New Beginning Part 11.

Caymen paced as he nodded and looked at the diagrams and numbers on the padd. He said absently to Captain Dylan. "I like your ideas - I think between the two of us we have something here. Of course your troopers had something to say about all of it as well."

The naval captain set the padd down and looked at the charts on the holo viewer which he promptly turned off. "I think everyone will be pleased."

No sooner had they nodded in agreement did the doors open to the room. Lieutenant Madwan walked in, followed soon after by Captain Trask.

Zoteke came to full attention as soon as the doors swooshed closed. "Madwan reporting as ordered sir!" he snapped, in full Marine grunt mode. He still did that as a reflex whenever he saw more than 3 pips on the collar of an officer.

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"Sir, Ma'am" Jolan said, saluting and for once in his issued marine uniform, rather then fatigues and the top part of the uniform. He saw Zoteke "Hello again Zoteke."

"Lieutenant," said Dylan.

Greener looked to Dylan who nodded back to Caymen.

"Alright, thank you for coming, gentlemen. As we've just come through two rough assignments - the Borg at Memory Alpha and now the Devidians at Iconia - it's time we revamped our marine structures a little bit."

Greener pulled up the "org chart" on the screen. "There will be two main changes here. First, we're getting a new Marine XO, a Lieutenant McClintock. He is at the top of his game and will do very well in the post. Captain Dylan passed me a firm recommendation as well. I'm just waiting for the docking procedures to finish and we can welcome him on board.”

"Second, we are forming a formal re-arrangement of the fighter ships. The Peregrins, the Sparrow, and the SS Jason Dunham will be under the command of Lieutenant Madwan, now Squadron Commander of the 420th Marine Fighters."

Though he for once managed to keep his expression professional Zoteke seemed to grow an inch or two at hearing the Captain. "Thank you sir! I will make sure you never regret the decision." he said adding "420th Marine Fighters sir? That doesn't sound very.... original."

"We'll leave it up to you to give the squadron a name." Caymen smiled.

Now failing in controlling his expression which exploded the joy and excitement to the others. "Thank you Sir. In that case it will be the August's Shepherds. The Shepherds in short... " Zoteke said. He didn't have to think about that one, having heard Jeanette compare the August's fighter squadron with a Shepherd not to long ago.

He found it a strikingly accurate analog at the time, and no less now.

"Alrighty then. The Runabout, soon to be renamed, and the 2 remaining Delta flyers will remain under Naval Helm control. Madwan and Nogumo shall work together closely to keep all of our extra-ship vehicles in top notch working order."

"Lieutenant, that sounds like a great choice for the Squad name, I'll transmit the name change to the Federation H.Q. as well as modify the Call signs for all of the fighters." said Dylan.

Zoteke nodded his thanks to Dylan and took the opportunity to voice his thoughts on keeping the vehicles in top notch working order,

"I would like to request Ensign Callaway to be assigned permanently as our liaison with the engineering department." Zoteke blurted out before he even had the chance to think about it. The looks from the others urged him to say more.

"She has been an asset in getting the Sparrow up to spec. and besides knowing the Sparrow and the other craft inside out she's able to translate any pilot's requests into engineering requisitions and a pilot's whining into idea's for taking away the reason for whining. She is the best qualified"

"Alright, I invited Captain Trask from the naval side, even though he's also a marine at heart," Caymen winked, "to give us some reminder tips on ship security. While the marines will handle the people power, the naval tactical division under his command will handle ship-side and even some away-team security measures. And I expect full cooperation between all of you."

Greener wasn't doubting the cooperation, he just wanted to firm that up for sure.

"Captain?"

"Thank you sir" he began, clearing his throat

"I'd like to set up drills between fighter command, and the other auxiliary craft, in co-ordination with the August. Tactical and combat, perhaps some experimentation with formations including C.S.P. or combat space patrol. Using the August as both to hit opposing fighters and allowing the fighters to better cover the August, both by screening and drawing opponents into our weapons arcs, in an effort to maximize offensive and defensive capability. We're as much a shield to the fighters as they are to us" Jolan said as he looked over the re-org chart.

Zoteke nodded but felt compelled to add

"In most scenarios that's true. There are cases though when it is better to intercept as soon as possible, and as far away from the August as possible. It all depends on the threat the bogeys pose to the August. Our first and foremost task should always be to protect the August... isn't it?"

"That's correct, and interception will be a primary means of defense/attack. However there are sometimes when its best to use the ship as bait lest we start losing fighters. You guys can swoop in from behind asteroids or out of a nebula when we get jumped. If you all are clearly out numbered tactics must change. We're Marines after all! we Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." he replied to Zoteke before resuming.

"I'd also like some of my tactical personnel to undergo basic weapons qualifications, if possible with some of the Marine's arsenal, in addition to standard phasers. I'd also like the senior staff to re-qualify on their weapons." he said, bringing up a padd from his pocket

"On the subject of tactics, I'd like to arrange for inter-ship security drills, both with the Marines and normal crew. Perhaps even break up the garrison into two 25 man teams: Defenders and attackers, simulating boarding actions and re-capture actions. Again we can include the fighters and the Jason Dunham in those, with permission. Some will be pre-arranged, some won't. The details are on the padd before you." Jolan finished as he punched up the idea, based heavily on his past postings which soon displayed to the holo-projector in the center of the table.

"Later full crew re-testing of weapons can come as they are needed. If possible I'd like either a monthly or bi-monthly re-qualification on weapons." he said finishing, letting the staff present digest the information while he helped himself to a drink of water from the replicator.

Zoteke finished browsing the PADD's information and looked up. "I can vouch for all the Marines' weapons qualifications. I kind of taken it upon myself to keep the guys qualified, fit and trained. We've been running simulations on the holodeck once a month ever since Memory Alpha, more or less on a voluntary basis" he told the officers.

"As for the fighters, I've scheduled a sortie right after this meeting to do some formation flying, sensor sweeping and some dogfighting. The squadron hadn't yet had the chance to get in flight time together seeing we've either been busy fighting or traveling at high warp. We’ll be back in the hanger within four hours or so. I think the tactics and formations as well as the maneuvers we will train will allow us to hold our own when the chips are down" he explained.

He then looked Jolan in the eye. "I'd be happy to assist in setting up training scenarios involving the August and the other small craft." he added. We need more standard procedures and then practice until they're second nature. The squadron and me will hold meetings and subsequent drills to develop more and better tactics using the data from our flight recorders as well as the August's sensor logs. You'd be more than welcome to join in, offer your insights"

Zoteke was staking out his territory, be it subconsciously. He had been given a lot of responsibility, and instinctively he felt protective over "his" pilots. If he was to be Squadron leader, responsible for the lives of the men and woman in those cockpits, he would have to be given the liberty to make the calls on the way they performed their tasks. Combat Space Patrols and the like were among those tasks. Intercept missions were as well. As far as tactics went, when they involved any other craft than the fighters and the Dunham it was natural for the Marine Captain to have the final word but when only the fighters and or Dunham were involved, Zoteke felt he should be responsible for the operational and tactical part. 'the brass' would be looked to for the strategic part.

"Lieutenant Madwan-", Jolan started placing a second padd on the table, " on this padd are a list of every weapon arc on the ship, and the re-fire rates of both the torpedoes and phasers." Jolan started. "I have included both the standard weapons performance, as well as the performance with my modifications, the shield specifications are also there as well, as an added bonus I've also highlighted every weapon blind spot." Jolan paused to slide him the padd.

"Think of this as a cheat sheet for you and the fighters, memorize the data on it so you know where you can seek cover, and where we're vulnerable, so you can protect those exposed areas." Jolan said. He paused again before finally adding

"The only thing I ask is for some of the attack simulations is that whatever fighters are designated as "attackers", do not use said info for every battle drill, as most hostile forces most likely wont know where we are exposed, unless they have attacked us beforehand." he paused and removed yet another padd.

"I've got several attack patterns and different variants of known ones, some include Attack Patterns ''Omega'' and ''Alpha'' as well as some yet to be discussed with myself and helm. I'll need to confer with Senna and see just what the August is capable of, or we could perhaps summon her here as she arguably knows the ship's handling best, does she not?" Jolan finally finished questioning.

Zoteke nodded taking in the information. He couldn't help but notice he was being told what the Shepherds were going to be doing rather than being asked or even consulted. If being squadron commander meant just being the one to tell the pilots what the brass decided they should do it might get old real quick. He decided to take the less defensive and more cooperative tack, hoping that would show he really just wanted whats best for everyone, including the brass.

"I've been able to have a meeting with Beta Shift conn officer ensign Gratje Damen a couple of times over the past week. We discussed things such as arcs, and the best efficient way to move through them for cover or luring bogeys into range." he began, paused to read the officers reaction and found nothing to tell him what they were thinking at that moment.

He continued "The squadron and me have used her input on the Augusts performance, arcs and the tactics favored by the Captain or at least as far as she knew, in the maneuvers we've been able to come up with ourselves. Maybe those can be useful. If not the maneuvers, than certainly the sensor logs from our training outings" he said, worrying his Squadron of Shephards was being clipped in the wings.

He decided, when he still couldn't tell how this was going to swing, the time had come to be blunt and direct. He turned to the Captain. "Sir, I have little command experience and certainly no expert at command techniques. I do have a lifetime of experience in observing, experiencing and living with command techniques on the receiving end. In my experience the command structure and philosophy is that the commanding officer selects a skilled and experienced second in command who knows how to get results. Then he tells that second in command what he wants done, and lets the second in command figure out how to do it." he began looking Captain Greener straight in the eye.

"I've been put in command of the Shepherds because i know how to get results and i know how to put orders into action." he continued while turning his look towards Jolan. "Cant Captain Trask just tell me what he wants the Shepherds to do and let me worry about how the Shepherds get that done?" he asked Captain Greener while his eyes made the same plea to Jolan. "No disrespect sir, but have you ever flown a fighter as part of a squadron?" he asked, now directly speaking to Jolan.

Jolan was shocked. Had he really come across as issuing orders, trying to tell the man what to do? "perhaps you are misunderstanding what im saying, i was simply explaining that we need to develop joint tactical maneuvers much like two starships both executing say an attack pattern Omega." he paused meeting zotekes gaze

"if i have any concerns its that i hope you don't lose control like you did on Iconia. I’ve seen the report and i've seen your service jacket. I also know you were a test pilot, and truth be told we're lucky to have you aboard ship. To command one must have a cool head. I'm not disrespecting you, more so as i'm giving you advice" he set his padds down

"as for flying a fighter, i couldn't even if i wanted to. At the time i was to tall, even if that changed, now i'm too old, i'm infantry through and through, Lieutenant"

It took everything Zoteke had to control the rage that went through him. To have his loss of control on Iconia thrown into his face like that and in the presence of so many of his shipmates to boot felt like a personal insult to Zoteke.

He did control himself however, not letting a single sign into his expression or the way he carried himself. He was about to reply when Dylan beat him to it.

"Captain Greener, Captain Trask, I agree with Lieutenant Madwan. When we send out the Fighters We should give him a goal and let him accomplish that goal with limited oversight as he suggested." said Dylan. "He and the rest of the fighter pilots are the best of the best, and I think we should let them do what they do best. In situations where there are multiple High Value targets We will coordinate in the joint operations of the fighter wing and the August, but we should give them Autonomy when we send them out."

Zoteke looked around at Dylan and nodded his thanks. He then turned back to face the Captain. "Of course i understand that when we're in close proximity of the August and are forced to coordinate our efforts with the August we're under direct control and subject to the orders of Captain Trask. The way i see it though, if we need to fight enemies that close to the August we have already failed in our tasks." Zoteke said, hoping to make Jolan understand he wasn't being insubordinate or trying to undermine the man's authority.

"We should have things set up so we can intercept whatever is out to get the August long before they're even in range of the Augusts weapons." he added.

A moment of silence ensued and probably everyone in the room felt the uncomfortable vibe in it. Hating the sense of conflict that'd formed between him and Jolan he tried to smooth it over. "I would value any input you have for us, or any insights into our tactics and maneuvers. I'd just appreciate it if that input were more in the form of advice rather than orders." he tried.

"And here the problem has come..." he started "i never meant to undermine your wing i merely was advising caution, while your ideal mission is to hit anything before they're even remotely in range of us, you also forget, we are no carrier, it is harder for us to maintain the few fighters we have then one, ideally yes interception is your goal and what the fighters were ultimately built for, i was simply trying to explain that it would e best if we worked hand in hand, i was not giving any orders what so ever but merely making Strategical and Tactical options and maneuvers known, so we can hopefully combine both fighter tactics of conception and ship based engagement procedures into one fluid and very very potent wave of firepower"

He paused then realized he might of been putting things too technical

"Zoteke, i was merely trying o say that we should try to combine all manner of tactics. We'll give you your free reign but ultimately maximize our total firepower to overwhelm anything before they even become a threat to either the ship or her fighters while arguing you to not be too reckless with our limited attack craft, i fully recognize the firepower they possess and the confusion they can cause" jolan finished hoping he got his point across, he never meant to walk all over the man he simply wanted to make the best effective use of the ships firepower, the fighters being a part of it although more indirect then his weapons control console

Zoteke looked Jolan in the eye. "Shall we, for now, agree we disagree on the best use of the fighters and schedule a meeting to discuss the subject in detail later?" he suggested. He added "I'll have some background info ready for you to take in before our meeting, specifically on the principles, best practices and tactics of combat space patrols, early warning and control, and space dominance.".

He then looked back at Captain Greener. "One of the things I've learned while studying fighter tactics, early warning and control concepts and the best practices of Space dominance is a simple fact: When the August's not there to be targeted, it's statistical risk of being damaged or destroyed is reduced by more than 60%.... and I've had a vulcan calculate those odds" the last sentence spoken with a comical smile.

