Dilithium Digger (Constitution)
| USS Constitution-B | ||
|---|---|---|
 ACTIVE STATUS | ||
| ||
| Officers taking part in the Mission | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | Notes | |
| Jalana Rajel | Commanding Officer | ||
| Saveron | First Officer | ||
| Cade Foster | Mission Specialist | ||
| Vurdal | HCO Officer | ||
| Lystra | Security/Tactical Officer | ||
| Atan T'Seva | Chief Tactical Officer | ||
| Ravenna Carter | Medical Officer | ||
| Jacob Horne | Assistant Chief Engineering Officer | ||
| Sirn | Engineering Officer | ||
| Lazarus Davis | Assistant Chief Science Officer | ||
| Sarah Mason | Intelligence Officer | ||
| Nugra | Intelligence Officer | ||
| Away Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | Notes | |
| T'Aven | Pilot / Marine | Played by Jalana Rajel | |
| Sawyer Moore | Security Officer | Played by Ravenna Carter | |
| T'Mar | Intelligence Officer | Played by Sarah Mason | |
| So'Mior | Science Officer (Geology) | Played by Cade Foster | |
| Imas Heeka | OPS Officer | Played by Lazarus Davis | |
| MSNPCs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | Notes | |
| Shael | Pain the butt | played by Jalana Rajel | |
| Orin Dann | Chief Mining Engineer - Dilithium Mine | played by Saveron | |
| TBA | played by Lazarus Davis | ||
| TBA | played by Cade Foster | ||
| TBA | played by Ravenna Carter | ||
| TBA | played by Sirn | ||
Mission Brief
Rajel: "We will make a journey to the Shahar Nebula. This Nebula is even more further south from here at the south farthest edge of the Marchlands. Someone recorded some strange energy readings that we get to check out. The nebula also has some stellar nurseries and such. Shouldn't be too hard. Admiral Heraan has also instructed us to check in on a dilithium mine in the nebula, but I don't anticipate it taking much."
First Act
On the Constitution
Preparations
After the Senior Staff is briefed about the new mission each department prepares for departure. They have 6 hours plus one more hour flight to the Shahar Nebula.
- Science and Engineering prepare the Sensors and Engines to work better in the nebula that promises interferences. They work on optimizing an experimental build and an adjustment to the Bussard collectors.
- "By increasing the throughput of the Bussard Collectors, we could pull the nebula gases away from the sensor arrays while simultaneously filtering out useful and essential gases and ejecting them back out assisting with forward momentum. Essentially turning the Collector assemblies into a from of thruster. It will be difficult to maintain a warp field within the nebula so any assistance to propulsion will be advantageous." ~ Sirn
- Medical prepares for possible casualties, you never know. Among other things they stock up on medications and make sure the equipment runs smoothly. They then go through the ship to make sure the emergency medkits are all equipped properly.
- Tactical gets a complete Level IV diagnostics through Lystra.
After arrival
7 hours after the briefing the Constitution arrives at the Shahar Nebula. They head into the nebula and is in awe of its (filter created) beauty. The readings of the energy signatures are not the same as they had received during the briefing, so they plan to find out why as there could be a multitude of reasons.
On route to the Stellar Nursery, the Conny sends their away team - consisting of T'Aven, Imas Heeka, Sawyer Moore, So'Mior and T'Mar - to the Dilithium mine to check on the decreased production. The Conny also calls the Mine to inform them of the team's soon to be arrival.
Scanners are picking up on random readings that could mean anything as the Nebula causes interferences on the sensors. Upon Cade Foster's repeated suggestion they send out a set of 4 probes, one in each direction, to boost sensors. After that boost, Science discovers a phenomenon that could be behind the fluctuating sensor readings: Pulsars.
