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CH01: S | New Pack, Old Teeth

CHAPTER 01: SUPPLEMENTAL | NEW PACK, OLD TEETH



"In fuga fœda mors est; in victoria gloriosa." - Cisero
Translation: 'In flight death is disgraceful; in victory, glorious.'
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Tactical CONN
[Show/Hide]
In her underwear, Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala quickly put her white hair up while standing in front of her locker - the overhead light touching her Romulan ears.

The klaxon of Yellow Alert having sounded already, she was feeling the thrill of the hunt, despite what had happened at Starbase 84, and her being on a dubious ship. She tried not to think about her father's words, just efficiently going through the steps and motions that had been drilled into her muscles. The rest of her uniform had been tossed into her locker along with her flight jacket, and next, she lifted her Tac CONN exosuit out of its compartment and began to shimmy her way into the snug thing. There were other wolves there too, those who hadn't suited up already, and she helped two of them close the back seals before Vinnie did so to hers - her trusted RIO appearing behind her. "Look at the bright side, we never got this much action at Luna Base."

"What's not to like?" said Devyrie, even though she didn't entirely mean it. She still didn't feel like she belonged in the new Squad.

As her RIO worked the seals, Dev turned her ridged forehead to the side. She spotted Alessia, and seeing her changing reminded her about what they had done that first night aboard the Theurgy. She wondered what Angel had done last night, wondering if she had been in company with someone since she hadn't found her. Oh, she knew had no right to ask if what they had in terms of memories together mattered in the long run. Despite the pending chance for getting into battle anew, she was in deep thoughts when she heard Vinnie speak again. "Are you ready?" he asked, his helmet under his arm - blue eyes glinting in excitement.

"After you, Fury," she said in her Alpha Centauri accent, pushing her doubts aside with a quiet smile before they ran out to their Valravn together, helmets in hand. On the way there, Dev passed people in yellow jumpsuits, the armament teams scrambling to stock up all the fighters with armaments in accordance to pilot preferences.

"Who are we launching against? I thought we were in hiding?" asked Vinnie, climbing up the fighter stairs that had been pulled up for them.

"I have no idea," said Devyrie, looking down towards the Valkyrie fighters, "but I suspect Razor will tell us."


[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Fighter Bay Ops
[Show/Hide]
Having been caught cleaning out the last emitter housing on one of the Valravn fighters, Liam Herrold was covered in grime, sweating like a pig, yet nonetheless walking among his own deck crew, shouting orders with the upper part of his jumpsuit hanging from his hips. "Come on! You know the drill. Careful there, that's no empty mirco torp casings you are handling. Hey, what are you waiting for? The loading ramp is right there!"

Wiping his forehead, Liam turned towards the aft section of the bay, seeing that that half of his team were making terrible time stocking up the Valravn fighters, and even though he could understand their unfamiliarity with the beasts, the'd had plenty of time since last night to learn the protocols. As Head of Weaponry and Ordinance, he did not want to apply too much pressure on them either, since mistakes were prone to blow up in everyone's faces, literally. "Keep your heads straights over there..."

Picking up a cloth from one of the tech trolleys, Liam wiped his neck and his hands as his light blue eyes kept an eye on his team. Slowly, he walked up next to Sten Covington, but before he got there, he met the eye of Chief Ji, and while he wanted to smile to her, this was not the time and place, but the jolt he felt when their eyes met was undeniable. Memories of what they had done in the botched Valravn simulation were hard to discard, especially since it was just an hour ago. He had to try and push it from his thoughts. Focus, Liam. Hearsay held Chief Ji had been with Covington, but the details were sketchy, and he hadn't asked. None of his business. Still, it felt a bit awkward coming to stand on Covington's right side when knowing this.

"Fighters loaded up within the minute, Chief," he said, putting the cloth in one of his pockets before pulling on the upper half of his jumpsuit - covering the wing tattoos on his chest. He might not be a pilot, but he was the one that made sure that something happened when they pulled the trigger on whatever awaited them outside the ship. "Phaser conduit and emitter housing diagnostics on all Valkyries and Valravns checked out this morning, thanks to the Gamma shift. They're good to go."

So strange, that it wasn't Erik Randall standing next to him - the loss still keenly felt. It was almost as strange seeing the scope of the larger fighter bay when in full activity. He had lost count how many times he was reminded that this wasn't the Resolve he served on any more.

OOC: Introduce your fighter pilots and fighter bay characters in the new Episode! Yellow Alert has been sounded, which means all hands ready. Flight suits on, get them into the cockpits (with their RIOs if they have any) and run pre-flight checks. Here is a rudimentary list of checks to make: [Show/Hide]
You may all pick and choose which hard-points are mounted on your characters' fighters. Available hard-points can be found on the individual fighter pages in the database. Here is the Valkyrie's page, and here is the Valravn's.

Furthermore, here is the current Squad Org Chart, only Havenborn, Tessa May Lance and Zrinka are on the Sabine mission, so @Nolan will have Thomas Ravon sort that up In-Character here in this thread, and brief the pilots that it's the Asurians out there. Click link for the chart: Lone Wolves Squadron Org Chart Please note your Wolf designations, as in Wolf-Zero-Two, Wolf-One-Three etc. for comm talk later on. Callsigns works too, of course. :)

Finally, here is the Fighter Assault Bay map, where you can see the numbers on the deck and locate where your character's fighter is at: [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #1 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Tactical CONN

As the yellow alert sounded Thomas looked up from his Valkyrie as he was doing a visual inspection of the bird. He had already been suited up in his flight suit as he had planned to take the fighter out on a patrol mission in order to get a bit closer to the new pilots and frankly just to get away from those four walls and a desk that was called his office. The frown on his brows indicated that something was not going to plan. Furthermore his squadron was not up to full strength with three pilots on mission. It'd be a test to see how well the different flight groups would work together. There hadn't been time or  practice to integrate the Val'raven and Valkyrie pilots to work as a well oiled machine.

It did only take a few seconds after the yellow alert that the jumpsuits seemed to be crawling out of the deck plates, rushing around with ordinance. His fighter being loaded with the additional Hellbore torpedoes and Hellhound cluster bombs. It would certainly make his fighter a bit more sluggish to fly, yet the firepower was worth it. He nodded at the deckhands and stepped aside to let them do their job. While they armed his fighter he used the stair to climb into the cockpit and started running his pre flight diagnostics before tapping his comms "All Tac CONN pilots, report to your designated fighter ASAP."

While the basic diagnostics and engines flared up green he started to get more information from both Cameron Henshaw and Carrigan Trent about the reason why yellow alert had been sounded. He processed the information without a change in his facial expressions as he looked up to see who else he needed to get aboard their ship before he could address his pack. Here and there he saw the last few pilots running to the ladders to get in their fighters and once he had accounted everyone he smiled as a feeling of melancholy ran through his body.

"Afternoon pilots." he stated clearly as he looked around slowly as if trying to make eye contact with every fighter in the bay "As you might've heard the yellow alert has been sounded. The reason for this is that the Asurians have located us and are currently hailing our ship. We are on stand by should the situation escalate. Therefor run your preflights and report in when there are any problems or when you checked out for flight. Razor out."

While listening to the sound off or eventual problems that occurred, Thomas looked down at the squadron lay out lighting up on his screens. He had refrained from appointing roles just yet as if things would go smooth for once, there would be no reason to launch. With a beep his systems registered the installed hardpoints as his final pre flight check flared green. "Wolf Zero-one to mission ops, we're ready to go on your signal." he called out to the bridge as the sound offs seemed to be in the green for everyone.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #2 –
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton, LT Talidenai "Terror" zh' Idenna, LT JG T'Zantha "Sniper", LT JG Cameron "Witch King" Ward, & Ensign Tallanyreen "Aria" sh'Kandros| Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: Tactical CONN

With an ease given to him by weeks of being on the run as apart of the Harbinger's air wing and now the Theurgy's, Chris had become too adept at putting on the Tactical Conn's signature exosuit in a rushed combat expectant situation.

A fact that he ruefully regretted having to learn as the last servo closed the connectors around his right foot closed into a seal before he stood up to grab his helmet, "Another day in the coal mines." he grumbled.

"Aw come on now, Husker, it isn't all bad." quipped Cameron Ward as he reached behind him to yank his own helmet out of his locker. "It's like we're late to a dance or anything." he added with a grin.


The Asgardian native simply rolled his eyes as he started to make his way across the locker room, his helmet held firmly in his grasp as he thought about how true Ward's statement was as his planned date with Ji had now been put on hold due to alert.

It wasn't uncommon for issues to change on a moment's notice due to the ship's existence of being on the run and he had accepted that during his brief time with the ship so far, as it was hard to make connections when the wrong moment could happen and a stray torpedo could blow a chunk of starship into the vast open nothingness of space or the right phaser barrage from an enemy fighter could shatter his shields and armor to leave him nothing more than a mist of frozen meat and water to be vaporized in a nanosecond later.

His mind, normally clear during times like these, was full of worry and doubt due to what happened earlier that day..when he saw the look in her eyes..

Chris stopped long enough to duck into the gym, closing his eyes and trying to focus on regaining his focus, his center, but instead only one thing came to his mind and he understood what he had to do.

Chris sat his helmet down on a bench before removing the PADD strapped to his thigh and inputting a couple commands into it before bringing it up to his face.

As much as he wanted to be dressed for their date rather than in a uniforms and flight suits, he had even shaved for their date as he wanted to make a good first impression on her with what would have been technically their second date as he had recalled her calling the meal on her couch the night before as their "first date".  Now necessity governed what he was about to do while he waited for his fighter to be readied.  He wanted to do this in person but Ji was no doubt already out on the deck, getting the birds ready for the battle to come.

He pictured the face of the young woman from Seoul and his expression turned a little bit more somber and serious as he imagined looking her in those brown eyes of hers.  He longed to hold her hand, to kiss her, or to even embrace her.  However, he had to be quick as the yellow alert klaxon was sounding, and so he spoke rapidly to the PADD right after hitting 'record message'. He cleared his throat and spoke from his heart. "I wished that I could say this in person but it can't wait." he started before taking a calming breath, his eyes showing how much concern he was feeling. "Before I say anything, Ji, I wanted to apologize for being a complete and utter idiot earlier today," he said in a honest and serious tone. "When you said that you wanted to give this... whatever this is with us... a real try with me, I got a little bit overexcited because I wanted to show you how serious I was taking you in this and I think that I may have come off as trying to go too fast or make you feel like I wasn't respecting you which was the complete opposite of what I was trying to do..."

