Tour: Flight Deck

Posted on 04 Nov 2024 @ 1:40am by Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Carter & Ensign Aurilia Moretti & Commodore Harvey Geisler & Ensign Peris

1,290 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Bait and Switch
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: June 29, 2390 || 0830 hours

As was common for the first morning of a new mission, Harvey took it upon himself to tour the vessel, stopping by each of the major locations aboard the ship and check in with his senior staff. This leg of the journey brought him to the Flight Deck. The level was abuzz with activity as fighters were always under maintenance, getting them ready for the next CAP or combat scenario. There wasn't a pilot to be seen, however. A quick survey of the technicians directed Harvey to the Squadron Briefing room, where the pilots were receiving their orders for the day. Harvey slipped into the theatre-like room and stood in the back, quietly sipping his Wilkins and observed.

Jax finished conferring with Commander Walsh and took over the briefing as the Squadron Commander went to do a flight deck check. He had just issued the patrols and teams that would surround the Black Hawk and their routes and contingencies if an attack came.

The fighter pilot stretched, then saw the Commodore in the back and immediately snapped to attention. "Sir!" He aid as he headed towards the ship's Commodore.

Harvey chuckled. He personally hated protocol when it came to recognizing the ship's captain in this manner. He hated it as a young ensign and lieutenant, and he certainly hated it even more now that he was on the receiving end of it. "As you were, Commander. Pretend I'm not here."

With that remark, Harvey leaned against the back wall and took another sip of his Wilkins.

Jax brought up a pattern on the huge wall screen behind him which showed a defensive grid around the Black Hawk and rotated from outwards to inwards and overlapped like a DNA helix. "This is called the Ender Maneuver. It creates a unbreachable wall of fighters around the ship, but allows the ship to fire outwards without hitting one of our fighters."

From her seat, the Deltan Ensign Peris carefully studied the screen as the maneuver was introduced. "Is this purely a defensive maneuver, Commander?" she asked plainly. "It seems it paints us as targets more than it does the mother bird."

"Our job is to protect the ship, but this maneuver also allows us to cover each other and be able to peel off and engage without leaving an opening," Jax advanced the simulation to show that.

Peris watched the simulation closely, as did Commodore Geisler in the back of the room. "It does look like it allows each fighter to cover a large range that overlaps one another."

"But it also looks like a carefully choreographed dance," spoke up the lieutenant beside Peris.

Ensign Moretti nodded. "I agree, but we've never practiced it," she pointed out.

"We'll have plenty of time to do that," Jax said. "Training drills start in ten."

A murmur rippled over the pilots, the order serving as a stand-in for dismissed. They rose and began to filter out of the room. Harvey waited near the door, not wanting to fight the flood of pilots as they left the room.

Once the last of the pilots were out, Jax took a minute to make a few entries in a PADD and gave the Commodore time to avoid being swamped by the rush of pilots heading out the door with chimes of "Commodore" and "Sir!" going by him.

Soon the room was empty, leaving the Captain with Commander Carter. Harvey pushed himself off the wall and approached the forward podium. "Ender Maneuver... I don't think I've ever heard of that one before."

"We've had to come up with new patterns every so often so the enemy won't think we're textbook," Jax said. "What can I do for you, Commodore?"

"Inspection of the day," the Commodore said with a smile. "Normally, I handle this with Commander Walsh, but as he's occupied, this gives me the chance to get to know you, Commander. As well as see how the squadron is doing. So, in your eyes, Jax, how is the squadron?"

"They're ready to go up against anything, Commodore, but the real buzz is this unknown enemy that's been doing hit and runs on our ships and base," Jax said. "We need eyes on space out there and I'd like to suggest a couple sorties farther out as checkpoints."

Harvey nodded, considering the idea. "With us traveling at warp for most of the journey, what would those sorties look like? Not to mention, how well can the pilots hold up inside a cockpit for hours at end like that? I can see the sorties being beneficial when we arrive at way points or have to slow down for natural phenomena."

"That would be when we launched," Jax said. "A pilot would sleep in their fighters if they could, but we also understand that we have limits, as difficult as that is to accept. I was thinking of launching them in pairs at the way points and sending them ahead."

"All right," Harvey stated. "If it's all right with Commander Walsh, it's all right with me." In a sense, Harvey had little pull over the Black Knights. The squadron operated out of the Black Hawk's flight deck and wasn't entirely subject to the ship's chain of command. "I don't think we've done any warp takeoffs or landings since this ship left drydock. How do your pilots rate on those?"

"Eight out of ten are checked out on it," Jax said. "The last stragglers are still so fresh that they smell like they just came from the shipyards."

The Commodore grunted, glancing over at a posted roster which conveniently had some status icons on it. "We've got to get them up to speed as quick as we can. Times like this, we can't afford for even a single pilot to be grounded because they're not qualified."

"We're working them every hour, Commodore," Jax said. "The other pilots are also assisting and training is on course, but we can try to step it up around the clock."

"Only if that will guarantee their qualifications without causing other issues," Harvey countered. "We don't know what we're getting ourselves into so we can't afford to have sleep-deprived pilots in the middle of all of this."

"They'll be ready, Commodore," Jax promised him. "We aren't going to have any casualties, either."

Though Harvey didn't voice it, his hopes were that not a single soul would be lost during this mission. Time had thought him that such hopes were wishful thinking, but that was not something he'd admit to anyone. "Good, good. I don't suppose I should take up any more of your time. Is there anything you need from me before I move on to the next stop in my tour? All good with the maintenance crews and ordinance?"

"Yes, Sir," Jax responded. "We are fully stocked, locked and ready to rock. If it's one thing that Commander Walsh runs, it's a very tight ship on these fighters and personnel."

"He does indeed," Harvey confirmed, his voice trailing off before taking a sip of coffee. "Well, it seems that everything is in order. I don't believe there's anything else I need, other than dropping by the command center. Anything on your mind before I take my leave?"

"No, Sir," Jax said. "If there is, I'll run it by Commander Walsh and have him send it up the flag."

With a smile, Harvey said, "Copy that. In which case, I bid you a good day, Commander. Carry on." The Commodore gave a nod, and then exited the briefing room, bound for his next destination.

"You, too, Commodore,." Jax watched him go, then headed off to kick the training into overdrive.

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