Topic: ST: Tigermoth - Return Of The Andromedans

[James Smith]

snip

Heh, looks good WZ 

[James Smith]

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Chapter 4 - Stage Left (part 2)

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USS Tigermoth-A
20th March 2395
1207hrs EST
Bridge

Smithy threw a quick glance at Winchester. "Tactical plot on main screen. Drelkar, are the phaser temperatures still increasing?"

Drelkar frowned at his screen, willing the numbers to change. "Jumped another two hundred degrees in the last ten minutes sir. We're flirting with thermal cut-off."

Lisa keyed her comm panel. "Bridge to Main Engineering."

"Orlatrel here."

"You see those phaser temperatures?"

"I see them, and I wish I didn't. I've got something better rigged up to cool the main coils down, but we'll need to take phasers completely off-line for a few minutes to tie it all in. Son'tarak and MacDougal have replicated a batch of photon torpedo casings for you, Drelkar will just have to use torpedoes for a while."

Smithy nodded. "Alright. Drelkar, take phasers off-line. Divert auxilliary power back away from phaser control and put it into shields. Orlatrel, I want phasers back as soon as poss'."

"I'm on it."

Riggs turned. "Sir, message from Admiral Harriman. He's been monitoring our internal comms, and requests a copy of Commander Orlatrel's designs for the cooling fix. Apparently, the Tempest is beginning to suffer the same issue."

"Get hold of someone in Engineering, ask them to send you up the datafile. Broadcast it as soon as you have it."

"Aye sir." Riggs set to work.

Smithy glanced around tothe back of the bridge. "Yeoman."

The young girl dashed down to the command area. "Yes sir?"

"Two things. Firstly, you don't need to stand at attention in a battle situation. Secondly, go grab me a large mug of coffee. Black, no sugar, strong and hot enough to make a Klingon wince."

"Uh, yes captain." She departed at a run.

Lisa smiled and shook her head. "I was never that young, was I?"

"First time we met? Maybe. It soon got beaten out of you though."

Smithy had found himself idly wondering if Metcalf had a hand in all this. He knew he was dead, there was no question of that - he'd blown the man up. But he also knew that Metcalf had touched the Nexus, and that made his total demise never entirely certain. Ever since Lisa had that moment of pre-cognitive insight, a part of his mind had been churning the idea around. Wouldn't be the first time he'd popped back up to surprise me. Hope this is just paranoia talking, I'd hate to be right about this.

He watched as his wife signed off a couple of PADDs sent up from Damage Control. As soon as the Universe lets me in on the story, I'll tell her. She has a right to know.

Drelkar leaned back and half turned. "Engineering reports new phaser cooling measures are plumbed in. Bringing phasers back on-line."

Smithy nodded. "Keep a watch on the temperatures. Make sure you keep sending telemetry down to Main Engineering, I'm sure Orlatrel will want to keep a watch himself. Riggs, ask Admiral Harriman if he can keep you posted regarding the Tempest, two sets of data are better than one."

"Yes sir....Tempest reports that they are preparing to bring their phasers back on-line in one minute, they will keep us informed."

"Good. Ask Orlatrel if he can spare a couple of minutes please, I want him to talk me through the changes that we'll need to do something a little more permanent."

"He's on his way sir."

Smithy stood, testing his knee and grabbing the mug of coffee from the returning yeoman. "Alright kid, next task. Call up the plans of the Tigermoth on that Engineering station back there."

"Aye sir."

Lisa glanced back as Orlatrel exited the turbolift. "Getting her back into shape yet?"

Orlatrel shook his head. "I don't know what to make of it. Every problem we solve, we turn another one up elsewhere. Too much equipment on too small a frame." He tossed Smithy an isolinear chip. "That's our proposal for a permanent upgrade of the cooling system. We'll need a couple of days at Antares."

Smithy handed the chip to the yeoman who opened up the datafile. "Looks good....take it you're routing through Junction 23A because of the EPS tap at 23B."

"Yep...and we can't run that section any further forward as it'd make it far too close to those labs."

The bridge rattled slightly. Smithy cast a glance over at Drelkar. "Shield status?"

"71%. That rumble was one of their ships beating a retreat, they skimmed a bit close to us."

Winchester turned from Ops. "Sir, looks like they're all retreating."

"Tactical plot." Smithy stared at the screen, as it showed the Andromedan force entering the dust cloud. "Winchester, is there any way to see if there's a wormhole in there?"

"We might find out in a moment. The cloud is dissipating! Sir, this is impossible!" Winchester stared at his board in confusion. "Dust clouds don't just dissipate."

"No, but a wormhole that's collapsing would pull all that dust and debris in. If there was a wormhole, I'd be willing to bet that's what just happened."

