Posted by Lieutenant Commander Liam Madison (Chief Science Officer) in Bridge- Main Sim

Posted by Captain Orvos Legen (Commanding Officer) in Bridge- Main Sim

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Liam Madison (Chief Science Officer) in Bridge- Main Sim
Posted by… suppressed (30) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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Kezrick frowned, knowing Legen’s words were more than idle threats and that time was limited. //We are assessing the affected area. It’s not safe for people to be traipsing about. We’ll check to see if your missing crew member is in fact in the area and let you know.\

Liam turned in his chair when the Counselor arrived. While he didn’t know her on the same level as the CO, he wondered if she should be here at all. Extreme occurrences tend to leave individuals unstable emotionally. A fact he had experienced himself with LB.

Sadly, now wasn’t the best time to inquire about it. He pulled out his tricorder and pushed up onto his feet. Stepping toward her, he made sure to keep in her line of sight before he spoke in a calming manner. He didn’t want to spook her. “Hold still, Ms. Kingston. I’m going to give you a quick scan.”

Naturally, he didn’t want to elaborate on why just yet. Running the device over her, he scanned for any particles left on her person. It might tell him more about the nature of the incident. Including the cause, any dangerous elements, and more.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Madison would find traces of nitrates on Janna’s uniform, most likely from a plastic explosive. The formulation and density however was not in any quantity to be toxic.

Callahan stepped out of the lift and made his way to the tactital station. After a quick briefing of the situation, the CTO relieved the NE and slid into the tac station. After recalibrating the console, he was able to boost the signal and get a slightly better reception. . .

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

He could indeed boost the comm signal, though there was a dead zone around the area of the explosion.

~Mischief Maker

Harrison kept that info to himself for the moment. Better to let the captain know once the comm was closed.

Faye surreptitiously slipped around the back of the bridge, keeping her face away from the viewscreen. She slid up to to the tactical station, standing in front, and eyed Callahan. She spoke in a low voice so that she couldn’t be overhead beyond the two of them. “Do you have any black ops training?”

OOC: We’ll pretend for a moment that Faye hasn’t already read his file in detail, so if there’s anything of note in there, let me know via. DM or site message.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

Harrison kept his eyes on the tac console and spoke low. “Yes, commander, I do. Participated in plenty of covert ops while serving on the Vindicator and the Brave.”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

Calloway nodded. “Good. I’ll need you to prep to go asap once we’re done up here.”

Orvos realized that he wasn’t going to get far at the moment with Kezrick. Tying him up on the line wouldn’t ultimately help the situation. =/\=Very well Mr. Kezrick. Keep us apprised. Athena out.=/\=

When the comm-link was terminated, he sighed and pivoted to face the bridge crew. Eyeing Janna and Liam scanning her, he spoke up. “I’ll check in soon on Commander Stone. How is the rest of the team?”

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

Janna blinked. “We’re okay. Commander Hammor grabbed me and our… escort rather roughly and Dr. Bailey gave me an injection of clotting agents for some bruising, but I’m fine and will have them check me out when they are less busy. Daggum and Security have our new prisoner in custody.” Janna blinked again like she was puling herself out of some sort of daze and gave Orvos a penetrating look. “Ducante is still alive. The transporter room lost his signal, but I know he’s not dead,” she said, her certainty radiating outwards. It was more than just wishful thinking. Janna knew.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Orvos locked his gaze with hers, understanding how and what she felt. “We’re not giving up on him,” he said quietly before turning to the chief intelligence officer.

Having heard the captain was done, and Janna’s response, Faye’s mind leapt into the next phase of her quickly recalculated plan. “Over here,” she said, gesturing to Callahan to join her as sthe black ops dressed officer stepped away from the tactical station and headed back to where she had been sitting at a back console a little while ago. “Captain, Dr. Kingston…” she said, waving him over. “We all need a huddle. You too, Madison. I might need to pick your brain.”

