USS Spectre Compile - December 1st-31st 2008 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 1 Stardate: 2408.02.08 (USS Spectre – Kirien's Quarters – ACMO, Dr. Michaella Kirien - 19:54) (USS Spectre – Kirien's Quarters – CMO Williams - 19:57) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 2 Stardate: 2408.02.09 (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Marine, Jose Rameriz - 19:07) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Nurse Douwsy - 19:10) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Corporal Disaster Rameriz - 19:11) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Nurse Douwsy - 19:15) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 3 Stardate: 2408.02.08 (USS Spectre - Ten Forward - OPS Lt. George La Flaga - 12:50) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – Pilot Officer Smith - 12:54) (USS Spectre – Holodeck One – Civilian, Elizabeth Wilson-Kirien – 16:29) (USS Spectre – Holodeck One – Pilot Officer, Jennifer Smith – 16:34) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 6 Stardate: 2408.02.11 (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Chief OPS - Lt. Chenoll - 14:39) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 13 Stardate: 2408.02.18 (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:00) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office – Security Officer, Jo Smith - 17:02) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office – TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:03) (USS Spectre – Main Engineering - Security Officer Smith – 17:05) (USS Spectre – Main Engineering - Security Officer Smith – 17:19) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - Ensign Paul Morphy - 17:20) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering – Security Officer Smith - 17:21) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 115 Stardate: 2408.06.01 (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 15:40) (USS Spectre - Outside Captain's Ready Room - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 16:00) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 16:01) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 16:03) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 116 Stardate: 2408.06.03 (USS Spectre - Counselor's Office – Civilian, Gabriella Wilson-Kirien - 16:07) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 119 Stardate: 2408.06.06 (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:26) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO H'Chir - 14:28) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:29) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:30) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:32) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:32) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:35) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:36) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:37) (USS Spectre - Peter Talbot's Quarters - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:39) (USS Spectre - Holodeck - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:39) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:40) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:42) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:42) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:43) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:44) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:46) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:48) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:49) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:50) (USS Spectre - Deck 16 - Armory - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:56) (USS Spectre - Deck 13 - Engineering Lab - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:24) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 15:35) (USS Spectre - Deck 13 - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:37) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:40) (USS Spectre - Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 15:41) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:42) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Chief OPS - Lt. Chenoll - 15.42) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 15:43) (USS Spectre - Engineering - CEO, Lieutenant H'Chir - 15:44) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:45) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - ACMO, Dr. Michaella Kirien, 15:45) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Ensign Jynea Kreung - 15:45) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - FO, Williams - 15:47) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:49) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Captain T'Vhor and MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:53) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:53) (USS Spectre - Observation Lounge - SFI Agent - Lt. Commander Brian Rogers - 15:53) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Captain T'Vhor and Doctor Samantha Gunnell - 15:55) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Lt. Amari Riya - 16:01) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge – FO, Williams - 16:01) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:20) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 16:22) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room – CPL Houseman - 16:22) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:23) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - Corporal Jose Rameriz - 16:24) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - SFI Agent - Lt. Commander Brian Rogers - 16:30) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski and CPL O'Hara - 16:30) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room – Corporal Jose Rameriz - 16:31) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:31) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:34) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:35) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 16:36) (USS Spectre - Security Meeting Room – Corporal Jose Rameriz - 17:00) (USS Spectre - Transporter Briefing Room 1 - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:10) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 17:11) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - SFI Agent, Lt Commander Brian Rogers - 17:11) (USS Spectre – security station alpha – Security officer Smith - 17:12) (USS Spectre - Transporter Briefing Room 1 - SFI Agent, Lt Cmdr Brian Rogers - 17:14) (USS Spectre – Transporter Briefing Room 1 – Security officer Smith - 17:15) (USS Spectre - Outside Airlock Four - Marine Private Yzak Moriuchi - 17:56) (USS Spectre - Airlock Four - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:00) (USS Spectre - Bridge – FO, Andrew Williams - 18:02) (USS Spectre - Airlock Four – CPL Houseman - 18:03) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor and Mission Specialist, Dr Samantha Gunnell - 18:05) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Chief OPS, Lt. Chenoll - 18:07) (USS Spectre - Bridge – FO, Williams - 18:07) (Space - Borg Vessel, Lateral Aspect - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:15) (Space - Borg Vessel, Lateral Aspect – CPL Houseman - 18:17) (Borg Vessel - Corridor - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:27) (Borg Vessel - Corridor – CPL, Houseman - 18:30) (Borg Vessel - Unimatrix Zero Nine - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:40) (Borg Vessel - Unimatrix Zero Nine - CPL, Houseman - 18:42) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 1 Stardate: 2408.02.08 (USS Spectre – Kirien's Quarters – ACMO, Dr. Michaella Kirien - 19:54) Andrew nodded at the twins, "That's great, what classes are you both planning to take?" Michaella ate silently, letting her daughters enjoy their time with her boss. They missed their Father, and then they missed the CO of the Nimitz who had become something of a Father figure to the two girls. "I want to be a pilot." Beth declared. "Our Father was a pilot, and I want to be just like him. I think .." She glanced at her Mother. Talk about their Father, John Wilson, tended to make her a bit sad. Well more than a bit, but the look on Michaella's face wasn't sad, it was more speculative. "And I wanna be a scientist or a doctor. I'm not really sure." Ella replied smoothly. "I like plants and research, and I like caring for people. I just know that I wanna be an Officer. I wouldn't mind being the Captain of one of the Federation Hospital Ships that go help with natural disasters. Actually, I would love to serve on one, can you imagine the excitement!" "The exhaustion..." Beth yawned in reply. "Oh yeah like flying a tin can around is exciting. Knowing YOUR temper you'd get put on garbage detail." Ella was snarky right back. "Would not!" "Would too!" "Nuh uh!" Michaella had had just about enough of this. "ENOUGH." She said aloud. "Apologize to my boss for disturbing the harmony of the meal. Then clear away the plates. Ella, replicate some coffee." As both girls muttered sorry, then went about their chores, Michaella winced slightly. "I'm sorry, they are at a difficult age, and all this moving about is really difficult on them. (Reply Williams) (posted by mel) (USS Spectre – Kirien's Quarters – CMO Williams - 19:57) Andrew nodded as the girls apologised and left the table. “I'm sorry, they are at a difficult age, and all this moving about is really difficult on them.” Andrew nodded. “It’s totally understandable.” He paused for a moment. “Have you had a lot of moving recently?” (Reply Kirien) Andrew nodded. “It must have been hard on you as well as your girls.” (Reply Kirien) (Reply Kirien, any) (Posted by Robbie) ================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 2 Stardate: 2408.02.09 (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Marine, Jose Rameriz - 19:07) “That would be me Marine Rameriz.” Rameriz stopped in mid-flirt and twitched. An Orion. Another one. Why was this ship full of them?? “So you are here for your physical then? How are you feeling today?” "I feels fine," he managed and took her direction to the nearest bio bed. “Any aches or pains any where?” "Wells, I is gettin' up theres." He admitted sitting on the bed and swinging his feet like a little kid. "I gets twinges when I's haves to sleep on da deck and stuffs. But mostlies I'ms okay." (Reply Douwsy) "Nurse.. Ma'am.." He remembered Michelle once grabbing him by the ear and saying that he should treat people as individuals and that everyone had a story and not to judge. He was pretty sure he'd been stalking the green counsellor at the time. ".. How dids you come to be in Starfleet?" He tried to give her his best 'just wanna be pals' smile, but it was a bit wilted around the edges. (Reply Douwsy) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Nurse Douwsy - 19:10) "Wells, I is gettin' up theres." He admitted sitting on the bed and swinging his feet like a little kid. "I gets twinges when I's haves to sleep on da deck and stuffs. But mostlies I'ms okay." ”Good. Now lye still and don’t move to much.” Douwsy activated the scanner and started its sensor cycle. "Nurse.. Ma'am.." Douwsy looked at Rameirz ".. How dids you come to be in Starfleet?" She smiled back at him with a twinkle in her eye. “That marine Rameirz is a long and arduous story which I may tell you another time but suffice to say I have been in the fleet for a very long time and have done and seen a lot.” She paused for a moment and then grinned at him. “So Rameirz what made you join the corps instead of becoming a fleeter like a proper person.” (Reply Rameirz) (Reply Rameirz) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Corporal Disaster Rameriz - 19:11) “That marine Rameirz is a long and arduous story which I may tell you another time but suffice to say I have been in the fleet for a very long time and have done and seen a lot.” ~Bah, total non-answer!~ She paused for a moment and then grinned at him. “So Rameirz what made you join the corps instead of becoming a fleeter like a proper person.” He snorted, "Likes Fleet woulda taken me! Naws, I was a juvinille delinquent who likes blownin' stuffs up. Somehow they thought that'd make me a good marine?" He gave her an innocent look while she ran her scans. (Reply Douwsy) "Tho, I didn'ts expect to make it this long. I guesses I should starts thinking 'what's next?' since I'll be gettin' old and slow. I don'ts wanna be an officer, I like workin' for a living. Maybe I'll ask to teaches at Basic or somethin' That'd be fun." (Reply Douwsy) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Nurse Douwsy - 19:15) "Likes Fleet woulda taken me! Naws, I was a juvinille delinquent who likes blownin' stuffs up. Somehow they thought that'd make me a good marine?" Douwsy gave a smile. “It is good to have things that you are good at.” "Tho, I didn'ts expect to make it this long. I guesses I should starts thinking 'what's next?' since I'll be gettin' old and slow. I don'ts wanna be an officer, I like workin' for a living. Maybe I'll ask to teaches at Basic or somethin' That'd be fun." Douwys paused for a moment. “I hope you are not planning on leaving us any time soon?” (Reply Rameriz) She looked up at the console as it beeped at her. “Well it looks like the scans are finished.” She looked at them carefully. “It looks like everything is in order.” (Reply Rameriz) “If you need anything don’t hesitate to come back okay?” (Reply Rameriz) (Reply Rameriz) (Posted by Robbie) ================================================================== Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 3 Stardate: 2408.02.08 (USS Spectre - Ten Forward - OPS Lt. George La Flaga - 12:50) "Okay then. I challenge you Sir to a duel at Foyle Gamma Five canyon continent. You name the time and the air craft." Said Jennifer. "Tomorrow, 1600 hours ... Cardassian D'Jar class mini-fighters." Said George. (reply Smith) "I have to take a duty shift shortly ... I'll see you tomorrow." Replied George getting up to leave. (repy Smith IYW) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – Pilot Officer Smith - 12:54) "Tomorrow, 1600 hours ... Cardassian D'Jar class mini-fighters." Jennifer grinned. “Your on.” "I have to take a duty shift shortly ... I'll see you tomorrow." She saw George getting up to leave. “See you then. Have a good shift.” She watched LaFlaga as he left ten forward and then turned back to her drink. ~Hmm Cardassian D'Jar class mini-fighters ah~ “About the same size as the Mako fighters, this is gonna be good.” She leaned back in her chair as she sipped her drink. (Reply LaFlaga, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Holodeck One – Civilian, Elizabeth Wilson-Kirien – 16:29) Beth laughed happily as Jen took her through the paces, the shuttle handling easily and sweetly under her controls. “Okay Beth a small challenge plot a course around this system. You need to pass the gas giant, the second moon on the first M class plant and back round the sun. Make sure we stay out of the planet’s gravitational pull and not to close to the sun we don’t need a sun tan okay.” Beth actually smirked, setting the course in carefully and slowly. "My Dad used to take us out flying. He was a pilot before he became the first officer of Starbase Geneva." She stroked the leather of her jacket reverently, then punched the go key, and the shuttle obligingly went off. She'd resisted the urge to do something drastic, like make the shuttle go in a loop di loop, because she wanted to show how mature she really was. As they sailed by the gas giant, something on the control panel began to beep dramatically, "There's a problem with the computer, Jen. " (reply) Beth shook her head slightly, "No, that's not it, it's a malfunction of the..." She shrieked as the shuttle began to spin as the stabilizer went out. "Compensating manually!" She cried out, dragging the manual control out of the dead spin. "Computer fire port thruster, we need to get out of this gravity well!" Beth looked at Jen for advice as to what to do next. (reply Jen, any) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre – Holodeck One – Pilot Officer, Jennifer Smith – 16:34) Things were going well. She had watched as Beth plotted in a good course and they had set off. As they sailed by the gas giant, something on the control panel began to beep dramatically, "There's a problem with the computer, Jen. " Jennifer looked at the console quickly. “Is it a malfunction?” "No, that's not it, it's a malfunction of the..." Suddenly the shuttle spun widely. ~Wow that’s a bit..