Posted by Lieutenant Michael Gould (Chief Engineer) in Department Head Meeting - Main Sim (Sierra)

Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Department Head Meeting - Main Sim (Sierra)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Balfor Kolar (Chief Science Officer) in Department Head Meeting - Main Sim (Sierra)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“First Officer’s Log, Stardate 56209.6. It has been almost twenty-nine hours since we received orders from Admiral Manning to investigate the disappearance of the Sierra. With less than an hour to go until we reach the Beloti system. I’ve called a meeting of the ship’s department heads for brief discussion before entering the system.”

Jason Harn glanced around the room at the assembled officers. They were almost at the Beloti system but Jason didn’t want to go in until a few things were clarified, such as the number of crew the Sierra was carrying (the ship had 76 passengers listed) and what were the specifics of the mines the Cardassians had left in the system after the Dominion War ended. As he gazed at the Olinski’s top men and women with an air of professional nonchalance he reflected on the fact that these were all professionals, experts in their professions who probably didn’t need some old fossil from the past micromanaging them. But there was no denying that for both their protection and Jason’s he would need to order them to do things they would no doubt were going to do anyway just to create a paper trail for Starfleet’s records. It would be a tragedy if a forgotten procedure not only reflect badly on Jason, but stained the careers of these bright young officers who were no doubt working for the day they would have commands of their own. But it would be a greater tragedy if Jason made a mistake that caused an unnecessary loss of life.

Jason took a deep breath and promised himself that he would fight the temptation to micromanage the officers before him. They deserved the chance to show Starfleet what they could do and not play second fiddle to an old man whose time was past. He had to encourage them to take the initiative and make suggestions on the best way to get the job done without appearing so indecisive that they lost confidence in him. It was a balancing act he had almost forgotten, but it was rushing back to him now.

Once the entire group had assembled, he wasted no time breaking the silence that was certain to get awkward if he let it grow for too long. “Thank you for coming everyone. With less than an hour to go at Warp 7.2, we might as well iron out the last details. Speaking of details, what do we know about those mines the Cardassians allegedly left in the system?”

OOC: Because I watched so much TNG in the past, expect a lot of MEETINGS (apply a Patrick Stewart style baritone to the word) when Harn is in charge.

Jason Harn, acting CO

Thankfully the COS had began making inquiries back on the bridge. There were two possibilities, but given the lack of information provided by the Cardassians, it would be difficult to know the true situation of the minefield prior to their arrival. While the Federation had received notes on a supposed “safe route,” the information couldn’t be relied on. There was too much bad blood at the end of the war for the Cardassians not to “forget” about one or two mines on that path. He spoke up.

“They are likely a form of subspace mine. The dominion provided a large quantity of them to the Cardassians during their alliance. Given their nature, they will be difficult to track from a safe distance.” The Andorian glanced over at Kolar for a moment. The CSO was one of the brightest scientists he had worked with in Starfleet. Ch’zaolrirh hoped he might have a solution. Turning his attention back to Harn, he continued.

“They’re called Houdinis for a reason,” Ric interjected.

“There also may be some gravitic mines. Leftovers for the Cardassian war, but pulled out in desperate times. Those would be easier to spot with one or two probes once we arrive in the Beloti system.”

COS Ch’zaolrirh

“Sir, I have an… unconventional idea.” Michael said. “We dump scraps, anything useless, into the mine field. It’ll clear some mines out and give us an idea where the highest concentration is.”

-Lt Michael Gould, CE

“Hm,” Jason leaned back in his chair and stroked his manly chin. “I think it would take something more sophisticated than space junk to set off a mine these days. Maybe a probe could be modified to send out neutrinos or gravity pulses that would mimic the impulse drive or something…”

Doolittle had arrived and took a seat. He would be pretending if he did not feel just a little intimidated by the situation. However he sat there in his calmest and most sophisticated gentlemen manner. He was content to watch others at this moment.

Doolittle

Kolar tilted his head. “I would recommend fighter sweeps, too small to activate gravitic mines, they can move ahead of the Olinski and visually identify and detonate the mines with their blasters.” He shrugged, It worked for the Galactica in that 1978 television series… it would work for them.

Kolar

“Would that work for the subspace mines?” Jason asked as he leaned forward.

Jason Harn, aCO, still learning about pacing

“Unfortunately sir, subspace weapons hide in subspace until activated. Perhaps however, given the appropriate scanning frequencies, a probe could locate them, possibly draw them out. As for fighters, if we can get their sensors to identify the mines, I’m still not sure how we detonate something currently resting in subspace.” There was a pause. “Without setting it off. Fighters may be too small to attract them, but put something right on top of them, boom. Torpedoes. I believe all of our fighters are equipped to fire microtorpedoes. Sufficiently accurate, the mines should detonate.”

-Lt Michael Gould, CE

“When I was serving on the Mjolnir, we had to deal with hose damn Houdini’s. Someone in the science department came up with the idea of ‘painting’ them by modifying the sensors on the fighters. All they did was cross-link the fighters sensors optronic and isodyne relays. That lit’em up like a Christmas tree. Get some people working on that, Commander, and we should be able to initiate ‘Operation: Clean Sweep’ as soon as we get to the system.”

Ricochet (CAG)