When the Guns Fall Silent (A Star Trek quest)

"You know what's a good idea? Writing a battle scene when I am writers blocked!"

I make only smart and good decisions.

The weeks spent waiting were annoying for everyone. They appreciated the party, and many spent their time in training to get better at their jobs, but you had bypassed these systems for a reason - they were extremely routine and lifeless, with only so much more data added from the probe reports. The drill helped alievate boredom, but it turned out a lottery started by Nadeshiko over some recreation credits, a series of debates over ethics started by Delarnious and some art exibitions ran by Nana did a lot.

You did hear from Personnel that at the end of your current mission you were definitely losing all three officers - Janeway would be actually moving to her ship which was en-route, Wentian leaving on a SCE ship that was being attached to examine the phase shifting technology, and the exchange program had ended. So you had some interviews to run, and some of them went really smoothly.

Wentian, for example, just nominated Zh'viathon. She pointed out that Zh'viathon needed more seasoning for command, but she was eminently qualified for her job. She did mention that there were some projects you likely wouldn't be able to do now, but considering the focus on just getting the Steamrunner and Galaxy-classes out (even you, out here, have heard about the overruns on the Galaxy project, which struck you as weird, considering it was originally a war-time project.) But you also know that Starfleet is getting reduced funding - somewhat above pre-war levels but far less than war-time levels. And a lot of attention is being focused on the internal investigation.

It turns out that Earth wasn't the sole polity with outsized influence on what is supposed to be a Federation wide force. Part of it, of course, was the fact that humans and Vulcans, collectively, were 60% of Starfleet's forces. But part of it was untangling the formation itself was taking time. Still, the new CinC of Starfleet was promising to root out where Starfleet didn't abide by it's own polices. In addition, new regulations had been added to streamline transferring between System Defense Forces and Starfleet more smoothly, as well as provide the various SDF forces with more technical aid and parts.

You aren't sure if you're proud or worried about the changes. Still, Nechayev has made it pretty clear that you've probably ruined any chance of making Captain by 2355, because Personnel and Logistics were fighting rear guard actions against this, aided by many politicans, who were worried with some justification that the Starfleet and Federation departments might move to another planet from Earth, a move that had been persistently championed for since 2305.

Given the political tension between Earth and a good chunk of it's diaspora, you weren't sure this was a bad thing.

Still - Nechayev signs off on Delarnious replacing Janeway, although she does ask why you didn't push forward Nadeshiko.

"Firstly, she needs more seasoning and experience leading." You said to her. "She's got the skills for it, but we all know it's a job you learn by doing as much as by learning."

Nechayev nods solmenly. "Second, I think she should get nominated by someone else than me. I'm her sister, after all. It's not proper for me to nominate her."

Nechayev lets off a sigh. "She is qualified. I've seen Janeway's reports. I agree she could use more time - after all, we're not at war any more. We can give our officers time to mature. But honestly, you can't nominate her even if she was the second coming of Kirk. You might have to let her transfer ships to let her advance, after all." She looks pensive. "Not that any ship would take her right now."

"Still, that's a conversation for another day. We've scrambled some diplomats in a just completed Shimarin refit, two refit Starlight-class carriers, three Akira-class ships, and the prototype USS Steamrunner out to you. We're going to try and estabalish First Contact, but we need to be ready if they choose violence."

You nodded. "You'll be giving a briefing to the commander, Captain Hudson. He's a good commander, if a bit cautious. That's what we need now. Personally, I argued a smaller task force with you in charge might be better, but I think the parasites idea sent a panic through Starfleet Command and they wanted more ships, and a more favoured hand."

You were.. unsurprised, if also upset at this. But a task force of 7 ships, four of which were fresh from dockyards? That was very much an overreaction you thought.

You also bring up somethign Dalirath had mentioned. "Dalirath had some thoughts about our training programs. I sent them on, I wanted to know what you thought."

Nechayev smiled wryly. "That I'm glad I didn't go through RSE training. More seriously, I think she has a point about our generalist training meaning graduates need more time to speed up, and I've passed it on that we need to put more noncoms through specialist training for our ships, and a few other suggestions. One silver lining to this is that moving Starfleet Academy and more early training to satellite courses means we can change the cirricula. There's even talk of adopting Andorian and Vulcan techniques."

