Star Trek Expanded Universe
Advertisement

VF-11 "The Flying Circus"[1][]

Moab Confederacy Defense Force Marine Squadron VF-11 was posted to the MCDS Saskatoon Hills during the Joint Alliance expedition to the Gamma Quadrant. It is a Moab Confederacy Marine Aviation unit and part of the Cold Butte Contingent of the MCDF's regular forces.

NIckname Origin;[]

VF-11 obtained the nickname "The Flying Circus" due to their being authorized to employ non-traditional 'nose art' during the Gamma Quadrant Deployment, including but not limited to art that would be in violation of Starfleet regulations forbidding certain inappropriate images and phrases, the use nonstandard identification markings, and the employment of graffiti that contained both racially, and culturally inappropriate phrases and statements.

Common Unit Identification markings:[]

VF-11 fighters, regardless of other 'nose art' also use a colored checker pattern on the rear wing edges, in a mix of red and white. This is approximately 1/4th of the wing's chord distance along the taper from the lower 'crank' joint to the wing-tip.

Roundel marks are KDF Trifoil on the right hand wing, and the Confederacy's six pointed star on the left. over all hull coloration is a shade known as 'haze gray' along the belly and mission appropriate coloration along the upper hull. (This can range from light-absorbent 'utlrablack' for deep space or recon missions, to appropriate 'sand and spinach' or three color camouflage for missions with extended ground support profiles or atmospheric operations.)

Vessel numbers are stenciled on the portside Nose, just ahead of and below the flight deck windscreen, and repeated on the starboard side aft just ahead of the impulse exhaust nozzles.

Specific Equipment:[]

VF-11 debuted the Confederacy's modfication of the venerable To-Duj class fighter-shuttle "Mark Fourteen A" modification. This mod to the venerable Klingon designed 'fighter shuttle' includes a number of minor changes and refinements, mostly to either enhance performance, or simplify maintenance still further. The Mark XIV or "Phantom III" version of the To'Duj is a signature Moab Confederacy type, incorporating a 'gull wing' (sharp anhedral just inboard of a severe dihedral) to increase plasma flow velocity through the 'warp wing' type nacelles with the happy coincidence of allowing heavier than KDF standard disruptor cannons and creating a 'void' in the ship's warp field suitable for hanging external weapons or equipment along the belly. Other users of the Mark XIV include House Woldan, Methos, and the KDF's 'Border Fleet' under General K'Ragh.

Unit Specific methods and tactics:[]

VF-11 is a 'general purpose' squadron that makes extensive use of the specific features of their spacecraft, including such methods as inertial/horizontal bombing, deployment of starship-grade Torpedoes as external ordnance, use of 'sub-warp warping' while cloaked (aka using the warp engine, instead of exhaust-emitting impulse engines, while under Cloaking), deployment of 'drop satellites' to support operations, or anything else one might want to use a shuttle that only has two seats for. Due to the influence of Ferasan and Human flight training, VF-11 has a very 'starfleet' feel to how they employ fire and formation operations, though they use the MCDF's Quantum Tanglenet system instead of subspace for their tactical networking and stealthed comms, making their signals very hard to trace or detect.

In combat, the "Flying Circus" developed a reputation for relentless motion and constructive use of wing-pair formation doctrine that enabled them to present a significant challenge during joint exercises at New Bajor in the Gamma Quadrant.

Organizational Culture[]

Organizationally, it has been observed that the first question in every debrief is 'what did we do wrong?' followed by "What did you learn?" Pilots and WSO's from the unit are expected to be extremely critical in examining their own performance, and there is an organizational aversion to shifting blame for fault or mistakes. This is paired with an insistence throughout the command that failures be examined and learned from, and successes be dissected critically before being acknowledged. The apparent understanding being that better performance is always possible, and must be pursued. This is coupled with the unit's other reputation-that of practical jokes, pranks, and other 'morale enhancement efforts' be pursued right to the edge of good taste (Failing that, the edge of the specific regulation defining what is, and is not acceptable in terms of pranks, practical jokes, and hazing-an actual regulation in the MCDF's service handbook!)

[more later]

Advertisement