Back in the saddle

Posted on Mon 7th Jan, 2019 @ 7:26pm by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington

666 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Timeline: MD19

Wellington breathed a ragged breath as she stepped foot onto the flight deck, dressed in her flight gear. Ahead, her fighter, a Valkyrie Class fighter was being readied by the deck crews.

Normally setting foot in a fighter would be second nature but it would be the first time she set foot in one since the incident and was one reason why she chose to get back in a Valkyrie instead of the new F-34s, which she had flown in a holodeck a few times before the incident. However, Cassidy had been right--she had to keep going and having Khellian in her corner for support helped more than she expected.

"Are you sure you're ready, ma'am?" Gunnery Sergeant Thrav asked approaching her. His antennae pointed slightly towards her, sensing the nervousness within her.

"Yeah, Gunny. I need to get back on the horse, so to speak," Wellington replied.

2nd Lieutenant Smith walked up sharply. "I'm ready to serve as your Tactical Officer, ma'am"

Wellington nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Smith."

Thrav raised an eyebrow. "You're taking Smith as your TO? There are much more experienced officers, ma'am."

Wellington gave Thrav a light pat on the arm. "True, but Smith volunteered and he is knowledgeable enough to fill the position. Besides, this is just a flight to get back into the scheme of things. I'm not planning on doing any dog fighting."

"Yes, ma'am," Thrav replied before looking off and seeing that the ground crews signaled that the Valkyrie was ready and then looked back at Wellington. "See you soon, ma'am."

Wellington grinned and nodded before climbing into the fighter. As she began to strap into the seat, she paused as the memories of the moment before she rammed the enemy fighter came flooding back. "Not today," she whispered, closing her eyes a moment before opening them with renewed determination.

"Everything ok, ma'am," Smith asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah. As well as can be expected, Smith, " Wellington replied as she ran the pre flight checklist. A moment later, satisfied with the computer's systems check, she powered up the engines and moved her fighter into launch position.

Soon, she was given the all clear signal. 'And here we go,' she thought before throttling up. The Valkyrie Fighter leapt to life as it launched into space. Next to Wellington's fighter was Jamison in his F-35.

"It's good to have you back, ma'am," came Jamison's deep voice over the comm.

"It's good to be back, Rabbit," Wellington replied, calling Jamison by his call sign. She smiled as she increased speed and executed a tight turn--it had been far too long.

As she and Jamison neared the outer edges of the CAP Zone, Jamison came over the comm. "Ma'am, I'm picking up two bogeys shadowing an incoming Disney Inc. Freighter."

Wellington's palms began to sweat as she brought the freighter up on her sensor screen. "You got them, Smith?" She asked.

Smith tapped in several commands. "No ma'am. I don't see them but the F-35s have a better sensor suite than us."

"Understood," Wellington commented. "Rabbit, relay your data to me and see if you can identify them."

"Aye, ma'am," Jamison said as he relayed the data. "I got them. They're Orion J-Class interceptors. Being that close to the freighter, their sensors likely haven't picked up any other ships. Wonder what they're up to.

Wellington let out a nervous breath but her years of training and adrenaline took over. "On me, Rabbit. Weapons free." Without missing a beat, she engaged her warp engines for a few seconds and dropped out of warp nearly on top of the two fighters. The two fighters opened fire.

Before the Orion interceptors could react, they were ripped apart by pulse phasers and destroyed. "Showing all clear, ma'am," Jamison stated as he looked at his sensor screen.

Wellington grinned as she exhaled a nervous breath and flexed her hand a few times to stave off the shaking. "Let's continue our patrol, Rabbit."

 

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