Your eyes open at that. "This is for your ears only, but Starfleet has agreed it needs to be in a more neutral location. We've moving a lot of it's infrastructure, as well as the Federation's offices to several locations to establish proper continunity-of-government, and we're going to centralize on Wolf 359 IV, a M-class planet, for what we can't move to Starbase One or other continunity locations. It was overdue, and allows us to actually properly put up memorials to UESPA and use Earth as more of an specialized officer training location. Others, eventually. Tradition is important, and Starbase One isn't moving, but we need to make Starfleet truly not a single species force."

You think that's probably still putting too much emphasis on Earth, but it makes sense. Wolf 359 is centrailly located, after all. Starfleet didn't take up a lot of Earth, but it was something of a sore spot for the people who agreed that Starfleet should move things off Earth so Earth could have it's own SDF.. although the Sol System really had no need for it with only it, Luna, and Mars inhabited by any amount of people. That said, United Earth was going to lose the prestige of also being the capital world of the Federation..

"Anyway, that is all. The task force should arrive in two weeks."

..And since they arrived they had promptly took Janeway and then assigned you to watch their rear, so you had just sat there and watched via long-range probe. They weren't even sharing sensors, although Hudson had privately told you why - Command ordered it due to "security concerns" - and he promised to drop off data for you to examine on the sly, and had told you he had ordered them to ignore any probes sent by you to monitor. Most had agreed instantly, not seeing the point of having their rear-guard ship being blind if they needed assistance.

Delarnious was quite irritated at this, and Nadeshiko had that glint in her eye that said "I am only not taking violent actions because it is Wrong to do so, but-"

Of course, you did encounter a swarm, but it turns out the modifications you had made earlier effectively dealt with it. There was some damage, and Zh'viathon had dealt with it in the same fashion you'd expect from Wentian but..

Well, you guessed the first contact went badly. The probe recording a lot of photon detonations confirmed it. The probe was also destroyed - but you're almost certain it was by phaser fire. Still, they don't send in for you, and in about an hour, leave, and while Janeway looks extremely visibly upset, tell you the first contact went badly and that the system was off limits for now.

And then they leave.

Well then. Nechayev contacts you soon, also visibly upset, and tells you to carry on and that she was going to follow up on this.

Great. You exchange looks with Delarnious and Nadeshiko and decide to leave it.

For now.

["Sakura persistance": 6]

... You just felt odd there for a moment. Like you were Nadeshiko's sister. Thinking about it, you feel a peculiar loss, too. Later, in the ready room, you think on it some more, and Nadeshiko comes in.. and just seems also upset. It takes a while, but you eventually look up and smile a bit.

She nods, then stands. "It was nice having family that talked to me again, though." She says with a bitter smile you understand all too well.

"Same. Just.." You sigh deeply. "Nadeshiko, if I'm off duty, I can continue to treat you like a sister. I miss having family that acknowledged me too. Just.. I can't on duty, and I hope you understand why."

She nods, with a soft smile. "That is more than I can hope for, Commander. I'll see you around, Dati."

...

You have a choice of what to do next:
- [ ] Pulsar slowly blowing apart a star system, mission from Starfleet Science to get more information on the mechanics. (Engineering, Science focus)
- [ ] Another M-class planet located in the nebula. Apparently a temporary pilgrimage site is there, from probe observation. (Diplomacy, Operations focus)
- [ ] Somehow, this frontier has pirates. That look suspiciously Orion and Cardassian to Starfleet Operations.. (Tactical, Engineering focus)

AN: Thanks for your patience. I want to note I've decided to lean into the conspiracies more, albeit because I've been thinking for a while about the TNG episode with the bluegill. Hopefully this still continues to be something you enjoy!

You'll start seeing more random rolls for "luck" based events. And I will try to ask for plans only once a mission, so it's less work on you all to come out with things.

It's a quiet day onboard the Creiwry as it proceeds with surveys. You've noted with some surprise there's been more Starfleet ships passing through, who have been politely uninformative about what they're doing, but given that they're all combat groups escorting several hastily rigged science vessels, in the now Reach Exclusion Zone, you can guess. They have, though, been willing to do cargo deals.

Small mercies, you guess.

Delarnious has been settling in, with his former assistant Lt. Tkasi of Sakira now acting Chief of Security. A Romulan vessel is en-route and will rendevous in what is, you note with some excitement, a dual purple and green star, visible only within the nebula. A clearly artificial star of some kind, and your new CSO, Minovsky, is settling in. She's it in title only, as in practice her and Kenni are co-running the department until they can reach a decision as to who is better.

That had been Delarnious's idea, and he was overseeing it. He pointed out that this was common on Magna Roma, for the Senate to name co-consuls and usually the most capable rose, and hte least capable got experience to try again later.

Wentian has been sending messages about what she can talk about, and she seems thrilled to be placed on shakedown ships around the Sol Sector and having opportunities to work with them. You get the feeling she's annoying the crew of the USS Galaxy immensely, as she's been trying to speed up the nozzles, and build the Type 86 Mk 2..

... Did they not read your warnings? You feel they didn't, and now they're paying for it.

Janeway has been silent, but you also know she's operating in the Lamarian Expanse, which can block signals. She did sound extremely excited about it in her last message, though.

As for you, Nechayev has been doing only routine updates, and you get the feeling whenever you return you're going to have so much to catch up on. You are getting more updates from your friends in the Assembly, and there is tension as the Assembly and Starfleet are moving to build more distributed based throughout the Federation core - with a massive starbase and installation on Cascadia, which alarmed the entire Friends of Earth bloc.

And was promptly silenced when the agreement was largely to start a new pipeline and way to retain the training of many Starfleet officers - an official reserve. While the war with Cardassia was over, and the new Starfleet CinC did want to reduce the percentage outlay of Starfleet and make it a defensive and explorative armada, she pointed to the time it took to get officers into the field, and sheer amount of time to get ships out. Having a reserve just made sense, and would also allow Starfleet to function for cheaper. Cascadia was part of a new 'belt' of bases and defenses, meant to enable deeper patrols and piracy deterrence, so that SDF forces didn't need to leave their own territory.

It would take time, but they anticipated a deeper defensive posture by 2357.

[Politics: 4d10, TN 8 (penalty due to being unpopular) => [10 9 9 9] => 5 successes]

You hear rumours this is also to hide a secret shipyard meant for experimental ships and technology, located somewhere in the Coalsack Nebula near Axanar. That's probably not true, that nebula is heavily traversed, but you're reminded of the Ancient Earth 'skunkworks', and with quite a few high profile instances of espionage, you know Starfleet Security is ramping up with it's security measures. They're even experimenting with trying to defeat changling nets, which had stubbornly resisted all but the most intensive examination.

(AN: This refers, strictly, to what was used in stuff around the TOS movies, think something similar to B5's tech net. It does not refer to the Changelings, since Security hasn't met any.. that you know of.)

That said, you'd like them to work on the information security, but it could just be they're focusing on the new biolinear cores coming online in the Steamrunner, Galaxy and upgraded Akira-class ships. (And, you hear, the Nebula class, as they frantically try to make the Galaxy class less resource intensive.)

But on your ship, things have been quiet. Until you get a priority alert from Starfleet Operations - only to realize it's not Starfleet Operations, it's Starfleet Intelligence. A young-ish man, with Lieutenant Commander pips.

"Commander Parhai." He greets you. "I am Lieutenant Commander William Ross. I'm sorry for the deception, but there's something you should know before you start this mission. We think the pirates are Orion and rogue Cardassians, yes, but -"

"It is extremely peculiar that Cardassians would be operating on the other end of Federation space from them?" You say, and he nods.

"They are after you. Someone in Starfleet Operations has given them your engine frequencies, and shield resonance frequency. Beware, Commander Parhai. There is a knife in the dark."

[TEASER END]
OP: The Shadow

You did receive the data packet, as well, and some additional information Ross was able to get for you. Reviewing it, you suspected it was going to be an even batch of 6 ships, which well..


That'll make the briefing entertaining. The data didn't include the entire communication, but enough of it to indicate what came from Starfleet Operations, and you note the rough location.

[Operations roll + Investigation Roll, Difficulty: 5; 5d -> 3s; Medium Failure]

You spend some time investigating to see if you can do it yourself, and while you can note that the origin must be within certain buoys, that would be the Earth<->Starbase 310 direct chain, the neighboring Starbase to this sector.

