Star Trek: Theurgy

CH03: S [D06|0920] Angels & Bloodwings

December 15, 2018, 01:04:53 AM

Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels & Bloodwings

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Fighter Assault Bay | Briefing Room | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton
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The assignments had been placed, the squadron order had been set, and so Lillee set about investigating her new fighter. It was a handsome fighter, a Mark III Valkyrie, one of the finest in two quadrants, although Lillee nevertheless felt a quiver of unease at taking it. The fighter's usual occupant, Meony, was injured and recuperating in Sickbay. Lillee was only a temporary pilot, but still, it felt...off. Strange. Rather like stealing someone's best friend.

Nevertheless, there was no time for sentimentality. The Theurgy was flying at some insane warp factor that Lillee preferred not to think about, but when it slowed down, it might need its Wolves. Thus she sighed, then set about inspecting the fighter with a careful professional's eye, from its warp nacelles to its cockpit to its phaser arrays. The deckhands had done a good job, she admitted reluctantly to herself. The fighter had some wear and tear but it was still battle-ready, and so the deckhands had left it alone, focusing on the fighters that were still in immediate need of attention.

The FAB was relatively full of fighters, a welcome change to before, when it had seemed so awfully empty. One of the fighters besides Lillee's also had its pilot working on it, but focused as she was on her own Valkyrie's condition, Lillee paid the human woman no heed.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #1 – December 15, 2018, 04:25:42 AM

[ Lt. JG Alessia "Angel" Garcia | Fighter Assault Bay | Briefing Room | USS Theurgy]
@Griff


The briefing was as formal as she could have expected, but it was reconnecting with her former squadmates that really mattered to Angel, despite the logic of their mission, versus the needs of the few pilots against the one Wolf-10.  Still. Scylla and Iceman were as happy to see her as she them, with Wraith, Blizzard, Meerkat and Scylla there. She stifled the inner party-girl in her who would have giddily taken a selfie holophoto as a trophy for her future, or a photo for her own equivalent of a tombstone, per fighter pilot taboo-tradition.

She didn't even get the opportunity. Vinny fainted on the way to the meeting chasing after her, and was sent back to sickbay on a stretcher to preserve transporter energy. It was like being on an NX during the Romulan War, and she had a family history there with logs to compare to. Like her great-great-great grandmother before her, Alessia Garcia had a job to do in the name of Starfleet and her homeworld. If it meant piloting Sekhmet into the enemy's heart to destroy them both, to Angel, it was only a question of when could she launch.

With her brief but heartfelt log sent to Razor, and having no time or patience to visit Vinny in sickbay -again-, Alessia turned her attention to her other machine-for-a-purpose (or so she joked to her RIO), the Sekhmet. Previously dubbed Stormraven, She had a change in heart to forget about Dev Okhala, who'd helped her christen Orcus's now-no-longer only surviving Valravn. What those Klingon bastards destroyed, their new allies would avenge. Angel took that very much to heart.

So much so, she spent the next several minutes taking repairs into her own hands when she noticed no one was working on her fighter. Turning as aflush with passion as the moment afforded, she blurt out a string of cursewords that translated an amalgam of English, Spanish, Klingon, Romulan and even some zingers even Denobulans might have taken objection to as she realized that if she'd launched, the EPS couplings could have backfired. <IS there NO one With the GALL to DOUBLE-check the safeties? I mean, REALLY?> Came the rough translation.

Even in her form-fitting exosuit, Angel did'nt care if she was on her back cutting into her own fighter until she'd had enough reassurance the blazed thing wouldn't overheat its occupants. Having a shuttle mechanic for a father gave her the right know-how to let her pass Starfleet's engineering courses, but she lived for driving machines to their limits, not having to clean up after them herself. Then again, it was the same with children, she figured jokingly: Give em love & Treat em well, just make someone else deal with the crap."

Around the time she slid her maintenance dolley toward repairing an EPS junction, her tricorder blipped oddly, indicating a power spike. Oh shit. Indiscrimenantly, Angel whistled. "I've got a power spike! If I don't defuse it here and now, the EPS manifold could spill here." Now was not exactly the time to ask who was the last person to have double-checked the precise area where Klingon disruptor fire hit her interceptor and not noticed the auxiliary EPS junction had also suffered a buildup of redundant but siphoning energy. Ever calm under fire, Angel tiptoed away from the danger zone until the tricorder's readings responded in kind. It was here now where she realized no blame game would save her from overtaxing her fighter to this extent, but she'd argue, if this was her last moment, that this could've happened to anyone. Fortunately, she wasn't alone. She thanked whoever she'd otherwise argue with for granting her such a piercing whistle.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #2 – December 17, 2018, 03:35:25 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton
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Focused as she was on inspecting her own Valkyrie, from the tips of its nacelles to the fighter's prow, Lillee tuned out whatever was happening beyond her. It wasn't like manning the CONN, after all, where any intelligent pilot kept a weather eye and ear on their surroundings on the Bridge, to be ever-alert for any change in circumstances or anticipate the orders of the captain and XO. Now that the Theurgy had been reunited, Jaya Thorne had that job. Now, the blonde Romulan could simply focus on her own small craft, assess how its previous occupant had maintained it, and learn how the Valkyrie would fly. The as-yet unknown Meony, whoever she was, was evidently a very different kind of pilot to Lillee, so a careful inspection of the Valkyrie was crucial.

Of course, Lillee's focused concentration was not helped by the constant string of swearing from her neighbour. Some of the words were familiar (one did not serve as an NCO in Starfleet without a thorough understanding of human swear words), although others were downright strange. Even as Lillee sat in the cockpit, checking the balance of the impulse engines, a part of her mind was finding perverse enjoyment in her neighbour's increasingly inventive cursing. The Klingon swearing was indecipherable, sounding downright bizarre in the woman's Spanish accent, but the Rihannsu swearing was downright hilarious.

'Fuck your mother sideways with your leth'ken's prick'? 'Stuff a poker up your ass and do a spit-roast of incompetent fuckery'? It was language fit to make even the most stern centurion chortle, especially with such mangled pronunciation despite the accent that was so similar to common Rihannsu. Despite herself, Lillee was smiling as she worked in her cockpit.

Then the shrill whistle jolted Lillee out of her half-meditative concentration, and she glanced down at the source to see a human woman calling for help. An blasted EPS manifold rupture!?

"Fucking Reman ass!" Lillee swore under her breath, scrambling out of her cockpit onto the wing, then jumped clear over the wide gap onto her neighbour's Valravn before rushing into its cockpit. She hurried to power up the fighter and redirect the electroplasma flow away from the damaged manifold, her hands flying over the controls.

"The electroplasma is redirected!" Lillee called down below her to the woman below. "How does it look down there?"

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #3 – December 22, 2018, 12:12:52 AM

[ Lt. JG Alessia "Angel" Garcia | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy]
@Griff

A few blinks of an eye later and the surge reached its boiling point and Alessia reactively moved her head away from the ensuing spark-fest, blurting out reactively, before she got help. "Pendeja! <bitch! pr: 'pen'deH'hah'> Crisis prevented, All good! Thanks!" Alessia inched away as blue-orange sparks began to drip, starting to draw a dotted trail of plasma on Sekhmet  on her underbelly. Angel yelled, taking a moment to scoot away. 

"This bad girl has always had her fire-breathing personality."  Alessia was glad to have been in her maintenance overalls over her uniform, but just a drop on one of her exposed rolled-sleeves' forearms was enough to make her mad enough to instinctively pound on her hull. "Pendeja!"<bitch!>, as if the fighter would apologize to her 'look-what-you've-done' scolding as she muttered at the miraculous healing of her beloved skin. There, as if new.

Then she smirked at her collected kill-count she'd meticulously recorded. They were mainly Dominion Alliance stamps with red X's on them, but she didn't have it in her to paint on any Federation or Klingon (in one case, Romulan) logos; Red X's would do. Wasting no time, she procured a dermal regenerator from the Valravn's first aid kit. <Studious-Daughter-of-the-town's-whore> she muttered an old Spanish litany; her own arch-rival at the academy had learned it and it on her during a party which understandably resulted in a trip to sickbay among other things. <I raised you to be better, baby.> She said, almost apologetically to herself, though directed at fighter.

Her smirk came back when she met up with one of the new faces. Well, she was hardly a long-timer here herself, she would've remembered meeting a beautiful tall vulcanoid. She spotted the forehead ridge and smiled. Thanks to Dev Okhala, Alessia and sexual tension on the IRW D'rathadau during the war, Alessia was starting to grow a 'Neutral-Zone' complex she wouldn't mind talking about with, despite only having basic conversational rihannsu; despite being an admirer of legendary linguist Nyota Uhura.

Fortunately, Covington's people arrived before she could have made an Intro; she'd rather shake her hand. She already had a Universal-translator-free version of a term for the deck chief's wife if he gave her any grief for this not being her fault. "Disruptor burst that took out Fury must've equally fried the entire pinche grid. Good thing I checked the emergency transporter device first. Do what you can, this bird's an important one."

"Even on Orcus She's had the rap for being a storm raven with a bad attitude. No way. I'll take Wolf-5's bird for a change, or that Reaver. But I'm not riding the pinche bench." Angel growled soon as she was out of harm's way. "Just kidding, baby." Angel pat the craft as if it were a lover or a darling pet, a soothing tone used when her easy-to-get-lost-into eyes batted at the tall blonde.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #4 – December 22, 2018, 02:17:27 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton
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Lillee breathed a sigh of relief at the woman's response from below, shaking her head at how close that had been. Even without holding any charge while the fighter was powered down, an electroplasma leak could easily kill or main someone, and the human woman affecting repairs had been right below it. Far, far too close.

She duly began powering the fighter back down, careful to ensure that the electroplasma was safely isolated from the manifold breach, then stood back up in the open cockpit before jumping straight out onto the deck. It was a long fall, but by grace of her biology, the Romulan woman absorbed it with ease, barely bothering to bend her knees. She watched the deckhands hurry around her to tend to the troubled Valravn before looking at the human woman who was barking orders inbetween affectionate mutterings to her craft.

"You are far more forgiving than I would be given that your fighter just tried to kill you," she said, smiling in bemusement at the foul-mouthed human. "You are a pilot, yes? I am t'Jellaieu, though my callsign is Bloodwing. Wolf 08, at present." She didn't bother saying her rank, the rank tab on the collar of her red uniform shirt making that plain, but instead glanced at the stricken Valravn as the deckhands got to work. "An ugly beast, compared to the Valkyries. Do you always treat your fighters as live creatures?"

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #5 – December 22, 2018, 04:34:05 AM

[Lieutenant JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign “Ghost” | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton @Griff
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“Let me put it this way, lass: A pilot who treats his or her fighters as live creatures, as yeh so put it, is a pilot who has a binding connection, like how yeh would expect with a horse and his wee lad. Though I have to agree: The Valvarns are ugly ‘uns. No offense, Angel.”

Rawley couldn’t resist joining in; she had been watching Angel and a new pilot for some time now. It was one thing to meet a blond Vulcan in T’Zantha, but a blond Romulan? Well, almost her cuppa tea.

“Pardon for butting in. I could hear yeh two whinging together from me own bird. Allow me t’ introduce meself,” said Rawley, who then extended a hand to shake the Romulan’s hand. “Evelyn Rawley, Wolf-02, callsign ‘Ghost.’ Taking a mo’ to fly with the pack now that all three vectors are together?”

She noticed the red uniform. A redshirt lass hanging around the modern flying machine? Had to be a helmswoman. She must’ve flown one of the vectors, but now that all three are together, it made sense for her to come down to join the pack, if only for an instance.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #6 – January 03, 2019, 06:36:35 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton @multificionado
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Lillee regarded the brash newcomer with bemusement, her eyebrow raised as she awkwardly shook the woman's hand. The human custom of shaking hands still didn't come easy, even after eight years in the Federation, but Lillee suffered through it. The woman, Rawley, was a familiar sort, even if her rough accent and overt manner grated a little on Lillee's nerves. Ie, there were times when she missed flying with her kin back in the Empire, when everyone's ears were pointed and all acted as Rihannsu! Flying in a Starfleet squadron was enjoyable, but oh so bizarre to fly with all those aliens of different cultures. What was that accent, anyway? The humans had more Fire-be-damned accents than there were stars in the sky...

"t'Jellaieu, Wolf 08," Lillee repeated politely for the second time in a minute after cutting off her train of thought. "I am known as Bloodwing when in flight. Your SCO, Ravon, needs pilots, so I am here until the one known as Meony recovers from her injuries. With the Vectors reunited, and likely too damaged to separate once more, it's a logical assignment for now. Are you two familiar with each other? It seems that every pilot I see here knows everybody else."

Which somewhat isolated Lillee, though she was far beyond caring. A career spent as a Romulan pilot in Starfleet, subject to prejudice and suspicion at every turn, tended to harden one against the depression of isolation.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #7 – January 07, 2019, 06:09:26 AM

[Lieutenant JG Evelyn Rawley, callsign "Ghost" | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Triton @Griff
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“Aye, though recently,” said Rawley. “Angel I heard plenty about, veteran of the Dominion War, she was. It’s good of yeh to fill in for Meony. I hope the ginger lass makes it through, she’s a wonderful lass.

