Jilleen Adel Simmons (absolutelysheba) wrote in bsg_avalon, @ 2011-11-19 22:58:00 |
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Current location: | sagittaron |
Entry tags: | jake mackenzie, jilleen simmons |
Saying Good-bye
Who: Jake Mackenzie & Jilleen Simmons
Where: Ft. Iwo, Sagittaron
When: Before this
“Chamber, I found one more for you. He should be with me shortly,” said Jilleen into a hand-held 2-way wireless. "He’s raptor qualified and can command that spare raptor.”
“That’s great Sheba. I’ll wait to begin the briefing when you two get here,” said Captain Chamberlain, the flight leader for the Headquarters’ raptor unit.
“No, if we don’t show up in five minutes begin without us. I’ll get him up to speed on the way,” she said outside the door way.
“Very well, see you when you get here.”
She hesitated for a moment to decide if she wanted to ask another question but decided not to ask about Elihu. Chamberlain did not list him as one of the dead or missing, so it could only mean he was fine, at least she hoped. “Sheba out.”
Jilleen returned the handheld to a pouch attached to the black ballistic-combat vest she wore over her blue service uniform. She then picked up her black combat helmet from the check-in counter by the door. Her combat gear had been stored at the armory inside the command center, along with her standard issued side-arm. She waited for Major Mackenzie whom she expected would show up any minute since last talking to him via the wireless.
Jake had been reluctant to leave his people, feeling like he was abandoning them. They were all about to be split up and spread amongst the marine units with all the other ‘spare’ personnel that happened to be on the scene, like cooks, mechanics and anyone else who could be pressed into infantry service. The senior NCO had convinced him he’d be of better use back up in the air doing what he’d been trained to do rather than trying to fight as an infantryman when the Cylons came back to try and finish the base off.
He entered the command center and spotted Jilleen. “All right Sheba. You wanted me, you got me. I was going to stay put, but Chief Webster talked some sense into me. Where’s the briefing at?”
“By the air field and I will have to thank the chief,” she said before she donned her helmet, and then snapped the chin strap. “He knows we need our best pilots.” Jilleen then turned to a marine escort and nodded. “Ready, let’s go.”
As they walked, Jilleen explained the current situation. “We lost some of the crews who were off-duty this evening and away in the city. This left us shorthanded of course, and with the urgency, we needed qualified volunteers for this task.” She glanced at him for moment as the walked to a waiting vehicle. “Admiral Pierce took command of the Fleet twenty minutes ago and is transferring his flag to a designated battlestar.”
“Frak me.” Jake stared at her with wide eyes as they walked, taking in the news and its implications. He’d been too busy to pay much attention to the scuttlebut about what was going on outside of the base and on the other Colonies. If Pierce was in overall command now, that meant that every admiral senior to him was dead or out of communication. “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t think it was that bad.” His parents were likely dead, along with most of the people he knew back in Fleet HQ.
“I don’t like to think about it,” she told him as they continued toward the vehicle. “All the colonies were struck to some extent. We fear Caprica and other colonies are lost. There is too much confusion.”
A marine at the armored plated wheeled vehicle opened the rear passenger door for them. Jilleen nodded at him, and went inside, sliding across the bench seat to make room for Jake. She might not like thinking about what was happening out there on the other colonies, but each moment of idle time her mind would race back to her family and friends. This time she worried for her husband and hoped he was safe.
“It’ll be sorted out soon enough.” Jake murmured, staring toward the front of the vehicle as it started moving. “The toasters frakked up. If they were going to hit us they should have used overwhelming force and finished it all at once before we could get a chance to punch back.”
The war he’d been preparing to fight his entire career had finally come to pass, and he looked forward to some payback.
“Stupid robots,” she said. “Why couldn’t they have left us alone? They got their freedom.” Since her first days at the academy, they trained for the day the Cylons returned. No one really forgot the Cylon atrocities in the last war.
“They got their freedom, but would they ever feel safe knowing we were still out here?” He shook his head. “Deep down I don’t think I ever really expected they’d come back, they’d been gone so long. It lulled all of us into a false sense of security.” If he ever made it to flag rank he’d make sure the Colonies finished the job this time, even if it took a century to hunt down and destroy each and every one of the chrome plated mistakes.
She shook her head. Jilleen too believed she would never see the return of the Cylons in her life time. The Colonial Forces were more about keeping the peace between the Colonies in her time of service. “They’re going to pay.” She felt angry. “Once we get the Admiral to the flagship, we’ll turn the tide.”