~ "Compensating manually!" "Computer fire port thruster, we need to get out of this gravity well!" Jennifer’s hands hovered over the console ready to take control but Beth got them out of the spin. Beth looked at her for advice as to what to do next. “Okay Beth that was a good recovery.” She looked at the console and saw that the instruments were showing that they were dropping back words to wards that gas giant. “Now Beth turn us to heading 024.43 and increase to ¼ impulse power.” She spoke in a calm and reassuring voice. (Reply Beth) An alarm sounded. She quickly turned it off. “Don’t need that thank you.” She watched the instruments carefully as the shuttle turned. She looked over at Beth and smiled. “Okay now slowly go to ½ impulse power but not to quick or we’ll over load the structural integrity which would be good.” ~And we would ripped in half not good~ She saw the shuttles speed dropped until they were motionless in space as the shuttles engines cancelled out the pull of the gas giant. “Now ¾ impulse power.” (Reply Beth) She watched as there forward motion increased slowly. “There you go, we are nearly there. Go to full impulse.” (Reply Beth) She kept an eye on the structural integrity indicator as it dropped the further from the gas giant they went. When Jennifer was finally sure that they were out of the gravity well she looked back at Beth. “Okay Beth that’s it we are out. You can power back. Congratulations that was well done.” She grinned. “Handled her like a pro.” (Reply Beth) (Reply Beth, any) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 6 Stardate: 2408.02.11 (USS Spectre - Sickbay – Chief OPS - Lt. Chenoll - 14:39) “How long have you had sleeping problems?” Dr. Williams asked. "Not sure," Chenoll said, shifting on the bed. "Maybe a week, 10 days," she offered. “Is there anything worrying you at the moment?” The CMO said. Chenoll glanced at the floor. "Encounters with Borg ships aren't exactly easy diplomatic envoys to Risa, if you know what I mean," Chenoll explained with a weak grin. He looked over at Kirien. “Any thing you would suggest Dr Kirien?” (reply Kirien) Chenoll looked at the two doctors hopefully. (reply Kirien, Williams, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) ========================================================================= Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 13 Stardate: 2408.02.18 (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:00) Chuck had been waiting for Jo for about ten minutes when she arrived right on time. He had thought she would be a bit early but wasn't upset in the least as what he was about to pass on to her was going to take a huge burden off his shoulders. "Come in, Lieutenant." he invited motioning for Smith to take a seat. (reply Jo Smith IYW) "I assume you are curious as to why I've asked you to come to my office during a duty shift." Chuck nodded in her direction as if to say 'say yes because I want you to know'. (reply Smith) "We have been asked to investigate a Marine matter as a neutral party. Given your past history I thought you were the perfect individual in the Security branch of the Spectre to handle the issue." Chuck continued his explanation. (reply Smith) "Everything you need to know about the case is in this file." Chuck said leaning across his desk to hand Jo a PADD of information. (reply Smith) "The short version is that Major Khran discovered a holodeck program presumably in use by Marine's featuring scantily clad women throwing themselves at users but the program also features a ..." Chuck cleared his throat "less masculine version of Major Khran himself." (reply Smith IYW) "Major Khran is very offended and would like for us to track down the culprit." said Chuck. ~and by 'us' I mean 'you'~ he thought (reply Smith) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office – Security Officer, Jo Smith - 17:02) Jo was running late but there was nothing she could do about it. She had been caught in the middle of something which could not just be left. "Come in, Lieutenant.” Jo took the seat that she had been offered. ”Sorry I’m late Sir. I was caught up with something I could not get away from straight away.” "I assume you are curious as to why I've asked you to come to my office during a duty shift." Jo paused because she would never want to admit to what he had just asked. “It must be something important Sir.” "We have been asked to investigate a Marine matter as a neutral party. Given your past history I thought you were the perfect individual in the Security branch of the Spectre to handle the issue." ~Ow great, which past history is he referring to~ ”Thank you Sir.” "Everything you need to know about the case is in this file." ”Yes Sir.” "The short version is that Major Khran discovered a holodeck program presumably in use by Marine's featuring scantily clad women throwing themselves at users but the program also features a ..." "less masculine version of Major Khran himself." Jo paused for a second. “I could understand why that might be a problem Sir.” "Major Khran is very offended and would like for us to track down the culprit." said Chuck. ~OW you are so gracious Sir but you mean ME don’t you~ Jo nodded. “From my understanding would Major Khran also want this to be as discreet an investigation as possible?” (reply Donaldson) “Do we have any suspects at the moments from the marines or anyone else?” (reply Donaldson) (reply Donaldson, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office – TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:03) “From my understanding would Major Khran also want this to be a discreet investigation as possible?” Jo asked. "I'd imagine that is true but irregardless of the Major's feelings the relations between us and the Marine's onboard would suggest a very deep discretion." Chuck agreed. “Do we have any suspects at the moments from the marines or any one else?” Chuck thought for a moment. Neither Major Khran nor his immediate superior had mentioned suspects and for a moment it seemed like a dead end. Then Chuck remembered a report that had crossed his desk when he was the assistant chief. "There's an Engineering Ensign who has the inclination for distributing contraband holodeck programs. You should at least question him ... Ensign Paul Morphy." Chuck ordered. (reply Smith) As the officer got up to leave Chuck had a last thought and motioned for her to stop. "And the Marine ... Jose Rameriz ... if he's not involved he'll probably know who is." (reply Smith, any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre – Main Engineering - Security Officer Smith – 17:05) "There's an Engineering Ensign who has the inclination for distributing contraband holodeck programs. You should at least question him ... Ensign Paul Morphy." Jo nodded as she got up from her seat. ”Yes Sir.” As she got up to leave, Donaldson motioned for her to stop. "And the Marine ... Jose Rameriz ... if he's not involved he'll probably know who is." Jo nodded again and left. (Reply Morphy, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Main Engineering - Security Officer Smith – 17:19) Jo walked into the busy main engineering. She saw engineers working at their consoles keeping the warp core running. She took a moment looking around until she found the person that she was looking for. She then quickly walked over to him. “Ensign Paul Morphy?” (Reply Morphy) “My name is Lieutenant Smith. I need to ask you a few questions.” (Reply Morphy) “I would prefer to talk to you in private. Is there somewhere we can talk in private or we could go to one of the security stations?” (Reply Morphy) (Reply Morphy, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - Ensign Paul Morphy - 17:20) "Ensign Paul Morphy?" asked a gorgeous specimen of human female. Paul had seen her arrive in Engineering and he hadn't seen anyone like her in awhile. Oh, sure, there were pretty girls in Engineering but all of them knew Paul ... and that was bad. "How can I help you?" Paul asked all too willing to come to the damsel's aide. "My name is Lieutenant Smith. I need to ask you a few questions." The Lieutenant kept formality that Paul lacked. "Shoot." Paul responded making a gesture with his index finger and thumb like a pistol. "I would prefer to talk to you in private. Is there some where we can talk in private or we could go to one of the security stations?" Smith seemed uneasy ... Paul took charge. "Ah, I've got to go check out a Jeffries Tube on this deck anyway ... walk with me?" Paul offered in his forward manner. (Reply Smith) (reply Smith, any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering – Security Officer Smith - 17:21) "Ah, I've got to go check out a Jeffries Tube on this deck anyway ... walk with me?" Jo followed Morphy and ignored lack of respect to her rank. As they walked across engineering she pulled out a PADD and showed it to him. The PADD contained a number of still images from the holodeck program. “I am making enquiries about this program.” (Reply Morphy) “I have reason to believe that you have some knowledge of this program Ensign Morphy?” (Reply Morphy) (Reply Morphy) (Reply Smith) =========================================================================== Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 115 Stardate: 2408.06.01 (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 15:40) The Captain was in a decidedly introspective frame of mind today, his thoughts not only dwelling upon what lay ahead of them, but also upon the latest sessions he had spent with Ensign Pelettier, who had requested some form of guidence from him in regards her own meditations and such. It was common of course for Vulcans, whether full blood or otherwise to help one another when help was duly required, Nurse Pelettier however had been having specific problems preventing her oft times illogical human side interacting with her more focused and logical Vulcan half. As a hybrid himself of course, the Captain was no stranger to inner conflict and had nothing but empathy for the older female. Their latest sessions however had prompted him to wonder if perhaps she might need the guidence of another, less encumbered individual. The thought pre-occupied him whilst he gazed rearwards from one of the windows in his ready room, the warp stars streaking past at their steady warp eight to create the now familiar and almost hypnotic spectral blurs as he did so. His concentration was broken only by the call from the bridge that they had just received an incoming transmission from the shuttle 'Empirion' regarding a new crew transfer. "Is the shuttle transmitting the necessary identification?", enquired the Captain. =/\=Yes sir, the shuttle is transmitting a valid starfleet signature=/\= "Very well, drop us out of warp and signal the shuttle to dock in hanger bay One... have Lieutenant Chenoll authorise the procedure and instruct the officer aboard to report to my ready room as soon as they are able", said the Captain. =/\=Aye sir, dropping out of warp and coming to a full stop as ordered=/\= The Captain made note of the deceleration effect upon the warp trails as they minimised to become points of light once again, then he took his seat at the table in order to look over the newly appointed officers file. (Reply None) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Outside Captain's Ready Room - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 16:00) Talbot had never before traveled by transwarp shuttle and found the experience exhilarating. He was now on-board the USS Spectre and about to report for duty to the CO, a Captain T'Vhor. The newly commissioned Eensign looked forward to assuming his role as Asst. Chief Engineer. He adjusted his uniform as he rang the captain's ready room door chime. (Reply T'Vhor) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 16:01) By now of course, the ship had returned to warp after having received the transwarp and it's occupancy. A slight lurch had been felt as they re-engaged warp drive, courtesy no doubt of the CEO's almost incessant drive to achieve One hundred percent efficiency of his babies, namely the Spectre's engines themselves. The Captain had observed the points of light outside the viewing ports streching once again to a familiar warp streak, then he had taken his seat once again to await the arrival of the new officer over a refreshing fruit juice whilst finalising his review of the mans file. It did not take long for the chime to signal the officers subsequent, and expected arrival. "Enter", said the Captain in response to the chime, and the rather tall Ensign on the other side of the door duly did so before coming to attention appropriately at the other side of the CO's desk. The Captain ordered the man 'at ease' and then instructed him to take a seat whilst he closed down the terminal in front of him. "Ensign Talbot, I trust that your journey was uneventful?", said the Captain. (Reply Talbot) "I am sure that you will settle in soon enough, quarters are being arranged as we speak", said the Captain. (Reply Talbot, IYW) The Captain nodded and then brought up the Ensigns Starfleet record to date, fresh as it was already in his mind from his previous viewing beforehand. "I see that you graduated from the academy with honours Ensign, I'm sure that Lieutenant H'Chir will be glad to have you aboard assisting him", said the Captain. (Reply Talbot) NRPG: Michael Drake, the player who played H'Chir has just left the game, but I will continue to play the character until the CEO position is again filled. RPG: The new Engineer seemed positively enthused at finally being posted to a starship and despite his obvious need to get himself settled into his quarters, he sounded most eager to meet his new superior. The Andorian Chief was not unknown at the academy it would seem. "Very good", said the Captain, "I would urge you to know that the CEO has a tendency to seem.... a little hostile at first, but, to use an Earth Idiom, his bite is not as bad as his bark", said the Captain, pausing just for a moment to wonder if he had actually said that correctly. "... or was it the other way around", he added with a typical raise of an eyebrow. "It is not important, I'm sure you will get on well regardless", said the Captain. "The Chief does respect a fellow Engineer" (Reply Talbot) "Is there anything that you wish to ask before you are dismissed?", said the Captain. (Reply Talbot) NRPG: Assuming a no here but can change if need be. RPG: "Then all that is left for me to do is to formally welcome you aboard the Spectre", said the Captain, reaching across the table now to shake the newcomers hand in respect of his Human heritage before giving the familiar Vulcan hand salute also. (Reply Talbot) The Captain nodded in response. "As you are not due to go on shift until the morning, you may report in to Lieutenant H'Chir then and concetrate on settling into your quarters in the mean time", said the CO. (Reply Talbot) The Captain then duly dismissed the new Officer. (Reply Talbot) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 16:03) Talbot sat across from the Captain as ordered, his human feelings deeply wanting to make a good impression on his new CO. However, Peter wanted to display his more logical Vulcan side. He had spent years on Vulcan learning to suppress his feelings and it came quite easily to him now. "Yes Captain, nothing out of the ordinary to report." "Indeed Captain, I am looking forward to making the Spectre home." The Captain read some of Talbot's record aloud and indicated the CEO's name was Lt. H'Chir. Talbot responded very matter of factly. "Yes sir, I believe my background will compliment the whole engineering department." Talbot was eager to start his work detail but seemed a bit on edge at the Captain's remarks about the CEO he didn't wish to speak badly of the Lt. so he replied. "I'm sure the Lt. and I will function well together, Sir." "No sir I believe everything is in order" The Captain and Talbot shook hands and gave the traditional Vulcan salute. "Thank you sir" "I eagerly await the start of my duty shift, Captain, Thank you sir." Captain T'Vhor dismissed him. Peter stood, saluted the Captain and exited his ready room. He made his way to the crew quarters, on his way he analyzed his answers to the Captain queries and came to the conclusion that the meeting had gone well and he already thought very highly of his new CO. ~I believe this will be a productive assignment if this ship functions as well as her Captain. I am glad to be here.~ (reply T'Vhor, any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) ======================================================================== Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 116 Stardate: 2408.06.03 (USS Spectre - Counselor's Office – Civilian, Gabriella Wilson-Kirien - 16:07) It'd been about three months since the day that Beth had gone haring off to fly without her, since they had that huge fight. They weren't at all close anymore, Beth spending almost all her time away from Ella and Ella growing more and more depressed by the day. Some of it was that there was no one else on board their age, in fact they were the only 'minors' on board the Spectre currently. Well them and their school teacher. Ella knew that her grades were slipping some, and that affected her chances to fulfill her dream. The computer had told her that not only was the counsellor not busy, but she was in her office. And so Ella knocked on the chime with a bit of trepidation, worried that this would show against her too, but it wouldn't. Well, it shouldn't. It was why Starfleet had Counselor's on ships to begin with. She waited impatiently, shifting from foot to foot in impatience, worried that someone MIGHT see her here and tell Beth. Not that Beth would ever forgive her for tattling... (Reply Jynea, any) (posted by mel :-) ======================================================================== Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 119 Stardate: 2408.06.06 (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:26) Peter had settled in over the last four days since arriving to the Spectre. The crew in engineering was adjusting well to him and his style, sometimes a newcomer to the team is not well accepted, but that was not the case here. CEO Lt. H'Chir seemed to like Talbot's logical methods and straight forward approach. The ship was operating at yellow alert and most of the crew was on edge about the Borg ship out there. Rumors were floating about that the Captain planned to send marines over to the Borg ship. Talbot had always been interested in weapon technologies, and for his Starfleet engineering entrance exam he had built a upgrade chip for the federation type II phaser and phaser riffle. With the news that Marines were going onto the Borg vessel his chip could be very useful. Ensign Talbot planned to share this with the CEO. Peter approached the him at the main console in engineering. "Lt. H'Chir, I have a weapon upgrade chip I would like you to take a look at." (Reply H'Chir IYW) "Chief this chip will modify the marines phasers to fully oscillating multi-spectral EM frequencies on every shot fired. Which means it will be almost impossible for the Borg to adapt because each shot has more than one frequency emission and that frequency combination is different with every shot." (Reply H'Chir) "As of now I have three working prototypes, with your and the captain's permission I can have five more in two hours" (Reply H'Chir, any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO H'Chir - 14:28) H'Chir groaned under his breath at the inconsistencies he was seeing upon the board right now, the EPS taps were all showing optimal and yet the flow regulators on two of the inbound circuits were tripping closed at a point not in keeping with the design specs of the Spectre's warp core. The Captain had ordered a steady warp eight for the duration of their journey here, and to a point, that had been easy to achieve, the two errant regulators though were now acting strange and threatening the ease at which warp eight had been maintained. "Of all the damned.......the Zabathu will appear like an Earth rodent to what I will do if this refuses to play game!", he cried, spinning on his heels to come face to face with the newly arrived, and tall Ensign Talbot who held in his hand a small object that looked a little like an isolinear data chip. "Lt. H'Chir, I have a weapon upgrade chip I would like you to take a look at", said the Ensign. The Andorian's antennae moved a little towards the object in question, his brow furrowed slightly as he drew his attention away from the flow regulators and towards the new Ensign and his 'upgrade'... "Weapon upgrade?", he enquired grabbing