“Still, once yeh got to know most of the other Wolves in the pack, Bloodwing, every pilot gets to know each other,” Rawley added as she walked over to Bloodwing and Angel, still clad in her flightsuit, as she had been since 0900, to be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. She still kept it on; you never knew when the call to deploy came. In any case, she would look like a bad-arse sort of woman, with her souvenir Klingon mek’leth on hand.

She took in Bloodwing for a moment. With the stern looks…take away the pointy ears, and she would easily be comparable to her old flight instructor, “Meerkat” Walton, on a particularly bad day. And Rawley had seen Walton cross many a time.

Still, she can’t help but shake the feeling that she had seen Bloodwing before. She couldn’t place the time she saw her before.

“Dinnae worry, Bloodwing,” she said with assurance. “You’ll fit right in with us Wolves. Everybody can help each other however they can in a Pack. And I’m sure it’ll be a nice change for a helmswoman, with all the vectors together.

“If I may ask,” she continued, “how long have ye been on the Theurgy? How recently have yeh joined us, that is to say.”

She had to ask it; she can’t help but shake the feeling that she had seen Bloodwing somewhere before.

Re: Chapter 03: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 0920 hrs. ] Angels and Bloodwings

Reply #8 – January 13, 2019, 12:10:43 AM

[ Lt. JG Alessia "Angel" Garcia | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy]
@Griff @multificionado

"None taken, Ghost. You're an authority on ugly, ya kilt-lovin' chrome-dome." Alessia dusted herself off making sure she had trace of harm (to body as much as pride) on herself and managed to get a squad-locker talking comeback at her friend and wingmate, Ghost before giving a hefty handshake to the Romulan. "Alessia Garcia. Call me Angel. I fly Wolf-6 with Salvo. Or at least I hope to. No one followed up on the repairs to my bird and It coulda traded my literal halo for a real one."

It wasn't good form to insult, or 'bag on', as the jargon meant, the knuckle-draggers but she instead patted the nearest one on the back affectionately as she momentarily crouched back over to point out the exact damage to slate up industrial replication, momentarily giving them a chance to scope her out as the curvy, tomboyish latina indifferently gave the other two pilots a chance to glance her form over; she wasn't shy to hide her assets, mainly as a way to let others know she put her money where her mouth was, and her assets where she could guard them. Or show them off. She returned to her stance nearest Rawley.

"Starbase 84. I defected with most of my now-dead squad. Met Ghost in this chamber when we were told the truth about the Parasites. The rest is history. How about you, Lillee? What's your story?" Angel asked, maintaining a neutral but warm smile. It was fun to make new friends and interesting to do so while fooling around with a competitive wingmate, particularly with Ghost.

Re: CH03: S [D06|0920] Angels & Bloodwings

Reply #9 – January 26, 2019, 01:26:47 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @multificionado
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"There's little story to tell," Lillee replied with a sardonic smile. "I was onboard the Theurgy at the beginning temporarily, for the day only, and was merely carried along when the ship took flight. I was injured in the first battles, placed in medical stasis and only awoken last week. Far less dramatic than your own tales, I fear."

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Lillee spotted a mechanic creeping towards her Valkyrie while the others tended to Alessia's Valravn,, a tool of some sort in their hand. "No, no, for the last time, I do not need my inertial dampeners cleaned!" she called over in loud irritation. "I know these systens and those dampeners are fine, absolutely fine! Oh, by all the Elements...begone, girl, I'll do it myself."

Turning back to her fellow pilots, Lillee sighed, grinning in exasperation. "Another time, Angel, Ghost, I must see to my bird and protect it from overeager deckhands. We can meet with ale, maybe, if we survive all this insanity? Although even the idiotic Klingon wouldn't place bets on that."

With that, not bothering to wait for a response, Lillee spun and returned to her fighter, glaring daggers at deckhand, who responded with a cheeky smirk of their own, having clearly just been teasing the oversensitive Romulan. Around them, the bay was a mess of frenzied activity as pilots and deckhands alike scrambled to ready their fighters for the next desperate battle. The air was full of shouts and yells, barked orders and loud acknowledgements, the thrum and hiss of tools. Nobody knew exactly how long it would be until the fight with the Borg would come, but one thing was unquestionably certain.

That fight was coming.


-FIN