From: JoGoodman2@aol.com Sent: Thursday, 1 April 2004 3:45 AM To: spectre-nrpg@freedom-squadron.com Cc: compiles@freedom-squadron.com Subject: Spectre Compile March 22-29 (pt1) Spectre Compile March 22-29 Mission: Unknown Country, Day 1 Stardate: 2406.05.10 (USS Spectre, Counselling Offices, AMB, Admiral Sh'Rok - 13.05) (USS Spectre, Counselling Offices, Kahila Lono - 13.05) (USS Spectre - Science lab 1 - CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 16:00) (Space: In orbit in an escape pod - TAC/SC Orde - 1601) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Agent Soval - 16:00) (place unknown, Kahila Lono, 16:10) (USS Spectre, Bridge, CO, Captain Remae - 16.10) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Agent Soval - 16.12) (USS Spectre, Bridge, CSO, Ensign Octan Maber - 16.15) (unknown place, Kahila Lono, 16:15) (Space: In orbit in an escape pod - TAC/SC Orde - 1615) (unknown place, Kahila Lono, 16:15) (Takresh Facility - Observation Block delta - Nith Sahor - 16:18) (USS Spectre, Bridge, CO, Captain Remae - 16.20) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 16.20) (USS Spectre - Ready Room - Agent Sovak - 16.42) (unknown place - CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 17:35) _______________________________________________ (USS Spectre, Counselling Offices, AMB, Admiral Sh'Rok - 13.05) "Thank you for seeing me, Commander Lono.", said the Vulcan, entering the offices of the Counsellor. An alien concept to him, the Vulcan's had long since not required the services of psychologists. He headed for a chair in the far corner, his cane clicking along as he walked as slowly as any 189 year old Vulcan would do. As he came to sit, he placed a PADD on the table, it bore the research he had recently completed and that Tyrell had looked over with him. "Commander, my speciality in Exobiology has earned me a place on the Spectre. Our new area of space we'll be exploring has lot of possible lifeforms and as a precursor on all my missions of this nature; I've conducted an examination of your databanks. This will give you, at least something to go on regarding what you may encounter on your mission ahead." NRPG: Some of the aliens we could meet are listed on the Charter Pages (http://www.sfintel.com/command_html/charter_docs/charter.html) RPG: (Reply from Lono) "In addition, Commander. You may be interested to know that a number of independent, civilian and alien ships have been lost in this area, I am afraid I am at a loss to explain but I shall continue my investigations. Good day, Commander." Nodding serenely, Sh'Rok headed out the door and back to his research. He was also going to look at some open office space that could be used for him to setup his own exobiological area. (Reply from Lono) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre, Counselling Offices, Kahila Lono - 13.05) "Thank you for seeing me, Commander Lono.", said the Vulcan, entering the offices of the Counsellor. He headed for a chair in the far corner, his cane clicking along as he walked as slowly as any 189 year old Vulcan would do. As he came to sit, he placed a PADD on the table, it bore the research he had recently completed and that Tyrell had looked over with him. "Commander, my speciality in Exobiology has earned me a place on the Spectre. Our new area of space we'll be exploring has lot of possible lifeforms and as a precursor on all my missions of this nature; I've conducted an examination of your databanks. This will give you, at least something to go on regarding what you may encounter on your mission ahead." Kahila took the PADD, scrolled down quickly, taking in the headings and underlined sections. "Colonies of Brikar residing in two separate systems at the edge of the area; myths of the Dazsan point to a lost colony. A damaged merchant ship reported finding a race of pre-industrial nomads. An ancient habitat filled with biotech relics was found, then lost." She put the PADD down. "I'll read through more carefully later. But it seems more than enough to keep our Science Department and your Exobiology office productively busy." "In addition, Commander. You may be interested to know that a number of independent, civilian and alien ships have been lost in this area, I am afraid I am at a loss to explain but I shall continue my investigations. Kahila's expression turned solemn. "Why does this sort of thing always interrupt real science and exploration? I appreciate your update, Ambassador." "Good day, Commander." Nodding serenely, Sh'Rok headed out the door and back to his research. ~Ah, leave it to a Vulcan not to be unduly alarmed,~ Kahila smiled, picked up the PADD, and became absorbed in more detailed reading. (posted by Josephine Goodman) <> (USS Spectre - Science lab 1 - CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 16:00) =^=Standby on the phase cloak, we'll have to transfer power on my mark. Engage the cloak =^= Octan listened to the feed coming from the bridge. He was impressed