Security Action Plan - Part Two
Posted on 07 Aug 2022 @ 9:41pm by Commander Calliope Zahn & Lieutenant Commander Cale Llewellyn, DSci & Chief Deputy Marshal: Ridge Steiner - FMS
Edited on on 07 Aug 2022 @ 11:13pm
Mission:
M3 - Into the Deep
Location: USS Pathfinder
Timeline: MD 05 1800hrs
2194 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure
Once the Security personnel had filed out Steiner, Knowles and Drummond got their heads together to review some of the ideas that had been proposed.
Drummond would go through the Armory, check all the Type Three Phaser Rifles were serviced and operational. Then go through the Type Twos inventory and select the latest versions which could have their barrels changed out and energy control systems tweaked. Likewise, he would check through all Phaser pistols, batteries, holsters, slings, tool kits, spares and the dozen other sundry items that made their weapons systems work were all in serviceable condition.
Drummond would also see what could be constructed for claymore style anti-personnel mines.
Knowles would draw up plans to use the internal force fields to block off critical access routes and internal transports to move Security teams around the she. She would discuss both options with Operations
She would also review the feasibility of bringing up some of the rock sample containers from the cargo hold and fixing them in place as physical barriers in the same critical points. They also realized that the containers could have a double use as hard-points for the Security personnel to use for cover. “And we need to make sure when we set them up as chicanes, that we don’t give them the same advantage” She reminded herself.
Knowles would go through the personnel list and find anyone who had prior Security training or experience, beyond that undertaken by all crew. Steiner would approach command to request if any could be freed up to assist with counter-boarding if needed.
Steiner ended up with the more radical options. He would contact the Marshal’s Service Academy for any data they had on sticky foam and then take that to the Science department to see if they could replicate it. Like wise he would speak with Science about the possibility of designing some sort of armor-piercing projectile system.
“A Rail-Gun could work” Drummond suggested “uses electromagnetic force to drive a projectile. If we can manufacture some tungsten darts with chromium tips a rail-gun should have the power to punch them through just about anything.
No sure anyone could actually, physically, hold it through, the counter force from the launch would be enormous. Would need to have some way to brace it against the deck or a bulkhead”
“Just need to be careful not to miss or it will go right through the hull and anything or anyone in between!” Knowles commented
“If Science can really design it, then we’ll need Engineers to build it too” Steiner said “but it’s worth a try”
“One good thing being a Science vessel” Knowles notes “We do have some smart people on here”
Steiner would also look into what they could come up with for close quarters battle. Anything suitable to use if they managed to get one of the armored warriors down. “Maximum blunt force trauma!”
They were finishing up by reworking the shift schedules, from the next day all Security staff would work sixteen hours on, eight off, doubling up their posts.
The door slid open and Zahn entered. They all came to their feet. Steiner thankful he had stopped by sickbay and had them fill his prescription for the anti-pheromone meds.
“Commander” he nodded to her
"Marshal." She acknowledged in return, the rank still feeling unfamiliar. There were crewmen from Operations that trailed behind her, one with a complex looking containment unit on an antigrav sled, and the other with a case by it's handle. "I come bearing gifts." She smirked a little. She'd always enjoyed matching materials to personnel as part of her role in Operations. "Quartermaster." She motioned for the CPO to come to the table and the older woman with the severe looking resting face slid the case to Steiner, eyeing him up as if to say he was not properly dressed with that insignia. Even so she flipped open the lid and presented the contents.
Inside were neat rows of dozens of small belt clip ons with some heft and thickness to each. "These are last resort exposure field suits." Calliope explained. "We haven't properly named them. But everyone gets two. One to wear and the other to change out from the charger in their quarters, or grab for an emergency for someone less prepared. Just keep the battery cell powered. The charge can last for up to ten minutes in space exposure, shorter if the temperatures or pressure is more demanding, longer if there's less difference to manage. So.... mileage my vary but in a bad situation, it might be the difference between getting to a suit or a shuttle or a pod or letting someone get a transporter lock if something unexpected happens. They have no armor value, only prevention from exposure," she reiterated."But they can be worn at all times."
The quartermaster demonstrated how to clip it on, and pointed to the initiation mode. "When you switch it on, it will begin dosing the wearer with triox, in place of oxygen reserve. This is how it can be this compact." She clarified. "The field cannot sustain point forces at speed and will short out if it's overwhelmed by laser weaponry. So don't trot it out on the firing range."
Calliope nodded and the Quartermaster passed them out, leaving enough for the rest of the Security shifts as well, before retaining her case, which she would continue to distribute to everyone aboard.
"This one," Calliope wagged her pointer finger at the cart. "I had to convince Commander Quinn to allow me to sign out of containment. But considering our limited knowledge of the potential adversary, it may be best left to the study of your tactical specialists."
Calliope unhinged the top cover and a containment hiss preceded an interior auto latch that sprang the handle grasp of the cylinder cap out of the locked position. She lifted it up with some obvious heft, and stood it on the table for all to see. As the wisps of containment gasses settled, visible inside the glass and suspended in the center of the half meter tank, was displayed what might have looked to be a shard of severely faceted, angled black glass. Only as you looked at it, it seemed to... change. But not with any transitional forms. At first the mind suggested it was a trick of the light. But then it felt more like you might be looking at a glitch in a computer playback. The facets changed suddenly into other subtle geometry within a certain set of bounding measurements that had dictated the choice of size of containment for the ever switching shard. The mass remained the same and while the shard-like forms were distinctly different, they were not extremely varied from the previous to the next.
