Judgement – F.N.G.
by Ensign Samantha Roarke & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
ON:
“Damn”, Samantha said, out loud, at her first sight of the large starbase she would get to call home for the next couple of years.
The transport ship’s helmsman briefly turned his face towards her and smiled, amused, at the rookie hotshot standing right behind his seat. She had just removed her sunglasses and he could clearly see the glow in her eyes as she admired every inch of the gigantic structure they were flying towards.
“She surely is a beauty, huh?” The co-pilot asked, as he maneuvered the ship towards the docking bay.
Sam spent a good half hour standing there as the ship made its approach to the starbase. At first she didn’t wanted this assignment. She wanted to be on a Sovereign, and doing full manual recoveries if she could, but when you graduate 26th in a class of 55 it’s kind of hard to pick the particular posting you always dreamed of. But now, as she stood there watching that huge masterpiece of engineering, she couldn’t help but to imagine all the endless possibilities it housed.
The ship vibrated slightly as the docking ports locked into place, snapping Roarke back to the real world. She thanked the crew politely for allowing her to ride in the bridge during the approach and, picking up her two bags and making her way into the crowded promenade.
She was indeed overwhelmed, one reason she did not wanted to be posted on a station were the large civilian crowds that tended to gather at them. People from all over the sector brought problems from all over the sector, but then again, they also brought goods from all over the sector, which could prove to be a useful thing.
She approached one of the computer terminals to find the whereabouts of the CAG. She wasn’t so sure whether she should report to the CAG or the CO first, but she decided to take her chances with the former, as she was eager to get to know her squadron.
The Office of the CAG, nick named the crows nest, made up part of the fighter command and control area of the 'barn.' Fighter pilots; at least the ones on deep space five, were fond of their nick names for things. The barn was the main hanger bay for starfighter wing, that consisted of several levels. Machine shops, repair bays, launch platforms, ammo storage supply, ectra. Fighter control center was situated, in the walkways and gangways that crisscrossed above the fighters in the hanger, looking down onto a hive of activity as engineers, deck hands and pilots, maintained there fighters.
Rick; situated in his officer was asleep at his desk in his office, it had been a long few days, and he had not slept in twenty four hours, probably more. As he snored slightly head on his desk, his face stuck to a Data PaDD that he had been resting on. The desk light was the only thing that lighted the room, fighting back the encroaching darkness from all sides and failing in the gloom of the dark office.
Samantha quickly made her way over to the ‘barn’. It was, indeed, a sight to behold. She had never seen such a large complex fully dedicated to combat starcraft before. She stopped right in the middle of a gangway to watch as a flight of two Razors arrived. The place was buzzing with activity. Deck controllers, engineers and pilots walked up and down, going about with their duties. The whole scene had some certain flair to it, a chaotic routine with the precision and elegance of a carefully rehearsed ballet.
“Coming through!” a mechanic warned, as he dashed past her, bringing her back from her mind drift.
She resumed her paced walk, following the computer directions, to the CAG’s own office, arriving at the door shortly afterwards. She couldn’t help but to wonder what he’d be doing when she chimed the door, not knowing that the man was enjoying an untimely nap. She waited a few seconds, before chiming again, clearly excited and perhaps a bit overeager.
Rick jolted out of his slumber bolting up right, looking around briefly wondering were his was. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, wondering what it was he had to do, then the chime rang again, and he remembered, "Come in please" he asked rather croakerly. He removed that was stuck to his and placed it on his desk. He was scratching the stubble on his chin as the ensign entered the room.
Sam tried, but she couldn't help but to laugh at the CAG's blanket, or, more appropriatelly, PADD face, as she walked into the room, with her bags still strapped around her shoulders. Trying to stop giggling, she straightened herself up, and pulled off a somewhat sloppy, but still acceptable salute, still bearing a smile despite her best attempts to look serious.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir", she said, with a smirk, while at the same time trying to focus on something other than the lines drawn on his face, "Ensign Roarke, reporting for duty"
"What?" said Rick slightly confused and dumbfounded as he scratched the stubble on his chin again and looked at her through blurry vision, he rubbed more sleep away from eye. Recognition entered his eyes as Rick began to wake up and realised what was going on. He returned the smile "At ease ensign, and don't salute....we don't salute around here....hold on a sec" he said going over to the replicator and ordering a glass of water which he promptly splashed himself in the face with. He dried himself off with the sleeve of his uniform, as he sat back down behind his desk, putting his feet up on it, and taking a chewing gum from his pocket, that he shoved in his mouth and started chewing on. "Please take a seat, and welcome on-board" he looked at the bags, "how was your trip?"
"It was okay", she answered, dropping her bags by the chair before seating down, "The only problem was the food...I'm telling you, there's something wrong with that ship's replicator."
Rick smiled and nodded in understanding throw in his two cents of sagely advise. "Well at least there not Star Fleet Ration bars." He scrambled around his desk a bit looking for the ensigns Bio. "Ah here we are. An impressive record Ensign"
"Thank you, commander", she said, straightening herself up on the chair, with a half-smile, "I could've actually done better in Fighter School, but I didn't wanted to make my colleagues look bad, you know? Besides, I wouldn't want to come across as a show off."
"Your a fighter pilot, I'd expect you to" said Rick with smile and toasting her with what was left of his glass of water. "So, what specialty? Broadsword Multi-role Assault Fighters, Peregrine Heavy Fighters, Razor Interceptors or Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighters?" He had a general sense of her flying capability from the information scrolling down the screen of the small PaDD he was reading, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"I'm combat mission ready and both station and carrier-qualified on the Broadsword", she said, with a hint of pomposity in her voice, "But you probably know that already...What about you, sir, if you don't mind me asking?"
Rick was sorting through the pile of PaDD's on his desk mumbling to himself "Broadswords.... broadswords" realising he had been asked a question he looked up "Hmmm...oh yes Valkyrie's" said Rick as he fumbled again through the pile of PaDD's "Ah here it is" said Rick triumphantly as he scooped the PaDD from off the desk. He passed the PaDD Samantha. "I'm giving you command of Echo Wing our second broadsword squad"
"Sounds good, I can handle that", she said, after quickly running through the contents of the PADD.
Rick smiled, "I'm glad to hear it." He got up, moved from around his desk and headed to the large screen on the back wall. He pressed the LCARS display, that was situated around the edge of the display, several sets of statistics and flight data appeared as well as a map of deep space five and the surrounding sector of space.
"Ok Ensign, your wing is on deep space patrol. Here." He indicated a portion of space on the map. "You will be several systems away from deep space five, on your own, alone, but you have a very important job. You are our early warning system. Anything coming our way, from this direction." he gestured at the map again. "Has got to come pass you. Any questions?"
"Are we expecting someone?", Sam asked, while examining the screen, trying to catch as much information as she could. She might have seemed at ease, but in fact she was very much tense. She didn't wanted to screw up her first real assignment. She was confident, of course, but still, no training in the universe could replace experience, which she lacked more than anything else.
Rick shook his head "No, but in this place it never hurts to be careful." Rick listed on his fingers some of the incidents that had happened since his arrival on the station "Rogue Romulan attacks, temporal anomalies, Marque take over, smuggling, pirates, these have happened in the last year alone, so believe me when I say anything can happen. So I cannot stress enough the importance of situational awareness in this job, scan anything that isn't a diplomatic vessel, any space traffic on route to the station you keep an eye on, until" he indicated another area of space with his hand "they enter this area and are picked up by a Razor escort, ok?"
"Ok, I'll keep my eyes peeled", she answered, completely focused on the briefing. It was almost like she had completely switched off her sense of humor now, any hint of a smile having all but disappeared from her face as she made mental notes on her mission, "Rules of Engagement?"
Rick scratch the stubble on his chin, "If its a diplomatic vessel, with the correct credentials you do not go near it with a six foot barge pole. Anything else including starfleet vessels, you hail them tell them your going to scan there vessel. If they refuse to submit to a scan or do not answer hails, you ask again and then again." Rick raised three fingers to indicate the point. "Then you fire a warning shot, if they still persist into our space, another warning shot. If they have still not answered comms, or submitted to scans only then do you shoot, and i don't mean lightening um up. You shoot to disable there engines and shields, so we cna get a Marine boarding crew on board."
"Got it, don't light them up", she said, jokingly, putting a smile back on her face, "Seems easy enough to me, I don't think I'll have any problems"
Rick winked and smiled in agreement "good to hear Ms Roarke. Now this is a new procedure and a new patrol, so it's untested. I want you to make it your own, give it a try and see how it feels, how it works out, then come back to me with recommendations or changes you want to make going forward then we can implement them. Deal?"
"Deal", she said, enthusiastically, "Nothing is gonna sneak past us, that I can guarantee!"
