Mishappenings

Posted on Wed 26th Oct, 2016 @ 11:34pm by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington
Edited on on Sun 6th Nov, 2016 @ 12:19am

1,260 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Fighter Operations Office
Timeline: MD02--1430 Hours

Having Come from her meeting with the XO, Brooklyn sighed as she stared at the monitor of her terminal. Black Knight Squadron was for the most part already aboard save for the Squadron Commander, who was scheduled to report in tomorrow. Spartan Squadron was still mostly absent, save for two pilots. and the Mud Mover Transport Squadron was mostly present. The only problem was the status of the fighters and transports assigned to her department. Most were in major needs of repairs--all needed maintenance and systems updates.

"Excuse me, Captain?" came a feminine voice with a welsh accent attached to it.

Brooklyn looked up to see a human woman with shoulder-length black hair and green eyes, dressed in a Marine Corps Duty Uniform and carrying a PADD in her left hand, standing in the doorway.

She placed the face with that of her Adjutant, Second Lieutenant Rose O'Malley. "Ah, Lieutenant O'Malley, correct?" she asked standing.

O'Malley smiled and entered the office. "Yes ma'am. It's good to meet you," she offered her hand.

Brooklyn shook the extended hand offered by O'Malley. "Likewise. Have you been aboard the station long?"

"No ma'am. Not too long, but long enough to know this place is a pain in the arse, ma'am," O'Malley replied with a bit of a frown.

Brooklyn nodded. "I gathered we've been having some problems with the Starbase from my recent meeting with Commander Hunt. Has it affected the department yet?"

Rose shook her head. "Nothing much ma'am. Just a few power fluctuations so far that have been affecting the industrial replicators, which is slowing work."

"I see--" Brooklyn stumbled as loung explosion followed by a shockwave that seemed to shake the entire deck. "What the hell was that? On me, lieutenant," Brooklyn ordered as she rushed out her office and down the corridor towards the fighter bay. Power flickered in the corridor as alarms blared over the intercom.

"Aye ma'am," Rose replied, rushing after Brooklyn. She wondered what happened in the fighter bay. Was the entire bay gone? Had a fighter exploded, or even worse, one of the micro photon torpedoes detonated? Each scenario was terrifying to Rose.

The two officers entered a smoke-filled bay and one fighter was mostly destroyed and was ablaze. Brooklyn could feel the heat from hear. Ground crews and pilots were rushing to pull injured away from the burning fighter and to safety. She saw an andorian with the rank of Sergeant nearby, tapping frantically on a nearby terminal. "Sergeant, what happened? Why isn't the fire suppression system working?!"

"Corporals T'Ral and Smith were replacing an engine in one of the Valkyrie's when the deuterium line ruptured and ignited! I'm trying to get the fire suppression system online now but the system keeps going offline!"

Brooklyn saw a man on fire, trying to crawl away from the burning fighter. "Lieutenant O'Malley, on me!" she ordered, removing her duty jacket.

Seeing the captain rush to a burning man, she hesitated. The chaos of the situation was overwhelming her. "Uh..uh..."

Brooklyn reached the man and batted out the flames using her jacket. The heat this close to the fighter was nearly unbearable. His skin was badly burned and his uniform was hot to the touch. She looked over to the fighter and saw the flames were reaching the core." She knew that if the fire got to the core, it would take out the bay and the people in it. She then looked around for Rose and saw she was still near the sergeant. "Lieutenant, now!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The yelling shook Rose out of her daze and she rushed towards her commander and the injured ground crewmember. She turned her face away from the intense heat of the fire as she reached the two.

Brooklyn was angry with Rose--rushing to an injured Marine should have been second nature to another Marine. However, that conversation would have to wait. "Grab him by his sleeves and I'll grab his pants. Do not touch his skin! It could come off!"

Brooklyn grabbed the man's pant legs as she saw Rose grab his sleeves. "Ready, lift!" The man screamed out in pain as he was moved. "Get him into the corridor!" Brooklyn ordered to Rose. She then looked at the Andorian sergeant. "Sergeant, let's get this bay evacuated! We're going to have to vent the bay! If that fighter's core goes, so will this bay and anyone near it!"

"Aye, captain!" the sergeant responded, activating the evacuation alarm.

Brooklyn set the injured man down as they entered the corridor. She slapped her comm badge. "Captain Wellington to Infirmary! We have a badly burned crewman. Requesting immediate emergency transport!"

A moment later, the man dematerialized off of the deck. Brooklyn rushed back to the fighter bay and was satisfied that it appeared that everyone was evacuated from the bay. She stepped back into the corridor. "Computer, close and seal all fighter bay doors and initiate a vent."

"Acknowledge. Initiating vent of starbase fighter bay," came the female voice of the computer.

The deck trembled slightly as air, loose cargo, tools and small equipment were sucked out into the vacuum of space. After thirty seconds, the air in the bay had been vented, extinguishing the fire. "Venting complete," came the computer's report. "No fire is registering in the fighter bay."

Brooklyn breathed a sigh of relief. "Computer, pressurize the bay and restore life support."

"Life support and pressurization is returning to normal. Entry will be permitted in ten seconds," the computer reported.

Brooklyn glared at Rose. "Just what the he'll was that back there, lieutenant?"

Rose shrugged. "I--I panicked, ma'am. I'm sorry."

Brooklyn shook her head. "You're a Marine, lieutenant. You may be an Adjutant but first and foremost you are a Marine. You never leave another Marine behind and you always come to their aid when needed. I should never have asked you twice to come and aid me in saving that Marine's life. Am I understood?"

Rose nodded, trying her best to fight back tears. "Yes ma'am. I understand."

Letting out a sigh, Brooklyn placed a consolidatory hand on Ross's shoulder. A situation as what just occurred could shake anyone. Especially a newly commissioned lieutenant. "Still, you followed my order and helped me in saving a Marine. Good job."

Rose's mouth formed a small grin. "Thank you, ma'am."

"The fighter bay is now cleared to enter," announced the computer.

Brooklyn entered the bay first and took in the damage. The damaged Valkaryie fighter was beyond repair and they had lost several crates containing spare parts during the venting. "Alright," Brooklyn began as the ground crew began to file back into the bay. "Salvage that Valkaryie and begin clean up procedures. Once that's completed, get back to repairing and upgrading these fighters. Good job to everyone during the incident. Carry on."

Brooklyn turned to Rose. "Lieutenant, get an inventory of what we lost to Operations and work on getting them replaced."

"Aye, ma'am," Rose replied, pulling a PADD out of a pant leg utility pocket and made her way to a nearby terminal, trying to focus on her duty and less on the recent incident.

Brooklyn dropped her head and closed her eyes. It was her first official day on duty and she had already lost one
Marine with three others seriously injured. Taking in a deep breath, she made her way to a fighter and opened an access panel to begin repairing it's power relays. 'I hope tomorrow will be better,' she thought.

 

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