ST:TTV323 | "Spanner in the Works"

Stardate 95245

'Don't fix what isn't broken'; wise words to many an engineer, and words that were often quoted to the refit team at Utopia Planetia when the Sentinel refit program went into trials with the Valley Forge. But four years later, could those cautionary words truly come back to haunt the current crew...?

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Mia@crystyll FX | Another day in the life of... Mia@crystyll FX | The VF cruises through deep space between patrol points. While many of the crew are finding this time fruitful for the pursuit of personal endeavours or scientific studies, there is no rest for+ Mia@crystyll: + Kelly's engineers as the regular maintanence of ship's systems is a relentless task that waits for nobody. A task which brings her own team today to the secondary bridge Mia@crystyll FX | Only the engineering team occupy the otherwise vacant room, though for maintenance all systems are powered and functional Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex walks off the lift, carry a tool case, haphazardly setting it on a console nearby Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex hrms, "So... what needs fixing up here?" Mia@crystyll hums happily to herself as she runs a diagnostic on the viewscreen while Miadrone hovers around scanning the screens connections behind the wall Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex takes out a scanning took and runs a check on the console near him to start Keliaya@anncarise: "So far, we've found a bug with the science console," she turns to Tsurugi. It's not pulling up the charts with the latest astrometrics upgrades." Mia@crystyll steps back from the screen, sharing a cursory glance with the drone before watching it pop into life Keliaya@anncarise: "It's most likely a software issue, if you have experience with that. Otherwise I think Mia should be able to figure it out." Mia@crystyll watches with focus while the drone accesses the screen, running it through a range of test images Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: Sure... I'm more looking into any physical maintenance Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex taps a tool that looks somewhat wrench-like against his forearm as he waits for a scan report, "Is it normal for the bridge to not be in use?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I thought there was always a watch shift.. Mia@crystyll frowns at the corner of the screen, moving over and pulling her sleeve over her hand to rub something off it. Stepping back with a satisfied smile, she picks up her PADD to record the checks Mia@crystyll reads from their PADD. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex after a ping he takes a tool out and pops open the casing on the console, removing the entire top section to reveal the innards as he starts messing around with the isochips Keliaya@anncarise: "Oh, this is only the secondary bridge. It's primarily meant for controlling the engineering section after separation." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: guess I wasn't paying attention to the lift number.. Mia@crystyll glances up with a little giggle Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: still moving around by the computer nav Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I've only been on the Salahi, which is a tiny ship in comparison.. or planetside.. a lot to get used to Mia@crystyll: "There! Viewscreen all checked out for this rotation" she smiles, leaning over the console to activate the main forward view before turning and leaning back against it to watch the pretty starfield Keliaya@anncarise: "I know that feeling. The ship I worked on the longest was a Defiant-class. Secondary bridge here is already as big as most escort bridges, if not bigger." Keliaya@anncarise: "Our main bridge actually used to be larger than it is now, but there was a lot of space that wasn't really needed. After it got damaged, we changed quite a bit." Mia@crystyll gives a whimsical sigh as she watches the 'warp show' Keliaya@anncarise looks forward at the viewscreen too, "Good job, Mia! And thanks for the help." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: hmm.. removing unneeded space and complexity can be good Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: So... Frenchie isn't an officer but we use her for work? Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex pops out a burned out iso chip and looks in his kit for a new one Mia@crystyll: "Our drone shell is a certified maintanence unit, like your exocomps!" Keliaya@anncarise: "She's also an Arshai maintenance drone. Her- what she said!