Testbed (Khitomer)

			Episode 4 - Testbed

USS Khitomer
ACTIVE STATUS
CURRENT ALERT STATUS THE CREW Current Crew Roster PNPC Roster Pets on the Khitomer Crew History Awards and Promotions THE SHIP Ship Specifications Deck Layout Auxiliary Craft Khitomer Gallery Khitomer Dedication Plaque THE MISSIONS Current Mission Mission Archive Propose a Mission REGION INFORMATION The Alpha Isles BEHIND THE SCENES Ship Simming Manual Staff & Duty Roster The Khitomer in the News OOC Khitomer Gallery Player Achievements Rank Questionnaires Khitomer Wiki To-Do LINKS Khitomer Group Khitomer OOC Group Khitomer Posting Stats New Orleans II class NCC-62400 Edit this nav

Characters

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Officers taking part in the Mission
Name	Position	Notes
Randal Shayne	Commanding Officer	On Medical Leave IC
Nolen Hobart	Acting Commanding Officer
Malik Cain	Helm Officer
Connor Dewitt	Chief Engineer
Lera Michaels	Engineering Officer
Ezra Zerva	Security Officer
Karsyn Croix	Com/Ops Officer	Stepping back Act 2
Charles Matthews	Tactical Officer
Talia Ohnari	Chief Medical Officer
Ayemet Dewitt	Councilor
Ras El'Heem	Medical Officer
Richard Matthews	Science Officer
Amelia Semara	Science Officer
Valora Croix	Civilian Tech Specialist	Transferred in Act 1

MSNPCs
Name	Position	Author
Lieutenant Commander T'Dara	Starfleet Corps of Engineers Consultant	Randal Shayne

NPCs & PNPCs
Name	Position	Author
Alene Torado	SFMC Officer	Nolen Hobart
Jenna Prix	Relief Helm Officer	Connor Dewitt
Stella Sparks	Engineer	Talia Ohnari
Ginny Lacy	Engineer	Nolen Hobart
Jackson "Jack" Pearl & Siguay "Siggy" Alamenda	Security	Ezra Zerva

Prologue

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After a lengthy refit of the Khitomer that left few systems untouched, the ship and her crew set course under radio silence on a randomized path towards an unknown destination for a secretive mission. Their orders are only revealed after they are already nearing their destination: amidst the overhaul, a set of experimental systems has been installed aboard Khitomer designed to defend against the most fearsome weapon in the arsenal of the Lattice Alliance - Sencha Radiation - and the Khitomer will be testing these systems in a stellar nursery to avoid espionage. To make matters more complicated, Captain Shayne has been medically relieved of duty, putting Hobart in the center seat as acting captain. The crew is joined by the Vulcan Lieutenant Commander T'Dara, a consultant from the Starfleet corps of engineers, who does her best to assuage the numerous questions and concerns from the crew - ranging from worries over the possibility the Lattice Alliance might intervene unexpectedly to how to shut off the Sencha emitter that will be targeting the ship.

The crew are sent off to their respective tasks, but before getting to work, Amelia Semara receives a field promotion to the rank of Lieutenant JG, and quickly spirals as she openly questions why the rank came late and how to manage the newfound responsibility. Connor Dewitt manages to get her to calm down, but she admits part of the problem has simply been an inability to share her thoughts and feelings as she would with other Betazoids since coming aboard - especially surprising to her when it comes to the strangely (to her) closed-off half-Betazoid Nolen Hobart who promoted her. Still, she manages to pull herself together with Dewitt's help, and the two coordinate a plan together to test the newly installed equipment.

Meanwhile, Lera Michaels is struggling with her own personal challenges and the expectations of being a full-blooded Vulcan even though she was raised by Human parents. She admits to councilor Ayemet Dewitt (nee Jacin) that the arrival the Vulcan specialist T'Dara has her feeling inadequate and found wanting by the stereotypical Vulcan officer. To make matters worse, a newfound attraction to a member of the crew (whom she doesn't name) has Micheals worried she may be entering the early stages of Pon farr. She's not able to differentiate between the "Human" and "Vulcan" parts of herself, but concludes she hopes the feelings are representative of her more Human side, which aren't determined by her physiology. Ultimately, her time is short though, and she has to find a way to focus on the engineering work at hand.

Act 1

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In the security suite, newcomer tactical officer Lieutenant Charles Matthews heads a team with Doctor Ras El'Heem and Ezra Zerva to come up with a plan to combat a potential boarding party should the Lattice Alliance gain a foothold on the ship. Marine Lieutenant Alene Torado joins the three who are reviewing what they know of Lattice Alliance tactics and weaknesses, and suggests that they'd be better putting theory into practice in the holodeck. Going through the history proves particularly painful for veterans of the Siege of Deep Space 33 - El'Heem in particular wonders about his role as a doctor in the midst of planning tactics as they play out worst-case scenarios. Ideas abound around how to deal with each species: environmental suits could serve as protection against Tholian troopers' tendency to vent corrosive gasses when their heavy armor is breached, the Sheliak sense of superiority and complex language present an opportunity to jam communications, and their heavy use of drones make a prime target for EMP weaponry.

In sickbay, Ohnari puts on her mad scientist lab coat as she formulates a medical defense against the worst effects of the Sencha waves on the crew with T'Dara and a self-critical A. Dewitt, should the new defenses fail for any reason. Various augmentations to the aerosol medication are discussed from static warp shells to a surprisingly passionate debate about what flavor would best mask the scent and flavor of the additive to the environmental controls. In the end, Doctor Ohnari opts for a classic minty freshness to mask any bitterness the medication might have, and takes a strange glee in dosing the whole ship, despite the paperwork involved.

In main engineering, C. Dewitt directs K. Croix and R. Matthews through a serious of arduous diagnostics and tests of the new hull plating designed to protect the crew (and especially telepaths) from the Sencha radiation.. The diagnostics go along surprisingly well, though the groups spends some time understanding how the new systems interact with each other and with the conventional shielding systems. Before long, the Khitomer is entering position in the Lagoon nebula, and the chief engineer calls T'Dara down to main engineering to assist with the main sequence of tests.

Lastly, freshly promoted Semara is in charge of testing the Sencha Dispersion Array, or SDA, with Michaels and Cain. Diagnostics go largely quite well, except for some mysterious problems when warming up all the equipment in tandem. After some frustration tracing the problem down, it turns out that a check valve in the coolant system has been installed backwards, and will require a repair. To make matters worse, in her review of the operation of the new deflector array, Semara has discovered a possible link between long-term exposure to the array's emission and troubling psychological impacts, to Hobart's annoyance. Despite his anxiety to get the tests over with, he grudgingly grants the team the time needed to complete the repairs, which they bring to C. Dewitt's attention just in the nick of time.

To be continued...

Act 2

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Coming soon...

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