Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS

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Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

January 29, 2022, 01:56:52 PM

"Shields are at 100%. Upload is complete,” T’Less announced without looking up from the Tactical station. “We are ready to proceed with the second round of tests.” It had been a busy 6 days for the Vulcan, made all the busier by the revelation that Reggie Suder was now amongst the crew. It had taken considerable effort for T’Less to push her presence aside to allow her to focus on the tasks at hand and to progress with the design and installation of the Theurgy’s new point defence system.

The inspiration had come from ancient Earth anti-projectile technology utilised on ocean-going warships to protect themselves. It had taken some doing and the expertise of several people but eventually they had found a design that could be mounted aboard the Theurgy using salvaged tech from the palletised pod system. Their first test, while establishing that their proof of concept was functional, had left a lot to be desired in effectiveness. T’Less found herself hoping that this morning’s test would prove much more adequate to their needs.

“Computer, begin log recording. Point Defence Phaser Cannon Live Fire Test Number Two,” T’Less called out, finally looking up at the other occupants of the room. “Lieutenant T’Less, accompanied by Lieutenant Junior Grade Azrin Ryn and Petty Officer First Class Thomas Nigel-Timmons, are on Vector 02’s battle bridge. Ensign Via Wix is serving as target launcher for this morning’s tests.”

“The issues regarding firing arcs have hopefully been sorted with additional coding to define the Theurgy’s dimensions and shape. Lieutenant Ryn has been an excellent addition to the team and of great assistance in correcting errors. Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons has informed me that he has worked on modifications to the mounting and couplings of the Type U+ Pulse Fire Phaser Cannons to increase their accuracy and power ratings. Test 01 showed that they were both too slow and underpowered to completely destroy a wave of targets.”

“I will now have each of them detail the work they completed prior to this test before we conduct the first sequence. Ensign Wix is, equipped with a dozen mock torpedoes that we will use through several sequences. Lieutenant Ryn, if you could go first5, followed by you Petty Officer. I will then have Ensign Wix fire a single target for interception.”

OOC: Posting order with be as follows: 1) @rae 2) @RyeTanker 3) @ob2lander961
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Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #1 – January 31, 2022, 08:52:20 PM

[ Lt. JG Azrin Ryn | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Orbiting Qo’noS ] Attn: @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @ob2lander961

Interdisciplinary engineering was always a fun challenge. Sure, this wasn’t exactly what Azrin expected she’d be doing as one of her first tasks back on duty after months in stasis, but she wasn’t complaining. It felt good to work, even if it was on software for a phaser canon when that beautiful new slipstream drive sat… nope. Azrin wasn’t thinking about that right now. The redheaded trill was sitting at the engineering station off to the side of this Battle Bridge, biting her tongue to keep from humming as she finished one last look through of her code. Debug, debug, debug. It would be incredibly embarrassing if this test failed because she’d forgotten a semi colon somewhere.

Upon hearing her name mentioned as part of Lieutenant T’Less’ log, she turned and nodded to the tactical officer, before bringing up the recording on her own console. “Lieutenant Azrin Ryn, reporting,” she began, keeping her work up on one side so she could relay the information concisely without forgetting anything. Azrin had been brought onto the team after the first test underperformed, because she knew the hull of the Theurgy quite well. The sleek elegant curves of starships weren’t merely for aesthetics, they mitigated the stress put on a ship at warp. The ship as a whole, each separate vector, or even the weirder combinations of two vectors combined – they needed to know the hull to properly calibrate the warp drives.

“I joined the team after Test 01, tasked with correcting software errors revealed in the firing sequences and adding code blocks for specific functionalities. I began with a detailed 3D schematic of the ship’s hull – first generated by the shipbuilding team and altered when necessary by structural engineers over the Theurgy’s service. As Lieutenant T’Less has already stated, I extrapolated from this model to define the Theurgy’s dimension and shape for the tactical computer. These new parameters allow for more direct firing solutions, since the computer can choose angles closer to the hull, without worrying about hitting said hull by mistake.

“I then sectioned each cannon into one of two groups: Standard Operating Mode or Multivector Assault Mode. This way the computer knows to deactivate the cannons that are covered when the Theurgy is combined and only creates firing solutions based on available cannons. In the future I would like to add more subcategories for the combinations of Vectors 1 and 2 and Vectors 2 and 3.

“The cannon’s firing program now includes a subset of detailed firing solutions for the stern cannons, specifying the locations of the nacelles and their support struts as a constant. This will allow more angles of fire through the gaps between the nacelles. The last test went around them entirely, as though mimicking a shield bubble. The new coding will also preclude simulated errors where a phaser grazed a nacelle while firing.” Hopefully Ensign Wix would launch the first target at the bow, leaving the more complicated aft firing solutions until later on. If they worked up to it, she could make alterations on the fly. Else Azrin might be spending the rest of her day crawling through the nacelles fixing what they’d broken.

