Progress

Posted on Wed Aug 14th, 2024 @ 11:12pm by Lieutenant (J.G.) Zomuul jav Ghul & Crewman Zod Drixx & Lieutenant Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Chase Moore & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi
Edited on on Wed Aug 14th, 2024 @ 11:14pm

1,517 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Pilot
Location: Shuttlebay/U.S.S. Sol
Timeline: 2439-03-09, 05:45

The successor to the Danube and Yellowstone Class runabout, the Polaris Class was the latest generation runabout developed by Starfleet. Comprised of four vessels aboard the Enterprise and named after the primary star of the Federation's founding worlds, the Polaris Class was designed to be used as a base of operations for teams gathering scientific data and could offer assistance to survey teams during planetary and cultural surveys.

Each runabout supported a flight crew of four, with suitable onboard living space and mission configurable cargo capacities that enabled the crew to maintain a six-month mission before requiring resupply. Capable of a maximum speed of Warp 7 for 12 hours as well as atmospheric flight, Polaris Class runabouts were lightly armored compared to their predecessors, but were highly maneuverable.

While capable, Crewman Zod Drixx would have preferred to be using a Type 20 shuttle over the runabout. The Type 20 was sleeker and designed to operate in high-risk atmospheric operations. It would've been the better choice for this mission, but the captain directed them to use a runabout. He was the captain, so they'd follow his orders. Not that he'd like it.

The young Bolian walked away from the shuttle and toward the runabout, waiting for the rest of the away team to arrive.

Chase headed to the runabout, not wanting to be the last to arrive. He nodded to the Bolian as he walked up. “Lieutenant Moore reporting.”

Ash spent a moment to input a reversal order for the shuttle mods she had configured and then headed to the Runabout that Captain Targaryen had ordered instead. The Chief Engineer considered what mods they might be able to add to the vessel before departure and, one by one, mentally discarded one option then another and another. Runabouts prioritized space for crew quarters and provisions for excursion of longer duration. There was cargo space that did allow for specialized packages to be added but, while modular in nature, adding a mod was a bit less, plug-n-play than it was for the shuttle the Chief Engineer was walking away from. They'd be all right in the volatile atmosphere of the brown dwarf but it was going to be a rough, bone jarring, and butt bruising ride. "The atmospherics are going to kick our asses in this thing." She noted, in a matter-of-fact, tone to their Bolian pilot as she approached. "Hope no one hurls." She added while boarding.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Drixx answered the Chief Engineer, remembering a particular incident involving a Cardassian at the Tech Services Academy back when he was still in training. It took them two days to get that shuttle cleaned out. He smiled at the thought and wondered if he'd be able to recreate that one day.

Walking to the Helm, Zod activated the navigational computer and holographic images formed in mid-air above the keyboard. The shuttle was hovering above the table with the planets appearing nearby.

"Navigational holographics online," the Bolian explained as he pressed a series of keys on the panel, the runabout's trajectory displaying. "Course confirmed for atmospheric entry," he near whispered, "Just so we can take the family camper on an interstellar picnic."

Chase went to work as the security officer and made certain things were set in case of an emergency. He checked the weapons storage.

Ash stowed her, black, doctor bag under the seat for the operations/engineering station while Chase did his thing and Zod queued up their, proposed, route to the picnic grounds. "Keep arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and do not feed the bears." She mused, quietly. "It is going to be like flying through oatmeal." She added, looking at the composition of the atmosphere. "Good times."

zh'Roothi could hear the complaints before she arrived having voiced several herself. The vessel certainly wouldn't have been her first choice compared to the others located in the shuttle bay, however she alike the rest of the team trusted their Captain who'd purposely chosen the craft. They were pretending to be on science mission after all and needed to look the part should they be discovered by unfriendly eyes.

"I always found the wasps to be worse than the bears," the Commander joked stepping aboard. "How long till we reach bumpy stuff?" she asked Drixx.

