Contact Lost

[Wizard of the Coat]

3012 - January - 20 - 16:00 GMT - Neptune Orbital Shipyards

Terran Alliance Strategic Command Center, Briefing Room


"Good day gentlemen. As you may be aware, I am vice-admiral Jean-Paul Monroe, head of Deep Space Operations for the Terran Alliance."

The French accent of the admiral is clear for all, he clearly is an earth native, like most of his rank. It is well known amongst the officers serving in Deep Space Operation that this man, though qualified, owes his position due to the politics of the Terran Alliance. The European Union, providing most of the Deep Space Resources, ensured it was headed by one of their own and have subsequently provided additional funding for the Solaris project.

All of you are half awake, having just arrived at Neptune Station you were not given any opportunity to rest up or refresh yourselves as you were rushed towards the briefing room.


"Often we only find one truth, not perceived by the eye, but conceived by the mind. Our goal as humans is often to think beyond the practical and into the realm of the theoretical. This leads us to wonder what else is out there and how we may one day reach the distant stars. As such the duty of Deep Space Operations is to keep the frontier open and learn more for the time of our great voyage. This requires excellent ships and better crews. And as you may have noticed instead, the ship that you have been assigned to is undergoing a touch up."

Clearly the man is getting to his point, rather quick for an admiral as if he's rushed by something.

"In this capacity it will be suited for you to use on you oncoming mission. I hope she serves you as well as you will serve her.
He turns to the Japanese man standing to the side.

Commodore Kazuma, if you would be so kind as to brief them for their mission I have other business to attend."

As the admiral takes his leave Commodore Yamamura Kazuma, the distinguished former captain of the TAS battleship Hope for Glory, that successfully managed to overcome the blockade set up by the fleet of Titan, forcing them to again open up to TAS officials and traders. He surveys you all briefly and nods with aproval.

"Good day. I will be your commanding officer. I expect that all of you have read up on the battle group and ships details on your way here and are well versed in it's operations. All of you have come highly recommended and in the coming weeks you will be trained how to work in practical assignments in the Deep Space Operations. As you are aware your work is confidential. What I am about to tell howeer is top secret and not to be shared with junior members of the Radiants staff or indeed anyone not given security clearance."

The lights dim and a holographic display comes into view on the table.

"Three weeks ago the TAS Solaris was ordered to go to the DSO testing facility on Eris to safeguard high energy experimental trials. The nature of these is even beyond my security clearance, but suffice to say we have not heard from here since. Rather then launch an immediate investigation the Admiralty ordered the TAS Radiant to be refitted with some of the Solaris systems that were kept at the Neptune shipyards for easy replacement in case of system failure. As such we have an advanced induction engine similar to the Solaris and our quantum cannons will be upgraded to heavy masers as we progress."

He pauzes

"But you are surely aware of that, having read the specs. In any case our mission will be to find the Solaris and restore contact with Eris Station. On the display you can observe the Solaris's route and the mayor objects of the sector where it and Eris were when contact was lost. Take a moment to study it and ask any questions you may have. We launch in one hour."

[ReproMan]

Lieutenant Scott Grayson sits towards the back of the briefing room, listening with half an ear to the briefing while scrolling through the Radiant's MedBay specs and equipment catalog while cross-referencing the equipment aboard the Solaris. He was satisfied with what he saw; more than enough supplies and equipment on both boats to theoretically last an extended deployment and catastrophic crew casualties, though that insistent doctor's voice in the back of his head calmly reminded him that there was never enough equipment when it truly mattered.

Rubbing a bit of sleep out of his eyes, Scott addresses the Commodore at the head of the room, "Were or are there any signs of hostile or unknown activity in the mission area?"

[Wizard of the Coat]

"Excellent question lieutenant, but I'm afraid to say we just don't know. I've ordered the Archipello to go and take a closer look, but she hasn't reached yet and her long range sensors reveal very little. We'll be updated by her as we go and with these new engines should be able to link up with her before she gets there."

The commodore lights up some of the specs on the Archipello and her scans. They reveal very little, but there seems to be moderate static in some of the bands. The archipello is considerably less well equipped then the radiant, mostly PL 6 equipment, but with decent scanners and a fairly good impulse engine. Clearly a light scout cruiser able to hold her own against lighter crafts only.

"Strategic Analysis and Data is still trying to filter the data, but so far nothing has shown and I doubt it will, apart from the lack of data there is little out of the ordinary."

