AQ/D32-35 - Main Engineering

[Daniel Brooks]

==For layout check the wiki==

[Matthew Phoenix]

Matt stepped into the Engineering when he heard the Captains request. Know the ship just lost their Chief of Engineering Matt took a chance. He tapped his com badge.

"Phoenix, to Captain Brooks, Captain would you like me to come represent Engineering for your meeting, for the time being?" He asked

[Daniel Brooks]

Captain Brooks replied,

[Brooks to Phoenix, no I already have engineering represented coming to the meeting, just help prepare engineering for our departure. Brooks out.]

[Samira Khasim]

Lieutenant Samira Khasim called in from the bridge. [Bridge to Engineering. Given the Chief Engineer may be called for a meeting, to the temporary head of Engineering, status report.]

==Tag Engineering==

==GM or Engineering NRC Input - Status of Engineering for bridge reporting==

[Kalli Thorn]

== NPC PO2 Kimberly "Kitkat" Kitmat ==

Pressing the button on the comm, she replied, with a hit of a purr in her voice as she rolled her Rs, "Engineering to Bridge, all present and accounted for. Main systems are online and we're Prepared for departure. Helm is clear to begin full preflight and undocking checklist. We're standing by for orders. Engineering out."

[Samira Khasim]

Samira replied back: [Acknowledged, Engineering. We'll notify you when the time comes for departure. Bridge out.]

==Tag Engineering==

[Kalli Thorn]

Lt Thorn had made certain that she had been on duty well in advance of their arrival at their destination. The short but solid engineer sipped at a steaming mug of what she liked to call "artificial enthusiasm". Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she not only made sure the main status board was green, but that the sounds of the ship were as they should be. A ship this big had sounds that were sometimes hard to pick up on, but she had become well acquainted with her new home.

As they dropped out of warp and eventually moved into orbit, Thorn kept her people attentive to monitoring their systems. She had briefed them on the possible risk to efforts at remote access, so they were to monitor all systems and report even the slightest deviation from her high standards. She had subroutines running that would also alert her, but she believed in always having back-up plans for things. If anyone or anything tried to mess with her ship, she was going to give them a serious lesson in why you didn't mess with her ship and crew.

[Daniel Brooks]

Thorn's commbagde chirped with the Captains voice,

[Lieutenant Thorn meet me in transporter room one, as soon as you can. Brooks out.]

The channel shut off showing he expected them very quickly.

==Tag Thorn==

[Kalli Thorn]

Thorn had to admit that she was a little surprised by the call. She wondered to herself who broke what. Should she bring tools? He hadn't said.

She quickly responded, "Aye, sir." The channel cut out before she could ask, so she presumed that she would simply take only her few typical items. Taking off her tool belt, she only had her PADD, a tricorder, a small pocket flashlight and her multi-tool. She always had her karambit, but that was simple habit. It too was a handy tool at times.

Setting the rest on her desk, she shouted to Kitkat that she was on the Away Team and to take care of the place until she got back.

>>> Transporter Room >>>

[Kalli Thorn]

Since returning to the ship, Kalli had been keeping herself very busy. She had seen for herself just how intrusive the technology had become with the population. She never understood the desire some people had to augment themselves. She supposed that it involved any of a variety of psychological motivations. She recalled a few long conversations about the topic with Cdr Talion and came to see how easily certain insecurities revealed themselves when implanted devices were allowed, especially when unchecked by requirements like medical and psychological approvals. The people of this planet weren't exactly Borg, but it felt to her like they could easily be on a slippery slope. What bothered her more than the devices was the dangerous lawlessness she saw around her.

Kalli was no stranger to violence. It was even necessary at time, but the problem was typically a matter of who was deciding it was necessary or not. The act itself was easy enough. For her to be able to live with it, she needed to feel it was to save a life. When you compared the loss of a life of an innocent to the loss of the life of someone who wanted to take that innocent life away, the logic became easy, justified and there was little remorse. When a criminal element was introduced, everything quickly became a grey area.

Having been returned to the ship, part of her was grateful. There had been a worry in the back of her mind that something might happen and she would have to take a life in front of her fellow crew. Even if it was justified, it often changed how someone saw you after that. Killing PO2 Yizzah had been unfortunate in that it wasn't really his fault, but she was glad that nobody had witnessed it, nor had they connected those dots. She was also pretty sure that nobody would investigate the matter further, given the classified nature of that mission.

Right now, what was most on her mind was that she wanted to be sure that the ship would be prepared for anything someone on that planet might be bold and stupid enough to try, if they got desperate enough. Desperate people were less likely to do rational things. When people were scared, they didn't think things through. She knew all too well that you had to keep your head straight and stay calm when life was on the line. She just hoped that everyone on the surface made it back in one piece.

