The Neutral Zone

[tomcat]

President Falon sat at his desk and stared out of the window at the majestic skyline of San Francisco. He had just finished watching the secure data for the fourth time since it had arrived on his desk earlier that morning. The images had proved their sources correct - the Romulans had moved a drydock facility to the edge of their space that bordered the Klingon Empire, and within the structure hung a Federation vessel, or a very good mock-up.

The president wasn't sure what he was more aggrivated with... the potential attack on Klingon territory or the blatant disobeying of orders by that young captain out there. He had been given explicit orders not to break silence, but Starfleet captains were trained to think on their feet - so this Darkan must have had a good reason for it. His crew's analysis seemed solid but still there was a lot built on speculation.

Falon knew that something was about to happen. He knew that the knowledge the Federation possessed would damn it as much as help others. He knew that something needed to be done. What he didn't know was how to use the information that they possessed. It could be a simple matter of contacting the Klingon delegation that was on Earth and inform them of a potential attack and coup within their government. But was there really a coup d'etat in the works within the Klingon houses? Was the delegation that the Federation had been dealing with a ruse? Or members of the coup?

Falon pushed his comm button and a familiar voice answered, "Mr. President?"

"Admiral, I want the Klingon Neutral Zone to be quietly reinforced... and I know I do not need to explain to you the need for subtlety."

In his office, Devereaux felt his skin chill, "Mr. President, I will commence formulating fleet positioning and we shall commence transmitting orders."

Falon knew that the admiral would mask all said orders to disburse the Seventh Fleet in a manner that would not draw attention. He hoped this would be nothing more than a lesson in covert ship movement.

"Very good, Admiral," replied the President. "Now, I need to meet with you and the rest of the cabinet... have your people put togther an analysis regarding our Klingon visitors and the potential risk of letting them know their danger. Also, I want an analysis of the survivability of the Columbia if she should attempt a stealth raid on the mock-up."

Little did Falon know that the Federation vessel was already poised to strike into Romulan territory. Little did they all know that within ten days the whole of the Klingon Empire would be immersed in a civil war.

The U.S.S. Columbia did sit poised at the very end of the Wedge where Klingon and Romulan space began. She had just come off a ten-day run at warp factor 8, a task that she had performed magnificently, although Ramos had quite a few more gray hairs to show for it. The engineer was certain that the ship had been noticed making the fast-run, but there was nothing that anyone could do... time and space were the key factors in their current equation and the ship needed to get back to where they could effect any potential strike by the Romulans.

Ramos sat in his captain's Ready Room, the two men poring over the Engineering departments analysis reports along with data that they had been collecting since Acamar. Townshend was due in shortly but for all intents and purposes, the Klingon and Romulan territories that bordered the Wedge had been quiet. Transmissions had been at a minimum... the calm before the storm, maybe?

The absence of information was beginning to concern Darkan - it was getting closer to the point where he either needed to break silence in an attempt to contact a local Klingon vessel - hoping they were not part of the potential rebellion - or to move his vessel into Romulan space. If the former, it would be a challenge to convince an enemy that they were about to be attacked, if the latter... well that was something entirely different.

Grahm would also be in shortly to present his options on destroying the hanger and mock-up - via Columbia bombardment or covert team insertions.

Bottom line, it came down to the captain of the Columbia and the weight of the choices were heavy.

Townshend's voice filled the Ready Room as Ramos began to stand, "Captain, you were right, we are getting more inter-Federation space communications... a lot of ship movements. Starfleet must be quietly reacting to our message, sir."

Darkan nodded to Ramos as he prepared to leave.

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: It always gets interesting when captains don't follow all of their order   

[tomcat]

  OOC: BUMP... I finally got the new thread lead in complete. Dialogue how you want and I will be posting some to do's..

[GandalfOfBorg]

"Thank you, Mr. Ramos... keep up the good work."

"Well that doesn't bode well for us coming to the Klingons; they're bound to be watching our movements on this side of the border," he thinks.  "Ms. Townshend, based on our best intelligence find for me the most likely loyal Klingon captain nearest the border between here and where the Romulan hanger is.  If you can't find any, prepare to get me online with the the local governor of this sector."

Speaking those words caused his heart to race a bit... he was becoming anxious, not of the impending battle but of dealing with the Klingons.

[tomcat]

Townshend heard her captain's request and turned to her console to bring up current Federation data on the region. She also pushed a button to have the computer begin to record local transmissions from the Klingon side of the Neautral Zone in hopes to collate what captains may be in the vicinity and which would be loyal to the Tal-Hok'nah. The communications officer suddenly felt the burden of her current duty and how any error could spiral into an awful situation.

Around the ship, there was a discernible tension filling the crew. The information of where the ship was located and what they might be doing had filtered out through whispers from junior officers and crewman. Tam watched as three security personnel sat across from him, in the crew's mess, and talked amongst themselves and made a mental note to talk to the captain. Maybe a word from their leader would assist in abating the stress and misinformation that was being passed about.

The Columbia itself was at EMCON 1 and the Prairie Masker system was online. Stonn observed his passive sensor readings and was both pleased to see little activity in both Romulan and Klingon space. The activity he did see was currently being analysed by the ship's computer to give him a definitive as to who or what was out there.


OOC:

• Townshend needs to perform a Computer Use (Retrieval) test TN 12 to draw up the database; +1 affinity bonus from Investigate (Research)
• Townshend needs to perform a Sys Ops (Communications) test TN 10 to commence recording transmissions and fleece through them for potential candidate for contact; +1 affinty for Computer Use and/or Investigate (Research)
• Roll 3d6 x 10 minutes reduced by DOS to determine the time needed to achieve the results desired or to at least have collated enough data to give the captain an answer


• Stonn needs to give me a Sys Ops (Sensors) test TN 15 to discern the passive data; again a +1 affinity bonus from Computer Use
• Roll 1d6 x 10 minutes reduced by DOS to determine the time needed to achieve the results desired or to at least have collated enough data to give the captain an answer

[sdrotar]

• Stonn needs to give me a Sys Ops (Sensors) test TN 15 to discern the passive data; again a +1 affinity bonus from Computer Use
• Roll 1d6 x 10 minutes reduced by DOS to determine the time needed to achieve the results desired or to at least have collated enough data to give the captain an answer

Sys Ops (Sensors) Test (TN 15)
Skill plus mods +11
Roll(2d6)+11: 3,6,+11 Total:20 - SUCCESS
Time Frame Roll: 5 = 50 minutes x .75 (DOS) = 37.5 minutes

[Edrahil / Tam]

• Townshend needs to perform a Computer Use (Retrieval) test TN 12 to draw up the database; +1 affinity bonus from Investigate (Research)
• Townshend needs to perform a Sys Ops (Communications) test TN 10 to commence recording transmissions and fleece through them for potential candidate for contact; +1 affinty for Computer Use and/or Investigate (Research)
• Roll 3d6 x 10 minutes reduced by DOS to determine the time needed to achieve the results desired or to at least have collated enough data to give the captain an answer

Computer Use (Retrieve): +7
Roll(2d6)+7: 5,2,+7 Total:14 - Marginal Sucess
System Ops (Communications): +9; Specialty: +2; Affinity: +1 (Computer use)
Roll(2d6)+12: 3,2,+12 Total:17 - Superior Success
Duration: x0.5 for Superior Success
Roll(3d6)+0: 3,3,5,+0 Total:11.
Total Duration of tests: 55 minutes

Townsend spend most of the next hour slaving away at the computer, processing data and listening carefully to chunks of Klingon conversation to see what she could pick out. She preferred to listen to it in the original Klingon, in the hopes of picking up the subtle nuances of language that would better indicate whether a speaker was talking to a true friend, or quiet foe, and whether they were being truly honest, or simply diplomatic. The computer translation only translated the words used, and missed out on the importance of the choices of words, so she hoped that by listening to it herself she might help to get some further insight into the true political situation of the ships and officers in the area.

Language/Klingon: +7
Roll(2d6)+7: 4,3,+7 Total:14

[tomcat]

As Stonn and Townshend work, the following data begins to appear on the bridge's main view screen.

[sdrotar]

Stonn turned from his station and addressed the captain.
"Captain, I am tracking one vessel and have forwarded its coordinates to the navigator. Judging by it's warp signature, it is most likely a D6-class cruiser; a somewhat outdated vessel that is known to be kept in service by specific Klingon families as opposed to the Empire's formal military."

The D6 was a top-of-the-line vessel less than twenty years prior, but after the Klingons and Romulans agreed to a technological exchange that led to the Empire acquiring Romulan cloaking technology, the vessels fell quickly out of favor, and were removed almost entirely from the front lines.

"Current intelligence indicates that the Tal-Hok'nah and the Bor-Klah houses do maintain D6-class vessels."

He looked into his viewer briefly, then turned back toward the center of the bridge.
"Three B'rel-class scouts are flying in formation; in a direction opposite the presumed D6 and towards the Constitution-class mock-up. It is not possible to determine whether they have scanned it or not, but at this range, it seems unlikely. I am also reading power emanations from three asteroids nearby; they are almost certainly Klingon listening posts."

The question hung in the air for a moment before the Vulcan spoke.
"No indications of movement along the Romulan border have been detected. It would appear, Captain, that we still have some time in which to act."

[Edrahil / Tam]

Stonn turned from his station and addressed the captain.
"Captain, I am tracking one vessel and have forwarded its coordinates to the navigator. Judging by it's warp signature, it is most likely a D6-class cruiser; a somewhat outdated vessel that is known to be kept in service by specific Klingon families as opposed to the Empire's formal military."

"Current intelligence indicates that the Tal-Hok'nah and the Bor-Klah houses do maintain D6-class vessels."

Townsend looked up from her station upon hearing the Vulcan's description. "Sir, I can confirm that the D6-class is under the command of a house Bor-Klah captain, I've been monitoring his transmissions. He's currently flying a patrol mission between the two Bor-Klah outposts along this border [OOC: marked with Cs on the map]. It seems like they might be our best bet for somebody to contact, because aside from them the sector is under the watch of a Chak-ruth governor, who probably has the most to gain from a coup.

[tomcat]

OOC: Okay cool! This seems to work well and allows youguys to RP out the information your tests reveal.  

[GandalfOfBorg]

Darkan slumped into his chair --  he's made his bed, now he has to lie in it.  The news of the governor's alliance was unwelcome, but they'd have to deal with it when the time comes.  Trying to pull his stomach out of his boots, he calls to Townshend, "Open a channel to the D6.  If you can narrow down the transmission to avoid as many eavesdroppers as possible, especially the Romulans."

"Bor-Klah House vessel, please respond.  There is a matter of urgency to which your attention is required.  You have enemies on your border and in your midst and we've come to help."  Darkan knew they'd probably be identified soon enough, but he wasn't going to help those listening along.

[tomcat]

OOC: Townshend is going to need to give me a SYS Ops (Communications) test - the result must be at least a TN 10 to transmit to the D6 itself, but I will be making an opposed Sys Ops (Communications) against her test results to see if anyone else picks up the transmission.

So make it good!    

[Edrahil / Tam]

OOC: Townshend is going to need to give me a SYS Ops (Communications) test - the result must be at least a TN 10 to transmit to the D6 itself, but I will be making an opposed Sys Ops (Communications) against her test results to see if anyone else picks up the transmission.

System Ops (Communications): +9; Specialty: +2;
Roll(2d6)+11: 2,5,+11 Total:18 - Superior Success

Townsend fiddles with the controls to see how narrow she can refine the beam, and then opens the transmission for the captain. As she opens it, she also stick her earpiece back into her ear and sets it up to play the raw (pre-translator) feed straight into her ear. The Klingon language could be tricky and there might be some odd nuances of language that she could pick up on that it would miss, such as a particularly aggressive or evasive choice of words that the translator would literally interpret. Well, it couldn't hurt anyway.

[OOC: Basically I want to make sure I know what he's REALLY saying. There might be two words "blah" and "grah" that both translate to "Okay" in english, but "blah" carries a meaning more like "Awww... okay, if I HAVE to" and "grah" carries a meaning closer to "Okay, but it will mean your death". Basically, languages are imprecise, the translator's not perfect, and I'm hoping I can catch some subtle nuances, or use of sarcasm, or anything that wouldn't translate properly. Does that make sense?

Language/Klingon: +7
Roll(2d6)+7: 5,1,+7 Total:13]

[tomcat]

OOC:
Oppose Sys Ops (Communications)
Sys Ops +6, Specialty +2
Roll(2d6)+8: 5,2,+8 Total:15 FAILED


Townshend had little difficulty focusing the transmission, though she preferred her captain make a friend quick so that they could agree to switch to an encoded transmission. She also now appreciated her years at the Acadamy spent in her foreign languages department - primarily Klingon - because she could hear the legitimate surprise in the Klingon captain's gruff voice.

"Who... is transmitting to my ship?" the Klingon asked. "This is Captain Vrang of the IKS Gr'Toth and I demand an answer!"

Darkan heard the faint Klingon over the intercom, the computer speaking over the detached voice translating it into the Federation's standard language. The captain smiled as the ship's name was revealed - IKS War Demon. Klingons were always so... on edge.

Well, Darkan had their attention - now it was time to make his case.


OOC: I need Darkan to make a... I am working out the needed tests.