Operation Pacifica: We Joined the Navy...
by Trooper Charcharadon (highland@iastate.edu)

[settheme = "We Joined the Navy" from _Follow_the_Fleet_]

We joined the Navy to see the world / And what did we see? / We saw the sea. /
We saw the Atlantic and the Pacific, But the Pacific isn't terrific, / And the 
Atlantic isn't what it's cracked up to be...

(Sorry, I couldn't help it..)

*DTT FREEDOM hangar decks, day 3 of Pacifica*

 Click.  Thump.  Bzzzt.

 "OK, good.  They did give these things the standard upgrade..."
  Charcharadon muttered to himself as he sat on a maintenance pad next to one
  of the air wing's F-14's, going through the data books and diagrams.  "That
  will make things a little easier."

 A couple mechanics stood a few steps away, exchanging worried
  looks.  Messing around with fleet equipment wasn't something pilots were
  supposed to do, it was their turf.  One of them proceeded to tell
  Charcharadon this.

 "Relax folks, it's not like I'm going to overhaul the engines or
  control systems.  There isn't time for that sort of thing, more's the pity.
  I just want to see if I can get my toy to interface with the plane."
  Charcharadon gestured to a blocky object sitting on the lift next to him.
  "Here's the spec book in case you're interested."  He tossed an inch-thick
  binder bearing the WEDJEE logo on the front at them to keep them occupied
  while he got to work.

 Climbing halfway into the cockpit, he removed an empty plate from
  the instrument panel, revealing several standard interface ports hidden
  underneath it.  Good.  He picked up the device and several tools and set to
  work connecting it and mounting it in the cockpit so that it wouldn't detach
  and go flying around, distracting him during takeoff, landing, or other
  critical moments.

 He leaned out of the cockpit.  "Hey you two," he yelled at the
  mechanics who were standing with their heads pressed together and noses
  buried in the binder, "could you do something useful and give me power to
  the instruments?  I want to make sure everything works correctly."  As the
  cockpit began to light up, he slid into the pilot's seat and pulled on his
  flight helmet, plugging a cable in between it and the device.

 Ten minutes later, after checking the performance of sensors and
  weapons interfaces through diagnostics, he tapped briefly into the fleet
  WAN, pulling up the latest deathmatch scores.  As they scrolled across his
  field of vision, he noted with a smile that the Grand Admiral and the Fleet
  Commander were busy keeping the troops in line.

 "Well, that's enough for now Fuchikoma.  Let's punch out and go get
  some rest."  Unhooking himself and the box from the aircraft, he hopped out
  and lowered the maintenance lift to the ground.  Switching off the power, he
  left the two mechanics to their reading.  They looked so comical standing
  together like that...

[to be continued in Operation Pacifica: Harm's Way]

-Chris, aka Charcharadon