Wings of Alloy: The Repulsor Reckoning

Posted on 25 Feb 2026 @ 2:04pm by Lieutenant Paul Winchester & Lieutenant Commander Leland Hawksley

1,194 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S04 Episode 02 The Hackers Backdoor (Incidentals)
Location: Deck 09, Main Engineering Labratory
Timeline: Current

[ON]

In the heart of the refitted new USS Tomcat, a sleek Federation starship cutting through the void like a silver arrow...

Lt. Hawksley, the Chief Engineer, stood in the Advanced Starship Engineering Laboratory. The chamber hummed with quantum efficiency. Holographic interfaces flickered above sleek workbenches laden with neural fabricators, plasma welders, and a bio-synthetic integrator humming softly as it calibrated.

Nanite injectors and a repulsor emitter prototype glowed on a central pedestal, ready to forge flesh into unyielding alloy.

The doors hissed open, admitting Lt. Paul Winchester, A Squadron veteran and leader. He has a bio-synthetic arm.

Hawksley glanced up from the integrator's console, his grease-streaked face breaking into a wry grin beneath his tousled red hair. "Ah, Winchester—right on time. Or as close as a hotshot pilot gets. Hop up on the cradle here; we've got your new best friend waiting for you. This metallic upgrade's going to make that repulsor emitter sing like a disruptor in a bar fight. You ready to trade rubber for rivets?"

Paul entered the room and said, " Let us get this show on the road," taking the jacket off and placing it on the chair, and placing his arm into the cradle. He continued," I am doing this so that if someone needs one of these and is allergic to Rubber, this will help them."

Hawksley chuckled, a low rumble under the lab's ambient whine, as he punched in the final calibration sequence on the integrator's holographic panel. The cradle hummed to life beneath Winchester's arm, blue diagnostic tendrils snaking out like curious vines to map the bio-synthetic lattice. "Noble cause, Lieutenant. Saving the galaxy one hypoallergenic rivet at a time. Though if we're being honest, I suspect you're just itching to outpace the squadron's lead in zero-g dogfights. Rubber's got no soul. This alloy? It'll hum with your pulse, make you feel like you've got a warp core for a limb!" Hawksley grunted with a slight grin as he fidgeted.

He leaned in, eyes flicking over the readouts as the nanite injectors primed with a soft chime, their emitters glowing cherry-red. "Alright, deep breath—initiating phase one. You'll feel a tingle, like kissing a plasma conduit. Please tell me if it itches for more than a replicator malfunction, and we'll dial it back. How's the fit so far? Snug as a photon torpedo in its tube?"

Paul kept his arm straight as much as he could, and as the procedure took place his arm started to tingle. He said, " It does tingle a little bit, but not much." He continued, "How long will this take?" as he needed to get back to the flight deck.

Leland smirked, not even glancing up from the injector controls. “Tingle’s the foreplay, flyboy—full fireworks in three minutes. Quit squirming, or I’ll tattoo ‘Property of Engineering’ on your biceps with the surplus nanites. Hold still, hotshot; even photons don’t outrun my schedule.”

As the process continued, Leland finally had the chance to test the repulse emitter. "Ok.... So Winchester. Stand up... And stand at that red line. I want you to start mentally shooting at the syndicator canvas screen when you're ready. This will help you calibrate... Take your time. Don't feel the need to destroy everything. The main point is learning the mental processes of firing... This should take about 10 minutes." Hawksley took off all of the lattice structure, allowing Winchester to be free to complete the first test.

Paul raised his arm and began to flex his hand, which worked rather smoothly than before. He asked," So, how do I get it to work?" raising his arm as he thought about those blasted Orions and how angry he was with how they treated his wife, when all of a sudden a beam shot out and smashed into a console on the wall. Paul said," Whoops, Sorry, old man, I didn't mean to do that."

Leland grunted at the old man's comment. He chuckled. Winchester’s humour was often singular, but fun, nonetheless.
“I’ll add it to your tab.” Leland referenced the destroyed console as the Tomcat's fire suppression systems engaged, a blast of mist hitting the smouldering console, pieces across the lab flooring.

“Try once more at the visualizer. This time,” Leland emphasised. “Targeting engagement and targeting suppression. Visualise and destroy on the screen.” Hawksley took a seat to the side of the targeting area.

Paul raised his new arm and focused on the screen of the face of the enemy before him, concentrating hard to fire the beam once more. Without warning, the beam struck the screen as he had been trying to keep the beam on a low setting rather than a high one. He asked Leland, " How do i alter the Beam so it does not blow the bloody doors off?"

Leland gave a quick nod, leaning in.

“Listen up, Paul. Anchor your intent with a light fist, clench your zero baseline. Wait for the haptic pulse in your forearm. That’s a pre-charge lock.

Then modulate the output like a mental slider. Thumb pressure for low yield (20–30% grip effort) keeps it in suppression mode with a focused push, no overload.

For precise control, think ‘diagnostic overlay’, you’ll get a HUD reticule. Stay in green. Light thumb-pressure intent this time. Fire when ready.”

Paul raised his arm once more and found the green reticule come up on the HUD. He began to move his thumb gently to the side of his hand, and a small beam of light shot out from the palm of his hand and struck the training screen. He said, " How is that?"

Hawksley leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing as he studied the impact pattern on the training screen. A faint nod of approval followed, the corners of his mouth twitching into a rare half-smile.

“Spot on, Paul. Clean dispersion, no spike in the emitter coil—exactly what we want in suppression mode. You’re reading the haptic feedback like you were born with the implant.” He tapped a quick command into the console, resetting the target with a soft chime. “Now let’s step it up. Same reticule, but this time think fifty-percent grip effort—medium yield. Keep the intent steady, no surge. Fire when you’re locked.”

After another check, Paul looked good to be fitted and ready to go with the suit. "Just remember, any issues at all, Paul, you know where to find me." Chief Hawksley placed his hand on Paul's shoulder, supporting him and wishing him luck with the new prosthetic. "Happy to help with the new arm."

"Thanks, Lealand, but I am going to keep the old one spare in case of any problems," as he flexed his new hand, getting used to it and practicing with the new feature on the holodeck. He gave a nod to his friend and said, "See you around," as he exited engineering

[OFF]

 

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