Reporting for Duty

Posted on Monday July 16th, 2018 @ 11:41am by Captain Erin "Ari" Mizriki-Clark & Lieutenant Jordan Phillips

2,578 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Season 2: Mission 1: Day after Day
Location: Captains Ready Room (DFS Lavie)
Timeline: October 12th 4566 Early Morning

Location: Cockpit

Jay was still in shock over the news that Earth was attacked and the survivors were now taking refuge on Earth 2. His home was destroyed, most of the Earth was scarred by the attack. Jay was not sure if the Earth would be able to recover. A lot had happened in a short amount of time. The valid president was pushed out of office. The senate turned against her people, and Darius Maximus was now dead.

The cost seemed a little high, but then he told himself, the cost would have been greater if Darius would have been allowed to live. This was not acceptable. In the end the means were justified, but it did not really feel like a victory.

After the attack, Jay asked for a transfer, he wanted to be a part of Trinity Fleet. They saved the day, despite what the media has been saying about former President Hukari Carian. Jay believed she was used as an escape goat. They needed someone to blame for the destruction and damage. And sadly she took the blunt of it. But the move did allow her direct control over trinity and the new president seemed to be a pawn to Hukari. Or so Jay thought.

Jay had never met President Alion. And he had no reason too. He was a fighter pilot that helped defend Earth during the attack. He was one of the few who made it out, without a scratch. His family was also lucky to make it out alive. They house was not lucky.

Jay had never step foot aboard trinity base, the base was huge. His unit was stationed on Trinity, or so his orders told him. But he was told to report to Captain Mizriki. He did not know a lot about her. He could not help but wonder, was she even qualified to command the DFS Lavie, he reviewed her file. She was only 22 years old.

He was 27, and he felt that he still had a lot of things to learn. He could not help but wonder, how smart was it for the delta defense force, to assign a kid to the role of captain? He had to believe, in his heart that she had to be a great military strategist.

She was just coming into adulthood and given the responsibility of countless lives in her hand. He hoped that fleet knew what they were doing. Since she was granted the rank of Captain, he would give her the proper respect and protocols that come with the rank. But she would have to prove to him, that she was worthy of the chair, before he earned her respect. He hoped that she was great officer, and a great military strategist. He hoped the military did not make a mistake.

Jay’s fighter was heading to Trinity Fleet, his fighter jumped out of warp, and caught up to the fleet, that happened to be in orbit of Earth 2. His fighter started to heads to the floating city, the command base of Trinity. But his destination was a destroyer called the DFS Lavie, he saw it in orbit, pretty close to the base and pretty close to the DFS Providence.

Jay eyes were memorized by the beauty of the DFS Providence, what a fine carrier he thought. As he piloted the fighter towards the shuttle bay of the DFS Lavie. He was making final adjustments, lining up for the approach. He could have switched to auto pilot landing. But Jay liked to feel in control over his craft. After a short time, he boarded the shuttle bay. And checked in with the duty. Officer, he took a good look around, and smiled as he thought to himself, not a bad bay. Very efficient.

Location: Ready Room of Captain Mizriki-Clark.

Jay made his way to the command bridge of the DFS Lavie and to the ready room of the captain. He knew that Commodore Yuka Layton use to be in command of this ship, and he was surprised another young officer was given command. He wondered why Colonel Aiden Thornton, was not given command or why he would not take command, if it was offered to him. This was not really the time nor the place to ask. He tapped on the door intercom, and got his thoughts in order.

It was morning of the day they would be leaving and the new fighter wing commander she had requested had arrived on board or so the report from the flight deck had said. She reviewed his file countless times and it was impressive especially that he also participated in the defense of Earth; for him to be one of the pilots who survived without any issue whatsoever; in a fighter none the less she wanted him to take the vacant role; it was likely they would need good pilots in the upcoming battle.  She was able to get some sleep today; that was a good thing as for the past month that had not been the case and so she was ready for their departure and the three weeks they would have until they arrived at their destination; sure it was considered downtime but really there would be a lot of preparations behind the scenes to prepare for bringing together their allies and getting everyone ready for battle. It would still be slower than the Lavie crew was used to, however…

As Ari had arrived in her Ready Room to prepare for her shift and their departure she took a last glance over the reports from the departments. Everything was in order and they would begin departing shortly. She then heard a door chime and the short, long auburn straight haired hazel eyed half Korean girl replied “Come in.” She was in one of the black Trinity uniforms. The red inlet around her Captain pips the sign of her assignment to the Command and Information Security Divisions. She had her long hair in to a bun at the back of her head as she stood taking a at ease position seeing who came through the door.

Jay walked into the ready room, not sure what to expect. He was trying not to let his imagination go wild. He kept telling himself, the 25th century had young commanders, and periodically so did the rest of history. He was trying to get over the fact she was only 22. He straightened in his uniform, as he walked into her office and snapped to the position of attention. "Lieutenant Jordan Phillips reporting for duty, Captain." He said carefully not to make the mistake of calling her sir or ma'am. He did not want to open up that can of worms.

His eyes immediately glanced at Erin, and they opened wide. Not only was she young, but she was hot. His mouth and tongue metaphorically hit the floor. He tried his best not to stair. He noticed her black uniform and her hair in a bun, but it was her face and that auburn hair and hazel eyes were memorizing. What a beautiful he thought to himself. He made sure only his eyes were wondering and not his body laungage or posturing.

