Pilot meets Pilot

Posted on Tue Feb 17th, 2015 @ 10:29am by Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa & 1st Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia

1,834 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy
Location: Main Shuttlebay

ON:

Yui had just got out of her appointment with the Chief Counselor. Luckily however she had work to get on with. Being Flight Control wasn't all just about being at the helm all day. She had decided to go down to the Main Shuttlebay to check out how things were looking there. The main shuttlebay was huge on a Galaxy Class Starship and also held the fighters.

The turbolift stopped and Yui walked out into the huge bay. She could see fighters neatly parked over on one side. Yui had never flown a starfighter before, so naturally she was rather curious about them. She wandered over and luckily it seemed as if no one was around. She jumped up onto one of them and opened the hatch.

Sliding into the seat she was able to work out how everything worked.
"No wonder fighter pilots get all the fun toys" she said as she pretended to play with the controls. "Different to a Starship or Shuttle though".

Leroy had been working in his office, having to ground one of his pilots. He kept trying to fly even though he was sicker than a dog. He was a good pilot, but took his job way too seriously. Signing off, he was going to get a bite to eat when an alarm went off on his console. An unknown somebody had climbed into his bird, and was fiddelinf with the controls. Locking it down with a swipe of his hand, he grabbed a phase pistol and rushed into the bay.

Keeping the weapon up, Leroy kept low as he quickly worked his way to the back of the fighters, where his was. Raising it to aim at the person, Leroy cleared his throat. "What do you think your doing?"

Yui looked up, slightly confused at why a phaser was now pointed at her.
"Just checking out the resident fighter craft" she said with a smile. "So, do you fire with sensors or by sight. The phaser cannons on these are mounted in parallel right?"

"What?" Leroy hostlered the phase pistol with a confused look. "Some do it by sensor, some by sight, some use both at the same time. The cannons are in parallel, but why does that matter. Who are you and why are you in my bird?"

"I wasn't aware you owned this craft" Yui replied. She tapped a few buttons on the side console and brought up the ships tactical display. "Oooo" she said. "You have a holographic head up display. I've never seen one this advanced before" she ran her finger over the display allowing her to spin the diagram of the fighter on the display and then zoom in on its engines. "Type three fighter engines, great thrust potential but the warp drive could use a little improvement. Can I have a look?" she asked.

"No!" Leroy said exasperated. Tapping a hidden device in his pocket it sent a signal for a few Marines to join them, in full gear. He was going to have this woman arrested. Laying his hand back on the butt of the pistol he looked at the woman. "Yes, I'm very proud of my upgrades, but why are you looking at them?"

Yui grinned at him. "Its my job. You really don't know who I am do you?" she said with a slight sigh. She turned off the console and pulled herself out of the fighter. She sat crossed legged on the fuselage just behind the cockpit.
"I'm Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa. I'm the Chief of Flight Control. Basically, I not only fly this ship but run all flight operations. When starfighters are on the ground in 'my' shuttlebay, they are part of my responsibility".

Just then the doors slid open, four Marines coming in. Raising a hand to call them off he looked at the woman. "Well Lieutenant, you could have stopped by my office instead of jumping into my fighter and playing with the controls. If you want to look at her, just ask." Looking at the Marines he shook his head, sending them away. "And I believe your responsibility is to make sure we have the space for my birds and my men. The worker bees and regular craft are your responsibility. The fighters are mine. Care to join me in my office for tea?"

Yui put her index finger on her cheek and winked at him. "Can't blame a girl for being curious can you?" she asked with a cute smile. "Do you have green tea?" she asked.

"Come on, we'll see what I have left in store." Turning his back on her, his hand went instead to a knife sheath instead of the pistol. Opening his door, he went to the left and opened a cabinet. "I have jade, green, India Black, and a Russian tea with lemon infusion."

Yui went over to him and stood on her tiptoes resting her chin on his shoulder looking over at the cabinet.
"You have a limited collection" she said. "Jade will do". She reached around him and took the little packet. "I can make it if you want? I'm Japanese afterall, tea making is part of who I am"

Grabbing a packet of another he hadn't told her of, he quickly moved to the replies at or and got a cup of boiling water. Then getting to his desk he quickly sat down so she wouldn't touch him again. "So what do I owe the honor of another department head gracing my office? Or the fighters under my command?" He didn't really look at her, not until she spoke.

