Posted by Ensign Kesh (Engineer) in Bridge (2021 Sim)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Tom Jarvis (Internal Security) in Bridge (2021 Sim)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Bridge (2021 Sim)
Posted by… suppressed (28) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
A nervous wreck, she may be, but also very orderly and quick to get at least a basic dataset of what she was ordered to find.

->Kesh, Engineering

There was an alert. The long range sensors picked up two ships, each about half the size of the Genesis, moving towards the system.

GM

All of this looked delicious to Reia. When she was in the academy, she had dreams of becoming a doctor and quickly realized she had the wrong kind of bedside manner for such an endeavor. Languages were like a puzzle she enjoyed figuring out though so, she dove into this one barely registering everything else going on around her.

• Reia, CIO

“Go to yellow alert, maintain silent running.” Tom ordered upon seeing the two ships closing, “Withdraw the probes.”

Tom tapped his comm badge.

”=^=Bridge to Captain… We have inbound. I don’t think they’ve detected us yet. Maintaining silent running over magnetic pole of uninhabitable planet.=^=”

• Tom, IntSec

=^=Inbound?=^= There was a rustle, =^=To us? I’m on my way…=^= That wasn’t something he liked hearing.

The ships were travelling at Warp 3 and would be in the system in 40 minutes. Their technology on their ships seem to be more primitive than Starfleet’s in the mid 22nd century. They had engines that were similar to those of the Federation. They had beam weapons that were more disruptor like than phasers. Their projectile weapons made use of antimatter. They had primitive shields. Their sensor systems were more akin to mid 22nd Starfleet ships.

GM

Marius

Tom waited for Marius to arrive.

• Tom, IntSec

OOC: It would be important to point out that the Genesis is moving in uncharted territory.

IC:

With no evident initial hits on the power signature matching any known Klingon technology, Kesh began widening the search to other races that the Klingons had interacted with to any significant degree. Perhaps their power cores had been scavanged from a debris field and reverse engineered, or perhaps the Klingons traded it somewhere or… other such things.

It started to seem like a pointless exercise as the minutes dragged on, as it was not likely going to matter. Still, the ship’s engineering systems were still in perfect working order and Reia had taken over the task of searching for clues in the broadcast channels, so maybe something useful will come of it.

It certainly helps that it’s busy work and Kesh could let her two heart chambers calm down and stop giving her a backache.

-> Kesh, Engineering

The scans showed no apparent Klingon presence in the area.

Dagen cut in to Kesh’s relative quiet about 15 minutes after the sensor contact with the two ships. =^= How cool is this? =^= he started. =^= It’s like looking into a working museum. I wonder .. do you think we can correlate at all the different technologies developing on the world with the technology that they have there on those ships? A bit of a motley crew of tech but not that different. Old anti-matter torpedoes, older style engines. =^=
- Dagen, chiming in

If nothing else, today is showing Kesh that Dagen is the talkative and sentimental type. Two very appreciable and positive personality traits, as far as she’s concerned. Granted, when she’s stressed, the difficulty she has in talking straight makes trying to keep up with someone like that tends to make her more stressed, which is not helping matters with that nagging feeling she’s being scrutinized more heavily than most.

OOC: More talkative barring long weekends and general radio silence there .. ugh .. Gene :)
OOC: No worries! :3

Perhaps if Kesh were more confident in herself she might politely request Dagen to hold off until after her shift for conversation, but she isn’t. =^=I am seeing the potential of this being some sort of… ah… collection site of technologies abandoned by other civilizations in this and surrounding sectors. Rrrnth. I wonder if there are spatial phenomina that might explain this.. ah.. rmm… sort of ‘grease trap’.=^= A few other ideas floated up, like ‘Scavanger Cult’ or ‘Trash Collectors’, but they all felt like they had too many negative connotations. The spoken option didn’t sound too pleasant, either, but she could not think of any prior use of it that might come off as condesending.