Winchester frowned. "That's awfully rare, sir. Usually when a wormhole collapses the gravitational effect is lost pretty much instantly, nothing gets sucked in unless it was right on the opening."

"If it was artificial, then maybe it was constructed in a different fashion to those found naturally." Lisa stood and crossed over to Ops. "Full scan, focus on the sub- and transpace layers of local space, if they're using a form of transwarp to create a wormhole then we might see some evidence of it."

Smithy returned his attention to the engineering plans while Lisa worked with Winchester. "Riggs, send a copy of these plans back to the Antares yard and to the Tempest."

"Aye sir. Tempest acknowledges receipt, Admiral Harriman would like a word."

"Patch him through. Dave?"

"We're preparing to head back to Antares. You joining us immediately?"

Smithy glanced at Lisa, who nodded. "Yes, we'll head back with you."

"Alright. See you in the bar."

"Looking forward to it. Elkins, lay in a course for the Antares yards. The Tempest will go to transwarp speeds, try and stay ahead of her. I wanna see what she can do."

Elkins grinned as he set to work. "Aye sir. Engaging transwarp drive."

Lisa joined Smithy at the back of the bridge. "They're using transwarp alright. Or at least, some form of it. It seems closer to the Borg version than ours."

"So, the question is - where are they launching from? Even at transwarp speeds, they can't be popping in and out from Andromeda, they must have a staging area somewhere just outside our galaxy."

"Yeah. But we can't exactly go hunting for it. Lot of space to cover, and that's if we can get ships through the Barrier without cooking them."

Smithy swallowed a mouthful of coffee, making a face as he did so. "Orlatrel."

"I know, I know. The replicators aren't a priority at the moment though."

Smithy shook his head. "Good coffee is always a priority. Alright, this design looks damned good. Are your people doing the prep work now?"

"Yes. We should have the entire phaser coolant network drained and taken apart by the time we get to Antares. Their head of engineering says that they'll be able to start fitting new components tomorrow, we've cut in line for the replicators."

Smithy smiled. "Bet Dave got in ahead of us though."

"Probably." Orlatrel returned the smile. "If you'll excuse me, got a lot of work to do. I'll keep you informed on progress."

"Enjoy." Smithy watched him go, wondering if that pang in his stomach was the coffee or the longing to poke at the ship's internals himself.

Lisa recognised that look. "Don't even think about sneaking off to bother the engineering teams."

Smithy grinned. "Yes ma'am."

*************
USS Tigermoth-A
21st March 2395
0915hrs EST
Bridge

"Captain's Log, stardate 71084.4. Commander Orlatrel has begun work on our phaser cooling system. We hope to be able to test the systems soon."

Smithy glanced around the deserted bridge. Only the engineering crews remained on-board the ship, readying her for the next time she would have to fight. He patted the back of his chair. "Let's see if we can get you all sorted before they come back for more, huh? Much more fun joyriding around in you when there are no surprises lurking."


*************
Antares Command Post
21st March 2395
1320hrs EST
Recreation Deck

Harriman strolled into the bar, nodding a 'hello' to members of his command crew. He joined Smithy at the bar. "Afternoon."

"Usual?" Smithy waved at the barmaid. "Whatever he's having and another pint for me, cheers."

Harriman sipped at the Aldebran whiskey. "Lisa not about?"

"She's on the comm. link with her parents. They get a bit concerned when they read the news on the Federation Network and see the Tigermoth being mentioned." He finished off his first pint and took a swig from the new one. "Been trying to contact my mother. No such luck, as usual."

"I thought she was on Earth?"

"I thought so to. But that's the thing, she could be pretty much anywhere in Federation space at any one time. Ever since she left Starfleet, she's been impossible to pin down for any length of time. Especially after Dad passed away."

Harriman felt some sympathy at that. He'd been to far too many funerals in his time, but someone of Smithy's genetic makeup could look forward to seeing plenty more years and plenty more people pass on. "On a somewhat cheerier note....you haven't asked me much about the Tempest."

"Yeah, you were keeping that one quiet weren't you? Mind, it's about time Starfleet built another, given how well the 'Moth and the Mossie have performed. We've got several Constitution class hulls in mothballs, and a little birdie tells me that the OSF are investigating the work involved in a new-build version."

Harriman nodded. "I'd heard that as well."

"Whatever happened to the Valiant anyway? Did the Gatrellians destroy her while I was away, or did the OSF keep hold of her?"

"Couldn't tell you. When I took command of the Tigermoth I tried to find out where she was, no-one at Starfleet knew. I suspect she's docked at the OSF somewhere, being used as a technology testbed. The Constitution frame is pretty much perfectly suited to that, with the way the structural stuff is laid out. I know the Mossie is still in general Starfleet service."