the chip from Talbots hand and examining it closely. "Explain" "Chief this chip will modify the marines phasers to fully oscillating multi-spectral EM frequencies on every shot fired. Which means it will be almost impossible for the Borg to adapt because each shot has more than one frequency emission and that frequency combination is different with every shot." H'Chir shook his head and huffed. "No, the Borg shields adapt at a rate that's contraindicative to any recurrant rolling code adaptations, this can't work", said H'Chir, scratching at his head now as though pondering whether it actually would. "How many of these things do you have anyway?", he enquired. "As of now I have three working prototypes, with your and the captain's permission I can have five more in two hours", said Talbot assuredly. H'Chir nodded and then rubbed at his chin. "Let me see it working, I'll rig up a test bed around a Marine III C and an adaptive target, if it successfully sidesteps the adaptations then, and only then will I put this to the Captain", said H'Chir. (Reply Talbot) H'Chir stood and watched as the new kid on the block turned and then walked off to get his toolkit. "And if this does work to my satisfaction, I'll be requiring your help with the flow regulators on the inbound circuit", hollered H'Chir. "Lord knows I could use an extra brain cell on this" (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:29) "Our sensor scans will be skewed even if they are compensated Lieutenant, being out of phase with the rest of the universe put's us at a distinct disadvantage, the main one being 'unreliable' sensor data", said the Captain. "Sir, I'd rather see 'fuzzy' then see nothing at all." Said Chuck. The Captain nodded, taking in what the Lieutenant was saying with respect. "Does the variance show any sign of becoming a threat to us at our current distance Doctor?", said the Captain turning his attention now to Gunnell. "No, I would be more concerned about the probe and the vessel that launched it to be perfectly honest with you", said Gunnell. "It's out there and not too distant I would imagine", she added. "Very well. Lieutenant Donaldson, maintain discrete observation as ordered, if you feel we can benefit from it then have Engineering look into any possibilities of enhancing the reliability of our sensor arrays", said the Captain. "Yes, Captain." Said Chuck obediently. (reply engineering, Any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:30) Talbot felt very reassured by the Andorian Chief's remarks toward his phaser modulation chip. Few intelligent people actually understand why most weapon frequency modulators are ineffective against the Borg. H'Chir seemed to grasp the concept of recurrent rolling code adaptations. Peter couldn't wait for his chance to demonstrate his chips success for the Chief. "Yes sir let me know when you're ready with the mock-up." Peter could sense that the chief wanted the chip to be a success as much as he himself did but continued his objectivity for the moment. As Peter was leaving he heard H'Chir mention the flow regulators on the inbound circuit. Talbot stopped and returned to the main console next to the Chief. "Sir, in between shifts I've been catching up on past maintenance logs and cross checking them with logs of other Spectre class ships both the USS Wraith and the USS Vampire's logs indicated 2 flow regulators had to be completely rebuilt or changed out when sustaining warp speeds in excess of factor 8 longer than 102 hours. We may be seeing the same circumstance here. It may be advisable to begin that work before those regulators become inoperable. (Reply H'Chir, any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:32) It had seemed that Talbot had been gone only a few moments when he returned again to stand at the chiefs side. H'Chir probably wouldn't have admitted it of course, but he found the new Ensigns zealousness a refreshing change to some of those that he dealt with. 'I'm sorry sir, I have to do this first', 'we'll just switch the lump out on our next overall and make do', such were the examples of tardiness he had come to expect from some of the Engineers he had worked with. Talbot however had been both pro-active and resourseful since he had arrived on board.... and now here he was again with another 'otherwise' excellent suggestion. As it was though this was his first misconception, not that it lost him any points with the CEO but a misconception nonetheless. Talbot had suggested a rebuild of the two errant regulators that had been causing the CEO concern upon his arrival, what he wasn't to know though was that the Andorian was way ahead of the fleet yards on this matter, for not only had he already looked into that possibility, he had also completely redesigned the devices in question and had improved the shunts that fed into them. "No no no, not on this boat Ensign", said H'Chir with a shake of his head, "your suggestion is duly noted but we are using a Mark Nine variant now.... we'll call it a C", said the CEO knowing full well that if the Ensign were to actually check, he would find that there was no such thing as a Mark Nine C as it was an unauthorised field upgrade performed by the CEO himself. (Reply Talbot, IYW) "It won't show on the logs of course because the fleet yards are currently on a B specification. After our recent refit at ES McKinley the flow compensators in the B rig were continually overheating so, when we had some downtime at Starbase 621, I took the liberty of taking them offline and completely modifying the reciprocal valve and the shunt interfaces", he added. "In consequence, the 102 hour warp 8 rule that was pulled up on the Wraith and Vampire doesn't apply here", said H'Chir. "Not that anyone has actually bothered to test the validity of my modifications other than myself of course", he added, resorting now to his usual disdain where the fleet yards were concerned. (Reply Talbot) "Ordinarilly you would be entirely correct, fleet yard engineers however have no idea what an engine really performs like outside of the test runs and, with all due respect, they take a helluva long time to take any notice of any field modifications", said H'Chir. (Reply Talbot) "The inbound circuit cutoff has been a problem for a while, I'm almost there though and with another good head on the problem, I'm sure we'll have it cracked before we next dock", said H'Chir paying due credit now to the Ensigns obvious resourcefulness before once again sending him on his way to fetch his equipment for the weapons test. (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:32) "Lieutenant Donaldson to Engineering." Said Chuck tapping his commbadge. (reply engineering) "I need someone to look into enhancing the sensor reliability." (reply engineering, Any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:35) Talbot listened carefully to the Chief's explanation as to why the flow regulators didn't need to be rebuilt. And he could tell right away Lt. H'Chir was very proud of the apparently undocumented "upgrades" he had made to the flow system. Talbot was not the kind of officer that wanted to second guess his superior over such a minor maintenance issue so he offered up a conciliatory remark to set Lt. H'Chir at ease. "Right Chief, if the flow regulators have already been upgraded then my theory is unlikely." Peter could sense the Chief was appreciative of his help and starting to respect him as a colleague even though misinformation had rendered his prognosis incorrect this time. Before Talbot left engineering he told Lt. H'Chir. "If there's anything else I can do to help on this let me know sir." (reply H'Chir IFW) Peter went to his quarters to install the modulation chips into three phasers. When he arrived at his quarters he found that the door had been forced open with a manual release handle. Peter entered and carefully surveyed the contents everything was a shambles pads thrown everywhere about the cabin his desk was especially discheveled all the drawers were opened and emptied on to the floor. Peter noticed the antistatic enclosure, that normally housed the modulation chips, empty floor. Talbot tapped his combadge. "Ensign Talbot to security Chief Donaldson." =/\= "Donaldson Here go ahead Ensign."=/\= "Sir, There has been a break-in, my quarters have been ransacked. Could you come down here sir." (reply Donaldson) While Peter waited he looked to see if anything else was missing. ~Nothing gone but the modulation chips, I had better let Lt. H'Chir know whats taking so long.~ Peter touched his combadge again. "Talbot to H'Chir, Sir we may have to wait on that weapon test it appears the MOD chips have been stolen from my quarters." (reply H'Chir) (reply any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:36) It was during the discussion with Talbot that the call came down from the bridge from the SEC chief in regards enhancing the sensor reliability. Talbot had already come back with his offer of help regarding the flow problems, but the Andorian had now switched into hyperfunctioning mode and had simply nodded his agreeance before moving off towards one of the auxiliary consoles to check on the sensor feeds. Talbot himself then left Engineering to retrieve the necessary equipment for the weapons tests as ordered, whilst H'Chir concentrated on the call from the bridge. "I'll get right on to it Lieutenant", H'Chir had offered in response to Donaldson's request. It was a common problem of course, and one which was always faced whenever the ship was phase cloaked and in need of information regarding their surroundings, common though did not make it any easier and H'Chir knew that he would have to delve physically into the EPS power feeds yet again to attempt a solution. ~Time to get my hands messy again~ Accessing his console he drew up the schematics of the sensor array power feeds, then he called on the computer. "Computer, access file H'Chir OA 1 and prepare to interface with the sensor grid - Authorisation H'Chir, Omega 5" [Accessing files - File OA 1 is now intefaced and on standby] "Bring the sensor feed down to one quarter of optimal levels and calculate a basal reference for offset integration and allign the palettes for manual calibration" [Sensor palettes are alligned for manual input - performing preallignment checks - cascading jefferies tube field grid for access - access is now authorised] "Wonderful", said H'Chir turning about to face the now missing Ensign, "where the hell did he go?", he added, referring of course to the now absent Talbot who had headed off on the task just assigned him. H'Chir huffed and picked up the tricorder on the desk, then he turned about to head out for his next destination. Namely, Jefferies tube forty one, junction nine. (Reply None, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 14:37) Chuck was monitoring the movements of the probe when his commbadge chirped. =/\=Ensign Talbot to security Chief Donaldson.=/\= Chuck was slightly annoyed at the interruption from his present duties and answered with some decorum. "Donaldson here go ahead Ensign." he said tapping his badge. =/\=Sir, There has been a break-in, my quarters have been ransacked. Could you come down here sir?=/\= There seemed to be a few too many 'sirs' in that request but a break-in wasn't a heppy occurence ... ~still I've got these duties.~ "I'm afraid I can't simply leave my duties here on the bridge but I'll get one of my best on it." Chuck slightly muttered in order to not grab the attention of too many people on the bridge. (reply Talbot) Chuck closed the comm channel and tapped the badge again. "Security Chief to Lt. Ammon Ranae." Chuck didn't like announcing her name given her mixed heritage ... for all he knew she held to her bajoran heritage and preferred Lt. Ammon ... as her superior he wouldn't ask. (reply Ranae) "I need someone to investigate a break-in in Ensign Talbot's quarters. He's only been here a few days but he made it sound serious ... do a prelim, Lieutenant." Chuck ordered. (reply Ranae) (reply Talbot, Ranae, any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Peter Talbot's Quarters - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:39) The reply came back from TAC/SC Lt. Donaldson. =/\= I'm afraid I can't simply leave my duties here on the bridge but I'll get one of my best on it. =/\= Talbot fully understood that the Security Chief was at his bridge station and unavailable to come down, he was satisfied that LT. Donaldson was sending another officer to investigate. "Thank you Lieutenant, Sorry for the interruption sir." Peter waited just outside his quarters for the security officer to arrive. Peter began to wonder who may have a motive to steal the MOD chips. Luckily Peter still had one chip. It was curious Lt. H'Chir never responded to Talbot's comm signal. Perhaps he was especially busy in engineering. Peter wanted to inform the Chief Engineer of what was happening and why the new Ensign was behind schedule. Peter touched his combadge. "Ensign Talbot to CEO Lt. H'Chir." (Reply H'Chir) "Chief, as soon as the Security officer arrives at my quarters I will begin work on installing the phaser upgrade chip. Two of them were stolen but I still have the prototype." (Reply H'Chir, any) (Posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Holodeck - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:39) Ranae was taking the opportunity of some down time to hone her TIHS skills in the holodeck, using the program she'd created for training and skill maintenance purposes during her tenure aboard the USS Hades. She had worked up quite a sweat in the thirty minutes or so she'd been there, using her skills against an assortment of enemy ships and was pleased by her performance. If ever the Spectre had the TIHS installed, she would be at her best. Pausing the program to mop her face and neck with a small towel she replied to her superior officer's comm message, getting an impression from his tone that he was a little irritable. "Lt. Ammon responding, sir." Her curiosity was piqued, wondering what he wanted. =/\= I need someone to investigate a break-in in Ensign Talbot's quarters. He's only been here a few days but he made it sound serious ... do a prelim, Lieutenant =/\= Lt. Donaldson ordered. "Certainly, I'll do that right away." She replied. Although she was a tactical officer, she was cross-trained in the protocols and procedures of the security department. As the link with Donaldson was terminated, Ranae ordered the computer to end her program, asked where Ensign Talbot's quarters were, removed her program chip from the interface, and wiped the sweat off her before leaving to get to his quarters, stopping by the Security department to pick up a multi-vector scanner and vid-cam. (reply Talbot, any) (posted by Sal) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:40) The hatch had come away with an uncharacteristic thud upon it's opening, the hinges squeeling slightly to indicate that it had probably not seen an inspection for some time now. "Damn yardies, this probably wasn't even opened during the recent shakedown", said H'Chir muttering under his breath now as he stepped up into the tube itself and began his assent just as his combadge chirped into life. =/\=Ensign Talbot to CEO Lt. H'Chir=/\= ~Ah, there you are~ "Go ahead Ensign", said H'Chir. "Chief, as soon as the Security officer arrives at my quarters I will begin work on installing the phaser upgrade chip. Two of them were stolen but I still have the prototype." H'Chir furrowed his brow and stopped in his tracks. "Security Ensign?..... Stolen?", he asked, his brow furrowing even more now as he wondered to himself what the Ensign was actually talking about. (Reply Talbot) "Oh, I see. My apologies..... Yes, I do recall the comms now but I was knee deep in our sensor problems at the time", said the Andorian, wondering now whether he was headed for another memory problem. It had been sometime now since his capture and subsequent interrogation by the Romulans during the Betazed mission but he could not forget that they had virtually torn his mind apart and had turned him into a veritable recon tool that had turned on his fellow officers. Indeed it was only recently that, working together with Korak and the ships councillor, he had been deemed sane enough to return to duty and the responsibilities that came with it. The Andorians antennae twitched in response to the thought but he put it aside for the moment. "Ok Ensign, I'm currently on route to sensor callibration and will be here some time I suspect. Once you have the chip installed in the Marine III C, let me know and we'll start the tests", said H'Chir. (Reply Talbot) "Oh, and Ensign", said H'Chir, pausing now mid climb. (Reply Talbot) "Keep me updated on those missing chips", said the Andorian, hoping to himself that this all wasn't some precursor to another period of espionage on board the Spectre. (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:42) Talbot's combadge chirped. it was the Chief Engineer answering Peter's call. =/\=Go ahead Ensign=/\= Peter explained his delay and situation, and his current disposition of waiting for the security officer =/\= Security Ensign?..... Stolen?