[5959.5] Aboard the Hussy

[Leitz]

[5959.5] USS Inceku Engabonakali

A cargo shuttle picks you up and delivers you to the Hussy. Other passengers include a trio of aromatic bovines, two "ladies", and a glassy eyed male spiritualist smoking something narcotic. Bovine flatulence wins the olfactory war, though neither is Star Fleet standard.

As the Hussy comes into view, it is also not Star Fleet standard. The port nacelle appears to be a large number of shipping containers welded together. There are flames painted down the length of both nacelles, and rust around much of the saucer. To their credit, the ship is stationary and vacc suited crews appear to be working on the rust issue. Most of the running lights are active.

The shuttle docks at the rear of the port nacelle, and you see that the entire section is repurposed as a combination of machine shop, warehouse, and corral. Dirt and grease abound, and the cacophony of sound grows wilder as you step onto the deck.

Three steps in, and red lights start flashing.

BATTLE STATIONS. BATTLE STATIONS.

The alert siren is also not Star Fleet Standard.

You recall enough from History class at the Academy to find your department.

[gurusql]

LT Cmdr Thelin with his bag still over his shoulder, heads for the nearest turbolift to make his way to the bridge.

[cybersavant]

Lt. jg. Andrhonal B'Aarr, Betelgeusean Engineer


steps off the shuttle, looking around. Before he can comment, an alarm sounds. With his gear slung over a shoulder, he runs for the engineering section.

[The Bindoner]

Lieutenant Fearghal Runyon has been slumped in his seat, looking glumly at the ship they are bound for. The flaming paint-job raises a smirk, at least.

Slinging his suit-holder over his shoulder, he picks up his case and ambles out of the shuttle, taking note of his new crewmates as they debus with him.

The siren galvanises him, and he grins as he starts to run, heading for the Bridge.

[Leitz]

There are two transit options from the fake nacelle to the saucer section; climb down the 45 degree ladder (there are two, "up" and "down") or take the slide. Turbo lifts seem to be locked during battle stations, or they don't actually work.

While heading to your duty section, you get various looks. Your fresh, and correct, uniforms stand out compared to the mix and match of civilian pants, tied off flannel shirts for some of the lovelier crew, and a pair of orange and puce sari clad males who dash past you.

[Leitz]

LTJG Andrhonal B'Aarr found Engineering first. A tall ENS looked at you, shook her head, and said, "Stow your gear under the stairwell. Expect to get your gonads busted at every turn. We hate you."

She turned, pointed towards the warp reactor console, and yelled, "Z, fresh meat. Here it comes."

A shapely female in a loose red shirt and bib overalls stared at the console; she waved Andrhonal forward. Her green skin, pointed ears, and straight black hair mark her as Vulcan. As he climbed up the short ladder, the woman scowled at the screen. "Best speed is Warp one point four two, and we can't sustain it for more than seven point one nine minutes. Top cruise is one point one zero. Tell me what you would do to fix that."


Roll Eng, use EDU mod, success on 8+. Describe (at whatever level you feel comfortable) what Andrhonal would say. Bonus points for strong characterization, no penalty for not being canon-correct.

LT T'See, Engineering Section Chief, Vulcan, Female. Short, medium build.
ENS Zelda Haynes, Engineering, Human, Female. Tall, medium build.

[Leitz]

The Bridge

Two security crewmen stood outside the bridge hatch; their pump shotguns at the ready and their skateboards tucked against the wall. The taller one looked at you, nodded, and then pushed the button to open the door. Neither spoke.

"Ah, our relief! What a relief," said a heavy set human male sitting in the command chair. He was in standard fleet uniform. Everyone on the bridge looked at the two of you, and then went back to their consoles.

"ENS Payen, you are relieved. LT Runyon, you have ninety seconds to log in and familiarize yourself with the controls." The heavy set man stood, moved to the side of the chair, and motioned to Thelin. "She's all yours. This is an exercise, you are being evaluated. ENS Payen and I are evaluators, and are not in play unless there is a safety violation. Weapons are hot, targets are to be engaged with energy unless otherwise directed. Drill is to track the Eagle to firing range, flyby and scan, then engage specified targets in the asteriod field. Hopefully you found a map on your way here?"

The man's insignia was LTCMDR, his tone was condescending, and the rest of the bridge crew seemed to take the hint.

LT Runyon, roll Pilot with Int/Edu bonus, 8+ to succeed, 10+ to excel. Describe your actions and results.

LTCMDR Ch'tihlot, roll Leader, and Tactics. Add Edu bonus to both. Leader roll of 6+ negates the chill tone, 8+ gets the bridge crew to engage, and 10+ gives each station a +1 on their next roll. Tactics of 8+ gives a novel solution to the problem.






