| Pride In Your Work |
| Summary: | Ethan and Coll go over potential designs for the new ship. |
| Date: | 24 June 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Anything to do with the strike fighter. |
| Players: |
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| Port Hangar Deck |
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| Its an empty repair bay down at the other end of the deck. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #118 |
With the report sent off to Pewter, Coll would probably be bouncing if she was phsyically capable of it. There's an unmistakable pride and confidence to her that just wasn't there before. But it was there before the XO said anything. Coll has taken a radical shift in attitude and she looks quite a bit happier for it. Almost..officer-like. She's agreed to meet Ethan in a far repair bay, way away from anyone else that might be prying with their eyes or ears. With a desk already cleaned off, Lauren is sitting at a work bench.
This change of attitude that Coll had is certainly something that makes Ethan happy. He is glad to see that she regained the will to fight, to push forward against the odds and pretty much kick the odds in the face. The idea of this project brings new energy to Ethan's mind and body, and a series of ideas that he has been having during the past couple days, turned out into possible designs for what is going to be, a new fighter. "Hi Lauren…" says the man as he spots her and he already lifts a hand "No ranks, no sirs…just Ethan" he smiles to this and walks closer. He is carrying 3 different rolls of paper and the book that he has been carrying the entire day.
Coll rises a little unsteadily from her seat on the bench, regardless. "Still gotta keep up the facade, but I catch your drift. Times like this? Just smack me around sometimes. I tend to forget I'm Miss E-2 and start throwing orders and calling officers by their ranks." Like she was earlier on the Obs Deck. "But let's seet what you got, Fresh!!" She waggles her brow at the rolls in his hand. "Already got a station here. Whatcha got??" Oh yes, she's excited.
Ethan chuckles amusedly at Coll's words and nods "Fair enough, I will keep that in mind" he smiles softly and finally reaches the table, placing the three rolls and the book on top of it. "Ok, I've been giving this a bit of thought, and yes, the most important thing is that it needs to carry those missiles, and it needs /not/ to break when doing so. So a lot of weight is going to be added to it." He opens the first roll and stretches it out over the table, placing the book over one end and a few tools over the other to keep it stretched." At first, what can be seen 'looks' like a Viper, at least the part of the cockpit but the wings are different, they look like the wings of a Cylon Rider but more rectangular, and the engines are…well…the wings. They close a little bit at the tip, perhaps it's a 87-88 degrees to the inner side. "Now, the frame on this lady can carry up to four of those missiles, it is designed to hold them inside it's fuselage, and they are kept secure by magnetic force." He can explain more of course, but for now he'll let her get a feeling of the bird.
Coll settles the cane against the workbench and she leans against it with her hands supporting her. Apparently she's trying to shed the cane ASAP. Her eyes move over the design. "Godsdamn she's a big bitch. Will she fit on the elevators to take her up to the flight deck? She sure won't make it out of a Viper tube." Her fingers move over the angle of the wings. "What kind of propulsion are we looking at? Engines from which frame?" Viper Twos, Sevens, and Raptors all use different powerplants so it makes a difference. "Probably gotta be Raptor, doesn't it?"
Ethan nods at Coll and crosses his arms over his chest while looking at the design "She is big, that's for sure." he smiles to this and nods "She will fit, it's going to be tight but she will fit in that elevator. As for the launch tubes? Not a change." He leans forward and points to something below the middle of the bird "Not to worry tho, it has the capabilities to launch like a Raptor" He looks at the woman and nods "So, you avoid using the tubes" He clears his throat and then offers "The structure of the wings allows the bird to either carry Raptor engines or Mark VII engines. Of course, as you know, the different engine type will play against the speed of the ship" He now points to the bays in which the missiles while be concealed "The point of doing this is that, it'll give the bird the chance to be more…stealth, per se. Scramblers are set up within the missile bays and that would affect any type of reading, besides the fuselage will act as a cover"
"Well the missiles themselves are, from what we can tell, stealth to start with. And their ranges look to be absolutely incredible given their fuel tanks and engine basics. Stealth won't be too big of a concern for us since we very likely will never see DRADIS range with this thing." Coll adjusts her lean, rubbing gently at her chest once more. "It might be easier to use Raptor engines, though. Since we have to effectively gut an ECO station and this thing- we want it to jump- it would keep the complexity down."
Ethan taps his fingers over his lips and nods "Scramblers removed, that's easy" he nods again and smiles. That is certainly an easy fix. "Now, while this bird will fly well with the materials at hand, one thing that will certainly make it lighter and help us with speed is, using Carbon composites for the fuselage. The drawback of that will be that, if we get hit, it's gonna hurt and it's gonna hurt bad." The man places both hands on the table now and looks at the design "We can certainly use Raptor engines, but note that this bird is bigger and will probably need more thrust power"
Coll shrugs. "I don't even know where we would look for carbon composites. We don't even have the facilities to produce it. I'd say scrap that idea. We're going to have to go with conventional armor. It should be able to take a hit or two. Remember, we need this thing to fire its missiles and get the frak out of dodge - fighting its way out if it has to." She glances up to him. "We can triple on the Raptor engines if we have to. They put down more thrust than anything else we have. Problem is their spool-times…which we may be able to tweak. Okay.. What else you got?"
Ethan nods "Yeah, all the designs are made to use normal armor, the Carbon composite part was an extra idea." he smiles and then adds a couple details. "It can carry two crewmembers, one pilot and one ECO. It also has FTL capabilities to jump the frak out and it's loaded with those Raptor weapons that you mentioned, only that this one, has a set of four. They work just like the missiles, concealed within the fuselage but the trigger mechanism is fast enough to have them ready to fire in less than two seconds." He takes the paper and rolls it over again, stretching out the second option. This one, is smaller, more compact but still bigger than a Viper. They have to be if they want to carry those missiles. This one has an odd, Star Destroyer type of look. It's a bit thicker in the middle and the wings are following a triangle shape, the engines are located in the back. If you look at it by standing in front of the bird, it does look like a Viper, with a larger cockpit. The back shows four engines, three of them in line and the fourth, on top of engine number two"
Coll nods. "Anything we build is going to require two crewmembers. Hands down. I was down on the Ordnance Deck again earlier-" Once again violating conditions and orders from JAG. Sigh. "These things have a pretty complex guidance system. I -really- need to crack it but there's antennas on the nosecone as well as a camera behind a glass enclosure up front." She then looks back to the newly unfurled plans. "Oooooo. I like the way this looks. Course, I also think Raptors are a little ugly. Wanted to fly Vipers initially in my career." She flashes a grin. "So talk to me on this one. Four engines? That's a pretty crazy design. How does it balance?"
Ethan chuckles "Tell me about it, I still want to fly Viper" And before Coll jumps on him "But, I don't want to leave Raptors, you know that" He nods to this and then looks at the design "Yeah, it's a bit out there but it'll work, I guarantee that" He smiles and leans forward, pointing key points in the ship "Like any Raptor, or Viper…it's has stabilization mechanisms. However, like any fighter, I can't rely a lot on it to be stable, if I make it completely stable then it looses certain capabilities. So it depends a lot on the pilot." he looks at the woman and at the design again "I'm not saying it's completely unstable, I'm just saying that, like with the prior design, the pilot has it's work cut out" He smiles to this and he is more than up for the challenge, he would definitely love to fly the ship when it's made. "It can carry two missiles, they can either go inside the fuselage or outside, those changes are…luckily enough, minor. It has 4 Raptor based weapon systems, FTL drive and of course, it carries two crew members, Pilot and ECO"
Coll shakes her head. "Don't sweat it, Fresh. Your career takes you where the CAG let's it take you." Another of those smiles. She really is in a much better place now. A far cry from the woman hauled into the brig and crushed under the weight of accusations. Her eyes fall back on the plans, though. She leans forward, crossing her arms and resting on the desk while the woman gets a closer look. "Flexibility in design is going to be key. Anything we're looking at here is probably going to have to be redrafted to fit. I'm assuming these are, for lack of a better term, dream designs. The actual wiring and work is going to change a lot of what we want to do."
Ethan looks at the woman and smiles "You know, I like seeing you like this…" Now he looks at the designs and presses his lips together in thought "Yes and no. While designs can change/add/remove specs. These are made to fit everything we need and everything is structured to fit everything we need. So if we decided that something is a go, then I just need to add the specifics and we are done" He looks at her again and smiles before looking at the design again "With that said, the good part is that it's not 'fixed' per se, it can be heavily modified without suffering a lot of internal changes, I have designed them for that. Scalability, that's important."
Lauren smirks back. "Thanks, Fresh. Feels good to be back. I haven't felt this jazzed since I crewed Raptors. I'm all fired up and ready to stomp some chrome balls." That country accent slides right out as natural as could be. "Okay, well damn. I didn't realize you could grab all that information so quickly. Shit. Alright. So this third design? Let's see it."
Ethan smiles "That's what I'm talking about!" he taps on the table and then smiles again "Thanks. It kinda feels good to be able to work on spacer craft design again." The man rolls the schematics again and places the third roll on the table, spreading it open. Now, this one /does/ look strange. From the nose to the end, it looks like a Viper type of build, cockpit of course larger to fit two crew members. The wings star to open at about, 2 feet from the nose and the form an arc, bending downwards, finishing on an angle of 75 degrees. So basically, the ship is resting /on/ the engines. "Alright…" starts the man and claps his hands together "We are looking at a, 2 crew, FTL capable ship. It also has firepower, four Raptor cannons, two hosted at the side of each engine block. Capability to carry two missiles, like with the others, inside our outside, that's not a problem. Each wing hosts two engines and the FTL drive is at the back." Of course, if there are questions, he'll answer them but this one is definitely the most /out/ there design.
It takes Coll a second to realize what she is looking at. She doesn't say anything for a long minute, looking closely at this design. "This is really radical, Fresh. I mean, this is truly out there as far as designs go." She's not being critical, though. "These slow angles might be a real bitch to fabricate on our own, though. We've also gotta find a way to support the engines. But this looks pretty frakking neat. Any chance we could slim it down on engines? Use two Raptor engines rather than four Vipers?" She's quiet as she looks it over, the woman intent on what she is seeing in front of her.
Ethan chuckles softly and nods "It's a bit out there, I know" He leans forward, placing his hand on the table to take a closer look at the design "Like the others, it's built for speed. It has 'let's get the frak out of here' written all over her body" He looks at Coll for a moment and then back at the design "That shouldn't be a problem, it can actually help us make these…" he points at the engine holsters "…smaller." Then he tapes his fingers over his lips "Or…" he takes a pen from his left pocket and scratches out the Viper engines, drawing only one Raptor engine on each side but leaving the same size. "I can use the free space to build, well, legs. If the chance of an emergency landing exists, then that would help ease up the stress on the body."
Coll doesn't look up at all. "This looks like a bitch to build. I like it. She doesn't look like the blonde Caprican girl with big tits, but she looks like she'd go home with you and show you the ride of your life." Yeah, that just left her mouth. Some people's children.. Though maybe its just the country girl in her. "Okay, so we strap on a set of Raptor engines. We may need a third, though. Best place would be a Viper-like design right here underneath the tail." She gestures to it with a finger. "No, we'll need legs on it. Have to. The mass will be too large to ignore it. Though.." That finger lifts and she taps her lips. "We could use the same design as Viper skids. But we use the same thickness and durable construction that we have for Raptors." She lifts her eyes. "You like this design? Think we could cut down on some of the flowing angles and shave some weight in the process?"
"That's….descriptive" says the man with a soft laugh. "But yes, that /is/ the idea. Besides, she might not be a big boobed blonde but she is not an ugly bird. I consider her, stylish" he chuckles and then looks at the design again "Ok, I see your point. And yes, we can definitely do that. On both accounts, engine and legs." He puts his fingers on where the engines would go and says "However, I would put the legs here, shorter ones, but same durability as the Raptors" He tilts his head "And we can mess with the angle, it'll actually work well if we want to use the legs" He looks up at the woman and asks "What do you think?"
"Ohhhhh she's stylish. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. Or heard about it. This is a damned cool design, Fresh." She slowly stands herself from the lean and smirks at him as she takes up her cane to put some weight on it. "What do I think? I think we have a winner. I might play with the positions of the guns after I talk to a Viper pilot or two, but this looks like a completely badass project. It'll fit on an elevator, it'll sling cruise missiles.. Yeah." Coll looks pretty damned excited. "Now, Flasher was talkin' about using the recon package from the Raptors. Incorporating that to be used as a type of guidance system. Think its possible to put the camera turret in the nose or somewhere else? Maybe centerline under the nose someplace? Just..you know..keep in mind that's theoretical. I won't know until I can crack one apart."
Ethan smiles brightly at her words "I'm glad that you like it." then he nods about what Flasher said and offers "Not a problem" he points at the nose of the bird and says "Array sensor window…for all your Raptory needs" He smiles at this and then stands straight crossing his arms over his chest "Well, since we have a winner you do realize /you/ have to decide something very important, right?" Oh…here comes the bomb. He smiles amusedly at this comment and waits to hear what the woman says.
Coll chuckles. "I love it. It looks great. Your dad would be real proud, Fresh." She grins and looks back to the design as he mentions the recon pod. "We may also consider using a recon pod that we can sling under the centerline to keep the weight of this thing down." To his last, she looks back to him and she furrows her brow. "Wait, what? What am I deciding? You're the aeronautical engineer."
Ethan smiles softly at her first comment "Thanks Lauren, that…" he nods and his smile gets a bit bigger "..that means a lot to me." Without letting go of that smile, he looks at the design again and nods "Can be done, that's for certain. I'll tweak the design and have it ready for the 'showtime'." he looks at her and claps his hands together "Well, it so happens, my dear Lauren. That you are the person that came up with this idea and so..I see it fit, that you.." he taps on the schematics and launches the bomb "Give a name, to this lovely lady"
"Well its true. Now you just wait until this thing is built. You see this thing fly for the first time? I'm already proud of you, Fresh. This is just unreal. I pitch an idea and you come up with this." Coll shakes her head, still smiling. Though the last hits her like a brick wall. Uh. "Uh." She blinks a few times, beginning to laugh a touch. "I, uh. Thank you! But, I really have no idea what to call it. Can we agree on a name, instead?"
Ethan looks at the design and can't help to smile. It /will/ be really neat to see this bird fly for the first time and his father, wherever he is, will feel proud "Lauren, you are going to make me blush" says the man with a soft chuckle. He nods to this and he says "Ah great idea can bring good things into the plate. And you certainly had a great idea…" Now he looks at the blueprints again and presses his lips together "We could. But I definitely think it should come from you. It doesn't have to be decided right now." he smiles gently and adds "But yes, if you want me to help you decide on a name, it will be an honor."
"I think you can afford to blush a little, Fresh. Ain't a reason in the universe that you shouldn't feel some pangs of pride coming on. When this thing starts up for the first time, we'll hold our heads high. ..And then you'll be promoted to Admiral. If I'm lucky, I'll get to ride along on missions in a Raptor." Coll grins with the jokes at the end. His acknowledgment of the offer gets a nod from her. "Well lessee." She adjusts the lean on her cane. "She's long range. She's made to be fast. She's a bird of prey, to be sure. That remind you of any animal you can think of?"
Ethan laughs softly at her joke and shakes his head "I'm not made to be a commanding officer. But I can tell you this much, I would definitely share a cockpit with you, /any/ time, /any/ place." He smiles at this and then listens to the part about the name "Well, a Harrier is a bird of prey but then again, name's taken" he chuckles at that and considers "Let's see. You have, Eagles, Owls, Buzzards…errr…Vultures, Falcons, Kites?" He can't think of any other right now.
"Same, Fresh. I've seen you do some pretty amazing shit. Heard about some of the crazy things you've done, too. It isn't somethin' to sneeze at." Coll's smile stays but its a little more heart-felt. That confidence just below the surface seems to edge in an unsaid 'It will happen.'. To the names, she shrugs and leans a hip against the workstation. "None of those really seem to fit. Hmm. Damn, I really might have to think on this."
Ethan smiles and remains in silence for a moment. He does blush a little and nods "Thank you." He laughs softly now and runs his hand over the back of his neck "I hope you haven't met any of my former flight instructors" He mentioned their warning after all. Those bastards. The man chuckles softly and shakes his head, cheeks still a bit red-ish "Don't worry about it Lauren, just take your time and you'll have the perfect name." Now he takes a deep breath and exhales, he is tired, has been heavily working on this but it can be noticed that he's happy with the result.
"Alright, Fresh. I'll come up with something." Coll looks back to the plans with the allowance. "But you have to sign-off on it. I'll shoot you a memo when I have it down. Then you let me know what you think." The woman reaches over and begins rolling up the plans. "Here, go ahead and take these. Do up a quick modification over what we talked about and we'll present this to the CAG on Saturday. Sound good?"
Ethan nods in silence at first, he ended up staring at the design, considering the modifications. He looks up at Coll and nods with a smile "Sounds good, yes" now, time to roll the schematics. "I'll have it ready for tomorrow so I can show them to you before going to the CAG, I'll make sure to include and modify according to what we discussed here." With the papers rolled up, he puts them under his right arm and then takes the book and puts it under his left arm.
Coll watches him gather everything up. "You don't have to return this.." She grins and lifts a salute to him. "Sir. Proud to work with you." It drops just as slowly. "Head on out, its going to take me awhile to hobble my gimpiness back towards the stairwell." The cane is taken up and she starts off, her mind dancing with possibilities.
Ethan smiles at Coll and after she salutes him, he lowers all his stuff back on the table and smiles. The man stands straight and salutes Coll "And I am most definitely proud, to work with you." He takes all the things again, still carrying that honest smile and says "I can offer my arm as support, if you are willing to take it of course" Nothing weird behind the offer, he wants to help. Since she already started walking, he moves next to her until she decides that last.