Posted by Captain Kastarak (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim: Bridge: Within the Expanse

Posted by Gamemaster Nosferatu (GM) in Main Sim: Bridge: Within the Expanse
Snip

OOC: Putting this back…:

Kastarak thought about this. Had the entity helped them to find a safe route to wherever it wanted them to go? But why? He reviewed his mission. In other circumstances, he would have been cautious, but the mission parameters made him less cautious. He had his orders.

“There appears to be a safe route for a shuttle to traverse. What do we know about the area it indicated? What is probable that we expect there?”

“All stations, recommendations on cause of action, including the composition of an away team, if I decide on this cause of action.”

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

Maybe someone wants to say something :D before Kastarak lashes out at an eerily quiet bridge. ;)

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

John watched from his console continuing taking scans of the space in front of them and feeding the calculations into the computer keeping the shields and structural integrity fields going. The unknown vessel continued moving through space as we followed.

He looked around everyone is quiet watching the screens then he raised his voice to break the silence
“ hey guys, can you give me an update on engines and science stations?”

OOC: just trying to make some noise to break everyone out of the trance there in

Lt. John Forster (CWO)

LT. Valharra looked up from the comms station, at his former department head, the Chief Weapons officer, then instinctively the engineering and science stations as he asked his question. Realizing he had nothing to report in comms, he just studied the bridge.
Lt. Valharra, Communications Officer

Will looked up from a display of the route that he had been a little too engrossed in, not realising the Captain was waiting for a response until everything fell eerily dead.

Without missing a further beat, he step down towards the Captain’s Chair. “I feel we only have one option,” he said, pausing. “Accept the invite and go down the rabbit hole, and hope it’s not a looking glass,” he continued, slightly cryptically to anyone who hadn’t read Lewis Carroll.

“I’m happy to take a shuttle, along with one of our pilots, and a science officer.” He suggested.

Cmdr William Archer
First Officer

Kastarak met Archer with some silence, thinking about the next steps.

“Take lieutenants T’Sol and Forster. Forster’s shown himself an able pilot, and his experience with weapons will hopefully not be necessary, but I regard it as prudent to have on the mission. Ready the shuttle, and depart when the three of you deem it safe to go.”

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

As the shuttle completed its final preparations in the bay, the bridge settled into the quieter rhythm that often accompanied an away mission. With the landing party soon to depart, attention shifted to ensuring the Chernov remained ready for any eventuality.

A soft chime sounded from the Operations console.

The long-range telemetry being received from the derelict had become increasingly distorted. While the shuttle remained well within communications range, predictive models suggested the interference surrounding the structure was fluctuating in a slow, repeating cycle.

Computer projections estimated that, during the strongest peaks, subspace communications and transporter lock could degrade by as much as thirty-eight percent.

At nearly the same moment, another alert appeared at the Communications station.

Background subspace noise had begun rising across multiple frequencies, producing intermittent static and harmonic echoes within the normal communications bands. While no messages had yet been lost, the interference threatened to reduce signal clarity as the shuttle drew closer to the derelict. Automated analysis recommended dynamically retuning the communications arrays and experimenting with frequency-hopping protocols to maintain a clean, uninterrupted link with the away team.

Engineering reported a related development.

=^= Engineering to Bridge. =^=

The voice of the duty engineer came over the comm.

=^= We’re detecting minute fluctuations in the local subspace field. They’re not affecting the Chernov, but they are introducing phase drift into our transporter targeting solutions. At present the drift is well within safety margins; however, if the oscillations continue to increase, we recommend recalibrating the transporter pattern buffers and establishing continuous telemetry updates with the shuttle. =^=

Operations quickly integrated Engineering’s data with the latest sensor readings, producing revised transporter solutions and telemetry projections as the computer continuously compensated for the changing environment.

A final advisory appeared across the relevant bridge consoles.

MISSION SUPPORT RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Maintain continuous telemetry tracking of the shuttle.
• Dynamically retune the communications arrays to counter harmonic interference.
• Recalibrate transporter targeting algorithms in real time to compensate for phase drift.
• Monitor subspace fluctuations for any significant changes that could affect shuttle operations or emergency recovery procedures.

For the moment, all systems remained within operational tolerances. Even so, it was becoming increasingly apparent that keeping an open line to the away team would demand constant vigilance from Operations, Communications, and Engineering alike.

Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare

As time went on, Kastarak sat quietly, eerily still, in the captain’s seat, waiting for any kind of update. He might have looked patient to the outside, but inwardly, he knew his gut constantly signalled anxiety – fear even – about it. Each time, he noted the emotion’s communicative value and suppressed it, only for it to reappear, be supressed. On repeat.

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

The lack of updates were not necessarily concerning, but it was quieter than Kastarak had hoped. He understood now an important part of his own psychology, that of his need for control. These circumstances highlighted his lack of it. He was at the mercy of all that he could not control. That, surely, was a captain’s dilemma. As a physician, he had always felt more in control. In doubt, he’d make tests, try out hypotheses, and subject his patients to treatments. At times, treatments would fail, but at least then, he would have done everything conceivable in his power to save them. Now, he had power to do things, but there was no clear-cut route for him to walk. Anything he did risked a butterfly effect of sorts, and he had to be very careful about it all.

Suddenly, his mind wandered to Pawl’s. How was he doing? At least, in that respect, he could easily get an update.

He hailed Sickbay.

“Bridge to Sickbay. This is the captain speaking. I seek an update on the status of Lt Batario.”

And waited.

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer