STSF_Scooter

Click. Click. Click. Click. The sound of an adjustable metal cane bearing weight had become a recent background sound in the past month, as the owner of the cane walked through the corridors of the ship. It couldn't be called stalking, since the cane takes away the body language needed. Of course, the cane also improved the Commander's reach. Some pros, some cons. Both sides of the coin to be considered. Audraya made her way, stalking as best as she could with the cane, towards the lift that would take her back up to the bridge. Crash had yet to be seen, but the XO just chalked it up either a really late night down in the back alley establishments of New Topeka, or wanting to sleep in. Of course, the Orion's mind wasn't on what was going on with Crash, but how efficient the grapevine on the Creek was—especially with the small size of the crew, they were more family than bureaucratic organ. She'd heard whispers of rumors about her and Tifa in the open mess. Normally, she was above such rumors, but after the disaster on Wei, she really didn't need such grief. With Tifa, Audraya had found a sense of contentment that had been lost since the Battle of Vulcan; her nightmares about that disaster had been diminished. Of course, there were also rumors abounding about Commander Spock and Lt Uhura on the fleet flagship, but it was interesting that it wasn't James “Tomcat” Kirk that wasn't factoring in them. Other than he'd been busy with a girl in every port. The lift doors opened, Ens. Philips still at the communications station, which was to be expected, since Tifa was still getting ready in Audraya's quarters. The Orion's eyebrow quirked up when she saw two new officers sitting at the navigation console. One officer, a tall female human Marine warrant, had turned at the soft swoosh of the lift door opening. As soon as the commander stepped out, she snapped to attention, eyes front, but her peripheral vision brought home the damage that what some casually called a “hit” could do. Cass put her bets on a mine, given the area and extent of the damage. At the helm sat a young man who was cheerfully whistling while reviewing the controls. The tune was known as either ‘Whistle Stop’ or the ‘Hamster Dance’ tune - depending on who you asked. Ensign Shan Shalin had come across this old song during his time at Starfleet Academy, and he had never quite been able to let it go. At least, he couldn’t let it go without taking hold of another song, such as ‘Merry-Go-Round Broke Down’. Perhaps it was his Argelian heritage, but if he wasn’t wholly occupied with some task he couldn’t help whistling, humming, or otherwise finding some way to amuse himself. That was, after all, the point of life for an Argelian - to enjoy one’s self as much as possible. Click. Click. Click. Click, went the cane against the deck of the bridge, as Audraya limped her way to the command pit. Her eye quirked. An Argelian, who appeared to be humming, and a Marine warrant occupied the nav console. Audraya sighed internally. Well, new crew was always appreciated, considering they’ve lost more than they gained in the past year. Somehow it seemed to her that Starfleet was beginning to consider Creek a ship of fools. Let’s hope they last longer than our last four officers. She turned, and limped her way towards the front of the bridge, she could feel the eyes of the blond Marine tracking her as she made her way around the command pit. As the Commander made her way about the bridge, the tapping of her cane eventually caught Shan’s attention. Stiffening quickly, he made a point of checking his status board: phaser charge, torpedo chamber status, impulse and warp engines, thrusters, auxiliary reactor output, battery charge … the works. They were still docked, so everything was on standby and nothing was happening. It was best to be ready for launch, though, just in case a squadron of pirates warped in out of nowhere. The thought gave Shan a shiver. While it was true that he was far too ambitious for life as just another Argelian, it was also true that he had never actually targeted a ship with living beings in it before. He occasionally excelled in the Academy, but everything in the Academy was a simulation: he had never killed, and he didn’t know if he had it in him or not. He did his best to calm the shake, remembering a mantra Sadun had taught him. Starfleet does not kill - it defends. That lives may be lost in the process is regrettable, but the lives saved by our actions shall certainly outnumber them. The needs of the many must always outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. The memory was reassuring; Vulcans always had a practical way of approaching problems. Maybe not the right one, but always practical. Looking over the readouts on the main screen, and noting that everything was in proper order, including a note that one of the ship’s Tomcats was back, she turned, and fixed violet eyes on the new officers. “Welcome aboard the Comanche Creek. I’m Commander Audraya Wesley, the executive officer. I’m not one for long winded welcoming speeches, but I will let you know that we tend to run into some rather...unique situations in the Border Patrol. Its to your advantage to be able to be flexible...to have an anything goes approach to the situations we may encounter.” Shan listened intently, stifling his own internal dialogue. ‘Anything goes’ was an approach he would most certainly not take, because for a helmsman that wasn’t true. Training for ship piloting in the Academy took two separate branches. Attack ship pilots were trained to push their ships and themselves beyond their limits; they were to do the impossible. For shuttle and starship pilots, on the other hand, everything was about grace and elegance. Technique was about getting the feel for subtly maneuvering 900 kilotons well enough to stop it all on a dime. Weapons control had one purpose: to fire at what the Captain wanted, when she wanted it. Shan was a helmsman - his job was to follow all legal orders, not to come up with his own clever way of solving a problem. “The Chinese have a saying, that is both curse and blessing--’May you live in interesting times.’ Since Nero, we have, indeed, been living in interesting times.” Especially on this ship, she added mentally. Her eyes twitched to the blond sitting at the Nav station. Cass waited patiently for the commander’s eyes to fall on her, letting her know an introduction was in order. “Warrant Officer Cassidy Granger, ma’am. Navigation.” To the rest she reserved comment. “Welcome aboard, Ms. Granger.” Marine...joy. Here’s to hoping Crash and I aren’t bailing her out of Wiley E’s brig every shoreleave. Or any brig for that matter. Memories of her time with 2d/Bravo, 3/113 Marines flashed behind her eyes...and usually having to bail out her platoon members on the Fed controlled towns on Sherman’s Planet. “I hope we won’t be having any problems while you’re under our command.” Taking that to mean problems with navigation, she replied, “My hope as well, ma’am.” Audraya noticed that Tifa had just entered the bridge and relieved Philips. She withheld her grin, and shifted her gaze to the Ensign at helm. Shan shifted uncomfortably, suddenly realizing that the commander’s eyes were locked on him. His attention had been drawn to the Navigator when it dawned on him that she was a Marine. It had been the one compensation that he thought a starship bridge assignment would give him: not having to work with Marines directly. He had encountered more than enough of them during his shuttle and patrol ship assignments, and still bore a bruise from his last encounter with one. “Ensign Shan Shalin, Ma’am.” He didn’t bother identifying his assignment - the fact that he was brash enough to sit at the Helm station of a starship should have made the fact that he had orders to do so. Otherwise his next seat would be a nice, smoothly polished bunk in the ship’s brig. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Shalin. Again, let’s hope your tenure aboard will be free of problems aboard.”

