| Frame 2-Forward |
| Summary: | There's engineers, and MIG welding, and plottage. Shiner even makes a driveby appearance. |
| Date: | 25 Dec 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Pressure Points - Damage Control, Sortin', and Enter C-27. |
| Players: |
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| Engineering |
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| Pipes, conduits, and cramped passageways. Heat and the smells of sweat and machine oil. Engineering is a maze of hallways that run deep into the aft of the Cerberus. Dotted with a few storage rooms, offices, and workshops, this section of the ship is constantly staffed by a huge team of professionals. From the main fuel tank feeds to the massive FTL drive room, no other part of the ship is more important than this section that provides propulsion and life support to every section of the battlestar. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #302 |
In a way it's a good thing, that Pewter decided to ask…was it really asking? Well, whatever. It's meant less of the hard grind of making adjustments for mobility and trying to fit into places someone else might be able to reach in half the time. But it's meant more paperwork, and less of an ability to narrow her focus down to one problem at a time. It's harder to ignore the fact that the problem on the ship is a big damned problem, when you can see how big the problem really is. Still, she's escaped the paperwork for a while, has Ximena, and she's, for the time being, scooted under a panel near the FTL drive, lying on her back, working her way through a mess of wires and connections to make certain they're all in working order.
Engineeering. Sofia yawns, coming onto shift now. Her eyes are a bit more tired than usual and she seems slower. "Ugh, I'm tempted to risk the heart attack for a cup of coffee," She admits to no one in particular. She's likely coming to get her tools. "Wonder where I'm up today," She fetches her toolkit and pauses. Is that? A peer over. "Chief?" A peer at Ximena.
With a further tramping of feet, it would appear that the orange overalled deck brigade due on shift have likewise arrived, amongst them a certain Apprentice Wright. Shiner matches Sofia's yawn with one of his own, raising the bar by stretching his arms over his head as he does so. The astute might notice that under his partly unzipped overalls, his top is on inside out, and he doesn't look to have shaved in a few days. "Yo," he nonetheless greets, attempting some sort of liveliness and keen. "Where d'you need me?"
"Sofia, morning. Apprentice." Ximena's rolls out from under the panel, looking between the Engineer and the deckhand. "We've got some welding that needs to be done on frame 2-forward." That's not hard to miss, it's spray-painted the brightest neon green you ever did see. "Wright, is it?" She did get the volunteer roster in from earlier, "You qualified on the MIG welder?"
A smile. Sofia waves, almost habitually as Ximena rolls out. "Oh yeah? Ok!" She beams. She spots it easily enough. "I can take care of that," She seems pleased enough. And Shiner! She turns and beams at him. "Hey," It's tired, but still cheerful. She goes quiet to hear his answer.
"No, Senior Chief," Shiner admits, wrinkling his nose before flashing a brief smile towards Sofia. "But I'm a quick learner? If somebody can show me, I'm sure I'll figure it out."
"Sofia can show you, it's not hard to learn, just as long as you make sure to set the unit to weld the proper type and thickness of material." Ximena slides all the way out from the panel, "The high lift is already loaded with the supplies we'll need. I'll get you an extra set of covers." It takes a few minutes, for Ximena to hoist herself back up into her chair, but once she's settled into position, she moves as easily as you please. And in that time, someone else goes and grabs Shiner out from under her, so to speak. Well, no matter. "Looks like it's just you and me, Sofia."
Sofia nods, "I'd be glad to," She smiles. She seems pleased. Then a pause. "That was fast." Extra bodies get snatched up. She shrugs then looks over. She doesn't seem fazed by Xim and her chair. "Yeah, do want anything to drink like water before I start?" She offers. "I'm glad to see you," She admits. There is relief. She looks around. "That Frame 2-forward or this first?" She offers.
"I was lucky. I was closer to Engineering than to deck ten when the call came out, so I wasn't underfoot. Good to see you still with us. We lost quite a few." Once Ximena's loaded herself into the high lift, which already has two sets of welding leathers, gear, the welder and such, she spins around to wait for Sofia. "The frame first. That," she indicates the panel, "Is just my busy work."
"I almost died, I tripped," She admits and looks deeply ashamed. Sofia looks down. "But we made it, I owe someone big." She smiles weakly. "Thanks. I'll do my best." She will take up the welding leathers and gear then. It's a bit obvious she has a hard time fitting into standard things at times, but seems to squeeze in just fine. "Got it, chief." She smiles, perhaps a bit more at easy. "Want me to get this side and meet you in the middle?"
"No shame in almost dying, Sofia. We all do it everyday. You're still here. That's the important thing. Can't let things beat you." Ximena too, slips on her leathers, having an easier time, relatively speaking, than Sofia. "That sounds like a plan." The welder itself is fairly simple to operate, once you get the hang of it. A welding gun loaded with a continuous feed consumable metal electrode that's melted into the weld point buffered by a shielding gas and powered by an AC electrical supply to provide the heat and melt on the metal to perform the weld.
