Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

November 02, 2021, 06:26:54 PM

  Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae

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The Fighter Assault Bay was already starting to get quite busy. Repair and mainentance crews were rushing around the deck, finishing works they had to abandon the day before or starting maintenance routines. Some of the birds were in a bad shape after the extensive and intense battles fought by the wolves over the past days. A pessimistic person might have thought that fixing all the damages would take ages, but Sorek - as far as he could say - was certain that this crew, these engineers, were used to performing miracles.

"That was really awkward, Sorek. Never had anything like that before." The handsome Ensign and RIO of Lieutenant Morgan, Owen Clarksdale, rubbed his chin. The two friends had just arrived back from a small test flight, which Sorek had asked for after being assigned a Valravn class fighter.
"Yeah, me neither. Some issues with rapid acceleration can occur with older fighters if mainentance fucked up, but this bucking effect, especially with a new vessel is most unsual." Sorek replied, accompanying his RIO towards Ops. He had to report back and request assistance from the maintenance crew. Of course he could have asked any of the engineers in the hangar, but that would have meant bypassing the chain of command. Something Sorek wanted to avoid, not only because he was new to this ship and it's battle hardened crew. "I'll get someone to have a look at it. You enjoy your gym time and later I want to beat your ass on the chess board, understood?" He grinned to his friend and waved him goodbye.
"Aye, Sir!" The ever teasing RIO replied before turning on his heel, leaving Sorek alone in front of the Ops Center.

Starfleet was a vast organization with so many people that he had absolutely no clue how many in particular. But for some inexplicable reason, one always seemed to stumble whom one had met before. Be it the Academy, assignments to other vessels or stations or even in war. That was the reason why Sorek had expected to see someone familiar in Tactical CONN Ops as well. But this time, he was disappointed. He quickly reported back and gave a detailed description about the issue Owen and him had experienced during their flight.

The operator noted: "Irregular acceleration on full throttle. Heavy thumping combined with a wave-like whirring sound when decreasing speed."
The maintenance request was sent to the crew and Sorek was free to leave.

Sorek decided to wait for the engineer's to arrive, so that he could describe the issue himself if needed. When he reached his bird - Wolf-15 - he smiled. This thing was a beauty if he ever saw one. He understood the notion he had overheard the other day about it's design looking fragile, but still, it was elegant. I still can't believe it. One day I have to find out who vouched for me to get assigned to this beast and thank them properly. He thought to himself while softly running his hand along the smooth surface of the Valravn.

It was only when he reached the aft section of the vessel that he heard a strange, unfamiliar noise. He stopped in his tracks, trying to focus on the sound and closing his eyes to accomplish this task. With his sensory processing capabilities not having to work through visual impressions anymore, he was able to distinguish the noise from the ever present humming of the Theurgy. A constant hissing, isn't it? Maybe a tiny plasma leak? He turned, first his head than making his body follow, towards the sound. He knew that he would hear it best when facing it directly, so he tried to get the exact angle at which the noise was most audible and then opened his eyes.

Directly in front of him were the warp nacelles and even though he was not able to see anything out of the ordinary, he knew that with the little detailed knowledge he had about this new fighter class, it was best to have a professional take a look at it. Maybe this was the cause of the irregular thruster activities.

Re: Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

Reply #1 – November 02, 2021, 09:48:43 PM

CPO Victor vanVinter Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel


Having received the message on his PADD a few minutes ago, Victor had finished up the job he was finishing up on Wolf-02. The Valkyrie hadn't needed his time for anything major, just a replacement and check of the filters in the Life Support system. Filters were replaced, and the bird sealed up. Victor made sure to sign off properly on the job and remove all of the Lock-out equipment he'd installed to allow Wolf-02 to go 'hot' again as soon as it became necessary. He'd made his reputation for his attention to detail and professional nature in the repair bay when working. Victor left a job half-finished if he could help it and always made sure the craft he touched were safe to use or adequately down-checked, and the Deck Chief notified. In this case, Victor gave it the up check, which meant that it could go back to Rawley as soon as she wanted it.

"Nulles dies sine facto." an old maintenance mantra recited time and again by the Chief over his fifteen years in Starfleet. And the mantra had been accurate enough, from his time on Mars to the Thunderchild and the Theurgy. There was truth to the statement 'never a day without work,' even when you were primarily superfluous like he'd become. So it was with a professional quickness that Victor showed up at Wolf-15's parking spot and was surprised to find Sorek still hanging around his bird. Victor watches for a moment, curious about just what the Half Romulan thought he was doing. after a minute or two of watching, Victor coughs loud enough to be noticed.

