"Working on Ikran 1"

Posted on Monday July 6th, 2020 @ 1:01am by Lieutenant Damian Kane

1,169 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Fight Deck
Timeline: Before the Battle Pt. 3

"Ikran 1" need a fine tuning before it went out again and Neteri figured with the lull in ships business, now would be a good time as any to get it done. Donning her tight worksuit, specially made for her with pockets for what she would need, she walked out onto the deck. "Ikran 1" was sitting there beckoning her silently as she walked towards her. "I'm coming my love, mommas is going to give you a tune up", she said as she patted the fuselage lovingly.

At Ikran 1 there was a strange man looking at her. Almost like he was studying her. Like a lab rat. "Ok, That's the manifold inject...no. That's the....Oh crap, I know this. It's the Warp inject.....No." He said sounding more confused then anyone should.

Neteri lifted her head from the air intake duct of the impulse manifold when she heard a strange voice. Seeing a good looking guy standing there arguing with himself she laughed. "Um.....that's the twin air intake nozzle for the impulse drive," she said. "Does that help? Call me Neteri, and this is my baby", she said chuckling.

"Really? well, that settles it. I wouldn't know an air intake duct from the impulse manifold from a self sealing stem bolt. It's official. But, One maneuver I think I could pull off successfully. It's called crashing" He said trying to save face. "Call me Damian." He said smiling.

Neteri started laughing, "Anyone could crash, but the question is can you fly a shuttle? Cause if you can then you can fly a fighter" she added. "Come up here with me, watch your step though, and I will show you the cockpit", Neteri said chuckling.

"Sure." Said Damian. "I'm not a great pilot. I know how. But I'm not very good. And in my line of work, it's not important for me to know." Damian climbed up very carefully. "What does this one do?" He asked pointing at the HUD.

"It tells me if I am flying straight, on target, also allows me to target missiles and phase fire. If you know anything about Earth's history of WWll and the following conflicts, and their aircraft, it is relatively the same idea", she said. Pointing to her joystick, I decided to change the specs for this and went back to the old earth style joystick. It is still computer controlled but it fits my hand more comfortably. Still regulation, you know but easier to handle. Also gave the seat more support and cushion cause the Akira class I was on last used a tube to get us airborne, much like an air craft carrier" Neteri said smiling. "Hey, how would you like to go for a ride in her? I could schedule a training flight if you would like" she added.

"REALLY???" Damian asked excited. "That would be AWESOME. Is there a stick in the back seat as well? Or is that still LACARS displays like with everything else?" He asked.

Neteri was quite astounded at his excitement, "Easy there, big boy, I know excitement and anxious ness when I hear it any you got it bad! I remember when I was asked too. I think I tripped over my own two feet with excitement", she said laughing with Damian. "And no, there is only the LACARS in the second seat, mainly for a gunner or bombardier, if I need one", she replied. "Have you seen the payload this baby carrie's? It is extensive and quite deadly", she added.

"Can I see?" Damian asked. "I got to admit, Deadly payloads are kinda counter productive in my line of work. So, I won't tell if you don't." He said giving Neteri a wink while holding a single finger to his lips signifying SHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Smiling, she led him down from the wing and walked to the front. "Notice anything different?", she asked. Neteri had streamlined her nose of her fighter to create a better warp field as she flew. A little faster in the atmosphere, cutting air currents, and less drag during atmospheric combat. It wasn't much of a modification but you could see it.

"I'm sorry, It just looks like a fighter to me. Guess I need to train my eyes to see such things." He said looking with interest. "But, that small change made THAT much of a difference? Doesn't it mess with other things some how? Like sure, better warp field. But will it hurt her speeds at sub light? " He asked.

"No, that's the beauty of it. There is not that much of a difference to affect sub-light speeds. I took this into account when I made the modification. Went through the simulations a dozen times with flight engineers, and they agreed and we made the changes. All in all, she is a compact deadly little ship, and my lifesaver", Neteri said happily.

"I'm impressed." Damian said. "I mean, warp physics literally boars the HELL out of me. But some of it stuck. I mean, if only through osmosis." He said jokingly. " And with my limited brain capacity for higher mathematics and warp physics, I calculate that I have absolutely NO clue what I'm talking about. Do you concur?" He asked trying to keep up the jovial atmosphere.

Again Neteri laughed as she slapped Damian on the shoulder. "Guess what, you are not alone, neither do I apart from my fighter and her specs. That I memorized long ago. Had to, got my ass stuck planet side with a busted power converter and had to forage for a new one. Found one but had to rework it to fit Ikran. It actually worked and got me home before it gave up on me finally. From then on I learned how to service her myself," she said chuckling.

"Well, give a man a fish." Said Damian. "Teaching a man how to fish stops him from standing on a worf asking people If the got any fish. See, you learned how to fish out of need." Damian said.

"Yeah, absolutely! It was no bargain either. Bloody scrap yard was full of rebels, theifs, and all types of undesirable, that if you weren't looking over your shoulder you were dead. No sir, I wasn't hanging around for, long", she said. Neteri patted her fighter, "She's saved my skin more times than I can remember".

"Well, looks like old friends can take many forms." He said intently.

"Tell you what, let's get a bite to eat and a drink and I'll tell you more about "Ikran 1" while we eat", Neteri said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Said Damian. "Do you prefer the mess hall, or the lounge?"

"Lounge....better selection of grub" Neteri chuckled. Giving her fighter the once over and a well deserved pat on the hull, both of them headed for the lounge laughing and chuckling as Neteri continued to tell her stories to Kane.



Lt. Cmdr. Neteri "Ikran" Shannon
CAG
USS Poseidon

&

Lt. Damian Kane
Ship's Chaplain
USS Poseidon

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