The three of them gathered around the tube, bent over and peered at the object within the tube.
"Ever see anything like that?" Steiner asked the other two.
Knowles just shook her head. Drummon muttered "Nope, makes a defeating a Borg personal shield look simple don't it"
"It's our suspicion from the limited footage of the Pyrryx attackers, that this may be a remnant of the personnel outer armor of the Pyrryx forces." Calliope said to confirm what she already suspected they were assuming. "We will be giving you all of the scans and analysis we have compiled so far. But the technology is incomparable to anything else we have worked with in material development. There are a few theoretical concepts, but they were purely the stuff of mathematical realms. Or so we thought."
"High tech advanced weaponry?" Steiner commented "We've been going the opposite direction, low tech and simple. Looking at this I'm thinking it might be the right track. If we don't have the technology to go toe to toe, then anything we can do to throw a big wrench in this stuff might work."
He looked at his Security leaders and gave them an affirmative nod. He was not personally convinced, reactive-armor was a scary concept. But he needed his team to be confident and positive and he was not going to undermine that.
"The good news," Calliope suggested, "is that finding a piece of the armor means it's possible it can be fractured.
Drummon smiled. "Yeah, that's true, you have this bit, although I sense a but... coming?"
"It might have taken the explosive force of a subspace disruption to accomplish it."
"Huh... I shouldn't have asked."
"Forewarned is forearmed right?" Steiner said. "We keep on with our plans until we get more details, we stay flexible and adaptive, nothing is off the table. "
"Thank you for showing us this Commander," he said to Zahn "We'll build the new information into our planning and continue working through options."
"I know you'll keep me informed, Marshal. Don't be shy reaching out to the other departments," she encouraged, suspecting that in spite of his broad reach of his security experience, Steiner still likely felt a little out of place running security on a ship. "The best resource we have in Startfleet is one another—" She looked around at his team with her best confident expression. "—and the unique perspectives, experiences, and expertise everyone brings to the table."
"Thank you Commander, we will." Steiner nodded.
Steiner stepped off a turbo lift and looked around. He was down on the Science deck, the corridor led left and right and ahead but all he could see was laboratories. A teal wearing crewman passed and he got directions from her to the Science Chief’s Office.
He was carrying two PaDDs, on one he had downloaded the formula, specifications and designs for sticky-foam and a dispenser. Those he had obtained from one of the teaching staff at the Marshal’s Academy. She’d seemed a little amused he wanted it but sent it to him without question.
It turned out, it was quite simple, a mix of chemical and compounds that was liquid when under pressure in an inert gas, but which foamed and became incredibly viscous and tacky once exposed to a normal atmosphere. The container was simple too, basically a compressed gas tank, a hose, nozzle and a trigger. The inert gas which kept the mixture liquid was also the propellant which shot it out of the nozzle in a stream. It seemed the hoses would gum up and need to be replaced after several uses but other than the trigger there were no moving parts.
The second PaDD held some specifications of rail-gun and electromagnetic projectile systems that Drummond had found in some Security archives.
A minute later he tapped the chime and stuck his head in when the door opened. “Hello, I’m Ridge Steiner, Marshals Service,” he introduced himself. “And now acting Security Chief, as you heard on the Bridge.” He entered and stuck out his hand, as he had not yet met the newly arrived Science Commander.
"Let's see what you have here," Llewellyn said as he hmmed, mmmed and ahhed while reading the Marshal's ideas. "The idea is really sound and truly brilliant for a Marshal, no offense intended. Have you shown this to the Chief Engineer yet?" Llewellyn asked.
Steiner dropped the his outstretched hand, which the Commander had completely ignored and let then man take the PaDDs.
"Yeah, ah sure, none taken" he frowned a bit but recovered. The guy was probably one of those science focused types, with no manners. "No, not yet. So, er, your name was Commander?" he asked
"Llewellyn. Lieutenant Cale Jayson Llewellyn, DSci, Deputy Marshall? I believe this is be the most correct appellation, is it not?" Llewellyn asked truly curious. Since he had never worked with a "Marshal Service" before, he was really curious about them.
"Chief Deputy Marshal actually," Steiner stated his full rank. "But Marshal or Ridge is fine." He gave the man a smile. "So, question for you; can you manufacture the sticky foam? The formula is contained on the PaDD, can you synthesize that in the labs aboard?"
"I do believe we can. I'll run this formula by my Lead Lab Tech real quick and have him get back to you, if that's OK? Or did you need to know now?"
"Not immediately, but sooner rather than later would be good, thanks" Steiner replied. "How about the electromagnetic-rail gun, think you might be able to collaborate with Engineering to build us a man-portable unit?"
"OK, I'll get right on that with the help of my lab tech, Warrant Officer Mariah Hill. Of course, I'll give Engineering whatever help they require from me, Marshal," Cale said still not comfortable enough to use first names with the crew yet. "Just have the Chief Engineer contact me with whatever he needs, if that's ok with you? It's OK with me."
"Works for me Commander." Steiner nodded and retrieved the PaDD with the railgun designs, leaving the other with Llewellyn. "I'll be discussing it with him shortly." He gave the man a nod and left the office.
