Eri blinked as the alarm went off. For a moment she just wished it would stop ringing, as she sleepily tried searching for the mute button. Eventually, her sleep-addled mind remembered that she deliberately placed the damn thing out of reach from the bed.
Almost reluctantly she left the warm covers and turned off the alarm, but now that she was up she wasn’t going back down. Letting out a sigh, she cursed mornings for coming so early, but then she recalled why she’d set that alarm in the first place.
Ever since they’d landed she’d found herself with more free time and not a lot of flying to do, so she’d signed herself up for patrol duty. Today her name had come up in the rotation and she was expected down in the hangar at 0830 to begin her patrol flight. That was going to be so much fun, and honestly she missed being at the helm. Sadly there wasn’t much point in helm duty if they were stuck down here on the ground. Still the ship did need to be repaired, there wasn’t anything she could do to change that either.
Tossing her nightgown and panties into her hamper, she stepped from her modest bedroom and into the attached bathroom. As an officer she had a decent set of private quarters, there was her bedroom, which included a nice bed, a small closet, a desk with terminal access, and a trunk to put her stuff in. She also had a few drawers which she used to store her underclothing.
The bathroom wasn’t much, just a small closet with enough space for a tiny vanity, a toilet, and a shower tub combination. Still this was enough for her, turning the water on, she let it heat up as she pulled some soap out, got a wash rag ready, and went about her morning routine.
It wasn’t long before she was freshly washed and pulling out her clothes for the day. She headed straight for her closet, on a normal day she might have pulled out a sports bra and some panties, but she was going flying and that meant being properly dressed. The first thing she pulled out was her skinsuit, it was made of high-tech nanofibres, the thing was rather skin tight and like a thermal suit it was rather revealing.
A fact her closet mirror made rather plain to her when she finished putting it on. As her nipples were fully visible through the thin grey fabric, and down lower she had quite the cameltoe showing as well. Honestly she’d have put some underwear on under the suit, if she could, but it didn’t work that well without direct skin contact. Eri wasn’t entirely sure why, it had been explained to her but it was all science stuff that was beyond her.
Still she recalled what the skin suit was for, it was a highly protective piece of gear able to compensate for a wide array of environmental conditions and would help keep her alive in the event of a hull breach. It was designed to change itself to keep the wearer alive and in optimal comfort. The Thermal suits, they were issuing to work crew personnel were a cheaper less advanced design based on the same technology. Of course, the biggest difference between them was the thermal suits were generic, mass-produced gear, while the skin suit was specifically designed and tailored for her. It wouldn’t work for anyone else.
She pulled out the rest of her flight gear. A simple tunic and pants combination paired with some nice boots. Not that different from her usual uniform. Nothing at all like what pilots of the past might have worn. She’d seen the holos and those jumpsuits she’d seen some of them wear weren’t that appealing.
Dressed, she took one last look in the mirror to make sure her hair was in order before heading out. Stepping out into the corridor, she almost bumped into Rose, stopping at just the last minute before a collision could take place.
Rose said, “Sorry!”
“No, I should have checked before just rushing out.” Responded Eri, as she looked around noting that the officer's level looked rather deserted. There weren’t very many people out in the hall. “So, um, what brings you to...”
“Ah, well Ruri had her baby recently, you know.”
“Oh, right I forgot about that, it was a girl right?”
Rose smiled, “A lovely little girl. She’s so cute!”
Eri giggled, “have fun babysitting.” Then she frowned, “Oh, right, will you be okay?”
“Perfectly, I’ve been practicing for this. Ruri built me for this.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried, she tends to um...”
Rose laughed, “I noticed, but Jac programmed me, not Ruri. Not to mention my programming is adaptive, we’ll be fine.”
Eri remembering she had somewhere to be said, “Just let me know if you need anything. I’d be happy to help!”