He blinked for a moment, his nervousness was evident as was the very visible form that this had been on his mind all day because here was the first woman that he actually really liked and he didn't want to screw things up with her... not right out of the gate... and it quite possibly showed in his eyes.  Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he continuing with "I really like you, Eun Sae Ji, and if I could do over this morning without any of the accidental pushiness that occurred I would gladly take it because I meant every word of what I said to you because you are the first person that I've felt this way about and I don't know where to go from here but I do know that I don't want to chase you away.."

Chris closed his eyes for a moment, took another deep breath before opening them again, and pictured himself looking into those lovely brown eyes of hers. His gaze was now unfaltering and honest to the point of letting her see how much he cared and liked her-laying himself open much like earlier when he kissed her during their breakfast.  When he started to speak, he went slowly like he was trying to make sure that he was saying each word but he stumbled over trying to say certain words as he was trying to speak to her in Korean, the language of her birth;

"naega meomulgehaneunde pil-yohan geos-eul baeul su-issge dowajuseyo, ji."

It was now out there for her.  He ended the recording and pressed "send immediately".  It would instantly go through the ship's comm system and appear on the PADD that Ji had on her at all times while on duty.

Chris then replaced the PADD into his slot on his thigh, picked up his helmet, and stepped out of the gym, making his way down the corridor and onto the flight deck proper with his right hand clenching tightly as he went.

Eventually he reached his fighter and started to do a quick visual inspection when he saw Ji giving a report to Sten, hoping that she would be okay before he climbed up the short ladder to his cockpit and gave her one last look before he turned away to put his helmet on as the canopy closed.

Chris then started to go through his checklist, looking over that he had his usual payload onboard which made him smile just a little bit before his expression became grim again.

Once he was finished, Chris tagged the squadron's channel. "This is Husker, Valkyrie Seven Two Four Two, unit sign Wolf Zero Eight is green across the board." he said, his mind already starting to focus on his duty.


////////////////////////

Cameron watched as the scowling man simply walk out of the locker room without saying another word to which he couldn't help but shake his head before turning to face his former SCO. "Not much fun that one, Terror."  he quipped.

Tali rolled her own eyes in turn, "Chris tends to focus inward when it comes to preparing for combat, Ward." she explained as she slipped her right arm into the exosuit sleeve. "You've met his oldest brother, you know how Slaytons focus on impending combat."

This brought a look of shock from Cameron. "You're kidding me, he's old Stone Face's kid brother?" he asked, actually surprised.

Tali didn't respond at first but instead flicked her eyes over to Cameron's RIO in Aria who simply gave her a look that read "And now you know my suffering." before Tali went back to focusing on getting her own suit sealed up.

"Well, each of us prepare for combat in our own way like us Wards tend to celebrate combat and the possibility of death because to do otherwise dishonors those who are about to die." Cameron said with a faint grin as he then thumped Aria on the left shoulder who couldn't help but smile as well. "Come on, Aria, I want to see how Miki looks." before turning to head out of the locker room as well, Aria close behind.

Once the odder members of her former command had left the room, Tali's face shifted into a worried state as her eyes flicked over to Chris' locker and wondered how much what happened on the Harbinger and the Theurgy had done to damage his own confidence.

T'Zantha walked over and laid a hand on her lover's shoulder. "He'll be fine, my Ko-telsu." Sniper said in a soft tone before she reached over and gently turned the andorian's face to face her own before leaning in and kissing her wing-mate on the lips quickly and tenderly. "We will help him through his pain but we need to survive this first."

Tali looked into the pale red eyes of her longtime partner before nodding slowly in agreement. "Alright...battle first, help later." she said softly in agreement before turning away from Sniper to grab her own helmet. "Now come on, there are asses to kick and they won't kick themselves."
////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile Cameron and Talla walked across the hanger bay until they finally reached Wolf-15 at which point Cameron ran his left hand over the aft side launchers with a smile before the two slipped into the cockpit and started to seal it up, Aria started doing her half of the pre-flight checks while Cameron himself wanted to check out his weapons load out as he did his own half of the check-list.

The "Witch King" let out a low whistle of appreciation after his suit linked the tactical systems to his suit's TVD. "Aria, I think someone loves me because we're packing not only extra torpedo launchers but also some of those lovely hellborne torps as well!" he explained with a smile.

"Strut fields are in the green as is sensors and comms." Aria said as she finished up doing a couple of checks before adding her own connection to the TVD and seeing what he meant. "Well if you like it so much then you might want to thank the head of weapons for the wing, Cammie." she teased.

A smile came across Cameron's face as he opened a private channel. "This is Lieutenant Ward to Chief Herrold, I'm loving the weapons load out that you equipped me with. I owe one hell of a steak dinner later, handsome." he said in a warm tone before wrapping up his own flight check.

As he did so, he say the indicators for Wolves Zero-Nine and Zero-Ten light up along with Zero-Sixteen which meant that a good chunk of the old White Wolves were ready for combat as the voice of Lieutenant Commander Ravon crackled through the comms.

"Afternoon pilots. As you might've heard the yellow alert has been sounded. The reason for this is that the Asurians have located us and are currently hailing our ship. We are on stand by should the situation escalate. Therefor run your preflights and report in when there ar any problems or when you checked out for flight. Razor out."

Cameron kept an indicator to let him know to show when and if Chief Herrold replied as he opened up his connection to the squadron's channel. "This is Witch King in Zero Fifteen, we are green across the board." he said clearly into the channel.

*This is third flight, Terror in Wolf Zero Nine. We are clear and green.*

*This is Wolf Ten, Sniper. We are in green and ready.*
=============================

OOC:
"naega meomulgehaneunde pil-yohan geos-eul baeul su-issge dowajuseyo, ji."
translates into English/Federation Basic from Korean as:
"Help me learn what it takes to make you stay, Ji."

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #3 –
[Ens Nathanial "Icarus" Isley | Wolf 0-4 | Fighter Assault bay] Attn: Tactical CONN
[Show/Hide]

Nathan was stepping through the showers in the locker room when the yellow alert sounded. After his encounter with his 'older brother' Drauc T'Laurs he had gone about the rest of his day, and since the pilots had been on standby and he had been up since three AM, he had taken the time to go back to his quarters and sleep.

Now he was naked, sweaty, with a bad case of bedhead, and being told to get to his ship as quickly as possible. Thankfully the sweet sense of mercy was that he didn't need to go far to grab his flight suit. Going up to the locker, he grabbed a towel the least he could do was try to take some of the sweat off his body before he got dressed in his tactical armor.

He had been wrearing the stuff on and off for the last two days. Since coming back to the wolves he had been studying his bird, he had  gone through flight checks, and even run a few simulations in the holodeck to make sure his week in security didn't dull his flight skills. That plus the fact that he had been on patrol once all made him confident that he could fly under the blue and highly explosive conditions that they were going to face today.

Dressing as quickly as he could he walked out onto the flight deck, his bedhead now obscured with his helmet as he listened to Ravon speaking to his pilots. He honeslty didn't know if Ironfox could have said it better or not, he did not envy the other pilot for having to lead this rag tag group and he probably couldn't have done the job nearly as well as Ravon had in terms of keeping everything together.

Walking up to his bird, wolf 0-4 it was pretty much right where he had left her after he and papa bear had given her a run down and reset to his flight controls. Since it had been idle since black opal it still had the tetryon cannon mounted to it, something Nathan was not about to fly with again.  "Considering the explosive conditions that we are facing out there it would be nice to have something that won't set off the clouds of gass while I'm inside them."

"Hey." Nathan pointed to a green lizard that was on the flight deck, the enormous creature was seemingly looking over a pad and helping the flight crew. The large creature nodded as Nathan gestured to him. "Sorry for lack of formalities big guy, but I need some help getting that off my ship, and my bird mounted with torpedoes."

[P02 Sithick | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy]

Sithick was on loan to the fighter assault bay, in truth it was one of those places he wanted to work. Not because he dreamed of being a pilot those suits would never fit him and the ships looked cramped and small as he stood next to them. Rather he was fascinated by the other smaller ships. While he was fine working on Thea's various compartments there was something unique in the puzzle solving involved in these smaller vessels. So when the need for a new hand on deck had come up Sithick had volenteered to help.

His briefing had gone over well, and he himself was now assisting with the ships, getting them ready to fly and doing quick inventory checks to make sure they had enough weapons to cover the birds. When he heard a shout across the room, he nodded and turned towards the room. He had never met the pilots, Sithick was usually an isolated creature, and he didn't really mind being called big guy, it was probably one of the lesser of offensive names, the pilot even appologized so Sithick just nodded and got to work dismounting the heavy cannon, and also sending a ping out for what he was going to replace it with. Taking a cart at a time to get the ship loaded up with like the pilot had asked for missles.

"I think this shall work for you." The lizard spoke with his female translator not wanting to use his real voice and tongue considering how different it sounded and also the harder to understand accent.

"We has two extra torpedo mounts, both loaded with 5 MK17 torpedoes, this should make lots of boom. Since we do not know the shielding type of asurans I have equiped one MK 1 Helbore on the left wing, and on the right wing I have balanced it with a standard quantom torpedo, both make big boom, do not fire anything until enemy shield is down for maximum damage yes?"

Sithick watched as the human nodded pleasantly and got into his ship to start running preflights, As sithick got to taking away the larger tetrion cannon, and help the next pilot in need of modification of their ship.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #4 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@Auctor Lucan @CanadianVet @Kaligos

Diagnostics.... diagnostics................ come on you fucking piece of shit finish the diagnostic I have a shit ton of other stuff to take care of.  Ji's leg bounced up and down with energy that she didn't really have to waste or expend.  It had already been a long day with the promise to be longer.  She thought back to the holodeck.  Was that really an hour ago? she thought to herself as her eyes never once strayed from the screen in her hands.  She had a good time there, and had wished that they didn't have to rush back to work.  After all their time together, she had kind of found herself wanting to lay beside him, talk.  Pillow talk, wasn't that what it was called? 

Time for that later, Eun Sae.

The device in her hand chimed and she looked down.  Everything was green, the fighter was ready when she might be needed.  She ducked into the cockpit more, bending at the waist.  A quick hand unplugged the male from female conduits and she closed the hatch.  Twisting the small turn lock she shifted so that she could get out of the fighter's cockpit again, only to hear the alert sound.

Instantly, she looked up.

Fuck, what the fuck is happening now.

She had no doubt that the fighters would be needed.  It wasn't just the flood of the pilots coming out half in their exosuits pulling them on while they walked to their fighters, others emerging fully suited.  It was the fact that they were at the fucking moon base and who knew what the fuck was goin on out there but whatever it was it seemed to be time for action.  Defense, offense, who knew.  She didn't really care, she just had to make sure that everything was ready to go.  That was her job now.  She didn't wait another second, she jumped onto the large stairs and took them down three at a time.

“Jim!  Get those trollies out of here and secured in the maintenance storage areas.  Make sure that everyone has all their shit together.  No tools left on the deck or in the machines.” 

She moved, she was quick, she might be little but she was fierce and she as excellent at projecting her voice when she needed to be.  A couple running steps later, she noticed yellow clad feet hanging out of one of the engine compartments.  Her eyes shifted to the partner on task.  “Gleebson, get who ever that fuck that is out of that compartment. Close her up, this is an alert, there's no time for that shit.”

She continued moving. 

“All deck hands this is Chief Ji.  Any and all tools must be in the maintenance areas.  Do not leave your shit anywhere.  Pick up and move all trolleys, tools, and various parts.  Close all engine hatches.  This is not a drill.  Flight crews are here.  Make way for them, they need space to get out of here.” she said to her combadge so that all the mechanics and engineers down here would know what to do.  The flight deck was a bustle of activity in moments.  They knew it was go time. 

She saw Liam rushing across the deck, she couldn't miss the upper body that she had quite memorized just an hour ago glistening in the LCARS unit on the holodeck.  She knew that he was heading over to Sten probably so that they could both report in and give the Chief of the Deck what was going on.  She followed at a low jog and finally caught up with them.  Liam was pulling his work suit on.  Hers was already secure and zipped up on her front to just above her chest.  She slid her hands in her pockets as her eyes met his blue ones.  She didn't smile, though she really wanted to.  He didn't smile either.  They had jobs to do, and professionalism needed to reign right now.  Even though she wished that she could do something for him.  To show him that she still thought fondly of their time.  She didn't even notice the slight blush that colored her cheeks as he gave Sten his report.

She gave a nod and her dark eyes turned to her boss.  The blush on her cheeks faded.  She had no desire or attraction to Sten.  Not any longer, and honestly, the way he had sent her off on the Harbinger had pretty much sealed away anything she thought she might have wanted with him.  That and the feeling of betrayal and how temporary her position here could be.  She didn't like to think of herself as disposable.  A lot of emotions played on her face as she looked at her boss, but none of them were of attraction or desire. 

“The flight deck is clearing now, we'll be good to start getting the fighters prepped for launch momentarily.  All systems are currently green, on all the fighters that you'll be needing that aren't marked for further maintenance.” she reported quickly. 

Standing this close to Liam, she could not help but by hyper aware of him.  Of what they had done, what they could be in the future which hung heavily over her head.  She knew they would need to talk, but right now they had work to do.  The fighters needed them right now, and they had work to do.  The ship needed this deck to run efficiently, and right now, it was in Sten's hands.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #5 –
[ Ens. Krystal "Meony" Tancredi | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Nolan, @DocReno & @Kaligos
[Show/Hide]
Meony was beginning to think that she was still on the Resolve and the Theurgy was just some long-winded crazy-ass dream and that she really ought to lay off the Romulan ale. Except she hadn't been drinking all that much lately. Between adjusting to life aboard Thea, and spending quality time in sickbay recovering from one insanity after another, it was all she could do to just keep up with things. She spent the evening in sickbay yesterday, after the Devoted had given her a severe beating. If Silim Parnak hadn't been there...

...well she wouldn't be here today to find out what had a hornet up everyone's skirts.

She had been on her way for more simulator training with a Valkyrie Mark III, so she was already suited up. There was a lot of re-acclimatization for her, having spent a few years fighting in a type-8 shuttle, a far cry from a space superiority craft like a Valkyrie or those lovely Valravns. Plus, the Mark III had some significant new modifications, including the removal of RIO seats, though that was something she'd already gotten used to, the shuttle not having a need for a secondary pilot. Her two prize pistols from her time in the Unknown Regions, Flash and Burn, were not on her, because she hadn't been expecting to be called for actual flight status. In fact, she wasn't even sure that she was cleared for flight. But she supposed she could manage, after she made the passing score the last three times, though the adjustment to the speed controls were still touch-and-go.

She was adjusting her hat to hang comfortably behind her while she raised her helmet to fix on when she was distracted by the sight of Liam Herrold and her mind flashed a memory of him with Erik Randall, and the host of emotions that came with the knowledge that Erik was no longer with them. So she had no time to register there was a fucking huge-ass two-legged lizard in her haphazard path, therefore she aggressively introduced her nose and lips to his side, “HWAOUF!”

She bounced off him, the force of her impact as mighty as a feather against a mountain, even in armour, and she landed painfully on her rump, her TAC CONN helmet plopping on her head messily. Shunking it off, she crankily broke out with “Who in Sam Hill's name had da braht ideah ta place a green scaly wall of...oh howdy do...” said Meony when she finally noticed that the wall was actually a tiny godzilla. Tiny...for a Godzilla, still fucking huge for any other sentient. He looked strong enough to heft a Valkyrie or four and maybe juggle them, with the pilots inside. Scrambling to her feet, she gazed up at the Gorn thoughtfully, and then fixed her helmet on properly, bundling her hair into the suit, “Pardon meh, Ah hope Ah didn't hurt ya or anythin'. Fuck, Ah gotta run.”

With that, she was off, going for the Valkyrie that had the least decoration on it. She was Wolf Oh-Seven, so she remembered being told, and she listened to the SCO, Thomas Ravon giving the rundown. “Ass-Urine?” said Meony, “Geez do Ah feel sorry for 'em.”

She clambered into her fighter, but was unaccustomed to the tight fit compared to the liberal space of the shuttle, and soon found herself head first where her feet would be, while said feet were waving wildly in the air, “GAHD-DAMMIT! ARGH!” She struggled around and eventually got into position, quickly running her pre-flight checks. Eventually confirming all green to Thomas, “Only thing wrong is Ah ain't flahn out there yet!”

She keyed in the codex and looked up her wingmate, and addressed him on a private channel, “Wolf Eight, dis is Wolf Seven, ya all set there?”

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #6 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]

It was good to have a solid team working with him again. 

Yes, Sten had sent Ji away to Harbinger, thinking it would be best for the two of them to be separated after the incident with that pseudo-god they'd encountered earlier.  Oh, he had been  mistaken and badly so, but what was done was done.  And now that he had her back, he knew he had someone he trusted implicitly as the head of fighter power and propulsion.  And she was a quick learner, especially when it came to those bloody abortions from Knight's mind.  The Valravn fighter was fine on paper, but in the hangar of a ship where every cubic inch was at a premium?  Not so much. 

As for Herrod?  The man was clearly pining for his old Chief of the Deck, and it was clear he tried in small ways to make Theurgy's bay feel much like the one he'd lost on the Resolve.  As a rule it wasn't entirely bad, and he did run an effective weapons and ordnance section.  And, being the most qualified hand he had available, he was a good fit to step into the late Marquette's shoes as his right hand. 

So, when Yellow Alert blared and word to prepare fighters for launch came, they were already in motion to arm more than just the alert birds and to clear the flight line.  Initially, Theurgy's deck gang were all handpicked people.  A small few had come from the Mk III project and there were a few that were fresh out of training from the fighter support crew program, but mostly he'd drawn them from ships and starbases based not just on their performance, but their adaptability, ability to learn, and willingness to work hard.  It hadn't translated solely as the ones with the best personnel evaluations, but he knew he had a crack team under his leadership.  They had taken losses, and they'd had to integrated people from Harbinger and Resolve, and even start training a few hands from scratch, but they were his Bear Cubs. 

Stepping out of his office, Covington had a full-sized engineering PADD in hand as he started to review the birds as they were being prepped for launch.  And, to his people's credits, all were showing in the green... until... "NEKO!" He bellowed across the deck.  His was a powerful voice that needed no amplification.  "Power down your engines!  Weapons cold!  You got a red light on inertial dampeners!  Sithick, get in there and get them working!"  And further down the list he went, until another entry got his attention.  It was fairly minor, but it needed addressing.  Yes, it fell within the margins he had set, but it was still a little close to the edge of his tolerance standards (which, by all fairness, were much tighter than what Starfleet deemed acceptable).  "Shinigami, you're deadline!  Ji!  I'm seeing a bit more flutter than I'd like on the port impulse manifold.  In this mess it might not hold.  Don't have time for a rebuild so get me a quick fix, dealer's choice."

@Kaligos  for Sithick to jump into action!

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #7 –
[ K'Ren "Neko" | Wolf 06 | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]
[Show/Hide]
The last few days had been interesting to say the least, but K'Ren had little time to muse as she slipped her flight suit on over her undergarments. Unlike the various other bipedal species that populated the Federation, owing to the fur that covered them head to toe, Caitians were amongst a small group that wore an specialized undergarment beneath their flight suit. Designed to keep her fur from being pulled the wrong way, or caught in folds of the actual flight suit, it kept her comfortable while she was flying, letting her remain at peak performance. The suit itself was basically standard issue except for a small ergonomic bulge in the seat of the suit. Her tail had to go somewhere and tucking it down the leg of a form fitting hard suit had proven uncomfortable in practice, so a small bulge that her tail could comfortably tuck into had been devised.

The one small mental wandering she permitted herself was to think about Xander as she slipped on the upper part of the suit and locked the seals. She'd always thought about her mate when she'd gone on duty, and even about Liam when they'd launched in the battle around Starbase 84. Now she had a new mate, an unlikely companion but her heart was his, the bond her species felt had latched onto him and she wouldn't let him go if she could help it. K'Zin weren't much for ceremony, and so aside from a couple rituals to claim her, they'd spent most of the night instead curled up in each other's arms, consummating the union they'd made.

The suit now on except for the helmet, she always waited until she was at her fighter to put it on, a ritual she'd had since flight school, K'Ren trotted out to the flight deck and her new fighter. She'd seen her new squadron orders, given to her by padd when she'd reported to the holodeck earlier this morning for her check ride on the new (to her) Mk 3 Valkyrie. She'd passed that check ride, she wouldn't be here on alert if she'd not, and while she missed having a RIO to chat with on longer flights, she had to admit the improvements in the Mk 3 made the backseater redundant, and she didn't have to worry about risking a second life if she found herself outclassed in combat.

Settling into the seat of the fighter, placing her helmet on, K'Ren began her usual preflight alert checklist. She'd had very little warning about the alert so hadn't had time to check her weapons loadout beforehand but she knew Starfleet practice was to put a mixed bag of weapons on various fighters so most bases were covered on the alert birds. As she pulled up her loadout, she saw she was loaded for what looked like an assault or interdiction strike, her usual loadout had been supplemented with Quantum Torpedo's so whatever she was hunting today, was most likely large, capital ship size.

