Ming was reviewing some of the reports from the past few weeks.  While Captain Talon was less than pleased with the reports from the ground action against the mirror universe counterparts.   He wasn’t thrilled either to be honest.  One ship grounded planet side, another that had to return to Denver due to battle damage and minor to moderate damage to the remaining three.  

Battle damage was to be expected in any action.  He learned that in the opening actions of the war.  The fact they were facing off versus their own counterparts.  He knew for a fact the fighters were commanded by some opposite counterpart or version of himself.  Not that it was an excuse but it was a good explanation for the tactical results of the fight from the floggers.  Their equipment was crap but some if not many of the tactics seemed very similar to what he might’ve done with what they had.     

He, and his pilots, had been cleared.  There’d been some comments about his XO however.  Ensign Esessa Sh’ivhohlol was the sole member of the squadron to lose her craft…all but anyhow.  It was unflyable and required extensive repairs.  Enough that it was repairable it was questionable IF it would be ready for Denver’s next deployment which, as he understood it, was going to require every ship and every person.  He didn’t want any negative reflection on Sh’iv as she was a top notch pilot and a member of HIS team.   The more he had thought about it the more the concern grew. 

By the time the chronometer struck 12 noon Ming decided that another conversation was needed.  If for no other reason that the flight was still down two ships.  Shi’vs which was still on Earth and Günter’s which had somehow taken major damage on his starboard wing and his portside engine yet still made it home.  Ming was impressed with that feat all by itself.   

Ming tapped his combadge and said, “Lieutenant Ming to Captain Rebecca Talon….Do you have a moment?  Squadron business if you can manage to make the time.”

“I am in my ready room,” The captain’s voice came over the speaker.  “I’m free-ish for the next hour or so.” 

“Understood. On my way, Captain,” Marcus replied.  

The lieutenant closed the channel and secured his stations as he normally did since he took command of Bravo Flight.   Once done he made his way to the Captain’s ready room at a better than fair clip that was just short of a jog.  He was aiming to be all business at least for starters.   He did make a point to slow down and acknowledge those he passed regardless of rank as he often did.  

When Ming exited the turbolift onto bridge he paused to look around.  It was slow, as expected, given the circumstances.  He took a moment to admire the view while he could before heading for the ready room.  Once he got to the doors of his destination he paused to activate the door chime since he didn’t want to risk barging into anything important that might’ve struck up in the few minutes between last contact and now.   

“Enter.”

Lieutenant Ming entered the ready room and moved to stand at attention in front of the captain’s desk before saying, “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Captain.” 

“At ease Mr. Ming, before you strain something and you need to visit sickbay.”

“Aye, Captain,” Marcus said with a slight smile as he shifted to parade rest obviously relaxing his demeanor some.  While he was here on official business he didn’t want anyone, let alone the commander of the starship he was assigned to, accusing him of being unnecessarily stiff manored.  

“Can I get you anything? I stockpiled up on coffee beans while we were on Earth.  Replicated will do in a pinch, but there’s just something about grinding real own beans and brewing it.” Rebecca refreshed her coffee cup from the pot at the edge of her desk. “USS Denver NCC-72016” was displayed prominently in blue when she took a sip. The image of the Starfleet combadge partially obscured by her manicured fingers.

The pilot gave her offer obvious thought for a heartbeat or so.  He gave the captain a slight, albeit sincere, smile as he said, “Thank you captain but I’ll pass.  Never been the biggest fan of coffee actually….even the good stuff.  I do appreciate the offer however.”

“So, what brings you in here today with your hair on fire?” She said finally getting to the point. The speed at which he arrived and the slight sheen of sweat on his brow indicated he had just rushed to get there.

Ming nodded and started , “As you know the events in Montana were quite an adventure.  The flight, as you also know, took a bit of a beating.  I’ve managed to get some information about what was left of the mirror small craft and they were a crazy hodgebodge of tech that apparently worked very well.   It was no small feat for Sh’iv to get her fighter safely on the ground with the damage it took.  Fighter command informed me it’s going to be scrapped for parts and materials mind you.  Erikson’s fighter made it back to Denver with only a bit less damage which garnered some rather impressive displays of Tellarite displays of foul language cursing.  Mr. Tkown and I are, to be blunt, on the crew chief’s shit list while McPherson is getting lots of unkind looks.”   

Marcus paused, shaking his head with bemusement as he did so, “After action reviews have cleared me and the Knights.  It still bugs me however.  I’ve got four damned good pilots and I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have a damned decent idea of what I was doing.  Plus the Peregrine fighters are some damned tough birds.  Despite all that we’re down one fighter, possibly short two with another three needing patch work followed by new paint.” 

“Lieutenant,  in case you didn’t know, my counterpart was from the 2420’s.  That’s forty some years into the future. The fact that you only lost one ship is a testament to your training of the flight. You can relax. No one is blaming you or holding it against you.”

The Knight’s CO nodded and pursed his lips, “I know.  I’ve a good batch of pilots that’s fure sure……and while that was the official outcome it’s nice to hear it again though.”  

The lieutenant sighed, “Add to that I am faced with something of a situation.  Did you, by chance, get to meet a young lady by the name of Órlaith while we were planetside?”

“Who do you think invited her to stay on the Denver?”  Rebecca smirked over her coffee, “When someone turns on their family and saves your life it has a tendency to stick out in your mind.”

Marcus paused for a moment before nodding again.  He said, “Quite.  She’s an impressive young woman to be sure.  She is interested in learning about fighters.  Point in fact she’s asked me to mentor her.  Obviously I am not about to put her in a fighter.  I’m likely to start her on learning flight operations from the ground on up.  Also it’d not hurt for her to get in with the grease monkeys.  Never hurts for a pilot to know about their birds…Especially if they’re in a situation where tinkering is needed.”

He paused and grinned, “Crewman Andrews will keep our new crew member out of trouble when she is doing that.  Point in fact I’m going to be putting Mikaela in for a promotion.  She’s getting to be a major cog on that flightline and has not only taken on more responsability but most everyone on the flightline respects her.  She’s all but taken command of the ordnance section.  With that in mind I aim to make Andrews the official ordnance supervisor.”

“It’s your wing Mr. Ming, handle it as you see fit.”

The man smiled looking a fair deal less formal than before.  He said, “Understood, Captain.  While I am getting settled into the role in most respects there are still one or two I guess I need to continue to work on.  I will submit the appropriate paperwork later this afternoon. It’ll be a morale boost for both Andrews as well as most of the flight line no doubt.  She’s rather popular…Understandable as she works hard, helps whenever she can and can be a charmer the whole time.  I’ve had a few folks mention that her accent is quite endearing.”

The lead Knight sobered a bit before adding, “The fighter situation is a bit of a dampener though.  We’re down one fighter for sure, as mentioned.  Erikson’s fighter….The crew chief was thinking he may not be able to save it putting us another bird short.  He assured me he’ll do all he can with it but it’ll be a lot of work assuming it can be saved.”Ming pursed his lips as he added,  “That’s a 50/50 propisition at best.  That leaves me in the very new situation of having to submit or assist in the submission for one Peregrine replacement for sure with the potential for a second which’d be a first for me.”

“I got something for you. Fleet is looking to to field test the new Valkyrie-class fighters.  There aren’t enough to fill a whole squadron. I volunteered your flight to be one of the handful of units to receive the new fighters.”

The pilot just blinked initially.  After a heartbeat he said a bit on the quite side, “Really?  That’s…..Incredible.  I figured it was beyond hope to test even one out.  A whole flight’s worth though?”

Ming let off a soft whistle then said, “I dunno how you managed it Captain Talon.   We’ll put them through the appropriate paces though.  If they’re as good as some folks at fighter command have said they’ll be a huge asset.  I did have a discussion with the crew chief earlier though thinking through other contingencies though and have a request.  We’ve enough space to comfortably accomidate up to seven fighters.  While I’d envisioned five Peregrines and two of the Sparrows. As the Valkyrie are smaller I’d like to see about holding the two best Peregrine fighters in reserve.”

The pilot continued, “If we could do that I’d prefer it for one big reason. They’re new craft which means, among other things, there are likely to be bugs.  Gods forbid damage is also possible in combat as we were just reminded.  Having alternate craft in case that happens make sense.   An alternate option would be to keep the Peregrine in the best condition, trade off the others, take the Valkyries and add a Sparrow as a second alternate.  There are a few benefits to both scenerios.  I’d spoken to Xellar about the possiblity of a spare Sparrow and a spare Valkyrie based on our conversation a while back out of curiousity as much as hopes.  Based on the dimensions of the classes involved and that information five Valkyries and two Peregrines shouldn’t be a very tight of a fit at all.” 

“Talk to engineering if you need to expand your hanger bays. Not much call for science labs presently.  I expect some backups will come in handy.”

Ming thought for a moment then said, “I might take you up on that.  A little extra room would be useful for storage and repairs.  Not sure we could squeeze in a Sparrow too now that I think on it but I will coordinate with engineering to see what we can arrange….I don’t want to get over ambitious on that front.  I will be saving many of the labs anyway for other uses if we need them.  I might also take over a couple for a pet project I have been considering.  Again, engineering will get the specifications.”Rebecca nodded, “Anything else Lieutenant?”

“Yes, Captain.  That pet project I mentioned….I will be asking engineering to establish feeds from Astrometrics and Navigation to two of the labs which I will be converting with your permission.  As you may or may not know I majored in Astronautics and Astronautical Tactics at the Academy.  My senior thesis covered the effects of space-time and how they could apply to starship / starfighter tactical applications.  With the right data on local space I might be able to verify my suppositions and, if so, it could possibly help out with the upcomming and future missions.  How exactly will depend on a few factors but we need every edge we can get our paws on out there if we can find them,” Ming said thoughtfully. 

 “On a separate, yet related note.  I was part of the teams designing anti-Borg ships following Wolf 359.  My contributions were minor, mostly as one of the construction supervisors on the USS Steamrunner.  I had a concept for a fleet carrier kicking around since my Doctoral thesis at the Academy.   I dusted it off, updated it and submitted it to the ASDB.  Needless to say it was roundly rejected. Starfleet is purely a defensive force.” She snorted at that knowing the ridiculousness of that particular propaganda.   Well with fighters being more commonly used in this war Starfleet is taking a look at the design again.  I have been asked to conduct a feasibility study.” She slid a PADD over to Ming.  “I could use a pilot’s perspective.” 

Ming took the PADD and reviewed the data within.  He zoomed in and then out a few times with the schematics reviewing some of the aspects in finer detail.  He nodded a few times and scrutinzed once or twice.  He looked up and said after a couple of moments, “Overall good design I’d say.  Smart having a fighter bay sperate from the shuttle bays.  The aft egress bay makes sense.  The front ingress is also a very good touch as well.  Makes it easier, especially with larger fighter contingents, for fresh fighter teams to launch while others are able to return.  Nice forethought on that one.”    

Marcus glanced at the pad again and, after another couple of heartbeats, he added with a bit of a grin at the end, “The ship itself seems to be well armed which I am happy to see.  Not that I’d expect less of you.  Insight and forethought definately seem to be things you’re far from lacking.”     

Rebecca smirked,  “You make me out to be some sort of Mary Sue. Trust me Mr. Ming I have my flaws, but when you work on something for twenty some years incorporating years of experience as you go along you tend to work the bugs out.  I don’t expect them to build the thing.   It’s a warship pure and simple,  and you can’t just pass it off as an escort like the Defiant, but then again we are at war.”

Ming had never heard the term “Mary Sue” before but he took her meaning.  He shook his head initially as he said, “No, Captain….I don’t think you’re perfect.  However I will say that I think you’re well versed and good at what you do.  Even in war folks don’t make captain unless something like that is the case.  In peace you’re not getting that far otherwise.  In war…..Well, even the best sometimes don’t get as far as they should.”

