Save'ena - Main Asteroid Belt Excursion

Posted on Tuesday 16 April 2019 @ 16:18 by Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix

Mission: Academy Days
Location: San Francisco Star Fleet Academy / Terra Solar System
Timeline: Spring Break, Monday March 19th, 2390
3176 words - 6.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Sav lept across the upper bar of the rings and over to an upper parallel bar. She walked across it with ease, then shifted to jump over a lower one. However, she went over head first, grabbing the bar, and then brought her body near to the bar as she swung underneath. Using that momentum, she let go and shifted 180 in the air to land on her feet upon the upper bar once more. She was dressed in a one piece workout outfit, legs and arms bare, with a skirt down to mid thigh.

She now jogged across the bar, lept to a higher one, ran across it, then jumped over to the lower one with a stutter jump in having one foot touch the middle one as she went across. She shifted to swing under, then back to the upper one, except she grabbed and swung again, pushing herself across the space to the upper support bar of the rings. It was obvious Sav was not using the equipment in the known correct manner, and Sav didn't really care. She was using these nice bars to keep her body limber and not growing stiff from the mesh within.

Sav heard a noise and stopped her current task, then crouched down upon the bar to look to see who was there. Her tail shifted subtly as she easily balanced upon the balls of her feet as she settled into that crouch. She smiled at seeing Kachiko. Not sure if anybody else was around, and as they were at the athletic compound, Sav kept it formal. She said, "Hey, Captain Bayushi, glad to see you. Be right there."

Sav shifted backwards and dropped off of the beam. However, as her muzzle went past it, she reached out to grab the bar to slow her fall to the ground before letting go again. She landed lightly and came over to Kachiko. She raised an eyebrow and said, "I thought you would be out and about as it is spring break... though, it is nice you didn't and came by to say Hi. So, what brings you this way?"

"One might be confused and think you Caitian, climbing and jumping around like that," Kachiko mused with a grin. "I have the free time and an approved flight plan. How would you like to get a little flight time?"

Sav's entire demeanor grew excited. She grasped Kachiko's hands and replied, "REALLY? Really really really REALLY? You've cleared it for us to go out in your runabout?" She closed her eyes as relief could be seen going across her face. Her entire body seemed to 'relax' as she said, "I am so needing this, to fly with your runabout." Her eyes opened and she asked, "When can we go out?"

Kachiko felt pleased, watching Mephetian's facial expressions as she was overwhelmed with joy and excitement, "Right now. I just had her looked over, tuned up and refueled."

Sav gave Kachiko a hug and said, "Be back in a moment, Kachiko." She let go, grabbed her bag, and started heading to the locker room to change. She suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, "Umm, Civies, Cadet, Merchant Marine.. which outfit?"

"Doesn't really matter. It's only going to be the two of us," Kachiko remarked.

Sav went into the locker room. She was back out in fifteen minutes and came up to Kachiko, in Civies, saying, "Ready. Let's go." The only reason she wasn't out faster was she changed her personal pad as the exercise had soiled the previous one and she did not want Kachiko to smell blood in a confined space.

Kachiko nodded, having waited patiently, "Let's go. The Asteroid Belt awaits us."

Sav's fur literally seemed to subtly jounce as there was spring in Sav's steps. She was feeling so happy to have a chance to fly again. She had been needing this for a long while. As they walked, she asked, "What's your runabout's name? Is it a personal one, or just the one on file? Would you trust me to pilot her? And, could I fly among the Main Asteroid Belt? It looked like so much fun when I came to Terra on the Passenger Liner."

"That's the plan," Kachiko said as they entered the small shuttlebay, located in a separate section of the Academy grounds. This area was generally off-limits to Cadets, at least without supervision. A large Tractor Beam assembly dominated the ceiling, used by flight deck personnel to respot shuttles as needed.

