Sebastian turned and looked at the Romulan, "Well, yes, we are definitely skirting the line, but given what I've heard of the last time this technology was seen in action, I'm of the opinion it's a necessity to try and keep these people alive. Otherwise, the Prime Directive won't really matter, will it?"

"But if we can't find the source of that signal, none of this will really matter," he says as he turns back to his controls and starts scanning for the signal.

Scanning for signal source, barely succeeded (15, 16, 18 with TN of 16)
Add 1 Threat for an extra die

21:53, Today: Sebastian Wright rolled 49 using 3d20 with rolls of 15,16,18.  Reason+Science: 16, Diff: 2 - Scan for signal source.

This is Sebastian's first encounter with the subspace interference signal and despite being properly briefed experiencing it first hand put the reports in context. The sheer amount of energy being pumped just beneath the surface of reality was causing interference across nearly all spectrums and because the power of the device cycled similar to alternating current an operator had to constantly adjust the tricorder to compensate. Even still a person was lucky to get a clean reading for a few seconds before the signal would shift and the tricorder would be bombarded with junk data once again.

Fiddling with his tricorder Sebastian was able to briefly get a clean scan and pinpoint the source of the signal. Cross referencing it with topological maps stored on file revealed a canyon four kilometers away that seems to be the strongest source of the alien signal. Presumably if the layout is similar to Signus there would be an entrance to the control ruins down there.

A female Caitan engineer moves over to stand behind Sebastian reading the data over his shoulder.  "This is the data from the device?" She asked curiously as she tries to get a good reading on what exactly it is transmitting before the signal once again degrades into a collection of little more than static on the instrument.

04:22, Today: Felician Keener rolled 15 using 2d20 with rolls of 13,2.  Reason + Science, to study the data before its gone. .1 sucess

As far as the group can tell it appears the signal is identical to the one from Signi however the effects are quite different. On Signi the signal was continually building up to the point it threatened a tear in space-time but here the signal appears to be discharging on its own. It builds up and then discharges which seems to correspond to tectonic movements.

The away team follows the signal Sebastian had isolated to the ravine. The trees thin out revealing a sharp jagged cliff face. Initial scans show that this was not the result of natural erosion from wind or water but instead the ground itself seemed to have been cracked and then water naturally accumulated at the bottom forming a shallow lake. Embedded into the side of cliff in a shallow alcove is a closed blast door, the same as was seen on Signi. Its isolated location will make accessing it difficult and this time the door is already closed. Getting inside an impenetrable bunker will be another challenge.

Before the away team can begin to tackle the problem they hear the whirl of helicopter rotors approaching rapidly. Spotlights start illuminating the area, sweeping back and forth. They seem at first localized around where the shuttle had landed but quickly spread out from there and before the away team can get back to the cover of the woods a spotlight shines directly onto them.

"Stop where you are! This is the police!"

The nearest city is called Chiva, the capital of the nation of Eceria, one of the more prosperous nations on Orgun III. The away teams cosmetic disguise should hold up to routine questioning by local law enforcement. The away team doesn't have to worry about a possible prime directive breach until things move into medical procedures or DNA profiles.

Overall while the various nations have slightly different customs and legal systems in general law enforcement is very humane. Prisoners are given fair trials, access to attorneys and law libraries and the use of torture is practically unheard of. The Lamari, the lemur-like species inhabiting Orgun III, experience quite low crime rates so overall the police are viewed more as public servants than brutal enforcers.

In reply to Universe (msg # 27):

The Captain paced across the bridge, as he waited for more information to come in. He knew the away team would need time to gather information. Engineering needed time to fix the sensor array and analyze the data.

Still, he could see the concern in the eyes of the bridge crew and decided to address the crew.


"Tactical,  open ship wide comms."


John breathed deeply ad spoke


"All hands, this is your captain. We are currently faced with a mystery and one wit dire consequences. The Planet below is experiencing unnatural seismic phenomenon that could bring catastrophic damage to the planet. Also,  a Pre-Warp civilization may be threatened with extinction.

This is not a simple problem and we will not stumble into a simple solution.

But, all of you are Starfleet. Every single one of you is among the best and brightest. We will overcome technical difficulties, collect and analyze the data and bring our enormous resources to bear in executing a solution.

Know this, our most vital resource is you, the crew. This ship is a technological marvel, but it is the crew that gets the job done.

 We carry the weight of a world on our collective shoulders, and yet this is what we have trained for.

We all have long hours and hard work and difficult decisions ahead...but I trust this crew to come through yet again.

Garrity, out"

OOC: trying to put some momentum in the pool

Presence 10 + Command 4 = 14


11:41, Today: John Garrity rolled 19 using 2d20 with rolls of 11,8.  Inspire .

Petroka smirked as they were caught rather quickly by the police. "So Federation, what do your precious rules say to do in circumstances like these?" She asked under her breath as the native law enforcement fanned out around them. "Does the Prime Directive still apply?"

