Posted by Mar. Captain Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Recon Squadron CO/Pilot) in Just Another Day at the Office
“God, this is boring.” It was the third time in the last thirty minutes that Second Lieutenant Dustin Price uttered the same words. “This is not what I signed up for.”

Eleanor looked up from her console at the young Surveillance Systems Officer that had been appointed as a part of her ship’s crew, but said nothing.

“I thought they trained you guys for this.” The voice was that of First Lieutenant James Sloan, the Ranger’s Flight Engineer, he had almost as many years of experience under his belt as Eleanor had.

“They do.” Eleanor chirped from her seat. “They prepare us pilots, and if they don’t prepare Sensor Ops they should!”

“Not like this!” Price reiterated. “Recon is supposed to go out and surveil new planets and their defenses! Gather intel! Serve as the ship’s eyes forward of friendly lines! Not to stand here playing starbase customs!”

Eleanor swiveled her seat to face the young Marine. An eyebrow raised and a worried look on her face. “I’m not sure what Kool-Aid you’ve been drinking Badger, but I suggest you start getting used to it. If you thought you’d be out and about every day in the frontline of excitement, you’re going to be sorely disappointed…”

“I’m sure it is not that bad, Captain.” Price started.

“I suggest you listen to the Lady, kid…” Sloan added almost immediately. “There’s a big difference before what the recruitment posters say and what you’ll actually do…”

“But, during training–“

Without warning, the systems onboard Carnegie’s Ranger sprang to life as the ship’s sensors detected an unidentified craft well inside the Ranger’s Threat Assessment & Detection Zone.

Price’s thought was abruptly interrupted by the computer. =/\= Proximity alert. Unidentified vessel. Proximity alert. =/\=

The TADZ system in concert with the Ranger’s main sensor suite, one that would make an old Constitution-Class look like a popgun in comparison, showed that Carnegie’s ‘guest’ was directly behind them at heading 180 and perfectly level with her craft… at a range of less than 200 meters. It was stationary and was not squawking an IFF, but it didn’t have weapons charged either… of course at that range, the craft could hit hers with a ballistic round. To say the new arrival was dangerously close was an understatement.

Carnegie’s wide gaze met Price’s as the young man scrambled to get readings from his console. She was not happy. Quickly swiveling back to the front, Eleanor armed the Ranger’s phasers and raised her shields. “Where are they coming from?” She yelled at the Sensors Operator over the computer warning. “Right behind us, Ma’am.” He promptly replied.

Alarm klaxons inside the new arrival blasted as the weapons system of the still solidly armed Surveillance craft came online and the full power of her shields snapped into place… dangerously close to his own location.

It was a maneuver she had done many times with the Templars, and a common one many pilots did when trying to see what was behind them. After all, in space there was no up or down. With a swift motion, she pulled on her controls, and before either of her crew members could even say anything, the Ranger flipped upside down, nose now where her tail had been just a second before.

Cpt. Carnegie, Recon Squadron CO

Profanity boomed in the new arrival’s cockpit as the Ranger popped a Tactical Vector Reversal, something completely unexpected and totally uncharacteristic of the normal movement styles of the larger, modified bomber. In an instant, the pilot of the new craft slammed a finger down on his Identify Friend or Foe (IFF) System, immediately engaging the Aerospace Craft & Vessel Identification Protocols hardwired into the RISCCS operating system that runs most modern Federation-flagged small tactical craft… resulting in a sudden, and relieving, green glow surrounding the blip on the Ranger’s sensors display indicating a friendly craft.

The IFF code on Carnegie’s display immediately read:

Designation: Marine Assault Alpha Two-Eight-Nine
Class: Templar-Class Heavy Fighter
Pilot of Register: Captain Malcolm Edward Dawkins, Senior Marine Aerospace Aviator - Starfleet Marine Corps

A direct message appeared on Eleanor’s screen:

Didn’t mean to spook ya! Nice TVR… have to show me how you did that! See ya tonight - Astro

Dawkins