So This Is Flight, Huh?
Posted on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 10:59pm by Captain James Armstrong & Lieutenant Jaime Mallory & Cadet Freshman Grade Benjamin Hall & Commander Jacob Bannerman & Cadet Freshman Grade Jondar Sito & Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot & Cadet Freshman Grade Gwen Morgan & Cadet Freshman Grade James Corrigan & Cadet Freshman Grade Rachel Gallagher & Cadet Freshman Grade Damian Blake
Edited on on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 11:09pm
Mission:
The First Step...
Location: Lecture Hall
Timeline: 2388/08/27 1300 (August 27 2388 1:00pm)
"Can you believe that we looked like that once?" Jake turned to Jaime after surveying the eager faces in the crowd of cadets before changing his mind and saying "Well..I suspect you looked like that once, I just...well..." he pointed at Liam and added "I kind of had the same expression on my face as him."
After a quick glance at Liam, Jaime turned to look at Jake with a raised brow. "Oh, cluelessly bewildered? I can see it."
"I was thinking more of couldn't care less." Jake replied with a grin.
Without missing a beat, Jaime somehow questioned while managing to sound sincere, "Are you certain it wasn't constipation? Because it does sort of remind me of that face you see children pull, you know..." Then she smiled and shrugged, turning to look back out at the cadets. "Anytime you're ready, Sir, they're all yours."
"Thanks Mallory...you really know how to compliment a guy." Jake shot her a look before standing up and putting his fingers in his mouth before letting out an ear piercing whistle to calm the waiting horde. "Okay, let's all shut up and listen!" he called out to the throng of cadets.
Braden was sitting along the aisle about the middle of the class. He was reading some of the flight class stuff and wondered if this was the right place to be. This was pre-basic stuff. He again wondered if he could take a pre-test and skip this class. The whistle was irritating and when he glanced up he realized it was the class instructor. He had seen him at the banquet and softly groaned inside. Great, He hoped this clown at least knew something worthwhile about being a pilot. Braden had not been talking so he just leaned back in his seat to listen.
Kelly sat in the front row in the middle section with her eyes on Commander Bannerman. This was her first day in class with the man and she wanted to see how he did in a professional environment. Obviously, he was qualified to be an instructor or he wouldn't be here, but his personality was still under review in her mind. Still, she was here to learn all she could about Flight and she didn't care as long as he gave them all lessons that she could absorb.
Damian sat down next to Kelly fully prepared to take notes on everything they'd be hearing, but he had zero interest in Flight. His heart was in Intel, but considering the cadets had to learn the basics of each department, he'd suck it up and go with the flow. Besides... it couldn't possibly take long, could it?
Rachel was sitting next to Kelly in the middle of the front row doing her best to pay attention to Bannerman as well. She'd already screwed up once and she wasn't about to do it again by not paying attention. She'd thought about flight, being that at least one of her brothers was a pilot in Starfleet himself but she was more interested in medicine and becoming a doctor.
James entered quietly and took a seat two down from Kelly. He'd been just a hair too late to get the one next to her, but maybe that was best. Sitting that close might be distracting, and he needed to focus on the class since this was his minor. He did give her a smile though before turning his attention to the front of the class.
"So...flight huh?" Jake began, "I know that many of you in the audience are sat there thinking 'why do I need to know this?' or 'I need to get back to my science experiment or my patient'." he looked around at them all, fascinated by the various looks of interest on their faces or not as the case may be. "Well trust me, you're going to be grateful when your starship just got attacked by the Borg, when the Captain, XO and helmsman were just taken out by the shot that hit the bridge and someone needs to get that bird out of there before the next shot hits the warp core." Then he grinned and added "Not to mention being a pilot is very sexy." he winked at them all. "Anyway, during your time here you will be taught the basics of both starship and shuttle flight. For those of you who aren't taking flight as your primary, I'm not expecting you to be awesome, just competent. For those of you who'll be spending a lot of time with me and the team, I will expect you to be awesome and I will expect you to put in long hours and do me proud." he paused for a moment then asked "Now any questions?"
"Yes, Commander," Kelly spoke up. "What does sexy have to do with being a pilot? A starship or a shuttle doesn't care what the pilot looks like as long as the individual can fly it without error. Even then, there's no attraction between the craft and the pilot on that level, Sir."
"Very funny Khan." Jake replied, recognising Kelly as Mack's cousin, "Considering that joke you made, it's a shame you didn't recognize mine...now are there any real questions about flight?"
"My apologies, Commander," Kelly said. "With the advent of Transwarp and Quantum Slipstream Drive, and yes I'm aware that those involve Engineering more than Flight, where do you see the pilots of the ships of tomorrow standing?"
"It's still flight." Jake replied, "Might be faster but it's still going to take skill, navigation and the like. Besides, the old methods will still be needed, you can't face every situation using those technologies, especially in battle." he explained.
Jondar manfully kept his face blank, this was Gwen's roommate but did laugh about the exchange behind his hand briefly. "This is better than Bajoran Springball." He thought to himself as he watched.
Gwen looked surprised that anyone would talk to a Professor that way.
"Okay, any other questions?" Jake looked out at the sea of faces.
"I have one..." Damian said, clearing his throat. "What happened to land you as an instructor for Starfleet instead of being out there and battling the baddies? I mean... if you're as good as you think you are, wouldn't they want you out there fighting for them instead of being here and teaching us?"
Jake's expression became serious for a moment before he said "I can't tell you that...it's classified. Now any other questions?" he skimmed over it knowing that those comments would cause a buzz amongst the group but what else was he to say? I'm laying low because I used to be a Section 31 agent and there are people out to get me? Not likely.
Canting his head, Damian leaned back, seemingly satisfied with the answer he was given. "Thank you, Commander."
Captain James Armstrong stood just inside the door at the back of the Hall. "Commander Bannerman," he spoke out loudly so all could hear him, "I would like to answer the cadet's question, if I may. Of course, without revealing any of that 'personal' information."
"Knock yourself out Sir." Jake replied secretly annoyed that Armstrong had invaded his class but managing to hide it well.
Damian turned his attention to the Captain, ready to hear what this answer was going to be that wouldn't give away any of the classified information. Perhaps, taking a minor in flight wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Jondar shrugged at his friends, he didn't know what was going on either but it would prove to be interesting he had no doubt.
Gwen was fascinated in trying to 'read the room', she wasn't very good at it yet but the Professor was playing it cool she wasn't sure if he was annoyed at the interruption or not. She watched quietly curious what would happen next even as she made any related notes.
Armstrong nodded back, keeping his eyes on Jake with a look that said that the answer was obvious, "He may not have the patience to answer a question that he may feel as I do, one that should be clear, but...Commander Bannerman is here because he is among the best, and the best is what is required to teach the next generation of future Starfleet pilots."
He then started walking down the steps, looking out among the cadets, "The Academy has a commitment to excellence, a reputation duly earned. In fact, many of the foremost leaders in Federation history have served as faculty members for the Academy, such as Spock, Kirk, and Pike. That was common knowledge for all of you having taken the Academy's entrance exam."
Armstrong stopped walking and paused before continuing, "I'm going to impress one other thing upon all of you. The Academy Superintendent, Doctor McKinney, and the faculties, mainly your instructors, carry the responsibility of ensuring that you, the cadets under their supervision, become the finest officers they can. My warning to all of you is this, 'don't' underestimate the quality of the education that you are about to receive here." He looked back to Jake, "Back to you, Commander", and then at the small auditorium of students, "Let's keep the questions to the topic of this class." then took a seat.
"Thank you Captain." Jake managed to say politely even though he didn't feel remotely polite, "So, anyone else have any questions or shall I run through the ins and outs of what your training will entail?"
"Just one," Kelly said. "What are the requirements for becoming a Helmsman on the bridge of a starship, Commander?"
"Well as you're going to be working on the bridge, in order to serve as a command officer on the bridge you'd need to take the bridge officers test." Jake replied, "I'm sure that you can think of other courses that would help for bridge duty but most of all you need to prove yourself a damn good pilot. Does that answer your question?" he raised an eyebrow at Kelly.
Kelly shook her head, resisting the urge to be a smartass. "No, Commander. Does that mean I'd have to take Command classes as well, and are there pre-requisite courses that I'd have to take for that, too?" She had to wonder if he were actually trained to teach the class and formulate responses that would give a first year cadet who hadn't taken a single course yet an idea of what was required.
It took everything he had for Jake not to roll his eyes at the comment. Didn't she realise that all of the information was accessible in the faculty database or via one of their academic counsellors? Where were all the cool questions? Taking a moment to count to ten, he managed a bright smile and said "Well, being on the bridge would mean that you would need to command the ship at some point most likely so yes, command school would be pretty much a definite. As for other courses that would be useful, you could couple your primary degree with operations or engineering, then there are other courses which complement the flight course itself, combat tactics, gunner training, electronic operations, plus a few specific science courses within astrometrics and astrophysics, physics warp theory, yadda yadda yadda and so on and so on." He eyed Kelly again and asked "Now does that answer your question?"
"Thank you, Commander. Yes, Sir. I already plan on taking Engineering as my secondary," she said. Kelly consulted her PADD and looked up a moment later. "Sir, I don't see the yadda yadda yadda and so on and so on classes. Are they classified?" She waited for the Commander to send her to the Assistant Dean, but she couldn't help it.
Benjamin Hall listened to the interaction, wondering who the little spitfire was and how long it would be before the Commander screamed her name in a fit of rage.
Armstrong sat there quietly off to the side, observing the two. Inwardly only, he couldn't help but smile briefly at Kelly's response to Bannerman. As far as Bannerman...
"Very classified." Jake retorted, "So classified that I didn't see fit to tell a bunch of first year cadets on their first day." he added, refusing to let the little upstart get one up on him. "Now before we go on Mallory is going to go through the deck rules." Looking over at Jaime he stepped aside and said "You're up."
"Yes, Sir," Jaime smiled, looking way too happy. She crossed over to stand in front of the podium, then winked at Kelly before continuing, "Cadets, I am Lieutenant Jaime Mallory. I'm the Campus Flight Deck Supervisor, so you'll be seeing me often during your flight support craft training. I am responsible for the maintenance of the landing areas, the flight department hanger, the training craft, and the shuttles and runabouts assigned to the Academy. Now I consider myself easy to get along with, well, that is unless you have a serious flaw with your personality, that could be a challenge for the both of us, but regardless, I take my job very seriously."
She lifted up the datapad she had been holding, "I have here the Flight Deck Protocols, a set of rules I and the rest of the staff expect to be followed. These apply to ALL personnel
on the flight deck. I'm only going to list the first ten, all at once, to make this as painless as I can. The remainder are with them on your personal datapads."
She started reading the rules off, occasionally looking out among them all as she did:
"One, I am the Boss. All instructions from the Flight Officer are to be obeyed immediately and without question. I don't care what rank is held..." She smiled at that as she thought, Power to the pilot.
"Two," she continued, "during normal operations, all instructions from the Flight Officer on duty are to be followed immediately and without question. Only the Deck Boss, me, can override instructions from the Flight Officer. During emergency situations, all instructions from the Emergency Crew Chief are to be followed without question immediately. The Deck Boss can override instructions from the ECC during emergency situations.
Three, all personnel working the deck will wear either a utility coverall or a flight suit. Pilots will do no maintenance on their craft in flight suits, except for pre-flight checklists.
Four, absolutely no one on deck during scrambles, real or drills, except on-duty pilots and deck crew. If you think you have business on deck during a scramble report to control bay first. No exceptions.
Five, no horseplay on the deck, no loitering on the deck. If you're not working, get out.
Six, no craft will launch or land from the deck without final permission from the Flight Officer.
Seven, no Food or drink on the flight deck. If you're on break, go to the galley for your snack.
Eight, pilots and techs ONLY in the crafts. Guests must have permission of the Captain and Deck Boss before entering or viewing the craft, and must be personally escorted by a pilot at all times while on deck.
Nine, no craft will launch from the deck until a pre-flight checklist is complete. If the Captain declares a flush scramble, abbreviated checklists may be used. Full checklists will be used at all other times.
Ten, no hot landings.." Jaime needed to take in a deep breath as she thought about Jake on that one, "All craft will approach the deck with the engines and primary maneuvering thrusters off. Only landing thrusters will be used for attitude correction. "
She looked out at everyone, "I expect no later then tomorrow morning for each and everyone of you to sign off and forward to me that you read each and every one of these rules. If you do not understand these rules, then do not enter the flight deck. You all scored high enough to be here, so it's as simple as that." Stepping back, she moved aside for Jake, "Back to you, Commander."
"Simple as that. Thank you Lieutenant." Jake echoed, having thought that the woman was never going to stop talking. "Right then, now we get on to the detail so if you're sitting comfortably then I'll begin..."
