to his voice.  The man screamed ‘bad mood’ and while she did not know the full cause of his feelings, she could reasonably guess that her assignment as his direct superior, despite the fact that he had shown her how to fly the Valravn might have something to do with it.  Again, she let it go, at least for now.  Getting this tension addressed and sorted was just as much a reason for this exercise as anything else.

“Well,” she sighed.  “I can’t vouch for the personal opinions of any given Klingon, but I can say that they approved my flightplan and that when I spoke to the to commander of the ship yard he was quite willing to let us shoot up some of his, oh how did he put it…. ‘Pathetic remains of the empires enemies that had fallen at the feet of honorable warriors in glorious battle.’.  He also suggested the wrecks we’d be destroying weren’t worth the antimater it would take to blow it to gre’thor.”

She paused, allowing for a slight chuckle from anyone who had found it as humorous as she had.

“They made no stipulations about an escort, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t encounter a ship or two somewhere along the line.  As to the Romulans,” she paused as she checked the latest reports.  She should have been more prepared for that question, she realized.

“Available intel and recon data doesn’t indicate or suggest the Romulans are still here or are planning to come back.  The Klingons are running anti-cloaking scans using tachyon pulses.  If something is out there we’ll be ready to respond.  I’ve asked the flight deck to load us up with a pair of micro torpedo launchers and a pair of standard launchers with a combined load of three photons and three quantum torpedoes.  So if there is an incident while we’re out there, we’ll be more than ready to respond.  That said, if you want to adjust your loads, you’re free to do so.”

“If there are no other questions, we are skids up in ten minutes.  Dismissed.”

---

OOC - In the interests of keeping the thread moving, I'm having Reggie dismiss the meeting so you guys can post whatever you'd like as we launch.  That said if your characters have any other questions or follow up comment's please feel free to post them and Reggie will address them before ending the briefing.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Lathaniel @P.C. Haring
[Show/Hide]The pilot listened attentively to what the other pilot had to say. Reggie's remark actually made him chuckle. It was a typical Klingon statement. Their exaggerated pride had never led to problems before. Logan packed up his non-existent things. He had no more questions, and he was also satisfied with the ordered loadout of his Valravn. This was also just a training flight. Logan denied asking any more questions. He walked over to the locker room and fished his EV suit out of the locker. By now, he had long since become proficient at putting on the suit. It took him only a few moments. Alith helped him secure the last fasteners.
"I sense some anxiety in you, Lieutenant. Are you alright?"

Unconsciously, the pilot slammed the door to his locker and grabbed his helmet. He snorted once. Logan left his RIO's question unanswered. He walked into the fighter assault bay. The deck crew had just finished the final work on his fighter. With a quick flick of his wrist, he powered up the aircraft and performed pre-flight checks. Logan went over the readouts. Everything was in the normal range.

"The secret is not to think. Get in the cockpit, start the plane and fly. If you think, you lose. Keep a clear head, focus on your destination and for God's sake don't fucking think, fly!"
"Excuse me?", Alith asked him.
"Those were the first words Meerkat said to me when she first put me in the cockpit of a Valravn," Logan explained after a moment. He moved the fighter into launch position.
"This is Wolf-14, ready for launch."
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"Honestly? I don't. It just came back to me."
"Wolf-14, you are cleared for takeoff. Have a good flight."
The pilot exhaled, trying to get rid of the unusual tension.
"Roger that and thank you."

He pushed the accelerator lever through. The fighter glided through the open gates and through the force field into orbit around the repair station, circling the ship. After his entire flight was launched, he finally lined up in formation. It was time to begin training. He was eager to see what he could show these pilots and, more importantly, what they already knew.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel @P.C. Haring @@Nero 
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The day couldn’t have started any worse for Via. Just about an hour ago she had been peacefully sleeping in her room having been going to countless appointments since she had transferred to the Theurgy. It was today was the day nothing was lined up to do and the pilot was going to spend every second of it relaxing…until her RIO came knocking on her door disturbing it. Via and her RIO were put on the flight roster at the very last minute. They had less than 30 minutes to get ready and report into the squadron, a timeline Via was definitely not going to make.

30 minutes passed by the time she was dressed and somewhat groomed, it took her 2 minutes to sprint with her RIO all the way to the Fighter Bay.

“Fuckin’ shitballs!” Via said stopping before the flight line and completely gassed. Her RIO, a small blonde-haired man that went by Charles, stopped beside her exhausted after the sprint they just ran.

“I am sorry…phew…I wish I knew sooner.” The man tiredly spoke.

“It ain’t your fault don’t sweat it. Let’s…see if we can do somethin’ in that briefin’ room.” Via said after she took a deep breath of air. “Come on bleach boy.” The duo headed to into the operations section of the bay and made their way to the briefing room. To Via’s surprise, it looked like she was incorrect that they were late for the Briefing- well, they were still late just not as late as Via thought. The briefing had just ended and everyone was about to clear the room. Anyone that looked at her would probably see a mess of a pilot with her RIO whose ages only help further the appearance that they were both very, very green.

“It’s over ma’am, what are we going to do?” Charles whispered behind her.

Via whispered back with a slight smirk on her face. “Shh, just follow my lead.”


Via actually recognized a few of the people from her brief time at Training Center Omega. All of them looked like they had years of experience over her. Since it had only been a few months since graduation and the last time she flew anything was a month ago that was probably the case. In fact, she went as far as to think that she was the youngest person in the room at that moment. Via spotted the Lieutenant on the Podium who she remembered as being one of the instructors at the training center, though she could not remember her name. The pilot waited until she looked available and then made her way up to her. While Charles looked presentable, Via's hair was a mess, her uniform looked like it was just taken out of the bottom of a bag, and her face showed all the signs of someone who had just woken up a few minutes prior, but Via wasn’t worried. She kept her cool and spoke to the older woman.

“Lieutenant!" She snapped to attention and looked ahead of her. "I'm Ensign Wix. I dunno if there was like a mistake or somethin’. I and ‘Beach Head’ over here were put on the flight roster like an hour ago. Anythin’ happenin’ ?”

Via ended it with a small nervous chuckle and broke her bearing only to look at the LT with her eyes. Charles only shook his head in embarrassment.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Fighter Assault Bay - Flight Ops Briefing Room| Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel‍  @Nero‍  @ob2lander961‍ 

Oh boy was there work to be done.  Waves of frustration rolled off Hale and while Reggie didn’t try to dig into his thoughts, she knew she didn’t have to.  He was pissed that she’d been promoted over him. 

“Well,” she muttered under her breath, “at least things can’t get any more awkward.”

She turned to the flight roster, her back to the seating and cleared the board to ready it for the next use, whenever that might be.  Hale, she knew, was a good man and, not for the first time, she considered if it should have been him leading the flight.  She had the seniority of rank, but he certainly had the seniority of experience. 

She sighed, realizing she’d already gone through this thought process and by trying to re-hash things she was, in essence stalling.  She needed to get out there.  Setting down the stylus, Reggie turned, but stopped short at the sight fo two people standing in front of her.

“Lieutenant!  I'm Ensign Wix. I dunno if there was like a mistake or somethin’. I and ‘Beach Head’ over here were put on the flight roster like an hour ago. Anythin’ happenin’ ?”

“Uh….”

Reggie studdered while she took this in.  The young woman, stood in front of her looking like quite the wreck.  Reggie didn’t know her personally but recognized her instantly.  Ensign Wix had been one of the students at Omega, but hadn’t been a part of Reggie’s flight.  She’d been badly injured in the explosion and had spent her time on the Oneida in sickbay.  Reggie had visited her once or twice while on board, but had not heard that she had been returned to active duty.

