Shuttle Flight Galileo-One

Posted on 18 Sep 2018 @ 11:24am by Ensign Miraj Derani & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver

3,651 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Avondale Shipyards - Primary Hangar Bay, USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD 141, 0730 hours

[ON]

Lamar Darius had arrived early at 0700 for the day's exercises and support craft requisitions. If he'd read the memo correctly from Captain Saalm, each of the Galileo-A's conn officers was to re-certify themselves for support craft operations -- including both automated and hands-on launch and recovery. It was a tall order, not because of the actual piloting, but rather due to the stress of knowing their every course correction and deviation would be monitored in real-time...probably by either the captain herself or the XO. He'd never considered himself a weak pilot by any means, but he'd only been a certified support craft pilot for all of two years. His experience paled in comparison to some of the other conn officers in the fleet who had probably been at the helm since they were small children.

With a full belly of bacon and eggs, Lamar walked down the corridor and approached the shipyard's massive hangar complex. The large double-doors parted for him and he stepped inside, craning his head up and around to take notice of the plethora of various shuttlecraft in the three-story bay that was the size of a small starship. He counted at least two-hundred different shuttles, workbees and transports, then made his way over to the shuttlebay manager on duty.

"Darius, Lamar," he introduced himself to the lieutenant commander who was stationed at his LCARS station. "Here to requisition shuttlecraft for Galileo-A," he added.

"Chief," acknowledged the short Human man who then looked down at his displays to log the warrant officer's credentials into the terminal. "Alright..." he then mumbled after a short moment. "Looks like you're assigned to NCC-80010-A/02. That's shuttlepod Pisa, Type 15A." The lieutenant commander then produced a PADD and handed it to Lamar. "Need you to sign for the craft."

The dark-skinned chief warrant officer took the slim device, reviewed its contents, then pressed his thumb into the small box at the bottom to digitally sign the spacecraft release form.

"Level three, bay two," instructed the shuttlebay manager when Lamar handed the PADD back over.

Lt. Shizn entered a massive bay filled with shuttles. It seemed like there was copies of all the classes of shuttles currently used in the Federation spread across the flight deck. He saw a warrant office walk away from a Commander. He seemed like the logical person to ask.

Stepping up the the Lieutenant Commander Tris stated, “I’m Lieutenant Shizn, reporting for some shuttle duty, I believe?” He left the comment in the form of a question. It had not been placed to him clearly what his duties were going to be for this day.

The senior officer took notice of the Andorian hybrid when he approached then greeted him with a nod before punching the junior lieutenant's credentials into the LCARS terminal. "Yep, here we are. USS Galileo-A?" he asked, to confirm.

A slight smile came across Tris’ face. He had been waiting for this for many months. “Yes. That is correct.”

"Here you go," the man said, handing a PADD to Shizn which contained his new support craft requisition papers. Just sign and she's yours. "NCC-80010-A/03, shuttlecraft Virginia, Type 6. I think she's up on level two bay ten."

Shizn listened intently to each detail. Accepting the PADD he replied, “Yes Sir. Virginia. Got it.” He looked at the details on the small screen for a second before making his mark on the screen. Handing the device back to the Commander he said, “Thank you Sir,” before turning and moving away from the Commander. Tris stopped a short distance away. He wanted to see which other crew members were to report for this detail.

Looking over his shoulder to catch a glimpse behind in, Lamar saw the Andorian junior lieutenant who was now the senior-most in his department aboard Galileo-A. He cast a friendly wave at the blue-skinned man as he headed to the lift.

Shizn canted his head slightly, in an accepting fashion, to the Chief Warrant Officer.

Chief Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver walked with confidence and purpose into the large bay, looking around for a moment. The different shuttles, the variety was very...good. It felt almost as if he was seeing old friends. He saw a lieutenant talking to a lieutenant commander and moved over, but kept a respectful distance so not to eavesdrop. Waiting his turn like a patient enlisted. Now that brought back memories for him.

This was the part Miraj hated most. Meeting other pilot's. Very few at the academy had appreciated being made to look like rank amateurs. Miraj couldn't help it. Every grain of being good at something that fate had seen fit to give her, it had poured into a single skill set. Even flying at her laziest it was obvious she was gifted and four years at the academy had taught her that many people resented it. She'd had very few friends out of the dedicated conn officers.

