Meeting the Top Dog

Posted on Sun Dec 10th, 2017 @ 8:00pm by Warrant Officer Koh Otassu

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Fighterbay - Wellington
Timeline: Following "Newest Recruit"

PREVIOUSLY...

Gordo grinned slightly, thinking about how he had been given his call sign 'Hot Dog'. "Usually a pilot's call sign is chosen by the pilot themselves," he said. "But occasionally it is given by their flight leader or another pilot and may be based on an event the pilot was involved in or perhaps the pilot's outlook or attitude. For instance, the squad leader you will probably be flying with is called 'Ice Queen'. She got that sign because she is cool under pressure. Our other squad leader is called 'Cobra' because she can strike as quickly as a snake..." he said as they turned to leave the fighter bay.

Koh gave a nod, "Our flights are named after pieces in a popular strategy game, similar to your game of Chess. Everyone in a flight gets assigned the same sign, with the distinction between pilots being a number. Lancer Four, or Dragon Six." the rabbit added as they walked. "Distinctions get added to the callsign, like adding Red to the callsign of Bishop."

He mulled the other callsigns over in his head for a moment. Hot Dog.. Ice Queen.. Cobra.. weird. He followed along, glancing at the Federation fighter models as they passed by them on the way to the commander.

When they reached Lawson's office, Gordo walked in unannounced. "Skipper, here's our newest pilot, Ensign Koh Otassu."

Lawson stood up from behind his desk and extended his hand. "Welcome to the group, Ensign. Sit down and tell me about yourself," he said, motioning to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Of the many briefings that Koh read through before he made the request to transfer over, How Other Races Greet Each Other was high on that list. He took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake before taking a seat. "Blink Fighter Academy, standard issue. Graduated with eight marks." he paused, then again realized... "That's a high grade. Father was proud, mother was worried. My sister was a bit young to know the dangers but her brother was a pilot."

"Flew a good number of sorties, helped push back the Kolderan expansion once or twice, always fun." he chuckled, "Made Ace in four years, then made wing leader the year after. That's when I earned my Red." he continued. "We took a beating in the skirmish with the Klingons and the... Kardashians? No, no hold on.. Cardassians. There we go." he lost the word there for a moment. "I was informed of the potential of my wing being disbanded and the pilots reassigned until we could recoup the losses. It was good for the rest of the wing, since it would mean they'd get back out in the field. Which left me with an odd opportunity. Either join up with a new wing and start from around the middle of the ladder, or take a shot and do a bit of cultural exchange and transfer here." he motioned around. "I know I'd be starting at the bottom rung, and honestly, there's no better way to learn then to start over."

Lawson nodded slightly. "I agree," he said. "You will be assigned to Commander MacKensie's squadron." He thought for a moment, trying to decide how best to ask the next question. "Commander MacKensie is one of the best pilots in the group, but I have to ask a question of you and I hope you do not take offense to it because no offense is intended. Will you have any problem taking orders from a female?"

Koh gave Lawson an odd look. That kind of held tilted look where one ear kinda half-flopped. "Is that really a thing in the Federation?" he inquired. He didn't sound offended, just a little confused. "I mean, are people still bothered by that?" he shook his head, but fielded the question, "No, no I won't have any issue with that at all. Considering wing leaders and thinking engines, I've taken orders from men, women, and machines at this point."

"Besides, between you and me, our current Emperor's a lady. So, I don't think I'm *allowed* to have an issue with it." and at that, he gave a nod. "Gordo said I'd be flying under someone with the call sign is Ice Queen. She the one?"

"Unfortunately some DO still hold prejudices where males and females are concerned..." Lawson said slowly. "For example, the male population of the planet Taran Three in the Alpha Quadrant believe that their females exist for the sole purpose of serving them and reproducing. Female Ferengi are not allowed to wear clothes or earn profit, and many female Orions are sold as sex slaves, although I'm glad to say that the cases of prejudice that I've experienced have been few and far between, and I'm glad to see that your people do not harbor prejudices such as that."

"We've had a long time to make all our mistakes." Koh mentioned with a nod. "Though I'm pretty certain if you go far enough back into any race's history, there's bound to be parts that we're collectively glad are in the past."

"To answer your question, yes, you will be assigned to Ice Queen. Her name is Commander Felicity MacKensie but anyone who wants to stay on her good side will not call her by her given name. It's Ice Queen or just Queen. Possibly she may allow you to call her 'Mac' once she gets to know you better - but never, EVER Felicity. Now, before I call her in to meet you, do you have any questions?"

Koh took that advice directly to heart, "Never call her by her given name." he repeated, to cement the thought. "Good to have a little insider information. Honestly I have a few questions but, I think most of those would best be answered by continuing the interview and meeting my new wing leader."

He paused, "Is it wing leader? Wing commander? I noticed she's not the Red Queen, so you don't use the same convention as we do."

"It's actually Squadron Leader," Lawson said. "I know our terminology must seem confusing to you, but I'm sure you'll get used to it soon." He then tapped his combadge. =/\= Commander MacKensie, report to the CAG office immediately. =/\=

=/\= On my way, sir... =/\= she answered immediately.

Five minutes later, the door opened and a tall, dark-haired woman entered.

"MacKensie reporting as ordered..." she said.

"Mac, I'd like to introduce your new fighter pilot, Ensign Koh Otassu. Ensign, your squadron leader, Commander "Ice Queen" MacKensie."

Koh stood as she entered. Figured there was no harm in playing the odds that this was her. Tall, dark hair, female. Fit the description. "Squadron leader." he stood at attention, even his ears perked straight, and gave her a nod during this time, before he waited. Either the standard Terran handshake would come next, or the order to relax.

