Zero hour

Posted on Fri Jul 26th, 2019 @ 8:47pm by Lieutenant Jack Carver & Captain Abigail Laurens

Mission: War and Peacekeeping
Location: Fighter Pilot Briefing Room

The relatively small space was absolutely filled with people. 18 chairs, all but one with pilots and weapons officers, sitting grouped according to fighterwing. Wraith wing to the right, six chairs with six pilots. Revenant wing to the left, twelve chairs with pilots and weapons officers, though one seat was empty.

To the side were various ground crew, including the deck chief, chief ordnance handler, chief fuel handler and other assorted personnel. They stood, paying attention to the person standing at the front of the space, next to a holo display, showing an Ambassador class starship.

"This is the USS Zendaya." Jack explained, motioning to the Ambassador class. "She's carrying a representative of one side of a pair of warring factions. Astraea is carrying the other. As of fourteen hours ago, Zendaya suffered a catastrophic systems malfunction, leaving her dead in the water. Astraea has been tasked with rendezvousing to pick up Zendaya's VIP's."

One of the pilots raised a hand, but Jack waved it away. "Questions after the briefing. Astraea is to drop out of warp near the rendezvous zone, allowing Revenant wing to launch, before making the final hop with Revenant wing screening. This is purely a precautionary measure, due to the suspicious nature of Zendaya's malfunction."

Abigail stood toward the back, leaning against the bulkhead, just watching and listening as the briefing was delivered, her hands clasped behind her back as her gaze traveled across the assortment of assembled pilots and support staff. It was reassuring, seeing Jack in command of his crew, seeing the confidence he portrayed, but it was still eerily disconcerting, perhaps even a little surreal that this was even happening. Drawing a deep breath, she relaxed her shoulders as she continued to wait, not wishing to interrupt.

Jack glanced over at Abigail as he continued. He'd missed her sneaking in, but couldn't help but give a soft smile as he noticed her. "Wraith wing will be on stand by. We don't know what's happened out there, we don't know what to expect, Renevant wing is launching as a precautionary measure in case something happens. When we launch, shields up, weapons cold, hold position over and next to Astraea."

"Johnston, I want Bad News and No Mercy loaded with photon torpedo pods. Reaper, Leopard, Animus and Diplomacy with microtorpedo pods."

The ordnance chief made a quick note on his PADD and gave a nod.

"Waylan, doublecheck Wraith and Revenant wings are fully fueled, all fluids topped up, power packs charged. Magnussen, make sure the flight deck is cleared before launch."

The fuel chief and deck chief made notes in their PADDs as well and acknowledged Jack.

"Any questions?" Jack asked.

One of the pilots to the right raised his hand and spoke when Jack acknowledged him. "Do we suspect sabotage?"

Jack motioned for Abigail to answer that question.

Standing upright, Abigail kept her hands clasped behind her back as she drew in a quick breath. "The official word from the Zendaya at this point is that it is a random systems failure and not sabotage. Given their passengers, and ours, we are choosing to err on the side of caution."

Jack smiled. "There you have it, word from on high is that it's not sabotage. " Some chuckles from the assembled crowd, even as another hand went high.

"Why isn't Wraith wing launching?" asked one of the Razor pilots.

"I like to keep you in reserve just in case. If we all launch, that carries a risk. Besides, we're not expecting trouble per se, Revenant is just launching as a precaution." Jack answered.

"With heavy weapons." the Razor pilot quipped. Some chuckles from the crowd.

"Just in case this is a trap and something big and angry shows up or Zendaya turns out to be hostile. I'm not expecting her to be, but I like being prepared." Jack smiled. "Any more questions?"

"No? You have your orders. Dismissed." Jack turned off the hologram, and watched as the crowd rose to their feet, murmuring amongs themselves. Jack though remained behind, focusing his attention on Abigail as the crowd left to get to their jobs.

"I don't think the crew is really buying the whole 'its just a precaution thing' are they?" Abigail said quietly as he approached, sighing softly as she rubbed her hands across her face and ran her fingers through her hair. "Can't say I blame them."

"Does it really matter?" Jack smiled softly, folding his arms over each other. "They're a good bunch. They'll follow my lead. We're almost at the drop site then?"

Abigail nodded slowly. "We're about fifteen minutes out. When I get back to the bridge I'll give the order to drop out of warp and take us to yellow alert. As soon as your fighters have cleared the ship we'll have our shields back up..." she paused for a moment. "I just wanted to make sure you were all ready."

"It'll take my crew about ten minutes to get ready for launch, finish their pre-flight checks, load external weapons, things like that. We'll be ready." Jack smiled, showing some pride.

She nodded again, this time offering a soft smile at his confidence. "Just be safe out there, okay?" she said, her voice becoming even quieter as she looked up at him, her eyes meeting his.

"We're not going out there to be safe, Abigail." Jack furrowed his brows a bit. "We're going out there to keep you safe."

"I still want you to be safe," she said quietly. "I don't feel like sending condolence messages to families on my first mission as a commanding officer, least of all to yours."

He took her hand in his and brought it up to place a soft kiss on the back of it. "Stop fussing and trust in me, ok? I'll be fine." Maybe it was fatalistic, but he wasn't going to promise that he'd be careful. He felt like that would be jinxing it.

"I am trusting you," Abigail replied quietly, turning her hand to brush her thumb lightly across his lower jaw before pulling her hand away. "I need to get back to the bridge. Good luck Jack," she said softly as she took a step back.

"And you." he winked at her with a smile, moving past her and out of the briefing room onto the flight deck.