Cdr Miranda Hawthorne

SD 0607.2020 - No Sim SD 0614.2020 Excalibur has been dispatched to Tolen IV where they are to negotiate a settlement between the government and dissident forces who wish to take a more independent path for their mineral rich planet.

USS Excalibur Sim Log - 05.24.20 - No Sim (Memorial day) ------- USS Excalibur Sim Log - 05.31.20 MISSION BRIEF: Excalibur has been docked at starbase for several days while station engineering assisted in untangling their computer core. After a brief delay and some retraining, the crew was given 24-hours of leave. With the exception of a certain Ensign in science, who may never be allowed to leave the ship again. We pick up with the crew being recalled and a senior staff meeting scheduled to discuss new orders. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM William Chocox: ::is in the meeting room drinking a very large cup of tea with bags under his eyes:: Maryse Dubois: ::Steps into the meeting room, taking a seat. Irene Mincine: :: Irene's in the back looking even more sheepish than usual. :: Indaura Ryssan: :: Sits down at the meeting table. Sees all of these poor souls navigating to their seats and in need of counseling :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Standing in the conference room, Jalen nodded to those joining the meeting, though his gaze lingered for a verrrrrrrrry long moment on Irene.:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene tries her best to look away... :: Cptn Swain: ::Enters carrying a PADD and a mug of tea:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Watches Irene, perhaps the most interesting crewmember she knows relatively little about :: Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Sitting as far away from Irene "jonas" Micine as he possibly could.:: Cptn Swain: ::Slides into his seat at the head of the table:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Indaura felt a bit lost without her padd, but determined to pay attention to this meeting :: Cptn Swain: I hope everyone enjoyed their time on the station. Cptn Swain: No rest for the weary I am afraid though. We have new orders. Engineering, I want us ready to get underway by 1830 hours. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He took his seat after the Captain sat down, leaning back comfortably in his chair. Unlike his predecessor, the man looked perpetually relaxed.:: William Chocox: ::drinks more of his tea, unfortunately most of his time on the station was attempting to get his files back:: Aye sir. Cptn Swain: We're being sent to the Toren. The Toren are a Federation protectorate and their government has asked the Federation Council to mediate a conflict between two factions, one supported by the current government that wishes to explorer further partnership -- possibly even membership -- with the Federation, while the other faction is pushing for non-alignment. William Chocox: ::William raises a hand:: Cptn Swain: Commander Stanton has more on the ::pauses:: Yes, Mister Chocox? William Chocox: Sorry, my question can wait, didn't realize there was more to the briefing. Irene Mincine: :: Irene is taking notes on behalf of Science. She's trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. :: Cptn Swain: ::Takes a sip of tea and smirks:: Yes, so Commander Stanton has more on Toren III and the Toren themselves. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He nodded.:: As this is going to be a very delicate mission of diplomacy, you'll all receive memos on the area and the people. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> The basics are that Toren III is an extremely rich planet, which always draws attention from multiple races. Indaura Ryssan: :: Raises her hand :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Yes, Counselor? Indaura Ryssan: Rich how exactly? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Mineral deposits. Dilithium, tritanium, trellium-D -- all of which are used in ship building and in high demand. Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks up from her padd. :: "Do we know who else is interested in those resources in this case?" Indaura Ryssan: :: nods :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> As it so happens, yes. Their planet is located between Romulan and Tamaran space. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> In addition, the Federation has had a trade agreement with them for some time. We've always been on good standing with them, which is why they've contacted us for help. With rumors of turmoil in both of the adjacent empires, their government wishes to apply for our protection. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> However, that doesn't sit well with all of its citizens. They are a fiercely independent people, and have been labeled as stubborn, which is causing unrest in certain population centers. Security is going to be an important factor in this mission, as well. Irene Mincine: "Figures..." :: Irene takes some notes. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He gestured to the crew.:: Any other questions so far? William Chocox: ::raises his hand again:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Yes, Lieutenant? William Chocox: What's Starfleet's preferred outcome? Cptn Swain: ::Clears his throat:: Cptn Swain: We're officially neutral. Irene Mincine: :: Irene smirks. :: "Unofficially, then?: William Chocox: ::sips his tea:: (m) And I didn't spend my leave attempting to recover various computer programs. Cptn Swain: Obviously, the Federation values our partnership with the Toren, but we do not have any official position. We're simply here to arbitrate a dispute. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He nodded in agreement.:: Additionally, our directives are to provide security during negotiations between both sides. Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks up again. :: "Are we expecting any problems in that regard?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Possibly. There have been certain... incidents. William Chocox: Incidents how? Cptn Swain: Rex> ::frowns:: Lovely. Well, security will be ready. Cptn Swain: Just the usual. They had a large march on their capitol complex last month. Nothing violent, yet. But the protests have been intensifying. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> To that end, we will be hosting one of the preliminary meetings with both sides aboard the Excalibur so that we can both provide ample security and prove that the Federation can be impartial during these proceedings. Irene Mincine: "Doesn't sound like much for Science division to do, unless we're doing biological studies in the background." William Chocox: Are they afraid that the protests are going to turn into riots? Cptn Swain: Its possible. Cptn Swain: Tensions are running high. Cptn Swain: Science will help in prepping for the diplomatic talks. Department heads will receive their assignments once we're underway. Irene Mincine: :: Nod. :: "Understood." :: At least Irene had all her mother had taught her about diplomacy to fall back on. :: Cptn Swain: Anything else? Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks at her padd. :: "No, sir." Cptn Swain: Very well then. Cptn Swain: We leave at 1830. Cptn Swain: Dismissed. William Chocox: ::gets up and walks out, heading to Engineering:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Studies the crew, but doesn't stand.:: Except you, Mincine. You stay right where you are. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Counselor, if you don't mind, I'd like you to remain, as well. Irene Mincine: :: Irene starts standing up. Her stomach drops and she sits back down. :: "Yes, sir." Maryse Dubois: ::Quietly exits.:: Cptn Swain: ::Takes a sip of tea, excuses himself:: Cptn Swain: ::With stifled chuckle:: Indaura Ryssan: :: heads out :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ( ::yanks Indaura back into the room:: ) Indaura Ryssan: :: Turns around :: Sir? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Waits until everyone has vacated except Irene and Indaura before staring down Mincine.:: Enough is enough, Ensign. You have a heap of punishment headed your way for your last stunt, but more than that, it is time to acknowledge that you have deeper issues than Klingon carousing. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He inclined his head to Indaura.:: Counselor, Mincine is your next patient. I expect bi-weekly visits and regular progress reports on her mental health. This isn't optional, Mincine. Irene Mincine: "I... well..." :: She was trying to figure out what to say to defuse the situation, but couldn't really come up with anything. :: "Mandatory counseling?" :: She ran her fingers through her ponytail nervously. :: "Okay, yeah, I... yeah." Indaura Ryssan: I will have to clear some patients, but sure. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> If I see another unfavorable report come across my desk with your name on it, you won't enjoy our next meeting. ::He warned darkly.:: Counselor Ryssan, I think you and Ensign Mincine have a lot to discuss, don't you? Please send me her schedule when you've slotted her in. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Do either of you have any questions? Indaura Ryssan: Keep in mind I can't divulge our session contents Commander. Irene Mincine: :: Irene nods, understanding and deferential. She wasn't about to make things even worse. :: "You mentioned a heap of punishment, Commander..." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> I'm certainly not asking you to, Counselor, but I will be asking for your opinion on how you think Mincine is progressing. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::His eyes cut back to Irene.:: I did, and we'll be getting to that a bit later. For now, you have your primary task. ::He gestured to Indaura.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> If there's nothing else, you're both dismissed. ::He rose from the table, padd in hand.:: Cptn Swain: ...and... Irene Mincine: "Yes, sir." :: She said with her head lowered, then looked at Indaura. :: "I'll be waiting for your schedule, Doctor..." Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0524.2020 - No Sim (Memorial Day) SD 0531.2020 Excalibur has been docked at starbase for several days while station engineering assisted in untangling their computer core. After a brief delay and some retraining, the crew was given 24-hours of leave. With the exception of a certain Ensign in science, who may never be allowed to leave the ship again. We pick up with the crew being recalled and a senior staff meeting scheduled to discuss new orders.

MISSION BRIEFING: Having returned to starbase 46, Excalibur is undergoing repairs to its computer core. Initial leave for commissioned officers has been put on hold as command staff has ordered them to complete mandatory re-training on either first contact procedures (medical, science, security) or protocols for working with alien technology (operations and engineering.) However, Swain and Stanton were called to an early morning meeting aboard the station and rumors are circulating we will once again be shipped off to who knows where. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM William Chocox: ::is in Engineering, clearly dragging and sipping what appears to be a rare cup of coffee:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Very glad to be done with the stupid training that made him feel like an even bigger idiot.:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene had finished her first contact classes the day they were assigned and was off-duty on the station. Well, she *was* off-duty on the station... at some point... she just woke up in a station holding cell, her head pounding. :: "Wha..." Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Had once again been conned into an early morning shift as OOD and was sitting in the big chair, fiddling with a PADD containing the results of his department's training.:: William Chocox: How are you doing Reynolds? Cptn Swain: @::Making his way back to the ship with Stanton in tow, frowning:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Well... that could have gone worse. ::Trying to look on the bright side.:: Cptn Swain: @::Asher came to a stop near a porthole where the blue-gas giant Starbase 46 circled filled the window, turning to Stanton:: True I only made a small jack ass out of myself. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Sighs.:: Fine, sir. Glad it's over. Irene Mincine: :: Rex gets a message from station security. :: Station> "Commander McBride to Excalibur. We've got a wayward ensign down here in the holding cells. You might want to pick her up." William Chocox: Same. I'm exhausted. Two of those classes back to back? Way too long. Cptn Swain: Rex> +McBride+ Lovely. I'll send someone to pick them up. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineering> ::After being a general pain in the department over the last day, they'd managed to isolate the encrypted parts of the alien file within the ship's computer and were nearly done extracting it.:: Irene Mincine: McBride> +Rex+ "Thanks. McBride out." Irene Mincine: @ :: Irene sits up. She finally realizes where she is, and decides to lay back down. :: "Oh, not again..." Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Frowning he just hoped it wasn't any of his people. He tabbed over on his PADD to see who hadn't checked back in.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Well, I gathered that the Admiral basically expected that. ::Slight smile.:: He didn't seem too put out. William Chocox: (m)I'll be happier once the station monkeys are out of my hair. Cptn Swain: @ We go back a long ways. The Academy actually. Irene Mincine: :: Val, meanwhile, arrived in sickbay. :: "Dr. Dubois available? I've got a prescription for her." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Nods in agreement.:: I mean, they've been helpful, but... there's too many of them. Cptn Swain: @ ::Smirks:: I broke three of his ribs once in a Parisses game. The Tolak Move -- and yes I know it's illegal. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Chuckles.:: No wonder he wants a rematch. Indaura Ryssan: :: Looks up :: She should be close by Cptn Swain: @ I almost want to give it to him, too. But I think Arden would murder me if he found out. Irene Mincine: :: Irene had checked in as finishing her first contact training, then as off-duty, then as departing for the station around midnight. She never checked back in. :: William Chocox: There's always too many of them. Cptn Swain: @ The last time I played I fractured my clavicle in four places. Arden made me swear I'd give up the mallet. ::Sighing:: Anyway I am sure the crew will appreciate a day or so in the rec facility before we head off to Toren III. Cptn Swain: @ Will also give Rhan time to find us some new silverware for a reception, eh? Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Looking through the manifest, it came to absolutely no surprise to see Ensign Micine on the list.:: Girl has a deathwish ::he muttered:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Slightly exasperated look.:: Yes, among other things. Miranda warned me how how much trouble your crew typically got into, but I thought she was exaggerating. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Taps a missive to one of his security goons to go collect Mincine and notes it in the OOD log:: Cptn Swain: @ ::Chuckles:: This was pretty tame to be fair. No one got mutated, we stayed in the same time period, and we didn't need major refitting or cause an intergalactic incident. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> ::Approached Chocox.:: Well, I think we're just about done if you want to have a look. ::He gestured to the main viewscreen that had been borrowed for their purposes.:: The alien data packets are in red. We've washed all of the subroutines and extracted everything we could find. Cptn Swain: Yellan> ::Gets the message, looks at it:: Again? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Yes, I suppose I should be counting my blessings. Irene Mincine: @ :: Irene tried to remember what she did to end up here. The previous night was a blank, wasn't it? And her head... :: William Chocox: ::walks up and looks over:: Looks good from here. Thank you for your help. Cptn Swain: Yellan> ::to his fellow goldshirt:: Man, it must be nice to be in science. If any of us found our way in to trouble so often, we'd be shot out an airlock. Cptn Swain: @ Thought we'd ease you into the position. Irene Mincine: Val> "Thanks. Maybe I can give it to you instead?" :: She hands a padd over to Indaura. :: "I just need this prescription logged in the system." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> ::Frowns.:: That's not everything, you know. There could be some hidden subroutines in your computer somewhere. To find them all, we'd need to keep you here for a few weeks to scour all systems several times over. Indaura Ryssan: That I can do...Val is it? :: Processes the prescription :: Cptn Swain: Gheri> Right? Well you going to go pick her up from the station's drunk tank? Indaura Ryssan: So how are you feeling Val? William Chocox: Alright, you can go to the Admiral in charge of this station then. William Chocox: ::sips his coffee:: Cptn Swain: Yallen> I guess so. But next one is yours. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> Go to the admiral for what? ::Stares at Will.:: Cptn Swain: Gheri> ::Opening a PADD and leaning back in his chair:: Sure sure. Irene Mincine: Val> "Valerie Carillon, yeah. I'm all right... Just need a neural stabilizer to make my prosthetics work right again." :: She waved her fake arm and hand. :: William Chocox: To keep us here for weeks on end to do the complete scouring you want to do. Cptn Swain: Yallen> ::Grumbles and heads through airlock, grabbing an @:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Looks wide-eyed :: That is a little...off. Indaura Ryssan: :: Hears a beep beep :: Oh, it's done. Let me get that for you. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Nods. :: "The station cybernetics expert says that'll get me going again, yeah." Indaura Ryssan: :: Gets the medicine :: Indaura Ryssan: How long have you had prosthetics? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> I don't have the time for that! I was just saying, to get it all, that's what we'd have to do. ::Scowls.:: We've got our own business to be about and can't be spending weeks on one ship. So you're on your own. I suggest you start looking for any leftover packets yourself in your own down time. And that's going to be my official recommendation to your Captain. Irene Mincine: @ :: Commander McBride turns up the lights in the holding cell. :: McBride> "Hey, someone's on the way to pick you up. Wake up." :: Irene grumbles. :: Cptn Swain: @::Runnning a hand through his hair, he turned back to face Stanton:: I'll let you give the good news about leave, and to tell Rhan he gets to go shopping. Schedule a staff meeting for Thursday afternoon. We should be done with the repairs and restocking by then. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Sighs. :: "Ten years. Dominion War." :: William Chocox: Pleasure working with you too. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Well, I'm sure I'll look back on this time in appreciation one day. ::Smirks. He nodded at their new orders.:: At least we'll be able to give the crew the full scope of this mission. I don't like leaving them in the dark. Indaura Ryssan: :: Nods :: I was in school then. Heard about it every day. Denobula was spared thankfully. Cptn Swain: @Yallen> ::Makes his way to the station's security holding pen, where he reluctantly signed for the wayward Ensign's release:: Indaura Ryssan: :: hands Val the medicine :: Do you know how to administer this? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> ::Gives Will a parting scowl before turning to issue his crew orders. They began to disconnect their equipment and pack up their things.:: Cptn Swain: @ Agreed. As I am sure Miranda told you, we used to have to do that way more often than I liked. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Yes, and I gathered that she wasn't fond of it, either. Irene Mincine: @ :: Irene stood up and left the cell. McBride hmphed. :: McBride> "We had a Klingon patrol ship here last night. She told the Klingons it was her Day of Ascension. From my understanding there's painful rituals and then lots of drinking. They skipped straight to the drinking. A few Cardassian traders took offense to the noise, and then it was like the Dominion War never ended. The Cardassians agreed not to press charges and the Klingons returned to their ship, but someone's going to have to pay the 20 bars of latinum damages to the bar." Cptn Swain: @ Though I get the idea that the Federation's preferred outcome is the only one they'll view as a success. ::Frowns:: But that's my problem, not yours. Indaura Ryssan: :: Cybernetics was something she'd not encountered a great deal in her studies :: Cptn Swain: @Yellan> ::Blinks:: Cptn Swain: @Yallen> Well that's certainly above my pay grade. Irene Mincine: Val> "Yeah. I've done it before. In school, huh? Lucky you." :: She took the hypospray and administered it to herself. :: "Much better..." Cptn Swain: @ Anyway, I just wanted to also let you know I think things are working out well with you and the crew and I am pleased with your performance so far. Irene Mincine: @ McBride> :: Laughs. :: "I figured as much .I don't have a reason to hold her here, so you can take her." :: Irene was still grumbling. :: Cptn Swain: @Yallen> I'll be sure to let people with more pips know. ::Glances to Irene:: Come along Ensign. Indaura Ryssan: If you feel the need to talk about your experiences, my door is always open. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Slight eyebrow quirk.:: I'm... glad to hear that. I know it isn't easy breaking in a new XO, but... I was glad of the assignment. I don't think the crew knows what to make of me quite yet. I'm not the tyrant they expected, I think. ::Smiles.:: Irene Mincine: @ McBride> "Thanks." :: Irene follows along with Yallen. :: Irene> "We going home? Yeah. Let's go home." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Watching the station crew pack up and leave, he relaxed somewhat.:: Well... that's one relief, I guess. Cptn Swain: @ Rex came to see me yesterday afternoon. Irene Mincine: Val> "I think I've talked about it enough already. But thanks for the offer." William Chocox: The only one I have right now. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He couldn't help but laugh.:: I think I know why. He mentioned a bit of personal history... Cptn Swain: @Yallen> ::Shakes his head:: Have you always been this much trouble, or were you recently cursed by some sort of alien witch? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> And seemed to think you might be punishing him for it. Cptn Swain: @ ::An oh did he look: Irene Mincine: @ Irene> "Shoulda seen me in the Academy." :: She started giggling like a little girl. :: "You think I'm bad now?" Indaura Ryssan: Follow up with the doctor if there are any changes. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> Which of course is ridiculous. Though I couldn't help but feed into his fears a bit, especially after the spot of trouble he'd caused us. Cptn Swain: @ ::smirks:: As I told him, if anything it's a point in his favor. Arden has always had better taste in men than me -- with the notable exception of Arden. Cptn Swain: @ The crew is good, though I think maybe I've gotten a little lax with them. So, this mission will be a good test for a lot of them. Irene Mincine: Val> :: She lets out a arre smile. :: "I will. Thank you, Doctor." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> After our last station stop, I planning to put them through their paces. Irene Mincine: Val> *rare Indaura Ryssan: :: Val reminded her of one of her kids :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> And if it is all the same to you, sir, I'm not going to tell them about their leave until tomorrow. It won't hurt them to wait another day and think about what they've done. Cptn Swain: @ ::Smirks:: Works for me. And, if you don't mind me offering, I'd let that Ensign Mincine know that the more a Captain knows about a junior officers antics is directly correlated with how long before they either washout or end up in some godforsaken helll-hole. And I say that with some experience. Cptn Swain: @Yallen> ::Shakes his head as they go through the check point:: If I were you I'd lay low for a bit. Given that the Captain just gave everyone cadet training, I can't imagine he or the ex-oh will be too pleased to hear you racked up a 20 latnium bar tab. Which, if I were you, I'd take care of before I have to put it in the report. Cptn Swain: @::pauses:: Unless Excalibur is already her punishment. Irene Mincine: @ Irene> "20... bars... oh... just throw me out an airlock..." :: Irene shakes her head. Irene Mincine: :: Irene's Academy scores for planetary sciences and aptitude were top notch, but her disciplinary record was an atrocity. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: @ Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He snorted.:: You think she pulled this with her last commanding officer and was pawned off on us as punishment? Possibly. William Chocox: Alright Reynolds, we need to make sure that they didn't mess up too many of our settings. ::downs the rest of his coffee:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineering> ::Departs Excalibur in slightly better condition that it was, but won't swear to it.:: Cptn Swain: @ ::Shrugs:: It wouldn't be the first time. During the war, on the Idrisi, I once got this... this incredibly talented engineer named Froohm. He was, and I say this with as much respect as I can muster, the worst officer in the history of starfleet. Cptn Swain: @ But you'd never know it from his file. Before or after Idrisi. ::grins:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ACTION> Will finds that all of Excalibur's systems have been reset to the 'default' settings, losing anything he's done to upgrade them since the ship left Utopia Planetia. Cptn Swain: ACTION> That also includes all of the holodeck programs and replicator files. Indaura Ryssan: ((Please select your region...)) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ACTION> And maybe next time he'll be nicer to the people trying to help him fix his own stupidity. Cptn Swain: (( Hope no one had any *special* holodeck files )) William Chocox: [Expletive deleted]! This is why I don't like station monkeys messing with my stuff! Reynolds, do you have any secret backups?! Cptn Swain: ...and... Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Ah... no? Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0517.2020 Having returned to Starbase 46, Excalibur is undergoing repairs to its computer core. Initial leave for commissioned officers has been put on hold as command staff has ordered them to complete mandatory re-training on either first contact procedures (medical, science, security) or protocols for working with alien technology (operations and engineering). However, Swain and Stanton were called to an early morning meeting aboard the station, and rumors are circulating we will once again be shipped off to who knows where.