She joined the queue of red trimmed uniforms, keeping her eyes down, making connections made the inevitable rejections harder to bear, and shed had enough of those lately.

She shuffled to the front the small queue when the others moved off and gave her name and ship to the senior officer as quietly as she dared.

The lieutenant commander looked at the next Galileo officer in line -- the one with the pink hair -- and gave her a microsmile before entering her credentials into the terminal in front of him. "Derani...Miraj...Galileo..." he mumbled to himself before finding her name in the system and transferring the paperwork to another blank PADD. "You'll be assigned to Vincenzo, NCC-80010-A/05. Waverider-class."

He then handed her the PADD and instructed her to sign for her craft. "Good luck parking that thing," he casually bantered. "Last two pilots that tried to dock one bent up the docking clamps pretty good," he smirked.

"Then they're idiots," She replied before she could stop herself. "They're lovely and if you can't park one then you should go back to training wheels." Her brain finally engaged. "Uh I mean, I don't think it's that hard sir. I have one of my own."

The lieutenant commander did a slight double-take and cocked his head to the side. Derani's blunt and condescending words seemed out of place coming from such a young-looking ensign. But then again, he knew most of his helm officers tended to be cocky SOBs. Eventually he just shook his head and suppressed an amused chuckle. "Well, just don't go joyriding in this one. I don't want to chewed out by the base commander for something stupid one of my pilots did. Off you go, now."

"No sir. I mean yes sir," Miraj gave up trying to figure out which part of the dire warning she was responding to and turned towards the wave rider with a skip in her step.

From just a few strides away, Lt. Shizn had heard the exchange between the Lieutenant Commander and a very confident, yet slightly arrogant Ensign. At one point Tris had lifted his hand to his face, pretending to scratching himself so that something would hide the smile on his face. Tris knew that he better keep a close and careful eye on this young Ensign. It just might mean further entertainment.

Oliver smiled weakly as he watched the female officer get assigned before him. It was fine though, again he was used to it. He glanced to see if there were any other officers there, but when there wasn't he decided to speak up. "Sir, Chief Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver. Am I being assigned a craft?"

"Chief Sylver," the short man repeated after taking notice of the last red-collar in the line. "Galileo too?" he presumed, wanting to verify while he entered the name into the computer system.

"Yes Sir," Oliver said with a small smile, watching him closely. "USS Galileo." And it would be interesting to see if he would be given a craft. And in that case, it would be interesting to see which. He let the silence stretch without any issue. Again, he was used to it.

Shuffling a few PADDs around his cluttered desk, the lieutenant commander entered the chief warrant officer's info into his LCARS station then transferred the new assignment details to one of the slim silver devices. "Alright, chief, I have you here for NCC-80010-A/04, shuttlecraft Livia, Type 6. Level two bay eleven. Sign here," he handed over the PADD.

Oliver took it, smiling as he signed. "Thank you, Sir," he said and handed it back. "Pretty name for a pretty shuttle." He kept the smile easily, holding the man's eyes.

"Yeah she's a beaut. For an old Type 6, anyway," he non-chalantly remarked. "You're all set, safe travels."

---

With the last of the assignments given out, from what Tris could tell, he moved off to locate his assigned shuttle. Just as instructed, it was on the next level, Bay 10. He performed a quick walk around the Type 6 shuttle finding the name Virginia on its side. The Andorian quickly entered the shuttle and settled into the pilot seat. His mind pondered for a moment considering the name and it’s possible origins. English, no doubt, Tris thought. He broke the syllables down, Vir . . Gina A bit frustrated he said aloud, “I don’t think I want to any further with this line of thinking.” With a quick preflight check, the Andorian activated internal power, the impulse engines, and found all was ready for launch.

Shizn then turned his attention to the comm and did some selecting so that his broadcast would go out to just the other shuttles assigned to the USS Galileo-A. He hadn’t actually been assigned ‘Officer in charge’, but from what he had seen, he was the senior officer of those assigned to pilot a shuttle. So, with no further delay, he activated the Comm, “This is Lieutenant Shizn. All Galileo shuttle pilots acknowledge and give status.”

Up on level three, Bay 2, Lamar had just completed his own external inspection of his assigned shuttlepod Pisa and climbed into the vessel through the up-folding side door. Once inside, it hissed closed and he quickly moved to the conn to begin the start-up sequence. His dark brown eyes scanned the controls in front of him to obtain familiarization of the cramped cockpit layout, then he grabbed his PADD and performed a series of pre-flight checks. A quick activation of the ground power buttons brought backup power and internal lighting online.

