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Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring

Victor was blowing off some steam in the flight simulators this 'morning,' while it was afternoon, he'd had a very late night with Enyd' the night before, and he'd needed to get a complete 'night' of sleep anyway. Now that he'd gotten up, he'd had a quick breakfast in his quarters, and had gone in to log some practice time. The man had been at it for hours by this point. Putting his mind and body through the stresses of flight training was always a thing he'd enjoyed. He didn't imagine that anyone would be in the Holodecks on deck 21 at this hour today. So there was a projection of his practice on a screen near his Valkyrie acting as simulator pod for any passerby to watch. This particular mission would be the last one he'd be running today, so he wanted something special.

Victor was piloting his programmed Mark I through an asteroid field, with a pair of Jem Hadar attack ships on his tail. His weapons were disabled for this mission, but his fighter was equipped with an ECM Pod, a ECCM emitter, and a rack of EMP torpedoes. This was a mission, an odd one, and a difficult one. In this scenario, he was part of a failed assault on a Jem Hadar supply depot. But the intel was wrong, and the mission was an ambush. Victor's fighter was the only one that had made it out, and now there were two attack ships on his tail. One hand on the stick flying his fighter, Victor was busily programming in a sequence for his countermeasures with his left, satisfied, a rogue smirk comes to his features.

The purple lance of their Polaron beams coming close to him but never connecting. The fancy flying displayed was a series of barrel rolls and twists, engines on a full burn as he heads deeper into the asteroid field. The systems of the fighter were running at a minimum except for the engines thrusting hard.  It turned into a matter of mere meters with victor ducking behind a giant asteroid just as Polaron beam slams into the metallic rock, sending debris spraying all around him and impacting his fighter. Not quite to plan, but Victor cuts his engines and power signatures, firing off an ECM torpedo off into space to make it look like he was still flying and not hiding behind the asteroid. That ECM charge is allowed to fly off into the distance. A ECCM Pod following silent close behind it. After a few seconds, the ECM pod shuts off, and the ECCM pod he'd programmed blasts a signal out like his fighter going to warp.

"Come on, take the bait, you assholes." And then he saw it, the flash of one of the Jem Hadar ships going to warp, just one. That was expected, though, and he had a few minutes to deal with the other one. Victor powers his systems back up, balancing the power allocations. After a glance, Victor spots the attack ship on his scanners, and it is time to let it chase him again. "Ok, just gotta lay a bit of a trap for you. Going to have to get creative, though." With a full burn to get the attention of the attack ship Victor leads it on a twisting chase through the asteroid field, performing maneuvers that would turn him into paste without inertial dampeners. A high G Immelman followed by a reverse corkscrew up and over an asteroid that looked like a twisted potato. Knowing the attack ship would be on his tail, Victor drops half of his load of EMP torpedoes as mines, set to proximity detonation. And then a hard burn towards open space, firing off another ECCM pod in another direction after cutting his engines and reducing his signature and ducking behind a small asteroid that was scrambling his sensors, probably kemocite. It wasn't especially fancy or smooth of him, he'd done better and fancier in the past. But he got the 'Mission complete' message across his field of view, and the simulation ends.

With a smile, Victor pops open the cockpit of the Valkyrie and pops out of it, stretching out. They weren't quite made for a man of his lanky stature, and the sound of popping comes from both sets of knuckles, real and cybernetic. He'd had a death grip on the control stick and had nearly cracked it with the cybernetic. While Victor was covered in sweat, it was a good run, just a few short minutes, setting what was probably a new record. Checking the scoreboard for that particular mission, he looked at the time he'd put up, and grins. "Not bad at all, three minutes twenty-four seconds."

He'd managed to get in a few good runs begore Reggie had showed up, which he was hoping that he'd managed, and felt that he did. Flying the solo missions was all well and good, but he really needed someone on, or to be on, another pilot's wing to show off his skills. If he wanted to make more of a tactical difference to the Theurgy crew, he needed to get his wings. Hopefully he'd manage to impress Reggie. At least he was warmed up now.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #1 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae

Much to her surprise, Reggie found Holodeck 03 already in use when she arrived.  She was certain that CPO vanVinter had said he’d reserved the time.  It gave her pause, leaving her to wonder  if she had gotten the location or the time mixed up.  The Theurgy afterall was the largest ship she’d ever served on, and with all three of her hulls…vectors, she corrected herself, spread throughout the shipyard, if she was in the wrong place, it might take her a while to get to the right section.

Prudence set in though and she accessed the scheduling log for Holodeck 3.  It was reserved for Victor vanVinter, had been for several hours, and would continue to be for a few more.  Next she called up the access logs.  CPO vanVinter logged into the holodeck and had not logged out.  For a moment, Reggie wondered if she had made a mistake by agreeing to this.  Apparently the deck hand wanted to learn to become a fighter pilot.  Not such an odd request.  Spend enough time around a piece of equipment and eventually you’ll want to fly it yourself.  She’d agreed mostly as a courtesy.  Flight school, to say nothing about TacticalCONN training was rigorous as hell and not something easily picked up in the field.  So she figured she’d give him some time, let him burn out  on his own.  No harm, no foul, and perhaps she might pick up a friend or colleague.

But as she let herself into Holodeck 3 and saw what vanVinter was, in fact, doing all of that went out the window. 

Truth be told, she did not care so much that he was in a simulation pod.  She’d expected that.  But when she crossed the room to the monitoring console, and routed the simulator’s feed to a floating render, she experienced a rare case of her blood boiling. 

This guy was playing war with a pair of Jem’Hadar attack ships.  He led them on a cat and mouse hunt through an asteroid field and when the opportunities arouse to take them out, did he fire his weapons? Nope.  Instead he played chicken with them, in a sloppily desperate manner, dropping ECM weapons and mines.  What was he doing?  Playing out some fantasy as some sort of fighter pilot hero taking down the enemy in convoluted ways so he could be revered as the savior of the day.

Ohhh no…  no no.  That was not going to happen.

She had fought the Jem’Hadar.  Her squadron had fought for the duration of the war.  Many…too damn many… of her friends and colleagues had died in the struggle.  The Federation had not been prepared and they had been given peregrines… modified courier ships to take on the Jem’Hadar and Cardassians and she and others had to literally write the book, making it up as they went.  And now a decade later, some cocky deckhand was going to use that conflict as a source for his…what… his fantasy? 

She was about to turn and leave, when the simulation ended and the simulator pod opened up.  VanVinter climbed out on the far side, his back to Reggie.  She watched him, the anger seething as his attention turned to something on that side… was that…yes… a fucking scoreboard.

Men and Women had suffered and died in those cockpits and now this deckie was using that as the basis for a game??  Nope.  She would have no part in it.  She would not play into whatever delusions of grandeur this guy seemed to be carrying.  To do so would dishonor their sacrifice.

