New toys in New digs.

Posted on Tue May 13th, 2014 @ 10:19am by Lieutenant Vilgi Morr & Lieutenant JG Kaylee Williams

Mission: New Frontier
Location: Deck 74, (planed Cerberus Bay)

Fresh from another round of materials requests. Vilgi had his attention back on the thing he most liked about his role a certain transport system that once set up would be a huge asset. Setting it up was the trick however. He strode into one of the larger bays he had slated for the system, in fact several Titan and Polaris craft sat on the deck, powered down and idle. With crews focused else where, the deck should have been deserted, but sounds alerted him to a presence. "Hey, who's there? These bays are storage only for the time being?" He called out in the direction of the sound as he started that way as well.

A bang could be heard all around the room as Kaylee was in the bay working when she was startled by a fresh new voice. "Do you mind not yelling, Geeezz." the womans voice came back rubbing her head slightly, she wanted to know what this new system did after reading about it on one of the many Padds she had to read to get caught up with everything sense she was new to this post.

"Sorry force of habit. I'm used to having to yell over engine noise and the like." Vilgi responded with a grin and a slightly guilty expression as he rounded the side of one of the craft. The blonde human female was a welcome sight, unsurprisingly her face was unfamiliar. The task of putting names to faces was hard enough on the Merlin. It seemed to next to impossible on the base. "Nice to see someone paying these girls some attention. Anything you need help with, Lieutenant........?"

"Kaylee Williams, Director of SCE 16F." Kaylee said as she shifted her arm back into a hand and stretched it out to shake the Bolians hand.

Grasping the offered hand the cold feel of the metal was an unusual sensation, but not unpleasant. "Nice position, finally starfleets putting operational command in the hands of officers with the right mix of experience and get up and go to see a task through. That said you've got a hell of a task in front of you." He responded with a hint of exasperation and relief. "Lieutenant Commander Vilgi Morr, Chief of Logistics and materials, any thing you need or need moving from place to place come see me."

"Good, I am curious. About this Cerberus system that crossed my notice. As one of the tasks of SCE is to go places to help people rebuild their homes as well as offer engineering expertise to people in need in general. Command thought I should know about it, so I came down to check it out. Perhaps you can explain to me more in depth about it? reading tends to get tedious for a person like me who prefers to work rather than read. Im sure you understand." Kaylee asked him point blank.

"I understood completely, I got to grips with this systems by trying things out and using it. The base unit is just a runabout style-cockpit with the engines and nacelles and this framework to the rear. It's designed with maximum flexibility in mind. We have a number of modules, whose interiors can be customised, and the can be arranged in any configuration you need. Also The modules can be loaded and unloaded in the field with minimal support." Vilgi explained. "With me so far?"

"In other words the cock pit is the driving seat and the rear end is a trailer? Yeah I am with you so far. Very useful. You have one SCE can use if needed?" Kaylee asked trying to get her own department covered for this trailers.

"Yeah that's the basics." Vilgi agreed with a nod and then grinned and chuckled. "We're slated to have a hundred plus of these over three classes. SCE is the prime focus of the station, according to my brief with the Commodore, you'll have first choice of these transport craft. One thing I'm not is stingy with resources."

"What are the three classes? and dont worry im not stingy either. When you have lemons, make a grenade." Kaylee said smiling at her own variation of the saying.

He grinned at the variation of the rather well known saying. "I like your style Lieutenant." Stepping back he gestured to the craft Kaylee was tinkering with. "Starting from the smallest, the Polaris, the girl your taking care of, the max she can carry either one extended or one vehicle modules or a pair of the standard. Then we have the Titan." He took a pace or two back and pointed to the row of four craft that nosed out a little further into the bay. "Up until now the largest we fielded, capable of carrying up to four of the oversized modules or a couple of the extended as well as a standard module or two or a up to fifteen of the standard size modules." He grinned the Titan was good but the one to come that was better. "Then we have the Northstar, thats not been delivered yet and we dont have full specs for it get but if they remain true to form it'll be twice the size of the Titan here, we're talking the ability to carry half a dozen oversized modules. For perspective that will give the flexibility and durability of three or four runabouts in a package that's half the size of the Wallace-Class garrison vessel." Vilgi rocked back on his heals, bright eyes and a beaming grin at the prospect of getting to grips with and operating such a well thought out, capable, and flexible support craft system.

"Not bad and thank you, sir, but sir what is the warp capability of each and total bridge crew for each vessel?, then in case of emergencies what is the emergency capabilities of each?. Like if I am stuck with the Polaris here and we are stuck in a Ion storm waiting it out to end, but it drags on for a week or more. Could it keep alive a squad or more of people?" Kaylee said using some of her marine language which was drilled into her when she served with the Marines.