"On to you, Petty Officer," she finished with a smile towards Nigel-Timmons, a quick tap at her console ending her part of the recording.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #2 – February 01, 2022, 06:07:07 AM

[Petty Officer First Class Thomas Nigel-Timmons | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy]

Attn: @Stegro88 @rae @ob2lander961

Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons, who rejoiced in the nickname 'Boom', sat at the starboard support station while he listened with one ear to the information being added to the log. He was reviewing the list of modifications that had been made, and to say the list was extensive was putting it mildly. After being called in to examine the system after the disappointing results of Test 01, he had tsked for ten straight seconds as he identified at least half a dozen changes that had to be made if the system was to be viable. Reviewing the development log had confirmed his suspicions that the designers had been enthusiastic but clearly rank amateurs. They may have called in technical experts later, but oh well. It was his toy now! A tight grin was the only sign of delight he allowed in the stiff professional demeanour he perpetually wore.

"Thank you Ma'am. Having studied what technical notes we found, I believe that PDPC systems we installed were in the prototype stage and thus had not benefited from a full overview from more technical personnel. In many ways, I believe this system was a low priority due to the........substandard level of design and planning before the blueprints were frozen and a prototype completed. Before going into detail about the changes made to PDPC, I would like to commend the engineering crews who took part as they have worked themselves to virtual exhaustion in order to retrofit all the PDPC systems. Their names will be included in a written appendices."

Taking a breath, the stolid black Briton consulted the screen in front of him and marshalled his thoughts before diving in. "First off, for whatever reason, the on mount target acquisition sensor was the Class 2 mark 15 which is commonly found on shuttlecraft and runabouts. This system is acceptable for general acquisition of a target, such as spatial anomolies, but has insufficient resolution and discrimination for tactical purposes. The engineering crews in consultation with the warp fighter support crews determined that the Class 2F mark 2a used on the AC-347 Knight-class Interceptor is sufficient for PDPC system purposes. Simulations showed a 1000% increase in tactical targeting resolution and targeting discrimination in the designed engagement ranges."

Taking a moment to tap to the next page section. "Next was the magnetic servos. A coding error caused a fault that caused the cannon mount to pivot at a 'factory default.' P.O. Dani tracked the coding error and reset it. In addition, the crew determined that the power management controls were too conservative and have increased the power output via a programming override. Simulations show this should result in a marked increase of traverse from 50^o per second to 120^o per second."

A finger tapped the next button. Communication and power distributions architecture does need a complete re-work by a competent engineering staff, however, additional EPS relays, vents, and breakers have been built in. This should drastically improve the system power draw and safety. If any of the systems overload, the explosion will be vented away from the hull. Additional ODN data buses and relays have also been added for data transmission redundancy in case of battle damage. This will also increase the data transfer and information processing rate from central sensor and targeting systems on Theurgy.

Another finger tap. "The final item that we had time for was the was the replacement of the onboard capacitor from the Antares Mark 42 Mod 5 to the newer Utopia Planitia Mk 45 Mod 1."Frowning slightly. "Simulations for capability changes have not been done at this time. Though, for the same given size, the Mark 45 has an increase of 50% power storage capacity and 35% increase power draw capability over the Mark 42. During the installation of the capacitors, Crewman Chowdury pointed out that we may not need the full power draw of U+ system when engaging targets other than fighters and it could be possible to adjust the EPS submaster flow regulator-emission crystal interface to step down the power draw while also decreasing the cycle time when targeting munitions instead of hostile fighters. This is an effective increase in the fire rate against fast moving projectiles. The programming for this was completed this morning, but has not yet been uploaded pending review."

"A much further extended list of upgrades are available to be included in the appendices " PO Nigel-Timmons added at the end.

Seeing he'd reached the end of his notes, Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons laid his arms on his lap and turned back to the centre of the battle bridge with a tight smile of satisfaction. "And that's all I have to add Ma'ams"

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #3 – February 03, 2022, 03:21:26 PM

[

Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix | Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Q'onoS System ] Attn: @rae @Stegro88 @RyeTanker
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Wolf-16 had been tasked with supporting a series of tests for the Theurgy's new PDC system, having loaded up a series of mock torpedoes so they could see if the system's tracking programming was functioning. Via of course didn't understand or care about any of the Tecno mumble-jumble that the Engineers told her about the mission, she just really thought it would be cool to shoot at a ship. The pilot was going restless however, having been sitting at the target launch point for about an hour now with only Charles to keep her company.