Sitting in the launch corridor was the unmistakable flat black runabout that the young Mephetian had been aboard before. The small woman reached up with her left hand and touched the edge of her jawline, before imperceptibly murmuring something. When she did, the runabout's engines were heard firing up, running lights beginning to blink.

As the pair approached,the Port access hatch slid open, Kachiko gesturing to Save'ena, "After you, Cadet."

Sav was full of vigor, life, her fur showing her movements as her quickness showed her excitement and need. She entered the ship, marveling at the clean lines and specialty controls within. She beamed and said, "You had her custom for you, this is sooo neat." Sav did not really remember her first time on board. She was so out of it from the dehydration and pains that she was on this ship had not registered.

"My good half-Orion friend, Karsel'lyn, is a fighter pilot. She designed upgrades for the ship and installed them while she was on mandatory medical leave," Kachiko smiled at the memories of her time spent with the green goblin. "Intelligence further modified her so I could use it on ops if needed. For security reasons, the weapons are currently locked out."

Sav was full of wonder for the ship as she turned to go forward. As she headed for the helm, she touched a side panel and it lit up with a rundown of the ship's systems and status. Sav nary glanced at them as she continued on towards the cockpit. Getting there, she sat down, saying, "Hello, Hiei, glad tah meet yah," and began using the controls as though having designed the ship or having flown her for years. The custom setup did not even cause hesitation as the ship came to life and its resonance changed to Systems cascading to full life and readiness.

Kachiko arched an eyebrow silently. 'How did she know the ship name?' Otherwise, she just silently observed.

Sav turned her head to look at Kachiko and said, "Please, take co-pilot's seat. I would love yah tah shadow me tah make sure ah do not do sometin' yah wouldn't want."

"Unless it involves playing chicken with a ship or celestial body, I don't think that there's anything you could do like that."

Sav settled herself into the pilot's seat, but did not fly per 'usual' way. She placed her right hand onto the side of the control panel, while her left hand hovered above. She now said, "Ah use mah mind tentacles to handle the controls faster than mah hand can, with me left hand helpin'. Hang on, StarFleet academy cleared us fer takeoff." Controls lit up as they activated as other controls around the bridge showed tertiary systems working. The runabout lifted in a very controlled manner, shifting up and away from the runabout pad, then to roll and shift into the flight path as assigned by Flight Control.

Sav was churring lightly as she flew. She spoke to Kachiko, with a voice that was more there, more vibrant, with tonals that showed a singers voice, and a presence that was double what the Cadet normally showed anywhere else. "We are cleared for corridor 512b32a. We are going that way now, and we have plotted the course for the Asteroid belt. This will be fun, Hiei and I concur. Are you ready for an adventure, Kachiko?" When Sav said 'We', it was as though she was not speaking of her and Kachiko, but her and the ship.

"Fly on, Sav," Kachiko mused. "I'm not going anywhere."

Hiei with her two passengers quickly went through the busy traffic about Terra and moved towards outsystem. Sav was gently churring during this time, really enjoying flying with her companion. She said to Kachiko, "I so missed flying with a companion, Kachiko, I surely have. Thank you, again. I... hmmmm." Sav's body language perked as though finding something interesting.

"What is it?" the Marine asked.

Hiei now prescribed a very quick and tight arc to fly by the moon, shifting to go across the median and over the side away from earth. There, on the surface, was a runabout with several spacesuits moving about around some equipment. The Suits showed Cadet colors as the runabout could be seen to be 'Professor Niggles', attached to the academy. Sav hrmhed to herself, "I didn't know there was an excursion planned. I would have signed up for it.. well, now I'm glad I didn't, but, I would have signed up for it."

"Don't know about you, but Luna is incredibly boring. The colonies are as well, unless you like fighting," Kachiko grinned. Suddenly she began to tap at her console, before the computer chimed and, 'Tricobalt flare away.'