“Glad to see you on your feet Ensign.  I wasn’t aware that you’d been returned to active duty…”

She paused there, realization dawning on her.  Putting a hand up to the Ensign, a gesture saying ‘give me a second’, she reached behind her for the PADD she’d brought to the briefing.  There’d been a message on it for her that had come in about an hour ago, one she had not read as she was working focused on prepping for the briefing.

She keyed into the communique, an intership message informing her… that Via Wix was being returned to duty and assigned to the 4th Valravn in the Wolf-16 slot.

As it turns out she was wrong…things just got far more awkward.

“My apologies, Ensign,” she said.  “I… received word of your active duty status, but I didn’t have the chance to look at it until, well, just now.”

She set the PADD down with a heavy sigh.

“Actually there is something going on, I was just about to take the Valravn team  out for a training flight.  If you and your RIO are good to go, I can brief you as we run pre-flight, but given the timing and miscommunication, I won’t hold it against you if you want to stay behind on this one.”

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel @P.C. Haring @Nero 
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"If you and your RIO are good to go, I can brief you as we run pre-flight, but given the timing and miscommunication, I won’t hold it against you if you want to stay behind on this one.”

Via looked back at Charles for any type of input be he simply just shrugged. She would've loved to head back to her room and sleep for the rest of the day but that little workout that they did that got them to the hangar bay really woke her up. The LT didn't say anything about her rather unkempt state so that left nothing for her to assume that she and her RIO were in any bit of trouble. At the same time, however, this was her first day technically. She had an opportunity to show that, even when told to drop everything and report at the last minute, she could still be reliable...in addition to her simply wanting to get back in the pilot's seat after so long.

"Oh Hell no, LT." Via said lightheartedly losing her bearing somewhat and chuckling. "We ain't no quitters. Me and blondie are ready to fly, ain' that right?" She looked back at Charles with a smirk, he stared back confused then he jolted back into reality.

"Y-Yes ma'am. Of course." the man stammered.

"Shit...I like this guy already." she turned her head back towards Suder still smirking. "What are we again? Worf-16? Damn, don't worry LT! Wolf-16 we got you, anytime, anyplace, no matter what. Permission to head back and start gearin' up and shit?"

Charles cleared his throat in an attempt to signal to Via to be professional. She definitely needed a bit more time waking up. Via had a tendency to drink energy drinks to make it through her day. Due to her last-minute wake up she had forgotten to replicate one, which wasn't the end of the world. It's just her personality would be a bit more...unfiltered compared to how she would typically be if she came in ready. Then again she could fly on 2 hours of sleep and a ton of caffeine."Ahem, ma'am"

Via looked back quickly then stood up straighter. "Um...sorry...Permission to head back and start gearin' up, ma'am, and to get a drink?"

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Fighter Assault Bay - Flight Ops Briefing Room| Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel‍  @Nero‍  @ob2lander961‍ 

Reggie made no effort to hide the smile the Ensign’s attitude brought to the otherwise awkward moment. 

“That’s what I like to hear, Ensign.  Get geared up, get that drink, but don’t keep us waiting.  Wraith is already skids up  and Chaos is in preflight so we need to move our sixes.  Get going.”

Reggie wasted no time as she headed to the gear locker and snapped into her exosuit.  Janus had already spun up Wolf-13’s primary system and Reggie was fast up the ladder, locking down her helmet as the deck crew pulled the ramp away and her cockpit canopy lowered into place.  With Janus’s voice in the back of her mind they ran through preflight, while Reggie got on the Comm line, and walked DixieBell through the flight plan. 

((OOC - check back to post reply #3 for those notes.))

“Any questions?”

While she and DixieBell navigated the questions, Reggie finished pre-flight and spun the Valravn’s systems up to full power.  Behind her, Kalil, Janus, did the needful with flight control.

Launch clearance granted.  Moving into launch position.

She punched the drives and Wolf-13 launched itself into the void.

“Gemini to Wrath and Chaos,” she hailed as she cleared Theurgy’s flight grid.  “Sorry to keep you waiting.  We’re going to have one more join us.  “Wolf-16, call sign ‘DixieBell’ will be joining us after just having been recently returned to duty.  Form up once you’re clear and we’ll head out to the ship yard.”

She made a point not to tell them to form up on her.  While her position certainly put her in the flight lead, she still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the unspoken dynamic between her and Wraith.  So for today, she decided she’d form up at his coordinates.  Even so, as she arrived, she slotted herself into what would be the lead, positioning herself so he was off her starboard rear quarter and led him into a wide orbit of the Theurgy.

“Gemini to Wraith,” she hailed after switching to a private channel.  “You okay with this, Logan?”

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]Break out of formation and rejoin. Logan and Sorek Morgan rehearsed the maneuver over and over again. Always with a different breakout maneuver from the Beta series. "Beta 9-3." said Hunter from the back seat. Logan immediately pushed the control lever forward for a brief moment. He made sure the fighter dove downward quickly, then followed up with rapid lateral and roll maneuvers. All this was intended to present a particularly difficult target just in case. Then, finally, they resumed their old position in space.

"Looking good, Chaos. I'm sure you've noticed how the tail starts to lurch during this maneuver?"
[Yes. The beast is already quite demanding.]
"A little smoother on the stick, and you should be able to do this flawlessly in no time."
Hunter worked out the next maneuvers in the back seat.
"Okay, Chaos, you are now the hunter, Wraith, we are the prey. You hunt us. I'm sending you maneuver data. Only these you may use in the following exercise. On your mark, Chaos."

A moment of silence followed, during which Sorek Morgen very likely reviewed and internalized the incoming data. Then he confirmed and the hunt could begin. Logan dove back down into the depths, only to pass his captor a few moments later in a long-left turn. It was the same sequence of maneuvers he had to perform in his rundown before Rawley. Nothing complicated, but challenging, nonetheless. Many hooks and tight turns pushed the Valravn's inertial dampers to their limit. Pilots had to use their trained breathing techniques, or they would quickly pass out thanks to the erratic acceleration forces. Chaos made it through without fainting, however, and likewise heeded Logan's advice to be a little gentler with the control stick.

"Good job, Chaos. That's the way to do it!" he heard a laugh on the other end of the line and an embarrassed [thank you] filtered through to him. Then his flight leader's voice rang out over the speakers to his ears, explaining that someone else would be joining their little squad. She introduced them as 'DixieBell'. Reggie explained that DixieBell would follow in a hurry.

Reggie closed in on him and Chaos. She radioed Logan on a private frequency.
[Gemini to Wraith, You okay with this, Logan?]

It took a moment before Logan answered. What could he possibly answer her? He hated being the only one left who really knew about the Valravn. It pained him that he hadn't been given command of them when he should still be training other people on the fighter. Back then with Alessia and the others, he hadn't cared. They all mastered the fighter in their sleep. Everyone knew how to react to which situation and how the Valravn behaved in it. Now he was forced to fly with freshmen who had yet to acclimate to the new fighter and learn how to deal with its idiosyncrasies. Strangers sat in the cockpits of his friends' fighters, and he wasn't in charge. What could he possibly answer her?

"Yes, why?", he said more cynical as he wanted to sound.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
"Wicked!" Via said enthusiastically before grabbing Charles by the arm and dragging him, much to his surprise, to the replicator in the Fighter Ops room. When she got there she started inputting the request for 8 cans of highly caffeinated cotton candy energy drinks filled with artificial sugars and ingredients that may or may not be incredibly harmful to her body if consumed all at once, but Via had done it for 6 years now and she had never developed and problems...probably.