"You know...when they fucking asked me if I wanted to fire some big ass torpedos into the ship...sittin' around for hours ain't what I had in mind..." The woman said to her RIO while slouched in her seat, arms crossed, and looking quite bored. She looked out her window and at the Theurgy pouting. With a grumble, Via lifted up her hand placing it in front of her view of the ship, closed one eye, and made it so that it looked like she was squishing the ship with her index finger and thumb.

"Stupid, eggheads, won't let me shoot Theurgy. You are small from here bitch...yeah, I can squish you like that and you can do nothin' about it." The pilot said, with annoyance in her voice. Charles seemed to have dozed off about half an hour earlier. Both of them had a rather early morning but Via managed to get through 3 cans of energy drinks before stepping into the cockpit so she was beyond hyper.

"Fuck!" Via, finally beyond restless went ahead and opened a communication to the Theurgy's Battle Bridge. "Battle Bridge, DixeBee. Are ya done yet? When do I start gettin' to shoot y'all? I'm bored as fu- for real... This ain't the fun like ya promised."

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #4 – February 12, 2022, 02:54:50 PM

"Nothing was promised to you Ensign,” T’Less pointed out calmly as she rechecked her systems. “But I will be sure to note your complaint of boredom in my report to the senior staff at the conclusion of today’s tests. Please launch the target.” If the wolf responded, the Vulcan didn’t hear it as she focused on what was about to, hopefully, happen. The sensors detected the launch of the projectile from Valravn and initially classified it as non-threatening. However, when the torpedo’s internal systems came online and altered its signature, the computer reclassified it as a hazard.

A sentient being was too slow on average to be able to program in and target an incoming projectile from anything but the longest of ranges. At the average distance that battles were fought, even a computer had difficulty being able to intercept a torpedo. The multiple emplacements and their combined rate of fire was in response to that limitation, quantity in place of a lack of quality.

The Point Defence Phaser Cannon system automatically responded to the thread detected and selected the closest cannon to the projected point of impact to target and attempt to eliminate the torpedo. And it was successful, though T’Less noted several options for developmental improvements.

“Target successfully destroyed approximately 134 metres from the hull. Shields calculated as absorbing 100% of premature detonation force with minimal stress,” T’Less reviewed, her fingers working. “Too close though. Lieutenant Ryn, is there a way to quickly alter the targeting code to utilise more than a single emplacement, if possible, to improve the interception at range chance? Petty officer, the gap between bursts when the capacitors are charging is too long, could you adjust the energy rating per pulse down 10%? Also, at full use of all emplacements, how much is the Theurgy’s power reserves strained if the ship was fully engaged against multiple hostile craft?”

“Ensign Wix, in an attempt to relieve your boredom, I would like you to launch a trio of target torpedoes on your next run,” T’Less requested. “Please utilise different speeds for each target and then fly along with them to force the targeting array to compensate for your presence.”

OOC: Posting Order is @rae then @RyeTanker and lastly @ob2lander961.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #5 – February 20, 2022, 08:12:47 PM

[ Lt. JG Azrin Ryn | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Orbiting Qo’noS ] Attn: @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @ob2lander961

Thankfully, Azrin had quick hands. Normally she appreciated them for fixing the ship’s systems on the fly. At the moment, they saved her from a reprimand, jumping to her mouth to effectively stifle the laughter that threated to burst out at Wix’s words. T’Less’s deadpan response hadn’t done anything to help either. Then the test shot was fired, the canons reacted, and her fingers dropped back to the console, laugh lines falling into a cross look as Azrin reviewed the results.

“It was supposed to do that already,” she admitted, sounding a bit perplexed as she searched and called up the code blocks that accounted for that function. There had definitely been a fault in there somewhere. On another screen, she dove into the computer data from the test to get a play by play of the computer’s choices. “That’s not what I meant Thea,” Azrin muttered with a shake of her head when she saw what had gone wrong. Due to the rather rushed nature of her program – and the fact that she wasn’t a tactical officer… not in over a century anyway – Azrin had created her code with a lot of repurposed preexisting firing sequences. During the test fire, the computer had pulled on a bit of artifact code within a copy and pasted block. It was choosing the closest canon to the target and singling it out for firing. Azrin’s nice pretty code hadn’t run at all. Quick delete on that.

