Power flow simulation

Posted on Sat Sep 19th, 2026 @ 1:13am by Captain Tyler Driskill & Ensign Valerie Sheldon & Lieutenant JG Kahlin

1,215 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - Siphoning of Stars
Location: Deck - 24 | Engineering | USS Concord

Ensign Valerie Sheldon had been asked to escort von-Jin to engineering and help out if she was needed. Of course the Ensign and the Khelvari engineer were joined by one of the Concords security officers, but that didn’t stop Valerie from talking to their guest the entire way to engineering. When they entered the guard stayed by the door and Ensign Sheldon took von-Jin to Lieutenant Khalin and as they approached woman, Valerie spoke “Lieutenant Kahlin this is von-Jin, one of the engineers from the Khelvari vessel.”

Kahlin looked up from the console as Sheldon approached, straightening slightly as her eyes moved from the Ensign to the Khelvari beside her. She had been expecting one of their engineers after the meeting with the Speaker, although she hadn't known who they would send. "Ensign," she acknowledged, before her attention settled properly on von-Jin. Kahlin studied her for a moment, openly rather than apologetically, then inclined her head once and motioned towards the console beside her. "I've been looking through what your people gave us. I understand what it does." She paused, one eyebrow lifting. "I don't understand how it does it."

She shifted aside to give von-Jin room, folding her arms loosely across her chest as she looked back towards the specifications. "Our engines aren't entirely Starfleet technology. There's Borg technology integrated into them as well, so before we start adding another alien system, I want to know exactly what we're dealing with." There was no hesitation in her voice at the prospect, if anything the opposite. Kahlin glanced towards von-Jin again, a small smile pulling at her mouth with just a hint of teeth. The diplomatic meeting had been necessary. This was considerably more interesting. "So," she said, uncrossing her arms and gesturing towards the console. "Show me how it works."

“Well” von-Jin flashed a smile at her fellow engineer. She knew it was sometimes difficult to let another to tinker in your engine room. The Khelvari blinked a few times “did you say Borg components in your engines?

Kahlin gave a short huff of amusement at von-Jin's sudden interest. "Some of them, yes. The transwarp system was built by Starfleet, based on technology reverse-engineered from the Borg. We didn't start with Borg components inside the engines." She folded her arms across her chest, watching the Khelvari engineer. "Then we came to the Delta Quadrant." One corner of her mouth pulled upwards. "Out here, the ship is our House. You use what keeps your House alive."

“How exactly to you obtain Borg components?” Of course the Khelvari had come up against the Borg, but they had never been given the opportunity to study the Borg technology closely, especially their engines and transwarp technology.

Kahlin's expression hardened at the next question. "We found a damaged Borg sphere in an asteroid field. Our transwarp drive needed repairs, and there were components we couldn't make ourselves, so we boarded it and took what we needed." Her jaw tightened at the memory. "The sphere wasn't as dead as we thought. It fought back." Kahlin held von-Jin's eyes. "We got the parts. We lost people getting them." Her voice stayed firm. "They knew the risk and went anyway. There is honour in that."

“There certainly is” the Khelvari agreed with the statement of honor. “We have lost many to the Borg” con-Jin had a memory flash in her mind as she said that. It was one of the worst days of her life and she didn’t want to relive it. “I guess we have that in common” she looked back and forth between Khalin and Ensign Sheldon.

“At this point I wonder if every species in all four quadrants has had the misfortune to have encountered the Borg.” Valerie Sheldon added to the conversation and continued working on one of the engineering stations, working on power modulation and how these potential new systems would effect their current systems.

“Sadly they do seem to have the capability to reach the far corners of the galaxy and if they haven’t it won’t be long” von-Jin smiled at the others “I have input the data we need to begin simulations.” It was not her engine room or ship for that matter so she would let Officer Kahlin take lead.

Kahlin moved towards the console as the data came up, leaning in to look over what von-Jin had entered. "Good." Her fingers moved across the controls, bringing up the simulation parameters alongside the information they already had on the Concord's systems. "Let's see what happens when we run it against our power systems first. I'd rather find the weaknesses here than after we've connected it to anything important."

“Seems like a great place to start” von-Jin agreed with the Starfleet engineer and observed the console as the power readings experienced major fluctuations.

“Not good” Sheldon called out from the near by console, where she was also monitoring the simulation. She had been ordered to to assist the engineering team.

“In-deed” von-Jin once again agreed.

Kahlin watched the readings jump, her eyes narrowing slightly as she reached across the console to pull the fluctuations onto the main display. "No," she agreed, looking over the figures for a moment. "But now we know where the problem starts." She glanced towards von-Jin. "Is that normal when your system draws power, or is our grid reacting badly to it?" Kahlin looked back at the display, one hand resting against the edge of the console. "Either way, I'd rather find out here."

“The system does draw a lot of power. We need to make sure that we are able to make the Concords system hold enough energy.” The Khelvari thought for a second “that we don’t over load the battery, you could say.. also that we can convert the power through your warp core to your engines.”

Kahlin looked back over the readings, following the spikes as they moved across the display. "Then we stop it taking everything at once." She reached across the console, bringing up the Concord's power distribution beside the Khelvari system. "If we can control how much it draws, we might be able to give it what it needs without having the rest of the ship complain about it." Her fingers moved over the controls, changing some of the simulation parameters before she looked back at von-Jin. "Does it need all of that power straight away, or can we feed it gradually? Because if we can control the draw, this might actually work."

“We can try to slowly ramp up the power” von-Jin pressed a few commands into the console they were working at. “If we can just get the proper power flow for a few seconds and we can install the hardware.” There was a beep at the console that had to be addressed before continuing “well let’s just say power and speed shouldn’t be a problem.” A wide smile and a glance back and forth to the two Star Fleet officers.

It took several hours and many computer simulations, but the team of three found the proper adjustments. Running a successful simulation meant they could start looking into the hardware integrations. Of course final approval had to be made by the Captain.

 

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