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Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia

Posted Jan. 20, 2020, 9:18 a.m. by Gamemaster GM (Gamemaster) (Kenson Koh)

Posted by Lieutenant Thomas McGregor (COS) in Away Team 1 -Shuttle to Pallasia
<snip>

“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

David, who had remained silent through the entire exchange, let out a grunt. “I suppose I could assist with that, if that is what you decide,” He said to the XO.

-David Michaels, CSO

Thomas was getting a bad vibe from the Pallasians, and his eyebrows narrowed at the attempt at emotional manipulation.

“Out of curiosity, Mr. President, how quickly are you expecting to hear from our leadership?” he asked.

COS

“Within a year or two?” said Neve. “I don’t expect instant replies but I do hope that I could be vindicated for believing in your Federation before I am at the end of my life cycle. As I said, the faction that disbelieves any possibility of extraterrestrial life would accuse me of staging this meeting. Yet I believe that there is enough evidence to show that I had no hand in your coming.except to invite you when we encountered you.”

GM


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