“It should work now Lieutenant,” Azrin reported, scanning the code again and adding a few more quick corrections to ensure her changes hadn’t broken anything else. “It probably still needs more refinement though. I’m worried that response times will slow as the computer calculates firing solutions for multiple emplacements. It would be incremental, still faster than a person, easily remedied if we allocate more processing power to the program. And we’ll have to see how it does when facing multiple targets. A second shot might sneak through if all the canons automatically focus on the first one. I can add more code for split targeting, but I don’t want to clutter it until I’m sure we need it.” Azrin paused as the code came up green again. No errors. Of course, it had done that last time too. They would still need to run it to get accurate results. “It could work perfectly. Just spitballing potential errors.”

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #6 – February 21, 2022, 03:37:53 AM

[Petty Officer First Class Thomas Nigel-Timmons | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy]

@rae @ob2lander961 @Stegro88

Boom was still unimpressed with the new fangled palatalized PDPC system despite the upgrades they'd made so far. As far as he was concerned, the people who designed were morons and he would make a point of living through this whole adventure just so he could tell them. If they were already dead, then that was bloody well their problem, he would berate their graves instead. As soon as the torpedo had exploded, his hands began flying over the console pulling in the test data. His experienced began conceptualizing all the components as they worked together. And that pilot, Bloody hot shots in their (unprintable).

As the Vulcan tactical officer made her request, he pulled up the sensor log on the PDPC shot that got the kill and noticed an anomaly. Running an analysis package, his lips frowned hard in thought. Fingers flew again pulling up the visual record looking for something. As the torpedo exploded, dark eyes narrowed as his mind plucked out something, but it didn't quite seem right as he was looking at the effect of light speed weapon. Re running the time chop of the strike and a much smaller fraction of it's speed, he snorted at what was clearly a phaser bolt smashing through the torpedo and passing the other side going off into space.

Looks like Chowdury's bleedin jury rig is gonna be used anyway. hrumph Pulling up the software, he fed it into a local simulation system and noticed a few errors that had to be debugged. Hmph, Bloody lazy bastard didn't even run it through the debugger first. Another quick test showed the software should work properly. As he scrolled through the various modules, Boom found the EPS submaster flow regulator-emission crystal interface program module and had to sit on the urge to swear out loud and throttle the crewman since he introduced unnecessary amounts of extra code by having the two section operate in separated blocks with excess coding in between. This took more time to re-arrange before he found the actual emitter crystal threshold-discharge settings and saw it was already 10% lower. A speed analysis of firepower versus intended target strength and found it still too strong. He also decided to jam a little more juice into the servos to get more traverse speed. This gave him an idea as he began increasing the flow rate through the EPS systems to get the whole assembly to charge faster.

With that taken care of Nigel-Timmons began punching in the power usage numbers and didn't like what he was seeing, it wasn't terrible, but the system could always be more efficient.

As he continued looking over the numbers, he made sure to speak loud enough for everyone to hear. "Apologies Leftenants, there was a bit of cleaning to do on the programming. With the stated power reduction, current numbers show a roughly 20% increase in rate of fire, but could cause damage to the test fighter. I reviewed the firing test and it showed the PDPC round smashing through the torpedo, a case of overkill if I do say so. I would recommend that we step down by 25%. This should increase the rate of fire by 60% The change in power requirements won't be any different, but it will allow the system to operate for a longer period of time, but the combined firepower would be the equivalent of one or two phaser arrays operating at full power during full combat. I would also recommend tying the ship's secondary targeting systems to the PDPC targeting sensors to improve acquisition times."

"A good engineer is always a wee bit conservative, at least on paper." ~ Captain Montgomery Scott

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #7 – March 06, 2022, 04:02:09 AM

[

Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix | Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Q'onoS System ] Attn: @rae @Stegro88 @RyeTanker
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"Whoa, hey chill!! They ain't need to know nothin' about anythin' I'm sayin.'" Via said into the comm while Charles quickly woke up from his nap.

"Everything alright, ma'am?" he said groggily and yawned. Via just looked at him slightly annoyed and lightly punched him in the arm. "Beach Head, aren't you spose watch what I am sayin' so we don't get both our asses in trouble?"

Charles rubbed his eyes and then immediately snapped to attention as soon as he processed Via's words. "My most sincere apologies I-"

"Stop apologizin' It ain't serious. We are launchin' the torps anyway." The pilot started tapping away at various control panels activating systems across the fighter to initiate the attack run.

"Now?!" Charles exclaimed as he immediately situated himself.

"Battle Bridge, Bee. Target MOTHER locked. Range 10.5km Bearing 032. Launchin' BRUSIER! Eat torp suckers!!" The pilot had spoken very enthusiastically in comms before she pressed down on the trigger unhooking the training torpedo from her fighter. The speeding projectile streamed towards the Theurgy until it suddenly got taken out by the ship's PDCs after a few seconds. Via pouted having felt the explosion was too underwhelming for her liking.

"Thats fuckin' it?! Beach Head are you seein' what I'm seenin' That explosion was puny, what the shit? Where is the BOOOMSPLOUGRRRSH!!" She said making explosion sounds with her mouth.

Charles reading the data from his station only looked at Via confused about what she expected. "Ma'am, they are training torpedos the explosion would not have been large to spectacular, to begin with. Additionally, I believe the Point Defense Cannons...you don't know what I am talking about do you...?"

"What does your blondie ass think?" Via said sarcastically before hearing the comms activate again with new orders to launch torpedos again but at different speeds.

"Three whole torpedoes, ma'am? If you weren't a commandin' officer and an egg head I would kiss you...actually nah that's nasty. I don't know where you been."

Charles looked at Via mouthed the words "ma'am" in a panic.

"Uh- I mean roger that, ma'am. Beginin' attack run on Target MOTHER." The pilot shifted the throttle forward to a slow attack speed and fired a Torpedo. Then she shifted to a moderate attack speed and fired another one. When she shifted to a fast attack speed she would fire a Torpedo and slow down slightly to maneuver herself in the middle of the formation essentially making herself an Incoming projectile.

"WOOHOOO!!!" Via said with excitement as she speeded towards the Theurgy.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #8 – March 11, 2022, 04:48:36 PM

The corner of T’Less’ mouth tugged ever so slightly at the wolf’s subdued tone following the Vulcan’s subtle rebuke of her earlier words. A small part of her logical mind noted that her satisfaction was an emotional response, something that concerned her. Her mental stability had taken several hits recently with everything that had happened, and she had noticed her emotional control slipping more and more. It was concerning her yet also intriguing as with Reggie now aboard, she might now be able to experience that which she had denied herself years earlier.

“Targets detected,” T’Less announced after Wolf-16 had launched the torpedoes. Watching her displays, she monitored the system as it quickly identified that the torpedoes were a threat before working through intercept solutions. To the Vulcan’s relief, each of the incoming torpedoes was targeted by a minimum of two cannons each which quickly swivelled around as firing solutions were assigned. Phaser bolts streamed out in sustained bursts and the three torpedoes were quickly intercepted well clear of the Theurgy’s shield envelope. To subtract from the test's success though, was that some of the fired phaser bolts had impacted against Wolf-16's shields. The drain was minimal, but still significant enough that during combat, it would require the fighter to withdraw at least temporarily to recharge them.

“Well done everyone. That test went much better than the previous one,” T’Less congratulated her team as she looked around the bridge at them. “Wolf-16, please report your status and advise on your preparedness for the next stage. Lieutenant, Petty Officer, could you review the logs and advise your preparedness for a full-scale test of all the remaining test torpedoes.”

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #9 – March 20, 2022, 05:26:53 AM

[ Lt. JG Azrin Ryn | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Orbiting Qo’noS ] Attn: @Stegro88 @ob2lander961 @RyeTanker

“Yes!” Azrin cheered in a hushed whisper as she watched the test unfold, grinning broadly as she saw multiple canons react to each incoming torpedo. She hadn’t been incredibly optimistic about it working properly, not after the first mistake. Having something go right was exactly what she needed right now, finally back to work after being out of commission for so long. It didn’t make sense. From her perspective, the time in stasis had passed in a blink of the eye, but Azrin still couldn’t shake the sense of being out of place. She longed for those six missing months. At the same time, she felt like she’d just returned from an extended recovery.

With all due respect to Ensign Wix, Azrin wasn't concerned upon seeing the phasers strike the fighter’s shields. In a real-world scenario, the torpedoes would be coming from an enemy target. If the PDPCs scored a hit on them too, that was a double win in Azrin’s book. Even a minor drain on an enemy’s shields was something. However, the accidental attack did give her an idea, and the engineer took a moment to dive into the base coding blocks on the tactical systems again, looking to add some distinctions between friends and foes. Avoiding the Theurgy’s own fighters, just one more thing for Thea to calculate when running this program.

“That last test went really well Lieutenant. The cannons preformed as expected. It was actually faster by the looks of it. The additional time the tactical computer takes to target with multiple cannons is negligible, and it’s more than made up for by Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons’ modifications.” Azrin turned her appreciative smile towards him as she spoke, impressed with his work.

“I’m adding a few subroutines to mark Wolf-16 as a friendly so the tactical computer will plot trajectories that will avoid hitting them again. We don’t have to worry about that with a real enemy shooting torpedoes at us, but it will be a helpful capability to have if we’re in a firefight and all the fighters are zipping around out there too. This is as good of time as any to test it.” As she spoke, Azrin ran a quick diagnostic, having the computer replay the steps it had taken during the test in slow motion, showing the progression of code on her console. Beautiful, sometimes kitbashing already existing tactical coding really did work. “For this next test though, I would like to request that some of the torpedoes are directed to the rear of the ship. We still haven’t tested the more complicated aspects of the hull mapping. We need to see if the computer can accurately plot a trajectory between the nacelles.”

The run through finished, and Azrin returned to the code lines she’d been making mental notes of, deleting redundant lines that were bound to pop up when creating a program like she had. That would probably fix the minor speed deficit she’d noticed in the targeting systems. Then another round of debugging to ensure that she hadn’t broken anything important after the deletions. She tested her own code again – just to be safe – opening a simulation and letting the targeting computer generate its own 3D representation of the Theurgy and ensuring that it still saw the areas between the nacelles as null space. Targeting systems liked to focus outside the shield bubble. Azrin wanted everything a meter from the hull to be fair game.

As a final test, she used the same simulation to test her new code block, having the sim-Theurgy launch a fighter. The tactical sensors marked it and it turned green on her screen – friendly – and added it to the ‘do not hit’ list, the same designation the system was using to avoid the Theurgy’s hull. “Looks good. We’re prepared Lieutenant.”

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #10 – March 22, 2022, 03:10:59 AM

[Petty Officer First Class Thomas Nigel-Timmons | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy]

@rae @ob2lander961 @Stegro88

PO1 Thomas Nigel-Timmons sat there wracked his brain for anything else that could be done, but short of materializing two, three, or five extra barrels for the PDPC at the wave of his hand, there wasn't much else for him to do. Mechanically, the system was as good as it was going to be without the listed upgrades or any major changes in components.

As he listened to Lieutenant Ryn's Identify Friend Foe modification, a thought occurred to him. If another ship made it into Theurgy's PDPC bubble the situation was going to be extremely dire anyway. He turned to face the Trill Engineer "Begging the Leftenants pardon, but if enemy ships or fighters were to make it into our point defence fire, it stands to reason we may need to apply as much firepower as possible. I don't believe targeting the enemy would represent a problem, but should we also include an overload charge and fire mode for closer engagements? Should we also consider an automated warning for our fighters and allies that the PDPC bubble is active? Getting back to the matter at hand though, I believe that we are ready for a full scale test."

Turning back to his console, the phaser tech began punching commands for various recording systems to gather the necessary performance metrics for the final report.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #11 – April 01, 2022, 12:46:18 AM

[

Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix | Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Q'onoS System ] Attn: @rae @Stegro88 @RyeTanker

Via with raw excitement on her face watched the torpedoes get intercepted from her peripheral vision. With the Theurgy increasing in size with every millisecond the pilot was going to break her fake attack run, but something threw her off. The phaser targeted her, impacting her shields and throwing off her train of thought. She hadn't expected her shields to be damaged, especially not from the Theurgy. It activated the switch in her head that was for when she was in high risk of danger.

"The shit?!" Breathing heavily she pulled back on the joystick sending the Valravn vertical, then she then activated the afterburners while navigating her way away from the Theurgy and out of its weapon's range. After Checking her HUD once she had put the distance Via flipped her fighter around and looked at the Theurgy again to asses her situation. Via was breathing heavily. She did not like being taken off guard like that, it scared her though she would never admit it out loud.

"What in the Fuck!?" She shouted out loud in the comms and in the cockpit after she had been asked what her status was, clearly shaken.

"What the flyin' fuckin' fuck you asses doin' back there. You SHOT us!! Y'all fuckin' SHOT at us!"

Charles just was shaken as well but not as much as Via. He reached over and shook her shoulder in reassurance. "Ma'am its ok. We are alright. Logs say that it was just a little graze. We were not in any danger."

Via sat back in her seat. The entire event reminded her of what happened during the Tactical Training Center incident. Without her fighter in space she was so vulnerable and scared, the woman did not want to experience that again. Charles's touch brought her back. Via relaxed catching her breath.

"Fuckin' Shit balls...fuck this shit- really." She said lowly and in a disheartening tone "Uh Theurgy, we are fine...mostly. We are ready...what is this next stage you are talkin' about L.T" Via lost her excitement in her voice and became more serious and downhearted. She was clearly not amused anymore

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #12 – April 12, 2022, 03:55:57 PM

Lieutenant T’Less was varying degrees of impressed with the team she was working with. Those with her on the Battle Bridge were highly knowledgeable in their fields and had each supplied ideas for improvements to the network of pulse phaser turrets that were now dotted across the Theurgy's hull. The initial design, despite numerous simulations, was still far from perfect and would require additional refinement as time passed; but such was the nature of these things. T’Less’ regret was that these tests had to be made with haste while they orbited the Klingon homeworld instead of Earth, Mars or another world within the Federation.

“Thank you,” T’Less acknowledged as she reset the hit records in preparation for the final test. “Wolf-16, for the final test, please launch your remaining nine torpedoes using a stern attack vector. You may begin at your leisure.” The pilot’s response, if there was one, would be reviewed later as the Vulcan focused one again on her screens to view the test of the automated defensive system.

The fighter approached and launched its remaining payload in its entirety, the weapons locked on to the Theurgy. The computer identified the torpedoes as threats and assigned targeting solutions to each of them even as the PDPC swivelled on their mounts and began to fire. And this was where T’Less noticed the first problem; the limited fire arcs covering the rear of the Theurgy. They had been unable to locate a mounting on the direct aft of the ship’s hull and it was showing now in the lack of defensive fire being applied to the incoming projectiles.

The hull occluded an odd, shaped area beyond the stern and what they were seeing now were the results of applying a system to a hull not designed for it. They had tried to limit the Theurgy’s blind spots as much as possible, but it had been difficult towards the stern given the large expanse for the FAB’s launch area as well as the nacelle support struts. Even with the improved programming, T’Less could immediately see that one of the incoming torpedoes was within one of the nacelle shadows and would face no defence before impact. Other torpedoes were falling to the streams of phaser bolts but not quickly enough. The time taken for the limited placements with fire arcs to lock on and target the incoming torpedoes only allowed those that followed to close the distance until they were also occluded by the shape of the hull, before impacting the shields soon after.

“Attack concluded. Of the nine torpedoes launched, three impacted. One of those was permanently occluded from targeting by the upper port nacelle. The remaining two reached impact due to saturation of the target area beyond the capability of the CIWS emplacements,” T’Less summarised as she reviewed the logs. “Regardless, it is my belief that the system is functional in its current state with notice to avoid or pivot the ship to bring more emplacements to bear during an attack from the stern.”

“Wolf-16, you may return to the Fighter Assault Bay or take up alternate duties. Thank you for your assistance in the conducting of our tests,” T’Less addressed the pilot over the com channel before looking across the battle bridge. “Could you each please review the data and offer final notes for presentation to the senior staff. Please include your individual belief in the functional status of the system as it stands at present.”

OOC: Alright everyone. Final round of posting for this thread I think. Its been great fun. Once everyone has posted, I will do a final summation with T'Less and then slap a ~FIN~ on it and let Lucan know. Thank you all.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #13 – April 20, 2022, 04:17:34 AM

[ Lt. JG Azrin Ryn | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Orbiting Qo’noS ] Attn: @Stegro88 @RyeTanker @ob2lander961

Azrin had made a very obvious face as the watched the test play out, tisking slightly under her breath as the dummy torpedo scored a hit to the stern. That was one of the things she’d been assigned to work on for this project, so naturally she disliked the failure. There wasn’t even a way to improve her programming to account for it, hidden in the shadow of the nacelle like that. They’d need cannons on the nacelles themselves – an idea the propulsion engineer vetoed the moment she thought of it. Phasers on top of the warp coils? No thank you. Subspace displacement would damage the cannons, and probably start a chain reaction damaging the nacelle in turn. A terrible day for engineering, disasters for all. Honestly, the best thing to do was exactly what T’Less suggested – move the ship to a better position.

“I concur with Lieutenant T’Less,” Azrin began after a moment to compile the test results. “The point defense cannons are operational. The tests showed them working within defined parameters, though there is still room for optimization. We saw a 66% success in the final test. The 33% we missed weren’t due to any malfunctions or errors. We can raise the success rate by adding more emplacement and fine tuning the programming with a computer engineer and a tactical officer.” That was the sort of thing that took time, beyond this test or a few days project.

“The stern is a vulnerable point. Even with improved hull mapping.” Azrin had her console replay that last torpedo’s trajectory as she reported, annoyed by the term ‘permanently occluded’ and still mulling over improbable plans to fix that. She hated coming on problems she couldn’t solve. “With two shuttle bays, the fighter assault bay, and thruster assemblies, there isn’t enough space left to add the cannons we would need for a bigger coverage area. Especially when they’re hampered by avoiding the nacelles too.” There was a slight pause as she mulled it over. “Another few emplacements at extreme angles above the main shuttlebay?” Azrin mused, before quickly remembering she was being recorded. “Those are all ideas that can be added later.”

