Recon Mission - Flight prep

Posted on Tue Sep 9th, 2014 @ 4:37pm by Commodore Kathleen O'Shea & Commander Eliana Masters & Lieutenant Commander Adria "Tempest" Desoro & Lieutenant Jason Solaris & Captain Pete Samson

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: SB80 Deck 1027 - Docking bays

[ON]

[Flight Deck 1027]

Captain Pete Samson and his team arrived at the flight deck. They were all dressed in black, wearing black combat vests. All of them but one were carrying both phasers and a projectile rifle. He took his team to a corner out of the way and they immediately started checking their equipment. Pete looked over them and he was proud to be the commanding officer of this team. He knew that the flight deck team are going to be busy so he stayed with his team awaiting for orders.

"Captain!" An unfamiliar face jogged across the flight deck in a red standard-issue Starfleet uniform, ducking between the swarms of personnel on the flight deck with just a hint of unfamiliarity, the piece of the cog that stood out in comparison to the smooth machine of the flight deck. "Lieutenant Solaris, Flight Ops."

Jason glanced at the other Marines present, and opted to skip the introductions, cutting straight to business. "There's a Polaris ready for your team in berth six, heavy troop loadout with a little extra. She'll be warm in ten with the rest of Tin Flight Six. Anything else you need bolted on before you deploy?"

"Marine Captain Samson, pleasure to meet you Lieutenant, we have everything that we need but if you could show us the way to ship." Pete gathered everything he needed formed his team up and waited to be shown the way.

"I'd be happy to, Captain, but we're still waiting on Lieutenant Buren from the 405th - it's his flight that'll be getting you groundside, so we're getting you paired up here in the deck."

"Lieutenant I have a team of twenty Marines on stand by when we have left I would like them to be on stand by here with your permission. Will you have ships ready to taken them.?"

Solaris glanced at the PADD he was carrying. "Got it. The 405th may want to supply that so that we're not splitting up the operation. I'll get a transport prepped on standby just in case -- it sounds like we may need them no matter how things turn out planetside."

Buren arrived on the flight line to find Solaris talking with the Marines.

"Captain Samson, I'm Lieutenant Buren, 405th, we're your ride this morning" The Bajoran introduced himself.

"We are ready when you are Lieutenant. "

"Sounds like Lieutenant Solaris has got a troop transport module ready for your team. We can discuss your other needs. I've got a standard Command and Control Mod, or a Marine HQ one?"

"Due to this being a joint mission, we shall take the standard."

"Copy that" Buren acknowledged "Want some vehicles? I can take two or four ARGOs or MARGOs"

"A MARGOS would be nice and also two Wessons and a Winchester."

"Understood Captain, whatever fits in the vehicle pods, we can take! I'll get those opened for your drivers to load" Buren continued "For support I can bring an Armory Mod if needed and we'll also take an Oversize Medivac Mod, in case we need to recover injured personnel"

"Do you have room? Are we going to war? I have not been briefed so yes" Pete smiled at Buren.

"I've got ten birds and around thirty different modules to choose from Captain, if you want it, I can bring it!" Buren replied with a smile "And better to have it on scene and not need it, than to need it and not have it..."

"Ah yes drivers, that will be four more Marines, Lieutenant. "

"Finally we'll be taking both Short and Long Range Recon Mods; a Communications Mod and a Short Range Science Mod" Buren concluded "That makes nine. So, I've got room to bring your second team along as well Captain, want them on site? Backup that's too far away isn't much of a back up..."

"If you have room I will bring another team of twenty, that will make forty four of us." Pete preferred small teams of well trained Marines, or Starfleet Officers. If he need more personal he could use the other staff on board.

"No problem Captain. I have Mods that can carry sixty of your people if needed" Buren said "You want Team two on a second bird? That way if we have any problems we don't loose both teams"

"Makes perfect sense. Pete liked this new Lieutenant, being a pilot himself he put en clicked with other pilots. He was toying the idea of trying to get his own flight team. He will see how this mission goes.

Taking note of the Marine's requests Buren turned to Solaris "Copy those Lieutenant? How long for you to get those Modules ready?"

Solaris' fingers flew over the PADD, communicating back with Flight Ops. "Your boys have already prepped the majority of the modules for standard loadout -- the Medivac module is still being adjusted for a potential large-scale explosive/combustion event, and a second Transport module is on its way up. Both are assuring me they'll be ready in ten."

