Tense Tour

Posted on Mon Nov 28th, 2016 @ 7:58am by Colonel S'er'in'e & Captain Liarra Von

Mission: Indomitable Will
Location: Hanger Bay

S'er'in'e lead the way to the Hanger Bay where he worked, he felt slightly shamed that the Overseer of his caste was seeing it in a diminished state but that could not be helped. He had little doubt it would be commented on and used in some way but that remained to be seen. The ground crews were hard at work and some gave a puzzled look at seeing S'er'in'e dressed differently to the norm but resumed working once they saw Captain Von appear into view.

Mar'ess on the other hand took in the view and was displeased with what she saw. So many empty spaces where craft should be and several fighters still in parts being repaired. "You command...this?" Mar'ess spoke to S'er'in'e.

"I do Overseer." S'er'in'e spoke knowing already where this was heading.

"Where is the fighter that was gifted you?" Mar'ess continued as she looked upon the large hanger floor.

"Under us Overseer." S'er'in'e answered.

"It is superior to these other craft?" Mar'ess pressed on with her questioning.

"Dependant on the role Overseer, but in general, it is." S'er'in'e answered thankful that his fighter had been repaired and cleared for flight.

Now it was Von's turn. "You claim to place my warrior in a position of importance, yet I see this. Is this you're definition of important?" Mar'ess was unhappy that her warrior was tasked with a role such as this with so little in which to do it. While she didn't know of the attack, nor would she care.

Von nodded. "Yes, Overseer, I do. It is unfortunate that our resources are so sparse at the moment, but that's a result of the bureaucracy. But in my opinion, the worth of a warrior is not what he can do when he has unlimited resources at his disposal, but what he can do when he's limited. Colonel S'er'in'e knows what his pilots are capable of, and deploys them as necessary to cover for their lack of numbers. I know that I can trust the defense of this station and the surrounding sector to him without worry, no matter how many fighters he has under his command."

"Then our views of worth are very different Captain, very different indeed." Mar'ess continued to walk around the hanger towards Flight Operations.

"If it would please the Overseer I have a squadron departing in a few moments?" S'er'in'e expected this meeting to be difficult but Mar'ess was not pulling her punches, she genuinely was displeased.

From across the room, Lynsi "Blaze" Mason was finishing her pre-flight checklist. Mason wasn't always the most professional, depending on the situation, but she knew how to be all business when it counted. And seeing her commander in his regalia and the captain in full dress uniform was enough to tell her that something was up, even if she didn't recognize the caitian woman they were with. If it was something she needed to know, she would have been told. All she did know was that the body language of Colonel S'er'in'e told her that whatever was going on, it was not going well. He didn't need any other distractions, so their launch needed to go off without a hitch.

With her fighter inspection complete, she pulled on her headset and connected with the pilots in her flight. "Alright, folks, listen up. I don't know what's going on, but we need to make this look good. No showboating, no fooling around. We do this one by the book." Blaze gave a thumbs up to her crew chief and climbed into the cockpit. "Are we all clear?"

On the other end of the comm was a smattering of grumbles, mostly from Erich "Jinjo" Wynn. But those grumbles were quickly dismissed by "Rio", the andorian Lieutenant JG Thelev th'Kerria. "That especially goes for you, Ensign. I don't need to remind you about that incident last week, do I?"

"No sir," Rio replied, bluntly. He was a little loose with his lateral stabilizer, and nearly clipped Rio's nose during one of their launches. The andorian was not amused, to say the least.

"Don't worry, boss. We can do by the book." This time the voice on the comm was Ensign Tegan Veillon, callsign "Firefly".

Blaze signaled to the flight control center that all was good, and the launch controller walked them through their steps. Each of the four fighters in the formation engaged their thrusters once they were clear. The craft lifted off the deck plates to about three meters in the air, and hovered in place while they went through the remaining checks.

From the side of the hangar, Captain Von watched carefully. She hadn't been this close to one of their launches before, and was impressed by how well the group worked as a unit. She couldn't hear the radio chatter, but given Mar'ess's close proximity, it was probably best that she couldn't hear what the pilots were saying. Liarra wanted everything to go perfectly as much as S'er'in'e did. And until the fighters accelerated and cleared the atmospheric forcefield, she realized that she was holding her breath. The patrol underway, she slowly exhaled, trying not to draw extra attention to her nervousness. It seemed to go without a hitch, but Von was feeling pretty confident that the Overseer would still manage to find something wrong with it.

