[Shadowdancer] Rem's Intro and Rise, Shadowdancer!
- From: "Robert Lewis" <caldfyr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Shadow Dancer" <shadowdancer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 03:46:48 -0900
Name: Rem Hathaway
Age:
Physical Description: (Please attach photo of character if possible.)
Race: Human
Age: 26
Height: 6'
Weight: 170
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Traits: Scar along left forearm
Primary Ability: (Choose one) Engineer, Physics
Secondary Abilities: (Choose two) Computer Analyst, Pilot, ship's Weapons,
personal phasers
Background: (Please end with character on Rhad Izam Station in order to
bring group together.)
Rem Hathaway is an extremely talented engineer that freelances to Starfleet
and Corporations as the sole member the company he founded at age 15. What
began as consultant contracts with small companies culminated into two
Starfleet listening post and one starbase installation on his resume.
Because of his repetitive work for Starfleet, he maintains a level 7
security clearance. He has amassed enough wealth to purchase a Danube
runabout which he named Misato. (note: Danube runabouts run about 2.5
million credits)
Rise, Shadowdancer!
The movie was horrible. Hell, it was worse than horrible. But Rem supposed
it was better than playing yet another game of solitaire. The last hand
started off with only one red card showing. After two passes through the
deck there were no new cards face up. It was obviously a sign. He could
stop playing solitaire or he could go insane. But there were other ways to
drive a person insane, few more effective than boredom.
The destination was a two-edged sword. The location was far enough away
from the merchant and military space lanes that it should be deserted. For
his purposes, deserted was good. The reasons for it, such as the 187 hour
trip at warp 4.3 were not so good. Not so good, and very, very mind numbing.
Sector Theta 325 was empty space. There were no nearby planets, stars, or
nebula. The only points of interest were the wrecks of Sabre reinforcements
heading for Cardassian space with minimum crews. Rem doubted it was simple
coincidence that a widely dispersed field of cardassian mines littered the
area directly in their path. The inexperienced sabre crews didn't know the
mines were there until the first explosions were felt.
Rem made a sympathetic noise as he remembered hearing the story for the
first time. It had been in the officer's mess of Farpoint Station. The
ensign who related the story was still visibly shaken weeks after the event.
He was eating one of his last meals there after finishing a lucrative
installation contracted to him by Starfleet when the ensign sat down next to
him. After a few beers, he began his story.
When the explosions began two sabers were instantly disabled when one of
them collided with a mine at full impulse. The mine detonated against the
Atherton's starboard nacelle and the ship performed a lazy spin into the
saucer section of the Minuet. Emergency systems on each ship shut down
propulsion, but the Minuet had already lost the entire bridge crew. Only
the two engineers made it off alive. Two other Sabres, the Lennox and
Samson, sustained multiple collisions before bringing their crippled ships
to a stop. The Tennyson took two hits to the engineering section that
knocked out both the main and auxiliary power. With life support offline,
the crew abandoned their drifing ship. The commander of the Labrador, the
only ship to remain undamaged, beamed aboard the survivors. After a
panicked and chaotic discussion the four damaged ships were deemed lost and
they proceeded to their destination.
With any luck, Rem thought, he would be able to salvage a working ship. But
he had to get there first. With solitaire no longer an option, he decided
on a movie.
So he sat through a period piece about a dashing starship captain who brings
the cold Vulcan heroine out of her emotionless shell. There was barely a
plot, not enough nudity to compensate, and Rem was thinking that mystical
signs could go straight to mystical hell. It's not like a cardgame warrants
actual signs, anyway. Then again, maybe it was his sanity that warranted
the sign. Surely his sanity was important.
"Misato, 1812 Overture, rock interpretation; and loop it."
As the song began playing, Rem busied himself running diagnostics from his
console. Satisfied that weapons and navigation were working perfectly, he
focused on propulsion. The display reported a current speed of a smooth
warp 4.3. maybe. Rem frowned and wiped a smudge on the display. Smooth
wasn't as smooth as it had first appeared. "Ninety-eight-point-nine percent
efficiency, my ass," he spat.
Entering the engineering section, he started sorting the equipment he'd
need. "Haruka, adjust the music; rougher and louder." In response an
accompanying violin was replaced by a new guitar, and the lead guitar no
longer sounded near as friendly. Following the new guitar was a more
energetic drummer.
"Perfect."
Keying an eleven digit combination released the maintenance hatch. The
Angry 1812 Overture was midway through its third run when Rem narrowed the
problem down to a timing issue with the warp field generators. The culprit
could be anything from the field generators themselves to the timing
circuitry-or even the power feeds. This was going to take awhile.
"Fucking hell," he sighed.
Three hours later arrived with a thrice increased volume level and the
addition of a bass guitar player and a saxophone to help support the dueling
lead guitars. Twenty minutes later a third lead guitar crashed the party,
starting a free-for-all. Rem, diagnostic probe in one hand and tricorder in
the other, believed himself close to finished with fine-tuning the engine.
