Pilotwings
Posted on Thu Jan 13th, 2022 @ 5:00am by Commander Keisuke Takahashi 'K.T.' & Lieutenant JG Takumi Fujiwara 'Tak' & Commander Ichika Misono & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair & Lieutenant Karen Kujo 'Union Jane' & Lieutenant JG Mia ‘Banshee’ Amaro
Edited on on Sun Mar 27th, 2022 @ 12:09pm
2,053 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Handling the Fallout
Location: Deck 1, Conference Room
Timeline: Day before launch
“I want to thank you all for coming,” said Jane Sinclair at the head of the briefing room’s long table. “We have here the entire Flight Control department, as well as Lieutenants Kujo and Amaro from Night Kids Squadron.” As a courtesy, she’d also invited Commander Misono, which had the added benefit of saving the chief helmswoman a formal report to the XO.
“I’d like to begin by confirming that the issue of helming the Myogi itself is entirely under control,” Jane told the assembled pilots. “Helm duties will be split between myself, Lieutenanr Fujiwara, and a rotating schedule of flight control department NCOs covering the night shift, which will be posted weekly in the pilot lounge.” There were ten noncoms in the department, all of whom were in the room, but only five were certified pilots. The rest were bay technicians only. “Shuttles, however, are another story. We only just got the shuttlebay re-equipped, with the final pieces coming aboard when we stopover at Sol. But I’m concerned about stretching us too thin. If one person is sick, we can’t use all of our shuttles and helm the ship. When Lieutenant Amaro offered to help, it occurred to me that we should have a real plan in place for ensuring we have adequate backups and redundancies in the department.” It was, after all, inadequate backups that contributed to the theft of all of their tools and equipment.
Commander Misono raised her hand.
“No need to raise your hand, Commander,” Jane said. “Floor is open to discussion.”
"It recently came to my attention that several of our departments are still gravely under-staffed," Commander Misono elaborated, now that she had the floor. "Shuttles aside, we've got a skeleton crew staffing Medical, and our Operations staff is comprised of Academy Graduates and NCOs. I've already gone to the trouble of bringing this matter to Commander Takahashi's attention, and we had briefly discussed the matter of bringing aboard a relief contingent at Utopia Planetia."
Mia snorted a laugh, “I know she’s only an NCO herself, but there’s a brat of a Senior Chief in Engineering who thinks she’s too good to take a shit that smells. I went down there to try to get my replicator fixed and she started off on me about how I needed to contact them by comm and wait my turn. How they’re really busy and something like a replicator that doesn’t replicate a proper mojito isn’t high on the list.” The Hispanic pilot shook her head, “She’s a right bitch that one, but seems to be really organized and Operations sounds right for her.”
Commander Misono frowned at Mia, but kept her thoughts on the matter to herself as she shifted her attention back to Jane.
"As I'm sure officers like Lieutenant Amaro can attest, our departments are already stretched a little thin," she explained, trying to put a more diplomatic spin on Mia's commentary. "Considering that we've been tasked with intercepting a rogue Nebula, our current numbers just aren't going to cut it. Perhaps I could have a word with Commander Takahashi and the Utopia Planetia staff about employing a volunteer division; even if it's only for the duration of this mission, it might be the push we need to get it implemented."
“That does make sense,” Jane agreed, “but given the sort of problems we’ve had so far, I’m not convinced it will fully address our issues. Will they give us enough people? Or competent people? I’d rather try to sort out the department with what we have, and if we get good relief crew, it will just make our lives easier.”
Takumi was a running a bit late to the meeting: He had gotten waylaid when his Andorian ex-girlfriend had reached out to him, seemingly hysterical about the state of the Federation, and how it was being stolen from the honest folk by radical left-wing pacifists. Takumi couldn't believe what he was hearing, and whose mouth it was coming from; he had heard a lot about a "big lie" that was circulating, but Takumi didn't realize until he had spoken with Natsuki just how deeply the lie had penetrated Federation society.
Troubled by what Natsuki had said, Takumi had gone to Keisuke for advice, and in doing so, he mentioned he was probably late for a meeting his boss was holding, something Keisuke seemed surprised that he hadn't been informed of, and so, Keisuke had followed Takumi to the conference room, and entered behind the Ensign.
"Sorry I'm late, boss:" Takumi apologized. "I had a rather... Personal issue to attend to."
"Commander," Commander Misono acknowledged, nodding her head in Keisuke's direction.
“Commander,” Jane also said with a nod. “Apologies for not extending an invitation, but you’re absolutely welcome at all my department meetings. We were just seeking ideas about ensuring we’re adequately staffed at the helm and if we need to use all shuttles at once. I can envision scenarios where that might come up and I want to be prepared.”
"You mean scenarios such as our needing shuttles to bolster our fighter compliment?" Keisuke asked. "As far as I'm aware, that'd be the only possible scenario where we'd need all of our shuttles at once; and even then, the shuttles are like turtles compared to our razors, and they'd probably just slow our fighters down. Other than something like that, I can't possibly see any more than three shuttles being used at any given time."
“Ship evacuation,” Jane said, lifting a finger. Then she began lifting more. “Evacuation of another ship, station, or colony if Transporters are unusable or insufficient for the job. Delivery of aid, under similar circumstances. Use of further phaser arrays against a target that’s durable but not much of a threat itself. Needing to ferry many people to many destinations simultaneously. Needing multiple deflector dishes. Needing multiple sensor platforms across a large area, where probes are inappropriate. Honour guards. Demonstrations. I can go on.” She smiled warmly. “Commander, I understand that you’re much more experienced then me, but this is my field, and we cover these sorts of scenarios in flight school. And frankly, sir, I’d rather have the capability and never use it than the reverse.”