MISSION BRIEF: Excalibur is nearing Starbase 46 to begin untangling their computer core. Science has been working on a secret project for Swain, while Medical has been dealing with everyone being on knife edge after the last week or so. There's even reports we might get shoreleave, but at the rate this crew goes well, I wouldn't book a ticket to Risa. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM William Chocox: ::is down in Engineering waiting for them to dock at the Starbase:: Cptn Swain: ::In the Captain's Mess, making a sandwich, to the annoyance of the galley staff who was making lunch for the Alpha shift:: Maryse Dubois: ::In sickbay, walking around:: Hakran K'hal: :: in his office with the data they don't have :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Amazed that he has any hair left:: Irene Mincine: :: Val arrives on the bridge for the final approach to the starbase, taking over from the ensign at helm. She looks pretty out of it or something like that. :: Rhan K'hal: :: enters sickbay - well rested and in no imminent danger of snoring :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene is in Hakran's office with the data they don't have. :: "We've been at it for a week. We have everything we can get out of this?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Glances at the main viewer as the Starbase comes into view.:: Request a docking berth as soon as we're in range. And make certain their engineering department is standing by for repairs. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Had somehow got conned into a bridge shift as OOD, and is standing at the tactical station:: Maryse Dubois: ::Sees Rhan enter.:: Feeling better? Hakran K'hal: Yeah. I think we have everything we can get. Cptn Swain: ::He was still reading his betazoid romance novel, well the second book in the series, and he took it and his sandwich to the window to watch as the starbase came into view:: Rhan K'hal: :: smiles :: Everything but my pride. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Taps a few buttons to alert his team to be on standby for docking:: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: contacts the base for clearance :: Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Stanton:: I heard a rumor, Commander. Irene Mincine: Val> "Request a berth, and an on-call engineering department..." :: She hits some buttons on the console, which beeps unhappily. She starts over. :: "Sorry, Boss. Something's been up with my arm the past few days. Request acknowledged by the starbase." Hakran K'hal: With the cross-reference data, it definitely seems Romulan. But not official fleet or government traffic. But we just didn't have enough space to get a good triangulation on it. :: flat ears :: Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Taps her non-Federation padd. :: "We're not going to have more until we end up back there, which from what I hear isn't gonna be for a while." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Glances over at Rex, one brow lifting.:: What sort of rumor? Hakran K'hal: Maybe they have an old Miranda class to dump us onto. Maryse Dubois: Well that's a good start, anyways. Rhan K'hal: But I could use another blocker before a new headache kicks in, today's already been three kinds of hell. Maryse Dubois: ::Goes to a station, preparing a hypo.:: That bad, huh? Cptn Swain: Rex> ::smirks:: Well I heard that Starbase 46 has one of the better rec centers in this Sector and that we might get to actually see it. Cptn Swain: Rex> And more importantly, use it. Rhan K'hal: Doesn't help that in order to work on the computer core directly I have to keep going through engineering, and they're all following their Chief's lead on giving me laser eyes and cold shoulder. Irene Mincine: :: Irene's brow furrows. :: "I wasn't expecting Romulan data, that's for sure. Unofficial traffic? Tal'Shiar?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He snorted.:: After what happened at the last station? Don't count your chickens. William Chocox: ::looks over at Reynolds:: You doing ok Ensign? Irene Mincine: Irene> "Oh, we did fine. It's whoever screwed up the computer core I think's gonna end up on a Miranda." Irene Mincine: (sorry, chat froze) Hakran K'hal: :: shrugs :: Nothing like I've seen, and even asking Rhan to open a back channel for me to use for the cross-referencing, I wasn't able to match any known methodology. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Very innocently:: I don't know what you're talking about, Commander. It's not like we pawned the Captain's Book Collection or anything. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ACTION> Excalibur is giving a berth and docks cleanly. A station engineering team requests entry. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Station engineering crew is at the hatch, requesting permission to board sir. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Yea, just... this is a mess. They're going to transfer us, aren't they? They have to... right? And demote us? I'm going to be scrubbing floors... Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Permission granted. ::To Obee.:: Alert engineering they're on the way. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Aye, Commander. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: grants the permission :: Maryse Dubois: Really? That doesn't seem like Will. ::Gives Rhan the injection.:: Irene Mincine: :: Val brings the engine to a stop. :: Val> "Mooring fields have engaged, external power connected." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Swivels to stare at Rex.:: No, not his books. Though, enough. You'll be lucky if he doesn't have those involved on scut duty for a while. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> +Engineering+ Bridge to Engineering. Station repair crew is on route. Indaura Ryssan: :: Walks into medical, padds in hand :: William Chocox: I'll give you Commander Hawthorne's contact information. She'll pull some strings for you. Irene Mincine: Irene> "You think whoever's gonna receive this data has a clue?" William Chocox: +Obee+ Thank you for letting me know Ensign. We'll be waiting for them. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Looks dubious.:: I thought she was even worse... Cptn Swain: Rex> I think he already hates me. Not sure why. Barely said two words to me before that whole incident. ::Considers:: I did date his husband once. But that was, years ago. Rhan K'hal: He's blaming me for doing what his Holy Hologram suggested on the piece of illegal equipment he asked me to broker the purchase of. :: shrugs :: Engineers, they work better with parts than people. Hakran K'hal: They must have been expecting something to send us out there to snoop in the first place. William Chocox: She'll protect you because I'll ask for it. And this would be, I think, the first favor I asked of her in my career. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Turns to join the conversation now that the ship's docked. :: "Before he was married to the captain or after?" Irene Mincine: Irene> "I wonder who knew there'd be something out there in the first place, though. I hate not knowing everything about our missions." Rhan K'hal: :: loosens shoulders :: Thanks, that feels better already. Cptn Swain: Rex> Before! They were broke up at the time, though, I knew as soon as I heard about him Arden was still heads over heels in love with him. I broke it off soon after. ::Considers:: Maybe he blames me for that. Cptn Swain: Rex> But then why take me on transfer? Rhan K'hal: So, assuming I'm not flattened by a Starfleet Steamroller once we're at station, do you want to see what 46 has available in recreation? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> To secretly torture you, of course. ::Smirks.:: Maryse Dubois: ::Smiles.:: No problem. Hopefully this will all blow over soon. How soon till we get back to the station? Irene Mincine: Val> "I think I came in on the same transfer. I hope he wasn't torturing me, too." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ Captain, we've docked. Engineering teams have come aboard to help sort out our core. Maryse Dubois: And yeah, I would definitely love to get out of here for a while. Hakran K'hal: Me either. I never had to worry about this on the Copernicus. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> I hope it doesn't come to that. ::Still looking miserably at the screen.:: Cptn Swain: Rex> Fair. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He swiveled to peer at Val.:: Why, did you date the Captain's husband, as well? Indaura Ryssan: Open spaces Doctor Dubois? William Chocox: Well, we'll see what happens. Rhan K'hal: :: checks his padd :: We've docked, but they haven't released any personnel leave orders. Cptn Swain: +Stanton+ Understood. I think, given our last leave was only a few weeks ago the crew can manage. I want some readiness drills and training. All senior and junior officers are to complete Starfleet First Contact Protocols, and Engineering and Operations are to complete Starfleet Basic Trainings on Alien Technology. Maryse Dubois: Ah. I didn't realize we were so close. ::Looks to Indaura.:: Just need some fresh air, so to speak. Irene Mincine: Val> "What, when pilots like me had a life expectancy of 6 weeks during the war?" :: Hmphs. :: "I nailed everything that moved. Emotions just get in the way." Cptn Swain: +Stanton+ Enlisted personnel may have limited leave at the discretion of their department NCO's. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: reels his jaw back in :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Well, now you're King of Science. And I guess I'm the 9 of Hearts of Science. Ah, maybe we'll get a little leave. My Day of Ascension's coming up, it'd be nice to spend it on a starbase instead of limping around the galaxy." Cptn Swain: +Stanton+ I trust you can see to the arrangements, Commander? Hakran K'hal: Interesting analogy. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ Of course, Captain. Stanton out. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Groans:: Rhan K'hal: I'm starting to realize how much I miss being on a planet. Irene Mincine: Irene> "I had to think on the spot, you know." Maryse Dubois: With as much as I've traveled, I don't know if I could get stuck on one planet for an extended amount of time. William Chocox: Where are those engineers? William Chocox: ::looks around:: Hakran K'hal: :: sits back :: Well, I suppose we might as well wrap this and send it to the Captain, we're not getting anything more done with it. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Yeah, let's get out of this office. I want to get off this ship for a few hours." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Glances at Rex with a grin.:: I told you. Spread the word. No leave for officers. And begin those drills. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Glumly:: Yes, sir. But you get to be the one to tell engineering and ::thumbs:: K'hal about their training. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Unhappily, to Stanton. :: "Oh, come on... I need the starbase's facilities to look at my screwed up arm." Hakran K'hal: Having absorbed some of Rhan's pessimism, I'm not so sure we'll get much of any time off. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He rose from his seat to fetch himself a drink, throwing Val a glance as he passed.:: If you need medical leave, get permission from Dr. Dubois before visiting station medical. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::begins putting together the notice to department heads about the impending training and drills, sure that it will spread like wildfire:: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: sends a note to Rhan about it :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineering> ::Arrives with a buttload of equipment and a scowl.:: Who is in charge down here? Rhan K'hal: :: padd beeps :: What now? William Chocox: ::raises his hand:: over here. Rhan K'hal: :: pulls it out, reads the note from Ken :: Irene Mincine: :: Val nods. :: "Permission to seek permission to seek medical leave, sir." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> So... you can tell us what's going on? We heard something happened to your core. I thought this ship was brand new. Rhan K'hal: [REDACTED] William Chocox: We had an incident and there's an encrypted file on our core that we can't get rid of. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Nods to Val.:: Of course. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Stands up out of her roller chair and stretches out her back. :: "I'm sure we'll get *something*. They're understanding. Let's get this to whoever needs it." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Makes himself a cup of strong coffee and returns to his seat to begin crafting a missive to those that need proper training.:: Irene Mincine: Val> "Thanks, Boss." :: She makes for the turbolift. :: Hakran K'hal: :: transfers the file just as the message from Rex beeps in :: Hakran K'hal: What have we here? Maryse Dubois: ::Glances at Rhan.:: That bad huh? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> What sort of encrypted file? Who put it there? ::He gestures for his crew to start setting up their equipment, and they soon take over the department.:: Hakran K'hal: All senior and junior officers to complete first contact protocols. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Incredulous. :: "You gotta be kidding. You mean I'm going to spend my Day of Ascension in a classroom going over _protocol_?" William Chocox: A big sort of encrypted file. It got put there as the result of a science experiment gone wrong. Rhan K'hal: They're gonna make all officers do first contact protocols, except for operations and engineering. We get to do basic training on alien technology. So I'm going to be sitting around on my butt being bored. Cptn Swain: Yudrin> ::Looks at Irene:: Maybe if you hadn't sold the Captain's bandana collection. Irene Mincine: Irene> "I didn't touch his bandanas!" :: She accentuates this point by banging her fist on a plastic panel, which collapses for a second and then pops back out like a car door. :: Hakran K'hal: :: tuts :: Maryse Dubois: Oh lovely... Hakran K'hal: :: Yudrin :: You get extra training for walking into my office without knocking first. Irene Mincine: :: Val arrives in sickbay, going up to the nearest orderly. :: "Dr. Dubois available?" Maryse Dubois: ::Notices Val and waves her over.:: Cptn Swain: Yudrin> ::smirks:: That's fine. ::hands him a PADD::: I thought you'd want to see this though. Looks like Captain Swain was also looking into the data and left some crumbs behind. Rhan K'hal: :: ear swivel :: You're going to be occupied in a moment, so I'll skedaddle. I guess let's at least try to catch dinner. I'll have to go sort out the rest of Operations. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> That is supremely unhelpful. You don't know the exact source? ::Plugging in a billion types of diagnostic devices.:: Maryse Dubois: ::Nods.:: Try to get along with Engineering. Irene Mincine: "Sir?" :: Looking to Hakran. :: "What's in there?" Rhan K'hal: The only one I have a grudge against has spots and is inside my computer. William Chocox: The less you know about the source the less trouble you'll get in. Hakran K'hal: :: takes the padd and looks through it :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Smirking to himself, he read over his missive as he sent a cup of coffee before sending it on its way.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ACTION> All senior and junior officers receive a task to complete Starfleet First Contact Protocols by the end of the day. Additionally, Engineering and Operations are to complete Starfleet Basic Trainings on Alien Technology. Also by the end of the day. Rhan K'hal: :: waves at Val as he passes on his way out of sickbay :: Irene Mincine: Val> :: Returns Rhan's wave and approaches Maryse. :: "Ah, good. I just need clearance for some medical leave. My synthetic arm has been acting up, imprecise movements, tremors, stuff like that. I wanted to get the station to take a look at it. They have specialist cyberneticists there." William Chocox: ::looks at his PADD:: Aren't these mutually exclusive? They're both 8 hour classes. Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks at her padd and sighs. :: "Well, that's official..." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> ::Throws Will a shocked look, but mutters to himself and settles down at one of the stations to start getting a look at the encryption.:: Maryse Dubois: ::Nods, picking up her PADD. She begins inputting orders.:: At least someone will be able to get off this ship. ::Makes a couple more taps.:: All done. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Disappeared almost the moment that station engineering arrived to take over.:: Hakran K'hal: :: also gets that message :: Son of a Venelian swamp monkey. I guess we'll get to the new data after we get done with our homework. William Chocox: ::looks over at the Engineer:: Do you have something you want to say? Indaura Ryssan: : Looks at her padd :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Station engineer> ::Hotly at Will, though he didn't glance up from the console.:: Several things, in fact, but best not to say them where recording devices might be present. Irene Mincine: :: Val pulls her padd out of the pocket of her uniform pants and promptly drops it on the floor. :: "Yeah, see what I mean?" :: She picks it up with her other, human arm. :: "Saved by the permission slip. Thanks, doctor." Cptn Swain: << 2 minute warning >> Rhan K'hal: :: calls up the Trill Chief Petty Officer Yedraun Dirraan to relieve Obee on the bridge so the Ensign can do his assignment :: Maryse Dubois: No problem. Don't come back too early, or they might make you take the classes as well. Irene Mincine: Irene> "At least they're distance learning classes. I can do it in the science library." William Chocox: Well good day to you too. I'll make sure to not stop by when my transfer orders come through. Reynolds, we have homework to do. Go get yours done. ::goes into his office:: Irene Mincine: Val> "Oh, you know how doctors make you wait and wait..." :: With a smirk. :: Cptn Swain: << They have zoom, but don't tempt me to make everyone go to an in person holo lecture >> Maryse Dubois: ::Smiles:: Hurry up and get out of here. Irene Mincine: :: Val hurries out of sickbay and logs herself as on medical leave before she can get dragged to a class. She rushes onto the station through a docking port. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Slinks around the corner to join Will in the engineering lab.:: We should make that hologram take the class, too. ::Grumbling.:: Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0510.2020 Excalibur is nearing Starbase 46(?) to begin untangling their computer core. Science has been working on a secret project for Swain, while Medical has been dealing with everyone being on knife edge after the last week or so. There's even reports we might get shoreleave, but at the rate this crew goes well, I wouldn't book a ticket to Risa.

