LTJG Lhandon Joseph Nilsen - A Dozen Nilsen’s
Lhandon Nilsen
(( Lower Astrometrics Lab, Deck 11, Octavia E Butler))
Lhandon's brain hurt, which was a good thing, even though he was out of his depth. He had started to see why Rouinchet had put him there; she had been doing him a favor, giving him a chance to see how the other half lived, learn about what the science team did and, with that understanding, be able to support them better when he returned to ops.
Nilsen: Alright, tell me what you need from Ops and I'll get it for ya. I can access to entire OC from here.
The biggest difference Nilsen noticed was how they approached problems. Both ops and science had officers who were experts in their niche, those who could tell you everything there was to know about a singular topic, but ops dealt with the running of the ship, rarely, if ever, did they need to deal with the nasty looking scientific anomaly hanging outside the port windows.
Katsim: Flexibility (beat)
The pause gave Lhandon a moment to look over, his eyebrows raised to say, “that’s what we do in ops” Katsim then expanded and added context
Katsim: Modulating the shields can help slow degradation. We should be ready to do so if need be.
Nilsen: I can clear some of the ODN relays and power transfer buffers, which should help increase reaction time.
Promontory: So, can we give the bridge the tentative and cautious “go ahead” on approaching the system?
Katsim: Before we move I would like to employ stellar occultation. It won't be as detailed as the sensors, but it will give us some information. We can use microlensing to help map out unseen objects by detecting the slight variations in the gravitational field they cause.
At that point, Lhandon's brain had really started to hurt; he felt the strain pulsing in his temples. He had known some of the words, the ones with just one or two syllables, but the terms 'Occultation', 'microlensing', and 'variations in the gravitational field' had gone right over his head.
Yinn: Lhandon's idea gave me a thought as well. A lot of our scans operate via subspace, so we can get instantaneous data on a system at great distance. But if we make old-fashioned visual contact, we're seeing the light travel from several light years away. As we get closer, and the distance is reduced to light months, light weeks, and so on, we can essentially watch the last several years of Omicron Victor IV unfold. See if the cloud or other phenomena are new. See if the system has changed in some way. Maybe even see the Unity Dow before it disappeared. And we could do this at the same time as Lt. Nilsen's strategy without interfering with anything.
His brain had been gone. Something might have been mentioned in one of the science modules at the academy, something about how the lights of the stars that we saw were light from the past, and we didn’t truly know what something looked like until we got there, but just like with the other words, he had no idea what to suggest, so he just nodded.
His mind was a blank canvas. A faint echo from a science module at the academy whispered about how the starlight we see is merely a glimpse of the past. The true present form of the celestial bodies remained an enigma until one reached close proximity. However, just like the elusive words 'Occultation', 'microlensing', and 'variations in the gravitational field', this seemed like a foreign language to his brain. With no suggestions surfacing, he just gave a simple nod.
Promontory: I like where your mind is at.
Meanwhile, Lhandon’s mind was mush.
Promontory: Thinking multi-dimensionally and using relatively to our advantage is a good plan. Perhaps we can combine that with a probe array and Peri’s microlensing approach.
Nilsen: So a couple of probes.
Katsim: response
Avander smiled.
Promontory: Actually, I was thinking about launching a dozen shuttlecraft as well. To the Ensign’s point, they can warp half a light in all directions, run their scanners, and we can collate the images back here for a better resolution.
Then Lhandon smiled. Finally, it was his turn again. His plan formed in less than a second.
Nilsen: It will be like a web and we’ve got more than enough processing power here to handle all of that. I think this might extend our range as well if we're clever about how we place them.
He brought up a 3D view of the OEB, and then loaded in the probes and the various shuttle crafts. He hoped this laid the groundwork for a live projection of the Oort cloud to be seen when it was showtime.
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Promontory: We could man them or set them to auto-pilot. (shrugging) I don’t have a strong preference, do any of you?
Nilsen: If it’s all the same to you, the OEB has fleet formation mode. This is the perfect time to take this for a spin. They can all be unmanned, which means we’re not risking anyone unnecessarily in case this goes sideways and we can control them all from one location. Like a dozen Nilsen’s eh!
With a decision Lhandon had made himself to manage that part of the operation, a smirk had crept onto his face. The thought of a dozen Nilsens - a scenario not too far-fetched given his six siblings - had tickled his humor. The image of Sherlock, pulling out her hair and frustration painting her face at the overwhelming prospect of dealing with so many Nilsens, had sparked immense joy. A thought had crossed his mind - perhaps it had been high time for Sherlock to meet the rest of the family.
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Promontory: We’ll get a sneak peek of the system and, hopefully, the Unity Dow.
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Nilsen: I also guess once we’re through the cloud, we can see the rest of the system. ::tapping on the console:: I’m getting the probes made now, as well as clearing up the ODN pathways so the shields are a little more responsive.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: Response
Nilsen: Oh i know it’s automatic, but the system could be even faster, The probes are being replicated now. ::To Katsim:: They’ve got those new sensors you requested a few weeks back, they arrived when we were at DS14, and I can’t think of a better chance to take take them for a spin. I’ll throw in some of the older type as a back up.
He didn’t quite know the full details of the new sensors; a lot of the figures and ranges were within the realm of science. However, he had understood the terms "power requirement" and "sensitivity", and he also knew what that look of glee on a number of the science officers' faces meant when he had delivered them. He figured that was one of the more enjoyable parts of operations, and the internal smile he had experienced afterwards had helped to confirm that. Of course, Operations had their own tools, and he enjoyed the access he had regained to the OC from the Science Lab. He had been able to control things, order items, move parts around, and manage logistics, just as he would have been able to if he had been standing in the pit, the central area of control for the OC.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: Response
Nilsen: I’m printing the shuttles too. No point using our good ones for a gambit like this
There were limitations for anything larger than a workbee, but that was fine. They were not going to be manned, so they could be packed with all the sensors and scientific gear that Katsim and Yinn could have ever wanted.
The station he had been using had turned into a mini OC. He could see a feed of the printer working, a list of all the parts he needed, and a progress bar for the drones. If any of the others had asked for a glass of wine, he could have gotten that too. Although drinking on the job was most likely frowned upon.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: Response
Tags/TBC
((OOC: Today, the hay fever is the worst I’ve had this year, meds are fun, so hopefully this one is coherent. I’ll likely be offline for a little while today. I’m going for a nap now))
Lieutenant JG Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
Assistant Chief of Operations.
USS Octavia E Butler
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)