RP: SNV Gam'trosha [Prologue] The Gathering, and Launch?

Erm'olai's tail stilled as his communicator chirped at him.

Keri'cruen said:

"C'bar, this this Keri'cruen in the engineering bay. The system diagnostic I've just finished has picked up a faulty power connection in maintenance conduit 1C -- the one that leads between the bridge and the ships mainframe -- it seems power to the CPU's cooling system is being interrupted. You'll have to manually divert the power in order to bypass the faulty hardware."

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"Understood," Erm'olai stated neutrally as he ceased opening the panel in front of them and moved to the maintenance conduit. "You've saved me the time of troubleshooting." he stated again before stuffing a few tools into his belt and climbing up the ladderway.

It took only a few minutes to get to the area, since there were only a few meters between mainframe and bridge, and now it was just finding the conduit and repairing it.

Maintenance Conduit 1C

The conduit looked a bit like a mess, as if someone had been working in the area when the sudden scramble order had been given. Side panels were removed, exposing some of the wiring that lead to the mainframe, other panels had been hastily put back into place.

A red light flickered across the ground, accompanied by the sound of an electrical discharge going on. The sound of the discharge was coming from a broken power relay located behind a wall panel, there were tools stern about the floor.

Bridge

"Bridge to Engineering, we need those engines please," called Sa'kira as she got up from her chair and walked up behind her aviator.

Gam'trosha Engineering Bay

"Acknowledged, U'Cet. My apologies for the delay." Keri responded over comms to those on the bridge. Now that Erm'olai was dealing with the mainframe, the young kit could focus his attention on getting the rest of the ships main systems online. The engineer's silver-furred hands danced across the control terminal, activating each critical system one-by-one. As he did so, he announced the fact over the ships intercom.

"Reporting system status; primary and auxiliary reactors on-line. Atmospheric life-support systems and internal gravity are on-line. Short-range sensors and communications are on-line. Emergency support systems are fully functional. Contra-gravity lift systems are online as are the primary and auxiliary sub-light drives." Keri's voice then softened as he listed the systems not yet functional. "Long-range sensors, comms, inertial dampeners, shields and weapons -- as well as FTL -- are out of the question until the quantum computer is up and running -- C'bar Ro'sario is working on that as we speak and hopefully will have it fixed soon. Unfortunate as it is, we've barely enough processing power external to the mainframe to get us aloft at the moment. Remind me to recommend the installation of an auxiliary CPU for the ship's next refit."

The young kit tightened his grip against the terminal, steadying himself in preparation for the Gam'trosha taking flight.

Shar quickly ran, she did not know the ship yet, but she could read and ask where to. Soon she was in the armory and prepared herself. She took two scanners, knife and pistol. It was not that she paranoid, but she wanted to be prepared about fact that they could find some contraband in someone personal effects and he would feel like resisting. She quickly ran back to cargo hold, where Tite-yanus waited.

"Okay Tit, here is your scanner," she said, handing one of the scanners to his tail. "Not much to scann here yet, but it is a start. Where do you think we should move next? Engineering?"

Tite'Yanus paused for a moment as he thought out loud. "Well, if someone planted something then they would have had to do so in a hurry, which leads me to believe that any explosives would have been hastily hidden and thus not hidden very well. In my opinion, we would be better off splitting up and concentrating and a quick sweep and then do a second more thorough sweep. If you agree, then you can start down here on Deck 4, and I'll head up to Deck 1. Thought?"

Shar had her communicator on so she could hear a call to close Cargo bay door. It did not seem like other folks in the cargo bay would listen and her four legged comrade would have trouble closing it so she just ran to the console and pushed the right buttons to make it close.

"Good call mate," she then said to Tite. "Then I will do sweep here and then go to engineering, you go to bridge and crew rooms. We will then sweep halls and other places." She said. She quickly took her canner and started scanning those few crates that were in cargo hold.

The rear door eased shut, the hydrolics locking into place once the doors stopped moving. A series of 'pings' be could heard as more locks went into place to ensure the door didn't open in flight.

A hum could be heard throughout the ship as its engines came to life, first the starboard engines, then the portside. Behind the ship, a purple light blow appeared on the ground, signifying the engines successful start up which was accompanied by a wavy background.

Bridge

Sa'kira watched over her aviators back and gave a nod. "Looks like the engines are finally coming online. Might want to inform flight control of this," she wasn't about to do Def'leors job, flight control had spoken to her and thus she wanted her to respond to their requests for engine and reactor status.

She backed away from the seat and walked back over to her chair and sat down. She then got on the horn to engineering. "Engineering, monitor those engines, also let me know when the mainframe comes back online please," she lowered the handset and looked out at the forward area of the ship. There was a viewscreen, but it wouldn't give her the same sensation she had felt when she flew the ship and with the mainframe offline, the aviator control interface wouldn't function properly.

"Take us out when you get clearance from flight control."

Def did a double check of what systems she could monitor.

"Flight Control, this is the Gam'trosha. We are operating on internal power and engine systems are stable. Requesting launch clearance and departure vector." she sent.

