CAG Meeting Merlin

Posted on Monday 1 August 2016 @ 09:44 by Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D. & Captain Melody Jones
Edited on on Tuesday 13 September 2016 @ 23:05

Mission: Old, New Ship
Location: USS Merlin, Deck 39, Drop Bay Upper Level
Timeline: MD7, after successful Figher Deployment
4068 words - 8.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The incoming fighters headed for the ship. Sav was going to go least, but Wolf insisted on her entering first. She knew why. It was a time honored ritual to see how a new fighter pilot handled landing on a new ship with its differing layouts and intricacies. Well, she hoped she would not disappoint.

=/\= Merlin Flight Control, Valkyrie Venita, requesting permission to come aboard. =/\=

Melody had come down from the bridge specifically to meet this new Lieutenant. This gave her the excuse of taking her up to see the captain. She gently placed her hand on the shoulder of the young ensign who was on flight control detail "I'll handle this one" she said with a wink, then hitting the comm button "Valkyrie Venita you are cleared for docking, all other traffic is clear."

Sav grinned as she flowed into her fighter, using the sensors to locate the landing station, the launch cradle, and the maintenance cradle. Finding the maintenance cradle, but still locked down, she keyed the comm, =/\= Hey, Flight ops, would you mind deploying Valkyrie berth maintenance cradle 3 for fighter acceptance? Thanks, and incoming.=/\=

Melody worked the control panel then replied "Copy that, cradle 3 is unlocked and clear."

Sav surged the fighter forward, accelerating towards the return opening for fighters. She performed the obligatory right spin 360, then left spin 360, as tradition demanded. However, then she performed an up and over with a wing waggle and twist. She entered the Merlin upside down and backwards, still a high rate of speed. She cruised into the bay, shedding speed, but not stopping at the landing pad with its waiting deck crew. Instead, she went by them, maneuvering thrusters active, as she performed a very graceful sideways ark towards the now deploying maintenance cradle. She came right up on it, killing speed and as the right side touched the cradle, rolling upright so the left side came up and over and to its clamps. This maneuver allowed the right side clamps to engage first as the left side lined up and grabbed the now gently settling left side. Normally a deck crew with gravatic sleds and maneuvering harnesses would perform this, but Sav just saved them the time and equipment connection/removal with her very out of the ordinary dock.

Watching this maneuver Melody let out a slow impressed whistle "You're in position. Please disengage engines and secure thruster exhaust. After you have disembarked, please report to flight ops."

She then turned back to the ensign with a smile "All yours."

Now latched into the cradle, Sav killed the engines. She caressed the panel one last time before shutting down the systems, sending into the fighter one last 'goodbye, thanks for the ride'. The top electronics activated as the cockpit opened. Sav stood up and waited for the side ladder to be attached to the fighter. She was dressed in her duty uniform, a light yellow glow around her. As she was in the ship, and the flight crew was not in space suits, she deactivated her life support belt. She took a breath of the air, enjoying the smells of the fighter bay as they were strong enough to be smelled by her reduced senses since the past 'incident'.

She climbed down the ladder as other fighters were now entering and landing on the receiving pads, equipment waiting to latch on to drag them to their spots to clear the way for other fighters to come in. She saluted a couple, then went to the doors to flight ops. Entering the doors, she climbed up to the observation area. She saluted, "Merlin Flight Ops, Lt. Saveena Tillatix, requesting permission to come on board."

This was her first encounter with a Mephetian and Melody was rather impressed, not only with her flying abilities but also her quite beautiful appearance. Her grey and white fur contrasted well and her tail was quite amazing. Melody smiled and returned the salute "At ease and welcome aboard, I'm Lieutenant Jones. You can call me Melody. We spoke earlier on the comm. I'm here to escort you to Captain Barstow. Have you settled in the rest of the group?"

