To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)

[Cteatus]

Phase Cloaking / Subspace Weaponry

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...

Isn't Subspace weaponry remarkably unstable? Also aren't we expressly prohibited by treaty from research into cloaking technologies?

 

[UbeOne]

I agree with the Romulan.

Medical research, working with the Romulans (and Klingons if necessary), and a generous dosage of phasers and torpedoes should do the trick.

Edit: Do we need to start researching the successor to the Excelsior-class?

 

[wkz]

I'm also new to the quest... and I'll leave this here:



... and I'm suddenly thinking, the crew of the Kun'lan must have some pointy ears...

 

[AKuz]

I agree with the Romulan.

Medical research, working with the Romulans (and Klingons if necessary), and a generous dosage of phasers and torpedoes should do the trick.

Edit: Do we need to start researching the successor to the Excelsior-class?

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No, not yet, they want Enterprise to help them scan. What we need is to pour $$$$doge into sensor tech.

 

[Cteatus]

Edit: Do we need to start researching the successor to the Excelsior-class?

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Well right now the Federation is a little lacking in Light Cruiser hulls. The Ambassador is nice and all, but the Nebula class sat around being the workhorse of the Federation before the Galaxy class showed up on the scene, so prioritizing Light Cruiser hulls might not be the worst idea in the world.

 

[OneirosTheWriter]

The Mark of the Beast
Current State of the Ulith III Biophage Infection

Summary:
The Infliction is loose and has access to a Heavy Warbird with a cloak. As Romulan technology is geared towards making one hard to see, and their testing is performed against their own sensor technology, they are having grave trouble tracking the Biophage. Currently, the Biophage is operating within the Neutral Zone, looking for facilities with which to expand.

Known Infected Systems:
-none current-

Purged Systems
Ulith III - 200 souls
Korlonia II - 500 souls
Dunwich IV - 20,000 souls
Tregh'bak - 15,000 souls
Malora - 40,000 souls
Birkaad III - 10,000 souls (Kadeshi)
Kadesh - 500,000,000 souls

Evacuated Systems - Federation
Arcori III - 23k (lost 2k)
Liath V - 46k (lost 9k earlier)
Larssen II - 15k
Cygnus Sigma

Evacuated Systems - Romulan
Ithrid II - 100k (lost 20k)
Mekiid IV - 40k
Bakana III - 350k

Known Beast Plague Ships

-

Suspected Beat Plague Ships

-

Destroyed Plague Ships
SS Franklin
1 x Federation Cargo Ship
3 x Romulan Cargo Ships
T'Seren - ex-Romulan Heavy Warbird
Miracht - ex-Starfleet Miranda
Terrh - ex-Romulan D7 Cruiser

Resources
Ships in Operations Area

-Starfleet Romulan Border Zone Fleet-
Commodore T'Faer
USS Kumari (Excelsior) - DAMAGED 12 MONTHS
USS Courageous (Excelsior) - DAMAGED 3 MONTHS
USS Sarek (Excelsior) - DAMAGED 6 MONTHS
USS Excelsior (Excelsior) - DAMAGED 3 MONTHS
USS Challorn (Constellation) - DAMAGED 3 MONTHS
+1 Centaur
+0 Miranda

-Starfleet Andor Sector Fleet-
Commodore -unknown-
USS Cheron (Constitution)
+3 Constellation
+2 Miranda


-Romulan Quarantine Fleet-
Admiral <unknown>
USS Enterprise (Excelsior)
Devoras (Heavy Warbird)
+1 Heavy Warbird [1yr Repair]
+0 Bird of Prey
+0 D7 Cruiser

Total RBZ Installation Count
12 Listening Stations
12 Science Outposts
2 Andorian Colonies (Arcori III - 25k, Liath V - 55k) - Both with a 200k t shipyard
2 Tellarite Colonies (Cygnus Sigma I - 30k, Larssen II - 15k)
1 Vulcan Colony (Solitude - 400k) - With a 500k t shipyard
3 Starfleet Outpost I starbases (Solitude to rim-ward, Claystock to core-ward, Indi Beta in the centre)

