USS Excalibur Sim Log - 03.22.20

[Cdr Miranda Hawthorne 0]

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