Class Is In Session

Posted on Mon Feb 4th, 2019 @ 4:11pm by Cadet Freshman Grade Benjamin Hall & Commander Jacob Bannerman & Petty Officer 3rd Class Leo Carpenter & Cadet Freshman Grade Talia Varen & Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot & Cadet Freshman Grade Jace Kaldarren & Cadet Freshman Grade James Corrigan
Edited on on Mon Feb 4th, 2019 @ 4:14pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Shuttle Hangar/Space
Timeline: 2388/08/28 0800 (Thurs. August 28 2388 8:00am)

"He uh....really will be here any second." Leo looked at the assembled cadets, feeling almost responsible for the fact that Bannerman wasn't there. Looking around at the spot where his fighter normally rested, he sighed and shook his head. He was a technician for goodness sake, it wasn't his job to babysit cadets.

Kelly stood in the front row with a PADD in her hand with the orders on it to be there, perfectly centered, and any other required items that the memo had told her she would need for class. She had spent a half an hour making sure that her flight suit was immaculate and her shoes were perfectly shined. Not a single hair was out of place and she wore the bare minimum of make-up; perhaps enough to accent her eyes and cheekbones, but that was all. She wondered how the Commander would be in a professional environment after having seen him in a personal one and really hoped it would be like night and day.

Braden had checked the list three times and was sure he had everything requested in the memo. He was not overly happy to begin classes in the hangar? That suggested one thing and when he saw the fighter was missing he was positive. Some childish display of 'I know everything'. Braden had hoped for a decent instructor, if first impressions meant anything, this was going to be a miserable experience. Braden picked a spot so wind and noise would not be extreme when the Instructor landed.

Minutes ticked by until finally the fighter returned and gracefully set down in its parking spot. Once the engines were shut off, the hatch opened up and Bannerman, wearing his flight suit hopped out in one fluid movement, landing on the floor with confidence. Looking up he sauntered over to the group and grinned. "Ah...Leo's been looking after you I see." he looked at the shuttle tech and asked "Teach them anything good?"

"Just how to turn up on time." Leo shot back in no mood for Jake's comments.

Raising an eyebrow at Leo, he asked "Is the runabout ready?"

"Willing and able." Leo nodded before adding "I'll leave you all to it." then stalked off.

"Right then kiddiwinks." Jake turned his attention to the cadets, "You may have met me before at that god awful intro class, but I don't know you so why don't we start with some introductions and information on what you can do already." he pointed to Braden and said "You."

Braden came to attention as he had been taught when speaking to a superior officer. The landing had been graceful, so first impressions were not as expected. "I have had a pilot's license for a little over two years. I worked in my Dad's shop working on shuttles just about since I could walk. My Dad felt you had to know how everything worked in order to get the most out of it and still be safe." He made eye contact his eyes confident but not cocky, "I came here to become a fighter pilot Sir." Braden stepped to parade rest once he finished speaking.

"I can work with that." Jake nodded before pointing at Kelly, "You." He had met her before of course but the rest of the class hadn't and true to Mack's request, he wasn't treating her any differently than any of the others.

Kelly came to attention and looked at the Flight Instructor; he was dressed in a flight suit just as she and the rest of them were. "I've never flown before, Commander, but I learn exceedingly quickly and I never forget something that I learn. I fully plan to learn all that you have to offer, and to exceed that to become a pilot that you can be proud of, Sir."

"And any idea what you wanna fly? Starship? Fighter?" Jake asked having already gleaned that information from Braden.

"I want to fly starships," Kelly said. "Specifically, my ultimate goal is to be a test pilot for the newest ships that Starfleet has, Commander. I want to be the first person at the Helm and see what they're capable of in the way of flight performance before anyone else."

"Ambitious." Jake nodded, "I can work with that too." then he targeted Liam and said "You. And pu-lease tell me something that'll impress me for once." He glared at the youth with steely eyes.

Liam glared right back and shrugged "I dunno...the girls like a pilot right?" Then he grinned cheekily.

"Okay...so we know who out of us is gonna get into an accident and die quickly then don't we?" Jake shook his head in disapproval deciding not to give Liam any more time, at least for now. Turning to James he said "You."

James had stood silently, tensely, listening to the others. He was glad of one thing as Bannerman pointed him out; he was neither the first nor the last in the class. He snapped to attention and held Bannerman's eyes even though inside, he was twitchy as hell. "I used to fly the supply shuttles at the colony when I got the chance. I don't have any formal training though." He hesitated, going to leave it there, but he remembered how the teacher had prodded Kelly for more. "I want to fly the fastest things the fleet has, Sir, be they starship or smaller."