Tweaking the input power had finally allowed him to begin stabilizing the
timing circuit. He was making the finishing touches when he felt the ship
exit subspace.
His scream began as "No", but as it rose above the music it became
unintelligible. With the warp bubble dissipated, the work couldn't
continue. His shoulders bumped the doors on his way through to the command
section. Ninety-nine-point-four percent optimal efficiency would have to be
good enough.
"Misato, end program and report."
The music ceased as the computer complied. "Destination Waypoint Alpha not
reached due to ship detection."
"Identify it"
"Working"
Rem was raising shields before he'd finished dropping into the chair.
Moments later the phasers were charged and the ship began an arcing course
around the distant vessel. The Maquis and several pirate organizations were
rumored to be considering the area as a base of operations, and Rem didn't
want to meet up with any today. He had faith in Misato's tactical abilities
against a pirate vessel, but there were more important things to do today.
He increased power to the sensors and put it on the view screen.
0
The vessel was still just a white dot when the computer made its report.
"The vessel is a Starfleet Sabre Class Frigate with the patrol refit. The
transponder is non-functional."
While obviously very distant, the ship still appeared rather small. As the
distance narrowed to a million kilometers he confirmed it as a Sabre class
frigate. Misato's sensors reported the Sabre as powered down.
Sensors reported no other ships in the area, so Rem approached the powerless
sabre. The ship's registry confirmed it was the Tennyson. It bothered Rem
to see the ship drifting through space in a slow spin.
The hull was completely lightless. Shield leakage from the mine detonations
had scorch some hull plating, but the only real damage appeared to be some
crushed plates on the port-side engineering section. After bringing Misato
to within 3 kilometers of the frigate he matched their course and speeds.
"Misato, begin an in-depth structural analysis of that ship. Also, monitor
for warp signatures and alert me if any are detected." As the computer
acknowledged the order, Rem began donning an EVA suit. Minutes later he was
beaming over into the Tennyson's Main Engineering. After a momentary look
around, he activated his tricorder. A little over an hour later Rem had all
the data he needed. The initial survey confirmed his suspicions that panic
and inexperience had led to a waste of a good vessel. Any engineer on his
second or third tour could have
Diagnosed the power loss within a couple of hours and had a team repair the
damage in half a day. How desperate was Starfleet that it would send a ship
with only two green engineers? Rem had heard the war with the Dominion was
going badly, but surely things weren't as bad as that. They were probably
sent out by some dumbass trying to appear efficient for the big brass.
"Oh well, your stupidity is my incredibly good fortune." Rem giggled.
Bringing out his PADD, he began planning how to repair the main power feeds
that had fused themselves to the outer hull plating. Evidently, the massive
short had caused an automatic shutdown of not only the two fusion reactors,
but the impulse and warp engines too.
The initial excitement kept Rem working with the plasma cutter long past his
usual lunch time. When the last of the melted EPS conduits were cut away
from the inner structure he took a break to admire his work. With the
conduits clear Rem was able to better visualize the structural damage Misato
had reported. Thanks to substandard cardassian ordinance, instead of
blowing a hole in the side of the ship, the underpowered mine had merely
buckled three decks of hull plating with a minor, but very unlucky rupture
on deck 4.
"Gotta love Murphy's Law," he chuckled.
A cheeseburger convinced his stomach to stop grumbling. After the rushed
meal, Rem found himself in the main cargo bay looking at a large cache of
spare EPS conduit pieces. Normally a three man lift, the lack of gravity
made them easy to separate. One site-to-site transport later and he was on
the appropriate deck. With a hand phaser, Rem attempted to vaporize the
section of armor plating still piercing the deck. True to the design,
though rather irritating for Rem, all the phaser accomplished was to lightly
warm the plating.
With a tap on his communicator, he began, "Hathaway to Misato."
"Awaiting instructions, Captain," replied the runabout.
"There is a piece of ablative armor piercing the hull approximately 2 meters
from my location. Isolate the piece and transport it away."
"Destination for transport," inquired his ship.
"Um, transfer it to the raw matter storage." Almost immediately after
Misato acknowledged the order, the plating began to shimmer and disappear.
After repairing the power conduits, Rem isolated that section of the ship.
The decks still had some damage, but repairing them could wait. Getting the
ship functional was the first priority. A nap and a shower later he was
docking the runabout with the frigate.
"Misato, acknowledge successful power coupling with other vessel."
"Power system coupling confirmed; relays on standby."
"Excellent." So far things were going according to plan. Rem beamed over
to the Tennyson's Main Engineering.
"Hathaway to Misato, bring engine power to 100% and transfer excess power
through the docking hatch."
"Complying, Captain," replied the runabout.