"Ok job done" said Rick clasping his hands together in a enthusiastic clap, "Have you done the orientation yet, you know the usual procedure reporting to the Co, Xo, medical examination, that sort of thing?"
"Well, not really", she said, making a face and giggling, "But, please, don't bother, I'm pretty sure I can find my way around. You can get back to your nap"
He looked at his desk a moment with a mix of mournfulness and self-deprecation "Sorry about that it was pretty unprofessional of me...Let me show you around make up for it, go report in with the CO and what not, get your medical check up, then report back here and I will show you around the station. What do you think?"
"Are you asking me on a date, commander?" the ensign said, clearly amused at the tought, unaware of the CAG's relationship status, answering his question before he could answer hers, "That sounds like a good idea, though. Hopefully all that stuff won't take too long"
"Ok brilliant...." said Rick not spotting that she had said the 'asking me out on a date' bit. Then his brain caught up with him, his eyes opened shocked, and his jaw dropped. "Urrrmmmm" he stammered over his words. "I...I...I, wasn't asking you out on a date...Samantha..."
"I know sir", she said, with a giggle. No, she did not, but she couldn't come out on the "losing" side. If he wasn't asking her out, then it'd sound like she was asking him out, and his answer would sound like pretty much one thing, crashed and burned. "That was a joke."
"Phew" he said wiping his brow "I need to sit down" he walked to his desk and into his chair slumped behind it. "Sorry, not my usual reaction to a question like that....its just...just I'm getting married in a few days."
"Oh", the ensign said, lightly tilting her head sideways, "I didn't know that! Congratulations, Commander! I can only imagine what you're going through...Between running an air group and planning a wedding you must not be living, right?"
He chuckled and smiled, visibly relaxing again. "Got it in one Ensign" Rick waved a hand over his desk, "Hence falling asleep on this thing." He crossed his arms again leaned back in his chair and put his feet back up on the table. "Introduce yourself with the Co & Xo, go get your medical, then come back here when your done and will do that tour. Dismissed Ensign" Said Rick with the flash of another smile.
"Got it", she said, smiling herself as she stood up, picking up her bags, and heading towards the exit, "I'll see you soon...Excuse me"
Off:
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
&
Ensign Samantha "Smasher" Roarke
Fighter Pilot
by Ensign Samantha Roarke & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | F.N.G. | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Ensign Samantha Roarke & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Thu Mar 03, 2011 @ 6:44am | |
| Location | CAG Office | |
| Timeline | SD36 20.00 |
“Damn”, Samantha said, out loud, at her first sight of the large starbase she would get to call home for the next couple of years.
The transport ship’s helmsman briefly turned his face towards her and smiled, amused, at the rookie hotshot standing right behind his seat. She had just removed her sunglasses and he could clearly see the glow in her eyes as she admired every inch of the gigantic structure they were flying towards.
“She surely is a beauty, huh?” The co-pilot asked, as he maneuvered the ship towards the docking bay.
Sam spent a good half hour standing there as the ship made its approach to the starbase. At first she didn’t wanted this assignment. She wanted to be on a Sovereign, and doing full manual recoveries if she could, but when you graduate 26th in a class of 55 it’s kind of hard to pick the particular posting you always dreamed of. But now, as she stood there watching that huge masterpiece of engineering, she couldn’t help but to imagine all the endless possibilities it housed.
The ship vibrated slightly as the docking ports locked into place, snapping Roarke back to the real world. She thanked the crew politely for allowing her to ride in the bridge during the approach and, picking up her two bags and making her way into the crowded promenade.
She was indeed overwhelmed, one reason she did not wanted to be posted on a station were the large civilian crowds that tended to gather at them. People from all over the sector brought problems from all over the sector, but then again, they also brought goods from all over the sector, which could prove to be a useful thing.
She approached one of the computer terminals to find the whereabouts of the CAG. She wasn’t so sure whether she should report to the CAG or the CO first, but she decided to take her chances with the former, as she was eager to get to know her squadron.
The Office of the CAG, nick named the crows nest, made up part of the fighter command and control area of the 'barn.' Fighter pilots; at least the ones on deep space five, were fond of their nick names for things. The barn was the main hanger bay for starfighter wing, that consisted of several levels. Machine shops, repair bays, launch platforms, ammo storage supply, ectra. Fighter control center was situated, in the walkways and gangways that crisscrossed above the fighters in the hanger, looking down onto a hive of activity as engineers, deck hands and pilots, maintained there fighters.
Rick; situated in his officer was asleep at his desk in his office, it had been a long few days, and he had not slept in twenty four hours, probably more. As he snored slightly head on his desk, his face stuck to a Data PaDD that he had been resting on. The desk light was the only thing that lighted the room, fighting back the encroaching darkness from all sides and failing in the gloom of the dark office.
Samantha quickly made her way over to the ‘barn’. It was, indeed, a sight to behold. She had never seen such a large complex fully dedicated to combat starcraft before. She stopped right in the middle of a gangway to watch as a flight of two Razors arrived. The place was buzzing with activity. Deck controllers, engineers and pilots walked up and down, going about with their duties. The whole scene had some certain flair to it, a chaotic routine with the precision and elegance of a carefully rehearsed ballet.
“Coming through!” a mechanic warned, as he dashed past her, bringing her back from her mind drift.
She resumed her paced walk, following the computer directions, to the CAG’s own office, arriving at the door shortly afterwards. She couldn’t help but to wonder what he’d be doing when she chimed the door, not knowing that the man was enjoying an untimely nap. She waited a few seconds, before chiming again, clearly excited and perhaps a bit overeager.
Rick jolted out of his slumber bolting up right, looking around briefly wondering were his was. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, wondering what it was he had to do, then the chime rang again, and he remembered, "Come in please" he asked rather croakerly. He removed that was stuck to his and placed it on his desk. He was scratching the stubble on his chin as the ensign entered the room.
Sam tried, but she couldn't help but to laugh at the CAG's blanket, or, more appropriatelly, PADD face, as she walked into the room, with her bags still strapped around her shoulders. Trying to stop giggling, she straightened herself up, and pulled off a somewhat sloppy, but still acceptable salute, still bearing a smile despite her best attempts to look serious.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir", she said, with a smirk, while at the same time trying to focus on something other than the lines drawn on his face, "Ensign Roarke, reporting for duty"
"What?" said Rick slightly confused and dumbfounded as he scratched the stubble on his chin again and looked at her through blurry vision, he rubbed more sleep away from eye. Recognition entered his eyes as Rick began to wake up and realised what was going on. He returned the smile "At ease ensign, and don't salute....we don't salute around here....hold on a sec" he said going over to the replicator and ordering a glass of water which he promptly splashed himself in the face with. He dried himself off with the sleeve of his uniform, as he sat back down behind his desk, putting his feet up on it, and taking a chewing gum from his pocket, that he shoved in his mouth and started chewing on. "Please take a seat, and welcome on-board" he looked at the bags, "how was your trip?"
"It was okay", she answered, dropping her bags by the chair before seating down, "The only problem was the food...I'm telling you, there's something wrong with that ship's replicator."
Rick smiled and nodded in understanding throw in his two cents of sagely advise. "Well at least there not Star Fleet Ration bars." He scrambled around his desk a bit looking for the ensigns Bio. "Ah here we are. An impressive record Ensign"
"Thank you, commander", she said, straightening herself up on the chair, with a half-smile, "I could've actually done better in Fighter School, but I didn't wanted to make my colleagues look bad, you know? Besides, I wouldn't want to come across as a show off."
"Your a fighter pilot, I'd expect you to" said Rick with smile and toasting her with what was left of his glass of water. "So, what specialty? Broadsword Multi-role Assault Fighters, Peregrine Heavy Fighters, Razor Interceptors or Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighters?" He had a general sense of her flying capability from the information scrolling down the screen of the small PaDD he was reading, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"I'm combat mission ready and both station and carrier-qualified on the Broadsword", she said, with a hint of pomposity in her voice, "But you probably know that already...What about you, sir, if you don't mind me asking?"
Rick was sorting through the pile of PaDD's on his desk mumbling to himself "Broadswords.... broadswords" realising he had been asked a question he looked up "Hmmm...oh yes Valkyrie's" said Rick as he fumbled again through the pile of PaDD's "Ah here it is" said Rick triumphantly as he scooped the PaDD from off the desk. He passed the PaDD Samantha. "I'm giving you command of Echo Wing our second broadsword squad"
"Sounds good, I can handle that", she said, after quickly running through the contents of the PADD.
Rick smiled, "I'm glad to hear it." He got up, moved from around his desk and headed to the large screen on the back wall. He pressed the LCARS display, that was situated around the edge of the display, several sets of statistics and flight data appeared as well as a map of deep space five and the surrounding sector of space.
"Ok Ensign, your wing is on deep space patrol. Here." He indicated a portion of space on the map. "You will be several systems away from deep space five, on your own, alone, but you have a very important job. You are our early warning system. Anything coming our way, from this direction." he gestured at the map again. "Has got to come pass you. Any questions?"