[Storm Bringer]

A rather tall man near the fornt of the room spoke up "Commadore?" he asked, in a distinctly english accent."what other units were assigned to Eris Station at the time contact was lost? just how many men and ships are out of contact here?"

[Wizard of the Coat]

"As far as intelligence data suggests it was the Solaris and it's normal alotment of ships, the defense frigate Kingdom of Belgium and several lighter types, such as couriers and science vessels. I'll draw up a list of vessels assigned to Eris station."

A list flashes up on the screen.

MIA TAS Solaris - Advanced operations cruiser "Solaris Class" - 3011
MIA TAS Kingdom of Belgium - Defense frigate "Stalward Class"- 2989
MIA TAS Paris - all purpose long range courier "Paris Class" - 2984
MIA TAS London - all purpose long range courier "Paris Class"- 2985
MIA TAS Enlightenment - Science vessel "Luminous Class" - 3001
MIA TAS Gatekeeper- Science vessel "Luminous Class" - 3011
MIA TAS Ajax - supply ship "Odysseus class" - 2980
TAS Agamemnon - supply ship "Odysseus class" - 2982


"As you can see nothing out of the ordinary for the station apart from the Solaris. The agamemnon was on its journey back here for supplies when contact was lost. It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. It's personel records are up next"

1,330 Military Staff
13,012 Science Staff
5,456 Medical Staff
12,940 Support Staff
2,060 Civilians

[Nerd-o-rama]

On the front row, a thin man wearing an eager expression and a uniform that almost seems too neatly arranged raises his hand for attention, the fresh seams on his Lieutenant Commander rank insignia clearly visible. "Excuse me, Commodore," he says, accent proclaiming him a wealthy American, "Lieutenant Commander Raymond Stern, Tactical Officer Space Operations. Who was in command of the Solaris when she went MIA? Also, I've noted that the Radiant has been refitted with heavier armor. Are we expecting hostile forces in the vicinity of Eris?"

[Dustyme]

A young ensign obviously newly minted from the academy waits until LCDR Stern finishes then stands with a quick brush to set off his short cut red hair.

“Sir, Ensign Melern. What is expected of us in the worst case scenario? Do we retake the station and ships if they are being held if possible? Do we withdraw in order to regroup and bring more forces to bear?”

His grey eyes harden a bit.

“Or, do we destroy the station if we can’t retake it?”

[Wizard of the Coat]

"Yes commander, as I've said before, we just don't know about the hostiles. The admiralty ordered the ship refitted with some systems comparable to the Solaris, the armor plating is comparable in strength to that of the Solaris, but of a known material. I believe the admiralty wants to make sure we don't have too many prototype gadgets that could fail us.

As for your first question, her commanding officer at the time of her loss it was Captain Ravi Rahman. As you are all aware, he commanded the radiant until recently."

Ravi Rahman's service records comes up on the display. A formed science officer, Ravi Rahman was granted command of several scientific missions and has been commissioned on several prototype vessels, including the Radiant and Solaris. His service record is militarily unimpressive, but does contain a great number of excellent citations from the TASC Research and Development and TACS Experimental Design Testing departments.

The commodore then adresses a new question.

"To be honest ensign, it is unclear what happened and there are many 'worst case scenario's'. Suffice to say that our mission is to re-establish contact for now, but as evident from the modifications we cannot rule out hostile encounters. In any case our aim is to preserve the station and the Solaris, but as always we will defend ourselves if needed. It's regular code yellow, as with most DSO missions, fire if fired upon."

(NOTE: I've made a mistake in the date, it's 3012, not 3015, sorry)

[Storm Bringer]

the tall Lieutenant thought on the answer to his question, then spoke up agian "Sir, what do we tell the crew? are they to know that Eris station is off the air, or just that we are going to Eris?"

[estradling]

The young man sat quietly. His uniformed marked him as an Engineering Ensign, however most people saw the other markings first. The gloves and the GIFTED (Global Institute For Transformed Earth Denizens) insignias.

Alfred thumbed through the specs, he was quite interested in this new drive they where going to have. He knew it was Top Secret, but he also knew that if anyone was going to be cleared to know how it works it would be the engineers.

