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[GM-01]

Thorn and her team managed to work their way through the debris into the main engineering space; several people, including the athletic Thorn, caught themselves on the jagged debris and bled from superficial cuts and scrapes that were painful and annoying, but ultimately not likely to cause any long-term harm unless infection set in.

 

The engineering space itself was fairly torn up; the decking had buckled and bulged outwards in several places, and emergency patch-work appeared to have been put into place on the coolant feeds to prevent them spewing their deadly gases into the confined space. The bulbs for the radiation alarms had long since burned out, as had more than half of the emergency lighting.

 

Scans indicated severe but not-irrepairable damage to the propulsion systems, but perhaps more disturbingly, biological material on the walls and consoles belonging to at least half a dozen individuals. The amount for at least two of the individuals was consistent with someone being instantly atomised by a high-energy burst. Likely Delta Waves.

 

The others were less so, but still indicated that whoever they belonged to had probably died in this very room.

 

Fortunately, it seemed like someone or something had successfully decontaminated the room, otherwise the Geronimo team would shortly be experiencing the same fate as the Vanguard's own crew.

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

== Given the input, I'm going to presume that it was not intended as Delta Waves, but instead was perhaps meant to be Delta Rays or Delta Radiation. Delta Waves are brain waves and would not cause such destruction. It is also not typical of Delta Radiation, but such radiation would be indicative of a failure in the shielding of the core, so I will try to roll with that for now. Please adjust my interpretation accordingly, if I am mistaken in my information. ==

 

Thorn ignored the couple of nicks she had endured in her climb. It had been quite a while since she had needed to climb through the carnage of a damaged ship without protective gear on. Metal was very unforgiving when it was violently damaged. It often formed sharp and gagged edges that snagged and tore at everything it could.

 

The place was quite a mess. Thorn winced a little as her tricorder began returning some of her scans to reveal organic residue, including some DNA. Given the evidence of some form of high energy burst, she closely inspected the core itself. She suspected that the shielding had suffered damage. She was equally concerned about the upper injector manifold and the magnetic containment system.

 

Looking to Kitkat, she said, "Take a close look at the dilithium housing and the reaction chamber. We need to see if there is any chance of us being able to bring this thing back to life."

 

In a voice that always had a sort of warm purring aspect to it, she responded, "I'm on it."

 

Tapping her comm badge, she attempted to report, "Thorn to Sothrick and Keir, we've reached Main Engineering. Still assessing the core, but a number of people were vaporized in here. Medical might be able to match some of the readings to crew records, but given the number I can detect, it is very possible that they lost the majority of their Engineering staff when things went wrong in here."

 

== GM INput: I am going to wait for confirmation before cross posting to other areas. Does her comm get through to the others on the ship? What details do they find out about the core? Was it meant to be Delta Radiation? Please clarify with as much detail as possible. Thorn will continue to perform her damage assessment with the intent of being able to determine if it is practical to try and repair the core or if they will run out of time. Thorn will also be considering other options to generate power, such as rerouting energy that might be produced from an impulse engine or other possible generation sources within the ship. ==

[GM-01]

==Yes, Delta Radiation. I was sleepy at the time and my brain got all confuddled!==

 

The communication did not reach its destination; residual radiation in the chamber, while no longer dangerous, was enough to interfere. Thorn would need to restore internal communications or use a runner to communicate with the rest of the Geronimo crew.

 

The Core itself was in surprisingly good condition for a ship that had been derelict for a decade. If it wasn't for the fused injectors, it would probably have continued functioning until the fuel ran out. Restarting the reaction, if the injectors were repaired, would be a risky proposition under the best of circumstances, potentially insane under the current ones. If they were to stop the woman who had stolen the Geronimo, however, there wasn't really much of a choice.

 

Getting power from an impulse reactor would probably be quicker, and certainly safer, but wouldn't get them very far in a galactic-sense.

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Thorn's communicator wasn't registering a connection. She verified that it was working by connecting to Kitkat, but determined that the residual radiation was preventing the subspace link from extending outside of the short distance and through the walls. She quickly looked to see what it would take to enable the internal comms again, but worried that the power was lacking. She had Kitkat see about rerouting power from an impulse engine. There appeared to still be fuel available to the systems.

