Posted by Cadet Tristan Halloway (Engineer) in Main Engineering - Cadet Halloway reporting for duty

Posted by Lieutenant Keval Vras (Chief Engineer) in Main Engineering - Cadet Halloway reporting for duty

Posted by Cadet Tristan Halloway (Engineer) in Main Engineering - Cadet Halloway reporting for duty
Keval was about to respond when he looked above the cadet at the second floor of engineering. “No, no, no. I know I don’t ask for much. But if you re-calibrate the warp field like that, the next time we go to warp, the field will destabilize again, and I’ll be the one left explaining to the Captain why we’re moving slower than a slurmverge at night.”

Taken aback, Tristan blinked and turned to see where Keval was diverting his attention,. A level up, he watched as an officer methodically danced their fingers across the interface in a flurry. He squinted, wondering how the hell Keval could’ve seen that from this distance… and wondered what the devil a slumverge w–

“Cadet Halloway, was it? Well come along, then.”

Focus, he thought to himself. Tristan turned and stutter-stepped to catch pace with his commanding officer, and enter the elevator with him.

• Cadet Halloway, Engineering

(OOC: Hi Reese! I saw that you trimmed your earlier post when you wrote your reply. That’s a good skill to practice in the Academy. If I can make two pointers? Try to at least keep what the last person replied to, so that context is kept. I generally keep three older posts before trimming. Second, write the phrase “<snip>” where you have removed text, so that the reader knows.)

As Halloway entered the elevator, Keval pushed the keypad to make it rise to the second level. “All right, cadet. So you’ve been assigned to Challenger, have you? Well, let’s make sure the Academy has given you at least some preparation for working here.”

Tristan felt the heat build up on his neck underneath the collar of his uniform, a small flush breaking over his face. This was the champagne across the bow, the first moment that would define his career. Maybe he was weighing too much on the moment… or maybe just enough, he pondered.

“I would hope so, sir,” he replied as earnestly as he could, unclasping his hands from behind his back. The lift whistled in his ears over the dull thrumming of the warp core.

The elevator came to a halt and Keval started to walk out. “You know that Challenger has two warp cores, correct?” The Andorian’s antennae curved downwards a bit - if antennae could suggest something complicated, they would suggest that this Andorian would be having choice words with the Academy instructors if that that was somehow missed - again, if antennae were capable of that.

Tristan ears perked up. “Ah, yes, sir. Discovery-class starships have one core running through decks four through six…” he paused, ensuring he was correct, trying to slow his pace, knowing he tends to speak quicker than most, “…and the other runs the length of decks nine through eleven, sir.”

Keval walked towards where two other cadets were at a warp nacelle terminal. “How long do you figure it would take to bring the secondary warp core out of cold standby? And no, this has nothing to do with the problem these cadets are working on.”

Tristan paused and paced toward the core, forgetting his place for a moment. “This design allows for both drive and saucer sections to maintain warp capability, in a tactical situation that would require such an event.” The words left his lips almost breathlessly, like the words themselves were exalted.

On a heel, he turned back to face Keval, and the original question he posed. “In such an event where yellow or red alert has been called, the computer will prime a hot-standby; ten minutes are required to bring the second warp core out of cold-standby.”

<snip>

-Lt. Keval Vras, CE

Tristan felt like he could be floating; he wasn’t sure if that was an affect of the gravity plating, the dull hum of the core behind him, or the curious gaze of the cadets standing near him. His eyes flicked between them and his CO, whose antennae were doing their own curious dance. Without much first-hand experience with Andorians, Tristan couldn’t tell if this was a good thing… or a very bad thing.

And Tristan hated uncertainty.

• Cadet Halloway, Engineering

Keval’s antennae raised upwards. “Good,” the Andorian said, as he turned towards the crew members working on the warp field calibration. “Glad that the Academy isn’t teaching too many bad habits to break cadets out of. Most of the time.” For those that new Challenger’s Chief Engineer, this was probably considered high praise.

His attention back on the warp field, Keval continued. “Run a simulation of that field calibration for Warp 9.8 at 13 hours. Don’t look at me like that,” Keval said without turning to either crew member. “I know what the specs say. Unfortunately, a Borg cube chasing Challenger probably doesn’t care what our specs say.... well, they would have assimilated the specs, but you get the point. The field needs to stay stable for as long as the warp core can power a reaction. Remember, don’t just rely on what is written down somewhere. Let me know when you get a field stable on the new simulation.”

Keval then turned back to Halloway. “So, why did you pick Engineering at the Academy anyway?”

-Lt. Keval Vras, CE