MISSION BRIEF: Having managed to regain control of the ships system's by putting the alien device into a diagnostics mode, the Excalibur has ended its survey of the Sellaris Expanse prematurely and is now headed back to Federation space and the nearest starbase. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Rhan K'hal: :: on deck 12 inside the main computer core access room, studying their digital stowaway in person - very, very carefully :: William Chocox: ::stands in Engineering, having been carefully avoiding Captain Swain for the past day:: Irene Mincine: :: Val's at her usual spot at helm. She's been in a pretty bad mood since the computer went haywire the other day. :: Hakran K'hal: :: on the bridge, having been carefully avoiding their astrocartographer for the past day :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene's at the second science station. She surreptitiously slips Hakran a padd. :: "I've got an idea on how to solve... the, uh, ticking time bomb." Hakran K'hal: :: accepts the padd, comments grimly :: We have so many of them right now, figuratively and literally, we're going to have to start a catalog. Cptn Swain: ::Enters the bridge, looking rather sour:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I found the requisition number for--" :: She clears her throat once Swain enters the bridge. :: "Uh, yeah, that's a star all right..." Hakran K'hal: :: gives the padd a quick read, nods :: Maryse Dubois: ::Out in main sickbay for the time being.:: Cptn Swain: Mister K'hal, a word please? Hakran K'hal: Sir? Cptn Swain: ::Takes a sip of tea:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( Sorry, guys. I'm not feeling that great and need to go lie down. I'll see you all next week. )) Rhan K'hal: (( get some rest, feel better )) William Chocox: ((Night! Stay safe!)) Irene Mincine: (( later! )) Irene Mincine: :: Irene keeps herself occupied at the science station while totally not listening to whatever's going on. :: William Chocox: ::William prods various levels on the warp core, making sure everything is still up and safe:: Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::Comes up behind William:: Sir. William Chocox: ::jumps:: Ah! ::takes a deep breath:: Yes? Hakran K'hal: :: swivels in his chair, trying to figure if Swain wants him to join him or just needs his attention :: Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::Mildly delighted but hiding it:: We've found a plasma leak in one of the secondary intercooler junctions on deck 6. It's nothing major, but we thought you might want to come take a look. We're not sure where it came from. Cptn Swain: ::Takes another sip, before making a motion for K'Hal to join him on the opposite side of the bridge:: Hakran K'hal: :: rises, trots over :: What can I do for you, sir? Irene Mincine: :: Irene slides over to Science I in the meantime. :: Cptn Swain: ::Lowly:: I understand you picked up some, unusual feedback from the probes? Hakran K'hal: :: nods :: Cptn Swain: Interesting. ::Takes a sip of tea:: Compile all the data and send it on secure channel to Starfleet HQ. ::Hands him a padd:: To these individuals. William Chocox: Sounds like a good idea. Let me get my toolkit and we'll go. ::grabs the kit from beside the console and walks with Turkon:: Cptn Swain: ::Pauses:: Then make a copy for us and delete it from the records. Hakran K'hal: :: accepts the padd and nods :: Mostly already done sir, I anticipated something along these lines. Cptn Swain: Good. I want you to start doing an analysis on the data. I want you see if you can find where it was being directed. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Is a bit frustrated that she can't hear what's going on, other than that she's keeping an eye on the sensors. :: Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::nods and follows along:: Things have been a bit crazy lately haven't they sir? Indaura Ryssan: :: Makes her way down to the mess for a bite to eat :: William Chocox: That's a bit of an understatement. Where on deck 6 is the issue? Hakran K'hal: Understood. I imagine you want to keep this pretty tight, but is it all right to keep Ensign Mincine with me on this? Cptn Swain: Turkon> Section 32, sir, Cptn Swain: ::Frowns:: Just tell her not to sell my silverware again. She's lucky it wasn't my good, good silverware. William Chocox: Alright. How bad is the leak? Hakran K'hal: :: gamely keeps a smile off of his face :: Of course, Captain. Cptn Swain: Turkon> It was relatively small. We got it sealed it off, but it's just a strange place for a leak sir. William Chocox: You have a good point there, let's see if we can't find out where it's coming from. Cptn Swain: Now, I have some work to do. ::Gives him a head bob:: Indaura Ryssan: :: As she sat, she wondered if a secluded corner of the mess would make a good counseling session location :: Hakran K'hal: :: returns head bob, heads back over to science :: Hakran K'hal: We've got work. :: contemplative pause :: Cptn Swain: ::Makes his way to his ready room and disappears:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene slides back to Science II. :: "Oh?" Hakran K'hal: +Tiran+ Ensign Tiran, report to the bridge for the remainder of the duty shift. Hakran K'hal: Izal deserves a break and it's time to break your fellow biologist out of his lab again. Hakran K'hal: We'll work in my office again. William Chocox: ::walks up to the offending location with Turkon:: Let's see what our problem is. Rhan K'hal: :: pops up in sickbay :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I think I get the picture." :: She picked up a couple things from her seat and stood up. :: "Let's go." Hakran K'hal: :: heads to the lift :: Maryse Dubois: ::Glances over at the doors.:: Hey. Rhan K'hal: :: looks miserable, tail swishy and twitchy :: Maryse Dubois: ::Gets up from her seat, putting her PADD down.:: Are you alright? ::Notices the tail.:: Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::points:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene follows Hakran to the lift. :: "All right..." Indaura Ryssan: :: drinks her coffee, eats her finger sandwiches :: Hakran K'hal: :: waits for the doors to swish closed :: So we're going to play with the probe data, that we officially aren't going to have. Rhan K'hal: I pushed too hard. :: takes the first available biobed and sits on it :: I've been up... 38 hours now, most of it deep-diving into computer code. Irene Mincine: Irene> "The fun kind of probe data. Any idea what we're looking for?" William Chocox: ::looks at it:: Yeah, that's a bog standard plasma leak in a non-bog standard location. Let's open it up and see what the problem is. Rhan K'hal: My head is a M/ARA in the process of breaching. Hakran K'hal: A place. We're to find out where those signals were going to. Maryse Dubois: ::Sighs:: That's definitely pushing it. ::Grabs a tricorder.:: Sounds simply like exhaustion, but let me check. ::Scans.:: Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::Nods:: Yes sir. That's why we wanted you to take look. Hakran K'hal: :: exits lift on deck 9 :: Irene Mincine: :: Follows Hakran out. :: Irene> "Now that's going to be a fun puzzle. I hope we got enough data to do that..." Hakran K'hal: We'll find out. So if you have any project you haven't already dumped on someone else, dump it. Officially I'm giving you subsection leadership training. Indaura Ryssan: :: Finishes her sandwich off and drinks the last of her coffee. She exits the mess and heads back to her office :: William Chocox: Thank you. ::starts pulling out panels to look at the problem:: Maryse Dubois: Yeah it's as I predicted. ::Closes the tricorder.:: Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Nods. :: "Subsection... leadership training? OK... I can dump a few things on K and Valdar." Cptn Swain: Turkon> Oh? Maryse Dubois: So will you be sleeping here, or would you refer your own bed? Maryse Dubois: *prefer Cptn Swain: ::Reading the trashy betazoid romance novel again:: Rhan K'hal: :: ZZZzzz :: William Chocox: For making me feel useful. It's been rough recently. Indaura Ryssan: :: Enters sickbay, making her way to the office, glances at Rhan :: Rhan K'hal: :: fell asleep sitting up :: Hakran K'hal: :: codes into his office :: Maryse Dubois: ::Smiles.:: Here it is then. ::She , gently lays him down, then fetches a blanket, putting in on him.:: Maryse Dubois: ::She then dims the lights on that side of the room.:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Goes over to Dubois, whispering :: Is he alright? Maryse Dubois: ::Nods.:: Staying awake for over 38 hours will get you eventually. Hakran K'hal: Computer, compile project Eta 332. Transmit over secure channel to the following: :: lists the people on the padd :: Indaura Ryssan: Ugh, would make for a good study, if it had not been done to death over the centuries. Hakran K'hal: :: searches through his desk, comes up with one of those non-Federation tablets that Rhan seems to will into existence :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene follows him inside and takes a seat. She reacts at some of the names he lists off, too. :: "Those are some important people interested in our analysis." Rhan K'hal: :: sleep mutters something about crazy holospots :: Indaura Ryssan: :: writes something in her padd :: A session after rest perhaps. Cptn Swain: Turkon> ::smiles:: Of course sir. William Chocox: ::starts inspecting the issue:: This is a good and proper leak. What did we do to this thing? Cptn Swain: (( 2 minute warning )) Hakran K'hal: I imagine they are. I bet Rhan could probably give me a bio off the top of his head, but I'm clueless. Hakran K'hal: :: manually transfers the project onto the unpadd :: Hakran K'hal: :: verifies the integrity of the file transfer, then transfers the data onto a non-federation data crystal :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Yeah. I only know them by name, but..." :: She watches the data transfer go through. :: "Got another one of those things? What is that, Ferengi?" Hakran K'hal: There. :: pulls out a little stand, puts the crystal in it and activates the stand, which lights the crystal up all pretty :: Hakran K'hal: :: sets it on the corner of his desk :: Hiding in plain sight. Hakran K'hal: :: shrugs :: I have no idea where Rhan gets this stuff and I don't ask. Irene Mincine: Irene> "A good policy. So, what's first...?" Cptn Swain: Turkon> Ensign Le'Salle thinks that it was poorly fabricated. Possibly a surge in the EPS unit when everything came back on line. Hakran K'hal: Computer, delete and overwrite project Eta 332. Authorization K'hal Tau Sentry 44. Hakran K'hal: :: gets the confirmation on that :: Cptn Swain: ..and... Irene Mincine: Irene> "...covering our tracks." William Chocox: I'm more inclined to agree with the latter consideration. Hakran K'hal: From now on, everything we put back in for analysis gets dumped back out when we're done and securely deleted. Hakran K'hal: Isn't this fun already? Rhan K'hal: :: starts snoring :: Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Grins. Her first secret Starfleet op thingy. :: "I think I like this project." Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0503.2020 Having managed to regain control of the ships system's by putting the alien device into a diagnostics mode, the Excalibur has ended it's survey of the Sellaris Expanse prematurely and is now headed back to Federation space and the nearest starbase.

MISSION BRIEF: When we last left our intrepid crew, they had managed to apparently disarm the device that was taking control of our ship and not a moment too soon as we were headed for Sheliak space. The device has gone into "diagnostic" mode for now and main power and computer control are returning to normal. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM William Chocox: Alright, so step one is to unplug that thing if we can. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Is quite relieved that the ship isn't flying itself into hostile territory. :: "The computer's coming back but I don't think we're going anywhere, Boss. Helm's still locked down tight. You'll be happy to know we're on our side of the border, at least." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> I can't disable the connection it has to the power nodes, but I can... ah... sour them? Physically damage so that they can no longer be used? Hakran K'hal: :: the power comes on and the door flies open before he and Irene exert any effort, and cardboard Maryse is grateful and goes back quietly to her desk and making no noise :: William Chocox: As long as you don't break the rest of the ship that sounds like a good idea. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Oh, power's back..." :: When the door opens before she strains herself opening it manually. :: "They should be fine here in sick bay, I guess. Should we get going again?" Rhan K'hal: And I am going to have a peek at my computer to see what it's done to that. Hakran K'hal: :: nods :: Our heroic efforts have paid off, I suppose. Back to the bridge to see what in blazes is going on. Rhan K'hal: :: commandeers a console that has a chair :: Cptn Swain: ::Enters engineering flanked by the crew that opened his doors:: Indaura Ryssan: Oh finally... :: goes to check her systems :: William Chocox: ::looks over:: Captain on deck! Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Most of the computer functions seem to be back to normal but... Hunter Matheson: ::snap to:: Cptn Swain: ::Gives Will a look:: Save the formality. What, and I say this with every ounce of reserve I can muster, the hell happened down here? Irene Mincine: :: Irene turns right around to the exit. :: "Four more decks to climb." William Chocox: ((Hunter. Rhan, Reynolds, Swain, and I are down in Engineering)) Hunter Matheson: (scratch that...wrong place) Hakran K'hal: Let's try the lifts first, my legs are sore. William Chocox: So...uh...do you want the long version or the short version? Hunter Matheson: (copy) Cptn Swain: ::Takes a very deep breath:: Rhan K'hal: :: turns Tandygram back on, but its frozen :: Cptn Swain: :Closes his eyes to recenter himself, but opens his eyes ot see the hologram of Tandaris:: Cptn Swain: W-w-hat is that? Irene Mincine: Irene> "You really want to take the lifts up when the power *just* came back on?" William Chocox: That is an Emergency Engineering Hologram that I think the Lieutenant is attempting to blame for all of our recent troubles. Rhan K'hal: It's a Trojan Trill who gives very bad advice. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Throws the Captain a worried glance, but doesn't stop what he's doing. As a precaution, he began to disable the power nodes nearby so that it couldn't reconnect.:: Rhan K'hal: And I was going to let it try to explain things itself but the shutdown seems to have frozen its program. William Chocox: His advice was sound. It was your commands to the device that were the interceding cause that caused to power and control issues. Cptn Swain: I should have stayed in bed. William Chocox: (caused the* not caused to) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Where did we end up? Do we have sensors back online? Is there anyone out there? ::Still pacing the bridge, he stopped to stare at the main viewer.:: Rhan K'hal: It was an algorithm I took right out of the holo-Trill's matrix William Chocox: You still inputted it. Cptn Swain: You know. I am not sure if more information is going to hurt or help the collective group of your careers so, let's just skip to what exactly happened. The short version. Rhan K'hal: You're the one that spent 120 bars of latinum on that device. Cptn Swain: 120 bars of... William Chocox: Because it was related to the other devices we've been finding! Cptn Swain: ::Sucks air through his teeth:: Cptn Swain: Alright, save the recriminations for your after-actions report. Is the situation stable? Hakran K'hal: Yes. William Chocox: Yes, Reynolds is currently making it so that it no longer has power. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Answering Stanton. :: "It's coming back online, Boss. We're just on our side of the Sheliak border. Sensors aren't picking up anything. We have maneuvering jets and that's about it, so I hope nothing shows up." Hakran K'hal: I need to spend more time in the gym. William Chocox: Anyway, the short version is that we attempted to figure out how this thing worked, and then a sandbox that *someone* made failed which caused the device to take over the ship, which caused us to wind up, and this is just an assumption mind you, right next to the Sheliak border. Cptn Swain: Wait, so the device was taking control of our systems and redirecting us towards Sheliak space. How... similar is it to the device you found on the Elasian vessel? Irene Mincine: Irene> "Yeah, you do." :: Heads off for the turbolifts. "You want a copy of my calisthenics program? I got it from a friend in the Empire before we took off in this thing." Rhan K'hal: Nearly identical, but it also has a transponder. Hakran K'hal: I need more time in the gym, not the morgue. Hunter Matheson: ::checking the status of tactical systems:: William Chocox: And we were able to scan it, unlike the one on the Elasian ship. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Matheson, do we have weapons and shields back online? Irene Mincine: Irene> "Well *you* don't need to turn the safeties off..." Hunter Matheson: ::Stanton:: Aye, sir. Double checking now. Cptn Swain: ::Considers:: Why would anyone want to hijack a bunch of Elasian warships. Rhan K'hal: To keep them from the Cardassians for a start. Cptn Swain: Alright, get this mess cleaned up. Do not, hook that stupid thing up again, and when this is all over, I think we'll have a senior officer in-service on not playing with alien devices. I am going to the bridge. Hakran K'hal: :: enters the lift :: Cptn Swain: ::Heads towards the exit:: And turn that hologram off. Rhan K'hal: Can I delete it? Irene Mincine: :: Irene follows Hakran inside. :: "Bridge." Cptn Swain: ::Doesn't respond:: Rhan K'hal: :: hrmphs, turns it off :: Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Enters the bridge:: Hakran K'hal: :: the lift operates, albeit more slowly than usual :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Turns and gives Rex a nod.:: Chief. I see the doors are operating again. Hunter Matheson: ::and he finally shows up after everything is fixed::: Cptn Swain: Rex> Lucky us., huh? Hakran K'hal: :: the lift spits the scientists out onto the bridge :: William Chocox: Reynolds, is that thing disconnected now? Hakran K'hal: Kenet> :: notices her boss :: [m] Thank the Prophets. Cptn Swain: Rex> :: Glances over to Matheson, smirks:: Hunter Matheson: ::ignores::: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I'm surprised it worked, really..." :: She rushes out of the turbolift before it decides to eat them and takes her spot at the second science station. :: "OK..." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Having ducked to keep from being accused of anything, he slowly reemerged.:: Ah, yes sir. It can't get at the ship's power. That isn't saying that it still can't power up. We'd have to disassemble it for that. Hakran K'hal: Okay, what in the name of the Captain's hocked silverware is going on, Izal? Cptn Swain: ::Walks onto the bridge from the other lift in time to hear that line:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Facepalms with a sigh.:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene elbows Hakran and points to the other turbolift. :: Hakran K'hal: Kenet> :: looking straight off into nowhere :: Nothing much is working, sir. Rhan K'hal: :: rather ominously :: I don't think it matters whether it's hooked up or not. Hakran K'hal: :: sighs :: Sorry Captain. Next time I'll invent a deity. William Chocox: Then we need to check it. Cptn Swain: You know... I am not sure I am ready to learn what that joke is about. After what I just learned in engineering, so I am going to drive past that and just ask for a status report. Rhan K'hal: That's not what I meant. :: taps on the large display over his console :: It's made itself a nice nest inside my computers. Yes plural, it's backed itself up nicely in the aux core too. Irene Mincine: :: Irene, unlike her usual self, looks quite nervous. :: "Well, we just got to the bridge from the astrometrics lab... we got a signal from the probe we sent out just before main power went out..." William Chocox: That's unfortunate. Any idea on how to get rid of it? Rhan K'hal: Beam the cores out and install replacements would be ideal. Since that is unlikely I'm going to have to work on it. Rhan K'hal: :: disgruntled :: First I find the old ChEng uploaded himself into my system and now an alien technology has taken it over. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He finally took his seat, throwing Swain a glance.:: We've regained control of the computers.. for now. It seems as though our systems are rebooting and coming back online. Sensors don't show anything in the area. William Chocox: Technically it's a holographic facsimile of the old CENG, and at the moment we are in control. Rhan K'hal: It's the "at this moment" that worries me. I'm going into the core room to do some direct access. Do let me know if this day gets any worse. Rhan K'hal: :: stomps off, calling Ken with an update :: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: does a lot of mmm-hmming for a moment :: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: clears throat, looks over to the command area :: Sirs? William Chocox: (m) Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Cptn Swain: ::Obee: Yes? Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Mr. K'hal reports that the device has uploaded a considerable amount of some sort of data into both computer cores and it is walled off with very elaborate encryption. Hakran K'hal: :: blinks, mouths "device?" at Irene :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene shakes her head. :: "First I've heard..." William Chocox: ((Do y'all need to be airing my dirty laundry out to everyone on the ship? :P )) Hakran K'hal: :: looks over to where Kenet was but the Bajoran scientist had scarpered quickly after handing over the station :: Cptn Swain: ::Tips his head:: Interesting. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Tries desperately hard not to crush his data padd.:: Cptn Swain: Where exactly are we now? Hunter Matheson: ::checking long-range sensors::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Relaxes somewhat after Rhan left engineering.:: Sir? Should we try to rip it apart? Irene Mincine: Val> :: Checks her console. :: "Grid 326 of sector 532, Cap. 35,000 kilometers from the Sheliak border. Navigational ability is negative." William Chocox: As long as we don't trigger a defensive response, yes. Hakran K'hal: :: swivels to his console, notes the science sensor data looking wonky, runs a diagnostic :: Hunter Matheson: ::not much there::: Cptn Swain: As soon as we have navigation back online, move us well away from their border. Cptn Swain: Hopefully no one's been paying attention over there. Hakran K'hal: Sounds like we were delivered to the Sheliak's front door. Did anything ring the bell? Irene Mincine: Val> "Aye, I'll press the button once the warp drive's online again. Should I return us to our original position in the T Tauri system?" Hunter Matheson: ::Swain:: Long ranger sensors show negative, Captain. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> I'm unable to determine if ship's communications were used during the computer disturbance, Lieutenant. William Chocox: Though we should probably focus on making sure the ship can move before we continue with extracurriculars. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Hrms. :: "Engineering could look at the transceiver system... if it was used, there'd be residual charge in the transmitter array." Cptn Swain: ::Considers:: No. Once we're back up and operating, set course for the nearest Federation starbase. I don't like the idea of a bunch of data hanging out in our warp core and I have some thoughts about that device. Cptn Swain: ::Stanton:: I finally, after like 5 years, get an actual science mission and this is what happens. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Aye sir. I'll check the status of the warp engines. ::Moves to do so.:: Hakran K'hal: I have a feeling they're otherwise occupied, considering. Irene Mincine: Val> "I totally agree, Cap. Setting course for Starbase 46 for once navigation is online again. The computer won't even *list* an ETA with our current top speed." Hakran K'hal: Ken, can you have someone look into that? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Glances sidelong at Swain.:: I thought this was par for the course on Excalibur. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Of course, sir. Cptn Swain: It is. William Chocox: Thank you. ::leans against his console, wondering if he can get the same apartment in San Francisco again when Starfleet busts him down the ladder:: Hakran K'hal: But good idea. Again. Hakran K'hal: Maybe I should sleep deprive you on a regular basis. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Frowns. :: "Isn't that against some convention against cruel and unusual punishment?" Hakran K'hal: ::amused grunt :: Go get some rest. Again. Hopefully I won't have to pull you out once your head hits the pillow twice in one day. Cptn Swain: <annd >>> Hakran K'hal: This sensors diagnostic is going to take forever anyway. Irene Mincine: Irene> "We can only hope..." :: Shuffles off toward the turbolift. :: Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0426.2020 When we last left our intrepid crew, they had managed to apparently disarm the device that was taking control of our ship and not a moment to soon as we were headed for Sheliak space. The device has gone into "diagnostic" mode for now and main power and computer control are returning to normal.

04.12.20 - No Sim ---- MISSION BRIEF: Excalibur continues to study a T-Tauri Star near Sheliak space, but a small alteration to the probes at Captain Swain's orders has started to reveal some unusual readings; meanwhile in Engineering Commander Tandaris "Clippy" Admiran in hologram form has returned to assist with a rather pesky device that resembles those we found aboard the Elasian ships. Also medical is exploring a mystery related to some uh, organic packing material. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Rhan K'hal: :: in Engineering, calmly adjusts his ears as the alarms start going off, taps a few commands on his padd :: This is why we make things called sandboxes before we let strange devices play with our systems. :: slams the doors on the kiddies and their faux computer jungle gym - whether Spots' program is on the inside is up to the fates :: William Chocox: ::turns to Rhan:: What did you do to my ship?! Hunter Matheson: :::bridge, tac, watching the trash go by::: Indaura Ryssan: :: Helping out in medical :: Hunter Matheson: :::checking the console, watching for unusual readings that someone mentioned:: Rhan K'hal: Keep your toolbelt fastened, the device is working on a simulated overlay to the real systems. Think of it as a skin-tight hologram. Irene Mincine: :: Val hrmed, smacking the side of her console. :: "The helm's a bit sluggish to respond to my commands, sir." Cptn Swain: << Give me a number 1-20 >> Rhan K'hal: :: jerks a thumb at Spots :: He isn't the only one that can use the holoemitters. Rhan K'hal: (( 2 )) William Chocox: (( 16 )) Hunter Matheson: 17 Irene Mincine: (( 5 )) Indaura Ryssan: (4) William Chocox: Hmph. Cptn Swain: ACTION> As Rhan monitors the sandbox, actual alarms start tripping as the device begins to interface with command and control systems. The warp engines begin powering up and navigation begins plotting a course into Sheliak space. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Standing in the bridge, drink in hand, waiting for clarification on some of the sensor readings.:: Hunter Matheson: Whoa.... William Chocox: ::turns back to his consoles:: REYNOLDS! We need to get this taken care of now! ::glares at Rhan before getting back to work:: Rhan K'hal: :: frowns :: I hate it when it does that. Rhan K'hal: :: taps more commands in an attempt at regaining control of HIS computer :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> What?! ::Freaking out.:: What do we do? Tandaris Admiran: ((Sorry, chat froze on me)) Irene Mincine: :: Val immediately reacts at helm, trying everything she can to get the ship to stop. :: "Commander! We're going to warp and flying straight for the border! Helm's ignoring my commands!" Cptn Swain: ACTION> The Computer locks out Rhan's inputs. In fact, the entire core is starting to encrypt. Hunter Matheson: :::Stanton:: Sir... We're changing course, full power, Sheliak space. Tandaris Admiran: It seems to be hijacking the ship, how exciting. Rhan K'hal: I'd suggest getting the other unit out and reenacting your incident with the EMP Cptn Swain: ::Blissfully unaware what's happening to *his* ship:: Rhan K'hal: Because my computer is not my computer anymore. That's the last time I buy something for you, by the way. William Chocox: ((Is it physically connected to the ship's computer?)) William Chocox: Things were going fine until your attempts at talking to it. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> What? ::Strides to helm.:: Shut it down... can you override? Irene Mincine: :: Irene, in the science lab, watches the readings change as the ship starts acting on its own. :: "Um... lieutenant...?" Hakran K'hal: Looks like we're going for a ride. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ Captain, we have a situation. You're needed on the bridge immediately. Hunter Matheson: :::forcing tactical to respond to his commands::: Tactical station does not respond. Maryse Dubois: ::Sitting in her office, oblivious to what is happening elsewhere.:: Cptn Swain: +Jalen+ What now? ::Frowns and puts his book down:: Irene Mincine: :: Val shakes her head. She looks frustrated and angry. :: "Been trying since it started, commander. The computer's... locked up, or something. It's not answering any requests. I don't think anything short of pulling the plug to the warp core would stop us." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Engineering+ What's going on down there? We're locked out of helm. Report! Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> I'm afraid the lieutenant is correct, Commander. The computer is being encrypted right under my fingertips. William Chocox: +Bridge+ Unexpected results from a science experiment Commander. We're working on getting it under control. Irene Mincine: :: Irene leans against the science console impotently. :: "I knew I should have stayed in my quarters... Is there anything we can do from here to help?" Hakran K'hal: :: transfers their data to his padd and shuts it off before he loses ability to access it :: Tandaris Admiran: Maybe this is a good time to shut down the core and engage manual overrides? Indaura Ryssan: :: Reading an article entitled: "Feet of the Federation" :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ We've lost control of our systems. Helm, engines... ::Glances at Obee.:: Apparently our computer is locking us out. William Chocox: Yes, yes it is Commander. Shutting everything down. ::slaps the big red button:: Cptn Swain: +Jalen+ W-what. ::Goes to leave his quarters, but the doors are locked.:: Rhan K'hal: :: Tandyholo :: It certainly does seem their data streams are multiplexed. Rhan K'hal: It liked it when ours were too. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Trying to regain some control of *something*... *anything*...:: Irene Mincine: :: Val looks up from her console. :: "We're heading straight into Sheliak territory, commander. We're violating about a thousand treaties." Hakran K'hal: I'm having trouble even pulling up more of our sensors. I'm not sure there's anything we can do. Maryse Dubois: ::Notices her computer flicker. It doesn't respond when she tries to adjust it.:: Hmm... Cptn Swain: ACTION> IN response to the commands to sh*tdown, the warp core does not in fact power down. However, Excalibur comes to a stop, just outside of Sheliak space. Irene Mincine: Irene> "We get a ping from the probe, now we're flying to its source?" Cptn Swain: +Jalen+ And I am locked in my quarters now. Indaura Ryssan: (lol) Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: looks at the map :: Well, that was close. Maryse Dubois: ::Gets up and, so finds she is stuck in her office when the doors do not open.:: +Indaura+ I uh...may need some help. My office door is stuck. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ I suggest you get it under control faster. Cptn Swain: << Well, thats a typo >> Maryse Dubois: ((haha)) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( Was it, tho? )) Hunter Matheson: :::close focus on weapons control, shields, long range sensors:::: Irene Mincine: Val> :: Lets out a sigh of relief when the ship stops. :: "Or not. We're holding position 50,000 kilometers from the border beacon. I still have no helm control, though. It did that on its own." Rhan K'hal: :: looks over the data on screen at the console nearest to him :: We did stop. Cptn Swain: ACTION> Weapons, shields, transporter control, navigation, and long range communications are all encrypted. Indaura Ryssan: :: Goes to Dr. Dubois' door :: I am just outside it. Can you hear me? Rhan K'hal: Looks like we didn't quite make it into Sheliak space. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ And get someone to the Captain's quarters ASAP to override his door! Maryse Dubois: ::Nods.:: William Chocox: Thank you Lieutenant J.G. Obvious. +Stanton+ Aye sir. Hakran K'hal: Let's try getting to the bridge. Hunter Matheson: Commander Stanton, sir. Tactical is not responding to anything. Indaura Ryssan: :: Tries the manual override :: William Chocox: ::starts working on trying to get control back:: Indaura Ryssan: +Dubois+ The manual override is not working. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ I've got engineering coming to you, sir. Maryse Dubois: ::Sighs:: Cptn Swain: ACTION> The device itself begins blinking, ominously. Cptn Swain: +Stanton+ Keep me updated, what the heck happened? Irene Mincine: Irene> "Good idea." :: She tries the door to the science lab, which doesn't open. :: "...or not. Where's the manual override?" Indaura Ryssan: :: Swings the panel away to release the magnetic clamps :: Maryse Dubois: +Indaura+ Alright. I'll make a call. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Swain+ Engineering reports an out of control experiment. Details are still unclear, sir. Indaura Ryssan: :: Yells :: Father said I should have been an engineer. Hakran K'hal: :: kneels down next to the door and opens the panel, flips the switch :: Cptn Swain: +Stanton+ Oh good lord. Maryse Dubois: +Rhan+ What is happening? I'm stuck in my office. Rhan K'hal: +Maryse+ Poo. Fan. Cptn Swain: ACTION> Main power flickers and back ups kick in. But it's now ominously dark with red flashing lights because isn't that what always happens? Maryse Dubois: +Rhan+ Great Irene Mincine: :: Irene pulls open the science lab door with her astonishing Klingon strength. :: "We're free. Let's get to deck 1." Maryse Dubois: ::Looks up at the dark red lights.:: Hakran K'hal: Hold up. :: grabs an emergency kit to haul along, plus two phasers :: William Chocox: Reynolds! Where's that one we technically do not have?! Hunter Matheson: :::attempting to reroute tactical console, muttering:: Not good. Hakran K'hal: :: holds out one of the phasers to Irene :: Now we can go. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Strides over to the lift to call it to the bridge and finds it locked down. Moves to the Captain's ready room, but finds the door locked, as well.:: Anybody got anything? Anybody? ::Looking to the others on the bridge.:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Looks up :: Great Indaura Ryssan: +Dubois+ The door is still locked Rhan K'hal: :: mostly watching the computer do its own thing, occasionally presses something to get more information rather than trying to change anything :: Hunter Matheson: ::and where the hell is his superior officer that might even be able to lend a hand::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> It misfiled it in the aux storage. ::Runs to go get it.:: Maryse Dubois: Well it's nice to know my office can serve as a brig cell in a pinch... William Chocox: We may have EMP our way out of this. Knowing our luck though, it'll be impervious to the EMP. Hunter Matheson: ::Stanton:: None here, sir. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Shakes her head. :: "Main power's out, so we don't have to worry about going anywhere. Helm's nada. I... I think I felt another burst of energy from whatever they're doing in engineering through my implants, like I did before." Cptn Swain: Rex> +Bridge+ Security to the bridge. What the heck is going on up here. We're all locked in down here in security. William Chocox: +Stanton+ Chocox to Stanton. Rhan K'hal: I did recommend that BEFORE we were parked at the border of Sheliak space you know. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Mm-hmm." :: She takes the phaser and heads off with Hakran. :: "Just in case the Sheliak pay us a visit..." Indaura Ryssan: :: Goes to the sickbay door and...it won't open :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Comes back lugging their purloined EMP device.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ Go ahead. Tandaris Admiran: ::looks at the device:: What's this? Indaura Ryssan: +Dubois+ I am locked in sickbay. Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ Matheson here sir. Everything's locked down. Working on it now. Rhan K'hal: That's the one that EMP'd. It was "lost" on its way to transfer to Starfleet Security. Cptn Swain: +Hunter+ Lovely. We're trying to get the doors open, but the manual overrides aren't working. Maryse Dubois: +Bridge+ I don't suppose there is anyone around that is strong enough to free us from sickbay? We're all a little stuck. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Drops it on the workspace.:: Sir? Do you think it wise to active this thing? William Chocox: It's another Sheliak device. It's the one that caused the EMP on the ship the Elasians were selling to the Cardassians. +Stanton+ Commander, we're preparing to trigger an EMP to try to regain control of the ship. ::covers his comm badge:: No, but when I've run out of good ideas I turn to the bad ones. Indaura Ryssan: +Dubois+ Glad I was not under a biobed scanner. Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ Copy that, sir. Nothing's working, sir. Trying. Hakran K'hal: Looks like we'll be climbing. :: opens a jefferies tube hatch :: Hunter Matheson: (Just don't get stuck in the tube) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ An EMP?! You think that's going to work? Cptn Swain: (( Once more with feeling, everyone give me a number 1-10 )) Irene Mincine: Irene> "I needed a good workout. Shame the air conditioning isn't on backup power..." Irene Mincine: (( 7 )) Rhan K'hal: ((3)) Maryse Dubois: ((8)) Hakran K'hal: ((1)) Hunter Matheson: (7.02) William Chocox: (( 8 )) Indaura Ryssan: ((1)) Cptn Swain: (( 5 )) Irene Mincine: Val> :: Looked a bit worried hearing Stanton yelling about an EMP. :: William Chocox: +Stanton+ I ran out of good ideas so I'm turning to the bad ideas. Rhan K'hal: ::Will:: Oh, by the way. I have a feeling the transponder on that has been going off. Just in case you needed to be more worried. Hakran K'hal: :: climbing, climbing, climbing :: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> ::Val:: Lieutenant... do you need to ah... turn off your eye before they try that? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Maryse+ We're working on it, Doctor. Hang tight. Engineering is doing what they can. William Chocox: ::wheels around and points at K'hal:: I do not need comments from the peanut gallery right now. Irene Mincine: Val> "I'd have to go to sickbay to do that." Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Oh... nuts. Rhan K'hal: :: shrugs, turns to Tandygram :: Was he this grumpy as a #2? William Chocox: ::turns back to Reynolds:: I've tried telling it to turn off, I've tried ejecting the core, I've tried breaking back into the computer and nothing's worked so far. Do you have a better idea than setting off an EMP? Because my next bad idea is shooting it with a phaser. Tandaris Admiran: ::K'hal:: We can deal with interpersonal conflict later. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Shakes his head.:: Uh... no, sir. I think the phaser thing would be a very bad idea. Rhan K'hal: That's easy for you to say, if the EMP works we'll be waking you up in a few hours. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> I've already tried severing the power and it is clinging to the nodes like a mechanical leech. Maryse Dubois: ::Leans on her desk as she waits.:: Tandaris Admiran: ::Chocox:: A device this sophisticated would be shielded against EMPs, no? Tandaris Admiran: We might just make it angry. William Chocox: ::looks over at Tandygram:: Then I need an idea. Irene Mincine: Irene> "What deck are we on, anyway?" :: Climbing... ::: Hakran K'hal: :: stops at a 4 way exchange :: Deck 5. Sickbay is just off of here. Should we check in or keep on keepin' on? Tandaris Admiran: Why don't we view this as an opportunity instead of a crisis? William Chocox: ::gives Tandygram a look:: Because it is a crisis. Tandaris Admiran: The device is clearly working, which means we were on the right track to communicating with it. Tandaris Admiran: ::walks around the perimeter, stroking his chin:: We just need to keep it talking. Irene Mincine: Irene> "We might as well see if we can get more info from there." Rhan K'hal: :: tilts head, looks at Tandygram :: How would you like a holobuddy? Tandaris Admiran: Hmm? Hakran K'hal: :: nods :: Beats climbing. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Do we have sensors? Even passive sensors? Can we see what's going on out there? ::Pacing.:: Rhan K'hal: Well, we're talking to a computer right now, technically. Why not... invite our new overlord to join us? Hakran K'hal: :: climbs off and starts crawling toward the sickbay hatch :: Hunter Matheson: :::and meanwhile, on MARDEK, some are stuck in the showers, toilets don't work, instructors try to pry open the doors, and all kinds of other stuff::: Irene Mincine: Val> :: Shakes her head. :: "I've got nothing on navigation. We could be flying into a star and I wouldn't know." Tandaris Admiran: I'm not sure the computer can handle the overhead of translating Sheliak command protocols into an optronic interface and also generate some form of personality template. But you might be on to something Tandaris Admiran: A device like this must have diagnostic protocols. Indaura Ryssan: +Dubois+ Do we know what happened? Tandaris Admiran: If we could send it some kind of error signal, perhaps we could trick it into thinking it needs to shut down and run a diagnostic cycle. Hakran K'hal: :: pops out next to the sickbay doors :: Maryse Dubois: +Indaura+ Not at the moment. Tandaris Admiran: If we channel the multiplexed signals through the holographic emitters, that might garble them enough to confuse the device. In a good way. Rhan K'hal: I'm in, but he :: thumb point to Will :: has to buy what you're selling. Irene Mincine: :: Irene pulls the manual override on the sickbay doors. :: "Anything?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Looks at Chocox.:: What if the hologram has been taken over by that thing? It could be giving us bad advice. ::Scowling at the Tandy Holo, that he still did not trust.:: Tandaris Admiran: ::Chocox:: Normally you know I'm all for blowing things up, but this is one time we need to finesse it. Hakran K'hal: :: opens the emergency kit and grabs the magnetic clamps :: Let's try these. William Chocox: It's the best idea I've heard that doesn't involve weapons. Hakran K'hal: :: whaps one on each door, takes the left side :: Tandaris Admiran: The device is clearly reacting out of self-defense. It's trying to seize control of Excalibur. If we can overwhelm it into a diagnostic mode, we buy ourselves time to regain control. Irene Mincine: :: Irene takes the right side. :: "OK, let's go!" :: Struggles mightily to open the door. :: Hakran K'hal: :: heaves :: Tandaris Admiran: You'll have to take my program offline for a minute while you emit the erroneous signals through the holo-emitters. Rhan K'hal: I promise not to delete you. Yet. William Chocox: That's fine. Let's get to work. Tandaris Admiran: :::K'hal:: And I promise not to reprogram the alien device to epilate you hair by hair. Am I getting the hang of this "banter" thing? Irene Mincine: Irene> "I think it's... going..." Rhan K'hal: Apparently. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ Well? What's going on down there? Any progress? Tandaris Admiran: It's not in my programming, but I think I might be a fas...”::disappears as he's deactivated:: Cptn Swain: (( lol )) Rhan K'hal: :: taptaptap - turns off Tandygram :: Cptn Swain: 3 MINUTE WARNING Hakran K'hal: :: between the two of them they manage to slide the double doors open enough for most fit crewmembers to fit through :: Irene Mincine: "Why are these doors... not fail-safe, anyway...?" :: Irene lets go of the magnetic clamp, exhausted. :: William Chocox: +Stanton+ We're not going with the EMP, we're instead going to attempt to force the device into a diagnostic cycle. Hakran K'hal: Thats :: wheeze :: a good :: wheeze :: question. :: wheeze :: Cptn Swain: ::Meanwhile an engineering team has finally opened his door, but have informed him of the turbolifts being down, and he decided to go with them back to engineering:: Hakran K'hal: :: sticks head through doorway into sickbay :: Anybody home? Indaura Ryssan: I am here. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Everyone okay in there?" Rhan K'hal: :: inputs a few final programmatic notes :: Ready on my end. Hakran K'hal: :: takes the mag clamps off and squeezes inside :: Maryse Dubois: ::Thought she heard a couple more voices. Stands up from her desk corner.:: Indaura Ryssan: Can you get the doctor, the other doctor, out of her office? Hakran K'hal: Oh, more breaking and entering. Yay. Irene Mincine: :: Irene's sweaty, but still going. :: "Ready for round 2?" Hakran K'hal: Let's do it. :: sees the releases have already been thrown open so slaps the clamps on the door at staggered heights :: Hakran K'hal: I'll go low, I have more lower leg power. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> +Chocox+ If you think that will work, then get it done. We're sitting ducks out here. Hakran K'hal: :: crouches down, digs his boots in :: William Chocox: On three Reynolds. One...two...three... ::activates what they need to:: Rhan K'hal: All right. Here goes everything. :: pushes the button :: Cptn Swain: ACTION> The device blinks a few more times, before beeping at a high enough pitch that only Rhan or other hearing enhanced species could hear, and then finally shutting down. Computer lock outs are overriden, and main power comes back online, but there's also now a giant encrypted data file in the computer core. Hakran K'hal: :: pullllllllls :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene goes higher, shoving the door open, hopefully... :: "You... need my workout program." Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0412.2020 - No Sim SD 0419.2020 Excalibur continues to study a T-Tauri Star near Sheliak space, but a small alteration to the probes at Captain Swain's orders has started to reveal some unusual readings; meanwhile in Engineering Commander Tandaris "Clippy" Admiran in hologram form has returned to assist with a rather pesky device that resembles those we found aboard the Elasian ships. Also medical is exploring a mystery related to some uh, organic packing material.