Now all that was left was for her to sit tight, and wait for launch orders, or hopefully, orders to stand down. Or at least she would have if she'd not heard an order bellowed over the comms to power down her fighter. She wasn't sure what she'd done wrong but complying with orders, she started the powerdown sequence of her fighter, making sure all weapons were safed as she looked over to the Flight Ops bay, wondering what was going on.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #8 –
[P02 Sithick | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] @CanadianVet ,@SummerDawn ,@Triage & @Blue Zephyr
[Show/Hide]

Sithick was taking down carts, cleaning the runway when he felt something lightly bump into him, he turned as the armor clad pilot bounced off his hip and landed on the ground, he extended a claw towards the pilot though when he noticed that it was a female he wanted to recind his offer. He still felt awkward around the fairer sex. When she was on her way he gently dusted his hip, the girl couldn't have been more than 90 pounds, even clad in a hundred pounds of armor he probably could have hefted her over his shoulder. Sithick himself weighed in at a modest 283 of muscle, kind of slim for a gorn, he probably could have crumpled her armor, and in truth he was a little worried that he had done more damage to her than she had to him.

Shaking his head he went back to clearing the deck before he heard his name, his head snapping towards Covington and nodding as he went to the bird in question the pad in his hand quickly pulling up Wolf 06 the mark III Valkyrie. While he had only become familair with the birds earlier this morning he was a quick study his life had been in service to a flotila each and every ship he had been aboard had been different.

The Orion crime syndicate had a few shuttles they had repurposed into warp raiders, and the klingon IKR program had been an infint dream back when he had been sold to the empire as a mech slave. Compared to any of those the Valkiries were infinitely more advanced. Still a ship was a ship, and inirtial dampeners were a nearly ubiquitious technology once you knew what you were looking for.

Taking a look over the bird it took him a moment to crack the engineering access panel to try and see what was mechanically wrong, finding the one part that had fallen out of alignment had taken him a moment, but as he fiddled with it, the red light he was seeing turned yellow, and  as he grabbed a decoupler and went to work on the the problem adjusting it until he had resynched the inertial dampeners on the Valkyrie the birds light going from a cautious yellow to a green, as he put the access panel back together.

"Good to go!" Though he did make a quick log note about it, a sensitive rear alignment of those could come apart in future repairs or got jossled hard enough, his fix would hold, but he wanted to do a full reset on them the moment they could get the  bird back.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #9 –
[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton|  Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Triage

Chris was simply sitting there in the quiet of his cockpit with his eyes closed as he tried to focus, his mind was cluttered with two concerns at that moment that his mind a whirling maelstorm that he really didn't need at the moment.

<Wolf Eight, dis is Wolf Seven, ya all set there?>

The accented drawl brought Chris out of his thoughts as he slowly opened his green eyes to see that the question was sent across a private channel which he clicked open. "Yeah Meony, I'm more ready for a fight then anything...need to go and heavily clear my head." Chris mused into the private channel as he did another weapons check, his fifth in two minutes it seemed.

He flexed his left hand a couple of more times, rotating it to keep the blood flow going as he sat waiting as he occasionally kept an eye on his communications. "I just wish that something would happen already, I could use the distraction of someone trying to kill me." he growled.
//////////////////////////////////////////

[LT Talidenai "Terror" zh' Idenna & LT JG T'Zantha "Sniper"| Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: Tactical CONN


Amusingly enough, Tali was sitting in her own fighter thinking the same thing but for other reasons as the zhen was becoming increasingly bored with waiting as she started to drum her fingers across a section of her cockpit where there wasn't anything to accidentally trigger or caused a breakdown.

<Bored my dear?> came Sniper's voice through their private comm-channel.

"Of course I'm bored, T'Zantha, there's no electro shock therapy, no heavy drug usage, and most certainly no elevator muzak..." Tali grumped as she turned her head to look over at the first next to her as a vid-window appeared in her field of view of her lover's face. "Can you blame me for being bored?"

<No I cannot...but at least you're not like Pit Dameron though.> Sniper quipped back.

Now that brought a wince to Tali's face as she recalled the pilot in question. Pit was a good kid even though "Pit" was the shortened form of his name of "Pitonakis" and he was from Nova Roma, the son of Commodus, the head trainer of Tactical CONN pilots when Tali was at the Academy.

Pit had been assigned to the Harbinger at the same time that she and T'Zantha had been and instantly the zhen and the Roman officer had issues-namely with Pit automatically assuming that he was an ace due to his genetics much like his impressive good looks and other aspects...however that didn't stop him from being removed from the ship's airwing by Phanatos a month after Christopher had arrived on the ship.

"You know, I could go a century without ever hearing that name again." Tali said with a grimace in her voice.

<Fair enough...however you do need to stop worrying, things will be fine.> Sniper then continued, a hint of reassurance in her voice as she spoke. <We will survive this and then we can have drinks with our loved ones again.>

Tali looked over at her long time partner and then reached out to gently stroke the canopy, wishing that she could actually reach out and touch her as a faint smile crossed her face. "I would like that." was the only thing that she could think to say.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #10 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@CanadianVet @Auctor Lucan @Kaligos

Sten was already commanding officers.  Now was go time, and she could understand that.  She listened as he got Sithick working on Neko's inertial dampeners.  It was something that would definitely be needed out there where ever the fighters were going.  It was important that all of the ships were in the most top of working order.  Systems were showing green all over the place, and she was glad for that.  Her boys had worked hard, she appreciated all the work that they did and after the battle she would probably orchestrate a Flight Deck party.  Once they were headed to some more neutral space and their jobs of the 'aftermath' of a fight like this was over with. 

She did that from time to time.  They all squeezed into one of the Vectors and had at the replicator.  It was good for morale, for people that wanted to bond, for people that wanted to just let their hair down.  She found that since she had started that from time to time the flight deck just worked far closer together. 

It was a brotherhood a family.

Ji heard her name, and her spine straightened.  Her dark eyes shifted to Liam for a moment, looking right in those pretty blue eyes of his.  Memories of their moments on the holodeck playing heavily in her mind.  She hoped that he didn't regret it.  She didn't.  It had felt right, finding something good with one another for a moment.  But, now was not the time to ask questions, or hope that things could maybe go further than a quicky in the holodeck.  Right now she had work to do.  She looked over at Sten who was still at nearly fully volume as he told Shinigami to stand down and that there was some flutter, that Ji had oddly not detected herself, in the port impulse manifold.

That it was up to her to fix it but not replace it.

Sure, why not.  Let me just pull it out of my ass and make it all better for you.  Need a bandaid..  Ji didn't voice any of her internal sarcasm as she turned to look over at her boss.  Her face, which had been open and warm when it looked at Liam only moments ago shut down to sheer professionalism at this point as she studied her boss for a moment. 

“On it.”

She took off, running through the deck and dodging through the various people that had found themselves on the deck for one reason or another.  Her boys were moving the tools and supplies off the deck so that when the fighters were warmed up and leaving the tools and shit wouldn't fly off into space.  Or be in the way of the fighters.  She found Jim, one of her big beefy guys and she held up a hand.  He stopped where he was dragging a cart of tools and parts over to the maintenance bay and she quickly grabbed up a belt, and strapped it onto her waist.  She filled it quickly with small parts that she thought she might need to fix this thing until they could actually replace it. 

“You need me to..?”

A look silenced him asking if he could take over the job she had been assigned.  She gave him a nod then.  “Get this off the deck and head to safety.  The fighters will be taking off soon.” she told him as she looked over at the fighter she needed to get into.  She rushed over to the large fighter and gave a quick wave to the pilot that was sitting in the cockpit so that she knew that Ji was there.  She sighed as she headed to the port and looked for the manifold. 

“Don't fry me Shin.” she said over her com unit as she pushed a maintenance ladder up to the back of the fighter so that she could more easily reach the manifold that she needed to make a little tighter.  She tested it with her fingers, and figured out how lose it was.  It wasn't really bad but if the pilot needed to shut off the air flow to certain systems this would not completely seal.  She thought about what she could do to make the valve tighter.  The flutter valve was important.  It needed to open and to close so that Shinigami could actually power the vessel and it would react accordingly. 

“Thea make note when Shinigami returns she needs a new port impulse manifold.” she said out loud so that it would not be forgotten on the maintenance logs.  It would be put on the 'To-do' list of the flight deck for when the woman returned.  For now though, she needed to show the reaction time.  First she grabbed her hydrospanner out of her belt and began to tighten the bolts a little bit.  She could see the weakness in the manifold, but as Sten said, they didn't have time to replace it.  Replacing the spanner into her belt she tested the manifold flutter valve again.

Better but... still needs a slight bit of slow down.

Reaching into her belt again she pulled out a pair of pliers and found the small male tab that protruded into a female port.  She reached behind the metal fastening carefully, and grabbed the male tab with her pliers.  It was an uncomfortable position to be in.  Elbow deep in a manifold chamber, shoved into a flutter valve, wrist twisted to grab the tab properly and flatten it just slightly, bending it to where it would take a bit more effort to close.  She pulled her arm back out of the manifold and checked it again.  It was much slower reaction, less flutter, but it still would function pretty much as normally as she could make it. 

Quickly, Ji slid down the ladder and pushed it off to the side.  “Jensen, get this ladder out of here.” she called out to one of the guys heading off.  He diverted his original path and collected the ladder from her as she rushed around the front of the cockpit giving Shinigami a thumbs up.  “Should be good to go.”

She jogged back across the flight deck.  Slayton should be out here.  I haven't seen him.  I hope he does well today.  I probably need to talk to him when he comes back. she thought to herself as she found herself back over where Liam stood.  She turned to Sten.  “It'll work now.  But I put it on the maintenance list for when Shinigami returns.  We'll replace the manifold all together.”

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #11 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: 1) @Blue Zephyr , 2) @Auctor Lucan , 3) @Tactical CONN

The gloved fingers of the lieutenant commander tapped away at the flight stick as the Valkyrie remained steady in it's slot. Ravon was waiting for the go ahead to break free and take his new pack out to open space. The wait was killing him... In the meantime he confirmed that nearly all ships had sounded off. Yet the lights flickered overhead, which caused him to roll his eyes up to the hangar bay's ceiling. The lights dimming as he frowned 'What the hell is going o-'

"Fighter bay, shuttle bay, scramble, scramble, scramble.  Weapons tight. Disconnect your computers from Thea immediately! Use on-board computer systems to link up all available craft, answer on this low-band frequency, and extend your shield bubbles to cover the vectors as best you can for radiation protection."