240 Star Systems in RBZ in Total

-Coreward Half of Romulan Border Zone-
Claystock Outpost
Arcori III Colony
Larrsen II Colony
6 Listening Posts
6 Science Outposts

-Rimward Half of Romulan Border Zone-
(All Areas are directly opposite the Neutral Zone area with the same number listed below)
RBZ Area South 1
12 Star Systems
Indi Beta Outpost (Starfleet Outpost I) - FORTIFIED
Arkarian Science Outpost
Piar V Listening Post
Gremory III Science Outpost

RBZ Area South 2
12 Star Systems
Liath V Colony (55k) - EVACUATED
Ulith III Science Outpost (Purged)
Liath IX Listening Post

RBZ Area South 3
12 Star Systems
Copperhead IV Science Outpost - EVACUATED
Oliver VI Listening Post

RBZ Area South 4
12 Star Systems
Cygnus Sigma Colony (30k)
Kiterunner II Listening Post

RBZ Area South 5
12 Star Systems
Dunwich IV Colony (Purged - Formerly 20k)
Korlonia II Science Outpost (Purged)
Langtrees I Science Outpost - EVACUATED

RBZ Area South 6
12 Star Systems
Solitude Colony World (400k) + Solitude Outpost (Starfleet Outpost I)
Allengiers II Listening Post
Huckleberry VIII Listening Post

-Romulan facilities in Federation Border Zone pending-
FBZ Area South 1
12 Star Systems
Ithrid II Colony (Evacuated)

FBZ Area South 2
12 Star Systems
Mekiid IV Colony (Evacuated)

FBZ Area South 3
12 Star Systems

FBZ Area South 4
12 Star Systems
Bakana III Colony (Evacuated)

FBZ Area South 5
12 Star Systems
Malora Colony (Purged)

FBZ Area South 6
12 Star Systems
Alepsis II Colony (1.2m + Starbase)

-Known Neutral Zone installations-
NZ Area 1 (Middle of Neutral Zone)
12 Star Systems
Abandoned 150+ yr old bases

NZ Area 2
12 Star Systems
Galaar III Colony
Ruins of Kadesh

NZ Area 3
12 Star Systems
1 Unknown Colony World (purged, 10k)

NZ Area 4
12 Star Systems

NZ Area 5
12 Star Systems

NZ Area 6 (Closest to Klingon Border)
12 Star Systems


Current Resource Stockpile:
Bulk Industrial Resources: 325br
Special Industrial Resources: 125sr
Political Will: 34pp
Research Points: 30rp

Current Personnel Pool:
Standard Starfleet: 11.5 Officer, 22.5 Enlisted, 3.5 Techs
Explorer Corps: 6.25 Officer, 7 Enlisted, 6 Techs

Political
Federation Council
State of Emergency
Mobilisation: Increased 2

Starfleet
State of Emergency
High-Tempo Operations (Monthly)

Romulan Senate
Seeking Federation Assistance

 

[UbeOne]

Are they willing to share intel?

 

[kelllogo]

"Computer, cease playback," interrupts Hamsfeld. "The rest of the playback is futility and screaming. They don't get the warp core breached in time, and mains power loss prevents use of the transporters to beam a torpedo to the core. The whole craft is infected within a few minutes."

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Of course it was a Miranda-Class.

Blowing up would have been preferable.

 

[AKuz]

Those colonies. We need to keep them safe. I would suggest evacuation of the area in much the same manner that the Romulans are. Deny it fuel.

Route them to empty systems in quarantine.

 

[wkz]

Well right now the Federation is a little lacking in Light Cruiser hulls. The Ambassador is nice and all, but the Nebula class sat around being the workhorse of the Federation before the Galaxy class showed up on the scene, so prioritizing Light Cruiser hulls might not be the worst idea in the world.

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"Ship decloaking! Romulan heav-firing! We're hit, shields are down!"
"... fuck. Take us out of here! Now!"
"Too late! We're hit! Oh god we're hit!!"

Workhorse or not, are you sure weaker ships are the solution here?

 

[aledeth]

I'm also new to the quest... and I'll leave this here:



... and I'm suddenly thinking, the crew of the Kun'lan must have some pointy ears...

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nah, the Romulans were way worse. They saw it, saw it infect stuff, tried to weaponize it, and only gave up because their science teams kept getting eaten.

Rather a different situation than "poke the ancient thingy! OH GOD WHAT SHIT PURGEPURGEPURGE"

 

[AKuz]

nah, the Romulans were way worse. They saw it, saw it infect stuff, tried to weaponize it, and only gave up because their science teams kept getting eaten.

Rather a different situation than "poke the ancient thingy! OH GOD WHAT SHIT PURGEPURGEPURGE"

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Yeah, they're closer to the Tai'Dani. Who were worse because they tried to cut a deal with it

 

[AKuz]

Perhaps evacuate everything to the large Vulcan Colony so that we can fort up the system there?

 

[Cteatus]

Perhaps evacuate everything to the large Vulcan Colony so that we can fort up the system there?

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Wouldn't that leave a whole bunch of transports exposed to attack?

I mean all the Heavy Warbird had to do was decloak and fire its particle beam and it infected that Miranda Class. I can't imagine a decent strafing run wouldn't drop the shields on a bunch of transports so it could follow up with a volley of infection bursts.

And if we order military ships to do it then we'd be wasting resources.

Though...could we lure them into a trap? Fake an evacuation? Falsify lifesigns on the transports? With the Federation and the Romulans working together I have to believe we can beat the sensors on the infected ships. And a transport would be a very juicy target.

 

[Iron Wolf]

-Starfleet Romulan Border Zone Fleet-
Commodore <unknown>
USS Kumari (Excelsior)
USS Challorn (Constellation)
+2 Centaur
+2 Miranda

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Ladies, Gentlemen.

We need a Commodore for our border fleet. I can think of only one qualified Candidate, one who knows the operation of Excelsiors and has extensive diplomatic experience - vital in this delicate scenario - and who has faced the unknown and hasn't flinched.

I've mocked him in this very thread, but I believe we should assign Commodore Harriman to command the border fleet.

God help us all.

 

[Chronic]

So would asking the Klingons for help make sense or would that only provide the Biophage with shittons of cloaked BoPs to easily take over?

 

[UbeOne]

So would asking the Klingons for help make sense or would that only provide the Biophage with shittons of cloaked BoPs to easily take over?

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They should at least be aware.

 

[sebsmith]

Edit: Do we need to start researching the successor to the Excelsior-class?

Click to shrink...

Probably not. If we want to stay within 2.5 mt, so all our large yards can build it, then it's hard to get something clearly better than an Excelsior that isn't just an Excelsior with an attached module. We probably want to wait on making that until we get more power saving tech (and @OneirosTheWriter clarifies why so many of the canon designs have lower presence than they are supposed to). Currently I can get something reasonable that ups presence by one and hull by three with three techs (two of which the Excelsior probably already has). I suspect that we aren't that far from upping science by 1, hull by 2, and presence by 1, and that ship might be worth building, especially if we can upgrade all our current Excelsiors to it.

 

[AKuz]

Ladies, Gentlemen.

We need a Commodore for our border fleet. I can think of only one qualified Candidate, one who knows the operation of Excelsiors and has extensive diplomatic experience - vital in this delicate scenario - and who has faced the unknown and hasn't flinched.

I've mocked him in this very thread, but I believe we should assign Commodore Harriman to command the border fleet.

God help us all.

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"It's JOHN HARRIMAN!"

do do doo doooooo!!!!

 

[UbeOne]

The other option is to add upgrades to our current ships as we research new stuff, yes.

 

[AKuz]

The other option is to add upgrades to our current ships as we research new stuff, yes.

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We should probably refit our Excelsiors after ever 5-year mission. Or after every second 5-year. Just keep them current and they'll last forever just like in canon

 

[UbeOne]

After every 5-year mission. Many advancements can be made in five years.

 

[aceraptor]

For those that don't know about the Beast/Homeworld Cataclysm, here's the initial analysis of the Beast by the Somtaaw:



The infection beam? The damned thing jumps from target to target. In HW:C entire frigate squadrons can be subverted in a single shot if they are close enough together, not to mention hordes of fighters.

The Beast also starts building cruise missiles with infection warheads as the game went on. Though, the good news is that there *are* counters to the Beast infection. The HW races managed to figure out a vaccine for it.

Nightmare: The original ship is still out there. Who knows, there may be entire swaths of infected space out there.

 

[OneirosTheWriter]

"...hello?"

You hear the distant call at the door and lean back in your chair. "Patricia! In here!"

Patricia Chen, the head of the Explorer Corps, awkwardly moves through your quarters towards the sound of your voice, finally popping her head into your living room. "Ah! Here you guys are. Hey, nice quarters, roomy."

"Pat, you know Donald already," you say, gesturing to the head of Starfleet Ops. "And Shey," the Andorian head of Intelligence, "Sevok," the Vulcan head of Medical, "And Lachlan from Tactical." All of you are seated at what is normally a simple dining table, but currently has a large touch-screen showing a map of the Alpha Quadrant. Stacks of personal datapads line the edge of the table.

"Hello, everyone," replies Patricia Chen. "So what is this, poker night?"

"Hah, no," you answer. "Sometimes in a crisis, you need to keep things from bloating out. We're here to iron our deployment in light of the loss of the Maricht and report from Captain ka'Sharren." You gesture her to a seat at the table. "I've got to head to the Fed Council tomorrow, and I want to have a response plan set up before I go, so I don't want to get bogged down in committee."

"You realise that our Yeomen and staff officers would be terrified to see us Admirals plotting together like this," mentions Patricia as she takes her seat.

"Yeah," you snort. "And it's about the only funny thought I've had since Dunwich IV. Right, Donald, lay it out."

The head of Operations clears his throat and taps on the map, highlighting the Romulan Border Zone sector. "We have one explorer, one cruiser, four escorts, three small outposts here in the crisis area. They need reinforcements. The snags are, we need to make sure there is a backstop in Andor, we have to keep a force in the Klingon Border Zone, and if we don't have a healthy guard in Sol sector the Councillors will revolt."

"Also," throws in the head of Tactical. "The Commodore in that sector is in over their head, and admitted as much. We need someone who can handle a crisis of this magnitude."

Patricia Chen sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "This is going to be a long night, isn't it?"

================================

[ ][DEPLOY] Write in - You may redeploy current Starfleet ships
(Must maintain at least 12 Defence in Sol, 10 Defence in Klingon Border Zone)

-

(Select one Sector Fleet commander)
[ ][BOSS] Commodore T'Faer
Current Assignment: Director, Vulcan Science Academy
Probably the best mind when it comes to sensors and detection. +2 Science to attempts to see detect cloaked vessels.

[ ][BOSS] Captain Rachel Ainsworth
Current Assignment: USS Kumari
A veteran Captain on the Panel of Explorer Captains. It's a little early for a promotion to Commodore, but she's a firebreather who won't flinch from battle. +1 to Shield values.

[ ][BOSS] Commodore John Harriman
Current Assignment: Operations Director, Explorer Corps
A former Explorer Corps captain who finished a long tour of duty on the Enterprise-B before it was handed over to Captain ka'Sharren. +2 Presence interacting with Minor Races in the Neutral Zone.

-

(Select one assistant for the new commander)
[ ][XO] From Tactical
+5% chance to evade a hit from the Beast in Fleet Combat

[ ][XO] From Medical
+1 to Science values attempting to identify Biophage presence

[ ][XO] From Explorer Corps
+1 to Emergency Warp Core Breach attempts

 

[Keeper Of Storms]

We should probably refit our Excelsiors after ever 5-year mission. Or after every second 5-year. Just keep them current and they'll last forever just like in canon

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After every 5-year mission. Many advancements can be made in five years.

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I'd say every two decades actually.

I'll be honest, I'm rather inclined to putting Ainsworth in Command. If shields go down, vessels are open to infection. That +1 is a fairly useful stopgap. For XO, I'd say either Tactical or Medical.

I'll crunch some numbers for Fleet Deployment too...