Asking for an Appeal (part 1)

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 6:46am by Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter & Lieutenant Commander Phyllis D'lar 'Sorceress' & Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost' & Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse'

1,086 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Elachi Return

ON

Mika and Saeko walked into the pilots lounge for some refreshment and a quick break off their feet. Since the whole wing was grounded while the Tokyo made Earth, the two women had volunteered for various odd jobs around the ship, both in and out of the Starfighter wing, and the two of them arrived back at the pilots lounge dirty, sweating, and exhausted.

As the two entered, Saeko looked over towards the table she and Mika usually sat at with their fellow pilot Iowa to find her still there, nursing a cold glass of her favorite 1940s recipe Coca-Cola. The only thing Saeko noted had changed was that her record player had now joined her, and she was using the thing, as the swinging sounds of centuries past met both their ears as they walked in.

"She's still there." Saeko muttered. "You think she's actually going to show up?"

"More than likely she won't." Mika responded. "The Deputy CAG and squadron leaders are busy people. They wouldn't make time for us: We are after all on the bottom rung of the food chain."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." Saeko grumbled.

After the two got their refreshments, Saeko and Mika proceeded to join Iowa. The three had all come aboard the Tokyo under odd circumstances, with fleet orders endorsed by the Air Boss, which apparently rarely happened, and as such, the trio were often eyed with subtle ridicule, so they had naturally grown close to each other, and had coined the term 'The Outcasts' to describe themselves, and they often took a corner table to be out of the way of everyone else.

A few hours prior, Iowa had put in a request to speak with the deputy CAG and her squadron leader for an appeal over her recent grounding, as she felt she was being unjustly punished for her actions during the battle, as she had repeatedly attempted to make contact with the Tokyo to tell them her bird had problems, but she had been ignored, so she took matters into her own hands when the order to retreat was given. She realized now that it was a rookie mistake, and that she wasn't thinking clearly in the heat of the moment.

This had been several hours ago, and Iowa was still waiting as Mika and Saeko rejoined her.

"They still haven't shown up?" Saeko asked as she and Mika sat down.

"Nope." Iowa responded. "I went and got my record player from my bunk because I was bored, and I don't think they showed up while I was gone."

"You do realize that the deputy CAG and your squadron leader are busy people?" Mika posed. "It will likely be hours more if not another day until they get around to your request."

"Until then, you could at least make yourself useful." Saeko added.

Iowa sat up. She had been slouching over the table, but since she was now in the company of others, it demanded a straighter posture.

"Nope." Iowa replied. "Not until I get my fair chance at an appeal: I will turn this into a sit-in protest if I have to. I ain't leavin' until I get an appeal. They gonna have to drag me out of here if they want me to leave."

"Fair enough." Saeko shrugged. "But, when Trigman throws you in the brig, don't say I didn't warn you..."

"It's nonviolent resistance, not civil disobedience." Iowa responded. "There's a difference between the two..."

"Hey." Mika whispered before mouthing 'not here' to her two cohorts, as she knew that having a colorful tangent on Trigman when the man could walk in at any second could result in trouble for all three of them.

"Fair enough:" Iowa muttered. "But my protest still stands: I ain't going to recert until I at least get an appeal."

With nothing more to say, Saeko and Mika merely shrugged and chowed down on their cheeseburgers.

"In future, if you want to talk to me, come to my office or send a message to me directly," Phyllis said. She heard the last comment as she walked in. "I only got the message an hour ago and I had to finish going over the sensor data from the fighters first." She walked over to the three and sat down, not waiting for permission. "Nice music. Dorsey was a fine fellow." She looked at each of the pilots. She wasn't blind to the talk going around that all three felt like outcasts and blamed everyone but themselves for the problem. "So, why do you think you deserve an appeal and why do you think sitting here so everyone will feel sorry for you is going to help your case?"

Saeko looked up from her cheeseburger, her face a mess of ketchup and mustard, when she realized Phyllis was looking at her.

"Don't look at me." She said, her mouth full of food. "She's the one who wanted to talk to you." Saeko motioned towards Iowa.

"Manners, Saeko." Iowa responded. "Ain't nobody teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"

Sighing, Iowa turned towards Phyllis.

"Kids these days..." She muttered. "Anyhow, to answer your question: I have been flying on and off since 1943. I know that ain't as impressive as what you've got on me, but I've flown planes from F4U corsairs to F-14 Tomcats before the modern starfighters of today, so safe to say I know my way with planes: Enough to understand what I did back there was a rookie mistake, but I was in trouble and my repeated requests to come back in were ignored. I wasn't thinking clearly in the heat of the moment. That's why I'm asking for an appeal, because I feel the punishment doesn't fit the crime."

"That's precisely why you were grounded. We're trained how to react in the heat of the moment. You lost your head and that could have been deadly. Rookie stunt or no, you got off light."

"Oh, so you'd rather I'd died following orders then?" Iowa posed. "If I'd been out there for just a little bit longer, I would have been history, and you would have been perfectly okay with it? Jeez, I guess compassion is something you lose as you get older..."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Iowa Riverside "Grey Ghost"
Fighter Pilot

Ensign Mika Fujimoto "Pickpocket"
Fighter Pilot

Ensign Saeko Busujima "Crazy Horse"
Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant Phyllis D’Lar “Sorceress”
Deputy CAG, Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant Bobbie Sue Hunter “Bobcat”
Squadron Leader

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