=^= It will be interesting to note what these ships do. Their probe evidently noted ours. Are they feeling possessive I wonder? Abandoned? Or seeded? That’s an interesting idea about the spatial phenonema. What makes this system unique to these people coming in for a visit? =^=
- Dagen

=^= Hmmn. This being a seeded or repository world would explain some of what we are seeing, rrrnth. It has been quite some time since I dipped my toes into xenopology, so I dare not begin guessing. Mmnnnrm. Still, the potential of this planet developing so many different technologies all within a short time span would be very interesting to get a close look at. =^=

=^= Now let’s just hope that the probes there likely belonging to the visitors coming by don’t track our probe back to the ship to alert them on where we are. It’s one thing to hide, but another to call the dog in to run back to the front door. =^=
- Dagen

->Kesh, Engineering

After all, if discarded technology came raining down that was far more advanced than anything else known by a civilization, why wouldn’t it make full use of it all? Assuming Dagen’s and her own theories hold weight. Then again, maybe this civilization is just really good at inadvertently copying other species’ technology.

=^= I know at least a few other engineers that would visit such a museum, rrrrnth.=^=

->Kesh, Stressed

As the ships closed in, the sensors were able to pick up that the people manning those ships were genetically different from the people on the planet. Their outward appearances were also different.”

The people on the planet looked very like the Vulcans or Romulans except that they were bald. Also, they had a blood circulatory system very much like the mammals on earth with haemoglobin as the oxygen carrier. Physiologically, they were very similar to humans except that they had thinner limbs. However, they were about 50% stronger than the average human being.

The people in the ship showed a physiology much like the reptiles from earth. Their ship’s internal temperature was kept at about 45C or 113F. They had hairless skin and had put on external armour as their clothing. They had no sweat glands but there was a sort of a blowhole for expelling hot air on their backs, about the place where humans would call “between the shoulder blades”, although these people did not have shoulder blades properly speaking.

GM

=^=Captain. The ships are 25 minutes from contact. Crewed by reptilians and tech similar to early Klingon.=^=

• Tom, IntSec

Reia was paying attention to what Tom had just informed the captain of and looked at the bio scans of the two races trying to get an idea of the whole situation.

• Reia, CIO

The double doors of the turbolift opened. “Mr. Jarvis, I left you in charge of the approach to a first contact, non-warp race and now we are in close proximity to two reptilian warp ships armed with 23rd century Klingon weapons?” He looked about.

“Can we get a determination of these reptiles have ever been on the planet… check news and military reports?”

“How secure is our current posistion? Do we have any information on what they are using to scan… and how we can be sure they don’t detect us until we want to be.”

Marius

Just moments after the turbolift doors closed they opened again revealing the tall first officer, in uniform and a half smile on his face, he was reading the Bridge report on his PaDD. He joined the Captain and listened in on the answers.

XO

Bright golden eyes shift aside toward the turbolift, first to observe the captain, and then first officer stride onto the bridge. The relative mildness of these events in Kesh’s mind really sets her stress level into sharp relief. Here she had expected encountering the two highest ranking individuals on the ship would be the part of this shift that would be the most stressful. Instead, it’s kind of a relief, as it meant that focus would be on them, rather than her now.

Sure enough, the inquiries of the captain don’t pertain to the ship’s function, but rather the status of the encounter. As the computer database search had come up with nothing for matching power signatures, that trail had gone cold, leaving the only other thing she’d worked on now in Reia’s hands.

This is just fine! A chance to keep doing her part while letting that anxiety drain away.

So, for now, Kesh just lets the engineering status monitors take over her station screens while standing there in front of them, arms folded behind her back, with only her golden brown mane and round ears beside it to distinguish her from the other crew.

->Kesh, Engineering

“Approximately equivalent.” Tom replied, “Lieutenant Shandy is currently on the task of sifting through their communications. As for our position, we are suspended above the magnetic pole of the nearest uninhabitable planet at silent running status. Shields are at minimal and weapons are pre charged. We can be fully powered at a moment’s notice if necessary. Tactical display is functional and updating in real time whenever you wish to look at it. We should be covered from visual detection by the planetary horizon and from sensors by EM interference from the planet’s magnetic pole.”