Faye settled in at the console and pulled up the earlier scans the ship had grabbed of the mishmash of a structure. “Okay, things have changed, and I’ll fill you all in on what I think should happen.” Faye took a deep breath and glanced over at Callahan. “Long story short, while investigating this situation I discovered that there was an Intelligence operative on the Dawn Treader, one of the civilian freighters whose crew completely disappeared. They’ve heard nothing from him since and there’s every reason to believe he is here. We don’t know if he has been compromised but at the moment I feel it prudent to assume so.

“Now, there’s Ducante as well.” She gestured to the area now highlighted to show where the explosion went off and the damage that went down three floors. “It makes sense that our Chief of Security, if alive as Janna says, is somewhere underneath where the Away Team was. That’s where someone has to start looking. At this point I don’t have a clue where the Intell agent is, but we have to start somewhere.”

Faye turned and eyed Orvos and then Callahan. “They’re expecting us to investigate, even if they’re trying to get us not to. So my thought is that Callahan and one of my team members, Ensign Sinara, beams down and looks for Ducante. But as they beam down, Dawson and I will beam down as well, but we’ll be purposefully masking signatures, at least initially, and we’ll go after Morgan. I think I can get his biosigns from his record now that I’ve been in there.

“If all goes well, Callahan and Sinara can just beam back. Dawson and I will also have the task of recovering the shuttle the away team used. Worse comes to worse, we’ll destroy it, but it might be useful, so if it’s intact, I want to use it as our escape plan out of there, but we’ll need Science”-she pointed to Madison-“to keep an eye on even minute changes in the place that might mean we’re in trouble.” Faye exhaled forcibly. “And.. go. Thoughts, questions.”

~Faye Calloway, CIO

Orvos spoke up first after having listened closely to what Faye had been saying. He had slowly nodded before replying. “The plan feels solid. Straight forward. We will monitor things from up here certainly. I think we can commence immediately. Are there any concerns from others?” he inquired, noting the silence.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

Janna’s gaze had been fixed on Faye the entire time she had been speaking. More than that though, she could sense the undercurrent of trepidation running through the CIO. Aside from Faye’s husband, Janna was probably the one other person who understood the details of why that might be. “Faye,” she said, her tone gentle. “Are you sure about this?” She didn’t qualify her question; one, to maintain Faye’s privacy if she wanted, and two, because the CIO would already know what she meant.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Orvos glanced at Faye as she spoke, taking in the emotional spectrum she was experiencing. Whether he liked it or not, he needed to know his crew could manage down there. With Janna to help assess and given his close connection with her, he was confident he’d get the ‘intel’ he needed.

The knuckles of her right hand turned white as she clenched her fist and pressed it to her side. Her stormy grey-green eyes collided with Janna’s grass greens and Faye drew in a tiny shaky breath. “Do I want to? No. But I need to,” she said with all the emphasis she could muster. “I won’t leave him there, Janna. I can’t. I won’t let someone else go through what I did any longer than they have to. If we can find him, he’s coming back with us.” She didn’t raise her voice at all, but Faye couldn’t help the passion and surety with which she spoke. In her mind, the outcome where Silas Morgan was alive and found was already solidifying.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

The corners of Orvos’s lips curled up ever so slightly. She was determined. With Dawson there, he felt more at ease now.

Liam had been hyper-focused on the material readings, though he had been listening. Nitrates from a plastic explosive felt crude and primitive. A means to camouflage it for its hiding place, maybe? He ran the plastic readings through the database in hopes of narrowing down the type, uses, and more to find clues about its appearance.

Spotting the CIO pointing at him, he pulled away from his research and back into the subject. “My biggest concern is losing the open comms, especially in this delicate of a situation. I suggest two things. Bring a tricorder along and we should have a back up frequency or another way to make contact. “

Faye gave a slight grin. “Don’t you worry about that. We’ll have tricroders and more. Dawson and I will have subdermal comm with ear pieces. Open comms for everyone and Dawson and I won’t be given away.”

