STF

Flight simulators

Posted Sept. 7, 2018, 11:30 a.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Ael Khev (Pilot, Grn Squad) (Sage Pennington)

Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Flight simulators

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Ael Khev (Pilot, Grn Squad) in Flight simulators

Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Flight simulators
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻
SNIP

=^=Show’s over, Green Squad. Well done, boys and girls. Report to the briefing room in 15.=^= Ric ordered the pilots as he flipped switches to shut down the sim fighters. As the cockpits went dark, he left the CIC and made his way to Papa Bear. “You missed out on all the fun, Papa. How’s your head feel?”

“Boshe moi,” came the reply. “Dat vas dirty trick, comrade Ricochet.”

“Well, I just wanyed to see how you guys would react to the screech. Not so well for you. Let’s take a walk to Sickbay, big fella. Chances are you got a concussion.”

Ricochet (CAG)

Jason pulled his titanic frame out of the training cockpit and removed his helmet, running his hands through his light brown hair. “You were easy on the old man,” he commented to Ric, but his tone didn’t reveal whether going easy on Jason was a good idea or a bad idea.

Jason Harn, XO

Ael climbed out of his simulator. As he stood up straight, he stretched his back a little. The simulator seat was not the most comfortable thing in the galaxy. He took off his helmet, took a deep breath, and said “Oh. That was fun. It’s good to be back.”

-Lt.(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

Ric slapped the Romulan on the shoulder. He liked what he had seen from the pilot. “Good to have you on the team, Apex.”

Toro came out of her training cockpit and slipped off her helmet and walked over to the others “Are you okay Commander?” She asked looking at Harn and then looked at Richochet “I’ll have to fly with you more often.” She said.

CIO

“What? Sure,” Jason nodded as he looked at Ael suspiciously.

“You’re always welcome to join us, Toro. If we get short-handed on a mission and the skipper doesn’t need you, I’ll make sure to put in request to have you fly with us.”

Ricochet (CAG)

Xandra slid from the simulator and listened to the others. “We’d certainly love to have you, anytime, Toro. You as well, Sir,” she said and nodded to the XO as well. “You all did good out there. Ric can be quite the whip master on the sims.” She laughed and winked at her CAG.
Nodding to Ric, she smiled. “Take him to medical. I’ll get everything shut down and finished here.” She moved towards the console and the NE sitting there.

Xandra
Pilot

As the pilots walked away, Jason walked over to Toro. “Hey, do you know what part of Vulcan Apex comes from?” he asked her quietly as he glanced around to make sure they weren’t being overheard.

Jason Harn, XO

Ael watched the other pilots leave. He held his helmet in his hands and looked down at it. Then he heard the XO’s question bouncing of the steel walls and floor. He put his helmet on the rack and walked over. “Um. Excuse me, Cmdr. You were asking where I was born? I was born on Romulus, in the capital.”

-Lt(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

The color drained out of Jason’s face and for a moment he was so still he resembled a holodeck character that had been paused. For a brief moment he stared at the Romulan pilot with an intensity that Bela Lugosi would have been proud of. Finally the a semblance of life returned to the commander as his face reddened and he chuckled nervously. “Ruh, ruh, Romulus? There must be an interesting story behind that..” he smiled weakly.

Jason Harn, XO

“Well, the short version is, Hobus supernova destroyed half the Empire, killed my entire family, the Tal’Shiar turned what was left into a police state, they started committing horrifying crimes…” Ael went silent for a second. “I couldn’t take it anymore. The Empire I grew up in was gone. I was Navy. But Infantry had a standing order. Lloi na iurrha. That means ‘kill the weak.’ Among the civilian slaves. This new Empire was made of monsters. So I took a ship and fled. And they chased me. I had a head start. I had the equivalent of Ric’s job. But they figured it out and chased me. All the way to the edge of Federation space. Section 31 had a run at me. Standard Starfleet Intelligence. Immigration. Everybody you can imagine came by to check me out. Eventually Starfleet took me. But I got stuck with Lt.(j.g.) and an ordinary squad member. Because everyone looks at me like they just found a bomb when they find out I’m Romulan. Just like you are now.”

-Lt.(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

Jason had to bite his tongue to avoid saying “Just like you are now SIR.” Apex had opened up to him and right now there was no point discouraging honesty. Besides, while he was training he had relaxed protocol so that he would be less disruptive to the squad and fit in better and changing that right now wouldn’t foster trust in any direction. He had forgotten that Vulcans… correction, Romulans seemed to have extremely good hearing and that there was no such thing as a private conversation while one was in the room.

He had to admit that Ael Khev knew exactly what to say. He implied that he stomached Romulans even less than Jason did, which was always a winner when speaking to a racist grandpa. He even hinted that he had once been a higher ranking officer than he was now, just like Jason had once held the rank of captain in Earth’s Starfleet before his trip to the future forced him to start all over, first as a cadet, and then as an ensign and work his way up the ranks a second time. Just like Jason, Ael couldn’t go home, because home didn’t exist as he had known it. He even mentioned how every kind of intelligence agency had examined him, just like the historical, scientific, and yes even intelligence organizations had when Jason first arrived in the 24th century. Except Mister Khev had it worse. Jason could keep his past a secret as long as the officers with clearance didn’t get too curious, and actually blend in. As for Ael, his squadmates must be wondering if Apex could bring himself to fire on a Romulan target if called to.

Still, the parallels were unsettling. The Romulan was the only one aboard who could match Jason’s height and weight. His actual age was difficult to determine in the life extending 24th century but Jason would be surprised if Ael was in his fifties just like he was. And to top it all off back in his old navy he used to be a fighter pilot. It was as if the Romulans had tailor made Ael to get close to Jason or get under his skin.

Of course, that was simple paranoia. Romulan agents do a better job of blending in when they attempt to pass as Vulcans.

Jason had a choice to respond either as an executive officer or a fellow fighter pilot. Not trusting his racist grandpa instincts, he chose fighter pilot. It was okay to be a prejudiced jerk as a peer, but not as someone in a position of authority.

“Could be worse,” Jason shrugged. “You could be a Jem’Hadar.”

Jason Harn, XO, attempting to fight his racist grandpa instincts

Ael chuckled. “Very true. You’re taking it better than I expected Commander. Most people hear Romulan and run. It’s hard. I’ve been flying longer than most of these kids have been alive. But that’s never what people see. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I wanted to explain it myself. Easier that way. Better than you running across it later and getting scared at all. This way you know I’m just a person.”

-Lt(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

“It’s a brave new world,” Jason smiled thinly. Boy was it ever. The Romulans had been allies in the Dominion War, albeit reluctant ones. The mass assassination of the Senate and the destruction of Romulus revealed that they had bigger problems than the Federation.

But when the Enterprise had visited Romulus over fifteen years ago they discovered that the floor of the senate was a map of the Federation-Romulan border. That meant that their ancient conflict with Earth and her allies that would become the United Federation of Planets was how they defined themselves. Like Jason, they STILL hadn’t gotten over it. Jason could understand why he still thought of the Romulans as the enemy but nearly two and a half centuries had passed. Why hadn’t history marched on? What had made the Romulans so xenophobic that they would still define themselves by their conflict that caused their enemies to let go of their xenophobia and embrace their neighbors? Weren’t the Klingons a bigger threat? Or was the idea of tolerance and the mixing of cultures of different species considered more dangerous a form of conquest than mere subjugation.

“It’s going to be toughest on our generation,” Jason admitted. “It’s never easy being the first at anything.”

Jason Harn, XO

“Right you are sir. I have to confess, being older than everyone here, having been flying longer than most of my squadmates have been alive, it’s strange. On Romulus, being 50 made you a kid. Here I’m supposedly “middle aged.” Whatever that means. But, I’d rather feel old than go back.”

-Lt(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex


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