Returning to duty

Posted on Wed 19th Sep, 2018 @ 7:54pm by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington

884 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Aerospace administrative section

Outside of the Marine Aerospace Wing, Wellington let out a slow breath--she was nervous as if it were her first day reporting to a new unit. Though she couldn't figure out why, as she adjusted her duty uniform for what was likely the hundredth time. Her arm felt better but was still very sore from the physical therapy. "Alright, let's go," she whispered to herself before entering. The corridor was empty and brought back memories and a sense of belonging. She walked into the lobby to the CAG Office to find Lieutenant O'Malley sitting at her desk, going through several reports with a cup of coffee sitting on her desk. "Shit," O'Malley cursed, her Celtic accent thicker than normal whenever she was angry or frustrated. "What is it now--" O'Malley stopped as she looked up and her eyes met Wellington's.

"That bad, lieutenant?" Wellington questioned with an amused look.

O'Malley jumped up from her desk excitedly. "Ma'am! Are--are you back on duty?"

Wellington nodded with a grin. "I'm on light duty, but I'm back," she confirmed.

O'Malley's eyes welled up with tears. "I...I'm sorry ma'am," she said, clearing her throat. "It's just good to have you back."

Wellington held up her hand. "It's alright, lieutenant. It's good to be back. What's the status of the squadrons and pilots?"

O'Malley sat back down and sorted through her stack of PaDDs. "Lets see...the Black Knights have completely changed over to the new F-34 Interceptors with several new Nuggets being assigned--they're fresh from the Academy."

Wellington sighed, "Wonderful. What about the pirates?"

"Well, ever since you killed their top pilot, they haven't so much as made a peep. It's been rather boring around here to be honest," O'Malley reported.

"That's good to hear. Let's hope it stays boring," Wellington replied. "I'm going to take a quick tour of the hangars and flight deck."

"Want me to come with you, ma'am?" O'Malley asked.

Wellington shook her head. "No, that's alright lieutenant. You have alot of work. I'll be alright."

"Aye ma'am," O'Malley replied, reluctantly going back over the reports.

Wellington smiled as she exited the office and made her way to the flight deck, nodding to two pilots who stopped dead in their tracks as they watched her pass by. Entering the flight deck, she spotted a F-35 landing and smiled. Fighters had come a long way since the Dominion War.

Thav, who was supervising the ground crews as they swarmed over the newly landed fighter did a double take at the movement he caught out of the corner of his eye. "Colonel Wellington!" he shouted, causing the entire deck to come to a halt as some stared in disbelief and others, mostly newbies, in awe after having heard stories of the woman and now she stood before them in the flesh. Thav looked at everyone show was standing around. "Don't just stand there! I'm sure we all have jobs to do!"

Thav's voice broke the trance and everyone hastily continued their assignments. Thav smiled as he made his way towards Wellington. "Welcome back, colonel."

"It's good to be back. O'Malley told me it's been quiet," Wellington replied.

Thav nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'm hoping it stays that way until we at least get these nuggets up to speed."

"I agree. I'm just touring the area. I won't keep you, Gunny," Wellington remarked.

"Aye, ma'am," Thav replied as he moved off to supervise a crew preparing a fighter for launch.

Wellington stood by as she watched the fighter launch from the flight deck. She missed this as she grinned and made her way into the hangar. The hangar was stocked with fighters and runabouts undergoing maintenance or for fighters that had been moved to reserved status. Walking among the fighters, she came to a Valkyrie Class Fighter that the F-34 Interceptors had replaced in the Black Knight Squadron. She ran her hand along it's hull, closing her eyes. "Time to die, Starfleet Bitch," the Orion pilot snarled as he executed a hard turn, getting lock and firing.

Wellington heard the beep and again she instinctively jerked the flight stick hard to the right. However, sparks flew from her controls as alarms screamed out in protest. She had taken a glancing hit--a hit that knocked her weapons offline. "Shit, not good," she muttered as she tried in vain to get her weapons systems to respond.

Wellington's arm seemed to hurt as she seemed to shake uncontrollably.

Then there was the beep. In a split second, Wellington, flipped her fighter and engaged the warp engines as the Orion fired a barrage of Disruptor fire. The impact seemed to freeze time to Wellington as she felt herself weightless on impact, being held by her harness. It was as if all time had stopped briefly as her fighter collided with the Orion's. Wellington barely registered the computer initiating the auto eject procedure as her vision turned red and then to black...and nothing.

Wellington dropped to her knees as her chest seemed to hurt, trying her best to stop shaking as she fought back tears and feeling very much alone as she leaned against the landing strut of the fighter. She bit her hand to keep her sobbing from attracting any attention as she closed her eyes.

 

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