 

== GM Input on the comms repair option. Restarting a repaired core should not be dangerous unless ignoring safety precautions, they went with a cold start. A normal ignition should be safe (after repairing the injectors), but would take a couple hours longer (plus the time to recondition and reinstall the injectors). I gather that it can be done, but given our lack of a fully functional Engineering section and the availability of ideal equipment, how long would it take? IS Kitkat able to revive one of the impulse drives to divert power from it to augment the ship's systems (cautiously)? ==

[GM-01]

In order to restart the impulse engines to generate power for the rest of the ship, Kitkat would first have to reinitialize the reactor itself. Under normal operating conditions that would be done at the push of a button, but the circuits for the magnetic constrictors were among the destroyed consoles. The engineer would have to operate them manually in order to contain the reactants.

 

Even repairing the injectors, the Warp Core was completely inert. Without a Starbase to provide the initial warmup, they were forced into a cold start procedure. Get it right, and the ship would spring to life. Get it wrong, and either nothing would happen, or the Vanguard and everyone aboard would be instantly vaporized.

 

Thankfully, restoring internal communications would be as simple as turning them back on again; they weren't very power intensive, but with an as-yet indeterminate amount of power left, it was still a risk.

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Petty Officer Second Class Kimberly "Kitkat" Kitmat didn't often say much, but when she spoke, people tended to listen. When she finally pulled her head out of the warp core assembly, she let out a sigh before saying, "You're right about those injectors. Both manifolds need to at least have them made functional again. I suspect that this thing wasn't so much shut down as it simply failed and the safety features shut the system down before it simply lost complete containment." She then gave a thumb over her shoulder and added, "The good news is that with only a little work and a check of the conduits, I think we can get at least one of the Impulse Engines running. It will be required for us to restart the core safely."

 

Thorn nodded and gave a weak grin, "That's good. We can use that. We might be able to restore some power to this place as well. It won't be much, but enough to start testing systems and keep life support going."

 

With a bit of effort, Keir appeared from the route they had established to climb up. Much like Kitkat, the Chief Engineer had not sustained as many cuts from the climb as Thorn had. Without saying a word, the tilt of the head look told Thorn to give a status report.

 

With a nod to Kitkat, the Caitian got started on her search through the area for parts, tools and materials to see what they had to work with. Thorn then turned back to Keir and began, " Well, the short answer is that the injectors on the core are non-functional right now. I have no idea if we have any spares, but we're starting to rip the place apart to find out. If I have to recondition the old ones, it is going to take longer. I estimate that life support is not going to last much longer, so that's a priority. The good news is that we are pretty sure we've got a functioning Impulse Engine to work with. Using that, we can try to power up systems and see what our options are."

 

Thorn glanced at the cold reactor and then returned her attention to Keir, "If we sit here, I don't know how long we'll last. I don't know that we're going to stay alive long enough for someone to come for us unless they're already on their way. In my opinion, we need to risk using some of the battery power to fire up an Impulse Engine. Without one of those going, we're not going to have the power we need to control any kind of restart of the core. If we fail, we die a slow death sooner, but it is the first step in the only way we stay alive and maybe get out of here. We're not going to have any idea of structural integrity fields and much of anything else until we have enough power to talk to the ship." She shook her head, "This place is a mess. We have no idea how compromised the power distribution system is. Just trying to start the Impulse could start a chain reaction like a string of fire crackers across the ship. This thing has been derelict for years and feels like a salvage project more than something most people would try to fly...but it has potential. I've seen worse ships brought back to top condition and become the pride and joy of some jump jockey with a dream."

 

She relaxed for a second, then held up a finger, as if realizing she had forgotten something, "Oh yeah, comms are out in here. There is still enough residual radiation that I can't get a signal out of here yet. I figure that if we get the Impulse going, one of the first things we'll try is the communications anyway, but until we do, we're going to have to either set up a relay or send runners."

