| Failure to Communicate |
| Summary: | The newest raptor nugget reports for duty. It's all downhill from there. |
| Date: | 30 Dec 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
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| Starboard Hangar |
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| The single largest rooms on the Cerberus are the hangar decks. Each flight pod consists of two stacked landing bays with adjoined decks and hangars, which along with computer-assisted landings results in a faster Viper recovery rate. Mirror images of each other, these two huge areas are located on the flight pods. The inboard sides of the deck, closest to the ship's main hull, are lined with parking and maintenance bays for Vipers and Raptors based aboard the battlestar. The outboard side of the deck contains the launch tubes used by the Vipers for standard deployment. Huge blast doors seal the deck into four sections, each one containing an elevator that leads up to the flight deck directly overhead. The fore-most section contains an elevator system that leads towards Aerospace Fabrication. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #307 |
Cerberus, Starboard Hangar, launch bay F-5. Harrier-307, or, as she's known on the 'street' Big Bertha is being prepped and readied for launch. The deckies have done their part, now the rest is left to the pilot and her ECO, the pair of them fussing around the ship. At least Leyla is, as she works on her final exterior visual inspection of her ship. All that's missing in the middie that got the call on the horn a few minutes ago to report for duty.
Tohno's reporting-for-duty might not be quite as prompt as other's. It's not that he procrastinated; as soon as the page came, he suited up and made his way to the area— fortunately, Tohno didn't get lost on way over. As he steps into the hanger, however, he doesn't immediately stride over to wherever the craft and its crew are. First he cautiously looks around, as though to ensure every detail is registered, and then he pays more attention to the ships. Spotting what is probably the right one, he begins an equally cautious advance and stays close to the wall, save where he needs to navigate around heavy equipment or other obstacles… But Tohno does, gradually, get nearer and nearer.
Perched at the ECO's station, Marko hums an old Concrete Dreams song to himself as he keys up a series of quick diagnostics on the gear while he goes down his own pre-launch checklist.
Leyla's gloved hand reaches out, smoothing over the places where Bertha's 'hash marks' have been decaled onto her nose. Like a fighter pilot might paint marks for each of his kills, Bertha has been inked with symbolic representations of the places she's been and the death-defying missions she's survived. Her latest is a decal that looks lie one of those fake bullet holes that people who want to seem like they're 'from the hood' like to put on their cars. She did not survive the taurian debris field for nothing! "Everything in the green, Flasher?"
As he nears, Tohno slows to a halt for a brief moment and takes a good look at the craft. Then, taking a breath, Tohno approaches proper. He doesn't do anything to call attention to himself, but, it seems, he is content to wait to be noticed. His hand does move about halfway towards a salute, but if one looks over at just that moment, they'd see an uncertain expression that suggests the relatively new recruit isn't entirely sure if he should or not. If he remains unnoticed until that point, however, the young man decides on lowering his hand and leaving it as his side until he is.
"Green as scallions, Sweet Pea." Marko calls out, completing his check list with the kind of quick efficiency that can only be truly learned after a few dozen Cylon ambushes. "We've got an iffy transceiver on the number six array, but the rest are compensating." he reports dutifully. "Sheet says that the deckies are going to wait for it to fail before they replace it." he adds. "Materials scarcity, and all." he explains. 'FTL is good, life support's good, ECM, ESM and optics are all good. Ready to launch as soon as our nugget shows up."
"We need to find some mostly intact Colonial ships to salvage. I can't abide the idea of flying with faulty equipment. It gives Bertha indigestion." Leyla turns, away from the nose of the raptor, her eyes settling on the somewhat squirrelly flight suited nugget waiting not far from where the pair are working, "Did you get lost on your way down to the hangar, Midshipman Ardoli?"
Tohno simply and patiently waits while the two finish discussing the preflight details. When Leyla turns and her eyes find him, Tohno straightens up a little and sort of starts a saluting motion again, but before his hand really rises much, the question stops him dead in his tracks. He hesitates. And then shakes his head quickly.
"Not to fret, Sweet Pea, Bertha's innards are five by five." Marko calls confidently as he turns a little in his seat to eye the new arrival with amused curiosity. "Your line is 'Sir, no sir." he stage whispers, chuckling throatily.
"Then can you tell me why, precisely, it took you so long to answer the page to report for duty?" Despite the coolness of her words, Leyla looks anything but angry or upset. Truthfully, she looks the way she always looks, mostly, which is stoic, as befits her taurian nature.
Tohno also starts to repeat after Marko's prompt, "Si—," but that quickly dies in his throat. There's a slight wince at the question…he saw it coming, really, yet from the way his eyes cast about the hanger deck and his mouth starts and stops repeatedly, he hasn't managed to come up with a good explanation. Essentially, it's pretty much stammering without actually getting to even the first words.