"Keep it up, Lieutenant. That's a good habit to have. Just ask Ravon if you don't believe me." Victor looks at his PADD and mutters under his breath, seemingly reading off the maintenance request that Sorek had put in a few minutes prior. Victor nods for a moment then and goes into troubleshooting mode, ticking off multiple, it seems, from his list. He didn't know quite so much about the Valravn's yet. But he knew someone that did.

"Hussein, get over here and help out if you've got a minute." Victor wasn't waiting for the short Persian woman to come over and help him out. Victor looks to Sorek in the meantime and shrugs a little.

"Sounds like you've got a problem with the deuterium intermix chambers? Irregular acceleration, and you're hearing a thumping and whirring sound when throttling up and down? It sounds like your flow regulator or deuterium pump is going bad. It might be something else. Hussein here knows the Valravn's better than I do. But have you ever heard of these issues before on this class of ship, Lieutenant?" Victor squints, noticing that Sorek appeared to be listening to something, a confused look crossing his scarred visage then as he moves closer.

"Hearing gremlins, Lieutenant?" His tone is polite and professional, his eyes flicking from Sorek to his PADD as she checks things off and opens up technical manuals for the Valravn fighters. Victor might not know much about the Valravn's, but he didn't expect that the engines were too different from everything he knew about.

Re: Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

Reply #2 – November 03, 2021, 06:16:07 PM

  Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae

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Sorek was still transfixed by the discovery he made. He barely noticed the arrival of the Chief and his elaborations about the actual issue at hand only reached the subconscious part of his mind. It was only when the Chief asked his last question, that the hybrid snapped out of the auditory entanglement and turned to van Vinter.

"What? Oh, sorry Chief." He apologized with a bashful smile. "Yes, I think I am indeed hearing gremlins. It sounds a bit like one of those air-powered vibrators. Like a hissing that's vibrating constantly." He prompted, only realizing what he had said a moment later. And it was true. The sound was very similar to those devices, which he had come across in his youth. The fact that they were appliances used by his mother to pleasure herself was the reason behind his state of semi-dissociation. Flashes of memories long supressed always tended to sneak out of their dark, damp prison cells when triggered by Sorek's senses. But he was professional enough to turn this conversation around. "Erm... you know what I mean?" He pointed at the area from which the sound eminated as if to invite van Vinter to listen for himself. He took a step back, making room for the man who would likely know way more about what was normal and what was not.

"It was strange, Chief. Bucking and irregular de- and acceleration are things that rarely happen nowadays, aren't they? I don't know those birds well enough to even have a proper guess about what's wrong."

Re: Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

Reply #3 – November 04, 2021, 01:56:55 AM

CPO Victor vanVinter Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel


Victor's brows knit in confusion then, at the very concept of an air-powered vibrator, the tall half Bajoran had no clue just what Sorek was even talking about. So he just stood there looking confused, trying to make sense of what the issue was. Fortunately for him, Petty Officer Hussein was a little more on the ball for this.

"I know what the Lieutenant is talking about, Chief. The deuterium injector assembly likely has a small leak. That sound he's hearing is pressure loss. The Valravn's have a finicky injector assembly, easy fix." The Persian deck-hand nodded then and went over to the toolbox to grab the necessary spanners and drivers to remove hull panels without even being asked to.

"Thanks, Hussein, but I don't understand...never mind." Victor's brows knit, still confused about vibrators and he looks to Sorek, shrugging.

"If you don't mind making yourself useful, Lieutenant, I assume you know how to depressurize the Deuterium flow system? If you don't, without activating anything, hit the breakers for your engines and then set your throttle to maximum. Whatever pressure is still in the system will bleed off doing that. Hussein and I will open her up." Victor figured that Sorek would know what he was talking about and started installing safety plugs and locks on everything that could move, anything that was a radiation source. Victor was mainly checking to make sure that Sorek's Valravn had been put to bed properly.

"Hussein, make sure you pull up the Tech Manual for this job, I'm good, but I haven't worked on these birds before. You'll be doing most of the work, but you've got me as an extra set of hands. And yes, I'll sign off the work. That's why I want the TeeEmm open." Sure it was a formality, sure, he knew Hussein didn't need the manual, probably not, but Victor wanted to get a look at it himself and learn something here. Maybe Sorek would as well, and having three sets of hands would be a good thing. Changing out injector assemblies was always a pain in the ass. They were large, heavy, and usually had more than a few pointy bits. It was the heavy part that always mattered when it came to removing and replacing things. At least that determined how many sets of hands were needed on a job.

