The Navigator (Kolath x Abovetheroses)

[Kolath]

Fighter officer Marcus Haywood walked along the corridor through the military outpost on the fifth moon of Minos five. The gravity plating under his feet held anyone to the surface of the small satellite rock. The moon wasn’t large enough to really have its own gravity little more than a comet that got caught up in the gravity well of the planet and was unable to break out of it. It had been mined of course for all the metal resources that it had and now as basically just a hunk of stone hanging in the sky.

It had been perfect for setting up Minos rapid response station. A point from which all fighter class ships from Dagger interceptors to Broadsword assault ships could dock and refuel as needed. It, along with the other rapid response stations in the Minos system, provided a fall back point for the Minos defense station’s ships should anything happen to the stations itself. The station here was a back up and a hub for military transports and shuttles leaving Minos five.

Minos five, was a verdant planet nestled nicely into the perfect zone for life and growing food. There had been no sentient life on any of the planets and none that might change into such in the coming years. So the system was approved for settlement. That had been a few hundred years ago and the Minos system had become one of the central most important food suppliers in the jump nexus. Which is why the imperium had two defense stations here.

Minos five rapid response station was also one of the main jumping off points for the Ranger class exploration ships. This was why Marcus was here. Marcus and his former navigator had been the best well known explorer team in the last twenty years. They have come out of the academy together and been paired as a flight team for defense forces at first. After she had proven her innate ability to calculate jump vectors faster than even the the strongest Navcom AI they were put into the exploration teams. They were a team, they were the best, they were in love...then she died.

Marcus shook his head to clear it as he walked out onto the landing platform watching the landing shuttle coming into its final resting place. He stood there his non regulation hair, cut to about three inches long brushing his neck and parted to stay out of his eyes but other then that mostly a tousled mess. As with most military men he had been given certain genetic enhancements that made his muscles stronger without being overly large. He stood six feet four inches tall with broad shoulders and a fairly powerful build but all lean long muscles of a swimmer rather than a bodybuilder. His hair auburn and green eyes as he looked over the landing ramp as it was brought down waiting for her...his new partner in the Ranger exploration division. He just hoped she was as good as they said.

 

[Abovetheroses]

Becoming a Navigator was never the original plan for Harper Weston. Growing up the only daughter in a four child home, she had dreams of being a dancer, a ballerina like in the old holo-vids she watched. She'd practiced just like those dancers for hours on end. Until her father and eldest brother died on the front lines. Another brother graduated fighter training and joined the forces shortly after while her last brother left for school leaving her mother and her home alone.

It didn't really seem fair that Harper would get to live out her dreams while her brothers would have to fight to give her and her mother a happy life. Yet every time they would call home, all they wanted to see on the video screen was the latest dance move she had been practicing. First dad, then Joe, two years later Trevor, and three years after that Chris was gone.

Harper was just a girl and there had been so few of them to actually enter the academy, let alone succeed. But she was the last one left to support her mother and carry on her family name. She had to do something....

Navigation academy was hard. Being singled out because your female made it worse. Not only did she have to meet all she same physical requirements as the men, but she had to prove she was just as smart as them too. What came as a shock to everyone was that she seemed to be smarter. Despite her small stature, Harper managed to keep up physically but once she was in the seat of any ship, her mind just seemed to work wonders. She knew maps and patterns it took others years to memorize. Layouts and maneuvers it took senior pilots years of training to master it took her weeks. Her predictive capabilities landed her the top seat in her class.

Her instructors put her through the ringer, as did her classmates. Trying to test her. Find out how she was cheating the system. But she wasn't. She was just damn good. So while her class hated her for it, her instructors started preparing her for more real life situations, more front line hard hitting scenarios. And just like they thought, Harper aced them.

Graduating number one, Harper was being shipped off to Minos five as a replacement nav for one of the best fighters in the system.

The shuttle pulled into the bay and the men all unloaded. Harper hurried off, her duffel bag slung over the shoulder of her perfectly pressed uniform. She always had to look her best. Especially being a woman in this world. Long golden hair was tied back in a neat bun at the back of her head. Bright azure colored eyes scanned the people milling about on deck. She had no idea who she was looking for.

She chewed on her lip nervously as she looked around before she reached into her pocket pulling out a small piece of paper. Walking over to a crewman nearby she cleared her throat. "Um excuse me."