For a second Marcus looked rather haunted…A look he’d shown Rebecca before.  As he often did he shook it off within the span of a heartbeat and said, “Yes, it is a warship.  While the future of the Federation should always be peaceful coexistance and exploration it’s shortsighted to think that there won’t be those who seek to eradicate such principles.  The Borg and The Dominion are prime examples which I know you’re aware.  Sometimes even those who love peace need to put on the brass knuckles with intent from time to time or else those people won’t be around anymore.”

He put his hand up to stay any comments quite yet, “I am not going to say we should gear for violence as a matter of course.  While they are allies we are not the Klingon Empire.  I just think we need to be ready to defend our principles while doing our very best to keep them intact.  Semantics maybe but I’m not sure I see another way after Wolf 359 and this damned war.”    

“You know that,  and I know that.  Hell, there are plenty of Admirals like Ross and Dailey that know that as well. Unfortunately for every admiral that knows peace is only obtained by strength there are two or three that came up through the peaceful times.  They are ones that signed off on the Galaxy-class giving us schools and children on starships. I love peace as much as the next woman, but this is a dog eat dog galaxy out here.  There are tyrants who don’t respect talk, and sometimes unfortunately diplomacy at the end of a phaser is needed.  We should always be mindful of our words, and always try those first, but when there is no negotiation do we just roll over?  Do we just let the Borg assimilate Earth?  The Dominion control the Alpha Quadrant?  For too long we spoke softly without the big stick.  It’s past time we picked that big stick up and showed our enemies what they are facing.”

ing nodded saying with an almost preditory tone, “Damned right.   Thanks to my parents I have some connections in Starfleet Command and Starfleet Academy.  A handful of warhawks, a good number of folks with the sense to feel essentially as we do but too many who still have their heads in the sand like those Ostriches on Earth.  I find it….distressing.  I have no love for war.   I like the idea of, for lack of a better term, complacance wiping out the Federation to be less appealing though.”

The lieutnenant sighed sounding more resigned now when he added, “I hope the Valkyries are as amazing they’re hyped to be.  The Sparrow is fast and can maneuver beautifully but doesn’t have much in the way of teeth.  The Peregrines are not as fast or maneuverable as the Sparrow by far however they’re much better so far as armor and armorment.  It’s slightly faster by relative comparison but it’s a bit like the 20th and 21st Century’s A-10 Thunderbolt II.  Nasty, well armed, well armored but not as hot as it could be in the ability to bob and weave.  My hope is the Valkyrie is a good mix.  It is on paper and, in the limited action they’ve seen they show promise.  As the ancent saying goes the proof is in the pudding.” 

She shrugged,  “I’ll have to take your word for it. Is there anything else Mr. Ming?”

Ming smiled sheepishly and said, “Sorry captain.  Got a bit carried away with the shop talk and the rest wasn’t stuff you’re not aware of.  Maybe I can use some of a pep talk for the Knights or something similar. Otherwise….the only other thing I can think of at the moment is one more request.”

“Go ahead,” Rebecca urged.

After a very brief pause he added, “Not that I’d really expect less but when we know as to when the fighters will arrive I ask that Mr. Xellath and I be notified.  I’d like to surprise my pilots last minute and Mr. Xellath, being the crew chief, will be the one organizing the off load of the two worst off Peregrines before on boarding the new fighters and juggling everything involved with and around that.”   

Rebecca consulted her terminal entering commands,  “Looks like the scheduled arrival will be tomorrow at 1300.”

Ming looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. He said, “With your permission I’ll have….I presume Lt. Crawford would be the best person for Chief Xellath to coordiate with for the transfer?”

Rebecca sat back, “Sounds reasonable.”

Marcus nodded, “I’ll tell the Chief if you don’t mind letting Mr. Crawford know. Otherwise I think that’s all I can think of….For the moment anyway.”

She went to her terminal typed out a message and sent it to the operations station. “Done. If there’s nothing else Mr. Ming, you are dismissed.”

Ming nodded, “I’ll head to the flight bay to coordinate with Mr. Xellath.  I appreciate your time, Captain.”

He straightened to attention then nodded and gave the captain a genuine smile.  Marcus added a simple “Thank you” before turning and heading out to the part of the ship that was more his domain than even his quarters.