“At present, I believe the system is operational and should be included in tactical operations with other defense systems.” Even 66% was better than 0. Six torpedoes less damage to clean up later. And as long as they were spinning around Qo’nos, there was room – time – for improvement.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #14 – April 23, 2022, 07:21:03 PM

[Petty Officer First Class Thomas Nigel-Timmons | Vector 02 Battle Bridge | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy]

@rae @ob2lander961 @Stegro88

Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons sat staring at his console and frowned ferociously at the aft test results. He knew that there hadn't been anything that could be done due to the limitations of the system, but he didn't have to like. That still didn't affect the only decision he could deliver. "I concur. The system in its current form is operational"

With that, the phaser tech began to copy and paste the proposed list of upgrades to a message that would go to Lieutenant Ryn, and was cc'd to the Chief Engineer. The list of upgrades was not extensive, but it was still many changes. The primary one being the change over for each emplacement going from a single barrel to multi-barrel format. As it stood, each PDPC was overpowered for the designed engagement envelope, so switching to more, but less powerful units could prove more effective. The stolid Briton also thought about utilizing micro torpedo launchers in the PDPC system, and decided to add it in as a design study in case those levels of firepower were needed. Finally, there was a request to begin design and development of a lower powered last ditch bolt-on PDPC system that could be tied into the ship's systems in areas that were not sufficiently covered by the bubble such as directly fore and aft. In the Petty Officer's mind, this system was already effectively designed, and just needed miniaturization and a power feed from the ship to sustain it.

The list included other options like reloadable jammer dispensers, active electronic jammers, and ejectable decoys; however, those were things to be decided on later and for people with the pips. Till then, PO Nigel-Timmons contented himself with the CAD program in beginning the design conversions of the PDPC system to a multi-barrel system as he scowled at the problem and got to work.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #15 – May 11, 2022, 08:10:30 AM

[

Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix | Wolf-16 Cockpit | AC-477 MK I Valravn | Q'onoS System ] Attn: @rae @Stegro88 @RyeTanker

After she heard T'Less's orders Via put her fighter into a parking orbit around the Theurgy and rubbed her face in exhaustion, groaning while she did. Her heart was beating rapidly so she took a second to get her barrings but her adrenaline and energy were simply too high. Charles looked at her with concern but didn't know what to say. He simply began starting the pre-landing checklist leaving Via to collect herself alone.

The Training Center Incident left a mark on her both figuratively and literally, but Via being herself never took the time or effort to talk to anyone seriously about what happened nor did she feel like it was a big deal considering she had been shot at and nearly killed several times over back on her home planet. However, she felt she had control over those situations, the ability to change them and save herself if need be. Floating in the vacuum of space with nothing but a spacesuit to protect you from life and death from the elements and potential dangers/enemies did terrify Via. She felt helpless, scared like there was nothing that she could do or control. The prospect of experiencing that again triggered something in her subconscious but Via didn't want to face it out of fear of seeming weak and being pulled off duty so she ignored it again.

"My ass is gettin' a drink." She exasperated as she started doing her part of the pre-landing check. "Fuck this shit, eggheads are fuckin' crazy."

With that, the fighter headed towards the Theurgy for docking.

Re: Day 06 [0600 hrs.] CIWS - TNG

Reply #16 – May 15, 2022, 03:33:15 PM

The Vulcan tactical officer listened as first Lieutenant Ryn and then Petty Officer Nigel-Timmons spoke, the former being more eloquent than the latter by several degrees. She added a point to her personal notes to follow up with the two of them at a later date to go over potential improvements for the Point Defence Phaser System, including both improvements to their currently installed armament as well as redesigns and upgrades for a later fitting. But that was for then. For now, she had to finalise the test results and forward all the relevant data files to Commander Stark.

“I thank you for your assistance in this endeavour. And while the system is neither ideal, nor completely effective, I believe that it is the best we could do within the time allotted to us. We do not yet know when the Theurgy will be called upon to begin our next mission so a drawn our design and implementation was not acceptable,” T’Less said as her fingers danced across the console before her.

“Commander Stark, please find enclosed the complete results from today’s test firing of the Theurgy’s new Point Defence Phaser System,” T’Less dictated evenly. “It is the opinion here that the system, while not 100 per cent effective, will afford us greater protection from enemy projectile weapons. We also believe that it has the added bonus of being able to more effectively target and eliminate enemy fighter craft, though this will need additional testing due to the nature of the target.” Unable to think of anything else to add, the Vulcan closed the file and sent it off with a simple, “T’Less out.”

~FIN~