[Round 1] Sailing (and Launching Fighters) Into the Unknown

[Ilene Torza]

((Flight Operations Center, USS Ronin))

Kolk: =/\= Kolk to Adair. We've got multiple casualties on the Flight Deck here. Are you ready for them? =/\=

Adair: =/\= Aye Lt., send them in. Ma off duty staff are arriving, we have enough room and staff. =/\=

::Jack was getting confused, there was no one in close proximity to the Deck. He widened the scan.::

Kolk: =/\= Hold on, I'm... ::There they were, 27 humanoid forms... hundreds of kilometers behind them. How was that possible.:: Um. I'll let you go doctor. Beaming them to you now. =/\= Commander, the ejected officers were several hundred kilometers to the aft of the ship.

::The Andorian was already standing, his antennae twitching furiously to help him stay up-to-date on the pandemonium around him.::

Wayfel: And the planet is gone? Where are we?

Baranduin: ::calmer than anyone else:: Attempting stellar triangulation. Nothing conclusive, yet, sir. Local constellations don't appear to have been charted

::Jack's mind was begging him to figure out what was going on, what had happened and where in the galaxy (or universe?) they were. But that had to wait till all the wounded were in Sickbay. Thankfully the other ships were helping to beam people aboard and the work was done in less than two minutes. But, Jack still had to determine who was wounded down below and send them in as well. He set to it and took in the activity of the Flight Deck as much as he could in the mean time. It may have been hectic, but he could tell right away that it was a place he would enjoy working... especially if it meant he'd be getting some command experience. Were one of Wayfel's XOs leaving? This disaster had postponed the revelation about what position he was actually getting. But that too could wait.::

::The 8 FOs at the fore of the F.O.C. were in constant contact with the various areas of the flight deck and Jack had somehow ended up coordinating the emergency beam-outs with them, doing the job he'd expect one of Wayfel's XOs to do. Unbeknownst to Lt. Kolk, Wayfel nodded to one of his XOs and the Lt., a Bajoran named Niro Taan, left the room via the ladder. The LtCmdr. then asked Jack to use Lt. Niro's chair. Jack was surprised, but decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth. Taking the seat, he had a much better vantage point to the holoviewer, which had switched to a hologram of the entire Flight Deck and adjacent maintenance bays and work areas. It was chaos. Cargo crates had bounced off of everything, many flying out the open doors. Although none were lost, several fighters had minor hull damage. The last of the wounded had just been beamed down to sickbay when the yellow alert was sounded.::

Walker: =/\= Mr. Kolk, I want a CAP flying ASAP. =/\=

Kolk: oO CAP? Must be some kind of fighter group. I need to study up on Flight Ops tonight. Oo =/\= Yes, sir. But you should know that it'll take some time. All but one of our fighters was damaged by something when theforcefield fell. =/\=

Walker: =/\= Then get that fighter out there. For all we know we are in a Borg birthing cluster. When you get it out... meet me in Conference Room 1. =/\=

Kolk: =/\= Understood, sir. Kolk out. =/\=

::Before Jack could get a single command out to one of the FOs, Walker had made the more general announcement.::

Walker: =/\= This is Commander Walker to all Senior staff. Please report to conference room 1 in 30 minutes. =/\=

Kolk: ::swiveling his chair toward the forward line of 8 men.:: Alright you heard the man. How soon can we get that CAP in the air?

Hyberstolm: Under normal conditions, we could have it up in two minutes, sir. Right now... 10?

Kolk: Alright. Send them out one at a time if you have to, but I want the second out ASAP. I don't want our lead man out there alone any longer than he has to be.

::Jack sounded commanding, but on the inside he felt a bit odd being the one giving orders, since Wayfel and his Number One were right there. Plus, he still didn't know half of the lingo or anything about what types of squadrons or flight groups they normally used. He glanced at both Wayfel and Baranduin, wondering if they could see the hint of fear in his eyes. Wayfel was smiling, in that odd way that Andorians had that made you wonder if they were impressed with you or just planning how to kill you unexpectedly (the way Jhen had looked at him when he'd promoted Valis--although Jack was pretty sure that that time Jhen had been planning his death). A moment later, he got a message on his screen from Lt. Baranduin: "Combat Air Patrol. Picket Duty. In this case, 15 fighters to form a perimeter, about 5 per ship." Jack gave the El-Aurian man a small, but thankful nod.::

::The FOs started ordering fighter and maintenance crews all over the place and Jack kept an eye on the situation, guiding the puzzle from what he saw on the holoviewer. In the designated 10 minutes the puzzle had proved a bit more complicated than Ens. Hyberstolm had estimated, but the Deck had been mostly cleared. Ten of the 15 fighters were out and the last five were about ready to disembark. Jack gave one final order to the FOs and then nodded to Wayfel as if to say, "That's done. Thanks for the opportunity." He stood and headed to the turbolift. Before he'd taken two steps, Lt. Niro was popping back up the ladder and making way to his chair. The two men nodded at each other. As Jack stepped into the lift, he could hear the Security officers talking with the fighters and coordinating flight plans and collating the data that was coming in.::

::When the turbolift doors closed, Jack let out a sigh.:;

Kolk: Conference Room 1.

::That had been stressful. Part of him wanted to slide down the wall and sit till he reached the briefing. He felt himself starting to shake as the adrenaline that he'd been using to keep on top of the situation suddenly had no where to go. He'd done well, he supposed, but... it all happened so fast! How had he managed to keep up?::

Kolk: oO By taking it one step at a time and keeping the goal in mind. Oo

::Speaking of the goal, if they were really in uncharted space... how would they get home? How would they even figure out where home is? The doors opened, and Jack walked down the short corridor into the room where, hopefully, they might begin to figure that out.::

Kolk: oO Together. Oo

Lieutenant Jackford B. Kolk

Flight Operations Officer... & Stuff

USS Ronin NCC-34523