Posted by Ensign Elemirre Serinde (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim - Engineering

Posted by Ensign Elemirre Serinde (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim - Engineering

Posted by Ensign Elemirre Serinde (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim - Engineering
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Senior Chief Petty Officer Bekele Seifu was the second ranking non-com in the engineering roster and worked under Lt Green on most shifts. He received the message from the Lt and stared at it for a moment. He had heard that freighters had come to the system and that was it. Of the other officers aboard there was only Ensigns Serinde and Gagarin. Serinde was in the Armory working on comms to the bridge and Gagarin would be asleep. Bringing up the general quarters callout notification system he quickly tapped out the message.

=^= General Quarters. All available Engineers to stations. This is not a drill. Ens Serinde to continue duties in Armory pending further orders. =^=

With that he tapped the send button. The Lt would get the notification as well so he didn’t need to report that he did it. He did press a comms to the Bridge engineering station. =^= Orders sir? =^=

Green replied back. =^= Freighters are acting suspicious. Skipper is challenging them. I don’t expect trouble but keep alert. Prepare power distribution to hull polarization. =^=

=^= Acknowledged. =^= The broad faced bald Ethiopian picked up his palm pad and closed the channel.

The luxury of being a SCPO was that he didn’t have the authority and authorizations to do a GQ to any other ship staff. Given that the ship was not under any alert may confuse some but that was fine. He then set up a timer and positioned himself in a visible place in Engineering. Knowing how long it took for everyone to assemble was important and the Chief and for sure the Lt would want to know. Looking at his table he saw one by one the engineers acknowledging receipt of the notification. The engineers were billeted all over the ship’s decks. Despite being up two decks WO Jackson was nearly the first to arrive, still pulling on his jacket. Beta shift of course being on station were there. Gamma took longer though most of them were on the lower decks and had been asleep. They stumbled in bleary, Ens Gagarin wide eyed.

He clicked the stopwatch and logged the time. “Take your stations!” he called. “Lt Green called GQ. I want a system status on all your stations. Prepare to run EPS management program Alpha-Nine.” That was the auto program that redistributed power to defensive systems and the engineers knew it. Some faces turned to him. To the side a squad of four seamen were suiting up and preparing repair kits and fire control gear. “Ensign Gagarin, until the Chief or Lt comes you are in charge.”

Sasha paled which was a surprise given his already light complexion but moved - if a bit mechanically - to the central area near where Bekele stood and began calling out the various stations, awaiting the reply, and Bekele logged the status. The only one that was in the end not good was the tactical but they knew that and it was being addressed by Serinde. Hopefully that could be patched up. Sasha turned to Bekele who nodded. “Status logged,” he said.

Sasha moved to the comms. =^= Gagarin to Lt Green. General Quarters complete. EPS Alpha 9 ready. Damage and Fire crews moving to station. =^= When nervous his Russian accent became more pronounced. Right now, Bekele thought, it was quite thick.

• Engineers

=^= Green to Engineering. Dispatch and position fire and damage control teams 1 and 2 to decks D and F. Assign a third damage control for E deck to use if needed there or elsewhere on desks A through C. Be alert. =^=

Sasha cast a quick glance at Bekele with eyes wide. Spinning around he saw that the two teams were nearly set. One team with three and one with two. “Chief Cleare, take your team - Dorian and Galen - with you to response position Alpha on F Deck. You will cover E through G Decks but focus on F and G Deck.” He looked at the other team. “Warrant Jackson, take Clark and Kohl with you to D Deck, Alpha position. You will focus on D and E Deck.” He waited for them to acknowledge. “Move now.”

Now what. Sasha relied on expertise and experience and much of that was gone. A flash of panic settled about him. “Senior Chief, Fawkes and Fry. You are backup damage team for this deck.” That left a shift worth of people to man station if things were not going well. Still enough especially if the Chief or Serinde was coming. Serinde was sharper than he was even if nobody else saw it. He realized he needed to reply to the Lt.

