In the morning, the crews are summoned to the briefing room off the Ops Centre. Lieutenant Atek, Lieutenant (junior grade) Hightopp and CPO Schmidt are seated by the podium. Atek rises and begins, "Welcome to your first mission briefing here at Dyson Base. I am, as you know, the Outpost Commander, and though I am at the same rank level as Ms. Dul and Mr. Anderson, I am above both in the command hierarchy. My orders are just that—lawful orders under the Code of Starfleet Justice, and are to be obeyed as per regulations. I know you all have training in Starfleet Regulations, so ignorance is no excuse. Am I understood?" He pauses for effect. "This is our Chief of Operations, Lieutenant Tarrant Hightopp. He is my Executive Officer and second in command of the Outpost. You all have met Chief Petty Officer Schmidt. He is a seasoned Starfleet security man with 30 years experience under his belt. Chief?" he steps aside.

The Security Chief steps up. "I am aware that some of you have lingering doubts as to the situation vis a vis our late Romulan spy and her possible replacements. I am here to say that all Vulcan and Vulcanoid personnel have been extensively investigated and cleared. This includes new transfers like Lieutenant Kurasa. Ms. Kurasa is, as many of you know, the product of the union of Betazoid and Vulcan. Her bloodline is extensively documented. She is the daughter of Councillor Sormok of the Vulcan Science Council and a Betazoid woman. She was raised by the Kurasas, a Betazoid family and spent 17 years as a Rating in Starfleet, winding up on the USS Enterprise, where she was personally recommended by Lieutenant Worf for commissioning as an officer. Yes, that Worf—the current Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire and adoptive son of the current Chancellor. She is a decorated Dominion War hero who lost friends in the closing days of the War. She was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) for her efforts in saving other crew on the USS Haida and deserves you respect."

Atek resumes the podium. "I hope that will clear up any lingering doubts. End of discussion." There is a steely ring to his voice and his face is grim.

"Now, to the mission at hand.Early last year, the USS Thames discovered a tower in an ice field which was designated Gamma One. It was a spindle rising out of the ice-pack some 150 metres with a platform on top and a series of a dozen globes spiraling down the central shaft. The technology level evident was slightly higher than ours, and there was a computer interface in the form of a metre-wide disc capable of showing a number of different species avatars, including this generic humanoid." He flicks an icon on the podium and an image appears on the screen.


"It spoke with a voice easily translatable by the universal translator circuits built into their commbadges and took voice commands, but required security codes to reveal much beyond the basics. Computer Sciences has not had much luck cracking their security. Mr Gazzo, that's where you'll come in. For the rest of you, though Mr. Gazzo comes from a relatively low-tech world, Sigma Iotia II, he took to computers like a fish to water, and is Dodge City's live-in Alien Tech Assessment specialist; which is why, Mr. Anderson, he was 'parachuted' into your team... In your briefing documents..." The PADDS on everyone's desks flicker into life. "Gamma Two will be your destination. Since Gamma One nullified all power on the Thames causing it to crash-land on the ice-pack, it is suggested that you proceed in a pair of shuttlepods using inertial reckoning to approach the station. Mac, you will be senior officer, callsign Two-One. Cassy, you will be his backup, callsign Two-Two. The Type 15 Shuttlepods will fit on the landing elevators visible on the platform. You will enter through the doors into the habitable areas. On Gamma One, this was a lounge-reception area. We have no idea whether the same is true of Gamma Two, so you'll be on your own.

[OOC fixed image]
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:19, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

Mac mutters disgustedly under his breath. When Atek says, "Comments, Lieutenant Anderson? Care to share them with us?" he replies, "With respect, Sir, I don't like sneaking in like a coward. What if we put the Runabouts in a holding pattern and beam in?"

Atek sighs and explains, "Lieutenant, if you remember, I said that the tower killed all power to the Thames. Any scan at all, even a Transporter scan, will cause all power to be lost on your ship. Any other suggestions? Anyone?"

And again, the commander here fails to grasp the reality of Federation law.  No commander, regardless of how authoritarian he feels, can stop those under him or her raising concerns, logging those concerns to file, and reporting them to Federation command.  Attempting to force his viewpoint on matters was, in fact, counter to the law.   But... Cassy wasn't about to argue that point and so remained silent - even as she was placed under Lt. Anderson, someone she'd already some concerns about and who immediately demonstrated those concerns with his gung-ho (and possibly suicidal) attitude to the approach.  "How extensive is the nullification field?  And does it only affect electronic equipment?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:35, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

In reply to Cassiadora (msg # 3):

[OOC The Lieutenant cannot, of course, stop you from reporting your suspicions to higher authorities, but he most certainly can order you not to discuss them with anyone on the base. Period. To do so would be disobeying a lawful command. Trust me on this. I was in the military and I know quite well how military law works. If you have any evidence, you may submit it to Starfleet Security at Starbase 21, but since it was they who performed the security checks, you had best make it hard evidence admissible in court, or you will find yourself (well, your character, anyway) up on charges of at minimum harrassment. And, in point of fact, we are not discussing Federation Law, which term refers to civil law—we are discussing Starfleet Regulations, which are a parallel but separate matter. Here is a page on Starfleet Regulations in this campaign. It is not complete, of course, but collects as many canon references as I could find, as well as a lot taken from the old FASA Trek RPG: http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/...erse/source/regs.htm ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:57, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

The following information is available on your PADDs.

http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/...gacy/gamma/gamma.htm

Cassy scans the information on her tablet as she waits for further question and indeed answers.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:21, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

Lieutenant Rai struggles not to roll her eyes or smirk at Anderson's objections. Every time he opens his mouth, she becomes further convinced that he is unfit for command, and the fact that he is leading this mission forms a knot in her stomach. She grits her teeth and goes to work familiarizing herself with the information on the PADD.

Gian's eyes dart between Mac, Atek, and Cassy as he watches the drama between them start to roll to a boil. Between this and Shione's outburst yesterday, it is not an auspicious start to their mission. He hopes it's just nerves -- and Mac's Klingon-like militant personality.

In reply to Gian Seingalt (msg # 8):

Shione sighs as Atek reads the riot act,indicating to her that someone still believes that damn Romulan rubbish.

 Addressing Atek ,her voice devoid of emotion,"Sir,Thank you ,but I really don't feel like a hero.The ones who paid with their lives are the ones who deserve the praise.

But as to approaching Gamma Two" she turns facing her engineering counterpart

Gian.these runabouts will float won't they?
And if we stand on top of it, might we be able to reach the hatch?.

If not,I'm a good climber,so Mac could boost me up.
 I could then lower a rope or a rope ladder so everyone else could come up.

And as to burning into the door why don't we just requisition another phaser ,just for that purpose?"

"Float? Technically, yes," Gian answers, straightening up as his fellow Ops-type addresses him, "but not remotely stable; a runabout's too top-heavy to remain upright without help. You could also conceivably submerge it, but it's not a stable underwater platform, either. I wouldn't recommend it."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Thu 25 Aug 2016.

In reply to Gian Seingalt (msg # 10):

She was happy to be finally be back to working
"What if we instructed the computer to simply have it maintain position and attitude.?
That would be a passive system and shouldn't activate Gamma Two's energy drain.
We could make it work couldn't we Gian?"

Gian could pick up a positive emotional attitude from his fellow Engineer.She was clearly enjoying the problem solving

"That close to the platform, who knows if even the electronic gyroscopes might trigger the towers defences."  She shakes her head, "And if the thing is surrounded by ice, I don't think we need to worry about floating.  I'd suggest landing on the ice at a 'safe' distance from the towers, and then walking to it, and carrying a ladder and any other equipment we need.   It's only 6 meters up after all."

Gian smiled reflexively as the wave of positive emotion passed over him.

"No, Gamma One was on ice; Gamma Two comes up out of the water," the engineer replies. "A lot of this depends on the sensitivity of the tower's defenses; it's conceivable a simple approach won't trigger the disruptive signal. If I had a little time to check the logs, I might be able to make a determination.

"That said, I take it the Thames' flight logs were already analyzed, hence the decision to go in with Type 15s, Mr. Atek?"

Atek clarifies. "Right Mr. Seingalt. Gamma One was in an ice field—Gamma Two is in open water. Ambient temperature 27° Celsius, water temperature 19° Celsius. If Two was in ice, you could just use a scaffold to get up. Very well, Lieutenants Kurasa and Seingalt, your plan is approved. One note—Gamma One had a supply of some sort of robot drones to tend to their subjects. They are a bit over 2 metres tall, cylindrical, with a sensor cluster atop and a pair of manipulators hidden behind access panels. One's drones were non-belligerent, but take no chances. Try not to provoke them," he says looking at Mac.


Hightopp chimes in, "Yes, the plan to go with the shuttlepods was predicated on the fact that they fit into the tower's elevator pads. With the runabouts, you have a lot more resources. If I may make an addition to Lt. Kurasa's plan, I suggest you take along a set of transport enhancers hooked up to an ODN waveguide cable so the ships can beam you out without tripping the tower's security protocols."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:01, Thu 25 Aug 2016.