When Pilots Encounter Each Other

Posted on Tue Jul 19th, 2022 @ 5:28pm by Captain Calypso Skyie & Ensign Raven Windancer

Mission: Pirates! (Or Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Yum)
Location: Holodeck Two

Cally had decided that when she'd start, she'd make it to the newer ones first. Someone had to be first and most of the planning HAD to be done with Alex and Mark and even some of the others. Of course, if the piloting of the ship was subpar, then the entire plan was out. She still wanted to be at the helm herself, but there was no way that she could be.

Her query about where the new Ensign Windancer had returned her towards the holodeck, number two instead of the one she basically had reserved for her own use, where the bridge program had been set up for. The doors slid open for her at her approach, revealing the front viewscreen of the Luna's bridge, only one person visible in the front left seat, the helm chair and Cally quietly stepped on, the door sliding shut behind her as she watched the simulated combat scenario playing out in front of her.

"FSUW! FSUW! FSUW!" Raven's heart was in her throat as her hands flew over the controls. Three rogue Klingon Warbirds were attacking from three sides. Suddenly, a Romulan Bird of Prey materialized and put a shot across the Luna's nose. Alarms blared as Raven fought to keep the ships guessing her next move. "BOOM!" The room went dark as a phrase flashed across the helm. "Kobayashi Maru" "Danget! Where did that Romulan come from?" Raven snarled, banging her fist on the console. A soft noise behind her sent her shooting to her feet in a spin. "Who's there?" Raven growled, seeing an outline, but because of how the simulation had shut down, there wasn't very much light.

"The Kobayashi Maru test, which this isn't quite, is intended as a no-win scenario, though it can be beaten under certain circumstances. This scenario?" Calypso glanced at the viewscreen, "Romulans don't tend to side with Klingons, but they are definitely willing to take a target of opportunity when it pops up right in front of them. Don't know what they were doing here, though. Lights." The lights came on obediently and revealed Cally's face, "She's not quite as easy to fly as a lot of other ships, is she?"

"Oh, krill! Captain...how long were you standing there? Er, nevermind. Wasn't it Admiral Kirk who beat it because he rewrote the programming or something? I mean...yeah, the Luna IS pretty hard to handle compared to some ships. You Worfbill! Quit sticking your foot in your mouth!" Raven thought her last two sentences, hoping that she would EVENTUALLY quit speaking her mind quite so bluntly.

"I like you." Cally chuckled softly, "You are a fresh breath of air that reminds me that there truly are innocents in this galaxy that aren't under the age of fifteen. But yes, the Maru simulation is intended to be a no-win scenario. If you help the freighter, you have to fight the Klingons with a severe disadvantage and lose your ship and crew. If you don't violate the Neutral Zone, you abandon the civilians on the Maru to durance vile with the Klingons. The whole point of it is to see what type of Captain you'll make." With a sly smile, Cally stepped up to one of the consoles and punched in a few keys and the viewscreen changed.

Instead of the scenario Raven had set up was a new one, a disabled Federation-flagged freighter with a trio of mostly-modern Klingon birds of prey with the border of the screen indicating that the starship they were on was a Miranda-class starship, upgraded to a few years previous, "This was my Kobayashi Maru test.." She pressed the 'play' button and the starship turned towards the Klingons and after about a minute and a half, three shuttles drifted out of the back of the Miranda, under minimal power and the ship began to drift upwards vertically, "I launched three unmanned shuttles under remote control, because I had this brilliant plan." Her smile was devious, "Meanwhile I was trying to bluff them into believing I was just delaying them, until..." The three shuttles had been slowly altering their headings, then as one, they went to warp...

Two of the Klingon ships vanished into explosions as the shuttles impacted at relativistic speeds into their hulls, the third lost a wing and went into a spin with serious damage. "No casualties from our part, but I expended my shuttle complement. Of course..." The Miranda went to full impulse power and curved towards the Kobayashi Maru with the clear intent of rescue, when another starship decloaked behind it, not pausing for a moment as the Vor'cha-class battlecruiser unleashed a torrent of fire into the Miranda's stern, collapsing the shields. Cally tapped the button to stop the playback, "I ended up losing my ship, but I managed to sneak a few engineers onto the Maru when my shields were disabled and put a few security officers on the Klingon to cause a nuisance. Strictly speaking? A loss, but the Maru got away across the border before the Klingon finally blew me away. Whether they would have pursued the freighter or not, who knows?"