"Cruising speed ranges between warp 3 for the Polaris, warp 4 for the Titan, and warp 4.8 for the Northstar. Max speed add another warp factor, emergency speed add another .five warp factor. As for crew compliment the Polaris takes three, the Titan six, and the Northstar eight, but all three can be operated with a minimum of two crew." Vilgi responded reaming of the specs and a few personal observations from his time spent with these machines. A tack which he also chose to use in answer to the question about survivability. "As far as survivability goes, I once had a Polaris, with a recovery/salvage extended module attached, we ducked into a nebula to evade an attacker, long story short we had to sit it out for week and a half until the Merlin was able to retrieve us. I and the three others all survived, all four of us went back on to our next shift no worries. I got cubby holes all over the cockpit and attached areas, and there always stuffed with emergency supplies. That I make sure of."

"Hmmmm, so I assume each module, as well as the Polaris, the North star and the Titan have replicators inside the cockpit then?. At max hold how many of the modules hold if we had to say deploy generators while an ion storm was occurring and the people of the planet had to withstand a typhoon class weather pattern but we couldnt deploy the generators because of the storm. Then what if we had to evacuate? How many could each module hold of people?" Kaylee said ringing off questions after questions to see if Vilgi could keep up.

Vilgi grinned as the questions came tumbling from Kaylee, her enthusiasm was infections, she was definitely someone to work along with and if to get to know a little better. "Yeah they all have in cabin replicators, in addition to having the standard replicator module and the extended industrial replicator module as well. As far as generators go we have two versions so far the mini and standard generator modules, these can deployed as stand alone modules on a planet surface or in connection to the transport EPS relays and serve as a back up generator." He paused for a moment and considered the evacuation scenario.  

"Where evacuation is concerned. It depends a lot on the modules the craft would have embarked. An extended troop transport or cargo module can hold sixty persons in full combat gear. A standard module of the same type can hold twenty four persons, in contrast a standard science module, geared with short range sensors array, computer core, and workstations will only be able to take six to ten persons. That help you."

"Well, Vilgi, I need to know what I have to work with." Kaylee said pacing around the Commander trying to get him nervous. "In my time with the marines, we always had a saying 'work with what you have and if you dont have it, make it work regardless'. This saying pretty much means 'expect the unexpected' so if we are sent down to a planet with the Science module, expecting to do science surveys but we need to get people off a planet or out of a certain area due to typhoon conditions or the like, could we turn the science module into a transport by dumping everything that wasnt needed to suit the refugees?. Could we make that science module into a transport module by dumping what we dont need?. Then if an friendly compound's gate was under attack and all we had was a transport module and armory module could they be turned into a defensive position to serve as a gate?. So you see, im sure you prepared the best you can but in the field anything can go wrong so you have to be able to turn a disadvantage into an advantage by working with what you got." Kaylee said as she stopped in front of him. "Im just covering my bases, sir, rather not be caught with my pants down, im sure you understand sir." Kaylee said smiling innocently as she had a secondary objective to see how well he put up with questions about his 'baby'.

"Yes, yes and yes. The whole point of the Cerberus system is it could be easily adaptable to the changing shape and situations that may come up in a sector or solar system or even planetary body. Although to be honest in the case of science survey module, even with the Polaris there would have been space for an additional mini module, I would have sent either a cargo or transporter or bunkroom module, increasing evac possibilities." Vilgi countered her spirited ream of possible scenarios with a equally spirited defence of the systems capabilities. Rather than being offended he relished the opportunity to prove the worth of the particular system and if a hole was found come up with posable solutions for deployment and testing next time the system was called out. "But like you said the unexpected has a habit of popping it's head up at random, so step this way, I wanna show you my fall back."  

He keyed the hatch and stepped into the cockpit, he moved to the rear bulkhead just to one side of the hatch that would give access to the modules and at waist height removed a panel and pulled out a large case. "Here we have a custom tool kit designed to meet the needs of a Cerberus crew. Take a look, any suggestions welcome?" He flipped it open and stood back to let Kaylee examine to contents.

"Well, unexpected always seem to follow the most prepared person, Commander. We can prepare for one thing but our mandate to help distress calls always will outweigh what we prepared for." Kaylee said looking threw the custom tool kit, drooling as she was missing a few of the tools herself and her urge to pick up one of the tools with her cybernetic arm took hold and soon the tool she was holding disappeared. "Ummm, how much was that?" Kaylee asked curiously as she felt a bit bad for melding the tool into her arm, the voice began to bombard Kaylee's mind with the urge to absorb more tools to add to its arsenal. This caused Kaylee to cringe her face slightly as she tried to calm the voice as well as the headache the voice was causing. The voice bounced around her head like a child on a sugar high.

