Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

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Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

"And I formally grant unto you the rank of Captain and grant you your first command." Clayton knew just by looking around that this wasn't the norm. He was simply called into An Admiral's office, never even heard of this guy before, and certainly wasn't the head of the Academy he was quickly removed from. Still he took the unceremonious data pad from the Admiral, saluted and turned to leave. "Hold on..." Clayton stopped in his tracks, turned and saluted again. "Sir!"

"At ease, I'm going to speak freely with you for moment." The Admiral stood up and came around his desk. "I Know this is sudden for you, it was for all of us. Many don't like it, but we need to deal with it and soldier on. I'm not happy with your command, and I know your not going to be happy to. I'll do the best I can to help you get through this, but there is only so much I can do." The Admiral reached into his pocket and pulled out a datachip. "This is hopefully all you will need to keep from getting too short a stick. Use it wisely, you out of my hands for now." He handed the datachip to Clayton who took it looking suspicious. The Admiral smiled with pity, "You'll see when you get to your ship. Dismissed."

On his shuttle ride to his ship, he looked over the record on the data pad and did a double take. It said he was in command of the Sea Nymph, an recommissioned MC-80 Cruiser. He looked over more of the records slumping further and further into his seat. Finally he just let the datapad fall to his lap and made the motion of shooting himself in the head. What little hopes and dreams he had romanticized about during training flew out the airlock. He had dreamed of being a Captain of a Defender-Class Destroyer, with how fast REC was pumping those out he had a pretty good chance. But he would have happy for a Assault Cruiser or even a newer frigate of some class... Not some thirty year old converted passenger liner...

"Sir, your ship can be viewed from the port side..." The shuttle pilot pointed out. Clayton sat up and took a look. He was genially surprised with himself, he didn't puke... In fact he kinda liked the lines the ship had. He even thought it was kinda sexy... "What a piece of junk, I hope to have your life insurance forms filled out..." The pilot exclaimed. Clayton gave the pilot a side ways glance, but remembered he didn't even apply for Life Insurance yet! Then he remembered the datachip the Admiral gave him. He plugged it into the datapad and brought up its information.It contained a number of Mon Cal companies that still provide parts and upgrades for older mon cal ships, as well as other companies that aren't affiliated to the Mon Cal. It also had the names of many of the original crew for the Sea Nymph during its days in the Alliance, all Mon calamari. Then the big shocker was access to an account with tens of millions of credits named "Ship funds".

Clayton didn't think for a moment that the Admiral would be so trusting or stupid to place this much credits in his hands with out some sort of fail safe. Not that he would screw himself and his House by just taking the credits and run. He added his own form of security over the Admiral's on the datachip then pocketed it.

As they got closer to the ship he could see work was being down on the outer armor. It looked like maintiance was taking the armor off, reshaping it then putting it back on. The pilot and Clayton looked at each other, "That doesn't bode well for you pal, my sympathies." Clayton shook his head, "Just land already."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Re: Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

There was no grand welcome for Clayton when the shuttle landed. In fact they were largely ignored. The only time they got any attention was when flight control gave them permission to land and where. Clayton was at a loss when he exited the shuttle, with no one to greet him despite them knowing he was coming, he didn't know where to go or who to talk to; And he was the damn commander of this ship!

Before he could get the attention of an officer he finally saw, there was a loud crash, drawing his attention to the deck just short of the atmospheric containment field. There a small repair pod, clearly old, lay smoking and sparking. Deck crewmen ran to the downed pod with fire control, Clayton followed as well. They had to cut the operator from the pod, Clayton couldn't even see inside due to the cockpit being filled with smoke. The fire droids calmed down the pods smoking and sparking but the hatch was still sealed. Finally they got it open and two crew reached in and pulled out the pod's pilot.

Someone yelled for a medic and Clayton pushed his way through. The pod's pilot was a young near human male, almost too young to be in a uniform. Clayton checked if he was breathing, he wasn't. Clayton looked up at the nearest deckman, "give us some space, and find me a medic!" Clayton ripped over the young mans shirt and made sure his airways were clear, then started to perform chest compressions. It wasn't long till a group of medics finally showed up and took over. Clayton took a few steps back to let the medics work. He waited till he saw the young man finally take a breath, then coughing up a storm. Knowing he would be ok now Clayton went over to the pod that was seemingly largely ignored.

