| Memo for the FNG |
| Summary: | A quick gathering on the Deck before the Virgon recon Raptor returns to Cerberus. |
| Date: | 28 Feb 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Following Log: Counting Coffin Nails |
| Players: |
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| Hangar Deck - Port / Midship - Battlestar Cerberus |
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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. |
| Condition Level: 2 - Danger Close |
Even with the immediate danger past, there is still plenty of work to be done in the Hangar Deck. Crewman Tyr Bannik is seated in the cockpit of one of the Hyperlights' Viper Mark II's, a dusty paper manual in his hand. He seems to be yelling down to one of the aircraft handler crewmen working with him that has a canon in a sling, hovering near the weapons port on the trainer ship. "Okay!" Tyr is yelling. "We need to hook the auxiliary power feed from the ship's hardpoint to the red input on the cannon …" He's reading right out of the manual.
Damon looks rested for the first time in days. Darkness still lingers beneath his eyes, but his face is no longer haggard and emotionless - hell, there's a hint of a smile playing at his lips as he receives his handover from the Petty Officer he's relieving. A Crewman hands him some papers as he walks, which he squints at for a moment before looking up and around the hangar floor. Some words, some more looking around, and - bingo. His eyes zero in on one Crewman Bannik. "Crewman Bannik, is that right?" he asks, coming up alongside the Viper Mark II in which the man sits. Reaching out, he leans a hand on the cannon hovering in a sling just beside him.
Cidra comes striding onto the hangar deck. Dressed in her blues, though they're rumpled to the point where they can't precisely be called pressed. She's clearly been occupying them for awhile. She heads toward the Deck Chief's little office area, though she slows as she passes by the pair of technicians.
At the sudden noise near him, Bannik startles. Call it nerves from the fight or perhaps being caught not quite knowing what he's doing. "Huh? Oh. Yes. Yes, Petty Officer. Uh. Just trying to get — you know." He gestures. "Some of the canons hooked up on these Mark II's. We. Uh. Didn't get to work on them in AIT so." Hence the manual in his hand. "Getting the Hyperlights into fighting shape."
"Damon," the Petty Officer corrects gently. "No need for that Petty Officer crap unless I'm giving you shit - and chances are, if you're getting blasted, I'll be standin' right next to you gettin' more of the same." He grins in full then, life coming back into his face. "Don't worry about it. The school teaches you next to nothin' useful - just facts." Starting to walk in a small arc around the cannon, he looks over it - a cursory look to ensure that it's good to go. "I taught there for a while. On the mechanical side, though. All this avionics shit was always way over my head." As he comes around on the other side of the cannon, he catches sight of Cidra near the Chief's office and raises his hand in a quick greeting.
Cidra alters her course a bit, angling toward the Mark IIs that are being outfitted. Her expression as she watches them is a little sad. She still does not interrupt the techs at their work but she's near enough to spot. And so she is. She inclines her head to Damon at his raised hand. "How goes the day, PO?" she inquires.
"Yeah. Well. Between you and me, Damon, it's a little over my head, too, but here I am." That may be a joke. It's hard to tell, coming from Bannik, but it's said with a hesitant sort of smile, as he reaches over to hook one of the wires from the red input on the canon. Red wire to red canon. Check. He pushes his glasses up on his nose, glancing back at the manual for the next step. And then he sees the CAG. Oh, man. They're circling. "Sir."
"Just startin' mine, Major," Damon answers with a nod at the stack of papers he's holding. "Deck's starting to feel more like usual a little bit, at least." He steps aside as Bannik starts hooking wires into the cannon, moving to stand beside Cidra. "How're things holdin' up on your end?"
Cidra eyes the Mark II from aft to fore. Exhaling long. "These were supposed to be training ships only. Well." It is murmured more to herself than the deck hands. Her eyes flit back down to them, and she clears her throat. "I was just going in to speak to your Chief, but I did want to commend all your crew on your sharp work on the birds. You have gotten us back flying in faster time than I had anticipated, and are keeping us all safer for it." She nods a little at Damon's words, as if in agreement. "We are getting through. Things are still tense but we have been able to breathe a bit. That is something. It is Petty Officer Damon, yes?"
Damon nods once, a single sharp movement. "Aye, Major, that's me. Wherever you heard that name from and whatever you've heard about it - all lies." He's got some joking sense back into him now, apparently - though the delivery is contrived and flat, like a line he's said far too many times to count. "Thank you, sir. We've, uh, we been workin' pretty hard since… Picon," he adds, fumbling over his words a little. "Chief more'n anyone else, I think. Last night was the first real sleep I got since this all happened. Same story as your pilots, from what I've heard and seen about the ship."
Cidra chuckles low. "I have heard you are quite competent and the Chief's right hand on this Deck. But, if you say these are lies, I shall dismiss them as much," she says dryly. Her own soft laugh is decidedly forced, but she keeps it up. A deep nod. "Yes. Things have been unlike anything I could have ever imagined since…Picon. Well. I hope we shall know more about what happened soon. Keep to your work and I know that me and mine are grateful for it."
"Uhm. Sorry. Sir?" Bannik speaks up, looking up from the manual in his left hand, pointing to a blue wire running near Cidra. "Could you hand me that wire right there next to you?" It is apparently needed for whatever has to be done next to the canon to hook it up to the Mark II. Bannik, for his part, is sitting in the cockpit of one of those ships while Damon and Cidra stand nearby.
"Can't have expectations get out of hand," Damon replies, the smile evident just from his voice alone. "And aye, Major. We'll keep doin' everything we can to support the pilots. We've got avionics poring over the data trying to figure out why our birds went dead in the water out there - as soon as we have a solid hypothesis, I'm sure you'll be the first to know." He sets the clipboard down on top of the cannon and crosses his arms, just watching Bannik do his work for now.
Marko enters the Hangar Bay looking somewhat rested and eager to find something to do. The CAG's presence is noted immediately, of course, so he makes a beeline to her.
"Thanks, Major. I know you're stretched thin as it is. Can't be helped, hey, but El-Tee Trask's helping quite a bit," Damon mentions, looking away from the immediate vicinity to scan the whole deck at large. "We'll do whatever we can to make sure it never happens again, Major. Ensign." That last part with a nod to Marko as he comes near. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually, Bannik," he says to the man. "Didja get the last memo from the Chief?" Grabbing his clipboard again, he shuffles through the papers until he finds the one he was looking for, about Lieutenant Oberlin. He spins the board around and hands it to the avionics technician.
"Major." Marko says, coming to attention for the CAG's benefit for a moment then giving Damon a friendly/respectful nod. PO-1 Damon." he says to the assistant deck chief. "Any word on…well, anything?" he asks, looking between the two.
"Not as of yet, Ensign, though I hope we shall receive some soon," Cidra replies to Marko. "Captain Quinn is leading a recon mission to Virgon as I speak. It is my hope she will bring back some decent intelligence regarding our attackers, and the status of the rest of the colonies." A nod to Damon as he has to scurry off, then back to Marko. "How are you holding up, Ensign?"
"Memo?" Bannik's brow furrows. "I usually don't get memos." He squints down at the clipboard, reading the said memo on it. If he had liquid in his mouth, he would sputter. "Me? A special project? Topnotch?" He clears his throat. "I mean. Topnotch. Of course. However I'm needed, I'll be there." But his face says he's not quite so sure.
Damon's only moving a few steps away, but he returns Cidra's nod - to both her and Marko - since he's stepping from one conversation to another. "Top notch," he repeats, giving Bannik a lopsided grin. "Be ready for curveballs, hey? Side projects, reassignments, extra hours. Well, not that I have to tell you about the extra hours part." Just about everyone on the deck has been pulling more than their fair share to get this place back to operational standard - or something close to it, anyway. "The Chief's doin' some interviews with pilots and the like right now, so we won't bug him just yet. But I wanted to make sure you were aware."
"Thanks, sir. I'm better than I was since Picon." Marko replies, giving a little shrug. "For whatever that's worth. Mostly now I'm just climbing the walls trying to find something to do that'll be of use to someone." he explains. "Good deal on the recon mission, if there's anyone that'll get it done, it's the Cap and Bootstrap." he says firmly. "A little birdie told me you were working miracles down there, Damon." he adds, a note of deep respect in his tone.
"Yeah. Well. I'm ready for anything that you need done, huh?" says Bannik with a little bit of a smile touching around the edges of his lips. "I mean. I'll get it done. Whatever you need. Just — maybe — I figure when I get some downtime I'll see if I can get in touch with my girl on Aerilon, see how she's doing with all that. You know." He shrugs, a little smile on his lips. Clearly, it hasn't set in for him, the enormity of what's happened.
"Keep to your duties, Ensign. There are still patrols to fly, and there may be need for further search or reconnaissance missions in the coming days. I shall keep you all apprised. And, yes. I have all confidence in Captain Quinn. I pray we shall know what they found soon enough…" Cidra's voice trails off a little as she says that last.
Log continues in Counting Coffin Nails.