"Yeah, SciFleet and TacFleet had a tug of war and both lost. Starfleet must actually have quite a few ships yanked back from specific attachment by now." Smithy grabbed a handful of peanuts out of the bowl on the bar. "Can't tell you how much I miss these. Delicious."

"At any rate, we've pulled one of the other Constitution hulls out of the mothball yard. It's currently being towed here, should have it in a couple of days."

"You're going to build another one? Didn't think you had the engineering capacity here, what with the refitting already going on."

Harriman smiled. "We've got the room. The question really should be 'have we got the time?'"

"And there's no way of knowing."

"Nope."

Smithy sighed. "I need another beer. What will you call her anyway? Going for a more obscure plane name next time, or stick with a well-known one?"

"I considered USS MiG 15, but only half-seriously."

"Could stick with the British planes I suppose. Hurricane, Typhoon, Spitfire, Fury, Hunter?"

"Yeah. Of course, Spitfire and Hurricane are already taken by your shuttles."

"I added another two as well. Spiteful and Mustang."

Harriman thought for a second. "Spiteful?"

"The ultimate development on the Spitfire theme. Laminar wing, Griffon engine. Great plane, there's one in the British Museum Of Aircraft that's still flight-worthy."

"Alright....USS Typhoon then. Keep it similar to it's Tempest cousin."

"Sounds good." Smithy raised his glass. "To the future USS Typhoon, the current Tigermoth, Mosquito and Tempest, and the Valiant wherever she may be. May they keep us all safe from annihilation."

"Amen."
 
*************
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***Edited***

[Andromeda]

Oh yeah, we're back.  I like it so far.

[James Smith]

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Chapter 4 - Stage Left (part 3)

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USS Tigermoth-A
24th March 2395
1241hrs EST
Corridor 23A

Orlatrel waved the tricorder over the bulkhead. "Flow rate is still down."

"Yeah....I see it." A hand snaked out of the open hatch. "Hand me the agitator."

"Agitator?"

"The hammer."

Orlatrel sighed. "James, these new pumps aren't as robust as the ones they used to make. Beating it with a hammer may not do it much good."

"Just give me the damn hammer so I can get this working and get out of here." Smithy waved his hand, and grabbed the hammer that Orlatrel proffered. "Ta."

There was a brief pause, followed by an almighty bang. Orlatrel winced. That did not sound good. Muffled cursing drifted out of the hatch. "Are you okay James?"

"Fine, fine....bit louder than I thought it would be. Guess the acoustics in a Jeffries tube aren't quite as I remember them. What does that flow rate look like now?"

Orlatrel brought the tricorder back up. "Flow rate is....increasing."

"Jolly good." Smithy slowly dragged himself back out of the hatch. "Hope I don't have to do that too many more times. I don't remember us having the same problem getting you in the tubes on the old ship."

"They were a bit bigger." Orlatrel closed the hatch and re-attached the cover panel, and tapped his comm badge. "Engineering."

"Wilson here."

"We're all plumbed in now lieutenant. Begin powering the ship back up, we'll be doing the weapons test at three o'clock."

"Aye sir."

Smithy threw his uniform jacket back on over his T-shirt. "Right, going to go inspect those EPS junctions on Deck Six, then it's time for a shower. Make sure you run a Level Four diagnostic on all key systems, been a while since she was powered down that long. I don't want to take her out and immediately blow some relay up."

"I'll see to it."

*************
Captain's Quarters
1413hrs EST

"First officer's personal log, stardate 71092.7. The Tigermoth has spent a few quiet days in dock, and my unease has increased. I feel that something is going on, yet I can't put my finger on it....can't feel any more detail than a general sense of foreboding. James has lived with this for a long time....I don't know how he ever got used to it."

Lisa switched off the console, folding the screen away. Think I'll be happier when we're back out in open space. She crossed over to the window and sat, watching the workbees flitting around the various ships in dock at Antares.

She turned as Smithy entered. "Hey hon, you get that new pump working?"

"Yeah, just wanted a bit of percussive maintenance." He slumped in a chair. "You seen my meds?"

"On the table by the bed. You were due an hour ago."

"Glad one of us is able to keep track." Smithy levered himself up and crossed to the bedroom.

Lisa stared out at the stars. She could almost see what it was that was bothering her. Almost. James told me that I was important to the survival of the Federation, that invaders would come and be repelled. But how? And what do I do?

"Trying to make sense of it doesn't work."

Lisa turned to Smithy, staring at him. "How did you...?"

"How did I know what you were thinking?" Smithy sat next to her. "I just....knew. My pre-cognition is odd like that, sometimes I see stuff very clearly. Other times....I'm in the dark. Take this for instance - I know that the third workbee from the right over there is about to stack into that docking pylon due to pilot error. Don't know why I know that, but I do."