The voice of Trent was clear and Ravon made quick work to disconnect his ship from Thea's mainframe entirely. "You heard the XO, switch to low band and disconnect from the ship. Line up for departure weapons tight!" he ordered as he fired up his fighter and taxied out on the platform. His eyes came to rest at the hangar bays, which normally would've been sliding open by now. "Oh, for fuck..." His eyes darted around the Hangar bay as ships fired up their engines and started to roll out in position. "Sten!" Thomas shouted as loud as he could.

The Boss himself turned his head to the pilot and already nodded as he knew what he meant. The booming voice of the man echoes through the hangar bay, almostm atching the sound of the engines as he addressed  CPO Liam Herold "Herold! Get those blasted aft bay doors open for the fighters!" The moment he had shouted it, a second problem came to light in Sten's mind as he shook his head with a curse, "Ji! Get up there as well and get a structural integrity emitter up and working or we'll all be breathing space air!"

Breathing space air was the last thing they needed really. A full on vacuum pull would rip the entire hangar bay apart. People, carts, loose laying ordinance, anything not strapped in decently enough would just fling around the hangar bay and most definitely hit the fired up fighters with their payloads. A disaster like that would surely mean the end for Vector two before any fighting would even start. The distance to the bay doors was a while away, yet for one to actually know by heart where the closes structural integrity emitter was and to turn it on in time, it would surely be a race for the both of them.

Ravon looked around as he shook his head slightly and watched the rest of the birds line up to prepare for take off. He needed a game plan for when the doors would open. So as the deck hands did what they could to open the doors he addressed the squadron.

"Terror take Wolf 10 till 12 with you and get to Vector Three. Angel, you're taking everyone from Wolf 14 till 16 with you for Vector two together with Neko and Meony. Hardtop, Icarus, Husker, on me for Vector One. I'll take the lead after that I want cover for Vector Three and Lastly Vector two. Confirm and execute once the doors open."

"Lieutenant commander, we're having problems with our bay doors, expect a delay." was the reply Thomas got from the shuttle bays and he cursed "Confirmed, good luck. Split your group up as well and aid where needed." he replied to them.
Sten in the meantime signaled to Ravon "Sixty seconds!"

Thomas nodded and saluted the chief before he closed his canopy and readied himself for a quick departure. He hoped the deckhands had got their shit together. Sten always pushed them hard when it came to time limits, so there was a chance that they weren't ready yet. However, Sten never desired the impossible. He knew what his people were capable off. If not, this was going to be the quickest and most deadliest take off he had done in his career. Probably the last one as well.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #12 –
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Tactical CONN
[Show/Hide]
When the lights went out in the Fighter Assault Bay, Devyrie frowned, looking around at the other fully stocked and readied fighters.

"What's going on?" she said into her helmet, never having seen a fighter bay powered down that way before, on none of the ships and bases she'd served on.

[I have no idea,] said Fury behind her in the Valravn cockpit.

But then the First Officer spoke up, and Devyrie swore under her breath. They needed to get out there, and fast. She untethered her shipboard computer from any link with Thea, switched to low band comms, and then heard Ravon's orders. Ready for launch, sure, but those bay doors were still closed. Were they powered down as well? It seemed she was not the only one who saw it, as people from Sten's crew were running as quickly as they could towards the sides of those bay doors.

"I'll taxi her into position," she told Fury, throttling up their Valravn's thrusters along with the rest of the Lone Wolves Squadron. It was the first time the pack would go hunting together, and they couldn't even leave the fighter bay? Had she not heard the slight alarm in the voices of her superior officers, she might have found it funny...

...but if that structural integrity field outside the bay doors was powered down too? Then they would be launching in quite a different fashion than Tactical CONN Academy taught them. A cold shiver ran up her spine, and she realised she'd stopped breathing. They'll die, all of them out there... and Fury and I will be lucky if we pass through those bay doors without becoming scrap metal on the way.

[Jesus fucking Christ,] said Fury on their private channel, since he must have realised the same thing.

"This is Wolf One-One," she said on the squad channel, sounding calmer than she felt. "We're in position and ready to launch."


[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Fighter Bay Ops
[Show/Hide]
It had taken Liam a moment to wrap his head around the magnitude of the situation, the feeling of pending disaster sneaking up on him. When the SCO and Covington gave their orders, however, Liam had fully realised that this would be no ordinary launch. If he'd had the time, he'd curse and pray - even if he wasn't that much of a religious man - but as it were, only action counted.

"Aye, Chief!" he said and he set off running towards the bay doors, but before he'd built enough momentum in his sprint, he made eye-contact with the Gorn technican that was in his path. There was no one more ideal for this task, and Liam minced no words in getting the help he needed. "You! Sithick! You're with me. Move it! Come on! Every damn second counts!"

And thus he ran, hoping that the Gorn could keep up with him, but not about to look behind him to check if that was the case. He couldn't see Ji, but he'd heard Sten's orders, so he tapped his combadge. "Herold to Ji! Oh, damn..." There hadn't been any chirp from the combadge, which meant it wasn't working. He tried to look over his shoulder as he ran, nearly stumbling as he did. He hoped his shout could be he heard over the roaring fighters. "Ji! Make sure the SI field is up! If not, we'll all be spaced. Give us some some kind of signal!"

There was no telling if she'd heard him, but he hoped it was not the last he'd seen of her.

He spotted the Gorn then, and mid-sprint, he tried to relay instructions. "The moment she lets us know, we release the mag locks and pull. Got it?"

OOC: Great post, Nolan! I think the most efficient order would be, from this post on, 1) @Blue Zephyr (Chief Ji activating the field) 2) @Kaligos (Sithick getting the doors open together with Herold + Icarus) 3) @Nolan (Razor ordering the launch and the pack splitting up between their designated Vectors) 4) All Wolves, but everyone are free to post ahead of time if they want to, of course!

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #13 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@Auctor Lucan @Kaligos @Nolan

It was time, the fighters were starting to move into position.  It's going to be crazy quiet when they're gone. she thought to herself as she stood there watching for a moment.  Just watching the beauty of the great birds as they moved and taxied themselves out of their slots and vectors and onto the main concourse which was thankfully, now, clear of all the debris of a Mechanical Deck.  She was glad that her men had gotten onto the job as quickly as they could and she would make sure that they were told so later.  Ji very much believed in the bonuses of positive re-enforcement rather than always negative criticism.  In a world like Starfleet it was so easy to get stuck on reprimands and less so on the fact that they also did good jobs.

Suddenly, she heard Herold's name called out calling her to jump.  Ji's eyes shifted to Liam as he seemed to take in the words and what needed to be done.  The blast doors were still closed and obviously the fighters could not take off with them in the way.  Liam seemed to select an Engineer to help him with getting them open and ready and then her own name was screamed.  She jumped again, not having really expected her own name to come forth from the Flight Deck's Chief as well.  She listened to her orders and gave a quick nod.

“On it.”

She didn't waste a minute, she was quick on the heels of Liam and Sithick as they headed across the bay to the same area.  She figured that this was the last job for a while.  At least while they prepped for whatever carnage would return, and it would.  They were probably going out there because they were needed, a fight or a patrol.. something.  There was never a mission that all the fighters and pilots returned complete and unharmed.  It just wasn't the way of this life.  As she moved she heard her name from before her, Liam's voice was easy for her to pick out, her heart slid up into her throat.  Wondering what he had to say.  She shouldn't have been, it was all business, that was them right now.  Working and business was all that mattered there would be time for kind words and plans later.

She darted through the other mechanics, the fighters getting into their positions and finally made her way up to the front where two pillars stood to the side ringed with computer units, and the emitter that would create the field allowing everyone not to be pulled out into space the moment the blast doors opened.  She stopped by the pillars and she looked over at the boys, they had just made it to the blast doors.  She gave Liam a nod when their eyes met and she looked down.

Fuck!  The computer system, I should have known!

The computer systems were all off line, she was going to have to turn it on manually.  She quickly reached underneath the ring of computer screens around the pillar and pushed the manual power button underneath.  Slowly, the back lighting on the screen in front of her began to flicker on. 

[Loading] it said with the dancing squares.  She dropped her head for a moment.  Come on.. come on... we don't have all day we have to get these fighters out of here.  Her eyes darted up to the boys at the doors again, she gave a shake of her head, and pointed to the computers.  It was too loud in here right now to scream out at them but she wanted to make sure that they understood.  Or at least they might have an inkling as to the fact that she was waiting for the damn thing to boot.  Finally, the UFP logo appeared on the screen and spun around twice before it disappeared.

[Login required....]

Mother fu... I swear to God I will get someone to reprogram this shit for emergency purposes if it's the last thing I do!

[JiES_PPC]

[Enter password]

Ji sighed.  [**************]

[Logging in.. please wait.]

If I thought my fist through the screen would make it happen any faster, I would risk the broken bones to do it.

[Welcome Chief Ji]

Ji didn't bother with the welcome message she tossed it to the side with a quick swipe across the screen and began to tinker with the various areas of the menus so that she could find the field emitter.  How it had been forgotten she didn't know but she supposed in the mayhem it just had been.  Quickly she pulled up the emitter and looked at the menu.  She could turn it on, or she could test it.  She bit her lower lip.  I can't afford an accident.  She clicked to run a quick test of the system.

[You have selected to test the Emitter Field System, do you wish to proceed?]

[Y]

[Testing in progress.....]

Ji tapped her fingers on the metal casing surrounding the screen. 

[Testing...]

Ji's leg was bouncing at this point, shaking from the sheer will not to push her head through the screen but finally.

[Testing complete, no known errors detected.]

Ah there is a God today.

She quickly pushed the button that took her out of the diagnostic screen and back to the field emitter screen.  She quickly punched the button that said Initiate Emitter.

[You have selected to initiate the Field Emitter.  Would you like to proceed?]

[Y]

A million times Y just get the fucking thing up!

[Emitter initiated in 3...2....1....Emitter initiated.]

Ji let out a long and slow breath, then looked over at Liam and gave him the thumbs up.  It probably hadn't taken that long but it felt like it had taken forever.  She rushed over to see if they might need any help.  Staying close wouldn't hurt, and if they needed extra muscle she was close by. 

“Good to go.” she said outloud incase the thumbs up had been misunderstood somehow.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #14 –
[P02 Sithick | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Theurgy] @CanadianVet ,@SummerDawn ,@Triage & @Blue Zephyr
[Show/Hide]

Software all over the ship was going nuts, Sithick watched in an odd state of fascination and horror as programming and screens failed on almost every pad and device that he was dealing with. However with all the birds that needed to get out of the ship it wasn't long before he had to put himself into motion. Other people were better qualified to work the ship into recovery mode.

