Posted Nov. 12, 2021, 3:56 p.m. by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (Gamemaster) (Luke Hung)
Posted by Ensign Caelian Weir (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim [Engineering]: Seeking Prometheus
Posted by Ensign Caelian Weir (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim [Engineering]: Seeking Prometheus
“Does anyone actually buy that story, Weir?”Caelian frowned at the blinking panel in front of him, sighing softly before checking the next isolinear chip in the array. He didn’t need to see Ensign Brown’s expression; the man’s tone oozed incredulity enough that Caelian was more surprised it wasn’t pooling between his boots. A mild static charge crackled along his fingers as he slid the isolinear chip back into place, distracting him from the retort that was blistering up his throat.
“Found it. Hand me the phase decoupler, will you?” Caelian stuck a hand from beneath the panel he was working under and gestured encouragingly. “Frankly, it doesn’t matter if people accept it or not. It happened. Check my file if you want.”
A snort. “It would be a great read, I’m sure… if it existed. But there’s no way you discovered an alien protorace, developed an engine that worked purely on thought, and saved your entire ship from certain death! Why are you still an ensign, then?!”
Caelian shrugged and muttered, “Guess they haven’t gotten around to promoting me yet. Besides, it wasn’t just me. I had help. Unlike now.”
Something slapped into his palm hard enough to make his hand numb and Caelian sighed again. This wasn’t the first time he’d gotten teased about it, and it wouldn’t be the last. A few of the engineering team had taken to giving him a hard go since his assignment to the Viking for reasons beyond his understanding. It hadn’t progressed to the point of full-on bullying, but it definitely reminded him of his hazing experience as a cadet at the Academy. Some days, he would almost have preferred the Academy.
“Whatever,” Brown sighed. A pause, then an approving noise. “That did it. EPS regulators are back online and… well, I’ll be damned.”
Caelian heaved himself from the jefferies tube with a soft, self-satisfied smile as he pushed past a bewildered Brown. “Operating at zero-point-three-eight percent above projected specs? The designers didn’t account for the antidium gases found in this region of space that encourage induction to the—”
He paused. Something didn’t feel right. Looking about, Caelian didn’t notice anything out of place. Yet something felt off to him all of a sudden. Not in an impending doom manner that tingled in his lizard brain every time he glanced out the viewport, no. This was more of an innocuous-but-noticable change that pulled from the back of his head. Holding stock still and containing his breath until his ribs felt ready to crack, it took him a moment to isolate the source of the anxiety.
“We’ve dropped out of warp,” he breathed.
Spinning about quickly, Caelian darted over to the nearest workstation and began to type furiously on the screen. Data cascaded down the left side while graphs appeared to mimic the information in visual fashion on the right. The result was exactly what his keen ear had detected seconds earlier: they’d come to a complete stop and were changing course. A moment later, a second alert chirped for his attention and he blinked.
“No,” he whispered to himself, then repeated louder and louder. “No. No. Nononooo!”
Ensign Brown rushed to his side, glancing between him and the screen with alarm. “What? Did you forget to reengage the flow regulators to the antimatter containment units?”
Caelian turned and let frustrated fingers play over the wall display showing the continual scans of the alien ship he’d been running since the Viking had taken it in-tow. A line of red text flashed a warning at him, showing that they’d disengaged the tractor beam. Not only that, the distance between the two ships was growing! Worried, he ran a quick diagnostic to ensure there hadn’t been some kind of mechanical failure. The engineer breathed a sigh of relief when the computer reported that all was happening as-instructed from the bridge.
Why, then, were they setting the alien vessel adrift again? Had it been repaired? And… why was the Viking raising its shields? It wasn’t until Caelian turned to ask his colleague that he noticed they’d gone to yellow alert. What was going on?
“Contaminant protocols?” he heard Brown murmur. “But I was supposed to have dinner with Lynch and Peters later, argh!”
Caelian shook his head and began to pour over the data they’d compiled from the scans of the alien ship. He was particularly interested in learning why their sensors were having such a rough time penetrating the hull and mapping the damage. He wasn’t sure how Captain Rende intended them to render aid to the aliens if they didn’t know what they were walking into. He’d rather spend time in the brig than end up on some death trap because they couldn’t see what was going on.
—Caelian Weir, Engineer—[bumped 11/12, would appreciate an answer on why we can’t scan/map the alien ship]
There wasn’t significant difficulty scanning and mapping the ship. Nor was there any significant damage. The ship had been in space for centuries, and there was ‘normal’ wear and tear from that. The problem with the ship, was a lack of power. They have drained their anti-matter reserves and require a refill. I don’t know exactly what you are looking for in a map.
GM
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