Mia had sunk her flightsuited form down in her chair as Keisuke had entered, determined to be quiet, but she never did have that much sense, "Always good to have an idea of what's possible," She agreed with Jane, reaching up to zip up her flightsuit from the half-down position, "Shuttles ain't good to supplement fighters, but havin' the pilots able to fly whatever's needed? Never hurts." She shrugged.
"I'd agree with the assessments stated." Keisuke said, leaning back in his chair. "Always better to have a plan and never need it than wishing we had a plan in the middle of a crisis. Now, where did you say you were before I got here? Staffing issues, if I remember correctly?"
"That is correct," Commander Misono replied, sliding Keisuke her PaDD. "Our staff is currently operating at 77% capacity, but several of our departments- key amongst them Shuttle Bay Personnel, Medical, and Operations- are either short staffed or filled by unqualified personnel. For that matter, the Chief of Operations, while she's certainly doing her best, is only an Ensign, so she's going to need a little more help than what we've already got."
"My wife and I have discussed the idea of bringing aboard a relief contingent at Utopia Planitia, but that should probably wait for a command meeting:" Keisuke responded. "In the meantime, we should probably focus this back on the Flight Control department:" He turned to Jane. "My apologies, Lieutenant: Please, continue:"
“So what I propose is shuttle flight courses for the following people, in descending priority order,” Jane explained. “First, Lieutenants Kujo and Amaro. Second, all personnel in the Flight Control Department, regardless of rank. Third, Commanders Takahashi, Misono, and, well, Takahashi.” She gestured to the XO and 2XO. “Finally, other senior staff members. These courses might be simple recertifications for some, but for others it will include the basics. All will be done on the holodeck, except some maneuvers and drills I’d like to run in a few weeks or months time, once people are ready.”
She put her hands on the table. “I know this sounds like overkill, Commanders, and that’s because it is. But my first week aboard the USS Shanghai, we used every single shuttle at the same time to facilitate a colonial evacuation. Things like that are extremely unlikely, but I’d rather be overprepared than under.”
"I agree:" Keisuke said. "Having a proper understanding of our shuttles and their loading capacities is key to avoiding a disaster akin to one that happened to my best friend..."
As Keisuke spoke, however, his words couldn't have been any more distant to Takumi, whose mind was still on his conversation with Natsuki:
"The Federation is being stolen out from under us, Takumi! Are you ready to call the Klingons or Cardassians your new masters? Because that's where inaction such as yours will take us!"
"Natsuki; this is nuts! Surely, you can't possibly believe a lie like that!"
"Being a Federation citizen means being ready to defend her at a moments' notice: These extremists have already proven they're no pushovers, so we push back and we fight like hell, because if you don't fight like hell; well, you're not going to have a Federation anymore!"
"Fujiwara?" Keisuke asked. "Fujiwara!"
"Huh? What?" Takumi spluttered. "Sorry, did I miss something?"
"We were just discussing how you'd be helping Lieutenant Sinclair with training personnel how to use the shuttles on your off-helm shifts." Keisuke reiterated. "You're fresh out of the Academy, so you'd have the most recent and up-to-date knowledge on shuttle operations."
"Oh, uh, of course!" Takumi responded, laughing uneasily.
Lieutenant Kujo chuckled. "Sounds to me like someone here woke up on the wrong side of the bed," she remarked, offering Takumi her thermos. "Care for some Joe, Fujiwara?"
"No thanks." Takumi said. "I need brain bleach more than I need coffee..."
"Is something wrong, Fujiwara?" Keisuke asked. "You've been quite inattentive this whole meeting."
"No, I'm not okay:" Takumi responded. "Turn on the news! It doesn't take an idiot to figure out what's bothering me: All that big lie crap; stop the steal and all that stuff. It's all over the news, and now I just found out it's hitting closer to home than I would have liked!"
"I'd be willing to look into it for you, Lieutenant," Commander Misono offered. "In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to speak with Dr. Scott about this?"
"No rush or anything," Lieutenant Kujo reassured. "Mind you, we've still gotta make a stopover at Utopia Planitia to resupply, so we can always hold off on teaching us until you get everything sorted out."
“Well, that’s basically a given, right?” Jane said. “U.P. is hours away at impulse, and we won’t have a training regimen ready by the time we launch. But Takumi and I will come up with something and we’ll begin it without delay once we leave the system. Anything else before we finish the meeting?” She didn’t touch the political discussion. She wasn’t walking into that minefield.
"I think that should cover all our bases, Lieutenant," Ichika nodded. "I'll be in my office, if you need consult with a member of the Command Staff regarding your proposal."
"Understood, Commander," Jane said. "That concludes our meeting everyone. Return to your workstations. We'll follow up after we leave Mars. Dismissed."
Posting by (In Order Of Appearance):
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jane Sinclair
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
Lieutenant Karen Kujo
Nightkids Squadron Leader, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Mia Amaro
Nightkids Fighter Pilot, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
Commander Ichika Misono
Executive Officer, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
Ensign Takumi Fujiwara
Flight Control Officer, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
Commander Keisuke Takahashi
Second Officer, USS Myogi (NCC-65918)
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