The man turned around and quirked a brow as he saw her navigator uniform when he looked down at her petite frame. "Yeah?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting my new partner. A one Marcus Haywood. Do you have any idea where I might be able to find him?" She looked up at him hopeful.

He scoffed and laughed outright. "You have got to be kidding me. You? They sent him you?" The other men working around him snickered. "Good luck little lady." He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder and didn't say another word.

Harper frowned and turned away from them but headed in the direction they gestured.

 

[Kolath]

Marcus watched the people disembark seeing the new fighters and navigators for the primary defense line which had lost a few ships in the last pirate raid. Mostly new pairs as it was rather for a navigator or fighter to survive if the other one didn’t. Even if it happened the bond that happened because of the flight tech often would cause the death of the person later on in anycase. Marcus was just to stubborn, at least that is what the doctors said Marcus knew better it was just that Invidia would kill him if he let a little thing like her death rob the empire of his skills.

His eyes scanned the new teams getting off seeing the girl almost instantly since she stuck out first off because she was a girl, but secondly she didn’t look like navigator material. He arched an eyebrow and leaned against some loading crates and watched her ask directions and the man she asked point off… He sighed and shook his head, new recruit hazing yeah that was going to go well. He slipped out the door and around back past the teams waiting for the new arrivals finding the master sergeant that was heading the whole thing up.

After a brief conversation he was let past and slipped right up next to the door she would be passing through along with all the rest of the fresh teams. His hand shot out as she passed pulling her out of the path and into the dark corner he was in room enough for two if you didn’t mind being close his other hand going over her mouth. “Easy Navigator. Captain Marcus Haywood and I am just wanting to save you from…” He pointed around the corner where the hazing ritual had started with paint and feathers and other fun sloppy things to mess with uniforms and anything they could do to make the new people feel welcome. “...That.”

 

[Abovetheroses]

Harper Started to follow the crowed of other new comers to where they were all being corraled. She didn't want to do this. The new meeting bullshit. Welcome aboard. You are your partner blah blah blah... She wasn't here for that. Her partner was different. She already knew he had far more experience than she did. They wouldn't be doing any low key assignments, they would most likely be getting some of the higher level stuff, if he didn't outright reject her first. Or spend a week hazing her.

The woman rubbed her temples. She was getting a headache. Before she knew what was happening, a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her into what appeared to be a closet. She nearly screamed but a strong hand covered her mouth and it took ever effort to not knee the man before her in the crotch and bolt right out the door he pulled her through.

Her heart was thundering in her small rib cage as she listened to his deep voice introduce himself. This was the man she was here to see and he had just saved her from another humiliating hazing incident. Dark eyes flicked from the group up to him and she slowly nodded until he pulled his hand away from her mouth. Her pale features were an extreme red as she tried to straighten out her jacket and fix her fluster, but being so close, he was practically against her. It was nearly impossible and she couldn't even pretend to not be nervous.

"Well... I um.... Thanks." She looked away. "Harper Weston." She offered him her hand. "I'm your new navigator. In case you hadn't figured that one out yet." She cleared her throat a bit and looked down at his chest, which was pretty much eye level for the petite woman. "W-why don't we get out of this crawl space and find someplace a bit more suitable to talk." She tried scooting out of the closet, her body sliding against his as she escaped the confines and stepped out into the open. Harper took a deep calming breath and smoothed out her uniform but mostly her nerves as she looked over her shoulder at the other new comers laughing and being bombarded with the traditional hazing rituals. She never found it fun. Mostly because she was a woman, she always got the worst of it, not the joking lets pick on her, it was lets make her life hell. So for that, she really was grateful that Marcus had saved her.

Turning to the man she looked up at him, she could actually get a good look at him now. He was tall, well built and quite handsome. She tried not to think about it though. She was here to work after all. And being surrounded by men, she'd have to prove that, especially to him. Adjusting the duffel bag on her shoulder she looked up at him. "So, why don't you lead the way since I clearly have no idea where anything is." She was blunt. It was easier that way. No point in dancing around what she did or didn't know. She was here for one purpose. To fly his ship. She would not be surprised if she got lost on this stupid base more times than she could count. While navigating a star system was as easy as pie to the woman, she couldn't remember one hallway from the next. "How long have you been stationed here?" She decided on some simple small talk as they walked. Harper knew enough that his last partner died in action, but that was it. She knew nothing of the other navigator or the circumstances of his death. She knew little of the man she was being paired with except he was supposed to be the best. It was why she was paired with him after all.

 

[Kolath]

Marcus felt the girl’s closeness and realized in that moment just how long it had actually been since Megan died. He looked down at her for a moment in the slight dimness of the crawl space. He smirked as she worked herself out the simple thought coming to his mind, ‘god was I ever that young.’ Knowing full well that both he and Megan had both been that young and bright eyed not that long ago. He slipped out with her and turned them both down a corridor away from the hazing that was getting into full swing. There was one young newcomer that spotted them trying to slip away and had been about to say something when Marcus caught his eye and the idea quelled in his mind.

Marcus had a reputation well earned in the last year since his first partner died. He was not one for nonsense and anything stupid normally was met with an icy stare. It was strange to those that had known him before Megan’s death, he had seemed like such a jovial guy before it all and now that all just seemed gone. No one questioned it, they understood grief did things to people and they knew how close Megan and Marcus had been.

His eyes shifted to her as they walked and arching an eyebrow slightly he smiled and sighed. “I have been stationed here for nearly four years. Though I have only really spent any time here in the last year since…” He fell silent and then turned down another passage before coming to a doorway. “Let me introduce you to your new home. Once we get our missions we won’t be spending much time here.” He walked over to the code pad by the door and quickly typed in the code before the doors pulled back into the wall showing the hanger beyond.

In the hanger bay was a single ship filling most of the small hanger. A Ranger class mark 2 designed and outfitted for deep space recon and long observation missions. The Ranger class had been designed with two things in mind information and survivability. It was ten times the size of a Rapier class single manned strike craft, but had easily the same level of maneuverability as the much smaller craft. It carried armored designed for the Broadsword heavy assault corvette that could withstand most rail gun fire at least for a little bit. But the most impressive thing was the micro jump drive it carried. Most craft smaller then a destroyer just weren’t big enough to carry a jump drive so strike craft and corvettes had to be carried into new systems by their larger ships. The Ranger class carried its own jump drive, reduced in size by over eighty percent, something that most scientists thought was impossible. A man had found a way to do it nearly fifty years before and had built a dozen of the micro jump drives, they were the most valuable thing in all of the imperium and a closely guarded secret only those that flew the Rangers knew about them and some high ranking officials. “There she is, the Constance. I trust you were given your top secret packet when you were assigned to the Ranger corp?”

 

[Abovetheroses]

Harper heard the hitch in his voice as he failed to answer completely. She knew. Biting her cheek, the woman almost regretted the question but she pretended like she didn't notice the falter. Perhaps it was just better to just ignore it for now. They bother knew what had landed her here, they didn't need to really discuss it.

When Marcus opened up the hanger bay doors she couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her soft lips. She dropped her bag in the middle of the floor and carefully stepped over to the vessel. Delicate hands touched the hull as she walked around it taking in its features and designs. They were so rare she had yet to actually fly a real one, only simulations of the vessels. The head of the academy did his best to prepare her but without a spare the most he could do was put her into simulations and then put her up into comparable ships, but none of them close to the real thing. The woman couldn't deny her excitement to get behind the controls. "Oh, o-of course." She managed to get the words out when his question finally registered.

Harper had the whole design memorized, without ever having stepped foot on the Constance or any other Rangers, she knew precisely where each and every panel and control was. Making her way to the access port she reached for it but stopped. She didn't know the codes that would allow her access to the vessel before her. Not yet any way. Her dark eyes flicked over to Marcus as she bounced on the balls of her feet like a giddy child begging a parent to let her open a new Christmas toy. "They didn't have one for me to actually train in so everything I did was technically simulations when it came to Ranger class. But They wanted me to be able to get as much experience as possible so I lost track of the simulation hours and the practical hours I spent in the Rapiers. I even did a bunch of hours in a few Broadswords."

The woman turned to face him a playful grin on her face. "There's no way we could actually take her out for a spin is there?" She asked, her eyes sparkling a bit.

 

[Kolath]

Marcus stood there watching her as she moved around the ship in awe and couldn’t help but smirk slightly shaking his head. She was exactly like Megan in so many ways, she had almost the exact same reaction to the Constance when she had first seen it too. Right down to the gentle caresses. He came over toward her leaning against the bulkhead next to the door as she touched the keypad. “Well as with me and...The trainers have never flown a Ranger class before they can only actually guess at how it handles. Either that or the Constance is…” he paused arching an eyebrow and smirking. “Finicky.”

He touched the keypad next to entry port and it glowed for a moment. “Good afternoon captain Marcus, your entrance is granted but who is your guest?” a surprisingly female voice came back over a small speaker set above the door. “Good afternoon Constance, this is our new Navigator. Run voice print identification and pattern matching as well as clear for access logs please.” He stepped back waving Harper forward. “Standard identification requirements.” It was expected with every new assignment to have to give her current name, rank, serial number all while having her hand on a identification pad to confirm all the details with records as well as testing her vitals for deception. It was normally done in the hanger next to the ship before you were given the wipe codes for the computer to start fresh. “With the Constance we don’t wipe her each time. Me and...well we found that improves her response time to our commands.”

 

[Abovetheroses]

Harper grinned and made her way over to the keypad. After placing a small hand down she spoke. "Second Lieutenant Harper Weston." She rattled off a string of numbers and waited for the soft voice to grant her access to the ship. All the while she was bouncing on her toes anxiously. She wanted inside. As soon as the access port opened she scrambled inside but stopped almost instantly. This ship was most certainly not like the others. And simulations were only good at trying to teach her how to fly and maneuver the thing, not what living and existing in the rest of the vessel would be like.

She set her duffel bag down just inside. She'd get to it later when she explored the rest of the ship. For now, she wanted to see what was hers. She found the Navigator's station and took a seat in the chair. It automatically adjusted to her and brought her closer to the control panel that seemed all to familiar. nimble fingers ran over the controls as she took in their precise location, locking it all into her impeccable memory. The woman didn't realize that she was hardly breathing, almost holding her breath. All of her training was finally paying off. She was about to do great things and make her family proud. She just hoped that she was good enough like they all thought she was. The last thing she wanted to do was let them all down. Especially her new partner, she didn't need him regretting this assignment before it ever really began.

Looking over her shoulder she found Marcus and smiled a bit sheepishly at him. "So, when do we get our first assignment?"

 

[Kolath]

The Ranger class was the size of a broadsword corvette but unlike the other ship which was designed to work out of a station or carrier and had no living space in it. The Ranger was meant to be independent from a station or carrier for months if not years. It has a large area in the rear that would normally be weapon systems for a broadsword or any of the other larger corvettes as well as a fair sized hold for food and supplies as well as computers and diagnostic equipment so they could take on food and water from any world that they could land on.

Marcus saw her look as she came into the Constance before he followed her into the cockpit taking his seat at weapon and sensor control. He watched as she was making a mental map of the console and was rather impressed that it only took one pass for her to be able to know where they were. He smiled at her eager question and shook his head. “First off take a breath. You just got off the shuttle You don’t need to be so eager and gung ho all the time it will actually get you killed around here.” He shifted to turn his chair into the locked position for flight smirking slightly. “And one of the nice thing about being in the Ranger corp. We don’t need orders to launch we just need permission from the tower and wait for clearance which we get priority even just for training flights. So do you want to take her out for a spin or would you like to go get settled into your quarters?”

 

[Abovetheroses]

She felt heat burn her features turning her cheeks and ears red when he told her to calm down. Harper had to make a conscious effort to take a deep breath and calm her excitement. "I'm not stupid enough to actually get us in trouble... But like you said, they only have so many Ranger class ships so finally being able to pilot a real one is really exciting." She hoped her explanation would be good enough. The fear of looking overeager or foolhardy was real and Harper didn't want to come off that way. Once she realized how naturally all of this came to her, it became very exciting but most of her classmates or anyone she worked with thought she was in over her head, no matter how much she proved them wrong.

When Marcus said they could go for a training flight without orders her eyes lit up. She locked her chair in place and grinned. "Oh definitely a test drive." Her smile grew wider. She'd let him take them out and ask for permission so she could learn how to request permission and get clearances the proper way for a little joy ride. "I hope you won't get bored while we are out there letting me get a real feel for things. Not that I'd wish anything bad to happen, I just hope you find it at least somewhat fun like I do." She glanced at him. So far he seemed like he was a decent enough guy, he was letting her get a feel for things without hazing her. She couldn't exactly ask for more then that. Time would tell though, Harper knew she was a bit odd and her methods weren't always textbook but hopefully he didn't mind that either.