| Mixing Signals |
| Summary: | Planning with some of the Raptor personnel and the Chief Engineer concerning an assignment to combat the spacial interferance they'll be facing in the upcoming war games. The CO and XO lurk. |
| Date: | 08 Feb 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Let's Roll and Tables and CAGs |
| Players: |
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[ Map Room ]------[ Deck 7 - Battlestar Cerberus ]
The one object that dominates this room is the one it is named for: the giant plotting table in the center of the room. Bottom-lit like the plot in CIC, this one is twenty feet across and about the same distance wide. The maps, which are rolled and kept in a locker at the side of the room, provide much more detail than most of the charts in CIC and are especially useful in planning tactical operations. Unscaled models of ships are available to be situated on the surface of the table and risers on each side of the room allow for a small audience to watch or be briefed. A single large LCD screen is built into the wall at the far end to display reconnaissance or other supplemental material.
So, a smattering of Raptor personnel from a few of the squadrons were summoned by the CAG to the Map Room. Including some of the Harriers personnel. Special assignment do to with the upcoming wargames, though otherwise no preliminary details were given. Cidra is already here, calling up map of the Uram sector on the plotting table. Navigation-wise, it's a pretty nasty environment. Lots of natural thermal radiation in the background, lots of clutter from meteor trails, asteroids, debris, and so on and so forth. No fun to Raptor jockey in, though Cidra looks more thoughtful than daunted. There's the faintest hint of a smile playing on her lips.
Maia and Sikes come into the map room chatting amicably. It seems the ECO is getting to know her fellow squadmate. "Ooooh, that doesn't sound good at all. I had a friend with cracked ribs, he said it was ridiculously painful even when trying to laugh." she says with a bit of sympathy at that. "But did everyone turn out all right?" she asks curiously.
On her part, she's dressed in her uniform, still on duty for the most part. She peers into the Map Room and gives a friendly salute to the CAG before looking for a seat.
Michael arrives from Deck 7 Corridor.
Michael has arrived.
Sikes is pulling on his offduty overshirt as he follows Maia in. "Yeah, Medical had 'em patched up in short order. Coulda been worse." He takes note of the CAG and snaps off a salute.
Quinn has finished with the deck/scientific crew debaucle, playing raptor driver yet again, and she's gotten back to the ship JUST in time for this meeting. Looking just a bit more frizzy haired than before, the leader of the Harriers steps curtly into the room, still wearing her dress grays, looking as prim and proper as she possibly can after a full day of work. Her pleats aren't quite as perfect, hair not smooth, eyes a bit tired, but the Captain is here. Sh nods towards a few others in the room then bows her head a bit deeper to the CAG. "Sir."
Cidra gets the various salutes acknowledged all around and delivers a general "As you were." A motion to her personnel. It's not the full complement of Raptor pilots or ECOs, so they hardly crowd the room. "Gather round, please. I want you all to have a look at this. This, is Uram. Daunting task to navigate, no?" She chuckles, a rather wolfish glint in her blue eyes.
Sarkis arrives from Deck 7 Corridor.
Sarkis has arrived.
Gabrieli arrives from Deck 7 Corridor.
Gabrieli has arrived.
Okay, so there's no sitting. Instead Maia heads on over to look at the map, scrunching up her nose as she peers at the various asteroid, debris and other such 'road hazards' as it were. She purses her lips and scratches the back of her head. "Quite."
It's now that the entrance to the map room opens again, this time allowing the figure of Michael to make his way into view. Having just arrived aboard a Raptor that he'd piloted, he'd heard mention of something transpiring and appaerntly decided to make a pitstop in the meeting. Slipping past the threshhold of the door, he immediately takes a step to the right and simply leans a shoulder against the bulkhead, choosing to remain quiet and observe, rather then interrupt.
Quinn steps closer to the now working Map table, smiling a bit as she sees the light beneath it, some sort of amusement decorating her features at an almost inside joke. She doesn't speak otherwise, just happy to concentrate on the work before them. She does, however, take up position to the side of Cidra, so she can most easily see over the CAG's shoulder at what the woman is going to be showing them.
Sikes nods, taking mental note of the terrain. "Quite the number of spatial anomalies to circumvent. Not a milk run by any means." A pause, as he notes Quinn's arrival. "When's launch time, sir?"
Sarkis follows the Skipper into the room, taking up a spot on the other side of the man. He's showered and dressed and carries a magnitude of a cup in his hand. Coffee. Nectar of the Gods.
Gabrieli has little duty interest in actual maps - only the room itself and the wires buried deep in its four walls. Engineering crews have been running constant inspections around here, prodded by one stinking little alert light that keeps going off. Falsely, as there's nothing actually wrong with the damn LCD screen. But, perfectionism demands everything be looked at when it screams and so the ChEng is here, carrying a work order rolled up as though tempted to beat someone over the head with it. A few steps behind Michael, he walks into the hatchway and pauses at seeing the man skulking by the bulkhead. Ah shit, salute time. "Rear Admiral, sir."