LTCMDR Dewart Long, Operations, First Officer, Human, Male. Heavy set.
ENS Darren Payen, Flight, Human, Male.

[cybersavant]

A shapely female in a loose red shirt and bib overalls stared at the console; she waved Andrhonal forward. Her green skin, pointed ears, and straight black hair mark her as Vulcan. As he climbed up the short ladder, the woman scowled at the screen. "Best speed is Warp one point four two, and we can't sustain it for more than seven point one nine minutes. Top cruise is one point one zero. Tell me what you would do to fix that."


Roll Eng, use EDU mod, success on 8+. Describe (at whatever level you feel comfortable) what Andrhonal would say. Bonus points for strong characterization, no penalty for not being canon-correct.

LT T'See, Engineering Section Chief, Vulcan, Female. Short, medium build.
ENS Zelda Haynes, Engineering, Human, Female. Tall, medium build.

LTJG Andrhonal B'Aarr "Realign the dermatirealian compensator and the multicarbodine emitter to strengthen the molecular warp sphere, thus allowing us to refusion the thalmonite injector. Then reboot the theron subspace filter."




EDIT : forgot the +2 for Engineering skill

[gurusql]

Thelin walks towards the center of the bridge, while he is walking he starts giving orders in a calm, but quick manner. He does not wait for an answer before giving the next order. A young officer might see chaos, but an experienced officer will notice that Thelin is attempting to make a personal connection with each bridge officer and move them from being tense to calm and clear in their direction.

"Navigation please display a tactical map of the system on the forward view screen, including hostiles, known stellar objects and safe paths.
Engineering what is the state of the engines and shields?
Communications is the stellar cloud currently affecting our communications?
Sensors what is the configuration, range, course and speed of the hostiles?
LT Runyon, hopefully I have given you enough time can you please give our current course and speed?"

LTCMDR Ch'tihlot has an Int and Edu of 8 - not sure if that affects the roll
[+1 from Description]
Leadership Skill [_2d6+1]=(2+5)=7+1=8
Fleet Tactics Skill [_2d6+2]=(5+4)=9+2=11

[The Bindoner]

Fearghal settles himself at the Helm station, logs-in, and automatically announces I have the helm, Captain.

He quickly takes in the data on his display, assessing the capabilities of the ship he has so precipitously taken control of.

by gurusql » Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:33 am
Thelin walks towards the center of the bridge, while he is walking he starts giving orders in a calm, but quick manner. He does not wait for an answer before giving the next order. A young officer might see chaos, but an experienced officer will notice that Thelin is attempting to make a personal connection with each bridge officer and move them from being tense to calm and clear in their direction.

"Navigation please display a tactical map of the system on the forward view screen, including hostiles, known stellar objects and safe paths.
Engineering what is the state of the engines and shields?
Communications is the stellar cloud currently affecting our communications?
Sensors what is the configuration, range, course and speed of the hostiles?
LT Runyon, hopefully I have given you enough time can you please give our current course and speed?"

His voice light and cheerful, Lt Runyon replies: The Hussy has been put on a course to follow USS Eagle, 217.8-mark-34.7. We are moving at Warp 1.0, which is unlikely to trouble the Eagle overmuch, in fact I would go so far as to say that bird will never suspect that we had designs to catch it if we continue in such a way.

Being at the helm of a new ship seems to have made him garrulous and flippant, as he continues his assessment:

Our bird likes clear skies, I should say, because it is flying around the phenomenon. I think Eagle is one of those names that are ironic, in that this is in no way a bold and decisive bird. If we were so rash as to go through, instead of safely around, I think we might end up pretty cosy with our feathered friend. It would certainly be more entertaining to do so than to trail along behind, hoping some misfortune befalls them.

Of course, we will need to look back at the old scans and plot the stones, guess where they might be now, so I do not stub the Hussy's toe on one.

[Leitz]

Engineering

LT T'See stared at Andrhonal for four seconds. Of course, she was a vulcan, and probably stared a lot. "I see CMDR Tabum's theories have been integrated into his coursework. It was just theory when I read his paper, and considered risky. The work will take us an hour, grab a toolbox."

If the bridge gives the okay, roll 8+ to shorten the time required. T'See is supervising, and seems competent.
CMDR Tabum was an engineering theory professor at SFA

Bridge

"Navigation please display a tactical map of the system on the forward view screen, including hostiles, known stellar objects and safe paths."

ENS Mercier, Sensors, speaks up. "Sir, our console functions are configured differently, let me bring that data up for you. It will take a couple of minutes to extrapolate historical data to project current coordinates of the smaller asteroids that are now covered by the cloud."

