Top Gun (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 25 Jan 2019 @ 12:31pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver

2,826 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Holodeck 2
Timeline: MD -58, 1930 hrs

[ON]

With ancient helmet in hand, Lt. Shizn stepped through the doors of the holodeck, instantly feeling what he would call a hot breeze buffeting his white hair about. He felt awkward in the flight suit needed for this mission,but tried to not let that bother him. Before him was a large expanse of open runways and what was most likely empty flat desert beyond that. Standing before them to the left were two metal birds of ancient origin. A kind of thrill filled Tris as his heart began to race, but that may have been just to try to keep him cool under the current situation. He adjusted the controls on his left sleeve for his cool-suit under his flight uniform, which was under the g-suit also required for this event.

Walking at a slow pace many steps behind the Andorian, Lamar Daruis awkwardly made his way to the flight line dressed in all of his historical United States Navy apparel required for the mission. Aside from the standard olive drab G-suit and parachute harness which tightly crunched his balls, he also had to contend with a standard-issue flotation device and several various pockets filled with random primitive instruments that would theoretically help him survive if he was ever shot down over water. All in all, helmet included, he guessed he was rucking an extra fifty pounds of gear with him just to be able to get into the cockpit of one of the beautiful yet archaic beasts.

Oliver Sylver frowned as he walked in, helmet under his arm. He let out a breath, the olive flight suit oddly comfortable for him. The gear he wore reminded him, albeit archaic in comparison, to what he had worn during the war as a Marine fighter pilot. He gave a small smile to the others there, rolling his shoulders for a moment and enjoying the freedom. Even the parachute was something he could live with for some reason. It was nothing compared to how they would be strapped in. "So what are we going to fly?" he asked, interested as he looked around.

At hearing a voice, Tris turned back to see Chief Darius and Chief Sylver standing their in their combat flight uniforms. He pointed across the open flat expanse toward the metal birds, “I believe those are our rides for this little adventure?” He raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

Lamar grinned at both his fellow pilots. "F-14's. Late 20th-century Earth military airplanes with supersonic capability and swept-wing geometry," he recited from memory. It'd taken him weeks to read up on the historical documents, but he was now very familiar with them. "They were interceptors built to launch off sea-ship carriers. The idea was they could shoot down large formations of enemy bombers carrying nuclear payloads."

Azra entered the holodeck at the tail end of Lamar's explanation. She had also studied these airplanes and their history. "Nuclear weapons, one of humanities greatest barbarities," she said with disgust, "not that any world lacks barbaric times and weapons, but you'd think that a species would have some instinct for self-preservation. Not, you know, blow their world into nuclear winter." She also wore the requisite gear, though she had modified her control scheme inside whichever cockpit she entered to be somewhat simpler, much more like a video game than actually flying a jet of this era.

"Hey chief!" The sound of the Cardassian's voice above the decibels of idling engines on the flight line from other aircraft several meters away was a pleasant arrival. "Yeah, before the Third World War, there was this 'cold war' between the United States and the Soviet Empire," he recalled from the texts. "Both factions had enough weapons to destroy the world ten times over. But I think it ended in a stalemate without any shots fired."

Tris listened intently to the banter. The Andorian really didn’t care for any of Earth’s inferior past. He knew they had a few good things and many bad things occur back in the dark ages before meeting the Vulcans. He glanced over at the metal birds intended for them, as well as a few others a short distance away idling loudly. He knew these were quality machines for their era.

Oliver smiled at the words, at the easy banter before he chuckled. "Well, the F-14 looks...nice..." he said and moved forward, unable to stop himself touching the fighter plane.

"Well let's go then," Lamar instructed with a huge grin. It was good to see their approval of the ancient plane. "Me and the L-T can take this bird," he pointed to the one they were standing beneath, "and you two get two-zero-two right there." The digits corresponded to the aircraft number painted on both the nose and tail. "Let's get in, taxi and takeoff. Then we can form up and get to the real fun."

Azra clambered up the ladder to the other plane, taking the rear-most seat. She fastened buckles and tightened straps. She checked the equipment, making sure that the leads were attached into their requisite plugs and took a breath. This was going to be interesting. She lifted the helmet and pulled it down over her head. The sides of her helmet sloped slightly upward to accommodate her hybrid physiology. "These things are certainly cramped," Azra said over the general channel, "even modern fighters have more leg room than this."