Grabbing all 8 and giving 4 to Charles to carry, Via cracked one open and started chugging while making her way to the locker room. From the time she started gearing up to its finish, the woman went through 6 of the cans- starting her 7th. Charles finished suiting up before her and just watched her a bit worried.

"Uh, ma'am, I don't believe we have tim-" Via held up a finger to him while she chugged her 7th can. Once it was empty she crushed it against her skull and then went on opening her final one.

"Wait" She chugged again while Charles stood there awkward, nervous, and gritting his teeth. Via finished then crushed it again against her skull and stood up with a burst of energy. "Wooo!! Yeah, let's get this shit on!!!" The woman grabbed her helmet and ran off towards the flight line with Charles coming after her. The both of them climbed into the Valravn, booting up systems and going through the pre-flight checks, and then finally flew the advanced craft into the space ahead.

Via was just giddy the entire time, partly due to the energy drinks she had just drunk, but mostly due to the fact it had been so long since she had been behind the controls of a real fighter, not a simulation, but actually being in space controlling a badass spacecraft. The nostalgia and euphoria hit her so hard that she couldn't help but do a couple of loops and barrel rolls.

"Beachhead you ain't know the shit I had to go through to finally be here again. It's so fuckin' awesome to feel this joystick again." She said to her RIO before listening in on her flight lead's orders. 

"Wolf-16 copies, but I ain't no bitchass bell L.T-" She laughed "its "Bee". I fuckin' hate it but that's my callsign." She said lightheartedly before moving into formation behind Reggie ready to follow her to the shipyard.

Chaos was nearby as well, having finished his preflight checks before Via. He positioned himself on the other side of Reggie's fighter making the overall formation into a wedge.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn:  @Nero‍   @ob2lander961‍ 

Reggie’s sensor feed caught up with the actions between Wraith and Chaos as they practiced their maneuvers.  Damn he was a good teacher.  Patient, firm, supportive.  Everything a pilot could ask for in an instructor.  Everything she could have wanted in a tutor.  His skill and proficiency behind the stick of the Valravn made his words jab just that much deeper and Reggie didn’t have to be a telepath to know Wraith was holding something back in his response.  She heard it in her voice and she knew how she would feel were she in his shoes.  Yes she enjoyed the privilege of rank over him, but merit and ability had to account for something to be certain and the Betazoid was not sure she had proved that yet.  Simulation hours could only go so far.

It’ll be okay, Reg.  You got this.  You coming?

Kalil’s voice in her head surprised her.  She had forgotten he was back there and, worse, forgotten to join him in their shared battle sense.  Maybe because they weren’t expecting combat today.

I don’t think we’ll need it today, Kalil.  But if we do, I’ll be there.

She felt his disappointment and tried to shrug it off while she tried to find the words to explain to Wraith how she was feeling, without losing whatever respect he might have for her.

“I can understand how this would be an awkward situation for you,” she said to him through their private channel.  “In terms of flight hours, you’re the vet and now have to teach not only two junior pilots, but also your flight leader the idiosyncrasies of the craft.”    She paused.  “I wouldn’t blame you if you resented me a little right now.  But I do hope I’ll be able to earn your trust and respect in time.”

It was then that DixieBell formed up and while Reggie would hear any response that Wraith might give her on the private comm, she also knew that she would have to put any further response on hold. 

She considered her next course of action.  She’d liked what she’d seen between Chaos and Wraith and she desperately wished to avoid a quiet, boring flight to the yards, even if it was only ten minutes out.

“All right everyone,” she said into the wing’s comm frequency.  “Now that we’re all assembled, lets get started.  Set your course to bearing 139 mark 023.  On the way, Wraith, if you wouldn’t mind incorporating myself and DixieBell into the exercises you and Chaos were running, that’d be most appreciated.”

I’m going to owe him more than a few drinks when we get back, she mused.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]Logan listened to Gemini's words and did not answer. They were true words, but the situation was getting to him more than he thought. In a short period of time, he had lost most of his friends with whom he had spent so much time over the past few years. Some had died in some dastardly bombing of the Spearhead Lounge, others secretly abandoned ship. Then he had seen Alessia get smashed by an asteroid. She was like a sister to him. The two of them had experienced many things together. Nothing would ever make up for that loss. They were all ace pilots and proficient with the Valravn and now it was just him. Logan was the only one who halfway knew how to fly a Valravn cleanly. He was trained on this machine. Not just for a few hours or days, but since this machine existed. Sure, the others could learn, but if he was going to follow someone who had just taken off the training wheels, he was expected to do quite a bit.

He sighed. Logan was behind the CONN now, and he was professional enough not to get carried away with starting a discussion. There was plenty of time for that later. Finally, the last of their group, DixieBee as she corrected, closed up and Gimini gave the order to enter the course. Logan followed instructions, and when asked to include her and DixiBee in his training with Chaos, he simply replied, "Catch me if you can."

Logan pushed the throttle lever forward and his Valravn promptly followed the request. With deft moves, he brought his fighter on course. "Hunter is sending you maneuvers to include in the hunt. Watch your neighbors. Whoever passes my sensor circle first wins and gets to enjoy a cold beer when we land again."

Altih, the Vulcan woman sitting in his back seat as Hunter, understood the request and added a larger target circle to his sensor profile that was close to his silhouette. Chaos, DixieBee and Gemini were provided with various defensive flight maneuvers by her.

=/\= INCOMING TACTICAL DATA =/\=
1] DELTA-2
2] LAMBDA-2
3] BETA-1
4] OMEGA-4
5] SIERRA-1
6] ALPHA-2
7] BETA 1-4-0 (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Tactical#Attack_Patterns)

Logan had already had to undergo similar training. At that time, Ghost had tested him on his abilities. That was shortly after he had been thawed and deemed fit for duty. For a first impression, these maneuvers were just the thing. They gave the pilot a feel for the handling of the fighter.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
When she heard those words from Wraith Via slowly increased her flight speed, having a feeling about what this training was going to be. The training was still somewhat fresh in her mind. The training center incident especially was, but as the event was so traumatic (as much as she won't admit it) she was able to lock it away and remember her time in the Tactical CONN pipeline.  After being told she only focused on one thing. "Beer", not because she was particularly fond of it, she much rather have a bottle of tequila, but after being cut off from any type of Alcoholic drink for several months, she was damn thirsty.

"That beer is goin' to be mine!!" Via exclaimed in the comm as she pushed forward on the throttle sending her fighter zooming after Wraith. Charles held onto his seat as the inertial dampeners lagged a bit before settling in. She received the Tactical Data from Hunter and brought it up on Via's HUD. He stammered as he spoke. "U-Uh, ok ma'am we are going to need to do Delta-2, Lambda-2, Beta-1, Omega-4, Sierra-1, Alpha-2, and Beta 1-4-0. I thin-"

Via cut him off "I think that ass is mine! Initatin' Beta-1. We gonna get the drop on him." She pulled back on the joystick sending her fighter into a gradual climb, then looked at where Wraith was on sensors. "Ha, gotcha!!" Via put her fighter inverted and dropped down activating her afterburners, attempting to close in onto the sensor circle.

Right now, all Via was focusing on was the objective, being first. Having a set target and mission was what Via preferred overelaborate battle maneuvers and tactics. The only reason why she remembered the defensive maneuvers was because her instructors had to drill each and every one of them into her head after she constantly went off and did something "off doctrine" during training. She was certainly a loose cannon, but when given an objective her sheer tenacity and girt made up for some of it. Whether it was going to help her now during this training was up in the air.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn:   @Nero‍   @ob2lander961‍ 

Tactical data received, analyzing.

