Lieutenant T'sen looks up at a massive humanoid figure towering over her. Muscles flex along the man's sides as he poses menacingly, his face craned to look down on her from above, growling loudly. She stares back impassively, mind cleared of any distraction in the event that this away mission comes to blows. Aware of the other huge, muscular figures arrayed against her away team, all posed in an effort to overawe the
Enterprise away team.
There's a small shuffle behind her as Counselor Roxun leans in close next to her ear, his voice pitched low, "Lieutenant T'sen" he begins and the Vulcan security officer raises an eyebrow fractionally by way of a reply, "I would advise you to take this gentleman… and put him through a bulkhead"
"Understood sir"
T'Sen moves quickly, ducking by the massive man's side and grabbing a flexed arm as she passes, using her strength and momentum to pull him off balance. Then, planting her feet and changes her grip, T'Sen throws the now off balance man overhand and into the bulkhead; the hard slap of flesh hitting metal lost amidst her own ear shattering yell.
There is a brief moment of silence. And then someone laughs appreciatively and slaps her hard on the back.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23781, USS Neptune - Captain Spera Haran
(Renaissance, Alukk)
We were en route to Celos for routine maintenance when we were dropped out of warp by an anomalous field, in which we are now trapped.
I am pretty sure I remember learning about this sort of anomaly back at the Academy. It's not quite the same as the textbook case, but I'm pretty sure we're dealing with a class two temporal flux, due to the elevated chroniton particle levels surrounding
Neptune. In which case, the correct solution is to energize the chronitons using the main deflector dish, then ride the resulting temporal shockwave out of the field. My science officer disagrees, and believes that this is just a class one temporal flux, in which case energizing the chroniton particle field might destroy the ship.
But it can't be that. Class one temporal fluxes don't generate subspace churn on this magnitude..
There is one other possibility, which Delta Shift's helm officer has proposed: namely, that we've fallen into the Tair Expanse, a legendary realm into which ships have fallen for centuries past. In which case, we should be spotting some ghostly Orion ships soon.
O/V 1001,
Maiden of Dusk, maybe
Star of Srinpal?
-
Personal Log, Stardate 23781.1, Lieutenant Commander Hugh Mann - USS Neptune
(Human, male)
Why won't she
listen? The chroniton levels and subspace churn are probably just due to the relatively high warp speed we were traveling at. Yeah, sure, I've never actually seen any temporal fluxes before, but I
have read about them in the physics journals. I'm pretty sure this is what we're dealing with.
Well, it's not just her ship she's putting at risk - we've spotted another ship trapped in this field on our sensors. Though the sensor return is... well, it doesn't look like anything familiar. It's not Lieutenant Sollat's ghost ship, but I don't know what it is. Regardless, if the captain's right, we'll be dragging them out with us; if she's
wrong, which she
is, then energizing the chroniton particles will destroy both us and them.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23792, USS Kearsage -- Captain Mark Jameson
(Tellar, Constellation-A)
We are in route to resolve a DISPUTE between the population of the Tellarite colony of Grach'Blash Veeru, and their orbital control station. The station controls the distribution of vital supplies to the colony, meaning that there is the danger of STARVATION and MEDICAL EMERGENCY.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23793, USS Bull -- Captain Solen
(Tellar, Centaur-B)
To his credit, Captain Jameson has taken this issue very seriously. To properly match his urgency, I have chosen to emphasize the possible DANGER of this PROTEST spiralling out of control.
However, after conferring with both sides of the dispute, the issue is as follows. The station staff was previously run by reservists of the Tellar State Forces, drawn primarily from the local population. However, despite the minor nature of the outpost, the Command staff kept very high standards, leading to most of the staff being selected for the Starfleet Reserve and being sent to Starfleet Academy. The replacement crew is drawn from across Tellarite space.
Apparently, mistrust has grown between the new staff and the inhabitants, who do not feel the same connection to the station as previously. A few MISHANDLED supply shipments later, and an ESCALATING SERIES OF INSULTS have led the station staff to WITHHOLD some luxury items and FERTILIZER. The inhabitants, meanwhile, have refused to RESUPPLY the station, leading to possible power issues.
I am confident that the arrival of two Starfleet vessels will be sufficient to convince both sides that this dispute is ill-advised, disproportionate, and ILLOGICAL.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23795, USS Kearsage -- Captain Mark Jameson
(Tellar, Constellation-A)
It was a difficult round of negotiations, but after some time onboard the Kearsage and after a personal discussion with myself, the DISPUTE is now over and the colony of Grach'Blash Veeru can now SLEEP SOUNDLY. The station's concerns regarding the INFLAMMATORY RHETORIC from the colonists has been redressed with a PUNCH-OUT!!!, and the colonists have taken a MANDATORY WORKSHOP on SENSITIVITY.
Additionally, I am told most of the reservists who operated the station will be returning later this year, meaning that the station will return to normalcy then.
[+7pp]
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23808, USS Summerstorm - Captain Tolla Graffo
(Centaur-B, Ferasa)
In the midst of our survey of the Allavi system, my science officer has stumbled into a political mess. See, Allavi VI shouldn't support complex life. The atmosphere is breathable, but thin, exposing life on the surface to significantly more cosmic radiation, and significantly colder temperatures due to inadequate heat transfer, than a typical M-class planet. The only life that
should exist is various forms of grasses, and from orbit, that had appeared to be the case.
And yet my science officer had close encounters with more advanced life while conducting a surface survey. First, insect-like creatures, but more significantly, a group of Lamarck, all while she was livestreaming over subspace networks. Or at least, the Lamarck press is sure that she specifically saw members of their species.
In retrospect, certain features of the planetary geography jump out as suggestive of more intelligent life - in particular, the extensive tunnel systems detected from orbit by our ground-penetrating sensors, which the Science department had interpreted as natural caves.
I've cancelled follow-up surveys planned by the Science department for now; we've already violated the Prime Directive, whether we encountered Lamarck or somehow native Allavi, so our priority has to be to minimize the violation. That said, I do want to know how these Lamarck, if they are Lamarck, got here, and how they are managing to survive on this rock.
The Lamarck government is sending the Caldonian-built frigate
Cosmic Dancer and the home-built
Stellar Dance Party; they should be here within two weeks.
-
Stardate 23810, bridge of the USS Enterprise
(Ambassador, EC)
"I trust everyone's acquainted themselves with the data from the Tarvftroki?" Captain Zhang looked across the bridge to see the affirmative nods from all present. "Good. ETA for the rendezvous hasn't changed?"
"That's a negative, Captain," says Lt. Commander sh'Rinboq, "we're still due to meet up at the pulsar at 1100 hours."
Zhang nodded, satisfied, raising her hand to wipe imagined sleep out of the corners of her eyes as she sat herself beside Commander Deva. "I know, we haven't had the
best luck with high-energy stellar phenomena, so far," she said with a wry smile, "but if nothing else, the Tarvftroki scientists might admire how we take our knocks."
Commander Deva gave her a mock-exasperated look that barely conceals a smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Captain."
"You're welcome Commander. I have full confidence in the crew." She smiled back.
A sudden beeping from ops cut Deva off before he could retort. "Subspace communique from the Tarvftroki captain," Lieutenant Cindre's low, breathy voice announced from the Ops station, "they're postponing the mission; all combat-capable ships in the area are being redirected to defend against an approaching hostile starship."
The commanding officers looked at each other in alarm, and then back at Cindre. "Did they say who?" Deva asked, the mirth gone from his bright, jade face. "Or where?"
"They did not," the yan-ros officer replied, "but I have our would-be partner's warp trail on long ranged sensors."
"Miss sh'Rinboq," Captain Zhang said, "alter our course to intercept. Miss Cindre, make sure the Tarvftroki know to expect us."
"Aye, Captain," the two responded simultaneously.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23810.5, USS Enterprise - Captain Jennifer Zhang
(Ambassador, EC)
Enterprise is departing Tarvftroki space while ships of the AKARS Extraplanetary Capabilities Division move to secure the border in response to reports of a hostile intruder. We've been informed that the intruder is a vessel in the service of neighbouring species known as "the Naskants". Beyond that, all we know is that they've been engaged in a low-level conflict with the Tarvftroki since slightly after their first contact five years ago, and that the Naskants are seen by the Tarvftroki as "irrationally violent."
The Federation has nothing to do with this conflict, and our understanding of it at this juncture is extremely limited. But as a Federation starship it is
Enterprise's responsibility to do our best to prevent bloodshed.
Preferably without making ourselves a party to said conflict.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23812, USS Enterprise - Captain Jennifer Zhang
(Ambassador, EC)
Commander M'hrana has detected an unknown warp signature approaching Tarvftroki space from below the galactic plane. This warp track is on a roundabout vector that keeps them obscured by nebulae and active stars for most of the trip. Presumably this signal belongs to a Naskant vessel.
Our mystery vessel has responded to our hails by adjusting their course to intercept us. We are doing the same ourselves while at condition yellow. If this is a Naskant vessel, we'll do our best to avoid learning what "irrationally violent" means in practice.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23813, USS Enterprise - Captain Jennifer Zhang
(Ambassador, EC)
Initial contact with the Grand Society of Naskantchik has been...an experience. Their Shipmaster was mistrustful, but willing to host myself and an away team aboard his vessel. An action that I soon learned was meant to provide him with opportunities for intimidation. Wherever my team and I went aboard their vessel, we were surrounded by naskant soldiers who used every opportunity to show off their physical strength and power, and every other sentence was
shouted as a well-practiced booming command.
I did my best to remain unshaken and unmoved by the Naskant provocations. However, on the recommendation of counselor Roxun, Lieutenant T'sen responded with force to one of the provocations, to the delight of all assembled Naskants.
Their Shipmaster seemed to open up after that. According to him, all of his people's first contacts so far have been hostile, with the exception of the Tarvftroki who
turned hostile shortly afterward. I've asked for more information about this history. He was reluctant to divulge anything, but when I reminded him of how willingly
we've shared information with him he reconsidered. It seems that fair play is an important principle of Naskant culture.
Fortunately, we have a bit more time to talk. The Naskants plan to use a solar storm to cover their egress from this system from Tarvftroki longranged sensors; that gives us thirty more hours.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23813.9, USS Enterprise - Captain Jennifer Zhang
(Ambassador, EC)
It seems that the conflict began when the Tarvftroki sabotaged a Naskant space mining operation after the former abruptly withdrew from negotiating the rights to a habitable system in between their claimed territories. It took some more questioning for us to learn that Naskant "negotiation" involves making a show of force; in this case, sending a squadron of battleships to the contested system and destroying several asteroids in front of the Tarvftatroki's eyes. Our xenopsych on the Tarvftroki is enough to explain what happened next; they mistook this display as an immediate threat, and withdrew their inferior force before taking revenge elsewhere and likely preparing for total war.
I've asked Shipmaster Grendae for a venue with which we can speak to his government, but he is unwilling to share the location of any Naskant planets until he's had a chance to speak with his superiors himself. Unfortunately, that won't be happening until he's completed his mission. I've told him that the Tarvftroki had already detected his vessel's approach before we set out to meet him, but he's convinced he can lose them again and attack an alternate target further from their coreward frontier.
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23814.2, USS Enterprise - Captain Jennifer Zhang
(Ambassador, EC)
With Councilor Roxun's help, I determined that Grendae's underlings were far less sure than he was about the wisdom of continuing the mission. We spoke again in private, and he confided that his younger brother had been killed in the last skirmish with the Tarvftroki. It seems that it isn't just one side in this conflict that allows vengeance to cloud its better judgement.
I was rather surprised when the previously unflappable Shipmaster Grendae broke down into a nearly ecstatic fit of tears when he was confronted with the futility of his mission and reminded of the loss of his loved one. I was beginning to be concerned for his medical health when he abruptly composed himself again, and - with perfect calm - agreed that it would be most logical to abort his mission and try again in the future. In the meantime, he will be providing our xenopsychological assessment of this war's causes to his government, and has told us to expect an invitation for
Enterprise to visit Naskant space shortly. We may be able to help these two species end their pointless conflict.
For now, we are on the way back to the Tarvftroki. I think we'll have a lot to talk about.
[+10 relations with Tarvftroki (now at 70/100)
New species encountered: Naskants (Grand Society of Naskantchik)
Relations: 50/100
Tags: Mistrustful of Outsiders (0/100), Distant Stars (0/100), Culture of Brute Force (0/300)]
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23826, USS Summerstorm
(Centaur-B, Ferasa)
The Lamarck science team has released their preliminary findings on Allavi VI. They have confirmed the presence of members of their species, albeit adapted somewhat to their environment - specifically, to mostly living in caves and tunnels. They're an unfortunate lot, apparently suffering serious malnutrition and high cancer rates.
The Allavi Lamarck have legends of having been taken from their home; by who, specifically, is unclear. The researchers have suggested the possibility that these Lamarck were transported here by Preservers; our own scans of the planet found unusual concentrations of certain metals, consistent with either meteorite impacts or with wrecks of ancient starships.
In the meantime, the Lamarck government has announced a claim to Allavi VI. I wish them luck.
[Gain 2 rp. Gain 5 points on Limited Stellar Presence tag on Lamarck, now 66/100]
-
Captain's Log, Stardate 23868.5, USS Neptune
(Renaissance, Alukk)
We spent three hours in the anomaly; outside the anomaly, 87 days had passed. For the ship we found, over three years had passed in the anomaly, and over 2000 years outside it.
See, we've stumbled upon a ghost ship alright - the oldest ghost ship of Orion space.
O/V 1001, a legendary early long-range explorer of the Orion Orbital Syndicate. There had been alleged sightings for centuries, all across Orion space, but now we know her real fate.
As for her crew, they had put themselves into hibernation when the food stocks aboard ran out, and are all quite astonished to have woken up at all, let alone at just how far into the future they've come. USS
Sh'Raan will be taking them to Alukk at the personal request of the Orion Union president.
[Gain 5 rp, 2 pp. Spera Haran gains +1 Science SPICE point]
-
Personal Log, Stardate 23869, Captain Iliae Rurliss - USS Voshov
(Amarki, female)
Commander T'Kel has asked me to accompany Lieutenant Saadi as he leads an away team to the surface of the planet we'll be investigating tomorrow. There's nothing that
needs an astrophysicist, which is exactly the point, as Saadi is going to seek out a posting as a chief science officer on another starship when we conclude our five-year mission. For that, he'll need to show he can manage scientists across disciplines, not just within his own.
-
Away Team Log, Stardate 23870, USS Voshov - Lieutenant Omar Saadi
(Excelsior-A, EC)
While we have to cut short our stay due to an impending ion storm, I am satisfied with the work we managed to do in the time we had. We catalogued a substantial number of new life-forms, learned a great deal about the planet's geology, and even found a vein of prefercite, an ore that is apparently useful in isolinear computers. The following is a full report on our abbreviated survey: [CoS note: cut for brevity.]
[Gain 10 sr]
-
Something was very wrong, Iliae Rurliss knew from the moment she and her landing party beamed back aboard her ship. For one, the lighting was noticeably brighter; for another, the trophies were missing from the transporter room's walls; for a third, everyone's uniform was unfamiliar - this odd burgundy outfit, with a delta in place of the familiar insignia. Even her blade was gone, and her favorite flechette pistol replaced by a standard-issue hand phaser.
"Welcome back to
Voshov, ma'am," the transporter chief said.
Voshov... not a name she was familiar with. So. Wherever she was, it certainly wasn't her ship.
Yet. Rurliss smiled.
TO BE CONTINUED
