- This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Personal Log, Lt.Sr. Adele Mundy, TSN Raven, 2nd Fleet, 4th Lt.Div.
Stardate:11317-2237The mission this shift took us back to Sector 16, to investigate the situation there after Operation Astrid (the senior staff seemed to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in repeating the name; I’m puzzled, but if they’re happy…) hit the Hegemony forces and destroyed several bases in Sectors 6 and 11. We were mostly expecting Skaraans and pirates, and wanted to clear them out so the ‘Ntani find a nice clear sector when the finally arrive to colonise that planet.
You know the planet, Computer, the one where we went and annoyed a large herbivore for no particularly good reason. And nearly got caught in a storm that should not have been moving as fast as it did, according to satellite data. But that’s another story, and I might get round to my personal log for it, at some point.
Anyway, yes. Mission. We did sims beforehand, of course. Nothing particularly memorable, other than Engineering missing a call that we were on low energy, so we ended up dead in the water. Well, dead in the vacuum, or whatever the idiom should be.
So, we deployed a sensor array in Sector 12, ML-312, and continued on to Sector 16, where we did find Skaraan bases. Phoenix and Viper concentrated on destroying the bases, Hunter and Lancer danced around the Skaraan fleets while we (Raven) worked our way to the back to take advantage of their distraction. A pretty successful mission, all things considered, with the Skaraan base complex and the pirate base destroyed.
I know I’m not sounding particularly enthused, Computer. One can’t expect every shift to bring drama, and one can’t expect every little military foray to have galaxy-wide consequences. It’s easier to see where the threads are going when the design is finished. I just wish it didn’t all feel so disconnected – a bunch of random polka dots.
Polka dot theory of history… I don’t think it’s going to catch on, Computer, humans like continuity. Perhaps, in a couple of centuries or so, some historian or archivist will be able to look through our logs and, by virtue of her distance, the polka dots will resolve into a pointillist painting, and everything will make sense, or even seem inescapably obvious.
[pause. Some quiet humming resolves into part of the tune of “The Major General’s Song”]
If you come seeking answers about military history… [pause, muttering]
You’ll find I may be able to reveal some ancient mystery,
Because I access data files and [pause] dadum dadum dadadum… Oh, yes, volumes centenarian:
I am the very model of a TSN librarian!Did I say that out loud? Dammit.
With the system secured, we went back to a routine of sims on base, with Matsiyan taking more time in CiC with the Fleet Captain observing and stepping in to give guidance when needed.
That will do for today, Computer. I’m bored, dammit, and I need something entertaining to read.
[end log]
Personal Log, Lt.Sr. Adele Mundy, TSN Raven, 2nd Fleet, 4th Lt. Div.
Stardate: 18317-2237Cadets K and Psy (what is the fashion with names these days, Computer, is there a competition about who can have the shortest name in the fleet or something?) took their ensign exams, and were both promoted to Acting Ensigns.
The civilian contractor, Mooga, continues his stint on the base and on board. I’m not entirely sure why we need a civilian presence, but there are probably administrative reasons. Which don’t justify his constant complaints on the bridge about wanting to play with the big guns… one might be tempted to make the obvious Freudian joke. Still, he is not totally oblivious: at the end of our mission on Raven he mentioned to Lt.Cmdr. Aramond that he would try to talk less in future… which would be to his benefit, as I’m sure he missed several beam frequencies I gave him by the clever expedient of talking over what I was saying. He might even begin to gather the first inklings of the chain of command, if we stop making quite so many allowances for his civilian status. Or if Lt.Cmdr. Aramond starts using the same chain of command the Hero of Canton mentioned: “It’s the chain I go get and beat you with ’til ya understand who’s in ruttin’ command here.”
Yes, Computer, that’s me being irked. Surely you recognise the tone of voice.
The sims in the early part of the shift were fairly smooth, with a few software glitches here and there. The Fleet Captain is still chained to a desk somewhere dealing with the top brass, so Lt.Cmdr. Aramond took command of Raven, while, since Capt. Jemel was overseeing the cadets’exams, Capt. Verok took command of the division for the duration of the sims.