His expression turned serious then. "And seeing the August is where my son and... partner are, that's good statistics in my book."

Jolan smiled "that's a fair agreement Zoteke, we'll compare notes another time, I'll dig through starship tactical collections on tactics and we can hammer out the fine print so to speak later" Greener finally chimed back in, standing in the back leaning against the bulkhead scratching his beard, soaking in the brilliant conversation.

"All, I think we can agree we've hammered this out enough for now. Any further comment?"

They all shook their heads.

"Great. I expect a full progress report once the August has left Outpost 235 to Captain Dylan and myself. Understood?" They all chimed a marine "Yes sir" and he smiled.

"I love hearing that once in a while, soldiers." He turned to leave the room.

"Keep up the good work. Captain Dylan, Lieutenant Madwan, the deck is yours."

==USS August – Fighter craft Hanger Bay==

--some time after the marines meeting--

The hanger was abuzz with activity. As Zoteke was busy strapping himself into his seat aboard the Sparrow he could see the other fighter craft going through the stages of preparation as well.

Feeling rather relieved after his visit to lt. Davowski he'd put effort into persuading the members of the Shepherds as the squadron would be called from now on to give up on a day or two of their shore-leave's to take the opportunity the downtime gave them to do some training as a squadron.

Luckily the other pilots were just as eager to fly as he was. Today they'd start out with a bit of close formation flying, some area sweep sensor patterns and end with a three on three combat simulation. The weapons would be powered down and kills would be computer generated.

No more than seven minutes after the "scramble" the Sparrow was last out of the hanger and the squadron was intercept ready. Zoteke opened a channel to the squadron. "Nice work people. Six minutes thirty one seconds. Pretty good time but when we've got incoming, six minutes can be an eternity. Lets try to do better next time." He told the others.

"Okay, form up in wings one and two, execute CAP Alpha one." He ordered. At once the squadron which had flown abreast until that moment broke up and formed two wings of three fighters. Zoteke lead one and Ensign Yeager lead the second.

The two wings then split up speeding into their predetermined flight paths. Ensign's Zsuzsa and Jenkins were formed up on his port and starboard side, hanging back half a fighter's length.

"Okay people. I'm feeding the August's sensor feed through to one of my screens here. I can see we show up as three separate bogeys. The idea is to form up as tight as we can so the sensors will not be able to discern between us." Zoteke told his squadron.

"Ensign Yeager, you coordinate your wing on comm-channel 2 while I do the same with ensign's Jenkins and Zsuzsa." He ordered.

He heard the three fighters of the second wing click off the comm-channel leaving him with only his wing. "Ok, Jenkins you're now 4 meters from my wingtip see if you can nudge your nose in two more meters." He went on, tracking Jenkins Peregrine visually rather than on sensors.

"that's it, juuuust a little... great! Hold it tight now. Zsuzsa, same for you. You're... yes... okaaaay... hold... We've done it. To the August's sensors we're now one contact. I think you can imagine the advantages that might have on some missions. Now lets see how the others are doing. .."

He flicked his stick up and to the port side to send his fighter on to an intercept course to the other wing and punched in the throttle. He was proud to see the two peregrine's on his wing follow his lead with only three meters of delay and keeping in tight formation.

The system they'd worked out having their displays not only show the direction and location of any contact but also show the direction the controls of any fighter in their squadron was set. This gave them a fraction more time to respond when flying in formation.

Soon the other wing came into view and the chatter over comm-signal two indicated they were struggling to get that final meter in closer together. A flaring on the nose of one of the peregrines at Yeagers wingtips caught Zoteke's attention. He almost shouted into the mike

"Yeager abort, abort, I repeat, abort! Break immediately!" On his screen he could see the three figther craft breaking away from each other and then heard "Darn skipper! I never even picked up on that, How did you know?" Ensign Yeager asked when her own sensors told her the wash of her two exhausts were about to overheat the intakes for the other two fighter's engines.

"Verspaget's nose lit up which told me it was getting into the super heated exhaust plasma coming from your engines. I guess you're not gonna be able to pull off the sensor trick like we were. The Sparrows exhaust cone is much smaller, and allows for closer formation." Zoteke answered while he analyzed what happened in his head.

"Well, good thing to know... " he added sheepishly. "Ok, form up in star formation and lets head into the star system. We'll start practicing our area sensor sweep. Let's see if we can maximize area and resolution. Hopefully my report will be able to show the Captain how much of look ahead we can give him." Zoteke ordered.

Yeager answered in mischievous tone "And then we finally get to kick our commander's ass!" "You get to try ensign, that's all" Zoteke answered with a smile, realizing he felt happy.

(To be continued in part 12)