Posted by Lieutenant Garth (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Arrival

Posted by Commander Maxwell Harkness (Executive Officer) in Main Sim - Arrival

Posted by Cadet Aili McMorran (Scientist) in Main Sim - Arrival
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

The runabout successfully launched, Emmy settled into her chair on the bridge, staring at the view screen in front of her despite the lack of information on it.
“Try to maintain a communications signal with the runabout,” she instructed. “I want to know if we lose comms.” She knew the science and engineering departments had been working to see what they could do about maintaining them with the storms, but she wasn’t sure if they had come up with a definitive solution and the idea of sending her crew members into the mining station without being able to speak with them bothered her more than she was willing to let on.

Davis, CO

Cadet McMorran acknowledged the instruction: “Aye, Captain”. She felt a flutter in her stomach. That was her first time saying that outside of the simulators. Aili opened a simple connecting channel to the shuttle and carefully tracked its progress, preparing to counter the interference that would inevitably come when the shuttle entered the turbulent atmosphere, her hands shaking slightly with the pressure of her responsibility.

(Cadet McMorran, Science)

“Lieutenant. This sounds like a horrible idea that I’m probably inadvertently volunteering for. But would our chances of communicating improve if we put something a big larger then a probe into orbit? Say another runabout?”

Max didn’t like the idea, but he probably just volunteered to fly the second runabout.

“And use it as a relay beacon?”

Cmdr. Harkness - XO

Emmy’s head tilted to the side at Harkness’ suggestion. It was logical and he would, of course, be the likely choice to pilot such a vessel.

Davis, CO

Max looked over at the Captain and saw the head tilt. Yup, that was all the confirmation he needed. It was time to dust off the old flight suit.

Cmdr. Harkness - XO

Garth straightened from his usual stoop and looked at Harkness curiously. “Use a shuttlecraft as a relay station…” he considered. “That would undoubtedly help with the consistency of the strength of the signal. Cadet McMorran can join you on the shuttle to assist with the communications while you fly.”

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

Aili’s head was burried deep in the console she was working at. Upon hearing herself mentioned, her head shot up to face the front of the bridge. After a relatively idle start to her time on the Challenger, her responsibilities werer now mounting what felt like exponentially. Turning to face Garth and Harkness, she simply made an obvious nod in their direction, before continuing with her work. She began preparing the procedures she had established for transfer to a shuttle’s onboard computer.

The chance of Harkness getting some fresh air outside of the Challenger rapidly diminished when a communication came through from the mining station:

=^= Away team to Challenger. We have landed safely. Come in, Challenger. =^=

=/\= Challenger here. =/\= came Emmy’s initial response as she squinted at the view screen but realized that they were not going to get a solid visual signal. =/\= We have audio and a very weak visual. Let’s keep it to audio only for now to try to make sure it’s as clear as possible. =/\=

Davis, CO

Now hearing the transmission coming through, Cadet McMorran again refocussed her efforts on mitigating interference in the signal.

(Cadet McMorran, Science)

“Don’t worry Cadet, you’ll get your chance,” Max said looking over at McMorran.

He turned back to Garth. “Let’s keep the idea on the backburner, just in case the storms get any worse and we lose communications. What’s your team saying about how the storm is going to behave?”

Cmdr. Harkness - XO

Garth’s small eyes narrowed even more than usual at the viewscreen. “Our initial estimates determined that communication wouldn’t be possible without advanced measures on our part, so the fact that they are working now is surprising, and no guarantee that they will continue to. McMorran, notify us as soon as anything changes with the status of our communications with the away team.

The tellarite man stooped over the main science console, carefully inspecting any estimates the Challenger’s computer and crew might be able to make about the forecast of the storm. Was it going to get worse soon? How quickly did circumstances seem to change? Garth liked when things were consistent. And this storm seemed to be anything but.

(Lt. Garth, CSO)

“Aye sir”, McMorran again acknowledged a command directed at her. Feeling she had done all she could to clear up the signal from the away-team, Aili shifted her focus to the almost literal bigger picture. Whilst continuing to run in the background the processes and scans she had already established, she began to look for potential gaps in the storm, including geological features which may have reduced its intensity in their locality. Pausing and looking up, the Cadet took a deep breath and steadied herself. She had already faced what felt like greater challenges during her time on board (albethey not strictly professional) and had lived to tell the tale. Looking around, she saw faces of officers and colleagues she didn’t know well but was beginning to become accustomed to. She felt oddly at home, having only been on board a short while. Having so constantly felt a longing for home during her time in the Academy, perhaps Starship life would provide her with something much needed: a new home and family. Whenever she had a settled assignment, that was. With that, Aili returned to jabbing away at her console, furiously trying to nail down some elusive solution to defeating this darned bad weather, one of her oldest foes…

(Cadet McMorran - Science)