Jalana Rajel: HQ assigned us a new mission and this one is a first for me. We are going on a dive. We are being invited to a state wedding in an Xindi Aquatic Colony on Daaka. The groom comes from another Colony on Hobiru and we are going to escort him to his new home and the ceremony. But that is not all, we are invited to attend the wedding as well. As you can imagine that means a lot of preparation for us. None of our equipment is specialized for underwater missions, and neither are we. While we know Zero-G being underwater is a whole lot different. So we will have to take care of Equipment, Refreshers on Xindi and so on. A lot list of tasks.
Initial Tasks
- Work on an aquashuttle. While various forms may already exist they cannot be supplied. Old plans and schematics are available and based on those with some upgrades. Conny Engineers and Scientists work on new versions. They are to equip 3 small vessels or two medium vessels with the capabilities to dive and stay underwater for an extended amount of time.
- We also will need diving suits because our crew will be proper underwater for this mission. Long term diving. How will they have enough oxygen or withstand pressure once they leave the aquashuttle?
- Pilots need practice in simulations on how to maneuver said vessels, which will still be slightly different because the ships don’t exist yet. But underwater works differently from space be it in a vessel or outside.
- Science, OPS and Medical (If familiar with Xindi Aquatics) need to prepare part of the cetacean lab tanks to support Aquatic Xindi for transport.
- Medical will need to brush up on possible conditions our teams could be affected by when going underwater for prolonged periods of time.
- Counseling check on conditions that are of mental nature of spending days underwater.
- Counseling make an overview of any diplomatically important Aquatic Xindi details (traditions, habits, culture, customs and such) to be prepared for interaction
- Security/Tactical might not be necessary just going by the mission description but they never go unprepared. So find ways to make weapons work underwater!
- COMM (OPS) would work on implementing the Sonar to Speech and Speech to Sonar translator modules at the tank. We also will need portables and/or adjusting universal translators for it.
Challenges
- Underwater and space are quite different in their physical properties, even though both require similar safeguards–such as EV suits. The biggest challenge we will face is resistance caused by pressure.
- Our standard EV suits
- are designed to account for a variety of pressure variances. However, they are not designed for long excursions. They also rely on the assumption of operating in a gas or vacuum for purposes of heat dissipation.
- The propulsion systems built in are likely insufficient to move through water. There may be additional factors to consider. We want a suit that does not kill its occupant in the event of a power failure, as we will be at pressures hostile to most, if not all, people present in this briefing.
- Our shuttles
- Structural integrity fields can accommodate the expected pressure, but that will tax the power systems, and a failure in the EPS grid would spell disaster.
- Shuttle propulsion systems are sufficient in terms of thrust, but the heat they generate will boil the water around it, making navigation difficult.
- The composition of the ocean itself may create challenges.
- The ocean consists mostly of water, but the mineral profile is somewhat unique.
- The water itself is relatively conductive to electricity, and we need to take care not to risk exposing ourselves or others to electrical shock.
- The vacuum of space is a decent insulator, so we are not used to the degree of caution necessary to maintain safety in this environment.