Lisa watched the workbee intently as it moved towards the pylon. Sure enough, the braking thrusters ignited too late. "You said once that you could see all of space-time."

"And I can....I can't make sense of it quite as quickly as it flows in, but I can see it. And I can recall what I saw after perfectly. But only certain bits are easy to see, easy to make sense of. Things are beginning to resolve in my mind now. But by the time I know what will happen, it will more than likely be just about to happen."

He got up, and flexed his knee. "I now know that I saw this, saw myself get shot by Metcalf. Didn't know it at the time, didn't really work it out until that first week in the hospital. I now know that I could have avoided it. I could have prevented S'Tasik from being killed during the Imperial war. I could have avoided getting us blasted into a wormhole and knocked forward six years. I could have saved the lives of a number of kids on the old 'Moth." He sat back down. "For all that I have done, for all that I saw ahead of time and prevented....how much more could I have done? How much more should I have done?"

Lisa gazed at him. "You prevented Metcalf from destroying the Federation several times. You saved my life a few times. You've saved Dave's life more times than I think either of you would care to remember."

"And yet I'm always left thinking that I should have done things differently. Most people can only see that sort of thing in hindsight. I see it before and after the fact....if only I could grasp hold of the image before."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating the stars. Lisa held Smithy's hand in hers. "James, promise me something."

"Anything."

"Promise me....that as soon as you know what will happen....that you'll tell me? I...keep trying to make sense of what it was that I could see, and I'm not doing a great job. It'll drive me mad if I don't know....I need to know...."

"You will. Either you'll figure it out, or I will and will tell you." He leaned in and kissed her. "Right, really do need a shower before I head back up to the bridge."

Lisa smiled. "Alright. I'll see you up there."


*************
Bridge
1438hrs EST

Smithy stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and immediately knew that they weren't going to start the weapons test on time. Bodies, computer parts, panels, tools and wires were everywhere. "Someone want to fill me in?" No-one stepped forward. "Fine, make me do it the hard way. Riggs!"

"Sir?" Riggs pulled her head back out from under her console.

"Status report."

"As you can see sir, bit of a mess. The engineering crew from Utopia Planitia that came over here to work on the Tigermoth obviously weren't familiar with the last refit of the computer systems. We're trying to get everything working again, but even with everyone that Antares could spare we're still going to need some time to get everything up and running."

"Fine, keep at it. Where's Lisa?"

"Down here."

Smithy crossed over to Ops, and bent down. "Enjoying yourself inside that console?"

"Oh just great. I can see why you left this job."

Smithy shook his head, grinning in spite of his annoyance at the situation. He looked around. "Hang about. How come the women are the ones grovelling around in the carpet pulling isolinear chips, while all the men are sat down doing the programming job? Damned unchivalrous of you lot."

Winchester turned. "Sir, you need small hands to re-order the isolinear chips."

"Bollocks. Lisa, come out of there. You're a better programmer than you are an engineer. Winchester, come away from that console and get under here."

Lisa gladly vacated the cubbyhole under the console, handing a set of chips to Winchester. Smithy crossed back to Riggs' console, and motioned at her to get out of the way. "Now, how far have you got?"

Riggs rubbed at an ache in her neck. "Quads L1 through L3. Just L4, then the M and N Quads. The crews put them in reversed, so 1 is 4, and so on."

"Right, right. I wouldn't mind, but I had the damn things labelled up." Smithy's knee protested as he lowered himself onto the floor. "I'm gonna pay for this in a little while. Riggs, as soon as you get some signs of life in your board will you raise Antares and let them know what we're up to?"

"Aye sir."

Twenty minutes ticked by, with the sound of the bridge systems gradually increasing as consoles were powered back up. Smithy replaced the last N2 chip, and tapped a hand on the communications console. "Should have short-range now Riggs."

"Yes sir. Antares Command Post, this is the Tigermoth. We're currently experiencing some difficulties related to the repairs that have been made, be advised that we will be late commencing the weapons test."

"Acknowledged Tigermoth. Is Captain Smith there?"

Smithy replaced the last chip, and hauled his way upright. "Affirmative Antares."

"Sir, we have a message for you from Captain Ghelev of Special Operations. Shall I send it over now?"

"Please do." He scanned the text of the message as it came in. "Thanks Antares. We'll let you know when we're ready for the weapons test. Tigermoth out." He glanced at Riggs. "You better run a diagnostic routine, just in case." He raised his voice to carry over the bridge. "That goes for everyone else, run a diagnostic as soon as your consoles are fully powered up. I don't want any surprises." A chorus of acknowledgments came back. Smithy dropped into his chair, and sighed. Just wouldn't be a normal visit to a dock without having to rebuild the ship afterwards. They must do it on purpose.

Lisa sat next to him. "What did Ghelev want?"

"Just updating me on the SOD fleet situation. They lost almost all of that force that they sent out to engage the Andromedans with....and they're having a world of trouble getting the new ships ready to fly. What a mess."

"How many ships are they trying to work on?"

"Over two hundred. And given the small size of their stations, they can't really do it. Starfleet has offered them the use of the Jupiter yard, Ghelev is currently trying to persuade them to accept the offer."

"Two hundred....if we can get them working to an acceptable level, those numbers would really help."

"Question is, can they be brought up to an acceptable level? I was reading some data that Ghelev sent me last night....and I'm really not all that confident. But, we shall see."

Finally, repair crews began leaving the bridge and normality set back in. Smithy glanced around. "Okay, once around the room. Helm?"

"Ready sir."

"Tactical?"

"Ready captain."

"Ops?"

"Sensors and scanners are operational sir."

"Communications?"

"Antares signals that we can proceed at any time sir."

Smithy nodded. "Right. Helm, detach umbilicals. Thrusters at station keeping." He tapped his comm. badge. "Engine room."

"Orlatrel here."

"Status?"

"All systems ready."

"Okay. Helm, one quarter impulse. Move us to the test area."

He sat back for a few minutes, letting his crew prepare the ship for the test. Winchester turned. "Sir, carbon-neutronium target pucks dead ahead."

"Right. Helm, Tactical, we'll make this as realistic as possible. Shields and weapons to full power Drelkar. Elkins, random evasive patterns of your choice. Just imagine that there are vessels out there, and that you're trying to keep those targets in phaser lock without giving them a clear return shot." He glanced back at Riggs. "Signal the alarm."

"Aye sir." Riggs keyed the internal comm. panel. "All decks, Red Alert. The weapons test is beginning. All hands to battle stations." She waited a beat. "All decks are acknowledging."

"Keep an open channel to Orlatrel. Drelkar, fire when ready."

Drelkar began laying down a pattern of phaser fire, keeping one eye on his telemetry screen. Lisa crossed over to his station to watch for herself. "Sustained bursts Drelkar. Don't give the capacitors any rest."

"Yes ma'am." Drelkar worked through his checksheet, stressing in every array on the ship.

Lisa stared intently at his screen. "Temperature is climbing much slower. Orlatrel, does your board agree with what we're seeing?"

"Affirmative. Rate of temperature increase is roughly one sixth compared to before, and it's levelling off now as well rather than continuing."

"Good." Lisa glanced at Smithy. "Reckon we can call that a success?"

"I'd say so." Smithy turned to Riggs. "Order all decks to stand down from battle stations."

"Aye sir. All decks, secure from battle stations. The weapons test is over. Stand down from battle stations."

Smithy turned back to the helm. "Elkins, return to the Antares docking ring. Orlatrel, when we put back into dock, I want a full diagnostic running on everything. The entire lot. If there is a single wire plugged in the wrong socket, a single chip in the wrong slot, I want to know. I'm not taking this ship out again before I know we've got everything as it should be."

"Comfirmed. As soon as we have full computer runtime, we'll begin level ten diagnostic routine."

"As soon as you set it up, go have some fun. Riggs, tie me into the internal comm."

"You're on audio, captain."

Smithy settled back in his chair. "All hands, this is the captain. As of 1630 hours today, I don't want to see any of you working for four days. Barring any emergencies, the Tigermoth is resting for a long weekend."

*************
*************

Eh, that'll do for now.

[James Smith]

Almost forgot.....

I sketched a bridge layout for the Tigermoth a while back, and never got around to posting it. I've just spent a few minutes whacking it into AutoCAD to make it a touch more presentable (and readable).

I should add - it's not drawn to any kind of scale, it's just to show where everyone is. The station where Smithy and Orlatrel went over the cooling modifications is one section of the green area, which contains a few engineering and science screens. The circle at the back is obviously the turbolift. I'll probably work up a much better AutoCAd drawing at some point.

[Scottish Andy]

...a bit of percussive maintenance.

I love this line. Keep it coming.

Smithy and/or WZ: How long do you think it would take to pull an old TMP Constitution from the Proxima Maintenance Yards and have her refitted to Tigermoth specs? Realistically speaking, just another Starfleet R&D project to play with an old ship, no fate of the Federation emergency pouring in more resources and manpower than they can handle?

I'm kinda interested in this, putting aside the whole "her bones have 1,000,000 light-years on them and 1,000 battle shock repairs" type metal fatigue that would likely prevent them from doing this in a practical manner.

