Rust and Bad Decisions
Posted on Thu Jul 30th, 2026 @ 7:08pm by Lieutenant Junior Grade Ralen Vessa & Ensign James Pullard
783 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Mini Mission-Adjustments [USS Orcrist]
Location: Flight Simulation Bay, USS Orcrist
Vessa had not gone looking for the cocky ensign.
She had simply passed the flight simulation bay and noticed one of the stations running a difficult approach programme: poor visibility, unstable thruster response and a docking corridor narrow enough to make the computer seem personally offended.
That was enough to make her stop.
She watched the last part of the exercise from beside the console. Whoever was inside handled the craft confidently, pushing the approach faster than procedure recommended and correcting late enough to make it clear the risk was deliberate.
Cocky, then. The doctor had not exaggerated.
The simulated craft settled onto its mark with very little clearance to spare. The programme ended and the hatch opened.
Vessa folded her arms, glancing once at the final score before looking at the ensign.
“Not bad.”
A small smile touched her mouth.
“You must be the cocky ensign I was warned about.”
Jim was taking the simulator's helmet off looking at the Lieutenant standing there. "Cocky?" He smiled genuinely, "I'd say more like self confident. Though I have to admit, eight months in the brig made me a little rusty."
Vessa’s eyebrows rose.
“Eight months?”
She looked him over again, the smile sharpening.
“Lightweight.”
Her gaze flicked towards the simulator score, then back to him.
“So what did you do? Steal a shuttle, punch an admiral, or just get caught?”
He chuckled, "Depends of which time you're talking about. The last one, well I broke a Commander's nose. Before that...well DS4's yard master didn't like me ducking and weaving a fighter through the yards superstructure."
Vessa’s grin widened.
“Eight months for breaking a commander’s nose? That must’ve been one hell of a nose.”
She leaned back against the console, openly reassessing him now.
“And the yard master sounds like a varesh (prick). You don’t build gaps into a superstructure and then get upset when a pilot notices them.”
Her eyes flicked towards the simulator before settling back on Jim.
“So what did the commander do, besides stand too close?”
Jim arched a brow, could it be that there was actually an officer here that had a similar attitude? He thumbed a catch on the helmet. "Well... let just say he tried to intervene in a little dispute I was having with a couple of other individuals. He grabbed my shoulder, and I thought it was another of their buddies. So I spun on him and dropped him in his tracks. Needless to say my original opponents took advantage of the situation and jumped me.
"I held my own but it was too long before stations security got there and shortly there after I was and Ensign again. I don't know how, probably my father pulling strings, but I ended up with a posting here.
"The Captain's giving me a change to get my wings back while working Flight and Ops..." glancing back to the simulator, "...but I wanted to shake the rust of before going to the CAG."
Vessa gave a short laugh.
“Very generous of him.”
She pushed away from the console, arms folding loosely.
“Someone else clips your wings, knocks you back to Ensign, and he gets to play the hero for letting you earn them again.”
Her gaze shifted towards the simulator.
“Still, that run wasn’t bad. Rusty, maybe. Not grounded.”
The corner of her mouth lifted.
“Just don’t punch the CAG before you report in.”
He chuckled and tilted his head to the side and back, "I can't make any promises, but I will do my best. Of course I need to let myself pick up a pip before rocking the boat too much. In the mean time...while I appease the CFO and the Operations overlord, perhaps we could hit the simulator from time to time?"
Vessa’s grin came back.
“Oh, count on it.”
She rapped her knuckles lightly against the simulator console.
“Once the CFO’s finished deciding whether you’re house-trained, come find me. I want to see if that run was skill or just eight months of pent-up stupidity.”
Her eyes flicked over him.
“Either way, it should be fun.”
He sketched her a two fingered salute, "Absolutely. Hopefully it won't be too long before I show you my skills."
Vessa watched the salute, one eyebrow lifting.
“Okay, flyboy.”
She backed towards the door, grin still in place.
“Get your wings back. Then you can stop talking about your skills and actually show me.”
With that, she turned and left him to the simulator.
Lieutenant JG Ralen "Scorch" Vessa
Deputy CAG
Flight Commander, East Mark Flight
USS Orcrist
Ensign James Pullard
Ops & Flight
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