At the 'at ease', Sav dropped her salute and went to a semi-formal parade rest. She would relax more after picking up cues from Melody and the crew around her. The instructor at the Academy for the Fighter ops had been really strict, while the Captain and Crew of the Astar has been really relaxed. She moved closer to Melody, "Glad to meet you, Lieut... Melody." Sav churred lightly, the exotic and rather erotic 'purr' sounding out to those nearby, "And it is great to put a face to the voice, and thank you for the escort." She nodded her head towards the glass pointing to the fighters, "As far as settling, not yet. We have met in training, but not yet personally. Heck, my bags are still on Venita, along with a lot of crew personal mail and knickknacks in two of the cargo pods. The third is flight op parts."

Sav's voice had a hint of melody behind it, sounding a lot like Loona from 1990's Terra. A secret Sav had was she was great with a synthataur, and knew the song Sunlight by DJ Sammy and sung by Loona. (Marie-José van der Kolk, a Dutch singer, songwriter and dancer.) She missed her personal one, though, as it had been destroyed by Mr. Thompson.

"I'll arrange for your belonging to be beamed to your quarters, once I know where they are. I'm sure the Captain will fill you in." Melody paused for a moment before continuing "I must admit you're the first Mephetian I've met. Your flying skill is quite amazing, I was monitoring you on sensors during the training and I was watching just now as you landed. I'm a bit a of a speed freak myself and the captain likes fancy flying, I'm sure you're going to fit right in here. Do all Mephetians have such...... unusual vocal traits. It's really quite lyrical. Are you musical? The XO has a rather lovely singing voice and I'm somewhat musical." she added modestly.

Sav blushed, the fur darkening behind her fur and whiskers along her muzzle. She glanced at the floor, not used to such praise. She looked back up at Melody, "Umm, thanks. I'm glad you didn't mind my Varsity Play for the Deck. Your praise means a lot, especially from a fellow pilot and speed freak." She again churred, "I hope to fly with you soon so you can show me your dash and sparkle." Now that she had 'cleared the path' for her to be more close with Melody in the Mephetian way, she added, "And, on vocals, umm, I... have a pretty voice. Our vocal ranges are nearly the same as Terrans, from fugly to gorgeous." The blush came back fiercely as she said, "I used to play the synthetaur, and sing. I haven't done much since college, but I think I still can." Sav's fingers lightly rubbed over each other, feeling the background numbness within their touch, as she hoped she could still do so. She grinned, her blush starting to fade, "So, if you wouldn't mind, what do you mean by 'somewhat musical'?"

"Not at all, I play the piano. I've never tried signing but some people think I've got an OK voice. I've created some holodeck programs with full orchestra. I find music helps me relax and also think at times."

Sav churred lightly, "That sounds wonderful. I would love to listen to you play sometime. I like orchestras, especially when the music takes you to a calm meadow or brook to relax and just.. be."

She saw out of the corner of her eye the other pilots gathering, no doubt to pick apart her run like the clique fighter cadets always did. Still, she would be the best she could, her command deserved that. She motioned to them, saying, "On the rest of the pilots, they will get to meet me personally, soon enough. Trouble is, like you, I don't know where my quarters will be. There are several places I fit in, its up to the XO and Quartermaster where. On the Astar, I was Flight ops as I am a fully trained Bridge Command Specialist, but, I guess, my flying ability was noted and now I am here as a Squadron leader."

Now that Sav was focused and interacting with Melody, a 'wow' look upon her face. She could not believe how beautiful the redhead was. She remembered the academy and beautiful blonds and redheads always seemed to have their pick of the cream of the crop of great looking guys. Of course, with her freshman incident, none would come near her, except M'Katarina, but she didn't count as a guy.

Sav recovered and performed an L'Tandrey bow gesture. That is, she bowed forward 30 degrees, her arms came up to her shoulder's criss-crossed, hands palm in, then as they came down along her arms, the palms turned outwards and cupped. "Thank you for bestowing your time upon a newbie officer. Please, lead the way to the Captain. His time is precious and I don't want to waste it by him waiting on me."

Melody inclined her head slightly in response "it's no trouble. The Captain likes to meet all new officers and so do I" she added with a wink. "If you would follow me please" she said as Melody turned and led her toward the turbolift. "It's going to be nice to have another flyer onboard" then addressing the computer "Main Bridge."

The wink threw Sav off. She was expecting similar treatment as when she had got to the Aster. But, then again, she was no longer an unknown cadet, but an officer with a known track record, albeit a short one so far. She climbed on the turbolift with Melody, then relaxed with her on the ride her whiskers now coming 45 degrees from her muzzle and situated 45 degrees down, her ears going to down a little and half cupped forward. She shook herself, her fur along her tail doing a quick jounce and settling in natural waves through it. She snorted out a quick chuckle, "Thanks, for that, Melody, for the reminder I am no longer a cadet, and the treatment will be different." She genuinely grinned to Melody, "It's nice to meet another Speedster on board."

Melody returned the smile "It took me a while to get used to being called sir by cadets too."

Sav churred lightly in humor, "I guess it gets us all." She looked down at the floor, "The road to here hasn't been easy, being from a backwater outzone world, and an immigrant to boot from the L'Tandrey protectorate. The galaxy can be really rough, and mean." She looked back up at Melody, "But, I owe it to Marshall Kenathau to do my best. After all, he rescued and sponsored me, so he must have saw something others didn't." She sighed in memories, then asked, "Were you able to get right in, or did you need a sponsor?"

Melody shifted a bit uncomfortably "After I was rescued from the Borg, the captain of the Thunderchild helped me. He helped when I thought all was lost. He sponsored my application to Starfleet."

Sav's face grew in wonder, and then concern. "The Mekhanii, you were taken by the Mekhanii." Sav started to move over, wanting to take Melody into a hug, to rock with her, at the thought of having been with the Mekhanii. That made what happened to her seem, much much less. She stilled herself, then nodded towards Melody, "I am glad you were rescued, and sponsored." She sheepishly grinned, "I am glad to have met you, Melody, I truly am." Before any further conversation could occur, their destination was reached.

The turbolift slowed down and stopped at the bridge. Sav's demeanor changed from relaxed to formal, a hint of something behind it, only told by her whiskers laying back along her muzzle with her ears cupping upright full forward as her tail seemed to fluff out a little further, making it even more full and gorgeous. She looked at Melody to lead the way.

As the turbolift came to a halt, Melody regarded her new friend. She picked up on subtle changes in her face, whisker and ears. She thought to herself 'she's going to make an interesting companion.'

Melody motioned towards the ready room "This way" she said to Saveena and led her towards the door and pressed the chime.

Sav followed, trepidation with a tinge of fear still showing through her ears, whiskers, and tail. Of course, to those none furred, or who were not trained in them, it could look like she was just 'intent'. Sav liked what she saw of the Bridge, but, she could not calm down. A ship this size, with a crew of over 1000 plus civilians, was sure to be captained by an Admiral. And, so far, she had not the best of luck with them. They only saw what their kitlings said, not what actually happened, and probably had favored crewmen in the same way.

Apollo was sitting at his desk looking at several complaints from the deck crews and the video of the new CAG's landing, "come," he called and rubbed his face with both hands,"Lieutenant Tillatix, your reputation precedes you," he greeted before he turned his display around with the video playing and motion for both she and Jones to sit.

Sav's first focus onto the Captain was his pips. She had to find those pips. He was a Commander, not an Admiral. A lot of Sav's fright went away, shown by her ears lessening their tension, her whiskers moving 45 degrees away from her face, and her tail relaxing some behind her. Then, what he said came to the fore as she cast a questioning look to him, "Sir?" and then the video came around. Sav went right up to it, looking closely, critiquing it with her eyes and mind. She saw a beautifully executed cradle dock landing, no stressing, no scratches, no extra motions. She drew back from the video, saying, "Landed on the dime."

"Quite a nice bit of precision flying, don't you agree Captain? Melody grinned, casting a sideways glance at Saveena "If there's nothing else sir?"

Sav now remembered where she was, drew up into attention, and saluted, "Sir, Lieutenant junior grade Tillatix reporting in, with crew personal items, flight ops spare parts, one Hanger Queen, and one personnel to report in as Squadron Leader for the Uroboros group, Sir."

