Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Fulcrum Runabout - Reality Bubble Tests!

Posted by Fleet Captain Drudoc Andone (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Fulcrum Runabout - Reality Bubble Tests!
[snip]

Drudoc’s voice came back over the comms, =/\= The High Elder One told us that the Boridium was used as a common fuel and energy source in this region likely these new arrivals are simply harvesting for such things. When we mentioned the reality bubbles he seemed dismissive saying they were just supernatural things. Though conversely he said they also provided the basis for enlightenment of those of his faith and belief.=/\= She explained.

There was a pause before Drudoc’s voice came back =/\= We’re currently dealing with some comm and possible intruder traffic right now, we’ll depart as soon as we can. Until then Lieutenant proceed carefully we are new to this region and getting involved in combative or political matters so soon especially with the Prime Directive to consider is paramount. Do what you need to do but dont overly endanger yourselves. =/\= She stated.

=^=Understood Captain.=^= Well they were on their own. Sharah had no intention of engaging with the other vessel, the Fulcrum wasn’t made for that, and they were scientists and engineers on board. There were no security or tactical officers with them.

Weir’s idea actually seemed like a good compromise here, they could hopefully try to lure the little reality bubbles away from the harvesting alien ship while avoiding hopefully causing any problems!

GM CockRoach

“Alright right Weir, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s try it.” She turned to MiniFayth, “We are going to put some of the rock behind us. Do you think you can convince them to come try ours? And we can lead the little ones away to somewhere safer?”

Lt jg Fayth, CSO

V’alura looked up from her console screen, “What about the other ship, sir? Should we make contact with them and alert them to our intentions? I think a ship tugging refined boridum behind it will look quite strange. Conversely, they may not like us gathering the reality bubbles at all. They may see our efforts to collect them as, I don’t know, sacrilege?” The captain said the bubbles had religious significance to the local peoples.

Ensign Belmont (science)

“They haven’t bothered to contact or interfere with us, let’s just proceed, then if something happens they don’t like, we’ll figure it out then.”

Mazi watched out the window and listened to the others. “Ma’am,” she said to the full sized Fayth, “What if we ask it to please stop mining for a moment because it’s interfering with our scanners. We were just finishing up when they arrived. If they stop for that reason, then maybe it’s not so hostile. Then if the ‘little ones’ come our direction, she can say,” she paused a moment glancing back outside then to the mini Fayth. “Perhaps we can say these are a smaller, younger group that weren’t ready yet and we were asked to simply move them away to allow them to grow more for next harvest and yet not interfere with this harvest. If they don’t know how many, what size or what habits these creatures have, perhaps they will buy it.”

It was a long shot, to be sure, but if they were to save the newest generation of creatures, they had to do something fast. Something that wouldn’t cause contention when their ship and protection were so far away. “Weir can push a scan out the other side of the ship and pause it where it would have swept over the newcomers. Then if they do a scan, they can see what we are doing. Right?” She glanced at Weir and Fayth and Belmont in turn wondering if her idea was so convoluted they were all gonna just laugh at her.

Mazi Eng

Sharah shook her head, “It’s not secret we are new here so it’s better not to lie. They will know that we have no official or unofficial presence in dealing with the reality bubbles. And starting off first contact with lies and misdirection is not something I am prepared to do. It might come to that, but I’m not ready to cross that bridge yet.”

MiniFayth spoke up again seeming even more on the verge of outright panic. “..Please you need to hurry the little ones are being drawn in nearer to the....the beam thing!” She said referring to the collection particle emission that the small alien ship was using to sweep up the Boridium. If they were going to do something it should be very soon!

GM CockRoach

“Weir we’re going with your idea. Get the boridium out there,” she turned to the pilot, “Once he’s got the boridum set up do and go where ever he tells you to.” The NE pilot nodded. She looked at Mazi and Belmont, “Both good ideas, but we have to keep in mind the prime directive, we can’t interfere with them directly. And incase anyone has forgotten we aren’t exactly equipped to defend ourselves and we have no security or tactical personnel with us.”
Lt jg Fayth, CSO

Nodding briskly, Caelian got to work. He didn’t need to be a telepath to pick up on the tension in the cabin. His mind and fingers worked quickly as he performed a few calculations and a last-minute check of their systems. With the runabout fully on standard power, he was confident that the ship would perform as expected. Noting some of the readings from the boridium drive’s shutdown sequence, a burst of inspiration swept through him.

“Pilot,” he called out while his hands set to work on his console, “bring us to heading two-eight-three and engage at one-quarter impulse. Take a casual arc along the course I’m entering now; it should bring us close enough to the denser patches of protoforms without making us look aggressive.”

Once the approach was confirmed, the engineer entered a few commands into his console. The boridium engine hummed briefly, then faded to quiescence. A subtle hiss resonated from the hull at the aft of the runabout as the ship began to vent the leftover hydrogen-plasma mixture. Sweat began to bead on his brow as he watched the sensor readings, noting the dissipation and expansion rates. Good, he thought grimly, the impulse eddy is pushing it right where we need it to go.

As they began their pass through the denser pockets of protoforms, Caelian deployed the refined boridium behind the runabout as he’d suggested. He let it drift for a moment before snagging it with the tractor beam, noted how to protoforms reacted to it. “The bait’s been laid, Lieutenant, and shields are holding. Now to see if they bite and follow.”

There was a somber satisfaction as he noted how their vented wake wafted into the boridium patch the aliens were harvesting, tried not to smile as the charged cloud diffused their tractor beam just enough to interfere with its cohesion. While the effect was temporary and otherwise harmless, he hoped it would give the protoforms caught in the beam time to break free and follow them away. Perhaps then it would make up for his earlier mistake, show them that they had meant no harm.

Caelian was confident that his actions couldn’t be considered in violation of the prime directive. General Order One prohibited Starfleet vessels and officers from interfering with the internal and natural development of alien civilizations; delaying the aliens from harvesting boridium wouldn’t adversely impact their development, just prove an inconvenience. As far as they were concerned, the protoforms didn’t have a culture or natural development to be interfered with—and if they did, Starfleet itself had introduced it with the arrival of the Ark Angel—so it would have been their duty to rectify it. Regardless, the alien’s technology was obviously on-par with their own, so he couldn’t be faulted for using their own advancements to “unjust advantage.”

Hopefully Sharah and the captain would see it that way. Regardless, Caelian felt the right of it and would gladly accept whatever punishment came of it.

“That should give us enough time for them to catch the scent,” he murmured to the pilot. “Set a course for the Angel and increase speed until the protoforms struggle to keep up. Let’s see what they can do!”
—Caelian Weir, Engineer—