“So say we all.” Jake murmured solemnly.
Minutes later after they arrived, Captain Chamberlain finished the flight brief. There was some questions about the need for a tight formation which was accepted after he explained the need to keep a small DRADIS signature due to possible tracking by enemy elements. It was simply something they had practiced to keep their numbers hidden from Sagittaron insurgents in the past.
After speaking with her pilot, Jilleen returned to see Jake again at his assigned Raptor. “Must be hard to let someone else lead?” she said.
“A bit.” Jake was already working on the pre-flight checklist, making sure everything was good to go on the Raptor. War conditions or no, he wasn’t about to take off in a bird that wasn’t fit to fly. He glanced over at Jilleen, “I’m not the command pilot on this sortie so I just have to suck it up and soldier. If Chamberlain had been snotty about it I’d have brought him up short, but he kept his head.”
He wasn’t sure about the tight formation they were supposed to fly though. Playing keep away with insurgents was one thing, going up against Cylon raiders was something entirely different. It wasn’t his place to question the command pilot in front of one of his subordinates however, and he kept his peace.
“At least you’re not flying as co-pilot like I am,” she glanced back at her raptor for a second. “Any way it’s only a skip and a jump. What like ten minutes?” She figured. It was better to have an active pilot in charge of the raptor than one who only flew the minimum hours to keep her flight status in reserve.
“Ten minutes regular flight time.” Jake cautioned, frowning. He straightened and put his clipboard aside to focus his attention on his old classmate. “This will be flying under wartime conditions Jilleen, don’t get complacent. We’ve seen what happens when people get sloppy.”
She lifted a finger with the intent to disagree but on second thought she agreed. “I have full faith in Lieutenant Ramai’s piloting skills, and I’ll keep a sharp look out.” Then she said something she never admitted to Jake. “You were always the better pilot, I could never keep up with you.”
Jake’s eyes widened slightly at the admission. She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know, he was a natural pilot whereas she’d had to work much harder to get a proficiency at flight that came easily to him. There was no reason to rub her nose in it however, something he would have been eager to do back in their plebe days at Gladius Cross. “Don’t sell yourself too short Sheba. I’ve been around the fleet since before I could crawl, it was an unfair advantage but that’s just the way things were.”
“I don’t think you had an unfair advantage,” she then smirked. “Who was First Captain?”
“Gods, you’re never going to let me forget that are you?” He shook his head, chuckling lightly. Jake didn’t want this moment to end, just a little pre-mission banter between old friends, but things were different this time. They were going into combat and there was every chance that one of them wouldn’t survive. His expression sobered at the thought, and his co-pilot appeared turning the corner around the building and onto the flight line.
“Seriously Jilleen, be careful out there all right? If you get yourself killed I’m going to kick your ass.”
“No, I’ll kick your sorry ass if you die on me,” she warned him.
In the distance the eerie sound of a siren started to blare, followed a moment later by a closer warning siren. The dark skies above them were empty except for smoke from the fires in the city. People began to stir around. Jilleen’s handheld wireless beeped twice, followed by “Apple kart on the move.” The signal that Vice Admiral Pierce was on the way to the air field.
“That’s our guy,” she told Jake.
“Better to get back to business then,” Jake nodded, feeling an odd tightness in his chest. She might well be the only friend he had left alive, and he might never see her again. “I’ll see on you on the hanger deck.”
She knew their was a chance that one of them or even both may not see tomorrow. It was only by luck or by Divine design they were here together in the first place on this of all days. So she didn’t hesitant and broke protocol. Jilleen stepped forward . “I’ll see you there, you can count on that,” and then hugged him, “but just in case.”
Jake stiffened for an instant, then relaxed and put his arms around her to return the hug. “Just in case.” He repeated, patting her back and ignoring his co-pilot’s discomfort as the young Lieutenant came up behind them. After a moment he squeezed her and then let go, stepping back. “Go on, your ride is waiting for you.”
“Very well, sir.” Jilleen snapped a salute with a serious look and respect. All while the sirens continued the air raid alert.
Jake came to attention and returned the salute. “Dismissed Captain.”
Jilleen turned around and hurried to her raptor. Her mind focused again on the task at hand. She joined Lt. Ramai inside the cockpit to prepare for the flight. Her fears were put aside.