I'll try a verbal description; my artwork is lousy. If it's not clear, speak up. Using a 360 degree circle, with 0 as "up" and moving clockwise, so 90 degrees is at 3 oclock, 180 is at 6 oclock, and 270 is at 9 oclock. 0/360 is 12 oclock. "Halfway", and similar, refer from the middle of the screen out in the direction mentioned.

Mercier brings up a layout on the main screen, with the Hussy at 180, near the bottom edge of the screen. the cloud's rightmost extension is half way to 90 degrees. Bearing from 180 to 0, roughly from the Hussy to dead ahead, the cloud widens to half the width of the screen. The left most edge of the screen is totally cloud.

The Eagle, at warp 1.6, is going around the 90 degree edge of the cloud and then heading towards roughly 300. So, a loop far right, and then head back left. Fearghal's recommendation would add an element of risk, and depend on ENS Mercier doing a good job at the Sensors. However, the theory is sound, and Mercier awaits orders. Given the nature of the cloud, "safe" is a relative term.

"Engineering what is the state of the engines and shields?"

ENS Henri responds. "Sir, Engineering can provide a more detailed response to any particular questions. I can report that we have sustainable one point zero warp ability with no issues. Our shields are older GX-57 variants; they are currently on-line and limited time durations experiments in the cloud have shown no shield degradation. Phaser banks Alpha through Episilon report fully functional, with zeta through theta at less than seventy-five percent. We're a bit short on weapons grade conduit junctions. As a precaution, all six torpedo bays are manned, and ready to load. I have kept the tubes empty, some of the crew relish the target practice overmuch."

For the record, eight phaser banks and six torpedo bays aren't really Star Fleet standard on the NX series, either.

"Communications is the stellar cloud currently affecting our communications?"

ENS Salazar nodded. "We are not yet into the cloud, so we have clear comms with anything in a direct path. If we enter the cloud we are effectively cut off."


"Sensors what is the configuration, range, course and speed of the hostiles?"

ENS Mercier nodded to the screen. "Sir, does that give you what you need? If not, what can I add?"

ENS Salazar glanced at LTCMDR Long, and then looked at Thelin. "Sir, Engineering requests ninety minutes to recalibrate a warp drive subsection. They estimate it will provide a significant boost to current capability."

Team

Next Actions: Thelin decide and direct, Andrhonal work with T'See, Fearghal roll (at +1 for Thelin's leader roll) for piloting.

ENS Florance Salazar, Comms
ENS Karin Henri, Operations
ENS Jorge Mercier, Sensors

[gurusql]

Thelin

"Lt Runyon please plot an intercept course through the cloud using our current knowledge of the USS Eagle's course, speed and flight path.

Ensign Salazar, I will take that request from Engineering under advisement when we are not at Red Alert, but until tell them to keep those engines running.

Ensign Henri please watch those shields and report any significant falloff as we go through the cloud. Also be prepared to fire when I give the order when we exit.

Ensign Mercier when we come out of the cloud, I need a full sensor lock on the USS Eagle. Please execute as I know you all can."

[Leitz]

Bridge

"Engineering to Bridge, LT T'See speaking. I respectfully request permisson to do the alignment work. We can enter the cloud under impulse while the work is being done. That would also allow sensor readings and shield effects to be evaluated. Our new engineer has a plan that has a 78.34% chance of giving us a significant enough boost to more than compensate for the delay."

LT T'See's vocal tone is precise and respectful.

[The Bindoner]

Thelin

"Lt Runyon please plot an intercept course through the cloud using our current knowledge of the USS Eagle's course, speed and flight path.

With pleasure, Commander.

Fearghal looks at the sensor readouts, apparently using the fingers of his outstretched hand to plot the route through the asteroids.

Having studied the sensor data and run the projections forward and back, with variations to account for margins of error, he decides on his course.

Thank-you, Ensign Mercier. Now, when we take our little stroll through the mirk I would prefer, and I wish to cause no offence in saying this, to trust my eyes over the electrical waves and particles. I know, to rely on the old photons in a literal cloud is a somewhat eccentric proposition, but the one thing we know about it is your standard sensors are, well, clouded. So, Ensign Mercier, do you have some good old-fashioned visuals for me? So I don't bump into something all unexpected like.

To Lt Cmdr Thelin: All set, sir. On your word.


As soon as the ship is underway Lt Runyon's flippancy is replaced by calm concentration as he takes the Hussy through the cloud.

[_2d6]=(6+3)=9 +4 Pilot, +1 Leadership boost =14

[gurusql]

Thelin

The Lt Commander is leaning forward, even his two antennae are leaning forward as he says "Lt Runyon - yes the standard view screen will be fine and please take us into the cloud." Then his posture changes, his antennae are vertical, he takes a breath as he turns to Ensign Salazar and says "Please ask Lt T'See to report to the bridge. I have no interest in time travel today which is what a 90 minute repair would mean."

[Leitz]

Engineering

LT T'See signed off on the comm, and looked at Andrhonal. "I need to go to the bridge. Familiarize yourself with the warp controls, but do not alter anything. This model has loose tolerances and I've not gotten them to agree to space dock yet. Much could be improved."

Bridge

Within a very short time a female vulcan stood on the bridge, facing toward Thelin. She is wearing a standard Fleet engineer's tunic under a pair of worn bib overalls. Her loaded tool belt accentuates her form. "LT T'See, Chief Engineer. You wished to see me, sir?"

[cybersavant]

LTJG Andrhonal B'Aarr "Yes Lieutenant." Andrhonal focuses on the job assigned.

[gurusql]

Thelin

Assuming that we have entered the cloud, the Lt Commander is watching the screen much like the pilot and then says as if he is talking to the whole bridge "Reduce to Yellow Alert."

Thelin's posture returns to the more formal and he gently tugs on his shirt and he turns and faces the Vulcan engineer. He says "Lt T'See thank you for coming. Now that we are in the cloud, I am willing to turn the Warp drive over to you for the 90 min for repairs you requested. Please understand, I am expecting full impulse during this time for multiple reasons not the least of which there are not repair stations within the cloud. If you can meet that condition now that we are at Yellow Alert you can proceed. Are those conditions ones you can meet?"

[Leitz]

Bridge

LTCMDR Long tsk'd and tut'd as the minutes turned into tens of minutes. LT Runyon had no problems working through the cloud at impluse, and every minute or two another projected NAVHAZ was forward plotted on the screen. Mercier was furiously computing angles and reading sensor logs, ENS Payen moved to assist.


Engineering

The engines throbbed loudly, much looser tolerances than would be permitted on a fleet ship. There was a faint smell of burnt rubber, but it underlyed everything else. Several engineers haden't showered lately, or had spent time in the corral.

ENS Haynes listened to her communicator, glanced at Andrhonal, and shrugged. She said something into the comm and closed it before standing in front of him. Her voice was loud enough to be heard over the engines; "Prepare to do the work. We will be dropping to impulse shortly. Z will assist."

Haynes didn't seem to notice, or care, that the engines had quieted greatly early in her first sentence. She didn't offer to help. In a few minutes, LT T'See returned, and joined Andrhonal at the warp console.

Andrhonal's idea was good, but flawed. Success assumed the rest of the power core and flow controls were operating withing fleet standards. A critically flawed assumption in this case, and T'See directed Haynes and every other engineer as they fought the clock to make the adjustments. It was obvious that T'See was a terrible team lead, and she wound up doing all of the work herself. Andrhonal worked furiously to make adjustments and counter adjustments every time T'See changed on another subsystem.


Bridge

LTCMDR Long walked around jovially and smiled at the screen as the NAVHAZ web grew too thick to see through.

Eighty-nine point three minutes in, ENS Salazar looked at Thelin. "Sir, Engineering reports ready for initial warp tests. LT T'See expresses her sincere apologies for the extended delay, and accepts any disciplinary action you recommend."

Assuming the order is given to increase to warp. Feel free to add it to your response.

Engineering

Sparks flew as the engines fully engaged the warp drive. Automatic fire suppression devices spew tainted and antiquated clouds over three sections of the warp core. T'See remained focused on the console, but said to Andrhonal, "It would be wise if you left the section, our work may or may not detonate."


Bridge
LT Runyon increased speed to Warp One.

Mercier looked at the screen and said "Let me space them out by depth, give me a moment."

Three minutes later, ENS Henri spoke clearly. "Engines holding at Warp One, although sensors indicate contaminated atmo in Engineering."

Salazar listened to her comm for a moment, and added. "LT T'See reports engines stable, and speed can be increased."

Runyon saw the depth of field adjustments Mercier made to the on screen plot, risky but doable.

[cybersavant]

Engineering

Sparks flew as the engines fully engaged the warp drive. Automatic fire suppression devices spew tainted and antiquated clouds over three sections of the warp core. T'See remained focused on the console, but said to Andrhonal, "It would be wise if you left the section, our work may or may not detonate."

Lt Jg Andrhonal B'Aarr "Is that an order? Extras arms may help prevent a disaster. The sum of the part is greater than the whole. Each engineer is a finger in your hand." Andrhonal waits to be dismissed or assigned a section to monitor.