Personal Log: Renaah Felenn

[Felenn]

Stardate 100703.2, Ba’aja system.

Tomorrow will be one year since I transferred from Mars to Deep Space 13. I will not claim it has been “one hell of a ride so far”, as Earthers like to say. It has kept me busy, that is for sure. Then I transferred to USS Cassini, Titan-class, earlier this year. A ship full of surprise and I am not just talking about the static warp field generators and internal emission sinks based on lithium.

While the ship itself is the pinnacle of modern Starfleet technologies, I can see some traces of designs of other Khitomer Alliance members. It’s hard to pinpoint them, but I know they are there. I can feel their presence. Working at Mars’ division of Allied Cooperative Starship Development Board makes technological designs easily recognisable.

I took the opportunity to visit the Engineering Labs where I worked on software updates for Deep Space 13 and it seems the initial hurdles were resolved. Though how many of my recommendations were implemented, it is difficult to say. Being out of the loop for a year is… loopy and gappy.

My time on Cassini was… slightly less static. Not that I did not like DS13, but as Pakleds say, I too like “things that go”. This newest discovery of Iconian Gateway imitation is a confusing puzzle. We still don’t know who built the gateway or converted the older Starfleet shuttle into scaled down Baltim-class vessel, but is definitely difficult to crack down on it.

Not everything is work though. While I am not quite mingling with the senior crew, I do get along with most of my fellow “lower deckers”. It is good for body and soul.

I am… a little confused with my Captain. She is very relaxed in her approach to the crew. Whether that is typical Andorian approach to command or is it just her, I still have to discover. She was… kind? Trusting? Chill? Pick an appropriate adjective. She was trusting enough to let me have the conn.

It was during the more or less uneventful warp cruise to Ba’aja system, but still… sitting in the central chair for those hour or two made me wonder - perhaps I shouldn’t focus just on operations, engineering and such.

We all daydream about being ship captains, but at the SFA, those dreams disperse, dilute or, in my case, recrystalize into something different and seemingly permanent. I take much delight in tinkering with all kinds of systems, hardware and software alike, to see what is going on “under the bulkhead”, as Rigelian space traders like to say.

But the central chair, like any seat of power (and responsibility, of course), has its temptations.

[Felenn]

Stardate 100924.4, en route to Deep Space 13.

The mystery of Iconian-alike gateway structure in Ba’aja system remains a mystery which I would very much like to tackle one day again, but the regular crew rotations are necessity I guess. My time aboard USS Cassini was my first ship-service experience. I even got a chance to take the central chair. It was only for few hours in the Gamma shift, but it felt nice.

I am still impressed by her “cloaking” abilities… or rather energy-masking abilities, to be exact. In particular, those heat sink systems are quite powerful, if that can be even said for something that is supposed to “passivate” the ship’s presence.

My tinkering with Cassini’s energy masking might be the reason why the Fleet Command decided to transfer me off to USS Mariner-A. That is quite a beast in her own right. Descending from the Vesta family of classes, she seems to be a kind of amalgam of Vesta’s exploration assignments and more secretive mission profiles seen in those weird ships which were originally launched during the Delta Rising campaign.

The fact the ship herself carries not one, but two mobile versions of MIDAS technology speaks volumes of what she is capable off. Though I wonder… with such a emission-powerful systems, how does she manage energy-masking.

All in all, it has been an interesting year or so… from adapting computer systems to joint Khitomer standards, to tinkering with static warp field generators and sensors on Cassini somehow I went deeper into Engineering and Operations both.

I will miss Cassini, she was my first ship posting. But Mariner also looks very promising.

[Felenn]

Stardate 101151.4, Deep Space 13.

USS Cassini had returned to Ba’aja system to continue their investigations, but we lost contact with them shortly thereafter. Commader Zital, chief engineer aboard USS Mariner, says it could be “survivor’s guilt”. Truth be told, Cassini is still listed as MIA. Tholians claim they did not engage the ship so she just may have been lost through that gateway-like contraption we spotted the first time.

Be that as it may, my time aboard Mariner has kept me extremely busy. My introduction to the ship and her crew was a rough one, as they were under the quarantine due to a some form of shape-shifting lifeform that fed on other living beings. Just as that was settled, it was announced that Mariner will be docked at DS13 for next three months as refits begin.

During their engagement on the Romulan Imperial front, they came across several… energy consumption discrepancies, so to speak. It looks like one of the primary energy distribution conduits has an issue of powering primary phasers and the twin-MIDAS array at the same time. That said, Ensign Vemok and I hopped into dismantling the ship from inside.

While there are lot of manuals lying around, dismantling a cutting-edge vessel comes with certain personal stresses. I am glad that Commander Zital decided to supervise Vemok and me, even with routine procedures.

On the other hand, I heard that ACSDB is pushing a new vessel out. The Garrett-class, combined from Starfleet, KDF and Dominion design philosophies, fifth vessel of this kind. While my contributions to Khitomer and Temer classes were really minimal, I like to allow myself some vanity and think I am part of some bigger legacy.

All that said, interesting period is ahead of us.

[Felenn]

Ship Log. Stardate 101242.4, somewhere in Arawath sector. parallax

After almost three standard months, we are finally returning to Cardassian territories. We’ve been able to trade or mine mineral ores to reinforce our refuge in the Zenas Expanse. The Imperial arm reaches far but looks like their constant internal bickering prevents them from stepping deeper into this region. Ever since the God-Emperor Crusher had been deposed, Terrans have lost some of the grip on the fringe regions. As far as I am concerned, they can keep backstabbing and air-locking each other until every last one of them is dead.

Rigel was one the earliest tributaries of the Empire, but I was born on Cardassia Prime and that is my home. None other. We are carrying considerable amounts trilithium resin, which must be transported further into Gorn Resistance-held sectors, but we will have to pass by the Battle Station 13. It won’t be easy, but that is not the greatest of my troubles.

Some of my crew have their blood boiling, eager to throw themselves into direct confrontation with the Imperial forces. I can understand their desire, but not all battles can be won with knife-waving and curses at the enemy. Logistics and background operational readiness are the key. Ki’ras, one of Rae’Yeet’s adjutants, sent me a ciphered message about the state of quadrant.

Something or someone has enraged the Borg Kingdom. They attempted several incursions into Federation’s universe. According to Ki’ras, they will be an additional hurdle to overcome after we leave our base in Zenas Expanse. I wonder if that C’Qer entity attracted their attention.

Be that as it may, I pray that Stellar Winds are still at our back.

[Felenn]

Stardate 101875.6, en route to Kacam system.

Between refitting of Mariner, helping pre/subwarp species and their descendants, modifying old deep space probes, and hunting an Azedi dreadnought stuffed with neutronium, I find it hard to keep this personal notes regular. The variety of tasks I have exposed myself too willingly has been quite taxing on my physical and mental health. I believe I need a personal shore leave. But it will have to wait.

I have spent considerable amount of time collaborating with Ensign Vemok these past few months. Given his science background, the young Vulcan has been quite exposed to more engineering tasks in his time aboard Mariner. I must admit I was doubtful either of us would finish up our delegated tasks when we began Mariner’s refit. Commander Zital’s continuing supervision was helpful at the time.

My time aboard Cassini was certainly fruitful, but aboard the Mariner, Operations as an overlap of Science and Engineering, as some like to mock it, definitely came to light. Luckily, I could rely on the knowledge of concepts from my alma mater in Industrial Systems Automation. While the ship is not a mobile production factory, some of the regulatory and supervision concepts in optimising consumption of ship’s provisions and energy definitely apply. The recent encounter with the reptilian survival/ark ship was a definite proof I chose the right job. And inputs from Doctor Greene, Mariner’s chief medic, clarified how to… fine tune some of the issues we had.

But I am dangerously approaching to gloating and self-validation. It is good for ego, but it also clouds judgement.

The deep space probes we prepared under Tupaia Initiative have been launched though rumors have it that one already met its demise or a malfunction. It seems that Roosevelt and Lenearn were comissioned to investigate this problem.

Our main concern, now, is this renegade Azedi dreadnought of Etnoziroh-class, as the natives have designated it. It seems to be a formidable ship, even though it is based around technologies which are, by Starfleet standards, rather outdated. It seems some of the Azedi species are concerned about technological development in a fashion similar to Voth and their Doctrine.

However, the idea of stabilising and reinforcing neutronium with azedium (an allotrope of trellium) is fascinating. Their metallurgical capabilities and approach are unorthodox to me. Even though energy consuming approach, I can’t myself but admire it. It is a deviation from general norms, much like Romulan singularity drive is from matter/antimatter based FTL propulsion. The efficiency of this metallurgical paradigm is a matter beyond my current knowledge, however.

In any case, finding this dreadnought is quite challenging. Such a formidable ship to remain hidden so easily is another point of concern. Will Mariner live up to the challenge, we shall see.