| Needing a Game Changer |
| Summary: | Kulko talks to Bannik about a possible idea for changing the ground war against the Cylons. |
| Date: | 23 Apr 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | None. |
| Players: |
  |
| Combat Information Center - Deck 7 - Battlestar Cerberus |
|---|
| The central nexus of the ship, the fighting capability all stems from here. With entrances on both sides, an entire section of the wall will twist its armored glass and doorframes out of an air locked position and allow access. At the rear of the room is a standard hatch that allows access as well. Computer terminals sit in a semi-circle around the main plotting table in the center of the room. DRADIS and other essential readouts are displayed on screens that hang from the ceiling. Forward and aft are a set of glass plots that hang vertically from the ceiling and provide the crew with the ability to coordinate air traffic operations in the easiest way possible. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #55 |
Combat Information Center. Day — whatever it is. Bannik has three modes now: helping in CIC, working on the line, working on the Heavy Raider slash sleep. The last isn't as much of a priority for now. He's in his deck coveralls, replacing the glass on one of the DRADIS consoles, carefully placing the item into the screen.
Kulko makes his way carefully through the mostly-repaired workzone that was his former home away from rack, sporting duty greens for his tour. He lingers around the plotting table a few moments, running a finger along its edge, then meanders towards the Deckie. "Crewman Bannik - you got a minute?" he calls on his approach.
Bannik jerks his head up, momentarily confused by cognitive dissonance. The pins say officer but the uniform says enlisted. But once that's sorted out, he nods crisply. "Yes, sir. What can I do for you, sir?" His glass momentarily placed to the side.
"You or anyone from Deck get a chance to cut into those toaster bodies we pulled off the Anchorage? I know you've been workin' on the ship." Kulko looks over the console-in-progress, with which he will at some point become quite intimately acquainted. "More to the point, do we know how they… see?"
"Toaster bodies?" echoes back Bannik, furrowing his brow. "You mean the Centurions, sir?" Clarification seems important for him on this point. Getting the lingo straight and all.
"Yeah, them," Kulko quickly clarifies with a wave of one hand. "I know they were shot up pretty bad, but the hope was we could still learn somethin' useful from 'em."
"Right. Was gettin' to it. And it's not urgent, just somethin' we're hopin to get off the ground." Kulko sparks up his lighter and takes a long first drag before he continues. "Our ECM works to throw their Raiders off base, and basically we're hopin' to use the same against the Centurions. Maybe increase our survivability on the ground. Is it possible, in your opinion, to get an ECM suite small enough that a Marine or ECO could tote it around? Backpack mount, maybe?"
Blink. Blink. "Ah. Well. I'd have to look into it, sir. I mean, I'm normally a Raptor and a Viper mechanic, not an engineer, but we're all sort of stepping out of our comfort zones." Bannik equivocates. "I guess the sum up is I'm not really sure, sir. Or even if the Centurions would be susceptible to ECM."
"That's the question, yeah." Kulko folds his arms, and looks up to the blank DRADIS. "All honesty, Bannik, we need a game-changer on the ground. Bullets hurt us a lot more than they hurt the enemy. And we have to worry a /lot/ more about manpower." He looks back to the deckie. "I know you're pressed for time. Should I shop this around elsewhere?"
"I'm sure you won't. Like I said - we can't just make more soldiers the way they can." This somewhat darkly from Kulko. "Low priority project on the whole, but if we can get this operational it could very well save a lot of lives."
"Yes, sir." Bannik pauses as if weighing his next words. And when they come, they're more hesitant. "Sir? You're a tactical officer. Is it true what they're saying down there? That the Old Man is just going to send us into the largest concentration of Cylon forces to try to get back at them for what they did?"
Kulko takes a long moment to smoke down the cigarette and think of his response. "Skipper's got a reason for everything he does," he says finally. "Nobody's sure what we're doin, just yet. But priority one is keepin' our crews in one piece. Far as we know, we're all that's still breathin' in the galaxy. If'n we take the fight to the Cylons, we won't be runnin' in blindly." Another drag, exhaled upwards.
"Yeah. Guess so. Old Man didn't get where he is unless there was a reason, right?" Bannik sounds more hopeful than certain in that regard. "Just got to keep praying for us all."
"So say we all, crewman. Let me know if you need more hands on this project, and I'll see who I can rope in." Kulko pauses to take a look around the mostly-repaired CIC. "Lovin' what you've done with the place. She looks almost right as rain."