"Speed freak." Jake grinned, "I can work with that too." he commented before talking to a few more cadets until he came to Ben. "And you?" he gave the youth an opportunity to speak.

Ben already stood at attention. He had been watching the man, studying him intently. "Cadet Freshman Grade Ben Hall, Sir. I have no pilot experience to speak of."

"Well beggars can't be choosers." Jake shrugged and then smiled as he added "Don't worry, we'll soon whip you into shape." he turned his gaze to Talia and gestured to her to speak as he said "Impress me."

Ben's eyes followed him rather intensely. He didn't care for the Commander's choice of words.

Talia tried not to respond to the blatant challenge in the man's voice, after all he was a teacher. Forcing her voice into the impassive tone that her mother always took when someone was excessively emotional she answered "I do not wish to fly. However, as I need this for Command I will learn to do so. "

"Oooo wrong answer." Jake winked at Talia, "Then I guess I'll have to change your mind on that then won't I?"

"You are more than welcome to try, sir." A smile tugged the left side of her mouth upwards slightly before she dropped her gaze back to the ground.

"I like a challenge." Jake grinned before finally turning to Jace and saying "Looks like you're the last one."

Jace nodded and although he was a little nervous, and would never admit it, he spoke with confidence. "As flight is technically a part of the Command Division, I plan on learning all I can, Sir."

"Enthusiasm...I like it." Jake smiled before looking at the group as a whole and asking "Right then...does anyone have any questions before we begin?"

James had many questions, but he had learned some time ago to stand quietly and listen, that he could learn more that way. The others might ask some of his questions, and others might be answered as the instructor continued. And any that were left over after those two things he would ask. For now, though, he shook his head and waited silently.

"Yes, Commander," Kelly said. "How long until we get to go up in a shuttle?"

"Right now." Jake replied, "I'm taking you up in a runabout...I'm flying but once we're up there we'll run a quiz, and the winner gets to fly her though we're going to avoid take off and landing for now until you've all spent time in the simulators." he looked around at them for a reaction.

Braden simply nodded and started walking toward the prepped Danube with every intention of boarding and taking a seat.

James couldn't help but to smile. He did not mind at all that the instructor wouldn't let him take off or land yet; flying was the point, after all. He did wonder if he would pass whatever quiz the instructor had planned. But there was no way to know until it came, so he tried to push the doubt aside and focus on the thought of flying only. It was likely a much better fly than the cargo shuttles he'd flown at the colony.

He saw the other student walk off and frowned slightly. The instructor had not dismissed them or given them instructions to move, so he stayed where he was and waited, watching for the order. Getting into trouble on the first day of the class was not his idea of a good start.

A thrill shot through Kelly at the prospect of getting a chance to fly a shuttle. She had spent a lot of time studying about flying, but to actually fly...her mind drifted for a moment before she snapped out of it and looked up. She couldn't afford to daydream and she began an earnest review of everything she knew while keeping her ears open for any instructions the Commander might give them.

Seeing Braden walk off, Jake reached out and picked up a dirty rag off the top of a nearby crate and screwed it up before launching it at Braden, hitting him neatly on the back of the head as he barked "Did I miss myself dismissing you cadet?"

Braden picked up the rag slowly and unknotted it. He returned it to the shelf. Then he rejoined the group giving Jake a cold look of disgust. There had to be more then one flight instructor in this place and he had no intentions of spending four years with this child.

Catching the look, Jake scowled before turning to the group en masse and saying "Right then...shall we go?" And with that he turned on his heel and headed for the runabout, eager to show them what you could do with the craft once you had the skills.

Braden followed directly behind the Instructor to the Danube and took a seat near the middle as was his way. He buckled in as he pretty much figured this was going to be a ride.

Watching the byplay between Bannerman and Braden, James found himself secretly wondering what the other student's damage was. He was acting like some spoiled brat-child, doing what he wanted then scowling at the instructor when he got caught and corrected. Granted, throwing a dirty towel at the student's head was likely not at the top of the How To Train Your Cadet Manual's list of preferred methods of reprimand, but Braden should have waited to be dismissed.

Well, whatever Braden's problem was, it wasn't James's problem or his business, so he mentally shrugged and followed Bannerman as instructed. Shall we go wasn't standard protocol, as James understood it, for dismissing a group, but Bannerman didn't really seem to be all that 'standard'. Maybe that was a good thing, though.

