Pilot Chatter (Part 1)

Posted on Mon May 11th, 2020 @ 11:00pm by Lieutenant Rinka Hayami 'Sharp-Shooter' & Lieutenant JG Silica Tetsuhiko 'Twin-Tails' & Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy' & Commander Nicolas Trigman 'Trigger' & Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter & Lieutenant Commander Phyllis D'lar 'Sorceress'
Edited on on Mon May 11th, 2020 @ 11:06pm

1,215 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Elachi Return
Location: Pilots Lounge

The Pilot Lounge was an area on the ship where you would often find the Tokyo's manifest of sixty pilot officers varying in ranks from the lowest of Ensign to the highest of Lieutenant Commander. As standard the Tokyo had forty advanced fighter aircraft on active duty, and the twenty extra pilots were sat in reserve and known as "The Benchers" by the others.

The room was one of the largest social areas on the ship, as it was where most of the pilot's and flight staff would standby when they were on duty but not needed on the flight deck. It was also available for all pilots and flight staff for off duty occassions too. It sported a large bar, several game tables as well as many variants of tables and chairs.

It was an interesting environment as ranks never really made it past the door. You would often find a mixture of uniforms in the pilot lounge, mainly those of the blue flight suits worn by the pilots, but also that of the Engineering Yellow of the flight deck teams and the occassional red shirt from another department. It was very rare to find a non-flight crew officer in this part of the ship.

Takeshi found this hodgepodge of different outfits quite off putting when he entered. He felt that he stuck out like a sore thumb in his Starfleet uniform, which he was only ever seen without when he was either away on a leave of absence or working out. But that didn't stop him from strolling over to the nearest replicator and ordering more hot Darjeeling tea before he began to look for a place to sit down.

Silica sat on one of the large black sofa's looking out of the windows at the stars zooming by. She held a cup of coffee in her hand, she was glad that the ship had got back power and they were now heading back to Federation space.

Rinka Hayami spotted the new Air Boss out of the corner of her eye. She was sitting opposite Silica when she spotted him. "Looks like we have a new guy" she said with a sly grin. "He looks a little lonely sat over there, lets go give him a pilots greeting shall we?"

Silica looked a little unsure, but she followed Rinka's lead. Rinka cut through the lounge and ended up standing infront of Takeshi. "Rumour on the flight deck has it that you'll be our air boss" Rinka said simply cutting straight to the point.

Takeshi looked up from his personal PADD. Clearly somebody didn't want him to work on his R32 when he took his next leave of absence.

"Well, actually, I was supposed to be your new Second Officer." He replied to the two young women now standing across from him. "But, since that position doesn't command respect like it did on my old ship, Captain Aisaka thought it best, given my history in both racing and piloting, that I take up this position in addition."

Takeshi's eyes darted around the room as he spoke, as he feared that people would begin lining up to shake his hand. He also began to think up a reasonable and logical excuse to leave in case the conversation began to head in a direction he didn't like, as he was talking to women in a casual setting.

"If I may add on a personal note, I find it rather insulting that the position of Second Officer is anything less than the commanding officer's right hand man. Admiral Miyahara would be horrified at the mere concept." He continued.

It suddenly occurred to Takeshi that he hadn't bothered to introduce himself.

"Forgive me, where are my manners?" He said, standing up and extending his hand. "Takeshi Nakazato, but my friends call me Zack."

"Rinkya Hayami, Sharpshooter is my call sign" Rinka said. "The Second Officer is an important role, you're in a very important role here on ship you know. From what I understand the Air Boss usually holds the Second Officer role as they are the ones relaying orders to us" Rinka said simply.

"Yes, but you didn't serve aboard the USS Myogi for the past three years under Admiral Miyahara, and you wouldn't understand what he was like." Takeshi explained. "The first, second, and third officers all acted as extensions of his command, and were considered the second link in the chain of command, that department heads reported to. They never doubled as department heads, if that makes any sense."

Takeshi then turned to Silica.

"Anyway, who's your friend?" He asked.

"Silica Tetsuhiko or 'Twin-Tails'" Silica said simply with a slight bow. "Just an ensign here, but I'm a pretty decent flyer" she told him.

"Takeshi Nakazato." Takeshi replied, returning the bow. "And I take it you two are Japanese?"

"Indeed" Rinka said. "It seems we have a lot of Japanese pilots on the Tokyo. Must come with the name" she explained with a smile. "Can we?" she asked indicating to the opposite couches asking to sit with him.

"Of course!" Takeshi said, motioning for them to sit down as he resumed his own seat.

Both of the women sat down opposite the new Air Boss. "So, last minute transfer. What warranted that?" Silica asked curiously. "Its a bit unusual isn't it?" she asked.

"The circumstances were rather unique." Takeshi explained. "My old ship, the USS Myogi, intercepted an automated distress call from this vessel, indicating to exercise caution. Admiral Miyahara, my old commanding officer, made it very clear that any volunteers to help relieve the Tokyo would have to permanently transfer. Perfectly understandable, as he didn't want any maladies being brought back to his ship. Anyway, I was the only volunteer, so I applied for the second officer's position and they loaded up a shuttlecraft with as much supplies as they were willing to spare and sent me out here once Myogi was in shuttle range."

"A bit unusual" Rinka replied as she listened to his story. "Regardless you're one of us now. Tell me, have you ever flown in one a Valkyrie Class Starfighter?" she asked curious to his piloting experience.

"I must admit that my piloting experience is limited to shuttlecraft and simulators." Takeshi said. "Though, to brag a little bit, I did blow away my piloting instructors back at the academy by how I could push a shuttlecraft and make it perform like a starfighter."

A sly grin emerged slowly over Rinka's face. "Oh... that sounds like a challenge!" she said smirking slightly. "I think we could wager some bets on your skills Lieutenant. I bet you a days worth of luxury replicator rations that you're not as good as Silica"

"Me?!" Silica asked slightly shocked. "Why me Rinka?!"

"Simple" Rinka replied. "He wouldn't stand a chance against me, you're still a damn fine pilot Twintails. But you've got a long way before you hit the same lever myself or Trigger are at!" Rinka laughed.

Silica crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine..." she said. She looked at Takeshi. "So, want to do this? We'll use Shuttlecraft on our next training mission"

A smirk crossed Takeshi's face, as it had been a long time since he'd had a good challenge.

To be continued...

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