Messages

Please retire all characters.

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish.

[UPDATE]

UPDATE

Character affected: Kaniehtiio Denton
Assigned ship(s): Challenger
Period of time absent: 6 September 2023 - Results of Transfer Request are Made
Date of last period of activity: 6 September 2023
Date returning: Upon the results of This Transfer Request

Any relevant comments: Kaniehtiio Denton will no longer be involved in any Mission Threads involving the Challenger. I may continue to post Holodeck Posts/Threads with her, but will not be involved in Missions until her Transfer Request is Approved, or she is made Inactive upon a Denial of her Transfer Request.

[[USS Jupiter | Bridge]]

[USS Jupiter | Bridge]

Previously"¦

The data that Sydney had been able to salvage from the Jupiter's Flight Recorder had done little to inform the Discovery Away Team of anything of use to what they found themselves facing. Of the little recent records she'd pulled, it appeared as if the ship had fled from an assault, most likely Dominion Forces despite there being a lack of specificity on such, and sought cover in the nebula. While it seemed to have served to allow the Jupiter to elude their unknown pursuers, the logs that followed were a mix of damaged or didn't make sense. It wasn't clear what had happened to the ship as it hid in the nebula, but clearly what the Discovery's Away Team had discovered had been the result of those unclear effects.

"Sir," She said to Lek, "These only got more aggressive once the power was on. Would it make sense to conclude that they might respond to light or the new energy?"

"œOkay. I'd get started on the override protocols for life support and communications. In the meantime, I'll get the Captain on the line so he or the Commander can come over to fully give us the controls,"œ she said, calling the Discovery to give them an update.

"œThis is Garrison to Discovery, we've got the ship's power and shields back up, and are ready for a member of Command to- What the-?"
She was interrupted by the alert coming from the comm system.

"œUm, sirs, I'm going to have to call you back. The ghosts we're encountering- I think they're coming."

"Discovery to away team.  Do what you can, but for the time being you are confined to the Jupiter.  Contact the bridge the moment there is a medical issue with the team.  We'll handle system overrides later.  Discovery out."

PO2 Helga Tragnar

Even before Dersch's order, Helga had her phaser rifle up and firing at the white-uniformed figure bearing down on Reid - carefully aimed to not be anywhere near the Operations officer- but as expected for ghosts, even these more manifested apparitions were not at all affected by the energy beam.  It passed through them as readily as it would an EMH.

Shouldering her firearm, Helga then vaulted over obstacles in her way to attempt a sidelong tackle of the uniformed officer as he swung his saber down towards Reid...

If Helga had been watching she'd have seen Lorut's phaser beam, like others previously, go right through her target seemingly to no effect.  The beam had instead struck the far corner of the bridge close to the viewscreen, where a layer of frost had been forming on the wall.  Except this time, the Bridge personnel all flickered and disappeared, just as Helga would have grabbed the saber-wielding ghost.   They were gone!  However, the 'ghostly' Captain's voice continued to speak over the intercom. "Leave while you can! Remain and you too shall die."

"œReid, Lorut, if you can, I need you to see if you can decode the Captain's logs. I have a hypothesis on what happened here, but I don't know for sure yet."

"Yes, ma'am, we'll see what we can do."

"¦

"See?" She said, with a shrug. "Run an override for the Captain's Logs. I am going to the Ready Room to see if I can find anything else. Perhaps his or her personal Hologram machine has something," she said. She looked around. "Security, I need an escort," she said, rolling her eyes.

Things had gone from bad to worse. It was as if an entire battle had broken out on the Jupiter's Bridge, but unlike the simulations she'd been forced to take part in before, these 'apparitions' didn't seem at all affected by the security team member's phaser weapons. While one of the security members seemed to have more success physically interacting with one of the 'ghosts', what it concluded to the Ops Officer only made her more concerned for her and her fellow crew's safety. The standard weapons were having no effect, and Sydney was surely not the type to be able to handle herself in hand-to-hand combat. With no phaser to use, even if they'd already proved ineffective, she reached back to grab the small pry bar tool she'd used previously and held it out like an impromptu weapon, even if she didn't think she'd really be able to do anything with it.

Suddenly, she noticed Vila's phaser blast pass through the 'apparition' Sydney had called out and struck one of the bridge's bulkheads, causing the lights in the room to flicker before dimming. Suddenly the 'ghosts' disappeared. While it was a relief, it also immediately reminded the computer scientist of her previous work with STEVE and comments she'd previously not paid much mind to that had come over the open comm channel in her helmet.

With new orders given by Kinley, Sydney called out to Vila, "Lorut, the Captain's Logs shouldn't be subject to the same encryptions as the Systems Lockout. Given the age of the security measures, just remember your Academy training and I'm sure you'll gain access to them in no time. I'll stay here and start isolating the locked-out systems." It seemed the two were on the same page about where they would each be most useful. Sydney was surprised that Vila decided to request a security escort. She hadn't even seemed like the type to admit such was an idea she'd thought she would actually need. 'Bajorans"¦' she thought with a shake of her head before rushing back over to the Communications Console.