For a brief moment he was tempted to pull the info straight from Commodore Kazuma's mind, but he quickly suppressed it. It was precisely such temptations that caused people to fear the GIFTED, and he needed to be better then that

[ReproMan]

Scott's brows crinkled as he read over the numbers of civilian, military, and scientific staff. With that many personnel and that many ships at the station's disposal, he really saw no reason to expect anything but some horrible catastrophe for when they arrived on the scene, and that was a lot of potential wounded to deal with.

I'll need to get my staff prepped and ready for a full-on medical emergency, prep the ready rooms, set up emergency sickbays in mess halls and rec areas, transfer extra equipment and supplies on and around the ship, ready the Couriers for patient transport, coordinate ferrying procedures with the bridge crew... And get some sleep, d*****. I'm no good to anyone on Stims...

He rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger, trying to concentrate for just a while longer and listen to the mission brief before growing truly desperate. As an afterthought, he turned to the Admiral, "Any chance of us securing additional trauma medical supplies from the dock? Enough to stabilize up to 10,000 individuals for emergency transport?"

[Wizard of the Coat]

"The crew will be on a need to know basis. Most of them will not need to know anything, most DSO operations are classified, so it'll be nothing new to them. Only you as officers, being responsible for navigation, piloting, sensors and communications have a need to know our destination and the mission that we are on. Remember even I'm on a need to know basis here, the TASC isn't very forthcoming, probably due to the political implications of the Solaris project."

As scott asks his question the commodore waits for a moment and draws up some ships statistics.

"I've considered the possibility, but as you might be aware, Eris is a distant piece of stone and there are few enough ships in DSO as we speak. As you see here the only large vessels capable of doing so in an expedient manner are part of a US fleet with several battleships and we're not too sure of what they are doing so far from any US colonies and to be frank the Senior staff has decided to monitor them closely. But keep that to yourselves."

[ReproMan]

Flinching at the cold splash of reality, Scott shakes himself and clears his throat, "Understood Sir. My team will do what we can, and give you immediate updates on the medical situation as we discover it."

[Storm Bringer]

the tall Lieutenant shrugged.

"very good sir. When will the Radiant be launched?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

Stern nods firmly in acknowledgment of the Commodore. "I'll be sure to prepare the combat crew for whatever might be out there, sir."

It'd be nice to know what is out there, he thinks. The Solaris is powerful, but captained by a scientist. Anything might have gotten the drop on him.

[Wizard of the Coat]

After going through some last minute minor details on the ships modifications the meeting is adjourned. The trip to the TAS Radiant is unremarkable and you all board it without much more ceremony then a handshake from the admiral and his command staff.

The initial view of the ships interior is one of madness and disarray, power coupling are wide open, panels are set aside haphazardly and the engineering crew seems to be running around performing all sorts of checks, controls and modifications to even the simplest systems.

(dc 20 spot check; only read if you make the check or are a good enoigh roleplayer not to act as if you knew this)

Spoiler

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The panels set aside are obviously brand new and as you take a closer look at some of material behind it evidence appears of some sort of damage that occured, seemingly some sort of burn marks

The commodore swiftly moves on towards the bridge and as you all follow him to take your stations for the launch that should happen in a few minutes you observe the rest of the ship being in a similar state of haste and hurrying. Crew members wit barely time to salute the new officers run past with all manners of supplies and performing all manners of jobs.

The Bridge is substantially better, though a handful of crew are busy connecting some new panels it seems that these stations are at least ready for operation.

"get comfortable gentlemen, we'll launch in 5 minutes"

[Storm Bringer]

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spot check:(1d20+4)[8]
damm. not a good start.

the tall Lieutenant looked around at his fellow officers, who noticed the small eagles head of a fighter pilot next to his rank pins for the first time.

"I think I got most of you're names in the breifing, so allow me to introduce myself. Lieutenant Andrew Clyne, Tactical Officer External Space Operations, and acting 2nd in command, at your service." his english background was apprant in his speech, in particular the way he spoke "left-tenant". just about hidden under his collar at the base of his neck was recent-looking scar tissue, suggesting a implant of some kind.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Spot - (1d20+4)[14]

"Lieutenant Commander Raymond Stern," the thin American introduces himself again, walking assuredly to the bridge Tactical Officer station, and finding the internal communicator.

"Main gunnery crew, please report to the bridge as you are able," he announces over the ship's intercom.

(OOC: I'm making the very small leap of logic that we have an intercom, if that's alright.)

[Storm Bringer]

Andrew moved to the navigation consoles at the front of the ship, and slid into the pilots seat. He quickly brought up the engine status on one of the console displays, and he looked over the data.

"hm...p7 is in pieces , s13 is showing a burn-out, we've got a valve warning light for the lower forward manuvering thrusters, and the secondry nav-com is throwing a hissy fit....looks good, ready to leave." andrew said without a trace of irony, quickly calibrating the drive arrays to compensate and making sure the faults had been noted and were on the repair detail's 'to-do' list.

[Dustyme]

Spot Check (1d20+3)[4]

Ensign Melern boards the Radiant a step behind the other officers keeping slightly behind them and observing the commotion as they progress towards the bridge. Working his way quickly towards the communications station and glancing at the actions of his subordinates without interfering in their duties. Making a few minor corrections but otherwise finding them to be working efficiently he nods his head and takes his place at the Comm.’s (Communications) station meant for the on duty officer. Tapping a few key strokes Zell pulls up duty rosters and crew portfolios/dossiers of his soldiers working quickly to familiarize himself with background information that may be useful later ((Zell is looking primarily at family, birth place, birth date, personal quirks and duty records))

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After gaining a quick rundown of his troops he sets up a longer much more complex query into the database on all ship crewmembers starting with key personnel ((This is to both familiarize himself with the ships crew and look for any potential issues and or inconsistencies)) Computer Use (1d20+6)[21]

[estradling]

Spot Check (1d20+2)[14]

The gloved ensign follows the superior officers on to the bridge. He makes his way over to engineering access station. When his turn for introductions comes he replies simply. "Ensign Alfred St. Clair... Engineering."

Once at his station he activates his neural link, to see if he has been cleared to access the ships computer mental yet. He then look for the latest engineering updates and status reports

[Wizard of the Coat]

It takes about a minute for several of the gunners and other requested staff come to the bridge. The enter, salute the present officers and stand in attention.

"Midshipman Palmer, gunner 2nd class, reporting sir" Clearly an officer in training Palmer, of British ancestry, he seems quite green.

"Midshipman Menzel, gunner 1st class, reporting sir" An older looking German man, looking like an enlisted man that worked his way up from the bottom ranks.

"Midshipman Felici, gunner 2nd class, reporting sir" The clearly Italian man also looks like one who started at the bottom, but doesn't quite have the hardiness of Menzel about him.

These are the three men responsible for the maintenance and gunnery crew of your three primary weapon systems. Though control is easily taken from the bridge of any of the systems, these men are the backbone of any punch the Radiant delivers.

Andrews diagnostics indeed show the ship is ready to go, but as Ensign Melern runs the checks he quickly finds himself baffled by all kinds of restricted access protocols. Those things he can see provide him with a basic knowledge of most of the crews assignments and origins, but three key personnel members stand out, Ensign Nathan Reeders file shows only basic information on his academy, but mentions him as a member of the TASC Marine Corps with little further information. Ensign Alfred St. Clair seems to be listed only briefly as TASC Enginering Corps, but provides little information on his academic performance or indeed any previous assignments. Apart from the normal restrictions on viewing higher ranking personnel it seems that Commodore Kazuma's records only lists his current assignment and some awards, but little on his history or origins for that matter.

As Alfred interfaces mentally with his bridge command station he finds that his access is extremely restricted and with almost all his queries beyond the basic state of the engine or other advanced systems requiring executive access, though not stating whom is to give it. Still on some occasions it is granted and soon the Engine's operations modules come under his control, still it seems that many of the performance tests and other knowledge on the engine that isn't strictly needed to fly the ship and keep it going under normal conditions is withheld. Also it seems that the level of control over it's power systems is severely limited, as if some-one doesn't want to have it run at full capacity.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Stern returns the gunners' salute. Lieutenant Commander Stern."

Dropping the salute, he continues in a crisp voice, "You will be under my direct command, so I wanted to introduce myself and give a brief supplementary briefing. This mission should be a routine investigation; however, we are heading into a completely unknown situation. Hostilities are not an impossibility, and therefore I want all of you prepared for combat alert at a moment's notice. I'll run tactical analysis and coordinate fire from the bridge, but the Radiant is counting on your hands on the guns. Are you all prepared?"

[estradling]

As Alfred interfaces mentally with his bridge command station he finds that his access is extremely restricted and with almost all his queries beyond the basic state of the engine or other advanced systems requiring executive access, though not stating whom is to give it. Still on some occasions it is granted and soon the Engine's operations modules come under his control, still it seems that many of the performance tests and other knowledge on the engine that isn't strictly needed to fly the ship and keep it going under normal conditions is withheld. Also it seems that the level of control over it's power systems is severely limited, as if some-one doesn't want to have it run at full capacity.