She looked ahead and saw the treeline. Sakura and Tifa were already out in the open, hands held in anonthreatening way as soldiers came running up on them, rifles at theready. Jed and Inno had placed MrKath's litter down, and were stretching; Crash and Radar likewise. T'Aral was just inside thetreeline, watching the point team. Satisfied, she took a step backand to the side. Her heel caught on something, and she pulled...and darkness. -=-=-=-=-=- Voices...shouts and screams...orders given...cold, so cold...a feeling of being lifted, of being bounced around over rough terrain...still cold...a jab in her arm, even colder where fluids were entering...a sensation of swaying in the air...more voices...warmth...cool gasses entering her nose and mouth...bright lights...curses in different languages...a wet warmth on her arms...cool gas flowing in through her nose, beeping with an occasional BING...softness under her... =-=-=-=-=-= Opening her eyes, Audraya blinked several times to clear out the sand. Darkness filled the hospital room, save the streetlights outside her window and the monitor above her bed. Dressings wrapped her right leg, but it was the brunette weight on her left arm that drew her eyes. Tifa was asleep, her head resting on her lover's arm. Reaching over, Audraya pushed the swath of brown hair off to the side. Even in the darkness, she could see the tear tracks that were running down the Creek's communications officer's face. "Goheno nin (Forgive me)," she said quietly in High Kolari. "Le melon (I love you)." tbc? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Elvishis being substituted for High Kolari...and can be foundhere: http://www.arwen-und...sh/phrases.html

You know you're a geek when you have OCC customize up the USS Enter-trike

Epsilion Scorpii IV Villageof Tee'Nek Major Tu'mino stood at the map in hiscommand trailer. The battalion commander looked at thereconnaissance reports from both his own nation's Raptors and theAmadacian fighters, as well as what the engineers were reporting. Explosive ordinance disposal had cleared out 100 improvised explosivedevices and land mines around the town, since they got there twoweeks ago to clear the area out for the Landeswher. Quite alarge number of the mines were leftovers from the Meredan Civil War30 years ago, which caused the country to just implode. The otherswere IEDs emplaced by the Se'an Chan, but were of such shoddyquality, not many were even going to detonate when they tripped. The deployment was a prescheduledsummer training mission for the reserve unit but with the crash ofthe Federation shuttle additional units were suddenly attached,primarily for ADCON1 purposes. And the orders from Joint Force Headquarters were changed. Instead of summer camp, it was full on, federalized support mission. Live ammunition was issued out to all personnel, not just those onthe perimeter of the encampment. MAJ. Tu'mino moved over tothe reports from the perimeter guards. They'd had heard noise in thetree line, and were dispatching out scouts to investigate. Abrunette and a pinkette (!) had exited the tree line almost on top ofthe patrol. He was just about to issue orders when a muffled BOOMrolled through camp. "That didn't sound like EOD. Captain, weneed to investigate what just happened. And have medical personnelstanding by." "By your command, Major," the overweight reserve XO replied and trotted out of the expandabletrailer. A four litter ambulance was already rolling, the medic crewheading towards where the pinkette was standing, out in the open. ______________________________________ 1ADCON- Military acronym for "Administrative Control". The controlling unit provides administrative services that the attached unit cannot normally provide.