MISSION BRIEFING: Excalibur continues to study the T-Tauri star on the edge of Sheliak space, while engineering is making progress in determining what exactly the device they have placed in a "spa" does. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Indaura Ryssan: :: drinking coffee for her troubled soul :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene's in her bunk, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the star they're studying. She made a discovery! Yay. :: Hunter Matheson: ::checking out the area at tactical:: Cptn Swain: Colmack> ::The sandy blond medical lab technician entered medical with a deeply furrowed brow, looking for someone above her paygrade.:: William Chocox: ::is standing in Engineering:: But we do know that it can actually be talked to rather than exploding in lights and radiation every time we so much as look at it. Hakran K'hal: :: in his office, studying data quietly after having sent the report with Irene's idea off :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Squinting at the readings scrolling on his screen. He prodded a few of the spikes and flicked them off into his chart parameters.:: Tandaris Admiran: ::still in engineering, reading everything in the database about the Sheliak...it isn't much:: William Chocox: ::looks at what Reynolds is doing:: Anything interesting there? Maryse Dubois: ::Walking through sickbay, notices Colmack.:: Ms. Colmack? Do you need something? Rhan K'hal: :: leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching the engineers for the moment :: Cptn Swain: Colmack> ::Smiles, pleased to have found someone important to foist this back off on:: Yes, Ma'am. I finished my analysis of the samples your staff took from the engineering staff exposed to the contaminated shipping container. Irene Mincine: :: Irene wrote up a report on the Sheliak recently, didn't she? She hops out of her bunk and digs through her things. :: Indaura Ryssan: :: Spies Colmack. She continues to drink from the mug in her hand. She needed more practice listening. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::After reviewing yet another report and signing off on a dozen more, Jalen rose from his seat on the bridge to stretch with a loud, jaw popping, neck crunching groan. He grunted as he compressed again and sighed.:: Anything new on sensors? ::Asking anyone who was still awake on bridge duty.:: Irene Mincine: Val> "Nada." :: Came the response from helm. :: Maryse Dubois: Oh? What did you find? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Ah, looks like a cyclical spike in energy readings. I'm charting it now. Seems to be a pattern here. William Chocox: Alright Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Everything is quiet on the communications front. :: halfway to the replicator :: Hunter Matheson: Nothing on tactical, Commander. One bunch of garbage that floated past. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: gets a bottle of water :: Get anyone anything? Tandaris Admiran: Limbs Hunter Matheson: And here I thought that we only did that on earth a long time back. ::cynical:: William Chocox: I've got four of them Commander Admiran. Tandaris Admiran: Chocox, quick, how ma...oh, good. Anticipated me. Tandaris Admiran: ::looks down:: So do I. ::looks around:: Most of us do. Tandaris Admiran: But the Sheliak ... the Sheliak aren't humanoid. Rhan K'hal: Oh for heaven sake, stop calling him by his rank, he's a hologram. And I can give you six more if you want. William Chocox: Argument could be made that Lieutenant K'hal has 5 limbs, but I'm not sure how his tail is classified anatomically speaking. And it's just polite. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Waves a hand at Obee.:: Black coffee. The strong stuff, but not Klingon. ::Shudders.:: Cptn Swain: Colmack> ::frowns, and hands her a PADD:: I've never seen anything like this before. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> Of course, Commander. :: orders one up, delivers the steaming cup to Stanton :: Maryse Dubois: Well that doesn't sound reassuring. ::Takes the PADD, looking it over.:: Tandaris Admiran: We don't actually know what the Sheliak look like. We just get vague images when we communicate. But they almost certainly have more than 2 primary limbs. William Chocox: And? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Appreciated. ::He took a careful sip before he started to pace, working circulation back into his limbs.:: So... space garbage, huh? Composition? William Chocox: Are you thinking that if we had multiple limbs we'd be able to get it to work? Irene Mincine: Val> "Commander..." :: She didn't seem enthused about the prospects of tracking down space garbage.; :: Cptn Swain: Colmack> It appears to be some sort of proto-fungal growth. I ran it through the computer and the closest we could match it is to... ::frowns:: Breen reproductive byproduct. Tandaris Admiran: We don't need multiple limbs. But we do need to think like users who have more than 2 limbs. Maryse Dubois: Oh my... Rhan K'hal: Why, do we need to scratch our buts at the same time we press buttons on the opposite sides of the unit? Cptn Swain: Colmack> But that seems ... well.. unlikely given where we're at and that the cells were still alive far above temperatures the Breen can survive. Anyway... you can read my full report. Unless there was something else. William Chocox: That's easier said than done Commander. Tandaris Admiran: ::whirls on Rhan:: Look, you can make slights on my photonic nature all you like, I don't care. I am, after all, as you say, "just a hologram." But if you don't actually care about discovering what this device does or helping us out here, then you can go back to the Bridge or whichever other part of this ship best suits your ... ::wrinkles his nose:: sourpuss humour. Maryse Dubois: ::Shakes.:: I think that will be all, thank you. Rhan K'hal: What I would like is for you to get to the point. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Waves off Val's concern.:: I'm just asking if the sensors happened to pick anything up. Tandaris Admiran: I just did. We need to consider that the device is keyed to input from users with multiple limbs. Tandaris Admiran: It would make sense that their data streams would be multiplexed as well. Why would a multi-limbed species necessarily use binary coding? Cptn Swain: Colmack> ::nods and vanishes, never to be seen again, but perhaps mentioned in random dialog over the next few seasons.:: Irene Mincine: :: Val sighs. :: "There was a minor energy flux reading on one navigational scanner. It could be out of alignment. :: William Chocox: That's a good point. Cptn Swain: ::Getting engrossed in his novel.:: Hunter Matheson: :::sensors picking things up...hm...::: Hunter Matheson: ::his eyes narrow, now wondering where the garbage came from and why it's there, floating around... unless it's not garbage::: Maryse Dubois: ::Looks over at Indaura.:: Why would they use a proto-fungus as a packing material? Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> :: at bridge science :: All readings from the T-Tauri are within expected parameters. And whatever it was was non-organic, that would've set off an alert, considering our location. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Run a diagnostic. Let's be certain. ::Taking a bit of a stroll around the bridge, he paused at the auxiliary tactical station since the man tactical station was being handled by Matheson, poking a bit at the various sensor readings.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Frowning at his chart.:: Well... definitely a power cycle here. It seems to be ramping up. Warming up for something? Irene Mincine: "Aye." :: Val sounded extremely bored. She tapped the controls and initiated a diagnostic cycle on the navigational sensors and auto-deflector. :: Hunter Matheson: :::also poking around, looking for that piece of junk that he should have followed for a while::: Irene Mincine: :: Irene, meanwhile, had found a flask among her Klingon ritual goods. She unscrewed the top and sniffed the contents. She retched and threw the entire flask in the replicator's garbage receptacle. :: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: arrives back at ops with his bottle of water, sips as he checks over the console :: Indaura Ryssan: :: Thinks :: Perhaps it prevented some other contagion from spreading. William Chocox: ::walks over to look at Reynolds charts:: What's happening? Indaura Ryssan: Do we know which of the four types this proto-fungus is? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Points at the spiky bits.:: The cycles are growing closer, like the device is revving or increasing speed. No noticeable changes elsewhere, but it is definitely active. Rhan K'hal: :: on his XL sized padd, working on something, his ears swiveling to catch the chatter when needed :: William Chocox: Hm...interesting. We don't happen to have something like this for the previous times it activated? Maryse Dubois: ::Hands Indaura the PADD that she was given.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Nothing we could detect. Then again, before we were being a bit too intrusive, I guess. Indaura Ryssan: :: Reads :: William Chocox: Good point. Does it look like anything is about to happen aside from the power cycles? Indaura Ryssan: We will have to see how this fungus reproduces... Cptn Swain: ACTION> The science team gets a notification from one of the probes, and it does not appear to be on a bandwidth normally scanned by science probes, but on one Swain had instructed the science teams to adjust the probes to monitor. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> I mean... not that I can see. I'm monitoring all other outputs, but don't see anything else terribly strange. Hakran K'hal: :: gets an alert, checks on it :: Hakran K'hal: :: ears perk :: William Chocox: Hm...I almost want to scan it deeper to see what's happening, but I'm scared that that would set it off. Hakran K'hal: +Irene+ K'hal to Ensign Mincine, report to my office. Irene Mincine: :: Irene gets the transmission as she's about to break open a bottle of bloodwine. She closes her eyes, burying her Klingon grumpiness, then answers as calm as a model officer. :: "Mincine here. On my way." :: She packs it up and heads off to the science office. :: Maryse Dubois: Small scale of course. We don't want that getting out of control. Hakran K'hal: :: to himself :: So much for the computer just filing these away. Tandaris Admiran: We could try modifying the protocols we're using. Tandaris Admiran: See what kind of response that provokes William Chocox: That sounds like a good plan. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Provokes? I don't like the sound of that... Irene Mincine: :: Irene arrives at Hakran's office. :: "You just sent me off duty..." William Chocox: As in "What happens after we do that." not "How aggressive will it be." Tandaris Admiran: Sure. Tandaris Admiran: Sure. Hakran K'hal: :: looks up at Irene :: I know, but I have a feeling you'd be more annoyed if I hadn't called you. We got a notification from the probe. And it most certainly isn't about a micro-wormhole. Though to be honest I'm not entirely sure what it is for. Indaura Ryssan: I will get right on it Doctor. Irene Mincine: :: Irene perks up. Now she's happy again. :: "Oh? We got something? What direction's it coming from? Wish we knew what we were *looking* for, but..." Maryse Dubois: ::Nods.:: Alright Indaura Ryssan: :: Goes to set up the experiment :: Hakran K'hal: Let's see exactly what we have. Hakran K'hal: :: opens the full information packet from the probe :: Irene Mincine: "Sounds good." :: Irene sets to analyzing the readings, pinpointing the source, strength, etc... :: Rhan K'hal: You want a multi-limbed approach, well then, here's a set that a Tholian on its head couldn't juggle. :: updates the "conversation" :: William Chocox: ::watches:: Hakran K'hal: I'm a bit surprised that it so openly waved the flag. Apparently this isn't meant to be hands off, whatever it is. Though it wouldn't surprise me if the Captain came flying through the doors in ten seconds. Irene Mincine: "He can't hide it from us, we're the ones who are supposed to be looking for the flag." :: Irene crunches away at the probe's results. :: Rhan K'hal: :: tucks his padd under his arm again, waits to see what their little device thinks of it :: Hakran K'hal: I was hoping it would just encrypt it and send it off to the nearest Starfleet comm relay and leave us alone. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Guess that's the captain's job, not ours." Tandaris Admiran: ACTION> The device's conversation with the computer picks up the pace. The device accesses critical command pathways, setting off a lot of alarms. Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0405.2020 Excalibur continues to study the T-Tauri star on the edge of Sheliak space, while engineering is making progress in determining what exactly the device they have placed in a "spa" does.

MISSION BRIEF: When we last left off, Engineering had acquired the services of a a hologram Tandaris, who apparently had managed to stick a "Clippy" program, but for "unconventionally engineering" in the Excalibur computer core. He suggested they "take the device to the spa." Whilst science came up with a novel theory to explain our grumpy T-Tauri star. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Rhan K'hal: :: with Reynolds having pushed the button, waits to see if Tandaris' Massage Parlor helps :: William Chocox: ::watches with K'hal:: Cptn Swain: << Give me a number engineering folks 1-10 >> Hunter Matheson: :::Tactical:::: Rhan K'hal: (( 9 )) William Chocox: (( 8 )) Irene Mincine: Irene> "Writing, writing, writing..." :: Irene's writing up a report about their theories about the star's formation. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: ( 4 ) Cptn Swain: ACTION> The device seems to calm down, considerably. "Clippy" nods approvingly, but apparently there's a short in the holographic imagers and for the moment, the holotandy vanishes. Hakran K'hal: :: in astrometrics with Irene, working on the math section of the report :: Rhan K'hal: :: watches HoloTandy disappear :: He must've forgot to program himself for success. Maryse Dubois: ::Walking through sickbay.:: Rhan K'hal: :: looks at the data :: William Chocox: Apparently. So it's calmed down, but we still need to know what it actually does. Hunter Matheson: :::sweeping the area, focus on anything that shouldn't be there, which is a whole lot 'cause he's never been here before:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::sighs with relief.:: Maybe it'll let us scan it now to find out. William Chocox: You could try. Irene Mincine: :: Irene is happily writing away. :: Irene> "This is what I like doing, not getting shot at..." Hakran K'hal: :: chuckles :: It's far superior to writing personnel reviews, too. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Ensign Mincine, rating 100%. Discovered a new, funkier T Tauri star variation. There." Hakran K'hal: Since we've changed ships though, the clock got reset on that so there's still another 113 days before the next round is due. Hakran K'hal: I'll jot that down as a possible lead statement though. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Okay, but don't blame me if it starts getting irritated again. ::He engaged their scans and set the computer to start prodding the device in a gentler fashion, like a deep tissue massage.:: Rhan K'hal: :: crosses arms, observes :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene grins. :: "All right." William Chocox: ::watches and waits for data:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Looks up at Dr. Dubois :: Maryse Dubois: ::Smiles.:: Hello Cptn Swain: ::Still in his quarters, drinking tea and reading the Betazoid novel:: Hakran K'hal: There, I think that'll about do it for the math. :: does one of those jaw-splitting felinoid yawns that make you glad your head isn't anywhere near that gaping mouth :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( Betazoid *romance* novel )) Hunter Matheson: :::Crenshaw sends him the list of bogus serial numbers::: Irene Mincine: "You look like you need a raktajino, or a nice long nap..." :: The contagious yawn spreads to Irene, who isn't quite able to unhinge her jaw like that... :: William Chocox: Well, it still hasn't blown up yet. Cptn Swain: (( Romance was a period, not a genre )) Hakran K'hal: Too sedentary in too dark of a room is all. I'll just need a good walk after we're done. Rhan K'hal: Give it time. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> To blow up?! ::Throws Rhan a look.:: Tandaris Admiran: ::his hologram reappears facing a bulkhead again:: Well that was—oh, come on! ::turns around:: That was inconvenient. Everyone still alive? William Chocox: Yes sir. Rhan K'hal: If you expect the worst, you can't be disappointed. Rhan K'hal: Welcome back Spotty. So far, so good. Hunter Matheson: :::mutter::: Crap.... +com+ LtCdr Rex, Matheson. Sending you the list of bogus serial numbers, sir. Not many, but worked over. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Jumps at the hologram's reappearance.:: Oh, good. That thing is back. William Chocox: Without Commander Admiran you wouldn't have the Engineering Chief you have today. Tandaris Admiran: ::approaches the device, careful not to get too close:: Good, good. So now we can begin the real work. Irene Mincine: :: Irene grins. :: "Yeah, sounds good to me, too. I like the dark astrometrics room, but I prefer a bright genetics lab." Cptn Swain: Rex> +Matheson+ I see. Well, glad we caught them. Good work. Hakran K'hal: :: sends his portion over to Irene :: Wrap it up. I'd say put a bow on it too, but then you'd have to hand-deliver it. Indaura Ryssan: Hello Doctor. I hear they have found or discovered... something, a new hologram Rhan K'hal: And what, pray tell, is the "real work?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Isn't this... already real work? ::Blinking.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Feels pretty real... and dangerous... to me. Hunter Matheson: :::continues to scan the area for something other than stars, asteroids, space dust, and other junk::: Rhan K'hal: And no, you can't turn it into a cloaking device. William Chocox: Unless the possible outcome is immediate death it typically isn't real enough for Commander Admiran. Tandaris Admiran: Figuring out how to interact and control with the device, of course. William Chocox: That's also a good point. Tandaris Admiran: Unless you like remaining ignorant and at the mercy of possibly hostile alien tech. Irene Mincine: "Gotcha." :: Irene collects the report parts together and prepares it for sending off. :: "We should be good now to send this off to... wait, you're the science officer..." Rhan K'hal: Oh, I never would've thought of that without your assistance. Woe is my tiny little mind. Hunter Matheson: ::blink::: Huh..... ::zooms in, talking to himself::: Looks like someone left their garbage. Hakran K'hal: :: gets up, heads over to Irene's console and sends the report to Swain with a CC to Stanton :: Hakran K'hal: There. Maryse Dubois: Oh? What kind of hologram? Indaura Ryssan: Not an EMH or even an ECH... for engineering. Hakran K'hal: Done. You're officially off duty until your shift starts tomorrow. Irene Mincine: Irene> "There we go." :: She stretches out her back after all that work. "Break tiiiiime!" William Chocox: ((Who told?!)) Tandaris Admiran: So, ideas? Hunter Matheson: ::and yeah...it's garbage::: Rhan K'hal: How about a little acupuncture to go with your massage? Send a single data packet in various frequencies to see just how this thing likes to talk. William Chocox: This is the farthest we've gotten so I haven't the foggiest. William Chocox: Though that's a good idea. Tandaris Admiran: Agreed. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::in his office, looking over the information on the serial numbers. It was a bit concerning. He forwarded along the information to both command and operations. Procurement issues were decidedly "not his problem.":: Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks quite happy to be off duty. She's been on duty for 16 hours straight. :: "Yes... all right. I'll keep an ear out for calls about the report." Hakran K'hal: :: nods :: Now let's escape from this dreary dungeon. And not tell Dasnh I said that. Rhan K'hal: :: snags the console and programs in a series of data pings :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I won't tell Valdar if you don't." :: She heads for the big double doors at the end of the room. :: Maryse Dubois: Hmm...That's interesting. I wonder who it resembles. Hakran K'hal: :: follows :: Rhan K'hal: There, I've programmed to do it relatively slowly. Wouldn't want it to think we're probing it. Just, whispering sweet nothings. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::More than happy to let someone else poke the thing for a bit.:: Rhan K'hal: Activating... now. :: pulls the lever :: Indaura Ryssan: I have no idea. Hakran K'hal: Good work Irene, enjoy your rest. Irene Mincine: "Thank you." :: Irene heads off to her quarters from astrometrics. :: Tandaris Admiran: ACTION> The device definitely reacts to the data packets. Power levels spike, but not in the threatening way like before. Readings are more complex and ordered. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: gets Rex's forward, but is already working on it thanks to his prior eavesdropping :: William Chocox: That's new. Rhan K'hal: Looks like it's multilingual, in a sense. It's reacting to a number of different frequencies. That's not generally how you design something unless you don't know whether you can get through with a "preferred" channel. Rhan K'hal: Unless its designed to be a set of very efficient ears. Something I'd know a thing or two about. William Chocox: I mean, it wouldn't surprise me. Hakran K'hal: :: takes a power walk through the corridors :: Rhan K'hal: Let's see. :: cross-references the "active" received channels with known device frequencies in the database :: Tandaris Admiran: Well, what do we know about the Sheliak? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Suddenly inundated with reports, he sighed and stood, heading for the replicator.:: Rhan K'hal: They're not too fond of anyone not Sheliak, for a start. Tandaris Admiran: True, hence the defensive protocols. Tandaris Admiran: Anything perhaps more pertinent to communication, command & control? William Chocox: That they're confusing as hell? Rhan K'hal: They also have a remarkable consideration for the tiniest of details. Indaura Ryssan: I don't think I can counsel a hologram, can I? Maryse Dubois: You could always try Tandaris Admiran: Detail-oriented, good. Hakran K'hal: :: emerges onto the bridge feeling a bit peppier after his walk :: Indaura Ryssan: +Captain+ The grapevine is that there's a new hologram on the ship? Rhan K'hal: And if memory serves, even if they didn't want to talk to us they still learned a few of our languages anyway. Irene Mincine: :: Val is in her usual spot at helm up on the bridge. :: Tandaris Admiran: So they're good with languages. Maybe their device has a rich language interface as a result? The frequency modulations could give us a clue about how to map the command pathways. Rhan K'hal: Hmm. I guess I'll just have to have a sit-down conversation with the little guy then. Rhan K'hal: :: creates a new routine, this time with language packets instead of random data :: Rhan K'hal: Okay, let's try this one on for size. :: begins his "conversation" :: Rhan K'hal: :: looks over to Chocox and Reynolds :: Aren't you glad I insinuated myself into this? William Chocox: Yes. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Leans back a bit, rubbing the back of his neck.:: From massages to conversation? This thing is... very odd. ::Throws Rhan a glance.:: Better you than me, sir. William Chocox: They're metaphors Reynolds. Rhan K'hal: :: glance at Spotty :: The next time I see you, well the real you, I'll have to congratulate you on a hologram well programmed. Hopefully you're retired so I can also punch you in the face for invading my computer, but one thing at a time. William Chocox: Punching? Really? Must we resort to violence? Rhan K'hal: Have you forgotten Commander Hawthorne already? Sad. Tandaris Admiran: ACTION> The device reacts favourably to the "conversation," although it doesn't seem to make much headway. The computer maps a rigid structure of command pathways, but there is no way to understand which commands trigger which features of the device - a map without a key. Tandaris Admiran: ::K'hal:: Thank you, I guess? William Chocox: But would she resort to punching Commander Admiran? Rhan K'hal: :: grunts at the data :: Well, progress. It's definitely not up for a tea party and gossip. William Chocox: Unfortunate. Rhan K'hal: :: glances at Will :: The real question isn't whether she WOULD, but if she'd WANT to. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( Three minute warning )) Tandaris Admiran: We've at least learned the device is complex. It's not just a bomb with a detonator. Irene Mincine: :: Irene, meanwhile, has crashed hard on her bunk. :: Tandaris Admiran: It looks like it has a large vocabulary, if you will. It can be calibrated and programmed to a great level of specificity. Rhan K'hal: :: sighs :: So we really know nothing more other than it's going to be hard to find out anything more. Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0329.2020 When we last left off, Engineering had acquired the services of a a hologram Tandaris, who apparently had managed to stick a "Clippy" program, but for "unconventionally engineering" in the Excalibur computer core. He suggested they "take the device to the spa." Whilst science came up with a novel theory to explain our grumpy T-Tauri star.

