Posted July 12, 2019, 12:37 p.m. by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Counselor) (Luke Hung)
Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Diplomatic Wing
Posted by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (GM) in Diplomatic Wing
Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Diplomatic Wing
SNIP
Having been quiet until now, SEAI turned to the captain. “Ma’am, this might be a good time to remind you that scanning everything in the room is not recommended at this time, nor is a high level of snark unless we know that it is allowed.”SEAI (CNS at the time)
“Snark,” Kelly looked at SEAI. “I’m not snarky.” Looking At both Gallagher and then Ian she repeated her question. “Am I snarky?”
“Mildly sarcastic maybe,” Kelly looked at her three officers. “Or dry witticism but snarky? Is that how it comes off?” She was not offended but intrigued. Was it just SEAI or was that how it was perceived. She remembered a few nights ago when crawling into bed and having to move a book that was lying on her side of the bed. Wit, Sarcasm, and Humor at the Diplomatic Table was the title. She thought it was something Ian was reading but now she wondered if he had left it for her.
Frank had stashed his knife in his boots by his ankles. Were anything to happen, Frank would be ready.
Gallagher
OOC: The scanners would detect the knife, particularly long hair pins (if you got them), biological/chemical/genetic containments that could be weapons, bottles that might contain such things
The security officer looked at a screen for a moment. “What’s with the knife?” she questioned. “I’m doing you a favor… if you pulled out that knife on the Lorn Ambassador you would be a puddle of component molecules. If you happened to be unlucky enough to injure the Ambassador, you ship and crew mates probably would suffer the same fate. The Lorn are not to be trifled with, if you have a care at all for yourself and your friends I would be particularly cautious and polite.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
GM
SEAI slightly bowed, “Our apologies, our friend here has had that thing in his boot for so long that even he forgets that it is in there sometime.” She directed a glance at the officer, “However, I am sure he is more than willing to remove it for the meeting, for the sake of peace and diplomacy.”
SEAI (CNS at the time)
“Mmhhmm,” The security officer did not appear convinced by the excuse nor did she seem to care too much. She started to hand out respirators that looked like the mask part of an oxygen mask, with more sturdy looking straps. “A few moments of the Lorn’s natural environment won’t make you sick, but more than 10 seconds you’ll be falling down ill, more than a few minutes you’ll be dead.”
“Gallagher,” Kelly said in a neutral tone indicating for him to drop it with the receptionist. The sooner they got the meeting with the Lorn over the faster they could get answers to get them back home. She didn’t like the idea of him losing the knife but it wasn’t their playground.
Captain Kelly Shultz.
Frank quickly relinquishing the knife to the officer “will I be able to get it back after the meeting? Or is it now yhe property of the Lorns?”
Gallagher
“We are just holding it, weapons are allowed on the base, just not in the diplomatic areas.”
The human’ish’ guards stepped aside and the when the officers were ready the door would open for them automatically. Inside the Lorn quarters there was a full on gray haze as if some left a smoke machine on too long. There wasn’t an odor from the smoke, so there wasn’t any way of telling what it was made of aside from it being thick and making the room dark and ominous.
“Stay sharp,” Kelly said to the group as they entered. She felt every muscle tighten but she was in good company. Gallagher might not have a knife but that did not mean he wasn’t armed. An expert in advanced defensive techniques meant the man could kill you with one hand without spilling his beer in the other. SEAI while not having the strength associated with androids had something far more deadly in diplomatic situations: She has also been equipped with built in monitoring systems in order to monitor the vitals of those around her. This was very useful for telling if someone is lying and eliminating the need for a tricorder. Ian was, well, scrappy. The man had a laid back demeanor but could brawl with the best of them or witch slap you with facts and knowledge that could make your head spin.
Kelly led the group in and looked around taking in her surroundings.
Once inside, and the door closed behind them, the smoke intensified and it was difficult to see more than two or three meters ahead. Out of the haze a creature about 2 meters tall, hovering off the ground in a bulky but smooth, shimmering purple ‘environmental suit’ appeared. Off one shoulder was a ball about the size of a cantaloupe with multiple perturbances… it appeared spiny like a sea urchin and very dangerous.
Ursula I presume,she wanted to remark but SEAI’s comment about cutting down the snark was probably advantageous in this situation. Kelly instead opted to wait to be spoken to. She had no idea if she could even communicate with the Lorn yet. Standing tall she presented a confident but casual appearance. The sea urchin thing the Lorn Ambassador was holding looked rather nasty and Kelly gave it wide berth.
There was squeaking from within the suit that the universal translator had no opportunity to analyse before a human voice speaking Federation standard came from one of the evo-suit speakers. “You are a long way from home… You are alpha quadrant races… are you not?”