It was instinct they knew.  There had been no discussion no questions as to whether or not they were ready.  There was no conversation, just practiced teamwork that had years ago led to learned instinct.  Despite the simulation, they slid into the battle link as easily as they had slipped on their uniforms this morning.  Gemini and Janus ceased to be two minds, replaced by the entity known by reputation as “Team Gemini”, named after the pilot of the craft.

Analysis complete.  Executing maneuver sequence Sierra-1, Delta-2, Target and Fire.  Evade sequence Beta-1, Omega-4

Simple as those maneuvers were, Team Gemini had sequenced it such that they’d stay on the dorsal side of the Wrath’s ship, allowing them to get the drop on him from above, all the while staying out his kill zone.

Team Gemini closed in, crossing on a skewed angle from port to starboard before cutting back hard to port to execute the Delta 2. 

Yet the Valravn didn’t execute the turn.

Rather the Valravn didn’t execute the turn as clean and crisply as Team Gemini might have expected.  It’s maneuverability was a bit more sluggish than the Mark II Valkyrie’s and ended up swinging wider than anticipated.  Easy enough to compensate.  Team Gemini adjusted the course a little looser, which seemed to correct the issue…

“SHIT!”

Reggie shouted as the collision alarm went off just a half second before her shields scraped against Chaos’s shields.  The fighter shuddered around them as they came into the briefest of contacts before the two pilots veered off in opposite directions.  The maneuver sequence blown, Gemini rolled Wolf 13 out of the turn and continued forward on a straight vector away from the flight, before coming around for another run at Wraith.`

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]That they didn't blew themselves up or collide with each other gave Logan some hope for his new comrades. DixeBee was clearly the hotshot among them, Chaos the cautious one, and Gemini he couldn't really judge yet. Her style was special. Logan wondered if that was because both Pilot and RIO were Betazoids.

The Pilot pulled up the nose of his fighter and rose high into the non-existent air. The bodies of the two occupants of the Valravn had to withstand intense G-forces but years of training paid off in the process. Without a hitch, the pilot performed the most daring maneuvers just to keep his sensor circle outside of his three pursuers. Hunter continuously provided him with the current position data of his pursuers from the back seat and flashed the most likely vectors of their courses on his HUD. This allowed the pilot to more or less predict where his opponent would be. "Oh, damn! Meerkat! You crazy chick! So that's how you did it!" exclaimed Logan with a big grin. Logan had realized that his former mentor was shamelessly using her charge's sensor positions to avoid their trajectories. "I always thought she was so damn good. When in fact, she's just been so damn cunning!", Logan struggled to explain to his passenger.
"I can’t follow, Wraith."
"Meerkat had taken the damn sensor data to cheat!"
"So, like you are now?"
"No, this is different."
"Different how?"
"Ok, yes, it's the same but it is different this time. She cheated on me."
"And that bothers you?"
"Yes, damn it."
"Then why are you using the same tactics against your team?"
"I...um...I...," Logan stammered for a moment. Then he realized it was admiration he was trying to express but couldn't find the right words, so he ended the little dispute with the Vulcan, knowing he couldn’t win it right now.

"Bearing 330 mark 218.", Hunter explained, sending him the associated vector on the HUD.
"Got it. Thanks." Logan pushed the control stick forward. He lowered the nose near the vector and slowly pulled back on the throttle. He tried not to make his supposed loss look too much like giving up and felt he had managed just to do that. He could have kept playing this chase forever now that he knew how. But it was time to finish the training task. Now that there was a near miss collision, action had to be taken. Otherwise, hesitation would set in and that couldn't be allowed to happen.

"Looks like we're going to have to adjust the controls a little harder, Gemini. Good dodging though, Chaos. Told you so. You just needed to touch them a little more gently." Then he turned to all his comrades.
"DixeBee! Looks like you get to enjoy a cold beer today. Congratulations. Good flight!" Awaited the restrained cheers over the radio before continuing. "Nevertheless, we now proceed with the second exercise. For this, I like to hand over to our team captain. Gemini? What's next?"

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
Via pushed her fighter to the limit to catch up. Charles sat in the back with a panicked look on his face, afraid that Via may completely burn out the engines and overload the engine assembly. Of course, that didn't happen, but they had witnessed a near head-on collision between two of her fellow wingmen Gemini and Chaos, with both of them nicking each other's shields. It honestly looked like something they came out of initial flighter familiarization training to her but considering most of her operational experience was constricted to just training environments up to this point she hadn't had much to go off of. 'At least they didn't blow up.' she thought as she closed on and won the training exercise.

Immediately the woman rose her hands in the air had cheered. "Woooo!!! Fuck ya, that's how you do it!! I got that ass!! BeerBeerBeerBeerBeer!!!" she started chanting on the open mic while Charles just shrunk into his seat in embarrassment. Via was still in a celebratory mood when Wraith noted there was going to be a secondary training exercise. She spoke up again not realizing she was on an open mic. "Come on LT lets end this already. We all know my ass is goin' to win this one too! I'm goin' to be fuckin' neck deep in booze after this! Fuck yeah!!"

"Ma'am!" Charles blurted out losing his composure.

Via just looked at him and laughed. "Chill, stop bein' a buzz kill. It ain't like they can hear us. Don't ya wanna win?"

"The comm is still open." he sighed

"...Fuck". She closed it immediately. "Why did you ass not tell me?"

"I just did..." the man said tired.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn: @Nero‍   @ob2lander961‍ 

Reggie chuckled at Via’s unrestrained enthusiasm.  While she herself had never been that enthusiastic, there was a part of DixieBee’s attitude that reminded the Reggie of a younger version of herself.  So much the better.

“Congratulations on the win, DixieBee.  Very nicely done indeed,” she said into the comm. 

For some reason, Wraith’s comment about the second exercise caught her off guard, but her instructor instincts took over and the idea sprang fully formed to her mind.

Begin re-configuration of microtorpedos.  Scanning Praxis debris field for suitable locations.

“All right Wolves, lets see how you all do with something that requires a more subtle approach.  We’re going to play a little hide and seek.  Here’s what you need to know - My ship has gone dark in the Praxis debris field.  My last transmission indicated I had about ten minutes of air left, which I can ration out to fifteen.  Due to the nature of the debris field, sensors are not necessarily the most reliable and and may give off false positive results.  Your job is to locate my ship within fifteen minutes.  If you fail, both Janus and I will die.”

She paused to let this sink in.

“Here are the rules.  I’m going to execute a micro warp jump to the debris field.  I’ll then have 60 seconds to get ‘lost’, at which time your 15 minutes begin.  Hold your position for that one minute.  Anyone who jumps the gun is disqualified.  In order to ‘find’ us successfully you must get close enough to make visual contact with a standard search light.  Wraith, please take command of the flight for the purposes of this search and rescue.  Winner gets dinner hand cooked by yours truly."

She paused again, as another thought hit her.

“Also, Dixiebee, and Chaos.  I want you two to swap slots.  Dixiebee, you will fly element lead for this exercise, and Chaos you will be on her wing.  Any questions?”

After fielding whatever questions there were, Gemini set up the mission timers and synchronized with the other three pilots so that all four of them would have the same clock to work from.  She started the clock and waited barely a second before engaging in the micro warp jump that Janus had plotted.  Dropping out of warp at the edge of the debris field, Reggie killed her transponder signals and her IFF.  No sense in leaving her pilots with an easy trail to follow. 

To further complicate matters, she cut her impulse power and allowed the momentum of her ship to carry her in while she corrected her course with vectored thruster bursts.  If needed she’d fire off a quick impulse burst, but only long enough to do the necessary navigational work.  As if that weren’t enough of a challenge, Janus had reprogrammed nine of their micro torpedo's.  Six were programmed to emit false sensor signals that would mimic Wolf-13’s sensor profile.  The other three had been configured to emit interference that would screw with sensor data.  The Praxis debris field itself had been well mapped over the years, and no such interferences existed.  So, in order to make the simulation as authentic as possible, Team Gemini needed to set it up. 

Gemini fired the torpedoes as Janus called the sights.  They flared out fast, and soft landed on debris at strategically advantageous (for her) locations.  She then continued to allow Wolf-13 to drift before firing another impulse burst and maneuvering to land on a crater wall, deep within the debris field itself.

By the time she’d shut down primary systems, and reduced life support to minimal, only three seconds remained on the clock before her pilots would come after her.

“Find me if you can,” she muttered to no one in particular.

---

OOC - Ask what questions your character has in your reply post.   I'll answer them as Reggie in a post that we'll say takes place before she jumps.  If that means you need questions answered before you're ready to write the part where you are searching, that's fine.  I just wanted to lay it all down in one post.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]It gave the pilot some satisfaction when he picked up on the radio how his flight leader was caught for a second. A thin smile graced his features. Logan let his fighter's controls rest for a moment but always remained on alert. He listened to Reggie's speech.
"A game of hide and seek then? Sounds doable."

Logan remembered the exercises at the test center. Meerkat often went over the same exercise with them. Even the vocabulary used was similar. Angel and he often threw themselves into the fray together. They often started with the trained routines and applied the familiar standard search patterns. A certain melancholy spread through him as he remembered his sister in his mind. Only recently he lost her in the fight against the Mo'kai. Logan had to watch helplessly as their fighter was smashed to pieces by boulders of flying asteroids. Their fighter collided with the pilot's cockpit against one of these rocks. The transparent aluminum burst and the sudden loss of pressure combined with the impact was instantly fatal. Logan consoled himself with the thought that she and her RIO were not suffering. Next to him, Angel was the last from the original Valravn program and now he was forced to step down against a newcomer. It just wasn't fair. He was supposed to be the Flight Leader and lead this group. He was supposed to be completely briefing them on the fliers. He was supposed to be the heir to Meerkat and the others.

When he finally broke free of his melancholy, he only heard Reggie say if there were any questions. Logan looked down at his PADD. Hunter had jotted down the most important points for him. Briefly, the pilot skimmed the bullet points. Of course, she had to go one better and cook dinner..., he thought, shaking his head a little in disbelief. Then he answered her, "No. No more questions. No, stop. Hold on. Scratch that. I have one. What's going to be dished up? As long as it's not sea creatures, I'm game for anything." He quickly regained his jovial voice and began joking again. Then he started the timer.

"Sixteen minutes from now." he radioed to his two wingmen. "Okay, guys. Search and rescue is on. Once we jump into the debris field, we spread out for a standard search pattern. After that, we turn the meshes tighter and tighter with each run. Even though she's made it a competition, I want you all to stay highly focused. Let's show her that we can be professional, shall we? Thank you. Fifteen minutes to go. Get ready. DixieBee, to my right, Chaos, the left."
Logan waited a moment until all the fighters were in the right position kept an eye on the timer. Meanwhile, he continued to brief his wingmen, explaining what hazards to look out for and that their best bet was to look for breaks in natural silhouettes. 'Rock cancer’ was what his parents called it, back when they were still active cargo pilots themselves. It was a quick way to spot hostile aviators.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Wolf-16 | Cockpit] ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
After listening to the pre-exercise briefing Via's overenthusiasm quickly subsided when Reggie mentioned that the young pilot was going to be the element lead for the duration of the exercise. The woman noticeably and audibly groaned within her cockpit in addition to rolling her eyes which prompted a curious glance from her RIO. She looked at him with disinterested eyes and spoke the same. "I ain't tryin' to lead people in shit right now...fuckkkk." Via groaned again this time making sure her comms weren't open.

She had done a similar exercise to this before but whether it was during her initial training or during her brief time at Training Center Omega Via could not remember. Things were still a bit hazy for her even after medical rehabilitation so she hoped her latent familiarity with the type of exercise would carry her through, but doing so while leading was a different story.  Even though she was an Officer and according to Starfleet was fully trained in leading individuals, possibly assuming command over a section or a bridge position, Via's rather bad at it. Her strong personality often hindered her leadership ability and she was much more content with skirting by and avoiding those situations than dealing with the responsibility associated with them.

"Nah." Via said in response to Gemini's inquiry for lingering questions. Shortly after she watched Wolf-13 execute a micro-jump out of the sector she complied with Wraith's orders to position herself on his wing. She listened to him...more or less giving tips and tricks essentially for 60 minutes before it was time to jump in as well. When they dropped out of warp Via's moved her fighter closer to the debris field.

"Beachhead, find anythin'?"

"Uh...uh..."

"What?"

"Ma'am, it appears that our sensors are suffering from some type of jamming. My systems-"

"UGHHH..." Via groaned. "Hey, uhh Chaos, You dealin' with the same shit. Sensors are wack." she asked in comms hoping they weren't jammed as well. The young woman took the time to think for a second. They knew where she dropped out of warp but nothing further than that.

"Hey follow me." spoke again to Chaos as she moved her fighter to Reggie's last known location and then proceeded with her search pattern from that point.

"The shit are we supposed to do with no sensors...Uh Chaos I'm thinkin' like your ass takes the right and I take the left. Guessin' we gonna do this by eye...fuckin' fuck..."

Via continued her search pattern. It was a basic maneuver that was taught to every pilot in training, Via remembered her instructors drilling into her the phrases systematic and detailed when looking for a myriad of objectives. The looked out of her cockpit for anything that looked Starfleet enough to warrant attention. Charles started marking down landmarks and notable objects to make a comprehensive picture without the sensor data.  Via took note of this and told Chaos to do the same with both his and her RIO linking the data together. The timer was still going and with every second Via felt more and more anxious. She did not want to lose but she felt lost in exactly what to do.

 

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Praxis debris field | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]Logan completed the warp jump into the Praxis debris field. He deftly dodged some smaller rocks. Hunter, in her back seat, began directly determining the search grid and distributed the information to her two wingmen. DixiBee and Chaos both sheered out of the formation and in turn began searching for their flight leader.
"We're getting interference, Wraith," Hunter explained. "I don't have a bearing to call yet."
"Didn't expect anything else." Logan activated his radio. "Let's start the search. Good luck."

He set the appropriate course and followed the imaginary line on his HUD. The grid was a bit coarser meshed to begin with and would continue to contract further and further from overflight to overflight. Search and rescue jobs were never an easy task, and this time would be no different. Logan set the thrust control at a reasonable speed to allow the sensors to penetrate the interference. They only had a quarter of an hour to find Reggie.

While Logan focused on his surroundings and kept the fighter on course, Hunter monitored the sensors and reported any unusual activity. Shortly after they began their search, the sensors had picked up a familiar signature. "Got something on the screen that could be their sensor profile. Bearing 027 mark 3."
"Roger that," Logan said, moving his fighter in the indicated direction. It took a few seconds before they reached the spot Hunter told him. He turned on the searchlight and his eyes searched the cone of light but found nothing but rocks and boulders. A glint caught his eye. Something reflected the light. Carefully, he steered his fighter closer to see more of the reflective object. To his disappointment It was a micro torpedo. Logan sighed.