I'm thinking more along the lines of Borg, Klingons, or the Empire.

Domani and Amadacian Militaries intensify Searchand Rescue Wei Joint Forces (Prov.) News Services Domani and Amadacian militaries have stepped up search and recovery efforts after reports of Se'an Chan irregulars were confirmed within the search grid. Amadacian Field Colonel Kei'Tal, spokesman of Joint Forces Headquarters stated that “every effort, every asset in our inventories will be used to find the crew of the Federation ship Comanche Creek, living or dead. We will regret any loss of life of the brave Federation personnel, and will hope that this does not prevent future negotiations for our membership into the larger, interstellar community.” Supporting ground operations in the crash zone, elements of the 42d Landeswher, including the 250th Support Battalion, have entered the operations area, centered on a small Meredan village of Tee'nek. Joint Forces Headquarters has confirmed their presence, and the 42d units will be providing medical and other combat support assistance for ground forces, as well as its secondary humanitarian mission for the village. Civilian news service Domani Brocasting Corporation has reported that it has received a statement from Se'an Chan leader Asamu al bin Nid, believed to be hiding somewhere on the Meredan subcontinent, again taking credit for the launch of the nuclear warhead that brought down the Federation space shuttle, as well as disrupted communications over a 2000 kilometer wide area. Joint Forces Headquarters has confirmed inventories on all Domani and Amadacian special weapons. Intelligence sources believe that the Se'an Chan device was left over from the recent Meredan War, and may have additional launchers and warheads. Joint Forces Headquarters as stated that a retaliatory strike with special weapons may be considered if another launch is detected coming from Meredo.

That which has been seen, cannot be unseen...

The latest genetic engineering plan- Self-Dyed wool

Insane and well adjusted? Or sane and maladjusted?

Domani Broadcasting Corporation News broadcast: “In a tape released by Se’an Chan leader Amasu al bin Nid, the Se’an Chan are taking credit for the downing of a Federation shuttle today over the Merado subcontinent. ‘The devils from the stars will not take our planet into their imperialist ways. We call on all of Wei to fight these invaders, in whatever manner necessary,’ he is reported to say. Domani and Amadacian military spokespeople have confirmed that a suborbital detonation of a 2Mt device occurred over the Merado subcontinent, resulting in power disruption up to 2000 kilometers away. “In a joint statement to the press, Domani and Amadacian military spokespeople state that all their special weapons are in the process of being accounted for, but believe that the Se'an Chan have developed their own warhead and launcher systems. Stay tuned for further news.”

USS Comanche Creek Orbiting Epsilion Scorpii IV Amadacia Broadcasting Company Evening News broadcast: “A combined Amadacian/Domani search and recovery team located the burned out remains of the Federation shuttle. No survivors were found in the immediate vicinity but no remains were found, Allied headquarters spokespeople stated in an earlier news brief. Crash investigation experts from both nations are enroute to the crash site to determine cause of both the crash and fire. Amadacian and Domani Special Forces will be continuing to search for crash survivors.”

It's Pi Day!

I thought *I* was the Evil One? ::pouts::

