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CaptainBritton
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JamesycoCharlie Wing
ENS Kira Lawrence
Kira had zoned out, the idle chatter around her distilling into a faint blur as she waited for Commander Knight to arrive. She could feel a stirring in her gut, a sickening mixture of anxiety and hesitation framed with excitement and eagerness. It was unusual given that Kira had never felt in such a way since.. . ever. Out of Eden's academy she was a force to be reckoned with, and she knew that wholeheartedly. But now with all the shit that had happened her mindset was given a quick reality check as if a cinder block had been plopped over her head. Every pilot here was a capable one, as far as she was concerned. It was up to her to live up to those expectations.
It was then that Commander Knight entered the room and instantly she could sense an air of authority to him, much akin to her own father. He floated to the front and spoke sternly, starting with introductions and typical housekeeping conversation. Kira perked up, straightening herself in her seat when the actual mission briefing had begun. Hanging on every word, Kira soaked in as much information as she could muster.
"The 7th Battlegroup, consisting of the Galatia, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Zeuss will be rendezvousing with elements of the 11th Battlegroup, who arrived in the Vega System 72 hours ago to establish a beachhead."
Kira followed along on the screen in front of her, watching the small holograms zip across,
"Now, from all reports and accounts, the 11th have not had a very good time waiting for us. Reports suggest that the size of the enemy is considerably larger than we had expected. As a result, the advance force have lost roughly 40% of their of their fighting power. The TNS Verdun has retreated to the Sol jump node to undergo emergency repairs, and is for all intents and purposes out of the fight. Likewise, both of its escort ships have been disabled and one has gone missing. This leaves the TNS Athena and its escort ships as the remainder of the forward element still in play."
"Onto our specific orders. The Direwolves pulled the short straw so we'll be engaging in recon missions immediately after exiting hyperspace. You should be seeing individual assignments on your datapads now."
Kira grinned. Recon? You don't say.
Her eyes glazed over the information displayed on the data pad. She picked up her name quickly, slighted just under another.
>LTJG Rezzik Velana
Hmm. Kira perked up, glancing around the room to see if she could get a glimpse of her fly guy. Her stomach sank, suddenly remembering that she was a new face amongst a room full of strangers to her. Of course she wouldn't know who he was. She looked back to Commander Knight since whoever this Rezzik was she would be meeting soon enough.
"Ask questions if you have them, if not, suit up and report to the flight deck."
Satisfied with the information given to her, Kira waited for dismissal before standing up almost too eagerly and floating to the exit of the room. She was the first one out, haste charging her every step.
Ensign Lawrence was in the hangar bay shortly after, cross legged on a supply crate tucked squarely away under one of the wings of her assigned T-88. She was outfitted in her hardsuit, a sleek marvel of engineering combining the most advantageous elements of nanoweb and nanosilk technology. It was a custom piece created through the many connections her father knew, and Kira was thankful for that. Any career pilot worth their salt knew to invest in three things: a good hardsuit, a good bed and a good coffin. You were going to end up in any of the three sooner or later.
Maintenance and pre-flight personnel scurried like mice around her, every minute adding another check to their list followed by another minute of pacing, glancing down at their notepad, and continuing the cycle. Kira stood, placing her data pad on the crate and glanced at the flight craft before her. She walked down its side, running a hand across its body in an almost loving way.
"Miss me?" she murmured.
Kira couldn't quite place the exact time she last flew a T-88. Needless to say it had been awhile. She didn't doubt her abilities to fly, so why did she feel such unease? Her train of thought was interrupted by a stammering voice to her right.
"M-m-m-ma'am,"
Kira looked over. There stood before her was a lanky.. . boy? He didn't look any more than 18, though she could be wrong. He stood at attention, saluting. He didn't look military at all, mostly because of the horn rimmed glasses that covered nearly half his face and enlarged his eyes like a magnifying glass. Kira noted the boy's rank patch on the side of his maintenance jumpsuit. Private.
"Private P-p-Parts reporting your pr-pre flight check in,"
Kira nodded, the private lowered his salute. Kira frowned.
"Your name is Private Parts? You're kidding me right?"
The boy shook his head, "No m-ma'am. Monty Augustian Parts. I've b-b-been assigned to you as your pre-flight deck h-hand from here on out,"
Kira tilted her head, "And they gave me a private?"
Private Parts shrugged, "P-personnel has been t-tight, ma'am,"
Kira mouthed an unimpressed uh-huh, "You nervous?"
The private shook his head, "N-n-no ma'am, been talking th-this way since birth," he stammered, but straightened himself, "B-but b-believe me, I'm g-good. A-ain't nobody can slug a wr-wrench the way I can," Kira could pick up on a feint Southern drawl. Judging by his calloused hands she could only assume he was from a farming colony, "I-I've got l-lot's to prove. And I know I can,"
"Sounds like we have something in common, Private," she spun around, walking the other direction to the nose of the ship, "Follow me Parts, let's go over my flight requisitions and stat-lines,"
After a bit of time hurrying her new Private about with requisitions and expectations as her deck-hand, she finally found some alone time. A migraine had slowly been emerging from when she had first woken up, and it seemed it had reached it's pinnacle just now. She winced, reaching into her duffel and emptying two pills from prescription containers, popping them quickly and guzzling them down with a swig of canteen water.
When Rezzik would arrive Kira would stand up, addressing him.
"Rezzik? I'm Kira Lawrence, but they're calling me Blondie now. I guess I'm your flight partner for this op," she offered a firm handshake, then brought up her data pad, "I've been looking at ways to outfit our team, now, I may be new to the Direwolves but I'm not new to flying recon. I've only ever operated on a spotter and point system for two-man missions like this. Spotter ensures perimeter security while point-man gathers necessary information from the specified nav-points," She glanced up to him, "I suggest whoever's spotter equip themselves with Spitfire missiles and a Lance gun, while point mans just a Gauss and radar burst missiles. It'll be up to point-man to relay co-ordinates to the spotter to ensure accurate targeting should anything go awry but...," Kira paused to think, "This way we'll be able to gather information faster,"
"Of course, you're senior here. You know how you guys operate best, and if this isn't it then say so,"