Setting the pry bar down to be within quick reach, Sydney tapped her commbadge right before she got to work on the Lockout Encryptions.

"Commanders Garrison and Lek. I believe these"¦'ghosts' might function in the same way as our hologram system on the Discovery. Once we started to regain power, they seemed to increase in strength and the ability to physically interact with us. While we need the power to activate systems, we may want to limit power to only the necessary systems we need. Deflector Shield Emitters should be safe given their nature, but I think it would be inadvisable to divert power to the Life Support and Lighting Systems, given how widely spread they are within the Jupiter's bulkheads. Our EV suits should continue to provide necessary life support and vision, and the deflectors will shield us from spatial radiation. I may be able to get communications up, but I think, after that, I should try to get us access to the Flight Control systems. I can't be sure, but there were no reports of anything like what we're seeing in the Flight Recorder, meaning it probably happened after they entered the nebula. I'd advise we exit it as soon as we can"¦before this former crew returns. Any advisements, Commanders?"

While giving her evaluation of what she'd witnessed so far in the only way she could relate to the eerie phenomena from her specific expertise, Sydney had continued to work on breaking the encryptions in place on the various ship systems. Life Support had been fairly easy to isolate and gain control of given how it was more so governed by the Emergency Protocols as opposed to strictly Command Protocols. While she'd unlocked them fully, she waited for the expert opinions of Kinley and Lek before fully activating them; fearful they might cause the 'ghosts' to return and once again halt her work.

Even if it hadn't been ideal to work on next, the cryptologist set her focus on gaining access to the defector shields. While she knew gaining access to the advanced systems that allowed the use of the shielding system to be used in a Tactical-sense, the standard Navigation Deflector, properly calibrated, would at least provide the environmental protections they would need she was assuming had played a part in the state the Jupiter now found itself. If she could gain access, perhaps Discovery would soon be able to inform the Away Team what it was that had now confined them to the slowly reactivating ship.

Once those two had been isolated from the Command-Level Lockout, Sydney would call down to Commander Garrison over the open comm channel to inform her before starting to work on gaining control of the Comms Relay. While the Away Team had managed to maintain comms with the Discovery so far, things had certainly taken a turn towards the 'weird' and unexpected, and she didn't want to leave them with the inability to call for help if short-range comms were lost.

Next on her list was Flight Control, which would certainly be the biggest test of her skills, yet she still had several systems to isolate and unlock before even starting on that. Hopefully, Kinley and Lek would find some other solution to what was affecting them before there was a need to make the decision that flying out was their only option. While there had seemed to be no apparent reason the Jupiter wouldn't be able to handle flight, despite its age, Sydney was almost sure that the power needed to facilitate such would certainly result in the former crew returning to expel the 'boarders' that were working diligently to gain control of their ship.

Realistically, because of my nature and the responsibility I feel towards others involved in the RP I choose to take part in, I'm probably going to end up keeping up on my posting while I consider my future/see how things develop. The LOA is mostly just to cover for if I end up having to take time away depending on how things are going, thus missing a reply cycle or the like.

As I'm sure you're aware, there is already a plan in place to alleviate the issues I've experienced. I will continue to monitor and contribute where appropriate, but, depending on how everything with the Site and its SIMMs shake out, I will be sure to let you know of whatever ultimate decisions I make. If at any point you wish to discuss anything, I'm reachable by Discord DMs and Site PMs, as you know.

[[USS Discovery-B | Deck 9 | Counselor's Office]]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 9 | Counselor's Office]

Jess relaxed her posture once again as she listened to the woman speak. Then she saw the woman take a sip of replicator coffee and tensed slightly. "Next time we're getting you better coffee. We do the real stuff in this office, not replicator coffee." She said almost absentmindedly. She paused for a moment as she thought about Sydney's words. "Autonomy..." She said out loud as if to let Reid know what she was thinking. "Something I find interesting is that your quest for autonomy brought you to Starfleet, an organization with a rather strict chain of command."

Before going in for the next line of questioning she decided to shift slightly to comment on other things that had been said. She found dancing around in the conversation tended to leave people off guard for when the next questions came, something that usually allowed for much more...honest answers. It also had the added benefit of not giving people time to think on answers, because if they can't tell where you're going with something they never know what question to think on. "I would imagine it would have felt quite frustrating to have concerns feel like they weren't shared to the level you saw them. Especially when you feel like your concerns would save lives and protect people outside the organization you operate inside." Again, it was time to aim straight for a tough question. "How has the adjustment to the rigid command structure affected you?"

There was a dismissive roll of her eyes accompanying a small smirk at the Counsellor's comment about the coffee. Sydney didn't think much of the replicator's product, but she wouldn't turn down the genuine thing if it was offered in the future, which she hoped wouldn't be too soon. The woman's focus on the particular word the cryptologist used was of particular note to Sydney, which only seemed to be countered by the statement Jess made right after, or so the counselor may have believed.

While Sydney could have gone on and on in detail about how her ignored concerns not only was a problem for those beyond Starfleet but also those within it, that wasn't the question posed to her. Even if the short moment of time it had taken the counselor to comment on her reactions and form her inquiry to the computer scientist, the woman had already begun to formulate an answer, convoluted as it may end up, to address the question posed to her.

"While there has certainly been an adjustment period between moving from the civilian sector to that of a more militaristic one, the rigidity of Starfleet: its structure, its protocols, its strict command structure I see as a benefit in the overall to the pursuit of my goals. Starfleet is a system with clear, definable rules and boundaries, like a computer program. To advance in Starfleet is a simple math problem. 'Time plus Proficiency plus Work equals Steady Promotion.' One is rewarded for simply doing their job at a high level consistently.

"In the Civilian Sector, there are a lot more politics at play. You have to prove what you are working on not only has value but also convince others that your work will one day lead to some reward for it, and more often than not, for them; those that permit and fund your research. Even if the Dominion War is long in the rear-view, the incidents on Mars as well as the revelations of the Romulan involvement, numerous new hostile threats that have developed as a reaction to the fracturing of the former Romulan Empire, which had made the UFOP's focus more on protecting their borders as a Military would: through develop of weapons technology, as opposed to the mission Starfleet was originally intended to serve: the exploration of space and the expansion of our collective knowledge.

"Simply put, I came to understand I had no interest in working in an industry that was mercurial by nature, shifting this way and that depending on the desires of those who were only acting out of fear as opposed to logically identifying tangible problems and finding solutions to them. Starfleet's rigid structure, the nature by which one seeks advancement, is governed and set in stone by a definable architecture, much like a computer's framework. In such a rigid structure, it is easier for me to not only focus my talents and desires towards a specific field of advancement, but the nature of Starfleet's promotional structure ensures that, if I continue to prove myself in the way their regulations outline, I will one day find myself in a position to have the influence to make those changes, to bring those changes to fruition not only for the betterment of the Fleet but for the betterment of the Galaxy as a whole.

"Even though you may see my desire for autonomy as in contrast to the rigid structure of Starfleet, I see it as a system in which I can thrive because of that rigidity; because it doesn't require me to campaign for those things that I feel are important if I can prove they are important to the Fleet and have either the rank or recommendations to have my work presented to those that are willing to listen, to see it for what it is.

"In the Civilian Sector, that which I concerned myself with is seen as only a nuisance given Starfleet has managed to overcome and conceal the mistakes and losses that have been made without there being major public incidents until very recently. If someone had been doing the work I am doing twenty years ago, we may not have had an Incident like what happened on Mars. If the Mars Incident hadn't happened, we may have been able to not only save millions, if not billions of Romulans but also bridge the relationship between our peoples in a way unlike any had been able to achieve before, making a more unified galaxy instead of the more fractured one we find ourselves in now.

"The only issue I've found with the strict command structure I've experienced is superiors that lack the extensive knowledge in the specialties I spent most my adult life advancing in, leaving them mostly ignorant to what I try to explain to them. While some may find this frustrating, at least with my current Chief, he's chosen to not interfere as opposed to limiting me, which is certainly to my benefit.

"Those couple of Petty Officers I work with I treat like I did co-workers, not as superior might, even if I forget sometimes that is the position I have been placed in. They've learned this quickly, and, I believe, has come to benefit the overall harmony and efficiency in the lab in which I am primarily assigned. While their reasons for enlisting might not have been the same as why I chose to apply to the Academy and seek a Commission, I'm fairly certain they would speak highly of me, albeit maybe even finding my nature almost unexpectedly relaxed for an Officer.

"As for my fellow officers and superior officers, I try my best to treat them with the respect their rank deserves, but, as a result of my Papa's years of stories, tend to see them more as equals all sharing the pursuit of a collective goal as opposed to a strict hierarchy that must be acknowledged with every breath. Since coming aboard Discovery, I've had both positive experiences of this personal nature, as well as negative experiences. Those that were positive I have found a level of kinship with. Those that were negative I have been able to attribute to the normal Egos you find in those who consider themselves the best at what they do, which is no different from the vast majority of Scientists and Researchers I had experienced in my previous academic career.

"While I may have succeeded a great deal in the Academy, mostly through keeping my head down and focusing on my studies, I know that actually serving aboard a starship as a bonafide officer and specialist is vastly different. My Papa has warned me of such many times since I first considered Starfleet as an alternate path to my ultimate goals. I knew coming in it would be a difficult transition, but I do believe, if I keep at it, it is a much more efficient and clearly defined path to achieve those goals. As with any new system, there are 'growing pains' and unexpected variables, but I have always had a knack for adapting when required, and I fully plan to do the same within Starfleet.