=^= Gagarin here. Teams away. We are prepared for anything here. =^= There, was that confidence? Or boasting? Or bluff? All three were tossing about in his stomach like so much salad
- Gagarin, NE Eng

The last words from the bridge were still echoing in Green’s mind as he strode purposefully off the lift. Armory. Don’t let them get away. Entering engineering like a storm front Green looked about as all heads turned to him. He slapped the comms nearest him. =^= Green to Armory. =^=
=^= Armory. Basile here. What is it Lt? =^=
=^= Tell Ensign Serinde to be alert. =^= He paused =^= There may be action. =^=
Serinde replied a moment later.=^= I’m here Lt. We’re ready. Comms channel is open. =^= She sounded too eager to his ears, and the Italian fop of a MACO well .. opinions reserved ..
=^= Maintain readiness. Green out. =^= He switched off the comms and turned to the others.

At this point eyes were wider from some in Engineering. Standard stations were attended even if Fawkes looked like he was napping. He knew that was a false impression but it always had Green look twice. Sasha was rounding the corner from the far side. “Lt?” he asked, his round face and frame making him look like a teenager. ‘He could almost be my son,’ Reggie thought, but appearances were deceiving. “Look sharp everyone!” he called out. “We have a stand off with the Merchies.” Then in a more ominous voice. “They’re slavers. Skipper is challenging them. If they’re doing that they may have tricks up their sleeves. The Chief is holding the bridge.” Then he looked at Sasha. “Ensign, you are still in charge. I’ll maintain the damage control teams if needed, otherwise carry on.” He said that loud enough so all could hear. Fawkes blinked. That was a good sign; he was listening. Sasha straightened up and looked like he wanted to salute. “Aye, Lt.” He turned on a heel and moved to a central position and monitor to keep an eye on engineering status. He looked much taller with this assignment even if he was sweating. Well, it will be good experience. ‘Merchies may put up a fight but they were driven by profit, not pride. They’ll back down soon enough’, thought Green. As he was turning away to be close to where one of the teams was he heard Sasha call out, “All stations, report status.” He would have sounded more authoritative if his voice hadn’t been an octave high. But the stations started sounding off one after the other as though nothing was amiss. Such as it would have been on an old British navy ship of old with ensigns and midshipmen being mere boys.
- Green et al in Engineering

The sudden change to Red Alert startled Sasha. He had been thinking of a dozen things at once and only some were related to the matter at hand. In short he was trying not to panic with the potential seriousness of the situation and with Lt Green watching him. He knew this was a test and the gangly Russian was wanting to prove his mettle. As it was when the Red Alert sounded he jerked, ducking as though the alert was something physical coming at him from above. The flashing red at the side bulkhead was distracting not to mention the whoop whoop of the alert.
“Hull Polarization activated,” came the call from PO Walters. “Plasma Cannons online.”
Sasha swallowed. So something was happening! “Initiate program EPS PM Alpha Nine,” he said in a tone that he hoped was understandable between his feeling like he spewed it out quickly and thickly accented.
“EPS Alpha Nine is running. Power distribution cycling to critical areas. Weapons. Polarization. Engines. Inertial dampers and structural integrity fields.” Walters rattled that off. It was unnecessary but part of the naval tradition.

Sasha moved to a comms. =^= Engineering, Bridge. Gagarin here. Additional power allocated to critical systems. Damage control parties standing by. =^=
Gagarin, NE Eng

OOC: Bump .. Gene

The first strikes caused shudders through the ship. Rosa-Marie let out a yip as a spark shot from her station but so far that was it. It looked fine as she checked the controls. “Multiple strikes!” she called out, her Spanish tone accentuated in her stress. “Port and starboard regions. Polarization down to 93%!”

Boris Gostonovic, a burly seaman who was monitoring the power outputs called out, “Seeing load to engines. Diverting auxiliary to polarization and engines.”

Rick Walters heard a small whimper from Nessa at his feet, glanced down. “It’s okay,” he said. “We’ve got this.” Then to himself, ‘we have this, right?’ .. his eyes scanned the system status. “Minor damage to port and starboard bows. Showing electrical overloads in localized areas. Nothing in critical systems. Automatics have bypassed the damage.” His gaze shifted fast between the screens and checking the damages. “No hull damage. Polarization in all quadrants holding.”