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex raises an eyebrow, " Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: If you say so." Mia@crystyll: "So sometimes, if we are not otherwise engaged in our administritative duties for the capitaine, or teaching when we have a class on board; well wel like to keep busy!" Mia@crystyll heads over with a little skip in her step, "We will keep the viewscreen on for the duration of the maintanence visit just to let it cycle sufficient run time Ms Kelly" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex finds the chip and slots it, then goes about returning the console cover on it Keliaya@anncarise nods, "Sounds good. Makes for some good background too!" Mia@crystyll: "That it does" she smiles, another longing glance back to the screen Mia@crystyll FX | Almost right as Tsurugi reattaches the console cover, the lights dim and consoles all around the bridge flicker Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex looks around, "That wasn't me.." Keliaya@anncarise: "That...wasn't expected to happen." Keliaya@anncarise takes out her personal tricorder and scans around, trying to determine the source or extent of the power cut. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: hmm... that chip was brand new.. Mia@crystyll FX | the engineering console lights up like a xmas tree with warning lights and alarms Keliaya@anncarise looks back at the console to check what's wrong. Keliaya@anncarise: "Don't worry, it's almost certainly not you, unless whatever you did is affecting shipwide power levels..." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex looks over, not looking overly bothered, but at least curious, "Nah.. it just was a simple swap out of a broken chip... it might have simply made an existing issue more apparent." Mia@crystyll FX | Another - more severe - fluctuation comes. Eng. panel shows the warp field beginning to fluctuate Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: that's... not a good sign.... might want to bring this ship to a stop... Keliaya@anncarise nods, "Whatever is causing this is probably bigger than a single chip can trigger." Keliaya@anncarise tries to comm the bridge. Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "Keliaya to main bridge." Mia@crystyll FX | As if on cue as Tsurugi suggests it, the ship makes a very sudden drop from warp. Inertial dampeners fighting to maintain a smooth transition Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex steps off a bit to avoid a stumble, "Well that's better than the alternative.." Mia@crystyll: <C-Keelah> "Kelly! What in the stars is going on?" Keliaya@anncarise braces on the console. Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "We're not sure yet, but we were seeing fluctuations in the warp field. Best to just hold position and try not to do anything that takes too much power while we figure out what's causing these - Keliaya@anncarise: - power issues." Mia@crystyll: <C-Keelah> "No arguments here. Get on top of this before things get any worse, we're already having to isolate non-essential systems and reserve power for primary functions" Mia@crystyll FX | The Eng. panel updates, showing an increasing number of sections blacked out; including main bridge which just switched to emergency backup generators Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex taps the manga-wrench to his shoulder, "Well.. I'm not bored at least.." Mia@crystyll: <C-Keelah> *sighs* Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "We'll try to get everything back online as soon as possible, Captain." Keliaya@anncarise: "Engineering on a starship is anything but boring..." Mia@crystyll strolls around to observe more closely, "What can be causing this, then?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex smirks, "So... where to start? Keliaya@anncarise taps on the console to try and see where the power outages first started from. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex pulls out a folding PADD and looks up some fault trees Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: Well.. I'd guess were start as the EPS taps and move forward.. seeing what's blocking the power.. Keliaya@anncarise nods, "I'm seeing that the warp core just suddenly stopped producing the required amount of power to sustain the field. Not sure why, though..." Mia@crystyll: "Could something happen to the EPS grid to affect the pull from the core?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: ah.. even before the taps.. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: well if the core is the problem... then that is actually... somewhat easier maybe.. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: maybe we should head down there to check it? Keliaya@anncarise nods, "That would be my place to start as well." Mia@crystyll: "Makes sense to us!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: if the lifts work.. but we always have the tubes too Keliaya@anncarise checks if the nearest turbolift is active. Keliaya@anncarise: "I could reroute power to the lifts, but it would be safer to use the tubes right now." Keliaya@anncarise: "Might slow us down a bit, but it seems whatever affected the warp core has more or less stabilized by now. Core power is still dropping, but not at the unprecedented rate of when this started." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: Maybe we can make it faster with some anti-grav play, heh Mia@crystyll: "Locking down the lift shafts and disabling local gravity would make for a hastier journey, and aid in power reservation" Keliaya@anncarise: "Good suggestion! Turning off gravity in select areas..." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: Grav shunting used to be an old trick on Salahi SCE missions Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex smirks, "It's also pretty fun." Keliaya@anncarise: "I usually turn it up myself. Good anti-boarding party tactic." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: well.. when the situation calls Keliaya@anncarise: "Came in handy several times in the Klingon War, since they like to make fights close and personal." Keliaya@anncarise: "There! We should be good to go!" Mia@crystyll moves to override the lift door access, "All set here for you!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: ladies first Keliaya@anncarise smiles, "Thanks. I'm usually fast with climbs anyways." Keliaya@anncarise tosses a chip in first once Mia overrides the door to make sure gravity is off, before jumping in herself and retrieving the chip. Keliaya@anncarise: "Everything's working as expected. Onto engineering!" Mia@crystyll follows Kelly in, just... walking down the shaft like any normal corridor while the drone handles the movement. Only telltale of the environment from her is the gravity free movement of her uniform Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex hops into the tube with a "yahoo!" and kicks onward Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex plops into the deck Mia@crystyll strolls out behind the others, "Well, that was certainly different" Keliaya@anncarise grabs onto the doorframe and lands fairly gracefully on her feet. Keliaya@anncarise: "I see you enjoy somoe anti-gravity fun, Lieutenant?" Mia@crystyll FX | Arriving on D14, almost all public areas are now on emergency lighting Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I got into it after Academy... you can blame a certain other cadet with colorful hair... Keliaya@anncarise chuckles, "It does add a very different and interesting twist to many activities! Not to mention just being very different in and of itself." Keliaya@anncarise: "This way to main engineering." Keliaya@anncarise: "Oh Mia, do you not have anti-gravity simulation capabilities, or just like walking normally?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: maybe she just likes being nonchalant.. Mia@crystyll: "It is not a function ever programmed into our avatar. Though it would be interesting to see if we could effectively emulate it!" Mia@crystyll does also like being nonchalant Keliaya@anncarise: "That's what I was thinking! It is great when you walk around while everyone floats, don't get me wrong...but floating around can be fun!" Mia@crystyll FX | As one might expect, Engineering is a hive of activity as folks hustle around trying to figure what's going on Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: what a mess.. Keliaya@anncarise: "I'll look to see if we can implement something like that for you once everything settles down. Think I know some good holoprograms to look in!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: any EVA program Mia@crystyll: "Ooh, something else new to look forward to then!" she beams happily Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: but let's make sure we won't all be EVAing soon Mia@crystyll: "An excellent point" she nods Keliaya@anncarise nods and steps into the middle of the engineering room, "What's the results of our core diagnostics?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex goes to a core console and starts pulling up data Mia@crystyll | Erik pops up from an access port under the core, "Kelly! Thank God you're here, I can't figure it out; diagnostics show no fault with the core but it continues to lose power" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: no loss in dueterium or animatter flow rates I'd guess.... I'd expect a dilithium flaw to throw out a reaction neutralizer failure code and stop the system as a precaution... Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: unless something is stopping that... maybe we should shut the whole thing off to check it.. go on aux power from the impulse generators for a bit? Keliaya@anncarise: "I couldn't see anything wrong with it remotely from the secondary bridge either. Have we tried booting up the secondary core and powering up critical systems with that for the moment?" Mia@crystyll | Erik nods to Tsurugi, "No flaw in the dilithium matrix; that was the first thing I thought to look at" he looks back to Kelly, "We /could/, though I didn't want to try unless it was something with+ Mia@crystyll: + the AM or deuterium flow, as without the secondary bussards extended the problem would only stretch to that core too" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: and doing it either way might add a bunch of new unknowns to the system Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: the more things we do to mitigate, the more chaos we add Keliaya@anncarise nods, "I was thinking if the secondary core has troubles too, it might narrow down the potential causes, but that's a good point. We don't want to throw more variables into the mix than we need." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: if we check ever subsystem in the core operations program... we could narrow down the cause though... Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: but we'd have to run it in safe startup.. which means turning it off.. The Captain might get annoyed but... Mia@crystyll: "Not as annoyed as if we end up dead in space, we think!" she chuckles Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: that might be a little too cheerful there... Keliaya@anncarise nods, "Always smarter to be safe, especially when dealing with an antimatter core." Keliaya@anncarise: "I'll inform the Captain." Keliaya@anncarise comms the bridge again. Mia@crystyll | Erik nods, "I'll begin the shutdown routine" Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "Keliaya to bridge." Mia@crystyll: <C-Keelah> "Tell me you've got some good news for me, Kelly? Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "Well, the core hasn't experienced any major spikes in output since the initial issue. But we still don't know what caused it, and we need to do a restart, so the ship will have to run on - Keliaya@anncarise: - auxiliary in the meantime." Mia@crystyll: <C-Keelah> "Understood Kelly. We'll do what we can to modulate the auxiliary supply from here" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex accesses the safe startup diagnostic programs for when they start turning around the reactor Keliaya@anncarise: <C> "We'll get the core back soon as we can." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I'm ready to start checking each system separately in the start up phase... with these programs we won't be doing fully start up yet.. just partials to see what goes wrong first Sana@turtles#8407 Comes barelling in "THE WARP CORE IS BROKEN CAN I HELP FIX IT!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex glances up, and just calmly looks at Sana. "No." Sana@turtles#8407: "So...yes?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: .... maybe.... Mia@crystyll: | Erik: "Shutdown complete. Over to you, lieutenant" Keliaya@anncarise steps away from the console she was working on and looks to Sana, "What's your specialty, lieutenant?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex starts up first trial ignition, "I'm gonna loop the start up sequences until we hit an error code.... it's possible the sensors couldn't see an issue with everything going at once" Sana@turtles#8407: "Weapons and things that go boom mostly, but I like all science." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: If we don't trip any error codes... then it might be a bigger issue... Keliaya@anncarise: "Well our goal is to /not/ make the core explode, so if you could just do the opposite of what you usually do, that'll be great..." Mia@crystyll: "May we suggest less talk of 'things going boom' as we perform a diagnostic startup on the warp core..." she chuckles Sana@turtles#8407: "I make no promises." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: note to self: post signs around areas of ship that this one is not allowed to play in... Keliaya@anncarise nods at Tsurugi, "Good thinking, Lieutenant. Let's hope we find the problem this way. And if not, well we'll figure that out if this doesn't work." Sana@turtles#8407 Moves to a console and catches up Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex smirks as he gets early read ouits, "I do recognized an Osaka accent though... so you must be something good" he says of Sana Keliaya@anncarise: "A...what accent?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: It's a city in Japan Keliaya@anncarise: "Oh, I thought it was a colony, and was trying to figure out which one." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: ok, I'm getting something.. Mia@crystyll: "Our ancestors on that side of the family came from Kyoto..." she muses, happily tapping away doing... stuff Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: looks like there is a drop in deuterium feeds in the starboard nacelle.. I think from the ramscoop collector system... Keliaya@anncarise steps over to Tsurugi to take a look at his console as well. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: That is a problem in that we'd be collecting less fuel from it.. but we should still have reserves... Mia@crystyll: "Unless the reserves were already drained?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I figure we'd get a warning for that Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: unless the power management system is trying to leverage low fuel levels by lowering the deuterium input Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: that'd lower antimatter too.. and.. well.. less power Keliaya@anncarise nods, "That does follow." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: not sure why we wouldn't get a warning.. maybe there's a faulty sensor in the nacelle... Mia@crystyll: 'hrms, "What if the fault isn't there, but further along the system? Would it then not trigger the reserves as the system registers full bussard capacity?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: this program is bypassing the local sensors.. it's the only reason I'm getting data now Mia@crystyll: "Perhaps then a faulty reading is not out of the question. Such a thing could explain how no loss was previously detected" Keliaya@anncarise: "Any way to further narrow down where the problem might be at?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: either way, even if the sensor is not telling us.. it means there might be a problem with the collector... and the port nacelle can't bring in enough fuel on it's own to match our power needs Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: we'd need both running if we were maintaining warp speeds Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I'm patching in the prople at starboard nacelle control, see if they can give me any troubleshooting data there Keliaya@anncarise nods and heads to a nearby console, tapping on it. Mia@crystyll FX | Nacelle control reports back after a min, confirming Tsurugi's data but unable to shed any further light on it as their sensors show no fault Keliaya@anncarise: "We might need to locate the problem manually then..." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: so we got something off in the nacelle sensors at least.. and something wrong in the collector Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: the upshot is... this means we can patch the system to not worry about fuel reserves and turn the core on.. or the secondary one... as long as we don't use the primary nacelles Mia@crystyll wanders back over, "Does this mean we are heading into the nacelle?" Keliaya@anncarise nods, "Excellent work narrowing the problem down this far, Lieutenant." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: assuming we aren't actually empty.. but we are supposed to have warnings for that too... not every sensor on this ship can be busted Mia@crystyll | Erik nods to Tsurugi, "Sounds good to me. Chief?" he looks to Kelly for permissions to begin the process Keliaya@anncarise nods over to Erik, "Start switching over everything to the secondary core in the meantime, while we figure out what's wrong in the nacelle." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: maybe we should add a new thing to point out when the fuel management system decides to change m-dot... so it actually tells us Keliaya@anncarise: "We can implement that once we fix the problem at hand. Ready for a walk in the nacelle? Mia@crystyll beams, "We have always wanted to explore the nacelles!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: it's kinda boring.. don't scratch the coils though Mia@crystyll: "Duly noted!" she nods, heading off that way Keliaya@anncarise heads off towards the nacelle as well. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex goes to a catwalk panel, with the injector room having most of the control staff from beforee Keliaya@anncarise: "So...welcome to starboard nacelle. Not as impressive looking as Main Engineering, but every bit as vital." Keliaya@anncarise takes out her custom tricorder, trying to see if it can detect anything out of the ordinary that the internal sensors might not be picking up. Mia@crystyll FX | The forward tip of the nacelle - with the intermix assembly in question - is currently sealed off by a bulkhead Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: so we know that the intermix chamber is not getting anything from the scoop... either there is a stoppage or the scope is just not on... Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: there a reason the door is closed right now? Keliaya@anncarise: "My tricorder's reading high plasma levels around the intermix assembly." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: that might be why... hey a safety system that's working.. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: but why plasma in there... Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: the incoming deuterium is rammed into compressor nozzles to slow it down.... it can be charged up to plasma states but is supposed to be cooled before routing to the tanks right? Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: maybe a failure in processing caused a rupture? Mia@crystyll: "It would appear that it has not been making it to the tanks" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: maybe a failure in processing caused a rupture? Mia@crystyll: "It would appear that it has not been making it to the tanks" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: perhaps also taking out the warning sensor... Keliaya@anncarise: "Could be an issue with the cooling system..." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: overheating can break a lot of things... Mia@crystyll: "Possibly. Can we vent the chamber to gain access? It should not be continuining to fill with the nacelle offline, non?" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: ideally no, let's try Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex pulls up the controls to start a vent Keliaya@anncarise continues scanning to make sure there's no more plasma building up. Mia@crystyll FX | Sure enough, the compartment vents effectively. Pooping out a cloud of plasma from the tip of the nacelle Keliaya@anncarise: "Area's clear. Should be safe to unseal it now." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex pushes the open button.. that's a thing Mia@crystyll FX | The bulkhead opens and they can now access the troubled area Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex looks around the area for signs of damage Keliaya@anncarise scans to try and determine if the fault is indeed from the cooling system. Mia@crystyll FX | At a glance, everything appears to be as expected. However, closer inspection of the main inlet manifold would reveal that it's seal has failed Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: gah... always a seal... Keliaya@anncarise steps over, "Good find!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: we're gonna have to replace the whole manifold... Keliaya@anncarise examines the seal, "Looks like material degredation over time resulting from a microfracture. But unless the sensor was broken for a long time, we should've seen this coming." Mia@crystyll moves to investigate the sensors, "Ms. Kelly... these sensors..." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: the sensor is probably not fine enough to detect seal issues.... but it should have noticed the breach Keliaya@anncarise: "Yeah..." she looks over to Mia. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: the seals should have been rated to work between refits... so someone at dock maintenance screwed up Mia@crystyll pulls out the sensor module with ease, holding it out to Kelly, "They were not connected!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I bet this seal is the same one and not a new one... Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex looks over with a mild exasperation look Keliaya@anncarise: "That...would explain a lot." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: my buddies at SCE would be cussing up a storm now.. Mia@crystyll FX | The module power connector still has a factory-fit 'cap' over it's connection end. It was slotted in place, but never connected Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: this screams of rushed dock maintenance.. I read about the recent struggles in the region... DS13 only just got docks back right? Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: not that I want to blame the station engineers necessarily.. Mia@crystyll: "But this ship has never been into the local docks. In fact - save for the bridge rework - it hasn't been in dock since it's major refit before Capitaine Keelah took command, we believe!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: this is beyond me.. but as chief, you should look up who was in charge of maintaining this area last time it was serviced Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: welp.. it's probably internal here... feel bad for whoever gets to meet the Captain for this.. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: except.. I don't feel bad.. Keliaya@anncarise nods, "Could be before my time even...who knows how long this sensor hasn't been connected. We probably wouldn't have caught it if it wasn't for the other problems." Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: as for the busted seal.. it might not have been replaced on schedule Keliaya@anncarise: "I'll look into it, but it's possible whoever was responsible might not even be on this ship anymore. Could've been way back as part of the refit team." Mia@crystyll checks the readout, "Indeed; according to the data feed, that sensor in your hand is still connected and reporting all well!" Mia@crystyll: "We will assist to trace the fault, but have a suspicion that when the feeds were first programmed; they did not account for the disconnected module and so inadvertently drew the feed from the port + Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: that's annoying.... so much stuff crossing paths and making it hard to tell.. Mia@crystyll: + nacelle as the feed from this one" Keliaya@anncarise: "Starships are complicated machines after all." Mia@crystyll nods, "A simple oversight, likely rushed past in final testing. It is a natural conclusion after all, that preceding work has been fitted correctly. But we will still trace and help fix the error" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: loss of warp power caused by... connector cap left on a sensor months ago.... cause otherwise it wouldn't be pointless Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: glad the fault tree still works though Keliaya@anncarise nods, "And you did a great job tracing it back here. I'll have damage control up here soon as possible to replace the manifold." Mia@crystyll: "We will be in the computer core if you have further need from us" she chirps Keliaya@anncarise: "Thanks for your help, Mia. I'll be here for the meantime to give the damage control teams a hand. Lieutenant Thorkildsen should have everything in hand with the core switchovers." Mia@crystyll: "Say hello to Essex for us!" she smiles, giving a cheery little wave as she heads back out Keliaya@anncarise: "Will do!" she waves back to Mia. Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: I think I might head off duty soon if you don't need me on the wrenches... Keliaya@anncarise: "I think you've done enough for today, Lieutenant. You know what you're doing and you have some great problem solving skills. We're lucky to have you on board!" Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: Heh, well, glad my performance review is shaping up at least Shinwa Tsurugi@Master_Dex: now... chicken curry I think...