- The main viewscreen changed to show the hazy and interference-laden sensor data. At that distance, the nebula was almost like a dense, low-lands fog. And shining in that fog was what could only be described as a rapidly spinning and orbiting series of lights. At first blush, it looked almost like a lighthouse beacon. "I think those are stars, orbiting each other at an incredible rate. That’s the source of our energy reading. It’s mind-boggling. I can’t calculate the orbital period because we don’t know how many stars are in this… tempest. Whatever it is, it’s fast. Near relativistic speeds, I would think." ~ Lazarus Davis
There seemed to be an issue with the experimental sensor array and overheating Bussard collectors, so it has to be turned off for 10 minutes to fix it.
Meanwhile, a ship has been discovered in the nebula. Shedet was able to hear its engines and through the environmental sounds and methods were weighed to find out more about this ship. While not everyone believed it to be necessary, in the end, caution pulled through and they began to figure out methods to passively scan the area the ship had been discovered to not appear offensive.
The Away Team should have arrived and checked in at some point but the Conny has not heard anything yet. So Jalana called the Mine in case the shuttle's communications array was not strong enough to push through on their own.
The Away Team
T'Aven, Imas Heeka, Sawyer Moore, So'Mior and T'Mar head to the mine in a Type 11 Shuttle. The flight takes them 1.3 hours. On the way, the team goes through the detail of their mission which is to do an inspection of the mine and the production. An hour later they arrive and are welcome by Oran Dann the Chief Mining Engineer. (Continue at "The Mine")
The Mine
Someone is in the mine who makes things difficult for Orin Dann. When the Constitution calls that someone sends off one of her people to inform "the Boss" about the imminent Starfleet arrival. A shuttle leaves to do just that. An hour later when the away team arrives the 'keepers' that keep pressuring the miners are disguised as miners and Orin Dann greets the away team.
- The surface of Osteris II was no place to be without an EVA suit, but this was Federation to Federation technology, so he anticipated no problems. [...] The panel lit up, showing positive contact on the pad, and the sensors indicated that the pilot had pulled off a flawless landing. A camera gave a greyscale visual on the small screen, and Orin manoeuvred the extendable airlock over to the side of the shuttle, hardly needing to adjust it, she was sitting so square. ~ Orin Dann
- The shuttle doors opened to reveal a most uninspired cargo area. The mine was certainly old fashioned in its architecture. Early century modern with the same stark teal and crimson markings on dull grey that was common in that era. Taking from that So’Mior also expected a lot of beige furnishing in any public areas – unless they had been re-upholstered, which was unlikely. There was a specific style of architecture and color schemes for various periods in Federation history and this was one of those that conjured up images of gallant holonovels at the fringes of space with intrepid old Starfleet crews nobly fighting unknown threats. Things that every professor in the Academy would tell a cadet to wipe out of their minds immediately because it was purely hogwash. [...] That means that this mine was originally on the outskirts of Federation space when it was built. Probably it was used to strike a new dilithium source that would help the Federation be self-sufficient without the need for dilithium wars. ~ So'Mior
Orin Dann begins a tour with the Away team aware that he is being watched by his keepers that are all throughout the mine. He shows them around and answers questions before bringing the team more into the shaft where they may or may not discover more. Part of the answers for questions are:
- "We have had some mechanical issues, it’s true. ::He allowed.:: And we don’t have large scale industrial replicators here, so if something really big breaks, it has to come out on the freighter."
- "We don’t get a lot of traffic, no, we’re no holiday destination. The freighter comes every eight standard weeks. Some ships pass by on the way to places, but we don’t pay them too much attention."
- "We have a small contingent of security personnel.[...] Oh yes, monitored from our control centre. Like the rest of the mine’s operations."
- "We monitor for natural dangers as well. [Not Predators] There’s been no native life ever found on the planet. She’s a dead world."
- "It’s been eight months since the last incident."
- "The nebula causes all sorts of [Communications] problems. That’s why we have the big transmitter and the relay satellite. Everything goes through the control room."
Somewhere
Someone else notices that the Constitution is entering the Nebula, but for now only watches as they seem to be there for the Stellar Nursery.