R&D-Spree, progress report

[Karst]

The Spree at Oder's drydocks

Initial mechanical work

Once moored at Dortmund, it was time to address some of the issues previously mentioned. Detailed mechanical information is available upon request - like the rest of this document, this is merely a summary of the steps undertaken.

• In a drastic first step, the entire outer shell as well as the entire interior construction of the lower wings of the forward and rear storage compartment, minus the structural frame and circuits, was stripped and scrapped.
  The new exterior consists of an entirely custom armored shell of uniform Iridium-alloy plating. Special thanks to those captains that brave the distant Omicrons to allow our smelters to put together top-of-the-line, military-grade panels!
  
• Circuitry and structural damage in the rear section has been for the most part repaired. The entirety of the rear section now has full systems integrity and is otherwise safe to access. Auxiliary reactor III was replaced.
  Decks 4-12 and their crew compartments have been thoroughly cleaned, overhauled and modernized. This means comfortable accommodation for a provisional crew of sixty, including a fresh batch of interns.
  We suspect from their faces they expected somewhat shinier surroundings, but this is good first hand engineering experience.
  
• The rear, lower storage section has been left empty. Dortmund's engineering team has examined it, taken scans, and begone work on turning it into a processing plant.
  Details will follow when we get results.
  
• The rear midsection has been cleaned up and renovated to serve as a mostly recreational area, likely as originally intended.
  R&D would like to note at this point that the tiny, minute part of the bill that lists pool tables, a garden room and a few other very minor recreational items is wholly insignificant both compared to the entire cost of the vessel's renovations, and the boost to moral it provides us with.
  
• The upper rear storage section has been partially renovated. It can now accommodate approximately 200 passengers with low standards in charming, two-star comfort. A large number of compartments have been locked off as they are not safely accessible. The savage noises heard in some sections persist, and many compartments have been locked off. One worker was lightly injured when clearing a room that had been booby trapped.
  
• The lower forward storage section, which had been stripped entirely due to heavy contamination, was divided into four reinforced compartments intended for scrap metal. For loading, an HTO "Handyman" 7710 crane & compression unit was installed. Once again, the exact specs are available; essentially this thing is a very smart trash compactor that crunches scrap together but leaves usable components and segments intact.
  
• The upper wing of the forward section was re-pressurized after repairs to the damaged shaft. Otherwise, not much has been done. Compartments A, B2-14, 17, 19-22, C1-10, 12-21, and D3 have been cleared and are habitable. Many others have not been accessed at all. The heavy, sealed compartments remain heavily sealed - the machine that was supposed to open them was apparently on another ship at the scheduled time.
  Now thoroughly examined, the graffiti and markings on the walls in this sector tell fascinating stories of lives on the ragged edge over the course of at least a century, long ago. Workers speak in hushed tones of ancient Junker curses.
  We at R&D naturally dismiss such foolishness, but do not deny the eeriness of this section.
  
• The anterior bridge and everything connected to it has been rejoined to the main system of the ship. The section has also been cleaned up somewhat, and the ship is technically flyable from there. However, many individual systems remain offline, nothing is properly calibrated, and the environment cannot be described as comfortable to work in.
  Fixing this section up will be excellent hands-on experience for our interns.
  
• The weapons system has been connected to the main core, and is shown as online. However, the targeting system is nonfunctional or does not communicate with the turrets as it is impossible to aim or fire them. Additionally, the direct controls at each turret are nonresponsive despite being connected and powered.
  The cause of this is not known at the moment and will be further investigated.
  
• The main shield generator, being a relatively new model in good condition, was kept but with entirely new distributor hubs of standard civilian rating. The old generator had no problem supplying them and the ship's shielding can now be described as absolutely up to date for its class.
  
• The scanner array, which had previously appeared fine, had produced flickering and even brief fails repeatedly on the way to Dortmund, received a new input unit.
  Problems remain however. The system is very powerful, but dates back to the 620ies. Efficiency is terrible and occasional flickers remain. However, R&D has concluded that the system is worth restoring. Some individual circuitry has been replaced but it will likely be some time until the system works fully. For day to day use however, it can be considered functional.
  

With all this work done at Dortmund, the Spree can be considered fit for regular flying, although that is with its current crew of R&D engineers. Without an experienced team of engineers on board, the ship cannot be flown for extensive periods of time due to a number of issues requiring continuous work.
We have planned a number of flights that will reveal what these issues are and how we can solve them.

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