Posted by Gamemaster Nosferatu (Gamemaster) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Lieutenant Thalos ch’Ravik (Chief Of Security) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Main Sim - Bridge
[snip]
For the first time, the crew could see the terrain beneath the surf, and begin to judge where it might be safest—or most dangerous—to navigate next.

No one said any more about how she might be feeling, so Elyss was able to study the results of the garbage as it spread out and showed them the physical paths of the gravitational wave field. It was a strange way to figure it out, but it had actually worked. Zavey ‘hmphed’ softly, expressing her surprise.

Rana, sitting at the helm, watched the screen and became confused more than a few times at the readouts. Rana’s brow furrowed at first but then as watched a smile like that of a little boy crossed his lips as he spoke saying simply. ” Well, it worked!”

Cross who was watching attentively heaved a sigh of relief ,now that they had a clear understanding of what lies ahead.

Thalos stood at the tactical station, silver eyes fixed on the readouts before him. The XO’s plan had worked.

A small smile crept across his face—brief, restrained, and gone almost as quickly as it appeared. Pride stirred beneath the surface, not for the audacity of the maneuver alone, but for its execution. Bold plans carried risk, and this one had paid off. Still, experience had taught him that success was often the prelude to complacency.

He would not allow that.

His attention returned fully to the tactical display, antennae angled forward as his senses worked in quiet tandem with the console. Phaser banks remained charged. Torpedo launchers were primed and standing by. Every system responded within acceptable parameters.

Thalos adjusted his stance slightly, one hand resting near the control interface, posture relaxed but ready. The Imperial Guard instinct stirred again—an urge to assume that danger was never truly past. He did not suppress it this time. Instead, he harnessed it, letting it sharpen his focus rather than control him.

The silence on the bridge felt thin.

“The last thing we need is a surprise enemy attack,” he murmured, more to himself than anyone else, eyes scanning long-range sensors for the faintest anomaly.

For now, space remained clear.

But Thalos watched all the same.

Glen also watched the viewscreen. The ejected materials made swirling patterns in the gravity waves and one might say it was even beautiful. “Not only do the materials show us the position of the waves, they should also prevent any ship from using them to remain hidden,” Glen said.

“Everrything iss rready now, ssirr. Ourr ssheildss arre rready, and we have a path. I am coorrdinating with Engineerring to be ssurre we hold togetherr thrrough this”

Cross addressed the Captain ‘’ Captain would it not be wise to put the ship on green alert , not all the crew knows what conflict or disturbance we might encounter ‘’.

Rana had almost forgotten that they were supposed to be mapping all this as well as just plotting a course through it. He set the scanners to record everything they were doing. He smiled at the thought of the fist map in history to be made of trash.

Zavey tilted her head, eyes moving rapidly as layered telemetry poured across her display. The drifting debris formed luminous ribbons against the black of space, each one tracing a subtle contour in spacetime itself.

“Wow…” she murmured, fingers dancing over the console. “The tracers are behaving exactly as predicted by non-linear gravitic wave theory—only we’ve never been able to observe it this directly before.”

She tucked a random lock of hair behind her ear.

“What we’re seeing, Captain, is not a single wavefront but a braided field—multiple gravitational harmonics overlapping and reinforcing one another. That explains the oscillations we recorded during the jolt. We weren’t struck by turbulence… we passed through a compression ridge.”

Lieutenant Elyss Zavey
Chief Science Officer USS Merrimack

As he has tried to tell people before, Glen knows little about astrophysics; he’s a pilot and only studied a little optics, but he didn’t wish to appear stupid, so he just acknowledged the CSO and said, “Fantastic… the science has finally been demonstrated and supported by original empirical data!”

Then Glen added, “We can probably rest easier now, follow our already agreed and laid-in course, and go back to our normal duties; given a green light as Dr. Cross just mentioned.”

There was one a troubling thought yet one he could not exclude =/\= Sickbay to bridge is there an increase in radiation? =/\= .

=/\= Bridge here. This is the Captain speaking, Doctor Hunter. We haven’t identified any increase, but it would be wise to begin to mass-replicate the drug Hydronalin as a precaution anyway. Why do you ask? =/\=

=/\= Two patients exhibiting the same symptoms of nausea and vomiting, it could be food poisoning still waiting for the lab results =/\= a pause =/\= Shall start replicating Hyronalin =/\ =.

=/\= Hold on one moment =/\= Glen replied.

“Dr. Cross?” Glen asked the CMO, “It’s your department and I wouldn’t want to step on your toes, but it would seem prudent to me? Shall I tell him yes? The Gravity Waves are very likely to be causing nausea and vomiting too. Especially that last jolt!”

Cross nodded ‘’ Yes please do ‘’ for now she still wanted to stay on the bridge ,once they clear the Expanse the CMO definitely wanted to know what they would be facing .

Glen replied, =/\= Yes, begin making a stockpile of Hyronalin in case we should need it. =/\=

Rana was glad to have Lt. Zavey back in the game. While he knew a little bit about such things he only felt that he probably only knew enough to be dangerous. ” Sir?” Rana began as he turned toward the captain. ” If we agree with Lt. Zavey , and I do. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to try to steer the ship away from the area where the waves are colliding? Or at least be prepared to do so if something changes rapidly?”

Rana Singh Number One

Glen replied, “Before we entered the Expanse, I had Lt. Pokorski design an optimum route through. One that would allow us close enough access to catalogue all areas in the most efficient manner, while avoiding all those regions where we could identify problems, either from our own, or from existing records of measurements taken. If we want to complete this task in a year rather than decades, then we still must do something like that. The plan is already flexible enough to allow for detours, should we encounter areas, such as you describe, where we find waves are colliding, but I’m not sure how we can predict such areas in advance of actually detecting them with the same equipment we are using to survey. So, we’ll just have to reverse course when that happens. We can’t avoid mapping entire areas as that is the brief of mission itself.”

Zavey listened to the question and answer, then highlighted several of the glowing debris streams on the main screen.

“Sirs? These troughs here represent regions of relative stability. If we align our course through them, we should experience minimal shear. However…” her tone sharpened just a fraction, “…these crests will amplify stress on the hull and inertial dampeners by a factor of at least three.”

“Using debris as live tracers was… unorthodox. But scientifically speaking, it’s remarkably accurate. We now have a navigable topology of a phenomenon that normally remains invisible.”

Her gaze returned to the data.

“For the first time, we’re not blind in this region. We can choose where to step in spacetime—rather than being shoved around by it. We can map the easiest way through the Expanse, as long as we continue to use garbage, or something like it, to show us the way.”

M’Mera remained ready at her station, keeping an eye on the sensors as they all waited for the Captain’s orders. Her ears swivelled and her tail waved lazily, showing that she was relaxed but alert.

It seemed that his officers thought he might alter his mind, but Glen couldn’t see what had changed that would prompt that. He repeated, “I still believe we can probably rest easier now, follow our already agreed and laid-in course, and go back to our normal duties; with a green light. By all means, Lt. Zavey, take a good look once again at that course and tweak it now that we can see the safe ways more clearly. However, we do need to map the entire Expanse, even if that is merely to place ‘danger do not enter’ markers over some parts of the map we draw.”

Cross communicator bleeped and she listened as Hunter gave her the information then turned to Glen ‘’Captain, Hunter just informed me that the lab results show no signs of food poisoning and the patients seems to be feeling better …you were right it probably was due to the ship entering the Expanse ‘’.

Cross CMO.

Rana smiled as Zavey used the word unorthodox to describe the entire scheme of his. Usually, people used stronger adjectives when describing his ideas. He nodded at the captains’ orders and for the first time since he had reported for duty started to relax a bit. Even in this somewhat tense climate he now felt that he was contributing a bit at least.

Rana Singh Number One

“I’m a Captain not a Doctor,” Glen replied, “but thanks for the vote of confidence. The only proviso before you all relax totally, is that we still no next to nothing about the Shiarain Dominion.”

• Glen, CO

Hearing the Captain’s request, Thalos turned his attention fully back to the tactical console. His fingers moved with practiced precision as he keyed in a series of commands, accessing the Starfleet database through the secured tactical interface.

“Accessing the Database now, Captain.”

The display shifted, Federation insignia briefly flaring before resolving into classified data streams. Thalos filtered quickly—threat assessments, first-contact logs, border incident reports—antennae angling forward as he absorbed information at a rapid pace.

Lieutenant Thalos ch’Ravik
Chief Of Security
USS Merrimack

The classified streams resolved into a stark picture.

What Starfleet knows of the Shiarain Dominion is limited—but consistent. A highly militarized, expansionist power, first encountered near the Veytan Aperture, they prioritize control of strategic regions and anomalous space. Their vessels are built for interdiction and first-strike dominance, favoring synchronized fleet movements and rapid escalation over prolonged engagement.

Physiological and cultural analysis aligns with observed tactics: a rigid hierarchy, dominance-driven ideology, and a tendency toward preemptive action when they perceive territorial or strategic threats. Diplomatic overtures without a clear show of strength are historically interpreted as weakness.

The final assessment tag pulsed briefly on Thalos’ display:

LIKELY RESPONSE TO FEDERATION PRESENCE: PROBING, TESTING, ESCALATION IF UNOPPOSED.

The data streams collapsed back into the Federation insignia—leaving behind the quiet implication that if the Shiarain noticed the Merrimack, they would not remain observers for long.

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare

As soon as the data finished compiling, Thalos shifted his attention from the console to the center of the bridge. This was information the Captain—and the rest of the crew—needed immediately.

“Sir,” he began, voice calm but firm, “Starfleet has very little confirmed information on the Shiarain Dominion.”

He tapped a control, highlighting key points on the main tactical display.

“What we do have indicates they are a highly militarized, expansionist power. Intelligence reports suggest they favor preemptive strikes and place little value on diplomacy—at least not until strength has been demonstrated first.”

Thalos’ antennae angled forward slightly as he continued, instincts sharpened by the implications.

“In short, they tend to test unfamiliar vessels aggressively. Caution is advised. I recommend we maintain weapons readiness and avoid any posture that could be interpreted as weakness.”

He returned his gaze to the tactical readouts, hands poised near the controls, fully prepared to respond if the Shiarain chose to make first contact the way they were known for.

The bridge fell quiet, the weight of the assessment settling in as the USS Merrimack continued forward into uncertain space.

A few moments later

Thalos studied the tactical display for a moment longer, antennae angled forward as sensor data continued to stream in. Unknown space. Limited intelligence. An adversary that respected strength above words.

He looked back toward the captain.

“Captain, I recommend we adopt a measured deterrence posture,” Thalos said evenly. “Phaser arrays charged and held at standby, torpedo tubes armed but safetied. Shields raised to a moderate defensive threshold—high enough to be noticed, not high enough to provoke.”

He keyed another command, projecting a suggested configuration onto the main screen.

“This presents us as prepared, not aggressive. If the Shiarain are observing us, they’ll see a vessel capable of responding instantly, without signaling hostile intent.”

A brief pause, then he added, drawing on hard-earned experience.

“I also suggest tightening internal security and placing damage control teams on silent standby. If they favor surprise or first-strike tactics, they may test us before formal contact is established.”

His hands returned to the console, fingers hovering near the controls.

“This posture keeps the initiative with us,” Thalos concluded. “We show strength, maintain discipline, and leave the next move to them.”

He fell silent then, eyes back on sensors, ready to execute the captain’s orders the moment they were given.

Lieutenant Thalos ch’Ravik
Chief Of Security
USS Merrimack