"Well" Yui said. "This is the first starship I've served on with Starfighters. I heard that you fighter pilots get all the toys, so naturally I wanted to come and play too" she explained with a smile

As she spoke, he found himself watching her lips and face, his eyes traveling over her uniform and body. There was more he wanted to ask but he was confused.

She could see he seemed a little zoned out. "Huh... are you ok? You seem a little spaced? You're not sick are you?" she asked.

"No, I'm not sick." He looked down, a little confused. He didn't look at anyone, barely spoke as it was. "We don't always get the best toys... I had to build Kathryn from the ground up. So everything you see on her I fought and bartered for."

"You're lucky!" Yui exclaimed with a smile. "Being allowed to build or modify your own ship like that. If they let me get my hands on one of those Delta Flyer class runabouts... boy would I have fun!" Yui stopped and put her hands over her mouth. "Sorry, I talk too much" she said with a slight giggle.

"Mines a Peregrin, not a Delta. They handle different, and fly differently. And I have a spare fighter, I can see if perhaps the Commodore will allow you to work her over. Maybe make a work date out of it?" He asked before blushing horribly. Then he thought of something and stood again. "Follow me, I have something else to show you."

Yui stood up in response. "Get me some tools and its a date. Where are we going now?" she asked with a smile tilting her head to one side slightly.

Leroy said nothing as he exited his bay, then was quickly at his quarters. Opening them, he pointed to the unfinished katana sitting on the anvil, and a ninjas-to leaning against the forge. "Something I do in my spare time. I make blades and old weapons."

"You would get on with my father" Yui said as she wandered over to the Katana on the anvil. She ran her fingers along the side of the blade. "I haven't seen one of these crafted before, plus real authentic ones and designs are hard to come by" she said. "Can I try?"

Kicking the furnace on he placed a block of tritanium into the flames, moving the blade he had been working on. Picking up the lighter of the two hammers, it still weighed close to thirty pounds, he flipped it, caught it by the head and reached to hand it to her. "I'll let you know when the metals hot enough to form it."

Yui grasped the hammer tightly. It was heavy but she was stronger than she looked.
"How did you manage to install all this in your quarters without setting off the fire supression equipment?" she asked curiously. It wasn't every quarters on a starship that came with a forge and blacksmiths in.

"I turned the system off, then taught it to recognise the furnace as part of the ship. It wasn't that hard really." Taking a pair of tongs, he lifted the Barbour and placed it on the anvil. "Now, image the piece you want to make and start beating the hell out of it. And roll your sleeves up. Starfleet uniforms can be flamible sometimes."

Yui unzipped the grey and black tunic and threw it onto a chair. Then she rolled up her sleeves on her undershirt before hitting the metal hard with the hammer. After a few minutes she stepped back panting slightly.
"This is harder than it looks" she said catching her breath.

"Believe it or not, that's the hammer I use for detail work," he said as he laced the bar back into the flames to heat it back up. Picking up the ninja-to he slid it partially open, showing a Japanese Dragon swirling down the blade. "All of that meticulous work done with that hammer." Closing it, he picked up a single action Navy, the old USN symbol on every cylinder of the weapon. "Same with this."

Yui wiped some sweat from her forehead as she perched on the arm of the couch. "You're rather good at this. I wish I could have a similar talent, the only thing I seem to be good at is flying... and screwing up!". She let out a slight nervous laugh. "I'm off duty soon... if you wanted we could meet up for a drink?" she asked blushing nearly as red as her shirt. "We're both pilots afterall right?"

"Sure, just let me know when, and I'll be here. Maybe I'll start you off on something easier than tritanium. Iron, Steel or bronze maybe." Looking at the pistol he sighed. "I have to go deliver something anyhow."

"Ok" Yui said as she picked up her tunic. "I guess I'll see you later then..." she shuffled towards the door.

Smiling he watched her go, before looking back at the pistol. It was part of a pair, the other had the UFP symbol on every cylinder. He had meant to give them to the Commodore when he got on board but had forgotten. Grabbing the other, he made his way to the bridge.

OFF:

MSGT Leroy Mangalia
Flight Leader

Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa
Chief Flight Control Officer

 

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