Raven blushed at the complement, then went slack-jawed as she watched the playback, getting so involved that she even flinched in her chair whenever there was an impact. "Dang! Captain Caliopso, (no Raven, she likes Cally) is AWESOME!" Raven thought, looking up at her Captain with admiration. "How in Risa did you even have enough time to think of all that!? I mean...ahem...what did the instructors think of your simulation?" Raven asked, trying to cover up her blunder while at the same time holding back how eager she was to hear the outcome.

Cally snorted with a laugh, "I almost got kicked out of Starfleet for that little trick." She tapped a few buttons and killed the entire holodeck, "I'd been planning that little maneuver for about a year and a half. There's no secret about the Kobayashi Maru test, because there's always something a bit different about what will happen. Sure, candidates sometimes try crazy things, but they look at what the candidate does in the end. I took valuable shuttles and literally threw them into starships. I had to defend myself, told them that I needed to even the odds and at least I didn't leave pilots on board them. That was what convinced them to not shitcan me, not actually killing any of my people to do it. Got told that if I ever tried that in real life, I'd find myself without a command in a heartbeat."

Raven laughed, standing up to allow the chair to disappear as the Captain ended the program. "Dang, Cally, they should have made you a Captain right then and there! I wonder why it's always different? I mean, you'd think they'd run out of options by now," Raven ran her fingers through her hair, not really feeling the tangles and sweat.

"You didn't hear this from me, but there are about ten different variations of the scenario, the testee doesn't know which one she'll get. One tactic that may help in one scenario will rarely have an affect on most of the other scenarios." Cally shrugged, "I can see their point about what I tried, it was risky and it reduced the evacuation capability of the ship significantly. It showed I was willing to think outside the box, but that I was too willing to risk too many people on a wild hare."

Raven's jaw again dropped. "What the actual space dock!? SERIOUSLY!? That's just CRIMINAL!!" Raven had to start pacing to keep from punching a wall...or Cally. 'Don't you DARE punch Cally, Raven! She's done SO MUCH for you!' Raven mentally warned herself, clinching and unclenching her fists and taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"No, it really isn't." Cally shook her head slightly, the young woman in front of her did need to settle down, "What Starfleet wants from their skippers are people who can be cool and calm when the shit hits the fan. They don't want people who will go off half-cocked when there's time to think and plan." She stepped up and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder to stop her from her pacing, "I'm on the borderline of that range and because I know that I am, it means that I can keep myself under control and think before I act."

Raven took another deep, calming breath as the Captain's hand stopped her pacing. She was still new to the whole: "you're a part of this team (no, not team...family) and we care about you" thing...and it sometimes scared her how much she didn't know. "Thank you, Cap...Cally. I'm sorry. Looks like I might be on that line as well. Question is...do you believe I am up to the challenge?" Raven stared into her Captain's eyes, half of her knowing the answer, while the other half still doubted.

"If there were any doubt in my mind, I wouldn't put you in the hot seat for this one." Cally said softly, giving a confident smile to the young woman, "I'm a pretty fair pilot myself, you know, I could handle it if I needed to, but you've got this." She squeezed Raven's shoulder gently.

Raven smiled, relief flooding through her at Cally's affirmation. "Thank you, Cally, for everything. If you hadn't taken me aboard...I don't know where I'd be. Maybe still racing...or maybe dead. Sigh, I don't know how I'm ever gonna repay you for everything you've done for me. Dangit, Cally, why is it I can sass back at anyone but you?" Raven rubbed her hand along her neck, snickering at her inability to be her usual attitudinal self around Cally.

"Because you haven't gotten used to me yet." Calypso snickered, "Don't worry, chickadee, you'll get that sass back." The Captain released Raven's shoulders and smacked her on the rump with another laugh, "Never cease to live life, Raven, you never know when it's the last day."

"Haha! You might be right at that! I won't, Cally. Life's definitely WAY too short for sitting on your butt and not taking the bull by the horns," Raven laughed, subconsciously rubbing her butt from where Cally had smacked it. "This is going to be one WILD ride," Raven thought as she walked toward the Holodeck doors.