Boulder Hunting - Part 1

Posted on Fri May 26th, 2023 @ 10:25pm by Lieutenant JG Silica Tetsuhiko 'Twin-Tails' & Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Ensign Rin Kagamine 'Twin 2' & Ensign Len Kagamine 'Twin 1' & Chief Warrant Officer Karuta Roromiya & Lieutenant Commander Moklor ‘Shell Squid’ & Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost' & Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Lieutenant JG Palu Vraaku ‘Jumja’ & Lieutenant JG Masamune Busujima 'Lost Boy' & Lieutenant JG Aika Thompson & Lieutenant JG Vyse Ingelbard & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse' & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Ensign Talanna Teela 'Nanny' & Ensign Sora Kobayashi 'Blank'
Edited on on Fri May 26th, 2023 @ 10:31pm

1,199 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Descent
Location: Flight Deck

The fighter bay of the USS Tokyo was a bustling hub of activity, as the support personnel were working hard to get the Valkyrie fighters ready for their next mission. The sound of tools clanging and people shouting instructions could be heard throughout the cavernous space. The hum of energy coursing through the fighters as they were being prepped was like music to the ears of the engineers.

Specialized engineers were hard at work, making sure that the fighters were in top condition. They were running checks on the various systems, from the engines to the shields. The Valkyries had a reputation for being some of the best fighters in Starfleet, and the engineers took great pride in their work.

Meanwhile, ordinance technicians were busy checking the phaser and micro torpedo systems on each of the Valkyrie fighters. They meticulously went through every component, making sure that everything was in perfect working order. The phasers and torpedoes were the primary weapons of the fighters, and it was crucial that they were fully operational. The technicians knew this, and they were working diligently to make sure that the fighters were fully equipped for their upcoming mission.

Moklor was the last member of his squadron to climb into his fighter. He’d been chatting with an engineer about the status of his fighter. Moklor felt reassured that his squadron, Yamaha, was fully prepped and ready to go.

The support crew began to clear out around Squadron A. They would be the first to take off. Ducati Squadron would be right behind them, closely followed by Triumph Squadron.

As the support crews cleared out around Squadron D, Iowa climbed aboard her fighter, newly-reverted back to her specs. As she fired up her fighter, Iowa smiled, as if she had been reunited with an old friend. But then she resumed her serious face as she put on her headset to conduct a com check with her squadron:

"Riverside to Triumph Squadron, com check." Iowa said aloud for the com check.

Some time ago, Moklor briefed the pilots of these squadrons about the mission at hand. An asteroid had seemed to be thrown off course where it collided against Gamma Zednor station. The station was badly damaged and had indeed been thrown just slightly off its orbit.

The station was headed into the path of an asteroid belt, but at a slow pace. Moklor had assigned targets for each squadron at the meeting. Yamaha Squadron would destroy a small group of asteroids which seemed to be trailing the impacting meteor. They had likely broken off from the larger one and posed a risk.

Ducati Squadron and Triumph Squadron would head into the asteroid belt. Their initial targets would be two large asteroids located a fair distance from each other. After these large ones were vaporized, both squadrons would work inwards towards each other to clear various smaller asteroids. All three squadrons would clear debris from the path of the Tokyo along the way.

Moklor tapped communications controls frantically on his fighter, ensuring that updated maps and instructions were sent to each fighter. Each fighter had multiple screens. Now they had the latest overlays and mission checklists popping onto their comm and nav viewers.

A communications officer from the bridge chirped Moklor’s commbade.

“This is commander Moklor, come in”, he replied.

=/\= “We’ve just entered range of the station”, the Operations officer said. “Launch when cleared”.=/\=

“Acknowledged”, the Klingon replied before opening a channel to the squadrons. “Yamaha Squadron check in”, Moklor called out over a comm channel he’d set up for the mission. He would have to balance the chatter of every pilot from every squadron. Each pilot could chose to listen to comms from the entire strike group or those of their lone squadron. Moklor also had a key in to comms from the bridge.

“This is Nanny, up and ready”, Ensign Teela called up. She had been antsy, no… downright anxious.. to be the first person to respond. She had never responded to a disaster on this scale. The amount lost or injured was still unknown to many of the pilots.

"Snowflake here. Ready to go!" Fubuki reported from her fighter. She looked over yo her right to see Silica waiting to report in. She was happy to be out flying again.

"Twintails reporting ready," Silica added as she tapped a few buttons on her launch console and gripped the control sticks.

“Prepare for launch, Yamaha. Standby”, Moklor replied while sending a typed request to launch to the tower.

After his own squadron checked in, Moklor called up the next bunch. “Ducati, check in.”

“This is Jumja, ready for launch”, called up the Bajoran pilot, Palu Vraaku. He was one of the latest transfer to the Tokyo. He felt a calm, cool wash over him. He was practicing mindful meditation to keep an even keel about this assignment. After all, everything was in the hands of the Prophets.

"Twin 1 ready!"

"Twin 2 ready too!"

"Ingelbard, also ready." Vyse really needed a good callsign.

After Ducati, it was Triumph’s turn. “Triumph, check in”.

"This is Grey Ghost; ready to launch." Iowa responded.

=A=This is Gemini; all systems primed and ready for launch, over.=A=

=A=This is Highlander; ready for launch when you are, over.=A=

=A=This is Blank, ready for launch, over.=A=

The flight line had finally been cleared. A different voice called in, this time from flight control.

"Yamaha Squadron, those is Chief Roromiya" came the soft yet emotionless voice of the air boss. "Doors are open you are cleared to launch."

“Roger”, Moklor said before switching comms to his squadron-mates. “Go for launch, Yamaha.”

“Let’s bust some rocks.” Ensign Teela and Lt. Commander Moklor we’re the first two pilots to line up. They both pushed a ‘READY’ signal to communicate to the launch crew. Silica and Fubuki were lined up behind them. Ducati Squadron was already starting to line up behind them. Triumph stood by, waiting to fall in line.

As the first two pilots launched, the next two would move up for launch, while two others would join the taxi queue.

The moment came with a violent rush which propelled the fighters out of the bay with a whirring rush. “Qapla!”, Moklor called out over comms while his view of the bay was replaced with that of stars, a distant station and its rocky surroundings.

The catapult launcher helped the starfighters propel to full impulse faster than if they’d taken off under their own power.

“Dear gods”, Teela called out upon her first glimpse of the shattered station. The rushing sensation of the Tokyo’s catapult was also a force to be reckoned with, even with internal environmental stabilization.

Once Moklor and Teela were clear, Silica and Fubuki lined up with their catapults. The fighters were thrown forward quickly off the deck into the black deep void of the stars.

"Shell Squid. This is Snowflake, falling behind you in formation" Fubuki called out as she brought her fighter in behind the Klingon. Silica stuck to her side falling in line behind Teela.

To be continued...

RSS Feed