"Are we expecting someone?", Sam asked, while examining the screen, trying to catch as much information as she could. She might have seemed at ease, but in fact she was very much tense. She didn't wanted to screw up her first real assignment. She was confident, of course, but still, no training in the universe could replace experience, which she lacked more than anything else.
Rick shook his head "No, but in this place it never hurts to be careful." Rick listed on his fingers some of the incidents that had happened since his arrival on the station "Rogue Romulan attacks, temporal anomalies, Marque take over, smuggling, pirates, these have happened in the last year alone, so believe me when I say anything can happen. So I cannot stress enough the importance of situational awareness in this job, scan anything that isn't a diplomatic vessel, any space traffic on route to the station you keep an eye on, until" he indicated another area of space with his hand "they enter this area and are picked up by a Razor escort, ok?"
"Ok, I'll keep my eyes peeled", she answered, completely focused on the briefing. It was almost like she had completely switched off her sense of humor now, any hint of a smile having all but disappeared from her face as she made mental notes on her mission, "Rules of Engagement?"
Rick scratch the stubble on his chin, "If its a diplomatic vessel, with the correct credentials you do not go near it with a six foot barge pole. Anything else including starfleet vessels, you hail them tell them your going to scan there vessel. If they refuse to submit to a scan or do not answer hails, you ask again and then again." Rick raised three fingers to indicate the point. "Then you fire a warning shot, if they still persist into our space, another warning shot. If they have still not answered comms, or submitted to scans only then do you shoot, and i don't mean lightening um up. You shoot to disable there engines and shields, so we cna get a Marine boarding crew on board."
"Got it, don't light them up", she said, jokingly, putting a smile back on her face, "Seems easy enough to me, I don't think I'll have any problems"
Rick winked and smiled in agreement "good to hear Ms Roarke. Now this is a new procedure and a new patrol, so it's untested. I want you to make it your own, give it a try and see how it feels, how it works out, then come back to me with recommendations or changes you want to make going forward then we can implement them. Deal?"
"Deal", she said, enthusiastically, "Nothing is gonna sneak past us, that I can guarantee!"
"Ok job done" said Rick clasping his hands together in a enthusiastic clap, "Have you done the orientation yet, you know the usual procedure reporting to the Co, Xo, medical examination, that sort of thing?"
"Well, not really", she said, making a face and giggling, "But, please, don't bother, I'm pretty sure I can find my way around. You can get back to your nap"
He looked at his desk a moment with a mix of mournfulness and self-deprecation "Sorry about that it was pretty unprofessional of me...Let me show you around make up for it, go report in with the CO and what not, get your medical check up, then report back here and I will show you around the station. What do you think?"
"Are you asking me on a date, commander?" the ensign said, clearly amused at the tought, unaware of the CAG's relationship status, answering his question before he could answer hers, "That sounds like a good idea, though. Hopefully all that stuff won't take too long"
"Ok brilliant...." said Rick not spotting that she had said the 'asking me out on a date' bit. Then his brain caught up with him, his eyes opened shocked, and his jaw dropped. "Urrrmmmm" he stammered over his words. "I...I...I, wasn't asking you out on a date...Samantha..."
"I know sir", she said, with a giggle. No, she did not, but she couldn't come out on the "losing" side. If he wasn't asking her out, then it'd sound like she was asking him out, and his answer would sound like pretty much one thing, crashed and burned. "That was a joke."
"Phew" he said wiping his brow "I need to sit down" he walked to his desk and into his chair slumped behind it. "Sorry, not my usual reaction to a question like that....its just...just I'm getting married in a few days."
"Oh", the ensign said, lightly tilting her head sideways, "I didn't know that! Congratulations, Commander! I can only imagine what you're going through...Between running an air group and planning a wedding you must not be living, right?"
He chuckled and smiled, visibly relaxing again. "Got it in one Ensign" Rick waved a hand over his desk, "Hence falling asleep on this thing." He crossed his arms again leaned back in his chair and put his feet back up on the table. "Introduce yourself with the Co & Xo, go get your medical, then come back here when your done and will do that tour. Dismissed Ensign" Said Rick with the flash of another smile.
"Got it", she said, smiling herself as she stood up, picking up her bags, and heading towards the exit, "I'll see you soon...Excuse me"
Off:
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
&
Ensign Samantha "Smasher" Roarke
Fighter Pilot