USS Challenger September 22, 2017

[STSF Jami 0]

Cptn Ja'Lale: USS Challenger - 22/09/2017: The Challenger has arrived at a nebula and detected signs of irregular energy signatures. While there, they spotted a small scout vessel nearby. Following it, the vessel suddenly stopped and disappeared instantly after. TBS was none.

Cptn Ja'Lale: BEGIN SIM
Cptn Ja'Lale: BEGIN SIM

Hunter Matheson: ::staring at the view screen:::
Cptn Ja'Lale: Let's start scanning the area. It doesn't look like they've spotted us so far.
Dyan Sylvanis: :;Sitting at Tactical, she tries to relocate the scout.:: We should be careful with heavy scanning. They may pick up on it.
Cptn Ja'Lale: ::nods:: I'm with you there. Let's scan with caution, yeah?
Hunter Matheson: ::long exhale he was holding in::
Caitlin Townshend: Acknowledged, setting scanners to "cautionary"
Hunter Matheson: Station keeping.
Dyan Sylvanis: ::Nods, making an adjustment to sensors. She begins a low frequency scan.::
Caitlin Townshend: Or is it "cautious"? Adjectives are hard.
Dvokr chim Hok: :: At Ops ::
Cptn Ja'Lale: Both work
Hunter Matheson: ::cautionary glance toward the El Tee at the scanners:::
Hunter Matheson: ::then tends to business, checking their drift::
Cptn Ja'Lale: ACTION: Challenger begins its low-key scan of the area. Energy distortions are present in the area, but is doing its job in masking whatever's behind.
Caitlin Townshend: I can't penetrate the screen, Captain.
Hunter Matheson: ::leans toward Syl:: Cloak?
Caitlin Townshend: They're definitely hiding something, and the volume is big enough to contain an asteroid base.
Dyan Sylvanis: Probably
Dyan Sylvanis: Or some sort of shielding.
Cptn Ja'Lale: Yes, that'd be my guess as well. Fairly advanced from the looks of it.
Caitlin Townshend: How did pirates get something this advanced?
Dvokr chim Hok: Stolen
Cptn Ja'Lale: From the black market, I'd guess
Hunter Matheson: Or maybe it's not just pirates.
Dyan Sylvanis: I imagine there must be a large power source for them to maintain this.
Cptn Ja'Lale: ::nods:: Could be likely. But, we'll still need to find a way to break through their cloaking device.
Hunter Matheson: Find the power source and take it out?
Caitlin Townshend: If we can't see in, with a distortion field this powerful, they probably can't see out.
Cptn Ja'Lale: Explains why they haven't seemed to have seen us yet.
Hunter Matheson: That's a good thing, right?
Dyan Sylvanis: Hmm... I wonder if the field can repel things. Maybe we can find a big enough rock to throw at it?
Hunter Matheson: ::he drums his fingers on the console:::
Hunter Matheson: ::shrugs:: Tachyon beam?
Cptn Ja'Lale: There're a lot of asteroids, maybe we can bounce one over at it ::shrugs::
Dyan Sylvanis: A tractor beam push would do it.
Caitlin Townshend: ::wishes she had taken that extension course in particle physics and subspace geometry right about now::
Dyan Sylvanis: ::Does a quick scan.:: I found one close by that is suitable. ::Sends coordinates to Kal.::
Hunter Matheson: Coordinates set in. Captain? ::turns for verification::
Cptn Ja'Lale: ::nods: Let's do it. Once it's close enough, push it over.
Hunter Matheson: Aye, Captain. Moving in ::Syl:: Got the tractor ready, or are we just going to hit it in their direction?
Hunter Matheson: I mean... ::taps the console:: I can bump it, but it might scratch the paint.
Cptn Ja'Lale: I'd rather you not.
Caitlin Townshend: ::small smile at the bridge banter, something she isn't yet used to::
Hunter Matheson: ::pursed smile:: Aye, sir. Moving to tractor distance.
Hunter Matheson: Tractor distance, ma'am ::Syl:: Ready when you are.
Cptn Ja'Lale: ::nods::
Cptn Ja'Lale: ACTION: Asteroid still out of range until Dyan comes back
Dyan Sylvanis: I'm ready.
Cptn Ja'Lale: ACTION: The asteroid, about the size of an AMC Pacer moves to within tractor range.
Dyan Sylvanis: ::Pushes the asteroid with the tractor beam, then cuts the beam once the asteroid is moving fast enough.::
Caitlin Townshend: ::monitoring sensor readings for the moment when the asteroid begins interacting with the cloaking field::
Cptn Ja'Lale: ACTION: Asteroid chunk was successfully punted and heading for the cloak. It slowly floats for a few minutes, before bouncing off like hitting an invisible wall which it did.
Hunter Matheson: Backing off... just in case it ricochets, 'cause, you know, that's not cool.
Cptn Ja'Lale: ACTION: A brief shimmer of blue light appears where it impacted.
Hunter Matheson: Hm...
Dyan Sylvanis: Well It's a shield...
Dvokr chim Hok: A hit was detected.
Hunter Matheson: ::slowly:: Yeah..
Caitlin Townshend: Must have some kind of IFF.
Cptn Ja'Lale: Indeed.
Dyan Sylvanis: I wonder how much that thing can take.
Hunter Matheson: ::leans close to Syl, whispers:: What's an IFF?
Dyan Sylvanis: Identify Friend or Foe.
Cptn Ja'Lale: The odd asteroid every now and then?
Caitlin Townshend: Probably not much given how much surface area it has.
Hunter Matheson: ::slow nod:: Makes sense.
Caitlin Townshend: It would likely not withstand sustained phaser fire … but then however many ships they have in there would know we're here.
Dyan Sylvanis: Maybe we can over load it with more asteroids.
Cptn Ja'Lale: How often do they get asteroid showers here?
Caitlin Townshend: In a nebula like this? ::does some quick calculations::
Caitlin Townshend: About once every few weeks
Cptn Ja'Lale: Hmm, any way to detect when the last one was roughly?
Cptn Ja'Lale: Though if I were the commander of this base, I'd probably have to drop shields to shoot at the asteroids. That'll work to our advantage.
Caitlin Townshend: I can run a gravitational mapping of the immediate region, but it will take some time.
Hunter Matheson: Well, sir. Why would they drop shields and shoot instead of letting the asteroids just bounce off?
Hunter Matheson: Unless, you know, they need 'em for target practice 'cause they're out of sim rounds.
Dyan Sylvanis: ::Nods to Ja’Lale.:: I was thinking that as well. If we can get them to come out, we might be able to find out how they can get in and out of the shield. Then we can duplicate it.
Cptn Ja'Lale: Interesting point.
Dyan Sylvanis: ((Oh you know for some reason I thought you said drop ships.))
Cptn Ja'Lale: PAUSE SIM
Cptn Ja'Lale: All right, what's a good TBS? An hour or two maybe to set up what we need to cause the asteroid shower?
Cptn Ja'Lale: Cool.. 2 hours it is. Any other questions?
Dvokr chim Hok: Asteroid Showers brings May flowers
Hunter Matheson: And May flowers bring pilgrims?
Cptn Ja'Lale: If none, then sim dismissed. Goodnight folks.