The CAG has taken over the table the Map Room, along with a smattering of Raptor personnel. They are presently clustered around the display table, going over a map of the Uram area of space. The sight of the upcoming war games. Cidra is intent on it, so Michael's entry into the room is not immediately noticed. She does hear him, and seems to assume he is a lagging Raptor jockey. "I hope you are more prompt with your bird," she chides without looking up. "Come, come." She can scold the lagger later. "The DRADIS will be vital to our performance in this op. I will deliver a full briefing later, but this I think you will need some lead-time on. This interference in the system plays Hades with a DRADIS system. Lots of ghosts from multipath echoes. Very tricky. I would like to see if we can find some way to compensate for it. Or at the very least better prepare our eyes for the clouds." To Sikes she adds, "We have to leave dry dock soon, Lieutenant. I hope to get a move on this presently, so that…" And off she trails. Upper-brass. "Admiral on deck!" Her lean form snaps to attention like a whip, salute coming up sharp. A brief glance is flitted to Gabrieli, but blue eyes are quickly fixed back on Michael.
Ooop! Admiral on deck! Maia stands at attention and salute, not saying anything.
Sikes blinks and snaps to ramrod, shooting a salute to the CO, remaining otherwise silent.
As Sarkis makes his way in, Michael offers the man a silent nod, eyes just shifting back to the gathered group of Raptor Drivers and ECO's before another person is coming in. Turning his gaze back in the direction of the door, he lifts a finger to his lips and goes to shake his head, but it's to no avail. The secret is out and even moreso when the CAG announces his presence again. Pushing off from the wall, he's offering a sharp salute before lowering his arm and reclaiming his spot against the wall. "Thank you, but please carry on with your briefing Major. I'm simply here to observe and listen for a couple of moments." The others are each given looks, followed by a nod of his head, "Pretend I'm not here."
Quinn jerks into attention herself, a salute tight against her forehead in response to the calls of admiral on deck.
Lo and behold, when the CAG's eyes come Gabrieli's way his are right back on her. They stay there even as she turns her attention back to the Brass O' Brass, finally sliding back Michael's way after the clock's ticked away two more seconds. "Sir." Salute dropped, the ChEng's not one to waste breath on words when there's shit to do. The rolled work order's tapped against his palm and he stalks off towards the control panel of the LCD.
Sarkis doesn't waste breath either, after the 'coming to attention' he returns to his spot and the coffee cup. He's curious about this meeting and what the jockey's are up too.
Cidra comes down from her salute, hands going to rest back on the table. Slim brows arcing at Michael. "As you say, Admiral. It is not a proper briefing. It is more in the nature of a…project. As I was telling my people, I am curious if they can find some way to compensate for the unique navigational challenges Uram represents." Blue gaze goes to Gabrieli again, holding on him this time. "I had been meaning to speak with you about this as well, Captain Gabrieli. At a later time, but this will do. I was wondering if Engineering might have some input and assistance on configuring the DRADIS. It would only be a few Raptors, so it should not consume too much energy. My people know flight theory but for fine electrical work, I put my trust in snipes. I have spoken with Captain Hellicon about this and he is amenable to collaboration."
There's a soft hrmm under her breath. Maia wrinkles her nose as she stares at the map for a few moments. "The DRADIS uses multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems. I did my senior project on this at the fleet academy. Measuring the full received electro-magnetic (EM) wave for parameter estimation is recent knowledge and I'm sure we can do it. I think that if we derive the gain by measuring the complete field over a spherical surface instead of measuring only one polarization component using an equal number of sensors, we can increase the MIMO performance." she then hrmms, stroking her chin as she scrunches up her nose once more. "But that means we'd need to consider the distribution of the mutual information of a MIMO system with an uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel. Which will… suck."
The Admiral does preciously what he said he was going to do, and that's to simply lean against the wall and listen. There's a slight turn of his head towards Sarkis and the murmered comment of, "The one thing I miss about being a pilot. Powwow sessions." There's a quirk of his lips in a smile before he turns his attention back to the gaggle of pilots and ECO's. Content with what ever he wanted to see, he makes a motion towards the door, "I'm heading to CIC. The Officer of the Watch is probably going just a tad crazy that they weren't informed of my arrival."
Sikes says in conjunction to Maia's suggestion, "I might be able to cobble together a few subroutines into a Raptor's DRADIS receivers… let the software handle some'a the heavy work. It'd still need a top-flight backseater to sort out the data…" He pauses to nod sideways in Maia's direction. "…but it could be doable."
Sarkis makes a nod to the words and raises his cup to drink from. His attention crosses from one pilot to the other and all the technobabble going on. "Good deal," he straightens and begins to follow the Admiral toward the door atleast.
Gabrieli keeps his eyes on Cidra as she speaks, flicking the backs of his fingers against his rolled papers. As Maia busts out with all that, his green-gray eyes flicker to the young woman and then back to Cidra. "Apparently your people think mine are uneducated when it comes to how DRADIS works, Major," he says, very drily. "I trust the opinion hasn't come from you personally. Anyway, yes. We can talk about it. Now that the FTL work is complete, we have the hands to put on it." He looks back at the departing brass and gives parting salute, more casually than before.
Cidra listens to Maia go on with a rather stoic expression. "Ahh." She leaves it at that. "Very interesting, Lieutenant. I am versed in your electrical background and I am sure it will be quite useful to our efforts in this, though you will follow the lead of the technicians and engineers for any work on the system. They handle it every day and are the professionals. We will have to work with the instruments, but configuring them will require assistance." Her tone is firm on that point. A half-apologetic nod to Gabrieli. "Most certainly, Captain." She turns to Quinn and Sikes, nodding. "Very good. You have access to these maps and may use them, and the simulators, at your leisure. I would prefer any ideas be tested there, as possible, before implementing them live in a Raptor. Be creative."
Michael heads through the exit labeled <O> Out.
Michael has left.
Quinn looks up towards Gabrieli, giving a quietly apologetic smile for the young ECO. "It is not an opinion shared by our people. Captain Gabrieli, I'd much appreciate your input on this all, actually, since many of us haven't read technical manuals over to cover… and forgive our over eager LT. She's got her heart in the right place." She looks a moment betweem Maia and Gabrieli, earnestly apologetic with those words, but curious as to what the engineer DOES think about this all.
Face meet palm. Maia looks towards the seemingly offended engineer and just shakes her head. "No, it's all right, Major. I'll stand here and look pretty." she says sounding defeated. Her brain just start rolling and she stops it prematurely.
Sarkis heads through the exit labeled <O> Out.
Sarkis has left.
"You can have whatever you need, Major. We're at your service." Gabrieli gives a nod to Quinn in passing. "Let me extend my own appreciation back by not having my people fly your birds. As amusing as I'm sure you'd find it." He quirks half a grin at the fellow Captain, then gestures to the LCD panel. "That things acts up, give us a call. We've been chasing a programming bug for days. With that I'll let you be. Good luck with your…" His hand makes a vague motion around the mapping. "…shit."
Sikes grins bemusedly to Maia and suppresses a chuckle in response to Gabrieli's comment, then nods to Cidra. "Understood, boss. We work the theories, Engineering puts it to practice. Not a problem."
Cidra gives Maia a level side-look. "We are professionals here, Lieutenant. Remember that. Respecting the skills of others does not belittle your own." Her tone is a note sharp. A slim frown settles on her lips, but she leaves it at that for now. And her eyes glint a bit at Gabrieli's words. "I would not mind seeing you try sometime." She clears her throat, offers the ChEng a parting nod, then another nod to Sikes. "More or less, Lieutenant. If you are successful, it may give us some edge in the games. If nothing else, I expect the results to be interesting. And it will give you an opportunity to work with some of the other departments on-ship."
Quinn actually flashes a full on smile in Gabrieli's direction, amusement momentarily betraying her green eyes…"Come on into the Sims one night. I'll show ya around. Pretty damn fun out there, frankly, Captain. But no… all due respect, but I'll keep my boys and girls the ones behind the sticks in the field. And I trust yours to keep those sticks working in proper order." Quinn's proper, clipped accent offers with warm, slightly teasing tones, though she does flicker a look back towards Maia. "Keep the ideas coming… maybe submit them to the engineering staff in writing and we'll see what they can do with it…But they call the shots on that side of things, LT."
"Yes sir." Maia says taking in a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
"Beat me in a fistfight and you've got a deal." Gabrieli holds Cidra's eyes a couple moments longer, and his brows might just have twitched up and down. The papers are tapped to temple as a general farewell to the room, after a smirk at Quinn. That girl's funny. "Goodnight." And he's gone, baby.
Cidra watches Gabrieli go, then draws her gaze back to the Raptor personnel around her. "There will be a full briefing on our overall mission for the games in the coming days. A full meeting of the senior staff is planned, so I am waiting to see what trickles down from that. In the meantime, as I said, be creative and work on this as your duties allow. The technicians and engineers will be handling the actual electrical work on this, and you are to defer to them in the technical matters of this project. But you are the ones who fly these systems, and your practical input will be vital. And some of you know a thing or two about that yourselves, I know. Captain Quinn, handle this as you think best." She winks to the squad leader. "I will be curious to see what you come up with."
Cidra adds, "If there are no questions at this time, you are dismissed."
"Sir." Maia says with another salute before she turns heel and heads out the door.