 

== Tag Keir ==

 

== GM Input on what, if anything, they can find salvageable for parts tools and supplies in Engineering? ==

[GM-01]

One of the spare parts containers had miraculously survived Engineering's demise unscathed, as had one of the equipment lockers on the far wall. The tools available, though rudimentary and not the specialist tools required for repairing a ship in the Vanguard's state, would suffice in a pinch.

 

As for spare parts, there were enough to assemble one injector from scratch, or if Thorn was lucky, spread the parts out to make a "good enough" job on the entire assembly.

[LCdr Keir77]

At the completion of the discussion with Thorn regarding their options the young Hermat officer felt very confident regarding the preparations and study that Kalli had done.

 

They would likely only have one shot, and while the Impulse restart seemed safer; the return for their effort would not provide them with a way to return to known space and or communicate with Star Fleet as to where they were/

 

While s/he pondered the options Keir unshouldered her tool kit which thankfully s/he had been carrying when they were transported, and then turned to the others.

 

"KitKat; Kalli and I are going to attempt the cold start of the Warp Core. This is My decision and the Lieutenant is doing this under my orders.  I want you to go to the bridge and inform Commander Sothrick of what I just told you and also what discussions that you and Kalli had. Let them know about the communications issues, but ask him to at least wish us luck/"

 

Turning to hir second, she added "Do you have anything else you feel KitKat should pass on?"

 

Once their NCO had departed Keir turned to the Lt, "Okay why don't you talk ne through your plan and let's make it happen."

 

==Tag Thorn==

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Thorn's jaw tightened and she did her best to remain respectful as she said, "Alright, but we're still going to have to bring the Impulse online first. We don't have the power for full containment and flow regulation without it. While that's being done, I'll get started on the injector assemblies. We look to have lucked out and have some spare parts to make up for what I might not be able to salvage."

 

Pointing to the open kit, Thorn said in a calculating manner, "That laser unit is good for cleaning oxidized residue and minor slag from surfaces. I'm going to hook up DeeDee to operate the targeting on it and have them nice and shiny before I waste too much time on them. We're not going to get better than that without more bench equipment functional and that would take days to even attempt. The up side is that we should be able to have communications either up or down by then, but at least it should be a known commodity before we try to blow ourselves up. We should be ready to see what happens within the next 15 minutes or less."

 

Tossing a glance to Kitkat, they traded a nod and the Caitian began heading towards Sothrick to brief him.

 

Kalli quickly began removing the injector assembly and setting up the equipment.

 

== Tag Keir and GM ==

[GM-01]

Thorn was quite right: they lacked pretty much everything they needed to attempt the cold start safely. Even Montgomery Scott was believed to have closed his eyes and prayed when he famously cold-started the reactors of the USS Enterprise, quite prepared for his next sight to be the great Scotch Distillery In The Sky if it went wrong.

 

==Time passes...==

 

Thanks to DeeDee's accuracy, the worst of the corrosion and carbon scoring from the components had been removed. They'd also successfully reactivated internal communications, though there was still no way to test the power draw on the ship's presumably-depleted batteries.

 

All they needed now was approval to start their plan, and more than a healthy dose of luck.

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

DeeDee was delighted to be connected to another piece of machinery. It had been a very long time since it had been able to to do more than simply look at things and expand its database. This was a chance to show how good it was. The result was impressive. It had the specifications for the parts and did a very good job in helping to recondition most of the parts. Those that it was unable to return to service, it at least cleaned to the point where they could be repaired or replaced with as little additional effort as possible. DeeDee trilled a happy sound when Kalli praised it for the good work it had done.

 

After several minutes of intense work on the manifold assemblies, most of which focused on the injectors, Thorn crawled out of the confined space and closed it back up. She took care to follow the torque pattern of the fasteners and then secured it in preparation for the attempted restart. DeeDee confirmed with a scan and they moved on to the best looking candidate for the Impulse engines. At first, it hesitated to start, causing Thorn's heart to sink. Then it caught and after a second of rough vibration, it smoothed out to an idle. It had been silent for so long that it was in need of some care itself, but they didn't have time for it right now.