Apollo nodded, "yes....but the deck crew didn't appreciate being buzzed by a bird going full impulse and inverted then fishtailing into place," he said, unable to hold back a smirk then pointed to the pilot patch on his jacket above his comm badge for Sav to see, "go ahead, Lieutenant. Bring us into orbit of the Marines asteroid and get a comm open to them, it's been a while since they checked in."

"Aye Sir, Catch you later Saveena" and with a nod, Melody headed back on to the bridge.

Sav's tail and ears flicked towards Melody to show she heard as she finished her salute and went to at ease. The flick of her arm to end the salute was fast and concise. She pointedly looked at the pilot patch, then to Apollo, "Sir, it's great to see you're a fellow pilot." She churred gently, "They never appreciate I saved them the hassle of getting Venita off the landing pad, to docking, and then to the maintenance dock." She moved forward and removed her padd with orders from her duty sash.

NOTE: All L'Tandrey citizens wore a duty sash, a ribbon of cloth with pockets from left shoulder, down over chest to right hip, then back up to the shoulder behind the back. It was a condition of the exchange programs between the L'Tandrey Protectorate and Federation, and was put into place by the Federation. It helped the diplomatic corp know one was about for special diplomatic situations.

Sav stated, "My transfer orders sir. I am a trained Bridge Command Specialist, besides a decent pilot, so when not needed for Fighter duty, I can fill in for people at Helm, Astrogation, Tac comm and weapons, and Damage Control Engineering level for Aux systems, personal gear, and computer systems."

"No, they don't," he replied with a chuckle, "Off the record that was outstanding flying, on the record, just don't do it again," he said with a smirk then nodded, "impressive, I'll keep that in mind," John replied honestly.

Sav shook herself, her tail hair gently flouncing in the breeze and then settling down into its protective layers. "Aye Aye, Sir, " Sav answered to the 'don't to it again' reprimand. She continued, "Sir, may I inquire to where my quarters are, and who my CAG is?"

Barstow grinned, surprising four officers in one day, he was having fun, "well, actually, you know the new CAG extremely well, she's a jg like you and L'Tandrey," he explained then grinned as he handed her the PADD back with her duty posting and security clearances, etc, "take a look."

Sav's whiskers and ears perked forward, a sign of intense curiosity. Her tail shook once as she took the Padd from his hands, saying, "Really, Sir? And from the L'Tandrey Protectorate?" She looked down at the Padd, her face scrunching up momentarily in confusion. There was no mistaking the reverse color and the diamond birthmark on the forehead of the Officer staring back at her. Her eyes grew round with surprise as she said in her lilting voice, "Me? That's ME in the picture..." She looked up at Apollo with an astonished look, "I'm your CAG?" She blushed lightly, her erotic churring sounding once more. "I'm honored sir, truly honored." She put the padd away and saluted him, "I will do my best for you, Sir." She finished her salute smartly, then said, "Thank you for this chance sir. I will get my bags to my quarters as soon as they are offloaded from Venita." She smiled to Apollo, "Sir, while waiting, mind if I go watch Lt. Jones at the Helm? I saw some of the maneuvering earlier. She is good, very good."

John smiled, "you're welcome, Lieutenant, and I know you wont," he said then nodded, "yes, she is, those maneuvers are are close to impossible in a ship this size," he added with a 'proud papa' look, "alright, get settled in and keep the Dragons on standby for now."

Sav performed a quick salute, "Thank you, Sir." She performed a careful about face, and then on the way to the door, called out, "Catch you on the flip side, Sir" She went through the doors and proceeded to the helm station. She came up to Melody, "Hey, Lt. Jones, how goes it?"

Melody looked up and smiled "Hey Saveena, pretty routine at the moment. How did it go with the Captain? I hope he wasn't too hard on you. He's a flyer at heart. We should be arriving at the Marines coordinates in about twenty minutes. You want to take a turn at the helm for moment?"