Oh dear….Leyla's looking….Leyla-ish….That cannot be a good thing as regards the new fish currently flopping around, gasping for breath, in the bottom of her boat. The look he gives the younger man is one of sympathy mixed with a certain, slight amusement. As if he's saying 'A-ha! All of that shit I went through during _my_ training, I get to see visited upon someone else's head! HA-HA! Vengeance!'. But, he can't just let things stay the way they are, as much as it obviously seems like he wants to. "So, what is it you're going out for, Midshipman?" he asks conversationally, starting to double-check his suit's 02 connections. "Pilot or ECO?"
As Marko tries to start up a conversation, Leyla, obviously the vinegar to Marko's honey, let's the ECO do what seems best for him to do. Not that she remains standing idle. Rather she heads to the wing, and making quick work of the stairs, begins her final inspection of the hatch and the safety seals around it. Just because you can survive in the hard vacuum of space doesn't necessarily mean you want to.
Gaze shifting over to Marko briefly (though he glances back at the retreating Leyla as well), Tohno looks like he was just tossed a lifeline and, is he was on the verge of an outright panic or nervous breakdown before, suddenly the tension seems to drain from his body and he lets out a shaky breath. "P-Pilo," the nugget starts to answer, with a wince at his own stammer. Tohno takes a deep if quick breath and then provides more levelly, "Pilot."
"Then can you explain to me why, precisely, you're walking around like a crewman caught in the officer's berthings?" You know, because inquiring minds want to know. Finding the seals up to spec, Leyla settles in against the edge of the hatch to the raptor. Awaiting the answer no doubt.
Tohno tenses up again, though not as badly as before. His deer-in-headlights look says, "No, no I can't." But, perhaps surprising, he does manage to muster a real response this time. Well, sort of. He voice drops to such a low tone that it's hard to distinguish exactly what the rookie does say. Something about 'the way'? Notably, Tohno has not moved a single step since this whole thing's started, apparently rooted in place, and with one hand remaining cradled in the other.
"Frak's sake, Midshipman, get up here and get suited up. We're launching in….very short order." Marko interjects, trying hard not to chuckle as he seats his helmet against the collar mate and twists it until it all but ~clicks~ home. "C'mon, already!" he shouts, beckoning Tohmo forward impatiently. "The co-pilot seat's all ready for ya." he adds. "We miss this window, it'll be thirty minutes until our next and I am going to be _REALLY_ pissed if I gotta wait that long. My wife's expecting me…"
"The next time you're ordered to report for duty, I expect you to be here as quickly as humanly possible. Actions stations don't wait for people who can't decide if they're coming or going." Still, that cool, smooth delivery. "When last I checked, you were a midshipman, attached to the Hyperlights, aboard the BS-32 Cerberus. That means, that you have every right to be on this deck and moving at speed to your post. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently. And do not, if you intend to become a pilot, ever act in any other fashion." Leyla glances aside, back to Marko, "Your wife's always waiting for you, Flasher. You spend entirely too much time in my company." The shift in conversation seems to bring, well, not a softening, but at least Leyla doesn't look so severe. Cue the presses. her face really isn't frozen that way. "I'm Sweet Pea, this is Flasher." A hand pats the side of the raptor, "This is Bertha. Come along. Nothing like a pleasure cruise to start off the morning."
And with that, Tohno startles into motion. A quick nod of acknowledgement to Leyla and a soft, quick "yessir," but really, he seems more intent on escaping her for a moment. As soon as there's a break and she turns her attention to Marko, Tohno. climbs up the side and into the cabin, and immediately goes for his designated seat. Only once sitting does he secure his own helmet and, if the avionics aren't online already, he starts switching on the appropriate displays. A distraction from the pissed off Lieutenant! That said, anything weapons/ordnance related he doesn't touch, or anything else that's very military-oriented and you wouldn't find in a civilian vessel. Bringing up displays with basic avionics, relative velocities and orbital sync/planes should be well within his abilities, however.
Marko secures his helmet with a final _click_, then carefully straps himself in. "Check, check, check….sound check…" he calls over the intercom. "Do you read, repeat, do you read?" he asks, then chuckles and in a languid voice begins to intone. "Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Harrier Air flight 307, nonstop service to the Tauron Debris Ring. I'm 'Flasher', your ECO, your Pilot is 'Sweet Pea.' The in-flight movie will be the classic short "Industry and _You_" by Nauls Jehuty. Strap in, and thank you for flying Harrier Air."