Kelly blinked at the Commander's reaction to the cadet who had walked off. She had expected Shock and Awe from the arrogant Flight instructor instead of a rag being thrown. Perhaps he's only all bark and no bite except where women are concerned, she thought as she headed for the runabout. Once inside, she took a window seat as far as she could from the cadet who had gotten off and waited for the others to board.

Having followed Bannerman onto the runabout, James glanced around. Spotting Kelly, he approached and took the seat next to hers. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked quietly before actually sitting though.

"Not at all," Kelly replied in a whisper to James, too low to be heard by anyone but him. "I'd rather you sit here than some insolent twit."

Braden looked around at the other Cadets and shrugged, he leaned back and closed his eyes, this was going to be an interesting flight.

James smiled at Kelly and sat in the chair beside hers. He lowered his voice to a whisper as well. "Thanks. You excited?" he asked, referring to the flying. He was ignoring Braden's arrogant behavior.

"Very," Kelly said. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

James grinned. "Me too. I bet it flies a lot better than the cargo shuttles I sometimes got to fly back home!"

As the cadets took their positions, Jake sat in the pilots seat and began the preflight checks, smiling at the excited mumbles he was hearing behind him. Once they were all seated he closed the hatch and fired up the engines, "Okay, first quiz, can any of you tell me what preflight checks we perform before take off? Winner gets to sit up front with me whilst we take off."

When Bannerman had entered and seated himself, James had stopped talking to watch him run the pre-flights. "Technically, that's a trick question, sir." James offered. "All systems are given a check before leaving the bay." At least that was what he had been taught to do with the shuttles. He hoped he hadn't just made an idiot out of himself though.

"Power the runabout on first," Kelly said. "After that, perform a pre-flight check on the engines, navigation, sensors, weapons, and subsystems to make sure all are operational, Sir."

Braden was not going to say anything but he felt the need to show off. In a respectful tone but not opening his eyes. "Perform a visual and hands on check around the outside of the craft to ensure there are no hazards to craft or the bay. Make sure all panels are secured and maneuvering thrusters are clear. Once inside check the last maintenance sign off to ensure the craft is listed space-worthy. Although that sign-off may be at the entrance of the craft depending on the Deck-Bosses preference. Perform visual and physical checks on all instruments and the plug in joystick if being used. Once all systems are checked request permission from the deck-flight control to power up. Braden continued quoting the manual verbatim in many places. Ending with "move to the designated position and await tower clearance to launch." He stopped then added "Sir." To finish up. This was what he had lived for since he was twelve and there was nothing in the manual he had not all but memorized.

"Sir," Jace then spoke up, feeling the need to point out, "Considering he's had a pilot license for two years, should he even be allowed to take part in this quiz?"

Braden opened his eyes to see who spoke and nodded. "Good point Cadet Kaldarren. If declared the most correct answer I would deferr the honor to Cadet Khan as I think she wants to be there." Being next to the pilot was no big deal as far as Braden was concerned.

Jace had sensed Braden's arrogance, but he could also sense he was being honest in regards to this too. Although it hadn't mattered to him if it was Kelly or James who sat up there with Bannerman, he nodded back an Okay, cool and looked to the Commander for his decision.

"Good point indeed Kaldarren." Jake swivelled in his seat to look at them all, "Alright Khan, get up here." he pointed to Kelly before swinging back around to face front.

Kelly nearly squeaked when Commander Bannerman selected her, but she gave a quick look at Cadet MacCloud that passed quickly. Moving past James, she went and sat down in the seat next to the Commander, her brown eyes looking over all the sensors. "Thank you, Commander," she said, looking over at him before looking forward again. One of these days, I'll be flying runabouts like this and much more she thought to herself.

"You're welcome." Jake nodded, tapping a few more buttons before gently and expertly taking off and slowly moving for the hangar doors. "I forgot to mention before we took off...do any of you get travel sick?" he called over his shoulder as the craft exited into open air and he accelerated quickly up, intent on showing them just what the runabout was capable of with the right training at the 'wheel'.

Kelly watched the Flight Instructors fingers as they moved over the buttons, marking which ones were which mentally. Her brown eyes opened wide as they lifted off quicker than she expected, then a thrill went through her. This is what she planned to make out of her career and more; to see what limits could be pushed and exceeded and to do things that few people thought of!

