If There Is Any Possible Way?

Posted on Sun Apr 29th, 2018 @ 6:06am by

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: CAG Office

Calypso all but skipped down the hallway on her way to the part of the ship she had never really been to, after all, she wasn't a pilot of fighters. Not that they weren't fun, but she had basically been blackballed from flying them when she was in the Academy and even before that. But perhaps this one didn't know? The corridors began to have a slightly different feel, but not much, just that knowledge that she wasn't where she should be.

She began poking her head in the open doors and the ones that slid open at her approach, not locked, then finally found someone. "Hi! I'm looking for the CAG, you know where they are?"

"Uh, yes Ma'am. CAG's probably in his office. Down the hallway, second door to your left is the hangar, office is right across the hangar floor. Can't miss it, Ma'am." offered a Chief warrant officer, an older human male, working on inventory.

"Thanks, Warn't." She patted him on the shoulder, wondering if he'd worked on her shuttle once upon a time, then let that go as she started her way across the hanger.

The hangar space was bustling with activity. Eight sleek, powerful and brand new fighters stood parked on opposite sides of the floor with large racks of support equipment scattered about in any place that would fit. Some of the fighters had open cockpits with pilots and gunnery specialists pouring over the controls, holding PADDs, doing their checklists. Several other crew were milling about, doing routine maintenance, walking around with checklists, the works. Each gleaming black and white fighter had a number on the left wing and a call sign painted on the right wing.

Off to one side, stood a unique and alien looking fighter. Sleek, black, looking very fast even while standing still, this was Koh's blink fighter. It had a bit less support equipment available to it than the Gryphons, despite being a bit larger in size.

And true to the CWO's words, sequestered in one corner of the hangar floor was a small office, with open door. It held a desk with a console, several chairs and various odds and ends including a foot long scale model of one of the sleek black and white fighters. The chair behind the desk was occupied by a human male wearing Lieutenant Commander pips.

"You know, I used to somewhat want to be a fighter pilot, but they never let me, not after crashing the trainer, then that other trainer..." Cally smiled, her lack of decorum absolutely normal for her, even now that she wasn't drunk all the time, "Welcome to the ship, I'm the ship's pilot, figured I'd come meetcha!"

His work interrupted though he didn't seem to mind at all. A ready smile, which seemed to brighten a bit when he saw the person interrupting him. "Well hello there and thank you for the welcome." He rose and offered a warm hand to shake. "I'm Jack. Jack Carver. It's my pleasure to meet you."

"Calypso Skyie." She responded, shaking it firmly and vigorously, "I fly things for a living, now it's starships, but it used to be assault shuttles with the Corps before I went for the change in MO, and now I'm lucky enough to be able to take anything except for the fighters out for a joyride whenever."

"Except for the fighters?" he quirked a brow, offering her a chair to sit if she wanted. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked motioning to his replicator.

"Jac-" Cally closed her eyes as the first syllable of her 'normal' order rolled off her tongue before she stopped herself, "Something light, doesn't really matter, just not alcoholic." She sighed to herself, "Except for the fighters, those kinda belong to someone else, like oh... You! And that's part of why I'm down here, not just to meet you, or the more logical thing of coordinating with you, but to see if I could take one out sometime?"

"Orange juice it is." Jack made one for himself as well, handing her hers and sitting down at his desk again. "Ah, so that's why you're here - and I thought you came all the way down here just for me." he smirked for a moment before turning more serious. "These birds are still classified, though we're close to unveiling them officially. Tell you what, if you can convince Commodore Myers to approve your request I'll give you some stick time on my personal Gryphon, Bad News."

"No, that's good news!" Cally winked at the joke as she picked up her orange juice. Some vodka would make a great Screwdr- No, stop that! Don't think of it. "I'll have to try to convince him... Maybe if I get someone to alter my file? I'm betting he'd look at my flight school results before giving permission or not, wouldn't he?"

"Probably. Wouldn't recommend altering your file. I'm a firm believer in making choices and accepting the consequences." Jack smiled, leaning back, subconsciously twirling his glass of OJ like it was strong alcohol. "So, why don't you tell me why you're apparently not lucky enough to be able to take a fighter out for a joyride, Calypso?"