"Just watch," Kachiko was grinning wickedly as the forward viewer zoomed in on the people down below. The flare gently fell down their direction until it impacted the lunar surface in front of the assembled personnel. All but the one wearing faculty colors could be seen jumping with fear. The Professor just stopped and could be seen turning his head to look up at the runabout.

Kachiko laughed and flashed the running lights at the man.

Sav watched the reactions to the flare, and then the wave by the Faculty Member after the recognition running lights. She churr-laughed as well, saying, "Well, this is so much better, but a first time Luna excursion would have been fun since ah never done it. She turned to Kachiko, "But I wouldn't trade this fer the world."

"Shall we proceed?" the Marine asked.

Sav grinned and replied, "Oh, let's." She returned her gaze to the viewscreen even as Hiei performed a double axle with a 720 spin rotation to then settle into her course away from Luna with nary a wobble. Nobody knew she was piloting, and as the Faculty member probably recognized the ship, fame for Kachiko's flying prowess would hopefully grow.

The Danube headed at a high rate of speed towards the asteroid belt. Mars was elsewhere in its orbit as Sav had went directly outbound from earth to get to her joy and relief, flying with her companion that Kachiko so generously set up for her. In short order, they arrived. Sav slowed down and stopped in front of the asteroid belt, right before a main cluster. She let the ship drift as she said to Kachiko, "Just gettin mah bearings... one second please."

Sav was linked to Hiei's sensors, seeing what they saw, correlating the shifting speeds and directions, while within her mind, her spatial sense filled with the asteroids before her, trajectories, speeds, even as her golden and silver thread paths formed. She now grinned to Kachiko, "Alright, ready... speed run first through, then some friendly threading the haystack." Sav turned back to the viewscreen, her eyes looking at it, but not. She was fully immersed into the Hiei, and she was going to enjoy this time with her.

Hiei leapt forward like a jaguar having found its prey and pouncing quickly and truly. The ship entered the belt between two asteroids that had just shifted away from each other to form an opening... that opening not having been there just a split second before. While they were quieted, the control panels still showed proximity alarms as the ship threaded through asteroids, some just centimeters away from the now skin tight nav shields around the ship.

Hiei now performed shift rolls, small variance arcs, and shift 'drifts', if such a thing was considered even possible, although, since the ship was doing it, it was possible. All the while the ship kept up a high rate of speed with an almost straight line as it went through this dense part of the asteroid field. Three colonies were seen on large asteroids around them, but Sav paid no attention. This was her speed run without being timed by the academy, so she could let go and NOT worry about upstaging those who were the best of the best according to pilot measurements.

Impossibly, Hiei threaded through appearing and disappearing openings, through space which had been occupied by an asteroid just moments before, while heading through space with asteroids about. Yet, she would shift lightly here, drift there, roll about, missing every one while maintaining her line through the belt. Suddenly, right after seeming to go head on into large asteroid that just moved out of the way, Hiei was through, past the asteroid field, open space in front of her. Sav paid no attention to that she did the speed run in less than three minutes while the current record was 10 minutes 52.37 seconds, she only knew the freedom she felt in flying with Hiei, and her feeling of being fully there once more as her emotional and logical selves joined for the merging with a companion.

Kachiko wasn't a pilot, at least not in the same sense as Save'ena was. She has always had the ability to operate Hiei like a fighter but had never even contemplated doing so. She certainly hadn't the faintest inkling what that entailed, until now.

As Sav had been fully immersed into flying with Hiei, she had not noticed any reactions by Kachiko by her seemingly pell mell run through the asteroid belt. To Sav, they were totally safe as she had followed her golden thread through the field. Feeling really good right now, Sav looked over at Kachiko with a grin and said, "And, there is my speedrun, unencumbered by sociopolitical needs. Ready to play around inside the asteroid belt now and see if we can find some gems to make some jewelry?"

Kachiko had gripped her armrests with white knuckles, yet her Heart rate never spiked. She had sniper training and was able to control her physiological reaction to stressful events.