 

Thorn's first try to test the power distribution from the Impulse system was not good. One of the relays had been removed for some reason and when they put it back it had not been seated correctly. It gave a shower of sparks and Thorn narrowly managed to get it under control before it would have started venting raw plasma. That got her heart beating a bit faster. It got the Engineer's head in the right place though. The entire ship could be like that right now and she worried even more about applying power to the grid without having the time to test it properly. However, this qualified as desperate times, so she pressed on with determination. The ship now had a very faint hum that Kalli could feel with her hand on the bulkhead, making her smile a little. To her, it was a sign of life from the battered ship. Most would not have noticed the sound if it had not contrasted so starkly with the silence that had made the place feel like a tomb.

 

After testing the system only to the first node, she left it in that condition and reported to Keir, "The core is about as ready as I can make it for right now. I have one of the Impulse Engines functioning. It isn't in peak performance, but it is running. I get a fluctuation now and then, so I can't promise more than a 90% consistent output, but I think it should be safe up to about a 95% range. I haven't opened it up past the first node and I'm afraid to even let it try to recharge the batteries yet for fear that the whole place is cobbled together by who knows what sort of amateurish attempts at staying alive over the past decade."

 

Kalli gave a tilt of her head and added, "Your call. Do we try to test things a system at a time or do we just throw the switch and pray?"

 

== Tag Keir ==

 

== Deliberately trying to leave a little something for Keir to be able to post about and interact with in this process. Will our heroes save the day, or with there be a tiny fireball in this part of space with no way to hear the boom? Tune in next week to find out, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel... ==

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Thorn gave Keir a moment to glance at a panel and respond, "Bring number one and two up to full pressure first. Stabilize that coolant a little more and see if communications are working yet. Go ahead and open the feed to the batteries as well, if they go, we're done either way. Better to know now."

 

Thorn was instantly moving to her own panel and simply said, "On it..."

 

A few seconds later, her tone a bit more commanding, "Keir, I have pressures up t operating levels. Coolant is nominal, but stable. Communications look good on the board, but they're either going to work or they won't The board is green, but I haven't tested them beyond a simple diagnostic so far. Routing overflow to batteries...now..."

 

== Well, that is all I can think of... =

 

== Tag Keir ==

 

== GM Input...does anything work? Does anything blow up? Can our brave Engineers save the day? Tune in next week to find out... ==

 

== BTW...Keir comment posted with permission. ==

Edited by Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn, Star Date 22306.07 @ 14:43 (02:43 PM).

[LCdr Keir77]

==Yes comment posted with permission==

 

Keir responded to Kalli's suggestions with one of hir own

 

:What do you think about manually intermixing the matter and anti-matter, There is historical context; according to my memory. On the Enterprise NX-01 the Chief Engineer performed the start with a manual intermix. 

 

Do you think that might work here or do you have an alternative?"

 

Keir turned to face his #2 , "This is the time for your opinion Kalli; speak up."

 

==Tag Kalli==

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Thorn gave Keir a serious look, hesitating for only a second, "Well, this thing has been down a long time. The status of the computer is unknown. We don't have time to recalibrate the system, so there are lots of unknowns here. On the other hand, I have done it before and think it might be the safest way to at least get it started. Once it is running, if we aren't dead, we can then feel it out for how well the system can sustain itself or if we have to maintain manual control the entire time." She gave a shrug, "Let's do it."

[GM-01]

The reactor began to make some worrying noises as the reactants mixed and fusion was achieved; among them the rattle of something loose that should not be loose. For now, though, the reactor was generating power and recharging the depleted batteries.

 

For now, nothing was melting or exploding.

[Lt (JG) Kalli Thorn]

Thorn looked desperately for the source of the sound of whatever gadget wasn't quite right. She knew most vibrations and sounds associated with a core, as well as all of the peripheral hardware involved. Kalli could practically draw them out with her eyes closed. Placing a hand against the housing, she tried to locate the source.

 

With a nervous grin, Kalli barked out, "Well, we ain't dead yet!"