Posted by Commander Daniel Hawthorne (Executive Officer) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Gamemaster The Pharmacist (GMT) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Captain Cypress Elliot (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Bridge
Posted by… suppressed (23) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The bridge was bustling as crewmembers prepared for their departure. Each person was carrying out their duties efficiently, making sure that they would be able to depart as quickly as possible. Word had started to spread about the nature of their mission and there were mixed emotions as the seriousness of the task settled in, even among the non medical crewmembers.

NEs Moran and Heacock were at several auxiliary stations at the back of the bridge going through some minor checklists and trying to stay out of the way of the more important people on the ship.

“So what do you know about this place we’re going anyway,” NE Moran asked as they tapped a few commands into their console, “Kessa or something?”

“Peshka III,” NE Heacock responded. He tapped a few commands on his own terminal and the small viewscreen showed an image of a planet. “I was looking at it earlier. I guess it’s some kind of archaeological science colony.”

NE Moran glanced briefly at the screen, “Oh like dinosaurs? I like those things a lot. You know I used to go to this museum back home all the time with my family to look at their bones. They’re so cool.”

NE Heacock chuckled a little, “I don’t think this is dinosaurs, you know that’s really more paleontology. Archaeology is studying civilizations, I think. Anyway, I didn’t have enough clearance to see what they are actually studying, I bet that means it’s something pretty cool. But, anyway, I heard there’s some kind of disease that is affecting everybody. We might land the ship!”

“Land the ship in the middle of a disease infested colony?” NE Moran muttered some things to herself as she went about her checklist. “I knew I should have put in for a transfer. These medical types are almost as crazy as security officers.”

The Pharmacist - GM

As members of the bridge crew bustled around making final preparations to leave for Peshka III, Captain Elliot sat in the center seat reviewing reports as they came in. Looking at the time, she saw it was 23:18 which left them 42 minutes to finish.

OOC: how long for the trip?

CO Cypress Elliot
USS Ogawa

OOC: Travel time from SB 157 to Peshka system will be about 12 hours at maximum warp.

The Pharmacist

As the clock neared midnight, each department reported to the bridge on their readiness and compliment. All officers had returned from the star base and all supplies had been brought on board.

Still seated in the center seat, Elliot signaled she wanted a ship wide broadcast. =/\=Attention crew, this is your Captain speaking. We will be departing SB 157 in the next few minutes. Make sure all supplies have been stowed. All personnel that can, should get some sleep. The trip to Peshka III will take approximately 12 hours at maximum warp and we’re going to have to hit the ground running. Elliot, out.=/\=

Brad stood at the back of the bridge, slightly surprised to see the new captain there at such a late hour, but also realizing the desire to give the orders to get her new ship underway for its first mission under her command.

The open frequency was closed and she looked at the officer at the helm. “Set a course for Peshka III and engage once you are green across the board.” She should take the opportunity to rest in her quarters because once they got to the planet there was no telling how long it would be before there would be a chance to rest again. Instead of heading to her room, Cypress left the bridge and headed to her office where a couch awaited her.

CO Cypress Elliot
USS Ogawa

As the captain’s office door slid shut, Brad slipped from the back of the bridge to the center seat. He was the second officer and nominally in command during the overnight shift, but he was also much too old to regularly pull over nighters and double shifts.

The helm officer dutifully entered the coordinates for Peshka III as the captain had ordered. Final supplies were moved over from the starbase and one by one the various departments reported in their readiness for the mission. Once they had received word from the last department the helm officer tapped the command sequence to disengage the docking ports and reversed out on thruster power. Bringing the ship about they smoothly maneuvered to a safe distance and tapped a final sequence. Those on the bridge saw the familiar sight of the starfield blurring on the main viewscreen as the ship jumped to warp.

The helm officer turned back toward the captain, “We are on our way, captain. Time to Peshka III is 11 hours and 53 minutes.”