In reply to Cmdr. Petroka (msg # 29):

"Unfortunately it does Commander...but I don't think it is going to matter if these officers get a close look at us. Our disguises won't stand up to the kind of close scrutiny they will subject us to."

Hissing the response shoulder to shoulder with Commander Petroka, Delphina eyes the force arrayed against them.

"Perhaps we should try a wide stun? Minimal impact on the species..."

One of the security crewman shifts at Delphina's comment.

"Do you really think they're going to do medical tests on us? We don't even know why they are arresting us."

The natives did not appear to posses the technology needed to penetrate the masking around the shuttle or the ship and by all accounts their society had a very strict code of ethics law enforcement had to follow. Charges had to be stated, those arrested had immediate rights to legal counsel etc.

In reply to Universe (msg # 31):

"Well Just playing devil's advocate here commander, but that bunker looks an awful lot like a high security military base to me and I am just a doctor. That may change the calculus of the legal rights equation here...another factor is time. Do we really have time to risk getting entangled in a potentially slow local legal process even if they don't do tests. Then again...federation bases have brigs inside them. Letting them capture us could potentially get us passed that big honking door."


The Denobrian shrugs her shoulders faintly as she leaves command choices to the commanders...

"The Prime Directive will be well and truly broken in the event of any serious medical examination, Petty Officer. Were I a Starfleet officer I would now be weighing that against the continuing of this mission or stunning these natives and leaving this area," the Commander said, sotto voce as she looked around the area.

In reply to Cmdr. Petroka (msg # 33):

"I know ma'am. I think the natives believe we are trespassing near some kind of sensitive government facility. As potential enemies of the state our legal rights status is iffy and the chance they will draw blood or perhaps just use xray or similar scans on us for security reasons is greatly increased. Scans to detect weapons and espionage equipment hidden on us could provide enough medical information to set off suspicions. I recommend we attempt to avoid capture at this juncture. We could always ask them what they plan then stun them."

Delphine whispers back and gets carefully ready to draw on the guards...

The helicopter circles for a second and then lands near the ravine. The pilot stays in the helicopter but two other officers step out. They don't appear to be armed and instead are waving the away team forwards toward them.

"You are in a restricted zone! Please come with us for questioning."

The helicopter definitely wouldn't fit the entire team which would mean they are probably calling in some ground vehicles for transportation. From the briefing the natives have rather ostentatious displays for ranks and authority so it appears that none of the officers present are ranking members.

Felician looks nervously at the others and gently chewed on her lip as they were ordered to come along with the military personnel.  This wasn't good, for a second she wished that they had been able to stun the officers but knew that wasn't an option especially with the helicopters above them.

Ylis peered out from her surgically-altered disguise and glanced at the two waving them to approach.  Plus a third in the helo.  Only three, with reinforcements on the way - probably via ground - and an unknown timeframe distant.

For a moment, she waited for an officer to tell her what to do.

I am an officer, now, she realized, a cold chill running up her spine.

She glanced to Sebastian as her furred hand dipped into the pouch that contained her phaser.

Petroka decided the indecision of these Federation officers (how were they a potent military force?) had wasted enough of their time. If they were captured the cosmetic surgery would not keep them from being discovered and evidence of alien races would not be good for any involved.

She moved strikingly fast and pulled out her phaser (she would much rather use her disruptor but killing them would make things worse) which was set on stun and fired on the guards.

OOC: Alright then. Roll initiative and declare your actions!

In reply to Universe (msg # 39):

Well that was the sound of excrement hitting the rotary air impeller alright. Phaser Fire opened up and training kicked in. Delphina was more at home in the medical bay but she was not a stranger to fire fights either.

She had already thumbed her phaser to a wide stun setting while she was making her suggestion to the Commander. So when she yanked it out and pointed it at a cluster of guards it produced a fan of energy instead of a single beam.

OOC: not sure on rolls especially with the odd setting.

In reply to Chief Petty Officer Delphina (msg # 40):

Aldershot was caught by surprise when phasers began being drawn. His mind raced, he felt that this was not the Starfleet way to handle the situation. He also knew it would probably be an efficient method of handling the security forces. He just knew that a court martial was coming.

With his mind racing as he quickly drew his phaser, his first shot was not well aimed.

OOC:

I don’t know if this is helpful, but I’m spelling out what I am doing to help folks less familiar with t system see how it works. I apologize if this is just crowding the post.

Actiony Actions are nearly always Daring (10) and shooting is Security (4). So I want to roll under 14.

This is the start of something that could quickly go sideways, but it hasn’t yet so I will not use meta currency.

But if I wanted to, I could’ve used Momentum from the common pool. Or added dice to my roll by adding Threat Dice to the GM’s pool.

It has been my experience, that threat dice are fun and usually make the game more dramatic but not super deadly. So in games where I’m familiar with folks, I use threat dice frequently. But, I know some folks freak out at adding a meta currency that will he used against us later. So, I’m going to be more cautious here than usual.


