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Main Sim: Europa Arrives

Posted Aug. 31, 2020, 11:59 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Avik (XO) (Janice B.)

Posted by Lieutenant Steven Leon Marsh (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim: Europa Arrives

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Madison Sullivan (Chief Engineer) in Main Sim: Europa Arrives

Posted by Captain Johann Dvorak (CO) in Main Sim: Europa Arrives
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

SNIP

“The point of being cautious during these First Contact situations has less to do with the Prime Directive, and more to do with the fact that they’re inherently dangerous missions where any sort of mistake could cause interstellar incidents whose affects are felt for decades,” the Captain explained patiently. “After all, humanity had bad first contacts with the Klingons and the Romulans and the result were wars, hot and cold, that lasted at least a century or two.”

“So certainly, we could ask them how they got the technology,” the Captain continued, turning to face the Ensign who spoke before. “Because let’s face it, that’s probably what happened with this very elaborate setup they have. An advanced society wouldn’t build warp drive this way. This setup they have is crazy. But… in order to ask how they built this crazy thing, we need to know who on this planet to ask. We also need to know how to ask them. That means we need to study their society to determine who invented this thing, and we need to study their language so we can communicate with them in an effective way. I mean, we’re not going to beam an away team down in the middle of their most densely populated city and approach every person on the street saying ‘Excuse me, we are aliens from outer space, we come from the planet Earth, please take us to your leader’ in English. That would not be very likely to end well.”

“So, what we need to do, before we beam anybody down or make any interplanetary phone calls, is get an understanding of this society and its language so that we can determine who exactly it is we should be talking to and what the most effective way to talk to them is. That is how most Starfleet-conducted First Contacts have worked to avoid the sorts of mistakes that were made with the Klingons and the Romulans. Contrary to popular belief, the Vulcans had been visting humanity in secret for about 200 years before they formally made First Contact. That’s why even though the crew of the T’Plana-Hath had no idea that humanity was going to achieve warp speed that day, they already did know the smart thing to do would be to just land where the ship was because it was a better idea to talk to the one guy who invented the thing than… uhh… whatever… passed for government during the post-atomic horror.”

“We have a highly advanced starship with sophisticated sensors for getting exactly this sort of information through observation. That’s part of why they call this ship an ‘Observer,’ because it was built for this exact purpose. I don’t think that it is unreasonable to do some observing. Certainly we should be able to translate their language from media reports and other broadcasts, and identify key leaders and scientists who we ought to contact before beaming down to somewhere to contact them, yes? I mean, if we can’t…”

Whatever else the Captain was going to say was interrupted by the alarm system going off, but the point had been made.

At this point a massive power surge emanated from the planet setting off the Europa’s alarms. A beam of energy shot away from the planet towards the warp capable craft, though at the speed of light it’d take 20 minutes or so to arrive. The warp craft had aligned back to the planet and was in the process of charging up for a return warp jump when a directed beam of energy from the planet struck it. Could the planet be transferring energy to assist in the capacitance charge?

GM Dread

Dvorak turned to look at Marsh, wordlessly expressing a desire for a report on what we were just seeing.

“Scanning.” This was exactly what he had theorized. He didn’t want to presume that he was right so his scanned with a neutral position.

Avik didn’t continue to the debate. Even when she understood Marsh’s valid point, she didn’t agree with it. Too much about the displays felt off and data missing which she felt could negate his reasoning. Even if they weren’t suitable for another world contact, it wouldn’t stop others from making it. It boiled down to a matter of time.

Any more discussion stopped when her peripheral vision caught something. She turned her head in time to spot energy surge from the plant and hit the ship dead on.

“Marsh, do you have any data over what happened?” While she could theorize that the planet boosted the ship, she didn’t fully trust her eyes.

–XO, Avik, Lt. Cmdr

“Data is still coming in.” He continued to scan. “It does seem to be an energizing beam, which would allow for very localized warp travel with small ship and without anti-matter. Its pretty innovative for a pre-warp, beginning warp race.”

Marsh

Clodagh stepped up on the bridge and relieved the current security officer at their console. She quickly caught up on the notes left behind for the shift and listened to those around her as they talked of a pre-warp race effectively ‘kicking’ a ship into warp from the planet. And interesting thought, to her. She didn’t understand the mechanics of it. After all, the kick would have to be a massive one, wouldn’t it?

Lt JG Clodagh Donnely
Security

Mattie looked up “I’m not able to identify the ships that we initially discovered. They are not in our computer data base.” She said “I’m also not seeing any other ships on sensors.”

CE

“That’s a pretty neat trick,” the Captain said. “Maybe these people have a thing or two to teach us about power transmission over distances. Who would we ask about that?”

– Johann Dvorak, CO

“Well, there is an excellent chance that the receptors will overload or have a weak panel.” He made an opening gesture with his hands… “then poof.”

Avik’s expression, as usual, was unreadable. Her ears caught all the exchange between the crew, but she showed no reaction to it. The XO moved then sat down. The Vulcan accepted the logic, but at this point… it was a waiting game. Splitting the Command structure did little to help in this situation.

She didn’t comment on the CO’s statement. At this point, they needed more information in order to proceed.

–XO, Avik, Lt. Cmdr

Marsh

It couldn’t really be seen if Marsh’s words were prophetic or a jinx, because something did go wrong with the native warp vessel. The ship leapt to warp but a power spike destabilized the warp field in such a way that it went off course and got perilously close to a high radiation induction zone close-ish to the twin dwarf stars. It was adrift with the reactor offline and what auxiliary power was left was keeping the meager shielding up.

On an unrelated note, the computer finally deciphered the race’s language and added it to the universal translator. That was some fortuitous timing.

GM Dread

The angry buzzing of sensor consoles all over the Bridge managed to get everyone’s attention focused on the new problem.

“Well, that was prophetic,” the Captain commented as he turned to look back at the viewscreen. “It doesn’t matter if we’re ready to contact these people now, because we’re not going to let them die out here.”

He began looking around the room and giving out orders to people as he kept turning clockwise:

“Helm, plot a minimum-time intercept course, but don’t engage engines yet.”

“Avik, take us to Yellow Alert please.”

“Marsh, can you tell how much time those people have?”

“I can’t imagine its a lot.” He said before even starting the scan. Warp drive power, that small of a ship the math was not in its favor.

“Donnely, ready a tractor beam.” He briefly felt satisfied for remembering the new officer’s name.

“Sullivan, can our shields handle that radiation?”
Mattie looked at the Captain “I can remodulate the shields. It might give us a few more minutes.” She said “I don’t know how much time, but I’ll give us as much time as possible.”

– Johann Dvorak, CO

Marsh

As odds would have it, fate wouldn’t be denied. In a normal situation, Avik would calculate the probability and reflect on it. For now, she had a duty to fulfill. She snapped into action.

“Yes sir,” her eyes turned to the officer at the console, “Yellow alert and raise the shields.”

She turned to the CO then the CE. The dull sound of the alert rang through the bridge, but her words were loud and clear.

“Sullivan, can we tow them back toward the planet using the tractor beam? Or would that drain energy from the shields?” The XO could guess the answer, but she referred to the expert sources at their disposal. The CE knew her tech like the back of her hand and it’s capabilities far better than the Vulcan.

–XO, Avik, Lt. Cmdr


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