Looking sideways at Kelly, Jake grinned and said "You're passionate about this aren't you?" He recognised the look, the hunger to want to do something and he suddenly gained a lot more respect for the girl.

"I am, Sir," Kelly said without looking at him, thinking of what Doctor Dering had told her earlier that morning, but her words were still a bit cold and professional. "When told you that I planned on being the best pilot in Starfleet after the swearing in ceremony, I meant it. If that means you have to live up to what you said after I said that, so be it. Sir."

"What'd I say?" Jake asked with a frown. He said a lot of things and most of them didn't stick around for long.

"To quote you, you said ' the only way that's gonna happen is when you're firing my cold dead body into space in a torpedo casing'," Kelly reminded him. "Sir."

Jake chuckled and said "Guess I'd better watch my back from now on then huh?"

"I don't see anything to laugh about, Sir." Kelly replied as she turned away from him and looked out the window of the runabout, watching the world below.

"Is that a threat cadet?" Jake asked, glancing sideways at Kelly, "Because you really, really don't want to threaten me." he added, lowering his voice so that the others wouldn't hear. However, before she could answer, he added "Grab the controls, we're out of orbit so I don't think you can screw up too royally."

"Not at all, Commander," Butthole Kelly thought as she took the controls, having taken the time to familiarize herself with them. "I am inspired by your confidence in me, Sir."

"You should be." Jake replied as he stood up and stretched, "You've got what it takes Khan. I can see that already. You have a hunger in you that a lot of the others I've met don't." he placed a hand on her shoulder and added "I know you don't like me and I can live with that...just don't prove me wrong okay?"

Kelly snorted. "I'm not here to like or dislike anyone, Commander. I'm here to learn. Permission to do maneuvers, Sir."

"How about we walk before we can run." Jake replied, "You gotta learn to fly first before you start thinking about defeating an enemy." he chuckled, looking over her shoulder to see how she was doing.

"Yes, Sir," Kelly replied, her fingers moving over the console, verifying the course and speed. Her eyes went over the readouts and she looked up once at the vista spread out in orbit above the planet. It was stunning and she had to tear her eyes away from the scenery and pay attention to the instruments once more. "Course and speed are maintained, Commander."

Talia, having heard every word of the conversation between the Commander and the Cadet murmured quietly to the cadet next to her "It is so interesting to watch social interactions, I have never seen a 'pissing match' before today."

Ben had leaned forward to take in as much as he could. His eyes going over to Talia, his eyebrows came together as he took what Talia said literally.

Unaware of Talia's comment, Jake said to Kelly "Considering you haven't done this before today, you're not doing bad kid." he looked impressed before turning to the others and saying "Today's flight is simply to give you all a taste for what it's like to fly so how about you all get a taste of things to come and show me what you've got before we hit the classroom for a few weeks?"

"Thank you, Commander," Kelly said, even though she hadn't done anything other than make sure that his course and speed stayed as he had put it. For all that she sat there at the Helm, the computer could have kept his preset commands without her presence.

A male Andorian looked up. "Would it be possible to see what kind of maneuvers the Danube class is capable of, Commander?"

"Sure." Jake nodded as he tapped Kelly's shoulder, "Looks like that's your lot for today young lady."

"My lot, Sir?" Kelly asked, looking up at him. "What happened to learning to walk before running?"

"Yeah well right now you're stopping walking altogether." Jake replied as he added "Now scoot and I'll show you all what this baby can do and give you a taster for what you'll all be capable of by the time you graduate off this rock." he added as he sat back down in his seat.

Getting up, Kelly moved to the copilot position. "Aye, Sir."

Once Kelly was settled, Jake said "Right then, prepare to be amazed by what this baby can do." And with that he began to show them with the right training just what they might be capable of in a few years time.


~End


Cadet Kelly Khan
Flight
Magellan Campus

&

Commander Jake Bannerman
Chief Flight Instructor
Magellan Campus

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Cadet Benjamin Hall
Flight
Magellan Campus

&

Cadet Jace Kaldarren
Command/Strat Ops
Magellan Campus

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Cadet Freshman Grade Braden MacCloud
Flight cadet
SF: Magellan Campus

&

James Corrigan
Starfleet Cadet
Engineering and Flight Control

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Cadet Freshman Grade Talia Varen
Cadet
Magellan Academy

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Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot
Cadet
Magellan Academy

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PO3 Leo Carpenter
Flightcraft Technician
Magellan Campus