with Tyrell. Innovative idea by the young Science Officer. Suddenly everything seemed to slow as the cloak was engaged. It was the weirdest feeling... Octan thought he could actually see bits of the planet passing in front of and through him! ~I guess when they said shore leave, they were serious,~ he thought with a wry smile. Most of the ship had felt it odd that he didn't actually leave the Spectre at Geneva, but Octan had had enough of space stations. He didn't want to be back on one after only a few days on the Spectre, so he stayed on board, familiarising himself with his new task as CSO. He definitely wasn't born to it, being trained more as a 'Jack of all trades', although in his case, 'Master of none' certainly didn't apply! Suddenly, a jolt brought Octan back to the present. It was so hard that it knocked him of his feet and clean across the room. "Computer! What the hell was that!?" he exlaimed. "The Spectre has settled on the planet's surface," the computer replied in it's characteristic monotone. "What! Again!" Octan screamed in disbelief. "Oh, and I would hardly call that settled!" He stood up and proceeded to brush himself off when something caught his eye. A small white dome had appeared in the room. It was hovering about 2 metres from him. Octan had the distinct feeling that it was watching him. Instinctively his hand went to his side, reaching for the phaser he always carried. It wasn't there! All he could feel as the empty clip to which it should be attached. ~It must've been knocked off when I fell,~ he thought, keeping a cautious eye on the dome while searching the room. A glint of metal revealed the weapon's location, and it couldn't have been worse. It was exactly opposite him, on the other side of the hovering device. Octan made a tentative step towards the white dome. Noticing no movement, he advanced even further. Suddenly, small projectiles shot forth from the dome. Instinct took over. Octan dove to his right, turning his body in the air as he did so. Several projectiles narrowly missed him, one slicing through his uniform. Landing heavily on the ground, he rolled further away from the dome, only to jump up and somersault straight over it, grabbing his phaser on the other side. Coming to a stop he crouched down, aimed his phaser and fired. It hit a force field! Quickly, he changed to a more lethal setting and fired again.The force field held as more projectiles fired from the dome. Reacting, Octan fell down, hugging the floor as closely as possible, but it was unnecessary. The projectiles hit the same forcefield and dropped harmlessly to the floor. "Computer, analyse forcefield," Octan breathed heavily. "Forcefield is of strength level 10." "Where did it come from?" "Forcefield was ordered by Agent Soval." "Lower it", Octan ordered. He was going to be damned if he was going to be saved by Soval! A slight shimmer indicated the lowering of the forcefield. Octan wasted not time in blowing the dome to smithereens. (NRPG: Unbeknownst (wow, big word!) to him, the computer had misinterpreted Octan and lowered the forcefield around ALL the objects. Should make for some fun around the ship :)) RPG: Satisfied, he left the lab and made his way to the bridge. (USS Spectre - Bridge - CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 16:15) Octan stepped onto the bridge into a scene of chaos. People were rushing all over the place, tending to wounded. Almost all had been injured by the ship 'settling'. Octan though it strange that none were hurt by the 'dome projectiles'. None that he could see anyway. He had encountered quite a few of the domes along the way and had great pleasure in shooting all of them. Disappointingly, he noticed none were left on the bridge. Curiously, there also seemed to be very few people on the bridge... Probably all been taken to sickbay. Noticing the Captain, Octan crossed over to him. "Anything I can do, Sir?" he asked. (Reply from Remae, Any) (Posted by Arnaud Malherbe) <> (Space: In orbit in an escape pod - TAC/SC Orde - 1601) Pierce cursed quietly... of all the things to happen, his pod just happened to have made a stable orbit. ~Not exactly what I'd prefer,~ he thought ruefully. ~Zipping through the planet with the cloak on sounds good right about now.~ Looking over at his podmates (a bonnie lass from Science and one of the medical technicians), he sighed. He remembered what the last thing the captain had asked him -- what had happened to Kahlia -- and still didn't know. ~Well, let's pray I can broadcast hard enough for her to feel me.~ Concentrating hard, he took all of his concern for Kahlia and sent it through the link he had with her, saturating it... hoping that some of it would bounce back, almost like a sonar. (Reply Kahlia) (posted by Lenox) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Agent Soval - 16:00) "Standby on the phase cloak, we'll have to transfer power. on my mark.", said Remae as he sat back down on his chair. In this time, they had also been monitoring events in orbit, Captain's Lee had been battling the alien ships, and they would have to worry about that later. "Engage the cloak.", he said as the surface welcomed the Spectre with its flatness. The Spectre disappeared but from the Bridge, the surface appeared and then disappeared from the viewscreen as the ship entered the upper layers of the planet's surface, soon after passing through the core, she headed out of the other side. Like a giant pendulum, the ship had slowed down a great deal since passing through the core and when she finally emerged from the other side; she was hardly moving at all. Just on cue, the cloak failed, the Rear Drive Coil Assembly failed and impulse power went offline and the ship fell onto the surface with a satisfying thud. Luckily, she didn't fall far and the hull took the impact well, all things considered. Sovals’ eyebrow rose in unsuppressed surprise as he monitored the internal sensor display intending to provide a damage report, as he turned to face the location of the anomaly he drew his phaser aiming at the device that was ocupying the position where Kahila had stood before dissappearing. As he scrutinised the device he considered several possible theories for the molecular exchange, which had occurred while the Spectre was cloaked, curious as to whether the technology could be replicated for use by the Federation. It appeared to be a unadorned white dome hovering in the location occupied moments before, a blue light appeared to progress around the circumference of the dome however he could discern nothing substantial to indicate the devices purpose. Suddenly the device emitted approximately 18 small objects from around its circumference, as Soval swiftly shifted his upper body position to evade the object travelling towards him he examined the diminutive item. It seemed to be a triple pronged dart with no discernable components however upon impact with the computer terminal behind Soval both the dart and a section of the consol disappeared with no perceivable transporter harmonic. While he fired at the device Soval observed that when two darts impacted with crewmembers they like the consol disappeared however were replaced by two further drones. His attention returned to the original drone as the phaser beam impacted its surface producing no visible effect though the drone discharged 18 more darts in concert with the two new drones. “Computer erect a level 10 forcefield around the alien objects” Soval returned to his original position noticing that several more objects had appeared throughout the ship, however those on deck 15 were moving towards stellar cartography and were substantially larger than the other objects. Motion to his side caused Soval to return his attention to the bridge, shortly before a further series of darts penetrated the forcefields narrowly missing his position. ~Fascinating~ (reply any) (posted by John) (place unknown, Kahila Lono, 16:10) At first Kahila's place of confinement had been completely dark, then enough light seeped through the barriers to create a hint of grey, like Earth's early pre-dawn. Kahila sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded on each side by deep grey sheets of energy. She'd tried cautiously touching them, but received enough of a shock that she quickly backed away. She'd taken a few minutes to meditate and quiet her fears, and could now objectively assess her surroundings. Unfortunately, there was nothing to give her any information. The energy barriers seemed also to block her empathy sense, as she detected nothing. Of course, another explanation was that she was completely alone- wherever she was. Suddenly a white sphere appeared near her head. It hadn't come through the barriers, but teleported. A smaller sphere detached from it; and though Kahila tried to fight it off, it attached to the side of her head. Then it felt like something was burrowing a tunnel into her brain. Memories began to seep from her, at first slowly, then more rapidly, blurring into a stream, like water-colors mixed and poured through a drain. She watched them pass, but could do nothing to stop them. She wondered if there would be nothing left to her, when it finished. When the process ended, the small sphere detached from her head, rejoined the larger one, then they both blinked out of sight. Kahila lay dazed for an unmeasured time, then she pushed herself into a meditative state, where she watched her memories fall slowly back into place. She felt enormous relief that they'd only been copied, not stolen. ~But what was all that for? It's reminiscent of Borg technology, but transfer rather than assimilation.