"All right, Reggie." he cursed softly to himself. "False alarm. Was just a shadow."
"Okay." Hunter confirmed. "Keep searching."
Logan returned the Valravn and rejoined the search grid. He looked at his watch. Twelve minutes to go. Thoughts raced in his head. Hunter told him another possible find and he steered his Valravn in the direction indicated, only to be greeted again by another decoy.
"Can you triangulate where the torpedoes were fired from on a third find, Hunter?" the pilot asked.
"It's possible, yes," she replied.
"Okay, then look for the next shadow. Who knows? Maybe we'll find them before we find another one, and if not, I have got an idea."
Hunter sighed as she heard the mood from her pilot. "Roger that."

Logan activated the radio and asked his two wingmen for updates. With neither having good news, the pilot had the net tightened and continued searching. Chaos had reported finding another shadow in the interference and DixiBee sounded impatient and frustrated. Logan asked Hunter if Chaos' find was enough, and she answered in the affirmative. After a few moments, the Vulcan was able to give him an approximate location from which the micro torpedoes were fired.
He looked at the trajectories of the individual torpedoes and felt his assumption confirmed.

"How would I act if I were in her place," Logan began to explain. "First and foremost, I would turn off my transponder and my IFF.” His hand followed his words but did not kill of the transponder nor the IFF. “Then I would turn off my impulse drive so as not to leave a telltale trail. After that, I would fire some decoys and place them at strategic points.” He gestures in random directions, loosely reminiscent to actual decoys. “Lastly I would use the drift of my machine to hide on the dark side of one of the rocks."

Logan looked around. There were a few possible candidates fit for an adequate hiding spot. He headed for the first rock that seemed suitable for such a maneuver. With deft fingers, he had his fighter perform a roll so that the rock was well within his field of vision. His train of thought was rewarded. In a narrow crevice, Hunter reported again a familiar sensor profile. But this time it reflected much more light than a simple micro torpedo.

"And sometimes you just have to get a little lucky." He congratulated himself, lucky he hadn’t to search every rock in the debris field. The pilot switched on the searchlight and slowly approached his target in whose cockpit two arms raised to shield their eyes from the sudden exposure to light. Logan looked at his watch. It showed four minutes remaining. He made in the ten minutes mark. So, Reggie didn’t need to ration her oxygen. Logan smiled behind his visor. He knew he had won this exercise. He saluted his flight leader.
"Wolf-14 to search team. The search can be called off. I will have a fine dinner tonight."

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn:  @Nero‍    @ob2lander961‍ 

Reggie offered a salute back, acknowledging Wraith’s success.

Powering back up.  Lifting off.

Reggie pulled Wolf-13 out into the debris field.  “Well done, Wraith,” she said over the comms, officially conceding his victory.  “Lets talk once we get back to the Den and figure out the dinner plans, no?”

She brought the ship about, getting it lined up for the next course.  Their time playing in the rocks was over.

“All right,” she said over the comms.  “Enough playing around.  Form up.  We’re heading out.  DixieBee, drop back to slot 4 and fly Chaos’s wing.”

As the flight formed up and navigated for clear space where they could warp to the ship yard, Wolf-13’s alarms exploded in a cacophony of sound and light as her proximity detector, main sensor array, threat detection system, and collision warnings all sounded simultaneously.

“FUCK!”

She threw the ship hard into a port side pitch and roll as she peeled off her vector.

Klingon Vor’Cha attack cruiser de-cloaking.  House Chang markings  Weapons armed.  Scanning.  Engines offline, Shields offline, communications array severely damaged.  Likely only close range communications.  Attempting to hail.  No response.  Forwarding all tactical data to Wolves 14, 15, and 16 RIO stations. 

Reading power build up in forward weapons.

“All Wolves scatter!”

Why are they firing on us? House Chang stood with House  Mo’Kai during the coup attempt. Thats over.  Chang was folded back into the empire.  Are they aware of this?  Unknown.

The stream of consciousness thought conversation between Gemini and Athen was like a rushing river of thought and analysis.  The rest of it became obvious.  If this disabled ship was not aware the coup had failed, then they were not the enemy so long as they could be subdued.  They would only respond in the face of strength. 

4 fighters against one disabled and damaged cruiser?  Reggie liked those odds.

“Valravn flight, this is Gemini.  You are clear to engage the Klingon ship.  Disabling and defensive fire only,” she said putting emphasis on the last word.  “Take out their weapons and then stand down.  Acknowledge!”


Lets go to work.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Wolf-16 | Cockpit] ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
"FUCK!" Via screamed out in anger once she heard Wraith's words. She pulled back on the throttle cutting her Valravn's speed and stopping its forward momentum. "Dumbass fuckin' trainin' exercise...fuckin' bullshit." The pilot said as she sat back in her seat, arms crossed, and pouting angrily. Charles simply looked at her with a worried look on his face which after a second turned sympathetic.

"Ma'am we can always do better next time. I believe the Lieutenant still owes you a drink." The man said with a slight smile.

Via just stared straight and wined slightly. "But my ass wanted to do better now!" Charles sighed in defeat leaving the cockpit filled with silence aside from the various chirps and other noises coming from the fighter's computer systems and propulsion system. It only took a few seconds for Via to get over it as she realized that her RIO was right. "Shit...yeah. Her ass does owe us still. Hmm..." While still not happy Via was content with this prospect and sat herself up in her seat placing her hands on the controls.

After hearing the command to fall back into formation Via pushed the Fighter's throttle forward and moved into position. As soon as she did however all the alert systems on the spacecraft screamed for attention.

"Shitballs!" The young woman quickly rolled and peeled off to the right to avoid the sudden object that was on a collision course with them. She threw the afterburners up on an escape vector and then turned to initiate an orbit maneuver around...

"Klingon Crusier!!" Charles yelled out. "It looks damaged but it is most certainly armed...receiving tactical data from Wolf -13...bloody hell they are about to fire!"

Via took in all the information she had and then acted. She was taught in flight school a fighter's best defense against capital ships was its speed and maneuverability. So when the Lieutenant gave the order to scatter she scattered, pushing forward on her throttle and moving in such a way that the Attack Crusier's weapons systems would have a hard time trying to get a lock on her.

"The fuck are we doin'?" Via asked in general. As much as she wanted to she couldn't just fire on the cruiser as she recalled back during her training majority of cases where combat occurs typically stems from a misunderstanding. Now, in that context, she would've been patrolling a shipping lane and essentially doing police work to secure contraband. The instructor probably wasn't thinking about Via's current situation of being hunted by Starfleet and likely being thrown into combat situations left and right, but old habits die hard...maybe not in this case. Via's first live combat situation became more interesting when the Lieutenant gave the order to engage the cruiser. The young pilot relished the opportunity and smirked.

"DixieBee, acknowledged."

Valravn's were designed for just this situation. Being Strikecraft their goal was to use their superior speed and firepower to overwhelm enemies with significantly more tonnage and GTFO before they could do anything to stop them. 4 Valravns against 1 dying attack cruiser was overkill but at the same time, the Flight wasn't armed for combat aside from the stock phasers. Those should be enough.

"Wolf-16 committin'. Chaos I need ya. Pattern Delta 9. " Via was going to make a run on the forward cannons from the Crusier's port. Delta 9 essentially insured that if Via missed her shot or didn't penetrate with her phaser, her wingmen would be right behind her to finish the job.

When Via flew she knew what she was doing. Hours upon hours of training engrained much within her but her natural talent on top of her tenacity and initiative made her a particularly good dogfighter. As much as she presented herself as an immature child-like idiot to some, when the situation got real it was as if a switch went off in her head making her more than she let herself out to be. It was partly intentional and partly not. Via did actively hide many things about herself from others out of habit. She was intelligent, she knew all the complex calculations and procedures a pilot needed to know in order to be successful otherwise she would've not received her wings and even more. However, part of her was a type of idiot savant due to her rocky upbringing. She preferred people to think she was more on the idiot side anyway as often she was bullied for displaying anything else as a kid. Hiding her intelligence was autopilot for her at this point not even a conscious effort on her part. If asked about it she would certainly deny doing anything of the sort but when life and death came that switch turned on and she didn't play around. 