Reggie decided then and there, she would put an end to that.

“Attention on deck!”  

She waited for him to come to attention before addressing him further.

"Would you care to tell me what it is you were doing, Petty Officer?"

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #2 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor was feeling good about being warmed up. He had practice with some actual training missions, ones that were used as training tools. The last one was one of the more difficult that he'd mastered. Missions, where the fighters either had no weapons or using them wasn't an option, were always tricky. This one, though, he thought he'd done well, but hearing Reggie snap at him, an eyebrow rises slightly. There was a shock of surprise that issued from him, even as he snapped to attention automatically. Victor wasn't quite confused but more surprised that Reggie had ordered him to attention. His brow furrows slightly when he calls him 'Petty officer' and not Chief, though explaining what he was doing was undoubtedly warranted to Reggie. The choice of title sent a wrinkly of minor annoyance flowing through his motions. It was like referring to a Lieutenant Commander as Lieutenant.

"I was practicing a combat mission appropriate to my flight hours, Lieutenant." The explanation came sharply and crisply, not quite a shout, but undoubtedly firm and loud. Almost like he was replying to an instructor back in flight school. No annoyance, anger, or any real emotion other than providing crisp answers.  "If you would like, I can detail my flying experience?" He waited for the slightest of response, doing his best to get a read on the woman.

Getting a slight nod from Reggie,  Victor speaks up, looking to the Air. "Thea, can you please give a summary of my flight experience please?" Victor steps back and pulls up a console to display the information and show the last two hours of his activity today.

Thea's voice comes over the intercom while Victor pulls up the recent simulator logs for Reggie to peruse should she desire to do so. "Chief petty officer Vanvinter is qualified to fly in non-combat situations on the Peregrine fighter with twenty-six thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine flight hours. The Valkyrie Mark One with two thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven flight hours. He is also rated on several classes of shuttles, both Civilian and Starfleet. He has recently logged one point seven six hours on the Valkyrie Mark three in simulator mode here on the holodeck; before that, Chief vanVinter's flight hours with the Valkyrie Mark three are estimated by myself at several hundred. Not all of his experiences with the Valkyrie's on the Theurgy were formally logged. This is due to the nature of his work as a test pilot and propulsion and spaceframe specialist."

A ripple of annoyance rushes through Victor then, Thea speaking up like that made it seem like he was trying to brag. While there's no significant outward reaction, the emotional response was loud and clear for Reggie to pick up. The last thing he wanted to do was brag.

After that, Victor takes a short breath and gestures to the trainer. "I wasn't here playing video games, Lieutenant. I was logging simulator time. Technically it's been a few months since I've had any flight time. I was in stasis recently, and I wanted to make sure that my reflexes and new hand wouldn't cause either of us to waste our time. You know how it is. When you hop in that cockpit, you need to know that you're at your best or you're dead. Not just in combat but training as well." There was an honesty and fervent belief in Victor's tone then. These were things he'd picked up from his time on the Thunderchild more than anywhere else. There was a barely restrained desire to prove himself then, but he felt that words weren't the best way of doing that right now.

"With your permission, Lieutenant, I'd like to start us in the TeX for now. That academy flight trainer that everyone practices in once we're cleared to fly solo?" Victor was reasonably sure that Reggie would know what He was talking about. Although Reggie was younger than him, they'd probably still had the old trusty TeX as the flight trainer. "If you feel I was doing something wrong by running the simulations and training missions that I was, then so be it. We'll start as basic as we can without you flying in the second seat." Victor's tone of voice matched his emotional state, calm, controlled, conciliatory. Victor wasn't fully knowledgeable of Reggie's history, and she hadn't looked at his complete service record. No harm, no foul, He didn't take any insult there. It wasn't like Reggie was original Theurgy crew, so in this particular case, he was eager to show what he could do, and in the process, show her why he was on the Theurgy in the first place.



OOC Note: This is the ship that Victor is referring to as the TeX.  No formal name listed on memory alpha. TeX is a derivative of Texan X/10, a references to the T-6 Texan flight trainer used by the US Military

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Academy_trainer_craft

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #3 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae

Reggie listened as VanVinter explained himself, had Thea rattle off his credentials, and then had the hubris to suggest that they start in an academy trainer.  Was he playing her?  The man had logged close to thirty thousand hours in a cockpit, and he wanted to start in a rickety trainer that first year cadets with no experience whatsoever use.  No.  The simulations of the TeX would remain in the passive memory.

“That will not be necessary, Chief,” she said.  Her voice had lost it’s anger but still carried the authoritative edge. “The TeX course is intended for cadets with no flight experience whatsoever.  Your simulation combined with your record, indicates quite the opposite.”

She keyed a command into the control PADD and a pair of chairs materialized next to the simulator pod.  She motioned to the chair opposite of her own as she sat down.

“However, for as extensive as your flight experience may be, I am not impressed.  Your record lacks one key thing.”

She let the thought hang unfinished. 

“Thea, my flight experience and credentials, if you please?”

“Lieutenant Regiene Suder,” Thea began, “Is a decorated combat pilot and veteran of the Borg Invasion of 2373 and of the Dominion War.  During the latter incident, Lieutenant Suder, is credited with five hundred and thirty three individual combat missions including the First Battle of Chin’Toka and the Battle of Betazed.  Following the War, Lieutenant Suder served in the Bajoran sector where she is credited for an additional half dozen combat engagements.  Awards and Citations include:  The Purple Heart and The Star Cross of Distinguished Flight 2373: For ingenuity and skilled piloting skills of the U.S.S. Teracotta, severely damaged by enemy action, while grievously injured resulting in 130 lives saved; Battle of Sector 001.  2375, Grankite order of Tactics and Star Cross of Distinguished Flight for conspicuous gallantry and unorthodox tactical strategy- The Battle of Betazed.  2375 Extended tour Ribbon.  Lieutenant Suder is combat rated for the Steamrunner Class Starship, Peregrine Attack Fighter, AC-205  MK I Valkyrie, AC-307 MK II Valkyrie, and AC-477 Valravyn fighter craft.  Most recent assignment: Flight Instructor: Tactical CONN Training Center Omega.  Transferred to U.S.S. Theurgy via U.S.S. Oneida.  Current designation Wolf-13; Flight Leader.”

Reggie remained silent, allowing her record to set in with her latest pupil.

“I respect your experience, Chief,” she said, her voice calm and sincere.  “In turn I expect you to respect mine.  You said you weren’t playing ‘video games’, and I chose to take you at your word.  But as you have operated, until now, as a non-combat pilot I need to ensure, before we go any further, that you’re aware of what you’re getting into.  You are not here to impress me an I am not here to be impressed by you.  You are here to learn and train so that if and when you fly one of these overpowered weapons into combat you have a chance at coming back alive.  During the war, fighter squadron’s averaged 72.4% casualty rate.  It is the definition of High Risk, High Reward and knowing you are likely to die, or lose three colleagues every time you launch is not a burden to take lightly nor is it a burden that one should appear to take lightly.

She paused again, her sermon just about complete.

“So before we go any further, Chief, you should know that I will hold you to the highest standard and I will suffer no foolishness.  I need to know right here and now if you are ready to make that commitment, and take it seriously.”

The Betazoid sat back in her chair, falling silent while he considered her words.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #4 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


When Reggie began speaking, Victor assumed Parade Rest, hands clasped behind his back as he listened. And he seemed to agree with her opinion of not starting with the TeX. At the very least, Reggie didn't seem to be mad anymore. And then the chairs materialize; Victor takes the one offered to him and tilts his head to the ceiling listening to Thea. Some of the names of battles were quite familiar to him. The fact that Thea started with the Borg invasion got a reaction from him. One of respect and commiseration, as well as rather personal pain.

"You were the one that pulled the Terracotta out of the fire? I don't know what to say there, Reggie." There was a profound sense of awe and respect, learning that fact about Reggie. He knew people that had friends on that ship, people that had lived because of Reggie. Victor goes silent for a time, deciding to go ahead and let her know a bit more about himself and wanting to share as much as he could with her. She deserved to know this about him, and this was the best way.

"I was on the Thunderchild. We were at Utopia Planitia getting a refit and rearming. I think we went out that day with only a third of our fighter wing staffed. I think only about a dozen made it back. And that's arguable." Victor taps his eye then and shakes his head sadly.

 "When Lieutenant Markowicz hit the deck, her fighter went up. A plasma manifold caught and." He doesn't finish that, closing his eyes for painful, vivid images of fire and screams and burning flash through his mind. The icy cold sensation he felt when the chunk of the fighter tore through the side of his face. 

"We lost five-deck crew in that explosion, plus the Lieutenant."  There was a real pain when he spoke about that day, and he knew what it was like, that bone-chilling fear of the initial engagement. Fighting the Borg had been like throwing stones at the walls of Constantinople.

"I served for the entire war on that ship, started on her as the head of Spaceframe and structure, wound up becoming the deck chief. I spent almost the whole war as the acting chief, though. You know what it was like; they'd split up experienced crews to go to new ships. And sometimes you'd have a Lieutenant where you should have a Commander. But yes, that casualty rate was horrendous. Every time I saw the Wing commander cross someone off the list, it made me want to help that much more. If there was anything, I could do to make sure that our birds were operating at peak performance. Making sure the deck crew were drilled to clockwork precision." Victor pauses then, considering his following words carefully, not having said these words even to Enyd.

"I spent so much time behind the stick because I needed to know that I was doing as much as I could to make sure that the pilots made it home safely. And in the end, it wasn't enough. By the time I was assigned here, I knew that. I want to fly because It's the only way I can help to keep people safe. The only way that I can fight alongside you is to be one of you. And right now, I'm rather superfluous on the deck, and I was in stasis until a few days ago. And I got replaced in the meantime." It was easy to tell from how Victor was making eye contact and the set posture of his shoulders that he was taking this deadly seriously. And that was just on the surface, what anyone could see. His emotions, though, were set. There wasn't a burning passion or a firey rage there. Right now, Reggie would be able to sense the grim determination and readiness in him. While Victor was excited to get this chance, it was tempered by the fact that he knew there wouldn't be one after this.

"Let's get started, Lieutenant. I'm excited to do more than solo sims and check-rides for once in my prophets blessed life. I know you're not here to Impress anyone, but I'm damn sure that I'll be in awe of you by the time we're done. Or hate your guts, maybe both, probably both." There was a flash of amusement then paired with the rogue smile that cut across his lips. Victor's typical gregarious nature reasserting itself, but Reggie would now know better than almost anyone what lay beneath the casual, friendly personality. Victor was ready, and he aimed not to disappoint.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #5 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae

The waves of respect, regret, sorrow, and sincerity washed over her  and she felt no reason to try to probe his thoughts further.  Even to this day she never understood why Starfleet deployed fighters against the Borg at 001.  She had remained silent in the moment he mentioned the Teracotta, her mind haunted by those memories as Victor spoke of fighter crashes and collateral damage.  She understood his perspective, better than he knew and she could only imagine what it must have looked like on board Omega as they watched Al Talbar’s ship careening out of control towards them.

She closed her eyes, pushing the imagery out of her mind, forcing herself to refocus on VanVinter.  He spoke passionately, sincerely and with the cool and level head that he would need as a combat pilot.  There was more to it, for sure, a certain arrogance… a certain bravado that he would develop as he progressed…a certain arrogance that he might have already started to show by running his sims despite his lack of qualification.

“Okay, Chief,” she said, ignoring his comments about how he expected to either love her or hate her by the time they were done.  “Lets get started.”

She stood and keyed the PADD.  A wireframe model of the Mark III appeared on the hologrid between them.  It osilalted through the six angles of viewing.-  Port, Dorsal, Forward, Starboard, Ventral, Aft and back to Port.  As it moved, various ships systems highlighted within the wire frame.  Labels appeared and disappeared as appropriate along with stem lines pointing to those systems.

“Under normal circumstances we’d start with basic flight training, but in your case to do so would be an insult to you and a waste of both of our time.  Given your design history, we’ll also skip the in depth look at the Mark III, but I will reiterate a few things you may already know -  With respect to your experience with your test flights and your sims, you have never piloted a fighter at full combat speeds in live combat situations.    The Valkyrie series is a massive impulse assembly strapped to a cockpit and an overpowered weapons platform powered by a warp core all wrapped up in duranium hull plating.  This is to say that for as hard as you’ve pushed this spacecraft, it likely only just scratches the surface of what this thing can do.  The goal of this training is not just to familiarize you with this spacecraft, but to give you enough experience with the spacecraft so that you intuitively know what your ship is capable of as opposed to memorizing specs on a data file.  In live combat, hesitation and indecision gets you killed.  You can not afford to think about what your next move should be or if your ship is capable of the actions you demand of it.  This training will be intense and rigorous.  It will push your limits so that when you do get into live fire, the ship will be as intuitive and instinctual to you as using your own hands.” She noticed his artificial hand, and his eye as if for the first time.  “No offense intended.”

She paused a moment.  “Any questions?  If not then we can get in the simulators and get started.”