Looking it over Clayton could tell it was an older model, one that had been jury rigged more often then receiving proper maintenance. Clayton knew this was only just the beginning of his problems, still he put a note in his data pad that he need to either get these things replaced or repaired asap. "Hey! What are you doing!?" Clayton looked in the direction of the gravely voice barking at him. A rather short and plump mon calamari came around from the other side of the pod. He was in a very dirty pair of coveralls with tools hanging off his numerous belts. "Step away from that pod!" Clayton stood his ground, straightening up. Before he could say anything the Mon cal stopped in his tracks, looked Clayton over then snapped to attention and saluted. "Captain on deck!"

There was a moment of silence and confusion from the rest of the people across the deck. But soon everyone snapped to attention facing Clayton. The young pilot who Clayton helped save just sat there breathing from an air mash, his eyes wide open in surprise. Clayton returned the salute, "At ease, return to your duties." He then turned to the mechanic who finally recognized him. "Sooo ummm..." The Mon cal looked down at his cover all and nearly jumped back in surprise. "Sorry sir, one moment." He dusted him self off, nearly uselessly then rubbed his rank and name tag clean enough that Clayton could make it out. "Sergent, are all the pods in the same condition as this one?" The Mon Cal, thought for a moment then nodded his head. "Some are better then others, but over all yes." Clayton shook his head and took the comm from the Mon Cal's belt. "Flight control? Flight Control!"

For a moment there was no answer then the voice of an irate female came over the speaker. "Who is this? Get off the air, I'm busy here!" He switched the comm to his dominate hand and switched it on again. "This is Captain Greystoke of the NRS Sea Nymph, and your about to have you work load lightened. Recall all the pods and have them lined up for inspection. Then you can report your oh so happy self to the brig and wait for me to come talk to you about your attitude!" There was a moment of silence, then a worried very of the females voice came over the comm. "Yes Sir... Sorry Sir!" Clayton turned back to the Mon Cal Sergent. "Get your mechanics on deck, all of them, and get me the chief of maintenance.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
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Re: Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

"You heard the Captain. Bumper to bumper inspection, We won't allow this to happen to our fellow mechanics again... Next time it might be you in one of those damn things!" The older man speaking was the Chief of maintenance, responsible for organizing all the maintenance crews and keeping the ship operational. As far as Clayton can tell he had a lot of work to do.

The older human turned to Clayton, "I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet you captain. I wasn't informed of your arrival time till shortly after you ordered me to report to you." He seemed genially upset by the situation to Clayton. "Lets go into the briefing room and I'll give you the low down on the shape of the ship." The Chief motioned toward the room where fighter pilots would typically get their orders or plan out attacks. The inside of the room was actually very nice, not something Clayton expected after seeing how rough a shape the hanger was in. The chief, clearly not into ceremony, practically fell into a chair with a grunt. "Sorry Captain... Its been a rough few days, I haven't had a moments rest since I got on the tub. I'm not going to sugar coat it... Its bad."

"How bad?" Clayton asked getting them a drink from the bar.

The Chief accepted the drink. "Thanks... They messed her up good, the folks who put all this New Class crap on and in her." He took a long drag of the drink only to cough, he didn't think it was water. He shrugged and drank some more. "Half the stuff is incompatible, the new multi-speices consoles can't communicate well with the older mon cal systems, or don't work at all. The reactor was neutered and now wouldn't even be able to power this ship during its Alliance days... In other words we can give you Weapons or Shields... not both. Oh and don't even ask about all the damn cables! Cables everywhere! Even I don't understand it!" The chief finished off his drink and sighed. "That is were i was before i heard you were here, literally mapping out those dam cables, trying to figure out where they went or what they did. And these are only just the glaring problems we have, there is a host of other issues that i have men dealing with at the moment."

Clayton sighed, slumping in his chair. "Any good news?" The Chief thought for a moment then answered, "They left the bars in..." Clayton laughed, a kind of short "ha" that was as much sarcastic as it wasn't. The Chief seemed to give it more thought, "Well the schematics for how the ship was is still on-board, along with many of the parts they removed from the reactor. Found them in a heap in the "Captain's Shuttle Hanger". Some need work, some need replacing, some are missing. But given time, and some help, I think i can at least fix our power issues."

Clayton was starting to get a good feeling from the Chief, but he wanted to know the man more. They would spend two hours in that room, interrupted only once by a service droid that wanted to clean the room. Clayton had told it to skip it for now. By the end of it Clayton felt like he could trust the Chief though he still wasn't going to inform him about the excessive amount of credits he had been given. "Chief, what do you think of our chances to hold up in a fight as we are?"

"We won't, I'm not even sure we could run if we wanted to."

"What if you had the backing needed to restore the ship to at least Alliance operational standing?"

"If i can at least get the consoles to work right and the upgrades reinstalled on the reactor we would be sitting pretty nice..."

"Put together a report on what you need, in order of importance, to get this ship up to specs, and I will do everything I can. Don't leave anything out, I don't care if its in the NR order books or not, just let me know where we can get what we need."

"Captain... I'm not so sure its worth the effort..."

"Chief, we don't seem to have a choice. I don't have the option to refuse this vessel, nor can I have it sent back to be worked on more. We are stuck with the Sea Nymph till some one says we are done with her or shes destroyed. I'd rather try and make it to the point where the ship is put back in dry dock and every crew member is returned home alive and whole. We need to make this happen."

The Chief was silent for a moment, when he spoke his tone had changed from a tired beaten man to that of a man with a holy mission. "We will Captain, We will if I have to steal the parts."

"I'll take care of getting what we need Chief, just tell me what we need."

The Chief stood up, "I need to gather up my officers and get to work then. Good luck Captain."

"You too Chief."

Clayton watched the man leave with out giving a salute. I didn't bother him to much, after all the Chief was very busy, and now driven. Now Clayton had work of his own to do. He had to make contacts, he wanted to find original crew members of the ship that were willing to help, and put a traffic control officer in her place.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
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Re: Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

Calyton sat straight up in surprise when the old chief mechanic barged into his office. "These Calamari are starting to twist my shorts!" Clayton could barely understand what he was saying. All he could manage was wonder when he fell asleep at his desk and what time it was. He remembers finding a few original crew members that were still living or still in the area. He had given them a call and managed to talk a few of them to come up and help, with promise of payment of course. Then he had to fill out paper work and set up a flight time to even get them on the ship legally. The last thing he remembered was tracking down some parts the chief needed for the reactor.

"Captain! Did you hear a word I have said?!" Clayton rubbed his face then looked up at the older man. The Chief finally realized he had woken Clayton up but that did little to change his mood. "I'm sorry to wake you like that sir... But these mon cal you brought on board are driving me up the wall! They won't listen to me about how the new consoles won't interface correctly and keep trying to hook them up like they were the old consoles. Then they blame me when something shorts out or causes an explosion!"

"What!?" That made Clayton bright eyed and bushy-tailed. "What blew up!?"

The Chief sighed placing his hands on his hips and looked away. "We thought we could jury rig the reactor with other parts we had to supplement the old upgrades... When we tried to turn it on the parts failed, the console told it to do something wrong and she went right into the red-zone and nearly went critical... Luckily the mon cal knew about a manual shutdown and... well we are still here."

"Mo one was hurt?"

"Only my pride..."

Clayton sighed in relief. "I swear... The reactor isn't damaged is it?"

"No, no more then what was done to it before. We definitely need those parts I asked for though. Clayton looked down at all the data pads, pushed a few to the sides, looked one over then handed it to the chief. "Found them it looks like."

"This is great! They even have a large supply of all the parts needed."

"Yeah thought that would be important if we wanted to keep the ship running longer then how ever long these parts last." Clayton grabbed another pad, looked it over then handed it to the chief. "That should help us in the future as well, set it up in one of the lounges."

"A fabrication shop... Yeah that will help a lot. Some of those Calamari were just wishing they could use one. I'll have some of the guys start on this right away. Looks like I'll have to go down and get these parts too..." The chief turned and left with out even a good bye. Clayton just shook his head and decided to use the refresher and change into a fresh uniform, then his door chimed.

"Enter."

A male Twi'lek entered then snapped to attention. "Sir! The Sea Nymph's fighter compliment is on its way as well as the army units that are to be stationed on board."

"How long?"

"Sir?"

"How long till they get here?"

"OH! Twenty standard minuets."

"By all the... Fine I'll head to the deck to meet them..."
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

With little care Clayton stripped off his cloths quickly while starting the santisteam and took the fastest cleaning he had ever taken since his time in basic training. If anything he felt better and it woke him up more. He grabbed his simpler fatigues over his full captain uniform and threw them on. A chime at his door rang just as he finished lacing up his boots. He didn't bother to answer it, he just leaped up to it and opened it. A serving droid was on the other side holding a tray of food meant for the captain.

The sudden and unannounced of the captain rushing out the door startled the droid enough that it nearly dropped the tray. Clayton reached out and steadied the tray while shoveling in some of the food in his mouth. " I say..." The droid started after it recovered. Clayton didn't pay any attention as he grabbed a roll and rushed down the corridor to the turbo-lifts.

He scarfed down the roll and immediately wished he grabbed the drink as well, nearly chocking on it he forced himself to swallow it. Recovering his breath he looked at his chrono, he still had a few moments to spare. He stopped the lift where the exercise rooms were and ran to the drink station getting himself a bottle of water then ran back to the lift just before it closed its door and continued to the hanger.

Clayton stood with the deck officers waiting for the transport and fighters to land, of course they were late. He should have known they would be. The flight officer informed them that the flight had nearly came to a complete stop when they got into visual range of the Nymph. No doubt they were checking their orders to make sure this really was the ship they were going to be stationed on. Now she told him the flight was taking the long route around the ship, likely getting a look at what they might consider their coffin. Clayton made a mental note to make sure no one feels that way aboard his ship.

Finally the fist two ships in were the shuttle carrying the support crews and any special equipment for the fighters. They were quickly landed and the crews spilled out and lined up. A human female in full officer uniform then came on one of the shuttles and walked down in front of the lineup, sizing up the men and women. Clayton inwardly sighed, she was clearly the flight commander for the fighter squadrons and the support crew, and she had the look of a strict experienced one at that. He knew she would give him problems when she took a moment to get a good look around the hanger and her facial expression was that of disapproval. Clayton couldn't help but curse her in his mind, Even he felt the hanger looked like shit at the moment but that was because of all the work that was being done.

She walked up to him, never looking him in the eye, and saluted. She appeared to size him up like her own men and found him wanting, likely because he wasn't in full dress and his hair was still damp from then santi-steam. Clayton returned the salute, "At ease." She dropped the salute and handed out a datapad. "lieutenant Commander Illanna Kutz reporting as ordered." Clayton's eyes narrowed as he took the pad and quickly brought up her information. He couldn't keep himself from laughing, in fact it took nearly all of his will to keep from laughing uncontrollably, Illanna clearly wasn't amused.

After a moment he composed himself, "Is this some sort of joke?" Illanna sighed, "I know our houses have there issues, Sir, but here we aren't representing our Houses. We are Representing the New Republic and its military." Clayton raised a brow, "So you and me are to just leave everything that has happened over the last eight years at the door and just get the job done? You'll have to forgive me if I don't buy it. But I'll play this game if I must." She actually looked like she took offense to his statement, "Sir, maybe we should talk about our families issues later. I have ships that need landing clearance... and room to land."

Clayton had a nasty smile. "Lieutenant Commander Kutz, I feel I must educate you briefly on what is going on in this ship before you make anymore undue assumptions." She was about to make a comment but Clayton cut her off. "This fine vessel assigned to me is in the middle of an overhaul, one that hopefully will make it semi operational." Illanna's face looked shocked. "Which is why the vessel is in the state it is at the moment. Rest assured the vessel is likely to look something like this in all work areas for some time to come. It is not because my crew is sloppy or mismanaged. Now I suggest you work these fine men to clear out enough of the fighter bay to land your ships." Illanna snapped to attention and saluted, which Clayton returned and sent her off with the deck officers.

Half an hour later Clayon watched as the fighters entered the ship in an standard way. With only one opening for all the ship's carrier craft the fighters that were least likely to launch were brought in first and packed in the back of the hanger, an arrangement he didn't like. He would have liked the fighter craft staggered so that any mix of them could be launched quickly. Once things settle down some he would have to arrange it with Illanna, and oh boy did he look forward to that.

The first set of fighters to come in were REC's Defender series fighters. Small capable fighters with no hyperdrives that were typically used as they were named, defense of the mother ship. As such they were often launched last and were never used for scouting missions. Then a fighter he never saw before was brought in, bigger then even the Y-wings he thought he would be getting.

"What the hell are those?" He asked out loud mostly to him self, but his answer would come from an surprising source. "They are BTL-S8s... other wise known as K-wings. They are very new to the fleets, even I don't fully know what they are capable of." Clayton turned to Illanna who was standing well behind him. "Classification?" He asked her. "Assault, from what I was able to read up about them so far is that they hold a impressive amount of fire power. They were assigned to me at the last moment, their crews are fresh from the training academy." Clayton looked forward again to watch the ships land. They took up enough room for two fighters, it was no wonder they only got half a squadron of them. "They look like a logistical nightmare." Illanna looked confused for a moment. "Why do you say that?" He turned to her again, "Brand new fighters who's parts aren't likely to be readily available and who's flight commander has no idea of their capabilities."