The sad thing is….Leyla isn't pissed at all. This is just sort of her normal expression sort of thing. Regardless, once the Midshipman is settled into his seat, Leyla moves through the rear compartment to find her own seat, flashing…um Flasher, a rare thing. A grin. But her features are properly schooled once she returns to her place, her tone less harsh now, almost companionable, "What did you forget to do before you entered the craft, Middie?" She neither chastises his actions, nor corrects the manner in which he's turning on equipment.
Tohno pauses, hesitates, finally reluctantly looks over at Leyla… as though expecting a bullet annnny minute now. He doesn't answer the leading question, though, but instead simply waits for her to explain. Yet as the nugget does this, his hands don't really stop moving— only instead of powering up console and whatnot, one of them is making adjustments to the seat and then fiddling with the straps to secure himself in, almost as though if Tohno dared stop now he fears he might freeze up completely.
«Harrier Three Oh Seven, this is Launch Control.» The wireless squawks. «You are clear to taxi.» With that, a team of deck hands begin to shoulder the Raptor from the Cerebrus' massive hangar deck towards the duty elevator. There's a distinct ~snap~ ~hiss~ of pressurized gas. a faint _thump_ as the Raptor is positioned just so….«Harrier Three Oh Seven..» The wireless squawks again as the elevator hisses closed, and then a slight _heave_ as it's positioned at the ready launch pad. «You are cleared for launch. CIC is squawking sixer-sixer point four megacycles, answers to 'Haley'. Be advised, the CAP is at two eight one carom two two zero, they are advised of your launch..
Now the frown does return, as Leyla finds that once again, she gets no answer to her question. "Hands off the controls." And that does not sound like a suggestion. As the call comes down from flight control, Leyla radio's back, "Copy that launch control. We are green in ten." Once the raptor is down on the elevator and settled onto the floor of the hangar, pad and all, she cycles through all of the controls, a precise regimented powering up that seems effortless, having been done so often. Soon enough, Bertha's engines flair and she lifts off of the hangar floor, making her way out through the main hangar doors. "Middie, I'm not really sure what all they told you about being a pilot, but it helps if you actually speak to the people around you. You can't and won't learn anything by clamming up." As soon as Bertha is clear of the ship, Leyla allows her to drift down, before she spins her around to head towards the debris field. "My job, and every member of the air wing's job, officially or unofficially, is to assist you in your training. But training isn't a one-way street."
"I didn't touch the controls," Tohno protests weakly. But only half-heartedly, and, while he might not consider what he was doing to be the controls, he takes his hands away nonetheless…and simply looks forward, either at the displays or out the cockpit. Yep, this was going to be a looong flight for him. Tohno gives a single brief nod in return.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd they're off! Bertha hurtling through the Hangar doors and into the big nothing beyond, destination, the Tauron Debris Ring. "Okay, let's see what we can see…" Marko calls over the intercom. "DRADIS is clear….Got the CAP on bearing one fiver eight carom two zero sixer." he says, automatically making a note of it on his knee board. "Looks like Adder in the lead slot. Anyone wanna say hello?"
"I would assume that you were given the training manuals when you were accepted into the nugget program, is that correct, Midshipman? If it is, have you reviewed the proper procedures for communicating with the flight currently in the air on CAP?" Leyla, once she's set Bertha in the proper direction, eases back on the acceleration, so that the raptor settles into a stationary position in space.
Tohno simply spectates while the ship moves away from the battlestar and on course. To the question, he hesitantly nods after a moment a mumbles a yessir. He never looks at Leyla, however; instead his eyes find the radio console, and then slide over to the key on the flightstick.
"Eh, okay, I'll take that as a 'no'." Marko chuckles softly, shaking his head a little as he marks the CAP on the DRADIS, just to have something to do. "Okay, we're on course." he adds unnecessarily. "Not that you need me to tell you that, of course, but, eh…yeah….there we are."
"CAP lead, this is Sweet Pea. Don't mind us, we're out on a training flight, Adder. Call us if you need us." Leyla's expression remains steady, eyes on space, and the debris field they're not far from now. "Why did you want to join the nugget program, Midshipman?" She has just enough time to ask the question, before Adder's reply comes back along the comms, "We see you, Sweet Pea. Don't run into anything out there." There's obvious humour in the woman's voice. And a decidedly Virgan accent.
Tohno lets out a veeeerrrryyy slow breath of relief. At least until the question comes…then he tenses up again. One hand taps the lower side of his suit, as though to reach for a pocket that presently isn't there. He takes a breath before he replies with obvious effort to keep his tone even and steady. "Wanted to help out," he answers, marginally above a mumble.
"Hey now, no flirting with the Viper jocks, Sweet Pea." Marko chuckles teasingly over the open comm channel. "I'm the jealous type." he snerks. "Flasher, Adder, belt up or I'll tell your wife, over." Adder chuckles back. "We'll keep our eyes open and let you know, you do the same. Harrier. CAP out." and with that, the Vipers' RCS systems puff in unison as the flight goes back to their complex orbit pattern around the fleet. "I'm sorry, Midshipman…" Marko says, "I don't think I heard you." he adds playfully. "Try adjusting the volume on your comm."