Their chief engineer had a contingency for this type of thing named after some sort of earth amphibian. He had read the memo that had been passed around, and understood the basic idea, but as they were in MVAM right now the sword was going to be on it's own, and that meant they had to figure out some other way to fix the computer core.

He wasn't part of the engineering staff, and he wished his fellows luck in that matter, turning all of his attention to the problem at hand.

They had sixteen birds to get in the air, and the doors were locked.

Sithick started moving, and it seemed everyone else on the floor had the same idea. He joined with CPO Liam Herold, as they ran to the doors, waiting for Ji's command that the doors could be opened without the risk of exposure to the cold death of space. He had survived in a near vacuum before. But that was through careful exposure and the elimination of oxygen over time. While he was sturdy enough to be frozen and than revive, and his internal organs were designed with enough cushioning that nothing would burst he had no intention of trying out what would happen with a sudden and complete vacuum exposure.

The software was still fractured, so Herold and Sithick would have to use the manual overrides, with mag-locks this was a lot like throwing a switch. Thanks to the fact that the Federation worked on a tower of babel, with millions of languages and cultures from hundreds of different worlds everything that was designed to be operated in a crises had clear pictures. Throw switch disengage locks, after that there was a crank to open the doors manually.

The switch on Sithick's side gave way easily. The Gorn's raw strength meant that the door had little resistance to offer against him. Liam's was slower going, and the crank had to be worked together. It wasn't something drilled, or even thought about often.

Note to self: Talk to engineering, emergency drills and maintenance for stuck doors.

Slowly but steadily the heavy doors split apart, the now reinforced shields coming to life as the doors opened keeping the air on their side in. As soon as it was large enough for the first Valkyrie to let fly Sithick waved Ravon onward. "Get them out!"

He shouted over the roar of the engines half unsure if anyone could even hear him. As the two engineers continued to get the door completely open.

Today was gonna be a long day if they lived through it.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #15 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@Blue Zephyr @Auctor Lucan @Kaligos @SummerDawn @Nolan

Sten watched as his team went into action on his command.  Sithick was the first to arrive to his task and he watched on PADD as the Gorn worked on Neko's Valkyrie.  He knew that the kid was brand new in the fighter bay but he was trusting he would help get these birds into the air.

"We have a Yellow Light.. almost there Gorn!  We need to launch yesterday, lets get it going!"

He bellowed loudly as he watched the progress on his PADD, enlarging a more detailed View of Wolf 06's systems as he worked.  He saw the lights all go green at the same time that Gorn did and heard him yell over all the ruckus in the room.

"Confirmed, we have a go on Wolf 06.  Wolf 06, Neko, you are clear to restart pre-flight checks and power up!"

He then turned his gaze towards the flutter and Ji just now arriving at Shinigami and the issue she needed to fix.  His thoughts went back to all that had happened in the last few days, and indeed his whole history with Ji.  The events not even involving her in the last couple days had made him rethink a few things and how he had been pretty hard on her because of how he felt and not anything that she had really done.  He resolved when things calmed down he would have a personal word with her.  He heard her give the all clear and bellowed:

"Good Job Ji!"

The the gravity of the situation hit him like a ton of Bricks..

"The shit has hit the fan, lets get the field up and doors open!"

Hey yelled as his team was already springing into action.  He watched as they worked fluidly together.  Yes he had noticed the looks that Ji had been giving Liam.. He knew his chances with her were over.  He hoped he could salvage a friendly personal relationship with her, but was happy if she was happy.  He would give them the normal talk about keeping it Low Key since he was her reporting officer as his assistant.  With lots of cursing, Ji got the field up, and Sithick got the doors open.

"Ravon, you heard Sithick, we are good to go.. and within the sixty seconds.. Mostly..."

He smirked.  He had a great team!

----------------------------------------------
OOC.  Please PM me as this was my first Mission Critical post if you see anything I need to work on or if I missed anything I need to do or should not be doing.  Thanks

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #16 –
[LT Talidenai "Terror" zh' Idenna & LT JG T'Zantha "Sniper"| Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Nolan , Tactical CONN


Tali had a bad feeling as she remained sitting in her fighter after he talk with Sniper, it was like a strange sensation that started from her antenna and then began to power its way all the way down to her toes.

At that point the message came down from command to scramble and about disconnecting form Thea which Tali quickly did without hesitation and then checked the ship to ship communications. "Sniper, are you there?"

<I'm here but I believe that I must echo an old saying of Christopher's by saying that I have a bad feeling about this.> came back the vulcan's comment.

"I concur entirely." was the only thing that Tali as she then started to follow the rest of the orders. "I want you to stay safe out there, k'hat'n'dlawa." Tali said to her wing man as she quickly cast one last look at her partner's bird before going back to what she was doing.

Everything about this scramble was only serving to make the unease that was starting to grow in her stomach even worse with first this scramble because the ship had been found by these Asurians and then the order to unhook from Thea, Tali honestly didn't know what was going on but something in her gut was telling her that something was truly rotten in that human state that apparently all things lived in...Denmark was it?

When Razor's orders came through squadron's channel, Tali forced all other thought out of her mind as he clicked into the squadron's channel. "Terror to Razor, I confirm and stand ready." but as she manually closed the channel, she noticed something that bothered her;

Her right hand was shaking slightly.

This never happened to Tali before and as she clenched it tightly, she closed her eyes to focus on what needed to be done and when she opened them again the shaking was gone again.

"What brought that on?" she asked herself quietly in the confines of her own cockpit.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[Ensign Chris "Husker" Slayton|  Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Blue Zephyr , @Even Angels Cry , @Nolan , @SummerDawn , @Hastata-Nerada , @Kaligos , @Triage , and @Auctor Lucan


Tali wasn't alone at feeling an unease at the situation as Chris sat in his own cockpit, being alone with his thoughts as he watched everything going on around him like he was in a type of limbo and while he knew that he could open a channel and talk to anyone like he was hearing over the combination of both the usual squadron banter and the orders being passed around.

But a specific feeling crept into him, reached through the armor of his suit, through the fabric of his uniform, and through even the meaty parts of his scarred back to grasp his spine and it's collection of nerves directly with it's icy nails penetrating all the way through to the very core of his nerves.

It was the same feeling on the eleventh day after Gowron's declaration that the Federation had ten days to withdrawl from the Archanis sector that lead him to spend two years in Rue Penthe, two years of his life lost and unable to ever get back.

That same feeling he got when he walked into the squadron's ready room on the Harbinger to find Riptor bragging about raping a woman to death and the other members of his squadron asking Riptor how it was, how tight was she, and other such dark matters before he launched himself onto his own friend, steel like fingers tightening around Riptor's throat.

That same feeling he got when he saw that the only choice was to ram the cursed Harbinger into the Calamity, killing so many of his now former crew mates who had fallen to Vasser's stupidity and how he had done that without a second thought, personally entering the commands that would allow the Akira-class carrier to keep on a stead path to destroy the other ship.

Chris closed his eyes and fought back the wave of fear that sudden envoloped him, that shook him, that made his soul twist in the night as all of those things started to come down upon him.

But in this temporary limbo, Chris thought of the people that he had come to care about since joining the ship like the confidence that Ravon had in everything or Alessia's newly found and treasured friendship or Cameron's warm faith in him all the way to Tali's ever present assuredness that everything would be alright or T'Zantha's private little ghost of a smile that only appeared when an abstract idea like "faith" was called into things...

...And Ji.

Even though the unfamiliar feelings that coursed through him made his soul, as shattered and jagged through all the things that he had done over the course of his life to date, he was glad that she was in his life and he knew that everything would be okay..especially with that smile that she gave him at the start of breakfast before everything went sideways.

He knew that after all of this, they would talk and everything would be alright.

It was then a new thought came into his mind, something that he knew that he would finally be able to do once this battle to come would be over and that dashed some of the fears away from him as he felt his razor like sharpness to return to him.

He had a REASON to return to the ship.

Chris then quickly tapped out a text message to Ji and like the video before it, sent it directly to the PADD that she kept on her, telling her to be careful as he had a bad feeling about the possible battle to come.

After sending it, he then heard the order about disconnecting from Thea which made him glad that he had sent the message because he didn't know much about the Asurians and simply hoped that this wasn't some kind of messed up electronic warfare like Liquidius had mentioned happened during the war with the Dominion, how occassionally the enemy forces would attempt to scramble Alliance forces' communications.

As he quickly started to make the adjustments for assistance without Thea's aide, Husker then heard the new orders come down from Razor and blinked a couple of times as he tried to understand exactly what was going on. "Husker to Razor, orders confirmed. I'm on your wing." he said into the squadron's channel.

Husker then opened up a private channel up to Alessia's fighter. "I don't know what's going on, Mi querido amigo, but be careful none the less alright?" he said into the channel.
////////////////////////////////////////////////

[LT JG Cameron "Witch King" Ward|  Fighter Assault Bay| Deck 16| Vector 2| USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Nolan


To say that Cameron was bored was a slight understatement, he had been on the front lines of the Dominion War and had been there at the first battle of Chin'Toka, staring down the disruptor ports of Galor and Selek-class Cardassian warships as he flew against the toughest pilots that the Jem'Hadar breeding cache's could shove out.

To put it simply Cameron knew that a dire struggle was coming and it was singing loudly in his blood which was the only time that he could show emotion because once the battle came he was just like his callsign was from the novel it came from;

Cold, silent, effectiant.

He was a dark rider upon a steed of steel and fire.

"Cameron, getting orders passed down that we have to disconnect from Thea and link up with our on board systems to the rest of the squadron." Aria said from her seat.

Cameron didn't say anything at first but quickly did as the orders said while Aria focused more on the communications aspect of their fighter and once that was done, he finally spoke up with "Wonder what that was all about?"

Aria shook her head, "I don't know but it must have been important though." she said before setting the communications frequency to match what the ship's executive officer had said to do and sent back a confirmation.

"Very true, Aria my dear, but I just hope that we do something soon because I'm really getting..." Cameron then started to say when Razor spoke in his ear with squadron reassignments about the Vectors. "Maybe I should really watch what I ask the universe for eh?"  he quipped.

Aria chose not to respond as she simply opened up a channel to Razor. "This is Aria, sitting RIO in Wolf one six, orders are heard and confirmed, lead."