Ari observed him as he entered and gave her a proper salute. She did the same back and nodded for him to lower his as she did hers with an “At ease Lt. Pillips. You’ll be charged with our new fighters. I’m Ari Mizriki; the Commanding Officer of the DFS Lavie and Director of Information and Internal Security for Trinity’s Combined Assault Unit. You can address me as Captain when on duty… Off duty your preference between Captain or Ari… This may be a military ship but we are all comrades in arms and at the end of the day we have to be comfortable with each other so that we can effectively support our comrades… After all a soldier who is alone and without comrades is a dead soldier. Though being a fighter pilot you should know that; you piss off your wingman and you might as well kiss your ass goodbye..  Anyway... Have a seat… We will be departing soon but I wanted to discuss our fighter and mechbay situation with you as well as the logistical nightmare that is bay management… was what you saw to your specifications? Oh yeah; please only use Mizriki when addressing things about me on the ship; I detest my birth last name…” While she noticed him eying her she did not say anything about it… She knew she was attractive and if she were not herself she would probably stare at herself too…

Jay took a seat, and smiled as he said "Thank you Captain." He looked around her office for a moment. Her office would say things about her, plus he was trying to distract himself from her looks. Sitting down, and looking into her hazel eyes could be dangerous for him. He wanted to give his captain his undevided attention. But he was trying to learn whatever he could about her. "I appreciate your honesty, and I agree with you, the comadree between the crew  needs to be solid. I appreciate the fact you see that." He said, feeling a little more comfortable with the younger captain. Maybe Delta Force Command knew what they were doing after all. "You were mentioning logistical hell in the shuttle bay, sounds like I got here in the nick of time." He said with a big grin on his face. Now he was trying to show off to her.  

Jay smiled as he continued on. "How can I can help Captain? Do you need me to light a fire down in the shuttle bay, and bring up performance?" He asked, wondering what Ari had planned for him? He knew he would not always be on the DFS Lavie, but while he was here, he was going to do what he could for Ari and the rest of the DFS Lavie crew.

As he sat she just observed him noticing her examine her office averting his eyes from her as not to get lost in her looks. She was use to this. "Thank you for that and basically what I meant was that the department is overworked and largely busy... What was your impression of it though as I have only been doing this for a short time so maybe that is normal... Give me your thourghts... My lack of experience should be made up for by the abilities of those I command should it not... I would say do what you prefer; you command the department and everyone here is in the top 1 percent of the people in the fleet so their leaders are just as good... As such I leave the care of the bay in your capable hands and I would not min at some point if I am piloting Judgment for you to command the escort wing when I am out... Judgment is a good machine but without proper support it would get shot down like any other mech." Ari said to him as she glanced over him as he had done to her so he did not feel as awkward.

"Agreed Captain, we all need each other. You can count on me to watch your six. I will support you in any way I can." Jay said, with a big smile. As reshifted his eyes at her. That beautiful auborn hair, was distracting but in a good way. He was relieved that she was a squared away officer and starship captain, despite her age. She seemed to have it together. In some ways, he wished he was more like her. He was a little envious. She seemed to be good person, well at first impression.

"Good; so... is there anything particular about your new assignment you want to discuss or anything with regards to the bay... Oh yes... your room assignment and related information." She pulls a pad from her desk handing it to him so that he had information on his quarters, personnel and such things. 

"My room seems adaquote Captain. Not sure how long or how many times I will be assigned to the Lavie, apparently my orders also included the Trinity Command Ship as well, if we can really call it a ship. It's a flying ship." Said Jay, he was impressed with the engineering feat, creating a flying city.

"Well... The idea is to have you here for awhile... We are the flagship after all... Even with me getting word the Onyx will be joining us that will just be more ofa command base and a refueling and shore leave area that literally follows us around but with the nature of our and the fleet's mission we will be on and off ship and base a lot... I hope that is acceptable to you... And I am glad to see that you are fine with your assignment. Did you have any other questions or concerns for me this morning?" Ari asked looking him over to see if she could see anything immediately come to mind.

"No Captain, not at this time." He said, thinking to himself. If you were not his captain, he would be hitting on her. But there is a line that should never be crossed, and Jay knew that. He snapped to the position of attention, telling her without actually saying it, that he was ready to go.

Ari nodded and then said as she stood. "Well... Welcome aboard the Lavie... I tend to befriend all my senior officers in some way or another becuase you guys really are the glue that holds this place together so if you ever need to talk or just want to hang out after a shift just reach out and message me over VX... Some of our staff even play VR MMOs together... it is sort of like the holodeck since thats so advanced... Just lots more people and you don't actually move... it is all experiencing it through your mind... Good luck Lt." She said and saluted but then changed positions since the formalities were over and went for a handshake.

Jay made sure to salute before reaching out to shake her hand. "Thank you Captain, appreciate the invite, will take you up on that, after I settle in." He said, as he left her office. Jay was releieved in a way. She was young and bright. She was young enough to understand what needed to be done, but not to old where the weight of the war carried to heavy on her shoulders. Plus she was very open to her crew. Which made him grateful. His last CO was older and a hard ass to put up with.

As he left Ari finished the last of her paperwork and went outside to prepare the ship to depart. All was accounted for and they were now prepared to make their departure. She would have time later to get to know her people but for now duty called and it seemed her new fighter wing commander saw that. it was not much of a wing what with the five fighters that were there but it also commanded the tow support Defiant class ships which would be decisive in battle and very useful to both Ari and Jay if the ship were to enter combat.

 

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