=/\= Peter realized now that Lt. H'Chir had totally missed his first comm message and was confused about his latest update. Talbot explained "Sir my quarters have been burglarized two of the MOD chips have been stolen" Lt. H'Chir acknowledged the Ensign's problem and apologized for the tardiness of his response. Then continued by asking Talbot to inform him when the Marine III C was ready for testing. Peter replied "Yes sir, I will signal you as soon as the MOD chip is installed." H'Chir ended the Comm transmission by ordering Talbot to keep him posted on the stolen chips. "Yes sir Chief, as soon as Security makes a report I will let you know" Talbot replied. (reply none) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 14:42) Opening up the hatch to the Jefferies tube, the blue skinned Andorian climbed into the hole and then began crawling up the twenty degree slope that led up to the sensor palettes interface control panels. It did not take long to reach them, thirty or so metres into the innards of the ship and he had arrived at the aforementioned destination and once there, he layed his tricorder on the deck and then pulled off one of the panels on the bulkhead, thus revealing five EPS taps, their input and output trunkings pulsing with a soft white light. "Ok, let's see what we have here", said the Chief under his breath, his antenae moving slowly as though caught in a slight breeze now, though in actual fact an indicator to the fact that he was deep in thought. "Computer, run file OA 1 and purge all five of the J41-9 sensor feeds, inform me when this is done", said H'Chir. [Sensor feeds are now purged - awaiting primary calibration] "Ok, ok no need to get flustered, calibration is on it's way my good woman", said the Andorian as he quickly ran a data connection from the tricorder to the ODN conduit alongside the sensor feeds, which now flashed red. "Run the offset algorhythm function of the OA 1 file", said H'Chir as he turned about and then leant back against the bulkhead to rest for a while. He knew of course that this was not going to be an instant fix and that it would take time for the program to establish an offset that was compatible with their phase shift, so, as he now had little to do but wait, he withdrew a small musical instrument from his top pocket and then put it to his mouth. Then he blew softly whilst manipulating the buttons running along it's bottom section. [Computing offset's in accordance with program variables - time to completion forty two minutes nineteen seconds] H'Chir paused just for a moment and glanced at the ceiling, then he put his feet up against the opposite bulkhead to get comfortable. ~Forty two minutes nineteen seconds? Hmm, sound like a good name for a tune to me~ A soft, gentle melody then filled the Jefferies tube as the Engineer began blowing into the instrument. (Reply None) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:43) When she stepped off the turbo lift, she could see a young man standing outside an open door, he looked like he was waiting for someone and Ranae guessed that it was her, though she wouldn't know for sure until she saw the quarter's unit number and spoke to him. Seeing the unit number as she drew closer, Ranae nodded to him. "I am Lieutenant Ammon and I'm here to inspect your quarters and ask questions pertaining to the suspected break in here." (reply Talbot) Looking through the open door, she saw that the place had been ransacked. Raising the vid-cam she took footage of what she saw. "I will arrange for you to have temporary quarters until the investigation is concluded, Ensign, and I'd rather you did not go inside until then either. If you need belongings, tell me and I will get them for you. Is anything missing?" (reply Talbot) "Are you sharing these quarters? It could be possible that a roommate might have taken it, if you are." (reply Talbot, any) (posted by Sal) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:44) Just as Peter ended the comm transmission with Lt. H'Chir he heard the turbo lift doors open just up the corridor. Talbot could see she was Bajoran/Cardassian hybrid wearing Lieutenant pips on her yellow collar. ~She must be the security officer LT. Donaldson sent~ The security officer began the conversation. "I am Lieutenant Ammon and I'm here to inspect your quarters and ask questions pertaining to the suspected break in here." "Thank you Lt. Ammon, I am Ensign Peter Talbot I was just assigned here four days ago, pleased to meet you," replied Talbot Peter watched as Lt. Ammon began recording video of the damage incurred during the break in. She told Peter not to enter these quarters while she gathered evidence. Lt. Ammon then informed Peter she would arrange for substitute quarters during her investigation. Talbot responded, "Lt. I should tell that I did enter my quarters before you arrived, just to survey what was missing I did not however touch anything. I did see that two weapon MOD upgrade chips are missing from their anti-static enclosure, there on the floor." Peter motioned to the container on the floor near the desk. "I do not notice anything else missing," he continued, "Nor do I need anything from inside." (reply Lt. Ammon IYW) Lt. Ammon then indicated a room mate could be to blame if he shared his quarters. Peter answered, "No Sir, I do not have a room mate." he then continued, "Lt. I do not believe anyone, except CEO Lt. H'Chir, was aware I had the MOD chips, further they are not of much monetary value. Lt. H'Chir is waiting for me to install the one chip I have left." (reply Ammon Ranae, any) (Posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:46) Ensign Talbot informed Ranae that he had entered his quarters earlier, in order to see what was missing but he hadn't touched anything. He said that two weapon MOD upgrade chips were missing from their anti-static enclosure on the floor, and motioned to a container on the floor near a desk. Apart from those he had not noticed anything else missing. He continued, "Nor do I need anything from inside." Ranae nodded in affirmation then suggested a room mate could be to blame if he shared his quarters, but Talbot responded that he did not have a room mate, neither did he believe that anyone except his department head, CEO Lt. H'Chir, was aware he had the MOD chips which were of no monetary value, and was waiting for Talbot to install the chip he had. "What are the chips for, exactly?" (reply Talbot) "Perhaps they are of no monetary value but is it possible they could be further modified to enhance other forms of weaponry, perhaps weapons that are not of Star Fleet specifications?" Ranae asked. "I also have to wonder why the thief did not take all three of the chips, do you have any idea?" (reply Talbot, any) (Posted by Sal) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:48) Lt. Ammon continued her interview of Ensign Talbot by asking what the MOD chips were for exactly. Peter replied, "The Modulation chips will modify the marines phasers to fully oscillating multi-spectral EM frequencies on every shot fired, also each shot will be emitted on more than one frequency. This modulation will be quiet effective against the Borg." The Lt. then alluded to the chip being worth more on the underground weapons market. Asking Ensign Talbot why all three chips were not stolen. "I was showing the prototype to Lt. H'Chir therefore it was on my person, not with the other two chips," Talbot answered. Peter began to outwardly show his need to get on with his duties. He commented to Lt. Ammon. "If you do not have to many more questions Lt. I must begin installing the MOD chip, Pehaps you could assist me in obtaining a Marine III C, I understand the Marines can be reluctant to give up any of their 'toys' CEO H'Chir has given me orders but a security endorsement would be helpful." (reply Lt. Ammon Ranae) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 14:49) Ensign Talbot explained what the modulation chips would do for the the marines phasers, then told her he had the third chip on his person at the time the other two disappeared. He then started showing signs of restlessness and it wasn't long before he stated that he wished to being installing the MOD chip. "....Perhaps you could assist me in obtaining a Marine III C, I understand the Marines can be reluctant to give up any of their 'toys', CEO H'Chir has given me orders but a security endorsement would be helpful." "I have no further questions for you at the moment, Ensign. However I may have at a later time when I will have no problem finding you." Ranae replied and taking a new PADD from her tunic pocket, she quickly typed a requisition for the weapon he had requested, digitally signed it and handed it to Talbot. "Here is your endorsement and good luck with your modifications. Now if you will excuse me, I must go inside and look for anything that might lead me to the perpetrator." She watched for a few seconds as he left and walked away down the corridor, then turned and walked through the open doorway where she stood for a minute or so, taking more vid of the room. It was in shambles with items scattered all over the place, she had to wonder if there could be more missing than just the chips. (reply none, any) (posted by Sal) (USS Spectre - Ensign Talbot's Quarters - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:50) Ensign Talbot took the PADD, thanked Lt. Ammon Ranae for the security endorsement and quickly headed down the corridor toward the turbo lift. He entered turbo lift 6 and said "Deck 16" the turbo lift came to life and carried Peter to his destination. Talbot exited the lift and headed for the armory. (reply none) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Deck 16 - Armory - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 14:56) As Peter walked down the corridors to the Armory he past not less than 12 Marines all of whom gave him looks of contempt. He entered the large room which resembled a small cargo bay he walked to a desk where a starfleet crewman and a Marine Sgt. sat behind computer consoles. The Marine Sgt. spoke first, "How can we help you Ensign," the sarcasm in his voice rang true to everything he'd heard about enlisted personnel complete contempt for fleet officers while showing a facade of respect. Talbot replied, "Yes Sgt. I require the use of a Marine III C for a weapons test Lt. H'Chir and I will be performing." The Sgt. answered, "Well we don't give out phaser rifles to just anyone, lets see some authorization." Talbot handed over the PADD from Lt. Ammon Ranae, "This is an endorsement from security and I am acting on CEO Lt. H'Chir's orders." Peter said. "You're gonna have to fill out this requisition," the Sgt. tried to sound official but it came off as dejected arrogance. He handed a PADD to Talbot. Talbot filled out the necessary form and was issued a Marine III C. Talbot left the Armory and headed for the turbo lift. Peter walked the corridor with a feeling of confidence holding the Phaser rifle down at his side. Peter eneterd the turbo lift, he ordered "Deck 13," since his quarters were unavailable he went to the engineering lab on deck 13 near main engineering. The turbo lift stopped Peter exited and went to the lab. (reply none) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Deck 13 - Engineering Lab - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:24) Talbot had been on Deck 13 for less than 2 minutes and already had 3 crewmen bombarding him with questions about: shift transfers, daily job assignnments , and simple maintenance log entries. Peter knew that as the number two in his department he must keep decorum and orde,r which fit his methodical personality quite well, all the questions and interruptions however did bother him a bit. Talbot had high hopes of one day becoming a Chief engineer or perhaps even a command officer so he fell back on his number one strength, Vulcan logic and mind discipline training, Peter took a moment to clear his head and focus on the task at hand. Ensign Talbot began work on installing the Modulation upgrade chip. First Peter opened the main access panel of the weapon and removed the old frequency modulation chip then he inserted the his chip and finished by reprogramming the Marine III C to accept the changes and returned the access panel it took only 8 minutes to do. Peter was fairly impressed with himself at the speed he was able to perform the task. Just as he finished his combadged chirped, =/\=H'Chir to Ensign Talbot=/\= Peter responded, " Go ahead Chief". =/\=How's it going with those chips Ensign, do you have them back yet?=/\= H'Chir asked over the comm "Negative Sir, security is investigating the matter," Talbot answered. =/\=I'll be back in Engineering in five, did you get the Marine rifle?=/\= the Chief continued to question. "It took the word of your orders and a security endorsement but yes sir I got the weapon," Peter said. H'Chir replied, =/\=Doesn't surprise me, they treat those things like limb extensions and cry like babies if they're without them any longer than an hour or so.=/\= "Well hopefully we will not have to keep it from then long and can return it to them better than new, I am ready to test the upgrade sir, see you in engineering," Talbot spoke confidently about his design. (reply H'Chir IYW) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41 - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 15:35) The note was wrong, after four attempts now to get the tune right in his head the CEO dropped his hands to his lap, the musical instrument within them emitting only a small hum now as he let it go. A major 7th didn't go with a flat G no matter how many times the Andorian had tried to make it do so with one of the inbuilt harmonising routines. Some things just aren't meant to be. ~Bah~ H'Chir exhaled heavily and then briefly closed his eyes, the tune would have to wait. [Offset has been computed and initiated - Standing by for manual confirmation] H'Chir's eyes flicked open, his antennae moved wildly as he jumped up onto his haunches and scooted across the bulkhead towards the tricorder, which he picked up so as to scrutinize the readouts. "Yes!", cried the Engineer, "I knew I was right" "Computer, load the offset into the sensor buffer and initiate pre-score", said H'Chir enthusiastically. [Offset loaded - results for pre-score are within allowed parameters - Sensor data is stable and alligned for required offset] "Degree of error?", enquired H'Chir. [Basal fluctuations occur at zero point one four deviation from normal - Error is within point zero zero nine four of tolerance] The Andorian clenched his fists tightly and then punched at the air, obviously pleased with the results that had been indicated. He quickly disconnected the data connections and then re-activated the EPS taps, their indicators going from flashing red, to solid red and then to white to indicate a successful activation. [Primary sensor pallets are now alligned with an offset deviation value of four degrees sweep coefficient - Sensor matrix is stable] "Save the data and store for subsequent use, create a program subset and mark - H'Chir OA/2", said H'Chir. [Program is stored for subsequent use] H'Chir then reached up for his combadge. "Captain, success.... tell the chief he has enhanced sensors as requested", said the Engineer. =/\=Well done Mr H'Chir, I'm sure the Lieutenant will thank you personally when he next see's you=/\= "He better", said H'Chir, "I was on a musical roll up until the Major 7th, then it all fell apart", he added, at which point a long pause ensued, no doubt the confusion showing upon the CO's face in regards that somewhat cryptic remark. =/\=Excuse me Lieutenant..... Major 7th?=/\= H'Chir allowed himself a smile and then responded. "Nothing Captain, I'll explain it to you sometime later... H'Chir out", said the Andorian as he packed up his equipment and then began his decent of the slope that led back down towards the access hatch. The hatch closed with the expected squeel causing the CEO to purse his lips and curse the yard Engineer's yet again, then he set off down the corridor reaching up towards his combadge once more to raise his colleague. "H'Chir to Ensign Talbot" (Reply Talbot) "How's it going with those chips Ensign, do you have them back yet?", enquired the Chief. (Reply Talbot) The Chief scratched his head and furrowed his brow. Why would anyone have stolen two upgrade chips he wondered. "I'll be back in Engineering in five, did you get the Marine rifle?", he enquired. (Reply Talbot) "Doesn't surprise me, they treat those things like limb extentions and cry like babies if they're without them any longer than an hour or so", said the Chief as he stepped into the turbolift and then requested deck thirteen. (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Deck 13 - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:37) Peter exited the adjacent lab and walked out into main engineering, phaser rifle in hand, and waited for Lt. H'Chir. There was something about being on board the Spectre Talbot enjoyed, for a Vulcan that was no small accomplishment, maybe it was the droning hum of the warp core, or the precision of a well oiled machine, or the order of a command hierarchy. All these things appealed to him, Peter knew he had made the right choice in becoming a Starfleet officer. (Reply None, Any) (Posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:40) "Lieutenant?", he enquired, implicitely trusting the Engineer enough now to know that something positive would arise. "we're tracking it ... still at condition yellow." Replied Chuck (Reply Ranae, IYW) "Excellent. Helm, take your bearings from the tactical console and alter course to suit, prepare to drop out of warp... full impulse on my mark", said the Captain. (Reply Helm) The CO then gave the mark and the ship slowed to full impulse and began closing on the object that had suddenly appeared as a far off dot on the viewscreen. "Take us to red alert", said the Captain. "Red alert all stations on notice." Replied Chuck. "Slow to one third impulse and bring us to a full stop twenty thousand metres from the vessel itself", said the Captain. (Reply Helm IYW) It was then that the viewscreen produced their first close look at the Borg vessel.... and what they saw was not what they had expected. This was not a conventionally configured cube at all but a variation of a tactical scout in an as yet, unseen configuration. Dodecahedral in it's core dimensions and with four spherical modules attached at equidistant hardpoints, this was a ship that looked as though it had been made for a specific purpose not in keeping with normal Borg protocol. It matched nothing in the Federation database and the Doctor herself was more confused than anyone. "I don't understand this at all... it's predictive in the fact that it's geometrical but that's where the similarity ends. I've never seen this type of vessel before", she added. (Reply Any) "Is there any indication that we are visible to the Borg vessel Lieutenant?", enquired the Captain. "Either they're secure that we're not a threat and ignoring us or we're undetected. Either way they haven't made any visible movement and everything is pretty quiet." Replied Chuck. (Reply Ranae) That much in itself was a relief, whilst the Borg remained unaware of their presence they had a certain luxury of time and a window through which to observe what the Borg were actually doing... but only for as long as their stealth remained intact of course. The Captain immediately took advantage of the situation and ordered a retreat to a safer distance of One hundred kilometres before calling a quick impromptu meeting of the senior officers in the Obs lounge to the rear of the bridge. "You have the bridge Lieutenant Chenoll, Doctor Gunnell if you please", said the Captain indicating the Doctor to follow him to the Obs lounge, "be sure to alert me the moment the situation changes Lieutenant", added the Captain as he retreated to the rear of the bridge with the officers already present in tow. "Ensign Ranae, you're on tactical." Chuck ordered walking to catch up to the Captain. (Reply T'Vhor, Chenoll, Ranae, All