“Will do,” Rose said as Eri left. If she hadn’t needed to be somewhere, she might have stayed longer, maybe tried to see the captain’s daughter. In her mind that was just a sign that people were starting to settle down and move on after the incident at Earth. Of course, in the captain’s case he just ran out of ways to say no. Never underestimate a determined young... no scratch that, Ruri just looks young, she was really 94 years old. Of course, the captain was one hundred and 95 years old which made her young in comparison. Ruri was roughly half his age after all.
Still Eri thought they were both ancient, and she still had to wonder how their kid would fare. The captain seemed really good with kids, but he was just so busy. As for Ruri? Well Eri didn’t have much confidence in her skills as a mother. Rose really was the poor girl’s best hope. A part of her realized she was actually in the same boat so to speak, but she didn’t have a kid, nor was she expecting one.
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Stepping through the armored doors and into the hangar, she was greeted by the flight chief. “Ah, there is our last pilot, just on time. I have you down for flight six, given your rank you’ll be flight leader. You’ll be taking Lieutenants White and Pell out to recon grid sixteen.”
She hadn’t even been given a chance to properly report herself. The protocol would have been for her to announce herself as reporting for duty listing both her name and rank. She wasn’t surprised that she got chosen as a flight leader though. As she held the rank of Lieutenant Commander, a respectable pay grade, but there wasn’t much room for advancement beyond her current rank without a higher-ranking officer kicking the bucket or retiring. As a Navy the Earth Fleet had simplified the ranks somewhat, dropping some of them for a more easily understood chart.
At the bottom of the chart, you had the enlisted starting with Crewman, followed by Petty Officer, then Leading Petty Officer. After that was Chief and at the top of the Enlisted ranks was Master Chief. Anyone above that rank had to spend time being trained as an officer, usually at the academy. Although there were still some special ranks outside the usual chain like Warrant Officer, the first officer rank was Ensign, then Lieutenant, followed by her position of Lieutenant commander. Above her was Commander, Captain, Rear Admiral, Admiral, and Fleet Admiral.
A few of those positions were somewhat moot these days, especially those at the top. Countryman for example was a Captain, they didn’t really need an admiral and when he had been in charge of a few ships, he’d been placed into a special rank, but aside from a few extra responsibilities there had not been much difference.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Sounds good, it’s been a while since I last saw those two. Are they still complaining about the locker rooms?”
“Everyone is, but with all the extra people, we had to make space somewhere.”
She nodded, recalling how four years ago one of the renovations they’d made when taking on all those extra souls was to take out half the pilot locker rooms converting the spaces into living quarters. These days they were used mainly by the ship’s pilots since they were close to the hangars. “Yeah, well sacrifices had to be made. I wonder what they are going to do now that we no longer have the...”
“I’ve heard a few things, but we are getting off track.”
“Right, what’s my flight composition and equipment.”
“Two 1204s and a single 1208, standard recon configurations. I presume you’ll take the Sparrow?”
“I haven’t had a chance to really fly one, I think I’d enjoy actually getting to know the ship. What’s she have on her?”
“She was used in Ruri’s most recent weapons test, and she performed really well, so those upgrades remain in place. The ship has two forward-mounted heavy fighter cannons, and a rear-mounted turret featuring three rapid-fire light particle canons. The ship is also carrying twin Pulsar Torpedo launchers and two standard torpedo tubes. You’ll have eight photon torpedoes and six bombs.”
“Sounds like a pretty conventional anti-ship loadout, I’d be relying on wingmen if we run into fighters.”
“Not entirely, the 1208 has proven to hold up decently well in a dogfight.”
“Yes, but the lack of missiles might be an issue.”
“Only at range, just get in close if you have to, but I wouldn’t expect too much trouble. Now one last thing, we upgraded your bird with a larger sensor package in place of a second seat.”
She blinked, the second seat was usually in charge of things like the turret. “So who is manning that rear gun?”
“Ship computer.”
“Lovely,” she commented before heading to meet up with her wingman.
She found them by the fighters. White was a pretty young lady with long white hair and sharp features. At the moment her hair was kept in a bun.
White saw her first, “Morning Ma,am, I just finished checking the fighters.”
“Anything to note?”
