[BACKPOST] A New Manhattan

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:33am by Cailus Griffin & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant K'Laus & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:48pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: USS Pandora | Deck 12 | Torpedo Bay
Timeline: BACKPOST: Before entry into the Killing Field

A Mission Post by Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant K'Laus & Lieutenant Kalin 'Shae' Brennan PhD & Lieutenant Katniss Wakefield & Janet Glyndar
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: USS Pandora | Deck 12 | Torpedo Bay
Timeline: BACKPOST: Before entry into the Killing Field
Sun Dec 10th, 2017 @ 12:16am


Why did I ever think blonde was going to be good on me? thought Janet as she walked from the Briefing Room to the nearest turbolift with the most direct route to Torpedo Bay on Deck 12. Her hair had a nice shine to it, black pearl was the colour she had chosen, but the strong scent of the dye was rather overwhelming. The Bolian in the salon was not her usual stylist...granted she did not really do the whole manicure and hairstylist thing. She was making more of an effort now though. At least she was trying. She had given the Bolian freedom over her hair style and she nearly flinched when he started chopping off her hair. It was now well above her shoulders, but it felt nice. It looked nice. She was growing to love it.

The problem with the Gorn and Klingons was still heavy on the Federation's shoulders. With everything else going on around the galaxy, it was no surprise that the Federation was looking to step up its game. A game that was now hitting close to home on the Pandora. Merith, wherever you are don't strike me down for this. I'm just doing my job thought the Xenexian as she carried several PaDDs in her hand. The USS Pandora was an excellent science and exploratory vessel, but sometimes her research assets were allocated towards less than peaceful means. Just as in the history of Earth during war times, companies that usually produced things for everyday life redirected their production towards the war efforts. Tire companies were not focused so much on tires for cars but rather the treads needed for tanks.

Janet had recently finished a meeting some hours ago with the Captain, the Strategic Operations Officer, and Chief Intelligence Officer and via subspace transmission, a quick conference call with a retired Starfleet Admiral now enjoying the civilian life as a private contractor. Janet had her orders and after some time sitting in the vacant Briefing Room alone with her own thoughts, she consulted the Ship's Counselor, Dr. Laurel Oakley. They had a lengthy discussion about war, peace, and how thin the line between the two sometimes became. Janet also wanted the woman's help in making the necessary selections. Laurel had for a brief time served as First Officer aboard the USS Tornado, a starship that had been heavily involved in the conflict between the Klingons and Gorn. Janet took her advice to heart albeit making some of her own changes to the 'Manhattanites' she would assign.

Lieutenant Commander Glyndar was not really sure why when Laurel looked at Janet's finalized list that Laurel looked at her and said 'You have fun with that' as though there was some sort of inside joke or inside knowledge, Laurel was not willing to openly share. Frankly, Janet did not care. She knew that she had picked the best men and women for this project which had been dubbed "New Manhattan" which had beaten out "Weapon X." She had sent messages to each of them, not giving much detailed information other than they had been selected to work on a project of high importance and required their expertise.

DECK 12 | TORPEDO BAY

Commander Janet Glyndar was first to arrive, thirteen minutes ahead of the time she had scheduled. This was more than a meeting. This was a think tank. Janet sat the stack of PaDDs down atop of a work console. The USS Pandora had meant a lot to her. She had a history with the starship and in some ways working on this, 'New Manhattan Project' felt so very wrong. However, she could not help but remember something her Academy Instructors had beaten into her "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one" she repeated to herself after taking a deep breath. The doorway behind her soon opened and she turned around.

Cailus, the Chief of Security, was the first to arrive. He had been utterly flummoxed when the orders had come in, of course, topped with enough "Classified" and "Top Secret" warnings to even disturb a Romulan. Glyndar's project had required him to reassign the bow torpedo technicians to other areas of the ship, and as he entered, he saw that Glyndar had beaten him there with yet another change of her hair style. At least she looks more like an officer now, rather than a damned dancer, he thought sourly.

"Commander," he greeted her with a curt nod as he entered.

Janet looked at the man and picked up one of the red PaDDs stacked behind her atop the work console. She handed it over to him with a curt nod in return. "I'm sorry we had to clear your men out here for this, but it's above their security clearance," she said diplomatically. "It's need to know and frankly, they do not" added the Xenexian. "The Federation has decided to commandeer some of the resources and personnel aboard the Pandora for their own purposes. Congratulations, you have been drafted" she added.

Taking the PADD, Cailus became even more severe than usual as he spotted the project name. "Terrific," he said drily. He wondered darkly if Glyndar even knew the significance of the project name, and its importance to all humans. After all, even today there were parts of Earth still rendered inhabitable by the nuclear apocalypse of the Third World War.