Mar'ess watched stotic faced as the fighters launched. She said nothing but her silence was almost as damning as if she had spoken. Gingerly she looked around the floor of the hanger which stood even more devoid of craft now that the squadron has just deployed. "I remain unimpressed." Mar'ess spoke. "Show me the craft."

Therein lay a problem, while the fighter was repaired and flight-worthy, it remained obvious that it had been altered, the paint had yet to be applied to the repaired sections, especially the wing. It took long enough to get the parts from the Homeworld and then instructions on how to fit them, the paint however would be applied once all the boxes were ticked which until recently, they hadn't. Mar'ess saw the fighter and it was almost immediately that she saw the issue.

"Explain yourself." She barked at S'er'in'e, fury in her eyes and body language.

"The station was attacked recently, I along with my pilots launched to engage the enemy and my fighter was badly damaged, I crash landed in the hanger. Parts from the Homeworld took time and my engineers were not familiar with it and requested instructions, manuals, specifications to do the repairs."

"You let offworlders have access to our technology." Mar'ess continued.

"My ground team wanted to repair the craft as a surprise while I was piloting the Captain to a flag meeting." S'er'in'e tried to explain. "Sabotage forced the Captain and I to become stranded for some time during which they repaired it in my absence, they are quiet passionate about the fighters they care for."

Mar'ess glared at S'er'in'e then soon after the Captain. "I am failing to see why you should retain my warrior, I find this...." Indicating the diminished fighter bay. "An insult. It is clear that his service to offworlder organisations has not matched even my lowest expectations, I see no reason to permit him to stay."

Von was becoming uncomfortable with the situation. It was hard enough watching her walk all over one of her officers, but it was even harder watching her disrespect someone who saved her life. She was afraid she was about to say something she would regret. "I'm sorry that he does not meet your expectations, Overseer, but with all due respect, I don't think you know him as well as I do. He has been exemplary in his service to the Federation. He defended this station from an overwhelming force, protecting the lives of everyone on this station, nearly giving his life in the process. He personally saved my life many times over when we became stranded. I would give him an entire fleet if it was up to me, but this is all that Starfleet will give me. But he's taken this small group of fighters and turned them into a force to be reckoned with. I don't know what your expectations are, Overseer, but I have hard time believing that anyone could live up to them. Besides, if he's such a disappointment to you, why do you even want him back on the Homeworld. I feel that he should remain where he's respected and appreciated, not somewhere where he would be mocked and ridiculed based on your impossible standards." Even as she said it, Liarra could feel Starfleet coming for her command. She was sure it was out of line, but this station was her caste, and she was going to defend it, for better or for worse.

"I do not think you understand...Captain." Mar'ess remarked. "It is not he that disappoints me, but you, this...station...Starfleet. My expectations of Starfleet are so low, you would have to try very hard to impress me." Now Mar'ess had cleared that up. "Impossible standards for someone as weak, fragile and limited as yourself perhaps, but my warriors are trained from within weeks of birth, raised by the Caste." She took a step towards Von rising to her full height. "You say he has done all these things, saved you, created a force to be...reckoned with.....he is just one, of many. Think of what an entire group of my warriors could do."

Von stood firm, refusing to back down no matter how much Mar'ess towered above her. She didn't even turn away to see how the body guards reacted. "I could only imagine what an entire group of your warriors could do. If they are even half as qualified as Colonel S'er'in'e, then they would be a formidable opponent for anyone. So no doubt you can understand why I'm so eager to keep him here."

"Eager you may be, but worthy of is another matter." Mar'ess spoke then turned to S'er'in'e. "Take me to my Quarters. I have been taxed enough for one day."

S'er'in'e was helpless to do or say anything, his Overseer was laying into the Captain pretty hard but what the Overseer did was beyond his control. "As you wish Overseer."

Von waited until S'er'in'e and Mar'ess were out of range before sighing loudly. "Well, that could have gone better," she mused to herself as much as it was to Byrne. "I suppose I should get ready for round two. I doubt that will be the end of it."