Lt. Cmdr. Lhandon Nilsen - Knuckle Down.

[Lhandon Nilsen]

((OOC: Sorry for the delay. Picking up from KW’s sim))

((At the top of the downwards tower - level 0, Kaelith's Caverns, Central Subterranean Excavation, Marohu III))

Progress had been made, and made quickly. They had found their way back to the start of things and made contact with Arlill's team. They also were about to learn that Kaelith, while struggling, was also in contact with both teams.

They also had his cube, which was described as his essence, his soul, all his knowledge - in other words, Kaelith himself. They now had a duty of care to the AI, and Lhandon had the plan to return to the OEB and use the OC to help. Counterpoint, quite rightly, had been raised.

Kaelith: What experts do you have aboard your ship that may heal my data device? ::indicating towards the cube::

Tarnas: Don’t worry Kaelith. The ship has a vast crew, with many skilled personnel who would be uniquely placed to help you.

Richards nodded as he spoke; they both were right with what they said, and Kaelith was perfectly justified in what could be seen as his anxiety.

Richards: We have some of the most brilliant engineers and scientists around.

Kaelith: Response

Tarnas: I’d like to go back to something you said a moment ago, if possible. You mentioned the device is a linking one? Can you tell us more? Do other cubes have different roles? It sounds like some cubes facilitate data exchange and others store the data?

Tarnas made a great hypothesis - a word that Lhandon had learned. Regardless of whether the cube was a central point or if it was one point of many, any damage to it would be catastrophic. He listened and understood what was being said. Figuring out his role as a leader, he wondered if one of the rules of being a leader was to shut his big mouth.

Richards: Yeah. How do you transfer information back and forth?

Kaelith: Response

Tarnas: That’s interesting. And are there any other cubes - or other devices - nearby that we could reasonably retrieve that may be important to you?

The ops officer was asking all the right questions.

Kaelith: Response

Richards: That is Interesting.

Tarnas: I’ve managed to find a schematic, and have prepared the data packet with everything we’ve managed to find out so far. Do you want me to send it now?

Lhandon nodded and was about to say yes when Richards became the beacon of caution.

Richards: Not trying to play the expert here but we probably want to make sure we aren’t consuming any more power than we need to. If we are low already, maybe a big data transfer isn’t the best idea.

Tarnas: You’re right to be cautious but I can assure you that the fusion generator isn’t even at half capacity yet. There’s more than enough power to send the data.

Was this another part of being a leader - to collect all the information together and to make a judgment Lhandon took a deep breath, ready to voice the decisions weighing on his mind.

Nilsen: You’re both right. Richards, I get you we can’t be wreckless here, caution is the name of the game, we’re not dealing with a program here, but rather a living being that just so happens to have a digital form. The genertor however has more then enough power. Once we’ve done that, we can start thinking about how to get home.

Both had earned his respect. Richards, a hundred times over - he could rely on the security officer to do the right thing at the right time, even if his method was more madness at times. And Tarnas had made a good impression in ops, and even though it had been nearly a year since Nilsen was assistant chief of Ops, he still felt a kinship towards the golden-clad ops officer.

Richards: Sounds like we need a plan.

Tarnas: On that, I agree.

Kaelith: Response

Again, he let them have the floor.

Richards: Well maybe we can do both at once.

Tarnas: Or one thing then the next, if not. In any case, the data packet isn’t going to take long to send.

And then Tarnas looked to him. Nilsen was still getting used to that look — had he ever given that look?

Nilsen: Send it. Once that’s done, we’ll work on reestablishing a transporter connection with the OEB.

Kaelith/Richards: Response

Tarnas: Aye, sir. Sending the data packet now.

Lhandon found himself impressed with Tarnas; he saw that the ops officer had encrypted the data and had taken extra care to make sure it got to the right place.

Tarnas: The data packet has been sent successfully.

Nilsen: Well done. At least we know she’s still up there.

Kaelith/Richards: Response

Tarnas: Is there anything I can help with?

And he was helpful, that was so nice. Unlike Thar’tavos who was just all around annoying with their PADD and their anal adherence to protocol.

Nilsen: Tarnas, I'd like you to analyze the ping time on that message, see if you can work out where they are and why it took that long to go through. Then we can use what we learn to try and establish a better connection and see if we can force ourselves a beam-up onto the OEB.

Tarnas: Response

And then he turned to Richards.

Nilsen: And maybe in the process, break a few security protocols - that's always fun to do. Anton… I don't think I've ever called you that! ::beat:: Richards, we're going to see if we can hook up with the other team from here. If the OEB's transporters are down and Tarnas is unable to connect, I don't like us being separate.

Lhandon presented Anton with a PADD that was attached to a piece of equipment that was a transporter amplifier.

Kaelith/Tarnas/Richards: Response

He then smiled. It had been joked that Lhandon didn't play poker, not because of a lack of knowledge but because he had less of a poker face, and more his face could be read like a book.

Nilsen: Yeah, it is obvious that I think something has happened?

Kaelith/Tarnas/Richards: Response

Lhandon did, however, find some comfort, no matter how small, in the operations tasks presented in this mission. It was a far cry from when he was shot at point-blank range on his first diplomatic mission.

Nilsen: Yep, we need to knuckle down. How are things looking? ::to Kaelith:: We’ll figure this out, don’t you worry buddy!

Kaelith/Tarnas/Richards: Response

Tags/TBC

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Lieutenant Commander Lhandon Joseph Nilsen

Senior Diplomatic Officer & Second Officer

USS Octavia E Butler

O240007LN1

He/Him/His (Both player and character)