"Yep" replied Janet with a scoff. "Put the terror in terrific" she added. Janet crossed her arms and leaned against the console. She was not all that pleased by this either. "The Federation Security Council deemed it necessary. Federation Department of Defense is behind it, Presidential support, and several branches of Starfleet have voiced their approval" she explained.

She looked at him. "Don't shoot the messenger" commented Janet.

The doors swished open, revealing Kalin Brennan, who felt very out of place in this area of the ship. "Hello?" she ventured cautiously as she entered the bay. Then she saw Cailus and... Janet... "Oh, hello..." she said, somewhat aloof as she looked at Janet. Cailus wouldn't tell her exactly what Janet had said, only that a prejudice against shapeshifters had accidentally slipped out in conversation, which was such a shame, Shae really liked Janet. Shae wasn't one for petty acts of retribution like some other shapeshifters, so she would be nothing less than her usually polite self, but it hurt that a potential friendship had been damaged over something so... shallow.

Cailus didn't smile at Shae, not in a professional setting, but he did take another red PADD and hand it to her, knowing full well why Shae might hesitant with their XO. "Good morning," he said with cool politeness, as if he and Shae hadn't woken up together. Inclining his head towards Janet, he added, "According to the XO, we've been drafted."

Shae merely nodded in acknowledgement of his greeting and took the PaDD. "Drafted?" she asked, then looked at the contents of the PaDD. Her eyes widened with a gasp. "But this is... oh..." she said in disbelief and forced herself to read more. "Commander, are we certain this is necessary?" she asked Janet once she had absorbed enough details to know just what was being asked of them.

"No" replied Janet flatly. "No, Shae, we do not. The previous Commanding Officer of this starship was a woman of a beautifully scientific mind who believed in peace over war" added the Xenexian First Officer. "This is not our call to make. We have been ordered to participate in the researching of these weapons and the potential of implementing them as an armament aboard the Pandora" explained Lieutenant Commander Glyndar.

She looked solemnly towards the floor before looking back up at Shae sympathetically. "I understand your reluctance. I have my own about this. All I can tell you is that the Federation and Starfleet do not want to use these weapons. However, we need to be prepared to use them should things escalate any worse than they already are. The Federation cannot afford to spend another several years in another war on two or more fronts" added Janet.

Shae opened her mouth as though to argue, but then quickly closed her mouth upon second thought. In fact, the more she thought on Janet's words, the more they made sense, and finally, Shae nodded in acceptance. "Aye, the Federation has seen too much conflict as of late... I will do what I can to help make these weapons possible; with any luck, we won't need them, but should the situation demand the use of force, these devices would certainly make in impact," she said. Although why Starfleet R&D wasn't handling this themselves was odd; she supposed it did make a bit of sense to send this task to a ship far removed from the bureaucracy of Starfleet and Federation politics, but why did it have to be the Pandora's task?

Advanced scientific equipment, a brilliant Chief Engineer, an assigned Research Officer, and the fact that a science and exploration vessel was least likely to draw attention. There were dozens of possible reasons why Pandora was to shoulder this task. Though the more important question was what had happened to the United Federation of Planets to have to come to this. Transphasic torpedoes were more than just the next evolutionary step in state of the art warfare. They were the 'nuclear option' a means to quickly end or prevent a war.

Lieutenant Commander Glyndar looked at Cailus and Shae. "I cannot help but wonder if our work is to design an end or a beginning. What happens if we build this? Does it stop with one...seven...a dozen? And what when the Romulans find out or the Klingons? The Breen?" pondered Janet aloud. "The major forces in the galaxy all armed tooth and claw with these weapons" she added.

"I think it's quite telling, what with the name of our ship... Maybe this is one box we should leave closed..." Shae mused aloud. But to do that would mean defying an order, or Command could just give this project to a crew with fewer scruples... Shae sighed. "So, is there any research from R&D I need to be looking over or must I start from scratch?"

Katniss, as usual, had trouble finding the Torpedo Bay. Normally anything outside of deck eight was outside of her comfort zone, coffee in one hand and her lab coat gently swaying she finally found her destination "I hope I'm not late." she said as she walked in, the atmosphere hit her and the faces around her seemed serious. "Who's died?" she asked hoping she hadn't missed anything again.

When the door opened it was as if Katniss arrived on cue. Lieutenant Commander Glyndar looked at Shae and then made a swooping hand gesture towards the door where Katniss entered. "Like magic" commented Janet with a small smirk creeping upward. "Wakefield has been assigned to this project to assist each of you. She can help you coordinate with Starfleet Research & Development" explained the First Officer.

Janet then focused on addressing Wakefield. "No, Lieutenant. You are not late. We are still waiting on the Klingon and Commander Nash" replied Janet referring to the Supply Officer and the Chief Engineer. "And no, it's not that kind of torpedo room meeting. Nobody is getting shot out into space today" added the Xenexian as she reached for another PaDD and handed it the Chief Research Officer.

Katniss could tell the others were concerned but as she took the padd and glanced over the information it contained she couldn't comprehend why. The seriousness dropped from her face and a half wicked smile like that of a child on Christmas morning. "It's about time, the federation has held onto this information for far too long, pondering what to do with. Just think what this technology could do for us. I can't wait to get started." she said excitedly.

The tall gruff looking Klingon entered the room and said hardly a word. He grunted and nodded at the others before crossing his arms. "The Federation and its warfare" he muttered. "I can get whatever materials we need for this, but it may take time."

Owen was not impressed. Simple. With the Pandora back in the normal space of the Expanse, he had a repair list a mile long to see to...so when he received top level orders to report to the Torpedo Bay and Commander Glyndar he was not happy.

What upset him even more was the fact that he saw the Pandora, his home, being used as a Science Project for a potential Doomsday Device that could ignite the next war and he wasn't settled with being part of that research.

"Okay, whose dumb-arse idea was this??" He asked as he entered the Torpedo Bay at a striding pace, walking straight up to the one woman in the room who had been on the last tour with him on the Pandora... A woman he knew he held feelings for which made this all the more painful.

Owen stood before Janet as he demanded an answer. "Well? Whose stupid idea was it to turn my ship...my home... into a Mobile Arms Research unit...and order me to be a part of this," he asked Janet. He tried to hide the tears building up in his eyes.

Janet looked at Owen, reaching outward and placing a hand on his shoulder "Our ship, Owen" she said correcting him slightly "And I regret to inform you that it was nobody here. You have to go much higher up for responsibility on this one" she said without really explaining further. "We are a Federation starship with a Starfleet crew. Whatever Starfleet orders or whatever the Federation decides...we tend to have little say in that regard."

After Glyndar explained the situation, Owen looked around to see the other officers in the room included Brennan, Griffin and Wakefield and wandered what talents they would all bring to this party that Starfleet had decided to put together. "Well then, whilst I'm not happy about this... shall we build a bomb?" he offered.

"Yes sir," Cailus said grimly, his arms crossed.

"Technically it wouldn't be a bomb a transphasic torpedo actually generates a destructive subspace compression pulse," Katniss said her science and research head firmly on.

Owen looked over at Katniss after she gave her clarification of the weapons true potential and smiled.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I'm well aware of what this will be able to do...I'm just expressing a sarcastic opinion about it before I get to work on my part of the project," Owen explained as he opened up a secure PADD and began reading the specs of the weapon as well as what modifications were needed to the Torpedo.

Once he'd understood the specs involved, Owen looked over at Cailus. "If you would be so kind to de-activate the Torpedo, Mr Griffin, I'll start with the removal of the non essential systems not required for the...warehead..." he requested. To confirm his reasoning why, Owen added "I've never done that one before...I'm an Operations Miracle worker...not a Tactical Specialist."

"Yes sir," Cailus answered dourly. Grabbing a small tricorder-like device from a locker, he moved to the torpedo, entering his authorisation code. A small panel retracted in the casing to reveal a display, and Cailus tapped in his authorisation code, followed by the command sequence required. "The weapon is deactivated. Have at it, sir."

Owen nodded once Cailus confirmed this was completed. "Right then...lets see what we can do here," he said as he started working on the Torpedo.

The Klingon made his way around the room and back over to where Lieutenant Commander Nash was at work. This is uncomfortable thought the Klingon, observing everyone at work. The thought of the Federation having such a weapon did bother him quite a bit. Though the Klingon Empire and Federation had been at peace in recent years, they were going through a rough patch and the Federation-Klingon War was still lingering in his mind. Then, there was his family in the Talarian Republic. The Federation did not need such a weapon against them, but if these weapons were used against the Talarians, they would have no means to stop them before their Republic fell entirely.

"Commander Nash" said K'Laus with a grunt. "Allow me to assist you, Sir. I know the components of this torpedo. Deactivated or not, we shall proceed with great caution" added the Klingon.

The Klingon shot a look at the Security Chief "Lieutenant Griffin, could you set up to an emergency containment field around this room to be activated if an explosion is detected?" inquired the Chief Supply Officer. "I do not mean any offense to your capabilities. I believe you have successfully deactivated this unit. However, I do not feel comfortable proceeding without ensuring the ship has a safety net in place."

"Aye, sir," Cailus said with a curt nod, pleasantly surprised by the Klingon's polite professionalism. He promptly moved to a small wall panel and began tapping in commands, activating and adjusting the containment field that now surrounded the torpedo bay. As he worked, adjusting the containment field to account for a transphasic detonation, he couldn't help but wonder what made him feel more nauseous. Was it the fact that they were working on a horrific weapon of mass destruction...or that he had found a polite, professional Klingon?

Shae was taking this time to review the information they had on transphasic technology, pondering how they would incorporate it into the torpedo; it was a puzzle, and while Shae usually liked puzzles, she feared that this one was going to be an unpleasant one...

"If I'm reading this correctly, the sensor readings documenting the detonation of the devices provided by Admiral Janeway show that the modified warheads create... Oh my stars, it creates multiple subspace compression pulses!" Shae was standing stunned as she stared at the PaDD in her hand. "I can't help but wonder if this would be put to better use in shield technology..." she mused as she continued to study the data available. "But the available specs are straightforward enough, I believe we can make the necessary modifications to the warhead without a problem."

Owen continued working to dismantle the Warhead as he heard Brennan's explanation. "Well, once we've finished on the doomsday device here, I'll be happy to discuss those modifications to the Shields Lieutenant," Owen answered.

He paused in his work for a moment. "That is...if I don't blow us all up first..." He mentioned before removing the tracking system. "No, its all good... Next!"

The Klingon did not find the death humor all that funny. He was raised in the Talarians Republic, though had served in the Klingon Defense Force some years ago. Still, he did not welcome death so openly as the everyday run of the bet'leth Klingon. "I would rather not die today" said K'Laus directed at The Chief Operations Officer. "Please do try to not kill us" added the Klingon as he assisted.

Owen smiled as he realised that K'Laus had missed his joke. "No worries here, I'm not planning on it happening either," Owen responded as he continued working to dismantle the warhead. Once finished, he stood back and admired his handy work. "So, now that we've pulled it apart, whats next....?" he asked.

Katniss looked towards Shae, she had previously studied Admiral Janeway's work "I don't think the technology will work in the shields, that's why the transphasic torpedo is such a good weapon. As I said earlier it generates a destructive subspace compressions pulse, the puls is an asymmetric superposition of multiple phase states and Shields can only block one subcomponent of the pulse allowing the other subcomponents to deliver the majority of the pulse to its target. Couple that with the fact that every torpedo has a different transphasic configuration which is randomly generated by dissonant feedback." She said looking up over the rim of her glasses "If you interested in shield technology you should take a look at the ablative armour."

Owen stopped for a moment as the ablative armour rang a bell. "Now that stuff is genius...adding another level of defense even if the shields are down..." He commented.

Shae frowned somewhat as she looked at the torpedo. "No, it would work in shielding if we could recreating the superposition within the shield harmonics," Shae asserted. "In theory it would essentially negate any incoming fire rather than simply blocking it. Might be more than we can tackle right now with our limited understanding of transphasic science, but with a little more study of the original torpedo..." Shae nodded with an assured smile. "Yeah, I think it's do-able. At the very least, it's something we should look into at a later date."

Owen stood back and admired Lt Brennan's theory and was satisfied that with her as the Chief Science Officer, Pandora's crew was in safe hands as was he as they operated on the Torpedo.

"So, where do we insert the upgrades to the Torpedo?," He asked afterwards.

"Ah, yes, well let's take a look at it, shall we?" Shae replied and stepped closer to get a look at the torpedo, moving about it to examine it from multiple angles. Occasionally she would glance back at her PaDD to look at the schematics, muttering to herself to work through some calculations. Finally, she looked at the warhead itself. "Okay, I'm going to need to have some components fabricated," she stated as she started working on her PaDD to make up a list of things she needed, handing it to Owen to review. "I think a lot of this we may have on hand and most of what we don't have the industrial replicator should be able to handle... I'll also need to reconfigure the catalytic regulator on the warhead, the frequency harmonics thingamajig, and, uh, this doodly-bob here," she continued, pointing out a component within the casing that activated the warhead. "Also a bit of reprogramming to the torpedo command structure needs to be done, but I can work on that while we're gathering the components."

Owen looked around the room. "Right, I say we call it a day...for now," he began. "As the good Lieutenant has pointed out we'll need more parts sorting out before a host of reprogramming is needed...and thats going to take a few days whilst we're out here," He paused before finalising.

"Trust me, we'll do better when we're all a bit fresher. Lets get this bloody thing secured and then return once the parts and programming routines are ready."