"Blink or Not to Blink"

Posted on Wed Mar 20th, 2019 @ 12:34pm by Warrant Officer Koh Otassu

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Fighterbay
Timeline: Right after Party Post

ON:

T'Krya was walking down tbhe corridor towards the fighter bay to go over her fighter like always. As she enteted, she saw Ensign Koh by his blink fighter and she approached him. "Hey there Koh, how goes?", she asked.

The hangar's resident rabbit was gently caressing the hull of his Blink Fighter, an aerodynamic design both alien and ancient all at the same time. He wore a glove of some sort as he moved his hand across the surface, possibly just polishing the hull or checking for micro-impact damage. The glove was fuzzier than most tribbles, which made it look all the more comical on the already fuzzy Koh. "Oh." he looked up as T'Krya approached and called to him, and he straightened up to something approaching attention. As she was casual, then he'd be casual as well.

"So far, things are well." he offered as he removed the glove. "Just making sure someone gets all the attention she deserves." he chuckled, "An interesting gathering, to say the least. How about yourself? "

"I came to check on my fighter, but after the Shalti shit, I am intrigued by how the blink fighter functioned. Come on I mean like now you see e now you don't ", T'Kyra said smiling as she shook hisfurry hand.

He gave her hand a shake, not to be considered rude. "Well, it's not teleporting. Just moving incredibly fast." he commented, "Sciences clock the Blink Fighter at about seventy eight percent the speed of light, but only for a fraction a second. That's... how it got its name. Blink." he said with a smirk, "Blink and you miss it. See, we never abandoned our sub-light propulsion once we came up with something faster. We kept refining it until, well, until the Blink Drive became a staple of standard point to point intrasystem travel. Not enough for system to system, but to ferry goods from planet to planet, it gets the job done." he continued.

"As for how it works, well, there's a few key components on her that aren't in the Federation systems. Had to add them to the library manually. Pain in the tail, I assure you." he chuckled. "Was there anything in particular you were interested in? I mean, I'm not an engineer, but standard regulations require that I know how every part of my fighter works. You know, in case I crash on a hostile planet and need to find out which rock to bang against the hull to make all the science go back in." he chuckled again.

"How the hell does this fighter of yours not show up on sensors?", she asked. "I mean, when we passed you, our scanners didn't pick you up", T'Krya added.

He smirked, "Beats me, maybe you need better sensors?" he joked. That was an opening he couldn't refuse. "Though, she *is* a current generation stealth air and space superiority fighter. Maybe she just doesn't show up on your systems?" he tried not to sound to pleased.

"Do you mean during normal operation or during a Blink?" he then asked for clarity, almost after the fact.

"Actually both. Either your craft is completely sensor peoof or you are flying to damn fast for the sensors to keep track of it", T'Krya said smiling.

Koh returned her smile with a ghost of a smile of his own. "Could be both. Obviously superior fighter technology plus highly trained pilots." he teased, "Maybe the Federation isn't ready for the Ts'usugi to join... interesting... I must report this." and at that, he turned sharply to the right, and bowed his head slightly. His ears twitched and bobbed, sometimes independently of one another.

"Ts'usu High Command, this is Agent Peppermint. I have vital intel on the Federation. Transmitting now." and his ears gave a twitch before drooping down. "Out of range." he chuckled, clearly teasing.

"Koh! What on earth did you just do?", T'Krya asked horrified.

Koh actually gave a chuckle, which turned into a full laugh for a moment before he relaxed and explained, "Nothing. What, you thought that was real? No no nonononono.." he quickly explained, "I was just teasing. Seriously, you thought THESE could call the home moons?" he pointed to his ears. "Please, I've read up on how a lot of folks in the Federation have 'telepithy' or however you pronounce it, but there's never been a telepathic Ts'usugi ever, in our entire history."

"A.. are you okay?" he asked, now a little concerned that someone would fall for such an obvious ruse.

T'Kyra's facial expression changed drasticly when Koh told her that it was a ruse. "Oh I thought.....oh how stupid of me. I feel so awful.....oh my lord to be taken like a stooge", she said slightly laughing. She reached out to touch him on his arm, "Koh I am so sorry I honestly thought you were talking with your superiors. I feel so foolish", she said red faced. "I am not telepathic if thats any help. My mother is Vulcan but my father was Human. Sometimes I wish I could be logical about certain things", she remarked.

"You th.. You thought I was what?" he chuckled, "They're ears, not antenna." he calmed down a bit, amused at the misunderstanding but not wanting to actually hurt her feelings. Though, as she reached for his arm, he simply diverted by taking her hand in his and giving it a firm handshake before letting go. "Cultural difference. We value touch differently, don't take it personal."

