Several hours after the first meeting, several officers and department heads reconvene to present their reports...

The Captain takes his place at the head at the head of the briefing table. He remains silent, instead waiting silently until he has command of the room before nodding to the officer to his right for another round table briefing.

  Still ever-so-slightly ponderous in his movements and speech, Gvoellaekh addressed the assemblage. "Space trials complete, more or less. The overall results were reasonable, considering the state of the ship and its crew, but some things went better than others. We have two jumps and a few days to deal with the details. Getting a training regimen going will be a high priority for anyone who doesn't have work to do on the ship itself; that'll be enough of a training regimen in its own right. I'll coordinate with each of you about the specifics."

  "In the meantime, let's hear your summaries of today's events. I know that everyone did their best, but give us the good, bad, and ugly alike. If nothing else, it'll help us to set those priorities."


  For the sake of gameplay we won't worry about seniority/departmental ordering. Go ahead when ready.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:30, Mon 03 Aug 2020.

Lt Tsetsegmaa looked tired, her hair disheveled as if her hands have gone through them during stress too many times... While the commander was speaking, she was multitasking, 20% listening to the XO and 80% reading the incident flow and typing comments on her pad. When her turn came, she sighed and sent the report notes to the holographic display - a flat presentation of keywords and bullet points. She didn't state her name and posting, as she focused on her pad notes again.

• UPGRADING

"Hum... I'm pleased to report that the naval shipyard engineers have done a very good job getting the ship ready, upgrading its machinery and filling it with the latest technologies."

She didn't mention that she had to swallow her pride and call the Zeng shipyard chief Kaj Ayerich six times, irrespective of what the time was. Either chief  Ayerich wasn't sleeping, or he didn't show he had been awoken, but he was helpful - though a little patronizing during the 5th and last calls.

• NEWEST BC2M INTERFACE

"The main alteration was the replacement of the M-Drive wiring module TRTL-08 X-ar - which is standard and tried-and-tested, with a new BC2M (Bridge Commands To Motors) interface GRYH-14 Y00. This implies that... mmh... in layman's terms... the ship is more agile than her peers - for this cruiser class -, and responds better and quicker to the pilot's commands, for all maneuvers. This quick unexpected response is no doubtly the reason the piloting crew was surprised by the sudden thrust power surge from 10 to 105% in less than 15 seconds - when it usually takes half a minute at best. But," she mused aloud, "I'll let lieutenant Standarsson tell the tale of the ship's... acrobatics".

• F-FS

"We also have a great fuel-feed system that allowed this improvement!". She typed commands to send a rotating holo of the feed and venting systems diagram. There were colored pipes and controls everywhere, looking like a Rube Goldberg machine. Iita lost herself in contemplation of the system a few seconds. No other officer present felt the same awe.

• S&S INFRA / but

"Anyway... the tests and samples show that the ship's infrastructure is sound and solid. Due to the rough and archaic design of her times of construction, the Sharshana can endure dramatic damages and survive. You don't build Ghalalks like this anymore...! On top of the infrastructure is... the superstructure I guess... which happens to be an accumulation of repairs and patch-up jobs, mostly not documented or the information was lost. As an example, we spent two hours looking for the control panel of the pilot board speed indicator - which gave inaccurate readings - until I had to call Zeng, and they remembered it had been moved ages ago to where the electrical cabinet of the MDP thermostat was supposed to be. And we have yet to find the location of other devices ; OTOH we found here and there some equipment that we need to identify, not knowing if they are spare parts, obsolete parts that weren't disembarked, or what else. We'll discover what we need through the trip, and the requirement for specific spare parts is going to plague our trip, so the better equipped the starport we stopover, the better", she added with a knowing eye to the astrogator Yune.

• CONCLUSION

From an engineering perspective, the trials are conclusive : the ship is ready to depart and face the major dangers of our space patrol. We'll fix the minor inconveniences as they come (sigh) but I am more reassured now that the Shasharna is back to life!"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:18, Wed 05 Aug 2020.

"Gunnery trials were... acceptable," Sidare next reported.  She'd paused before characterizing the results, mostly because there was 'acceptable' and then there was... 'acceptable', the later being delivered in a tone that conveyed definite room for improvement.

"Captain, gunnery teams experienced a number of technical glitches with various weapon systems during qualification," this matter-of-fact statement was delivered with a hint of personal disappointment and frustration.

None of the officer's assembled could know that the situation reminded Sidare of her own small arms qualification issues as a mid-shipman.  Her training unit issued snub carbine had been unreliable at the range and each time she raised it with the unit's armorer/supply Petty Officer, her concerns had been dismissed.  On her carbine qualification day, she experienced no less than 12 extraction failures, which required her to perform SPORTS (Slap, Pull, Observe, Release, Tap, Shoot), the corrective action drill used to address the most common carbine failures, in order to return the weapon system to service.  Having do this so many times during the timed event cost her points.  The fact that Sidare eked out a qualifying score, while dealing with such a poorly performing weapon system was a testament to her tenacity, along with her skill and speed at performing the necessary corrective actions.  It also led Sidare to take a more personal interest in the low level operation of her carbine and indeed, all subsequent weapon systems under her purview.