V’goth the Lorn Ambassador
GM“Yes, we are. We are from the United Federation of Planets. Our mission is to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new civilizations. We are peaceful explorers if you will,” Kelly replied. “Our ship was pulled into a graviton ellipse. We were directed here and planned on exploring your station until the unfortunate scanning incident.” Kelly delivered the sentence in a neutral tone indicating neither apology or anger about the early incident with the Lorn. They were the aggressors in her opinion. If they saw it differently she would let them play their cards and then react accordingly.
Captian Kelly Shultz
If there was a tone of apology in the communication, there was no way of hearing it in the voice, if anything, the voice sounded a little feminine but haughty and arrogant no matter what V’goth said. “My ships automated defenses takes all intrusions as an attack. Lorn knowledge and technology is as valuable as a weapons to the other races in this sector - and even the scanning of this could destabilize the whole region and lead to interstellar war. Races native to this quadrant know this… your ignorance of the norms of this area could lead to other unfortunate incidents.”
The tinkling continued as the Ambassadors suit did the translation without need for any Federation support. “Even your technology is superior to all the races of the sector… they will pull at you trying to draw you like children at your apron strings into their petty squabbles. It is a dangerous and volatile time here, I suggest you return home as soon as possible lest your presence start a conflict that will cost the lives of billions.”
V’goth the Lorn Ambassador
GM“I’m thankful for the heads up, but that is not our mission. We are explorers, we reach out to new people and learn from them and exchange ideas as Captain Schultz said. I am sure we can find some some kind of compromise.” Ian said, hoping to see if he could smooth things over and get more information.
Bordeaux, Yeoman/Chief Diplomatic Officer
“What your stated goals are, are not the same as what you will end up doing.” The voice intoned. “You will be pressured from above and below, from within and without to do what is not right… I hope you are as stead fast as you claim to be.”
The Lorn turned to face each in turn. “You speak of compromise… what compromise are you referring to?”
V’goth the Lorn Ambassador
GM“Well…” Ian looked over at Kelly and back to the Ambassador. “There has to be a way for us to meet your guidelines and still be able to explore and meet new people as per our directive. We are not beyond taking precautions.”
Bordeaux, Yeoman/Diplomat
The encounter suit covered alien spoke, “Space is not ours to dictate what you do and what you don’t. The races of this sector are like adolescents trying to run a government and you are the new toy.” The suit bobbed. “You will be used… ”
“The Lorn are not omnipotent, I can not tell you what precautions you will need to take.”
GM
Since scanning the ship was not wise as SEAI pointed out, this meant maybe Kelly should take the southern neighborly approach. “So can you give us a dossier about what you know of the species we may encounter,” Kelly asked. “As my chief diplomat stated every member of my crew is highly trained in diplomatic formalities. While it doesn’t always mean we will be able to avoid a conflict it does help at times if we are in a situation.”
God please don’t let Mardusk and Nash be in some alien hooskal she added silently to herself. This place was not like a neat and tidy Starbase back home. Who knows what they could run into. While both men were top officers and able to handle any situation presented to them in a manner befitting a Starfleet officer, she didn’t put it past either man to deal with a slave trafficker by giving them the wallop of a lifetime like a pinata at a kid’s birthday party. It was that or just shoot them. Nash would probably just shoot them. Her men were good men with high morals and a deep sense of honor. They would behave themselves until they couldn’t. When that ‘couldn’t situation’ presented itself, there would be nothing that would stop Kelly from agreeing with their actions.
Captain Kelly Bordeaux
The Lorn paused… “That… is not an unreasonable request. I will have a data pod created with non-secure information.” not a moment passed before a small orb not more than two inches diameter appeared in a beam of light. “Take this… it will respond to your voice and two others that you have approved. The orb is not self ambulatory so you’ll have to carry it.” After a moment the light moved the orb before the Captain and it would drop it into her hand if she outstretched her palm. “It will self destruct if tampered with or if you move more than 2000 light years from this point in space.”
V’goth the Lorn Ambassador
GM“Thank you,” Kelly said as the orb dropped into her hand. It felt completely solid and was about the size of a softball. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get the hell out of dodge. This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds, Kelly said to herself. The surface was completely smooth to her eye as if the object was a solid ball, however, things were not always as they seemed.
OOC: More the size of a tennis ball.
“Does this also come with maps of the region so that we can avoid your less friendly inhabitant?” She wasn’t sure if this information was included in the orb but it would be a pain in the arse if it wasn’t and they had to come back.
Captain Kelly Bordeaux
“It is voice activated. While it can present a map visually, for you to review, it does not download information. If you ask about a planet that you have detected, it will give you the information on that planet and that sector of space. So you don’t accidentally violate one of the more territorial races.” The Lorn Ambassador paused for a moment before continuing. “Our mapping and scanning abilities exceed yours and we aren’t giving you information you could not obtain on your own given sufficient time. You can look at it as a ‘cheat’ note function to tell you what you would know if you had been in the sector for several months as opposed to several hours. It is not to be shared with the other younger races, as it will provide information that they would be unable to obtain on their own.”
V’goth the Lorn Ambassador
GM
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed