SCENE 2 - U.S.S. Merrimac

[tomcat]

The U.S.S. Merrimac hung quietly within the field of asteroids and planetoids, her hull still flashing some lights. She was at a range of 92.58 million miles from KC1, but still the red giant seemed to loom.  The Columbia approached the ship, Pushkin weaving her between and around large pieces of metal and rock that hung in perpetual orbit around both KC1 and the entire cluster.

The Merrimac was a Constitution-class starship, commissioned in 2268, well after many of that class of ship had run five year tours of service. The Constitutions had proven themselves a hardy vessel and quite versatile. Starfleet had ordered another run of the class and Merrimac's keel was laid. She served her first five-year mission from 2270 to 2274, and most of the way through her second tour was called back to Earth for a re-fit. Like Enterprise and most of the other remaining Constitutions, the Merrimac was upgraded with the new formats improving upon the already excellent ship.

By 2280, and under new command, the Merrimac was again sent on a five-year tour within the Alpha Quadrant to continue exploratory missions, but to also serve within the near Earth defense fleet. She and her crew were involved in quite a few incidents with the Orion Pirates, but Merrimac served the fleet well and brought many of the pirate captains to justice. Three years into her tour, in the year 2282, the Merrimac and all her crew disappeared. There was no calls for aid. There was no enemies that claimed victory for her disappearance. The Constitution-class vessel merely vanished with nothing to tell of the reason... until now.

The U.S.S. Columbia made her way to the location where the Merrimac's transponder code was steadily broadcasting.

I'll need everyone's tests please... (this table is everywhere, but it is just easier to re-paste it than look through multiple threads)

   
• Helm/Navigation tests: TN 20 to plot course in asteroid/planetoid field
• Helm/Navigation tests: TN 10 to plot course in clear space
• Sensor tests: TN 10 to get proper navigational readings; other test TN's will be determined by table 7.2 on page 102 in the NG
• Deflector tests: TN 10 to keep shields from taking damage from radiation

	Helm /				Shield
Distance	Navigation	Sensors	Deflectors	Damage	Strength
Extended	+0 TN	+0 TN	+0 TN	0	-0
Long	+3 TN	+2 TN	+3 TN	0	-0
Medium	+5 TN	+4 TN	+6 TN	1	-1
Short	+7 TN	+6 TN	+9 TN	3	-2
Point Blank	+9 TN	+8 TN	+12 TN	5	-3

Narrator will determine when a new proximity band is entered.

Grahm's deflector test #3
TN 10 Cluster Mod +6 = 16 Sys Ops +13, Specialty +2, Columbia mod +3 = +18
-------------------------
Roll(2d6)+18: 2,6,+18 Total:26 SUCCESS

Anderson's navigation test #3
TN 20 Cluster Mod +5 = 25 Sys Ops +11, Specialty +2 = +13
-------------------------
Roll(2d6)+13: 2,4,+13 Total:19 [Anderson will take the +1 Command bonus that Stonn extends plus spend 2 Courage] = 26 SUCCESS

[sdrotar]

Stonn watched with interest; his mind absorbing all the data circulating around him in search of any possible patterns. The crew was operating efficiently, and he would allow them to do their jobs without any interference from him for as long as possible.

He had but one request.
"Mr. Downer, please keep the open channel to the Merrimac boarding party on speaker."

[Rictor]

Sorek looked at the science console intrigued by the fact that the ship that had been missing seemed intact and in logically working order.  He punched in a few commands on the console then began reading through the information that came up.  He figured logically that if the Merrimac's crew were aboard her, they would have attempted to communicate with the ship once more, however he also realized that the previous communication was in poor condition.

He decided to run a scan of the Merrimac as best as he could to determine if any life signs were indeed showing on the vessel.  He knew that chances were while being in the cluster that the readings wouldn't be accurate enough but it might help to provide Stonn with a better reasoning of who he might send over as a landing party.

Alright I guess this would be two seperate rolls...but if not then ignore the second roll.  Also I can't seem to find my Star Trek books for some reason(my brother may have taken them to work to look through)so I have no idea what modifiers aside from those posted to add to the roll(s).
Sensors Test 1
System Operation(Sensors) 
Roll(2d6)+8:6,2,+8 Total:16
Sensors Test 2(If need be)
System Operation(Sensors)
Roll(2d6)+8:4,5,+8 Total:17

[seppun1]

 
         Pushkin brings the Columbia into the small system, maneuvering in the direction of the lost Federation starship.  He eyes the asteroid ring and takes the ship in, banking around the large pieces of rock.  As they approach the Merrimac,  He looks up and grimaces painfully at the damaged ship. "The poor girl has been through a lot." He mumbles under his breath before moving to bring them in.

          He looks to the controls, knowing the others would be ready on the deflector as well to push the rocks away.   At least maybe in this little system,  they might have more protection from the radiation....hopefully. 

  Pushkin's helm test #3
  TN 20 +5 Cluster Mod = 25 Sys Ops +13, Specialty +2, Columbia mod +1 = +16
  Roll(2d6)+16: 3,5,+16 Total:24

[tomcat]

The Columbia made its approach to the Merrimac. Pushkin felt the ship suddenly shift in its flight path, gravitational effects of the stars grabbing at her, and he quickly made adjustments keeping the vessel from colliding into a huge asteroid.

They came about the mountain of stone that hung in space and the Merrimac filled the forward viewscreen. She was heavily damaged, but no evidence showed what had caused it. Stonn began to speculate what could have happened. Was the ship attacked and left? Did it get caught within the Katyon Cluster and fall victim to gravitational shear? Radiation? Or the random asteroid? The vulcan captain cleared his thoughts understanding that guess-work solved nothing - only real data would put the mystery together.

With no spoken command to do so, Pushkin set a standard orbit around the derelict ship.

[sdrotar]

Observing the damage as the Columbia closed within range of the crippled Merrimac, Stonn found himself stifling an instinct to peer into his old viewer at the science station. Of course, that was Sorek's now...

"Mr. Sorek, please scan the Merrimac for damage consistent with weapons fire," Stonn asked. It seemed logical to ascertain any potential danger to the Columbia first and foremost. "If there is none, then please try to identify the primary cause of the damage; whether by collision, internal malfunction or even possible close exposure to radiation."

[Rictor]

Well just got home from being out of town for unexpected family reasons...will try to get a post up later tonight or after I get some sleep.  I'll just edit this post if it's still here when I make the post...and/or replay to the thread once more.

[Rictor]

Sorek loooked over the readings coming up on his screens and analyzed them going through the logical possiibilities he merely took a deep breath before turning to look at the captain.  "Sir it would appear that the damages to the ship have occured due to a space anamoly...as it would be most illogical for any ship to attack the Merrimac and rupture the hull as has been done.  Sensors show there are biological matter readings on board but none seems to be alive."  He turned his attention back to the screen and then continued.

"It would appear that the primary hull of the ship is merely damaged with what could be collisions with debris, although I wouldn't rule out the possibilty of weapon scarring on her.  While the remainder of the hull is open to the vacuum of space, the ship still has working power to life support and other basic systems.  She is also been rendered immobile  There is also an unidentfied and unclassified anomoly of an energy source and physical mattter in the secondary hull.  I would advise extreme caution to the away team."

Not entirely sure if this is the information Stonn is wanting, but it's the information Tomcat gave me about my sensor reading of the Merrimac.  Also let me know if Sorek is supposed to be on the away team and I'll edit this post to reflect him getting someone else to run the science officer spot while he is gone and then heading for the tranports bay.

[tomcat]

Nice post, Rictor! Just so you know, the data I gave you was from your previous post that you had made that included the two sensor rolls. I only needed the one successful roll for you to ascertain the information given.

If Stonn wants/needs anything else, give me more dialogue and another roll and we'll see what comes up. Remember to apply the Dice roll modifiers from the Katyon table - I know the numbers are TN increase modifiers, but they can be applied in the inverse by taking a negative to your roll... the net result would be the same.

[sdrotar]

There is also an unidentified and unclassified anomaly of an energy source and physical matter in the secondary hull.  I would advise extreme caution to the away team."

Stonn considered this latter part of Sorek's report; it was the most troubling. Certainly, navigating the Cluster was difficult and a devastating collision was a likely reason for the Merrimac's condition, but an unidentified energy source was not likely to occur naturally.

"Mr. Sorek, please focus all scans on the energy source and surrounding matter. We must determine its origin and if it poses any danger to our boarding party - or to the Columbia - as soon as possible."

"Mr. Downer, please contact Lt. Phillips and Dr. Sherman. Inform them that initial scans show no signs of survivors at this point, but to continue the search with caution."

"Someone sent the distress call," Stonn thought. "Or something."

[tomcat]

Grahm lifted his head up from his console to examine the Merrimac as it hung silently on the screen. Both its port and starboard running lights still shone but the her ship insignia and name lay in darkness. Grahm could even see view portals still alight from the internal systems. He had a quick shiver as he thought about the interior of the vessel, normally kept comfortable by the computer core and environmental systems, now empty and unable to sustain life. The Merrimac's gravity still functioned as well, so all would be in place as the crew had left it prior to the attack or impact of whatever destroyed her. The auxilliary power reactor on Federation vessels had enough nuclear fuel to operate for roughly 100 years. The reactor could never bring the ship to supra-luminal speeds, and thus the ship would never leave this place, but had the hull remained intact people could have survived.

"Not with the radiation," Grahm thought to himself. "The APR would not be able to create enough power to reinforce the shield grid..."

The thought made Grahm shake his head, and then turn to Sorek. "Mr. Sorek... what about radiation! We are about to beam 18 people into that vessel and there is no operational shield grid to fend off the killing radiation!"

Across the bridge, Mr. Downer received message, "Transporter room 1 to bridge. Security team 1 is ready to beam."

[donimator]

"Captain. Chief Ramos has concerns about the fluctuating radiation and maintaing a transporter lock. He recommends using a shuttle instead, sir."

Downer continues his ongoing scans of the Cluster and the Merrimac for continued or further transmissions. He checks the status of the initial broadcast to see if the computer has been able to isolate a bearing and distance yet.

[tomcat]

Downer is unable to isolate the exact location of the signal, other than the giant red star and the Merrimac that lays in a direct path to it.

[sdrotar]

"Captain. Chief Ramos has concerns about the fluctuating radiation and maintaing a transporter lock. He recommends using a shuttle instead, sir."

Downer continues his ongoing scans of the Cluster and the Merrimac for continued or further transmissions. He checks the status of the initial broadcast to see if the computer has been able to isolate a bearing and distance yet.

Stonn considered both this and Grahm's concerns. "Mr. Downer, please tell the transporter room to await further instruction before beaming. Mr. Sorek, can we ascertain if our people will be safe from radiation once on board the Merrimac?"

[Rictor]

Sorek returned to his console and without sitting down he leaned over enough to look over the readings of the ship trying to not only determine what caused the damages as was asked earlier.  He also attempted to determine how much radiation was on the Merrimac and what affect it would have on an away team.

  Alright trying to determine what caused the damages to the ship...whether it be an attack or an object(s) merely hitting it.  Also wanting to try and find out if the radiation will be a problem and what precautions would be needed if any to deal with it.
Um since I don't recall you saying which of the modifiers we're using at this point in the game I'll go with the same range modifiers as others seem to be using, if this is incorrect sorry.
Sorek's Sensor Test #3:
TN 10(+5 for Cluster Modification...Total TN 15)
Roll Modifiers(8 from System Ops + 2 from Sensor Spec...not sure what else if anything is t be added)
Roll(2d6)+10: 3,6,+10 Total:19