That settled, "Mixed parents? Huh, unusual. Though I suppose with the Federation being a mixed bag of people and culture, it's not terribly unusual. Oh, don't get me wrong, we have our own stories. Sons and Daughters of Ts'usu who find the Dalacari attractive, or the rare instance of a Dalacari finding someone Single to be worth their full attention. We ran the numbers, and it's fine for a fling but it's not the stuff of families." he said, almost sounding a bit disappointed at that before he returned to the here and now.

"Well, ma'am, I mean you can be logical about things, just th.... oh, you meant like the Vilc... no no, Vul. Vulcans." he paused again, "I ... Did a little reading on the more common Federation members. Just so there weren't any surprises, but no. There's never been a telepathic Ts'usugi. Probably because of this..." and he tapped his own head. "Though, that's something for the med techs to discuss. Are you alright now?"

"Yes...yes I am fine", she said chuckling. She thought she had confused the poor Ensign. "I think there was a misread there but it is all good. Tell me a little about how you fight in your fighter. Your methods....", T'Krya said.

"Well first off, the Federation hasn't even begun to explore swarm logic processing, so I have to be double on my toes out there than usual." he started. "But ultimately it's the same as how you fight in your fighters, except that we have a Blink Engine." he smirked. "There's twelve muon capacitors attached to the drive, and THOSE get powered by the inertial nullifier. See, it converts inertial energy into, I guess... energy energy, and then that energy gets stored in the capacitors. When they're fully charged, I can select a flightpath or plot one myself, then activate the Blink."

"What happens then, well, is the system dumps all that capacitor energy into the system. The inertial nullifer goes full power, and essential cancels inertia on the entire fighter. Then the Blink engine kicks in and boom. Well, no boom. Boom bad." he pointed out.

"Then the system switches back to standard, and the cooldown process begins. Venting heat and letting the system get ready for the next blink hop. All the while I'm back in the game." he explained. "As for HOW, well, years of training and lots and lots of blinks. They say no two people experience their first blink the same way. Some see nothing, some see everything. Some are traumatized by the whole ordeal, and they go into conventional service and have to sit in the back of Blink Shuttles for the rest of their life. Others, we're okay with it, and the more we blink the less trouble it is."

"Me? I don't even notice the transition anymore, but you never forget your first blink." he said, remembering something distant, ancient. "I'm sorry, you were asking about my methods of dogfighting? They're pretty advanced tactics: Apply high energy particles to enemy combatants." he chuckled. "Or, if needed, I have a mission profile underrack with various physical munitions. Hunter Seeker missile packs, cluster bomb munitions. When I was still stationed in the Imperial Navy, I was qualified for carrying fission weapons to targets as well, if needed. So yeah, our tactics are pretty varied."

He paused, "Was.... that your question?"

T'Krya was overwhelmed by all of what he said. "Yes I guess it was the question. Someday I would like to go through a blink....if that is what you call it", she said hesitantly.

He gave a nod, "That is what it's called. Well, it's official term as determined by I.D. is a hyper-subluminal experience, but it's easier to explain to the kids if you just say blink. You know, 'Blink and you miss it'." he said with a chuckle.

"Now, to live your dream of graduating from those clunky missile boats..." he motioned to those top-of-the-line Federation fighters around them, "... and sitting in the pit of a real fighter, I've taken the liberty of making a duplicate in the Wellington's hollow deck archives. BUT..." he stressed, "... not all of your technology is the same as our technology. See, you actually don't have Inertial Nullifiers, and you certainly don't have a Blink Drive, so I had to fudge it in the plans. The simulations will fly the same, react the same, respond the same... but they're nothing compared to the real thing." he said as he gently pat the nose of his Blink Fighter.

"When the day comes where you take your first Blink, well... I'd tell you to get ready, but nothing can really prepare you."

"Well....I would love to try your holodeck creation first, but after that maybe we could do the real thing?", T'Krya asked. Koh made it sound all so intriguing and the need to experience it only grew more interesting, to actually fly inside of a Blink Fighter was just to much to pass up.

"With respects, this is the only one I have unless we get a spare." Koh gave her a look, "So can't really take her joy riding at the moment. Clear it with the boss, and first non-combat zone we got, I'll take you up." he gave her a nod, "Once around the local satellite, as it were."

"Sorry, but I gotta get back to the inspection. Plus, the shell doesn't wax itself." he said with a chuckle.

Tag

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WO Koh Otassu
Blink Pilot
USS Wellington

Lt. T'Krya "Hunter" Madison
Flight Leader
USS Wellington