[James Smith]

A loooooooong time ago, I wrote an extra chapter for "Return Of The ISC" that detailed the death of the old Saber class Tigermoth and introduced the Tigermoth-A before the characters took control of her. The death of the old ship was then kicked off into the "Vengeance" story (which is still being written), and I re-wrote the extra chapter for RotISC to take that into account. As I recall, RotISC opened with a ship being destroyed by an unknown attacker, before cutting to a briefing at Starfleet HQ that informed the characters about the ISC being responsible. Following that briefing, Smithy takes Harriman over to see the new ship. The chapter I wrote came before the ISC attack, and showed that Smithy had been working on the Tigermoth-A after the events of "Vengeance" while the crew awaited their next assignment. He'd also overseen some of the OSF design work, so Starfleet decided to assign the ship to Harriman in order to have Smithy as chief engineer. I seem to recall pegging the rebuild time at 8 months, in a post Dominion War time when shipyards were cranking out replacement ships at a helluva rate. They rushed the Tigermoth-A out at any rate, and post RotImp she had to put back into dock for some fairly major surgery on her power grid.

I'd reckon on about a year to do the work, in an ideal universe. Starfleet needed 18 months to redesign and refit the Enterprise prior to the V'Ger encounter in TMP - advances in construction techniques, production of materials etc would take some time off that. OSF had done the design work, so Starfleet just needed to follow the plans (which the didn't, hence the power grid weakness). If Starfleet had been designing the refit, you could probably take the work back up to two years to include all the design and simulation work that would need to be done.

Sadly, the extra chapter I wrote is long gone....about 4 hard drive crashes ago. Rather more worryingly, I can't even find my copies of RotISC or RotImp - I know they're on a CD-R somewhere, but damned if I can find it.

[Scottish Andy]

Thanks for the reply, James.

I would have helped you with your lost stories, but the CD-R I put all the old Taldren stories on to save space on my hard disk got really screwed up for no reason. No scrapes or scratches or anything, just would not load access the scores of old stories. Pissed me off something rotten, I tell ya. I feel your pain.

P.S. I love your new avatar. Very silly indeed!

[James Smith]

Thanks for the reply, James.

No prob.

I would have helped you with your lost stories, but the CD-R I put all the old Taldren stories on to save space on my hard disk got really screwed up for no reason. No scrapes or scratches or anything, just would not load access the scores of old stories. Pissed me off something rotten, I tell ya. I feel your pain.

I'm pretty sure my disc does still survive somewhere. It's probably at my parents' house, next time I'm back in Burton I'll have to have a hunt.

[Andromeda]

I'm glad to see the relatively low amount of combat in all these stories right now.  Is that a trend that I've missed or is this just a lull for everyone?  I ask because I realized that my story will have perhaps one incident of starship combat in it and that's at the end of the tale.

[James Smith]

I'm glad to see the relatively low amount of combat in all these stories right now.  Is that a trend that I've missed or is this just a lull for everyone?  I ask because I realized that my story will have perhaps one incident of starship combat in it and that's at the end of the tale.

The calm before the storm as far as my story goes I'm afraid. The Tigermoth universe maintains a fairly consistently high death count all the way through 

[Scottish Andy]

I'm actually feeling the lack. I'm working something up that's all flashy, but only Nameless Villans (tm) are getting hurt. When it gets too hot, the Heroes (tm) take to the hills.

Its great when you get to pick your battles.

[Commander La'ra]

I'm glad to see the relatively low amount of combat in all these stories right now.  Is that a trend that I've missed or is this just a lull for everyone?  I ask because I realized that my story will have perhaps one incident of starship combat in it and that's at the end of the tale.

For me, it's because I get sick of trying to work fight scenes into stories where I just don't see 'em happening.

That said, one I'm about ready to post part of (a new one) starts out with one of most pleasingly over-the-top brawls I've ever written.

[James Smith]

As you can see, no change on the JRS front. Still wandering away from fic writing to go do real work for months at a time....

Currently finishing up the next part, using that most wonderful of story-telling techniques - the flashback. Provide a little info on what happened the last time a Federation starship faced off against an Andromedan vessel (the incident with the Excalibur mentioned earlier in the story), and why such an encounter is to be feared. Also gets a chance to see Metcalf and Smithy arguing in the days when Metcalf was merely an annoyance rather than a murderous bastard with dreams of ruling the entire galaxy by lording over it with a superweapon.

[Scottish Andy]

*BUMPSIE*

Oh, and you don't mind if I grab a Constitution (Tigermoth refit) class battlecruiser for my own use, do you? I've been playing with the Tiggy-A in SFC2 and she looks good. I now want to do a whole shipyard piece on her getting put together.

I was going to have it in 2377, though... Maybe call her the USS Gyspymoth.   

Or perhaps the USS Mosquito... yes, I like that. She's a battlecruiser, after all. (Especially if you've removed all the lab spaces...)

How many crew does she have? I was thinking around 300, max.

