Quartering Party

Posted on Sun Mar 15th, 2020 @ 8:40am by Fleet Admiral Heather Duval & Lieutenant Tia Shalvari & Vice Admiral Valerie Dessaix & Lieutenant Maurice Crane & Major Milo "Squeegee" Schrader & Technical Sergeant Tycho Krywitz

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1400Hrs - April 4th, 2393

Lieutenant Commander Milo Schrader was at the controls of the Danube runabout, Meuse. He had twelve ground crew as companions for his ride. They were the first of the 33rd Fighter Wing to board Star Base 47 and prepare the way for the fighters.

"Star Base 47, this is the Meuse, permission to land." Milo asked.

A male's voice responded. "Permission granted to land Meuse. Mind yourself of the construction."

Milo maneuvered the shuttle in the bay easily into its spot.

"Alright," Milo addressed the team. "Go to your quarters and get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow." The passengers disembarked except for the co pilot. He stayed to address Milo.

"You said Tycho could land the shuttle Squeegee." Petty Officer Tycho Krywitz told Milo.

"I let you pilot the shuttle here." Milo told him. "You need to have a little more experience before you can land in a shuttle bay."

"And when will Tycho get that?" Tycho asked.

Milo let out a sigh. He was getting a little frustrated at Tycho describing himself in the third person. "I'll talk to Dirty Jack. He would rather have you or any of the ground crew pilot the recovery shuttle than a fighter pilot."

"Tycho is expecting to be disappointed." Tycho replied.

"Will you stop referring to yourself in the third person?" Milo asked.

"Tycho is who Tycho is." Tycho told him before picking up his bags and leaving.

Milo just shook his head. He grabbed his bags and exited the runabout. As he was leaving the shuttle bay he looked around. He was not liking what he saw. The construction was incomplete. His wing was to arrive in a week and things were not going to be ready. Frustrated he headed off to his quarters. After stowing his luggage he headed for the operations center.

Tia was busy with the finishing touches in the center. Ops now had full lighting and more important full control of the station. "Almost done here."

"I'm going to miss your presence." Maurice told her. "Your the most useful person on this station."

"Even more useful than the marines?" Tia asked.

"Marines? Oh, please." Maurice scoffed. "Marines are like sheet metal. They are very useful for there limited purposes, useless for anything else and often just taking up space."

Tia giggled. It was then that Milo arrived. "Hello there. I'm the advance officer for the fighter wing. I'd like to talk to the engineer in charge." Milo told them.

"That would be me. What can I help you with?" Tia asked.

"My wing will be arriving shortly. The hangar isn't ready for us. There is no power to auxiliary systems. the internal tractor beam hasn't been installed, and the construction of the docks isn't complete." Milo told her.

"Your fighters won't arrive for at least another week. The hangar will be operational by the time they arrive." Tia told him.

"According to the schedule the hangar should be operational now. We need to make sure the facilities are ready to go the day the fighters arrive." Milo explained to her.

"We had a labor issue here. Things are behind schedule." Tia replied.

"I need you to fix those deficiencies by tomorrow." Milo ordered.

"We will get to the hangar in a few days. Your not in charge here. Besides, those aren't deficiencies." Tia raised her voice back at Milo.

"Look, I'm not telling you what to do but I need that hangar operation ASAP." Milo fired back, his voice now raised.

"We will get to it when we get to it." Tia snarled back, clearly annoyed.

It was then that Dessaix entered operations. "Children! Why must you raise your voices?"

"Our little rocket jockey her is quiet put out that the hangar is not operating up to his standards." Maurice explained.

"I am not a 'rocket jockey'!" Milo shouted. "And I'm not pissed that the hangar isn't up to my standards. The hangar is just a space right now. None of the utilities are functioning."

Tia started to fire back at Milo before Valerie interjected. "Silence!" She told her subordinates. "The USS Marbot is needed at Kulpaz VII. The planet was hit by a meteorite and the colony sustained heavy casualties. Henceforth, they will be departing picket duty to assist. I need you Lieutenants Shalvari and Crane to activate several of the security drones out there to replace the Marbot."

"Admiral, do you mean the security drones that arrived yesterday?" Tia asked. "We are going to need a shuttle to pull them out into place and then activate them there."

"True." Maurice agreed. "And we will also need someone trained in ordnance weapons. Neither of us have that qualification."

"Well good news is that our resident pilot," Valerie motioned to Milo, "will take you out there. I also know he has brought friends in the way of ground crew. They most certainly are trained in handling ordnance. I expect you three and your forth friend out there in an hour activating those drones.."

An hour later Milo, Tycho, Tia, and Maurice were on the Meuse. The runabout was towing three large sentry drone behind her.

"Hey Squeegee, how long is this going to take?" Tycho asked.

"Your call sign is Squeegee?" Tia laughed. "Why do they call you that?"

"I would imagine that is because he is soft and has a talent for absorbing liquids." Maurice answered.

"No! It isn't!" Milo became agitated. "It's an inside joke. Now, can we get back to business?"

"Touchy, touchy." Maurice taunted Milo.

"Tycho will have this done shortly. Tycho doesn't like working in a vacuum suit." Tycho told the others.

Tia looked around. "Where is Tycho?" She asked.

"Tycho is here." Tycho looked at Tia oddly.

"Um, okay. So what will you be doing?" Tia asked Tycho.

"Tycho will be activating the ordnance on the sentry drones." Tycho replied.

"Yes, you told me that. Why are you here?" Tia asked.

"Tycho just explained that to you. Why is it so hard for you to understand?" Tycho asked.

"No, you explained it to me." Tia was very confused.

"Tycho refers to himself in the third person." Milo told Tia. Tia still looked confused. "Don't try to understand it. Just go with it. Your life will be easier." Milo advised her.

Tia, Milo, and Tycho put on vacuum suits as Milo untethered the first drone. The three left the runabout to start the drone up. As Milo sat in the now empty runabout, he knew this was going to be a long afternoon.