MISSION BRIEF: Excalibur continues to survey a t-tauri star on the edge of Sheliak space while Engineering hopes that their efforts to erect a containment field around the device they bought doesn't blow up in their faces, literally. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Irene Mincine: :: Irene is looking at the latest readings on the funky star from their probe. :: "Could it have eaten a comet or something?" Hakran K'hal: :: in astrometrics, cross-referencing the probe microwormhole scans with their own scans of the star :: Hakran K'hal: :: looks up, considers :: Irene Mincine: :: Val is keeping everyone safe from microwormholes and other celestial nasties at helm. :: William Chocox: Lieutenant K'hal? Which side of the fields do you want to be on before we throw the switch? Rhan K'hal: The side that doesn't have the device, thank you very much. :: stands behind Reynolds for good measure :: Cptn Swain: ::In his quarters, not outside of science being nosy. He looked through the self of books he hadn't touched in a while. His husband had re-arranged them to be in proper, Federation Library order. Hakran K'hal: A possibility, especially if it was a stray. William Chocox: Alright. Throw the switch Reynolds! ::keeps from cackling like a mad scientist:: Hunter Matheson: ::still in the armory, rechecking the recently bought phasers and recalibrating and since they've been checked and verified, he moves on to check the calibration on the type 2s in the armory::: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Or... redirected." :: She's sipping a steaming hot cup of tea. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Kinda squinty and scrunched, has a hard time not covering his bits and pieces just to be safe.:: Aye, sir. ::He tested the fields to ensure they were on and then, in a very undramatic moment, started scanning the device.:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Reading a medical journal :: Hakran K'hal: If you want to try your chops with the astrophysics simulator you can chuck some comets at a standard T Tauri without a protoplanetary disk and see what happens. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Sounds like fun. Mind if I bring it up on the big screen here?" Hakran K'hal: Go ahead, I'm in small-scale data mode at the moment. William Chocox: Hm...was hoping for a true cinematic experience. ::looks over at the data that's coming in:: Rhan K'hal: :: mostly to himself :: I was hoping to say "wrong levahhhh!" but oh well. Hunter Matheson: ::checks with MA Crenshaw and is satisfied::: Hakran K'hal: :: look up occasionally to see how good of a shot Irene is while the computer continues to crunch data :: Hunter Matheson: ::Crenshaw signs off on it, Kal verifies, and forwards everything to Rex::: +com+ Matheson to Rex. System check coming at you, sir. Irene Mincine: Irene> "All right." :: She steps over to the console in front of the big, holographic projection screen. :: "Computer, create a star system simulation matching the system we're currently in... generate a type-3 comet with heavy metallic core..." :: She specifies parameters for the simulation and fires the comet into the star. :: "It's gonna be a minute for the computer to generate results." Cptn Swain: Rex> +Matheson+ Good, good. Let's see what we have. Rhan K'hal: Hell seems to still be contained so far. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Relaxes a bit, watching the scrolling display.:: Everything looks relatively normal, sir. We're getting readings on the structural makeup. Cptn Swain: ACTION> The device seems to light up for a moment, and the containment field sputters for brief moment. Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ The best we could with what we have, sir. William Chocox: ::looks around:: Uh oh... Rhan K'hal: :: scowls at the device, tail swooshing :: Oh stop you little drama queen. Cptn Swain: Rex> +Matheson+ Understood. We can see what we have once we've gone through all of them but... I am leaning towards a requisition mess up. Maybe we should run the serials through the computer. Tandaris Admiran: ::materializes, holographically speaking, facing a bulkhead:: I see you're trying to"”oh, damn. ::turns around, spots Chocox:: I"” ::looks around:: Oh, new ship. That explains the miscalibration. Tandaris Admiran: ::Chocox:: I see you're trying to defuse a potentially dangerous, unknown alien device. Would you like some assistance with that? William Chocox: Commander Admiran?! Irene Mincine: Irene> "Not nearly enough mass for it to throw it off this far... Maybe we're on the right track though?" Hakran K'hal: Scale up. Try a rocky dwarf planet. Tandaris Admiran: ::looks at the device:: Ooooh, very shiny. I approve! Cptn Swain: ::Feels a disturbance in the force as he picks up a book, but shrugs it off:: William Chocox: It's also black market so I figure you would be even more proud. But how are you here? Tandaris Admiran: ::clears holographic throat:: Er, I mean, you're a very naughty engineer, etc., etc. I'm sure Commander Hawthorne is very displeased with you. Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ Done, sir. What we had aboard are verified. What they sold us was mostly verified. Some serials came as unverified, sir. Hunting them down now. Tandaris Admiran: I anticipated that if I ever left you alone for sufficient time, you'd eventually get in over your head. William Chocox: Commander Hawthorne is back on Utopia Planitia. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::His jaw dropped, blinking at the sudden holographic display, but he couldn't keep from glancing at the alien doohickey.:: Rhan K'hal: :: flicks ears back and forth :: Tandaris Admiran: So I designed "¦ me "¦ to be activated in the event of an emergency involving an unknown alien device. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Computer, same simulation, with a class-D dwarf planet instead, rare earth concentration." :: She glanced at the results. :: "That's more like it." Indaura Ryssan: :: Looking around for anyone coming into sickbay :: Tandaris Admiran: ::looking around now:: What, did you all move to a new ship and not tell her? Rhan K'hal: An Emergency Illegal Engineering Hologram? How you, Spots. William Chocox: She decided to move on with her life. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Who is that? ::Staring again at the hologram as the device went haywire.:: Tandaris Admiran: I'd prefer "unconventional engineering," but sure! Cptn Swain: (( Well, she was afraid if she stayed for another mission, she might kill swain. and starfleet does frown on killing senior officers. )) Cptn Swain: (( Personally, I don't see what her beef was... )) Hunter Matheson: ::turns to MA:: Handing them over to you, Crenshaw. Check and re-check, got it? Rhan K'hal: Hmph. Well, if you're going to do any good then I'd do some good then, before hell does manage to break loose. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( *thwaps* )) Hunter Matheson: Crenshaw> Yes, Master Gunnery Sergeant. William Chocox: That, is what I believe to be a hologram of my former Chief of Engineering. He taught me everything I know about making mischief on non-Federation space stations. Tandaris Admiran: Anyway, get me up to speed on what, exactly, this thing is doing. My program has access to the real-time sensor data, but that isn't telling me much other than that you will all probably want to go to sickbay after you're done here. Tandaris Admiran: ::would blush if he were programmed to do that:: Rhan K'hal: :: decrypts his own file on the project and sends it to Tandaris' hologram :: Tandaris Admiran: Oooh, that tickles. William Chocox: It's a device that causes electronic shut down if sufficiently provoked, and flashes of radiation when passively scanned. Also apparently has a tracker I believe? Tandaris Admiran: Where did you find it? Hakran K'hal: How close? William Chocox: This particularly one? From a ill-tempered, I think he was a Gorn. ((Change to whatever the dealer was if I'm wrong.)) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Seven hells and stars. This is completely not protocol. ::Slight panic in his voice.:: Irene Mincine: :: Val, meanwhile up on the bridge, definitely feels tingly... :: William Chocox: Reynolds, take a deep breath. This is normal. For us. You're fine. Tandaris Admiran: ::finally deigns to notice Reynolds:: He's new, isn't it? Rhan K'hal: You're working on the wrong ship if you want protocol, Ensign. Hunter Matheson: ::Crenshaw:: I'll be walking the lines. Ping me if needed. Irene Mincine: Irene> "20-30 percent... Looks like the baby got fed sometime in the past couple million years." Cptn Swain: (( This is slightly less dangerous than normal! )) Tandaris Admiran: ::paces around the containment field:: Hmm. So the current containment field just seems to be making it angry. Rhan K'hal: The good news is, it doesn't seem inclined to blow things up. It just likes to EMP them to keep out nosy neighbors. William Chocox: Yes, I accidentally turned off the power on a ship when we scanned a similar device as part of a pre-sale inspection. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> We're going to get in so much trouble... ::Swallows.:: William Chocox: No you're not. Tandaris Admiran: Defensive protocols "¦ hmm. Rhan K'hal: It's also capable of detecting PASSIVE scans. Tandaris Admiran: And what caused this latest "¦ flare-up? Cptn Swain: ::Begins to make hot water for tea, switching into a more relaxed outfit for lounging and reading a book. Perhaps some opera.:: William Chocox: We started scanning it. Hakran K'hal: Hmm. Fiddle with the mass and makeup a bit more, see if you can suss out a closer result. Tandaris Admiran: In hindsight that seems like a bad idea, but I can't very well blame you for being curious. Rhan K'hal: Which, if Mr. Reynolds would take his finger off the button and turn the scan off, we might be able to take a few breaths. Tandaris Admiran: Go get the large, oblong, reddish doohickey from my secret stash, will you? Irene Mincine: Irene> "All right..." :: She adjusts the dwarf planet's parameters for a bit... :: "It's looking more and more like our star." William Chocox: Will do. I had to rehide it when we made the move. ::goes and gets the item in question:: Tandaris Admiran: ::smiles:: Good boy. Hakran K'hal: That'll delight the Captain. And since the idea had your name on it, you might be able to skip buying the spoons now. Irene Mincine: Val> "Something's going on down in engineering again, isn't it?" :: She just feels... weird, since right about the time that they turned on their passive scan down there. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Swallows again as he deactivated the scans, hands up and off the controls in a total 'I didn't do it' gesture.:: Rhan K'hal: So, did you program yourself to contact yourself in this event in case you wanted to get yourself in on the action, or did you decide to retire from "unconventional engineering?" Irene Mincine: Irene> "Perfect. Computer, save simulation." :: She looks quite proud of herself. :: "Looks like we figured out a working theory on this star system." Tandaris Admiran: I have no idea where I am at the moment. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Feels normal again. She scratches the back of her neck. :: "What the hell..." Tandaris Admiran: Hopefully it's somewhere nice and sunny and where there is no imminent threat to my life. ::shrugs:: William Chocox: ::comes back with the device:: I'd hope so sir. Galaxy wouldn't be the same without you. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: Val :: I'm sure they're working very hard down there, Lieutenant. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: hint hint :: Hunter Matheson: :::moving from deck to deck, checking surveillance, asking questions, checking for repairs:: Tandaris Admiran: Good, good ::takes the device from Chocox:: I got this from a Tholian trader who drove a very hard bargain. I had to part with quite a few of Swain's priceless knick-knacks. Rhan K'hal: Probably for the best, Swain would probably have kittens if you showed up out of the blue. Irene Mincine: Val> "Well, they need to work smarter, not harder, whatever it is they do down there..." William Chocox: I didn't hear that. ::turns toward Reynolds:: You didn't hear that. Cptn Swain: << Everyone selling my stuff. >> Cptn Swain: << Also an Excalibur tradition, apparently. >> Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Hear what, sir? Rhan K'hal: I won't tell you what I didn't sell to not buy that piece of equipment we don't have. Cptn Swain: << AFK a second >> Tandaris Admiran: ::fiddles with the doohickey:: This is basically a phase discriminator, but much more finely calibrated than anything we have. Hakran K'hal: :: sighs and stretches again :: This is taking forever. Let's tidy this theory up a bit so we can give the Captain some bedtime reading. Tandaris Admiran: I have to ask "¦ Irene Mincine: Irene> "Mm, good idea. Your astrophysics is proooobably better than mine. I pretty much just pushed some buttons here." William Chocox: Good to hear. We also have two other examples of this device. The one that we hid from Starfleet Security, and one that Reynolds happened to find at a random shop on the station where we got this one. Tandaris Admiran: If it was this temperamental, why did you get it? Tandaris Admiran: What did this Gorn tell you it does that made it so intriguing? Rhan K'hal: He didn't even know what he was buying. Tandaris Admiran: Oh, you have *three* of them, do you Rhan K'hal: :: eyeroll :: Hunter Matheson: ::wondered what happened to that piece of equipment::: William Chocox: It's Sheliak in origin and we're right next to Sheliak space. The Gorn just said he had a black market device to sell me. I was hoping for a cloaking device. Tandaris Admiran: And I thought *I* was a handful for Swain. Tandaris Admiran: So you don't even have any inkling of an idea of what this might do? William Chocox: Besides freaking out every so often? No. Every time we try to find out it freaks out. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Ah, this one is different from the others, but looks to be of the same origin. The others just blast things with EMP. This one just ... ah... is scary. ::Nodding in agreement with Will.:: Hakran K'hal: :: chuckles :: Being a good scientists is as much about ideas and testing as specific expertise. Tandaris Admiran: Sheliak technology, much like the Sheliak, is notoriously inscrutable. Rhan K'hal: The transponder on this one is probably the most worrying feature, to my mind. You don't have a unit call home without a good reason. William Chocox: Indeed. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Smiles. :: "Of course. I'm what you call an ideas girl." Cptn Swain: ::Done steeping his tea, a fragrant blend from Bolian space that a friend had sent him as a present for the new ship. It had light floral notes and some native spices he couldn't entirely place, but it was lovely. He took a sip and laid down on the couch with his book, a copy of a baroque romance from the Endarin'a period on Betazed.:: Tandaris Admiran: ::holds up the phase discriminator:: So let's make this device happy. Instead of setting up a mean old containment field, let's take it to the spa. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> And what... give it a massage? ::Blinks.:: Hakran K'hal: Which is good, because I'm the one looking at the individual needles on a single tree, and to hell with the forest. Most of the time. So, differing disciplines or not, we should be good for each other. Tandaris Admiran: We'll create a dampening field that screens out all the stray signals it's picking up... the passive scans, the random EM fluctuations from the ship's systems, etc. Hakran K'hal: Now. Let me look at the planet you loaded into the gun. :: pulls up the data :: William Chocox: Alright Tandaris Admiran: ::Reynolds:: Exactly! There's hope for you yet. William Chocox: You can blame the person this is based off of for a lot of my eccentricities. Tandaris Admiran: This device will let us create a field strong enough to massage the device back into calm without making the field so strong the device thinks there's a threat. Indaura Ryssan: :: drinks her tea :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I think we make a good team. Let's get this theory written down properly so we can present it to our curious captain. Even if we came here for... reasons unsaid, at least we can say we did something scientific." Rhan K'hal: Ensign? You know the box you're supposed to think outside of? Just blast it with a phaser and find a 10-dimentional polyhedron, then think outside of THAT. Tandaris Admiran: ::sidelong glance at Chocox:: I take no responsibility for that. I did my best to discourage you at every turn! This is all K'hal's fault. William Chocox: Of course sir. Rhan K'hal: :: makes a rude hand gesture at the hologram :: Hunter Matheson: ::enters the lift:: Bridge. Hakran K'hal: We get it done and then we can get out of here before Dansh gets back from her nap so we don't get complained at. Irene Mincine: :: Irene starts typing on the console, formally writing up their findings. :: "A nap sounds pretty good right about now, to be honest." Hunter Matheson: ::exits on the bridge, acknowledges the OIC and takes his place at TAC::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Glancing from one officer to the next, so confused that his head was spinning. Turning to what he *did* understand, he started by pulling down all of the containment fields and only leaving one to reprogram.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Glances at the lift as Hunter exits and nods.:: Matheson. What's new? Hakran K'hal: If I recall correctly you're due for a break in your double-shift schedule anyway after this shift, so get some complete R&R. Hunter Matheson: ::sharp turn standing tall::: Not much, Commander, sir. Checking our supposedly new phaser equipment. Tactical sweep of the area. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Leans against the console wearily. :: "I've been going through so much replicated tea thanks to that schedule. At least it's almost through. And they'll certainly be pleased with what we found here." William Chocox: You're doing great Reynolds. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Someday, if I ever get put in charge of my own department, please promise me that you aren't going to install a holographic program of yourself to pop up when I least expect it. William Chocox: I'll give you a head's up. Hakran K'hal: :: begins putting the data together efficiently :: I'll shoot this to Izal and Semek for peer review as well to continue the process, but for an initial finding it's still pretty solid. :: nods at Irene's remark :: The Captain will be. I don't know about our XO yet. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Are all of our phasers now completely functional? ::A bit worried that they weren't.:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Mm-hmm. We can only hope. What's his background again? Security?" Tandaris Admiran: It's not like I'm here to play practical jokes. Wait, did I... ::tilts his head:: No, I didn't install *any* practical joke subroutines. Wow, me. Missed. Opportunity. Hakran K'hal: :: nods :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "We... can only hope." Cptn Swain: <<Reminder Asher still doesn't know what you sold yet >> Irene Mincine: (( Eh, he doesn't need to know )) Rhan K'hal: That's good, then I don't have to root out your subroutines and scrub them with a phaser rifle. William Chocox: I can work on that later sir. Hunter Matheson: Well, sir... they are functional. Ship's phasers have been thoroughly checked. Our "new" phasers aren't exactly new. Worked on them and brought them up to speed, sir. Checking for outlaws, sir. Cptn Swain: (( I am now thinking about the b5 episode where Nazi makes the mistake of creating a Garbaldi program )) William Chocox: ((Typo? Or do I need to watch more B5?)) Irene Mincine: (( indeed, a Space Nazi )) Cptn Swain: (( It's the last ep of S4 )) Cptn Swain: (( Literal space Nazi )) William Chocox: ((Ok, never made it that far.)) Hunter Matheson: Serial numbers didn't match, sir. So we're investigating. Indaura Ryssan: :: Looks over who to talk to first :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Good, good. Don't want us going off half cocked. Copy me on your report to your chief if you find anything. Hunter Matheson: Aye, aye, sir. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: soaks in the conversation, then texts Rhan about it :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "And Commander Hawthorne was an engineer, right?" Rhan K'hal: :: pulls out his padd upon hearing the notification, reads it through, tosses out a pretty strong word :: Hakran K'hal: Yes. Odd that we aren't getting anyone on a more dedicated command track. William Chocox: Do I want to know Lieutenant? Irene Mincine: Irene> "I mean, it's not unheard of for them to end up on command track, right? Maybe it's to complement the captain, I don't know. I'm not an admiral." Rhan K'hal: :: texts back to Ken to dig into the requisition data - will try to get that answered before security gets around to asking :: Hakran K'hal: If you were, you'd have let Rhan resupply in Federation space before sending us off to map spacing and do absolutely nothing else. Rhan K'hal: Oh, I'm just going to have to stomp on someone back at the dock the next time I get there. Hunter Matheson: ::setting the tactical console to continual full sweep::: William Chocox: Let me know if you need help. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Unless... you want to set us up for a situation like this..." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Tapping away, he reconfigured their field and set it up with Tandy's parameters in mind, trying to decide how this foreign device would like to be 'massaged'.:: Okay... I think... this is ready. ::Still sounded slightly afraid.:: Hakran K'hal: Yeah, my mind has gone there too. Wouldn't surprise me if the Commander has some useful experience redacted in his personnel file. Cptn Swain: << 2 minute warning >> William Chocox: Reynolds, this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened in this department. Tandaris Admiran: The parameters look good to me. Rhan K'hal: Well, THIS department, yes. Tandaris Admiran: ::Chocox:: This is your show now, though. You get to do the honours. Rhan K'hal: Still shiny. William Chocox: Pull the lever Reynolds! Irene Mincine: Irene> "Suspicious, huh? It is odd, isn't it. There's a lot that we don't know down here." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Ah... okay... I mean, aye, sir! ::He wasn't sure what all their talk of levers was about. He just pushed the command button.:: Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0322.2020 Excalibur continues to survey a t-tauri star on the edge of Sheliak space while Engineering hopes that their efforts to erect a containment field around the device they bought doesn't blow up in their faces, literally.