[James Smith]

*BUMPSIE*

Oh, and you don't mind if I grab a Constitution (Tigermoth refit) class battlecruiser for my own use, do you? I've been playing with the Tiggy-A in SFC2 and she looks good. I now want to do a whole shipyard piece on her getting put together.

I was going to have it in 2377, though... Maybe call her the USS Gyspymoth.   

Or perhaps the USS Mosquito... yes, I like that. She's a battlecruiser, after all. (Especially if you've removed all the lab spaces...)

You can if you like - my little Trek universe exists entirely apart from all other Trek universes out there, but if anyone wants to incorporate elements of my fics into theirs I have absolutely no problems.. Mosquito works for me, as it also still fits the 'plane' theme - the de Havilland Mosquito was a fighter-bomber in WWII, and a damned good one at that.

Pic:



Beautiful kite. Two Merlin engines, simple construction, devastatingly effective 

How many crew does she have? I was thinking around 300, max.

Think I pegged it in the 200s a while back. No huge science crew due to the lack of labs, but quite a large complement of bodies in the engineering and tactical divisions.


***edit***

The Intrepid class (Voyager) is 343m long, is a bit more substantial than the older Connies, and has a crew of 141. The Tigermoth crew would have to be in the low 200s I think.

[Scottish Andy]

Yes, I chose the names to honour your lineage and naming convention. The Gypsymoth was a two-seat light touring biplane, though, which is why I decided on Mosquito.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Gypsy_Moth

With the glass nose, that makes that Mossie a pure bomber variant, maybe the B.Mk I. I way prefer the FB.Mk VI, myself.  That's the model I built, anyway. Four 0.303" machine guns and 4 20mm cannon in that kite's nose cone, as well as a 1,000lb bomb load in the bay and 8 60lb rockets under the wings. Awesome machine. Even the Yanks bought some. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito

Before I was a Trekkie, I was a plane buff. I still love reading 'Biggles'.    I believe he actually flew a Mossie at one point, too.

Hey, I put this together yesterday for some preliminary details of my ship. Could I have your opinions on it, please?

USS Mosquito NCC-77777, Constitution (Omega Refit) class. (Ex-USS Indefatigable NCC-1760.)
 
Commissioned: 23rd April 2377, stardate 54308.5. (USS Indefatigable decommissioned & placed in mothball storage at Proxima Maintenance yards on 17th May 2322, stardate 14891.7)

Complement: 212 crew.

Has 3 shifts: Alpha (0800-1600), Beta (1600-0000), Gamma (0000-0800). This means 70 crew per shift, and the CO & XO are on call. During war time, each 8 hour shift is split into two watches, Alpha I and Alpha II, etc. to have the people manning their stations as fresh and sharp as possible. Watch I leaving their bridge/engineering watch grab a meal and return to other duties in their department, whereas watch II already working in their department take up their bridge/engineering stations.
Credit due to Larry for the concept and brainstorming to work out the specifics of a "battle watch".

Her nicknames are “Mossie” to her crew, meant affectionately and in the tradition of the WWII De Havilland fighter-bomber of the same name.

She is also called “Beans” by rival crews, semi-affectionate, semi mocking, and this is because of her registry. 5 sevens => 5 7s => 57s => Heinz 57 varieties => Heinz Baked Beans => “Beans”. (Heinz will obviously still have to exist in the 24th Century for this in-“joke” to work, but McCoy had beans at least in 2287, so I’m going to say they will.)

Do you think the “Beans” thing works? I flung that in as a spur of the moment lame joke. If y'all think it too lame or disconnected (who knows, if Heinz still exists in 2377, maybe they'll have more than just 57 varieties...) PLEASE let me know. I was going to go with a low 78xxx registry otherwise.

[Commander La'ra]

I like the all-seven registry number (edit: And, since this is the 77th reply, it must be fated...bad omen to change it now.  Keeping it might make up for the cringe-worthy faux pas of renaming an already christened ship...that's terrible luck, you know. ), just for giggles, but not the 'beans' thing.  If you have to explain the joke...

And the Mosquito was a great plane.  Used to fly them on Aces over Europe all the time, when I could tear myself away from the P-47's and Hawker Tempests that were my first Simulated European Air War loves.

I also have fun memories of watching the Guv blast his own wingmen with the 57mm on the XVIII model.

[James Smith]

Hey, I put this together yesterday for some preliminary details of my ship. Could I have your opinions on it, please?

USS Mosquito NCC-77777, Constitution (Omega Refit) class. (Ex-USS Indefatigable NCC-1760.)
 
Commissioned: 23rd April 2377, stardate 57308.5. (USS Indefatigable decommissioned & placed in mothball storage at Proxima Maintenance yards on 17th May 2322, stardate 14891.7)

Complement: 212 crew.