Tris climbed into the rear seat of the 01 jet aircraft. He settled himself and secured the harness system about him. The Andorian was then handed a helmet and pleased to find that additional spacing was made in his helmet for his antennae. His was a definate must for an Andorian. His antennae could be laid flat for a time, but it was most uncomfortable and he knew would make him become very irritable very quickly. The helmet was strapped on with face mask dangling for the moment.

Oliver got up and into the pilot seat, shifting to get comfortable. Well. As comfortable as he could. "Could be worse, Ghoc..." he said softly. "A friend of mine did a holodeck simulation in a Spitfire. Apparently he was warming his ears with his knees..." he took a moment and looked over the instruments in front of him. The HUD was easy to spot. He ran his eyes over the rest, mentally ticking them off as what he knew them as.

Lamar went up the ladder to the front of his aircraft and noticed his Andorian RIO settling in nicely. "Yeah, it's a snug fit. Hope you like the helmet," he grinned. Daruis then climbed into the pilot seat and mimicked the rest of his flight team by attaching his O2 tube to the primitive environmental control system and securing his harness.

Tris looked up with a smile and reply, “Most definately.” He then extended both hands up to feel the mounds on the upper portion of his ‘special’ helmet.

"Zero-two, comm check," Darius said into the black oxygen mask dangling from the side of his helmet. "Begin startup." He quickly scanned the cockpit to ensure all switches and knobs were in their correct pre-flight positions then flipped the APU switch to power the craft's internal system. Several seconds passed then a slow, increasing electrical whine sounded while the auxiliary power unit charged up and the aircraft's monochrome green-and-black cockpit displays came to life.

With the initialization of the internal power systems, which allowed for lights, electronics, and communication systems. Tris began his pre-flight checks; confirming that Comm, Avionics, fuel and engine status, in addition the weapon’s loadout and status. He found that all was in proper working order.

"Zero-one, comm check," Sylver said and let out a soft breath. He was all hooked up. Even so, he did a mental check before he did a visual one over the knobs and switches. Everything looked fine. "Here we go..." he said and flipped the APU switch. He watched as the plane came to life, showing the HUD light up.

Azra checked her dashboard. Some of the buttons and switches had a glow that wouldn't have been part of the historical plane. She pressed them in order, and received a prompt in her ear for the right response. She repeated it. "I hope that was right," she said uncertainly over the radio.

Next on the startup list was the engine start which Lamar initiated promptly enough. He rotated the cockpit's engine bleed air knob to the correct position then advanced the right throttle forward from the off to idle position. Hydraulic fluid began to flow through the plane and the giant Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine started to spool up. Within 30 seconds it was rumbling with a puff of black smoke from the injector burn-off. The second engine was brought online in the same manner. Darius could feel his rear end gently shaking in the seat from the idling motion and grinned.

Tris monitored the power levels from both engines and watched the fuel consumption indicator. The F-14 had 15,000 gallons of fuel on board, which should supply a flight time of about ?? minutes. The Andorian expected to feel some electromagnetic flux by the rotating jet engines, but he realized that it was all holographic. This would definately take some concentration on his part, keeping what was actually physically happening and what was going on hologrphically around him.

When the engine started up Azra felt the rumble, then the roar of power behind her. It was absolutely terrifying. The ancient Humans must have been insane to strap themselves to rockets to launch into the air. Come to think of it, she was a bit crazy. Sure, it was only a simulation, but still. "Engines are up. Ready to take off." Her voice shook with nervousness.

Lamar turned on his airplane's external lights with a flick of his left pinky on the throttle switch then rotated the comm knob to the tower frequency. He and his RIO worked in tandem to set up all systems and communicate with the airfield's controllers.

Taking his pilot’s lead, Tris activated the Comm, “Tower this is ‘Tomcat-zero-one requesting taxi clearance for flight.”

A ‘squawk’ sound came back over the Comm followed by, “Tomcat-zero -one and zero-two, taxi-right on 090 to runway Five. Hold for incoming flight.”

Tris said throught the ‘intership’, “This sounds like a very busy simulation.” He then activated the Comm and replied confirmation, “Tower, confirm, taxi-right 090, hold for incoming on runway Five.”

Oliver smiled as he waited. It reminded him of returning fighters to the flight deck, the queuing...waiting. "Taxi-right on 090 to runway five, holding for incoming flight, Tomcat-zero-two," he repeated the instructions back to the tower, keeping a visual of the F14 before him. Same direction, so he was number two in the queue for takeoff. The engine didn't bother him. But it was like being strapped to the front of a missile. The F14 handled differently than he was used to, but he kept slow and steady as he taxied.

