STF

Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia

Posted Jan. 18, 2020, 2:14 a.m. by Lieutenant Tom Jarvis (Internal Security) (David Bennett)

Posted by Gamemaster GM (Gamemaster) in Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Magnús Pétursson (First Officer) in Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia

Posted by Lieutenant Tom Jarvis (Internal Security) in Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Magnus inclined his head “Thank you, sir” Magnus interlocked his fingers and relaxed his posture but retained enough rigidness to show respect “Well mostly we came to have our final discussions before moving on with our mission of exploration. Our Diplomatic Corps will be informed of this, our first Contact and they will send representatives if you wish them to. From them, your government can learn a great deal about Galactic society and decide what steps you wish to take. This time in a Civilization history is often both the slowest and the fasted growing, my species spent a long time before we started exploring the stars” Although this was his first meeting with this species he did understand the impatience around their lives and the discoveries.

He was also curious as to what he could expect in regards to his Science Officers warnings “As you probably guessed First Contact is an incredibly important event and although it is one of the primary missions there are protocols to follow” He smiled diplomatically “There is a limit to what we are allowed to share with you, both information and especially technology, those are the hurdles that our Envoys are equipped to answer.”

XO

The Pallasian leader paused for a moment before replying. “I am naturally disappointed with what you have said. However, I am also aware of the dangers of rushing into a new technology. My people’s history bear witness to that as well. We had been reckless in the implementation of new technology and we are faced with different groups of people wanting different things. I am sure, if you had paid attention to the things that had happened when your first group came to visit us, that there are those who oppose reaching out into the unknown, there are those who feel that they have been short changed in our rush to embrace new technologies are are fighting to get more from the little we are trying to conserve. Then, there are those who would want to put those two groups aside and embrace as much new things as possible to move my people to what they think is the future. The majority of my people are from the last group. I stand in the small minority that does not belong to any of the above groups. Whilst I do share the ideals of these groups, I believe in advancing without sacrificing one group or the other. The group I belong to would rather take the middle ground, being careful not to retard the natural growth of my people but at the same time trying to keep as many people as safe as possible. It is a tough balancing act. I am sure, that with your more advanced technology, you would have noticed that we had had not much success in squashing the rebels among us. One would think that we would have discovered their hideouts by now. My group sees that the rebels pose as a balance to the extreme of seeking out advances without caring about the possible devastating effects of these advances and those who would prefer to isolate my people totally from these effects. Many might see us as being manipulative, but I see my role as trying to minimize the devastating effects and at the same time giving Pallas a chance to move forward in growth.”

OOC: Just to clarify, what Neve is doing is similar to what the Second Foundation was trying to do in Asimov’s Foundation Series.

GM

‘Many might see you as being manipulative because you bloody well are Thomas thought, body tensing at the President’s declared disappointment. As he went on to explain his position, he relaxed only slightly. Neve was definitely a manager, and like a lot of managers was substituting his personal opinion for what would actually be best for his people, and restricting personal freedom in the process.

COS

For her part, Reia thought he used far too many words to convey something that would be said better concisely. The slight tensing of the COS didn’t go unnoticed by her but she didn’t react and continued observing closely.

  • Reia, CIO

If Magnus was either surprised or angered at the Presidents words he did not show it physically, he just kept his friendly smile and listened intensely “That is the price of advancement, people with different ideas come out of the woodworks each with their own ideal way to deal with the situation.” He said trying to sound as diplomatic and neutral as he could “I understand that during my peoples first visits large crowds had questions, questions of a more nervous nature. Something to be expected for sure but I wanted to offer some answers if it would help calm the populace made frightened by the arrival of alien strangers such as us, if you believe it will help your people.”

XO

“Every five years, we hold an election. I present my ticket as one who embraces progress. There are others who also propose progress. The vote for progress is overwhelming. Those who ride on the ticket of conservation usually gets the least votes. Two years ago, I was elected to office. I cannot be re-elected. I do not want to be the cause of social upheaval for my successor to deal with,” said Mr. Neve. “That is why I agreed to let the previous group of officers from your ship to visit the people. I do not want to lie to the people who elected me.”

“As I recall,” said Admiral Clogtho, “the general populace were receptive to you. It was when the one person who was against you created a scene that the populace started to panic. The majority of our people are not xenophobic. They may be fearful because you are strangers, but they do not hate you or desire that you leave.”

A check with the sensor data regarding that visit would show that the Admiral was not lying. The people looked curious and nervous at the same time but definitely did not display signs of xenophobia. At the same time, one of the Pallasian security officers was killed in the process of protecting one of the away team.

GM

“There are always dissenters in any group. Usually dedicated observation can find them before they get to do too much damage.” Tom said from behind Magnus’ left shoulder.

Tom still looked unfocused, looking around the room like he was seeing some nuanced architectural features that amazed him. In his mind, however, he was running scenarios and calculations to predict their best courses of action should anything go wrong.

  • Tom, IntSec

Thomas was struggling to understand Neve’s play here. If he was nearing the midpoint of a single five-year term, then what was his goal? Set up a chosen successor to continue his program of measured progress? Frankly, he was doubtful that the Council would allow admission without some fairly radical changes on the Pallasians’ part, but politics and diplomacy was far from his forte.