"Sending target analysis to your HUD now. This should insure a disabling shot." Charles said with a bit of worry in his voice.

"Armin' Phasers."  Via said into comms.

"Approchin' Weapons Envelope"

"Bandit engaged"

"Firin'!"

Two streams of superheated energy exited from Wolf-16 and impacted one of the forward cannons. The shot was precise and accurate. In reality, the followed upshot was not necessary but Chaos did so anyway adhering to the procedures of the attack pattern and ensuring the weapon system was disabled. The attack flight pulled off and Via spoke into comms.

"Wooo! One cannon disabled! Runnin' interference, finish 'm off." She moved back in and gave the Crusier another thing to shoot at so Gemini and Wraith could finish the job with the other cannon.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Praxis debris field | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]
Logan didn't hesitate. When the alarm sirens sounded and the order to scatter came, he pulled his control stick back and pushed the throttle all the way through. He threw the Valravn into a steep left turn and simultaneously rolled clockwise. Within a fraction of a second, the pilot had put enough distance between himself and what was by now clearly identified as a Klingon Vor'Cha cruiser. The training session suddenly became bitterly serious. Logan surveyed the scene and tried to assess the situation. They were in the Praxis debris field. Any communication out or in was hampered by this. There were four of them, their mchines equipped for training, and in the cockpits were pilots who so far knew the Valravn only by sight. On the other side waited a Klingon Vor'Cha class ship, damaged but no less dangerous. These battle cruisers have always been considered very dangerous and this one would not surrender without a fight either. This was a fight he didn't want to get into. He didn't really know who he was flying with and didn't want to take the risk. Logan was going to advise retreat and let the cover it by the boulders of the debris field.

[Valravn flight, this is Gemini. You are clear to engage the Klingon ship. Disabling and defensive fire only. Take out their weapons and then stand down. Acknowledge!], it sounded over the radio. Logan didn't want to believe what he heard and wanted to protest, but DixieBee and Chaos had already confirmed the order. Logan shook his head. "Damn it." he cursed and hit the send button. "Wolf-14, roger that."

As uncomfortable as Logan was with this, and as much as he wanted to do exactly otherwise, he would not, no, he could not let his comrades down. Not again. Not like he had with Liliana, Dev, Haqr, or Vinne. Not like with... Alessia.

In his mind's eye suddenly flashed the images he was trying to suppress. He suddenly realized how much the situation resembled that time. He saw the Klingon cruiser launch a volley of torpedoes, knocking the rocks floating around off course. He saw one of those rocks hit Angel's Valravn and shatter the cockpit. He saw his little sister die again.

Tears blurred his vision. Logan blinked them away as he recognized DixieBee darting past him, death-defyingly heading for the cruiser. "Damn it!" he cursed again. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

He flipped the saftey switches and felt his valravn pulsing with energy. "Weapons hot. Attack."
Logan followed DixieBee most of the way, but then moved away from her to avoid the cruiser's defensive fire. Along the way, he caught up with Reggie. "There's no point in just taking out their weapons. They're Klingons, they always have an ace up their sleeve. We need to destroy the cruiser asap, Reggie." ...Or pull back and get reinforcements, he thought bitterly.

Blood began to rush in his ears. The cruiser's defensive fire was getting harder to dodge. Logan pressed the firing button on his control stick. Two orange-red lances of light pierced the darkness. One lance slammed into the hull along the Vor'Cha's neck, the other one collided with the sickly green of one of the defensive disruptor beams.

Logan rushed towards the Klingons. The neck was the weakest part of the ship. He made the decision. He was going to destroy the cruiser before they could destroy them. Screw the consequences. He had to save them.

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn:  @Nero‍  @ob2lander961‍


Reggie swung around as the Klingon’s cannons lit up, only to have DixieBee shut one of them down hard.

“Good shot,” she called into the comm. “All righ Wraith lets…”

[There's no point in just taking out their weapons. They're Klingons, they always have an ace up their sleeve. We need to destroy the cruiser asap, Reggie.]

“Negative, Wraith. I’m not killing this ship unless we have to. I think they think there is still a war on…”

Wraith has broken formation, and engaged. Weapons hot.

She watched as the two torpedos flew, one intercepted by defensive fire, the second slamming into the port side of the Vor’Cha’s hull.

“Dammnit Wraith,” she shouted. “I ordered disabling fire only! Stand down!”

What the hell was going on with Logan? She could understand if his ego had taken a hit with her promoted to flight leader over him but for him to blatently defy her instructions like that. If this was how her wing man was going to act, then Valravn flight was fucked six ways to Sunday.

Damage assessment coming in. Severe damage along portside neck. Hull breached, neck not severed. Reading decompressions. Unable to determine casualty count. Chaos has disabled the last defensive turret. Wraith continuing his attack run. Figure out a way to communicate with the Klingons. Intercepting Wraith. Brace for contact,

Reggie rolled Wolf-13 as she angled towards Wraith in what appeared to be a collision course, but at the last second, she broke off narrowly avoiding the direct collision, but causing their respective shield bubbles to scrape against one another effectively pushing Logan off his course.  Within the cockpit of her Valravn, Reggie winced as her lateral control board shorted out.  Given what she had been through in her career, it was little more than a flesh wound to a ship like this.

Both our shields and Wriaths are failing.  Preparing a tractor beam.

The Betazoid threw her fighter into a hard 180 before countering her momentum vectors and heading back the way she had come.

“Stand down, Wraith!  That is an order,” she said throwing as much of her telepathic influence into the mix as she could from distance while she engaged the tractor beam to slow him down.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/archive/f/fb/20160814014820%21W-o1.png) Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Via_Wix) | Wolf-16 | Cockpit] ] Attn: @P.C. Haring @Nero 
[Show/Hide]
Via with Chaos flew in a holding pattern around the Klingon Vor'Cha, looking out for any possible bogies trying to jump into the fray. Adrenaline was rushing throughout her body, so much so that she had not realized that this was her first real-world combat situation. She had always fantasized about what it would've been like before when she was in training. Since the Dominion war was still fresh in people's minds and TacCONN was formed from the exploits of the Fighter pilots who served during the conflict Via always imagined she was going to be a part of some large gradious fleet battle.  Phasers and explosions all around her, dogfighting in between massive ships and the such, taking out dreadnaughts, that sort of thing. The situation she now found herself in seemed tame in comparison. In truth, she was more terrified of her fantasy than now, she was having fun!

"Wooo!! Yeah!!!" Via cheered which soon subsided when she heard the argument that went on between her Flight Lead and Wraith.

"He is moving for an attack run!" Charles exclaimed as both he and Via witnessed him breaking formation and releasing two torpedoes into the Vor'Cha's port side. When he continued not to listen to Reggie, the Flight Lead went on and flew her fighter directly in the path of Wraiths scraping each other's shields and only narrowly missing a head-on collision. A tractor beam was activated soon after and all Via could muster to say after watching everything unfold was "What in the fuck?" expressed with pure confusion. She did not know what to do other than just keep her fighter in a holding pattern. Whatever was going on with Wraith was being Dealt with it seemed like by Gemini. If she needed assistance Via would jump in as needed but otherwise...

"Uh...beachhead. Keep your ass scannin' for any other brandits. Hmph, let them shits come and fuckin' try..."