That pressed Illanna's button. "Rest assured Captain that I will make myself as familiar with the craft as I am with any other stationed on the Sea Nymph." Clayton believed her, he had no reason not to. "As will I Lieutenant Commander Kutz. Like the rebels who crewed this ship before us, we will very likely be depending out these fighters greatly in the future to keep everyone alive. Make sure your pilots are ready for that." Clayton turned away and walked for the hanger exit watching as the next squadron of fighters entered, X-wings.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
Posts: 1222
Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Behind You!

Re: Sea Nymph's second, first flight.

Post by Red Dragon »

Some time later Clayton found himself in the hanger again, practically hanging off the edge, watching the first use of the Sea Nymph's new "appendage". The "docking Arm", as the tech called it, reached out from just above the hanger opening a good length for the approaching V-wing Transport to lock onto. The reason for such a modification to the ship was because there wasn't enough clearance in the hanger for the transport and the vehicles that were docked on it. A problem that till now gave the Chief and Clayton migraines.

Once the transport was locked onto the arm it lowered and pulled it in closer. Close enough that the air speeders and ground vehicles could be safely detached and flown/driven into the vehicle bay. As they watched the vehicles detach one by one and move into the ship Clayton made a comment, "Think the deck can be made to extend like that arm? almost half the wheels on that Juggernaut are hanging off the ship..." The chief didn't seem to notice but his eyes went wide when he did. "We that could be a disaster in combat... Yeah we will have to come up with something..." One of the other techs then spoke, "Sirs... The ship already has a loading ramp for the deck. Maybe with some work that could just be used." The Chief looked at the other tech. "Really?"

"Well I heard the Mon calamari techs talking about how the ship use to grace Dac's water when she was new. I don't think the ship has made planet fall since it was first used for war in the Alliance fleet. but with this issue that came up," He motioned to the transport and the vehicles," I looked to see if there was one and there is, even went to take a look at it. Its pretty bad."

"Can't be worse then some of the other problems we have, take me to it and lets see what needs to be done." The Chief said clapping the younger tech on the back and leading them out. Clayton watched them go then turned back to the Juggernaut that was now lowered to the deck, nearly half of it hanging out in space. Slowly it rolled in till all the wheels were touching the deck then it picked up speed and headed deeper into the hanger. The arm lowered with the transport till it would clear the hanger and pulled the craft in with it, the arm scoping in its self till the transport rested in its bay on the opposite side of the deck. Clayton was impressed with the solution now that he saw it in operation. He had his doubts but it turned out just fine.

The ship already had its security force on board but now it had some bite to match its bark. The troops and other army personal disembarked from the transport, in total they would have about 500 soldiers and marines on board, less then half the ship could hold but the Sea Nymph wasn't an invasion ship. Likely they would be considered a support ship for a Defender class, which at this point was fine with Clayton. So he was getting enough of everything to be able to support the mission as needed, at least that is what it seemed. Still bothered him a little that he was trusted with so much credits to ensure the ship would at least work...

While thinking it over Clayton noticed three men walked up to him at a brisk army pace. A major, a First Lieutenant, and a Second Lieutenant. Likely the core command of the ground forces. Clayton walked towards them to meet them half way and saluted them. They returned the salute then went to parade rest. The Major offered his hand which Clayton took and shook. "I'm Major Krazy of the 666th Battalion, these two are my aids." The first one stepped up and offered his hand, Clayton shook it. "First Lieutenant Cracker, Good to be here Sir." Cracker stepped back then the last one stepped up again offering his hand. "Second Lieutenant Haywire, Pleasure." Clayton shook his hand then regarded them all. "Captain Greystoke, welcome to the Sea Nymph.

Due to technical issues, that I'm sure you heard about by now, we haven't had the chance to prepare your accommodations..." Major Krazy motioned for Clayton to stop, "No worries Captain, gives me the chance to tech my men a lesson or two and allows us to make the place feel like home with out feeling too bad about any work someone else put into for us. Just tell us where to bunk up." Clayton nodded with a smile, "Deck 4 section 3, pretty much right outside the turbo-lifts for the hanger here." The Major smiled, "Good... Good location! I LIKE it!" He turned to Cracker and Haywire, "Let get to it!" They all saluted Clayton who returned it and they rushed off to the rest of the troops.
"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity
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