Rem noticed the effect almost immediately. Rudimentary instrumentation came
to life reporting initial power system initialization. A display near the
main console flashed for his attention.
<INITIALIZATION COMPLETE>
<ACTIVATE MAIN POWER RELAY YES/NO?>
Rem touched the screen indicating he wanted to activate the relays. The
relays must have activated because emergency lighting turned on and the main
engineering console powered up indicating slaved power and the main computer
as operational.
<LCARS ONLINE>
<LOGIN TO UNLOCK FURTHER POWER UP PROCESSES>
Because of his extensive sensitive work with Starfleet, Rem had a level 7
security clearance. Thankfully, the ship's database was intact and
recognized his credentials. Rem took a moment to familiarize himself with
the main console. Fundamentally, it wasn't very different from a
starbase's, there were just different systems being monitored. It didn't
take him long to determine the ship was airtight, with the exception of the
damaged section he had already isolated. Since the tricorder registered
breathable air, he removed his helmet.
"Computer," he asked tentatively.
"Working."
"Identify main fusion reactor control location," he ordered.
"The main fusion reactor control is located in Main Engineering."
"No shit, Sherlock. Computer, is the main fusion reactor control in upper
or lower engineering?"
This time the answer was useful. "Main fusion reactor control is in Main
Mngineering, upper section."
"So, the upper then. All righty then. Let's take you off life support,
shall we?" After climbing the ladder to the upper section, it didn't take
long for Rem to find the fusion reactor control console. The reactor could
be accessed from the main console below, but initialization could only be
accomplished from this console. The LCARS menu was rather simple, and three
selections later the ship was under its own power. He signaled the Misato
to disengage the power feeds, then went back down to the main engineering
console. With the fusion reactor supplying the initial power needed, the
impulse engines started without any problem. The warp engines were just as
easy, but involved a slow and tedious monitoring of the matter and
anti-matter streams while the reaction stabilized. When it was finished Rem
was too giddy to do anything but stare at the pulsing heart of the ship.
When the initial awe wore off, he took a turbolift to the bridge. On
arrival, he caressed the command chair before gingerly sitting down in it.
Rem straightened out in the chair and with an air of authority, addressed
the ship's computer. "Computer, acknowledge my equivalent rank of
Lieutenant Commander, verify my sole possession of this vessel, and transfer
all command codes to me."
"Access Denied," was not the response Rem was expecting.
Rem was startled, but he wouldn't give up that easily. "Expand on your
answer."
"Rem Hathaway has security level seven sponsored by Starfleet Department of
Naval Engineering, equivalent to Lieutenant Commander. Rem Hathaway is the
sole occupant of this vessel. Command codes up to level 7 are authorized
when no Starfleet officers are present."
"Ah. So it isn't 'no', so much as 'kinda'. I'll have to have somebody look
into changing your attitude." Standing up, he walked over to tactical.
"Computer, activate all bridge LCARS with my logon." The tactical display
lit up in front of Rem, and he noticed the operations and navigation
positions light up also. After adjusting the display to his liking, he was
pleased to see that not only could he could power up the shields, but that
they automatically extended around the docked runabout. He then walked to
the navigation position and got comfortable.
Rem tapped his communicator. "Hathaway to Misato."
"Awaiting orders, Captain," came the standard reply.
Rem smiled at the mention of Captain. He liked the title. "Disengage
docking clamps and move to a position five thousand kilometers starboard,
relative to this vessel. You will maintain position relative to this vessel
until I tell you otherwise. Confirm acceptance of orders."
The runabout didn't let him down. "My orders are as follows. I will undock
and move to a position five thousand kilometers starboard of the frigate and
maintain position to the frigate until you cancel the order."
With that confirmation, Rem waited for the runabout to position itself, then
brought the frigate to full power and eased it forward at one-quarter
impulse. Misato accelerated to keep pace. Everything was humming
beautifully, so Rem accelerated to full impulse. It accelerated faster than
the runabout, but Misato eventually caught up. Rem found that to be
amusing, so he went through several maneuvers, laughing as the runabout
struggled to keep position.
But after a handful of vector changes, he felt bad for picking on his baby.
Bringing the frigate to a stop, he stepped into the turbolift.
The main shuttlebay was a disappointment. While both shuttlebays were
devoid of shuttles, neither was large enough to accommodate the runabout.
He'd have to think about what to do with Misato.
Returning to the bridge, he checked the starcharts. He needed someone to
hack the ship's computers. Rhad Izam Station was the closest, so he set
course and watched the stars fly by his viewscreen. HIS viewscreen.
"Young buck makes it big, gets his own starship. What can't this engineer
do? Why." he trailed off. Engineer. He was an engineer. If he got a
crew, he would be too busy captaining to be an engineer anymore.
"Well, shit."
"Shit!" He would do some serious thinking on the way to Rhad Izam Station,
and he had 164 hours to do it in.
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