The problem with her carbine had been a damaged extractor spring, which she sorted out herself (no thanks to that worthless supply PO).  She vowed that the next mid-shipmen who was issued that carbine during training would not experience an extraction failure.

The Shasharna had more weapons and which were more complicated, but Sidare had no doubt that much like that old carbine, the next Gunnery Officer who took over the ship would not experience these problems.  Sidare and her team were fixing what they could and documenting any repairs they couldn't complete, so they could be addressed by the ship yard.

"We have a punch list of repairs to address these technical issues and my teams are making efforts to resolve as many of these as possible, as quickly as possible.  In the interim, gun-captains are prepared to immediately correct any malfunctions encountered, as they did during qualification, to ensure our readiness for combat."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:55, Tue 04 Aug 2020.

When Mammady's turn came up he rose to his not-quite full four feet tall and looked around the assembled officer.  To the Captain he said, "Sir, I can report satisfactory performance by both crew and ship in terms of performance of the electronic systems, whether related to comms, computers or life support.  On initial inspection, everything seemed to have suffered irreparable fire damage but in each case, it turned to be purely cosmetic.  Little issues kept cropping up but the crew raised their game and by the end, every single one of them were stoked.  We're all looking forward to the work ahead and according to some members of the crew, that even applies to the ship itself."

He was blushing a little when he sat down, his bald head, almost as red as his fur.

Reziilka gave a satisfied nod as each of the officers gave their reports.Z

"As expected there is no reason to delay our patrol. It sounds like the ship might not be ready at the moment for front line combat but I'm sure we can overwhelm a few smuggler or pirates until all weapon systems are refitted. Hand over daily reports of necessary parts to Commander Gvoellaekh and he will get them added to our resupply."

Hrolf rose to speak as the others made their reports.  He looked grim but with the typical phlegmatic demeanor of his ancestors it was difficult to discern his feelings.  "As you are no doubt aware Captain we did not fully execute the parameters of the marked course.  The nonstandard arrangement of controls and instrumentation as well as the much improved response to thrust demands mentioned by Lt. Tsetsegma.  None of this excuses our performance and I have set up a set of remedial exercises with the Navigator and bridge engineering crew to rectify the issues identified." Hrolf paused and lowered his voice slightly.  "There was one disturbing element well out of the ordinary that did contribute to the ship's performance.  One of the main beacons on the course was  either miscalibrated or malfunctioning. This added significantly to the difficulty of our mission.  I have made inquiries but it is unclear whether this was merely a personnel or equipment error or whether the buoy was set up an intention test... these things do happen."  He shrugged. "Irregardless we have identified shortcomings in coordination and familiarity with the ship in a more forgiving environment and will be ready for all comers during the cruise sir.  We can expect malfunctions and tricks during the cruise so in a way the buoy malfunction is part of what we must expect. The enhanced performance of the engines to acceleration will definitely serve us well."

Jacqueline nodded at Hrolf's comment about setting up remedial exercises.

Iita's look spurred Jacqueline in to action. "If we do have concerns about repair or spare parts, Captain, I recommend proceeding to Mtensic by way of Oriryu instead of Sestos, as Oriryu has far superior spaceport facilities. On our present route, we won't reach a capable spaceport until Tuwayk, five jumps and over a month into our journey." Jacqueline said to the Captain, although she couldn't meet his gaze. "Alternately, we could visit Tuwayk before Beaxon."

This assessment brought Reziilka to his full attention, hanging on every word of Lieutenant Standarsson. He didn't respond beyond a nod but his fingers started tapping wildly at his datapad as the others continued their review.



"I agree with your assessment however our orders specifically route usu through Sestos and in 20 days time we are expected to rendezvous with our resupply ship from Mtensc so this first leg of the journey is pre-set for us. They are sending us through the backwaters. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing. Besides our initial resupply there is another naval base at Saguenay so if we can reach the farthest part of our patrol we have an opportunity for resupply and repairs there."

In reply to Baron Thenroy Reziilka (msg # 10):

     Ishakhi stands (this time) to make his report.  He is again dressed in formal Dress Uniform and gloves, and carrying a standard, naval-issue electronic tablet--which he leaves laying on the table, in a position to be referenced, should he need to.

     When standing Ishakhi can be seen to be about 168-170 centimeters tall and trim in physique--and now that he is standing, it can be seen that he wears a ceremonial dagger as part of his uniform.  Or, the sheath, at least, appears to be of a ceremonial appearance--but sticking out from that sheath, the dagger's hilt appears something more appropriate to a Combat Dagger, rather than anything ceremonial. The hilt, though of apparent excellent workmanship, resembles some barbaric fusion of a dagger grip and spiked knuckledusters.*

     Ishakhi clasps his white-gloved hands behind his back, and addresses The Captain.