"Honestly, besides a single encounter in which I probably overstepped due to only wanting to keep a situation from becoming far worse for everyone involved than it needed to become; a situation I had come to witness or be part of numerous times in the past in my civilian life, I have only had positive experiences and made far more enriching personal connections than I initially thought I would make. Even if I feel like I'm making mistakes far more often than I like, I'm truly starting to really appreciate the choice I made and am starting to believe that Starfleet was the right choice for me, even if to a third party it may have looked like an unexpected choice."

Sydney knew she had gone on for quite a bit, rambling at times, but still retained a focus and awareness of her words as she tried to give the most complete answer to the counselor's inquiry as she could. It was surely the result of old habits of having to explain a great deal of technical methods and results to those looking to either find fault in them or discredit her or her work in some way. As much as she was a Starfleet Officer now, she still carried a great deal of the civilian researcher she'd previously been within herself and her mannerisms.

Throughout all of it, her focus had been entirely on Jess, as if she'd been standing in front of yet another dissertation defense. Yet, finding herself momentarily satisfied and feeling oddly relieved to have been able to speak at such length in a setting where it didn't seem her work or career was on the line, Sydney had momentarily wondered why she'd never taken her Dad's advice to seek out even occasional therapy before. Even if she didn't want to admit it, it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she lifted the coffee cup cradled in her hands to take another, much-needed sip.

It was only then that Sydney remember Jess' first comment, causing her to smirk as she lowered the cup to add as an afterthought, "If you are offering rea coffee next time, I may be more inclined to do this more often than just when mandated." While it wasn't an outright admission that she was finding this whole experience positive, it was at least revealing a peek into her shifting opinion on the act.

[[USS Jupiter | Bridge]]

[USS Jupiter | Bridge]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
A phaser beam lanced out and pierced the white apparition as it faded away.  Helga ran toward Sydney to check on her and if nothing else block any further attacks...  "Are you okay?"

Helga gave Sydney and visual once over, but thankfully the woman didn't appear injured... maybe just a bit embarrassed.   At the quest of 'what was it?'  Helga could only shake her head.

"I'm not sure.  It seemed like just another of the replaying scenes at first... but then it seemed to directly target you."

"I'm fine, just"¦" Sydney didn't finish as she pushed herself back up to her previous position, not wanting to further embarrass herself in front of the stone-cold-killer of a Security Officer who had twice now come to her aid, albeit aid that was entirely due to the Ensign's own fear of these unexplainable, ghostly entities.

"Reid, the systems are about 20 years out of date. What the HELL is going on?!"

"¦She turned to Sydney. "I am in, kind of. I can run an update with my current authorizations. I hope it understands Bajoran. We weren't really a part of the Federation twenty years ago, though, but...it's worth a try." She sighed but tapped some buttons. "Let me know if you get anywhere. We can piggyback off each others' work."

A small, involuntary chuckle escaped the computer scientist as she called back without turning away from the console she was working at, "This ship was lost during the Dominion War. It hasn't had contact with Starfleet or any of its vessels since then. It probably has been powered down since then, so there was no way for it to get systems updates. Don't worry, Lorut, we got this," Sydney said with an odd air of confidence that she'd not shown since arriving on the Jupiter While her fellow Ops Officer might be thinking she was looking at some foreign bit of code, the coding was quite more familiar to the 'Computer Doctor' from the work she'd done at Daystrom.

"Great work you two. Time to start on the Impulse engines. We need some maneuverability on top of the additional power. M'Nia, you track the deuterium injection rate. Gohun, you keep the EPS taps at level three. When you are ready, sing out and I will initiate the startup sequence."

As Commander Lek's voice came over the open comms channel, Sydney let out a short sigh of disappointment. Turning to glance over to Vila, "Because of the Command-Level Lockout, it seems we're letting Engineering get ahead of us. While they may be able to get all of the systems back online, it won't do us any good if we can't gain control of them. I might be able to start isolating system controls from the lockout and transferring them to you, but it'll be based on the priority of control. Life Support is the easiest. Comms is probably next. Getting us actually able to gain control of major systems like Flight Control is going to take a lot more. Tactical might very well be impossible. I'll start working. Be ready for when control pops up on your console. Hopefully, we can get control of this ship before too long."

While the Cryptologist seemed optimistic about her chances of cracking the twenty-year-old encryptions in place, she didn't realize she wouldn't get the chance as the power returning also brought with it a new wrinkle in the Discovery Crew's recovery operation of the Jupiter...

Helga grinned to hear Lek's sexy voice over the comm.  Soon he'd have this bucket of a ship fully-powered and on its way out of this nebula.

But with the lights came other problems... the Captain in White was back and he wasn't alone!  With him appeared the what looked like the majority of his Senior Officers - also dressed in their formal dress uniforms - they are spread out across the bridge standing by their respective stations Helga assumed - perhaps haunting them?  Only they didn't look ghostly at all. They appeared solid as a living person.

Once more the Captain raised his saber "Repel the Intruders!" he called.  The order was sounded throughout the ship.

"You'd be more scary if you weren't dead. Now, I've got work to do and don't have time for interruptions. I suggest you go find someplace else to haunt or I'll figure out a way to scramble you with an EM pulse. Because while you can't hurt me, an EM pulse will scramble your ectoplasm all over the ship."

