Posted by Mar. Captain Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Recon Squadron CO/Pilot) in Eleanor Carnegie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Posted by Commander Samantha Jean “Sam” Halloway (Executive Officer (Incoming)) in Eleanor Carnegie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Posted by Mar. Captain Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Recon Squadron CO/Pilot) in Eleanor Carnegie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It took a grand total of 14 hours, 23 minutes and around 9 seconds for the Chimera’s Executive Officer to find out that one of the very first pilots to touch down on the Fleet’s newest Mega Carrier had had backed a 350 million credit Recon bird into the forward bulkhead hard enough to actually dent the damn wall. On her first on-deck walk through, the TOPGUN Recipient and Ace pilot in her own regard, Halloway looked up after taking approximately a dozen steps into the Bay and saw it. It was in that moment that a half dozen deck crew seriously considered requesting emergency beam outs as the redheaded pilot blew a gasket on the bird in question’s Crew Chief.

“I don’t give a damn what time it is! You tell that hack to get his ass to my office IMMEDIATELY and bring his frackin’ Squadron Skip with him! I only wanna say this once!” For a trim woman, the Commander projected like a Marine and had a near frightening look in her eye as she snapped. “I said now dammit! Now move your ass!” And with that, she was gone… and not a soul said so much as a word as they all quietly went back to their duties.

---

Eleanor was late. It wasn’t like she was complaining about the previous night. It was just that it had made her lose track of time and she had left Dawkins’s quarters later than she had expected.

She was finishing putting on her uniform when the call came through, and even if it had put her even more behind schedule, Carnegie was happy she had taken the detour by her quarters to take a shower and put on some clean clothes.

=A= Um, Captain… Peterson here… XO wants you & Smoke in her office… like now.=A= Staff Sergeant Luke Peterson sighed as he paused and then continued. =A= I just got handed the biggest ass chewin’ of my career… over Smoke backin’ into the damn bulkhead. I’m sorry Ma’am… I didn’t see the witch coming till she was standing there starin’ at the dent. =A= He swallowed hard and added. =A= I will get Smoke on his way but I should warn you… she’s not just a stuff-shirted Fleeter that thinks she knows what she’s talkin’ about. She was sportin’ a Flight Jacket… full of patches… including a TopGun patch on the right chest trimmed in gold. You know what that means, right Captain? She won the Trophy… she might be an ass but she’s no joke… which means she will NOT go easy on either of you. Hope she don’t shake up Smoke too bad. He’s a good kid… just a little over zealous. Good luck ma’am. Sorry again… Peterson out. =A=

Eleanor sighed, and for a moment she wondered if the subject would ever go away. Tapping her commbadge she replied.

=/\= Thank you Peterson. I’m sorry you had to be on the end of that. I’ll take care of it. Tell Smoke I’ll meet him at the XO’s door. =/\= There was a pause as she took in all the information that Peterson had relayed to her. =/\= I’ve briefly met with her yesterday. But thank you for the heads up. Carnegie out. =/\=

So, this was going to set her schedule back even more. Carnegie sighed and shook her head, before passing a comb through her hair and putting it back up, pressing her glasses against her nose and heading out the door.

---

When Eleanor arrived at the XO’s office, Smoke was already there waiting for her.

“Morning Ma’am. I’m so sorry…” But Eleanor cut him off almost immediately.

“It’s too late for apologies, Smoke. You know better than to back up like that. I hope this teaches you a lesson.”

“Yes Ma’am. I’m sorry Ma’am.” He was visibly shaking.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with.” Straightening her uniform one last time and adjusting her glasses on her face, Eleanor took a deep breath and pressed the chime.

When the door hissed open to the Executive Officer’s personal office, the walls were covered in awards, plaques and certificates… and sure enough… directly behind her centered on the wall was the coveted TopGun Trophy just above a rather large wooden plaque featuring a pair of gold Master Aerospace Wings dated four years before. For Eleanor, it would be highly unnerving as the woman looked barely older than she was.

Halloway, XO

Without realizing it, Eleanor held her breath as the pair walked into the office. Her gaze landed on the multiple awards and certificates that filled the wall. And sure enough, the Top Gun Trophy was the center piece of the collection.

Clearing her throat and standing at attention, Eleanor greeted the Chimera’s Executive Officer. “Captain Carnegie and Lieutenant Thunderhawk reporting as ordered, Ma’am.”

Eleanor’s gaze held straight forward never meeting Halloway’s. Smoke eyed the visitors chairs.

Carnegie, Sentinels CO and Smoke, Sentinel Five

Halloway’s eyes slowly, hauntingly panned up from the PaDD she was reading and as they did, the tops of the woman’s ears… exposed thanks to her hair being up in a braid… began to glow an angry red. The Chimera’s XO caught the glance at the chair and said sharply. “Don’t even think about it San Diego, those chairs are for pilots… not morons that wreck their craft on a fracking basic Carrier landing!” Her voice getting louder toward the end of the statement as she stood, both hands flat on the large, mahogany desk.

Carnegie had expected a lot of things. Being yelled at was one of them. But this was a little too excessive.
“Ma’am, that’s just–“

The second Eleanor opened her mouth, Halloway’s eyes snapped to hers and a raised hand pointed a finger right at her. “You stay the hell out of this Carnegie!” The words cracking from the woman like a whip. “You’re here for one reason and that’s so this frackin’ dunderhead doesn’t go report my ass for something I didn’t say!” It was at that moment, Halloway noticed Eleanor’s glasses. “And take those stupid looking things off your face when you’re addressing a superior officer… this ain’t a goddamn fashion show!”

Eleanor’s gaze went back to the wall behind Halloway, but she could see Smoke staring horrified at her. Slowly and without a word, Carnegie took her right hand to her face, folded her glasses and put them in her pocket. The world faded back into the dull shades of yellow and blue she had grown up with.

Her gaze came back to Smoke like the snap of a rubber band. “Now you listen to me you frackin’ Crayon muncher…” The veteran pilot growled as she spoke, her stare burning a hole through the man’s soul. “If you so much as scratch MY flight deck… I’ll have your dumbass flyin’ toilet paper shipments twice a week to Titan and you will never see another carrier for as long as you live!” Her voice was now booming into the hall and the ship’s new crew were actively avoiding the area and the Commander looked as though she was trying not to come across the desk at the man.

Smoke’s face was growing paler with every word uttered by Halloway. Not to mention, she had just shut up his own commanding officer. He was on his own and he was desperately trying not to cry.

“In my entire career, I have seen some pretty stupid, boneheaded stunts pulled with craft but I will not tolerate such nonsense from aviators under my command!” Slamming her fist on the desk top, Halloway glared at both Carnegie and Thunderhawk. “Do either of you jackasses have even the foggiest damn clue how much a Recon-kitted Ranger even costs!?! Much less the damn bulkhead you nearly destroyed!?”

Smoke jumped as Halloway’s fist came into contact with the desk’s surface. He opened his mouth to reply but didn’t have the time, which was probably a good thing since he realized the question might have been rhetorical.

“I refuse to have a bunch of showboating Jarheads wreck one of the finest carriers that Starfleet has ever built on my watch. Now…” Halloway’s arm flew from the desk and her hand pointed to the door. “… get out!” She boomed, her hand shaking as she pointed.

Halloway, XO

(OOC: Please note, this was a planned interaction approved by Joana in advance and the exchange from a certain hotheaded XO was approved prior to posting. - Condor)

Thunderhawk looked at Eleanor as without so much as a glance on his direction she spoke to him in the coldest tone he had ever heard. “Wait for me outside, Lieutenant.”
He didn’t need to be told twice, and with a short nod, Smoke was gone.

Turning to Halloway and moving closer to the desk, Carnegie started in the same cold tone as before. “I don’t know who you think you are, Commander, but I will not tolerate you addressing me or one of my own like this.” Her tone was far from a yell. She was almost growling at the woman. “I don’t know if you have a personal beef with Starfleet Marine Corps or if you just have anger issues, or both. But I don’t care who you are, for how long you have flown, or how many trophies you have won over the years, what you said was disrespectful and insulting to say the least, just because the kid made a mistake on his first assignment. Have you never made mistakes, Commander? Let me tell you, we’re not as perfect as maybe you are.” Eleanor paused to breathe but continued almost immediately terrified that Halloway might cut her off again. “Oh, and by the way, you were so worried that Lieutenant Thunderhawk might report you for something you didn’t say that you brought me here with him. You don’t have to be afraid of him, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. However, I don’t have any problems going up the chain and reporting you for what you did say.” Leaning forward, she pressed one finger on the desk’s surface. “This is unacceptable, and you know it.” Eleanor’s eyes seemed almost on fire.

Carnegie and Thunderhawk

Rage flashed behind Halloway’s eyes as she leaned slightly forward on her hands, which were now palms down on the desk’s surface. “I don’t know just who the hell you think I am… Captain…” It was the first in Carnegie’s life that she had ever heard the use of her own rank like an insult. The veteran aviatrix behind the desk looked as though she might yank Carnegie over it as the woman glared back at her, her voice frighteningly flat compared to moments ago. “… but I will address people that do stupid things the way people that do stupid things ought to be addressed. I have found…” Halloway straightened back up, hands behind her back. “… that generally, hitting someone over the head very hard in private makes a point with them that pulling flight hours and assigning… unsavory duties… just doesn’t do.”

The Commander then turned, her eyes clearly on the trophy in the center of her wall. “And no, Ms. Carnegie. I haven’t an issue with the Marine Corps at all. My ex-fiancee was a Marine, my best friend and the woman I shared this very trophy with is a Marine as well as a mutual best friend of us both… who happens to be a starship commander over in Fleet 3.” The woman then turned back to face Halloway as the Commander lowered herself into her chair. “What I do have a problem with is the lackadaisical attitude some pilots seem to think is perfectly fine these days. It’s reckless, stupid and most significantly… Captain…” Her tone a bit more level now. “… it’s dangerous. And while I may be one of the best pilots you’ll ever interact with personally, I can assure you Ms. Carnegie… we’re all just as flawed and can make mistakes. But if you think what I just said to that kid was insulting and too mean…” Halloway smirked slightly. “… then you got a long career ahead of you, young lady. Most of that was using a bit of temper… which yes… I do have, to get my point across.”

At that point, Halloway’s eyebrows popped up just a bit. “I can promise you, Thunderhawk will be much more observant moving forward and I doubt he’ll ever score less than 95 on flight testing for the rest of his career. It’s usually only necessary to bust a pilot’s ass once in his or her career and he just received his. Now…” Her tone suddenly ice cold. “… if you want to push an issue that I said my piece on and honestly doubt I’ll ever have to mention again, I can and will revert to The Book on this and you know what that means. Strip the kid of flight status for a month… putting you down to four pilots, Form a Board of Inquiry… which he will lose, and have an unnecessary Disciplinary Finding in his permanent record that will haunt him the rest of his career.” There was no sympathy in her voice.

“I know what it means to a pilot to have their wings taken away, Carnegie…” There was emotion behind her words that Eleanor just couldn’t quite put a finger on. “… it’s devastating. I’d much rather jumps Smoke’s ass in my office than drag him before a Board and possibly derail a promising career. Now, you wanna report me… go ahead. It’s Halloway… two a’s, one o. But understand Captain, an inquiry into my actions will lead into an inquiry of his and then it’s no longer in my hands. There will be nothing you can do to stop the Board from grounding your man.”

“Are we on the same page now, Carnegie?” There wasn’t a drop of anger behind her words but the hope a point had been equally made with her.

“Dismissed.” Halloway said flatly as she nodded to the door.

Halloway, XO