Mission 22 - Getting Reaquainted

[Tournneau]

ON:

<<USS Malinche, NCC-38997-A - Main Engineering - Mission Day 04 - 1400 Hours>>

Tournneau stood at the primary console in the starboard alcove, carefully watching all of the readouts. He nodded, satisfied, and turned around - a holographic representation of the ship and its position relative to the station hovered in the alcove. Derek watched the hologram as the vessel was performing its thruster tests. The ship was currently pirouetting about its roll axis as it rotated around the point of the ship’s prow. The ship trembled slightly as the roll changed direction. Even with the inertial dampers engaged at maximum, the violence of the maneuver made it palpable despite the best Federation technology.

Derek tapped his combadge. “Tournneau to Doram(NPC), thruster intermix is nominal. Feels very smooth down here, how are you finding control response?”

“This is Doram, yes the thrusters are responding well. Feels good. I think we’re ready to move on to MVAM when you are.”

“Standby.” Derek tapped a button on the console. A holographic Viradia Beladd(PNPC) appeared in the alcove.

“Ms. Beladd, I believe we’re ready to move on to the MVAM static test. Watch your systems as we separate, make sure those fluctuations don’t get out of line.”

“Yes sir, we’ll be ready,” replied Viradia.

“Captain, all systems go for static MVAM test. After separation we’ll let the hulls keep formation at about ten meters, and then bring it all back together. All told, it should last a little over a minute.”

<<Bridge>>

Hearing Derek’s voice, Isabel instinctively glanced up slightly before responding over the ship’s open channel to Engineering, “Understood.” She looked over at Melanie and then at each of the other bridge officers in turn, who each nodded to her to confirm their readiness. “Bridge is ready, proceed with MVAM procedure.”

Isabel settled back into her seat and put her arms on the armrests as she waited. It was time to see if the Malinche could do what she was partly designed for. Some thought splitting the ship into three was unnecessary or ridiculously overcomplicated. As an engineer she couldn’t really disagree with the complicated part, but the feature did have its advantages in the past.

<<Engineering>>

“Yes, ma’am. Separating now.”

Tournneau tapped the appropriate command into the panel, and the lighting throughout the ship changed for blue alert, and the corresponding klaxon sounded. The computer’s voice was piped in through every deck’s comm system.

“Initiating decoupling sequence. Auto-separation in 10 seconds. 9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..Separation sequence in progress.” As the countdown progressed, various ports and conduits between the three hulls could be heard separating and locking their armor caps into place. The warp cores aboard the Alpha and Beta hulls spooled up to deliver power to their hulls’ systems as the plasma transfer system disengaged. Finally, the hulls’ joining clamps released with a resounding thunk, and the powerful hydrorams between hulls whirred loudly as they pushed the massive ships apart.

The blue alert status lifted, and Tournneau reported the statuses over his open comm. “Hulls are separated - keeping station at ten meters as commanded. Core plasma levels look good on all three ships, everything looks to be running above nominal. Data interlink is stable. Computer reports good access port lockouts on all cross-hull systems. Power handoff data is...nominal. Looks like a successful separation, Captain. Ordering reintegration.” He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He’d been mentally preparing for this for months, and had been physically up to his neck in these systems for the past two weeks. He was glad to see that everything was working as advertised.

Derek keyed the reintegration sequence. The blue alert status returned, and the computer chimed in again. “Reintegration sequence in progress….” The hulls came back together, and with more whirring from the joining clamps closing and a last enormous shudder as the hulls locked into place, the computer reported, “Reintegration sequence complete.” Derek looked up at the hologram of Viradia, who also looked up at his hologram at her station in the Beta hull. They both wore the same look of stressed relief. Derek cracked a light smile and nodded in approval. Viradia made a show of being relieved, exhaling through pursed lips. Derek called out over the comm.

“Captain, computer shows successful reintegration. All systems report linkages are back online between all hulls.”