"Pisa copies, initializing system startup," Lamar replied through the comm after briefly tuning the guard frequency to the correct channel.

“Acknowledged Pisa,” Shizn responds. “Please stand by.”

On level two, Oliver ran his hands over the control of the type 6 shuttle craft Livia. He listened to the chatter, his eyes going to the empty seat beside him before he took a deeper breath. He started the start up sequence, fingers moving as he ticked off the pre-flight checks against a PADD. A luxury for someone who had once gotten into a fighter at the drop of a hat. "Livia copies, pre-flight checks done and starting engines," he said across the comm, having tuned into the right channel. There was something so satisfying about it. He turned his audio off, his hand moving across the bottom of the controls, watching the lights. "You and me are going to go well together, darling. Just trust me and I will trust you," he whispered to the shuttle.

Tris was glad things were going easy so far. He replied over the Comm, “Acknowledged Livia. Please stand by.”

Darius brought his shuttlepod's auxiliary power unit online then began the process of initializing the impulse reactors. One of the diagnostic displays in his cockpit showed a plethora of numerical data which helped him verify the stability of the primary propulsion unit. Once the engines were online, it only took a few minutes to run through the rest of the procedure, and he had Pisa's primary and secondary systems up and running in no time. "All shuttles, Pisa, startup complete. Ready for departure."

Tris was very pleased with the capability and professionalism of these pilots so far. “Acknowledged Pisa.” Shizn then activated Comm for the Flight Control of the Station, “Flight Control, this is Lt. Shizn requesting clearance for Shuttle Flight group Galileo, to be out bound from Avondale station to the USS Galileo-A.”

After a couple seconds the group received the clearance needed, “Shuttle Flight Group Galileo, this is Avondale Flight Control. I am counting 4 shuttles in your flight. You are now clear to launch with a vector of 150 degrees from station.” After a second it was added, “Boys, my flight pattern is pretty busy. Please don’t dally.”

Tris raised an eyebrow at the comment, curious to understand what ‘dally’ meant, but he did get the gist. “Thank you Flight Control, Shizn out,” the Lieutenant replied back. He then reset the Comm for just the shuttles, “Shuttle flight Galileo, we are cleared to launch. Move out at 1/8th Impulse, heading of 1-5-0 degrees, mark 15. Form up on me in standard diamond slot formation.”

Tris brought the Type IV shuttle to hover and eased it out of the shuttle bay. Glancing at the sensor readout, he could see the other three craft moving up behind him.

Lamar relayed his acknowledgement over the comm then activated his shuttlepod's ventral thrusters. A small jet wash formed beneath the craft as it slowly began to rise from the platform. Inside the cockpit, the chief warrant officer manipulated the rotational controls with one hand and the translation with the other to slowly and carefully maneuver the pod from the hangar bay down onto the flight line.

Oliver smiled weakly and engaged his thrusters, watching what was going on. While he trusted the instruments, his eyes went to make visual confirmation that everyone was where they needed to be.

When Darius was properly aligned behind the two Type 6s and the Waverider, he initiated forward thrust and his shuttlepod burst quickly from the shuttlebay out into open space. He maintained visual on all three of his wingmen while he formed up on the lead craft.

Oliver let out a breath as his shuttle too entered the open space, adjusting his course slightly before he smiled to himself. It felt good to be flying, it was freeing. Even if this was not anything advanced.

Tris was feeling very comfortable, piloting a small shuttle once again. It was second nature to him. He did have to warn himself, not to be over confident. Shizn then confirmed the location of the Galileo-A. Activating his mic, “Our destination is at bearing 0-4-6, mark 8. Follow my lead.” With that said, he expected them to stay in formation on to the new heading when he gave the signal. Flying in formation was all about communication and control. “Altering course in 3, 2, 1. Initiate.”

"Livia following," Oliver said, smiling as the shuttle followed. He kept a visual even now, taking a deeper breath. This felt good. It felt very good to be out here, to fly, to have the control of a shuttle. He was learning how she was handling too. A bit sluggish, he would ask the mechanics to look over the controls later. But he was compensating for it.

"Zero-four-six mark eight, Pisa," Lamar repeated. The course correction was simple enough and with a few minor corrections, he kept his shuttlepod with the rest of the flight while they slowly cruised past the massive spacedock and its accompanying starship berths. The chief warrant officer counted at least fifteen starships within sight and estimated another twenty more in the shipyard complex directly behind them in lower orbit of Rigel II.