Tom was once again standing in the rear of the bridge in the blind spot of the internal sensors.

• Tom, IntSec

The two ships’ course was not towards the Genesis but towards the probe that was nearest the more advanced satellite. It would seem that the presence of the probe was detected by that satellite moments before the four second subspace comms transmitted.

GM

OOC: Tom withdrew the probes when the inbound ships were detected.

OOC: Combining CIO (Catt’s) post.

IC: Reia’s eyes were on her station trying to gather the information requested of her but she had been listening tot he bridge exchange. When her name was mentioned she glanced up, nodded, and returned to her work. She was never as fast as she wished she was but that was a personal failing.

Reia. CIO

“It is almost statistically impossible for two warp races to discover a planet simultaneously. Likewise those ships are too slow to just appear so close to our arrival,” He looked at the first officers.

“Can someone use the time of our detection of the planet, with the current course and speed of the Lizard ships, and find out where these ship likely came from.”

marius

Sensors, judging from their trajectory, located a system about 28 billion kilometres away (about 0.003 light years). The temperature of the the second planet in the system had surface temperatures of about 50C on average and a closer scan revealed artificial structures on the surface. However, there did not seem to be any activity on the surface. It was possible that the Genesis’ computer calculated a greater possibility of life on the planet below than on that hotter planet.

GM

<VOIDED>

20 minutes passed and the probe that the Genesis had launched was being scanned by the approaching ships. The scans were rather primitive compared to what Starfleet were using.

GM

<VIODED>

OOC: I thought Tom ordered to withdraw the probes?
Hjortur

OOC: I must have missed that post. Sorry. I will repost …

IC: 20 minutes passed and the approaching ships began to scan the area around their own spy satellites. The scans were rather primitive compared to what Starfleet were using.

They slowed down as they approached the planet. They began to emit a kind of jamming signal that would mask their appearance to the planet below.

GM

Magnus frowned at the approaching ships and their Jamming signals, like many people the Prime Directive was instinctive with him, and interfering with a pre-warp civilization, was at least to him a more grievous infraction than others “I recommend starting first contact with these Aliens provided we can do so without engaging in hostilities” He said to the Captain.

XO

This was an interesting concept to Reia. Both species seemed like viable first contact situations to her but, for different reasons of course. She readjusted her station to start looking at the sensor data being taken in on the approaching ships.

• Reia, CIO

A text note came up to Reia on her display from Dagen. =^= Sweetie. Is their jamming doing anything to the systems on the planet? Any comms about relating to signals going awry? Can we pull anything from their ‘chats’ with their probes? =^= Yes, her husband was the curious type.
- Dagen, CE

Reia read it again and raised an eyebrow.

Texing back… ‘Curious questions. I will add it to the growing list of things to look at.’

• Reia, CIO

=^= The ships talking to each other? Any comms to pull from that? Yeah, you’ve guessed it. Action is up there. I’m bored down here messing with everyone’s business. But if I can’t armchair coach then where’s the fun there? =^= Dagen texted back.

Curiouser and curiouser. Kesh both craved and loathed that feeling of wonder and mystery that was unfolding here. She was in no position to offer anything else to the rest of the bridge crew, other than simply keeping the ship systems in a happy and stable place. That was, after all, her task on the bridge today. Still, some part of her felt a little sour that her efforts to harvest information from broadcast signals had been handed off, and her attempts to find commonality with other species had gone nowhere.

Then again, she had very much desired to not stand out today, so fading into the background again was pretty well a good thing.

Still, every ensign dreams, at least a little, about rising to the challenge and saving the day. Even though it was her second time around as one, that urge was still present. Hm. Would her life become cyclical? Would the year 3000 dawn with her on her twentieth time re-entering Starfleet? Maybe.

For now, the spotted Caitian just stands at her Engineering post, watching the power system monitor and making the occasional adjustment while her ears stay alert to anything important occuring nearby.