Cally swallowed hard as she saw Jack's wrist motion, then ripped her eyes away from it and focused on her own for a moment by taking a drink of it, "Back when they were putting some of us through the flight quals, I was one of the better of us and they put me through some fighter sims, where I was actually pretty good. Then they put one of the H-22 trainers in my hands, had me take it up and do some basic maneuvers, but ended up putting it into the ground hard, walked out of it, but they put me in another. That one took a week to repair when I brought her back to the ground. So they took me and popped me into assault shuttles and found a match made in heaven. I can duel fighters in one of those suckers."

"Well, can't put Bad News in the ground if I drive you out to a safe distance in open space before giving you control. Needless to say, I'm quite protective of my girl." Jack mused, taking a sip of his OJ. He'd noticed her look and lowered his glass, resting it on his desk. "But, a promise is a promise and if you can swing approval from Myers I'll give you some time on the stick." he smiled. "So, tell me a bit about yourself? Any hobbies? What does a Calypso Skyie do for entertainment?"

"What do I do? Anything, everything, basically whatever I feel like doing at the time, no holds barred, only thing I don't do, anymore, is drink." She sighed deeply, "It's... Different. I love flying, racing, literally anything that will give me an adrenaline rush. Or even some sedate things, but if I'm playing pool, it's a credit a ball, that's for damned sure."

"It's not that different for pilots to be adrenaline junkies." he mused, making a mental note of the no-longer-drinking. Probably some history there. He wasn't going to possibly trigger her by drinking around her, he'd seen enough alcoholism around him to know how difficult kicking the habit could be. "Me too, racing boats, bikes, planes, cars, anything that goes fast. Things like climbing, running, swimming as well, helps keep in shape."

"I'll leave the climbing to others, like Hales, same on the running, but swimming isn't bad at all. Maybe we'll have to do something interesting, then! I would almost say I'd pit myself in an assault shuttle versus you in your fighter, make it even." Cally grinned.

Jack chuckled, then laughed. "You know, I'll take you up on that. Should be fun. Plus, were in the performance data gathering stage of the project anyways, would be interesting to see how she'll measure up to an assault shuttle." he smiled, taking another sip of his OJ. "Just gotta find some space in the ship's schedule, when we'll be in the same place for a few hours with nothing else going on."

"I'm sure we can come up with something, but definitely the real thing rather than the sims, more reliable that way, I think." She gave a conspiratorial look, "And stick time always has an advantage, that's for sure."

"I agree, the actual thing." He matched her conspiratorial look, leaning in to whisper. "So you wanna go one on one, or squadron on squadron?"

"Is that even a question? Squadron-level makes you too dependent on others to run enough cover for you and anyways, I on't know anyone else who can fly a Greyhound nearly as well as I can." She referred to the Corps's primary fast assault shuttle, "I don't even have a copilot I'd really trust, but I can handle one of the monsters on my own. So one on one, weapons loadout is up to the pilot, feel free to bring what you want."

"One on one then." Jack gave a nod. "Though the Gryphon is a two man fighter, pilot and gunner." He considered for a moment. Against a shuttle I'd likely just bring the bare ship. No optional pods. Won't need he additional firepower but the agility will come in handy." he grinned. "This is gonna be fun."

"Oh, it will be!" Calypso agreed entirely, joy in her voice. She really DID love to fly and always was up for a really good challenge. "I'll probably just use the standard loadout I had when I was a Warrant, minus the gravity bombs, those'll just weigh me down." She knew some tricks she could use that he wouldn't see coming a mile away.

He smiled, finishing his OJ. "Well, I'm really looking forward to it, and maybe a race on equal machines afterwards. Now, I really don't mean to be rude and I normally always welcome the company of such a lovely girl - but I actually really have a lot of work to do. Was there anything else I can do for you, Calypso?"

Cally rubbed her hands together in anticipation of the match, "Nope, that is about it for me for now. I guess I'd better get some sim time in on a shuttle again, shouldn't I?"

Jack smiled, leaning back. "Indeed. I should probably research it a bit more as well, see what it's capable of." he mused. "Don't forget to get with Myers to see if he'll greenlight some stick time on a Gryphon for you." With that he stood up, reaching for hand. "Looking forward to see what you're made of, Calypso." he said with a wink and a grin.

"Sounds like a plan, Jack! I'd say hit the road, but this is your hanger." Cally winked back, "So, let me go get some practice in. Ciao!"

He smiled as she left. "This is going to be fun." he quietly mused.