He then added. “Also, the scans I took earlier showed traces of nitrates and plastics. Materials obviously found in a plastic explosive. I’m currently trying to see if I can trace the details of the plastic and hopefully, I can give you some identification features. Just in case there’s another one planted somewhere.”

Deep down, Liam hoped his extra measures would be just precaution and nothing more.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Faye nodded. “Once we have a read on that, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out.”

“I’m all in, Commander,” Callahan replied. “Can we get a read on where Ducante disappeared? If there was an explosion, that area may not be stable. I’d like to know that before going poking around in there.”

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

Faye pointed to the image she had already pulled up from the readings. “Janna can correct me if I’m wrong, but sensors tracked the away team to this point that is now sunken. The explosives went off in a ring. Everyone on the team got out of the way before the floor collapsed down three decks. Ducante is somewhere in that area, but it’s now three deck down, yeah. You and Sinara need to beam as close down there as you can get. Up to you how deep you feel comfortable going. Just remember that we’re on a timer and we don’t know how much time we’ll have exactly. You’ll be the more conspicuous pair. The folks down there are expecting someone, but that doesn’t mean they’ll cooperate ro help you. For as long as possible Dawson and I will conceal our presence. We have no idea where Morgan is and we’ll need all the time we can get.”

“You’ll go in your uniform but bring gear. You may need to climb, rappel, cut stuff, whatever. Be prepared,” Calloway said.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

Madison’s results showed the explosive was a type called HMX. It structure was a eight-membered ring of alternating carbon and nitrogen atoms, with a nitro group attached to each nitrogen atom. It was a potent explosive.

~Mischief Maker

Orvos took in the dialogue as the plan solidified. “It sounds like a solid plan to me. Commander Callahan, prepare your team to beam down. Commander Calloway, likewise. Contact the bridge when you’re ready. Commander Madison, when you get the results, see if we can detect any trace amounts elsewhere on the station. The last thing we need are more traps. I’ll be updating fleet command on the ‘need to know’ of the situation.” He paused awaiting for the acknowledgements or any potential objections.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

” The explosive type is called HMX, an eight-membered ring of alternating carbon and nitrogen atoms. There’s a nitro group attached to each nitrogen atom. Makes it potent as an explosive.” Liam tightened his jaw a bit, considering something. The best solution would’ve been to provide inhibitors that slowed down or stop reactions between the two. But he didn’t have any instant compounds that held amides or nitriles on hand. He opted for the best option for their situation.

“I theorize controlling temperature and pressure can help, but I’m no explosive expert. Just a theory based on the chemicals used and their reaction triggers.”

Faye nodded and turned to Callahan. “Wait for my signal. I’ll have the transporters synchronize beam out.”

“Aye, Captain. We’ll get Ducante back,” Harrison replied.

As he moved to the lift, he tapped his comm badge. =&=Ens. Sinara, this is Lt. Cmdr. Callahan. Prep yourself for an away rescue mission, and meet me in Transporter
room 1.=&=

Lt. Cmdr. Harrison Callahan
CTO-USS Athena

A soft voice came through the comm. =/\=I’m already preparing. Be there in five. Sinara out.=/\=

~Mischief Maker

“Janna,” Faye said and gestured with her head for them to step aside.

Curious what the intelligence officer had to say privately, Janna moved off to the side of the bridge with her.

She studied Kingston for a moment and slipped her hand into her pocket and held out a small data chip in her palm. “Give this to Dag, please? I don’t have time to explain and frankly if I see him now I don’t know that I’ll be able to go.”

Janna drew in a deep breath and nodded. She’d make sure Daggum had a friend to pass along whatever Faye felt crucial to say to her husband.

She set the chip in Janna’s hand and moved towards the lift.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

“Faye?” she called out.

Calloway stopped and turned back.

“Just remember how far you’ve come, yeah?” Janna said with a smile. If there was anyone who could pull this off and survive, it was Faye Calloway. She was a feline with multiple lives, that woman.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

With a grin, Faye nodded and snapped off a salute. It was surely an irreverent gesture from her most of the time, but in this case was about as sincere as she could muster. She slipped off the bridge and into mission mode.