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #6 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor was aware that Reggie was assessing him, and his responses were just as any good trainer should do. He listened carefully, keeping the more formal posture of Parade Rest like the part of the cadet he'd been nearly a decade ago. Even the bland grey jumpsuit he was in for this reminded him quite a bit of those days. The key difference was that Reggie was more focused on personal instruction than the Academy instructors had been by his second and final year. He had an open mind, and was generally receptive to most things that Reggie was telling him. There was a slight rankle of annoyance that flicked across his emotions briefly when she mentioned how what he'd done had 'only just scratched the surface of what the Valkyrie's could do.' The flicker of annoyance was brief, but it was there, though only for a moment. The irritation was swiftly replaced by a desire to learn just what he'd been missing, and he was thankful that this would be focused more on the practical aspect of flying. He did however make note of the model of the Valkyrie hovering in the air, paying close attention to everything. Just because he knew the basics didn't mean that he'd ignore them.

There was a slight smile that flicked across his lips when Reggie began telling him about the details of what they were getting into, he just gave the smallest of smiles, feeling better about this as seconds past. And then she apologized for the comment about hands. Victor looks at the cybernetic and shakes his head to Reggie, a small blip of humor spiking his emotions then.  The hand was new, doubly so for this particular hand. But his eye, that had been with him for many years now. That and the purple heart in a box in the quarters were the souvenirs that he had from the battle of Sector 001. That and some mixed feelings regarding the appearance of the Enterprise, anyway, there was time for navel gazing later, for now, there were more pressing things to attend to.

"No apologies needed Lieutenant, I'll tell you about it another time. I do have one question, will you also be in a Mark Three for this, something else, or are we using a two-seat trainer model for this?" He seemed honest in his curiosity, wondering about the actual logistics of this training session. He thought for the barest of moments about the different ways that they could handle this. But either way, Victor was ready. Stretching out his arms and making sure that he was prepared for this was paramount, and feeling good for the training acted as reassurance. There was honest curiosity in the question he asked Reggie.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #7 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae

Reggie sensed Victor’s curiosity with the question, and given it’s genuine nature she forced herself to hold back the chuckle that threatened to erupt.  The two seat training craft was about as insulting given his experience as it would have been to bust him back to basic flight and there was no way in hell she would even simulate in a Mark III.  Any ship that relied on a computer to the work of a RIO was not worth her time.  Not one damn bit. 

“You’ll be flying the standard Mark III, Chief.  I’ll be flying Valravn.  Now if there are no more questions,” she motioned to the gear locker.  “Grab an exosuit in your size and gear up.  We train as we fly.”

There was another damn good reason for her decision, Reggie mused a she shrugged off her duty uniform, stripping down to her undergarments.  She needed more time in the Valravn and with her new assignment as flight leader for the Valravns in the squadron, she wasn’t sure she could admit that openly. 

With practiced ease, Reggie slipped into the under layer and activated the seals, before slipping on the armored boots, torso pack and gauntlets. Once the suit was locked together, she stepped over to where Victor was changing to see how he was making out and, for the first time, wondered if he even knew how to wear an Exosuit.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #8 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


"Grab an exosuit in your size and gear up. We train as we fly."

The words hit him like a bombshell the moment they left Reggie's Mouth, a chill of uncertainty shooting down his spine. He knew he'd be asked to do things that Victor never had to before, and here was the first one. he had to just get into an Exosuit. That alone was a bit of a task for him, he'd have to spend some actual time training to use it later, so it was with a wince that he looked to Reggie and then went over by his pod and called up a  changing room, and a replica of an Exosuit. It wasn't a real one, but it was close enough. After examining it for a moment, Victor frowned slightly and pulled up a basic training manual which was intimidating as hell to wade through. But this was the holodeck, and the safety protocols were on. He knew that he wouldn't get hurt, and he sighed slightly.

"Great, this part is going to be a videogame almost." His tone of voice was less than pleased, squinting slightly at the wearing instructions.  He had to strip down, and he was going commando. He always did in jumpsuits like this. Something about them felt wrong to wear anything under them, partly due to the need to always take a long hot shower after wearing them from getting covered in lubricants and greases from fighter maintenance. And here, this was going to be embarrassing for him. so it was with a sigh that Victor unzipped his jumpsuit and stepped out of it. Folding that up, he sets it on the chair that had come with the dressing room, along with his shoes and socks.

The cool air of the holodeck was biting stingingly against the fresh disruptor scars across his back. While he'd only taken glancing blows, the twin streaks of energy had still torn jagged paths through his epidermis. And it not even being a full day since his treatment in sickbay, the wounds were still red and angry looking even if they didn't hurt. The mass of scar tissue from two different plasma fires on his left side was, in a word, horrific. His face, neck, arm, and side of his chest looked like so much melted wax stretched across a skeleton and an athletic frame. And then there were the old scars on both thighs. These scars brought a flicker of amusement to his face. Victor gained them from having been attacked in an exceptionally rare instance by a creature from the lakes of Vulcan. The faded scars looked like oversized sewing needles laid flat against his skin were regular in the way that only an organic tentacle could be. He still remembered being delirious and stoned from the toxins.

All of him is on full display as he tries to open up the exosuit and get into it. These things required specialized training for a reason, and just looking at the user manual didn't help much. They were drastically different from an EVA suit. With the EVA suit, it was pants, boots, then torso, and gloves in that order. The helmet was always the last to go on. So Victor did his best to replicate that trying to don the pants first, but he found that they got stuck on his legs. He'd heard that the Exosuits had 'resizing' functionality, but he had no idea how to activate that. He hadn't looked at that part of the manual. So this would be a problem. His suit was currently sized for someone of a height about 175 centimeters, not 201.

"By all the prophets and their blessed Emissary, how do I make these pants fit?" He wasn't necessarily asking Reggie, but the man needed help figuring out the exosuit. And loathe as he was to admit it, he did actually need the Lieutenant's help getting dressed in this thing. So it was with a wave of some minor embarrassment and regret that his voice rang out through the holodeck. The resignation and helplessness clearly evident in his voice. The 'pants' of the exosuit weren't even above his knees yet, as he'd somehow triggered the pressure function and they'd sealed around his calves. "Lieutenant, I need some help getting into this."

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #9 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae 

“Lieutenant, I need some help getting into this.”

For some reason, Reggie was unsurprised by this.  Of course he had no exo-suit training.  He was so busy playing ace pilot in the simulator that he hadn’t bothered to read up on his required training.  Oh yeah… she was paying a penance.

She stepped into dressing room two and stopped short, her hand found it’s way to her forehead  and the bridge of her nose.  Victor stood there, looking helpless as ever wearing the body suit which had somehow compressed around his legs up to his knees, leaving the rest of him well atired for a Betazoid wedding.  His scars drew her attention for the moment and while her natural curiosity drew her in, but that story was not hers to request.  If ever Victor cared to share with her, he would in his own time.

“Okay,” she finally said out loud.  “Looks like we’ll need to clear time to go through Exo-Suit training.”

With a sigh, she dropped her helmet to the deck.  Full training would take a solid four hours, but she could crash course him enough to get him through the day’s simulator work.

“Computer,” she ordered.  “Reset exo-suits for Suder and VanVinter and place both in dressing room two.”