->Kesh, Engineering

And just to be a pain .. =^= Thor to Kesh. Are you seeing those ships? Now that they are in our back yard see what kind of passive scans you can take on them. Unless you think that a more active scan will go undetected at this range. We should get a good idea of their tech at this point. It might just confirm what we know but hey, do they use stem bolts or self sealing stem bolts? We should know that one at this range. =^= The latter was, by his tone, evidently a jest, but the idea was there .. see what she could snoop out on them.
- Dagen, CE

Uh… Kesh listened to her CO’s orders and had to pause a moment while staring into space. That sounds… in jest? Much could be told about the composition of a starship from its own emissions and its interactions with EM signals, subspace waves, and other passively observable data, certainly. But the design of their component attachment hardware? Was this a test?

=^= Rrrnnn, yes sir. Ah.. rr… I will see what I can determine, sir. =^=

As she spoke, Kesh ran the layout and construction of the vessels through an extrapolation algorithm that was used to estimate a vessel’s material composition, primary system locations and, importantly for this task, deck layout. The ship’s computer calculated it very swiftly, so her reply comes after just a moment’s pause.

=^= Self-sealing stembolts are typically used for prefabricated, permanent construction methods, rrrnth. However, these ships appear to use a modular structure, which would make standard attachment bolt hardware much more economical. Eh.. rr… as for active scans, there are enough unidentifiable components on the ships that would require an active scan to identify which, themselves, may detect such a scan. I do not recommend it.” =^=

She felt… unsure of her analysis, but she also did not know her CO well enough to determine humor for serious orders yet.

-> Kesh, Engineering

=^= Maybe we can set up a stem bolt hardware shop. New business opportunity. =^= Dagen replied, not letting go of the humor. =^= That being said, the planet has three different technologies. Can you identify a possible link between tech that we see being developed on the planet with the tech on those ships? It wouldn’t be precise of course - they are developing it on the world and they have interstellar travel on the ships, but the DNA of the tech would be there. =^=
- Dagen, CE

As the Captain seemed preoccupied at that moment…

“Ensign Kesh. Can you determine from their scanner emissions what frequencies they use and run a low level internal scan outside those frequencies?” Tom asked.

• Tom, IntSec

Ah, so it was a joke. Kesh feels a little knot of sourness form in her gut as being messed with while uncomfortable did not settle well with her. However, her impression of Dagen was such that she did not feel that this was deliberate torment, just an ill-guided attempt to calm the tension. It’s just something she’ll have to get used to. A long, deep breath cooled that fraying in her throat prior to starting to respond, but Tom’s request came before she could respond to her CO. A quick tap of the comm channel hold icon on her console informed the Chief Engineer that she will have to get back to him on that.

One large felid ear twists around to catch the rest of Tom’s requestion, with her head turning around to look his way, briefly perplexed why she was being asked to do such a thing. Wasn’t that the Ops station’s duties? Perhaps everyone just knew she was new here and was being put to the test. Mmmpf.

“I can determine the range of frequencies and types of technologies they have utilized so far, yes. Rrrnth. Passive scans cannot determine what frequencies and fields they are capable of detecting, however. Ah.. rrrn… though based on their level of visible technology, it is likely they will not have managed to cut through the inherent subspace interference in the High Upper Band of subspace field emissions. Mmnnrrm. I cannot be certain of it, though.” HUB fields, as Kesh understood them, were useful around certain spatial phenomena, though generally one of the least used options as their inherent scattering rendered them useless beyond a few dozen AU, though that would not be a problem here.

->Kesh, Engineering.

Tom was beside Kesh again.

“I need an engineer’s eye on this to give us the best possible interpretation of the readings form the internal scans. I trust your ability to do this more than anyone else on the bridge to be able to speculate the internal structures, functions of various components, maybe better details on their offensive and defensive capabilities. All the usual drek as well as anything you might feel important.”

Tom stepped over to the science station and, nudging aside the NE there, read the emissions the Genesis’ sensors were picking up from the two ships so he could give Kesh a recommended band width of frequencies to use. Tom couldn’t count how many times he’d done this on a covert ops ship.

Once he had what he was looking for, he chose four bandwidths well outside what the alien ships were emitting.

“Try these. If things go south, it’ll be all my fault.”

• Tom, IntSec