“Very good, helm,” Brad replied. “Normal cruising procedure: NLt. Ambition, you have the conn. Call me if you need something, but it better be important or you’re going to be a training tool for my new nurses that need to learn how to do cavity searches.”

“Aye, sir,” the nervous younger officer replied, moving to take the seat. Brad considered the arrangement a win-win: he got to sleep (all doctors know how to sleep while on-call) and a younger officer got valuable “time in command”.

With that announcement, the bridge officers settled in to monitor their trip. In less than 12 hours they would arrive, but what they would find was anyone’s guess. Hopefully, it would be in time to figure out what this disease was and save the remaining colonists.

The Pharmacist

OOC: Scott, as the GM, can you get us to the planet in the next week? I am on LOA, moving, and won’t be back for a week to 10 days. The crew need something to do and if we are getting ready to land then all departments can post about getting ready. Chris, the XO, can help in any way you see fit. Unpacking my computer is one of the first things I’ll do once I get across the country. Thanks!

CO Cypress Elliot
USS Ogawa

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

The trip to Peshka passed fairly uneventfully. Given the timing of the mission, most of the main crew was sleeping while the secondary shifts kept things under control. It was close to 1200 hours the next day when the helm officer tapped a few commands into their console and announced to the officer currently in charge of the conn that they were entering the Peshka system. The ship slowed to impulse and the starfield on the main viewscreen was replaced by the distant image of a planet. From this vantage point, the planet appeared in different shades of tan and brown with a few scattered splotches of blue.

As they drew closer to Peshka III, NE Heacock was back at one of the science stations monitoring their approach and trying to stay out of the way of the regular crew. He had been running a diagnostic on some of the sensor bands and was surprised to see a small blip on the backside of the planet. He tapped a few commands to look closer but the blip disappeared. He shrugged his shoulders, figuring it was an echo of his diagnostics routine, logged it and moved on to his other tasks.

The helm officer called out again, “Sir, we are coming into range of Peshka III. Standard orbit?”

The Pharmacist

Daniel arrrived at the bridge. he had instructed an NE to wake him as soon as they arrived, not that he got any sleep with this being the first mission with a new crew

He walked over to Brad

“Are we ready to land Commander?”

Commander Daniel Hawthorne
Executive Officer
USS Ogawa

“Should be,” Brad replied. “I think it would be prudent to start in standard orbit and getting in touch with the colony for a status update first. Plus, they can give us advice on the best place to land the ship. Sir,” he tacked on, slightly belatedly.

He hoped it came off as mentorly advice from a senior-in-rank-though-junior-in-position, rather than toeing the line of insubordination. It all depended on how secure Hawthorne was in his new role.

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

“I agree Commander, I haven’t officially taken command, so over to you, don’t let me change whatever plans you may have had”

Commander Daniel Hawthorne
Executive Officer
USS Ogawa

“Very well,” Brad said. “Helm, standard orbit. Comms, try to get a hold of someone in the colonial administration,” he ordered.

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

=^=Bridge, Engineering here. We just finished completing the final checks, and the triage deck is ready to go. I’ve also confirmed that all isolation systems are working within normal parameters. We even had time to convert a few of the extra cargo bays over to additional isolation facilities if needed.=^=

Lt Sutret - CE

=/\=Good thinking, Engineering, we’re very likely going to need them,=/\= Brad replied.

Following several moments of attempted hails to the administration offices, the comms officer shook their head, “I’m not getting any response, sir. Should I try an open hail to anybody who might be listening?”

The Pharmacist

“Oh, that’s not good,” Brad said quietly. “Yes, comms. I don’t care if it’s an intern from the archaeology team or a ten year old boy skipping school, let’s find someone who knows something about what’s going on.”

He turned to the science station. “Scan the surface. I want a humanoid life sign count.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

The surface scan would reveal that there are 4978 humanoid life signs on the surface.