The computer beeped and both suits disappeared leaving Victor standing naked, and Reggie standing in her underwear and a bra lined tank top.  A second later the two suits re-materialized in their ready positions.

“Okay,” she said.  “First things first.  While I know it’s tempting, you do *not* want to be naked under the body suit.  There’s no real protocol for wardrobe, but the vast majority of pilots prefer their underwear and a light tank top.  You can wear nothing if you so chose, but chafing can be a thing…sooo…  I strongly recommend you put your underwear back on.”

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #10 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor was caught helpless in his predicament and gallantly remained indifferent at being caught nearly nude. And he was thankful for the necessity of the training and getting the awkwardness out of the way now. At least he was getting some basic help to put the damn thing on.

"Yes we do, Exo-suit training wasn't required for my test-pilot duties. They were considered 'too valuable a resource to assign me to train when we first started using them." Victor rolls his eyes at that, letting out an exasperated sigh as he called up a pair of underwear for himself since he didn't have any with him to start the day. He sighed, and followed the basic instructions both on screen and with help from Reggie. This go-around he managed not to trigger anything accidentally. The bodysuit that went with it was a bit of a new experience for him, and it felt odd on his back, the tight material pressing firmly against the fresh scar tissue.

Once victor had the Exosuit on, he did a quick check to make sure that everything was lined upright or at least appeared to be. The various parts of the suit sitting on him and connected. The suit was still unpressurized and wasn't in a state for actual operations, even if it was holographic.

"Alright, Lieutenant, I think I'm ready to go, and we do need to schedule that training. This thing is far more complicated than the basic flight suit that I'm used to also; you're right about the chafing; this thing is tight." Victor grumbles a little, adjusting as best he can, still unsure about whether or not he liked the feeling of the suit against his skin. But he'd get used to, and he'd have to. And he'd need to see about getting the scar tissue taken care of. Victor hadn't bothered with what he'd seen as a cosmetic issue until now, but across his back and thighs, the pressure suit felt 'lumpy' in places. And he just knew where he had discomfort was where he had heavy scarring. The emotional and physical discomfort was easily readable by the Betazed, and waves of annoyance relating to those radiating from him, even if it wasn't showing on his face.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #11 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae 

Reggie finished putting her own exo suit back on as Victor was getting settled into his own.  The under layer did look a little odd on the Bajoran given his scarring, and it didn’t take Betazoid telepathy to sense just how self conscious he had become in the process.  Once she herself had the body suit on and compressed around her shapely figure, she again addressed her pupil.

“Okay, that’s the hardest part of putting this thing on.  Next comes the armor layer.”  She pulled her own equipment off the racks to show the various components.  “We’ll go into far more detail when we do the full exo-suit training but what you need to know for today is that the chest and torso armor goes on first.”

She slipped the armor over her head and set it into place over her shoulders, clamping it tight around her body.

“Followed then by your preference of either the boots or the gauntlets.  I personally prefer boots first, but you can do whatever is easier for you.”

She stepped into her boots and locked them into place attaching them to the torso armor.

“Finally, for me, at least, the gauntlets.”

She made a show of sliding her right arm into the armored sleeve and showed him where it locked down before she slid her arm back out and set the armor aside.

“Your turn.”

She stood back, giving VanVinter the space to figure it out for himself, but standing ready to assist him if needed.  Keeping the armored gauntlets off for the moment was more of a strategic choice than anything else as she might need to assist him, and doing so would be easier with unarmored hands.  Idly, she wondered how he’d  react to the weight of the armor on his body.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #12 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor sighed a bit, trying to adjust the skin-tight bodysuit layer.  While he wasn't quite so self-conscious, it was more discomfort. And Victor knew very well that any pressure suit that didn't fit comfortably would be a hell of a problem, so he'd need to make a series of appointments to get the scars removed throughout what was liable to be several painful weeks. But that was in the future, now came the act of getting dressed in the exosuit.

The armored panels that Victor was busily pulling onto his legs and hips had an interesting weight. The weight wasn't uncomfortable or anything, but he knew it was there. Victor didn't go incredibly quickly with donning the pieces of the exosuit. He followed the directions, happy to take the time to do this right for the first time. The NCO knew that following directions helped. So it was through following directions that Victor got dressed. He should have gone through this laborious process before, but Victor hadn't needed this training until he needed it. There wasn't any frustration or confusion, though, just a matter of going through the motions.

"Reggie, this is more than I expected we'd be doing. I assumed that I'd be in a regular EVA suit for this, but I don't mind the crash course." Victor smiles for a moment and gets back to work. Victor adjusts the greaves and calves of the exosuit until he hears a click. Victor repeats the process for the chest and his arms, again the slow, careful process of putting everything on. While the chest piece was heavy, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. It took a few more minutes for Victor to get everything except the helmet on and turn around slowly, letting Reggie check the fit and wear of his suit. While this might be something new for him, he was familiar with the buddy system for any EVA suits, which was a significantly more complex version. Victor didn't seem to have any issue with the weight, not right now anyway, it would weigh on him eventually, but he could move well in it even if he was even more aware of the scars on his back.

"Fucking disruptor, goddamn sniper." The scars across his back were the freshest and still stung quite a bit, but he could handle it. He was experiencing more discomfort and a stinging sensation on his back than anything resembling actual pain. and he wasn't exaggerating at all about the sniper causing the freshest of his wounds.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #13 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae‍ 

The Betazoid maintained a respectful silence as Victor worked his way into his Exosuit.  She noticed the scars, of course but made no comment while taking extra effort to close off her telepathic centers lest she inadvertently permit a stray thought to slip from her to him, that was in any way judgmental. 

Once he signaled he was complete, she took her time inspecting the exo-suit.  The fit wasn’t perfect and there were a few things amiss, but for the purpose of todays flight simulation they were good enough. 

“Looks about right.  We’ll fine tune things when we do the full exo suit training, but for our purposes you’ll be fine.”

She reached for his arm and without fanfare keyed the activation sequence in the suit.  It hummed to life as it powered on.

“I’ll skip full orientation for now, Victor,” she said.  “But I’ve activated the suit’s minimal functions which should assist with the weight and the mobility.  Do you have any questions before we get into the cockpits?”

With no questions from Victor, Reggie motioned to the sim pods.

Once both she and Victor were ready and the simulator cockpit sealed she keyed her training PADD to begin the simulation.

“All right,” she said into her helmet comm. “This is a variation of a simulation I taught at flight school.  Essentially it’s a fully randomized series of encounters.  Even I do not know what we will face.  For the purposes of this exercise, you will be flying lead which puts me on your wing.  I’ll still guide you if and when necessary.  But this gives you the needed autonomy to act as you see fit and give me the ability to establish the baseline of your skills and abilities.”

She keyed the PADD to begin the program and the simulatoin around them put the two ships in formation flying at warp.    Victor’s ship flew just off her forward port quarter.

“For the purposes of this exercise, your call sign is ‘Nugget’.  Mine is Gemini as always.”

She rode in silence for a moment, allowing Victor time to settle himself in, ask any questions he might have and when she deemed it an appropriate time, she keyed the last start sequence on her PADD before stowing it.  As if on cue, her screen alerted her to an incoming transmission.

“Recieving a distress call.  Uknown sender, but solid coordinates.  ETA 45 seconds at present speed.”


OOC - Victor's lack of question's prior to getting in the cockpit, determined in consultation with @Tae‍ 

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #14 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor was as prepared as possible for this training session, which he felt was exceptionally so. And with Reggie's watchful eye, He wasn't going to mess up. While Victor was confident that Reggie had seen the scars, they could discuss those later after training.

Finding himself inside the familiar cockpit of the Valkyrie, Victor smiled slightly, not needing to get a feel for it. After all, he was already warmed up, and it felt like the computer still set the controls at the default. Victor noticed the incoming distress call right about the same time Reggie called it out, giving a slight nod that he knew she wouldn't see.

"Affirmative, Yellow Alert, slow to Impulse in thirty..." Victor's voice was calm and almost laconic, with no sense rushing or getting worked up about anything here. Every time he entered the cockpit was 'just like a drill' because it usually was. Victor went through a slow, methodical check of his fighter for twenty-five of the next few seconds. After time passes, Victor raises his shields and prepares to drop to Impulse, and it was a procedure nothing to get worked up about.

"Dropping to impulse in five.. four.. three... two... one." and then the flash of their Valkyries entering standard space in the barest blink of an eye, Victor's count had been precise and even, timing it about as perfectly as anyone organic could. However, where they were was familiar to him, even if there were no landmarks. Checking his scanners, Victor twitched slightly, finding them on the border with the Cardassian Union, along the Bajoran trade routes. Victor had spent a lot of time in the Bajor sector during the war, and the NCO knew how volatile the region could be. This route tan through the Delta sector and into Gamma, passing exceptionally close to Tzenkethi space.

Local space and what mattered, a J-10 Class freighter was under attack by a Naussican frigate and a trio of fighters. A trio of fighters was engaged in strafing actions, taking out what defenses the freighter had, while the Frigate closed in with a tractor beam locked on the freighter. It looked like the hostiles were toying with the defenseless freighter. Victor glanced over to where Reggie was off his starboard aft, wondering if Reggie had programmed this based on his file. Victor tapped a control to open communications to the hostile ships.

"Nausicaan ships, this is Starfleet Patrol Alpha One. You are engaged in hostile acts while in Federation space, disengage and depart local space." While waiting for a response, Victor kept his eye on his scanners. The Naussican Frigate appeared to be lightly armed and would only be an issue if they got close while engaged with the fighters. He switches channels to speak just to Reggie, his slightly nervous voice.

"Nugget to Gemini, I'm not detecting too many weapons on that Frigate, so long as we don't get too close to it, we should be ok for now. The fighters appear to be working on disabling that freighter. Since the Frigate isn't firing, I'd guess that they're working on keeping the freighter's systems suppressed; we're lucky we even heard the distress call." Victor seemed to be speaking from experience here, and maybe he'd elaborate later. While primarily calm, his voice did carry a nervous edge to it. While it wasn't 'real', Reggie could indeed pick up actual anxiety in the NCO, this scenario was far too real for Victor. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his temples while waiting on the Nausican response.

There wasn't a verbal response to the order from Victor, though, and there was a physical one. The hostile fighters broke off from engaging the freighter and headed in a loose formation towards the pair of Federation fighters at full thrust.

"And there's our response Gemini. Time to tango, you go high, I'll go low let's keep a hundred klicks between us and the Frigate until we've swatted down the flies. Weapons hot." Seeing the range closing rapidly on the sensors, Victor throttles up and heads 'down', immediately going into a lateral roll to increase the distance while getting an angle on the fighters. Tapping a few buttons on his console Victor activated the weapons systems of his fighter, more than ready to engage. While they were still a reasonable distance away, that would change quickly, and Victor wanted to make it look like they were running. That way, the hostiles hopefully would keep the engagement away from whatever defenses the Frigate had.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #15 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae‍ 

It was an odd sensation to sit in a simulator like this once again.  Reggie had done it before, of course and each time she had as either student, pilot, or trainer, she had always taken the scenarios seriously.  Even now as she watched Nugget’s reaction and his instructions, she could already see how this would end.  Perhaps it was her tour of duty in the Bajoran sector, or the few flights she had taken during the war that didn’t involve killing Jem’Hadar, Cardassians, or Breen.

She would follow his lead, of course.  She had put herself on his wing.  But before she did, she took a full sensor scan of the frigate and freighter.  Yup.  As she expected.

“Gemini to Nugget.  Scans show the freighter’s engines are offline and the frigate has reinforced their tractor beam.  Looks like they’re intending to keep a firm hand on their prize.”

She banked off, following her leader, but held back swinging her craft around far wider than needed.  This way, if any of the fighters took the bait she could line in behind them.

None bit.

She checked her scans again.

“Gemini to Nugget.  I’m detecting four warp signatures.  Looks like the pirates are bugging out.”

Without waiting for his acknowledgment, Reggie brought her fighter back around.  The scene was as she expected.

The nausicans….and the freighter…were no where to be found.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #16 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor sighed heavily at that, shaking his head just a little bit. He bit his lip and cursed softly to himself. It was a 'rookie' mistake falling for the feint when the pirates just wanted to get out of there with the prize. Noticing Reggie come alongside again without prompting, Victor leaned back in his seat, spending some time deep in thought, analyzing what went wrong.

I should have seen that coming, and I've heard of this happening on the Thunderchild.

"Copy that Gemini, no profit in engaging the enemy and dirtying their ships up. Scanning the warp signatures and plotting intercept, their fighters were out. They couldn't get far not towing a freighter like that, and I don't think Naussican fighters have much range."

Victor looked around, waiting for the simulation to end for a moment. Victor checked his sensors, hoping to see something nearby. It took a moment for him to grasp the situation, and he sighed. The conclusion was obvious, borne from secondhand experience and some scenarios that He'd run previously in training. Any actions close to another nation's border were always a problem, and police and rescue missions like this one could certainly be tricky.

"And we're less than a parsec from the Cardassian border, we can't cross that without causing an incident, and if the pirates were savvy, they warped there. Even dragging a freighter, they can manage a full parsec." His tone of voice was subdued and quiet, making sure to voice his thoughts just so that Reggie would know what he was thinking. Even if this is where it ended, he wanted to get his ideas out as clearly as possible.

Victor's brow furrowed, getting a hit on his sensors, or rather something that wasn't on his sensors. There was something in the asteroid belt, or rather, something not in the asteroid belt. That was curious to him, and it was well worth voicing. After checking out his sensor logs for the last few minutes, the discrepancy was evident.

"Nugget to Gemini, I'm reading a 'void' in the short-range sensors. My sensors showed several asteroid belts with several small planetoids when we dropped in. Now, one of the planetoids appears to be missing. It's not showing on scanners now. Scroll back on your logs and tell me if it isn't there now. I'm betting that's where the pirates took their prize. But we also have no idea what else they have there, suggestions?"

Victor knew well that he was the one flying lead in this training mission, but a poor leader ignored their subordinates and made calls without listening to the more experienced people. If Victor didn't listen to Reggie's suggestions, then he didn't deserve even to wear his Cheif tab, much less eventually wear an Ensign pip. So he needed to listen to Reggie but make his own calls here. Enlisted followed, NCO's lead, and Officers gave orders, but they all had in common that the good ones listened to the advice of their fellow crew.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #17 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn:  @Tae

Having heard Nugget’s report, Reggie checked her own ship’s sensor logs.  She too saw the void in the sensor coverage and the missing planetoid.  But as she accelerated the logs back to the present and watched the data report in real time as the planetoid came back onto her screens. 

So, she thought to herself.  The sensor field isn’t obscuring the planetoid, but rather something moving independently.

Reggie considered the implications.  For as many times as she’d run this simulation sequence, never had the randomizer graced her with this scenario.  No…that was wrong.  She had seen this before.  But in her run through, they had stopped the Nausicans from escaping with the freighter in the first place.  Of course, as the instructor she could read the parameters on the PADD, but it made it more fun to play and see where this went.

“Gemini to Nugget,” she said.  “I’m seeing the same thing, but if you’ll look at the sensor data you’ll see the planetoid is back.”  She paused, as she transitioned into guidance mode…providing him things to consider without trying to imply any one course of action over the other. 

“What this suggests to me is that the void might be some kind of cloaking field hiding something in orbit of the system’s star.  Given the size of it,” she paused to check he readings and verify their positions, “it could be concealing  a small base, multiple ships, or perhaps just a decoy.  Our sensors can’t penetrate the field, and these things don’t come with probes.  Bottom line as I see it, we don’t have enough information to know for sure so that leaves us with two options - we could either roll the dice, go in there and try to deal with whatever it is we find.  That has the advantage of immediate action but leaves us potentially outmatched and screwed.  Our other option is that we contact Starbase 1138 and request reinforcements.  They’re only a couple of parsecs away and at warp 8 reinforcements can be here inside of ten minutes.  That helps us even the odds tactically, but that leaves the freighter at the mercy of the pirates for a longer period of time while we sit out here waiting, and its potential overkill if there’s nothing or very little in there.”

She paused once again, sitting back in her flight chair, content that she had run down as she saw it.

“It’s up to you, Nugget.”

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #18 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor listened to Reggie as he kept an eye on his sensors. His lips pursed tightly as he weighed the options. Go in blind, or wait for reinforcements. There had to be a third option, but splitting up didn't seem reasonable. Victor plotted a course then and squinted at the ship's computer planned for him.

Damn, I'd need at least thirty seconds for that plan to work, and they're too close. Victor began punching in the course and confirming everything that the computer had fed him with a heavy sigh.

"Alright, I thought I could have you hang back for a few seconds and send that call, but no, the math doesn't work out on that. and we can always retreat and call for backup if needed." Victor gritted his teeth and began aligning his fighter with the intercept course.

"Intercept course plotted Gemini, engage in Three, two, one." Nothing after that except for Victor engaging the Warp drive for a short hop to whatever the dampening field was. Victor had no idea what they'd be facing, and while he knew this was a risk, he wasn't going to hesitate against these pirates. His previous action was based on meeting the Dominion in the Thunderchild. While Victor had never flown against them outside of a simulator, sitting in on debrief had put certain expectations in his mind. And now was the time to break that set of expectations. Victor needed to be adaptable and impressive here.

"Dropping from warp in three... two... and one." And with a flash Reggie and Victor should have emerged from warp travel in a tight formation only to encounter...

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #19 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn:  @Tae

Reggie shook her head silently as Victor called in the play.  For some reason, not attributable to her telepathy, she knew he would take them into the void without backup.  He was far too eager to show her ‘what he could do’.  Still, the Betazoid served as the dutiful wingman, locking in the course he had prescribed for them.

Her sensors lit up like the proverbial christmas tree and collision warming alarms sounded the instant she dropped back into normal space, the large hulk growing impossibly large in a mere few seconds.  Instinct took her as she pulled hard to starboard, breaking formation and veering away from Nugget as she evaded.  She pitched up, rolling away, coming within mere meters of striking the debris.  But her alarms did not stop then, as more debris lay in front of her new vector.  This time she pulled hard to starboard, cutting back almost all the way she had come.

“Shit!”

More space trash lay in front of her new heading, these pieces far smaller but more numerous.

“God damnit,” she cursed.  “All stop,” she ordered, pulling her rank.

Reggie had to continue maneuvering as her fighter bled off it’s speed and thrust vectors canceled her momentum, but when her ship finally came to rest, she let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding..  Sensor readings were coming back clear now, and she was finally able to get a feel for where they were.    Their warp jump had dropped them in the middle of a debris field, more accurately described as a starship graveyard.  She could make out six distinct hulks just by looking at them, to say nothing about what lay beyond. 

Sensors provided that answer as they reported the energy readings of the freighter they had originally been trying to rescue, as well as the nausican ship, five other cruisers, and some kind of small station that now had the freighter locked in by a pair of tractor beams.

“Gemini to Nugget.  You still alive over there?”

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #20 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring




Victor was kicking himself mentally when the images on his scanner resolved. The debris and hulks were surrounding them in a maze of metal and ceramic. Victor's collision alarms began blaring immediately, and the skilled pilot could avoid the vast majority of them. Victor deftly dodged the most significant chunks with the barest of margins. And just before the order to stop came through, a piece of debris no larger than his fist collided with the fighter's nose.

And just like that, the front of his craft was compromised, and his scanners failed quickly with his communications. Victor did engage a full stop then, but he hadn't heard any commentary from Reggie. The order to stop had been heeded as a coincidence, but only that.

"Nugget to Gemini, Sensors are non-operational. And I believe I've lost communications. Saya gain, sensors are inop, and communications inop as well."

Self-directed anger washed over the Bajoran then, followed quickly by loathing. Yes, he'd wanted to prove himself to Reggie, but He hadn't wanted to show off. And yet, here he was, floating in space without sensors or communications. A quick diagnostic of his fighter's systems only confirmed what the initial assessment had indicated. There were still a few things that he could do, though, the first of which was to reestablish sensors. It was entirely possible that the debris hadn't wrecked the sensor array.