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT 21 February 2011 Last updated at 05:31 ET 'Printing out' new ears and skin By Jason Palmer and Matt Danzico BBC News, Washington DC The next step in the 3D printing revolution may be body parts including cartilage, bone and even skin. Three-dimensional printing is a technique for making solid objects with devices not unlike a computer printer, building up line by line, and then vertically layer by layer. While the approach works with polymers and plastics, the raw ingredients of 3D printing have been recently branching out significantly. The printers have been co-opted even to make foods, and do-it-yourself biology experiments dubbed "garage biotech" - and has most recently been employed to repair a casting of Rodin's sculpture The Thinker that was damaged in a botched robbery. But at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington DC, the buzzword is bioprinting: using the same technique to artfully knock out new body parts. Print preview James Yoo, of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University, told the meeting of his group's aim to print skin directly onto burn victims. "What motivated us to start this programme and development is the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "Up to 30% of all injuries and casualties that occur from the war involve the skin, and using bioprinting we thought that we could address some of the challenges they're facing with burn care." Professor Yoo's group is developing a portable system that can be brought directly to burn victims. "What's unique about this device is that it has a scanner system that can identify the extent and depth of the wound, because every wound is different," he said. He added: "That scan gets converted into 3D digital images; that determines how many layers of cells then need to be deposited to restore the normal configuartion of the injured tisue." Hod Lipson, director of the Computational Synthesis Laboratory at Cornell University, brought a 3D printer to the conference, to demonstrate how his well-established project, named Lab@Home, is branching out into bioprinting - by creating an ear. Ear today The machine starts with a computer file with the 3D coordinates from a scan of a real ear. For the demonstration, the real cells that the group would normally use have been replaced with silicone gel in order to bioprint the shape. The team has also published its results from bioprinting repairs in damaged animal bone. But the method is still in its infancy, and several technical hurdles lie between the groups' current efforts and a future in which injured body parts are repaired digitally on-site or simply printed out fresh. "Some tissues can be handled more easily than others," Professor Lipson said. "We and our colleagues have started with cartilage; it's amorphous, it doesn't have a lot of internal structure and vascularisation - that's the entry level point to start with. "That has been fairly successful in animal models, and that would be the first thing you'll see used in practice. From there we'll climb the complexity of tissue, going to bone, or perhaps liver." Another concern is that bioprinted tissues aren't easy to connect to the real thing. "One of the advantages of using the computerised printing is that you can create a tissue construct in a more accurate manner than when you're trying to build something manually," Professor Yoo said. "But how can we create and connect those tissues produced outside the body?Whatever you put in the body has to be connected with the body's blood vessels, blood supply and oxygen. That's one of the challenges we'll face with larger tissues." Whatever the challenges ahead, Professor Lipson told BBC News that he believed bioprinting will overcome them to become a standard technique. "If I have to guess, I'd say that in 20 years this technology will be mainstream, absolutely," he said. BBC © MMXI The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

As the landing party stopped for a couple of minutes, Audraya sat, sipping some water from one of the ration bottles. Escape and Evasion were difficult enough, but the dress black uniform skirt and gogo boots made for an even trickier time. It also didn't help that two of her officers hadn't bothered to listen to either herself or T'Aral, and right now the CAG was paying the price for it. Time to get serious. Motioning for the healthy and walking wounded to her position, she glared at each and every one of them. “Alright folks. Playtime is over,” she all but growled. “We have an unknown enemy, with an unknown number of forces and equipment chasing after us. We're cut off from communications with both the Creek and the nascent Wei government. And you're acting like a bunch of cadets on a summer hike in Yosemite. This is escape and evasion. This is the real deal, not SERE School at Fairchild SFB. “From now on, T'Aral's acting XO; sorry Doc but you've got the medical experience for the wounded. You follow her orders to the letter. If she tells you to jump, you ask how high. She speaks with my authority. We've got assorted injured, some serious, some not. “Silk, you should know better when it comes to listening to a senior officer. You've got a member of your team seriously injured, and carrying him like a ruck is not doing his injury any good. “Jed, I ordered you to grab the litter with Silk and carry Mrkath. And you ignored a direct order from your now commanding officer. Ensign Akade can manage on her own, even with the concussion right now. “Now, the two of you will find me two branches, about 2 meters long, and about as straight as possible. If you have to hack them down from a tree, do so. You'll then strip out of your uniform jackets, and turn them inside out, placing the branches through them and their sleeves, making a litter out of them. And you will carry that litter, until either we're rescued, captured, or dead. “Before you ask why can't Tifa do it, she's on point. Simply because she's got Innogen's tricorder, and not because we're dating. Why can't I do it? I'm covering our rear. Akade's got a concussion, but is apparently stable enough to carry a phaser. T'Aral and Innogen are carrying the Captain. “Now jump to it you two, or I will kick your ass up and down every corridor and Jefferies tube on the ship, regardless of what martial arts skill you possess. Do I make myself clear?”

::headdesk::

Geez...show you a fast ship Crash, and you go gaga over it.

Michelle Yeoh fem-bots

That's why I don't listen to pop music. There is no talent.

Considering its been up for almost a month... VR you win

Who says we didn't add the phaser CIWS systems of the movie? ;) Considering we did. Don't forget to check out the ship's specifications.

Indeed we are. And it never made any sense to have TOS ships scaled to the TNG-verse. Starfleet's still young, and growing. Not all the ships in Bridge Commander have the capability of the scripts to launch shuttles, but even the JJ-verse shuttles are still scaled appropriately. And as for a big flight deck, that's what artificial gravity's for.

As we all are. The gang of 3rd party mod creators for ST:BC have scaled their JJ-Verse ships to their Classic TOS counterparts.

Hmm...one would think we're "running silent, running deep" from a Dreadnought.