     "Sir.  I am able to report that during the recent Space trials, the Small Craft Operations department of the Flight Branch of INS Shasharna performed all procedurals and simulation adequately.  Everyone did their jobs efficiently and professionally."

     "However, despite my satisfaction with this performance, some areas for improvement were noted, and will be addressed.  You may note that our over-all performance rating is showing as only 90-percent--this was largely due to one of our Boats being off-line.  I would remind The Captain that prior to the Space Trials I did report that we'd had one vehicle declared an Engineering Casualty, and this was still the case during the trials.  However, I did make use of the situation by intentionally placing the non-operational Boat into the flight rotation, as a test for reactions and critical thinking during a rescue launch--when they found that their assigned Boat goes dead on the flight line."

     "My people cleared the dead Boat from the flight line, then prepped and launched a stand-by Boat quickly and efficiently--within specified time guidelines for such operations.  And I'm confident that, with more training, we shall be able to get that timeframe lower than the standard guidelines specify."

     "On a final note, Sir, while performing one of the last Emergency Recovery drills--simulating a high speed recovery of a 'Man Off The Hull While Underway' drill--the Six Boat had just successfully recovered a simulant before it could fall too far behind the ship, when it experienced a sudden...control vernier malfunction...which took the crew approximately nine seconds to recover from.  After Action investigation showed that the Pilot and the Flight Specialist had failed to notice a building energy spike in the control vernier, and were thus taken by surprise when the surge discharged, needing the nine seconds to regain control of the Boat."

     "I've handled the issue, Sir, and both members of the Boat Crew have been reprimanded and assigned remedial training."

     Ishakhi looks down at his tablet for the first time, reads something for just a second, then looks back up at the Captain.

     "That's all, Sir.  Thank you."

     And then Ishakhi sits down.




* = You might know them as "Brass Knuckles", though this dagger hilt is most definitely not made of brass.

Iita couldn't help to step into Ishakhi's report with passion.
"That's a very creative way to use a broken down boat... But I'll attend to boat 11 personally now ! One week to repair a C-P-U issue is too long. Either we'll replace the motherboard, or the power supply, and test it against surges before giving  it back to you. 24 hours tops, and then launch it when you can. Plus, I'll demand the flight tech to program a whole spare computer so it could be swapped ASAR. This already diminishes our stock of spare parts, so I'll see if we could disassemble and weld the components elsewhere... and then test, test, test. We could buy electronics at Beaxon, but their reputation lately is worsening, and the compatibility uncertain..."

Realizing that she's soliloquizing, the chief engineer pushes back in her chair, whispers "never mind..." and waves for someone to please go on.

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 12):

     From his seat, Ishakhi turns to respond to Iita,

     "Your Flight Engineers already tried most of that, Chief Engineer Tsetsegma--and I must thank you for assigning me such capable people, it is gratifying to work with them--"  Ishaki nods his head in gratitude, towards Iita.

     "--but every time they replaced the Tertiary CPU on that boat, within a few hours it blew out.  Not stopped working, but actually shorted out.  Quite spectacularly, I've been told."

     "That's why I wrote up the recommendation that Boat Eleven be declared an Engineering Casualty--so that we could urge the spaceyard to rush us a replacement, before we jump out-system."

     Ishaki turns back to look towards the Captain,

     "The Boat flies well enough, Sir--it is only the Tertiary CPU that keeps burning out--but Naval Safety Protocols mandate that all three CPU's be certified as operational, before a boat can be returned to service.  And I'm concerned that this could be an indicator of a deeper, more serious problem, which just hasn't manifested, yet."

     Ishaki turned back to Iita,

     "That's why Boat Eleven's Flight Engineer--Petty Officer...Kristoff, is her name...outstanding Engineer...she seems to have an instinctive knack for understanding a pilots concerns about his rocket--I knew a few like that, back when I was with the Strike Squadron in the Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Fifth...."

     "Anyway, Petty Officer Kristoff and the other Flight Engineers who looked over Boat Eleven with her, reported to me that their estimate of a week was only if they had to literally disassemble the entire computer system, tracing down the bug."

     "That sounded more like Depot work, rather than something to be done aboard ship, in a Repair Bay."

Iita realizes she's not the only one to embark on discussing details in a report round and waste everyone else's time. She represses a quick snap of "we should continue this conversation after the meeting" and turns to the captain-baron.

"Captain, do you allow the delaying of the jump until we get the replacement boat?"

She had delayed the request for two reasons. One, she assumed the tech team could disassemble the entire comp-sys in the repair bay. This wouldn't be comfy, but it'd be a good sim of a repair in difficult conditions like a battle or a rough period in the journey - such as the steps with derelict starports or no starport at all. Two, demanding a boat exchange meant pestering Shipyard Chief Kaj Ayerich a seventh time, and the chief's patience was running out ; he was working on another great project, now.

But if the chief of Small Craft Operations was insisting, he must have good reasons to. And she didn't want to know what the trim officer's dagger blade looked like.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:36, Mon 10 Aug 2020.