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #17 –
[ Ens. Krystal "Meony" Tancredi | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @Nolan, @Even Angels Cry, @SummerDawn, @DocReno & @Kaligos
[Show/Hide]
How on Earth do things fuck up so badly on this ship? Was Kendrick ever this harried? She was beginning to think if it took just days for this much shit to hit the fan so frequently here, she might be better off some place else. She was running her pre-flight checks when the lights began dimming and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise up. Everyone was scrambling around, the doors were stuck. Was Thea malfunctioning? They were conducting repairs to her after all the beating she'd taken. She began to miss being able to participate in the conversation with senior officers and observe on the bridge like she used to on the Resolve. It wasn't standard protocol, but Kendrick felt the situation beyond Federation space called for extraordinary choices.

“Ah, da fuck with it all!” said Meony, “Ah'm gettin' out there!”

She completed the last of her check list in haste and powered the craft, feeling a brief thrum as the engines began to warm. She received the tactical message, and she obediently disconnected her computers, linking with the other fighters using the fighter's on-board computer. Thomas Ravon was soon issuing instructions and orders, and she chimed in once she could, “Orders confahmed, Razor!” She keyed in a private message direct only to Chris Slayton, “Watch yer six, Huskah!”

Switching off any open channels she whooped when she saw the big Gorn had the doors opening and waving through the fighters. “YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAH!” Once she had a clear path ahead, she gunned her fighter through the field and was soon back among the stars, “Did y'all miss me?” she asked them, “Well don't ya worry none, no sirree! Cause Meony's back and bettah than evah!”

She easily steered her craft, adjusting for the sensitivity and greater maneuverability of the Valkyrie compared to a Type-8 shuttle, and headed for her assigned Vector. She didn't rush in, but waited to trail Alessia "Angel" Garcia and K'ren, and she prepped her shields for a spreadshare, briefly missing her shuttle and its myriad of capabilities, amongst which included shield-sharing. “Let's see what ya cain do, sugah!” said Meony to her craft, and she kept her eyes open, sending a message to Alessia, “Ready an' waitin'!”

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #18 –
LT JG Alessia Garcia, Callsign "Angel", Wolf 13 - Flight Leader |  Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] ATTN: @Auctor Lucan , @Triage , @DocReno , @SummerDawn , @Nolan
[Show/Hide]


The yellow klaxon chimed as Alessia stripped in the locker room. Her shirt and pants came off in a hurry and she flung them into her locker.  Shoes were next, until she was standing in just her black underwear and black sports bra.  It was a common look for her in the locker room.  Each pilot preferred different under armor for their flight suit.  Alessia preferred this for undetermined flight lengths and her bodysuit for shorter ones.

She caught a glimpse of Dev undressing and her breath hitched.  That woman was still beautiful.  Why hadn't she looked for Dev yesterday?  Alessia wasn't sure.  Maybe because she wasn't sure about them.  Or maybe she had a busy day and just wanted to relax a little on her own.  No matter her reasons, she was grateful for their rendezvous.  She flashed a sweet smile at her lover as their eyes locked, then looked away blushing.  She'd open a line to Dev if she got the chance.  If not, she'd talk to her after this.. whatever this was.

Alessia finished dressing, double checked her suit with the help of Karma, and then ran to her valravn.  A tech was there, crouched beside her wing.  From the ordnance lying around, she guessed he was refreshing her packages.  As she neared, however, she noticed he wasn't alone.  He was talking to someone, but she couldn't see them.  "Hola!  Gracias, amigo.  Just a refresh, or did you do a full switch out?"  She had a preferred load out of 2 Mk I Hellbourne torpedoes, 2 HellHound cluster bombs, 1 EMP Torpedo, 1 ECCM Emitter and 2 Mlk XXVII Photon torpedo Launchers.  Hopefully he hadn't changed anything on her.

"I got us 2 Mk Q-IV Quantum Torpedoes this time.  Had to swap out one Hell-suite, but I hear it will be worth it."

Alessia froze in her tracks.  Her eyes glanced up.  She knew that voice.  She hadn't seen him in 2 days.  He'd been ill, but she'd been unable to pay him a visit until today, and sickbay was in such disarray that she had to leave before finding him.  Carefully, she circled around her fighter until she saw those steely blue eyes and his charming grin.  "Sehl!!!  Mi cucaracha!!  Dios mio!!1"

She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck.  There were tears in her eyes as she hugged him.  His arms wrapped around her as well and squeezed her tightly.  "It's alright, Angel.  I'm alright now.  I already did our pre-flight walk around.  Let's get in.  We can continue this reunion in the air."

Alessia squeezed him one more time for good measure.  But he was right of course.  They had a job to do and a threat to respond to.  She kissed his cheek and let go, then circled back to her ladder and her helmet.  Once she and Sehl were strapped in, she powered on her bird and began her pre-flight checks.  Basic diagnostics, COMM systems, navigation and weapons all powered on with green status.  Shields, dampeners and sensors reported no issues.  Internal and external diagnostics were green.  No issues with structural integrity or exosuit functions.  The wireless links were in place, as was their connection to Thea.  Everything looked good.

Before she had a chance to give the green light, however, Razor's voice came in loud and clear over her COMM channel.  ["Afternoon pilots.  As you might've heard the yellow alert has been sounded. The reason for this is that the Asurians have located us and are currently hailing our ship. We are on stand by should the situation escalate. Therefor run your preflights and report in when there are any problems or when you checked out for flight. Razor out." ]

That was her cue.  "This es wolf uno-tres2, all systems online and functioning properly.  We are green to go."  She listened as the rest of the pack made similar reports.  It was happening.  They'd been found and now they were facing a terrible enemy.  She was unaware what the might of the Asurians might look like, but she prayed it was nothing like the wrath of Starfleet.

"Jesus Angel, I was only out for two days!"  He spoke with a mirthful tone, but Angel knew better.  She shook her head.

"Lo siento3, Sehl.  It's been a rough couple of days.  I slept with Dragon.  I got in a work out with Irnasall and Covington.  I went windsurfing with Icarus.  I shared a hot springs with Striker.  And I told Husker my secret."  She would go into more detail later of course.  He would demand all the gossip.  For now, she felt like just glossing over the highlights was enough.  It had been a busy two days.

"YOU DID WHAT!?  Oh my god Angel!  I should leave you alone more often!  Heh, so tell me... how did it feel to go on so many dates?"   He teased his pilot as she protested.  "Seriously though, you slept with Dragon?  I see the appeal but I didn't think you were into women."

Alessia shrugged.  "I didn't think I was either.  It just kind of happened."  That wasn't a lie.  It had just happened.  It was an accident.  A wonderful, amazing accident.  But how to explain it to Sehl without giving away too much?  "It was.. she was.."

The flickering lights caught Alessia's attention and paused her train of thought.  'What on earth is happening?'  Almost immediately, she heard the XO's warning.

["Fighter bay, shuttle bay, scramble, scramble, scramble.  Weapons tight. Disconnect your computers from Thea immediately! Use on-board computer systems to link up all available craft, answer on this low-band frequency, and extend your shield bubbles to cover the vectors as best you can for radiation protection."]

"On it!  Disconnect in three.. two.. Bird in stand alone mode, disconnect complete.  Fighter scrambled and ready.  Establishing flight link... Flight link established.  Activating shields now.  Shields active. Ready to roll, boss."  Sehl was on it.  He'd had 2 days to recover.  Which meant two days of sitting around waiting to be let go, waiting to come back to the FAB and help.  He was itching for this flight. 

Alessia fired it up and taxied their fighter out in line with the others waiting for departure, but no one had moved yet.  The bay was jammed with birds trying to move and not being able to.  What was the hold up?  Then she saw it.  The doors!  Alessia parked her bird on the runway and sat, annoyed.  They needed to go.  They had the green light, so why weren't the doors open?  Thank god someone had noticed!  She couldn't even imagine the tragedy that could have happened if someone had flown into the doors while they were still down.

"Why aren't the doors open?  What are these people doing?!  Don't they know we have to get out there?!"  Sehl was annoyed.  She could hear it in his voice.  Alessia was too, but she needed to be calm, to be a leader. 

"They'll figure it out, just give them a minute.  The computers are probably offline.  I'm sure that's why we had to disconnect from the ship.  I should probably reach out to my team, huh?"  It was a rhetorical question.  Sehl knew that, but he said yes anyway.  Alessia took a breath and prepared to give an encouraging word to her squad when a private channel started flashing.  She opened the line.

[ "I don't know what's going on, Mi querido amigo, but be careful none the less alright?"]

It was Husker.  She exhaled with relief.  "I'm rubbing off on you eh?  It's only been a few hours But yes, you too.  Por favor, ten cuidado.4  You have a reason to come back.  No lo olvides."5  She closed the channel.  It had been short, but she felt bolstered now.  She was ready to encourage her team.

"Hola amigas y amigos.  I trust everyone is green to go.  In case you didn't see, the doors are shut.  As soon as they open and the path clears, we fly out of here and circle to vector two.  We'll use our shielding to protect it from radiation.  Keep your weapons tight until the order is given."  As she spoke, the doors began to move and once they were open far enough, the fighters began taking off.  "Vamos muchachos!6  I'll see you among the stars!"

The hard words were spoken. Now it was time for a few softer ones.   She sent a private message to Icarus.  "Be careful out there." 

Then she did the same for Dragon. "Dev.. when this is over we need to talk.  So please, be careful. I want to see you again."

Alessia had an opening now and she taxied her fighter down the FAB and shot out the doors.  Her valravn soared into the swirling blackess of space once more, with Sehl woo-hooing behind her.  As she circled around to form up with her team, Meony pinged her.

["Ready an' waitin'!"]

They were in good spirits, which was a great sign.  She answered back on her team channel.  "Ok mis lobos7.. Shinigami, Witch King, Catscratch, Meony, Neko.. form up on me.  We have to protect Vector two!  Vamos!
1. My cockroach!  Oh my God! - cucaracha is Alessia's endearing nickname for Sehl
2. one-three, or thirteen
3. I'm sorry
4. please be careful
5. Don't forget
6. let's go, guys/ come on, guys
7. my wolves
8. let's go/ come on
"Relationships are not my strong suit; I deal in evenings."
 - Jaya Thorne, Asst. Chief CONN Officer, Ensign [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #19 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas 'Razor' Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]

As the squadron reported in with acknowledging orders, Thomas scratched the list off in his head. 'Well, this all great and all, but I just need to get this fucking bunch out there now.' he thought to himself as he watched his newly acquired sister run off while the Gorn and other chief ran to the bay doors. Surely, the Gorn was a great idea to have him around the fighter bay, especially in these conditions. Yet where the hell had they acquired a freaking Gorn?!

It were troubles for later or perhaps even another days as the doors slowly cracked open. The doors opened more and more and he figured he could throttle up and barge out with probably scraping his wingtips at the doors. The alternative was powering up his weapons to make a hole big enough to fly out. The latter plan would probably not be taken in kind by a lot of people, yet it was a failsafe that he kept in the back of his mind.

"Ravon, you heard Sithick, we are good to go.. and within the sixty seconds.. Mostly..."

As the all clear was given, Ravon nodded and saluted to Sten. Even if it wasn't a thing the old man liked, it was sort of tradition. The engines rumbled and with a jolt the fighter of Ravon speared forward. The gear retracted mid take off and he was the first one out as he looked back for a split second to watch the rest follow in succession. "Control,, fighter bay is unleashing the pack. Elements are moving in position. Standing by or further orders." he informed Trent and whomever was listening.

He watched the squadron split up as directed and he circled once for the rest of his wing to form up. Once acquired he jolted off to Vector 01. "Take your positions and hold on tight wolves. Keep the chatter to a minimum and stay safe. Wolf zero-one out."he concluded with a message to the rest of them as he adjusted his shields. As he made his approach to Vector one he caught something in his peripheral vision. It was something he hadn't seen before in his life and his eyes narrowed a little at the size and outline of it. The Asurian saucers were present as well, yet somewhat harder to notice against the darkness of space. Yet what drew most of his attention was the gigantic beast that decloaked and took a physical form over the Vectors. The sheer magnitude of it was hard to fathom as it was bigger than anything Thomas had ever seen. It sent a cold shiver down his spine.

"What kind of a shitstorm did we fly into now..." he murmured in the confines of his helmet as he complied what Carrigan had ordered them to do. Though he doubted that whatever they were going to do, would have very little effect if the ship would engage them.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #20 –
[Ens Nathanial "Icarus" Isley | Wolf 0-4 | Fighter Assault bay] Attn: Tactical CONN
[Show/Hide]

When the order came to disconnect from thea's main computer Icarus obliged quickly, getting ready to launch only to find himself in a parked line up of planes. He sat for a moment tapping his foot like a commuter in mid day traffic a thing that hadn't existed in over two hundred years.

For a moment he thought of opening his hatch and yelling at the bird in front of him but knew that it wasn't their fault. The doors, the computers, hell this entire ship had somehow managed to go strait to hell in a hand basket.

The weird thing was the voice at the back of his head.

I hope Eve is okay.

The thought made him pause. She was a program, a virtual tool, and yet he was sitting in his bird thinking about her. He could see Angel's bird a few feet back, and yet he didn't really think about her as much. Of course he wanted her and her Rio to come back alive, but even after the date the two of them had been on, he didn't really have the same thought. Maybe it was because Eve was a program thus she was vulnerable to whatever the hell was happening outside of their birds, or maybe it was that he had subconsciously chosen the red headed medical hologram as someone he could trust more easily.

He wasn't really sure.

He listened to Ravon as their tasks would be dolled out. He wasn't an element leader anymore, rather he was the bottom rung, and he had never been more grateful for his demotion than he had been right now. It eliminated a lot of the things he was originally supposed to be responsible for.

Right now all he had to focus on was his bird, keeping formation, and sticking with Ravon. When the doors finally opened, and they started flying it actually felt more at ease out in space. "Wolf zero four launched."

Icarus took up position on Razor's left wing keeping with the classical and well practiced ^ formation. He was bringing a crud ton of missiles to this fight, but for now had to hold his fire against the enemy contacts.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #21 –
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Tactical CONN
[Show/Hide]
Before the bay doors had fully parted for the Lone Wolves, Devyrie had heard Angel on her private channel.

[Dev.. when this is over we need to talk.  So please, be careful. I want to see you again.]

Her heart had skipped a beat in hearing those words, and then she smiled, thinking that it had all been in her head that Alessia wasn't interested in picking up where they had left things after that first night aboard their new ship. The rumours that Angel had been with two others guys were all false. She should have known. How could she have doubted her? She had no idea what had kept Angel from saying anything until right then, when they were heading out into the fray, but did it even matter? Despite the worrisome development where the fighter bay had been powered down, and the risk they ran of being vented into space since the SI field had gone down, Devyrie felt like the could take on anything. She bared her teeth and replied.

"Dragon to Angel. I look forward to flying with you again," she said ruefully in her Alpha Centauri accent, since both their callsigns had wings, and it ought to be plain that she wasn't referring to their current launch. Not to her RIO, however, since she wasn't ready to tell Fury what had happened just yet.

Then, the line before them vanished, and the bay doors were cleared. "Launch thrusters online, preparing to switch to impulse," she told the trusted officer behind her in the cockpit, and then the Valravn accelerated to to launching speed. She cleared the bay doors and they were flying through the nebula. Orders were to enter a shieldspread together with the rest of the squadron, to protect the different vectors from radiation exposure.

"Dragon to Terror, approaching Vect-"

Then, mid-call to their flight leader, Devyrie Okhala vanished from of her cockpit - dematerialising in a shimmer of light.

And before the Lone Wolves, something immense seemed to be decloaking. A ship that dwarfed the Theurgy, large enough to make Thea look like a Runabout. It was of such magnitude in proportion that it didn't fit within the realm of comprehension for the pack. A prey larger than they'd ever hunted before in either of their pack. White and black, almost insect-like in form, it appeared like it could hold over fifty thousand souls or more.



OOC: Another post coming up with Liam Herrold! :)

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #22 –
[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Fighter Bay Ops
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If it hadn't been for the Gorn, the fighter bay door would have taken a lot longer to open. As it were, Liam had put all he got into cranking the bay door mechanism to not leave the Gorn doing all the work. He was not some soft line officer, and he pulled as much weight as his crew of technicians, so while he was no match for the Gorn in brute strength, he compensated in tenacious endurance. He did not let up a moment for rest until the doors were fully open, even if he thought he'd pull something in his shoulders. Then, when the Lone Wolves finally launched, Sithick, Ji and him were right there as they passed them by, and Liam looked out into the Azure Nebula after them - the structural integrity field all that separated him from the lethal vacuum outside the doors.

"Lucky to have you here, Sithick. Well done," said Liam, quite winded, and jumped down to the deck of the fighter bay. Then he turned his head to Ji by the computers. "Are you okay?"

He realised, belatedly, that it might have been the wrong question to ask, showing his concern for her so publicly, but no more had he realised his error than he saw something happen out there in the nebula. It was... it looked like an oblong, white planet was materialising out of nothing, until he realised that it was a ship. A colossal ship, and it had to be decloaking. "What in the name of..."

He trailed off, and as he looked towards Ji, he saw something behind her shoulder - his light blue eyes leaving her face... and widening.

Right there on top of the Lone Wolves' Squadron's insignia, in the middle of the fighter bay's deck, seven dark figures materialised - shimmering into existence. One of them stood a head taller than the others, and none of them remained standing still where they had appeared. There was a loud crack, static in the intercom system, and then, a contralto, alien voice was resounded through the fighter bay - as loud as the engines had roared before the fighters had took off. While the speakers amplified the words, the tone sounded almost hushed - the speaker's voice quiet.

[Remain where you are,] said the voice, and all seven moved towards the maintenance bay on the starboard side of the fighter bay - the area that had been dedicated to the Reaver-class fighter the Theurgy crew had obtained from the USS Calamity. [The Vigilant of Sa have no interest in you.]

They all appeared to wear the same kind of dark exosuit, and from a distance, Liam could not make out much behind the glass of their helmets. The tallest one led the way into the maintenance bay, but four of them straggled, watching the Starfleet officers in the fighter bay with strange looking weapons in their hands. Liam clenched his jaw, having an idea what they were after, even if he didn't know who they were. They had often had boarders on the Resolve, and this was no different. Evidently, they were about to take the Reaver. More troublesome, however, was the fact that the craft was one of the few pieces of evidence they had to prove the existence of the parasite usurpers.

"They are about to take the Cinsaj," he said to Chief Ji and Sithick, and he made eye-contact with Covington on the far side of the fighter bay. Could they truly afford to loose the Reaver? Without Thea online, could they even do something about it?

OOC: @JosiahDorn Will Covington really let these bastards take the Cinsaj? ;) Highest kill setting on phasers would do damage to their exosuits, but it would take more than one bolt/beam to penetrate the layers that protect their bodies.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #23 –
[ Ens. Krystal "Meony" Tancredi | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ]
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Meony was happily flying her craft in formation, and she set herself in place and settled in for what was a relatively easy job. If there was any fighting to be done with those funky saucers, well, she'd get to that when the time came. She vaguely remembered seeing some of them back at the starbase during the battle, apparently arriving with Thea. The days following up from that battle still fresh in her mind, made her wonder what happened, since it seemed like they were working together with Thea. But then, they were called Ass-urine...maybe they were just a buncha sorry cowpokes.

Or was that sore cowpokes?

Whatever.

She had just been about to communicate with Angel on what was going on with Thea, and why the launch bay doors didn't open automatically earlier, when the biggest honking battle axe, calm-as-you-please, showed up and parked overhead. Meony's eyes rolled in the most unbelievably dramatic slow-mo in history, whilst her jaw gradually lowered itself so that it could kiss the base of the Valkyrie's floor. “Saints, man!” said Meony, hazel eyes studying the enormity of the blade ship, and the unbelievable fact of its presence. “Well, Ah'm callin' it, we're fuuuuuuucked...”

Now where was that self-destruct button? Better yet, where was her gun? She figured pulling the trigger on a phaser set to vape in her mouth was probably better.

Re: Chapter 01: Supplemental | New Pack, Old Teeth

Reply #24 –
[ K'Ren "Neko" | Wolf 06 | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] @Triage
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K'Ren saluted the deck officer when she was given the goahead to power up. Even with the modern capabilities of communication, some things remained the same and the flightdeck was no exception. Hand signals could be seen even when comms were down, and on the Resolve, that had been the case more often then not, usually due to jamming by threat forces. She knew her launch routine, and as she was given the go ahead, taxied into her slot in the launch sequence.

The wait wasn't long, and soon enough she was given the order to launch. As soon as her light went green, K'Ren pushed her throttles to full, feeling the thrust push her back into her seat. Even with the interial compensators on the craft, she was a pilot who prefered to feel her fighter and dialed down the IDF system just a shade, enough to feel the craft through her flight suit.

Once clear of the launch bay, K'Ren formed up on Meony's wing. Normally she'd have been paired with Salvo but as she'd not seen him in the launch sequence, and with Husker assigned a different vector, Meony made as much sense as anyone else. She waggled her wings for her flight lead, before breifly going on the comms. "On your wing Meony. Husker is with Vector 1 and Salvo's MIA." she remarked, not knowing he was off ship already in the Sabine, out in the nebula somewhere.

 
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