Joint Plot Plog | "Adventure Time" | Vindicator Crew

Posted on Tue Oct 29th, 2013 @ 1:48am by Captain Landon Neyes & Petty Officer 2nd Class John Capellupo & Petty Officer 2nd Class Leto Hawthorne PhD. & Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Commander James Archer & Lieutenant Commander Mathew Caldwell & Lieutenant Commander Hayden Williams & Lieutenant Te'shara R'heil & 2nd Lieutenant Jasmine Garza & Lieutenant JG Lucas Rossa & Lieutenant JG Saia Roswell & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Baciami & Ensign Markus Locke
Edited on on Tue Oct 29th, 2013 @ 2:39am

2,509 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: In the Dark
Location: Holodeck Three

=/\= Holodeck Three, USS Vindicator =/\=

"Thanks to everyone for coming. Let's get started." Neyes said, standing before the line of his officers. He smiled internally, thinking back to when the flight control staff would line up in 'formation' on the holodeck. Normally a table and chair would have been preferable for a meeting type setting, but today he needed a different venue.

The Vindicator had new orders to embark on a peaceful mission of diplomacy to loosely charted space. The target species was advanced, but humble in their use of technology. Landon had his own reservations about that kind of attitude, and he knew begrudgingly that they had no place on this mission, or with his crew. Thankfully, there was a litany of protocols outlining the topic of negotiation for starship captains. Last he checked, the chapter on pre-discussion preparedness was nearly 140 pages deep.

"We've been assigned mission to go make some friends. It's going to be different than what this crew has seen in quite a while. So while I'm sure you're all ready to make a diplomatic example to Starfleet, I'd like to make sure we're all clear on the details.”

Behind Landon an image of the Noturan’s home system displayed, engulfing much of the rest of the holodeck. The planet was dark for an M-Class. Neyes had noted himself, that while the planet was capable of supporting life, at least to a degree, it was hard at best. A thick asteroid belt encased much of the sunlight before reaching Noturi, shading the planet from full exposure. The result was a hazy planet with a foggy atmosphere, as air currents slowly drifted. With no intense sunlight to affect the climate, air pressure changes are mild. From images of the first contact, Landon remembered thinking an ominous hue filled all the pictures.

He continued, “Seven years ago the Federation made first contact with a race named the Noturans. They live on the planet Noturi, in a system of seven with two moons orbiting their only habitable planet. A class four asteroid belt separates them from the first three planets and the system’s star. Solar energy is limited to Noturi, so they have had to adapt intense farming methods to compensate. Due to this fact, their population is a 10th the size of a similar culture at this stage. In every respect they are just as advanced and capable as the space-faring cultures we deal with, with one exception." He pursed his lips, holding back the tone he knew he naturally wanted to sound.

With a sigh he spoke up, "The Noturans restrict themselves to use of technology no more advanced than what you'd find on 16th century Earth, for example.” He paused as people began to have questions.

Rochelle's fingers drummed along the cold hard surface of the long table she and every other senior officer sat at. Each and every little movement from her peers drew her eye, waiting and watching for someone to step up and try the Captain's hand. It wouldn't happen. None of them were that stupid, or so she sincerely hoped. Re-crossing her legs, she once more allowed Neyes to steal away the bulk of her attention event though the entire brief was chock full of information she already knew.

... All of it and more. And it was the more that left a bitter taste in the plucky redhead's mouth. A sour taste of contempt she'd have to learn to swallow for the sake of the greater good if anything were to be accomplished by this mission.

"Captain, I assume this means that their weapons are similarly primitive. Any away team should expect simple firearms, correct?" Caldwell asked.

Neyes nodded, "Which bring me to my next point. While we do expect there to be significant lack of any advanced technology, our away team protocols will not change. Though," he looked to Ivanova, "everyone is going on this mission."

Ivanova lightly rolled her eyes, and nodded. "And he does mean everyone." She added for emphasis.

Any other time, Saia would have been so excited, she would be ready to jump out of her skin. However, the constant pumping of adrenaline was wearing her down and she barely had enough energy to keep even feigning interest. So she was ready to jump out of her skin, but for other reasons.

