A New Toy

Posted on Tue Jan 22nd, 2019 @ 10:51pm by 1st Lieutenant Klaus Gunther & Cadet Senior Grade Marcus Mattson

788 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 97 - Cultural Exchange
Location: 181st TFW Fighter Bay
Timeline: 0900

Klaus watched Marcus walk up to his Training Variant of the Scorpion Fighter to prep her to launch. "Um..Cadet. Wrong ship."

Marcus stopped in his tracks. "Sir? This is my fighter." he looked over at the fighter again, he had memorized the smaller knicks to the frame of the ship.

Klaus then produced a PADD, and started to read it. "Check Out List For The Scorpion MK1 Strike Fighter..." After reading a few items aloud, he looked up at Marcus. "Cadet, you completely checked out on this model. " He then pointed to the closest standard model on the other side of his own ship. "THAT is your ship. You can set up the biometrics, and your control configuration after we land on the Pegasus."

Marcus looked at the senior pilot like he had grown a second head. "My own? But sir, I haven't graduated from the academy just yet. I didn't know cadets could be assigned to their own fighters?" he actually grinned, the thought of the looks that he would get from the other cadets when he showed up with his own fighter.

"Marcus, you DID take an oath to protect the Federation when you started the Academy. Even though it is an internship, you ARE currently assigned to my squadron. AND, you fulfilled all the requirements to be certified with that ship. So yes, you have your own ship." Klaus said.

Gunther then climbed into his cockpit. "No back seater on this one . So I hope you figured out how to integrate all the functions from up front." The ship's impulse engines and systems came to life. "We better get going."

The cadet walked a few laps around his new lady that he would have to care fore. She was spotless and looking amazing. He climbed the ladder after doing the initial inspection, something that he had learned to do before every flight. He placed his bag behind the seat, then taking the seat. He activated the ship and he could imagine her power-core starting up, he initiated the pre-flight diagnostic and a list of things scrawled on the screen. He was given his helmet by one of the deck hands, he faceted it and when the list was ready, he ignited the engines. She was purring like a kitten and he was smiling from ear to ear.

Gunther looked over at the Cadet's ship, and smiled. He knew the feeling of being issued his first operational fighter, though his Eagle was nothing like the lumbering beasts that they currently sat in.

"Specter Zero One to Eagle's Nest, requesting clearance, with one, to depart for Pegasus." It only took a minute to get a reply from Flight Control. "Specter Zero One, and Specter One Two, you are cleared to depart. Have a nice trip, Frogger."

Gunther looked over to his wing man, gave a thumbs up, and lifted his ship just a few feet above the deck. Since this was not a combat take off, he gently discharged his thrusters, making his Scorpion slowly move forward towards the force field that separated the bay from the vacuum of space. Piercing through the force field to the outside, he used his thrusters more to increase his distance from the bay. He poised to throttle up his impulse engines, but looked over to see is Marcus exited the bay.

The cadet followed his flight leaders flight path, keeping a tight formation. After they cleared the airspace of the station, Marcus opened a channel to Gunther. "Request permission to open her up sir." the cadet doubted he would get the go ahead to try out his brand spanking new ship, but he felt that it didn't hurt to ask.

As much as Gunther wanted to indulge in ACM, something told him that they needed to get aboard the Pegasus. "I would love to, but not this time. " He could almost feel the disappointment from Marcus, but he did not want to push their luck this time around. The two Scorpions made the short flight to the Pegasus without incident. "Specter Zero One to Pegasus. Request hands on approach for two." "Pegasus to Specter Zero One, hands on approach, Shuttlebay 3, you call the ball." Gunther replied, "I have the ball." The two attack craft cut their impulse engines, and maneuvered themselves into the shuttlebay, touching down in textbook landings. The crews swarmed the ships as soon as they powered down. Gunther opened his canopy, and stepped out as soon as a crewman relieved him of his helmet.

The crews got to work immediately, rotating engine coolant, and post flight protocols. Both pilots gave their craft one last walk around, before grabbing their bags, and heading to their assigned quarters.

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