<<Bridge>>

Isabel looked down at the readouts, glancing quickly over the information. Everything she saw agreed with what Derek was reporting. “We’re seeing the same up here on the bridge. Excellent work,” she replied. Hopefully that would also be the case when they tried MVAM at warp later. Honestly, it was not a maneuver she liked to do, but it was something that could come in handy and she knew it should be tested regardless.

“Flight Control, are we ready for the impulse system tests?” Isabel asked Melanie.

Melanie looked at her console, checking her controls before answering, “Yes Captain, Flight Control ready.”

Nodding, Isabel said, “Engineering, we’re ready to begin impulse system testing if you are.”

<<Engineering>>

“Understood, standby.” Derek tapped his comm off.

“All right Ms. Beladd, looks we’re ready to move on to impulse testing - are the fusion rockets warmed up?”

“Yes sir, the fusion plant is operating at 102% of nominal and we’re go for vectored firing.”

“All right, keep an eye on your secondary core when we start adding energy into the system from those fusion plants. Remember, they’re a bit overpowered for our size. Be ready to vent excess plasma if necessary.”

“Roger that, sir, Beladd out.” The hologram dissolved as Viradia turned back to her console.

“Tournneau to Doram, we’re go for impulse rocket firing. Let’s go by 10% increments until we reach one-quarter c. Navigation at the Captain’s discretion.”

“Yes, sir, confirming impulse firing. Now keying in one-tenth impulse power.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The rest of the testing proceeded smoothly. The ship performed a few laps around Bajor’s sphere of influence at ever increasing speeds, finally moving to maximum impulse. Once that test was satisfactorily conducted, the Malinche set off for a few circles of the star system at low warp, and eventually headed out into open space for its destination, the Koralis system.

Deep in the underbelly of the Beta hull was one of the dozen warp plasma transfer conduits that channeled raw warp core reactants between the Beta and Gamma hulls. While this was not the particular conduit that Tournneau and Aarden (PNPC) had taken apart days earlier, it was nearly identical in every way.

However, what was not identical about this conduit was the 1.02 micron misalignment between the Beta and Gamma sides. It should have been enough of a misalignment to trigger a sensor warning, as it was just outside of the 1 micron tolerance for that part. However, the alignment sensor on this unit was not operating properly and was stuck in a diagnostic feedback loop. It was reporting perfect alignment.

There were other ways of detecting misalignment. Eventually the power would fluctuate at this junction enough for it to trigger the ship’s sensors and the junction’s own failsafe devices - in theory. The fluctuations were still too small to be externally detectable, but it was just the right amount of misalignment that it began to resonate slightly with the frequencies of the plasma passing through it. As the ship around it accelerated to ever increasing superluminal velocities, the resonance would cancel itself out from time to time. The acoustic vibrations shook the housing on a nearly atomic level. The misalignment increased to 1.03 microns. 1.04 microns………

OFF

A joint post by

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A


Lieutenant Viradia Beladd (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Lieutenant, J.G. Melanie Doram (NPC)
Astronavigation Specialist
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A


and

[Kersare]

OFF: This post is actually from when Tournneau and I restarted the shakedown ourselves after we lost people...so it's a rewrite of one already done here. The next post by Tournneau is a reaction to this.

ON:

<<USS Malinche, Ready Room, Day 1, 1355>>

Sat at her desk, Isabel took one last look at the map of the Koralis system on her console. Based on the intelligence reports, there really wasn't very much of significance in the system. Nothing they should have to worry about. All the better, in her mind; they could concentrate on ensuring the ship was ready to go on official missions again.

This would be different though. At the last minute, a few crewmembers had been reassigned...most notably Nora, Brex, and Tojal. Apparently a new Commanding Officer had recently been appointed and StarFleet decided to take some of her crew. Isabel hadn't been happy about it, but there was little she could do as the decision had already been made. She hoped that she would be able to get them back - Nora had been the Malinche's Counselor and then Executive Officer for years...Brex had worked with Derek rather well and even Tojal had been fitting in fairly well.

For the time being though, personnel had been shuffled around and an Executive Officer had transferred over - Rory Wescott, who she hadn't had a chance to talk to just yet. Isabel wasn't keen on starting a shakedown without having a decent conversation with him, but hopefully they could do so once they were en route to Koralis. Additionally, Lieutenant JG Toren (PNPC) had stepped in as Acting Chief Medical Officer and Lieutenant Beladd had moved to Operations.

Hopefully it would all turn out all right in the end. Noting the time and she turned off the console; time for the shakedown cruise to begin.

<Bridge>

Isabel walked onto the bridge, a slight smile playing on her lips as she looked around at the new bridge. Everything felt new and nearly seemed to sparkle. Of course, that wouldn't really last, but for now... It was still a bit odd to see mostly different people on the bridge - especially with the last minute changes. Melanie Doram (NPC) was at the helm, C'eltor (NPC) was monitoring the engineering systems, and D'iri Masor (NPC) sat at the science console. Everyone else was different though...Rory standing near the center of the bridge, Awen (PNPC) at Tactical, Viradia (PNPC) on the ops console, and Myka (PNPC). Apparently a new Chief Science Officer had arrived as well, but hadn't made it to the bridge yet.

As she made her way to the center of the bridge, she gave a brief nod to the bridge crew. Glancing over at Awen, Isabel said, "Patch me in to the entire ship, Ms. Fala."

Once the Bajoran nodded, Isabel continued, "Good afternoon everyone. We'll be underway shortly. Just to review, once we're clear of DS9 we'll begin our basic testing of the ship's systems. Sensors, deflector, shields, engines, thrusters... After that, we're going to do a basic MVAM procedure. We will not be going to our designated MVAM stations this time as we're just testing basic functionality. We'll then be heading to the Koralis system; our full MVAM test will take place at that time and everyone will need to take their proper MVAM stations when directed to do so. Once we arrive, we'll continue with more thorough testing of the systems. Good luck."

Isabel took her seat in the command chair and nodded to Rory in greeting. It was good to be back on the bridge of her ship and heading out once again, even if it was just for a shakedown for now. "Melanie, have you put in our departure request with Deep Space 9?"

"Yes, Captain. We're clear to depart now. Traffic around the station is clear, we're on our own power, and all docking umbilicals and latches have been retracted," the astronavigation officer replied.

"Very well. Set a course for two one five mark zero four zero at one quarter impulse power. Come to a full stop once we reach the coordinates.," Isabel instructed. Once she saw Melanie nod, she took a deep breath. "Engage."

The Malinche began moving away from the station at a slow, steady pace. The coordinates would take them out of the immediate vicinity of Deep Space 9 and, therefore, out of the main path of any incoming or outgoing starships. The Prometheus class starship moved smoothly through space toward the designated heading. After a few minutes, it began to slow before coming to a full stop.

Melanie looked down at her console, sliding her fingers across its smooth surface as she brought the ship to a halt. So far, the navigation systems were responding properly. "We've reached the designated coordinates, ma'am. We're now at a full stop."

Isabel nodded, "Thank you. Engineering, Ops, Tactical - are we ready for basic testing? If so, we'll begin and once everything checks out, we'll head to the Koralis system." Leaning towards her Executive Officer, she quietly said, "Why don't you go ahead and give some of the orders for testing, Rory?"

"Yes, Captain. I've set tactical scanners to scan the starbase and have already advised Deep Space 9 that we'll be testing our weapons lock as well. Shields are ready; currently holding on stand by. Phasers and torpedoes are also showing available," Awen responded. Of course, they wouldn't be firing phasers or any weapons where they currently were. Those tests would wait until the Koralis system. Still, it was good to ensure everything was ready. She also had Sirak (NPC) coordinating the security drills which would take place en route to their shakedown destination.

As the responses began to come in, Myka mostly listened while sat at the mission ops console. For the time being, there was nothing for her to report. Her work would be more relevant once they reached their destination. She slid her fingertips over the console and entered her security code to access the intelligence database. No new updates on Koralis. She turned her attention back to the main viewscreen. It was good to be on a ship again, rather than assigned to a starbase. Both had their benefits, perhaps, but she was ready to be on a ship again.

Nodding towards Awen as she gave her report, Isabel kept a calm demeanor. Although she was eager to get started on an actual mission, she knew they had to thoroughly check their systems first. Hopefully by later that evening or the following day they would have their first mission. For now, though, she had to concentrate on the shakedown. Their systems did have to check out first; if they didn't, the Malinche would be staying at Deep Space 9 a little longer to get them checked out.

OFF:

Commander Fala Awen (PNPC)
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

and

Lieutenant Turren Myka (PNPC)
Chief Intelligence Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Melanie Doram (NPC)
Astronavigation Specialist

and

[Tournneau]

<<USS Malinche -- Mission Day 1 -- Shuttlecraft Machu Picchu -- 1200 >>

Rory Wescott (PNPC) stood at the window of the Machu Picchu as it made its final approach to the Malinche's Shuttlbay door. He had been activated just a few days previous and pulled from his assignment on nearby Starbase 375. He was on adjutant duty as he had just concluded a tour of duty aboard the USS Yeager and was awaiting assignment. He was, in fact, awaiting shore leave, but the orders had come through and the need for a first officer was urgent. Much of the Malinche's senior staff had been reassigned as part of an emergency fleet restructuring. It was all very unusual, but Command had been very sparse on details as to why.

The flight officer at the helm called back to him, "We're about to land, sir. I'll have them transport your things straight to your quarters - the Mali is due to be underway shortly."

"Thank you, Ensign," Rory replied. "It looks like I'll be hitting the ground running!" He chuckled with the junior officer, but it was quite unnerving knowing that he would be the XO on a mission - a shakedown cruise, but still - on a ship that he would have less than two hours to become acquainted with. He doubted he would even be able to see the Captain before they made for open space, as she would undoubtedly be inundated in tasks and reports. Tasks that he should have been on hand for, but under the circumstances, he could not.

The shuttle approached the ship from the bow, rolling gracefully around the hull as it made its way to the aft shuttlebay door. Rory gazed over the ship's striking lines and its gleaming hull, newly polished and painted. He knew the Malinche had seen its fair share of combat over the years, but the refit had undone any hint of its previous actions. It looked as if it had been freshly replicated. Quite an impressive vessel to say the least, he thought to himself. And quite an impressive crew from what I've read so far. This is going to be quite an interesting new adventure.

The shuttle came into the bay and gently alighted on the deck. Rory made his way out of the side entrance on the flight deck of the shuttle. Several crewmembers had already approached the shuttle and were going through the safing procedures. Rory was impressed by the efficiency with which the new crew was already working.

Crewman Liras (NPC) was waiting for him at the nose of the landed shuttle. She saluted him and waited for him to return the gesture. "Commander Wescott, welcome aboard the Malinche. I'm Britney Liras, the Captain's Yeoman. I have your billeting assignment, the day's duty roster, and the ship's orders here," she said as she handed Rory a PADD, "and your schedule for the week."

"Thank you, Crewman," Rory said, "I appreciate you having this here for me. We are underway in just under two hours, correct?"

"That is correct, sir. I know these are not ideal circumstances, but we should have a pretty easy time of things during this shakedown run, sir."

"Indeed - well, carry on, I'm sure that you have other duties to attend to that are more important that giving me the tour, so to speak."

Britney smiled slightly. "Yes sir, thank you. I'm available if you need anything." She nodded and turned back to the shuttlebay exit. Rory stood for a moment reading his PADD. His schedule was quite full for the next few days - most of it meeting with the other members of senior staff, and making an inspection tour of the ship. As the ship was to be underway so soon, he did not have time to go to his quarters. He walked to the shuttlebay exit and entered the nearest turbolift.

"Bridge."

OFF

Crewman Britney Liras (NPC)
Captain's Yeoman, USS Malinche

Unnamed Flight Officer (NPC)

and

Commander Rory Wescott (PNPC of Tourrneau)
Executive Officer, USS Malinche