Workbee "Bumble" MSD

"Armor Dance at Dusk"

The two Workbees emerged from the shuttle bay like mechanical fireflies, their nav lights cutting soft arcs against the twilight haze of the planetary field. Grass bowed beneath the Heimdahl’s mass where she rested, wounded but proud—her starboard ventral hull exposed like a scar waiting for sutures.

Bumble One—callsign Drexler—angled upward, its low-grade tractor beam pulsing as it locked onto a reinforced ablative armor plate. With a soft hum, the hex-patterned panel lifted from its rack, momentarily suspended in a pocket of antigrav shimmer.

Bumble Two—Kasra—banked close, synchronized like birds in low orbit. Her pilot extended a modular arm, converting with a sharp click from grapple to nano-welder. She adjusted the sealant injector pressure through haptic feedback while Drexler pivoted to align the plate against the punctured bulkhead.

"Hold it steady, Drex. The weld grid's warming—don't drift or this’ll end up looking like a Bolian retrofit."

"Easy, Kas. I've got it. Like threading a needle at warp."

The panel met the hull with a dull resonance. Magnetic clamps locked. The nano-welder hissed to life, tiny blue arcs dancing as it stitched armor to tritanium, atom by atom.

One last pass. Kasra flipped the scanner suite on her secondary arm, the lens blooming in multicolor light. A clean scan: pressure-stable, weld integrity 98.4%.

"Weld verified. Patch holds."

They hovered there a moment—two tiny custodians mending a behemoth beneath a pink-gold sky—before peeling off in tandem arcs, vanishing into the ship’s belly like the heartbeat they were.

24th Century Workbee – Type-17 "Bumble" MSD

Federation Utility Pod / Support Craft (Refit: 2379)

Designation: Type-17B "Bumble" Workpod
Role: Tactical Construction & Repair Support
Manufacturer: Utopia Planitia Auxiliary Systems Division (Post-Voyager Lineage)

System Overview

• Crew: 1 (Pilot), Optional Tandem AI Assist or Remote-Link Override
• Dimensions:
• Length: 3.8 meters
• Beam: 2.5 meters
• Height: 2.8 meters

Core Features

• EPS-Fusion Hybrid Power Core
  76.4 hours operational time on standard fuel cell, with optional fusion recharge node. Integrated EPS tap for starship docking umbilical.
• Life Support Capsule
  15 hours breathable air, thermoregulated suit interface ports, microgravity stabilization net. Optional null-g orientation thrusters for EVA support.
• Gravity: Optional. Most operations utilize a null-G cockpit to reduce vertigo and conserve power.

Manipulator & Repair Systems

• Modular Fore Arms
  Detachable arm modules compatible with:
• Precision micromanipulators
• Industrial-grade welders / molecular fusers
• Field-repair nanoweld injector
• Cutting beam (Class-1)
• Construction grapples with torque-stabilizers
• Sled Mounting Frame (Grabber sled compatible)
• Ventral locking sled or dorsal boom arm mount
• Reinforced actuator plates rated for modular field frames
• Low-Power Tractor Beam
• 2.2kN range-limited beam
• Ideal for component repositioning or salvage

Sensor & Comms Suite

• 25 Discrete Comm Channels
• Isolated per unit for swarm coordination
• Encryption cycling per Starfleet Engineering Field Protocol 187-C
• Field Sensor Arrays
• Multi-spectrum weld alignment scanner
• Stress integrity sonar
• Local gravimetric mapping
• Astrionics & Biofeedback System
• Monitors pilot vitals (linked to distress beacon & return autopilot)
• Capable of synchronizing with Heimdahl’s medical grid for emergency stasis mode

Smart Assist & Integration

• Nyx Link Interface (Heimdahl Exclusive Variant)
• Enables Workbee to become a remote avatar node for Nyx
• Simultaneous AI override via SWAI in emergency or stealth protocols
• AI Suggestion Overlay
• Adaptive task prediction HUD
• Real-time correction algorithms for torque drift or radiation exposure

Optional Modular Variants

1. Field Engineering Bee
   Equipped with a short-range replicator buffer for emergency part printing
   (requires docking link to Heimdahl or supply carrier)
2. Hazmat Recon Bee
   Features thickened neutron-polymer shielding and remote-cutout protocols
3. Stealth Salvage Pod
   Designed for low-emission operation in contested zones
4. Encrypted comms, passive sensors only
5. SWAI-mode override for ghost operation