And she was off!

Posted on 02 Aug 2025 @ 7:11am by Lieutenant Callisi Veera & Lieutenant JG Zhivise Silatuyok
Edited on on 26 Aug 2025 @ 7:47pm

1,095 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Unity
Location: Mess Hall

The mess was quickly becoming the place for her to get some of her work done, mostly reports, along with working on some projects to help make her department a little bit more efficient, especially when it came to shuttle flights.

"....right, we can do this, just need to remember what I did in those operation classes," Zhiv muttered as she took another sip of coffee, and she got back to working on the database. "Oh, is that the chief operations officer?" Zhiv muttered as she looked up, she stood up, and walked over to the rabbitess.

The name luckily popped into her head as she approached the lieutenant, "lieutenant Veera," Zhiv said with a questioning tone, as she wasn't 100% if she got it right.

Callisi looked up from her noodles and soup, one pristine eye moved to glance up at Zhiv, the other a prosthetic optic hidden behind a simple black eyepatch. Zhiv's pronunciation of her name was close enough. No one ever got it perfect the first time, "Yes? Please, sit," she offered one of the three other chairs at the table.

"Thanks," Zhiv said as she gently set her coffee down, making sure that it didn't spill, and the same with her tablet and a stack of PaDDs. "How are you?"

"Never a dull moment, I believe, is the Terran expression. I trust things are well with you, given your...." She motioned to the PADD pile, "... Collection?"

"Yes, I am very excited, I have enough that I think I can do a test run on the holodek, to see how it works," Zhiv said with a smile. If everything goes well, I am hoping the command will allow me to add it to the helm console, and the shuttles," she said, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Um, how are you doing?" Zhiv asked, sounding a bit wired, but not entirely out of character for her, especially with how much coffee she has consumed.

"At the moment, I'm a little overwhelmed. I think I like the word 'Frazzled' to describe it." She gave a soft smirk. "I just like the way it sounds. Frazled." She paused to return to the here and now of the conversation. "I'm working on converting declassified specs for some fighter units from home, but I'm still waiting on the clearance for the technology differential between my people and the Federation, so until I get that cleared... I have to work up solutions that are just about good enough."

"I've decided to take a break from math and 'good enoughs', to enjoy some soup," she offered, in summary of the day she's had thus far.

Zhiv smiled and nodded. "Are these parts for um, oh, I have forgotten their name," she said, and that statement still felt a little weird coming out of her mouth. "Sorry, for the fighter pilot AI?"

"No." a pause, "These are declassified and shared schematics for a fighter series from my home. The Mark II Blink Fighter." Callisi turned a PADD to show Zhiv. The fighter displayed was not of Federation mindset or design. There were no warp nacelles, no soft edges. What was shown was a weapon given propulsion. Air and space superiority, in form and function. "I hear they're even building them where TWO pilots can operate them now. A pilot, and a gunner." She didn't sound impressed by this. She'd call it a compromise to inflate Ace pilots. "Back home, our air and aerospace supremacy wings don't have dedicated Warp or Dark drives. They're too small. They're deployed with carrier craft, and if the carrier went, well...... our enemies usually didn't leave stragglers," she said, grimly.

"The AI needs something new and unknown to enhance its combat and noncombat potential. It's unimaginative. It lacks..... wonder." Callisi was oddly impersonal about it. "I've taken it upon myself to change that. I would have earned my Red twice over back home. I cannot allow 'good enough' in any ship I serve on that has a wing detachment."

Zhiv nodded, recalling memories of her primary school days, when they studied old-Earth, mainly the 20th and 21st centuries, during which significant changes in flight and naval technology occurred. "That is very similar to that of Earth back in the 20th century," she added as she took another sip of coffee.

"Do your people, or I should say military, rely on fighters, and carriers?" Zhiv asked, knowing that there were those powers out there that did.

"Our greatest enemy uses them to great effect. We adapted our military engagement protocols to counter them effectively. Our allies use drone fighters to counter without the threat of loss of life. We feel it takes out the feel of consequence when you have automatons do your battle for you." A pause, "Though, I also completely understand *why* they do how they do."

"Every one of their craft is a carrier, to some degree. Most of our craft keep a wing handy for local exploration, planetfall, or light engagement and recon. Our light personal craft lacks the range of Federation light craft, though. Local only."

Zhiv listened, understanding what she was saying, "I can't agree more," Zhiv said before clarifying, "...flying something from a distance, or again not having that complete control, or having that sense of loss means you can go to war whenever, and yeah, you lose your humanity," Zhiv finally said.

"A notion that gets truly interesting when you consider that out of all parties, there's only one of us that's 'Human'." Callisi noted with a smirk, "I'm surprised that term wasn't retired once humanity realized they weren't alone in the cosmos, with certainty." A pause, "But, I've long since understood the meaning behind it, and we have a word similar to its meaning, so yes. War becomes mechanical once the personal element is removed. A terrifying notion, and one that we... my people... can confront directly." She shook her head, distracted for a moment.

"But that war is a long, long way away. For now, I can focus on this." She held up a PaDD, "... and helping here as best as I can."

Zhiv was about to say something when she caught the time, "crap, I am sorry, I gotta run, I have the holodeck reserved, but it was great seeing you again," Zhiv said quickly, standing, grabbing her stuff, and rushing off.

Zhiv was already up and gone as Callisi responded to the cloud of proverbial dust that was the helm officer, "Of course... Good catching up." she said, before returning to her task.

 

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