Once both clearances were received, Lamar did a final visual sweep of the cockpit then looked out over his shoulder to confirm the proper swept wing position and salute the holographic crew chief. He advanced the dual throttles slowly with his right hand to generate just enough thrust to get the bird rolling. Slow and steady, at the speed of a bicycle, the large silver Tomcat began to roll along its tires from the apron to the taxiway and made a right turn. He steered the plane down the yellow line with his rudder pedals which manipulated the nose-wheel steering hydraulics to point them in the right direction, and when he reached the edge of the runway, he applied pressure on both toe brakes to bring them to a slow stop. "Zero-one holding short," he reported to the tower, now awaiting takeoff clearance.

Tris felt a flutter in his midsection. He thought this was very odd. He had never been prone to being nervous before with any kind of flying. He felt it had to be some kind of subconscious ‘thing’ and dismissed it without saying a word. He once again checked that all avionics and weapon systems. They were ready for flight.

Sylver smiled as he looked ahead, taxing to the runway. "Zero-two holding short," he said and chuckled, turning briefly to glance over at Ghoc, trying to get a glimpse. He turned back to look ahead, keeping an eye out.

Azra kept her nerves in check. She gave a brief thumbs-up when Sylver looked back. It wasn't exactly how she felt, but it was close enough to true.

Tris immediately began to sense something with his antennae before feeling it with his body. The Tomcat about him began to physically shake, but was not moving since taxiing to this position. The sound was almost deafening, and then the Andorian turned his head to see a giant dark bird of steel approach the runway. It made a thundering noise, just prior to its dozens of wheels screech into motion as they touched down. The massive plane had passed by in an instant. The shaking and rumbling quickly diminished. Tris tried to recall which aircraft had just past them. He couldn’t remember if it was C-5 Galaxy or a B-52 Strato-fortress.

Over the Comm they heard, “Tomcat-zero-one, Tomcat-zero-two, proceed to runway five, prep for takeoff, pattern is full and waiting.”

Shizn activated the Comm, “Tower, zero-one and zero-two are proceeding runway five, standing on no delay.” He knew that not everyone understood the ‘jargon’. It all just meant that they needed to move out to the runway and take off quickly. There were many other planes that needed to land and or take-off on that runway

Azra kept an eye on the system readouts before her. They weren't as sophisticated or easy to use as modern readouts, but she could recognize the altimeter, artificial horizon, and a few other dials and gauges. She took a few deep breaths, preparing for the acceleration that was going to be hitting her soon.

Lamar throttled up again and resumed the slow taxi, this time turning onto the active runway. He pressed his feet on the rudder pedals to steer them to the left side of the centerline, then switched set the wingfold switch to AUTO which caused them to spread out in slow-speed launch configuration. When his craft was properly lined up on the runway, he applied the brakes again and throttled down to wait for their wingmen.

Sylver smiled as he taxi on the runway, taking a deeper breath. He applied the breaks and did the prep for takeoff, making sure everything...well. Everything was fine. Flaps. This thing had flaps. Now that was something he loved. Those details.

Darius gave Sylver the thumbs up gesture through the cockpit. "Zero-one, run-up," he called out, now advancing the throttles forward to military power. With his wingman on the right side and slightly behind his own plane, he raised his hand again in an upward chopping motion then slowly descended it down onto the canopy's handlebar. It was the visual signal to begin throttling up, and Lamar's hand hit the bar exactly as his throttles maxed and his feet came off the toe brakes.

Tris had been watching Lamar. When his hand came down, the Andorian was very grateful that the helmet support was behind him as he was physically pressed back into his seat. He had to focus, monitoring the readouts, as the forces pressed upon him limited his motion. The runway and side grass was whizzing past him, that he could see with his peripheral, focusing on the avionics before him.

Oliver had watched carefully even as he was doing his own preparations. He found his heart rate go up and he smiled as he too took his feet off the toe brakes. Formation takeoff was all about the timing. And keeping an awareness of distance. There was no computer reading off to him, just this beautiful machine, his own skills and his Navigator's words. And that in itself was perfect.

As the two aircraft sped down the runway Ghoc felt her heart racing ever faster. Her vision seemed reduced to only the space before her, and the pressure was intense. Then, just as she thought the plane must break apart from the shaking there was a sharp lift, and they were airborne.

It took a few moments for Azra to register the other plane just a few scant meters from the wing. Flying this close without computer guidance was terrifying.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

LTJG Tris Shizn
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Azra Ghoc
Boatswain
USS Galileo-A

CWO2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

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