Sav grinned, "On the record, don't do it again, off record, two thumbs up. And, he made me CAG, so not too hard on me, I think." She looked at the state of the art helm for Merlin, anticipation and joy shining bright through her eyes and demeanor. "Really? You would let me?" Her tail jounced, "I would LOVE too."

"That's great, congratulations. Are the drinks on you then later?"

Sav churr laughed, "Sure thing, I'm buyin."

Melody stood and rotated the chair towards Saveena "Try it on."

Sav lovingly slid into the seat, stroking the panel with her left hand, "Hey Merlin, nice to meet you lady. Common, we have flying to do." Momentarily forgotten was her duty assignment, those on the bridge, and her past troubles. Now, it was her joining with the ship and flying among the stars. Her left hand stilled as it rested on the side while her right danced over the controls. Interestingly enough, other controls seemed to activate and deactivate, as though touched, even though her hand wasn't near them. As this was Sav's first flight with Merlin, she went through the related systems for maneuvers, speed, and keeping the ship intact. In the lower information panel danced figures on the Merlin, stress points, inertial ratings and sub section acuity, impulse stages including emergency and double full/reverse, etc.

Melody watched as her new friend handled the controls. She was good, really good but there was something else. The controls responded at lightning pace, faster than Melody had thought possible and she was doing this with one hand, 'how is that possible' Melody thought to herself. She even thought she saw some command seemly activate by themselves with out Saveena having touched them. She frowned slightly, mentally following each command Saveena entered. Something wasn't adding up......

Shortly, the information passed and Sav knew the redundancies and limits built into Merlin. She churred out, "Wow, no wonder you were able to do those maneuvers I scanned, Merlin is amazing." Sav's tail shook a little in desire to do some fancy flying herself, but she stilled the urge. Then she remembered the orders to Melody by Apollo, "Okay, we're three minutes from entering the asteroid field, another 7 to the Marine's asteroid. Did you want to take over before insertion, or want me to take her on in?"

Saveena's words broke Melody's chain of thought "That was amazing! The ship seemed to know what you were thinking....... How did you do all that with only one hand?"

Sav's ears twitched at the question by Melody. She just realized that she had just dove in, loving the new ship, without checking to see if Melody's attention was on the viewscreen or on the panel. 'I have to be more careful, darn it Sav, good going like always, grrl,' she thought to herself. Then, she realized how to explain it away as her mind tentacles were on record, depending upon how observant Melody was. Sav churred gently, "Oh, umm, I just feel really at home with Merlin, especially having done advanced flight training, and, some of it was my mind tentacles." Sav churred gently, "All Mephetians have Telekinesis. Mine, was born stunted. So, instead of having two full mind hands, I have three separate fingers, but the way I use them, I think of them as tentacles. I was using those to touch controls as well. Does that help?"

"Yeah, it dose, thanks" Melody replied. Melody still had a twinge of doubt at the back of her mind with Saveena's response. The controls had been fast....... Too fast............ And the way she had hesitated when she answered, the subtle twitch in her ears.......

Still she let it pass, for now..........

Sav's tail shook once as her whiskers and ears pointed to the screen. "Coming up on transition... who wants the pleasure of flying through the field?" Sav was loathe to leave the seat. When she was flying with her companions was the only time she was clear headed and her senses back sharp. She hated to fully return to her body and its constant fog reminder of what happened to her six years ago. She glanced a Melody and thought to herself, 'Still, much less than the Mekhanii. You go, girrl, you go.'

"Don't worry" Melody added smiling. "I'll make sure you get plenty of chances to sit here in the future my friend" she said, resting her hand on her Saveena's shoulder.

Sav churred, "Yeah, you're right. Here you go." Sav stood up and let Melody retake the controls. She now stood beside Melody to watch the Merlin go into the asteroid field under her expert hands. In the the back of her mind she was making a listing of duty cycles for the fighters and perusing their training schedule that she had found when she had merged with Merlin.

OFF:

Commander John "Apollo" Barstow
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant j.g. Saveena A. Tillatix
CAG / Uroboros Squad Leader

Lieutenant Melody Jones
Chief Flight Officer / Second officer