Green had balled his fists. Surely they’d fire back and teach those Merchies a lesson but so far had not seen or heard anything to that effect. He was about to bark out an order but held this tongue. For now this was Gagarin’s command. After what seemed an interminable pause (to Green) he heard Gagarin reply to the status calls. “Maintain power distributions. Chief Petty Officer Cleare, head to the bow with your team and see to the damage. Other teams stand by.” His tone, to Green, sounded a bit squeaky and with the thicker Russian tone it was not particularly commanding, but it was the right choice, at least to Green. A team to the fore was not a bad thing and closer to things. Two teams in standby. He watched as Fiona, Dorian and Galen moved out at a jog. Fiona looked angry, Galen was wide eyed and Dorian? Well, he just looked bored. He would have to address that attitude. Ultimately this was a good place for Green - he was able to observe the troops and how they fared under pressure. To date they really didn’t have any, even in general quarters drills. Something real was good for the soul, he thought.
- Green and others ..

OOC: Pasted in …
IC:

Their plasma canon striking along the rear port quarter of the ship hull leading to the port nacelle pylon. The Sojourner shuttered again from impact, but beyond reduction in hull polarity to 92% in that area and a brief hiccup in plasma feed to the nacelle no further damage was report. The first and third ship that had banked under the ship also left their marks in passing along the under belly of the ship in this case both targeted the same point on deck G striking the lower portions of their deflector dish. Damage reports soon came in on the comms indicating some hull bulking in that area. Polarity of the hull there was down to 81% effectiveness. Thankfully for the moment no breaches nor serious damage to the deflector dish which without it they would not be able to go to warp if needed or go very fast on impulse in places stellar debris were present. Perhaps this was the cargo ship’s goal to escape?

Green reached out a hand to steady himself as more strikes came in and he frowned underneath his beard. They were persistent imps if nothing else.
Rosa Marie called out. “Hull polarity at 92 in rear port area.”
Rick added, “I have a plasma feed surge to port nacelle! Working .. its leveling out.”
Another strike, this time under them. Green felt the tremors in the deck plating “Lower decks. Hull polarization at 81%,” Rosa reported.
Rick reported. “Hull buckling. No breaches in forward to mid regions.” Did he sound stressed? He didn’t want to. He glanced down and saw Nessa laying on a foot. She wagged her tail when she saw him looking. “It’s okay girl,” he said, again not so convinced.

Sasha took this in and was worried. He scratched at a non-existent itch on his skull. “Warrant Jackson. Your team to G-Deck. Ensure areas sealed off in case of a hull breach. Seaman Gostovnick, route power to lower deck polarization.” As Jackson, Clark and Kohl moved, Green noted that perhaps for the first time he didn’t see Kohl with her coffee mug. “Good call, Ensign,” he said.
“I don’t know where,” Boris said. He was a broad man but he was hunched and looking defeated. “I can’t see more power to go.” Could a bear actually cringe? Sasha froze.
Green moved. “They’re trying to knock out our deflectors so they can get away. Ensign, keep a focus.” He was beside Gostovnick and his fingers moved on the console. “Seaman, take a breath. Take another,” he said in a modulated voice as he brought up power utilization curves. “See here. Even with limited power reserves there are still options. Here, and here. We can take power right now from the warp feeds. We’re not at warp and are running on our impulse. Knock out 10% life support. Yes, it’s temporary and nobody will notice that. We’re looking at the now. See, we have a 9% surplus on plasma capacity to the polarization generators. This isn’t an exact science and as an engineer we have to think creatively.” Green was doing this as he was speaking, then clapped Boris on the shoulder. “Got it?” The large man didn’t look terribly sure but he nodded. “Good, carry on,” he said moving back to a position of observation. That was good to know about Boris. This was the first time in all probability for many of them to seeing ‘action’ and cutting their teeth on some freighters was probably their best bet.
- Engineering crew ..

OOC: Pasting selectively
A dual barrage of plasma scorched along the port central quarter of deck B and C. Report showed the transporter room had experienced a EPS relay blow out and though repairable was out of commission for now. Also reported in damage was a minor hull breach in the Captain’s quarters showing a decompression of 10 seconds or so before the emergency hull plating sealed it off. Fire was also reported on internal scans but that was quickly extinguished as soon as it had happened from decompression. In total their hull plating along the central quarter was down to 87%.