MISSION BRIEFING: Engineering is working to contain the device so it doesn't go boom, while science has found some unusual readings on sensors from the star. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Indaura Ryssan: :: Working in sickbay :: William Chocox: ::starts piecing together the tools to make the multiple containment fields work:: Hakran K'hal: Seeded, no. They'd be a really bad stellar gardeners dumping elements in these ratios. :: ponders :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene is working with Hakran. :: "Yeah, that wouldn't make much sense... Maybe they were trying to harvest certain elements? But why would they need a star to do that..." Cptn Swain: ::Frowning at the science console:: Rhan K'hal: :: arrives on the bridge, would rather not stand around and watch engineers build a custom containment field - will go back and sneak up on Reynolds after they finish :: Hunter Matheson: :::sitting in armory 4, trying to figure out what the hell is stopping this from...::: Gees... ::accesses the power cell in the phaser he's holding and mutters a few choice words that no one should hear::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Helping Will set up the components they'd need.:: Hunter Matheson: +com+ Matheson to Lt Commander Rex. Irene Mincine: :: Val is avoiding anything dangerous at the helm. :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He threw a glance at Swain.:: You know, you could just go poke your nose into their business and see what they're up to. Captain's prerogative. Hakran K'hal: It's not out of the realm of normality to see these kind of numbers... just very close to the edge. Cptn Swain: I know. But I am trying to be less involved. William Chocox: So, Faraday field, EM field, and Shock field... Irene Mincine: Irene> "I refuse to accept that this star's readings are normal. But I don't know what could be causing them." Maryse Dubois: ::Reading one of the new files in sickbay.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Doesn't look like it's working out for you too well. Cptn Swain: ::Smirks:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Who knew this new position had so much reading :: Hakran K'hal: :: chuckles :: One thing we do need is a more detailed analysis. So... :: adjusts the sensors to take more detailed, finer-scoped readings :: That'll take a while. Rhan K'hal: :: confabs with Ken for a bit :: William Chocox: And a buffer so that none of these interfere with each other. Cptn Swain: ::Pushes off from the console.:: Maybe I should get some tea. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Break time?" :: Making sure that the sensors are working correctly, doesn't want to lose all that time. :: Hakran K'hal: :: turns the astrometric display back to the star-mapping mode so Dansh doesn't throw a fit :: Yes, I think so. Hunter Matheson: +COM+ Matheson to Rex. ::wonders if he's wandering around again:: Cptn Swain: Or go for awalk. Hakran K'hal: :: pushes to his feet, stretches in that felinoid way :: Cptn Swain: Rex> +Matheson+ Go ahead. William Chocox: ::starts typing on his console to set up the commands:: Hunter Matheson: +com+ The new phasers, sir? They're not exactly new. They look new on the outside - Type two newbie marked 2371, but the contents, sir? Power cells are not only dead, the replacement cells are 2364 vintage and they don't sit right. User might get more damage than it's fired at, sir. Hunter Matheson: :::hands it over to Kurly to see what he can do with it and begins to dig through all the boxes::: Hakran K'hal: I'm surprised the Captain hasn't moved in. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Probably be good for you. ::He smirked and looked back to his data padd.:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "All riiiiight. Let's let the sensors do their thing, I guess." :: She stretches out as well, arching her back with a bit of a bone cracking sound you get when you've been stressed out for a while. :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Maybe he's on his way down here just in time to see us relaxing." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Maybe just meander in the general area of astrometrics and see if you absorb anything in passing. Cptn Swain: Rex> +Matheson+ Lovely. Well start collecting them and catalog what we have that works and what doesn't, then report it to myself and we'll forward it to K'Hal. He might be able to see where the holdup was. Hunter Matheson: :::tinkering with another batch::: Indaura Ryssan: :: Mutters :: How is this crew not committed... Cptn Swain: I could read a book. Hunter Matheson: +com+ On it, sir. Hakran K'hal: If he's been paying any attention he knows what we're looking at, so I doubt he'd mind or be surprised. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Mm, true." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Frowns.:: So long as the combination also protects *it* from anything happening out *here*. Hakran K'hal: So what's your opinion of the ship now that we've had a chance to actually use it? Hunter Matheson: :::mutter:: K'Hal's gonna love that one. ::grabs a few to help and digs into the rest of the boxes:::: William Chocox: That's a good point. Cptn Swain: I'll be in my quarters ... or walking. Cptn Swain: Or somewhere. Cptn Swain: ::Smirks:: Call me if anything comes up. Irene Mincine: Irene> "The science package is fantastic." :: She said with a grin, leaning against the console. :: "I love this ship. I've never gotten to work in an astrometrics department like this before." Hakran K'hal: :: grins :: They did do a nice job. They finally remembered how to properly outfit a multi-mission ship with science again. The damned wars. William Chocox: ::keeps typing to make sure that happens:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> Mmmhmm. ::Wasn't at all convinced.:: Cptn Swain: ::Heads for the lift:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I knooooow. I hope we get to keep using the science equipment and not the tactical equipment... but given our current mission..." Hakran K'hal: The "we're totally just mapping, really" mission. Hakran K'hal: :: heads over to the replicator and gets a bottle of water, sips :: Irene Mincine: Val> "That one snuck up on me..." :: She deftly dodges some hazard out in space. :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Yeah, that mission." :: She follows Hakran to the replicator and grabs an orange juice. :: "Very honest, those command types." Indaura Ryssan: :: Creating a profile for each crewmember :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::After physically setting up the field generators, he began to configure the power network so they wouldn't overload the system when they were all turned on at once.:: William Chocox: Good job Reynolds. You never want to be responsible for destroying the EPS system. Hakran K'hal: :: Shrugs :: I'm getting used to it. It was a lot easier on the Copernicus. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Speaking from experience, sir? Irene Mincine: :: Irene shrugs... :: "I guess it's something you do get used to, being in Starfleet." William Chocox: It was one time! ...And it was an accident! Rhan K'hal: :: is satisfied with his conversation with Ken, heads back toward the lift with a nod at Stanton on the way past :: Hunter Matheson: ::Sneezy left to medical, so Grumpy takes over and begins cataloging while Kal continues to inspect the phasers, hand them over to the Master at Arms, who passes them to be tested::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Throws a glance at the kitty as he passed and nods in return.:: William Chocox: I'm not even sure who here was part of that crew. I know the Captain was, but it was Commander Hawthorne in command down here. Hakran K'hal: Though I admit, hearing all the stories growing up from family and all of the Starfleet families we lived around, I think most ships and their crews have a pretty routine time of it. Something about the name Excalibur. Rhan K'hal: :: rides the lift back to deck 13 :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Blinks.:: Do I dare ask what happened? Rhan K'hal: :: exits the lift :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "I got Klingon Defense Force stories growing up." :: She sips her orange juice. :: "We got some weird tales, especially during the war..." William Chocox: Attempted to blow up a pirate and wound up blowing up all the conduits in the ship. Hakran K'hal: Oh, I bet. The KDF is a lot more colorful than Starfleet. Metaphorically, our uniforms are technically much more colorful. :: chuckles :: Rhan K'hal: :: from behind Reynolds :: That's his story and he's sticking to it. Hunter Matheson: :::pull, check, makes a pile while Grumpy adds to the list:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Oooooh yeah, on both counts. I'd rather not sleep on a cot, though, or get stabbed by a subordinate... Think I could get the Commander to let me wear a bandolier?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> GAH! ::Jerks in surprise as Rhan sneaked upon him again, so quiet he'd never even heard him. He had to relax his grip around the spanner in his hand, having tightened it, but not swung.:: Hakran K'hal: Hmm. I don't have a read on Commander Stanton yet. William Chocox: Hello K'hal. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Something tells me he wouldn't go for it." Rhan K'hal: Hello Chief, Ensign. Looks like you're making good progress. Cptn Swain: ::Forcing himself to not go to astrometrics, Swain headed to his quarters.:: William Chocox: I'd like to think so. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::He threw the Caitian a dark look and hunched his shoulders, muttering to himself as he turned to finish programming the power nodes.:: Hunter Matheson: ::opens the last box to find it...:::: Empty? William Chocox: Reynolds is making sure we don't turn the ship off when we scan the device. Hakran K'hal: There are cultural loopholes for some things like that, but it is command staff discretion. They let, what was his name... Woof? I saw him once in San Francisco. Intimidating SOB. Hunter Matheson: :::deep inhale, long and slow exhale::: Grump, finish up the last box and hand it over. Irene Mincine: Irene> "I think it might be a better idea not to antagonize the command staff needlessly... maybe I can buy them some new silverware." Hunter Matheson: Grump> Done, Master Gunnery Sergeant. ::hands it to him::: Hakran K'hal: :: laughs :: That might work. Hunter Matheson: ;::flips through the list, slow turn::: That's all... we have? And the rest are bogus? Rhan K'hal: I've set it up so operations knows about the extra power consumption and resource usage down here and that so someone doesn't come on shift and wonder what the hell is going on and bring it up to the duty officer. Not hiding things, per se, but not erecting a billboard either. Irene Mincine: Irene> "How much longer on that analysis, anyway?" Hunter Matheson: Grump> Yes, Master Gunnery Sergeant. William Chocox: Thank you K'hal. Hakran K'hal: :: wanders back over to the console, checks :: About 1/3 complete on the scan, can't really draw a proper conclusion until it's done. I suppose we should re-concentrate our mental efforts on the probe data for a while. Irene Mincine: Irene> "I agree, yeah. If we do find something that we're not supposed to find, we should definitely let the bridge know that we didn't find whatever it is we haven't found." Hakran K'hal: :: snorts :: Cptn Swain: << 4minute warning >> Hunter Matheson: ::slow nod goes into another sigh::: Set 'em up, clean 'em off, hand 'em to Master at Arms Kleeto. She knows what to do. Hakran K'hal: Well, it is doing a good job of its main job, it has detected a few microwormholes. Thankfully they weren't anywhere near us. Hunter Matheson: +com+ Matheson to LtCdr Rex - incoming to your PADD regarding the phasers. Hakran K'hal: :: switches the main display back to centering on the T Tauri, but with about a 2 LY field of view :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Great, great. Let's keep them far, far away from us." Hakran K'hal: :: highlights the mwh locations :: Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Nods. :: "And the bridge is getting all this data." Hakran K'hal: I'm going to cross-reference the sensor data with the appearance of these. We know why it happens, but we haven't had much in the way of recent high definition scan data to look at. Hunter Matheson: :::sends it on, then works beside MA Kleeto:::: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Sounds good. Cutting-edge of astrometrics here, yeah?" Hakran K'hal: Sharp enough to slice a tossed tomato. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Finishing, he engaged the power systems and studied the readings for a moment, making sure they were going to hold.:: Things look good on this end. Cptn Swain: ...and... Indaura Ryssan: :: Looking around the rather empty sickbay :: Hmmm William Chocox: Good to hear, let's get ready to do this. Hunter Matheson: ::remembers he owes her a beer::: Rhan K'hal: Let's get ready to not rumble. William Chocox: Pick a side of the fields to be on Lieutenant K'hal. Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0315.2020 Engineering is working to contain the device so it doesn't go boom, while science has found some unusual readings on sensors from the star.

MISSION BRIEF: Exploration of the T-Tauri star system continues, as does poking around with the device in engineering. TBS is, like DST, not real and we pick up where we left off. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Hakran K'hal: :: still in astrometrics :: Okay, enough with the boring data, let's see what this TTS is made of. :: switches the fancy display to the star :: Hunter Matheson: ::bridge, checking out the security console, and about to move out to check the officers on watch::: Indaura Ryssan: :: Working in sickbay for a moment :": William Chocox: ::turns to Rhan:: So, it's set up to make a whole lot of light and/or disable any electronics around it if it's scanned. Rhan K'hal: Seems like it. I bet if I'd done an active scan we'd be having this conversation in the dark. I think that was the warning level. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Also in astrometrics. :: "Well, it's a star... so hydrogen, I'd assume..." Indaura Ryssan: :: Looking through medical records :: William Chocox: Oh, right, you only used a passive scan for this one. Cptn Swain: :: On the bridge, trying o let science actually do their thing and not put his nose in it. But it was hard!:: Irene Mincine: Val> :: Recoils in her seat on the bridge. :: "Did anyone else feel that?" :: After the little warning beacon in engineering went off. :: Hunter Matheson: ::and everything seems to be normal, so he logs out and looks up::: ::Val:: No, ma'am Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> A containment field? That'd be easy enough to set up. Hakran K'hal: It has plenty of that, but it isn't burning it yet. All the heat and light is still from gravitational contraction. I'd say we're looking at one at least 9 million years old as the optical variability is very high. William Chocox: ::turns to Reynolds:: Come again? Rhan K'hal: A very, very, very good one. This isn't a prank isocracker. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> A containment field? We could vary the frequency to keep it from communicating with anything else, couldn't we? William Chocox: Yes, yes we could. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Very recently formed, then. No wonder the sensors are reading all kinds of spatial distortion near it." Hunter Matheson: ::stands on the bridge for a moment to be sure that all is secure::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::He sighed as he flicked another report off his padd and glanced at Swain.:: I never know what to do with myself on these kind of missions. It's when I get caught up on all my reports, though. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: at operations :: Feel it, no, but I see there was a blip down in engineering. Your ah... gear is very sensitive ma'am. William Chocox: Side note, does anyone else think that someone on the bridge noticed what happened? Rhan K'hal: If Ken didn't he's getting yelled at. William Chocox: Apologies, I haven't had the chance to meet all of your staff, who's Ken? Irene Mincine: Val> :: Shakes her head. :: "It shouldn't be, it's not like I have a VISOR. I don't usually pick up stuff down there." Cptn Swain: ::Smirks:: Meanwhile, I am trying to force myself to sit on my hands. Rhan K'hal: Ensign Obee, he's my main backup for bridge operations. William Chocox: Ah, yes, like Ensign Reynolds for me. Unless I happen to find a hapless J.G. to do something dangerous. Maryse Dubois: ::Walking through sickbay, doing a small inspection.:: Cptn Swain: << Is his middle name Won >> Hunter Matheson: :::all seem to have settled in, so he exits the bridge to begin his usual watch check:: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: looking over the sensor data :: It was a major mid-range EM release. Primarily visual light but a little bit up and down. They're going to wake up with a tan tomorrow. Everything seems to be normal though, so apparently they weren't overly concerned by it. Cptn Swain: Rex> +Hunter+ Rex to Hunter. Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ Matheson here, sir. Rhan K'hal: (( no middle name XD )) Irene Mincine: Val> :: Looks back to her console. :: "Mm. They did tell me to stay away from high-powered neural band emitters when I got this crap put in my head." Hakran K'hal: No circumstellar disk with this star, not surprising from the lack of material in this area of space. It's quite young compared to most of its stellar neighbors, though. Cptn Swain: Rex>+Hunter+ Can you come down to armory ::looks:: 4. Hakran K'hal: :: rubs his beard :: Indaura Ryssan: Doctor... Hunter Matheson: +Rex+ Aye, aye, sir. On my way. ::enters the lift::: Deck 4 William Chocox: So, we set up the containment field, and then what? Irene Mincine: Irene> "I should be able to filter out some of the solar wind turbulence, which would give us another few seconds warning on any microwormholes we find." Rhan K'hal: So we need a containment field that can keep that from turning the ship off, and potentially sending off a signal with that transponder. Then we have to figure out how to figure it out without it committing suicide. Hakran K'hal: Sounds good. Hunter Matheson: ::exits on four, enters the armory and moves toward the commander:: Problem, sir? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Ah... and also disabling any self destruct methods it may have. Maryse Dubois: ::Looks up to see Indaura.:: Hello. Hunter Matheson: ::nods to the Master at Arms::: Cptn Swain: Rex> ::frowning, holding a PADD and looking at a tray of open hand phasers:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Do we have anything we're supposed to be... unofficially looking at, yet?" :: She's working at one of the consoles in the side of the room. Hunter Matheson: ::curious:: William Chocox: Have we seen any self destruct methods on the other... ::looks around to make sure that Stanton isn't around:: two devices we have? Cptn Swain: Rex> Oh good, Mister Matheson. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Feels a tingle.:: Hakran K'hal: No idea, Rhan took care of the program to flag any unusual activity. I assume it will notify me if there's something I need to care about. I'm sure he's got an alert for anything of interest to him. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Puts the PADD down and hands him one of the phasers. It looks completely dead.:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Not exactly, but I thought we should take precautions just in case. Indaura Ryssan: I am just looking over personnel records Hunter Matheson: ::takes the phaser in hand, checks it out, opens it to check internal mechanism::: They're all like this, sir? ::takes another and checks it out::: William Chocox: Good thinking Reynolds. Hakran K'hal: Hmm. :: frowns over the data from the star :: The lithium depletion of this star is looking odd. There isn't as much as there should be based on other characteristics. Maryse Dubois: Ah, looking for more patients? Cptn Swain: Rex> Not just this crate, but apparently everyone we have aboard that were in the original fulfillment order when we shipped out. They also aren't properly calibrated. Indaura Ryssan: And seeing what I am up against. Rhan K'hal: I'm all for "just in case" when "boom" is the reason. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Yeah, he loves knowing things before we do, doesn't he... Lithium depletion? That's an odd characteristic, isn't it? What would cause that?" Indaura Ryssan: I think Irene is my most special case... I mean anyone can have their own demons. William Chocox: Of course. Let's get to work. Hunter Matheson: ::and checks another::: Not... exactly a good thing, sir. ::looking up:: Purposely, sir, or the wrong requisition? Hunter Matheson: ::turns:: Master at Arms Crenshaw.... get over here! ::waves a hand::: Hunter Matheson: Crenshaw> Here Master Gunnery Sergeant. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::Shrugs:: I'll leave that, along with replacing the power cells and getting calibrated in your capable hands. Maryse Dubois: ::Nods:: Indeed Hakran K'hal: It could be that there wasn't much to start with. Not unheard of. That would throw the aging calculation off. Which means this could be closer to a Hayashi contraction than I expected. Cptn Swain: :Rex> ::picks back up his PADD:: Let me know when you're done. Hunter Matheson: Aye, aye, sir. ::thinking heads are gonna roll:: Indaura Ryssan: I know so little about her... :: scrolls through :: Cptn Swain: << What;s to know Indaura. Her picture is next to the word "trouble" in the starfleet dictionary, in three different languages. >> Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Has a look like someone who passed college astronomy with a C. :: "I'm... a little behind on my exceptional stellar cartography. What's that mean to us?" Indaura Ryssan: << The dictionary entry is Irene --- see trouble.... Trouble --- See Irene >> Cptn Swain: << Standard, Klingon, and... *squints* Bolian? >> Hunter Matheson: Mr Crenshaw, have a look. ::Hands him a phaser::: Needs power cell replacements and calibration. And I want it NOW. Understood? Hakran K'hal: It means that it could be closer to starting nuclear fusion rather than just being a hot ball of spinning gas. Or in the phase where it can more often have a case of stellar flatulence. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Scoots to equipment storage to start collecting things they'd need for their experiment.:: Hunter Matheson: Crenshaw> ::turning it over in his hands:: Yes, Master Gunnery Sergeant. I'm on it. Rhan K'hal: :: letting Will and Reynolds do their thing with containment, borrows a console to more closely analyze the device's little hissy fit earlier :: Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Oh! :: "Ah, OK. We obviously don't want to run into solar flares or gamma ray emissions..." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( No one has ever been hurt from an overdose of Gamma Rays. )) Hakran K'hal: Considering TTS gas jets can extend for hundreds of AUs, that'll mar our new paint job. Hunter Matheson: More than just you, Crenshaw. Every. Single. Box. Plus anyone who has a new phaser. I know we have replacements. Find 'em, and get going. Indaura Ryssan: (( No, the line is no one has never not been hurt from an overdose of gamma rays )) Hakran K'hal: I'm gonna get the Captain on line, he'll want to know this. William Chocox: ::starts getting things ready with Reynolds:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "And the crap it leaves behind will make picking up probe transmissions pretty difficult. Yeah, they'll wanna know this..." Hakran K'hal: +Swain+ Hakran to Captain Swain. Cptn Swain: +Hak+ Go ahead. Hunter Matheson: ::as he steps out of the armory:: +call+ All off-duty security report to the armory. You have five minutes to get there or I'll have your butts. Hakran K'hal: +Swain+ It seems our subject might look a little young for its age. The lithium depletion for this TTS is out of norm based on other factors. We might have a cranky baby on our hands. Cptn Swain: +Hak+ Good to know. I'll have helm give us some additional distance. Maryse Dubois: Just don't push the wrong buttons and you'll be fine. Hunter Matheson: :::steps aside while they pile in, Kal taking the lead to open boxes and examine even the smallest piece of hardware::: Cptn Swain: ::Glances to Val:: Expand our orbit out ::glances down to his armchair console:: another .75 AUs Hakran K'hal: +Swain+ I'll dig in and see what else I can find to narrow down the evolution of this thing. K'hal out. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Enters commands on the helm console. :: "Aye, raise orbital altitude. Hazard index reduced by 2.8." Hakran K'hal: There, we'll get a little further upwind from the gassy baby star. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Hopefully it doesn't spit up on us..." Indaura Ryssan: So many buttons... Hakran K'hal: Yeah, we're not even babysitting. William Chocox: ::Reynolds:: So, we'll need an EM field, and a shock field, and probably a Faraday field. Hakran K'hal: Okay. Let's take a dive into the elements. See if we can narrow down why this is so lithium depleted, and if there's anything else that it might've ate that it shouldn't have. Hunter Matheson: ::they form into groups and begin checking equipment while Kal takes the list of personnel who have new phasers that might need repair::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Scratches his head.:: Might be tricky to get all of those overlayered without interference. Maybe if we set up a buffer unit, as well? Maryse Dubois: Lots and lots of buttons. William Chocox: Good thinking again Reynolds. This is why I took you on the station with me. Rhan K'hal: +Ken+ K'hal to Obee. How're we doing up there? Irene Mincine: Irene> "All right... configuring the lateral sensors for stellar elemental analysis... that's a lot of carbon monoxide..." Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> +K'hal+ We've altered our position a bit, apparently this star might be "cranky" according to Lt. K'hal. I take it no one is running around down there feeling extra crispy, sir? Hunter Matheson: +OPS+ Matheson to OPS. Rhan K'hal: +Ken+ Just seeing stars, Ken. It was... nothing to worry about. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> +K'hal+ Gotta jump sir. Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> +Hunter+ Operations. Hakran K'hal: Hmm. Is this a T Tauri or a crock pot, it's doing a lot of cooking for something that doesn't even have its pilot lit yet. Hunter Matheson: +OPS+ All personnel aboard who were in the original fulfillment order for arms need recalibration. Have them report to the armory if they are in use. Irene Mincine: Irene> "We still don't know *everything* about stellar formation. Maybe we found a basket case star that's not common." Hunter Matheson: +OPS+ That is, all personnel who received arms from the original arms fulfillment order. We don't need to recalibrate the personnel. ::slight smirk:: Hunter Matheson: ::although he can think of a few personnel who might need recal:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Beaming from Will's praise. He carried an entire armload full of crap to the work station.:: William Chocox: ::takes his own pile of stuff over to start working with him:: Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> +Hunter+ That makes more sense. I'll forward the message but without command auth they're not going to just be able to pick up and run down to the armory right now. You'll have to take them as they come. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Quirks a brow at Obee's conversation and just sighs, wondering what else could have gone wrong at the station.:: Hunter Matheson: +Obee+ Understood, sir. William Chocox: ((It's not like anyone purchased illegal technology through a shady vendor Commander.)) Rhan K'hal: :: heads over to where Will & Reynolds were working :: Our light show didn't go unnoticed, but Ken didn't raise a flap over it. Though from looking at the internal scan data all y'all without fur in the way might be a shade darker tomorrow. Hakran K'hal: That'd make the Captain's day, wouldn't it? William Chocox: It's not like I go sunbathing all that often. It'll fade. Thank you for passing that along though. Irene Mincine: Irene> :: Smiling. :: "Sure would, if we're the first to discover the Irene-K'hal star." Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: cross-references the order data, sends the notice to people who need their weapons tweaked :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Frowns.:: But... it'll only be on the front half. The back of my neck is going to look like a vampire's by comparison. Hunter Matheson: :::as soon as a few are fixed, the MGS sends the checked and recalibrated arms to disburse among those who need them::: Cptn Swain: << 2 minute warning >> Hakran K'hal: If you're going first name, so am I, or Rhan'll try to share it. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Neverrrrrrr." :: She goes back to scanning the star's elemental composition. :: Rhan K'hal: Let me know when you're up and running, I need to poke my nose into a few other places for a bit. Hunter Matheson: ::sharp turn toward a grumbling security officer::: You got a problem with this Siegfried? William Chocox: Guess we could configure the holodeck to simulate sunbathing for the back half. William Chocox: And will do K'hal. Hunter Matheson: Siegfried> :::big sneeze::: Yes, Master Gunnery Sergeant. I'm..:::sneeze::: allergic. Rhan K'hal: :: heads out of Engineering :: Hunter Matheson: ::in his face:: Then how the hell did you ever get a posting in security? Hunter Matheson: Siegfried> Nothing else...::: sneeze:: left, Master Gunnery Sergeant. ::::sneeze::: Hakran K'hal: Hmm. Higher boron concentration than I would expect in a TTS as well. Hakran K'hal: The cloud that popped this baby out was on a weird diet. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Relaxes a bit with the kitty finally gone. He didn't want to say anything else stupid. Though, he still thought silent-footed species should come with warning sounds or something. It just wasn't fair.:: Hunter Matheson: ::hand out for the phaser::: Get to medical for a checkup. ::sharp turn:: Kurly, take over. Hunter Matheson: Kurly> Aye, Master Gunnery Sergeant. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Boron, too? We sure that it wasn't seeded by someone 9 million years ago?" Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0308.2020 Exploration of the T-Tauri star system continues, as does poking around with the device in engineering. TBS is, like DST, not real and we pick up where we left off.

MISSION BRIEF: Excalibur is enroute to a T-Tauri system near the Sheliak border in the Sellaris Expanse. Science and Operations have been working on a series of probes, several of which include *interesting* modifications. Engineering is still investigating the device they bought on the station, while medical is investigating the rash it gave them. Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM Cptn Swain: BEGIN SIM William Chocox: ::sets the device on a work bench and starts scanning:: Let's see what this baby can do. Rhan K'hal: :: with [X] amount of time passing, was able to finish off the construction of the probe sensors for his brother and has them in the torpedo room ready to launch when necessary :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene's been helping out with the probes, though being a geneticist and not an engineer there's limits on that... :: Hunter Matheson: ::bridge security, checking the area and keeping eyes on::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Unconsciously scratching his arm.:: It doesn't look all that dangerous... Irene Mincine: :: Val is driving them to the T Tauri star. :: Val> "Crossing into sector 56-Pi-4." William Chocox: ::looks over at Reynolds:: You still got a rash? Hunter Matheson: :::checks sector 56-Pi-4:: Rhan K'hal: ::mumbles:: Mmm, pie. William Chocox: And never underestimate black market parts. Hakran K'hal: :: back in Astrometrics, having banished Dansh to get food and a nap since she stubbornly refused to stop working since they'd left the station :: Hunter Matheson: ::constant area sweep while checking below decks::: Cptn Swain: ::On the bridge:: Slow to Warp 3. Maryse Dubois: ::Is in her office, looking over results.:: Irene Mincine: :: Irene arrives in astrometrics looking pretty exhausted. :: "What time is it? I feel like I've been up for 48 hours straight." Irene Mincine: Val> "Aye, slowing to warp 3." :: Beep boop on the console. Optical: Stock footage of the ship slowing down. :: Hakran K'hal: Computer> The time is 1121. Rhan K'hal: :: calls in Ken to take over since operations is bog standard right now, exits the bridge :: Cptn Swain: ::Nods and leans back in his chair:: Indaura Ryssan: :: Working in her counselor's office :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> No, sir. It just feels wrong not to itch it. Maybe a phantom rash? Hakran K'hal: Don't you just love menial labor? Hakran K'hal: Now you can have mind-numbing amounts of astrophysical data. William Chocox: As long as you're not still affected by the material. If something's still up you should talk to Dr. Dubois. ::turns back to the workbench:: Tell me your secrets. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Sitting in his chair on the bridge, he glanced up as they began to slow, then threw a glance at his sensor panel.:: Hunter Matheson: ::check..check...check:: Nothing to worry about so far, Captain. ::continues::: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Me, sir? I... I don't have any secrets. ::So very obviously lying. Cagey glance to the side.:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Oh, wonderful. Computer, double shot of Klingon espresso." :: She rubs her eyes and takes the powerful energy drink from the replicator. :: "What have you been up to in here?" Rhan K'hal: :: appears behind Will and Reynolds :: Talking to inanimate objects are we? William Chocox: I could not have more clearly been talking to the device, but now I'm intrigued. And are you kidding me Batman?! Hakran K'hal: I chased Dansh out. The last thing we need is a zombie Tellarite for weeks at a time. So I'm looking over what we've got data-wise so far. Irene Mincine: Val> "ETA to the destination system..." :: She read off the time at warp 3. :: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Well, good for you, you get a zombie Klingon." :: She sips the hot drink. :: "Found anything interesting yet?" Hakran K'hal: Hmm, if zombie humans eat brains, what do zombie Klingons eat considering their normal diet wouldn't blink at brains? Terrifying side salads? Anyway. Cptn Swain: Hopefully we don't run into any micro-wormholes. Cptn Swain: They're extremely unpleasant. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Jumps at the sudden appearance of the kitty.:: Ah... Caitians should wear bells or something. You're too quiet! Cptn Swain: (( I proposed that once. He threatened to call HR )) William Chocox: ::looks over at Reynolds incredulously:: Bells? Really Reynolds? Rhan K'hal: :: ear flip :: Hakran K'hal: So far, nothing much of interest. :: chuckles :: Not this close in, if there was anything interesting someone would've found it already. William Chocox: I'm sorry Lieutenant K'hal. I'll make sure he understands why that was the wrong thing to say. Irene Mincine: Val> "I'm gonna keep us away from anything nasty, Cap. Don't worry about microwormholes." Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> :: sitting in at science :: We do have probes ready for launch, Captain. Cptn Swain: ::Nods:: Good begin launch sequence when ready. Rhan K'hal: Cultural sensitivity training or a boot up the bum, whichever works. Cptn Swain: ::Glances quickly to Jalen:: Irene Mincine: Irene> "Don't you start with that stuff. I've got enough of a headache as it is. I bet we'll have something to pretend to not look at once we fire off some probes." Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Ears redden.:: William Chocox: Command frowns upon corporal punishment unfortunately. Cptn Swain: When we enter the T-Tauri system, drop us out of warp and put us in a wide orbit of the star. Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> Aye, sir. :: checks to make sure a probe is loaded and not a torpedo, you know, like you do :: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Seeing nothing on sensors that would alarm them, he glanced back to the view screen.:: Hunter Matheson: ::prepares to check the area when dropped:: Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> Sorry, sir. ::Mumbling.:: I'll just... ah... let you two talk. ::Slinks off.:: Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> Launching probe alpha. :: pushes the button :: Rhan K'hal: I heard you two got a bit itchy. All better now? William Chocox: Yes, yes we are. ::turns back to Reynolds:: We were joshing you dude. We'll talk later. Hakran K'hal: Speaking of which, there one goes. Indaura Ryssan: :: Reading personnel files :: Irene Mincine: Val> "Yessir. We'll be entering the system in a few minutes." :: She adjusts the course slightly after the probe is launched, readying for orbital entry. :: William Chocox: How can I help you Lieutenant? Irene Mincine: Irene> "Do we... know what it's supposed to be returning?" Rhan K'hal: I figured you were probably working on the Ensign's impulse buy by now, thought I'd slide down in case you need any programming assistance. William Chocox: Actually we were checking out the device you brokered for me. I'm still not sure what I bought. The instructions aren't translated by the UT. Hakran K'hal: Looking for microwormholes primarily. Though it's also got a standard probe array as well. Rhan K'hal: Ah. Well then, this should be interesting. I'll stand behind the Ensign, just in case. William Chocox: Thank you for your vote of confidence. Irene Mincine: :: Irene looks at the console, sipping her small drink. :: "Ah. Data's coming in now, anyway." Cptn Swain: Rex> ::In security, still sulking over getting his fingers slapped by the XO after that blue shirt sold the silver wear for medical data.:: Hakran K'hal: Captain is quite concerned it seems by the em-dubya threat. Though they are a bit of a pain to fly through. Especially if one flies through you. Cptn Swain: Rex> ::At least Swain hadn't came down on him over that. He didn't think the Captain cared for him.:: Irene Mincine: Val> :: Drops the ship out of warp, puts them in orbit of the T Tauri star. :: "You have reached your destination, Cap." Hunter Matheson: ::minimal adjustment on the console to clarify images::: Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> Beginning preliminary scans. Irene Mincine: Irene> "I'm familiar with it, yeah. Let's hope whoever's driving can keep us out of their way. I like my body not inside out." William Chocox: ::turns back to the device:: Still not sure about what it is. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> ::Inhales and stands as they drop out of warp, wanting to stretch his legs.:: Cptn Swain: Ah good. William Chocox: ((I'm serious, I haven't had an idea about what I purchased unfortunately.)) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Still quite embarrassed, he hunkered down a little.:: Did you find the power switch? Rhan K'hal: Ens Obee> :: changes the main view to a split-screen of the (dimmed) visual of the star and some of the science data - has learned from Rhan on how to do the little things that can make the Captain happy :: William Chocox: That's a good idea. ::starts prodding at it:: I think I have it. ::presses what he thinks is the on switch:: Irene Mincine: Val> "Hazard readings are pretty hefty out here, sir. It's a pretty sight but I don't know how long we wanna stay here." Cptn Swain: (( The last three strange things engineers bought on this ship: a cloaking device, a baby scorpiad fighter, a weird key that we never figured out what it did. )) Cptn Swain: (( So really, the possibilities here -- all good. )) William Chocox: ((It's a tradition at this point. And I would like to point out that none of those were my fault.)) Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> The Daystrom Institute published some preliminary findings on recommended shield configurations for areas with high gravitational flux. They're not classified as field ready recommendations but if we get in trouble I have the profiles programmed into the computer. Hunter Matheson: ::so far so good:: Rhan K'hal: :: looking over Reynold's shoulder :: Cptn Swain: ACTION> While poking around the device, Will notices that it does bare more than a passing resemblance to the devices we found on the Elasian ships, but there are some differences including what look like other alien technology integrated into the devices power matrix, and what looks like a Breen transponder. Irene Mincine: Val> :: Chiming in :: "I'd recommend any help we can get." William Chocox: ::looks closer at it:: I think that's a Breen transponder. Anyone here have experience with them? Cptn Swain: ::Glances to Jalen:: Thoughts on that? Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Cdr Jalen Stanton> I second that. You know as well as I do that sometimes you have to go off book when in the boonies. Hakran K'hal: It is sort of nice to be back in the lab when we're doing something I'm familiar with. I may give Izal more time up there. Hunter Matheson: ::looks up when he hears Breen Transponder::: Cptn Swain: ::Nods with a grin:: Make sure to run them by engineering before you bring them online. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Fine with me. I have a feeling I should stay away from the captain and XO for a while." Hunter Matheson: ::figures the Cdr will take care of it::: William Chocox: ((I'm not on the bridge Hunter.)) Hunter Matheson: (gotcha) Rhan K'hal: Hmm. I'm not an expert on that particular part but I've been through more than the standard training on Breen tech. Rhan K'hal: :: emerges from behind Reynolds to take a look :: Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> Aye, Captain. William Chocox: Yeah, it's similar to what we found on the Elasian ship, but with more alien tech and a Breen transponder. ::points to where it is:: Hakran K'hal: No comment, but it can never hurt to put your nose to the grindstone and have THAT be what the command staff finds out about. Rhan K'hal: :: pulls out his most definitely not a Starfleet tricorder and takes some passive readings :: Irene Mincine: :: Irene nods, jumping into analyzing the incoming sensor data. :: "Yeah, I agree there. At least Commander Hawthorne was a good training partner..." Cptn Swain: (( Engineering folk give me a number each 1-20 )) Rhan K'hal: ((2)) William Chocox: (( 8 )) Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Peering at Rhan's device.:: That's not standard issue... William Chocox: Don't ask too many questions. Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> +Engineering+ Bridge science to engineering. I'm sending down some shield profiles that the DI has published, I'm thinking they might be useful for dancing around a t-tauri. Captain wants your clearance on them before we have to try any. I'm transmitting them down to you. :: sends :: Rhan K'hal: It most certainly isn't. Cptn Swain: ACTION> The device reacts to the tricorder by beeping and flashing several times. Then emits a bright, white light that momentarily blankets all of engineering. Rhan K'hal: :: turns the tricorder off :: William Chocox: ::shields his eyes:: Damnit not again! Rhan K'hal: Touchy little bugger. Rhan K'hal: That was just a passive scan. Rhan K'hal: So it's watching. Cptn Swain: ACTION> The transponder is.... not active, for now. Hakran K'hal: She always did seem like she'd be happy to throw a punch at things. William Chocox: Well, it's not currently active at the moment. Rhan K'hal: I'm thinking that we might need to put this thing into very strong containment before poking at it any further. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Jumps out of his skin at the light, yelling, and then checks himself for damage.:: That better not have ruined my chances of having kids... Irene Mincine: :: Irene smiles and laughs. :: "Yeah, a little too happy to do that, huh?" William Chocox: If you're that worried talk to Dr. Dubois about it. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: (( Miranda had a lot of reasons to punch things... and people... )) Rhan K'hal: I could scan your hardware myself but I'm a little leery about turning on my tricorder again anywhere near that thing. Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Thinks about Maryse examining his bits and bobs and blushes.:: Ah... I'm sure it's fine. Hakran K'hal: :: smiles :: So let that be a lesson to you. You can still make it to command level with a temper, you just have to moderate it. William Chocox: Thank you Lieutenant. And Ensign, that's why we have a doctor onboard. William Chocox: However, we do know that it doesn't like being scanned, and it appears to be similar to what the other devices we've found are. So now we have...what, three of these things now? Indaura Ryssan: :: Walks out of her office and into sickbay :: Rhan K'hal: Should I replicate some "DO NOT SCAN" signs and post them every 10 meters? Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> :: grumbles :: Bad enough I get the hold music, then whatever they're doing down there is eating into my data analysis by sparking the internal sensors. Irene Mincine: "I'll be happy to make lieutenant by the time I'm 40 at this rate." :: Irene looks puzzled at the data. :: "Did the sensors just go weird for a second a few minutes ago?" Cdr Miranda Hawthorne: Ens Reynolds> ::Hearing the comm from the bridge, he walked to the nearest station to have a look at what Val had sent down.:: Sir, ops is requesting our help on something. William Chocox: +Bridge+ Engineering here, how can I help you? Hakran K'hal: Yeah. :: examines :: A momentary slowdown in storage and analysis from the looks of it. Yeah, it's picking up the missing pieces now, filling them back in. Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> +Reynolds+ I sent down some experimental shield configurations that the Daystrom Institute has cooked up for use in area like we're in now. Captain wants an assessment on them before we potentially use them. Irene Mincine: Irene> "Weird. Something must be drawing a lot of computer power." William Chocox: +Kenet+ We'll take a look soon. Hakran K'hal: Maybe Dansh is snoring and the U-T was overloaded. Hakran K'hal: :: blinks after realizing what he said :: Ugh, Rhan really is a bad influence on me. Hakran K'hal: LtJG Kenet> +Reynolds+ Thank you. Cptn Swain: ...and ,,, Irene Mincine: Irene> "I think you're the one who needs to do some snoring..." :: She looks over the latest scan results. :: "Well, it's working great now." Rhan K'hal: :: using a nearby console :: It's odd that standard internal sensors don't seem to bother it, yet it was able to detect a wider-band passive scan. William Chocox: YEah, that is weird. Rhan K'hal: I'd suggest therefore that it's designed to be installed on a ship. Rhan K'hal: With a very paranoid crew. William Chocox: Like that first one we found. Indaura Ryssan: Doctor. Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM Cptn Swain: PAUSE SIM

SD 0301.2020 Excalibur is en route to a T-Tauri system near the Sheliak border in the Sellaris Expanse. Science and Operations have been working on a series of probes, several of which include *interesting* modifications. Engineering is still investigating the device they bought on the station, while medical is investigating the rash it gave them.