The mission (with Capt. Jemel in command of the division once the cadets were newly promoted to Acting Ensigns) took us out to retrieve the mobile lab we had deployed previously to collect the data on the artificial rift. As usual (there is actually nothing usual about this artificial rift, Computer, I am being shamefully inaccurate with my terminology), flying around the rift was tricky: radiation caused malfunctions in the drive systems, and Caltrons kept emerging from it in their inconvenient manner. But we were expecting them, and we dealt with them. Some of them even surrendered.
Mooga expressed his surprise. “Caltrons never surrender!” I tell you, Computer, I was this close to saying, “When Slate or I tell them to surrender, they damn well do.” But I didn’t. Hubris, and all that. Also, to be honest, it is rare for them not only to surrender, but to stay surrendered. I’ve been scanning the transmissions ever since, to see if I can find any detail in the data that would cause that behaviour, but so far, nothing seems to be any different from the normal code we transmit.
As the division scouted the sector systematically, we noticed severe damage to impulse, maneouvres and sensors starting in subsector B2.6, intensifying as we proceeded on through B2 and into B1. Other ships experienced similar damage, and by comparing data, and adding the position of the station wreckage in C1.5, we were able to pinpoint the source to D1.6.
Having found the Caltron rift, we proceeded to shut it down by redirecting energy from all five ships’ beams. I’m not sure how Engineering recalibrated everything, but it worked, even as more Caltrons continued to emerge. It took unwavering orders from Aramond to keep Raven facing the rift and to keep Mooga from opening fire on the approaching Caltrons – all the ships had to maintain their beams full power on the rift in order to close it.
With repairs under way, we headed back to CP-27X in our home sector, and had all the fun of going through decontamination procedures after docking. That really makes a visit to the bar a necessity…
But no, there were sims to go through while our ships were being scrubbed, including one sim with Matsiyan in CIC, and more Caltrons. We also continued fighting simulated pirates, who seemed particularly eager to surrender. Even a Caltron superswarm surrendered, and that just had to be a bug in the program. However flattering it may be to my ego to see the Caltron Superswarm icon turn yellow, I know how tough those constructs are.
It seems that the Caltron threat in Sector 10 is cleared in real life too, at least for now, according to our end of shift debrief, so we have a pause where we can, in fact, go to the bar. Or spend some time humming to ourselves where only our trusty Computer can hear us…
*hums a bit from “The Major General’s Song”. Eventually the humming acquires some lyrics:*
I am the very model of a TSN librarian,
I’ve studied xeno-history, industrial and agrarian,
I’ve catalogued all files on astrophysics and geology
And accessed abstruse articles on Hjorden archeology;
I’ve commented on Eliot and pondered on Macavity,
I’ve read Arvonian poetry, and parsed the laws of gravity,
On matters superluminal I’ve written an exegesis
And with a linguist team seek to decrypt our Caltron Nemesis!Chorus: And with a linguist team seek to decrypt our Caltron Nemesis,
And with a linguist team seek to decrypt our Caltron Nemesis,
And with a linguist team seek to decrypt our Caltron Neme-Nemesis![end log]
//also, you have to distort the pronounciation of “exegesis” to make it rhyme with Nemesis. But I claim that if W.S. Gilbert could rhyme “strategy” with “sat a gee”, I have justification.
//Ah… The Major General’s Song. Or Mordin Solus’ song… The very model of Scientist Solarian. I’d like to hear you perform “The very model of TSN Librarian” version live in the Galley. 😀
//And now I wanna watch Firefly again.
//Thanks for keeping me in the loop. Sounds like you had an interesting mission, with the beams.
//My singing voice is nothing to write home about, and I lack the breath control for something like this. I’m much happier writing the lyrics. Nhaima, on the other hand, has been hankering to sing…
//Would love to hear @nhaima sing it! Live or recorded 🙂
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.