other senior crew) (Posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Engineering - CEO, Lt H'Chir - 15:41) H'Chir had entered Engineering looking like the proverbial Cat that had got the cream, his countenence indicitive of the almost arrogant Andorian pride that his species was known for. If he had been anyone else some would have found that irritating but still, it could not be denied that H'Chir was nothing if not brilliant in his chosen field, indeed his record positively screamed that fact despite his recent, rather dodgy foray into the realms of 'double agency'. Needless to say, the CEO had re-earned his position and also the respect he had been given before that particularly nasty episode in his career. "Ensign", said H'Chir, "I see you managed to procure the necessary equipment, let's get to work then", he added as he briefly examined the III-C, already installed as it was upon a test rig and ready for firing. (Reply Talbot, IYW) "I'll let you do the honours, after all this is YOUR baby and you have to prove to me that it works", said the CEO as he stepped back and folded his arms to watch as Talbot began the tests. (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:42) Peter set the rig to begin testing. Lt. H'Chir gave Talbot the go ahead. Peter said, "Computer begin Talbot Phaser upgrade Test Alpha 1." The sequence began, the Marine III C powered up and fired at the adapting target. The rifle fired six shots, the target responded and adapted after every blast. However each discharge from the phaser penetrated and was able to hit the target and do simulated damage. The sequence ended and the phaser rifle powered down. Peter seemed encouraged by the first volley's visual results. It appeared that all six shots stayed ahead of the adaptations made by the target, which was programmed with algorithms recorded from every recorded Borg hand to hand encounter. Peter questioned the computer about test Alpha 1's results. "Computer rate the Marine III C modulation efficiency." [98.97% efficiency] the computer responded Ensign Talbot ordered the computer to begin the second portion of the test, "Computer begin Talbot Phaser upgrade Test Alpha 2. increase target adaptation speed by 50%." As before the test began this time the rifle fired 18 blasts and the target adapted much more quickly. Nonetheless the upgraded Marine rifle visually performed very well. Talbot again queried the computer, "Computer rate Marine III C efficiency for test Talbot Alpha 2." The Computer replied, [97.95%] Talbot instructed the computer to save the test data. The Chief looked pleased but Talbot was still new to reading his superiors' reactions and emotions Peter asked Lt. H'Chir. "Sir would you like to see any other tests." (reply H'Chir, any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Chief OPS - Lt. Chenoll - 15:42) To say that Lt. Chenoll was uneasy was an understatement. Something about the Borg made her uneasy and in fact, part of her wanted to lock herself in her quarters and hide for the duration of the mission. But she didn't get this far by taking holdiays, and she wouldn't get any further either. As the officer on Ops, part of Chenoll's duties were to make sure that nothing gave away their position from behind the comfort of the phase cloak. She supposed the cloak should make her more comfortable, but the Borg were like a mysterious race of Titans. Who knew what they could or couldn't uncover. They got closer and closer to the Borg ship, but even their Borg specialist was puzzled by it. This didn't raise Chenoll's confendence on the matter, and she suppressed the desire to shiver down her spine. Captain T'Vhor called an impromptu senior staff meeting, leaving her behind in command of the ship. "Aye, sir." she said, as everybody shuffled out. Quickly, she started imagining terrible situations where the Observation Lounge was hit by a Borg quantum torpedo, killing the senior staff and leaving her in charge of a crippled starship. (reply none, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC Officer, Lt. Ammon Ranae - 15:43) When the Captain had left the Bridge for an impromptu meeting of the minds in the Observation Lounge, he had called upon Lieutenant Chenoll to take command while he was gone. Ranae had moved to Tactical Station 1 as ordered by her superior, Lieutenant Donaldson, where she was keeping a close eye on the scanners data, with occasional glances at the viewscreen, and around the Bridge. From the look of Chenoll, Ranae couldn't help but see the young Bolian woman wasn't exactly feeling confident about being left in charge. ~ Must be her first time. ~ Ranae thought with a sympathetic smile, her mind going back to the first time she'd ever been called upon to take the command chair on the Bridge of the USS Hades' . It had been both frightening and exhilerating, but she had never doubted that she was fit for the duty and she was certain that Captain T'Vhor would never call upon an officer he didn't deem as being suitable, it was just not a Vulcan way of doing things. ~ Then again, perhaps she's just nervous about us being so close to a Borg ship. ~ Another glance around at the faces of the Bridge crew, and Ranae could tell that Chenoll wasn't the only one. Ranae also would rather have been anywhere else but here, but she wasn't going to let it bother her. The USS Spectre was cloaked, invisible to the Borg, of that she was certain, and as long as it remained that way they were perfectly safe. To say that Lt. Chenoll was uneasy was an understatement. Something about the Borg made her uneasy and in fact, part of her wanted to lock herself in her quarters and hide for the duratation of the mission. But she didn't get this far by taking holdiays, and she wouldn't get any further either. The turbolift door opened and a petite, attractive Orion woman dressed in 'blues' walked on to the Bridge. Ranae recognized her as Jynea Kreung the Moral Officer-come Counselor who had given Ranae her psyche evaluation when she had first come aboard the Spectre. Jynea visibly shivered when she caught sight of the Borg ship as she approached Chenoll, her eyes glued to the screen. "Everyone sensible hit the lifeboats before we came out of warp?" ~ Oh right, use the lifeboats that aren't cloaked, that makes a lot of sense. ~ Ranae thought almost rolling her eyes as she transferred her attention to the data on her console, wishing that the Captain would soon return to the Bridge. (Reply Chenoll, any) (posted by Sal) (USS Spectre - Engineering - CEO, Lieutenant H'Chir - 15:44) H'Chir nodded approvingly at the results obtained from Talbot's upgrade chips, the III-C had fired repetitive bursts at the target at rates varying from one second to point zero two seconds, and each time the target had registered a hit almost One hundred percent of the time. "Very good Ensign", said the Chief as he stepped in and then withdrew the test chip from the weapon. "Sir would you like to see any other tests?" asked Talbot, obviously encouraged now that the Andorian had'nt resorted to the well publicised criticism he had become known for in regards his efforts. H'Chir simply shook his head and then moved towards one of the consoles nearby, his interest clearly piqued now. "Not just yet Ensign Talbot", he said, "but I would like to see the data you are using", he added without actually glancing at Talbot himself. (Reply Talbot) "Is it all your own work?", enquired the Chief, "I mean, Weps have been trying to solve the Borg adaptation problem for some time now and all they can manage is a sixty four percent success rate", he added, turning now towards Talbot. (Reply Talbot) "Well, I'm impressed", said H'Chir, "but I still want to examine this data a little more closely", he added motioning to the chip in his hand as he did so. (Reply Talbot, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Peter Talbot - 15:45) Peter nodded at the Lt.'s positive remarks and replied, "Sir I have all the technical specs, and test data you need." Peter handed H'Chir a PADD. "Is it all your own work? I mean, Weps have been trying to solve the Borg adaptation problem for some time now and all they can manage is a sixty four percent success rate", the Chief commented as he turned toward Talbot. "Absolutely sir it's my work, when I originally designed the chip I used a few ideas from my room mate at Armstrong University I believe when he graduated he went to work at the Daestrom Institute," Peter continued, "All the data you need to answer your questions should be on the PADD sir." H'Chir indicated he wanted to further examine the data. Peter remarked, "Sir, I will need about 2 hours to replicate 5 or 6 more chips and install them." (reply Lt. H'Chir) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - ACMO, Dr. Michaella Kirien, 15:45) Michaella was carefully repairing an engineer's burns when the red alert klaxon went off. "Easy Ensign, you aren't going anywhere till those burns are fixed." The Ensign made a move to get up anyways, and Michaella kept her hand on his shoulder. "No. You stay here till we get those fixed. Do you understand?" He shook his head. "I gotta get to my place!" Michaella wasn't having any of it however. "No, you stay here till released or I'll sedate....." She glanced over as Williams spoke to her: "Dr Kirien. We are wanted in the observation lounge." "A minute please, Sir." She spoke, turning back to her patient as a nurse came over to take over what she had been doing. "Now. Nurse Tammens here will finish repairing the tissue, then you will get a hot, restorative meal inside of you THEN you may get back to work." She glared at her poor Ensign. "These kinds of repairs use a lot of energy, and you will be very hungry and possibly tired." She nodded and then turned to catch up to the First Officer at the door. "Bloody Engineers treating their bodies worse than their mechanical machines." She muttered as they turned to the turbolift. (reply Williams, if you wish) (posted by Melinda) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Ensign Jynea Kreung - 15:45) Jynea found herself the only counsellor aboard the USS Spectre once again. She wasn't quite sure how this kept happening, she hadn't finished her doctorate and was supposedly not qualified for the senior position and rank. Yet, she found herself again sitting in the Chief's office, with a rabbit down the hallway. She was fairly sure it was a routine update that announced their Borg sighting to the counsellor's department. She was done the appointment of the hour anyway, and decided she may as well take a ramble up to the bridge and give her nightmares something concrete to work with for a change. Stepping up onto the bridge she found no one in the big chair and the only senior officer Lieutenant Chenoll, a woman she hadn't talked to much. A borg not-cube was centered on the view screen. Jynea shivered at the sight of it. She came up to the Bolian, "Everyone sensible hit the lifeboats before we came out of warp?" (Reply Chenoll) Jynea couldn't take her eyes of the screen, nodded to Chenoll's explanation of where the senior staff was. What the hell were they doing here anyway? (Reply Chenoll, any on bridge) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - FO, Williams - 15:47) "Now. Nurse Tammens here will finish repairing the tissue, then you will get a hot, restorative meal inside of you THEN you may get back to work." ~Mental note don’t get her angry~ "These kinds of repairs use a lot of energy, and you will be very hungry and possibly tired." Andrew nodded as Kirien caught up with him. He knew that the Ensign would do as he was told. He had realised that people with children had the ability to give other people a telling off as if they were a small badly behaved child. He had seen if before and wondered if he would ever get that ability "Bloody Engineers treating their bodies worse than their mechanical machines." Andrew grinned at her remark. “I found that the only people who like sickbay are medical personnel every one seams to try and avoid it like the plague but I found that large amounts of sedatives usually help or a force ten force field.” (reply Kirien, IYW) (reply Kirien) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:49) Chuck had been listening to the discussion quietly for quite some time before the Captain asked his opinion. "Mr Donaldson, you have a unique perspective here, is there anything you can add that might help us?", he asked referring of course to the fact that Donaldson had once had the misfortune to have been assimilated by the Borg. "XO Kowalski may have something, Captain. A small hand-picked group boarding the Borg vessel." Chuck paused, "However, instead of blowing them up I propose a recon. We take a transport to the vessel and once there we search the vessel for evidence of just exactly what they're doing with the river and if there are more Borg vessels in the area." (Reply T'Vhor, Any at meeting) (Posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Captain T'Vhor and MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:53) "Mr Donaldson, you have a unique perspective here, is there anything you can add that might help us?", the Captain had asked, referring of course to the fact that Donaldson had once had the misfortune to have been assimilated by the Borg himself. The Lieutenant stirred slightly in his seat, clearly he had had a few things on his mind in regards the discussion so far, not the least of which was his own experience with the Borg. "XO Kowalski may have something, Captain", said Donaldson, "a small hand-picked group boarding the Borg vessel.......However, instead of blowing them up I propose a recon. We take a transport to the vessel and once there we search the vessel for evidence of just exactly what they're doing with the river and if there are more Borg vessels in the area." "Duly noted Lieutenant", said the Captain, "but this is a situation that calls for stealth. I do not see how we can take a transport to the Borg vessel without alerting them to our presence", he added as he pondered the situation further. "A smaller, less conspicuous target however... a Marine EVA team perhaps", he added, at which point the MXO came back into the discussion. "Precisely what I was thinking Captain, we could go in under their sensors so to speak, gain access to the ship and move to disrupt both their power and their communications in one foul swoop", said Kowalski. "It was never our intention to simply blow them up Lieutenant", he added turning towards the security chief. (Reply Donaldson, IYW) The Captain nodded. "Once the Borg were aware of the intrusion though, they will immediately consider your team a threat and act accordingly", said the Captain, "there will be no luxury at all of being considered 'not a threat' Major", he added. The MXO nodded in agreement and then countered it in his usual assured manner. "Then we had better make sure we do what we need to do before they even see our intrusion then", he said. "We've trained for this Captain, my men are ready", he added. "Then an EVA team it is, prepare your team as directed and await my order to deploy", said the Captain. The MXO then returned to his PADD. "Once the Borg vessel is secured, I want you to take a team over there Lieutenant, see what you can find out", said the Captain, this time addressing the TAC/SC. (Reply Donaldson, Any) "Any further questions?", said the Captain looking around at those assembled. (Reply Any) "Then lets begin....", said the Captain as they stood and began filing out of the room. (Reply Donaldson, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 15:53) "Precisely what I was thinking Captain, we could go in under their sensors so to speak, gain access to the ship and move to disrupt both their power and their communications in one foul swoop", said Kowalski. "It was never our intention to simply blow them up Lieutenant", he added turning towards the security chief. Chuck kept silent knowing full well that the Borg would likely detect any movements they made in a close proximity. The Captain nodded to Kowalski. "Once the Borg were aware of the intrusion though, they will immediately consider your team a threat and act accordingly", said the Captain, "there will be no luxury at all of being considered 'not a threat' Major", he added. The MXO nodded in agreement and then countered it in his usual assured manner. "Then we had better make sure we do what we need to do before they even see our intrusion then", he said. "We've trained for this Captain, my men are ready", he added. "Then an EVA team it is, prepare your team as directed and await my order to deploy", said the Captain. The MXO then returned to his PADD. "Once the Borg vessel is secured, I want you to take a team over there Lieutenant, see what you can find out", said the Captain, this time addressing the TAC/SC. Chuck wasn't happy about having his security people take a back seat to the Marines but orders were orders. "Aye, Captain ... I'll put a team together immediately." replied Chuck. "Any further questions?", said the Captain looking around at those assembled. (Reply Any) "Then lets begin....", said the Captain as they stood and began filing out of the room. (Reply Any) (Posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Observation Lounge - SFI Agent - Lt. Commander Brian Rogers - 15:53) "Mr. Rogers, do you have anything to add at this point?" The captain asked during the meeting. Rogers leaned back in the chair and pushed his feet out and tapped his fingers on the table. "Alright, Captain, I have ways of contacting Starfleet," he said nonchalantly. "I can pass a word back to Sector 001," he said with a grin. The captain seemed to acknowledge his idea, then the meeting continued. (reply none, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Captain T'Vhor and Doctor Samantha Gunnell - 15:55) So far, their options had been restricted to assembling an EVA assault team for covert use against the Borg vessel, and retreating to the fourth moon of the Antarchus system and having Rogers send his signal to Starfleet via his rather strangely, secreted ability to do so! Ever since he had left the ship for other pastures and then returned again, the Spectre's former FO, ever the secretive intelligence operative had never ceased to confuse the Captain with his abilities to achieve the seemingly impossible, a fact that had often led him to think that he might be involved further up the line so to speak, perhaps at a level occupied by the vague Section 31 even! Nothing would surprise the Captain where Commander Rogers was concerned and he felt that he would have to speak to the SFI man on that matter more