"At ease and reclaim your seat, Ensign..." MacKensie said as she backed up slightly and leaned against the bulkhead.

Koh gave a nod and took his seat, turning to keep MacKensie in his field of vision.

She looked the new pilot over in an appraising manner before speaking again. When she did, her tone was slow and deliberate. "To begin with, let me tell you my first rule. My first rule is simple - don't do anything to make the squadron look bad. Ever. My expectations are simple. I don't expect you to give 100 percent, or 110 percent - or even 150 percent. I expect you to give everything you have at all times. If there is a screwup and it's not your fault I will back you to the hilt. Even if it is your fault, come to me and I will do everything I can to help you fix the problem. BUT - if you fuck up and try to cover it up, I promise you I will nail your ass to the bulkhead and hang it out to dry! Is this in any way unclear?"

He gave a nod as he listened, his lengthy ears perked to catch ever word, every tone, every inflection. At the end, at her inquiry, he shook his head, "I understand completely." To be true it wasn't so different back in his previous posting. Do your job, do it well, admit your faults.

"Do my job, do it well, admit my faults." he repeated, this time aloud. The part about not doing anything to make the squad look bad was another parallel to the Ts'usugi. Support your fleet. Treat them as family. Don't let the family disgrace itself. Usually just meant pulling your wingmates out of fights, or making sure no one saw how drunk they truly were out in public.

"Excellent..." MacKensie said, allowing the slightest hint of a smile creep onto her features. "Now that we understand each other, do you have any questions for me?"

"I presume that things here won't be too different from back on the carrier. Duty rosters posted, random inspections, gear and stock is our responsibility, fighter maintenance and such. The only questions I have are do we sortie at range, then travel to the target or are we more short range scout and situational?"

"I ask because the Blink fighters aren't Dark capable. Warp capable." he corrected. "We have protocols in case we're stranded, but to actually get to a point, we don't have Warp capacity on our fighters."

"I see." MacKensie said. "If your ship doesn't have warp capability, how will you be able to keep up with our fighters? Maybe I'm missing something here..." she said, her brow furrowing a bit in thought. "Explain how your ship operates, please."

"All standard Blink fighters have full atmospheric and impulsive drive capacity." he started, "The Blink drive allows for incredible velocities for quick bursts of time. Technically, it's about eighty five or eighty six percent the speed of light for a fraction of a second. Hence the name, Blink."

"The standard operation of a Ts'usugi fighter squad is the Carrier arrives on the scene and dispatches fighters. There's usually no need to traverse the Dark once the carrier group arrives." he continued, "Once the sortie was complete, the squad would form up with the carrier or the deploying craft, and then head off to the next objective. Though, as for sub-light velocity, from what we observed the Blink craft and the observed Federation fighter craft should be comparable."

"A side by side performance comparison may be in order, though. For performance data, of course."

"Interesting..." she mused. "I have to say I'm not familiar with that type of operation. I'd like a demonstration of your ship's capabilities as well as your own flying abilities at your earliest convenience. Perhaps a sim could be programmed for one of our holodecks?"

He gave her a nod, "Absolutely. I'll have to talk with one of your holotechs since I'm not one hundred percent knowledgeable about your holodecks, but I'll get a full scan and data simulation up and running within, say, two hours?" he offered. "I'll be able to give you a better history of the sublight propulsion systems then."

He paused for a moment, to separate two separate thoughts, "I'll also need to talk to a member of Engineering to work up a refuel point. The Blink Fighters use a different energy system than the Dalacari, and we know the Dalacari and the Federation use essentially the same power generation system. The fighter's memory system already has the schematic and I brought reserve fabricator mass to balance out the drain on your resources when it comes to constructing the filter."

"Engineering would be the department to handle any fabrication you need and I'm sure someone in OPS will be willing to assist you with programming the holodeck sim. Now - what callsign to you wish to use in the squadron?"

Well this was certainly unexpected. "Well, as long as it's nothing like Ears or Carrots or Wabbit." he chuckled. "Considering how the Blink drive looks from the outside observer, could I request the callsign 'Ghost'?" he inquired.

"Works for me," she said, then added "I'm sure you've already been told that my callsign is 'Ice Queen' and if you're wondering why, it's because when I'm in the cockpit of my fighter I'm the coldest, most ruthless bitch you will ever meet," she said simply. "Now, do you have any other questions for me?"

He gave a nod at her explanation, "Give no quarter, expect none. Seems that's pretty much universal to a fighter squad mentality. At the moment the only question I have is approval for transfer, and when do I start? Which I imagine you and the Commander might be able to better answer after the demonstration in the holodeck."

Once again MacKensie allowed the faintest smile. "Exactly. When we're out there as far as I'm concerned there are only two types of ships - friendlies and targets. As for when you start, Cooper, Commander Lawson and myself will discuss that and let you know. But, based on what I've seen and heard so far, I'll not have a problem taking you into my squadron. So if there's nothing further...?" she asked, looking at both Lawson and Otassu.

"Nothing from me," Lawson answered.

"Then I have an appointment in Ops, and then one of the holosuites. That's all from me." Koh said with a nod.

=====

Commander Harold Lawson
Group Commander
USS Wellington

LtCommander Gordo "Hot Dog" Cooper
Wing Leader
USS Wellington

LtCommander Felicity "Ice Queen" MacKensie
Bravo Squadron Leader
USS Wellington

Ensign Koh "Ghost" Otassu
Blink Fighter Pilot
USS Wellington