"Okay, now let's sort out our fighter cover" Buren continued, and tapped his commbadge to contact the 220th's Commander who would be prepping her starfighters in their own hanger decks.

=^=Buren to Commander Desoro, do you have a moment to discuss the flight formation ma'rm? 405th's convoy will be one Danube and ten Polaris transports, with varied Modules. Callsigns Iron One and Tin Six One through Ten=^=

[220th Hanger Deck]

Caitlin was just giving a final briefing to the 220th pilots when the call came in. =^=Maguire here I'm flying lead in Desoro's place on this one, copy that. =^=

=^ = So what's the formation? =^ = Buren repeated his original question

=^= Final formation for has been relayed to all ship. We're covering the best we can from the front and rear that allows us to shift approach and cover more area if needed. =^=

Buren shook his head, that made no sense whatsoever. Ah well the 405th would take care of it's own if the fighter-jocks couldn't!

[Lower Docking Bay Control Room]

Enough time had passed since Commander Masters had put the team in place that would be responsible for handling situations like the one they faced now. Walkthroughs, practice scenarios, and some of the most rigorous and intensive systems training in the fleet were behind them. Now it was time to see if the Flight Operations team had what it took to organize the mass orchestra of moving machines and personnel. Nervously, Eliana watched from high above the hangar floor as their plan was slowly put into action.

"Clear some airspace, let's get any civilian traffic moved out of the restricted areas," Masters spoke to the controller in charge. Somehow, through centuries of spaceflight, many terms and phrases from the inception of powered, atmospheric flight had survived in the parlance of a twenty-fourth century pilot.

"We're on it ma'am." A nearby radar display showed the returns of the transponders installed in every spaceworthy craft in the area. Soon enough, a distinguishable pattern began to emerge in the negative space - an exit path for the mass of technology about to make its way towards Taranok IV.

A few decks below, the figures of Marine Captain Samson and the department's new executive were locked in conversation, no doubt about equipment and loadout for the upcoming mission. Eliana had to admit, she did not know much about the newest addition to the team. Somewhere in the mass of humanity that filtered through the offices each day, they must have bumped into each other at some point, but formal introductions had yet to be made. Out of the corner of her eye, Masters saw the marshaller's batons light up as he walked towards the flight line.

"Looks like they're startin' them up," she commented. "Thanks for your hard work everyone, I'll be on deck if you need me."

[Flight Deck 1027]

The sound of impulse engines starting in the station's atmosphere masked Eliana's approach as she walked towards the area where Jason was standing. As she stopped beside him, she produced a PADD and held it out for him to accept or refuse. One of them would half to finish tallying what equipment was in use and where it was going. Delegation was just part of the job.

"Everything is going smoothly upstairs, how're things down here?"

Jason accepted the PADD almost without looking, but just for a second, let it hang at his side without stopping to read it.

"To be honest, I'm still rusty as an oil platform, but this team moves as efficiently as any I've ever seen. Maybe more. We were never given modular ships back on SBO -- I can't even imagine how we'd have managed." He let out a breath as the impulse engines grew louder, rubbing at the bridge of his nose for a moment, then looked over the PADD. "Right. I'll start sorting this out. In one minute."

With a soft chuckle, mostly at his own expense, he turned to face his new department head, extending his hand. "Jason Solaris, sir. Sorry we haven't had any time to catch up, but it seems like the Corps of Engineers doesn't do 'downtime' very well," he grinned.

"Maybe after they finish the engineering project on the surface we'll have some downtime," Masters smiled in return. "Everyone deserves it that's for sure, but sometimes, people don't get what they deserve. That can work in your benefit I suppose. Anyways, no worries Lieutenant, I'm sure we'll get some time to meet and talk through things, but for now, it looks like you've got a solid handle on this. There will no doubt be a staff meeting before long so if you were planning on flying, I would request that you stick around."

Jason snorted. "Don't worry, someone has to stick around and mind the store. Hardest thing I ever learned when I transferred to a starbase." He glanced down at the PADD again, eyes flicking over the contents. "I'll get started updating inventory, sir." He turned to head towards the other side of the deck. "I'll be at any meetings that rear their heads, though."