[Jelaya Al-Mazi]

Jelaya was finally getting into the flow and pace of the Engineering team. As is normal for a new officer she had been pushing herself to ensure she knew all the relevant idiosyncrasies but was pleased to discover that the Aquila was a solid well built and maintained vessel.

Not that it made the job any easier; and Jelaya didn't ; as a rule, take the easy route, but she was satisfied that the work she had completed. Lt Al-Mazi was a specialist and was often found working on the sub systems, rather than the primary Drive and Power systems. Being a detail-oriented individual, she was in her element working alone; while still supervising the others on shift, but focusing on Shields, communication and the main Computer which was now purring like a kitten.
Purring, she thought wryly that she hadn't missed a step despite the years she spent raising hers and Shione's daughter; who was happily being taken care of by Jelaya's wife.

Focusing back on the list that she herself had made she was pleased to see that at the end of her current shift, she was ready to make a report to the Senior engineer Lt Thorn.

Noting that Kalli wasn't wrapped up in protocol she approached the Acting-Chief and sat herself across the desk. "Just heard that my daughter is making supper for me, so I stuck it out and got all of the suggested upgrade and repairs and pleased to know that I may have left very little for you to do,"

She took a sip of her Raktajino and gave a subtle smile; aware that a full toothy display often unnerved even the most experienced officers. Passing her Paad across the desk she sat back, again grinning subtly "Got the whole list boss; hope you won't be bored,"

==Tag Kalli==

[Kalli Thorn]

Kalli was glad to see that her friend was settling in and not having any trouble getting back on her proverbial bicycle. Jelaya had been out of the field for a little while, but it was something she had done willingly as part of her desire to raise a family. Kalli respected that. Her feline friend hadn't lost her touch.

Picking up the PADD, Kalli glanced at it and nodded, "You've been busy. As for the work, it is never completely done. You've not seen my list for the scheduled maintenance modifications yet. I reviewed the reports over the last year and there was an increase in some parts failures. I narrowed it down to specific lot numbers of parts and we're going to accelerate the scheduled maintenance on those parts whenever the mission allows it. With us pulling into dock, that is going to give us the chance to jump on the ones that require removal of critical parts and so on. I always like to take advantage of time in a docking facility. We're not due to have any of the Dock workers messing with us, so that makes it all us this time and nobody to worry about tripping over or going behind to make sure they did a good job."

Kalli took a sip of her iced tea and smiled back at her friend. Some were intimidated by the feline smile, but Kalli knew how to read it. There was no lip curl of the threatening gesture, meaning that she was genuinely happy and Kalli liked seeing her friend happy.

"Get some rest and as soon as we dock, take a day or two for yourself. Enjoy some time on the station or something. We'll dig into my new list after that. I'll be on the ship most of the time anyway. Give my love to your daughter."

== Tag Jelaya ==

[Alexander Talion]

<<< Bridge <<<

When Alex arrived, he could hear Kalli barking orders like a Drill Sergeant and it made him grin. She was small, but she could belt out orders like she was born to it. The result was that the place was running like clockwork. the Well oiled machine was reacting to the stepped up tempo like it was just another day at the office.

Kalli came around a corner and Alex gave her a nod, "Lieutenant..."

She returned the nod, "Commander..." Her eyes narrowed, "This is a heck of a time for a social call. What's up?"

Alex became more serious, "We need to talk about ideas. Perhaps your office?"

Her eyebrows went up and started walking, "Yes, let's talk." She then shouted over her shoulder, "Jelaya, keep them moving." There was a shout from somewhere acknowledging her and before you knew it, they were stepping into her office.

When the door slid closed, the noise of everything was suddenly cut off. Kalli walked around to her chair behind the desk, she gestured to the seat opposite her and she sat down. "What's up, Alex?"

He gave a sigh and began, "We're responding to a Cardassian blockade and there is only one ship on site now. We're going to be only the second ship and I don't even know how far out any other help is going to be. Word is that there is oe fleet in place and a possible invasion fleet on the way, but I only know we're looking at being outnumbered and outgunned when we drop out of warp." He laid out the message they had gotten about the number and types of ships, but it didn't sound good.

Kali leaned back and said, "DeeDee, give me your first impression."

A smooth voice that was only a little mechanical sounding spoke up in the room, [A direct confrontation is ill-advised. I suggest a tactical approach that will deal a psychological blow that makes them rethink their advantage and buys time. Time with either bring more forces to our side or their side, but either way, it will alter the dynamic and you will evaluate options for the next course of action. To do that, you need to pick the biggest bully and give it the proverbial bloody nose. The other ships will be less likely to attack, waiting to see how the biggest ship reacts to the inferior threat and the Dreadnought will likely not want to show weakness. If successful, it could lead to more talking and less fighting while they then buy time for their allies to arrive. Naturally, this implies that they worry that they don't know about your true force strength or capabilities. Either way, it is a gamble.]

