| Adapt and Overcome |
| Summary: | Cidra lays out some project ideas for Damon which may require Deck assistance. |
| Date: | 8 Aug 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | None. |
| Players: |
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| Hangar Deck - Port - Midship - Battlestar Cerberus |
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| Post-Holocaust Day: #163 |
| The single largest rooms on the Cerberus are the hangar decks. Each flight pod consists of two stacked landing bays with adjoined decks and hangars, which along with computer-assisted landings results in a faster Viper recovery rate. Mirror images of each other, these two huge areas are located on the flight pods. The inboard sides of the deck, closest to the ship's main hull, are lined with parking and maintenance bays for Vipers and Raptors based aboard the battlestar. The outboard side of the deck contains the launch tubes used by the Vipers for standard deployment. Huge blast doors seal the deck into four sections, each one containing an elevator that leads up to the flight deck directly overhead. The fore-most section contains an elevator system that leads towards Aerospace Fabrication. |
| Condition Level: 3 - All Clear |
Cidra is prowling the hangar deck. In her flight suit, but she's not slated to be out on CAP until the next patrol, and that isn't coming for some hours yet.
Damon is off to one side of the floor, cradling a mug of tea and chatting with some of the Deck crew who are on break, it looks like. He's just finished telling some kind of funny story or joke, as everyone standing around him laughs. One of them nudges the PO and nods over to Cidra. "CAG!" he shouts from across the hangar bay, his booming voice carrying all the way over to her. "What can we do you for?"
"Air Engineer!" Cidra calls back when she's CAG'd. Almost whimsically. Almost. Faintest of smirks at Damon. "Major Hahn or Toast shall do just fine, please. The former LSO, Captain Hellicon, had a tendency to act as if my abbreviation was my proper name. It was…odd." She strolls over to meet him. Eyeing the tea with some interest. "I have some hours before I am due out in Raptor. Have you a moment? There are some matters we should discuss."
"All right, back to work it is," Damon says to the gathering, who all slowly disperse back to their areas. He strides on over to Cidra, one thumb hooked into his toolbelt and holding his mug with the other hand. "Can I grab you some tea or a mug of Deck Coffee there, Toast?" he asks, using her callsign this time - with a slight emphasis, of course. Only few dare to brave Deck Coffee, but the PO's tea smells pretty strong, too. "We can head into the office if you'd like to talk without so much of the, y'know…" A hand gestures to the noisy surroundings.
"I would like tea very much," Cidra says. "Thank you. And yes, let us adjourn to the office. It is quieter." A pause. "And I would not risk spilling my beverage upon your deck."
Damon snorts a laugh. "I'm half-considering setting fire to all the papers on my desk," he says with a shrug. "Spilling some tea on it would probably be less damaging anyway." The promised drink is fetched and offered to Cidra, and he holds open the door to the Chief's Office, half of which he's commandeered to be his working space, like a Very Right and Proper Knuckledragger. "So what's on your mind, sir?" he asks, sitting down behind his desk. He wasn't kidding about the paperwork. The tiny desk that he's crammed in there beside the Chief's is a mound of papers - none of it organized or even stacked evenly - and unlabelled folders.
Cidra slips inside once she's gotten her tea in hand. She sips is speculatively. Curious, perhaps, about what sort of tea the deckie prefers. "Thank you," she repeats. "Several items, actually. First and foremost the Cylon components we have housed here. Both those previously collected and those Raiders we managed to tow in from over Sagittaron in our last encounter. I had some…thoughts on them."
Earl Grey, hot! No, not quite - but it's pretty close in taste. A black tea, brewed strong and still boiling-hot. "Cylon components. I know we managed to pull in some Raiders recently, but I haven't had a close look at 'em myself quite yet," he says with a sheepish grin. "What were you thinking? I know Bannik knows a lot of the Cylon technology better than just about anyone else - but I know a little bit, I've been trying to catch up."
"Specialist Bannik would likely be the expert on what I am interested in, yes. I know he has spent a great deal of time studying them," Cidra says. "First and foremost. I know the Cylons advanced ahead of us in terms of certain technologies. Jump capability leaps to my mind most immediately, as do their weapons systems and stealth technology. There are likely other aspects that, as someone not versed in the technical aspects of aeronautics, I have not considered. I was wandering if we might be able to take what we have learned from them and modify them to our ships with our own equipment."
Color Damon intrigued. "I don't know offhand if it would be easy, but if we can reverse-engineer their technology, then it should definitely be possible to integrate their technologies with ours. Maybe not in the ship configurations as-is - their systems appear to be very different from ours, anyway - but I mean, we've even had designs come up for a new type of ship, so anything is possible." He pulls up a piece of paper and starts making a few notes on it.
Cidra sips at her tea, nodding along as he goes for the paper. "That was my notion. If nothing else, it might be useful to see *how* they have applied their own technology and see if we can re-engineer what we have in ways we have not considered. My primary interests, as I said, are weapons systems, jump drive and sublight propulsion, maneuverability and stealth. But you gentleman know better about that sort of thing than I. Specialist Bannik has gathered quite a bit of research already, from what I understand. Do take a look at it and see if there is anything there we can poach."
"Aye aye, sir," Damon says. More scribbling. He picks up one pile of papers and moves it over onto Atreus' desk to clear up a bit of writing space on his, revealing a small Centurion model, about three inches tall, complete with side-to-side glowing eyes and all. There are other little figurines and replicas on the desk hiding behind paperwork, but only bits and pieces of those can be seen so far. "I'll definitely speak to Bannik about it, and some of the others that've been helping him."
"Excellent," Cidra says. "And on the subject of Cylon technology. I had a project of my own in mind, but you shall need to keep tabs upon it, as it will involve the components on the Deck. I have for some time been meaning to task some of my pilots to studying how the Raiders and Heavy Raiders fly. Lieutenant Kulko put the idea in my head before the mission to Leonis, come to it, but we have not had time to follow through with it. I do want to see if it would be possible for a human to pilot a Cylon device. Obviously, this is the sort of thing that would require much delicacy."
"Sounds fun. And dangerous." Damon notes that down on his paper as well under the watchful eye of the model Centurion. "I didn't even figure such a thing was possible, but we're happy to help how we can. If we have the supplies, of course - which we should, hopefully." His lips twist in thought for a moment. "Be kind of strange fielding a Cylon craft out of this hangar bay, though. I'll admit it makes me a bit nervous just to think about it."
"The Heavy Raiders have space for a pilot. Given what we have learned about the abominations…" Cidra pauses to put that in non-fundamentalist terms. "…humanoid Cylons, it is logical to conclude they were designed like that with them in mind. If so, it may be very possible there. The Raiders, however, do not have a cockpit. They seem more designed like flying Centurions, honestly, but we may still be able to learn something by poking about them. If nothing else, it is worth looking into. I will be tasking a small group of my pilots to study this in depth, but I would like to have a deckhand - or perhaps someone from Engineering - available for consultation. To make certain we do not activate anything we should not on those beasts. They are machines, after all, and never so much 'dead' as deactivated."
Damon nods. "We can definitely supply assistance for a project like that. Not a problem." The pen gets put down and he sits back in his chair to sip at his tea. "Anything else on your mind, sir? Seems like you've got quite a few little projects on the go now."
Cidra shakes her head. "Those were the main concerns upon my mind at the moment. And I have patrol in not so long, so I shall not keep you from your own duties much longer. I thank you for your time, Petty Officer. And the tea." Slight smile. "Coffee is an instrument of necessity. But I do so enjoy a good cup of tea every now and again."
Damon stands and salutes. It's a casual kind of salute, more one of acknowledgement than professional military protocol. "Anytime, Major. We're always happy to help." He pins the scrawled-upon paper to the wall so he doesn't forget about it,and gets the door for her again. "Have a good CAP."
Cidra returns the salute in the same fashion. For all the woman's outer reserve and attention to manners, she is not so much a stickler for the details of protocol. "Good hunting to you in your duties as well, Damon," she says with an inclination of her head. And off she goes.