~Faye Calloway, CIO

As the others finished up their conversation, he got to work and sat down at his station. He began to scan for any trace amounts using the HMX data base and recent information to rule out confusion. Last thing he wanted was to mix up an explosive with a structure or other harmless device.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

As far as he could tell, there were no other signs of HMX. Wherever the devices had been made, it had not been on the structure and based on a lot of what they knew so far about the place and those that lived there, it was unlikely they had the resources to create the devices themselves.

~Mischief Maker

Janna watched Orvos head into the ready room to make his call and so she turned to Madison, who was currently in charge of the bridge. “I’m going to go down to the Brig and delivery Calloway’s message and see if I can help at all with our… guest. If you need me up here at all, just call, okay?”

With a nod, Kingston slipped off the bridge, her right hand clutching the data chip that Faye gave her.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Feeling more confident there wouldn’t any future confusion, Liam then moved on to monitor the changes as instructed.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Orvos had taken what time he needed to in order to share what he could with command. He wasted no time and arrived shortly back on the bridge to take his center chair.

“Sir. We have confirmation that both teams have beamed down to the structure,” an ensign at operations said.

~Mischief Maker

“Very good. Commander Madison, any more information on those explosives yet?” he inquired. Having watched him move to scan Janna earlier, Orvos assumed he was on the way to figuring some things out.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

In addition to what Madison had already learned about HMX, it was notable that the immediate area of the explosion was contaminated. However, the levels were low enough that it shouldn’t cause any health issues. If the away team, or the inhabitants of the structure, had any exposure, it was treatable.

~Mischief Maker

“It seems the immediate area of the explosion was contaminated. The levels are low enough it shouldn’t cause any health issues for those exposed to it and is treatable.” Liam started when the CO addressed him.

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

The following came through the comms…

=/\= “I’ve detected a ruptured conduit in an adjacent section. Could attract repair teams, though I’m surprised we’ve found nobody yet. And oddly enough, all systems ten metres outside of the explosion are practically untouched. It took us significant time to get down here. Why would there be no repair crews? My first guess is that, given their limited amount of supplies, they have to ration out what is essential to repair. If I’m right, most of the systems effected near us are non-essential. Which tells me, this could easily have been an intentional explosion. Best place to do blow something up would be near unimportant systems.”=/\=

=/\=“I agree,” Faye said softly. “These people are struggling. Everything is hodgepodge, including the systems. But the explosives were highly effective and precise. Not the sort of thing these people would just have laying around. It was very intentional and I would bet you anything they were given to them but someone outside the structure. I’m starting to get a better picture of these people.”=/\=

=/\=“Which also means we could be dealing with someone or someones from outside of this hodgepodge of groupings? That or there is serious division going on with these people.” he noted, curious if the bridge would catch on to his thoughts.=/\=

Orvos spoke up. “That’s good news, especially for our away team, Madison. Is this compound something they have on inventory here? Or did they get this elsewhere?”

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

Liam’s answer was delay due to his processing the information from the comms. It took him a moment to realize the CO was talking to him causing him to straighten his lips. “Through replication, yes. They would leave a signature of sorts in the compounds though and I don’t recall any. However, that gives me an idea…”

He pulled up the data over the compound and the earlier scans, doing an forensic chemical analysis.

“In explosives manufactured by companies, there’s a chemical signature left that can be traced. If they stole it, we can possibly track it back to the owners. Then we can find more information from there. However, there’s a chance this might turn into a dead end if there isn’t one.”

-CSO, Liam J. Madison, Sci.

Orvos stood up, eyes on the chief science officer as he meandered about the bridge. “That could be helpful. Perhaps there are other people looking for these people if it was stolen. Though if Commander Calloway is right, these people may not be entirely capable of stealing from these other vessels. Perhaps they are partnered up with someone who can?” he thought aloud.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO