Arranging Tech Support

Posted on Fri Mar 5th, 2021 @ 9:35pm by Warrant Officer Callisi Veera & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Rozia

Mission: Pathstone to History
Location: Shuttlebay Three

"Computer, redesignate Shuttlebay Three as Fighter Bay One." Evelyn stated as she stood outside the main double doors. This was the largest of the shuttlebays, having been designated for the storage of the rest of the small craft that wouldn't fit in the primary and secondary bays, and as such would give a fighter squadron the most space and enough room for the support crew. In fact, that last had been so vague that she didn't know what they had available.

She took a deep breath and worked to contain her excitement. Jidressa Lelless had been the first host for Rozia and had largely formed the base 'personality' of the symbiont and Jidressa was at large a fighter pilot. So any time she got to be in contact with what Jidressa had loved to be? She got an adrenaline rush. She made her universal 'open sesame' gesture the nd the doors slid open in front of her and her pupils widened. In front of her were fighters, sleek, deadly and... There.

The smile on her face widened as she saw the sleek form a Federation fighter and two that she'd seen before and recognized as Ts'usugi Blink craft. Oh yes, this would be a fun trip! She bounced on the balls of her feet as she stepped over the threshold and started forward sharply towards the single figure that she saw, standing by one of the foreign craft. The single figure. Her stride broke momentarily as she didn't see anyone there, no work over the other two, no nothing. No 'squadron', just three fighters. Her mind was working as she blankly made her way over towards the Ts'usugi presumably pilot.

Callisi was giving her fighter craft a final once-over inspection when she saw something odd out of the corner of her eye. There was a woman, almost bouncing on her way over towards her. Easily excited, perhaps, but the Federation's mantra was to seek out other civilizations. Hers qualified.

The rabbitess turned to fully meet and address the approaching Evelyn, and she gave a nod. "Good welcome, ma'am. What can I assist with?" she started, trying to deduce her purpose.

Her mind now on the new problem she saw, Evelyn glanced around again to show she was searching for something, "Where's the support staff? I mean, I didn't see anything about a dedicated set of engineers arriving to maintain your fighters, but I didn't get a request to provide maintenance personnel..." Her eyes came back around to Callisi's, worry in them, her face having fallen in some concern, "Did they tell you, by chance? I can bring in some of my own people to do it, I'll have to vet them to make sure they know at least somewhat what they're doing and make sure they get the proper training as well."

The engineer suddenly broke out of the pool of despair she seemed to have fallen into, "Sorry, I, umm, it's more what I can do for you. I'm Evelyn, Chief Engineer on board and I meant to get down here earlier to check in on all of you to make sure things were set up right and to apologize that some of the maintenance craft are in here with you, but things got a bit... Hectic with everyone getting aboard and settled in and getting underway right away."

Times like this she was glad she wasn't the element lead. "Koh is handling the totality of the fighter support, but as for Blink support..." Callisi mused. "Pick your best eight. From them, I'll pick six. They'll learn about the Blink fighters, and essentially be married to them. With Koh and I on our own support roster, that'll bring the number of techs to the fighters up to four a pop. More then enough."

"Things did get a bit hectic, but that's understandable what with the scramble to get aboard, and the jaunt to Pathstone."

"Not a real excuse from my part." Evelyn objected, "I'm." She cut herself off and forced herself to take a deep breath before continuing, "I'll be putting them under the eyes of Lieutenant Alistair Fletcher. He was on the old Astraea, but despite being apparently a good small craft engineer, was kept down in main engineering. Two pilots being their own support staff, and I'm assuming whoever's flying that one is their own support as well, is just not right." She looked embarrassed, "I would have been pissed if my squadron had just decamped to a new ship and had squat for maintenance people."

"I honestly didn't expect much of a support squad. Most engineers I meet are more interested in picking apart my fighter then maintaining it." Callisi commented, "Though if I could get a few techs to teach the basics to, to take the pressure off, that would be appreciated." she relented. "Just, realize that my hesitance isn't to deny you or the Federation, it's merely that I want the exchange of concepts to be meaningful. Rather than just picking up a rock and discovering the secret to heavy muon decay reaction under it."

"Well, everyone knows that particular secret isn't under a rock, it's inside the asteroid belt of Alpha Ceti Nine." Evelyn rolled her eyes to emphasize the joke, "I can guarantee my techs will behave, and if they don't they'll answer to me. I do know what it feels like to see my craft in pieces with strangers pawing all over her, and the need to keep one in position to fly whenever is far more important than idle curiosity."

"It's slightly more than that. We don't have a spare fighter for parts, so the fabri... replicator is the only way to get new parts. Though there are components on this fighter that Starfleet has never heard of, so it's a guessing game of what we can and can't enter into your system so that my fighter stays viable." a pause, "And even with a buoy, answers aren't coming fast." a pause, and a bit of a huff, before Callisi turned her full cyclopean attention towards Evelyn. "Thank you for your attention in the matter. I... should be more appreciative but I'm in an awkward situation."

"I understand." Evie temporized, "If it helps with anything, I have been involved with up and coming technology for a preeeetty significant amount of time. If you find yourself having problems you can't solve, even not being fully specced on your tech, I may be able to help with a temporary bypass or alteration to keep you flying."

"I appreciate you're want to help, but getting things pretty close isn't really good enough." she brought her fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She took a breath, held it, and then slowly released it. "Coordinate with Koh. Assemble a team of engineers to become dedicated flight techs. Koh and I will assemble a crash course in the technologies of the Ts'usugi Blink Fighter. Intense ten day course, just like back home. No margin, no slide. This is a Pass or Fail course. They'll become as well versed in the technology of the Ts'usugi Blink Fighter as anyone with proper ears would be. Or they go back to being Engineers."

"We can't settle for close enough. No Federation half-repairs to something they don't understand." and that was the deal. "And since we're going to want dedicated resources, that unfortunately means you can't be on the team."

Evelyn nodded, a bit disappointed about it, but she was a big girl and got over it just about as quick, "Right. I'm cutting Alistair loose for your exclusive use. If he doesn't cut, let me know and I'll find another officer to head the detail. Chief Terrix will have those eight techs down there with him at your convenience, she's got the best feel for the enlisted crew. If you have any areas of expertise you're looking for, I can have her pick from those."

"We'll be *making* them experts." Callisi explained. "There's at least two entire systems in this fighter that the Federation has never heard of. Specialists? Two propulsive specialists, two inertial compensation specialists. What they'll learn will change the way they look at the universe."

"And since I understand departmental loyalty, and I *think* I understand how the Federation works..." Callisi gave a sigh, "You might as well join in on the training as well. It'd only be a matter of time before you had it all anyway. I'd rather it be given then be taken."

"If you tell me that you don't want them to pass the information on, I wouldn't push them nor would I allow them to tell me or anyone else about it." Evelyn said very solemnly, "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to learn everything I could, but I'm also not about to violate the trust you're putting in us even teaching a handful of people. The alliance between the Federation and the Ts'usugi is too important for the greed of one person to throw any sort of crack in it."

"I don't want it shared." she stated, simply. Rather direct for a Ts'usugi. "It's our culture, our technology, our way of life. It's how our workers commute. It's how commerce occurs. It's the lifeblood between moons... and now i get to teach it to people who have only gawked at it and wanted to tear it apart to see how it works. I get to give away secrets, techniques, entire schools of thought. I get to add our technological distinction to the Federation's crucible." she paused, "That's my concern. To be consumed, swept up and washed away. The color dulled, the shine diminished. Another idea consumed." she paused again, shaking her head.

"I apologize. I didn't mean for this to become a deliberation on social commentary. Assemble your candidates, if you please. As their department head, you are of course invited to attend." the whole tone, the whole inflection changed almost after that pause, after that moment. A re-evaluation, or a realization. "With your permission, I have much to prepare for."

"Of course. I've taken up enough of your time." Evie nodded, "I'll have them here first thing in the morning."

"Thank you. I look forward to meeting them." Callisi gave a nod, the touchy subject of her heritage had been deflected to the satisfaction of Ts'usugi protocol. The cyclopean rabbitess knew this wasn't the end of the topic, but at least it was the end of this discussion.