The comms officer nodded and turned back to their station sending out a general hailing frequency to anyone that could hear them on the surface. “Attention Peshka III, anyone that can hear this message: this is the USS Ogawa, please respond.” They boosted the signal attempting to listen for responses on short range communication devices as well and put the message on repeat.

Several moments of tense silence followed, with just the occasional sounds of consoles beeping. The comms officer shook their head and was turning to back to ask for further instructions when they suddenly glanced back at their console. “Sir, I’m receiving a response back. I’ve got someone down in the colony, audio only.”

The Pharmacist

“Put them on speakers,” Brad said. Mentally, he was reviewing the numbers from the scan. If there were that many people down there, why couldn’t they get a proper comm reply?

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

OOC: I expected more activity while I was away. There aren’t very many posts. Also, I don’t understand why Brad is giving the orders (really well!) or why the XO said he had not officially taken command yet. Clue me in?

IC: At that moment, Elliot entered the bridge with a mug of coffee in her hand. She walked directly to the center seat and observed the crew. “Have we made contact yet?” Her eyes met those of her first officer, asking silently for a report.

CO Cypress Elliot
USS Ogawa

OOC: I wanted to see how Brandon would handle it , I must say I’m happy

Commander Daniel Hawthorne
Executive Officer
USS Ogawa

Brad vacated the center seat at the Captain’s arrival.

“The administration building isn’t answering hails, but we have got an audio response to general hail,” he reported.

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

The comms officer nodded and tapped a few commands and the speakers on the bridge crackled to life with a muffled cough and a quiet voice, “Hello? Can you hear me?”

There were a few more muffled coughs and the voice came back, a touch of despair and pleading slipping in as it responded, “I didn’t even know this thing could talk to a starship. We need help. Please… we’re dying down here.”

The Pharmacist

=^= This is Commander Hawthorne of the Ogawa, we are here to help , whom am i speaking to please=^=

Commander Daniel Hawthorne
Executive Officer
USS Ogawa

‘And where are you speaking from?’ Brad thought. Clearly the speaker wasn’t familiar with whatever equipment they were using, so whoever it was probably wasn’t part of the colony’s administrative staff.

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

Everyone on the bridge held their breath a bit as they awaited an answer from the unknown voice. Elliot made a motion at her ear, clueing in the officer at comms to increase the volume. =/\=Whoever you are, this is Cpt Cypress Elliot and we have an entire space vessel at the disposal of the planet. We are here to lend aid. Can you tell us what’s happening?=/\=

“See if you can get a location on the speaker and its whereabouts to the colony we’re here to help.” She traded looks with Hawthorne as they continued to wait.

CO Cypress Elliot
USS Ogawa

The muffled voice came through a little more clearly with the increased volume. =/\=I… I’m Regina. My husband is one of the researchers here. Everyone is so sick =/\=

Her voice sputtered a little as she broke into a fit of harsh coughing. It was clear from the sounds coming through the comms that the infection was deep in her lungs and wet. After a few moments, she was able to speak again, though weakly.

=/\= I don’t know what’s happening. Whatever this is came on so quickly. We tried to quarantine the sick people but it didn’t seem to matter. I feel like we all have it. My husband and I have been locked in our home for the last few hours so I don’t even know what’s happening out in the rest of the colony. We kept waiting to hear from the administrators. Please… you have to get us out of here. I don’t think my husband is going to last much longer.”

Her voice faded out again as another round of coughing overtook her.

The comms officer tapped a few commands on their console and then turned toward the captain, “It appears that the signal is coming from the main colony complex. If I had to guess the buildings look to be residential. This house is about 50 meters from where the administration buildings are supposed to be.”

The Pharmacist

OOC: I wanted to do an IC post for this but as the Captain is back from LOA and on the bridge, probably best not to lol

Commander Daniel Hawthorne
Executive Officer
USS Ogawa

“We’re going to need to send a team down, Captain,” Brad said, quietly. “I don’t think anybody down there knows what’s going on, or if they do, they’re in no shape to answer comms.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff