Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 15 [1000 hrs.] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

May 10, 2020, 08:08:18 AM

Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them
Stardate: 57593.82
March 25, 2381
1000 Hours | Holodeck 02

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

It had been four days since the accident that took the life of Lt. Hieronimus Smith; an event that grounded all future tests of the Mark II Aldean Cloak. Ensign Herrold was initially upset at the setback but emphasized the importance of finding a solution to the power issues. The Valkyries needed the advantage the cloaks provided and without having to replace bio-neural processors and relays every couple of days.

The Gorn had not slept but a few hours each night since the accident. Sithick had dismantled and reassembled Wolf 16. Despite adding new adapters, power converters, and interfaces the Aldean Cloak continued to siphon more energy than the Valkyries reactor cores could generate. The resulting power build-up led to a fatal discharge that killed Lt. Smith.

Sithick punched in the programing codes on the arch of Holodeck 02 bringing up a holographic version of the Mark II Aldean Cloak. "Theasss, pleassse makesss changesss to Marrrksss II cloaksss to Marrrksss II beesss cofigurrrasssionsss," he commanded the ships AI.

The holographic device morphed from the identifiable Aldea device into a recognizable Starfleet design.

"Changes complete," replied Thea.

"Theasss, activates Marrrksss II beesss andsss comparrresss perrrforrrmanssse withsss orrriginalsss desssignsss."

Sithick monitored the holographic device before him with his PADD as it lit up and came to life. If it made it past the three-minute mark without a cascade failure it would be a step in the right direction. The Gorn avoided celebrating after five minutes.

"Theasss, rrreporrrtsss."

"Simulation performance optimal. Mark II B operational. No power anomalies detected."

"Theasss, endsss sssimulationsss. Activatesss Sssithick prrrogrrram Valkrrryiesss Phantomsss two." It was time for the next phase in testing. The holodeck grid surrounding Sithick shimmered and was transformed into the flight deck of the Theurgy with a loan Valkyrie. Tapping the combadge on his chest, "Chief Sssithick to Lieutenantsss Hale. Arrre yousss availablesss to meetsss me in Holodecksss two?"

Sithick had trouble finding volunteer pilots following Smith's death. Could he blame them? Until the power surging problem was solved the Mark II Cloak posed a serious threat to anyone who sat in the cockpit of the Valkyrie it was installed in.

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #1 – May 11, 2020, 06:56:43 PM

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Holodeck 02| Deck 8 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701
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When will he finally be able to get used to his new look? Logan stood in front of the mirror and looked at the metal plate that adorned his head recently. He wondered if he would ever be allowed to climb into a cockpit with it again. Even though he did not show anything on the outside, the sight was strange to him. Logan stroked his fingers over the cold metal. It was strange. The transitions from his flesh, his skull to the recessed plate were neatly finished and hardly noticeable. What was unusual was that from one moment to the next he could no longer feel his fingers, even though he could see the movement in the mirror. From one moment to the next the feeling under his fingertips changed. He repeated the act over and over again. "Like a car accident," he murmured. "You can't look, but you can't look away either."

Logan was trying out some hairstyles and asked the computer for ways to conceal the plate. If he combed the hair all the way to the left, it would take a few days to grow, but it would cover the plate. And you would look like you were having your second emo phase. Logan dismissed the idea. There's gotta be a better way. At one point he reached for a pair of sunglasses he found in the standard replicator program and put them on his nose. His slightly protruding hair, distinctive face, dark glasses, the metal plate in his head. Suddenly, all the excitement about hiding it seemed like a dream long ago. Yeah, that was a look he liked. It is a way of being intimate with people. Another chic leather jacket, some dashing blue jeans instead of the standard uniform trousers and the outfit would be perfect. He looked in the corner where they had prepared some clothes for him, grabbed the hoodie with the logo of the Lone Wolves and threw it over his shoulders. Yes, that was also a look he liked. A call ripped him from his thoughts:

[Chief Sssithick to Lieutenantsss Hale. Arrre yousss availablesss to meetsss me in holodecksss two?]

Chief Sssithick? What an unusual name. Sounds almost like one of those reptilian names. Logan frowned and pondered briefly. Somehow the emphasis of each word seemed remarkably familiar to him, but for the life of him, he could not remember where he had heard this kind of emphasis before. Logan had become curious. He wanted to know who this Chief Sssithick was. His hand wandered to the communicator that was lying on the shelf in front of him. "Hale here. Be with you in a few minutes, Chief."

He attached the device to his shirt at about heart level and left his quarters. Luckily, Holodeck Two was not far away. All he had to do was walk to the nearest turbolift and from there to deck eight. From there it was only a short walk. Logan authorized himself at the entrance door to Holodeck Two and when the doors opened, he entered the barren room, while a Valkyrie stood in the middle. Logan was amazed for a moment. The holograms are damned realistic. Often, he did not enter the Holodecks. Mostly for practice, or when he wanted to ride his bike for a while. It was always amazing to see the level of detail these facilities could work in.
Logan peered into the room and could only at second glance spot someone behind the fighter who was obviously working on it. "Chief Sssithick?", he asked and reached out his hand. "Logan Hale. You had..." He froze for a moment. He had expected many. A Saurian, maybe a Chelon, but not a Gorn. The massive body that built up in front of him made sure that for Logan it got very dark. His first impulse was to flee, but he was able to suppress it to such an extent that it became an audible swallowing. "...asked... you asked for me?"

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #2 – May 14, 2020, 03:54:19 AM

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

Sithick was making last-minute adjustments to the holo program when Lt. Hale arrived. The Gorn wanted to put the upgraded Aldean Cloak to the most challenging test possible. To that end, he had uploaded a battle simulation designed by a Commander Ro Laren. In it, six Luna-Class starships, each named after a Bajoran moon, would set up a sensor grid and attempt to detect cloaked or otherwise obfuscated vessels entering the B'hava'el system. As an added difficulty, squadrons of Bajoran patrol craft would be conducting patrol sweeps of the system. Lt. Hale's goal would be to reach Bajor before he could be detected by any of them.

"Logan Hale. You had... asked... you asked for me?"

Sithick's tongue flicked the air and tasted the pheromones the Lieutenant unknowingly released. Hale's prey response for flight tingled the Gorn's primal instinct to hunt. "Yesss sssir Lieutenantsss. Ussse maysss or maysss notsss beesss awarrresss of thessse powerrr issssssue thessse Aldeansss cloaksss arrre havingsss onsss thessse fighterrrsss, asss wellsss asss thessse accidentalsss death theysss causssed." Sithick was not aware of how widespread the death of Lieutenant Smith was. But was sure that every fighter pilot onboard suddenly refused to fly anything with a Mark II cloak installed.

"Ussse arrre clearrrsss forrr sssimulatedsss flightsss. Eyesss knowsss ussse arrresss itchingsss to getsss backsss outsss therrresss. Ifsss eyesss couldsss getsss ussse to tessstsss thessse modifiedsss Marksss twosss underrrsss ssstrrresssfullsss conditionsss sssuccesssfullies, eyes willsss logsss thatsss withsss medicalsss. Arrresss ussse availablesss?"

Sithick knew that Hale was within his rights to refuse. The doctors and counselors had laid out his recovery plan. His recovery was to be conducted at his own pace. If he said no, Sithick would be hard-pressed to find someone else.