The sudden yell caused Sydney to look up from the Comms Console she'd been diligently working at. Momentarily confused, especially as such an announcement was both out of character and beyond the access that she and Lorut had been able to obtain, it wasn't until she heard the Chief Engineer's voice in her helmet that she glanced over to see a Blue-Shouldered Officer in a very retro uniform looking at her as if she had been caught breaking into a vault.

Jumping back, causing her to tumble out of the seat and to the floor, Sydney began scuttling back as she took in the officer. While it certainly looked like the others they'd encountered, this one was clearly much more"¦solid than the others. Her mind tried to make sense of what she was looking at, but couldn't. Suddenly appearing ghosts, or in this case, very real-looking ghosts were beyond anything she'd studied in her years prior or during Starfleet. Glancing Vila's direction, she saw another standing behind her fellow Ops Officer, causing Sydney to yell out, "LORUT! LOOK OUT!"

Finding her back suddenly coming in contact with one of the vertical surfaces on the antiquated Bridge, Sydney pushed herself up onto her feet before reflexively reaching down to where her sidearm should have been. Her head snapped quickly to her hip as she finally remembered she'd forgotten to grab one. Failing to follow the usual Away Team protocol all because of her aversion to such devices was quickly proving to her why such protocols were in place as she found herself without the tools needed to defend either herself or her fellow officers from the suddenly appearing and clearly hostile apparitions.

Character(s) affected:  Sydney Reid, Kaniehtiio Denton
Assigned ship(s): Discovery, Challenger
Period of time absent: 4Sep to 11Sep
Date of last period of activity: 4 Sep
Date returning: Uncertain/On or Before 11 Sept

Any relevant comments: On advisement, evaluating future. May still have activity, but uncertain. May extend, shorten, or request reserve status.

[[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge]]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge] (During Katra Upgrades - Pre-Restless Spirit)

"Unflappable optimism? Never thought of it that way but, I'd say my grandfather. He's always been a big influence on my life. He taught me to take what comes and just deal with it the best you can. I know enough and am smart enough to know it's okay to be scared sometimes. I expect that but the trick is to know what to do. That's a lot harder. I try not to think about the bad things too much otherwise I'd probably never get any rest." She paused as she ate more of the meat. "This is good! Mmm." She had a swig of her drink. "Now I won't say that I am always optimistic. I try but sometimes I feel intimidated by things but I try to push through it. It helps that I like a challenge. I think that I inherited that from my grandfather as well."

With her cheesy fries dwindling and her glass of tea nearly to the point of making that gurgling-sucking sound through her straw, Sydney knew she probably should finish up or at least get more to drink, but the very idea of getting up for any reason meant interrupting the conversation the two were having. That was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment given how much of a peek M'Nia was giving into her life; her background.

Trying to draw out what was left of her food as long as she could, dragging the few remaining fries back and forth through the gooey cheese without making it look like she was purposely stalling, Sydney let out a short chuckle at the Caitian's response to her words, but otherwise just remained silent, doing her best not to flinch at the feline-like woman as she ripped into her tray of meat with her long, sharp canines and powerful jaws.

Shaking her head at M'Nia with a bright smile, "Some would argue that that is the definition of an optimistic person," she replied with a slight giggle before finally raising the french fry to her mouth, smiling through pressed lips as she chewed one of her last bites of food. Clearing her mouth with the smallest of sips of her tea that she could manage, Sydney spoke up, "Did you spend a lot of time with your Grandfather? He sounds like a very impressive and wise man."

[[USS Jupiter | Bridge Away Team]]

[USS Jupiter | Bridge Away Team]

Let's do it. The more we know about what happened here, the more we can better understand where the crew of the Jupiter went or what they were doing."

Once Kinley gave the Operations Officer the needed permission to do so, Sydney looked up to one of the Security Team members and requested the power supply from their phaser rifle. While she wasn't sure how long it would last or how much data she would be able to retrieve, it was probably their best option until those in Engineering were able to get some form of power flowing through the Jupiter's systems once again. Retrieving two short cables from her small tool pouch, the first would connect the phaser battery to the Flight Recorder, while the second would allow her to interface the cube with the control panel and simplistic processor housed within her EV suit. If nothing else, she might be able to broadcast the last few minutes of the former Jupiter's Logs to the rest of the Away Team over the open comm channel.

PO2 Helga Tragnar
The hallway remained empty but a new movement caught by her peripheral vision spotted what looked like a figure in white.   Helga turned to glance at what she suspected was yet another looping replay.

The ghostly figure was a man in appeared to be formal dress whites, complete with saber and full regalia. The Captain perhaps? Or a visiting Admiral?  Whoever he had been, the figure was headed to the Command Chair.  Or rather where the chair had been, as by this time Sydney had removed the seat to access the data recorder and was working to power it up with one of the other crewmen's rifle's power supply.

Helga was just about to turn away from the scene to get back to her assigned task of watching the hallway, when she saw the figure draw the saber and raise it as if to strike down on the seat where Sydney was working.

Training kicked in and Helga shouted a warning "Blade!"

Sydney hadn't really been paying attention to her surroundings as she worked to retrieve the most recent logs from the Flight Recorder before the rifle's power supply was depleted. Even if the large, obsidian-colored box was little more than a massive memory storage device, it still took a great deal of power to access, and the jury-rigged power supply was certainly being pushed beyond its usual limitations. She'd just accessed and was sending off the most recent Bridge Logs via the open comm channel to Commander Kinley using the touchpad on her forearm when she heard the Security Team member's loud warning.

Looking up in confusion, Sydney's eyes went wide as she saw the white-clad apparition swinging a saber down at her, causing the woman to let out a loud scream, "AAAAAHHHH!!!" as she reacted by raising her arm in defense, reflexively closing her eyes in preparation for the pain that was to be expected from the attack.

No pain came, leaving the Ops Officer in a guarded position, yet had rolled backward onto her back, but only far enough to the length of the cable connecting her to the Flight Recorder. Frozen in shock for a moment, Sydney's eyes slowly opened and she lowered her arm to find the white-clad apparition to have disappeared. Rolling forward back to a kneeling position, the woman's head swiveled around quickly, looking for the disappearing man, before turning her gaze to Petty Officer Tragnar to call out in confusion, "What??? What was it???

Waiting for the Security member's answer, if one was even offered given how pathetically skittish she'd already proven to be, it was clear things were moving quickly as the first flickers of power started to light up the numerous consoles on the Bridge, and Ensign Lorut began conversing with the Mission Commander over the open comms.

Vila nodded in agreement; she wasn't about to go out like that, either. "Commander Garrison, I can take the far consoles," she said, indicating with the hand not clutching her phasers to a bank of computers against the far wall, where the Helmspeople and navigators usually sat. "If Reid wants to cover the Command consoles. Then I can double back to Science and Astrometrics," she said. She waited for the Scientist's approval, trying to not tap her foot impatiently. It wasn't so much out of annoyance, just...she needed to be DOING things.

Finally, she was allowed to get started, and as she approached the consoles, she thought about the best way to approach it. Head on, as usual. She took a seat, and worked quickly, tapping away. It took every ounce of her skills, and the last iotas of her patience, but she was finally able to get some life. "Computers are running on a very small amount of life, ma'am. Whatever signals we picked up drained the life out of the support systems. Any word from Engineering about how long it may be?" She asked, hopefully. "I'll do what I can."

"Do we have Comms up yet, Reid?" She asked. "I need to get this to the Discovery before we lose everything." She said, plainly. Her tone was even-this was the only time she was decent-working.

Recovering from her position on the floor, Sydney tried to transmit as much data as she could before the rifle's power supply depleted and the Flight Recorder shut down once again. Exhaling heavily as she moved to disconnect her cables from the box, the Ops Officer closed the interface panel on its top before standing. Calling over to the Security Member who had handed over the power supply, she offered it back and requested, "Secure the Flight Recorder for transport back to Discovery."

Vila had been quick to get moving on restoring systems control once the console began to power up, leaving Sydney a step behind as she called back, "Not yet, Lorut. Moving to do so now." Tucking her cables away as she moved quickly over to the Communication Station, the Operations Officer began to enter what commands she could but quickly found there to be a lack of access. Frowning at what was being presented in front of her, Sydney called out over the open comms, "We have limited systems control. While we should be able to get minimal systems online, there appears to be a Command Lockout in place."

Thinking quickly Sydney directed her attention to the Mission Commander, "Reid to Garrison. If we want to get full control of the Jupiter we're going to need Command Codes to override the lockout, so we're going to need a Command-Level Officer to unlock the controls. Either that or"¦I could try to get us around it. The computer's security protocols are nearly twenty years out of date. I may be able to open full access, but it will take time. Orders, Commander?"

Congrats, you three! Your Respective SIMMS and fellow SIMM-Mates are sure to miss you.

[[USS Jupiter | Bridge Away Team]]

[USS Jupiter | Bridge Away Team]

Once the team making their way to the Jupiter's Bridge arrived, the Security Team reflexively fanned out to secure the area. The whole contingent had continued to encounter the ghostly apparitions the entire way up to the central control hub of the ship. Besides fluctuations in the temperature of individual areas and corners of the otherwise lifeless ship, the only thing Sydney's tricorder picked up with the slight spikes of faint power readings coming from what little remained in the sputtering batteries of the emergency lighting. For all intents and purposes, the Jupiter was dead, both in functionality and crew, despite the repeating phantoms that seemed to have no apparent source or cause that the computer scientist could detect.

The eerie feeling of the ship had most likely been what kept anyone from snickering at the skittish Ops Officer given her clear fright over the open comms. Oddly enough, it was the voice of Commander Lek that had brought her focus, reminding Sydney of the mission that the entire Away Team was on. Bringing up the Miranda-Class blueprints on the display on her forearm, the Ensign was accompanied by one of the Security Team members as she opened up the large panels that flanked each side of the Bridge, scanning the massive emergency batteries stationed behind each before calling over the open channel, "Reid to Engineering Team. Both of the Emergency Battery Banks are completely drained. I'm not going to be able to get any of the consoles online up here until you restore power. Moving to secure the Flight Recorder."

Looking at the blueprints again, and flipping back and forth between the first and second decks, Sydney walked the main floor of the Bridge slowly, using a combination of the EV suit's ALA and a wrist-mounted light until she came around to the front side of the large, centrally-located console that sat a combination of Helm and Navigation systems. While the seam of the panel was barely perceptible, when Sydney stood in front of it, her eyes coming up to see the empty Captain's Chair over the console, she gave a slight shrug before she tucked away her tricorder and knelt down in front of it.

Pulling the simple tool from the pack on her EV suit, the Ops Officer wedged the prying bar into the seam, wiggling it several times until she found enough purchase to give it a solid push and cause the panel to pop off. Placing the tool back before picking up and moving the slab of paneling aside, she shined her light on the cavity she'd uncovered. Reaching in and carefully pulling on the obvious handle, the large, cube-like unit slid out of its housing, exposing the numerous connections all running to it but most certainly the large one it had been settled into that had connected it to the main computer core situated directly below it.

Setting the Data Recorder on the floor, Sydney retrieved her tricorder again and gave it a wave over the device before calling over the comms, "Reid, here. I have secured the Jupiter's Flight Recorder. It appears to be intact and undamaged." Tipping it this way and that to allow her to look over all of its sides, she flashed her light into the recorder's housing, leaning in to examine the walls of it before confirming, "There are no signs of any malfunction to any of the connections on it or its housing. I believe I can assume it was recording until the ship suffered the complete loss of power to all systems."

The woman's breathing was heavy as she worked to continue to manipulate the heavy device in the awkwardness of the EV suit. Unlocking the interface panel nestled into the top of it, she pressed a few of the simple buttons before giving it one last scan. Rocking back to sit on her heel, the effort was evident in her voice as she called over, "Commander Garrison, the Flight Recorder's power supply is dead, but I might be able to connect a secondary power source to initiate some level of temporary recovery of the data to see what the last logs were. Do I have authorization to proceed?"

If Kinley gave the Operations Officer the needed permission to do so, Sydney would look up to one of the Security Team members and request the power supply from their phaser rifle. While she wasn't sure how long it would last or how much data she would be able to retrieve, it was probably their best option until those in Engineering were able to get some form of power flowing through the Jupiter's systems once again. Retrieving two short cables from her small tool pouch, the first would connect the phaser power supply to the Flight Recorder, while the second would allow her to interface the cube with the control panel and simplistic processor housed within her EV suit. If nothing else, she might be able to broadcast the last few minutes of the former Jupiter's Logs to the rest of the Away Team over the open comm channel.

[[USS Discovery-B | Deck 9 | Counselor's Office]]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 9 | Counselor's Office]

Jess listened intently nodding as the fellow officer spoke. She leaned slightly to the left to place her arm on the armrest of her chair. For a moment she let every word the ensign spoke linger in the air around them before finally clearing the air. "I see. It makes sense to leave a system you feel yourself incompatible with." She paused to let that fill the space for a brief moment before she continued.

Willard's eyes never left Reid's. She smiled slightly and then leaned forward intently. "Tell me how it felt to work in that system. I can imagine it was quite frustrating to feel like you were a puzzle piece that didn't fit."

It wasn't so much the woman's leaning forward that caused the reaction, but the question posed that seemed to push Sydney's shoulders back into the chair in which she was sitting. Her finger tips began to gently strum against the cup being held within them as she gave Jess a slightly suspicious look, letting the question linger in silence for an exceptionally long moment given the directness of the private and uninterrupted conversation taking place. Whether she realized it or not, Jess' metaphor had caused a moment of curiosity in the Operations Officer as she tried to wrap her mind around the abstractness of it.

Humming into her words after a moment of intense thought, "...Umm, I don't know if I'd describe it like that. It was frustrating, yes, but not so much because I didn't 'fit', so to speak. The issues I was addressing, the ones I considered most pressing to both Starfleet and the entirety of the Galaxy as a whole, were treated as if they were incredibly minor, even if they had historically proven to be the cause of millions if not billions of deaths. I found it astonishing that a continuing oversight that had resulted in so much fear and death wasn't treated with the seriousness that I believed it should."

Sydney's demeanor had certainly changed as she spoke. Her suspicion and nervousness as gradually been replaced by an apparent passion, and to some extent, anger that her point of view had been seemingly dismissed so easily. Taking a quick sip of her coffee, which her fingertips had stopped strumming against as she continued to hold it in her lap, she continued, "My decision to leave Daystrom, to leave the program that only I seemed to take any interest in, was because I felt that, at least in Starfleet, they might be able to see the importance of my field of focus, since they were the ones that had so often suffered from the fear such oversight brought upon them. While I do miss certain areas of the work I was doing before, Starfleet has allowed me to not only continue to delve deeper into the issues I am focused on solving but to also expand upon it to include methods and applications I hadn't considered before. They allowed me to open my perspective to include things, such as language, that I hadn't before made the connections between.

