Armoring Up

Posted on Tue Jun 18, 2019 @ 7:16pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes & Lieutenant Rosin Raine & Lieutenant Kyra Silvan Daughter of House Kilrah & Lieutenant JG Zander Devereaux & Ensign Autumn Rivers & Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexandra "Lexi" Barrows

Mission: Refits and Reviews
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: MD 1 || 1200 hours

Tom exited his office, holding a large Engineering padd which displayed a schematic of the Triumphant. His destination was the center pool table which sat before the massive tri-core. Already assembled around it were members of the ship's Operations and Engineering staffs, both of which where summoned by him to attend this briefing.

"Good afternoon everyone," he said, stepping up to the table and setting the padd on top of it. "Thank you all for coming, especially since it's right at the lunch hour. I got word from the top this morning of a specialized upgrade we need to perform on the Triumphant."

With that, he reached down to the padd's holographic display, pinched with his forefinger and thumb, and flicked something upward. The pool table's emitters took over projecting an image of the Triumphant. Several locations on the ship's outer hull blinked before covering the vessel with Ablative Armor shielding.

Lexi stood with the other Engineers around the pool table, studying the image and specifications in the lologram above it. This was no small task they were being asked to perform, and she had one question... to start. "How long do we have to install it, sir?"

"Time doesn't matter for something like this," Zander said as he looked at the schematics like he was about to propose or start drooling.

Kyra was watching and figuring in her head and came to a conclusion, "As far as power generators go you going to need at least 4 maybe 5. To get this done correctly as well, knowing Starfleet's 'this should have been done yesterday' attitude, its going to take round the clock shifts at least two weeks to get it done", she said.

TAG Anyone

"Oh, at least." Rosin said. "Assuming that there are no unforeseen issues." Rosin said further.

Autumn had been quietly studying and internally analyzing the schematics and made a decision. "With the size of the Triumphant, there will have to be more generator points because they will have to cover a much greater area than Voyager and be assigned their own backups every other point to ensure coverage is complete."

Tom tapped a button to reset the simulated Triumphant and then brought up a set of customized controls. "The Triumphant's design already makes installation and configuration difficult. Voyager didn't have a neck, but Triumphant has two, not to mention a more traditional pylon and nacelle design. We're actually looking at quadruple the generator points. Three sets are for the primary generation, and the fourth is for reinforcement."

Firing a glance over to Lexi, Tom stated, "As with any installation, Starfleet wants it done yesterday. The Odyssey class still is in a small service number, and they don't want any of them sidelined for longer than necessary. But, what worries me is that an upgrade like this means that bigger things are on our horizon. So, not only do we have to work quickly, we don't have any room for mistakes."

"I guess Chief Barnes is a mind reader. Might we work on the nacelles simultaneously with two teams, and have the other teams working on the fore and aft sections at the same time? It would save time and get it done correctly according to specs", Kyra asked.

Tom nodded. "We can certainly do that. I have spent the last couple of hours in heavy review of the specifications. R and D recommends that we work in phases, installing one set at a time and integrating into the power feeds into the warp core. Each section will have to be independently tested prior to officially integrating each set together."

"Agreed", Kyra added.

Rosin nodded. "Also it might be helpful to reference Chief engineer Torres logs and notes regarding this tech." He took a breath. "I mean, she is the one who installed it on Voyager, perhaps we can use her as a "cheat sheet" of sorts."

"Also, I agree with the multiple teams working towards each other. Throw in a little friendly competition and who knows? May even finish faster."

Extra engineers from the station were positioned around the sides of the room waiting for orders, but each Lieutenant and Senior Chief Petty Officer had a PADD with the schematics that Tom had put on holographic display over the pool table. Several of them were staring in awe at the massive tri-core columns behind the Master Chief but all were listening.

"We doing the Victorious, too?" Zander asked as he flipped through schematics ahead of the presentation and briefing.

"We will eventually," Tom said, "but that one will actually be a bit more work since we'll have to modify the docking ports to allow for the changes in the Victorious' figure. The Triumphant is the higher priority."

"Master Chief," an Engineer from the station called out to Tom. "How do you plan on routing the power for the ablative armor? It looks like it'd need a lot."

"There's already a surplus from the tricore," Tom answered as he began to manipulate the controls. "But to answer your question, I have to talk about a couple other things. For those that are aware of Voyager's use of this technology, the generators were affixed directly on top of the hull itself, leaving them completely exposed when not in use. We cannot take that approach here."

The simulation flickered, switching to a projection of the Triumphant with multiple points indicated. "This is more than a simple install. We'll have to remove entire sections of the hull, push into select areas, perform the installation, and then replace the hull, leaving the armor emitters exposed.

"On top of that, we'll have to replace the power lines going to these sections with EPS conduits of higher yield, and adding a redundant feed on top of that. Lieutenant Raine, I'll need the Operations team to handle both the evacuations of every section of both personnel and material to make room for our efforts, as well as oversee the installation of the new feeds."

"If we leave the emitters outside as did Voyager, couldn't we hide them using small holoemitters?", Kyra asked.

"Doing so would require additional power," Tom answered. "Not to mention the natural astrophenomena that disrupt the holographic emitters, and then in the moments when we actually lose power. If we're going to do this, it's worth the extra time to do it right."

"We got the people and the time now, Master Chief," Zander said. "What's the timetable look like versus how quickly we can actually do it?"

Lexi studied the information before her again. This was HUGE, and it would take everyone working multiple shifts to get it done. Her team was not going to be happy, but what else was new. She was about to say something, but Zander beat her to it. She smiled over at him slightly, a smile that said 'get out of my head!', before schooling her expression again and looking back at Barnes.

Tom grunted. "Estimated time in drydock is about two weeks," he answered simply. "Alas, there's no drydock, and we're also a flagship, which means time is even more than the essence. We get done when we get done. In... two weeks or less."

"Which means personnel and power allocation. Which also means headaches for me." Rosin sighed. "So I'll need rosters from you guys. So I can make the most effective teams."

"I can handle the Engineering side of things, especially when it comes to personnel," Tom reminded his fellow senior officer. "Every Engineering hand is going to start working on manufacturing and disassembly. DS10 is also going to lend a few hands. I'd recommend using those hands first to start clearing out the workzones and run those power lines."

"I agree. I'll issue orders to that effect." Rosin nodded

Tom nodded. "All right. Any questions before I start handing out assignments?"

Lexi tried to think of something, but it seemed that it had all been covered fairly well. She frowned at herself, though. There had to be something she was missing. But whatever it was, it kept being missing, so she shook her head and waited for assignment.

"Not a question but more of a request. Is it possible for the mess to deliver the coffee and sandwiches to us as we work? It would cut down on time spent away from our work if we are going to be working round the clock shifts", Kyra asked smiling.

"That can be arranged," Tom agreed. "Just as long as the crumbs and liquid stay away from the sensitive gear. But you all know that already so I shouldn't have to remind you."

Tom switched the display again. "All right, so Lieutenant Raine already knows what he needs to do with Ops. Lieutenant Silvan, you're in charge of Team One. Barrows will back you up. The aft quarter will be yours to overhaul. Lieutenant Devereaux, you'll get the engineering hull and the underside of the saucer. Rivers, you're with me on the saucer's dorsal quarter. Any questions?"

"Nope," Zander said as he begin making copious notes on a PADD in his rough hands and muttering under his breath. This was going to be a multi-gallon job and he hoped he had enough coffee to cover it.

"Um....Chief where do you want me?", Kyra asked.

"Aft quarter," Tom repeated. He'd led the assignment tasking with her team's detail, but he could excuse it sense the job before them was his largest to date since being assigned to the Triumphant.

He looked at the group of engineers. "All right. Let's get to it."