The Flagship [OPEN]

[leafonthewind]

Wash rarely went anywhere but the bridge of the Quarter - the whole thing felt creepily like an Alliance ship and the bridge was a smaller space, easier to deal with after Serenity's tight places.

Not that it was much better on the bridge. Wash sometimes felt like he was in a vast fishbowl, standing out on the end of the bridge. It was built in the thrust, three sides surrounded by air and railings. Luckily the consoles were high enough that no-one was likely to get vertigo.

Wash went straight to his station, running his hand over the console. Even in a ship this high-tech they knew that the pilot had to feel her to fly.

"She's not my first love but she's well enough," he said.

Comments

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take Eva long to figure out where she's going; she scoped out the outside if the Quarter ahead of time, so as to avoid looking like she's incompetent right off the bat. She's no friend to most technology, so despite her enthusiasm she is nervous, and she hasn't felt uncertain about a job for many years now.

The Quarter is large, larger than Edriss' Empire Ship, possibly as large as the Pool Ship, which Edriss had never explored in its entirety. A mile, maybe? Hard to figure by sight alone. Eva finds herself oddly comfortable on it. It's been a while since she was in space but elements of all ships look familiar, and she has to make herself useful somehow.

"Morning, Ensign Washburn. Have some nice gloop for breakfast?"

[leafonthewind]

"Nice isn't the word I'd choose most readily," Wash said. "You don't have to call me Ensign, either - at least not while the Captain or the General aren't here. It's Wash, please."

Ensign Washburne gave him enough of an uncomfortableness when either of them said it. He didn't need everyone else using it too. "How was the head talk session?"

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

"Wash it is then, Wash." She looks around at the bridge but doesn't touch anything, compulsively tapping a beat against her hip with her fingers. She doesn't especially feel up to discussing the evaluation. "Doctor Samson and I talked about literature, which was nice. Who knew med school left time for poetry? Anyway, where do we start?"

[leafonthewind]

"Well, welcome to the Quarter first of all. She's Starfighter Command's flagship and spacecraft carrier and the General just about explodes with pride every time she says 'flagship.' Even though I don't think we have a flag. That's the Captain's chair - he's seven feet tall and blue, you can't miss him. Tends to be terse. Here's where I stand, and everything else is some kind of communications, tactical or systems administrator."

There were a lot of other seats on the bridge. "Most if it we don't use because we don't have an internal crew."

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

"Well, I'm not all that sure we could get everyone on Stacy to agree on a flag for the flagship, anyway. So, without an internal crew, what's the position that makes the most sense to fill, tactical, systems or communications? Systems?"

[leafonthewind]

"Systems will run themselves for the most part. How do you feel about Tactical? Shooting and flying at the same time is a lot of multitasking to be doing." Especially when your ship had as many guns as the Quarter did.

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like my sort of job. I noticed at least beam turrets on the outside of the ship, but I assume there are other weapons I didn't recognize enough to count. Most of the Yeerk ships used Dracon beam weaponry, but I can learn any of it. Walk me through the controls?"

[shootingblancs]

It was a bit lonely, being the only SMS member left on the ship - but Michael still had his VF-25, and he still had the Quarter. Part of him felt a bit responsible for it all, really; nobody else knew these birds like he did so he'd have to watch out for them.

But the pilot, Wash - he was certainly getting a handle on the mother-bird. Michael stood for a while in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt a pilot's bonding with his own machine, before he spoke up. "You should see her in action. She can dance on a needle if you know how to move her."

[leafonthewind]

"I'm getting there. She's a lot bigger than I'm used to, doesn't exactly turn on a dime." Not that Serenity did either unless he and Kaylee decided to work some engine wizardry. "It'll help to have Eva at Tactical, for one."

[shootingblancs]

"Maybe not in this form," Michael chuckled. "How's your practice coming with that transformation? Having someone else manning the guns might take a bit off your brainpower."

[leafonthewind]

"Having someone else manning the guns only frees up my utter genius," Wash said. Cocky? Well, he was a pilot. "You've only seen me in multitasking mode. Once I don't have anything else to worry about nobody can touch me."

He left his palm resting against the pilot's console - he did love flying this ship. Especially when it was a giant robot. "The transformation's getting smoother every time. I'm getting more used to which systems are essential and which can be sidelined because we don't have a crew."

It was very nice not to have to worry when you accidentally vented a deck to space.

[shootingblancs]

"Be glad you're not in one of the VFs," he quirked a blond eyebrow. "Having to aim, shoot and fly at that speed all the time? It's madness." The expression on his face and tone of his voice were as friendly as ever - what was a little good-natured ribbing between pilots?

He leaned against one of the bulkheads - one of the few pieces in the room that wasn't a console. "Glad to hear it. It'd be a shame if the person at the helm couldn't make this big girl sing like she's supposed to."

[leafonthewind]

"That miiiight have had something to do with why I got shot down on my first campaign."

Civilian flight school hadn't really prepared him for battle, but by the time the war was really underway they were taking just about anyone. "Spent the rest of the war on a planet where people juggled geese for entertainment."

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean was just moseying along, heading toward the Impala to check a few things. His wandering did happen to take him past the Quarter, idly whistling Iron Man by Black Sabbath.

[leafonthewind]

Wandering past the Quarter with its huge front bay window put him in Wash's sights - and Wash wasted no time bolting off the bridge and finding the nearest escape hatch to slide out of. He had a conversation to have, after all.

"Dean!" he called, striding up to him with his hands in his pockets. The formal dress uniform had long since been ditched for the duty uniform's bomber jacket - much less stuffy.

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean paused in midstep, and then nodded in greeting. Not tense, nah, why would anybody think so? Though his expression was definitely neutral, kind of expecting this after Kaylee's heads up.

"Hey Wash, how's it going, man?"

[leafonthewind]

"Same thing as usual, you know, wake up at a crazy hour and run until my legs fall off, then fly a giant robot of mass destruction."

There wasn't really a delicate way to bring this up, so... "I hear you got married."

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Well he had to admire the guy getting right to the point.

Dean feigned a casual air, even as the inward nervousness increased, "Uh yeah, this planet got a thing where you can get in but you gotta get hitched. Only made sense for Kaylee and me to go together."

[leafonthewind]

"Just, 'hey honey, looks like we should tie the knot so we can go on shore leave?'"

Wash wasn't sure how he felt about that planet. Back home, even the strangest marriage ceremonies were legally binding. He'd heard more than one person on the crew talking about how this didn't count, and it just didn't sit right. Saffron wouldn't have made things as difficult if marriages didn't count off-planet.

[shroudedintent]

As it was, Wash wasn't the only one who often frequented the bridge of the Macross Quarter, that being in particular being being the tall ever armour clad alien that was the Captain of the vessel.

The doors at the back of the bridge parting as that particular figure strode onto the bridge after taking his daily tour of the hanger bays and the fighters held within them. Catching that comment with but the slightest tilt of his helmeted head as he came to stand at the front of the bridge off to the side of where Wash had been standing.

"You've handled her well thus far, Helmsman," Tilting his head the slightest bit toward him, "I hear we have a potential tactical operator?" The question coming out more as an observation.

[leafonthewind]

Wash still wasn't completely used to his Captain being a giant blue alien, but he was slowly getting accustomed to his habit of walking up behind his pilot with little warning. So he only jumped a little.

"Eva seems like she's going to catch on quick," Wash said. "She's got a good head on her shoulders. I think it'll do great things for us."

[shroudedintent]

Previously being a Special Operations commander did have its advantages in sneaking up on people. Inclining his head in acknowledgment as Wash spoke, despite his initially undisciplined mannerisms the Captain, his helmsman had proven his worth in simulations.

Setting himself back into the Captains chair, altered fore his larger size, 'Vadum turned his gaze to his Pilot, "Good, I look forward seeing just what she can do. Having tactical manned will increase our effectiveness in battle greatly," Indeed, while they would still be undermanned from what the vessel was designed to be operated with, the extra operator if she proved as competent as his pilot believed, would lessen the multi-tasking required by all.

[leafonthewind]

Yeesh. Talk about different cultures. "Yeah, it's shiny," he said. "I sent her to get fitted for our wonderful greens, too."

The duty uniform made so much more sense to him than the dress. It just felt more comfortable, even if it was still very, very green.

[shroudedintent]

Different cultures indeed. Ah yes, the uniforms, an interesting choice of design and he saw the merit of such things in unifying the command. Though he himself had chosen to remain with his armor, the symbol of his authority and his uniform all in one. A simple nod is given in reply to the comment as the Sangheili rests back into the chair.

"Have you taught her much of the system thus far?" Tilting his head everso slightly in his pilots direction. "I would like to see just what she can do, when you deem her ready,"

[leafonthewind]

"I walked her through it and she seemed to pick up quick." Wash was so used to the world of freelance work - if you ran into someone with a knack for something, you hired them. "I guess she'll start showing up at morning boot camp and afternoon sims with the rest of us."


Someone had once told him that exercise built character. Wash thought he probably had enough character for a few people, no need to build it further.