"Oh, and Lieutenant, call me ma'am or Masters. Commander if you must. I know it's proper but," Eliana wrinkled her nose, "I just don't like being called 'sir'."

With a pause, Jason glanced behind his shoulder, a little surprised. "Oh. Sorry -- when you have a Marine for an aunt, some habits die a little hard...ah...Commander." He smiled, a little sheepishly, before taking off down the length of the deck, PADD firmly in hand as he went to do his last checks with the 405th.

"No need to apologize, it doesn't really bother me either way," she called out in return as he walked away.

Once the various Modules were affixed to Tin Flight Six's ten Polaris craft Buren logged the configuration for his flight formation.

Tin Six - One: Command & Control
Tin Six - Two: Communications
Tin Six - Three: Long Range Recon
Tin Six - Four: Short Range Recon
Tin Six - Five: Short Range Science
Tin Six - Six: Marine Transport - T1
Tin Six - Seven: Marine Transport - T2
Tin Six - Eight: Armory
Tin Six - Nine: Vehicle Transport
Tin Six - Ten: Medivac

He turned to Samson, "Okay Captain, load your teams on to ships Six and Seven. Where do you want to ride? You can come with me in the Flight Leader Danube; ship One which has the C&C Mod; or with your team in ship Six?"

Command, Pete knew that to be leader you took a step back, however he was a Marine leader, other people would make decisions about his mission then his job was to execute it. "I will be on ship six. I want to be hooked up to command and Control, and you guys can hook up to my eye glass and see everything from the ground. Sergeant Hull will take my place on the command ship."

As Pete said this another team entered the Flight deck along with four drivers and probably the geekiest looking Marine ever Sgt Hull.

"Sgt Cortez you will be on ship six with me, I want a strong primary team. Team two on ship seven and Sgt Hull ship one, dismissed."

The whole Marine teams stood to attention saluted and went to the appropriate ships.

Once the Marine commander was aboard his chosen ship Buren nodded to Solaris "Nice work getting us ready. We're good to be gear-up in three"

Solaris tucked his PADD under an arm. "Can't take credit, I've never seen flight techs work as fast as the 405th." He managed a smile and nod towards Buren, glancing in the direction of Iron One. "Safe travels out there, Lieutenant -- you're the only eyes and ears we've got, with communications out. We're counting on you."

Heading to his Runabout Buren tapped his commbadge =^= Buren to Commander Von Hyden, Ready to go, gear up in three =^=

=^= Copy that, be safe! Von Hyden out=^= The 405th Commander acknowledged

Buren boarded the Runabout and shut the door behind him, his copilot had run through the preflight and the craft was ready to depart. Buren activated the comm system and alerted the rest of the craft =^=Iron One to Tin Six Flight Gear up, we're leaving! Convoy Formation Charlie! Iron One has the lead!

There was a chorus of acknowledgements and the eleven ships lifted off, slowly crossed the hanger deck floor and passed through the forcefield barrier blocking the entrance to the dock.

[Station Approaches]

=^= One quarter impulse until we're clear of the station=^= Buren ordered and gave the flight vector to the designated rendezvous point with their fighter escort from the 220th.

=^=Iron One to 220th Flight Leader. Eleven ships, inbound your location =^=

Caitlin referenced the information on her HUD. =^= 220th lead here. Roger eleven inbound. Take up center position.=^=

=^= So where you want us? =^= This was like pulling teeth, Buren thought, the escort commander needed to inform the convoy what was going on...

After receiving no reply Buren knew the clock was ticking and the convoy had no time to wait around for others to get their act together.

=^=Iron One to Tin Flight we're staying with Formation Charlie. The Fast-Movers are too busy playing with their joystix to cover us, so we're outa here! =^=

The convoy slid into a wedge formation, two layers of five ships behind the Runabout. The lower level flipped over and flew inverted. The formation was maneuverable, kept the craft in tight and gave them interlocking fields of fire.

=^=Standby to go to warp in three, two one.. Engage!=^=

The convoy vanished...


[OFF]

Lt. Buren Zel
Security & Tactical Chief
405th CTAG

LtCmdr Falk Von Hyden
OC
405th CTAG

Commander Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer

Commodore Kathleen O'Shea
Commanding Officer
Starbase 80

Marine Captain Pete Samson
Commanding Officer Marine Corps
Starbase 80

Lt Caitlin Maguire
Squadron Leader
220th