Tactical Matters

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 4:49am by Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Nicholas Boucher & Sue Donym
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:28pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Shuttlebay
Timeline: After Late Comers

Lieutenant Nicholas Boucher ran a tricorder over the conduit and frowned at the reading. He did it one more time, checked the results and slid himself out from under the fighter he'd been scanning. The Bolian Ensign standing nearby offered him a hand up and he grasped it, rising to his feet.

"It was the conduit, like I suspected," Nick stated. "That explains the slight lag in response time. Good catch, Ensign Sirht. I'll flag it to maintenance."

Nick's wingman, Ensign Redran Sirht smiled at the compliment. He had come to Nick after they'd docked with the Pandora, complaining about a lag in the response time of his fighter. That kind of thing could prove fatal in a dogfight, so he'd make sure that maintenance made it a priority to get it fixed. It would be easily done, Nick probably could have taken care of it himself, but he didn't want to step on any toes here on the Pandora.

While the pilots worked, the large shuttlebay door opened with its characteristic whoosh as a man walked in. He wasn't especially tall, and indeed, the human was physically rather unassuming, neither handsome nor unattractive, and certainly not remarkable. The gold undershirt and phaser on his hip marked him as a security officer while the two pips on his collar marked him as a lieutenant, and after looking around the crowded shuttlebay, he approached the Valkyrie fighter where the two pilots were working.

As he approached, however, it became clear that the man wasn't the cheery type. He was stern, his eyes cold and unfriendly, and when he spoke, his voice was almost Vulcan in its stoicism.

"Lieutenant Boucher?" the lieutenant asked, his eyes flicking between the pilots.

Nick turned at the interruption. "That would be me, Lieutenant..?"

"Cailus Griffin, Sec/Tac," Cailus said curtly as he extended a hand to Boucher. "Welcome aboard, gentlemen. I wanted to coordinate with you as soon as possible on ship defence, should you have the time."

"Of course, Lieutenant Griffin," Nick replied. He handed the tricorder to Ensign Sihrt. "Ensign, please provide those readings to maintenance and have them put a priority on it."

The Bolian nodded and headed off to find an engineer. Nick grabbed his uniform jacket from where he'd thrown it over the fighter's nose.

"I don't have an office assigned to me," Nick stated. "Where would you like to chat?"

Cailus considered for a moment, but his eyes were inevitably drawn back to the large fighters that dominated the shuttlebay. "We can always talk here, lieutenant," he said with a ciurious frown as he considered the Valkyrie that the pilots had been working on. The aggressive fighter looked oddly incongruous next to the more sedate Type 8 shuttle beside it, and indeed, the security chief's attention was focused on the craft as he walked around it. "I've never seen a fighter before. These look damned impressive for their size."

Nick smiled. "You should see them in action then. Maneuverable as all hell and they can pack a punch for their size depending on the loadout."

He slapped the side of the fighter. "Valkyries may not be the newest, shiniest fighter in the fleet, but I'd rather these on a deep space mission than the newer Gryphon's or Javelin's. The Valkyrie is smaller, you can fit more of them on a starship, harder to hit and adaptable."

He chuckled. "But I imagine you weren't here for a sales pitch and would rather discuss the specifics of our mission, correct?"

Cailus nodded, his dispassionate eyes glancing at the pilot. "I inferred the basics. Starfleet Intelligence believes that the Alrakis Pact will try to interdict us on our way out of the Expanse, so you're here to augment our defences, which implies that the Tzenkethi and Ravagers are mobilising serious military assets against us. We defeated three Tzenkethi cruisers on our way here, then a Ravager battleship a few months ago at the Salvaxe system, so logically they will have overwhelming force available the third time round."

That said, Cailus sighed as he crossed his arms. "I'll be frank, lieutenant. I have no experience or training in regard to fighter tactics as applied to space combat, so I don't have a damned clue how to integrate you into the Pandora's tactical posture. How are six small fighters, regardless of armament or the skill of their pilots, going to have any effect against heavy combatants?"

This wasn't the first time this situation had ever come up in the history of Starfleet, Nick imagined. The use of fighters had picked up during the Dominion War, but it was still a relatively new tactical consideration considering the entirety of the history of Starfleet.

"Fighters can be used in several ways, lieutenant," Nick began. "First and foremost, the most effective counter to a starfighter is another starfighter. If we run into enemy fighters, regardless of how good your tactical officers are, shipboard computers have a more difficult time tracking enemy fighters than an equally small and fast ship."

He continued. "As far engaging starships, fighters can overload an enemy's shields by attacking from multiple vectors. We can get in close, target hardpoints and important systems."

He shrugged. "And if all else fails and the situation turns dire, fighters can use their speed and maneuverability to draw fire away from the Pandora, allowing you to escape. Fighters can eventually then bug out. We can't outrun ships at warp, but we're faster than most ships at impulse. It's not an ideal situation, but from a coldly dispassionate tactical viewpoint, the Pandora and all of it's crew are worth more than six lives. We know what we signed up for, lieutenant."

Cailus was quiet for a moment before nodding slowly. "Fair enough," he said quietly, looking the taller man in the eye. There was strength in there, a strength born of experience and confidence that could not be discounted. "It'll be good to have you with us out there. Are you familiar with the Luna-class?"

Nick nodded slowly, a bit unsure. He felt that honesty would be the best policy here. "I've read the specifications, sir, but to be honest, this is my first shipboard assignment. I was planetside and an assistant instructor at the Academy before this."

"The specs can be deceptive," Cailus grumbled, scowling. "The shields, phasers and torpedoes are all what you'd expect from a heavy cruiser, but the Pandora is still an explorer, not a combat ship. We just aren't built for heavy combat like other starships, regardless of our apparent armament. There's too little redundancy and too much automation, mainly to make room for our more specialised sensors, labs and recreational facilities. Our phasers will burn out quicker and our torpedo inventory is much less than what I'm comfortable with. Our shields hold up fine against ship-based weaponry of our weight class, but anything larger will hit us hard and cause serious issues. We will take many casualties if we take serious damage, especially to the saucer."

Cailus sighed. "The civilians onboard also include several children, which severely compromises any counterboarding operations since protecting them is a high priority and drains personnel from other duties. Ultimately, Lieutenant, my point is that if and when we get into a fight, your fighters will have to be quick, aggressive and relentless. The longer an engagement continues, the worse off we are."

Nick smiled confidently. "At any given time, you'll have two pilots on standby, able to launch within thirty seconds. The other four can be ready to launch within minutes if we can execute an emergency site-to-site transport."

He waved a hand toward the fighters. "Do these look built to withstand a prolonged engagement either? All of our training and tactics are predicated upon overwhelming and decisively beating an enemy. The right stray phaser shot or torpedo can take one of these out in a heartbeat if the shields are down."

He paused for a moment and then continued. "And if it comes to counterboarding and the fighters aren't needed, I used to be a Marine. Fought in the Dominion War. I've kept up most of my skills from back then, so feel free to call upon me if the need requires."

That sparked Cailus' interest, his eyebrow shooting up. "Duly noted, lieutenant," he said, nodding. "There is a firing range on Deck 17 and you are always welcome to join a CQB session, as is everyone else. Lieutenant Sandoval has been working on improving his old Marine CQB skills as well, as I recall, since coming onboard. It does my people good to train with Marines, retired or current. How did you go from infantry to pilot, anyway? Most Marines I've known couldn't fly an atmo-hopper, never mind a warp fighter."

Nick laughed. "No, I suppose they wouldn't. To be honest, I always wanted to be a pilot. I got a taste for it young and began taking lessons as soon as I was old enough to do so. I applied, and was accept to, the Academy at 18."

His smile vanished, as he continued. "Then the war broke out and well... My reasons for joining the infantry were personal. When the war ended, I went through a rough patch and left the service, but I never lost my love of flying."

He shrugged. "Fast-forward a bunch of years and here we are. I do enjoy the firing range though, so you can be sure I'll find my way down there eventually."

Cailus grunted noncommittally, although there was a degree of approval in how he regarded Nick. "Indeed. I look forward to seeing your scores. In any event-" At that, his combadge chirped, and Cailus tapped it. =/\=Griffin here.=/\=

=/\=Lieutenant, this is Ensign T'Kemi. We have new information on the investigation, sir. I believe that you'll want to see this=/\=

The security chief suddenly become dour, the scowl returning. He briefly locked eyes with Nick, Cailus' eyes deep with concern and deep-seated worries. =/\=Very well, Ensign. I'll meet you on Deck 17 in a few minutes. Griffin out.=/\= He tapped his combadge again to close the channel. "My apologies, lieutenant. Until next time. If you have any questions about the ship or any tactical matters you wish to discuss, feel free to seek me out."

Then Cailus turned on his heel and began to walk out of the shuttlebay, but halfway there, he paused, glancing over his shoulder with a rsardonic, amused look. "And I should advise you now: when Lieutenant Fick asks to fly one of your fighters, just get it over with and say yes. It's damn near impossible to say no to that man when he really cares about something. Have a good day."

Nick watches the Lieutenant leave quizzically. That last bit was somewhat cryptic, but he imagined he'd find out soon enough what it was all about. Damned if he'd let whoever this Lieutenant Fick was fly his fighter though.

He chuckled to himself. He could always pass the buck off to Ensign Sihrt...