Farrell Log Two

[Banshee Farrell 0]

(This log follows the events of Marius TrLorins “Flight Patrol Preface” Log starring Aero Perez)

 

Camelot Station

CENTRAL HUB: Levels 37 – 49, Hanger Deck

Chief Petty Officer Banshee Farrell

Lieutenant Thomas “Jiffy” Jericho walked purposefully across the hanger deck to where the five fighter craft were neatly parked after passing the pre-flight checks. Bethel, Hammer, Aero, and Streak followed close behind in close formation, chattering excitedly among themselves. The topic of conversation was pre-flight jock boasting, with all of the junior pilots ribbing each other mercilessly, especially Bethel who had just completed some disciplinary repair duty with the first shift mechanic squad.

 

A “Yo! Lieutenant” boomed across the busy and noisy hanger deck, and Jericho stopped and turned to lock eyes onto Margaret “Banshee” Farrell, the lead mechanic for the first shift squad. She sported crisp and pressed duty fatigues, as well as the new rank pip that designated her promotion to Chief Petty Officer.

 

Farrell reached him, and after a polite nod to Jiffy’s pilot squad, spoke in a low tone to the senior pilot lead. “Lieutenant, I put in for and received clearance from both the CAG and the command staff about that little matter we discussed. With your permission, I’d like to get the astro ball rolling with this group of reprobates you call a squad?”

 

With an effort Jericho kept his features neutral, although a smirk highlighted his stereotypical square jawed handsome features. “Have at them Farrell. And congratulations on your promotion.” He gently tapped at her rank pip before turning to his pilots, and spoke in a louder tone to the gathered reprobates, “Okay you space cadets, form up in relaxed parade so we can hear what the Chief Petty Officer has to say.”

 

The blond haired Irish woman waited until Jericho’s Gaia squad pilots were standing at attention in front of the respective fighters they would be piloting on the patrol run that Gaia had been scheduled for today. The Lancelot class birds were fully fueled, and their hulls had been polished to a gleam. It was always a crap shoot as to if the fighters would be returned in that same condition; Farrell was going start remedying that situation today.

 

Facing the pilots and standing in her own relaxed parade rest, the enlisted woman wasted no time in getting to the heart of the matter. “No one here on this station would ever deny that the role you flight jocks play is important. Camelot is located in a key strategic and tactical point, and as a result, we are in need of constant fighter patrols to ensure the stations safety. In addition, y’all perform quite a bit of escort duties, whether it’s bird dogging foodstuffs and medical supplies to the posts on Avalon, or escorting the refugees that seem to be pouring in here weekly due to the galactic wide power plays that certain organizations and governments are participating in. I know you work hard. We all know you work hard. ”

 

She glanced at Jericho, and he gave her a slight nod of affirmation to continue.

 

“With that said, I’ll be honest with you. Meself and the other mechanics have noticed that there is a consistent problem with the fighters that are returned to us, and the repairs we seem to be making go beyond the normal wear and tear that we should be dealing with. In other words, the whole lot of ye are reckless and loose on the stick.”

 

A murmur of outrage rippled among the pilots, eliciting a sharp tongued “Attention!” from Jericho.

 

Banshee continued with the low grade dressing down. “I’ve already had Bethel for some punishment repair duty after she tried some asinine fancy landing,” a finger pointed at the young female pilot, “and don’ you be trying to deny it or tell any tall tales about that landing to make it seem better then it really was. I know what that warp pontoon looked like, and I’ve since seen the footage from the hanger security cams. You’re lucky you didn’t smear yourself against the outer hull girl, or take out another fighter in the process.”

 

Bethel turned bright red from embarrassment, but Farrell continued with no concern over the state of her comfort.

 

Ice blue Irish eyes that were not smiling pinned the group. “Gaia squad is getting a reputation among the repair crews as a bunch of screw ups, and yer right behind the Wild Cards who are worse if you can believe it. The whole lot of you engage in that damn hot dogging a bit too much,” Farrell looked right at Aero when she said that, “so, to break this behavior, and with the permission of your commander of the air group as well as Camelot command, were going to be implementing some preventive sanctions.”

 

“And this will be enforced, so you newbies need to suck it up and deal with it.” Jericho interjected and then fell silent again.

 

Farrell smirked a bit at the junior pilots and continued her little uber speech. “I ca’ see by your expressions that ya not likin’ this? Well, deal with it. No one said life was easy, so unless you want me kickin’ your cans you’ll shape up and treat my birds better.”

 

The chief petty officer began to slowly walk up and down the line of pilots, stopping and looking right at each one of them as she continued speaking.

 

“Y’all have security cams mounted to your birds, so if you engage in any sort of hot dogging on a patrol run, we’ll know about it. And, if you try some fancy landing, the internal cameras here in the station will pick up on it. If you pilots don’t respect your birds, your safety, and the safety of your squad, and you cause damages as a direct result of your dumb ass shenanigans, then you will have to deal with the consequences. Bethel knows, ask her if you want a play by play rundown. You’ll be assigned to me for however long the repair cycle takes, and then we get to have some fun.” A really feral leer lit the Irish woman’s fair features as she made that last statement, “so, starting today, any funny business that isn’t sanctioned with my birds will be dealt with accordingly. Thank ye all for your time. Lieutenant Jericho?”

 

Jiffy stepped forward to face his squad. “Alright ladies, school is over and you heard what Chief Farrell said. If you don’t act like a complete newb, then you’ll be fine. Let’s get mounted and move out."