Final signoffs

Posted on Mon Jan 4th, 2021 @ 8:42am by Commodore Keiben Haistro & Senior Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Stoun

1,831 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Echoes Of An Empire
Location: Hull Exterior - USS Conpernicus
Timeline: Mission Day 6 - 1520 Hours

ON:

Jon needed to certify the outside of the ship before they could get underway, they had scanned and repaired all of it, the visual inspection was more of a formality. The complete hull scan had turned up nothing out of the ordinary. He looked at the shuttle in front of him. He thought it would be good to have the Captain along even if the sign off didn't require it.

"Chief Stoun to Captain Haistro, please meet me in the main shuttle bay. I'm about to do the hull visual inspection to sign off on final repairs." Jon tapped his comm badge.

"I'm already here Chief" Keiben announced, already crossing the small shuttlebay towards his Chief Engineer. "L'johk told me you were here and I was on my way to see you. We've been so busy that other than our two meetings we've not really had time to speak".

He came to a stop just short of Stoun, still so very thankful this man had agreed to transfer over at the behest of Commander Jones.
"Shall we!" He exclaimed, not standing still for long, rounding the back of the shuttle and stepping into the cockpit.

"Ohh sorry sir, thought I was going to be here early I guess. Would you care to do the honors of taking her out?" The engineer stepped up the rear ramp and then closed the hatch.

"Skip the flight checks, the shuttle is brand new and with how far on the repairs are we shouldn't have any traffic to dodge out there" Keiben was just glad to be getting outside to see the ship in all of her glory again.

"Aye sir, just to keep you up to speed, I've assigned a team to verify structural integrity of the landing struts as requested. As for the rest of the ship, we essentially just need a sign off on it and then we are a go." Jon sat down in the seat opposite of the Captain. "Shouldn't take too long, we even slapped a fresh coat of pain on it in a few places."

The latter part of the Chief's statement was welcome, Keiben wasn't sure how he would respond to seeing the battle damage left by their attackers. He manipulated the controls and the type nine shuttle lifted easily from the deck and started forward, following the directions provided by Stoun already knowing the Chief would likely have a set order he wanted to see things. In truth Kei only wanted to be in the shuttle so he could see the ship, his ship.

Jon activated the hangar bay door, it the large door slid smoothly down exposing the inky black of space. "Was a bit worried that wasn't going to go down to be honest." The chief turned and let out a grin. "Ready to depart sir."

Keiben expertly guided the shuttle from the bay and banked her around easily to face the aft of the small Science Vessel. Instantly he could see things were in far better shape than before, even a few upgrades that the Chief seemed to have snuck into the rotation as well.
"Where do you need to start Chief?"

"Let's start with the starboard nacelles and work forward, mainly just looking for any plating that may have been missed, but we got everything back together I think well." Jon initiated the scan as they approached the hull. "How you getting settled in?"

"Not the easiest question to answer" The Commander brought the shuttle to a stop by the requested portion of the vessel and leaned back in his chair. He hadn't really thought about it, hadn't wanted to if he was being honest with himself. "The ship is the same but new, the crew have changed for the most part... This still feels like Captain Davies ship when its actually now mine... Everything is the same but different".

Keiben chuckled to himself realising that his answer was less an answer and more a train of confusion. "Not sure I understand how I feel myself Chief!"

"I get it, things can be hard, this was a a lot of change in a short amount of time. It is like the shell is the same but the guts are different." He made a note of one of the hull plates that needed service as the shuttlecraft moved around the hull. "Especially with us carpet baggers coming on board. I mean you have some talented people on here, just got to utilize them and make it your own." Jon tapped in a few more notes. "Alright, need to spot check starboard near the deflector if you could take us there."

"No problem Chief" the Commander once again manipulated the controls, pushing the shuttle away and under the ship in a graceful arc that gave them a view of the ships underbelly as they went. He was about to make comment but before he could form any words the Chief pitched in once more.

Jon scanned the hull, everything checked out. "I've started running scans on the weapons signature of the attackers. I've never really seen it before. New on me to be honest, I've let the computer have at it, figure while we are still at stardock to syphon off some of their computing power to analyze it. When I get some info I'll pass it on."

"Thanks Chief. It may be worth analysing the weapons signatures with the Romulans known weapons signatures. With our proximity to their boarder I don't want to discount anything".

He brought the shuttle to rest once more before really looking at his Chief. He wasn't one to give away his feelings and seemed able to hide himself from Keiben's inherent Betazoid senses. It was refreshing in a lot of ways, different to his struggles reading Mel but that was simply because of the noise in her head from so many personalities vying for her attention. The Chief just seemed so grounded, sure of himself and didn't clutter his mind with the superfluous thoughts. "So how are you settling in Chief? Is it much different than your previous assignment?"

"To be honest, a warp core is a warp core sir I will say that this is the smallest ship I've served on. I've been working a lot with the Corps of Engineers the last several years, almost like a retirement home for old engineers." He let the scan run as he sat back in his chair. "Good to get back kind of into the thick of it though, figure this will be a good opportunity here, see I can make it to Master Chief and then retire back to Earth, got about ten more years of this I suppose before they try and push me out."

"You say that but didn't Captain Montgomery Scott appear through time and then went on again in Starfleet nearly eighty years later... I may not know you so well yet but I have a feeling you would get bored in retirement" Keiben flashed a smile over to his Chief Engineer, starting to feel as if he was understanding him. He was certainly the most experienced officer on the ship.

"Yeah, thats true, but officer ranks are a bit different, since I'm enlisted they kind of frown upon a bunch of old men Chiefs sitting around the replimat, talking about the good old days, and how it used to be and on and on and on. I probably could have been a commander or a captain by now I guess." Jon smiled a bit as he noted another minor flaw in the hull. "You can see there by the deflector, we left some of the weapon damage to give the engineer forensics team time to analyze the signatures."

"What did they find?" Keiben was suddenly interested in the results. It would not be their primary focus but if they could track down anything then perhaps they could begin an investigation, low key.

"Inconclusive, but Romulan, but not, like." He paused for a few moments before continuing "It looked more like cutting beams that you'd see in construction than typical energy weapons. But modified, kind of old tech really but really effective, but it was powered by a Romulan energy source maybe. It was odd. I sent it out to a buddy for further review. Hate to be indecisive about it but I have a gut feeling and then I'll have an official what the computer says story. I want to wait until I have more of a clear picture."

"I appreciate your dilligence Chief. Perhaps have a word with Tam and Sher'rah... Their tactical insight may yield a few unturned stones!"
Tactical analysis really wasn't his expertise. He was a science officer at heart, one better suited to their assignment to uncover T'Kon secrets.

Jon finished up the scan, "I'm alright, everything checks out Captain. I can give it final sign off once those plates are secured. You've got a good looking ship here. Anything else you need from me?"

"Not right now Chief... and it really does put a different perspective on the ship when you see her like this!"
He was feeling pride and excitement about what was to come.

"Yeah, you've got a tough, fine, little ship here." He leaned down next to the chair and opened up his tool kit and produced a clear bottle with some brown liquid in it. "I couldn't find any champagne to throw at the hull, and seems like a waste anyways, I have this stowed away for special occasion." He offered the bottle to the Captain. "My dad gave me twenty bottles of that stuff when I shipped off to boot, that one is number nine. Figure I'm going to be on this ship for a while, may as well open a new bottle."

Keiben turned the bottle in his hand, impressed it was the genuine article and not replicated, even more impressed that the Chief had another nine of these hidden away.
"Well I'm not one to turn down a drink!"
He handed the bottle back to the Chief, appreciating the down to earth quality he seemed to bring to his work and his interactions.

Jon took a swig, it burned a bit going down but it felt good on his throat. "If you need anything Captain, my door is open, even if it is to have another swig." He offered the bottle back to the Captain. "Just don't tell anyone else about my stash, special occasions or really stressful days only."

"Your secret is safe with me Chief" the Captain took the offered bottle and took himself a hearty swig. "Dear god Chief... Its like old rocket fuel!"

"Yeah, I suppose it may as well be. It hasn't aged well I'll tell ya that." He took one more drink from the bottle, threw it in his pack and shook his head. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

END

 

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