Faulty Little Birds, Part IV

Posted on Fri Sep 15th, 2023 @ 8:03pm by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Commander Jason Elliot
Edited on on Fri Sep 15th, 2023 @ 8:05pm

1,037 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Campor III - Romulan Settlement, Duveek
Timeline: Following Part III

=/\= On =/\=

Paisley looked sideways at Jason. What the heck? "What is that, a Campor III Tourist guide?" She asked. "But that's cool. What else are we looking for? Anything like an Earth butterfly?!" She asked. Paisley herself had seen a few plants that reminded her of Bajoran lilies, the same color of buttercup yellow, too, but variegated with tints of orange and red. Like a sunset. She really wanted to pick one but she knew it was rude to do so. Plus, she didn't want to mess up science's work.

"My dad helped catalog the local wildlife, this is one of his journals." Jason said.

Paisley smiled. "That's neat," she said, quietly.

Kekana spoke, "We actually do have a few species of pollinators. If you look close enough, you might spot one. The ones in this area are less than an inch long, but have colorful patterns."

One would have to squint, or approach a flower to get a better look at the tiny insects which buzzed around the numerous flower petals. One insect had eight fluffy wings, branching off in long sets of twos. The diminutive creatures flew slowly, elegant purple and orange wings trailing their teeny flights.

Paisley paused, stopping by a particular mass of the lily-like flowers, and looked carefully. She hadn't spotted her creature, but she'd keep looking. Truthfully, the Engineer was getting a little antsy. She wasn't much for thiskind of work. She wanted to get her hands in the mess, get dirty.

As the group continued, the path met a wide, shallow creek and curved to run alongside it. The brief walk from the housing to the airfield took approximately twenty-two minutes.

A set of hangars sat alongside a fairly basic looking tower and a long, two story building. Occasional Romulans moved to and from the complex as the morning "sun" sat a little higher. Pilots could be seen gathered around the shape of four fighters that sat on tarmac.

"They sure look happy to see us", Ryhl said as they approached. Several of the pilots sent looks of disapproval towards the Federation officers. To Columbia crew members, it might seem like each one was being stared down by a different pilot of maintenance Romulan. The gruff, fatigued Romulan with the party smiled for the first time.

Kekana shouted louder than anyone has on the Columbia so far. "ALL of you! Out NOW!" The Romulan fighter staff quickly changed their expressions out of shock or concern, hastily 'beating feet' away from Kekana, their Commander.

Kekana wanted to run these tests with the officers she brought with her. She couldn't control the personalities of these pilots, who grew more and more boorish by the day. Kekana secretly lamented how some Romulans were losing their "civility" while living off-world.

"Now.. Do any of you have piloting experience?" Kekana looked over the group blankly. ''I'd like to run a start up sequence. Your pilot may be interested to hop in and study the controls."

"Yes I've flown many different types of vessels," Kas explained. He moved the cockpit and began studying the controls,

"And I will be working with the maintenance staff", said a Romulan who remained, despite Kekana's dismissal. His expression was blank, determined and without judgement. "I am Centurion Laas, Head Engineer here."

Kekana sighed at his arrival.

Paisley almost said something snotty about being more than "maintenance staff," but stopped herself in time, and instead, raised a hand. "Commander Paisley F'rar, chief engineer. This is Commander Razka Kas. He's our CAG (?) We can help get you sorted. See this kit?" She held the giant metal bomb box up. "It's got what you'll need," she said.

Irith looked over the kit as Laas began opening several panels along the rear of the starfighter, wings stretching as far as 6.4 meters away from the tail,

"Prepare yourselves", Centurious Laas said in a somewhat hostile, aggressive voice.

"Th'Kaasnik, F'Rar. Be sure to prepare a detailed report on your findings", Ryhl said in a somewhat perky and excited tone. The entire time, the fighter's sleek shape caught his eye. He recognized it as a Snakehead fighter. This was his first look at the nearly boomerang shaped craft.

Paisley nodded at Ryhl, engrossed in exploring the plane from the outside. It was sturdy by appearance's sake, so...then she tapped the outside. Light metal, perhaps similar to stainless steel. Made you light as a feather in the air and combat maneuvers, but was crap for staying alive. She didn't know the exact makeup of the metal, but she'd figure it out with a few quick scans.

The little ships had room for one pilot, textured wings reaching forward like a bird posing mid-flight. It stretched 6.4 meters from wingtip to tail,

"Hello", The Romulan mechanic said warmly. "I am Sujakh. Do you two have experience working on small craft? There seem to be some issues we just can't solve."

Shan nodded. "Commander F'Rar is one of the best engineers in the fleet. I specialize more in computer systems, internal and external sensors, things like that, but we're here as a team."

"Thank you, Shan. Please, show us what we're looking at. Can I see inside?" Paisely asked. She looked to Kas. "Are you familiar with this kind of fighter?" She asked the man.

"I piloted a similar craft in my youth," Kas smiled

"Excellent. What do you think may be going on? I defer to your expertise. I work on walls and shuttles. I don't know much about Romulan tech, except what is in the Database. I did a quick bit of research. I should've brought Sar along, he's my Ensign, but he's Romulan," she said.

"These people have been on the move for a long time, maintenance becomes difficult," Kas explained. "Whenever my people get the opportunity to use a full maintenance facility we go over every centimeter of our vessels. If possible we should give them the means to do the same."

Captain Ryhl th’Zeles
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Commander Paisley F’Rar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Commander Razka Kas
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Shanir Th’kaasnik
Operations Officer
USS Columbia

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