in depth sometime in the near future. For now anyway, it was all simply a means to an end regardless of how he managed impossibilities and as such, the CO was willing to turn a blind eye. As for the rest of those gathered, Major Kowalski was already in the process of adding to the PADD he had brought with him, no doubt assigning team members to the squad he had been ordered to assemble for later, and Donaldson, having been once assimilated by the Borg himself had added his own unique input to the mix. "Lieutenant Amari, I'd like you to see if you can come up with a means to actively damp personal communications from individual Borg drones once the Marines have disabled their communications array", said the Captain addressing the Science Officer now, "when their main communications fail, re-establishing personal link up with the collective will be the first thing they try to achive", he added. "Work with Engineering if need be but this must not be a possibility" (Reply Riya) "Doctor Gunnell, you must attempt to ascertain whether there is in fact a second vessel currently within the river, if there is then our mission will be considerably more difficult to achieve", said the Captain, this time addressing their mission specialist. "I'll get right on it", said the Doctor, "I'd like the services of a Science and Tactical officer also..... and possibly an Engineer to modify a probe for me", she added. The Captain nodded and then turned to the main gathering once more. "Any further questions?" (Reply Any, IYW) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge - Lt. Amari Riya - 16:01) "Lieutenant Amari, I'd like you to see if you can come up with a means to actively damp personal communications from individual Borg drones once the Marines have disabled their communications array", said the Captain addressing the Science Officer now, "when their main communications fail, re-establishing personal link up with the collective will be the first thing they try to achive", he added. "Work with Engineering if need be but this must not be a possibility" The Botanist nodded, slightly out of her element, but knew that she could get help from other scientists as well as engineering. "Yes, Captain. I actually have an idea there. I'll grab one of the junior engineering officers to talk it out with." She didn't want to be a burden to engineering, everyone had their own tasks to sort out of course. The Captain talked to a few others about various things. Amari waited impatiently for the meeting to end so that she could grab an engineer and chat. Preferably over some lunch. (reply any) (posted by Melinda) (USS Spectre - Obs Lounge – FO, Williams - 16:01) "Any further questions?", said the Captain looking around at those assembled. Andrew shook his head. He thought about what had been said in the meeting. If this had happened a few months ago he would be on his way and getting ready for the away mission as the teams medical officer but now it would be Kirien. It was not that Kirien was not capable, far from it. It was that this was the first situation that he would be the Spectres First Officer rather then its Chief Medical Officer and his reasonability were different. He now had the ship and crew to consider and be ready to step in in case something happened to the captain. His mental rambling was cut short as the Captain spoke. "Then lets begin....", He followed T’Vhor and the other members of the senior staff out of the observation lounge and on to the bridge. He eyed his chair on the bridge as he approached it. He calmly sat down and opened his arm rest screen. ~Better get used to it then~ (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:20) Chuck was having difficulty selecting the members of his team for the coming away mission. The duty roster wasn't impressively large as the Spectre was a smaller vessel but who would be needed on the Borg vessel? ~Who will Kowalski choose to go in the first wave? Mostly Marines I'm guessing but he might throw in Rogers or some of the medical crew and that effects my selection.~ he thought. The Marine's were going in 'EVA style' but Chuck's team would simply beam over. That means that Pilot specialists like Jo Smith's younger suster or this Lieutenant La Flaga in OPS were unnecessary for this mission. The ship's counselling staff wouldn't be very effective against the Borg either ... there simply was no reasoning with them. Chuck sighed at the thought of Ensign Kreung trying to bribe the Borg with a cookie ... or a more Orion favor. A few names stood out as likely candidates for the mission: Lt. Michaella Kirien - A medical researcher who might object to going but whose knowledge of medicine as well as scientific bent might prove handy. Lt. Cmdr. Brian Rogers - He outranked Chuck and that might cause friction but perhaps a history in SFI had given Rogers an advantage above the other members of the crew. And two Engineers - Ensign Paul Morphy and a new ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot These were the ideal fact finding away team albeit a little sparse of security. Presumably the Marine's would have the arrival secure but perhaps Chuck would have to beef uphis own away team just in case. ~I'll have to think about it a little harder.~ he thought. ~but before I do I'll see how Kowalski is doing on his end.~ "Lt. Donaldson to Marine XO Kowalski." said Chuck tapping his Commbadge. (reply Kowalski) "Have you selected a team for the away mission yet?" Chucked asked (reply Kowalski) "I was having a little trouble selecting my team and I wanted to touch base." (reply Kowalski) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 16:22) "Our best vantage point is here", said Kowalski pointing to a point upon the screen with a stick to indicate where on the Borg vessel he was referring to. "This is a blind spot, it's the least surveilled aspect on the entire ship, it's also well away from their main weapons array", he added. "House, I want you to hitch the punch to the centre point of the main hull section, once it's in place and has cut itself in, that and the space immediately beyond will be our first base", said the MXO, just as his comms fired up with a communique from the Security chief. =/\=Lt. Donaldson to Marine XO Kowalski.=/\= "Go ahead Mr Donaldson", said the MXO. =/\=Have you selected a team for the away mission yet?=/\= "I have, a small team of six... to start with anyway. I may move in more as needed if it gets spooky over there", said Kowalski. Houseman immediately pulled a face at the remark, his attempt no doubt to appear 'spooky' to the MXO, who appeared not to take much notice. "Why do you ask?", enquired the MXO. =/\=I was having a little trouble selecting my team and I wanted to touch base.=/\= "Sure", said the MXO, "Come on down to sixteen, I know you fleet guys wanna get in on the action and I'm not one to deny you that chance. In fact, I was gonna query this with you anyway", he added. (Reply Donaldson) "I'm a waiting, Kowalski out", said Kowalski as he closed the comms and returned to the briefing once again. "House, one day you'll pull a face, the wind will change and you'll stay like that. Now I'm not completely against ugly grunts in my squad but I'm concerned that O'Hara might fall in love again, and anything that takes his mind of the plastic on a mission is detrimental to squad morale.... do I make myself clear soldier", said Kowalski. (Reply Houseman, Any) (Reply Donaldson, House, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room – CPL Houseman - 16:22) "Our best vantage point is here", "This is a blind spot, it's the least surveilled aspect on the entire ship, it's also well away from their main weapons array", he added. "House, I want you to hitch the punch to the centre point of the main hull section, once it's in place and has cut itself in, that and the space immediately beyond will be our first base", said the MXO, just as his comms fired up with a communique from the Security chief. Houseman looked at the screen. ~Great I get to hump the ‘Can Opener’ over. At least we are going in zero-g coz its heavy as well as bulky~ "I have, a small team of six... to start with anyway. I may move in more as needed if it gets spooky over there", said Kowalski. Houseman made a spooky face as he heard his boss answer the question. "Why do you ask?", enquired the MXO. =/\=I was having a little trouble selecting my team and I wanted to touch base.=/\= "Ya's, makes those faces and you'll be stucks escortin' Fleeters, 'cause you'll be too uglies to hang out with us handsome folks Houseman leaned over to Rameriz. “Mate I would still look ten times more handsome than you.” "Sure", said the MXO, "Come on down to sixteen, I know you fleet guys wanna get in on the action and I'm not one to deny you that chance. In fact, I was gonna query this with you anyway", He was about to say something else when Kowalski looked at him. "House, one day you'll pull a face, the wind will change and you'll stay like that. Now I'm not completely against ugly grunts in my squad but I'm concerned that O'Hara might fall in love again, and anything that takes his mind of the plastic on a mission is detrimental to squad morale.... do I make myself clear soldier", said Kowalski. He dropped his eyes from Kowalski’s hard stare and looked at the floor. “Yes Sir.” He heard Rameriz say something and gave a mental groan. ~One day he’s going to drop himself in it. OW yes that would be every day~ "Um, excuse me", "is it me or has the UT gone on the blink again", "I swear you get more incomprehensible at the passing of each day Corporal", said the MXO. (Reply Rameriz) He watched as Kowalski returned once again to the chart on the display showing their mission strategy. "Anyway, by now this chart and everything associated with it should be fixed in your noggins, foul up's due to lack of attention will not be tolerated, do I make myself clear?", “Yes Sir.” ~Yeh but it just looks all the same~ "Let me get this straight", "the Spectre is gonna park herself real close to the Borg ship yes, and she'll remain phase cloaked of course", he added. ~Trust O’Hara to go for the science bit~ "And your point is Corporal?", said the MXO. "Well sir, we've never done an airlock disembark from a ship not in phase with the rest of the universe.... ain't we gonna, I mean.... well, will we feel ok?", said O'Hara. ~I’m sure Rameriz would give you a hug if you feel a bit uncomfortable mate~ "Science assures us we should be", ~Well that makes me feel so much better~ "and I have no reason to doubt them so neither should you, you worry when your face to face with those zombies over there", he added. "And you Rameriz, I trust that it all makes sense... or senses as the case may be", ~Ow boss don’t ask him that or we will be here for years as he tries to answer~ (Reply Rameriz) "Excellent, our six man team will go on the CO's order once the Spectre is in optimal position, once we are in the black we make our way to the enemy vessel from her anterior aspect and secure entry via the portable boarding hatch", Houseman looked over at the door as Donaldson entered. "I'm here as requested. I'm happy to be included ... Marines and Fleeters don't get along ... you'll find that I'm someone between Starfleet and the Marine Corp", said Donaldson. ”Bet you are mate.” Houseman muttered to himself. "Take a seat Lieutenant, I was just running through the drill", "I think everyone here knows their part so, let's talk", he added. Houseman looked over at O’Hara and Rameriz “Just don’t get too exited with the TNT okay I don’t want to be sucking vacuum before we get there.” (Reply O’Hara) He looked at Rameriz. “And you keep that over inflated Spanish ego of yours in check okay if you wont get in the EVA suit.” He gave Rameriz a hard stare. “And keep that trigger finger away from the trigger or I’ll borgify you ass. You here me” (Reply O’Hara and Rameriz) (Reply O’Hara, Rameriz, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - TAC/SC's Office - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:23) =/\=Come on down to sixteen, I know you fleet guys wanna get in on the action and I'm not one to deny you that chance. In fact, I was gonna query this with you anyway=/\= "I'll be there in ten." Chuck responded. =/\=I'm a waiting, Kowalski out=/\= said Kowalski as he closed the comm. Chuck closed his end of the comm and was already on his feet. ~This is a warmer reception than I expected ... gotta take advantage of the moment.~ (Reply Kowaslki, Rameriz, Houseman, Any) (Posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - Corporal Jose Rameriz - 16:24) The first argument used against him to get him to cooperate on training missions in boring holodecks had been the threat of leaving him scrubbing injector coils with a toothbrush. He'd perked up, at least it'd give him something to do that wasn't guarding the ship from a dangerous, wandering rabbit. When that didn't have the effect wanted, he'd then been threated with demotion. He wasn't worried, he'd been demoted before. Inspiration had struck the officer and he'd been told if he didn't smarten up, prove himself part of the team and trustworthy to the mission he wouldn't get to go on an away mission and blow up Borg drones. Rameriz had instantly snapped into uber marine. He followed orders, he performed with precision, he worked even with Houseman and his own evil holo-twin. He was still thinking up good revenge on his holographic self for shooting him. He wanted to serve. He wanted to protect. He wanted to blow (ahem) up. There was no moral quagmire in battling the borg. They were the bad guys and the marines were the good guys. He hoped he'd smartened up enough to get placed on the first away team, but he was realistic enough to believe that he didn't have friends who'd seen him in action here. They could only go by text on a PADD and it wasn't like those things hadn't been doctored and altered in the past. But still, he really, really wanted to blow up some borg. =/\=Lt. Donaldson to Marine XO Kowalski.=/\= "Go ahead Mr Donaldson", said the MXO. =/\=Have you selected a team for the away mission yet?=/\= "I have, a small team of six... to start with anyway. I may move in more as needed if it gets spooky over there", said Kowalski. "Why do you ask?", enquired the MXO. =/\=I was having a little trouble selecting my team and I wanted to touch base.=/\= ~Hay! Maybes if the XO is being all grumpy pants I can tag along with Mr Security! I'm as good as any of those pajama boys and they made need an extra firepower or two.. Nots nearly as much FUN as being with the squads, but way more funs than being left behind.~ Now he just had to figure out how to make an officer assign him somewhere without it looking like he was volunteering. "Ya's, makes those faces and you'll be stucks escortin' Fleeters, 'cause you'll be too uglies to hang out with us handsome folks!" Rameriz told Houseman while the MXO was pausing for breath. (Reply Houseman, Kowalski, etc) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - SFI Agent - Lt. Commander Brian Rogers - 16:30) Rogers sat on his sofa, with his service boots off, his uniform tunic undone, and his feet up while he carelessly paged through a recent novel. =/\= Chenoll to Commander Rogers, =/\= The Bolian Chief of OPS called. "Rogers here," he replied. =/\= The captain asked me to inform you when we were within the polar field of the Antarchus planetoid, which we are now, =/\= the lieutenant explained. "Very well, I'll only need five minutes," Rogers said, standing up, "Rogers out," he said. He walked over to his nightstand, where a small frame of him and his hockey team from the Academy was proudly sitting. Rogers took it and tapped a seemingly random pattern on the picture, before the picture changed to a PADD display, and the harmless picture frame was now a secret PADD, albeit one, with a stylish metalic rim. Rogers entered a few more commands on the PADD, and the PADD began recording. Rogers didn't understand how this little picture frame could pass as a high-powered covert subspace transmitter, but he had heard rumors that 29th century technology was invovled. With a few more keystrokes, the message would be sent with priority to Admiral Jopek's staff. "This is Lt. Commander Rogers, of the Spectre. Captain T'Vhor suggests that due to Borg activity, the Tau Sigma Flow subspace river should be closed to Starfleet activity for the time being," he reported. "End of message," he added, before the message ended and with the dark power of Starfleet Intelligence, the message was sent to San Francisco, several thousand lightyears away. Rogers entered a few more commands, and restored his PADD to the picture of his hockey championship, before replacing it back on his nightstand. Rogers tapped his comm badge. "Rogers to Captain T'Vhor," (reply T'Vhor) "I've sent the message to Starfleet," he said. (reply T'Vhor, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski and CPL O'Hara - 16:30) Kowalski screwed his eyes up and shook his head at the Spaniards remarkable command of the English language. "Um, excuse me", he said reaching up to scratch his head now, "is it me or has the UT gone on the blink again", he added. (Reply Any, IYW) "I swear you get more incomprehensible at the passing of each day Corporal", said the MXO. (Reply Rameriz) Kowalski could do little else but nod before returning once again to the chart on the display showing their mission strategy. "Anyway, by now this chart and everything associated with it should be fixed in your noggins, foul up's due to lack of attention will not be tolerated, do I make myself clear?", said Kowalski turning his attention now to each of the men in turn in order to guage their expressions and receive the expected 'yes sir' from all of them. "Let me get this straight", said O'Hara, "the Spectre is gonna park herself real close to the Borg ship yes, and she'll remain phase cloaked of course", he added. "And your point is Corporal?", said the MXO. "Well sir, we've never done an airlock disembark from a ship not in phase with the rest of the universe.... ain't we gonna, I mean.... well, will we feel ok?", said O'Hara. "Science assures us we should be", said Kowalski matter of factly, "and I have no reason to doubt them so neither should you, you worry when your face to face with those zombies over there", he added. "And you Rameriz, I trust that it all makes sense... or senses as the case may be", said the MXO as an afterthought. (Reply Rameriz) "Excellent, our six man team will go on the CO's order once the Spectre is in optimal position, once we are in the black we make our way to the enemy vessel from her anterior aspect and secure entry via the