Sudden Descent
Posted on Sun Sep 1st, 2019 @ 1:30am by Captain Aviram Drell & Petty Officer 3rd Class Mara Stavros
Mission:
Episode 01: "Vestal Hearth"
Location: Shuttlecraft Belor
Timeline: Day 01, 1352 Hours
ON: [[Shuttlecraft Belor, Day 01, 1352 Hours]]
The re-certification began with a nice, easy course down to their closest planet, where an initial qualification test would be full of inane quizzing. But on a re-certification, Sullis was free to be a bit more inquisitive. ¨So tell me Stavros, I see a long history of piloting in your record, which is all fine and dandy, but no reason you shouldn't be a commissioned officer right now. So what draws you to these little ships?¨
It shouldn't have been a surprise to Stavros that her examiner would want to ask questions. That sort of thing was pretty typical of these re-certification tests. The directness of this particular question, though, caught her off-guard a little. "I suppose...it was just...an opportunity," she said, adjusting their pitch a little as she spoke, "Enlistment seemed like the better option at the time."
The shuttle cut into the starbase's atmosphere like a hot knife, easily buffering the turbulence of re-entry, a fact Corbin noted in his eval. "I know a thing or two about opportunity. Especially ones that go sideways. And hey, who doesn't love graduating faster than all our shiny commissioned comrades, eh?"
Once the Belor broke into the higher cloud cover of the planet, Sullis gestured to the greenery and mountains below. "Alright Petty Officer Stavros, time for your planetary survey exam. Full readings, please. Geology, exobiology, meteorology, nearby air traffic. What do you see?"
Stavros leveled their descent and slowly reduced their speed to something a bit more manageable. Then she lifted one hand from the flight controls, reached over, and initiated a series of sensor sweeps. Most of it was handled by the shuttle's computer, which meant she just had to make sure the craft remained steady. Not too difficult, she thought to herself. Sure enough, within seconds, data showing the initial results began scrolling across the display.
"Typical M-class world," she reported, "Oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, carbon-based life forms, water and mineral deposits. Weather patterns appear to be stable. Showing relatively clear skies for the moment, though there appear to be several electro-magnetic disturbances roughly one hundred twenty kilometers south of here."
Sullis nodded his approval, as he had confirmed the same readings. "Well done, Stavros. A perfectly textbook assessment."
Corbin then tapped a single button on his control panel, and the shuttle suddenly juked to port and began an un-graceful dive.
"Pop Quiz! You just got his by an ionic disturbance, main power is offline, the computer is frozen and you've got about...thirty seconds to regain flight control before you're a pancake in the tress! What do you do?"
The sudden motion caused Stavros' stomach to drop. She immediately grasped at the edge of her console with one hand, trying to steady herself against it, while simultaneously reaching out with the other to attempt a manual bypass. It wasn't easy. At first, the computer didn't seem to want to accept any of her commands. All she got for her trouble was a series of angry squawks.
Another attempt, this time through the secondary command processor, appeared to have greater success. She was able to access the flight control systems and activate the atmospheric thrusters. They fired once, twice, three times. It had the effect of slowing their descent, but it didn't stop it. Something was still preventing her from fully accessing the flight systems.
That's when she remembered she wasn't alone in the shuttle.
"Sir, I need you to see if you can bypass the primary command relays," she called out over the alarm, activating another series of bursts from the thrusters, "they're interfering with the secondary processors."
The senior Petty Officer nodded his understanding and switched the control mechanism over to their backups. The Belor bobbed and rocked a bit more as the thrusters figured themselves out, but the shuttle finally stabilized at 1,000m above the treeline.
"Well done, Stavros. I also would have accepted full manual controls or a order to divert power to inertial dampaners to stabilize the drop."
Corbin marked the successful recovery in his checklist. "Now for your next task, plot your course to the following coordinates for a simulated Search & Rescue. Assume hostile territory and do not ascend beyond current AGL altitude."
Sullis was actually pleased the shuttle has dropped so far before Stavros recovered, as the most direct path was full or mountains she would have to dodge and rising canyons for her to navigate through.
Grateful that Sullis hadn't refused her request for help, Stavros took it as a sign her approach was on track. She allowed herself a moment to assess the shuttle's status and make a few adjustments. It would have done no good to proceed further without first ensuring they'd actually restored the command functions. Once she was satisfied, the young petty officer set about preparing for the next task.
OFF
Petty Officer 1st Class Corbin Sullis
Auxiliary Craft Pilot
USS Vesta (NX-94200)
Petty Officer 3rd Class Mara Stavros
Auxiliary Craft Pilot
USS Vesta (NX-94200)