"I don't know about the jewelry, but let's take it just a bit easier, Cadet?"

Sav churred gently as her hearing picked up the steady beat of Kachiko's heart. She just knew Kachiko was just being motherly over the cadet by her words, not realizing she had just given her Advisor the ride of her life, and then some. Hiei shifted in space, 'tumbling' around to once again face the asteroid belt. Sav said, "You got it, Kachiko. Not to worry, that was just me letting my hair down for a change, as it were, without worrying about others about. Hiei and I would never put you in danger. We're heading back in... time for exploring."

Hiei smoothly gained speed and reentered the asteroid belt. This time, though, after the first run, this one seemed lazy, and to Sav, it was. She threaded around shifting asteroids to get pictures of asteroids forming pictures of landscapes, objects, and even historical people. Sav loved getting these types of pics as photographers would spend months drifting and trying to get these, while Sav with her spatial sense coupled with flying her companions let her see them as they were forming and allowing her to be in the right place at the right time to snap them.

In her flying, Sav was very mindful of the beacons about the colonies and to stay out of their claimed territories. While the markers were not always seen on the viewscreen, they were always on sensors and Sav went by that. A particular small asteroid caught Sav's attention as she churred out in a musical voice, "Found One..."

"One?" Kachiko asked, glancing sideways at the Cadet.

Sav came right up to the asteroid and brought up what the scanners showed. While they were not designed for minute scanning of ore types and probable quantity, Sav had gotten accustomed to the signatures of the types of echos and energy signatures on the sensors to determine those that were highly likely to have gemstones. She said, "This one, very highly likely to have gemstones within."

"Gemstones?" Kachiko looked more confused now.

Sav looked at Kachiko, thought for a second, then brought up the actual energy spectrum overlays for what the sensors were reporting. Those spectrums had highlights over them for the signatures to look for. Sav stated, "I have been flying in asteroid fields since six, and those spectrums are what I look for. Nothing scientific about it though, just a pilot's hunch, tis all. Can we bring it inside?"

"As long as it's confined in an isolation field before we expose it to atmosphere," Kachiko shrugged."Have to be sure we don't bring any nasties aboard with us."

Sav grinned, "You got it, thanks." She tractored the asteroid and brought it into the aft hold. After it was secured, she activated the sterilization fields even as she flew Hiei to be in a safe zone for the asteroid field. Activating station keeping, Sav turned to Kachiko and said, "Common, let's go see what we have. I am thinking a couple of Peridot gemstones and a couple of Diamonds."

When the two got to the hold, the cycle was done for sterilization of the asteroid. Sav went over to a mechanic toolbox and brought out a couple of hammers and a prybar. Even in the advanced age of electronics, when dealing with structures supporting those electronics, basic tools of hammers and prys would always be necessary. Sav handed a hammer to Kachiko while saying, "This is part of the fun, breaking the sucker apart."

Sav looked over the large chunk of rock and then whacked it along a thinner portion in the middle. It broke into two pieces and she caught both with her telekinetics. She moved one over to Kachiko. "Okay, if any Diamonds, they won't be hurt, but you have to be a little more careful about any Peridot."

Sav merrily tapped away in varying intensities on her piece. After about fifteen minutes, she brushed away her debris and gathered what she had found. She came over to Kachiko with 2 Peridot and 3 very small Diamonds. She went over to Kachiko to help with her chunk of rock.

After they were done with their gem excursion, Sav brought Hiei through the asteroid belt at a leisurely pace, and then back to the academy. Kachiko let her keep the gems found as Sav headed off for her Dorm room full of bounce and stories to share with her room-mate, Kat.

OFF:

Cadet Save'ena Amilia Tillatix (Mephetian)
Apollonia Sponsored Cadet
San Fransisco StarFleet Academy

(Marine) Captain Bayushi Kachiko
Academic and Student Life Advisor
Starfleet Academy, Earth