But that's it. Whoever did this covered their tracks well enough you'd need a specialist, and that raises it's own dilemma.

You could, of course, ask Talonis for help. She'd need to rope in the Federation Security detachment, of course, and that means a lot more people, who could conceivably leak the info and it could get back.

After all, the incoming warning was on a very secure channel, so..

[ ] Ask Talonis (and thus the Federation Security detachment) for help. This is much more likely to trace the signal back before they can set up any other traps or ambushes for you. This runs the risk that someone reports though, and they either escalate or vanish.

[ ] Work it out on your own. This will take longer, and almost certainly mean they need to work more on this.

But, surely, you need to warn your senior officers? Your instincts tell you that you should tell them, to build the two-way trust vital.
[Rose through the Ranks] And often you know that keeping secrets from the noncoms is a futile endeavor anyway.

[ ] Get Delarnious's feedback.

[ ] Warn all senior officers, and discuss it at the next *very* secured briefing.

[ ] Do not tell them - this could drag them in, and spread further.

Regardless, they've likely assigned enough ships to you that you will need some way to even the odds or lure them in.

You also don't know if they have cloaking technology - Orion pirates sometimes have older Klingon tech.. and the thought of Cardassians having it.

On top of that, the fact you are barred from the Exclusion Zone is also peculiar, and you're not sure why. Commander Ross had grimaced, but informed you that it was something that you shouldn't worry about, and it didn't have anything directly to do with you, but with your science officer. And, he said wryly, you didn't want any part of that mess.

You look idly out the window at the purple-yellow planet, thinking that's not very reassuring.

At precisely the appointed time, a flight of three Romulan warbirds dropped out, and hailed you.

[2d10: 1 success + Diplomacy: 4d -> 5 successes.]

"Commander Parhai. I am Commander Tahak of the RSE Talriathi's Light." You knew that meant they were the equivalent of a Captain, and you seem to remember dimly Talriathi being a famous star in Romulan space. It's then that a briefing comes to mind, and Talriath's Light refers to the supernova that destroyed a Romulan fleet, yes, but most of an invading Klingon Armada back in the 2000s, as Earth reckoned it.

"Pleased to meet you, Commander Tahak. I see your ship has a very auspicious name." You greet.

The Romulan smiles, his eyes briefly reflecting glee at someone who knows something about his culture. "It does. We have served on the frontlines of the war against the Cardassian Alliance. I have heard of your exploits as well."

Oh-no.

"We find it.. amusing. So much so, that I have been authorized to share some information with you when we pick up Subcommander Dalirarth, that may help you. In addition.." He shrugs. "I'd prefer to keep officers who are skilled with more than just the business end of a phaser around. I've always wanted to tour several sights in Federation space, and our alliance is needed for that."

[Background: From Pacifican High Society] You don't think he's being entirely true. You don't think he's lying either. There's probably no harm in accepting it graciously but thinking about what hidden angle is in this.

"Thank you. I hope you get to see them." You say, noticing Delarnious having a studiously neutral face. "I've been meaning to see some vistas and historic buildings after Subcenturion Dalirarth told me about them. Perhaps one day, when I can retire."

He nods. "Agreed. May we both live to see that day. Sending the information to you now."

"Beaming Subcenturion Dalirarth over."

"We have her in the transporter. Bedah, Commander Parhai."

"Bedah, Commander Tahak".

The romulan ships depart, and you order the Creirwy onwards to it's next destination, an extermely active flare star.

"I'll look over the information now, and then when you get off shift, feel free to come ask me about it. I'm personally curious what was behind that elaborate conversation." You say to Delarnious, who looks quite interested.

"Same. I wonder what cloak and dagger stuff they are doing now." He nods. The bridge crew sounds quite interested as well.

You go to your ready room, and securing it and making sure the data isn't auto sent to Starfleet Command, you reveal it to be
... [ ] A breakdown of the "pirate" forces in this sector.
... [ ] Communication logs that fill the puzzle pieces as to who did this.
... [ ] An offer of assistance. You aren't the only one these daggers are aimed at..

Voting ends in 48 hours.

And vote closed.

OOC: I'm going to update the sheets soon, since I want to generate some of these characters.


[Later that day, 1700 hours...]

You watch the officers as they file in for the staff meeting. You had gone over the information with Delarnious, who seemed a little surprised, but not very. He had offered a number of suggestions for you.

[Delarnious Trait: The Traditions of Rome] It turns out that politics on Magna Roma were quite involved, for all they're bloodless. Still, he was disturbed to see this. After a discussion as to the next steps, he suggested moving to running silent and securing the systems. There were overall a few things they could do eliminate overrides - check for virii, that kind of thing.

You nod, as you secure the rooms, a bit different, and then place the badge on the table. You get a lot of looks at that point. Then Delarnious does, and the others follow hesitantly.

"As you may know, we are on a mission to find pirates - that are suspiciously Cardassian and Orion. What you do not know, is that the pirates are aware of us, because someone in Starfleet Operations has told them."

The person from Federation Security eyes you with disbelief, before you play the data, and what data you could track back.

"We are going to fulfill the mission, but how best to do this is now important."

Zh'viathon frowns, her antennae twitching violently. "We can change the frequencies and reshuffle things, although we can't fundamentally disguise we use Yoyodyne's Starfleet Grade coils and nacelles without more work. The shields we can do more tricks with, though."

Nadeshiko considers this for a moment, her fingers tapping against the screen. "Is there a way we can set this to be a rapid change? If they know of us, they are likely in force."

Zh'viathon considers. "I'm really not sure. I don't think it can be done super rapidly, but if we can set an ambush. Alternatively, we could make them stronger and resist penetration on harmonics while allowing for variable shields."

[ ] Rework the systems to allow for rapid changes to engine frequencies, and jury-rig the shields to be more variable and on different frequencies. Note this will incur minor penalties to both before the change.

[ ] Take Zh'viathon's suggestion, which will mean you are easily trackable, but are more resillient to attacks.

You nod. "We anticipate 12 ships." There's an almost visible look of despair. They could scramble their shuttles, arrange an ambush, but 12 vs 1 can only be dealt with so far.

"We do have an offer of assistance from 3 Romulan warbirds. We aren't the only one they've been targeting, and the Romulan commander would like to capture prisoners, and if we work together, we could share information."

Delarnious frowns. "I'm dubious, but we don't have many choices."

Hamasaki, the Constable from Federation Security - wasn't that someone else? You can't seem to remember - nods, her face thinking things through. "We can investigate, but covert internal investigation will always be hard here, and if we notify the Security detachment, it'll become official, and they might escalate. Still.."

"I was going to ask you and Talonis." You admit, sitting down. "I would rather find out who was behind these games rather than stab in the dark - perhaps literally.., but we need to start securing our systems. Start going less emissions as a practice."

Talonis nods. "We need to do more drills anyway. I'll send a schedule to you for evaluation."

Nadeshiko says. "I don't mind working with the Romulans, but we could lure them to a prepared position, maybe seed torpedoes... It would run the risk if they detect it making it useless and we'll still have expended those torpedoes."

[ ] Go with Nadeshiko's idea. Note this will expend a number of torpedoes even without them working, and it will require some rolls or further ideas to make this work.
[ ] Do not prepare an ambush in this manner. This will preserve torpedoes, and does not preclude you coming up with another idea.

Nana muses. "I remember William Ross. We served on the same ship during the War, in the Second Fleet. Veteran line officer. Surprised he joined Intelligence.." She considers. "Then again, maybe not. It's their job to find threats, after all, and prevent wars from happening."

Hamasaki leans back, nodding. "Commander. We can try to make this covert, but it may be more difficult, and likely will miss some of the conspirators. Going public, though, means they might escalate."

[ ] Go covert. Higher difficulty (8s vs 5s) and you'll be more dependent on the luck rolls for the three investigation phases, but very low risk of blowback.
[ ] Go public. Lower difficulty (5s vs 8s) and you'll be less dependent on the luck rolls for the three investigation phases, but very high risk of blowback.

For that matter, where was Bairen? You had told her she needed to attend too..


Voting ends on 11 July 2024

(this was left out of the main post, but under the theory there are no misdeals in Poker...)

Bairen couldn't attend because

[ ] ... she is ill, and accidentally overslept.
[ ] .... she is mysteriously in a coma, and the computer didn't notify Dr. Nana (Internal Saboteur debuff.)
[ ] ... she is busy in a time critical task and could not get away from it. (roll a 1d100 to determine if this is a boon or an ill.)