The StORM Project

It was the dawn of the Third Millennium, 9 years after the
Desert War.
The StORM Project was a dream given form.
It’s goal: to prevent mishaps by helping others through
information and Operational Risk Management -
at work and at home.
It is for Officers, Enlisted, Civilians, and their Families.
Military, Civilians and Contractors working in
two million five hundred thousand pounds of slowly
sinking brick and metal, all alone by the swamp.
It can be a dangerous place, but its
our last best hope for Safety.
This is the story of one safety program.
The year is Two Thousand,
the name of the place is Mission City.

A Meeting.

It's the beginning of summer. Guy has already had to check up on three folks not operating their equipment properly in the last quarter. One forgot to wear goggles while using a weed eater and got a mass of debris in the eyes. Another was using the mower and, well - backed it over his foot! The third fell off of a ladder while trimmer the hedges, stretched out to get those last few tendrils instead of moving the ladder to a better location.

Before the morning is over the phone rings shattering the peaceful silence in the office.

Guy:
"Mission City Safety Office."

Inspector:
Hello Guy.

Inspector, what a surprise.

Well, you know how things are around here. I need to get -

I know, information.

Yea, how'd you guess?

Don't ask.

Right. Well anyway, I need to know when is the next Supervisor Safety Training class is.

It's held on Friday at 9AM in the Education Office, room 5. June 24th is your stake-out date.

Good. Now what about the Safety Rep Meeting?

The Safety Rep meeting is held in the second Thursday of the First month of each quarter.

What's that?

9AM July 14th.

Got it! Now, I hear you have a Motorcycle course too.

Yes, the Motorcycle Safety course is mandatory for new riders. It's only a day long. You have to pick up a coupon that allows you to go to the class - without being charged. Call my Office for more info.

Well - thanks, gotta go, thanks Guy.

Don't mention it.


Late in the afternoon and Guy decides to talk a walk to stretch his legs, and look for any safety hazards in the area. As He walks down the sidewalk, he is suddenly nabbed by two "gangsters" and dragged into some building.

Guido:
He's good Boss, Can't believe he even came by dis way after seeing da Chief da other day. (to Guy) Yous gots a lota guts fella. (turns to Boss) I dink we can squeeze a few answers before we let 'im go. Just let ME ask him.

Boss:
Go ahead, Guido.

Thanks Boss. (cracks knuckles and smiles)
Now, yous. I hate to say it, but da Boss goes too easy on yous guys. No matter. Dis is where the rubber hits da road. Ya see, we got some of dose papers yous talked about earlier, safety forms. Our home made mishap forms is from way back and some (he-he) copied Off-duty Mishap Report Forms. What I want to hear from yous is dat dese copied Off-duty forms are good, got it?

The homemade report forms and the copies of the Off-duty Mishap Report Form can no longer be used. You must use the official forms. They are for on duty and off duty mishaps.

Gee, dat's too bad. Now, I hear from some guys that there is an electronic form out dere. Now, da Boss don't mind fillin out any kind of form yous got. But I ain't got any of dese papers - ere forms, and yous know how many accidents we have around here, don't ya?

Easy Guido, he can't talk if he can't breathe.

Yea, Boss. (Loosing his grip and then gave a smack on Guy's back) Well, ya gonna talk or what?

(After a cough and deep breath) Um, the official forms are online at the PUBs site. Okay?

Dat's better. Now, another ding. How much time do we have to complete da mishap report form?

If it's minor, then we have 5 days to get it from the supervisor to the Safety Boss. Now you know your Boss has to sign it before we can take it up.

Yea - not a problem, but what if it's severe, like what happened with the guy dat totaled da Boss's car?

In a case where there is death, or permanent loss or use of say a hand or leg, then those forms must be submitted immediately. Obviously, you will need to get all the information and that may be difficult. Just call me should you run into problems.

I see. Well, Boss?

That'll be enough for today. Thank you. Now Guido, show our guest to the door.

Gotcha Boss.

Um, Giudo?

Yea Boss.

The other door. We want to talk with our guest again some day.

Sure ding Boss. It's a good ding the Boss likes ya. Here's da door.

Guy stepped outside into a bright sunny afternoon. To his left he noticed the Boss's car. It was a mess. Looked like it flipped over a few times.

Was he wearing his seat belt?

Sure. It's second nature to him.

Good thing. From what I can tell he would have smashed into the windshield and then been thrown out the window if he hadn't.

Oh, dats nice. I'll tell him next time I go see him at da hospital.

So he's recovering well from the crash?

No. He's recovering from da Boss's fury.

I see.

Be careful out there. And other ding, I hear dat da Godfather is a looking for ya too.

Guy:
Godfather? You must be kidding? What would he want with me?


To be continued...

The DSS Potemkyn...

is a Tycho class battle cruiser, thirteenth of twenty one such ships built for the Deltan Defense Fleet. She was built after the War of Boundaries, commonly known as the Trade War.

The Battle Cruiser (BC) has three variants: the flagship or Battle Command Cruiser (BCC), the Battle Carrier (BCV), and the Heavy Battle Cruiser (BCH). Tycho class battle cruisers carry a standard crew of 1620 personnel while the flagship has a crew of 1658. BCV's carry a larger complement and is determined by the types of craft they carry, though it is usually between 1757 and 1787. The BCH variant upgrades any of the three aforementioned variants.

The ships are sleek, with three main sides (underside, starboard, and port) in the shape of a three-sided arrow, and an aft section that is more complex. The shape allows for greater weapon's arcs giving the ship the ability to bring all of her primary guns to bear on any target with a simple bit of pitch or yaw. The Republic, the flagship of the fleet, is the only ship with improved conventional pulse drives. This allows her to sustain faster than light speeds greater than 1.2 times the speed of light. The cruisers are equipped with several layers of armourment and protective systems, all of which have a primary, secondary, and tertiary systems. Some of those systems consist of: offensive weapons, defensive weapons, defensive systems, and tracking systems. The ship's main power comes from generators built into the ships three main drives. This supplies the ship adequately during normal operations, but in heavy combat, has been found to be somewhat lacking.

The Potemkyn was the fourth ship to receive the "V" refit, this provided room for three full squadrons of craft in three separate hangers and room for additional fighters and equipment. She was transferred to the Survey Fleet after her conversion and became a major part of the Light Drive Project. Within a mere two weeks she received her second and most famous refit which also led to the change in her class designation to BCH. The Light Drive provides more than thirty times the combined power of the three pulse drives and take up only a little more space than the conventional drive it replaced - resulting in a small bulge on the ship's underside. This bulge effectively blocked some of the ship's weapons but the increase in power allowed all weapons to fire more rapidly, using only a tenth of the ship's total power.

During her refit shakedown, the Potemkyn stumbled upon a stray craft within the proving grounds. This led to a strange confrontation as the Potemkyn's weapons were set for target practice and not combat, thus she was unable to damage the intruder. Captain Dukatta launched all of his fighter craft, fully armed, to combat the vessel. The ship was destroyed in the fight and little was ascertained from its ashes. It was later thought that the intruder was a spy vessel, seeking information on the new drive system and its capabilities. The Potemkyn was then called upon for a rescue operation. On her way to start the mission, she was conducting an engine test run with the Republic when the Potemkyn disappeared in a strange flash of light.

And thus begins The Potemkyn Incident.


Mike