Oliver turned his head to look around, letting out a soft breath. A lot of ships. And it was beautiful to see them. He never got tired of this sight, of the majestic starships just...there, like giant fortresses. Some sleek. Some less sleek. All majestic and impressive in their own way against the backdrop of space.

"This is the Galileo" Scarlet Blake's voice sounded over the comm to all 4 craft. She'd been keeping an eye on their progress from the bridge, pleased that everything was going well...however, she would expect nothing less. "Looking good, and perfect timing; we're ready for you. Virginia, you are docking first, please proceed."

Tris had been pleased that all had gone so well. From his display he could see that the other shuttles had made the turn just fine, although he did see a bit of a flutter coming from the Pisa. He would want to talk to Chief Darius later and go over the ship. Receiving the call, Shizn activated the Comm, “Galileo, this is shuttle Virginia. Proceeding on to dock.” He flipped the Comm over to just the shuttles, “Shuttle Flight, Virginia is pulling ahead. Remain in formation and move ahead when contacted.”

Closing the Comm, Lt. Shizn increased speed slightly pulling away from the group. Soon the Type VI shuttle lined up on approach with the Shuttle Bay. Activating the Comm once again, “Galileo, this is Virginia on final approach.” Even though his focus was on the shuttle bay opening before him, Tris took a quick look at the sensor display of the ‘V’ shape formation of the remaining shuttles behind him at a distance, still moving forward yet waiting their turn for approach clearance. At 50 meters out, Shizn began to tap the reverse thrusters to slow his approach.

On the bridge of the Galileo, Blake kept tabs on his progress, tilting her head as she looked over the formation of the entire flight on the screen next to her arm. They had a good team of pilots. She might have thought they were lucky to have such talent in their flight team, but she knew that Saalm had picked her crew very carefully. "Livia, you'll be up next."

"This is Livia, copy that," Oliver said and smiled as he looked ahead, his fingers already starting to get ready for the next part of this.

Just as Tris had done a hundred times before, Tris brought a shuttle in for a soft gentle landing in a shuttlebay. No significant problems. He thought that the Virginia handled very well. As the soon as the craft stopped moving, the thrusters and impulse engines were shut down. He knew the flight deck crew would give it a once over once all the craft were settled. He tapped the Comm on more time, “Flight Control, the Virginia is down, and systems disengaged. Out.”

"This is Livia. Approaching to dock, all systems green. Eyes on the ball," Oliver said as he followed. Docking was always something he enjoyed. If it was a small fighter or shuttle, it didn't matter. And he now knew how his craft handled. He had felt her quirks. He smiled as he navigated the craft in and landed, taking a deeper breath as he reached to turn off the thrusters and engines. "Flight Control, Livia is docked, all systems disengaging. Out." He took a moment as the shuttle went silent as all the systems were out, sitting there in the low glow of the lights before he got ready to get out.

Darius watched from the corner of his eye as the Waverider shuttle Ensign Derani was piloting broke formation to line up with the ventral docking port in the forward section of the primary hull. Lamar turned his sights back to Galileo and followed in queue behind the two Type-6s which had just landed.

"Pisa on approach, ten meters," he called out. The auxiliary shuttlebay where his shuttlepod was housed appeared much more compact than the large main bay at the aft end of the ship's engineering section. He carefully made a couple final course corrections with delicate precision to coast the small personnel pod into the bay, then he brought it to a forward stop and descended until the nacelles softly touched down on the tarmac. "Pisa, red deck," he confirmed after his fellow flight controllers.

Shizn had remained sitting in the Virginia watching the sensor display as the other shuttles approached and docked aboard ship. He was quite pleased with their performance. Next up was Ens. Derani in the Waverider. The Andorian was not going to start doubting anyone’s abilities now. He just watched and waited.

Blake also watched from her spot on the bridge, content with how smoothly it had all gone. True, she hadn't expected problems with such a good set of pilots, but it still gave her a feeling of satisfaction to see even the run of the mill tasks performed well. She nodded to herself with approval as the Vincenzo settled into its new home, completing the complement. "Good job, everyone, not a scratch on them. Looks like they're in good hands."

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

ENS Miraj Derani
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTjg Tris Shizn
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

 

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