It was nicknamed Godzilla, a gigantic transport and resupply ship, and it lived up to it’s moniker. It’s real name was Halcyon, but not even the crew called it that. Sixty-two decks high and crewed by over a thousand, the massive transport dropped out of warp at the designated coordinates for approach to their cargo’s new home: the USS Chimera, one of the premier carriers of the Fleet. The Commanding Officer of the Godzilla, a lithe woman wearing the red uniform of Star Fleet Command officers, tapped the arm of her center seat and said into the comms =/\= Chimera, this is Star Fleet Logistics and Transport vessel Godzilla. Please confirm arrival and readiness for small craft launch. =/\= As she waited for a response, she tapped a few more commands.

In the cockpits of the Templar Class Marine Fighters attached magnetically to the outer hull, the lights went red and an automated voice said =/\= Warp jump complete. Prepare for deployment. =/\=

In the his own cockpit, Lieutenant Colonel Krin (call sign ‘Hannibal’) Lardel awoke and yawned with no sense of surprise. The Marine could sleep anywhere, but he felt most comfortable inside a cockpit. They had been at warp on the Godzilla for thirty-six hours. Well, thirty-six since he had ordered all Marine Aviators to their respective craft. In a normal star ship, that time wasn’t even noticeable. In the cramped confines and perfect darkness of a powered down Templar fighter? Only a few could manage that. The assault shuttle crews had it a bit easier, what with having windows and a space to stretch out in, but the fighter jocks were left in complete darkness more akin to a coffin than an starship. And Hannibal, the Commanding Officer of Marine Flight Group Two-One-Four, had hand-selected only those who had passed what many called an overly-rigorous selection process specifically for this kind of situation… with help from a small cadre of pilots he affectionately called his ‘A-Team’.

Powering up all systems, he checked the three dimensional display and then keyed his comms. =/\= All right, Two-One-Four. Wakey-wakey. Systems checks and power up. All Squadrons report in. =/\= and he waited to her from the flight team leaders that all was set.

When his trusted Squadron Leaders had checked in, Hannibal grinned to himself. =/\= Confirmed. Wait launch on my mark. =/\= and he opened channels to the Godzilla and the Group as a whole. =/\= Marine Flight Group to Godzilla. All squadrons ready for deployment. Confirm launch trajectories clear of traffic and all systems green. =/\= There was short pause and the Godzilla’s Captain’s voice came through. =/\= Marine Flight Group, this is the ‘Zilla. All space clear and trajectories synchronized. You are green for launch on your mark. Welcome to your new home, Black Sheep. =/\= Lardel grinned at the use of the nickname for the Group, but his voice came back flat and professional, as was typical for the Zakdorn pilot. =/\= Roger. Two-One-Four, release maglocks and engage impulse on my mark. Three… Two… One… Mark. =/\= and he brushed the controls for both the release of the magnetic locks that held his fighter to the exterior of the transport and took his engines to fifty-five percent. The inertial dampeners kept him from feeling much of the inertia from the ship moving, but his years in the cockpit told him that everything felt fine.

From the outside of the supply ship, the scene was stunning. As the forty five Templar class fighters simultaneously detached from the exterior of the Godzilla like pollen being blown from a gigantic dandelion; the main cargo bay opened and spewed out dozens of assault shuttles, repair runabouts, and troop transport ships. It looked like chaos, all those ships flying on what seemed like intersecting and conflicting trajectories, but then…

=/\= Two-One-Four…=/\= came the Air Group’s CO’s voice over the comms. =/\= … commence arrival and retrieval operations. =/\= As if it had been practiced for years, even though it was only two months, all almost one hundred ships maneuvered into a cohesive formation directly in front of the massive transport. At the core of the formation, four Search and Rescue ships, bright white and identified by the large red cross on each. Surrounding them, forty troop transport shuttles, each with a full fighter escort. Directly at the front of the formation, three more Templar fighters, each painted slightly different than the rest. And in front of them, a single jet-black fighter with a bright red stripe down the port side running from the fore to the aft of the fighter and up it’s tail. All ships continued to approach the Chimera slowly, the intervals between them never fluctuating.

All the ships had the Flight Group 214 crest on the side; a circle of small, light blue stars bisected diagonally from top right to bottom left by a thick, black line. The stars on the top left were replaced by the profile of a black Earth ram, horns curved back on the side of it’s head and a look of sheer malice on it’s face. At the top, above the circle of stars and mascot, was the front view of the very fighter this Group was now flying: the cutting-edge Templar Class Fighter, looking as if it were coming straight off of the ship it was painted on.

Seeing on his tactical display that all ships were in position, Lt. Col. Lardel keyed his comms and hailed the Chimera. =/\= USS Chimera. Marine Flight Group Two-One-Four, Commander Air Group Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Krin Lardel requesting permission to dock and begin operational build-up and preparation for deployment aboard USS Chimera. =/\=

Lt. Col. Lardel, CAG