portable boarding hatch", said the MXO turning towards the door now to note the arrival of the Security chief who nodded and then made his announcement. "I'm here as requested. I'm happy to be included ... Marines and Fleeters don't get along ... you'll find that I'm someone between Starfleet and the Marine Corp", said Donaldson. (Reply Any, IYW) "Take a seat Lieutenant, I was just running through the drill", said the MXO, "I think everyone here knows their part so, let's talk", he added. (Reply Donaldson, IYW) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room – Corporal Jose Rameriz - 16:31) Rameriz was paying attention to the boring bits, and would have shocked his younger self if his younger self could have seen him. He was actually getting interested in the strategy in his old age. Ten years ago it would have been blow it all up and let the archaeologists sort it out. "I swear you get more incomprehensible at the passing of each day Corporal", said the MXO. "Thanks, Sir!" Rameriz replied happily. The leader of the pyjama party showed up and seemed to need some laxatives to deal with marine jocularity in the face of danger. “Just don’t get too exited with the TNT okay I don’t want to be sucking vacuum before we get there.” "We get's TNT? Woo! Old school!" Rameriz said happily. Houseman looked at Rameriz. “And you keep that over inflated Spanish ego of your in check okay of you wont get in the EVA suit.” "I gets to go?!" Rameriz bounced up and down in his chair, "I loves you man! I won't blows up nothin' you don't wants blown up! Promises!" He gave Rameriz a hard glare. “And keep that trigger finger away from the trigger or I’ll borgify you ass. You hear me?” Rameriz frowned in thought and saw that there was a wait for an answer. "I was just thinkin'.. would be turnin' the borgs into the funnest, best lookin' boys in space be really good for your career?" (Reply Houseman ;) "Okay okay, that's enough, we are here to do a job Marines, let's curtail the jibes and the pokes at one another and show the good Lieutenant that we can be civilized shall we", said Kowalski turning towards Donaldson now and apologising on all of their behalf. Rameriz hand-signed to Houseman the equivalent of "What a party pooper." Though, the literal translation, taught unofficially in basic, wouldn't have made it past Starfleet censors. "Okay, I can see where this discussion is going. I got the general idea of the plan from the senior officer meeting but I want to coordinate my people with yours. Where do you want us?", said Donaldson. "I was thinking that one of your team might like to tag along with the forward squad actually Lieutenant, a SEC presence if you like", said the MXO. (Reply Donaldson, Any) Kowalski nodded in response. The bulk of your team would remain on Spectre until we have secured the Borg vessel, the Borg are nothing if not unpredictable so I was thinking that it might be wise to put one of my men with your team also", said Kowalski. (Reply Donaldson) "No matter how thorough we are in our job Lieutenant, there's always the possibility that you might need some heavy ordinance with you when you come on over.....call it an exchange of personnel in light of a mutual goal", said the MXO. (Reply Donaldson) "So, who are you taking?", asked Kowalski "I's volunteer" Rameriz said. He turned to the Lieutenant "I knows what you's is thinkin', but the facts of the matter is that I'm mostly heavy ordinance and explosives, nots sneakin' and hackin', I won'ts be needed on the front lines, but I stills am trained in better toys and equipment than the average security teams. We don't have SWAT on the Speccie 'cause we have marines." (Reply Donaldson) "I knows my reputation during peace times, but I wouldn't still be a marine ifs I wasn't good at my job." Rameriz sat back down, ignoring Houseman since he was probably making kissy kissy faces. (Reply Donaldson, Kowalski, Houseman, etc :) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:31) "I was thinking that one of your team might like to tag along with the forward squad actually Lieutenant, a SEC presence if you like", said the MXO. "That sounds like a fine idea ... I have a few folks that I'm sure would be up to the task. Did you have anyone in particular in mind, this doesn't sound like an off the cuff suggestion?" Chuck asked. (reply Kowalski) "I can do that." Chuck responded in the affirmative. Kowalski nodded in response. "The bulk of your team would remain on Spectre until we have secured the Borg vessel, the Borg are nothing if not unpredictable so I was thinking that it might be wise to put one of my men with your team also", said Kowalski. "They would be welcome." Said Chuck glancing around at the Marine faces eyeing him 'suspiciously'. "No matter how thorough we are in our job Lieutenant, there's always the possibility that you might need some heavy ordinance with you when you come on over.....call it an exchange of personnel in light of a mutual goal", said the MXO. "Exchanging personnel shows that we can trust each other to fulfil our respective ends of the mission requirements." Chuck shrugged slightly and gave a half smile, "At least that's what I've heard." (reply any) "So, who are you taking?", asked Kowalski. Chuck looked around at the Marine's who Kowalski had prepped for the mission. "I's volunteer" Rameriz said. He turned to Chuck "I knows what you's is thinkin', but the facts of the matter is that I'm mostly heavy ordinance and explosives, nots sneakin' and hackin', I won'ts be needed on the front lines, but I stills am trained in better toys and equipment than the average security teams. We don't have SWAT on the Speccie 'cause we have marines." Had Chuck not had the remnants of an optical implant he would have raised an eyebrow like a vulcan. "Any ... other volunteers?" Chuck asked sheepishly. "I knows my reputation during peace times, but I wouldn't still be a marine ifs I wasn't good at my job." Rameriz sat back down. Houseman made a few bizarre faces in Rameriz' direction but the latter seemed obtuse to the fact. "Okays then." Chuck said pausing for a moment to mentally catch his breath after adding an 's'... "I mean, yes, of course." (reply Rameriz, Kowalski, Houseman, any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:34) Chuck stepped through the doors to the marine briefing room. "I'm here as requested. I'm happy to be included ... Marines and Fleeters don't get along ... you'll find that I'm someone between Starfleet and the Marine Corp." said Chuck watching Kowalski for a clue as to what he expected. (Reply Kowaslki, Rameriz, Houseman, Any) (Posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 16:35) "Take a seat Lieutenant, I was just running through the drill", said the MXO, "I think everyone here knows their part so, let's talk", he added. Chuck took a seat and quickly glanced around the room taking in the mood. There was some concern on the face of O'hara who Chuck had remembered from a previous meeting in explosive circumstances. Houseman looked over at O’Hara and Rameriz “Just don’t get too excited with the TNT okay I don’t want to be sucking vacuum before we get there.” (Reply O’Hara) He looked at Rameriz. “And you keep that over inflated Spanish ego of yours in check okay of you want to get in the EVA suit.” He gave Rameriz a hard clear. “And keep that trigger finger away from the trigger or I’ll borgify your ass. You hear me” (Reply O’Hara and Rameriz) Chuck glanced up at Kowalski ... Chuck wouldn't let his people jibe each other in this way. Before things got too far out of hand he'd have to bring a cooler head to the table. "Okay, I can see where this discussion is going. I got the general idea of the plan from the senior officer meeting but I want to coordinate my people with yours. Where do you want us?" Chuck asked Kowalski ... his voice was slightly raised to make sure and be heard over the boisterous Marines. (reply Kowalski, any IYW) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Marine Briefing Room - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 16:36) The Lieutenant had seemed confused by the petty bickering being initiated by the Marines at the briefing, but then, Marines did have a certain way of dealing with the turmoil that constantly raged within their somewhat scarred and battle torn minds. It went with the territory of course, some dealt with it in councilling, others by the kind of banter that now passed between themselves, either way Donaldson looked confused and it was as though he wanted to shout at the the MXO, 'why don't you do something about this'.... The MXO simply sighed and shook his head. "Okay okay, that's enough, we are here to do a job Marines, let's curtail the jibes and the pokes at one another and show the good Lieutenant that we can be civilized shall we", said Kowalski turning towards Donaldson now and apologising on all of their behalf. The Lieutenant then took his seat. "Okay, I can see where this discussion is going. I got the general idea of the plan from the senior officer meeting but I want to coordinate my people with yours. Where do you want us?", said Donaldson. "I was thinking that one of your team might like to tag along with the forward squad actually Lieutenant, a SEC presence if you like", said the MXO. (Reply Donaldson, Any) Kowalski nodded in response. The bulk of your team would remain on Spectre until we have secured the Borg vessel, the Borg are nothing if not unpredictable so I was thinking that it might be wise to put one of my men with your team also", said Kowalski. (Reply Donaldson) "No matter how thorough we are in our job Lieutenant, there's always the possibility that you might need some heavy ordinance with you when you come on over.....call it an exchange of personnel in light of a mutual goal", said the MXO. (Reply Donaldson) "So, who are you taking?", asked Kowalski... (Reply Donaldson, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Security Meeting Room – Corporal Jose Rameriz - 17:00) Jose had tried to catch up with the Chief of Security a few times but silly things like getting armour and weaponry sorted out kept interferring, Apparently, someone somewhere felt since he'd be with the pyjama squad he wouldn't need a missle launcher. Some people had no imagination. "Heys, Lieutenant!" He managed as he spotted Donaldson going into the final meeting thingy before they got ready to invade. (Reply Donaldson) "Haven .. That is, Major Azreal, old command.. she had a trojan that tracked Borg DNA through their systems. No idea if it's still workin', but ifs you haves some of yer wife's DNA and we gets the time to play hack and hack..?" He offered his best hopeful look. He couldn't help it, he was a romantic at heart, and while Jynea was a cute bubblehead, even Donaldson could do better than an Orion! (Reply Donaldson) (Posted by Lorna) (USS Spectre - Transporter Briefing Room 1 - TAC/SC Charles "Chuck" Donaldson - 17:10) Upon prior agreement Chuck met Rameriz in the transporter briefing room at 1800 to coordinate the away mission. After ten minutes Chuck had had enough of the mouthy Corporal. "Security Chief to Lt. Kirien, Lt. Cmdr. Rogers, Ensign Talbot, and Lt. Jo Smith." He said tapping his badge. (reply all) "All of you have been selected for an away mission, please report to Transporter Briefing Room 1. " Commanded Chuck. (reply Rameriz, Kirien, Rogers, Talbot, Smith, any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Peter Talbot - 17:11) Peter stood at a console in main engineering pouring over technical readouts from a level 4 diagnostic of the phase cloak, ~no anomalous readings, excellent,~ Peter thought to himself. Talbot's combadge chirped, =/\=Security Chief to Lt. Kirien, Lt. Cmdr. Rogers, Ensign Talbot, and Lt. Jo Smith.=/\= Talbot responded, "Go head Lt." =/\=All of you have been selected for an away mission, please report to Transporter Briefing Room 1.=/\= Lt. Donaldson ordered. "Affirmative on my way sir," Peter answered. (reply none, any) (posted by Jonathon Alber) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - SFI Agent, Lt Commander Brian Rogers - 17:11) Rogers was leaning back on his bed, lightly sleeping. The intelligence man had been continually awake for the past 36 hours, as he poured over the SFI dossier on the Borg, looking for any possible weakness. Captain T'Vhor had occassionally called upon him for some odd favor that only an STI man could accomplish. Rogers had, of course, stayed awake for hours on end during his days in SFI field operations, usually perched outside some apartment in a distant Federation colony as he waited for a sign that the family of Bolian colonists were in-fact, Romulan spies. These stints of sleeplessness usually involved SFI-issued hypos that kept Brian unnaturally awake. He could only imagine what those drugs did to his heart. His recent time on the Spectre reminded him of his days studying for his medical certification back at the Academy, where he had to stay awake the old-fashioned way, with caffiene and other goodies. =/\= Security Chief to Lt. Kirien, Lt. Cmdr. Rogers, Ensign Talbot, and Lt. Jo Smith. =/\= The voice of Mr. Donaldson rang. Brian opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. =/\= All of you have been selected for an away mission, please report to Transporter Briefing Room 1, =/\= The TAC/SEC reported, before the line was cut. Rogers climbed out of bed and started getting his boots on. He had no reason to dislike Donaldson, though he had taken the position of Lt. Vasilyovna who had been the object of Rogers' attentions for some time. He also seemed friendly with the Orion morale woman, who, Brian decided, was his sworn social enemy onboard the ship. But, those matters were petty compared to the Borg ship looming just outside of the Spectre. Rogers rose from his bed and fashioned his phaser and tricorder into his belt, before heading out. (reply Donaldson, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre – security station alpha – Security officer Smith - 17:12) =^=Security Chief to Lt. Kirien, Lt. Cmdr. Rogers, Ensign Talbot, and Lt. Jo Smith=^= Jo looked up and tapped her comm badge, “Smith here Sir.” =^=All of you have been selected for an away mission, please report to Transporter Briefing Room 1=^= “On my way sir.” She got up and quickly headed for the Transporter Briefing Room. (reply None) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Transporter Briefing Room 1 - SFI Agent, Lt Commander Brian Rogers - 17:14) Rogers headed into the briefing room and gave a nod to Lt. Donaldson. "Evening," he said, before taking a seat in the front row. "I can only imagine what this is about," he suggested. (reply Donaldson, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre – Transporter Briefing Room 1 – Security officer Smith - 17:15) She walked into the room and over to Donaldson. “Requested as ordered sir.” (reply Donaldson, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Outside Airlock Four - Marine Private Yzak Moriuchi - 17:56) The old Okinawan was set to control the airlock from inside the Spectre while a counterpart on the EVA team could override in an emergency. It was an unspoken agreement between Moriuchi and the MXO. The MXO had all but said - 'You stay on the spectre, keep your nose clean and don't drink too much and I won't tell the Corp. that you're blinder than Aunt B's Great Grandmother'. Moriuchi was grateful and would never cross Kowalski on purpose. His native Sake was just too tasteful sometimes. He had been known to on occasion kiss every member of an away team ... but that was a long time ago. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Marines!!" Moriuchi yelled in his unbelievable thick Asian accent and waved his arms as the airlock doors closed. The door sealed down tight as Moriuchi began mumbling a faint prayer from his childhood for his fellows in uniform. (reply any) (posted by Anton) (USS Spectre - Airlock Four - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:00) Immediately after the inner door had closed, Kowalski reached up to his helmet and then switched the visor closure, which in turn subsequently engaged his suits oxygen supply with a characteristic hiss to show that everything was flowing as it should be. The coldness of the incoming mix against his mouth and nose were always slightly unnerving to him and today was no different, perhaps it was all down to the fact that once the outer door had actually opened, he knew that the suit and it's supply was all that he had separating him from life and certain death. ~Sobering thoughts indeed~ Thought the MXO as he glanced to the panel to note that the pressure was now falling, thus indicating that the air around them was being sucked out and into the cold vacuum of space in readiness for their deployment. In an instance the Marine comms came online and they began their checks one by one, each marine in turn finally acknowledging a green light in the HUD section of their helmets to signify that they were 'go' for disembark. Kowalski made a brief call to Ops in order to let the bridge know that they were ready, then he turned to his squad and raised his thumb in the air. "Ok people, let's hit the black", said Kowalski as he pressed the red flashing button to open the outer door, which opened in complete silence now of course. To some, the black void outside looked forboding and dangerous, it was an understandable reaction, to the Marines though this was nothing new.... well, apart from the fact that they would be slipping through a phased field that extended just beyond the ships shield extents that is. The shields themselves though had been dropped of course, this was an absolute neccessity otherwise they would simply bounce around inside an invisible bubble, like the balls in some bizarre bingo sorting machine. Comical to watch perhaps but none too good for humanoid physiology. Kowalski had by now stepped through the door of the airlock and was now simply floating in free space, his hand upon the extendable control arm that fired the computer controlled CO2 jets responsible for maintaining his orientation. A quick jab at the control and he had spun around to face the behemoth that was the Borg vessel, now clearly visible ahead of them and at a distance of approximately five hundred or so metres. The Science here never ceased to amaze the MXO, here they were on a cloaked ship sitting at an unnnervingly close distance to their enemy and yet, the Borg vessel had shown no indication that they were even there parked right next to them. Perhaps they were all asleep... or maybe out partying someplace! The thought caused Kowalski to smile perhaps a little uncustomarilly as he began moving