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To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)

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To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest) Starfleet Ship Design Bureau, Refit ("To Boldly Go...")
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Integrating specific canon things into the game is always tricky.

EDIT: Also we are very not supposed to mess with time travel; it is explicitly listed as FORBIDDEN RESEARCH.

SynchronizedWritersBlock said:
"We have been ordered to return to Federation Space, pending possible hostilities with the Cardassian Union. I had helm set a course at Warp 9, but two hours ago we detected an unusual mineral formation on a glacier in the moons of an uncharted system two light-years from Tales Har. I have ordered my Chief Engineer to prepare for a short burst at Warp 11; logically, this will allow us to arrive on station early."
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You do realize Straak does stuff like this in hopes that we'll finally get irritated rather than amused by his rockhoundery and never promote him again... so he can keep looking at rocks?

Straak is subtler than he gives us cause to believe. ;)
 
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ALso, the Sarek was last seen conducting wargames exercises with the Apiata. I would not be surprised if she was much closer than the GBZ when this whole thing kicked off, more likely well inside Federation space itself, given that ka'Sharren was pulled to SFTF2 from the Sarek.
 
Actually, on reflection, I wonder if it's less the orbital bombardment they need -- any asshole ship can do that, and T'lorel is right there -- and there's actually a solution they need the Rock Whisperer for. If the Syndicate and their allies have fled into the wilderness/caves/etc I could see a real use for him, actually.
 
The man also has a history of exploiting geological formations to put a transporter beam where no transporter ought to be able to go.

EDIT: Ohmigod I think that was actually his FIRST TRICK as a rock whisperer!
 
Iron Wolf said:
Actually, on reflection, I wonder if it's less the orbital bombardment they need -- any asshole ship can do that, and T'lorel is right there -- and there's actually a solution they need the Rock Whisperer for. If the Syndicate and their allies have fled into the wilderness/caves/etc I could see a real use for him, actually.
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OneirosTheWriter said:
"Orbital support?" you ask.

"Minimal, I'm afraid, Admiral," replies Eriksson. "The Celos Syndicate has set up their bases within urban areas, and especially they've taken over any underground facilities. Wide-ranging transport inhibitors mean that this is going to have to be carried out by dropship."
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Underground facilities.
 
I realize this is a petty thing to say but I have really been hating the way this quest has been going recently since it seems nothing is going our way at all.
 
Iron Wolf said:
THE ROCK WHISPERER IS GOING TO DELIVER US FROM THIS NIGHTMARE

HE'S GONNA *clenches fist* WHISPER THE SYNDICATE RIGHT OUT OF THOSE ROCKS
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Syndicate Bunker on Celos:

[Transporter whine]

"Wait what how did that get down here?"

"It's ticking!"

"There's a countdown... sixty... fifty-nine... AAAAAAAH!"

[Syndicate troops frantically flee the bunker, scrambling to the surface where...]

[THRUMMMM-ORBITAL-PHASER-STUN!]

"Two... one... zero... Thank you. This decoy pseudo-explosive device brought you courtesy of the USS Sarek"
 
Iron Wolf said:
Actually, on reflection, I wonder if it's less the orbital bombardment they need -- any asshole ship can do that, and T'lorel is right there -- and there's actually a solution they need the Rock Whisperer for. If the Syndicate and their allies have fled into the wilderness/caves/etc I could see a real use for him, actually.
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We were the one fleeing into the wilderness^^. If the Syndicate had done so we would have far less of a problem since the Cardassians are not going to risk war over a guerilla faction/movement. As the update says a lot of the whole thing depends on the Celos government appearing as the legitimate one which kinda hinges on the fact of popular support (which seems to exist to some degree) and control of the important infrastructure. I suspect they/we are desperate enough to try and see if they can't target those "bunkers" without to much civilian casualties which is why they want the best ships and the best captains there (with the diplomatic successes giving us the time to do so).

I mean I really wonder just how bad our rolls/odds are here since we not only had to fuck-up to get into this position in the first place but also seem to continue failing those Celos rolls.
 
You can't win them all.

The problem is when you stake things on always winning. When even one major failure lets the whole thing collapse. We've been treading uncomfortably close to that with the Anti-Syndicate campaign. Adding more resources works, but only if those resources don't get spent dealing with previous failures. For example, Celos means the forces we added got tied up doing something they really hadn't been planned for. If we didn't have the Aeroknights, we wouldn't have anything to deal with this problem. We'd have to call up the Gendarmes from scratch.In that time, Cardassia would declare for Celos and we'd be at war. Having the extra to take on problems like this is a big advantage, and it's one that we fortunately had available.
 
things going bad just makes it sweeter when they finally go well later.

I mean sometimes they don't go well later but it's a big quest, even if we fail the Orion campaign overall - unlikely - good things will happen elsewhere.
 
OneirosTheWriter said:
"Orbital support?" you ask.

"Minimal, I'm afraid, Admiral," replies Eriksson. "The Celos Syndicate has set up their bases within urban areas, and especially they've taken over any underground facilities. Wide-ranging transport inhibitors mean that this is going to have to be carried out by dropship."
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Underground facilities, eh? Remember that and keep reading this post.

Despite the T'Mir having to return home, the creation of Starbase 9, plus exchanges with the Seyek, provide a steady stream of information and signal intercepts from Cardassia, if not quite what the plucky Oberth had managed. From this, Linderly is already warning you that the Cardies are watching closely, and giving the idea of guaranteeing the independence of the Celosi serious thought. The Cardassians are of the opinion that by declaring support for a beleaguered world, the Federation will, for purposes of treaty definitions, be an aggressor party, negating the automatic mutual-defence clauses of affiliate treaties. In short, a chance to fight Starfleet with a much smaller array of supporting auxiliaries.
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Smart plan of theirs. But you know the Apiata aren't going to sit this one out, and Sulu's judgment was that the Apiata and Starfleet could take the Cardassians on their own. I think frankly the Apiata are a huge intelligence failure on the part of the Cardassians. Clearly they have no clue how big the Bee Swarm actually is. And how would they know? The Apiata are incredibly hard to infiltrate with their biological loyalty, and even anti-Federation factions aren't exactly pro-Cardassian.

If this goes to war I anticipate the Cardassian fleet will start by trying to roll in through Indoria and then receive desperate calls from Coreward, "Holy fuck, All the Bees, send us more Jalduns now plz!"

The Aeroknights let you down.
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Awww.

By the end of the week, you are informed by the Diplomatic Service that channels are up and running with the Sydraxians and the Cardassians. Progress is slow on each side, but to even by able to talk to them again is fantastic news. The Cardassians are warned that Bajor is as vulnerable to our diplomatic actions as Celos is to theirs, and to be very careful of what they choose to do. This doesn't make the Cardassians happy, but it does give them pause, and probably plays a large part in preventing the Cardassian Union from declaring in support of Celos right then. As for the Sydraxians, there is a suggestion for restitution, which doesn't sit well with anyone who ever had any association with the USS Miracht, but appeals to the Diplomatic Service. It goes some way to mollify you as you read the increasingly terrifying casualty reports from Celos.
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It's great news! I share @Simon_Jester's opinion. If we could pay the Sydraxians to back off for even six months, I'd be happy to do so.

Something more is needed there. Finally you ask the computer to put you through to Viraan zh'Dohlen.

"Pull the Sarek off whatever it is doing and send it to Celos."
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So remember those underground facilities? As I recall, Straak has done some positively miraculous things with those in the past. In fact, wasn't there one particular Captain's log where... Found it!

Relevant logs....

Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 22612.5 - Captain Straal

I had ordered a detour to the Orion Union World of Celos in order to deliver a number of geological samples of considerable value to a firm there that is trusted by the Starfleet Science Academy. The geological samples are a form of previously unseen- [Chief of Staff Note: Taken the liberty of abridging this description and saving you ten minutes] rocks.

However, to my surprise, it appears that Orion Syndicate pirates were raiding the system as we arrived. After driving them off, I am attempting to aid in restoration of the planetary power and energy grid so as to finish this delivery.
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Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 22613.2

Debris from the destroyed Syndicate vessels was apparently disrupting the planetary communications array. After towing them into a high orbit, I have been able to restore communications with the surface.

Unfortunately, a complement of raiders under an Orion woman by the name of Helass is still holed up on the surface, near the geological institute. They are using transporter inhibitors and hostages to prevent the Celos colony forces from clearing them out, as well as preventing me from making my delivery..
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Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 22613.6

Negotiations with Helass have been unfruitful. She is a most illogical person.

However, sensor examinations of the surrounding surface reveal that the bedrock layer is a rock known only a few planets known as baralt-shale, which has properties that are difficult to beam through. Few people, however, are aware of the precise properties that make it so; baralt-shale will curve the path of the matter-stream of a transporter.

Using this knowledge, I will beam down with a small team into the caverns beneath the institute.
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Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 22614.0

Although we were nearly discovered on two occasions, we have infiltrated up from the caverns to the lower levels of the Syndicate base. By setting up a series of our own carefully harmonised transporter inhibitors, we were able to cancel out the inhibitor field of the Syndicate. They have now all been beamed directly to the brig.

Having now delivered our geological samples, the Sarek has returned to surveying.

[Gain +10pp, +25 Relations with Orion]
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Sousa you magnificent bastard... you read the logs! And now I'm sorry if I just stole a bit of the thunder from @OneirosTheWriter's big surprise, but perhaps he'll be comforted that sharp-eyed questers are paying such close attention.
 
See, things like THIS are why we keep ten-year Explorer Corps captains around sometimes.

Depth of experience in dealing with the weird. Not just the difficult or the frightening, but the weird.
 
Some earlier posts have pointed out the usefulness of Straak's rock whispering skills in the Celos campaign.
 
For us, he's the rock whisperer, the kinda dorky captain who grudgingly does amazing work as a Captain so he can continue to encounter new and exciting rocks.

To the Syndicate he's the stone demon of Celos, a man who apperated through impenetrable rock right into the beating heart of a Syndicate operation that he proceeded to neutralize without a shot.
 
UbeOne said:
Some earlier posts have pointed out the usefulness of Straak's rock whispering skills in the Celos campaign.
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I had vaguely remembered that Straak had done something with transporting to a supposedly inaccessible underground location before, but it wasn't until I looked at the relevant log that I realized it was actually on Celos itself. And per the log, that baralt-shale is likely what the Syndicate is counting on to help protect their underground bunkers.

If this works, we'll have to reward Straak with a demotion. Maybe bust him down to Commander after his 5YM is over so that he can be first officer on an Oberth and is then in position to be promoted back to Captain when the Kepler prototype is finished.
 
This is a brilliant idea and the best think Straak could ever have. :)

Also, I actually thought of the teleport-bunker incident myself, but it didn't occur to me to look it up and realize it was on this exact planet before, so good on you for that Briefvoice.

[By the way, do you have any suggestions for the mobilization plan I posted on Page 1127? I'm going to be away for a while, but i'd be happy to amend it when I get back]
 
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