Fly, You Fools!

Posted on Fri Dec 12th, 2014 @ 9:47pm by Commander Eliana Masters & Lieutenant Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Taranok IV - FOB Phoenix
Timeline: Following "This was a great idea..."

OLD:

"I'll keep that in mind, Miss O'Donnell." Lizzy said before turning to address the two pilots. "I have a job for the two of you." She said as she produced another PADD from her pocket, handing it to one of them. "This is the briefing information that I just received on what's really happening here. I want the two of you to get in the air, and outside of the communications black out range. Do whatever you have to do to get this briefing to Commodore O'Shea. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am, we'll get on it straight away," Scheifele nodded, then looked aside to catch the attention of his copilot. Using body language, he gestured to the top of a nearby hill where many of the warp capable craft lay dormant, awaiting their next mission.

"Shall we?"

Ethan Kai nodded, "Let's get moving." He knew time was not on their side. The situation on Taranok IV happened to be very chaotic at best.

"Time is of the essence." Lizzy told them. "Now get going."

NEW:

Scheifele had been a support craft pilot ever since he had completed his training at the Academy. Previously assigned to the Chesapeake, he had transferred over to the starbase when the announcement came down that the old Nebula Class starship would be down in drydock for a few weeks. Rather than wait around on station doing nothing, he jumped at the opportunity to join the ever-expanding group of pilots forming at Starbase 80.

That decision found Peter occupying a seat on the Bettina as she left the station to come to Taranok. Not quite knowing what was in store for them, Commander Masters had elected to bring a few extra pilots along to relieve those that had gone with the initial reconnaissance wave. However, there was not much flying being done. In fact, most of the afternoon on the surface had been spent assisting the refugees.

"Okay, what's the fastest thing we've got down here?" Scheifele asked as the two pilots crested the hill.

"Fastest and most capable things we have is one of the fighters," Kai responded, "We can get in and out with minimal escort. That will allow us to carry out our job more efficiently. I'm rated in most our birds."

"Okay, there's a few type elevens that arrived with the reconnaissance convoy. They can do warp seven, which should be enough to keep up, but we need to consider our options," Peter stopped for a moment. "What gives us the best chance? Should we both fly in the same machine or do we stand a better chance of completing the objective if we go as a flight of two?"

"It all depends a flight of two can create issues of its own due to splitting our attention to protect each other. Both options are risky in their own way but as one we just have to concentrate on finding the quickest path to get us out of range so we can contact the station. At this point its a toss up but we need to get moving while we still have a slight edge."

Action was the order of the day. Schiefele walked straight past the shuttles parked and opened the hatch to one of the fighters, jumping into the navigators seat as he did so. Luckily for them both, the ground crew had kept most of the mission critical craft on hot-standby - everything was already powered up except for the engines.

It didn't take Ethan long to climb into the front seat. While a ground crew member helped strap him in he ran through a quick preflight. Powering up the engines. "Keep you eyes open this could be a bumpy ride. We're out of here like a bat." Reaching down to the engine throttle. It wasn't long before Ethan pushed the stick forward to lift the fighter off the ground.

"Wait a second," Peter glanced over at a tactical display, showing the sensor sweep of the area. "I thought I saw something for a second. There it is again - are you seeing this?"

The tactical systems on the fighter were picking up radar returns that did not correlate to any features in the terrain or landscape. However, there were no energy signatures associated with the ghosts on the display. Whatever they were, there were a lot of them.

"That's just weird," Schiefele commented. He was going to continue, but he was interrupted by an alert blaring through the ship's intercom.

"Shit! Missile launch detected, SAM site bearing one seven zero."

"Yep I'm seeing it. Target that site and fire," Ethan replied already banking the fighter hard. While the maneuver would close their distance too close for an effective missile lock by the launcher it would give them the perfect chance to take out that SAM site as they high tailed it out of the immediate area. "Seems they are just about done regrouping."

A beam of directed energy lanced across the sky and found its target, sending a missile site up in flames. The burst of hot air provided them with another updraft as they shot towards the upper atmosphere.

"Strange, sensors aren't picking up any returns in a pretty wide area down there," Schiefele mentioned. "Nothing's bouncing back at all. You don't think they're trying to hide something down there, do you?"

That news ran a chill down Ethan's spine, "Whatever it is I don't like it. Could be jamming or any other number of things. But I really don't like the implications one way or another. We need to report this as well. If they are almost done regrouping it could be ugly quickly."

Peter set to work reprogramming the backup ELT to broadcast a message on its emergency frequency. It was the best chance that they had of getting the information back to the group on the ground. Uncertainty, especially with the lives of so many innocent Tarakens at risk, was something that the crew from the station just could not afford to take any chances with.

"Better safe than sorry," Schiefele announced as he activated the ELT and jettisoned it from the fighter's fuselage.

Both occupants turned their attention back to the mission at hand. The fighter lept through the upper atmosphere and was soon far enough away from the planet to go to warp.

"I'll start preparing the intel to send back to the starbase, but we have a decision to make," Schiefele spoke over the intercom. "I was given orders by Commander Masters not to return to the surface if any circumstance prevented doing so safely. The way I'm thinking, if our beacon doesn't get the message to them, the next best way to alert them is by not going back."

The reality of what he had said sank in. Peter wasn't comfortable leaving his friends behind, but what if it saved their lives.

"What do you think we should do? You're flying after all," he asked.

Ethan nodded as he replied in a sober tone, "I don't like leaving our crew behind either but I'm taking us back to the Station. No matter what we need to give them this news." Putting the fighter on the quickest vector back to Starbase 80.

[10 minutes later]

"We're coming into transmission range of the starbase. I'll get the packet moving ASAP!"

Ethan couldn't agree more, "Make it quick as I'll be requesting landing clearance soon. They'll want to talk to us I have a feeling. Then we need to see what we can do to help them."

A few, well-placed keystrokes were all it took for the intel packet to be sent back to the starbase. No doubt, the additional information would prove invaluable when it came time to decide which assets to utilize and what sort of timeframe they were dealing with. But to Schiefele and Kai, the job was just about finished.

"Been a long time since I've been on a mail run," Peter grinned. "I gotta admit, it's more fun in naval equipment. Anyway, here we go with final approach checks..."

Looming in the distance, Stratkas IV came into view. It was a magnificent scene, with the outline of the planet engulfed by star at the center of the system, just a reminder that at the end of the day, they still had the best job in the galaxy.

OFF:

Lt Ethan Kai (NPC)
Simmed by
Lt Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro

and

Ensign Peter Schiefele (NPC)
Support Craft Pilot
Written by: Eliana Masters