“Oatmeal?” Chase said with a grin. “That’s my favorite breakfast.” He was liking this crew more and more.

"If you like I can replicate you a bowl."

“I just might take you up on that later.” Chase said with a grin.

The Bolian glanced at his control indicators, "Pretty much as soon as we pierce the outer atmosphere it'll be like the Chief's oatmeal. I'd much prefer to be taking something a little sleeker, but this was what the Captain wanted us to take." His blue fingers typed on the panel as the Tellarite Science Officer stepped aboard. He noted that the Chief Scientist was also coming along on this mission and would be arriving soon.

"We're be fine," the XO assured. "I have faith in both you and the craft Crewman."

"We can use shields to improve drag coefficient and mitigate some of the turbulence but they'll have to be hardened, for the purpose, to a degree that will make them nearly useless against most conventional attacks." Ash observed, with a glance to their pilot. "You could choose your own silhouette for its flight characteristics." She added and looked to Zhora. "With your approval, Commander." The Chief Engineer asked.

"Define nearly useless?" The Commander quizzed. "Should we raise unwanted attention I don't want us to be an easy target."

"Disruptor or phaser fire will go right through. They'd fair better against plasma torpedoes. The good news is, if we do encounter something and it decides to shoot at us, they'll need to be on top of us for phasers or disruptors to have any chance of doing damage at all, shields or no shields. I wasn't joking about the atmosphere being like flying through oatmeal, there's a whole lot of mass to burn through before any attack would get to us, even at half a kilometer. Besides, you'd have to be nuts to light off anything in that atmosphere with as much base hydrogen and complex hydrocarbons in the mix as there is." The Chief Engineer replied. "Not a lot of oxygen but there's sure enough chlorine to act as a catalyst, just the same." She added. "There's no real middle ground as far as the shields being used to mitigate our rough ride. We stick with standard shields we get pummeled at a constant and we break out the barf bags when inertial dampers are unable to keep up. Or, we smooth things out with shields and take the risk someone might be nuts enough to fire at us when they're, very likely, to be in the same boat as we are." Ash finished, with just a hint of a grin.

"Alright Lieutenant," zh'Roothi held up her hands in defeat. "Point well made, permission granted. I don't wish to revisit anyone's previous meal if we can avoid it."

As the others talked, Zomuul jav Ghul took a seat at the Science workstation as he awaited the arrival of Lieutenant Toryn. Logging into the control panel, the Tellarite reviewed the flight plan that the Bolian pilot had filed. He wasn't wrong. The region was full of materials that would interfere with their sensors during travel and their sensor range would be significantly limited. The Polaris Class had an operational sensor range of several light-years. Once they entered the atmosphere of the alien world it would be reduced to a fraction of kilometers.

The Science Officer typed on the keyboard, pulling a datafile up on the display monitor. Reviewing records from the Bajoran Central Archives, the Tellarite recalled reading about a trick they used during the occupation to evade Cardassian ships while hiding in the Badlands. The Badlands was another region where sensor range was limited, so they used an active-scan system to navigate, similar to echo-location. Finding the file, he read it quickly.

"Commander, I have a theory to help us with our navigation. We send out a modulated tetryon pulse, which should reflect off of any obstructions we approach to allow us to approximate its location. If there's a vessel down there it'll light it up like a Terran Christmas Tree, but it would give away our position as well."

Zhora pondered the idea. "What would the range be?" she asked. "If we're going to announce ourselves I want to ensure we can escape quickly if required."

"Good question." Ash remarked, while she took a seat at the eng/ops station and made herself 'fast' with the restraining belts.

“I’ll be ready with weapons.” Chase spoke up. “In all likelihood someone comes after us.”

"Let's hope not," the XO murmured. She swiveled her seat toward Drixx: "All set Crewmen?"

The Bolian nodded, "Ready when you are."

"Let's not delay any further," zh'Roothi replied. "Take us out and please try ensure we get through this oatmeal in one piece."

 

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