Battlestar Invictus

Ch VI. Pirate Troubles

The journey towards the first jump point would take a couple of days. From the moment the ship left the system of Port Maw, all the crew saw were readiness drills, combat drills, or any other kind a commanding officer could think up. The crew didn't like it much. The officers on the other hand saw this as a golden opportunity to train the crew a bit more while they were still in relatively safe area.

Not knowing what's ahead, everyone could use all the training they could get. In addition to that, it would keep the crew occupied.

For all his experience, Mercer Trune had to agree with this. Going into combat within possibly two weeks, he had to get the hang of his new kite and fast. From the moment the ship departed Port Maw he had almost non stop briefings and classes on the Viper. Luckily his instructor seemed to be a man who knew what he was talking about.

As promised Mercer met his instructor at his cabin. The man looked as if he was somewhere past his fifties, his eyes looked older though. That he was a long time pilot was clear, but how he had stayed at this position for so long was a mystery to him. "You must be our new pilot! Mercer Trune right?"

"Right you are Mr....."

"Major Irwin Burke, but most call me Bingo. I'm your instructor and CO"

"Interesting name"

"It's just a callsign. You will get one in time. Put your stuff in your cabin if you haven't already and follow me. I'd like to start your training as soon as possible."

"Expecting trouble Major?"

"Word is we're going into battle within two weeks, so yeah you could say that." the old man answered while they both turned and walked the corridors. "Have they showed you your plane yet?"

"No sir, no time yet."

"Than we'll do that first" Major Burke said while ducking through the bulkhead leading to the main hangar deck. The entire deck was in motion. Hangar crews were giving maintenance to the spacecraft while others were preparing the fighters to be moved towards the flight pods. Small carts were driving to and from their respective destinations. And despite the maze of motion, Irwin Burke didn't seem to have any difficulty finding his way without someone driving over his toes.

Somewhere halfway in the middle of the bay stood a few small fighters coloured in white with red-bands. Though he was not familiar with the type, Trune could see that the white vessels were of an older type than the grey and sleeker ones, which were more numerous in the hangar. All were significantly smaller than his trusty old Fury, a mere 9 meters, which gave him serious doubts.

"Is that my plane? Isn't it a bit small"

"Don't let its size fool ya. This ship is fast, very manoeuvrable and has a nasty bite. Armed with two mass drivers and up to 8 missiles, this ship can turn very powerful ships of the line into burning hulks. Once you've flown this bird to its limit you'll see what it can do. You've read the plane's manual and operations?"

"Yes I have."

"Good, get in your flight-suit. You're going up in an hour."

Although the CIC always was a centre of activity, at the moment everything was relatively quiet. The the lower crewmen went on with their tasks while senior staff was monitoring exercises and navigation duties.

All radio traffic of the air-group exercises was routed to the speakers in the room, so all inside could listen in to all the chit-chat which was cast into the void. Some of it was more comedy than anything else. "Sounds like someone is enjoying himself."