#43 Setting Relays

Posted on Wed Jun 7th, 2023 @ 12:40am by Lieutenant JG Gavin Lasso

Mission: Mission 10. Move to the Lagoon Nebula.
Location: Delta 5
Timeline: current

Lieutenant JG Gavin Lasso sat behind the controls of the Delta Flier he was in, the small ship cruising along at warp 2, towing a subspace relay along with him. There were five Deltas in the flight, all with relays in tow. They formed a chevron flight pattern, with Lasso being the point craft. After M-69 got moved the subspace relays had been left behind. He had another group of small craft out around 69, setting up the relays and outer markers, with each Delta out and about carrying a few engineers each. Everyone was in EVA suits, needing to go out and set the relays manually after they were moved. Billi had finally moved completely over to the Nazgul, which auto-slotted Lasso to Chief Flight Control officer. It felt good, honestly. He loved to fly, whether that was zooming through space or screaming through atmosphere.

"You guys ready to set these last five?" Gavin craned his neck, looking back over his shoulder to the aft section of the cockpit. He gave a grin, knowing they were all tired, having been at this all day.

"Ready as we can be, Gavin." One of the engineer's tossed out.

"Sweet," said Lasso, face going forward again as he looked to his console. "We'll be on site for our relay in a few minutes. Head to the aft and get your gear ready. I'll join you on the space walk once I lock this bird in place."

"Got it," said a female engineer, standing up quickly and heading to the back.

Lasso swore she sounded miffed as she did it. He looked back. "Who pissed in her Wheaties?"

The other two engineers laughed, not expecting that kind of remark. They were standing to head to the back, but not in such a rush. They had their shoulders hunched slightly since standing full height in the cockpit of a Delta was only possible in certain areas with all the hull bracing and technology. "What the f**k is a Wheatey?" Asked one of the fellas.

All three of them laughed at that. After getting his laughter under control and still smiling, Gavin looked at the man who had asked that. "Archaic breakfast cereal from back in Earth's history. My gramps used to ask that question when one of the family would get pissy, so it stuck. I had to ask him the same question; what the heck is a Wheatey?" More laughter.

"Alright, L-T, we're heading to the back. Let's get this thing done and go have some drinks."

"Agreed," said Lasso. "First round is on me."

Tapping a few keys Lasso brought up a holographic monitor to observe what was going on in the back. Not babysitting them by any means, just seeing when they would be ready. As he glanced at that screen he brought his Delta out of warp, tapping the intercom key. "Getting into position now," stated Lasso. Slowing his Delta to thrusters only Gavin adjusted the course and came upon the exact coordinates for where the relay was to be placed. The aft ramp would be open, and then all they had to do was set the relay in place one meter behind that.

"Lieutenant Lasso, Delta two, here. We'll proceed to our own drop sites. See you back at base, Sir."

"Copy that, deuce. See you in the bay. Lasso, out." The channel closed as Gavin set his own ship for station keeping and then donned his helmet, closing the visor. Getting up he made his way into the back, and as soon as the doors to the cockpit closed behind him one of the engineers slapped the hatch release to open the aft ramp. They all helped each other with the jetpacks, getting them set right on their backs once again, before going out into free space to fiddle with the comm relay. With four people the work went quickly.

***

Two hours later Lasso flew his Delta in through the forcefield over the bay door, closing down thrusters and impulse drive and using the repulsors on the craft to hover around over the deck. Swinging nose out in front of his ship's parking niche, he eased the small craft in reverse until the proximity sensor told him he was a foot from the back wall. He landed his craft and began to go through post flight. With each passing minute, a pint of Guinness was sounding better and better. Bliss had the stout on tap, which he had found out only recently. The crew, including himself, all headed for the EVA locker room, and the showers.

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