Has 3 shifts: Alpha (0800-1600), Beta (1600-0000), Gamma (0000-0800). This means 70 crew per shift, and the CO & XO are on call. During war time, each 8 hour shift is split into two watches, Alpha I and Alpha II, etc. to have the people manning their stations as fresh and sharp as possible. Watch I leaving their bridge/engineering watch grab a meal and return to other duties in their department, whereas watch II already working in their department take up their bridge/engineering stations.
Credit due to Larry for the concept and brainstorming to work out the specifics of a "battle watch".

Her nicknames are “Mossie” to her crew, meant affectionately and in the tradition of the WWII De Havilland fighter-bomber of the same name.

She is also called “Beans” by rival crews, semi-affectionate, semi mocking, and this is because of her registry. 5 sevens => 5 7s => 57s => Heinz 57 varieties => Heinz Baked Beans => “Beans”. (Heinz will obviously still have to exist in the 24th Century for this in-“joke” to work, but McCoy had beans at least in 2287, so I’m going to say they will.)

Do you think the “Beans” thing works? I flung that in as a spur of the moment lame joke. If y'all think it too lame or disconnected (who knows, if Heinz still exists in 2377, maybe they'll have more than just 57 varieties...) PLEASE let me know. I was going to go with a low 78xxx registry otherwise.

1) Crew complement and shift pattern sound good. Shift pattern is actually something I've never really paid a whole lot of attention to, which is probably a mistake. I might have to sort that out.

2) What are you using to calculate your stardate? Using the calculator I use in my fics, stardate 57308.5 is Thursday 23rd October 2380 at 17:55GMT. Another example of my universe being just a little bit different I guess!

3) The 'Beans' nickname - it's cute, and funny Not sure how the rest of your audience would see it, but I like it.

Regarding your ship history - if you want it to tie into the Tigermoth-A history you could make it an OSF build rather than a Starfleet one. Valiant was the OSF prototype, Tigermoth-A was the first one that Starfleet built from the plans, Tempest and Typhoon being the second and third. OSF could have built more after Valiant. They do operate somewhat apart from Starfleet in the Tigermoth universe, despite being affiliated with them.

[Scottish Andy]

Well Larry, my real reason for renaming the ship was to honour Smithy. I play Wicked Zombie's latest TNG Constitution refit with Tigermoth registries, so I wanted to be true to his naming convention. Plus, Smithy is recommissioning mothballed Constitutions with these names, so I'm just following his lead there too.

My justification (in-universe reason) for renaming her is that she'd been decommissioned and made surplus some 55 years earlier. As a decomm'ed  ship, other vessels bearing that name were commissioned in the mean time. During the time of the original Indy's recommissioning, there was already my grand-daughter Karen as captain of the Steamrunner-class Indefatigable. So, can't have two ships of the same name in service at the same time (in the same theatre of operations, anyway). Besides, ships are renamed under special circumstances in real navies. Also, she had been out of service, with no service history or crew, for the aforementioned 55 years. Her name and its history had already been taken over by an Excelsior class in the NCC-18xxx's, if I remember Jaeih's Timeline properly. So,  it was not dishonouring her memory at all.

I grant you that had Karen's ship been lost and no new Indy was there to take her place, it is likely she would have been been recommissioned with her original name, a la Admiral Patrick's Excelsior-class Farragut from DS9.

Yeah, the "Beans" joke is kinda thin. Maybe I can still have her rivals call her that, but not explain it. Some (inevitable) 20th century Earth fanatic in Starfleet nicknamed her that for the reason I give, and although no one else knows why, the nickname stuck. I can have one long-suffering Mossie officer say, "Apparently, it has something to do with her registry number, but it beats me..." 

Smithy, shift patterns and all the silly anal stuff like that is what I waste my time on instead of actually writing stories.    Don't bother with it, your stories are perfectly fine "in the finest tradition of..." stories without such details, and if you'll note, you have a lot more fiction out here than I do. 

As for the stardate, you are right about the year. That was my mistake. I've corrected it above, but it should have been stardate 54308.5.
As for your unusual day and month, my system uses the generally accepted (I thought) system of 1000 stardates = 1 Terran year, and so stardate 54000.0 is midnight on 1st January 2377. Stardate 54999.99 is 11:53pm om 31st December 2377. It does mean that every season cliffhanger happens over New Year, but... *shrugs*
What system do you use?

Yeah, I'm glad you like the "Beans".    As I said to Larry, I'll not explain it now. People who get it will get it. Those who don't will just have to wonder.

As for tying in with the Tiggy's history... when do you have the Valiant built, and when do you have the Tigermoth built? The whole point of my story here is that Starfleet will be re-building these ships to make up for losses in the Dominion War. If we're too far out of whack I guess I'll forgo the direct connection to your ship but keep it anyway and chalk it up as a Berman Inconsistency.