"Got it Chief." Came the terse reply, coupled with a glare from the strong Persian.  But she relented without comment. It was never fun having a Chief looking over your shoulder, and even less fun when that Chief wanted to be procedural about things.

Re: Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

Reply #4 – November 21, 2021, 07:03:29 PM

  Lt JG Sorek Morgan, Callsign “Chaos”  | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Tae

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Sorek was still blushed while witnessing the engineers exchange about injectors. He knew enough about the technical intricacies to make sense of what they said, but apart from venting the system, he would not be much help.

"Gotcha, Chief. I'm on it." He replied to the Bajoran with a nod. Turning on his heel he ventured past the impressive man, whose scars intrigued and intimidated Sorek simultaneously. His feet brought him to the cockpit, in which he slid with the ease and elegance only a young, trained pilot and maybe some engineers were able to. 

His hands did not yet have the muscle memory to perform the necessary venting procedure fluently, but he knew what to do and was also aware of the fact that a mistake might endanger both engineers. With care he hit the breakers and slowly but steadily increased the throttle.

"'s it workin', Chief?" He shouted out of the open cockpit. He had to rely on the Chief with this, since the Valravn was not powered up and his displays did not tell him much.

Re: Day 02 [0900 hrs.] Two Men, One Itch

Reply #5 – November 30, 2021, 01:39:04 AM

CPO Victor vanVinter Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Lathaniel

Victor stood by while Sorek actuated his controls, so he stood by with PO Hussein as they listened to the sounds of the fighter. And hearing something sound like it had just ruptured inside the body of the craft, complete with a wet dripping sound, both sets of eyes went wide—no visible leaks either, which meant that all of the pressure seals were still good. Thankfully there were no signs of an exothermic or endothermic reaction either. The sounds of sizzling or the quick popping of metal gave away those facts. Victor looks over and shouts to Sorek.

"Lieutenant, hop out of the cockpit and don't touch anything. We just heard something rupture. I think you've got some bad Deuterium lines, and we need to open her up. Come down here and watch help." Watching the maintenance would be pretty dull; changing out deuterium lines was a simple task, but if the pump had shit the bed*1, that would be mildly more interesting and a full day's job to change and run through operations and functions check. But having the Lieutenant get his hands dirty and actually help would pay off in the long run for everyone involved, and more fun to boot. But at the very least, Sorek would be here to know why they had to give his Valkyrie a big Red X*2 on its maintenance forms, grounding the fighter for at least a day. He never liked the look on the pilot's faces when this was the verdict on their birds, but at least Sorek was here to see what was happening.

"Alright, Hussein, this should be pretty standard fare. Let's lay down some drip pans and pig mats*3 to soak up whatever spills. Probably won't be too much, but you never know." Victor smiled politely, and Hussein gave him a look that clearly said, 'stop showing off for the flyboy.' Victor rolls his eyes and replies with a raised middle finger paired with a smile. Nothing bad, and besides, Hussein knew what Victor was doing, saying the simple stuff out loud so that the new guy could learn a thing or two.

While Hussein only a few meters away, grabbing the drip and spill supplies, Victor taps the Hull panel they need to remove and motions to Sorek. "Ok, Lieutenant, we need to remove at least the ventral panel here to get to the deuterium lines. When we open her up it's probably going to spill a bit of fluid, nothing terrible. Deuterium is basically liquid hydrogen with a neutron attached. Because we're not hearing the sounds of any metal popping from shrinkage, that means we're using a suspension of the stuff. Or it's something else, anyway, if you would please do the honors of removing the panel for us."

Victor smiles then and presents the Lieutenant with a screwdriver and taps the hull panel and the screws with his cybernetic hand, a dull metal thud ringing out whenever contact is made. Victor tapped the hull twenty times, indicating the recessed release bolts.

"Up to you in the order, you remove these, but always leave corner bolts for last when removing and first when installing. Now to get these to release, press in and twist counterclockwise, it takes a bit of force, but you can do it." Victor's voice was cool and polite, keeping a careful eye on the maintenance. Petty Officer Hussein was there to assist them both, the woman standing a few steps back until it came time to support the panel when the last few bolts were still in.

- FIN