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #3 – May 16, 2020, 12:27:25 PM

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Holodeck 02| Deck 8 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701
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Logan was aware of the risk and he also knew about the accident in which a member of the crew tragically died. Nevertheless, the pilot did not hesitate for a second when the green-scaled lizard offered him to get into a fighter plane, even in a simulation.
"I'm in," he stammered. Then he tightened his shoulders and stood up to his full size. "I'm in," he repeated. Logan walked past the Gorn and glanced at the prepared simulation. The eight Luna-class ships would draw a dense sensor grid around the target area. This would be difficult to penetrate. But with the cloak to fool his opponents into thinking he was one of them, it should actually work. Should, was the key word. The cloaking was supposed to make him look like another ship, visually and sensorially, but the fluctuations in the energy network of the device responsible for the cloaking would quickly put an end to the venture. So, an ideal intermediate measure had to be found. Some way to stabilize the grid. Then there was the sensor grid Sithick had picked out. It was one of the densest and strongest Logan had ever seen. It almost seemed as if the Gorn wanted to see Logan fail. He was flying a Valravn, not a Valkyrie. Although he had a lot of experience in dealing with all kinds of fighters, Logan first had to find his way into the Valkyrie and get to know its characteristics. Then there was the sensor grid and finally the patrol fighters.
"Fly from A to B and don't get caught?" He looked at the parameters and search grid of his simulated enemies. This should be interesting, he thought. At least it is a challenge.
"I guess we'll begin simply," he suggested. "A few calibration flights. So bluntly, hold on to it. A few times without camouflage, a few times with?"
Logan walked around the Valkyrie, inspecting the Raider. He inspected the cloaking device and tried to figure out how it worked.

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #4 – May 29, 2020, 04:14:21 AM

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

"Goods toos hears, Lieutenants." Sithick was pleased if not a little concerned about Hale's enthusiasm but if their roles were reversed, the Gorn believed he would be itching for duty too.

"Yours goals in this simulations is toos reaches Bajors. The systems homes patrols wings wills bees supporters by six Lunas class starships. Sensors wills bees hots. As yous puts its, flys forms points A's toos B's. Dooz nots gets caught."

The Valkyrie Sithick had prepared cycled to life. "The Marks Toos Bees Aldeans Cloaks is installeds. Its wills acts as sensors jammers. Yous wills bees visible. Buts ifs successfully masks forms alls others scans."

Sithick had altered the device to fit within Starfleet cosmetics. Fundamentally the tech was Aldean but look Federation.

"The cloaks is activated with a pushes ofs a buttons."

Sithick couldn't wait to see if the improvements he made worked. He had to admit that this project had kept his mind off Lakhesis but what would he do when it was completed? Once Theurgy was whole.

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #5 – June 01, 2020, 02:31:23 PM

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Holodeck 02| Deck 8 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701
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"Let's see if we can outsmart the blockade," Logan said.
He took the suit provided and changed. Shortly afterwards, he climbed up the ladder and swung himself elegantly into the pilot's seat of the Valkyrie. Logan powered up the holographic projection systems and skillfully checked the Aldean camouflage. "Everything looks fine. I think we're ready for launch."
Without waiting for an answer, he started up the engines and put the bird in the air. "Give me a few minutes to familiarize myself with the aircraft, then we can start the simulation. Logan found the button Sithick was talking about and looked at the changes in the fighter's displays. When he pressed the button, there were many changes. The power load increased, the sensor range was shortened a bit, the cloaking device was definitely not an object that could be easily installed in any ship and Logan estimated that the efficiency depended on the size of the ship in which it was to be installed.
He switched the cloak off again. Logan wanted to determine how long it would take to get the cloak from zero to a hundred and back again and found that the activation sequences would take a few seconds to turn off. He had thus determined his window, which he would need in order to be sure of the use of the cloaking device.
He already moved the throttle slightly forward and steered the vehicle out of the simulated hangar. In front of him the artificially created universe stretched out. A composition of light formed matter and electric fields. The nighttime starry sky actually resembled that of Bajor. Logan recognised the Bajoran moons Derna and Jeraddo and the six Luna-class ships that span the large search grid. Logan had gotten used to the hunter by now and knew roughly how he would behave in certain situations. He set course for the planet, which shimmered blue green behind the six spaceships.
"Now I begin the calibration," he explained over the simulated radio. "I'm going to fly a few times directly toward the sensor grid."
Logan looked at the fighter's readouts. Everything was within normal parameters. His hands on the control unit held it firmly in place. Even though it was all a simulation, he would not lose focus. In total he flew the first approach three times each time. Three times each with the camouflage system switched off and three times with active sensor masking. Logan thus determined the points where the camouflage would probably work best and realized that his best option was to be found in the upper right third.
"Chief, I'm going to begin the first attempt," he said briefly to the Gorn engineer.
Logan pulled the nose of the fighter up and brought it on the intended course. He knew the lunar class was focusing its energies on the sensor grid, so its forward sensors were severely limited. He would use that to get as close as possible to the hot zone. He would take the momentum with him before he would engage the cloaking device.
Logan counted the seconds and directed his gaze to the screen between his legs. Three bright red spots appeared on the scanner and forced the pilot to turn away. "Fuck!" it blasted through the radio. "Where did they come from?"
The additional patrol appeared on the scene and thwarted his passage. Goddamn it, he thought. He changed the guard pattern. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you, Sithick?"

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #6 – June 04, 2020, 04:07:40 AM

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

Sithick grinned as Logan jumped into the Valkyrie and piloted it out of the holographic flight deck of the Theurgy. Once the fighter had cleared the flight deck, the entire room around the Gorn began to morph. The program was designed so that all observers of the simulation would do so from Ops aboard Deep Space Nine.

Sithick had never been to DS9, however, he had been on one of her sister stations, Taivok Nor, captured by Starfleet during the Dominion War and where the Klingon House of Torg Fleet was stationed. The architecture was the same, the computer-operated on similar algorithms.  Sithick's talons clicked on the Ops table as he punched up a tactical display of the Bajor system.

The Gorn watched as Hale made his test flights. As a seasoned veteran pilot, Hale should make quick work levels 1 through 5 of the program. Commander Ro had programmed up to 15 difficulty levels before introducing a Kobayashi Maru level event labeled "The Will of the Prophets" She had also installed some wild cards into the program to add a level of unpredictability.

Sithick noted how comfortable Hale was becoming with the Luna's flight patterns. With a press of a button, the Gorn inserted a squadron of Bajoran patrol craft appearing from behind the moon nearest Hale.

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you, Sithick?"

"Withs alls of Starfleets lookings fors us. We's cant's affords toos prepares fors easies." Sithick replied. "Resettings fors anothers goes."

Sithick pondered whether he should activate a cloaked Defiant into the simulation. He settled on waiting until Hale defeated a few more levels. "Proceeds."

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #7 – June 06, 2020, 06:20:03 PM

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Holodeck 02| Deck 8 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701
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Logan skillfully evaded the next patrol. He hid in their sensor shadow and followed them for a few million kilometres. He tried to get an overview of the situation and looked at the data from the passive sensors. In a few minutes, the sun would disappear behind Bajor and Logan would make his next approach. The twelfth, to be exact. Logan had already begun eleven serious attempts after his initial test flights. With each flight, he came closer to his goal again and again and outwitted his opponent, sometimes bluntly, other times with finesse. The cloaking device designed by Sithick helped him in this. It was designed to block sensor beams. He was never to appear on his opponents' systems. Only if someone peered through the windows would he be detected. But to be honest, this possibility was very small. If nobody knew you were there, nobody would look for you.

Logan let himself fall behind. The last rays of the sun disappeared behind the planet. His finger slipped on the camouflage activation button and a few seconds later a small status message indicated that the cloak was ready for action. The next few moments he would remain motionless in space. He would wait until the patrol had disappeared. Only when he was sure that they were far enough away, he activated his engine with low impulse and slid towards the sensor network. He switched off the impulse drive again and used the inertia of the fighter to slip through the search grid. But only when he actually succeeded, Logan allowed himself to cheer.

"Ha ha! Did you see that Sithick? Silent as a barn owl." He laughed and was happy to have fooled the program once more. "What do your readings say? Shall we try another round? I wonder what else this thing has in store."

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #8 – June 23, 2020, 12:28:16 AM

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

Sithick was impressed with the performances of this test so far. The cloak was working, Hale was doing well.

"Verys goods Lieutenants. Alls datas indicates success." Sithick was curious if Hale was up for the impossible. "Eyes has alls these information eyes needs. Ifs yous woulds likes toos continues, there's is the Kobayashis Marus scenarios."

Sithick wondered if the recovering pilot would be up for the stress.

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #9 – June 30, 2020, 07:45:21 PM

[Lt. JG Logan Hale, callsign "Wraith"| Holodeck 02| Deck 8 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @jreeves1701 
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Logan nearly choked. "Did I hear you right? A Kobayashi Maru scenario?" Logan thought he'd misheard, but when he checked his readouts, he actually saw another level of Commander Ro Laren's simulation. He snorted in disbelief for a moment. "Well, this could be something." Then he pressed his radio button again: "All right. Let's begin, Chief!"

Logan first pulled the joystick towards him, then he put it to his left knee. The fighter pulled up, climbed steeply and then rolled away to the left side. Logan moved back to his starting position while the Chief loaded the last stage of the program. Only when he got the okay did he start his approach. Logan saw the six Luna-class spacecrafts and their slightly bluish shimmering deflectors again. His passive scans also showed several patrols moving in staggered and crossed routes. The approach would definitely be a challenge and Logan liked the idea of cracking this scenario. Some time passed; Logan didn't know how long. He sat in his seat and studied the routes of the patrols and just couldn't and couldn't find a pattern. They were flying kind of randomly and actually managed to keep track of virtually every corner of the area. With the tactics employed recently, he wouldn't get far. Sneaking around was impossible. The ships' sensors would not detect his cloaked ship, but he couldn't fool the eyes of the patrol pilots. There were just too many people out there. So why not just be bold and blunt and keep your eyes on the target? Logan dismissed the idea as quickly as it had crossed his mind. That was certainly not the answer.

"I'm not going to get anywhere thinking about this." Then he decided to follow his gut instincts. Logan steered the Raider gently into the patrols. First, he slipped into their sensor shadow and followed them for a few moments. Using the passive sensors, he spotted several dozen fighters and wondered how the hell he would ever get through there. An idea ripened in him as he understood the simulation. It would probably never work in the real world, but here, in the simulation, he would be able to let off steam. Logan continued to follow the patrol. Their path eventually led them very close to the sensor grid. It was still too far away for him to just pull out and try an approach, but he felt it was close enough to make his idea work. Logan opened up his radio channel. Through their loudspeakers and headphones, the six Luna-class ships and all the patrols would be listening to the most famous soundtrack in film history. Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone blasted on the radio channels.

Logan sheared off, shut down the Aldean cloaking device and diverted all power to the drives. A smile appeared on his lips. He wouldn't be able to win the simulation, but he would go down on his own terms and sell himself for as much as possible. He flew tight scissors and turned like a snake out of the attackers' grip. His target was the other side of the sensor grid. His course took him there in a detour. Somehow, he made it to within a few hundred meters, when a previously camouflaged Graviton Mine came to an abrupt end. The simulation was over. As expected, he had failed, but Logan felt like a winner when he turned around and looked into the eyes of the oversized reptile.
"That was fun, Sithick. What's next?"

Re: Day 15 [1000 HRS] Photonic Cloaks and How Valkyries Wear Them

Reply #10 – July 07, 2020, 04:30:58 AM

[CPO Sithick | Holodeck 02 | Deck 8| Vector 02 | USS Theurgy] Attn: @Nero

Lt. Hale's assistance had insured the success of the new Aldean Cloak model. Sithick was very proud of the outcome. Even the Kobayashi Maru level satisfied him.

"Verys goods works. Eyes wasn'ts expecting gravitons mines." Sithick was fully expecting the Defiant to decloak or a fleet of Dominion Warships to emerge from the wormhole. "Eyes haves alls these datas eyes needs. This was a verys successfuls exercise."

Sithick punched in some final notes on his pad. "Eyes wills logs mys recommendations fors yous toos bees cleareds fors duty. Feels frees toos enjoys this programs as oftens as yous likes. Eyes thanks yous fors yours assistance."

-fin