"Beginning ops check of sensors..." The words were voiced for the record to indicate what he was doing. The NCO began by pulling up the diagnostic panels and then re-initializing the sensor systems of his Valkyrie. After a few seconds, his eyes narrowed slightly, watching the status reports scroll by.

"Short-range and targeting systems destroyed. Long-range sensors are functional at forty percent resolution. Communications are also inoperative. Without functional short-range sensors, no short-range communications are possible." And this was the last situation that he wanted to find himself in, blind and deaf, with nothing he could do in a potentially hostile area. This was how people died and, even worse, got others killed.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #21 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae‍ 

Nugget did not reply. 

Reggie repeated the hail.

Nugget did not reply.

After a few minutes of radio silence, Reggie checked the instructor’s PADD that managed the simulation.  He had no sensors and no communication.  He was blind and deaf.

And dumb.

She checked her own status on the PADD as it was easier to pull the checklist there than it was within the simulated cockpit.  Her weapons control was down, her warp engines were toast and her impulse was barely functional.  She was paralyzed.

So, he could fight, but he could not see.  She could see but she could not fight.

Reggie considered her options, wondering which would provide a deeper impact.  Based on the instructor notes, an enemy patrol would land on them within minutes.  Should she let it play out or just kill the sim now?

She opted for the latter.  While it might be fun to make Victor sit there and watch his wingman get killed before getting killed himself.  But doing so might backfire and look as though she were trying to gloat and lord herself over him.  No.  Better to cut this off at the head.

“Computer,” she said.  “Freeze simulation, both pilots.”

The computer beeped just before the drifting debris and flight instruments froze.  She coupled her helmet and keyed the simulator pod open.  For some reason, her legs gave out on her and she had to steady herself on her pod.  That…was odd.  She’d been in flight for far longer and her lower body had never given way like that.  She must have pulled something.

She tossed her helmet in to the simulator cockpit, strode over to Victor’s simulator, keyed the canopy open from the outside, and waited until the lid was fully  open before she spoke.

“Congratulations, we’re both dead.”

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #22 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor sighed when he heard Reggie's voice again, and he smacked his head back into the flight seat, feeling a bit of shame. Victor knew that he was a good pilot but was terrible when t came to combat, and this was the evidence. All of the evidence that he needed was that he wasn't yet ready for combat.

"Right, that was not great... How would you have handled this?"

While Victor indeed failed this exercise, he was more than open to learning, after all, learning was a huge part of this, and this was absolutely a learning experience. There wasn't anything else for Victor to do at the moment, just sit and listen to his teacher and wait for orders.

He could have taken multiple options, and anything else could have been better. But still, the NCO waited on input from the actual combat pilot. Whatever navel-gazing Victor could do wouldn't be anything useful.

"Running simulations isn't the same as actual training..." It turned out that Reggie was right and that Victor had been just playing video games. He didn't give anywhere near the forethought that was actually required.

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #23 –
[Lt. Regiene “Reggie” Suder  | Holodeck 03 | Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Tae‍ 

Reggie felt, as much as she saw and heard Victor’s demeanor change.  Gone was the arrogance of a test pilot who knew his machine and wanted nothing more than to impress his flight instructor.  In his place was an embarrassed and humbled student who had learned a valuable lesson that would stay with him for the rest of his life. 

Even so, she had not expected his question, asking her how she’d fly the op, probably one of the most relevant questions he’d asked since they started.  Not because her ego was stroked by being asked.  But because, possibly for the first time, he seemed more interested in learning, than showing off.

Reggie pulled up a holographic chair and sat down, crossing her armored legs and, for a moment she wondered just how alluring she might look right now.

“That is a great question, and sadly there’s no easy answer.  Sitting in a cockpit in a live combat scenario is one of the most fast paced and intense experiences anyone will ever have.  Instinct is just as important as training but to develop that instinct requires not only the training and drilling, but also time and experience.”

She paused, realizing she wasn’t actually answering the man’s question.

“The two words I’d stress for you are ‘situational awareness’.  Flying combat requires the pilot to maintain situational awareness at all times.  What is your objective?  Where are your friendlies?  Where is you wing?  Where are your opponents?  Who is in trouble?  All those answers change by the second.”

She paused again.

“In the case of the simulation, you can not lose sight of the objective.  That was saving the civilian ship.  Had it been my op, we would have disabled the pirate frigate right off.  One pilot would have gone after the tractor beam, while the wingman would have covered their flight leader against the enemy fighter escort.  Pirates operate on a cost vs reward strategy and once we had collectively proved to them the cost of engaging us in battle was greater than they bargained for in order to obtain the reward of that civilian ship, I can just about guarantee you they would have turned tail and ran.  Had we succeeded there, the incident at the base would never have happened.  Instead, we became too focused on the escort fighters and allowed them to lure us away and give the frigate an open window to complete their kidnapping operation.”

Reggie took a moment to watch her student.  She’d been speaking instructively, but at the same time was trying to keep her tone firm but gentle so that she didn’t sound like she was trying to tear him apart.

“As to the base itself,” she paused.  “Again situational awareness.  You get to a blind spot in the sensors where the enemy is clearly taking refuge.  Two small fighter craft jumping in blind is asking for trouble.  In that case, I would have called in the backup from Starbase 1138.  Ten minutes would have been a small price to pay if it meant having resources on site that were equipped for the operation at hand.”

“That said, we wouldn’t have just sat there waiting.  We would have probed the perimeter, to see what data we could have gathered until the calvary arrived.  We still would have gone in, but would have done so under starship cover.”

Reggie took a breath after that litany, slightly worried she’d overloaded Victor with information.

“Sorry,” she conceded.  “That was a lot to unload on you.  What questions do you have about all that?”
 

Re: Day 01 [1300 hrs.] A rocky start

Reply #24 –
CPO Victor van Vinter | Deck 21 Holodeck 03| Vector 03 | Attn: @P.C. Haring


Victor took a moment to process the feedback that Reggie had for him, and he just nodded. A lot of the information was fair and well thought out. Clearly, this was why Suder had been put into a flight training posting, and it was evident that Starfleet needed more like her. It was all information that he was able to use in the future.

"You're right about the situational awareness. I'm used to having to focus on fewer things. Where I'm going and whatever diagnostic I've got running. I'll get back to you with a report on what I could have done differently. Training like this is a learning experience. Honestly, though, I'm just glad you didn't critique the actual piloting. Of course, that could just be because my errors were so glaring."

Victor was usually cocky and full of himself, so he seemed honest with that last statement and reflected on his errors. "I'm not discouraged. It's just a new process for me. Anyway, I think we have a social event to get to or something. Work Hard, party hard, right?" The deflection was terrible, but this is what Victor did when he actually needed to focus. Get his mind off the negative and work on what he can.

~FIN
 
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