Suitable for 8 to 10 players (Part II of II)

Posted on Mon Jan 1, 2018 @ 3:24am by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Krang Darkmoon & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Andrus Grax & Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
Edited on on Mon Jan 1, 2018 @ 4:17am

1,934 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: OPS Conference Room
Timeline: MD01 1300

Previously on Suitable for 8 to 10 players

"There is no such thing as too brief," Alanna said. "And the Romulans use a quantum singularity, not a black hole. Subsuming the target will not mitigate the damage, it will amplify it." She gave Commander Janus an intense stare. "I will be monitoring very closely, but I do not think the testing will go as you expect, sir. I think it will be a catastrophic failure because someone has failed to take the science of black holes into account. The mass has to go somewhere. Even if the target is destroyed, the mass does not go away, it just changes form. To put it in simple terms, it's like trying to put out a fire by using gasoline. You're feeding it. It will grow bigger."

And now...
"Captain Hayashi, would you take the floor to address some of the other questions." T'vel ceded the floor to him, and the Human stood.

"Thank you, Admiral." He looked around. "I'm Tetsuru Hayashi, captain of the Svikari. To address the concerns expressed, all weapons are for mass savagery. The proton stream cannon is no more inhumane than photon torpedoes or phasers, but in the last twenty years there has been a notable rise in the risks to the Federation and the technology they can bring to bear. Somewhere out there, the Borg remain. They will reach us one day. The Dominion bred actual sentient beings to be disposable."

His face wrinkled in distaste, and then he continued, "The Breen are more active than ever before, and Lieutenant Trellis is absolutely correct to highlight the increasing military agitation of the Cardassian Union. We must not ever become complacent. Our enemies remain, and I doubt we will ever face the luxury of facing an enemy as straightforward and reliable as Klingons again. We need to innovate, and show the galaxy that whilst the Federation does not initiate hostilities, we are more than capable of finishing them decisively; testing us would be...unwise."

Darkmoon was no historian, but he did remember quite a bit of the Terran history he took at the Academy.

"Forgive my impertinence, but does a weapon like this violate everything the Federation stands for? One may be wrong, but this smells of the assured mutual destruction military build up of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, and we all remember how that turned out."

Hayashi looked annoyed. "This is no Genesis device, or Kremin weapon ship. It's a long way from mutually assured destruction. It merely demonstrates that the Federation has not let itself rest on its laurels."

No, it was no Genesis device, but that was meant for terraforming, not planetary destruction, Alanna thought to herself. It was the addition of protomatter to accelerate the process that caused Genesis to become a world destroyer. Without the protomatter, the process was viable. Did they not realize they were creating a device far more deadly than the protomatter Genesis? A weapon of mass destruction, not just to ships, but to worlds, people, and space itself?

The Federation was not founded on might equals right, but that is exactly what these people wanted. Not mutually assured destruction, but to destroy anyone who stood in their way. Alanna could argue science and history, but they were clearly not willing to listen to either. They had already decided they had the right. They were driven by fear of what could happen, and so were willing to destroy everything just in case they met another powerful adversary at some point in the future. She had lost all respect for them and their methods. But all she could do was watch, record the data, and send her report to Starfleet Science, the Vulcan Scientific Council, and anyone else who might be able to put a stop to this barbarism before it went any further. But what she feared most was the loss of life these tests might cause.

After raising his own initial concerns, Andrus Grax had allowed others to carry the baton of protest. He had since sat back in his chair, both making notes and, simultaneously, trying to access any information he could about this new prototype weapon. It came as no surprise to him that the details were above even his, substantial, security clearance. He closed the search screen on his PaDD and made a mental note to attempt a more thorough search later on when he returned to the intelligence centre.

Caleb frowned a bit, considering. Science had been his wife’s area of pursuit, so he didn’t know all the ins and outs of what everyone was protesting.

“Ah assume ya’ll’ve tested this a bit,” he said. “What kinda implosion are we talkin’? If you’re gonna be usin’ this on other Starfleet vessels in the test battle… We don’t wanna be sendin’ our own ships inta some nothin’ness.”

Janus spoke up. "The live fire exercise is going to take place in your new asteroid field, as well as with some decommissioned ships awaiting dismantling sourced from the Dyson yards. A third test will be simulated combat, but any hits and damage will be modelled by computer. No live fire on ships with actual personnel in them."

Hayashi interrupted him. "These developments have been tested extensively in simulations and closed field tests. This is just the end stages of a development process that has been closely scrutinised continuously over the last five years."

T'Vel raised a hand."Thank you, Captain. If you would, return to Svikari and prepare your staff for our visit."

The captain nodded, and a moment later he beamed out. "You must make allowances for Captain Hayashi. The success of the Svikari project is something he has been personally invested in for some time." She nodded to Janus who began handing out padds. "Detailed here are the particular assignments we are requesting your participation in. As well as adjudicating the exercises themselves, and making full observations of the impact of both systems on local space-time, the Svikari itself, and the other vessels," the admiral nodded at Alanna in acknowledgement of her concerns, "we want to take this opportunity to test other parts of the ship. Naturally, this will require asking your Medical department to take independent measurements of the vital signs of the Svikari to verify that there are no ill effects to crew of exposure to use." T'Vel looked at Amia and Liam briefly, then moved on.

"Any advantage in technology only lasts for as long as it cannot be countered or examined for weakness. As such, the other key area we seek to test is the Svikari's security, both to see whether or not it can be boarded, or to see if the details of its defensive or offensive systems can be stolen."

"How many people with telepathic abilities do you have involved in the project," Liam asked suddenly. "Out of interest. Myself, Lieutenant Wells, and the Admiral not included."

"On the Svikari?" Janus clarified. "Not many. One touch-telepath, a Deltan, and two Haliian empaths, that's all."

Caleb studied the padd for his assignment. “One point of security,” he said. “Ya’ll don’t mind the Cardassian Sixth Order sittin’ out there watchin’ all this with popcorn an’ long range sensors?” he clarified.

While nuclear weapons had caused great death and destruction during WW3, they had also helped achieve victory over the Romulans. However, with that objection seemingly passed, Annora decided not to bring up that fact. Plus, she was pretty sure the brass weren't asking permission. They were merely informing the senior staff about the exercise, which was to be carried out as planned. She did latch onto the idea of trying to test out the security of the main vessel.

"Will you be using members of the station's security contingent to try and breach the defenses of the Svikari?"

While Commander Ryan would have final approval, Annora had a few suggestions to put forth for such a team.

"That is exactly what we want," Janus replied to Annora. "Sensor scans on weapons is a fact of life, and to an extent we especially want that fleet to know, but before the Svikari flies free, we need to know her captain, crew, and their secrets are as secure as they can be. We have two scenarios to test. A physical attempt to breach and take control of the ship." He turned to Maritza. "We would like your Security team to handle that."

"And scenario two?" the Trill asked the inevitable follow up questions.

"Scenario two is an attempt to obtain the schematics and other information on the ship’s defensive and offensive systems, which we expect to be led by your Intelligence corp. Though how they approach it, and if they want to work together, we leave totally up to you."

"All the details are off the padds we have provided." T'vel picked up the briefing. "And to offer a small advantage, the crews of all the ships, including the Svikari, are expected to have at least twenty-four hours of shore leave before the test starts in seventy hours. This should allow you both time to plan your exercises and to give the possibility of leveraging those crews."

Maritza wanted to frown. She had been expecting arbitration of the wargames, but this was something she hadn't been warned of beforehand. Now this was going to be a much bigger drain on her resources, and she wasn't sure she wanted Ryan and Grax's attentions diverted from the brewing race war on the Promenade. "Yes, Admiral." It was the safest thing to say. "Does anyone have any more questions?"

Did that mean that Alanna could take a very science-specific angle on trying to breach the ship and access its data? It would be interesting to try. If they were looking at Security and Intel they might ignore her.

Krang decided to ask out loud what many seemed to be thinking. "So, just to clarify, these tests are known to be dangerous, and we are aware that the Sixth Order is somewhere nearby watching, and while several of the gathered here have voiced concerns, the reason for this meeting was merely to inform, rather than achieve informed consent. Is this correct?"

Caleb considered the assignment. It would divide his attention. He would have to put together a boarding crew.

Maritza noted that Admiral T'vel and her yeoman had ignored her XO's question. She didn't want a confrontation in front of everyone. Darkmoon may have been onboard for a couple of hours, she didn't know him, and wasn't prepared to take any risks. "Thank you, Admiral. We'll have plans for our actions to review in forty-eight hours."

"Very well. You will contact Commander Janus when ready. We look forward to seeing what you find." The Vulcan woman stood and touched her communicator. "T'Vel to Venture, two to beam up."

To be Continued

Admiral T'Vel
Flag Officer
USS Venture
[NPC Soran]

Captain Tetsuru Hayashi
Commanding Office
USS Svikari
[NPC Soran]

Commander Wladislaw Janus
Yeoman to Admiral T'Vel
USS Venture
[NPC Soran]

Commander Maritza Soran
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
Security Officer

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant (jg) Annora Tessaro
Assistant Chief Security Officer

Commander Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Lieutenant Liam Reynolds
Chief Counselor

Cmdr Amia Telamon
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant (j.g.) Andrus Grax
Senior Intelligence Officer

 

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