13:25, Today: Crewman Aldershot rolled 37 using 2d20 with rolls of 20,17.  Daring + Security (14).

So while The Universe will  Adjudicate  the specifics of the outcome, you can tell neither of the rolls were successful.

Felician drew her phaser hesistantly and took aim at the nearest officer.  "Please drop your weapon and surrender." she stated half heartedly knowing that the situtation is most likely already beyond salvation before firing with the phaser on stun at one of the nearby guards.

16:19, Today: Felician Keener rolled 18 using 2d20 with rolls of 17,1.  Sec + daring.
(2 sucesses?)

16:22, Today: Felician Keener rolled 20 using 6d6 with rolls of 6,4,6,1,2,1.  phaser.

Aldershot raises his phaser and fires a stun beam at the approaching officers but the natives have remarkable reflexes, diving for cover even as Aldershot fires. The beam goes between them.

The officers are scrambling for weapons, pulling out nonlethal tasers in response.

"Put the weapon down! This is the police! Killing us isn't going to solve anything!"

OOC: Officer #1 is now in cover and the crew has lost the element of surprise. As a complication due to their superior reflexes ranged attacks will be at +1 difficulty

Felician draws her phaser and stuns the second officer, knocking him unconscious.

The pilot starts warming up the helicopter rotor and seems to be speaking into his headset.

---

Combat Tracker

Active:
Aldershot -
Officer #1 - In Cover
Felician Keeper
Pilot
-->Starfleet
Starfleet
Starfleet
Starfleet
Starfleet


Yet to Act (not in any order):
Delphina
Petroka
Sebastian Wright
Ylis
T'Saen

---

Momentum: 0
Threat: 14


Agile Reflexes - Ranged attacks are at +1 difficulty against Officer #1
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:34, Sun 26 Jan 2020.

OOC: 21:43, Today: Chief Petty Officer Delphina rolled 11 using 2d20 with rolls of 9,2.  Vs DC 12 Ranged Attack.

So Success even against the higher difficulty right?

Phaser Stun Damage- 21:47, Today: Chief Petty Officer Delphina rolled 19 using 6d6 ((6,6,1,1,2,3)).

<bzzzt> another phaser clips the officer and he flies out sprawling onto the ground unconscious.

---

The pilot is protected by the helicopter he is piloting. A phaser shot could disable the helicopter completely but could be viewed as a direct violation of the Prime Directive. Even with witnesses and potential video recording all the Lormeans have is a couple of unconscious officers and an unknown weapon. While bad it wouldn't be definitive proof of alien contact and could be plausibly dismissed. If the helicopter was damaged to the point of inoperability they would be able to study the damage, calculate energy outputs and realize the technology was not possible given their current technology.

It would be as if a WWII soldier went back to the middle ages. If he just knocked a couple guys out with his rifle people might think he was just strangely dressed with a weird club but as soon as he started shooting it off people would realize something was wrong.

Then again unless the ancient device was disabled there was a good chance the subspace signal would trigger a complete annihilation of the Lormean civilization and so the long term ramifications of violating the Prime Directive would be limited. Historically Starfleet tends to be lenient towards Captains who breach the Directive in pursuit of noble causes.

On the flip side if someone was fast enough they might be able to sprint the distance and grab hold of the helicopter before the pilot could take off again. It would have to be a fast sprint (Fitness + Security vs. Difficulty 4) but it could be possible to get close and disable the pilot before he escapes.

---

Combat Tracker


Active:
Aldershot -
Officer #1 - In Cover
Felician Keeper
Pilot
Delphina
-->Starfleet
Starfleet
Starfleet
Starfleet


Yet to Act (not in any order):
Delphina
Petroka
Sebastian Wright
Ylis
T'Saen

---

Momentum: 0
Threat: 14

Moving swiftly T'saen is able to reach the helicopter before it takes off. She and the pilot struggle for a bit but she keeps him grounded long enough for Ylis to run up and stun him.

Now the away team has a local helicopter and three unconscious officers to deal with.

OOC: Spinning on a bit...

The team is able to neutralize the officers with minimal impact to the Prime Directive. Turning their attention back to the ruins the team is confronted with the obstacle that the door is currently shut. Without any way to access the controls from the outside one of the engineers has the idea to try using the signals and codes they learned from the previous site and sends out a signal that roughly translates to "OPEN" in the alien language. Sure enough there is a giant rumble and the door begins to open.

The interior is very familiar compared to the late ruin they explored only this one doesn't have colonists building out ramps, ladders, lifts and staircases. It takes the better part of an hour to carefully descend through the vertical chambers and end up at the control junction.

As soon as the team gets close it is very apparent something is wrong. Giant pulses of energy arc out of the room and a quick peek inside shows the control consoles have been blasted apart and the central obelisk is cracked. It no longer seem to be able to contain the energy being pumped inside of it so is discharging it into the surrounding room.

These pulses seem to correspond to seismic activity and this malfunctioning control site seems to be the reason behind the rise in earthquakes the natives are experiencing.