Seeing the readouts in his minds eye Alfred says more to himself then to anyone, "They've neutered her." Knowing that there is more to engineering then just the engines he turns his thoughts to other systems on the ship. He wasn't expecting to be able to control any of the systems like weapons or navigational, but he should be able to get operational status reports from all of them. From the sounds the pilot was making there were already thing that needed to be fixed.

[Dustyme]

---Ensign Melern---

After noting the strangeness of his query mentally, Zell decides to run another data query on the communications logs to see if anything pops out at him. Zell also sets up a monitor and block within the communication system that will alert him and LCDR Stern to any messages that seem suspicious. He sets the system to have the duty officer notify him of a message without alerting the officer of what the message contains or why. The alert message will read as a generic systems test notification with a key phrase. ((Main objective is to see if anyone is sending messages ahead of us to warn who/whatever is occurring & Halt the message before it leaves the ship.)) Computer Use (1d20+6)[17]

Zell cuts a message to LCDR Stern describing what he has done with the following reason why attached

"Sir,
I have set up a monitor and kill switch to keep any information leakage of this mission to a minimum. You and I are currently the only crewmembers that will be alerted. I didn't set the system to notify Commodore Kazuma due to his current overload of work."

Zell cuts another message to all the other new officers that have been assigned today.

"Gentleman,

The Game: Texas Holdem
The location: Officers Lounge
The Time: Down Shift +30

Bring a credit line because your going to need it!"

[Nerd-o-rama]

Stern views Melern's two communications on his console, and considers for several seconds before replying.

It's a bit outside regulations...but it's appropriate for this mission, and I can always inform the commodore if it requires his attention.

He quickly taps out a message in reply:

"Acknowledged and approved, Ensign. But please cut the recreational chatter while you are on-duty."

[Dustyme]

Re-Reply to LCDR Stern (Only):

"Sir,
As the Radiant’s Communications Officer and a member of the D&R ((Diplomatic & Relations)) Corp. I believe it is my duty to setup a way for our fellow officers to socialize and meet. I apologize if the method I choose to use seemed rather off the duty day topic however I feel that subtlety in bringing my fellow officers to gather and know each other in a informal setting is a primary method of tension breaking. Please do not think that I have chosen to send out an invitation to my fellow officers without careful thought to both wording and intent.

As for the communications lock I felt it necessary due to the extreme circumstances of our mission and the lack of Intel we currently have available. I have also run a few data gathering bots to gather data I may need on the crew as I have been trained to do at the academy. So far I have come up with nothing unexpected other than a few abnormalities. I will let you know if I find anything interesting."

V/R, Ensign Zell Melern" Diplomacy (1d20+10)[13]

(( No wammey! No wammey! No wammey! STOP!!!))

[Wizard of the Coat]

As the crew get aquainted with their ship the commodore sends a message to all over the speakers.

"Good men of the Radiant. Today we set of on a mission of great importance, but I'll keep this brief. I ask you only that you perform as well as you have before and that you live up to your reputation as some of the finest crew members in the fleet. We shall start our departure sequence now, so everyone to their stations. Let's see what these new engines can do."

With that the ship is cleared by the towers and the engines can be fired up. All that is required is an easily set course and the radiant can be off to Eris station.

"Take her away commander. Our rendevous co-ordinates are in your displays."

The displays of the bridge officers show the location and target of the ship to rendevous with the TAS Archipello, within several days. Comm access channels are also cleared for the vessel. In addition the new systems are cleared for testing as desired by the commanding officer.

[Storm Bringer]

"Okay......all hatches confirmed sealed, main engines are ready, coruse is locked......Give the word, Captian, and we're off." andrew said, looking back at Stern with his hands hovering over the controls.


ooc:

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before anyone points out that Stern is a Lt. cmdr, the commanding officer of a ship is always a 'captain', independant of actual rank held.

[Nerd-o-rama]

OOC:

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True, but I think Commodore Kazuma is the commanding officer right now. I'm a little vague on how the chain of command is working here, and I'd like clarification, because Ray wouldn't be vague.

On second thought, what the hell.

Stern nods in acknowledgement. "Take her out, Lieutenant. All ahead, cruising speed."