“Nope, everything looks good. The techs didn’t miss anything, we are fueled up, fully loaded and ready to fly when you are.”
Pell leaned out from the one 1204, “Morning Ma’am, where do you want me?”
“Right where you are,” she said as she moved to take the 1208. White took the remaining fighter.
Eri took a moment to look over the controls, familiarizing herself with what they had, just before flight cleared them for take off.
The moment they were clear for take-off, she signaled her wingmen. The catapults activated, and they were accelerated into the air. In moments they were flying over the frozen plains the ship was landed on. Eri spotted a few of the camps as they passed over on their way up and into orbit. Breaking into space she noted the shattered scorched rocks that were left behind after all the recent weapons testing.
As they passed the rocks and headed out to their patrol grid, she double-checked the local weather reports. A plasma storm had hit the system yesterday, and long-range tracking data predicted another would be sweeping through the sector later this afternoon. Just not as bad as the previous one, that had been a class four, the coming one was class two.
Nothing she’d have to worry that much about, a class two wasn’t going to do anything to her little fighter. That gave her a bit of time to chatter with her fellow pilots. It was a long flight after all, but before she knew it they had reached the patrol zone; Grid sixteen.
Grid sixteen was on the far edge of the system out near the only gas giant in the star system. The gas giant’s gravity had cleared this region of most debris, forcing it further out, but the giant did have several moons and a ring system. The dust clouds prevalent in the area were also quite thick in the grid, so they were going to have to keep their eyes peeled.
The fleet didn’t want any contacts to sneak up on them, so these patrols were quite vital. Still she was really enjoying the feel of the ship under her fingers. The engine had a pleasing thrum and truly felt powerful.
“So White? How are things going at home for you?” inquired Eri as she kept an eye on her scanner.
“Well enough I guess.”
Pell commented, “Oh, don’t be modest. I saw you sneaking out on that date yesterday, we all know you are getting some action.”
Eri glanced at the visual, noting the blush on the young woman’s face, as she admitted, “... maybe a little.”
“Oh? Who’s the lucky guy?”
White scratched her chin, “Um, well.”’
Pell commented, “It was that engineer you seemed smitten with the other day, wasn’t it?”
Eri giggled, as she watched White squirm a bit. “Don’t press her too much.”
“Ah, that’s no fun!”
White sighed, “Okay, Okay. I get it, yes I’m dating someone, he seems nice. Better than you Pell.”
Pell mocked being hurt, “ouch that stings. Medic! I need a medic!”
Eri shook her head, “Oh, funny Pell. Very Funny.”
“Well I tried,” he gestured at his scanners on the screen, “It's not like anything happens out here. Just look it is clear across the board. Nothing but rocks and dust.”
“You did not just say that,” commented White.
“What?”
“Rocks and Dust? You jinxed us, now we are going to have something happen.”
“Oh that’s just superstition, stuff like that doesn’t happen.”
The computer beeped, “Alert! Unidentified contact bearing one eight zero mark two five.”
Pell suddenly looked contrite, “Okay I guess it does. Let's just hope it's a ghost.”
White gave him a side eye, as they shelved the chatter. Eri checked the scanners, and asked the computer to identify the contact.
After a moment the computer returned an analysis, “Valorian Frigate, Ranger Class, current status, damaged reading minimal power.”
The Ranger was a class they’d encountered a few times, it had shown up more recently and seemed to be a replacement for the older Patroller class of Frigates. The class was armed with medium pulse cannons, light plasma torpedoes, and a few batteries of point defense turrets. Unlike the Patroller, the Ranger also had a small hanger and typically carried two squadrons of Valorian Lancer fighters.
“Confirm damage, what kind have they taken?”
The computer soon listed out multiple hull ruptures, several failed systems and a partial collapse of their shield grid. Better for her, the failed systems list included her long-range comms array, and the warp drive. She still had secondary comm systems, but the ship couldn’t run.
“Computer, active jamming,” she turned to the comms, “Pell, White attack formation, Alpha two, we are going in.”
“Enterprise, Valorian frigate, grid 16, we are moving to engage.”