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SUBMITTED: Stardate 95245 FILED BY: CAPT K Se'Lai SECURITY: Level 1 - Open

LOCATION: Starboard Nacelle

FAULT:Sudden loss of power from primary warp core resulting in shipwide system shutdowns

OUTCOME:Exacerbation avoided through emergency protocols in place. Fault traced to the starboard nacelle intermix assembly

KEY PERSONNEL:

CAPT Keelah LCDR Keliaya LT Thorkilsden (NPC) LTJG Minatozaki LTJG Shinwa Mia LaRouche

REPLACEMENT COMPONENTS:

Plasma injector inlet manifold (starboard nacelle) Deuterium processing plant sensor assembly (starboard nacelle) Plasma injector inlet manifold seal (port nacelle) Main computer isolinear routing: nacelle sensors

DESCRIPTION: Whilst travelling at warp (cruise speed), the ship began to suffer system wide power loss. No error reported from the warp core, and supporting systems appeared to in perfect working order. The energy drain continued to the point where the core was unable to sustain an effective warp field and we had to perform an emergency stop before it collapsed. Engineering teams found that the power drain on the core continued even when stationary - albeit at an exponentially lesser rate - and so with power reserves already low, we began to operate under emergency prioritization with non-essential systems being temporarily shut down. Shortly after this the core was taken offline completely to aid the investigation process, so all remaining power requirements were transferred to the auxiliary batteries.

The diagnostic restart of the core revealed a gross imbalance in the M/AM reaction chamber which resulted in the cascade failure. This appeared to be resulting from a failure in the flow of deuterium from the starboard nacelle, although all sensor readings confirmed no fault still. Verifying that the reserve tanks were still untapped, the core was brought fully back online and the M/AM intermix feed manually overridden to pull from the storage tanks while the investigation continued.

Sensor readings and system diagnostics were confirmed from nacelle control (starboard). However after traversing the length of the catwalk to reach the deuterium processing plant, the investigation team found that it had been sealed off by an emergency bulkhead and tricorders showed a large buildup of plasma within the collection chamber; against readings from internal sensors. The compartment was vented and re-pressurized successfully, allowing manual inspection of the injector assembly. It was easily determined from here that a seal on the inlet manifold of the plasma injector had failed; this was the cause of the plasma buildup within the collection chamber and ultimately the cause of the drop in flow to the warp core.

Closer inspection of the failed seal showed that the failure seemed to have originated from microfractures in the material. Though such a fault is not uncommon for an element such as this, it is something that should have been detected far sooner as significant time would have been required for the fault to develop to the point of complete component failure such as this. Turning their attention to the internal sensors of the compartment, the investigation team found that the sensor module - whilst fitted - was not properly connected. It was in fact easily removed by hand, demonstrating the root cause to this fault; a factory-fitted protective cap over the power connection to the sensor module.

Seeing that the diagnostic and internal monitoring systems still registered full functionality and no error from the sensor module - even when it was physically removed - the team hypothesized that the problem pertained back to a minor oversight during the nacelle refit where the protective cap was inadvertently left in place. When the nacelles were married up to the hull and the computer installed, the data feed for the starboard nacelle sensor module was actually misinterpreted from that of the port nacelle; a natural and logical error in deduction given the circumstances.

CORRECTIVE ACTION:Due to the seal failure; the starboard nacelle's plasma injector inlet manifold had to be completely replaced. The same seal was replaced from the port nacelle manifold as a cursory measure. Further to this; the sensor module was properly connected and the isolinear routing altered within the main computer core to read correctly - verified through alternating conditions between each nacelle.

Construction reports from the refit nacelles have been reviewed, and all material components are verified as passing QC. Utopia Planetia have been informed of the material failure and updated maintenance schedules are subsequently being issued to all vessels with manifold seals from the same batch as a precautionary measure. Regarding the ill-fitted sensor module which is ultimately identified here as being the root cause of the fault; a simple oversight owing predominately to pressured construction scheduling is the final determination. This has been recorded accordingly with no further direct action being pursued from our own investigation.

The Engineering department has also been ordered to conduct a complete system wide manual verification of all refit systems. Though repetitions are unlikely, they can not be eliminated without full verification. Though the sweep will include all systems altered by the refit, the first focus is on the nacelles and all systems signed off by the same team who passed the ill-fitted sensor assembly.