She had not been aware that Saul had changed his mind at the last minute and convinced the others to keep quiet as well. Somehow, her grandmother was kidnapped and now things were worse than before. She kept wondering if her tormentor would find a way aboard, but even if not, the secret had to be kept harder now.

So trying not to look haggard and worrying that trying not to was doing the complete opposite, well, it was a vicious cycle.

Hearing that she would be going on the mission, Saia let out a sigh and glanced to see if anyone noticed. It was a tired sigh. A whiny sigh really. A sigh asking if she really had to. Then something poked in her mind that it might be good for her. To step on some soil, breath natural air. Get curious and explore again. Maybe hide. She blinked as the idea popped into her head, but then went immediately back to the moment at hand.

Landon had been on enough away missions to know there were some missions he would have liked to see everyone attend. This particular mission, based in diplomacy rather than war, was the perfect exposure he was looking for. Especially among those Humans on the crew, he knew everyone had tasted enough battle for the time being. There were always concerns, but this time Landon was relieved to be more concerned about the state of his uniform, rather than his weapons. Meeting new races was exciting, and he wanted to share that with as many of the crew as possible.

"Yes. All of you will be taking a role. If you will, Commander Ivanova, I'd like you to split this group into two away teams. I haven't assigned teams because I'd like to be surprised for once." He motioned for her to come up to join him. "One team will be led by myself, the other the commander. My team will be meeting with the Noturi council members in their capital city, while the second team will gather more information about the crude matter..."

He smiled boyishly, "Which I had dubbed 'Crud'."

"Meetings will be held nightly in order for us to get a head count and trade information. This is something we can't fob off. It's not Disney World." Rochelle pipped up, her drumming coming to a halt as she kept her eyes on the Trill, making her point. "Either way, safety is the key here. Safety and gathering knowledge about the... Crud." She nearly choked on the word.

Ensign Locke raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the details given. Was the Vindicator not a warship? Markus could almost feel the strings of Antony Locke pulling at his life, ever trying to steer him towards the family legacy of diplomacy. The fantasizing thought was minor, however, and reality was that this was a coincidence and Locke's role would be equally minor in the mission. Likely he would be tasked with getting... Crud samples. Ensigns tended to pull the dirty jobs.

Saia, finally able to get a tad interested, wanted to volunteer to study the crud, but the stature and air that Ivanova gave off intimidated the already skittish woman. She went back to looking at the display, not just to have herself seem busy, but generally interested.

Landon depressed a control on the PaDD he held, changing the holo-display from the cool, foggy planet, to that of a semi-solid lump of grey. For what it was worth, Landon could respect the discover and the idea behind what this matter might be worth. Dubbing it 'Crud', however, was just about as apt as any name would be given the look and feel of the substance.

"This is the crude matter or, 'Niobium trinitrotoluide pentahydrate', is wildly magnetic. It's also somewhat of a mystery to us why it has remained so stable for so long. Which might explain why the locals chose not to develop technology as a casual way of life. No doubt their instruments would have been disrupted by the chaotic magnetic fields permeating the planet's crust.

And watch out, because it is also volatile. The trinitrotoluide in Crud is basically an equivalent to Earth's 'TNT'. A similarly ancient explosive. Starfleet believes we can refine a method twice as efficient using this material, when we recycle plasma coolants. Saving us, and the Federation a little effort. The prospects include starship repairs, facility enhancements when dealing with delicate plasma networks, and particle weapon cooling systems.

Needless to say we are not to fail at negotiating a deal with the Noturi." Landon said, looking once more up at the chunk of toiling metal.

"Any questions?"

"I have a couple sir," Almar piped up from the rear of the group, he'd remained silent for now, observing and thinking, "You say this material is wildly magnetic and unpredictable in it's patterns and cite it as a potential reason for this society not embracing technology as we have," the Cardassian continued as he tapped into the display using his PaDD and bought up the chemical display again, "I cannot guarantee the safety of the ship with this... crud on board, our systems would be equally affected and we simply do not have the time to shield against it's affects, on another note, using the transporters would be impossible which would normally mean a shuttle... but again, I cannot guarantee that the shuttles systems will function correctly."

Almar looked over the modifications quickly before storing the PaDD in his uniform jacket for putting into play later, "In theory these modifications will work, but it is just that Captain, theory." he replied before pausing and putting a bit of thought into the shuttle, "It may be possible to modify the deflector to protect against the fields, but you have to understand, even though our landing point is not far from a major deposit, the planet itself has sufficient deposits to make any entry into low orbit fraught with danger, modifications to the deflector will also run the risk of damaging it, we may only get one use out of it."

"Well do what you can. We have have to risk a bumpy ride, and once we've had a closer look at the crude matter, we may have a better understanding of how to combat its effects." He was confident the team could work it out. They managed to land seven years ago, surely now they could manage it just as well.

"Science teams, any requests? We'll be conducting a geological survey once we arrive." Landon asked pleasantly, waiting for someone to chime in. "No?"

"Who'll be acting as security for the away teams?" King asked.

"I will personally be on the team that protects the Captain. Captain, would you like to provide the detail for the team that works with this matter?" Caldwell replied.

Neyes waited a tick to see if Rochelle was going to distribute assignments, but was left with a silent stand-still.

"Ok!" He clapped once, "Here are the assignments. My team: Archer, Caldwell yes, Larel, Te'Shara, Locke, Rossa and Mr. Capellupo. The Commander's: Hawthorne, Cannon, Roswell, King, Williams, and Dahe'el.

He spoke authoritatively as the mission parameters came up on the overhead behind him. "Everyone please assemble your teams and discuss strategy before we arrive in two days. Both teams take their own runabouts. Both teams will land together at the designated coordinates and then head for our assigned living area, I'm told it's quaint for please be polite.

"My team will meet with the delegation the following morning, while the Science team will head out to the caverns adjacent to the town to conduct their field study of the Crud. We need to know what it will take to mine, package and transport the raw substance without it destroying us, or itself. Take whatever resources you can fit on that runabout. Almar will be there to supervise technical equipment and investigate the possibility of a mine. Saia, I need a thorough study on that material for HQ before we leave that planet." He smiled sheepishly, "You have your work cut out for you.

"Those with me will see what we can see about their culture as well as discuss the potential for signing a contract with them. We need to know what they know, and what it is they want or need in exchange for this 'Niobium trinitrotoluide pentahydrate'. I'd like Mr. Archer to develop an intelligence file with Mr. Hawthorne on their culture and society. There's not a lot to read on the report seven years ago, so we need to fill in some gaps.

"Doctor, please assess the well-being and safety of the locals. It may be they need medical assistance. That would make for an easy trade. Also take a look at the potential risks associated with coming into contact with the Crud. We don't know too much about it yet.

"Williams and Caldwell will lead security for both teams.

"Operations, you're our jack of all trades, but make your focus keeping our presence as non-invasive as possible. I want this to go smoothly, so keep an eye out for opportunities.

"Marines will ensure safe perimeters for the science team, and security will work under myself and Ivanova. The caverns are not exactly 'close by' the town we're staying at, so you're in for a long walk out and a long walk back. There are some dangerous local animals, so be prepared. This is not a military operation however, so Security is better equipped to handle the 'softer touch' we'll need for diplomatic reasons. Ellis and his men will take orders from them.

Neyes could almost taste the uncertainty of his crew as their faces tensed looking at the information. It wasn't your typical Vindicator quest out to take readings or escort another starship. Starfleet had 'upped their ante', and while it didn't seem like it at first... this was asking a lot of this crew after what they'd seen. On the other hand, it was a refreshing change. Hopefully they would come to see that after they'd arrived.

"This isn't our usual order, guys. I know. But we're Starfleet officers. Science, exploration, diplomacy... these are the things we're on this crew to discover and conquer. It's going to be a lot of work. Work and talk. I know both teams will succeed in their duties here."

He nodded in finality, looking to Ivanova one last time. "We leave immediately. Slipstream will take us into orbit of Noturi in less than 48 hours, so be ready before we arrive.

"Meet with your team and prepare your ships. Let's get to work."

=/\= END PLOT LOG =/\=

USS VINDICATOR CREW

 

RSS Feed