Looking on with a grin at the look of Kaylee's face, the 'I want that' look, was approval enough. What happened next caught Vilgi slightly off guard, the tool melding in to the cybernetic arm was a new one for him. The follow up question and guilty look, however was invitation enough to have a little tease. "Only about two strips of latinum,  why?" he said with a grin which slipped on seeing her confused and troubled expression. "I was joking Lieutenant, the patterns in the the replicators we can sort a replacement easy enough." He paused and on seeing no change. "Kaylee, you okay? Everything alright?"  

"Not really sir." Kaylee said scrunching her head as she grabbed her temples, she knelt to the ground and ended up falling over in bearable pain, the voice kept saying 'meld meld meld more tools' into her brain as she reached out and touched the tool case with her cybernetic arm and the case along with the tools vanished, then the voice subsided as it went back to being dormant, pleased with the tools which for it was candy.

"Sorry sir." Kaylee said as she rose from the ground, and leaned up against the craft. "Its going to be hard to explain any of this. You see when I lost my arm and got this one in its place, the tools I was wearing vanished and later found out the arm absorbed it. Well after a while I kept hearing this voice, it wasnt much of a bother at first but it has this thing for tools. It has to absorb tools that it doesnt have into the arm. Which for better or worse I find a use for sooner or later, but the arm is very insistent when it wants, a tool it doesnt have. I suppose the best way to explain it is that...Im a host and my arm is like a symbiote. I cant live without the other and vice versa. In order to keep me happy and pain free, I have to keep it happy by giving it what it wants, when it wants it. Usually that consists of tools that you can hold in your hand. Well, thats whats going on. The pain in my head goes away after it gets what it wants. Make sense?" Kaylee said recovering slightly from the headache the voice gave her. "Also sir, im not a security risk, the arm is like a kid in a candy store but a tool store. It has to absorb a tool it doesnt have, once it gets the tool it wants then it stops. That case you just lost, just happened to be a bit over whelming for me and it." Kaylee added.

The effects on the lieutenant as well as that the entire toolkit suddenly being absorbed and vanishing was almost enough to have the bolian calling for security and medical. But he held off for a moment or two until Kaylee seemed to calm down for want of a better term. Listening carefully as she attempted an explanation, one that turned out to be vaguely plausible, and on some level he felt sorry for the woman. New tech often had its side effects and having to depend on something that has faults must be frustrating. "Okay I can accept that for now. But this isn't something you should keep to yourself. I'm not saying broadcast, but not telling anyone is just as bad, I've seen and worked with tech not to quite so jumpy. But there are others that would have detained you regardless of your protests. Also have a few in the know means you'll have help, in case the effects come up at a less than convenient time." Vilgi paused and sighed before making a tentative offer. "I guess it's a given you have tried to adjust your arm to minimize the, let's call them side effects, maybe a second pair of eye will help?"

"Who do you suggest I trust to the extent of not becoming someone elses lab rat because of this?, who do you think I should trust to inform?. If I tell anyone they may very well keep me off missions and if I am off a vital mission then lives can be lost. This would cancel any hope I have for doing any good here. They will confine me to the station under guard 24/7. Im an unknown security risk and potential risk to others. For the time being it has what it wants, I think I have all sorts of tools from most everywhere I been so far sense I have gotten this blessing or a curse. I rather not be some science experiment, or worse be thrown out of the military, sir, its my life I cant risk being thrown out." Kaylee said now completely lost, everything was going good until the arm cursed, as it is sometimes, wanted the tools it didnt have. 'This is going to be hell unless she can please the arm before a mission'. Kaylee thought to herself, as she showed genuine concern for her well being.

Shutting up and listening while Kaylee made her counterpoint, in a genuine effort to understand her situation and views towards it. Picking up a similar amount of sincerity from her, genuine concerned for what coming clean might mean as well as the want to help, to be a part of something that did some good. "I can appreciate your concerns, I won't patronise you by saying understand, u know from experience there are people in starfleet who consider the end result the only concern." He smiled and shook his head. "I'm not one of them. I believe anyone and everyone who is committed to Starfleet mission has value, has a place, and we look after our own. You have my word I won't mention the side effects without your express permission."

"Unless im dying then you have no choice." Kaylee said as she felt a bit relieved as well as pain free from the assault of the 'voice', as well as Vilgi keeping her secret. "Well, sense that is taken care of. Mind if I borrow one of your replicators? I have something I need to replicate if you dont mind?" Kaylee said as she went over to a replicator that was in the Titan cabin and replicated herself something, a few seconds later she came walking out wearing her own engineers uniform.



"Does this make me look fat?" Kaylee said jokingly as she deactivated the face plate that receded back into the armor itself, it also seemed to blend in well with her arm, which the armor sealed itself around cybernetic arm while keeping the hand free for morphs as needed.

Vilgi let out a chuckle as Kaylee or who he assumed was Kaylee until the visor flipped back, stepped out in her new suit. "Oh huge. But that's a fantastic bit of kit, especially for less than favorable environments. I'm guessing it's sealed and has its own life support system?" Now it was his turn to question and examine, although from what he could see it was very useful piece of kit.

"Yes sir, it does. I usually wear this when I am on duty. Never know when youll get a blast of high pressurized gas in your face. Or a sudden electrical charge. Its designed to essentially absorb those charges and redirect them to my feet where they will be dispersed into the ground, without any harm to the wearer. Also has magnetic boots so I can repair anything in a Zero gravity environment. Pouches, loop holes that kinda thing if I needed tools but as you can see that tools arent a factor really anymore, but it allows me to be grabbed by this loop in the back here." she said showing him the loop near the back of her neck. "This will allow you to grab me and pull me to safety without feeling me up trying to figure out what to grab." Kaylee said smiling. "The Visor itself is designed as an Engineer's tricorder. Once the face plate clamps down a holographic HUD or Heads up Display, activates and shows me data on what it scans so it can diagnose a potential risk 50x faster than if I did it myself in person on a console. Saves tons of time and in turn can save lives. I created back in my SFMC days, the front line Marines had their armor but Grunts, Medics, Engineers, we didnt have ours so I created it so we can have something that can protect us in a hostile environment. So in essence we could get hit by a phaser blast but I wouldnt suggest repeated blasts or else it will fry the redirect circuits that are built into it that protects us from electrical discharges. Its built to aid an engineer in a hostile situation, not save our lives completely. But each of these suits operate the same, only difference is the HUD, I get an Engineers tricorder, you could get one designed to help you as an Engineer or as lie detector when you need to get parts from merchants, I could program that suits onboard computer which runs the HUD and the suit to determine if a part is good or not and what parts you need for whatever to save time. Then a medic could get one with different colors than the yellow I have but with a Medical tricorder instead." Kaylee said as she enjoyed talking about her inventions as well as Vilgi did if not more and took her mind off the arm issue from before.

Pacing around slowly and looking up and down at the suit, in any other circumstance and to a casual observer Vilgi's actions would appear suspect at best, but as Kaylee was currently pointing out the numerous features, plus points, as well as a few operating tips picked up over the years, there was no real issue. The military and combat origins of the suit were plain to see, but it appeared and sounded rugged enough. "Quite a good design, combines two of the things I most appreciate innovation and flexibility. I wouldn't mind access to the designs to kit my guys out for when they're working on the more damaged bays, and including one or two in the field kit in each of the transports might be useful." Vilgi requested, adding with. "with your permission? "

"One of the reasons I brought it up, Its meant to save lives, may not look pretty but gets the job done. Ill get the spec's to you ASAP. I dont think they are in the Federation database, as it was only used by combat engineers. But over the years I have had to tweak and upgrade the suit and will continue to do so. But you can field your entire engineering staff with it. I like to wear it all the time, I just need to get a formal version of this set up and I wont have to take it off. Even when im on duty around the station I wear it because I never know when I will have to take a space walk and never know when im called to deal with gas leaks. But once I get the spec's to you, you can use it however you wish. But if you find a better design and materials to make an upgrade with, I would like to know about it, as it will save my life as well. Thats really my only condition." Kaylee said not caring if the engineers were outfitted with the same armor, as it was meant to save lives not to look pretty.

"It'd be much appreciated." Vilgi responded with a grin at the permission, the value of such a piece of equipment in wide use of the station particulate in the docking bay areas, and work pod pilots, and in other unknown situations they invariably would end up have to make transport drops, was abundantly clear. "As far as modifications go, sure thing, share and share alike as far as tech goes in the fleet. If an improvement is worked out you'll be the first to know."

"Good. If there isnt anything else, I need to get back to work?" Kaylee said.

"You and me both." Vilgi acknowledged with a grin. "I'll catch up with you in the next day or so, of that much I'm sure."

OFF

Lt. Cmdr Vilgi Morr
Chief of Logistics

Lt. Kaylee Williams
Director of SCE