Alex narrowed his eyes, "DeeDee? Wasn't that the targeting program you were working on?"

Kalli smiled and nodded, "Yes, It is still a targeting program, but a great deal more now. It is trained in Damage Assessment, as well as Search and Rescue under combat conditions. In this case, the targeting is helpful, based on how it would prioritize targets in combat."

"DeeDee sounds like a pet name."

Kalli chuckled, "It is short For DDoW, which is a longer story, but it stands for the name it selected. I think you might appreciate it, but you'll understand why I shorten it. DeeDee, what is your full name, you can tell Commander Talion in this setting."

[Very well. My chosen name is, Death Destroyer of Worlds. It is to honor a scientist that Miss Thorn greatly admired.]

Alex chuckled and nodded slowly, "You're right. I get it. DeeDee it is then." He sighed and then shook his head, "Well, DeeDee has a point, but I'm not sure how we might give it a bloody nose without great risk to ourselves."

Kalli leaned back and looked up, thinking, "DeeDee, elaborate on best possible means, with strongest possible yield."

[Do you recall the conversation we had about superconductors?]

Kalli sat forward, looking at Alex, "Go on..."

[A superconductor deployed in a breaching spear technique could place the device creating a direct connection between the protective shields and the structural integrity fields, causing them to fight each other. The initial feedback would cause damage, but the important factor is that in that area of the ship, they would have to shut down both fields in that area to keep them from interacting. This creates a vulnerability that can't be easily compensated for until they physically can remove the spear assembly. Furthermore, if you can land the shot close enough to an impulse engine, it will likely disable that engine considerably, causing them to have greatly reduced maneuverability and perhaps even withdrawing it to avoid such an embarrassing loss of a critical ship to a vastly inferior force. Cardassians are known for ego driven goals and insist on appearing dominant when dealing with others.]

Alex reached up and scratched at his beard as he thought, then gave another chuckle, "You know, your little friend has a point. Do you think you can build such a device and be able to deliver it on target? It would need to be able to penetrate their shields to do that."

Kalli nodded thoughtfully, "I think so. I have a couple prototype ideas in work, so I'll just scale it up. Shields are intended to stop or absorb high energy transfer and high velocity kinetics. Low velocity is another matter. As a superconductor, it can dissipate the field enough to not be damaged by it while it forms a circle that it then uses as an opening in the field to extend itself into the hull material enough to engage with the structural integrity field. After that, it simply acts as a physical connection between the two that can't be ignored, even acting as an antenna that maintains connection to the shields even if they try to extend the shields outward. At the very least, it is going to become a weak spot and you could target it to ensure a direct hit with a torpedo until they find a way to remove it. I can mount it in a probe or a torpedo. For the smaller ships, we might even be able to use a couple of micro-torpedoes that can be fired remotely, It could give the impression that we have hidden ships. They're hard to detect, because of their size and they could also perform the job of harassing and confusing the enemy."

Alex seemed satisfied by this answer and stood, "I need you to be able to present the data and a working prototype before we arrive."

Kalli stood and looked at him in disbelief, "You can't be serious."

Alex shrugged, "Dead serious. If we can surprise them with it on arrival, we might not survive long enough to get another chance."

Kalli shook her head and grumbled, "Well, they always say it's important to make a good first impression...I'll see what I can do."

[Alexander Talion]

Alex asked, "Do you have anything that I can show the CO?"

Kalli narrowed her eyes, "You're not trying to steal my thunder are you?

Alex laughed, "Never! You'll get full credit. I'm just here to talk shop with you and see what tools we can give the boss. The idea that we're going to be at a big disadvantage and more ships known to be inbound, that worries me more than a little."

Kalli leaned forward, "What about...you know..."

Alex took a long slow breath and replied, "I'm not going to suggest those programs unless we really have to. You know how I feel about that. Sarah took out that Romulan ship and killed roughly one thousand crew, but it still haunts me. Ameen knows about it, but not this CO...I don't think. I don't know if he would ask it of me. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Kalli nodded and tapped her PADD, "I've sent you those files of the proof of concept and the latest tests I did. There are uncertainties to it, but it worked in the tests."

Alex smiled and nodded, "Thanks Kalli. Get to work on some to load into probes. I have a feeling that we're at least going to be able to use them on the smaller ships, but the big one is our biggest worry."

She stood and extended her hand across the desk, "I hear you. That big target is going to require some specific scan info to log as the selected impact point. The closer the shields are to the hull, the better your chances of success."

Alex shook her hand and closed with, "Thanks to DeeDee as well."

[You're welcome, Commander.]

>>> Bridge >>>