24

[tomcat]

Mr. Stonn, I want a complete threat analysis done with the information we have at hand, incorporating discussion from this meeting.  Provide possible outcomes and consequences and their probabilities. Mr. Grahm, make sure we're ready if need be to enter Romulan or Klingon space.  Ms. Townshend, continue monitoring all channels for communications.  Mr. Ramos, continue probe mission, but if technically feasible, make repairing that malfuntioning probe a high priority; it could come in handy.  Time is of the essence people.  Meet back here in 24 hours.

The meeting was adjourned and the officers stood and filed out of the conference room, each parting ways in the hall to go to their respective stations. They had some jobs to do and 24 hours to get them done.


OOC: To help with the captain's requests, I am going to give a quick outline of the tasks, but I would like you all as players to give me your speculations...

Shawn - Stonn has the hardest task here in terms of reports... but since you guys are working off a small amount of evidence, it is safe to assume the Vulcan knows about as much as you do as a player. Gimme an analysis in Trek-ese that states the potential threats of entering either space; engaging a Connie-class starship (even if it is a mock-up), with data i.e. survivability, casualties, etc.; gimme some political impact jargon in terms of what the long-term affect would be on the Federation if you interceded, or if you didn't. This may take a little time and homework, but I would love to have it come from you guys instead of me writing it for you. Feel free to PM it to me first and I can add or tweak it for anything that may be pertinent to our story.

Shawn - Ramos knows, and he can tell the captain whenever, the last probe was gutted for parts to make some others work that were having glitches.

Chris - It would be cool if Tam also assisted Stonn in development of his analysis, you can add the medical side of the equation - i.e. potential casualties on the Columbia, etc. Maybe you and Shawn could collaborate via PM or e-mail with this analysis.

Understand this stuff doesn't need to be based on anything than creativity, unless you guys want to look at the specs between a Connie and your Miranda and make some conclusions. Use percentages and Trek words ... even if they are all fluff. It will still sound cool! 

As far as the other characters go (Grahm, Townshend, and Pushkin) I will give you guys narrative in this thread over these next 24 hours for you to RP.

Let me know if you guys do not have the time or the desire to formulate the above analysis and I will do it, I just think it would be much more cool if it came from you guys as a team.

[sdrotar]

OOC: I'd assume Darkan would know that we used the malfunctioning probe for parts, so maybe we should simply omit that part. If not, Ramos will inform the captain privately, perhaps walking down the hall with him after the meeting adjourns.

For Stonn's part, is this Constitution-class vessel an older one from the era of Kirk's five-year mission (the original TV series), or a the movie-era refit? If it's the former, they could probably hang with it in combat. If it's the latter - and we don't bushwhack it like Khan did the Enterprise, we'd be in a heap of trouble... unless we had the prefix code, of course...

[tomcat]

OOC: Unfortunately, all Stonn has is the grainy image of the starship sitting in its drydock. The lines show it to be a Connie-refit with a 15% ++ margin of error.

[tomcat]

OOC: I am going with the assumption that you guys are working on stuff... if this is not the case, please let me know and I will move the story on.

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: sorry about all the homework, just spewing what a newbie captain would look for if he can get.... knowing is half the battle

"Do you think you could replicate parts needed? or could some of the returned probes be reused?  More information, especially about a time table, would be extremely valuable."

[tomcat]

OOC: With a scratch of his head, Grahm would definitely puzzle through the option of re-using a returned probe once the data was collected from it. It will take an Computer Use (Re-program) test TN 18 to reset the probes programming and a Engineering Diagnostic test TN 12 to determine if its flight drive is still functional.

[tomcat]

The bridge was quiet save the thrum of the ship and the occasional beeps from those working at their stations. The Columbia was approaching the rendezvous point with the last probe and her many pallets of passive sensors strained to hear some sign of its arrival. Stonn was hard at work on his analysis for Captain Darkan and was currently in the sick bay to get Dr. Tam's input to the report. But even though the lead science officer was away from his station, Lt. Marshal sat there performing the tasks at hand.

The ship sat in the heart of the Wedge, heading back into Federation space, and in the heart of the Acamar sector - not too far from the giant blue star that gave the sector its name. The pulsing radiation from the giant had been creating a lot of noise for the sensor teams (along with the ship's computer) to sort through but there were three tracks that had been moving through the sector that Marshal had been keeping watch on. All three were radiations from ships moving at warp speed, but distance made classifying said tracks pretty much impossible - at least until that distance was closed.

It had.

Marshal was able to classify the second track as a Federation Destroyer on patrol in the sector. She was cruising at EMCON level 2 and was fast approaching the Columbia - thus labeled a potential threat due to the mission at hand. The other two tracks were still distant enough to not be able to classify the warp core by type and so were just dots and respective numbers on the screen.

Marshal looked to tactical, "That destroyer is closing at warp factor 3 - she will be in range soon to where her sensors could overcome the prairie masker. I estimate a three hour window until you will have to start some fancy work Mr. Grahm."

As the conversation went on between the junior and senior officer, Townshend put her hand to her earpierce as a faint but familiar sound came through her comm system.


OOC: I need a Sys Ops (Comm) test TN 15 from Townshend, and a Sys Ops (Sensor) test TN 18 from science station (remember, your junior personnel always have your total skill rank (plus all mods) divided by two.

[sdrotar]

Sys Ops (Sensor) test: TN 18
Stonn +11/2 = Marshal +6

Roll(2d6)+6: 6,6 (1),+6 Total:19 - SUCCESS
OOC: That was clutch!

***

When time was available, Stonn sought out Capt. Darkan to brief him.

"Sir, there is no way to determine from our data if the vessel we saw is a legitimate Constitution-class vessel or not; but I suspect that it is not. The Romulans are not known to take prisoners in most cases, and it seems highly unlikely that any crew of such a vessel - Starfleet's ship-of-the-line until and unless the Excelsior class is fully commissioned - would allow it to fall into Romulan hands in any salvageable condition."

While Starfleet officers were not specifically ordered to destroy their own vessel instead of risking capture, it did happen - especially when the ship was valuable in some way, and a Constitution-class vessel certainly fit that description. At the very least, Stonn reasoned, a crew would be able to significantly damage the vessel internally either by physical means or a computer wipe, rendering it all but useless.

"I'm certain that I need not remind you that we are not authorized to enter Romulan space, nor would such a course of action be advisable. As for combat preparations, if this vessel were hypothetically 'real', then the Columbia would be hard-pressed to challenge it. Mr, Grahm could give you more specifics, of course."

Stonn had heard (along with most of the Fleet!) rumors about Adm. Kirk's flagship, the Enterprise, being significantly damaged by a Miranda-class vessel in a classified action not long ago, but Stonn reasoned that any such intra-Starfleet activity had to either be a wargame, or an extremely unlikely occurrence. The Mirandas were constructed primarily for science, even though they had better-than-average armaments - but they were no match under normal circumstances for a fully-armed ship of the line like the powerful Constitutions.

[tomcat]

Grahm, standing by the tactical station, listened to the analysis given by Mr. Stonn. The Vulcan's reference to him opened the door for him to add to the report, "Captain, Mr. Stonn is right. There is no record of any Constitution-class ever being captured by the Romulans - both old or new. So, if this is a mock-up, which I too believe it is, there is no way it will fight like a Connie. It may look like a Connie, but the weapons on it have to be Romulan."

The officer gave a moment for his thoughts to sink in, then continued, "I believe that the intent of this ship is to distract... I think we all do. So, my thoughts captain are, what if we destroyed it while it was still in spacedock? Before it gets the chance to launch."

Again he paused to let the Captain register his words and stood to walk towards the command chair, "I understand it is a violation for us to cross the Neutral Zone, but we are not governed by any body right now - Starfleet does not recognize us. We have the masking system and if it can at least get us in there to destroy this ruse, than at least we may avoid the Federation being implicated in attacking the Klingons. The empire may be falling into anarchy and the Romulans may be assisting in that, but at least fingers wont be pointed at us. In fact, the Klingon house of Tal-Hok'nah could seek out the Federation in aiding with their political situation. It would be easier for them to do that without a Constitution-class starship flying around in their space. We could be helping the political situation by destroying the mock up."

The tactical officer stood there with a grin thinking his input quite clever.

Behind the trio, Lt. Marshal called out to Mr. Stonn, "Sir, I have just picked up on passive sensors two ships dropping from warp at 2.5 million kilometers away. The signature appears to match those of the freighters we picked up a few weeks ago."


OOC: Actions - and/or - Dialogue?

[sdrotar]

Behind the trio, Lt. Marshal called out to Mr. Stonn, "Sir, I have just picked up on passive sensors two ships dropping from warp at 2.5 million kilometers away. The signature appears to match those of the freighters we picked up a few weeks ago."

"Mr. Marshal, have you observed their course?"
Stonn wondered if they had been "tailed", as the ship's navigator was fond of saying.
It seemed unlikely that freighters would have the ability to track the Columbia, but Stonn suspected that these vessels were not what they appeared to be... space was vast, and the likelihood of encountering the same vessels in such close proximity as happenstance was statistically infinitesimal.

"Captain, I recommend we move to Yellow Alert."

[GandalfOfBorg]

"As well as the Romulan's battle tactics would be poor too by using a ship unfamiliar, but point taken."

"That is precisely what I had in mind, Mr. Grahm, but we need to be prepared for worst case I think."

"Agreed," and the klaxon sounds at Stonn's order.  "Put them on visual once in range.  Helm, maintain speed but put us on course towards some stellar phenomenon; let's make it look like we're actually doing scientific research.  See what we can find out more about them,  but don't perform standard active scanning until they get to 1 million kilometers."