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Liberty's Mechanic Log
Day 1: Aftermath of the Escape
The "Liberty" is limping. We barely made it out of the Pittman system alive, and the ship’s systems are showing the scars. Every corridor reek of burnt circuitry, and half the bulkheads are still sealed from the decompression alarms that triggered during our retreat. It’s a miracle we didn’t lose the engine core when the aft shields collapsed.
The crew’s shaken, but we’ve got no time for that. My engineering team has been working round-the-clock, patching breaches and re-routing power from the auxiliary systems. Our main reactor’s output is down to 60%, and we’re running on borrowed time. Captain Harper asked me for an ETA on full restoration. I gave him the best estimate I could: “Soon, if we don’t die first.” He didn’t laugh.
Day 3: Shield Emitters Fried
We managed to stabilize the primary power grid today, but the shield emitters are toast. The alien weapons did a number on our systems, overloading the generators with their strange energy surges. I’ve never seen technology like it. Our systems were attacked by their plasma bursts that phase through shields like they’re nothing. It’s maddening.
I’ve got a team scrounging parts from the wreckage we picked up during the retreat. We hauled in pieces of two smaller support craft, hoping to salvage something useful. It’s patchwork engineering, but that’s our current reality aboard wartime combat ship.
Day 7: Reactor Overload Scare
The reactor spiked today. For a terrifying five minutes, I thought we were about to lose the whole damn ship. A buildup in the plasma conduits triggered a cascade failure in the coolant system, and alarms screamed across the engineering deck.
We managed to stabilize it, but it took dumping a third of our reserves into space. Now we’re short on coolant, and the reactor’s running hotter than I’d like. I sent a requisition request to Fleet Command, but I’m not holding my breath. If another engagement comes our way before we resupply, we’re done for.
Day 10: The Alien Fragment
One of the science officers brought me a fragment of alien tech today, salvaged from a projectile impact during the battle. It’s a piece of kinetic round that did not disintegrate entirely on impact. It unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The material is smooth, almost liquid to the touch, but harder than any alloy we’ve got on board.
The kicker? It seems to self-repair, knitting itself back together when exposed to a particular energy frequency. I’ve never believed in miracles, but if we can figure out how this works, it could change everything. I handed it off to the materials lab for further study, but I’m keeping a close eye on the results.
Day 15: Repairing Morale
It’s not just the ship that’s struggling; my team’s morale is in the gutter. We’ve been running non-stop, and the tension’s starting to boil over. Wainwright snapped at Jacobs today over something as stupid as a wrench. No one was happy about leaving our Marines on Pittman and running from the system. But, deep down, we all know it was the only chance we had to survive.
I pulled the team into the engine bay after our shift ended and cracked open a stash of smuggled Jovian ale. The booze was terrible, but the laughter was real. Sometimes, fixing the crew is as important as fixing the ship.
Day 20: Jury-Rigged Upgrades
We’ve done it. We managed to repair one of our secondary shield emitters. The repair is fragile and barely holding together, but the shield’s response time has improved by 12%. It’s not much, but it’s the first step in increasing our survivability. The captain authorized us to apply the same modifications to the other emitters. It’ll take days, but it feels good to be making progress. For the first time since Pittman, I feel like we’ve got a fighting chance.
Day 25: Quiet Moments
There’s a strange calm aboard the ship now. The alarms have stopped blaring, and for the first time in weeks, I got a full night’s sleep. I spent my break in the observation deck, staring out at the void. It’s easy to forget the beauty of space when you’re buried in conduit repairs and plasma burns.
We’re still far from safe, but the "Liberty" is starting to feel like a ship again. The crew’s been rallying, and there’s a sense of stubborn pride in every weld and patch. This ship is our home, and we’ll keep her flying no matter what.
Day 30: Incoming Orders
Fleet Command finally got back to us. We’re too rendezvous with the 7th Fleet at Space Base Vega for resupply and repair. The thought of seeing another friendly ship is almost too good to be true.
Until then, my team will keep doing what we do best: holding this ship together with spit, sweat, and determination. The "Liberty" may not be the newest or the shiniest, but she has heart. She’s taken everything the universe has thrown at her so far and just keeps flying. And as long as she keeps flying, so will we.
--- End of Log ---
Chief Mechanic’s Log: Chief Engineer Rylan Tormek, USS Liberty