"Y-Yes ma'am" Charles stuttered still taken off guard by everything.

[(https://uss-theurgy.com/w/images/2/28/M_w-o2.png) Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith" (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Logan_Hale,_callsign_"Wraith")| Wolf-14 | Praxis debris field | Orbit of Qo'noS] Attn: @P.C. Haring @ob2lander961 
[Show/Hide]Logan cursed violently and involuntarily pulled back the control stick. His death blow was averted. The Valravn of his new flight leader collided with his. The shields of both fighters flared with blue energy and scraped audibly against each other. Reggie pushed Logan off his flight path. Both of his fired torpedoes faded ineffectively into Praxis's debris field.

Logan was denied his revenge. He gave an animalistic roar as his helmeted head smacked against the side of his seat. Stars danced before his eyes. His vision blurred. Logan felt cold, salty rivulets run down his cheeks. He wanted to start again. These Klingons had to die. By proxy, they were going to pay the price for his losses. Yomaura, Lea, Dimitry, Liliana, Dev, Alessia... Alessia. Logan never wanted to feel this way again. Every fiber of his body bristled against it. He longed to take this ship out. Nothing could be allowed to stop him. Not even if his own people turned on him.

The pilot tried to blink the tears from his eyes. He reached for his fighter's controls again and tried his attack again. Logan pushed through the throttle and put the control stick in the direction of his target. But the stars did not change position. Something was wrong. The fighter stopped responding to his inputs. He flipped some switches and tried again. Again nothing. Again. Nothing. Again. Again nothing.

Desperately, he pounded on his console, tore at the controls. He was about to restart. Perhaps the collision with Reggie had caused damage the fighter couldn't detect.
"I've locked you out of the controls," sounded from the back seat of his fighter. It was Alith, Hunter. Her voice was emotionless and neutral. Much like one would expect from a Vulcan "You heard the order from Reggie. I resent your...temper tantrum, but I will not stand by and watch you throw away your career, Wraith."

She activated the comm and responded to Reggie's last order while the Fighter was being towed by a tractor beam.
"Hunter here. Standing down.”

[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder, Callsign “Gemini” | Wolf-13 | Cockpit ] Attn:  @ob2lander961‍  @Nero‍

[Hunter here. Standing down.]

At first, Reggie felt her own relief, but the anger and confusion from Wolf-14 pervaded her telepathic center.  Hunter was Wraith’s RIO, and for a moment she wondered if the shield scrape had injured Logan.

“Understood, Hunter.  Please advise status.”

She held her breath for the brief moment it took Hunter to reply.

[Superficial damage to shields.  All systems operational.  No injuries, though I have taken control of the craft.]

Reggie sensed no deception from the Vulcan RIO but she knew that for Hunter to have locked Wraith out without him being injured…well that was as close to a mutiny as she’d ever seen. 

A mutiny that might have saved Wraith’s ass.  Probably one of the smartest moves that Hunter could have make on behalf of her pilot.

“Understood Hunter.  I’m disengaging the tractor beam.  Form up and stay tight on my wing.  I’m keeping an extremely close eye on your ship.”

Reggie followed through on her statement, but before she could take additional actions, the Comm panel lit up.  They were being hailed by the Klingons.

I thought their comm array was offline.  Put them through and broadcast to all ships.

An angry Klingon appeared on the small view screen in her console.

[You Honorless dog!  Do you not have the decency to deliver the killing blow to your enemy?]

So, that was how it was going to be.  She would need to dig deep into her limited bag of diplomatic tricks.

“I am Lieutenant Reggie Suder, of the U.S.S. Theurgy and commanding officer of this wing.  To whom do I have the honor of speaking?”

The Klingon scowled. 

“Why have you fired on us, Colonel,” Reggie barked.  It would anger the Colonel but if she was to get anywhere with him, she would need to show no hesitation and meet his aggression in kind.

[You are my enemy, Human.  We stand with House Mo’Kai’s claim over House Martok.  You are allied against us and we do not suffer the presence of our enemies.  If your intent is to capture us, we will not permit that.  I demand an honorable death.]

“My Apologies Colonel,” Reggie replied, trying to keep her cool as best as possible.  “But I will not destroy a defenseless ship, especially when it is not my enemy.  Your information is out of date, Sir.  The Klingon Civil war is over.  Chancellor Martok has emerged victorious, House Mo’Kai is in ruin, and Gorka himself is dead.”

[P’tak!  You lie.  I demand you give us an honorable death!]

Reggie’s mind raced.  There was no reasoning with him from a rational perspective.  She needed to come at him through honor…which she did not fully understand.

When in doubt, wing it.

“I’m sorry Colonel, I can not do that.    There is no combat to be had between us, I will not destroy you while you are defenseless, and there is no battle or glory to be won here.  The conflict has ended.  If you would like, I’m more than happy to call rescue ships to tow you out and return you to your house.”

[You lie and dishonor not only us but yourself as well.]

Reggie sat back in her seat. “What reason would I have to lie to you, Colonel?  My ships are more than capable of killing you all…”

[Then do so!  Honor demands it!]

“Does honor demand you die in ignorance,” Reggie shouted back.  The words were out of her mouth before she realized it.  She couldn't place where the inspiration was coming from, but as she saw the shift in the Colonel’s demeanor she could tell she was finally starting to chip away at him.  “Tell me, Colonel.  Is there any honor a death that is needless in the name of a cause that is lost in a conflict that no longer exists?  Is there any honor in dying needlessly while ignorant of the truth?”

[You have no honor!  You are lying!]

“Then you’re an ignorant fool!”

[P’Tak!] He cursed again.

There was no way she would convince him herself.  His comrades in arms would set him straight if she could find a way out of this.  But to do that, she needed to give him a way to save face.  Then an idea came to mind.

“Colonel, I offer you a compromise.”

[Compromise,] he spat. [A tool of human weakness.]

“You show your ignorance, Colonel.  I am not human.  I am Betazoid.”

The Klingon stopped short there. 

“But it does, Colonel.  If you were wrong about me, can you accept that you might be wrong about the war long enough to hear my compromise offer?”  He remained quiet, which Reggie took as acquiescence. “Provide me the name of whom I can contact to send a recovery team to tow you out.  One you return to Qo’Nos, you can verify my assertions through whatever means you wish.  If you determine I am lying, find me aboard the U.S.S. Theurgy and I will face you in personal combat where we will settle this once and for all.”

[And if you are proved correct?]

“First round of blood wine is on you.”

The Colonel eyed her and the Betazoid could only hope she was showing no signs of weakness.  He was probably concluding that she was an easy kill with the Bat’Leth.  Maybe she had no chance against him, but she certainly would give him a fight.  Still it was an easy compromise to offer as she knew the truth was on her side.

[Very well, Lieutenant Reggie Suder.  We are agreed.  But be warned when I come for you, I will not rest until I find you.]

“I have no doubt, Colonel.  Your wisdom does you honor.”



The screen blinked off. 

“Receiving communication instructions from the cruiser,” Athen reported.

“Very well,”  Reggie replied.  "As soon as we clear the field, contact the Klingons and have them come pick up their missing ship.”

That only left what to do next.  Technically they still needed to undergo weapons testing at the scrap yard, but given recent developments, that was not going to happen.  What had started as an exercise intended to familiarize pilots with their ships, and develop some fellowship between the eight of them, had resulted in an incident of insubordination that had threatened to irrevocably tear them apart.  As a result any progress they had made was wiped away and now she needed to deal with Wraith when they got back.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

She switched back to her squadron frequencies.  “Gemini to all Wolves.  Form up and set course for the ship.  We’re heading home.”

-FIN-