S6 - E3 - Tripwire

[Ch'e N'ok Savyn]

[Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay, USS Challlenger]

Kyan barged into sickbay. Well, as much as someone could barge anywhere on a starship. It really didn't have the same effect when you couldn't throw open the door and have it slam against the wall behind it, heralding your entry. That part was pretty much the key to barging. But the diminutive First Officer did his best.

Honestly, Kyan figured he might talk to one of the engineers and see if they couldn't rig up something that gave the appropriate sound effect so that if someone wanted actually to barge in someplace, then the computer would simulate the slamming noise. Then everyone would the full effect. As it was, the Onlie had to rely on his voice to do most of the work.

"Ok ye pack of blue-shirted vampires!" he greeted the assembled doctors, nurses, and enlisted Medical technicians. "I got stuff ta be doing the now an cannae be coming down here fer check ups and the like!"

He actually needed to check all the departments to ensure that everyone was ready for their upcoming confrontation with the Kinshaya, but they didn't need to know that....and he had gotten a message from Rashar saying that he was due for a physical or some such. Come to think of it, that might have been an old message he forgot to delete. Either way, he was here now.

"Well, anyways... let's get this show going... the Kinshaya ain't gonna blast themselves inta space dust!"

[USS Challenger | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay]

Although the act of barging into a room on a Starship is indeed a redundant one, Savyn still managed to be slightly startled by the sudden intrusion by the first officer, his muscles going tense and his eyes widening slightly. His ears flicked back slightly, a feline-like trait that only some Vulcans possessed.

He turned around to look at Kyan, putting down the PADD in his hands on a nearby countertop. "I believe we are fully prepared for the upcoming possibility of conflict, Commander, though the act of... 'blasting the Kinshaya to space dust'... Is not our job. We are doctors, not tactical officers." Savyn said smoothly. Technically, he himself wasn't a doctor, was just a field medic... But that was an irrelevant specification. "However, it is still imperative that you receive frequent and consistent physical assessments, as is specified in the Starfleet Medical Regulations, Section four, paragraph twelve." He stepped closer. "It will not be a difficult procedure, sir."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"I believe we are fully prepared for the upcoming possibility of conflict, Commander, though the act of... 'blasting the Kinshaya to space dust'... Is not our job. We are doctors, not tactical officers." Savyn said smoothly. Technically, he himself wasn't a doctor, was just a field medic... But that was an irrelevant specification. "However, it is still imperative that you receive frequent and consistent physical assessments, as is specified in the Starfleet Medical Regulations, Section four, paragraph twelve." He stepped closer. "It will not be a difficult procedure, sir."

The Vulcan medic was curious to him. In fact he was about to ask after his choice in hairstyle when he remembered Max and Leran telling him about an odd Vulcan who'd been all set to help spring him from the security office on Starbase 185. Max had mentioned that he was a medic and had long hair... and that he was way younger than any other Starfleet Vulcans that they'd seen. This must be him. the Onlie thought, although he couldn't remember his name.

Kyan's brown furrowed a bit as he doffed his uniform jacket. "Well... I know some other blue shirts what could have been good tactical officers... or security if they wanted." He hopped up on the bio bed and sat cross-legged before continuing. "Sure an there was a Denobulan one that chased me all over the old Discovery when I was there. It took him two days ta get me for me physical so it did. He was a crusty old git." He paused to take in air and continued. "But anyways, my mates Max an Leran told me ye was after helpin 'em get me outta the security office back on Starbase 185, so thanks fer that. And since we dinnae get ta meet then, Merry Met. I'm Kyan Mackenzie. Ye can call me Kyan if ya want, I'm not after bein called sir or Commander like I'm some crusty grup so."

Kyan had been told off by many a senior officer for not insisting that people use honorifics or ranks when addressing him but he'd never liked it. It was too formal and awkward; for him and the other person he reckoned. And after all, what kid wants to be called sir all the time. And what if he was visiting one of his friends whose parents were on the crew? "Hey Commander... it's time to wash up for dinner." It was easier this way. Besides, everyone knew what his rank was. So it was pointless, in his estimation, that they should say it all the time.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Deep Space K-7 was long behind them as the ship returned to high warp. Even though they had only stopped for two hours, it was one of the most emotional port calls Ian had ever witnessed. Although the Federation task force's primary mission was to observe and support, no one was under the illusion that the Kinshaya would respect the non-combatant role Starfleet Command had assigned them. All signs pointed to heavy fighting when, not if, the Kinshaya crossed the Klingon border in strength.

In anticipation of heavy fighting, all departments were conducting battle drills within their areas of responsibilities. Ian was supplementing these drills with full crew drills to improve response time for critical tasks. Each department was also relying heavily on the holodecks to give the most realistic training possible in order to prepare for whatever happened next.

Ian spent his free time alternating between holodeck time in Kunming and in Klingon language lessons. He had regained his edge in atmospheric operations fairly quickly as much of flying was deeply ingrained muscle memory. The Klingon lessons were going slower. He was getting there, but not as quickly as he had hoped. As the ship raced for Klingon space, Ian activated his log.

"Captain's Log, Supplemental. We will reach the coreward border of Klingon space in eleven days. I want ta commend the Engineerin' department for keepin' us runnin' smoothly after so long at high warp. The other departments are trainin' hard and I believe by the time we reach our assigned sector, the Challenger will be as ready as she can be.

"The Science department has been twistin' itself in knots tryin' ta suss out anything useful on the Kinshaya, but most of the data we have on them is shrouded in rumor and legend. Even the Klingons haven't seen one in 135 years, thus we have no livin' memories of the Kinshaya. The best guess Science can present is that the Kinshaya are xenophobic religious zealots. This makes any diplomatic solution next ta impossible. Ta the 'Demon Possessed' anyone nae a Kinshaya is both 'them' and a heretic at the same time.

"We will reach Klingon space in three and a half days. The other Starfleet ships assigned to the task force will arrive a day or two ta either side of our arrival date. We will remain under the  command of Captain Trindra Soro of the USS Galahad. However, should the Kinshaya provoke an attack, we become a squadron under the local Klingon commander, a General Membok, which accordin' ta the file on him, made quite the name for himself durin' the Dominion War as a junior officer.

"Although I feel comfortable sayin' that all aboard the Challenger hopes against hope we can avoid the expected heavy fightin', I believe that those self-same personnel figure fightin' is inevitable. No ship in the fleet can take a punch like Challenger can, thus we be ta showin' that she's a braw brawler should they test our resolve. End Log."

[Cerna Nox]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Deep Space K-7 was long behind them as the ship returned to high warp. Even though they had only stopped for two hours, it was one of the most emotional port calls Ian had ever witnessed. Although the Federation task force's primary mission was to observe and support, no one was under the illusion that the Kinshaya would respect the non-combatant role Starfleet Command had assigned them. All signs pointed to heavy fighting when, not if, the Kinshaya crossed the Klingon border in strength.

In anticipation of heavy fighting, all departments were conducting battle drills within their areas of responsibilities. Ian was supplementing these drills with full crew drills to improve response time for critical tasks. Each department was also relying heavily on the holodecks to give the most realistic training possible in order to prepare for whatever happened next.

Ian spent his free time alternating between holodeck time in Kunming and in Klingon language lessons. He had regained his edge in atmospheric operations fairly quickly as much of flying was deeply ingrained muscle memory. The Klingon lessons were going slower. He was getting there, but not as quickly as he had hoped. As the ship raced for Klingon space, Ian activated his log.

"Captain's Log, Supplemental. We will reach the coreward border of Klingon space in eleven days. I want ta commend the Engineerin' department for keepin' us runnin' smoothly after so long at high warp. The other departments are trainin' hard and I believe by the time we reach our assigned sector, the Challenger will be as ready as she can be.

"The Science department has been twistin' itself in knots tryin' ta suss out anything useful on the Kinshaya, but most of the data we have on them is shrouded in rumor and legend. Even the Klingons haven't seen one in 135 years, thus we have no livin' memories of the Kinshaya. The best guess Science can present is that the Kinshaya are xenophobic religious zealots. This makes any diplomatic solution next ta impossible. Ta the 'Demon Possessed' anyone nae a Kinshaya is both 'them' and a heretic at the same time.

"We will reach Klingon space in three and a half days. The other Starfleet ships assigned to the task force will arrive a day or two ta either side of our arrival date. We will remain under the  command of Captain Trindra Soro of the USS Galahad. However, should the Kinshaya provoke an attack, we become a squadron under the local Klingon commander, a General Membok, which accordin' ta the file on him, made quite the name for himself durin' the Dominion War as a junior officer.

"Although I feel comfortable sayin' that all aboard the Challenger hopes against hope we can avoid the expected heavy fightin', I believe that those self-same personnel figure fightin' is inevitable. No ship in the fleet can take a punch like Challenger can, thus we be ta showin' that she's a braw brawler should they test our resolve. End Log."

[Deep Space K-7 | Promenade]

Deep Space K-7 was beautiful, complete with incredible boutique shops and a dazzling promenade that put all the cultures of the Beta quadrant on display, and all in one convenient station! Or at least, that's what Nox had been told about K-7. She had no chance to experience it herself, due to the fact that she'd spent the majority of her time on the USS Galahad, stuffing her things into a duffel bag and saying a few quick good-byes to the few friends she'd made during her very short time on the ship.