COS

Magnus turned his head slightly as Tom spoke, well he assumed it was he who was speaking as it was the only voice on his team he did not recognize. “Of course, I was not attempting to imply otherwise Admiral” He said softly widening his smile by a fraction “But I am aware of the effect that fear can have on a group of people. While we personally will not be involved in future negotiations with our people I do look forward to seeing what it may bring, the Galaxy is a big place and you’ve only just started. I hope my people and I have left the right impressions with both your government and your population that is all.”

XO

“We are not an arrogant people, Commander,” replied the President. “We work hard and are naturally proud of our achievements. However, we also recognise that our achievements are not untainted. There are those who work harder than others physically, and there are those who have put in lots of effort to get things right so that the rest of us would have a better quality of life. Sometimes, those who put in little work but have the resources might take the work of others and profit from it. Sometimes there are those who would retaliate and claim that they are fighting for justice. The cycle of exploitation and revenge, as I would call it, never ends. The exploiters claim to be protecting their way of life and the revengers also claim the same thing. Can that be justice? We Pallasians are doing the best we can to come to an equilibrium. It doesn’t take much to tip that balance. I cannot claim to maintain the perfect equilibrium for all time. I can only claim to help reach that equilibrium based on the circumstances I find Pallas in. Once I finish my term, it would be up to the next President to decide how to manage that equilibrium according to the circumstances of the time and he should do it for the people who had elected him or her.”

GM

For a change, Tom looked directly at the president. His gaze was focused, penetrating. Tom was reading body language, reactions, micro tremors, pupil dilation, voice tension, breathing, heart rate, and a myriad other externally observable and audible physiological signals.

“There is never equilibrium. The scales will teeter totter to varying degrees only taking on the semblance of equilibrium for brief moments in time. There is no shame in it, it is just the way of things.

  • Tom, IntSec

Tom could not detect any deception from Neve. Even the two uniformed Pallasians in his presence. Then he remembered that the Pallasians could detect deception because their fingers were able to smell and detect changes in body physiology. Among themselves they did not have the habit to lie.

Reia silently agreed with Tom. If the circumstances were different she might have actually voiced her opinion but, in this situation, she had decided to be one of the silent ones unless spoken directly to of course.

  • Reia

This time Magnus looked back at Tom’s answer, he felt annoyance at the stranger but quickly suppressed the feeling. He was aware that he knew the man, according to his own writing on the matter and that he had decided that he liked the man enough to want to hear his opinions. Magnus replaced his annoyance with amusement with some effort and turned back with a smile “Constant flux tends to be the way of life, I think we’re walking proof of that. Things will most like change now, remain in flux for some time. Hopefully not in any negative way.”

XO

“Just because there is no absolute equilibrium doesn’t mean that we cannot work to move as close to it as possible,” said Neve. His puzzlement at the away team’s way of looking at things was apparent. It was as if he was wondering why this obviously advanced race of beings did not understand simple concepts. “When an cyclist rides in a race, there is no one standard way to keep from falling. At every road bend, every change of wind direction and the direction of the sun must be considered on the fly. To keep in the race, equilibrium must be attempted or else the cyclist will fall and the race is lost. The cyclist may take the route countless times but each time, the conditions are different and still he has to keep the balance. The survival of Pallas is like that race. I have been chosen to be the cyclist for this part of time. Would you fault me for trying to keep the balance so that Pallas remains existing?”

‘You’re either growing or you’re dying, there ain’t no third direction,’ Thomas thought, a small smile coming to his face as the movie reference sprang into his head. Still, it wasn’t really his place to make any observation, so he remained quiet.

COS

GM

Tom expected that mode of thought. Many had it. Conflating something physical and tangible with a concept or mindset. It sounded good in theory, but that was all.

  • Tom, IntSec

Magnus’ smile didn’t waver “We don’t fault you doing your job, our crew may have different ideologies but that’s how the Federation and Starfleet operate” Magnus crossed his legs as he spoke “We are explorers, not politicians and in any case, we have little interest in meddling with your politics, we simply wanted to give our farewells before departing and make sure that we haven’t done any harm to your people with our arrival.”

XO

Neve relaxed just a little, “Well, if you leave, the debate will carry on whether you were a hoax perpetrated by my administration. Whichever way they think, I believe my credulity would be questioned and I might end up ending my term early. I only hope that my people won’t lose the hope of peace and progress. I take it then, that our application to join the Federation has been sent? If we don’t hear from the Federation, it would mean that the application was rejected.” If there were am emparth or telepath in their midst, he or she would only read a mixture of hope, disappointment and resignation.

GM

Tom rapidly tapped something out on a PaDD and handed it to Glen.

‘Perhaps we leave them with a few simple food replicators locked to their specific nutritional requirements and cased so that if it’s taken apart, critical components have their molecules disassembled. It wouldn’t be the first time Star Fleet has done something like this for prospective member races.’

  • Tom, IntSec

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