While this could have been sabatoge, Erm'olai couldn't help but think sloppy work was more the cause. Activating his communicator, the Software Engineer connected to Keri.

"We have quite a few active wires in the maintenance shaft. They are loose and making the work environment unsafe. If you are able to, please disconnect power to the area or tell me the location nearest circuit breaker." he reported before grimacing.

"And after this is over, remind me to check the worker registries for this dock. Whoever was working in this area was sloppy to the point of incompetence." the last word of that sentence seemed to drip with elitist-tainted annoyance.

Cargohold

So far Shar's scanner was picking mostly items used to repair the ship, such as hull plating and even a few repair kits. Another crate would have her picking up water tablets and packs of food pouches. Though one crate did have the words 'danger: handle with care' on it, but Shar's scanner would only pick up metal cases inside, she'd have to actually open this rectangular cases to see what they were.

Bridge

~NSV-Gamtrosha, this is flight control. I've confirmed successful engine and reactor start up, purging any remaining external tubes, releasing docking clamps. I just tried sending you the information you'd need to fly on out, but I can't seem to reach your mainframe. Don't knwo if the problems on our end or yours, given the serious of the situation, authority has been granted for you to choose an outbound vector. Becareful of civilian traffic, though most are landing as we speak.~

The flight controller went silent for a moment, then the communications line was disconnected.

Sa'kira gave a nod. "You heard her, take us out slowly to make sure the engines are operating properly, then take us into space. Becareful of our fellow ships in the area." Ordered the Shipmaster as she slaved their ships scanning results to the captains chair so she could also keep track of what was around them.

Outside, four magnetic clamps that were attached the ships port and starboard top hull suddenly disengaged with a small 'thump', only those in the bridge and perhaps engineering would hear this.

Gam'trosha Engineering Bay

Sa'kira said:

"Engineering, monitor those engines, also let me know when the mainframe comes back online please,"

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"As you wish, U'Cet." Keri'cruen responded softly. The young engineer then focused his attention upon the engineering terminal's status displays for the starships Crena Energy drives and anti-gravity system -- keeping an eye out for any fluctuations in their first performance.

Erm'olai said:

"We have quite a few active wires in the maintenance shaft. They are loose and making the work environment unsafe. If you are able to, please disconnect power to the area or tell me the location nearest circuit breaker."

"And after this is over, remind me to check the worker registries for this dock. Whoever was working in this area was sloppy to the point of incompetence."

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"Hold on a moment, C'baruce--" Keri'cruen said in reply, his brows furrowed slightly as he sought out the power distribution controls. It took a few seconds to do so, and then the better part of a minute to navigate his way through the ships systems and specifically locate and shut down the power for that section of the maintenance shaft without affected adjacent systems.

"There we go... It should be safe for you to work now Ro'sario. When you're finished, let me know and I'll restore power to that section -- alternatively, it appears that the breaker is also in that exact same maintenance shaft. It should be behind panel D1-18. Just in case I'm no longer in engineering or something else comes up."

That task accomplished, Keri turned his attention back the the ships engines and resumed monitoring their performance -- keeping an eye out for anomalies. He was distracted for a moment as he overheard the echoing noise of the external docking clamps detaching from the ship.

"Understood, out," Erm'olai replied before closing the channel. The clamps echoing throughout the ship and the slight sensation of motion as the anti-gravity systems kicked in were mild annoyances at best. They weren't distracting enough for the Laibe to slack off though.

Getting into a comfortable position, Erm'olai opened up the wall panel to access the broken relay. He needed a proper look at it to see if he needed replacement wire or could splice any existing wires together. Insulation maybe a small issue, but one that could be rectified quickly enough.

Maintenance Conduit

Despite what the maintenance conduit looked like, the area behind the panel looked better. There were a few disconnected wires that were taped to the inside of the panel, obviously done by whomever had been working there earlier.

There was also a small power transfer box roughly the size of a Laibe's fist sitting precariously on the main conduit. This box was shuddering a bit thanks to the engine start up and slowly inching it's way forward. A spot just above the conduit revealed where the box belonged.

Engineering

The reactors hum grow louder as the engines reached full power, but mixed in with the hum was the sound of a maintenance hatch on the farside opening up. Out came Quin'trema who was carrying a repair kit, she closed the hatch behind her then placed the kit near her station. "Sorry to leave you alone Keri," she said apologetically and brought her station online and began to monitor the ships systems.

Shar frowned upon seeing her discovery. It might be anything, but it also might be bomb rigged to explode. Hell, it might even be explosives for the ships marine detail. She hoped it would not be that, since then she would be forced to find who let unguarded explosives in the cargo hold and kick his arse.

"Tit, I might have something here. Might be nothing, but it's worth checking." She said to her partner and unsheathed her knife. She used it to open the crate. Carefully just getting the lid loose, and then checking if there was any sort of cable attached to it, before opening the crate completely. She hated explosives. After the lid the closest metal crate came. She would not dare took one out, just slowly open it and checking it in the same way she checked the lid of the crate.

Cargohold

The crate had no wire attached under it, in fact, the insides looked like the inside of a typical shipping container. Shar would notice silver containers roughly thirty centimeters long and almost ten centimeters wide and eight centimeters high. It didn't look like something that could carry explosives, but it did have a magnetic lock that would require a key of some sort to open. The container did appear to be fully sealed though.

Shar sighed and took out her communicator. Who should she call now? She had no idea who was in charge of logistics and there was no XO on the board. She sighed and found Shipmistresses comm line.

"Ma'am C'Baruce Lu'man here. I was scanning for explosives and I find weird crate in cargo hold. It carries small silvery metal boxes. There is magnetic lock on them and scanner can't get through. Should I try force them open?" She asked.

Def listened to the Flight Control and the commander. "Aye ma'am. Engaging vertical thrust slow ascent and scanning for a clear trajectory." Her hands flew across the console and she double checked each command she entered since she did not have the convenience of the main computer to assist.

She increased thrust and the ship started to lift off the surface. "We have positive control at the helm. Initiating forward thrust." She called out as she brought adjusted the anti-gravity drive to provide forward movement.

A quick glance at the sensors in manual mode showed her the position and trajectory of each craft painted as a line. Going to be like threading a needle. she thought increasing speed slowly and coming about on the least heavy vector. "Beginning ascent for departure of planet." She called out as she watched the sensors and the controls.

Cargo Hold

Tite took a look at the crate, unsure of what the boxes could contain. "Well, it looks like you've got this handled," he said as he stepped away and made his way up to the top deck.

Deck One

Tite'Yanus stood in passageway, looking around and deciding where to start. Slipping his My'leke-modified scanner onto his tail, he made his way over to the armory, since he needed to grab a weapon while he searched the rest of the ship. Flicking his tail against a couple buttons on a console, Tite watched as the automated system attached an MUM to him, followed by a Maku'ran Turret. He hummed slightly, an indication of happiness, as he began scanning the armory.

Finding nothing in the armory, Tite'Yanus made his way to the observation deck. He growled slightly when he found it locked, and fished out his ID Crystal, which he used to access the room. He then scanned the room, again finding nothing excepting for a few toolkits left behind by maintenance and some open panels, which he made sure to search. He also made sure to check that the airlock was secure, having to shove a pile of wiring out of his way to get there.

Satisfied that the top floor was in order, Tite'Yanus made his way to down to Deck Two.

Gam'trosha Engineering Bay

Keri'cruen shifted his gaze from the holographic displays of the engineering terminal by which he stood and turned to face Xeui'na as she entered the engineering bay. He was silent for a few moments as he thought of the questions he wanted to ask his childhood friend, considering how best to end the awkward silence that had enveloped the pair.

"Xeui... Drisa... how... when did you join V'Kaste's Legion... and why didn't you say anything to me? I mean... you're already a X'Muyeia." Keri said in an exasperated tone of voice, glancing towards the rank insignia on her armband. "What in all Creation are you doing here? Not... not that i'm not glad to see you, Xeui... it's just... something of a surprise!" The platinum-haired kit finished lamely. His confusion was plainly visible in the expression plastered over his honest face.

Engineering Bay

Quin'trema looked over at Keri, her yellow eyes focusing on her childhood friend before she responded. "I don't understand it either, after I graduated and joined the Legion, I went through training as required. I guess I impressed the instructor, because after I ended training I was promoted to this rank. I asked, but was never told 'why'."

Her hands moved across the keyboard as she corrected an imbalance. She was honestly curious about the rank, it did surprise her, and she only assumed that the ranking deal was because of her other kind of training she had, something that she pondered whether Keri would find out on his own.

Bridge

Sa'kira tapped her lower chin in thought, hearing the message from Shar before responding. "Leave it for now, you won't be able to open the case without an access key, I'll have a look at it later," she sent before turning her attention back to the ship.

Outside

The Gam'trosha flew through the sky, up into the cloud layer and past several ships. A few civilian vessels were quickly making their way toward the planets surface, accompanied by escort fighters.

As the ship broke the upper atmosphere, the bluish sky gaveway to the darkness of space mixed in with the star-field. There were a number of ships in orbit, most were She'tan'ora class vessels, mixed in with those vessels were Sho'run starfighters, the small fleet of ships were slowly making their way away from the planet.

A short distance from the ship, the bridge crew and anyone who had brought up a holographic monitor would notice the Kthon'ya Intra-System Acceleration Gate in the distance, a large group of fighters were huddled around the gate aiming in the direction that the rest of the ships were going.

A group of Sho'runs moved up alongside the Gam'trosha, one of the fighers wiggled its wings to get the ships attention, then on Def'leor console he'd notice an incoming message from the 32nd Levia Defense Squadron.

Deck 2

Deck 2 looked a bit more clean, at least from what Tite'Yanus could currently see. He'd have to search the deck more thoroughly to ensure everything was ok.