She was being transferred to the USS Challenger to supplement it's Engineering staff. Some Admiral figured the older ship was going to need extra care if it was going to make it back from Klingon space in one piece. Granted, Cerna had a deep appreciation for the older models, like the Trailblazer, that got Starfleet where it was today, but some baser part of her had a feeling it wouldn't be as sexy as the Akira's tri-phaser array or it's vast multitude of photon torpedo launchers.

It would've made sense for her to just beam over, but the short two hour time-window and the vicissitudes of loved ones leaving their families meant that the transporter was crowded and busy. So Cerna opted to run from one side of the station to the other where the USS Challenger was docked, hoping her bag didn't burst from the rushed packing job.

She knew the ship's Captain was a Human named Gallowway, the XO was a Native of Miri called Mackenzie, and that she was to report to Lieutenant Sunik, her Vulcan CEO; and that was about it!

Nox nearly had to shout 'Wait!' to the security team handling the boarding procedures, but thankfully she managed to flag them down. A quick flash of the transfer orders on her PADD and she was inside the ship, on her way to Main Engineering...

[USS Challenger | Main Engineering | Lt. Sunik's Office]

Cerna was in a less than ceremonious state. The dual buns she had tied her hair into where starting to fray, and she had clearly broken a sweat in her race to fulfill her orders on time. She approached the CEO's office, flattening her uniform quickly and making a rushed attempt to put her hair back into place as she pressed her finger to the panel, sounding the door's chime.

"Enter." Came a stern voice.

Nox did so, looking a-mess, moving to stand in front of the Lieutenant's desk.

"Ensign Nox, reporting for duty, sir." She produced her orders, offering the PADD to the older Vulcan. It was, admittedly, not how she wanted her first impression to go. Standing there in her new Supervisor's office with all her personal belongings in a bag fit-to-burst. It both helped and didn't help that he was a Vulcan. She always found their people so intimidating, but at the same time maybe logic would dictate that appearances didn't matter in times like these?

Cerna was ejected from her thoughts as she found the PADD returned to her, signed and initial'd, almost as fast as she had handed it over.

"Drop your things off at your quarters and be back here as soon as possible. You have very little time to familiarize yourself with the Challenger before we enter Klingon space. I assume you've been briefed on the situation?"

"Yes, sir, I was briefed on the Galahad." Cerna squeaked in response.

"Very good, you're dismissed."

And like that, the young Trill was off.

[Novi]

[Lt. JG Novi - Main Sickbay USS Challenger]

Novi had been busy with battle drills and assisting sickbay however she could in making sure the ship was as prepared as it could be for battle. Many people here were used to combat but there were still a few new faces that had no been in a battle situation. Novi remembered her first major mission in Starfleet, Frontier Day, since then while the memories have never left the scars have mostly healed and she was able to help them prepare and provide them with useful busy work to keep their minds occupied.

When the ship docked at Starbase K-7 she chose not to spend time on the station, both because there was little time and she was busy after volunteering for Lt. Rashar to catalouge and process the new crew they were taking on into their medical files. She was most interested in seeing another Trill join the ship as formerly the only Trill on the ship she felt a little lonely at times and was hoping that the new transfer was a friendly person. In the back of her mind though seeing they were joined pained her subconscious, a painful reminder that she has not yet achieved her goal of having the honor of being joined with a symbiote still weighed on her. But she pushed such thoughts out of her mind.

[Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay, USS Challlenger]

Kyan barged into sickbay. Well, as much as someone could barge anywhere on a starship. It really didn't have the same effect when you couldn't throw open the door and have it slam against the wall behind it, heralding your entry. That part was pretty much the key to barging. But the diminutive First Officer did his best.

Honestly, Kyan figured he might talk to one of the engineers and see if they couldn't rig up something that gave the appropriate sound effect so that if someone wanted actually to barge in someplace, then the computer would simulate the slamming noise. Then everyone would the full effect. As it was, the Onlie had to rely on his voice to do most of the work.

"Ok ye pack of blue-shirted vampires!" he greeted the assembled doctors, nurses, and enlisted Medical technicians. "I got stuff ta be doing the now an cannae be coming down here fer check ups and the like!"

He actually needed to check all the departments to ensure that everyone was ready for their upcoming confrontation with the Kinshaya, but they didn't need to know that....and he had gotten a message from Rashar saying that he was due for a physical or some such. Come to think of it, that might have been an old message he forgot to delete. Either way, he was here now.

"Well, anyways... let's get this show going... the Kinshaya ain't gonna blast themselves inta space dust!"

[Deep space]

Novi was in the CMO's office handling some paperwork when Commander Mackenzie entered the room. The small Onlie was once more yelling and causing a fuss in her previously quiet sickbay yet as she was on shift and the ranking officer she quickly set her work aside and walked out of the office. Glad to see that Savyn was helping the Commander, she had no pediatric experience herself but knew her Vulcan colleague had recently been studying it a little she trusted his experience.

"Commander, Welcome. I assume Crewman Savyn has been assisting you well?" She's been trying to practice her Doctor talk a little more. With the more relaxed senior officers on Challenger then Discovery its been a transition getting used to how high energy everyone is to the more introverted Trill but she still made sure to keep a smile on her as she looked at the Onlie Commander.

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Congratulations, Commander." Alex offered his own felicitations genuinely, though he was still distracted by his concerns about their mission parameters. While the Captain had eased the biggest worry about taking Maddison into danger, there'd be issues about that as well, primarily, who would take care of her while they were gone. Or worse yet, if they didn't make it back. Looking at Ardyn, he knew they'd have some tough decisions to make before they arrived at K-7.

"Lieutenant Cheizex." Alex motioned his colleague over. "Hi, I'm Lieutenant Wu, your department chief. Alex, if you don't mind the informalities. Sorry we haven't had a chance to sit down properly, it's been a busy few days. I was reading your personnel file over, and I understand that you've had some interest in the sciences, and that you took several electives at the academy? Any possibility one of those courses were on alien anatomy or theoretical biology?"

[Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Aarwendil turned to look at the man that had talked with him. "Hello, Lieutenant Wu. It's nice to meet you." the young Betazoid approached the human, a friendly smile on his lips. He had heard that his department had a new chief, but hadn't seen him before. It was good to finally be able to talk with him.

"I don't mind. You can call me Aarwendil." if Alex didn't mind the use of first names, then he wasn't going to be against it. "Yes. I took some classes on alien anatomy, but I also took some involving xenozoology and xenobotanic." he said, remembering how these had been his favorite topics. "Do you need my help with something related to it?"

[Alexander Wu]

[Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Aarwendil turned to look at the man that had talked with him. "Hello, Lieutenant Wu. It's nice to meet you." the young Betazoid approached the human, a friendly smile on his lips. He had heard that his department had a new chief, but hadn't seen him before. It was good to finally be able to talk with him.

"I don't mind. You can call me Aarwendil." if Alex didn't mind the use of first names, then he wasn't going to be against it. "Yes. I took some classes on alien anatomy, but I also took some involving xenozoology and xenobotanic." he said, remembering how these had been his favorite topics. "Do you need my help with something related to it?"

[Previously]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Sounds like you're just the Bajoran for the job. Let's go speak with our science counterparts." The one good thing about staff meetings was that people usually stuck around for a few minutes after they ended. Alex guided Aarwendil over to the small cluster of blueshirted officers on the other side of the bridge. "Lieutenant Jyur, do you have a minute?"

Alex didn't have the expertise to put his idea into action, but between Jettis and Cheizex, he reckoned they'd tell him if it was feasible at all. "Based on the Captain's briefing on these Kinshaya, it seems like the most we have to go on research-wise are some very limited first-hand accounts and the remains of a single corpse. I reckon the Klingons did an autopsy on those remains and hopefully they made their findings available to us. Now I know we shouldn't assume on looks, but from that visual, it doesn't seem like we'd fare very well if it came to a boarding or close quarters combat."

"So my thinking was we'd need any advantage we could gain if they boarded us. And please tell me if you think it's do-able. Would it be possible to try and find a biological weakness with the Kinshaya which could be affected via our environmental controls?" Alex looked inquiringly between the two, continuing his thought process. "If we could find something, like if they're slowed by the extreme cold, or say, I don't know, incapacitated in an oxygen rich environment, then we could theoretically utilize portable forcefields to section off decks into separate zones so only the areas that have been occupied by the Kinshaya are affected. Make it less welcome for them, and give our security forces a better chance at driving them back. What do you think, does that hold any water?"

[Jettis Jyur]

[Previously]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Sounds like you're just the Bajoran for the job. Let's go speak with our science counterparts." The one good thing about staff meetings was that people usually stuck around for a few minutes after they ended. Alex guided Aarwendil over to the small cluster of blueshirted officers on the other side of the bridge. "Lieutenant Jyur, do you have a minute?"

Alex didn't have the expertise to put his idea into action, but between Jettis and Cheizex, he reckoned they'd tell him if it was feasible at all. "Based on the Captain's briefing on these Kinshaya, it seems like the most we have to go on research-wise are some very limited first-hand accounts and the remains of a single corpse. I reckon the Klingons did an autopsy on those remains and hopefully they made their findings available to us. Now I know we shouldn't assume on looks, but from that visual, it doesn't seem like we'd fare very well if it came to a boarding or close quarters combat."

"So my thinking was we'd need any advantage we could gain if they boarded us. And please tell me if you think it's do-able. Would it be possible to try and find a biological weakness with the Kinshaya which could be affected via our environmental controls?" Alex looked inquiringly between the two, continuing his thought process. "If we could find something, like if they're slowed by the extreme cold, or say, I don't know, incapacitated in an oxygen rich environment, then we could theoretically utilize portable forcefields to section off decks into separate zones so only the areas that have been occupied by the Kinshaya are affected. Make it less welcome for them, and give our security forces a better chance at driving them back. What do you think, does that hold any water?"

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Previously ]

After the meeting was adjourned, Jettis didn't immediately leave. His mind was instead running overtime with the idea of leaving Theresa at a station alone. It was certainly the safest option, and after Frontier day there wasn't a universe where he'd take a chance on her safety. Still, the idea unsettled him.

Pulled from his thoughts when Wu approached him with Cheizex in tow, Jettis nodded to both men.
"It's certainly something to explore. I'll see what information the Klingons have managed to provide to us." He turned to Aarwendil with a pinched smile. "We welcome all hands on deck in the efforts though, any information we have will be substantial, considering our sample size is.. one."

"Any biological creature should logically have some sort of drawback, some conditions that hinder them. It's just a matter of finding out what it might be in time, and then designing counter measures." Something that would prove more difficult on such a time crunch.

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Science Labs|USS Challenger]

Tora didn't relish the idea of going back into space just to risk her life in battle at all. That wasn't really what she'd signed up for. Granted she'd entered Starfleet accepting that that might be a hazard of the job, but still, would it really be far too much to ask for an assignment that didn't risk the lives of herself and her entire crew? Like, there had to be some sort of cosmic fairness like that somewhere, right?

Regardless, there wasn't much time or opportunity for debate. When she and her fellow scientists were briefed on their assignment for this mission, she'd sworn to herself to figure out a peaceful way to deal with their potential opponents - even as she forced herself to bite the bullet and follow their actual orders. To both ends, she'd been trawling Federation databases for an answer for the past two hours to find... well, not much. Evidently the Kinshaya weren't keen on sharing much about themselves, especially with those kind-of-sort-of allied with the people they dubbed as demons.

"Seems like the Kinshaya care a lot about their religion." Tora turned around with her PADD in hand to address the duty officer, one  Evan Randell, in the laboratory. "Their entire military is a sort of theocracy. Their ranks even go by things which the universal translator makes out to be Vicar, Deacon and even Archbishop." Then she sighed and rubbed at her eyes. Staring at one's screen for hours does that to someone, of course. "Maybe a good way to deal with them would be to tackle them at their beliefs. Finding out what they worship might be useful, but there's nothing to go on, at least in our database."

[ USS Challenger - Main Laboratory - Lieutenant Randell ]

Randell looked up from his own screen, looking towards Tora's PADD. "You've got a point there. But finding out anything from the religious zealots may be a lot harder than just respectfully asking them." He mused.

"They've been almost constantly at war with the Klingons, right? What beliefs would the Klingons have that the Kinyasha would find so repulsive to fight for that long?" The question was more rhetorical than anything, turning back to his screen as he wracked his brain for the answer. Unfortunately, he wasn't particularly familiar with Klingons aside from the basic information.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]

The worst part of going off to battle was the march to get there, and Ardy could feel it across the whole ship, only amplifying Ardy's own restlessness and readiness to get going. She wanted to get this over and done with so she could get back to Maddy as soon as possible.  She never thought to admit it out loud (though she was pretty sure Alex had probably picked up on it at this point, ) but she missed Maddy's fireball-like presence running circles around her. In fact, according to their calls,  Maddy was doing just fine after the initial shock of missing her and Alex the first couple of days. Ardy figured as much. Nothing ever stopped that kid.

So, she kept busy. While they weren't going to be in active rotation, she had all the flight crew running drills to see how well they could fly in high-stress fights against heavily maneuverable enemies. She wasn't expecting them to be the ones to fly the ship or doing fighter runs if they ended up going in the fight, but doing something, anything was better than waiting, and the junior crews needed the practice.

When she wasn't helping the rest of the flight crew, or on bridge duty making sure the ship was in, she ran fighter runs with Ian in his Flying Tigers program.  All good practice but still, not enough to keep the itch off her trigger finger.

Coming onto the bridge. she nodded to Ian and cracked her fingers as she moved on the bridge. "Morning boss, you beat your high score on the Tigers yet?" she asked, more filling the time if anything. At some point, she still needed to check in with Engineering at some point. Making sure that the ship didn't fall apart (or that the engineers wouldn't curse her too much) during battle was pretty important in her books.  Passing Alex and the Ops officer he was talking to, Ardy gave a nod, before relieving Schultz off the helm, checking the ship was on autopilot, then swiveling the chair around

"So, You've seen me fly, boss. Any recommendations you think I should tell the Engineer crew to make before we really go into battle?

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Commmander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay, USS Challenger]

"Commander, Welcome. I assume Crewman Savyn has been assisting you well?"

As the Vulcan medic continued his scans, Kyan looked up to see the other new medical person, Doctor Novi... who he did recognize from the crew transfer reports. It was always good tactics to keep a watchful eye on one's adversaries after all and aside from height requirements, doctors and their ilk were some of the Onlie's top nemeses. Even when he'd been an ensign he'd known all of the ship's doctors.

After all, scientists wore blue shirts too, but they didn't sneak up and hypospray you or chase you around and drag you to their dungeon for "checkups" and other vile ministrations. Nope. That was the purview of the doctors.

"Aye. Merry Met Doctor Novi." Kyan grinned. "Sure an Mister Savyn's doin a bully job so he is."

This one, he'd learned, had recently been on the Discovery with Savyn, working for his old boss, Captain Tekin. He hadn't seen the stoic old Bajoran since he'd last been on the Discovery some two years ago, which made him wonder.. "Say, since ye was on the Disco before here, is Captain Tekin's family still there? Commander Hrafn an her gaggle of kids?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge]

The worst part of going off to battle was the march to get there, and Ardy could feel it across the whole ship, only amplifying Ardy's own restlessness and readiness to get going. She wanted to get this over and done with so she could get back to Maddy as soon as possible.  She never thought to admit it out loud (though she was pretty sure Alex had probably picked up on it at this point, ) but she missed Maddy's fireball-like presence running circles around her. In fact, according to their calls,  Maddy was doing just fine after the initial shock of missing her and Alex the first couple of days. Ardy figured as much. Nothing ever stopped that kid.

So, she kept busy. While they weren't going to be in active rotation, she had all the flight crew running drills to see how well they could fly in high-stress fights against heavily maneuverable enemies. She wasn't expecting them to be the ones to fly the ship or doing fighter runs if they ended up going in the fight, but doing something, anything was better than waiting, and the junior crews needed the practice.

When she wasn't helping the rest of the flight crew, or on bridge duty making sure the ship was in, she ran fighter runs with Ian in his Flying Tigers program.  All good practice but still, not enough to keep the itch off her trigger finger.

Coming onto the bridge. she nodded to Ian and cracked her fingers as she moved on the bridge. "Morning boss, you beat your high score on the Tigers yet?" she asked, more filling the time if anything. At some point, she still needed to check in with Engineering at some point. Making sure that the ship didn't fall apart (or that the engineers wouldn't curse her too much) during battle was pretty important in her books.  Passing Alex and the Ops officer he was talking to, Ardy gave a nod, before relieving Schultz off the helm, checking the ship was on autopilot, then swiveling the chair around

"So, You've seen me fly, boss. Any recommendations you think I should tell the Engineer crew to make before we really go into battle?

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Ardy spoke, Ian had to admit to himself that his mind had wandered. One of the things no one tells you before you become a captain is how boring it was sitting in the center seat. Under normal circumstances, the crew was skilled enough to handle most tasks on their own. It was only when in combat did the captain have to make decisions they couldn't. And since combat wasn't common, the captain had very little to do. Therefore, Ian welcomed the interruption to his woolgathering.

"I'm nae so sure I look at a 'score' in the Flyin' Tigers program. My personal best is shootin' down three Japanese planes. However, the way I measure things is how well I avoid damage at the higher skill settin's. I've come back shot up pretty badly several times and gotten an earful from my crew chief Flip for it, but I figure comin' back at all when you're faced off against a squadron of Zeroes when there are only four Tomahawks is a success."

Switching gears, Ian continued.

"One of the reasons I like the atmospheric simulations is that modern pilots dinnae think in those terms anymore, thus you pull out an Immelmann, a Split-Ess, or a Hammerhead Stall, and they've never seen those maneuvers before, which leaves them unable ta keep up. The primary thing that Engineerin' needs ta do is keep both warp cores purrin' and Ops needs ta be ready ta switch power rapidly from shields ta structural integrity. It's one thing ta do a Split-Ess in a 2.5 tonne Tomahawk, it's an altogether different thing ta make a 3 million tonne Trailblazer do one."

[Tora Zalos]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Previously ]

After the meeting was adjourned, Jettis didn't immediately leave. His mind was instead running overtime with the idea of leaving Theresa at a station alone. It was certainly the safest option, and after Frontier day there wasn't a universe where he'd take a chance on her safety. Still, the idea unsettled him.

Pulled from his thoughts when Wu approached him with Cheizex in tow, Jettis nodded to both men.
"It's certainly something to explore. I'll see what information the Klingons have managed to provide to us." He turned to Aarwendil with a pinched smile. "We welcome all hands on deck in the efforts though, any information we have will be substantial, considering our sample size is.. one."

"Any biological creature should logically have some sort of drawback, some conditions that hinder them. It's just a matter of finding out what it might be in time, and then designing counter measures." Something that would prove more difficult on such a time crunch.

[ USS Challenger - Main Laboratory - Lieutenant Randell ]

Randell looked up from his own screen, looking towards Tora's PADD. "You've got a point there. But finding out anything from the religious zealots may be a lot harder than just respectfully asking them." He mused.

"They've been almost constantly at war with the Klingons, right? What beliefs would the Klingons have that the Kinyasha would find so repulsive to fight for that long?" The question was more rhetorical than anything, turning back to his screen as he wracked his brain for the answer. Unfortunately, he wasn't particularly familiar with Klingons aside from the basic information.

[Ensign Tora Zalos | Science Lab| USS Challenger]

"Klingons are a violent people. They find honor and glory in combat and winning at nearly any cost and are as fierce as demons in battle. Those might be the chief reasons as to why." Tora guessed. "Not that the Kinshaya are a peaceful people by all means, as far as I can tell from what little we know about them. Maybe a large part of it is self-righteousness. Who knows. Its not like we can just ask and expect them to give us an answer willingly." Which was the sad truth, really. The universe would've been a much better place if people learned to talk first, then fight and squabble later - but there wasn't much in the way of such cosmic fairness. That much Tora had learned over the course of her own life. "I don't think we can make them turn around and leave based just on that. So my best guess is that convincing them to stand down will have to be on another facet of their faith. Maybe... a divine sign that they should not continue the fight. Something like that." Tora sighed. Such a feat was very easy to mention, but very, very hard to pull off. Go figure. Hell, even she wasn't entirely confident that it was even possible.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Engineering]

After seeing his civilian friends off,  Lahr had made himself ready for his shift.  Not having spent the morning drinking himself drunk, Lahr was highly aware that he hadn't needed to stop by medical for an anti-intoxicant shot before his shift.  Lahr was clear-headed and alert despite his overall depression, as such the Andorian noted almost immediately the excitement of his fellow engineering

Lahr, paused on his way up to the upper engineering deck where he was banished to.  He looked about and noticed the Chief's door shut.  The Vulcan typically left it open so that he could keep an eye and ear on his team of engineers and the main warp core.

Lahr sidled over towards Ensign Jones.  The human woman who led Damage Control Team One, at the moment was looking over the day's list of scheduled maintenance.

"Yo Kasey... what's going on?" the Andorian up-nodded his head towards the Chief's door.  His antennae perked up a little in curiosity as he noted others watching the Chief's door.

Kasey looked up from her list and smiled towards Lahr. "New transfer.  Get on Lieutenant Sunik's good side and he might assign you as her mentor." Kasey advised sagely.

Lahr however burst out laughing.  "Yeah, like that'll ever happen. Vulcans, like elephants, never forget - they say.  I'm laying odds he's got it out for me cause of some great great grandfather who was slighted during the Vulcan-Andorian conflict."

Still, the notion of training someone new was far more appealing than his current assignment.

As he pondered this, the door to the Chief's office opened and out stepped a female Trill.  It was apparent that she had come straight from the transporter room to report in to the Chief.  A glance at her collar showed a single pip. As she passed him, Lahr gave the woman a nod, but he was doubtful that she saw him or his nod as she hurried her way out.

Turning back towards the Vulcan chief's open door, Lahr hesitated.  Should he ask to be the woman's mentor?  Would Lieutenant Sunik even consider it? Nah... the Chief didn't trust him enough to have him man any vital station... so training someone else to do those tasks was out of the question. 

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As her crew conducted battle drills, the Challenger continued to drive through space at high warp and was now approaching Klingon space. It would still take a week to reach the coreward border, but from now on, all the preparations became more real and the crew could feel the shift in tension as they approached the most likely avenue of approach the Kinshaya would use if they decided to attack.

"Captain's Log Supplemental. Whatever Klingon intelligence discovered that led them ta believe a Kinshaya attack was imminent, has clearly not changed. We have nae been ordered ta stand down or return ta Federation space. If anything, the Klingons seem ta have an even higher sense of urgency about our arrival. As we are allies, we didn't pick up an escort when we reached the Klingon border, all we got was a gruff 'Proceed' from the border station.

"As the ships of the task force were called upon from various sectors of Federation space, we are arrivin' at different times and different vectors. We have however married up with the USS New Orleans, lead ship of that class, the USS Hungary of the Norway-Class and the USS Ararat a Steamrunner. I have ta admit, there is comfort in numbers as we continue ta our area of operations.

"So far, all departments show that they are takin' the possibility of combat very seriously and report an improvement in response times and the overall skill levels of the crew. This is especially important with so many just out of the Academy ensigns and senior cadets aboard.

"The science boffins have tried ta find a weakness that would disable or at least reduce the lethality of the Kinshaya. One viable option is modifyin' the gravity platin' on the approaches ta critical areas that would allow increasin' gravity ta 12Gs. The Kinshaya are big, and bloody strong, but I doubt even they could handle 12Gs for long.

"What will happen in the future is unknowable, but I believe we are about as prepared as a ship and crew can be. We have one final week ta iron out any last issues and then we will find out what fate has in store for us. End log."

[Cerna Nox]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Engineering]

After seeing his civilian friends off,  Lahr had made himself ready for his shift.  Not having spent the morning drinking himself drunk, Lahr was highly aware that he hadn't needed to stop by medical for an anti-intoxicant shot before his shift.  Lahr was clear-headed and alert despite his overall depression, as such the Andorian noted almost immediately the excitement of his fellow engineering

Lahr, paused on his way up to the upper engineering deck where he was banished to.  He looked about and noticed the Chief's door shut.  The Vulcan typically left it open so that he could keep an eye and ear on his team of engineers and the main warp core.

Lahr sidled over towards Ensign Jones.  The human woman who led Damage Control Team One, at the moment was looking over the day's list of scheduled maintenance.

"Yo Kasey... what's going on?" the Andorian up-nodded his head towards the Chief's door.  His antennae perked up a little in curiosity as he noted others watching the Chief's door.

Kasey looked up from her list and smiled towards Lahr. "New transfer.  Get on Lieutenant Sunik's good side and he might assign you as her mentor." Kasey advised sagely.

Lahr however burst out laughing.  "Yeah, like that'll ever happen. Vulcans, like elephants, never forget - they say.  I'm laying odds he's got it out for me cause of some great great grandfather who was slighted during the Vulcan-Andorian conflict."

Still, the notion of training someone new was far more appealing than his current assignment.

As he pondered this, the door to the Chief's office opened and out stepped a female Trill.  It was apparent that she had come straight from the transporter room to report in to the Chief.  A glance at her collar showed a single pip. As she passed him, Lahr gave the woman a nod, but he was doubtful that she saw him or his nod as she hurried her way out.

Turning back towards the Vulcan chief's open door, Lahr hesitated.  Should he ask to be the woman's mentor?  Would Lieutenant Sunik even consider it? Nah... the Chief didn't trust him enough to have him man any vital station... so training someone else to do those tasks was out of the question.

[USS Challenger - Deck 7, Officer's Quarters]

Cerna flashed a kind smile at the Andorian and the Human as she rushed by. In the moment she wished she had time to introduce herself, but Lt. Sunik's orders were to drop her belongings off and get straight to work.

The turbolift whirred softly as the decks whizzed by, 10..9..8..aaand 7. Cerna hopped out and darted for the empty quarters she'd been assigned. She didn't have much time to explore her new space, so she dumped the contents of her bag out onto her bed and sifted through for a less wrinkly, clean uniform. Cerna quickly changed and fixed her hair again. For a moment she paused in the mirror, and began staring at herself.

For a moment, Cerna allowed her mind to drift, and she felt her whole being shift as Nox looked through her eyes and at its host, making Cerna aware of how Nox's previous hosts felt about the situation. Something resembling a mix of pride and genuine worry. It was difficult to tell which hosts felt what though, because Cerna hadn't really learned how to embody them yet. She hadn't been joined for more than a year, and the Symbiosis Commission had warned of some side effects while her body got used to producing much higher amounts of isoboramine. Low IB levels tended to make Symbionts cranky, and cranky Symbionts made for poorly hosts.

All of the joined Trill Cerna had met prior to joining seemed like these elevated gestalt beings, where at any time it could be the host, or the symbiont, or somehow both talking to you. Yet Cerna still felt like Cerna, just now she had a worm named Nox feeding her other Trill's memories. When would that happen for her?

And with a quick blink, Cerna had returned to reality. Realizing what she was doing, she abandoned her vanity to make the dash back to Main Engineering...

[USS Challenger - Deck 13, Main Engineering]

Cerna stepped out of the turbolift and took the place in, watching the gold-shirts move back and forth, shoring up the ship for the encounter to come. It was difficult to know exactly where to start. Part of her said that it would be wise to break out a  PADD and familiarize herself with the Challenger's database, but part of her felt wrong studying while everyone else was doing hard work.

No, she was an Ensign, and an Ensign's duty was to better themselves so they could serve those under their command some day. For that, she'd need hands-on experience...and who better to help her than the CPO? She had clocked the stripes on the Andorian's collar earlier, and had just spotted him again.

Nox approached Chief ch'Verret and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Chief?" Her voice had a bit of a squeak to it on certain phonemes, but overall her consonants were very soft. It was what her Human friends at the academy called 'Posh'.

"I'm Ensign Nox, I was wondering if I could trouble you for a tour?"