"I suspect you're right," Sofia admits quietly. She seems to have a fair amount of experience with the welder. "I hope Gabrieli is alright too, but … I wonder if him taking a break or stepping down is for the best. It's not really been the same since that night. I can't even remember…" She furrows her brows. It doesn't sound like she WANTED to consciously forget - more that the memory was simply lost. "But he was hurt badly." Is all she recalls. She welds alongside Ximena then, working her way neatly along - once everything is checked and set up after all.
Ximena's used to working in a team, and so it's easy to fall into a rhythm with Sofia, moving smoothly an easily through the weld, pausing now and then to either pick up the support metal being welded onto her half, or to hand them to Sofia, since she's closer to the pile than the 3M. The conversation continues in fits and spurts when the women take a break to let the metal cool and set, "Colonel says he's recovering. His prognosis looks good. But he wasn't too sure if he'd be back to duty. I told him as long as his mind works, he can still be our ChEng."
Sofia seems pleased to work steadily with a partner. She takes the supports and sets them in the pile neatly. "I hope so. Though, like I said, with all this stress-" It might be bad for his mind. "I don't know, probably not my place to worry," She admits. She grunts softly as she moves. "Only time will tell." Nod. She settles for that. "It seems like a big job to me. I'd be afraid to be in charge of anything."
"All we can do is hope for the best and give him all the support we can. Get the job done and get things working the way they should before he comes back." The work is going steadily and apace, "I had forgotten what it felt like to be working on borrowed time." Something she did a lot of as an assault engineer. "You're in charge of things everyday, Sofia, and you're one of our most capable 3Ms. Command recognizes that." Which is probably why Sofia keeps getting more and more duties assigned to her. Busy Roomba is busy.
Busy Roomba is busy! She smiles at that. "Yeah, I'll try to send something like a book," She nods. "It does feel strange. Things are so peaceful, then not." She wrinkles her nose. A little sigh. Then her face turns red. "Um. That's really nice of them, I think they give me way too much credit," She remarks quietly. "I just like working," A shrug. "But that's okay." She doesn't seem to mind the duties, there's just a distinct fear of giving orders and managing people. "You're probably way busier than me though. Have you met many people from the Areion?"
"Not many. Just the few that came over to help us with the freighter and the ones that have come over to help us with repairs here. To tell you the truth, I haven't really been paying much attention. Mostly I either see people as working or not. Faces don't tend to really stick in my mind, these days. Not the ones from off ship at any rate, though I hear they're sending over some El-Tee from the Praetorian." Ximena does shake her head, at Sofia's comment, "Just liking to work is a rare commodity even now."
"Yeah?" Sofia tilts her head. She's considering this, taking it in and looking thoughtful. "I met their Captain, he's been really nice. He's been looking at our blueprints and FTL a lot. Seems to love engineering," She considers. "He's cool," She seems fond of him. She smiles. "That's a good way to consider it though I guess," A thoughtful look. "I try not to remember too many faces, they tend to disappear." A more somber note that - "Though, their deckies got me drunk for the first time. Talk about embarrassing." This is sheepish. "I miss caffeine."
"I haven't heard word on who it is, but I guess they're trying to supplement us to get us up and running as quickly as possible. I heard about him, Belgoin, something like that? I should try to see if I can get the plans for their FTL, see how it's different than ours. Might be something useful in there, once we're in the clear." A spot of laughter, as Ximena finally meets Sofia in the middle, and the weld is left to cool, "The trick is to get only drunk enough. At least when I used to drink, that was the trick."
"That's good," Sofia nods. "They seem to like us a lot," She considers this good. "Belgoin, yup! He loves cigars and friendly snipes apparently," She laughs a little. "You probably could. If nothing else, him having seen most of our stuff is leverage. He seemed to like our FTL but - in fairness, it is a really nice one," She thinks so anyway. "That's probably true," A grin. "As far as drinking goes, but I had a swarm of deckies carrying me and encouraging me." A faintly bemused look.
"Problem is, I'm not sure how forthcoming they are on information. They seem to like to play things close to the chest, despite the fact that there's nobody left to hide from. Who's going to steal their secrets? The cylons?" A shrug, "I'll see what I can get once this is all calmed down." Ximena sets aside her gear, the welding gun at least, shrugging off her leathers, "I'll be glad when this is over. Maybe they'll carry you around again, but you won't be as drunk."
Sofia tilts her head, "That's true. I don't know, he seems to trust me a bit but - I'm a lowly snipe." She shrugs. "I wish I could tell you. I hope it does calm down soon. It was scary seeing the rads in there before we all bolted." A little shiver. She sets the welding gun down too and looks over. "Hee. That would be pretty funny. They are an interesting crowd," She admits. "Oh! Have you seen the MV yet? It's cool!"
"Not for a long while, at least, not much of it. I was there in the beginning to help with the retrofitting, but since it was launched, I haven't had much of a chance. I keep meaning to head over there for longer than a few hours, but it never seems to work out that way." A snort, at one of Sofia's comments, "Nothing wrong with being a snipe. You may not have the brass, but you're the one getting the job done."
"I remember that," Sofia smiles. It's one of those precious happy memories. "You should. I like the garden," She admits. "Haven't been to the bar, but that's not really my thing," Sofia waves a hand dismissively and pulls a glove off. "And no, nothing wrong with being either," Officer or brass. She pauses. "Different places suit different people." Nod. Like human animals. "I'm sure things will settle soon."
"I hope so. Mostly, I'm hoping we can get medical repaired. Cameron was supposed to look over my medical file once things slowed down, see if there's anything he could do to give me a bit more mobility. But it's all been back burnered." The mention of the garden gets a thoughtful look, as well, "I was thinking we could try to build something, once we were back to business. A small pond or the like…maybe for some fishing. I think the Colonel would like it."
A nod. "I hope so too," Sofia seems sympathetic to that at least. "I was sick for a long time, they were nice to me." Her gaze is eerily distant and blank at that. She takes a deep breath and smiles. "That'd be cool. And fresh fish would be awesome. You could probably use recycled water for the fish," She notes. "I think it'd be fun. And you're probably right. We have to start working on setting ourselves up again instead of running around and stuff. I just wonder where we'll go."
"And I imagine we could raise fish fairly easily, all things considered, much more easily than we could raise cattle or sheep. Would be a good real food protein source. And the waste could be used to feed the plants. Sort of a win-win situation." There's a nod, at the mention of medical, "They've really worked wonders, given the situation they've had to deal with."
"Yeah," Sofia agrees. "Cows are kind of stinky anyway," She wrinkles her nose. "Even if they are really tasty," Sadface. Sofia seems happy for the conversation. "That they have. Doctor Gracious is really kind," She taps her chin. She doesn't seem to talk about Cameron much. "What kind of fish would we raise though?"
"Agreed. But nothing beats a good steak, does it? Even that deer we got from Aerilon wasn't half bad." Agreement, on the mention of the CMO, "Yes she is, and something of a saint for putting up with all of the work that's been heaped on her department. "Something easy to raise, maybe. Trout or some sort of whitefish that doesn't need a special environment, like bottomfeeders." Since there'd be not much of a bottom for them to feed from. "I have to admit, I'm not much of an expert on fishing, myself. But I'd like to see if we could do it. For the Colonel."
"That's true," Sofia smiles at that memory too. "Yeah. And ooh, I used to keep aquariums at home," Sofia admits. "Catfish were awesome, they had little whiskers," She wriggles her fingers under her nose. Whiskers like SO! "But the trout or whitefish do sound best. We could hit the library sometime to see if you want."
"And you could even spearhead the project, or have civilians help - there's people always taking up or needing work," Sofia notes. "I'd be glad to myself."
Ximena takes the time to consider the proposal, "Well, I could certainly take care of seeing about getting what we need to build the thing, if I could get someone who knows what they're doing to give me the dimensions they need and the materials that would be required. But maybe once this is over we can at least do that research and put a good proposal together."
"That sounds good," Sofia agrees. She notes, "We probably do have some glass and metal around," She offers. "The dimensions depend on if you want it here or the MV," She hmms softly. "And if we go to a colony to grab some fish soon," She grins. "I'd like that though, it sounds fun," She loves fish! "I'll be sure to check inventory for you when I have some time. I'm not allowed to have coffee or tea," She adds sadly, "Though I might try it if I get too tired." She seems willing to push her allergies. "Oh! And we should work out a filtration system. Fish tend to die in stagnant water."
"The Elpis. They have more room over there, and it would be more of an escape from the military over there, than here. Not to mention we could get the civilians to help take care of it." As nice as it might be, the military folks just have TOO much work and not enough hours, "Well, the fish shouldn't be any trouble. A raptor can jump back at any time. Maybe to Aerilon in one of the areas where we hunted for game." You know, so the fish are not nuclear. "Filtration I think we could do. We certainly do enough recycling on the ship as is."
Sofia nods. "That's true," Sofia smiles weakly. So many hours. She grins. "Besides, it'll be kinda funny to catch live fish," She admits. Sofia looks thoughtful. "Yeah, a nice, steady current and filtration. What would we feed them?" She looks over. She wriggles her fingers. "Fishes like worms and stuff…" Pause. "Leftovers? Heeheee." Sofia smiles at Xim, obviously more comfortable with her. "Did you ever keep fish?"
"But you don't feed them worms and the like in an aquarium, do you? And that would be sort of what we're creating. Maybe we could feed them some of the protein pellets, or some of the grain we'll be growing in hydroponics?" There's a decided shake of her head, "No, I never went fishing. Closest I ever got to a fish was picking one out in a restaurant."
"Some people do, especially frozen or hand reared ones. If you want REALLY healthy, vibrant fish, live food is best," Sofia explains. "But the pellets or grains sound better for practical purposes," Sofia smiles. "And oooh. I'll leave some books on fishees on your desk then," She nods. "Just because I kept them as pets does not mean their giant wild cousins aren't tasty." She looks sad. "But I won't ever keep another saltwater aquarium." Precious resources, time… Aquaria got nuked. That sort of thing.
"You might if we kept saltwater fish. Wouldn't the saltwater be technically cleaner, or easier to keep clean?" You know she doesn't know, so she's asking someone who does, "We won't have much soil though, so I think worms would be out."
Sofia looks thoughtful. "Well, yes and no. Saltwater can be hard on surfaces and filters," She notes quietly. "But yeah, no on the worms. Strictly speaking, neither is /hard/ to clean. Just get a little vacuum along the bottom, refill and call it a day." She smiles. "That's sort of why they make good pets." Their mess is contained.
"I always thought sort of the point of having a pet was that you could pet it. But what do I know." Ximena is still in the midst of cleaning up the remainder of their welding work, and prepping it for the next side of the structure that needs work. "Unless we could raise worms too. Is that possible?"
Sofia tilts her head. "You can sometimes have fish eat from your hand, rest in your hand or let you pet them," A shrug. "They were pretty. And good if you have allergies or a place that does not like fish," She explains. She'll help out too. Hmmm. "Depending on the kind of worms, it's pretty easy. Like - brine shrimp are raised in soda bottles, worms can be raised in dirt pots…"
Ximena laughs, "Sorry, I never really got into pets. We never had the space or time for them when I was growing up. I'm sure they're fun though." She settles into the chair, stretching out as best she can. "Well, maybe we should think about that as well. Might as well raise more things living than ourselves." Even if they are worms, "And if it makes the fish healthier, that's to our benefit."
"
"That's okay," Sofia beams at Xim. "You might like it!" She offers. She nods. "They make you feel better," She notes quietly. She smiles. "And sure. It'll be cool. You could terrorize your foes AND feed your fish with wriggly worms!" She nods sagely. "Which part do we go to next?"
"We need to do a few more spot welds on this frame and then we have to move on to the next. All of the members along this panel need to be done before the end of the shift." Though, as many as there are, here's to hoping they get more help before the end.
"Got cha," Sofia nods. She wrinkles her nose a bit. "I /really/ am debating that coffee," She considers wryly. She seems hopeful at least. "We'll get it for sure, worms and all." A faint smile. "Though, the hydroponics plant started small and scaled up. Do you think we should do the same?"
"You should ask Cameron, when you get the chance, he might have something for you that will keep you alert without all the side effects of coffee or regular tea." Ximena nods, as she begins to lower the high lift back down to the ground before she preps to move them to the next workspace, "Everything starts small. We used to tool around in canoes and rowboats and look at this ship now. I don't see why we couldn't do the same."
Sofia looks … fearful, almost uneasy at the mention of Cameron. "Yeah, sure," She smiles and nods. "We'll see," She offers vaguely. "That - that sounds good. I'll get these ready then," She smiles weakly. She goes quiet, strangely enough.
"Something about him bothers you?" Ximena's not so blind as all that, no, she isn't. "I can ask him the next time I see him, if you like. Bring you back whatever he gives me." Once they're back on the ground, she rolls off of the lift to clear it for movement.
Sofia pauses. "We just … don't think alike," She offers quietly. "It's okay, I'll just learn to live with it," She nods. "Besides, if it's only a rash, no biggie." She doesn't seem quite eager to try it though. She takes a deep breath. "There we go." She looks over. "Maybe lots of sugar?"
"I think you're going to find that you run into that more and more often. People who don't think the same as you do, particularly now that we have so many civilians among us. The trick is to accept that and to find ways that your thinking can still complement theirs. Everyone has something valuable to contribute. Some way they can be useful. Just a matter of finding it." Ximena doesn't seem in the least bothered by Sofia's dislike of Cameron. It is what it is. "Come on, we'd better get back to work."
Sofia tilts her head. "No, it's… it's not like that. I understand that. It'd be silly of me not to. It's something else." She seems perturbed and a little frustrated by it. "He pretty much called me a cylon sympathizer because I objected to vivisection. No one deserves that," She states simply. "And yeah… so much welding." A faint sad smile. "Poor Cerberus."
With that, she'll help gather the last of it and set about welding quietly alongside Ximena.