Fiery bursts of light danced against the void, sparks flaring, then they slowly began to die out as the Paranoid swept through. The fighters regrouped for a final, desperate stand but they were outnumbered and overwhelmed, dying in a final burst of light and fire. "Well, that could have gone better," Major Tanya said dryly, her green hair slightly messy from beneath her flight helmet. She stood beside her simulator, watching with wry amusement as her own pilots got out of their cockpits, all looking more than a bit annoyed. Hazel frowned, the waifish blonde running a hand through her long hair, "That wasn't a fair simulation, ma'am, the odds were stacked against us..." Lynn put her hand on her fellow pilot's shoulder, the lanky brown haired woman reminding her, "That's our situation, remember?" "Precisely," Tanya nodded. The group of six pilots went into the pilot's ready room, where Tanya began a after battle analysis. Coolly she dissected the fight, pointing out the errors they had made in their battle against the larger number of enemy fighters. "We screwed the pooch," Smith conceded, the black haired pilot sitting in a deceptively relaxed posture. Tanya looked towards the trainees with them and asked, "Would you care to speculate what your largest mistake was?" Pat and Lea exchanged glances, both of the newcomers looking nervous. Lea rose, running a hand through her short blue hair as she said, "We failed to concentrate on the mission profile, defending the Lady Grace." "Very good," Tanya flashed a smile, "you were suckered out of position then ambushed." Pat was nodding thoughtfully, red gold hair gleaming as she murmured, "While if we stayed with the Lady we would at least of had fire support when that larger wing of fighters appeared." Pryde nodded shortly, golden hair gleaming. "I guess we got cocky after our last win," she conceded reluctantly. "All right, now that I've finished lecturing you..." a faint smile tugged at Tanya's mouth, "Ensigns Pat and Lea are officially being assigned to the fighters, I want you to all make 'em welcome." As the other pilots gathered around the two women she added, "You can have a welcome party, but you'd better be ready for the alert rotations." "Ma'am," Hazel saluted crisply as they filed out of the room. Tanya grinned as she shut the monitor down, heading off to find her office. She was pretty certain they were going to get the new girls embarrassingly drunk, but that was why she hadn't put them on tomorrow's shifts, just in case. Part of her would have liked to go along, but she needed to do the worst job of a unit commander: paperwork. Nearly two hours later and a knock came on the door, Tanya looking up with a relieved smile. Lieutenant Danielle smiled back as the black haired woman said, "You look like that's slow torture." "Don't start," Tanya sighed, saving her work. "Why is it you put paperwork off until the last minute?" Danielle teased. "It's not last minute," Tanya protested. Danielle raised a single eyebrow and asked, "Doesn't Commander Alliene want those papers in this evening?" "Well, yes," Tanya gave up that point with a sigh. She smiled up at her partner wryly, "Can I just say that when I envisioned reaching a command rank, I never thought so much of my time would be taken up by this?" "Join the club," Danielle agreed with a smile. She looked faintly concerned, "Do you want me to help...?" "No, I'm about done," Tanya said with a relieved look. "All our requisitions for new weapons, repairs, the new flight suits for Lea and Pat... all finished," she said. Danielle took Tanya's hand as they left the room, then released it with a sigh as they headed into the main halls. "Occasionally I wish we could be more open," Danielle confessed, walking beside the slightly smaller woman. "Me, too," Tanya agreed, "but until we're in a situation where we're not professionally responsible for each other it's not a good idea." Danielle nodded her agreement glumly. While Tanya outranked her, all the fighter squads were directly under Danielle's tactical command, creating a complicated working relationship. If their being lovers got out, it could lead to questions about either of their abilities to stay professionally detached in a crisis situation. Tanya waited until they passed a ensign walking the other way before squeezing Danielle's hand in her own. "But if we get the chance," she confided, "I'd be honored to pledge my love to you in front of the whole ship, if needed." "Is that a proposal?" Danielle murmured as she stopped them by an archway. "I guess it is," Tanya said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. Danielle kissed her gently, not caring who might see, "I'd be honored, m'love." Up the hall Katrine ducked aside, the little redhead's eyes wide in surprise. A few moments later and Lieutenant Danielle and Major Tanya strode by, for all the world looking like two colleagues out together, not the passionate lovers she had seen. 'I thought they hated each other?' Katrine thought, trying to get her head around the idea of those two being together. The cold, intense Danielle seemed a odd match to the fiery Tanya, though there was that old saying of opposites attracting. "Hey Katrine," Lauren nodded, the navigator looking as beautiful as usual. Just looking at her made Katrine's heart skip a beat, especially when she was like this, casually off duty. "Are you grabbing some dinner?" Katrine asked, the two falling into step on the way over to Katrine's quarters. "I was thinking about it," Lauren agreed, her jumpsuit clinging to the slim blonde's body. "Would you like to join me?" she asked. "I'd love to," Katrine grinned. She invited Lauren into her small quarters, picking up a jumpsuit and ducking into her bathroom to change. "You could always change in front of me," Lauren drawled softly. A fierce blushed colored Katrine's cheeks as she shimmied out of her uniform then pulled the casual jumpsuit on. 'I couldn't do that, it'd be so.. intimate,' she thought. "Sorry," she joked aloud, "no free shows today." "So how much does a show cost?" Lauren asked jokingly, perched on the side of the bed. Katrine felt her breath catch as a scenario raced through her mind.. then shook it off quickly. Stepping out fully dressed she smiled, "Let's see how nice of a dinner you and I have first," she said with a gentle smile. "Sounds fun," Lauren chuckled as they left together, chatting as they walked down to the dining hall of the Lady Grace. "So what's it like serving on the bridge?" Katrine asked as they sat down with their trays of food, eating away happily. Lauren delicately tore a bun, mopping up gravy as she said, "Tough, but rewarding I think. You're at the center of everything that's happening, even if it can be a bit scary." "At least you get to see what's happening," Katrine moped, "first I was in environmental and now I'm in emergency services. Either way, I don't get to go where the action is." "But do you really WANT to be?" Lauren pointed out reasonably. "True," Katrine sighed sadly. She brightened a bit, "You won't believe what I saw in the hall earlier today!" "Oh?" Lauren looked curious. "I saw Lieutenant Danielle and Major Tanya together," Katrine reported the news a bit breathlessly, "kissing!" "But they hate each other," Lauren actually looked surprised by this piece of gossip. "It must be an act," Katrine waved that off, "considering the sort of kissing that was going on. This wasn't a friendly smooch, this was passionate." "Isn't that interesting," Lauren murmured, her expression oddly thoughtful.
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