Jamming Stations

Posted on Sun Jun 30th, 2024 @ 7:09am by Sub-Commander T'shir & Commander Saul Whitford & Commander Gunnar Magnusson & Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Calhoun & Lieutenant JG Elspeth McArthur

1,734 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Landings
Location: The Unicorn
Timeline: Four Days Before the Landings

Sub-Commander T'shir spoke with Commander Whitford while they waited for the other officers to join them in an all-purpose lab stationed near engineering. "I was able to receive a message from a Vulcan Argosy vessel this morning at 0315 hours. We are trying to keep our communications to an as needed basis only. The more communication that occurs between Starfleet and Vulcan vessels, it is probably that the Romulan Military will target those communication relays as well."

Gunnar Magnusson knew the location and layout of the meeting location almost too well; he did a lot of his practical work in that very lab, most of it in concert with Engineering. The Vulcan Intel/Comms officer and Commander Whitford were already there. Gunnar has not yet spoken much with Whitford, not since Gunnar had decided to stay focused on the Science aspects of their deployment and forego the First Officer position. He greeted his fellow officers warmly.

“Good day Sub-Commander,” he said cheerily. “And to you as well, XO” Gunnar tended to address colleagues formally unless instructed to do otherwise; he considered it a gesture of respect, but it made some uncomfortable.

Commander Calhoun arrived at the lab with several officers already assembled.
“Sub-Commander, Commanders….What’s this I hear about communication relays?”

Elf came in without fanfare and just took a seat.

'Let's dispense with the formalities, people,' Whitford declared with a smile. 'Let's concentrate on the matter at hand - comms chatter, or rather, the lack of it.' The Commander pointed to T'Shir, 'The Sub-Commander and her department have come across some concerning blank spots in traffic, particularly as we near Coridan. Currently, we've had to opt to keep comms limited to Starfleet vessels. Sub-Commander, if you'd care to explain?'

"We have had reports of communication blackouts among Starfleet vessels engaged in battle with Romulan vessels. As you all are probably aware, the closer one is to the front lines, relay stations sending communications back to Earth become less effective. Science and Communications teams have been able to pinpoint the signals that are being sent to displace our communications traffic," T'lenn explained.

"Fortunately, it does appear that the signals are coming from fixed locations. Unfortunately, there are numerous stations working in conjunction with one another, and taking just one station out, would not be effective. I believe Commander Calhoun used the analogy: spiderweb," T'lenn stated looking over at the engineer.

Calhoun nodded in reply to the Vulcan scientist. “That’s right. Each of the fixed locations T’Lenn referred to has numerous branches that break off from it. Problem is, these “branches” seem to be working in concert. We need to find some way to target multiple branches at the same time. Some kind of algorithm that induce cascade failure along the entire network. Question—are the signals being routed through Starfleet comm relays? May want to start there.”

Moving to a workstation, Whitford brought up the signal telemetry from the comms network. Working through the frequencies transmitted, his brows knitted in concentration. 'There could be something ... here, what do you think?'

“What do you have? Let’s see it….” Calhoun tapped a few more buttons on the console, causing the display to zoom in, out, and change perspective.

“You’re right, Commander. There’s slight amplitude changes here…. and here. Nice catch, Saul. Not sure what it means yet, but that’s a good place to start. If we know something or someone is manipulating the frequencies, it means there’s a possibility we can respond in some way. Some kind of coded message? Decode the message and plant our own reply. Sub-Commander? Thoughts?”

"The most effective solution would be to disrupt the stations' abilities to send signals entirely. While I am certain that Lieutenant McArther and I are skilled enough to maneuver initial workarounds with coded messages, as long as the network remains in tact there is a high risk that our messages will never make it to their intended recipients, and a possibility that our codes will be translated," T'shir responded. "The network must be destroyed."

"Or hacked" Elf suggested softly. "If we destroy it, they will just rebuild it. If we hack it..."

"If we manage to obtain control over the Romulan network, what is your proposal, Lieutenant?" T'shir asked.

“If we can’t destroy it, then let’s make the thing do what we want it to do. The Lieutenant is right. I say we hack away. Here’s an idea, Sub-Commander. A disinformation campaign. Sensor echoes, false images, garbled transmissions that make them suspicious. Make them think they’re succeeding on their end. McArthur? Thoughts?"

Elf kept her face blank. Why bother asking her if she was not going to get a chance to answer on her own? "Whatever the Commander decides." She replied coldly, feeling like she had just been run over and anything she would now say would be seen as if she was copying the Commander after all she had been asked and not given a chance to answer.

T'shir observed the exchange, unsure of what had triggered the chief engineer to respond to a question that posed directed to her communications officer, but it was not the first meeting aboard this vessel where she had observed procedural decorum to be disregarded. Her communications officer now seemed disinclined to share her ideas at all, which threatened productivity.

"Lieutenant McArthur," the Sub-Commander tried again. "My main concern with... hacking the network, is that it would leave us vulnerable to a reverse-hack, and Commander Calhoun's suggestion did not address the fact that the primary use of this network is to prevent our communications from getting to their intended target. Does your proposal address address those concerns?"

"Yes Sub Commander" Elspeth replied warily. "I would look to add a few feedback loops to block reverse hacks so they think it's just a glitch in their system." She focused on her department chief and kept her gaze on the Vulcan. "Also it would help to cover us, if we could destroy a few random transmitters. Keep them blind to our real purpose. "

"When Commander Whitford and I initially discovered the issue, our intention was to try to destroy the entire network," T'shir responded. "If we are to attempt to physically destroy relay stations as a cover, the path of destruction should look like a legitimate attempt to destroy the network itself. It would be illogical for Starfleet to destroy a few station on the outskirts. The most destructive pattern would be a straight line toward the epicenter."

"Commander Whitford, do you have a danger assessment?" T'shir asked.

He chuckled in response, 'difficult to tell. We have very little information on Romulans and their techniques - we don't even know what they look like, do we?' Looking at the readouts, he sighed and folded his arms. 'The risk seems acceptable from our intelligence. From what we understand of their tech, a feedback loop, and random destruction of nodes would seem to be a system error on their part.'

"Tomorrow evening we should be in range to take a shuttlepod toward one of these arms of the web. Depending on the level of resistance, and whether or not these stations are manned, my calculations indicate that there would be enough time to damage the first two stations of this arm, before we would need to turn back to rejoin the Unicorn," T'lenn explained, pointing to the stations on the map.

“Sub-Commander, if there are no objections, I volunteer to pilot the shuttlepod. I am a trained pilot. You’ll need an engineer out there, too,” Calhoun said.

"We will be close enough for another opportunity the morning before we are scheduled to land at Point Lambda. However, we may choose to make that a reconnaissance mission, so as to not give the Romulans an indication of our direction of travel," T'lenn suggested.

'Sensible,' Whitford said. 'I recommend a few MACO and Armoury officers go with you - we'll need some intel from the stations, anything we bring back could be useful to the war effort, and my Armoury guys can bulk-download as much data as possible in the time we have.'

"Lieutenant McArthur, what will you need to successfully take control over this communication jamming network?" T'shir asked.

Elspeth was silent as she considered it. "Portable computer core, it will require an e.v.a., I will also require time with the core before we get there. And it will take a bit."

"I recommend that we take two shuttlepods," T'shir suggested. "One to carry out the offensive strikes, and to draw fire away from the one where Lieutenant McArthur will be working. We should give her time to get into the Romulan system before we begin fire. Commander Magnusson, Calhoun which of you would like to volunteer a computer core to the lieutenant for the mission?" T'shir asked.

Elf waited to hear which officer would be with her.

“Lieutenant, I know we didn’t exactly start out on the right foot, but I’ll take care of it for ya,” Calhoun said. Give me about 30 minutes or so to get the portable core prepped and you can calibrate it for what we need it to do. If you’d rather ride with Gunnar, that’s your prerogative. I’ll pilot pod 2. Your call.”

"Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. Make the necessary preparations, and get the core to Lieutenant McArthur as soon as possible. It is most logical to assign you to pilot the shuttle that will be tasked with getting Lieutenant McArthur and her team within range of the Romulan computers," T'shir stated. "The other team will have a tactical focus."

"Lieutenant McArthur, use what resources you need. I will check on your progress periodically. Lt. Commander Calhoun, there will be a preliminary flight strategy session this evening at 1800 hours in the briefing room. I will have our other pilot and tactical officers selected and their presence mandated. Any questions?" T'shir asked.

T'shir paused for questions before adjourning. "I believe the phrase is, 'Let's get to work.'"



~OFF~

Commander Saul Whitford
Executive Officer/Chief Armory Officer
Unicorn NX-151

Sub-Commander T'shir
Second Officer, Chief Communications
Unicorn NX-151

Commander Gunnar Magnussan
Chief Science Officer
Unicorn NX-151

Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Calhoun
Chief Engineer
Unicorn NX-151

Lieutenant JG Elspeth McArthur
Communications Officer
Unicorn NX-151

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