"Now, I have a level of autonomy that I didn't truly have before. Before, I had to give regular updates; regular 'proofs' of the work I was doing and how it was improving. Here, no one seems too concerned with what I'm working on or researching as long as my duties are kept in good standing, which isn't actually terribly difficult from my perspective. It's easy to make tools to automate and monitor most of my minor duties for me, allowing me the freedom I didn't have before to focus on finding solutions to the problems I've been identifying for years. I just hope, if I find solutions or methods that fall outside of the usual 'box' of thinking, Starfleet might see value in them, instead of dismissing them without allowing me to show my evidence and proof of functionality." It was then that Sydney gave a slight, dismissive shrug before taking another sip of her coffee, as if she'd already given up on some of the effort needed to fight for her convictions and ideals.

[[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge]]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge] (During Katra Upgrades - Pre-Restless Spirit)

"Rr, nervous? Yes. I'd be crazy if I wasn't. That said I am a Starfleet officer. At least that's what my diploma says. My father and grandfather always said that there is nothing wrong with being scared. It's what you do about it that counts. I imagine there will be situations where I am scared but the trick is to manage your fear. I've done pretty good so far. We will see what the future holds. Starfleet is full of dangers but also full of wonders! You never know what the next day will bring! As for away missions, well after that last one, well I look forward to something different!" Her tail flicked back and forth in a leisurely fashion. She was enjoying this time with Sydney very much!

Taking the last bite of her slice of pizza that contained some remnants of sauce and cheese, Sydney set the crust back down on the plate. While she'd gotten looks before about the practice, especially when she was younger, she'd never been one to eat her pizza crusts. This left only the small pile of gooey cheese-covered fries that had started out with crispiness but now had softened as the conversation had taken precedence over shoveling in her meal. At least the fries were more casual to eat while talking to another, even if Sydney wasn't really doing much of the talking.

Taking a quick sip of her dwindling iced tea, the woman nodded along as the Caitian spoke. Why it certainly seemed like the question had surprised M'Nia for a moment, she'd recovered quickly and it struck Sydney just how easy it seemed for the engineer to maintain a sense of bright, optimism, no matter what she was faced with. Looking down at her plate as she carefully plucked one of the fries with her fingertips so as not to make a mess of them, the Ops Ensign asked with a slight bit of amusement in her tone, "So, how is it that you can always seem to find the bright side of things? Where do you think this"¦unflappable optimism comes from? Bringing the cheese-covered fry up to slip into her mouth, Sydney's eyes came up to catch M'Nia's once again.

[[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge]]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 10 | Aft Lounge] (During Katra Upgrades - Pre-Restless Spirit)

"Yes they do worry but know I'm careful and this is my chosen path! They can't do anything about it so don't worry too much about it! Or at least try not to. As for the Disco, I really didn't get a good look at her when she was in port. Kinda busy getting my bearings! Besides, appearances can be deceiving! She's got a lot going for her! One thing I learned in the Academy is never judge a ship by her exterior!"

Rolling her eyes and chuckling at herself for her naive insinuation, Sydney couldn't help but find herself agreeing with the Caitian, and, by effect, her Dad who had often told her the same thing, albeit in regards to people and not ships. Her comment of, "It did not look great..," did slip out, though, even if she'd only had the promotional images of the Discovery and other Prometheus-Class cruisers to compare the reality to at the time. As smart as she was, there was a whole galaxy of things the 'Doctor of Computer Science' didn't know.

Smiling at the woman, Sydney nodded briefly as she began to speak, saying, "I can't help but agree with you. I'm sure my Dad and Papa worry about me, too, but neither will openly or easily say as much. Papa was in Starfleet, so he already knew what to expect. Dad"¦he's definitely holding back when I talk about things. Much like you, I have always chosen my own path, even if it's weaved back and forth into the realms my parents have at one time or another traveled. Even if serving aboard Discovery is worrying, especially given the kind of mission is it assigned, I know it's where I want to be; where I should be, and it seems to me that you must feel the same way." Sydney offered the Caitian a complimentary smile before taking the straw extending from her tea between her lips to take another sip to wet her throat.

The human did wonder, though, "Are you nervous, M'Nia? About the types of missions the Discovery goes on? About the kind of things we'll get into? Are you ready to go on 'Away Missions' that could be scary or dangerous?" While Sydney was pretty sure of her own answers, the Caitian struck her as one that didn't scare so easily, so she was curious whether it was the woman herself or maybe just her entire species as a whole. Having razor-sharp claws and predatory eyes that looked as if they could stare right through the human certainly gave Sydney the feeling M'Nia wasn't nearly as nervous as her.