"And how, precisely, are you helping out at this moment? You were late arriving at your duty station, despite the fact that Flasher and I are on double CAP rotation and are using our off-duty hours to train you." On-Duty hours have been full to the brim with salvage, recon and repair missions. "You seem incapable of speaking at a human conversational level, and apparently, being asked if you have the ability to do one of the simplest things a pilot can do, seems to scare you shitless." Leyla adjusts the controls on the raptor, taking the ship closer to the debris field. "This does not instill in me any confidence in your ability to become an effective member of the Air Wing."
Towards both the quips and the criticism, Tohno seems to helplessly have no answer. As the attack continues, he gives the console in front of him a long, increasingly sullen stare, and Tohno slowly brings one hand to rest atop the other…but offers no defense for himself.
"Eh…you two ever hear the one about the duck and the cell phone?" Marko asks lamely, trying to cut the tension in what promises to be an otherwise frosty flight.
"Flasher, we're done here." Leyla maneuvers the ship at speed, flipping her end over end, as quickly as it is possible for a raptor to do, which, compared to a Viper's responses is slow and laborious. But faster than going around in a wide loop, so there is that. But it gets the job done, and she's soon heading back in the direction of the Cerberus.
Tohno winces a bit. Things couldn't have gone much worse…but he still remains in his seat. Asking to hear the one about the duck and the cell phone is probably a bit more than he can manage in this atmosphere.
"Eh…copy that." Marko replies, sighing again. "Eh….never mind about the joke…I made it up…"
With the decision made, Leyla seems content to continue the flight back to the battlestar in silence, at least as it pertains to carrying on a conversation with the crew within the raptor. She treats Berth as gently as ever. The raptor, after all, has nothing to do with this situation. "Cerberus, Sweet Pea, we're on our way back to the ship. We'll be green to land in three." A response comes, the voice male and slightly surprised, "Sweet Pea, Cerberus, flight control reports green for your RTB."
Tohno's eyes stray to the battlestar as in grows in the distance, and he lets out a soft sigh…he, too, isn't about to break the silence after everything.
"Well, that's the shortest training flight in the history of the Colonial Fleet." Marko comments idly as the Raptor begins to approach the flight pod. "Sorry, Mid." he says, sounding as if he really does mean it. "Can't say we didn't try."
And a short while later, Bertha touches down light as a feather, not a scrape on the deck to be pounded out. Leyla continues through power down procedures, before she unstraps herself and rises from her seat, "I would suggest, Midshipman Ardoli, that you spend as much time in the library studying your training manuals as your other lessons will allow." She keys open the hatch, before she moves to step out and start her end of flight external inspection.
The apology only seems to make his stare a little more bitter. In any case…perhaps taking that for dismissal, Tohno removes his helmet once the hatch opens and unstraps himself from the seat. Not looking at either individual, the trainee attempts a retreat from the aircraft…cautious rather than hasty, but hasty enough that he's not wasting a moment either.
Marko sighs as he strips off his helmet and starts going through his post-flight checklist. "I don't get what just happened." he says to himself, shaking his head a little as he makes his way through the shutdown procedure. "I really do not understand. I'm trying, but nothin's coming."
Tohno doesn't run, though it certainly looks like the difficult young man wants to. Nonetheless, he departs quickly, presumably to where he can getout of the flightsuit.
"Heh, oops." Marko replies, the squelches out as he removes the lead from his headset to the comm. "Maybe he's just got a lot on his mind." he suggests, calling out through the open hatch as he completes his checklist. "Oh..Frak….I forgot." he says just before he shuts down the system completely. "Sweet Pea, I need to leave the computer hot for a second while I snag a drive."
"Just you make sure you let your wife know it's your own fault you're late, and it was nothing to do with me." Leyla finishes up her inspection, before she starts in on the internal one, making sure to leave Marko room to move and do what needs doing, "When you're finished on six, I need your eyes on a problem I'm working on."
"Won't be a sec." Marko says, unstrapping and quickly ducking out of the Raptor with practiced ease before zipping towards the deck boss. A short, animated conversation later, he returns with a portable computer with a thumb drive slotted. "Don't worry, Specialist, this won't eat up much space and I'll get it back to you before the watch changes." he promises, hauling himself back into the Raptor to set up the transfer."
"It's alright girl, we'll be going out again soon." A pat to Bertha's main console, as Leyla finishes up her final checks, and heads to the hatch, "Put her to bed when you're done, Flasher. I'll be in the Map Room." And…the terrible taurian is off.