“Hull damage central port region decks B and C!” Rosa Marie called out. “Hull breach. Captain’s quarters.” She paused as she watched the display. “Emergency sealant activated. That’ll leave a mark.”
Rick reported, “EPS relay blowout transporter room, not that we have material to transport.” He sounded relieved but tensed up in his next report. “Localized fire around the hull breach. Looks like decompression took care of it.”
Sasha paused then said into his communicator =^= Team A, hull breach Captain’s quarters. Watch for fire damage and check the seal. =^=

The last (aka first) ship still hot on their tail 15 meters back dipped quickly below their underbelly and fired another round from their plasma cannon, this time focusing again on their deflector dish. The lances of fire struck home again along the under bellow around the array housing. More shudders went through the hsip and an aft console on the bridge flickered then sparked out from an overload. Polarization in the area was now down to 62% with moderate hull buckling and damage to the array’s secondary systems and alignment. The misalignments would take time to fix, if they had to go to warp though they would probably be capped at 1.8 or so at best.

Rick continued his list of damages. “We have hull damage. G deck. Near the first strike. Sensor array has damage. Running a diagnostic on that now.” There was quiet .. and that was likely a good thing, Green thought as they didn’t take any more hits in the seconds that followed. That and the ship didn’t look like it was doing any nasty maneuvers. “Well?” Green said, impatient for the report. Sasha moved over to see it for himself.
=^= Damage team B. Sensor array alignment damage and secondary systems damage. Hull buckling. Prioritize the sensor array. =^= He turned toward Green and said, “It doesn’t look that bad but it will take time to fix, Lt. We can do warp but under Warp 2 to be safe.”

Green turned to the third damage control team. “We will head down to assist the second team at G deck. Hand scanners at the ready. We will do a deck and hull analysis to make sure that ruptures and buckling doesn’t just happen. Ensign Gagarin, I want your team remaining to make a comprehensive list of damages and rate them in priority. Send them to the DC Teams and the Chief on the Bridge when you have it together. If Serinde ever returns to us get her on the array alignment and put her maths skills to work. And report to the bridge that teams are responding.” With that he left at a quick pace with the rest of his team.

Sasha looked at the others, the three, two seamen, a petty officer and a dog. “Boris, collect any deficiencies in power generation and distribution and note any surges that occurred and where. Maria, run status on tactical, life support, hull and polarization. Rick, you take internal systems, engineering, sensors. Make me a list.” With the three calling out their replies, Sasha went to the wall console. =^= Ensign Gagarin to Bridge. Damage control parties are en route. We note sensor array damage from here. Estimated time for repair is coming. Power and engines are on line. =^= He looked at Rick to see whether he could give an estimated time …
- Engineering staff

Sasha heard the command for El to assist in the breach repair. She also had the task that Lt Green had given which was the realigning of the array. He was very mixed and paused in what he should do. The others were busy and he didn’t have the Lt looking over his shoulder. Technically the captain trumped the Lt but who would he put in place of the realignment? With a wash of relief he realized that that wasn’t for him to figure. That was for the Lt or Chief to work out. He touched the communications switch.

=^= Gagarin to Armory. Ensign Serinde, the Captain wants you to help with the hull breach on Decks B and C. Depending on the status of that Lt Green wants you working on the realignment of the array. It has been damaged and is out of alignment. =^=
=^= No. Someone else will need to do that. I’m .. busy. =^=
“I have a power surge. Not dangerous. Forward hull polarization active, focused in bow section of A Deck. Could burn out relays if it increases =^= Rick reported to Sasha.
“Can you reverse it?” Sasha asked.
“Trying. No. Whatever .. whoever it is it is keeping ahead of me.”
“Cut power to that section.”
“Can’t. It’s locked. Not coming from the bridge. Source .. the armory.”
=^= El are you doing something with the hull polarization? =^=
=^= Yes. I need to focus. I’m trying to save lives. =^=
=^= You have orders .. =^= His tone pitched higher. But there was no reply. She was going to be in big trouble ..
Engineering crew ..