off towards the ship itself, his squad following suit to the accompaniment of silent puffs of gas as their EVA equipment came to life accordingly. (Reply Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Bridge – FO, Andrew Williams - 18:02) Andrew watched the view screen as the Borg ship grew larger in the view screen. The Captain had given the orders for the Spectre to move in close. He had remained calm as he watched Jennifer manoeuvre the ship 500 meters and position them so that airlock four was the closest to the Borg ship. This was his first time in the FO seat in a situation. He felt that it was much harder than when he was in sickbay. As the CMO he just had to make sure that the crew were all medically fit to work. Now as the First officer his responsibilities were much bigger. ~It all seamed so easy at command training. A bit of tactical lectures here, a few scenarios there taking over command if your captain’s gone mental. You know simple~ Andrew’s thoughts were stopped as they got a message from Major Kowalski that they were ready for the EVA. He mentally wished them luck and wished he was going with them. He would rather have been with Donaldson in the transporter room rather than up on the bridge just waiting. He saw on the view screen as the small group of marines floated away from the hull. ~Don’t muck this up boys or we’ll all be stuffed~ (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Airlock Four – CPL Houseman - 18:03) Houseman fitted the last part of his EVA suit and watched as the suits internal HUDs display showed that all the seals were green. He looked over at his ‘Can Opener’ it had taken him some time to haul it out of stores and down to the airlock. He was very glad that they were going zero-G as hauling any further would have been a nightmare. He then checked the weaponry that he was taking. As the Borg cube was filed corridors and not wide open spaces he had to leave his sniper rifle on the ship. As he was taking the ‘Can Opener’ he could not take it any way so he had his side arm and a back up. "Ok people, let's hit the black", Houseman looked at Kowalski as he pressed the red flashing button to open the outer door, ~Yeh bring it on~ He followed the rest of the team carefully outside making sure not to snag the ‘Can Opener’ on anything and rip a hole in his EVA suit. He extended the tether that he had attached to the ‘Can Opener’ and activated the suits manoeuvring thrusters. He moved slower than thet rest of the squad so that he did not get caught on the tether which trailed behind him like he was walking a strange type of monsters dog. (reply Any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor and Mission Specialist, Dr Samantha Gunnell - 18:05) The Captain glanced briefly towards the newly appointed First Officer noting as he did so that Williams looked a little pensive in his new role, clearly he was more at home with his hands delving into shattered ribcages whilst pinching together arteries in an attempt to stem the flow of a fading crewmans lifeblood. He did'nt know it yet of course but his position now was not that unlike his old role, maybe not so much direct contact with blood and viscera of course but the tension, and indeed the importance was very much the same. Indeed, one could not really say that they were truly a command officer until they had sat in the big chair with nearly two hundred lives depending on the accuracy of their decisions. Needless to say, Andrew was now getting a taste of that but his real baptism would not come until he himself sat in the centre chair at the Captain's absence. The imposing view of the Borg vessel up close in the viewscreen though was enough to make anyone tense, even a Vulcan. Some of the bridge crew had actually visibly winced when the Captain had ordered a five hundred metre distance from the hostile, the fact that they were invisible still not being a reliable enough safety net for some it would seem. So long as their cloak remained active though there was actually minimal danger and the close distance was, after all, a necessity for the Marines to do their work effectively. "Make sure that there is no interruption in power to the phased cloak Lieutenant, if need be put the auxiliary circuits on standby", said the Captain. (Reply Ops) "Doctor Gunnell, do you have anything to add here?", enquired the Captain. The 'up until then' silent and intent Gunnell pursed her lips and checked the readouts on the Science two console once again, then she turned towards the CO. "It would appear that the Borg are on standard rotational patterns", said the Doctor, "Your CEO's modifications are.... uncanny", she added, "with the shifted frequencies afforded to us via his offset algorhythm program I can tell you with a ninety percent accuracy that this vessel has a compliment of twenty four crew, fifteen of which are currently undergoing regeneration", said Samantha. "How long that will remain the case though is anyones guess", she added. The Captain pondered the Doctors input and then returned his attention to the viewscreen, his index finger alongside his right cheek bone and his chin resting upon his thumb as he did so. "Nine active Borg are still a formidable foe", said the Captain, "and once those were alerted to a hostile move against them, the fifteen in regeneration will be very quickly instated", he added. Gunnell nodded, obviously concerned about that possibility. "Let's hope that your Marines are going to be wearing their best fluffy slippers then Captain", she offered with the slightest of smiles, at which the CO raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan uncertainty. He wasn't sure why but at that precise moment, the vision of the marines wearing Rabbit fur overboots came quickly to mind followed then by the thought of a somewhat anguished, irrate Morale Officer armed with an assault rifle. He dismissed the image quickly from his mind and then ordered the viewscreen to switch to the Marines as they moved slowly across the void between them and the Borg vessel. Their's was not an enviable situation and one could only hope that everything went according to plan with the very minimum of conflict. Their first objective was to be the communications array and it's related circuitry, it was completely logical in that with the Borg's ability to communicate down, a degree of chaos would promptly ensue as each Borg tried to re-establish a link to their collective. Hopefully that would give the Marines an advantage, provided that these Borg had not evolved further in accordance with their redesigned ships that is! (Reply Ops, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Chief OPS, Lt. Chenoll - 18:07) Apparently, it wasn't just the senior OPS officer who had felt upset by the impending Borg mission. Everybody had been tense lately. "Make sure that there is no interruption in power to the phased cloak Lieutenant, if need be put the auxiliary circuits on standby," T'Vhor said. "Aye, sir, I've already got it planned out," Chenoll explained, spinning in her chair to face the Captain and Dr. Gunnell. "I've written a short computer protocol that will maintain a positive flow of power to the phase cloak, drawing from other systems, if need be," she explained. The captain then began discussing tactics with Dr. Gunnell and Chenoll spun back around and resumed working at her station. (reply none, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Bridge – FO, Williams - 18:07) "Make sure that there is no interruption in power to the phased cloak Lieutenant, if need be put the auxiliary circuits on standby", ~I really hope that does not happen. Coz we are so close we could pop in for dinner~ He looked at the Borg ship and suppressed a shivver. He looked over at Gunnell as she spoke. "It would appear that the Borg are on standard rotational patterns” "Your CEO's modifications are.... uncanny" "with the shifted frequencies afforded to us via his offset algorhythm program I can tell you with a ninety percent accuracy that this vessel has a compliment of twenty four crew, fifteen of which are currently undergoing rejeneration", ~Twenty four are just as bad as thousands~ "How long that will remain the case though is anyones guess" "Nine active Borg are still a formidable foe" "And once those were alerted to a hostile move against them, the fifteen in rejeneration will be very quickly instated" "Let's hope that your Marines are going to be wearing their best fluffy slippers then Captain". ~You really do not want to repeat that in front of Mr Kowalski. He would not be a happy bunny, or marine for that matter~ He looked at the viewscreen as the captain changed it to view of the marines as they crossed the void. He watched as they activated the ‘can opener’ and squirmed their way inside ship. ~Ow please don’t wake the guard dog~ He watched through their combat cams. ~Well they made it inside~ He saw the marines as they moved quietly through the Borg ship. ~Hell I’m finding it hard to watch and I am on the bridge~ As he watched, the marines arrived at the first objective and spread out in a defensive formation around the marine who was deactivating the communication device. ~God I so hope this works~ It seemed to take forever but just as Andrew thought that they were in the clear, the thing that he had been dreading happened. Andrew stiffened as he saw the shapes of the two Borg heading towards the marines. ~Ow this is not good~ (Reply, Any) (Posted by Robbie) (Space - Borg Vessel, Lateral Aspect - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:15) ~Man this thing is big~ The thought itself had been something of a misnomer of course, big in comparison to what exactly? Nobody had yet seen this configuration in a Borg vessel and as such, it lacked certain features normally seen in others used by the Borg themselves. Indeed, Borg cubes tended to sport tube-like, scaffolded exteriors that were often open to space to a degree, this one though sported completely smooth outer panels that suggested the Borg had evolved somewhat in their ship design methods. Drones did not need oxygen of course and as such, in the past their ships lacked humanoid supportive environments, this ship however seemed to deviate from that for the suggestion was of an Oxygen/Nitrogen mix beyond the outer bulkheads. Housemans towed equipment would soon tell them more, for once it had been preliminarily attached prior to cutting, a display on it's exterior would sample and view the environment beyond and then alert them of anything nasty lurking on the other side. For the moment though, Kowalski took in the extents of the ship itself, noting as he did so just how glad he was that the Spectre's Science team had come up with the signature damping system that further minimised their individual signatures to little more than specs floating about in space. That said though, he still had an uneasy feeling that a panel might suddenly slide open, and out would come a number of drones to check who might be knocking upon their door! At this point the MXO turned about to face the others, then as they were now on radio silence until further notice, he indicated to Houseman to do his thing with the boarding cutter, which in effect was a large extendable tube that would attach to the hull and then cut itself in before deploying the one man airlock. After that, it would be touch and go until each man had passed through the system to arrive in whatever lay beyond it. Kowalski moved aside as Houseman moved in with the 'Can opener', then he waited until he had finished the job at hand. (Reply Any) (Posted by Alan) (Space - Borg Vessel, Lateral Aspect – CPL Houseman - 18:17) Houseman stopped himself from gawping at the Borg ship. He knew it was going to be big from all the simulations but it was strangely breath taking. He slowed his speed so that he would not crash into the Borg hull and then get flatted by the ‘Can Opener’ behind. He moved it slowly into place and fixed it to the hull. He watched as is the ‘Can Opener’ quickly ran a test cycle to make sure everything was in place. The lights turned green and he looked at the read out. ~Okay nothing nasty inside for the moment anyway~ He looked over at Kowalski and nodded. He got the go signal and activated the ‘Can Opener’. He could not hear anything through the vacuum of space. The machine cut into the hull making space for the air lock. Houseman kept looking at the display willing nothing to appear. It seamed to take an age before the ‘Can Opener’ finally finished its work. He looked back again at Kowalski and got the nod. ~Here goes nothing~ He pulled out his pistol and slithered into the small air lock. The airlocks cycle time was mercifully quick and he quickly pulled himself out the other end. He found himself in a small chamber with its only exit extending down a long corridor, luckily he could see no drones. He moved to the doorway and pointed his weapon down the corridor. He would remain in his EVA suit until all the members of the squad came through just in case something happened. If it all turned nasty the ‘Can Opener’ was programmed to blow its seals so that they would all get sucked out into space and get picked up by the spectre. ~Hope that’s not going to happen~ He moved back to the ‘Can Opener’ and opened its outer door so that the rest of the squad would know that it was safe and the next person entered from the outside. ~I hope this does not take too long. I really don’t want to meet the occupants~ (reply Any) (posted by Robbie) Mission: The Gates of Prometheus Day: 119 Stardate: 2408.06.06 (Borg Vessel - Corridor - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:27) With all of their team now having passed through the portable airlock, it was time to get down to business. Their mission was to first knock out the Borg communications array, and then move on to incapacitate the main power systems, all preferably without alerting the zombies of their presence on board and basically in that exact order. Not exactly your usual piece of cake one would say.... Houseman was where he had remained since they had first entered the vessel, at the first junction and constantly scanning for signs of patrolling drones, his adapted phaser pistol drawn and aimed at anything that might be moving down the corridor intent on doing them harm. For the moment anyway, and whilst they still had the luxury of surprise, everything communication wise was done utilising hand signals so as not to give their presence away via detectable radio chatter, and Kowalski, once the portable airlock indicators and HUD displays were showing a breathable atmosphere, gave each of them indication to remove their cumbersome EVA kit and their helmets. The MXO took a deep breath and as he did so the air smelt fetid and damp, typical Borg environment no less but then what did they expect? A risan sunset with a slight breeze filtering through maple grove rows? Hardly. Kowalski raised a hand into the air, index finger extended and then spun it around to indicate that they should move out, their Marine III C's were drawn and at the ready as they did so, Houseman on point now and seemingly ready for anything. In the background the steady hum of the Borg power system reminded them of it's life in a place where all flesh seemed dead, a strange comparison if ever there was. (Reply None) (Posted by Alan) (Borg Vessel - Corridor – CPL, Houseman - 18:30) Houseman waited until the rest of the team had entered the ship before he took off his EVA suit. He felt the damp heat that was typical of what the environment that was in a borg ship. He held his position by the first junction keeping his eyes down the junction making sure that they were not going to be interrupted by any drones. He looked back and saw the hand commands that Kowaslki gave. He nodded and carefully moved forward down the corridor with his eyes scanning the corridor in front of him looking for any nasty surprises. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (Borg Vessel - Unimatrix Zero Nine - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 18:40) So far so good.... In a ship this size one could have been forgiven for thinking that there might have been quite a few personnel on board, so far though they had yet to see a single drone. Perhaps they were all out partying after all. Despite this though, it was no time to become complacent and the Marines still treated every junction throughout the interior of the Borg ship as though there were drones waiting for them around each and every corner. The steady tick of the power readout on Kowalski's tricorder continued to show them the way though, each indication showing an increasing value as they neared the primary communications array. Another hand signal and Kowalski had indicated that the array now lay just ahead, about five metres. O'Hara subsequently had been given the go.... The Corporal nodded and then moved towards the required position, kneeling upon the metal grid that passed as a floor as he did so, whilst his compatriots protected his position looking in all four directions from their current location. O'Hara was a seasoned expert at such matters as disablement of course and it took him less than five minutes to indicate to the MXO, again via hand jestures, that the Borg Comms array had been nullified. Objective One was secured so with the risk of Borg communications bringing the anti-cavalry down upon them having now been negated, it was time to move onto primary power. And that was precisely the moment matters changed for the worst. Two Borg drones had suddenly appeared and were now moving lumberingly towards the Marine team! (Reply Any Marines) (Posted by Alan) (Borg Vessel - Unimatrix Zero Nine - CPL, Houseman - 18:42) They had come to their first objective the Borg communications array. Houseman and the other members of the squad moved to cover O’Hara as he dismantled the array. Houseman had his pistol ready in case the drones came as he glanced over his shoulder at O’Hara. ~Come on O’Hara this is no time for stopping for tea and biscuits~ He looked back down the corridor and stiffened. He turned his head slightly trying to hear again what he had heard. He thought that he had imagined it until it came again. The sound came again. The sound of steps coming closer. ~Ow shit~ At the far end of the corridor two drones came into view. He knew that his bio-dampener would keep he and the squad protected. He raised his pistol and aimed it at the head of the closest drone. He looked over his shoulder at Kowalski and waited for the order. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) =========================================================================