~ A little while later, she heard whispers from beyond the barrier. She crawled closer to the edge of her enclosed space, then shouted, "Is anyone there? Can you hear me?" Reply any captives, captors posted by Josephine Goodman <> (USS Spectre, Bridge, CO, Captain Remae - 16.10) The domes were firing their darts in all directions, several of the crew had disappeared and Remae was doing his best to dodge and weave from the flying impacts, he was unarmed and was trying to get to his chair to get a phaser. "Computer erect a level 10 forcefield around the alien objects." Shimmering, the fields went up around the devices. Remae adjusted his freshly collected phaser and reconfigured it to match the frequency of the Spectre's field generator and fired, helping to destroy all remaining devices on the Bridge. Looking around, Remae stood up just as the CSO appeared on the Bridge. "Anything I can do, Sir?" he asked as he approached the CO's position. "Duck!", said Remae as yet more devices appeared on the Bridge and began shooting more darts. Remae returned fire, "Soval, cover Maber. get the shields up Ensign - now!", he said, rolling around once more as he first on anything that looked like a device, hitting more than his fair share of computer terminals. A pause for a moment as the darts reset, Remae grabbed a tricorder and waited until the right moment. he tossed it towards the domes just as they shot their round, one dart impacted the tricorder and it disappeared. Remae resumed firing along with anyone else on the Bridge and after a long moment, it was clear that nothing else was firing at them. "Report?", he said to Soval and Maber as he holstered his phaser. (Reply from Soval, Maber, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) <> (USS Spectre - Bridge - Agent Soval - 16.12) Soval adjusted his phaser to compensate for the Spectres forcefield as well as increasing the setting before firing again, however was surprised when the forcefields suddenly dissipated a few seconds later. "Computer please specify justification for loss of forcefield" [Forcefields lowered by CSO Maber] "Countermand order, reinitialise forcefields authorisation Soval gamma-alpha-five-two" [Unable to comply, primary command processors offline ... secondary systems have suffered significant damage unable to re-route] Soval continued to fire at the devices as they appeared helping to destroy all remaining devices on the Bridge. "Soval, cover Maber. get the shields up Ensign - now!" Upon hearing the second order, the CSO deliberately rolled away from Soval, making it impossible for the agent to cover him. ~An illogical individual~ Soval continued to fire in an attempt to achieve his instructions however the ensigns new position made the objective considerably difficult to achieve. A pause for a moment as the darts reset, the Captain collected a tricorder and waited until the right moment. he tossed it towards the domes just as they shot their round, one dart impacted the tricorder and it disappeared. Soval resumed firing along with those remaining on the Bridge and after a long moment, it was clear that nothing else was firing at them. "Report?", he said to Soval and Maber as he holstered his phaser. Alongside him, Remae resumed firing along with anyone else on the Bridge and after a long moment, it was clear that nothing else was firing at them. "Report?", he said to Soval and Maber as he holstered his phaser. "Captain, we can contain the threat posed by these domes, but not indefinitely. We need to find out where they are coming from!" Soval moved towards the Captain as the CSO crossed to the science station "Computer, run a scan of the ship. Scan for these domes and try to trace where they are coming from." "Several projectile drones detected on all levels. Origin unknown," the computer replied. "Raise shields," Octan replied. "Unable to comply. Cannot raise shields while the ship is in contact with planetary surface." "Damn," Octan exclaimed. "Captain, we have to get off this planet if we are to do anything," Soval watched the CSOs obvious irritation as he began to speak however took no action with that regard, "Your statement is illogical ensign since these drones were not prevented from appearing within a forcefield and therefore would not be deterred by the ships shields. Logic therefore dictates we remain upon the planets surface where we are presently protected from the vessels engaged in combat and consequently are able to focus upon this one threat as apposed to dividing our resources. Furthermore the captain logically allowed the tricorder to be captured in order to track its movements therefore we will be able to determine a source from our present location." Soval turned to face the captain seeking conformation of his theory. (reply Remae) - room for more Soval waited until the captain had completed his instructions before approaching the CSO of the Spectre, so as to allow some privacy, "Ensign i must question your justification for your earlier actions. Your instruction to lower the forcefields was illogical given information available at that time and its imprecision resulted in the loss of a further twelve crewmembers as well as considerable damage to the ships systems. I am therefore curious as to what rationale you had for your actions?" (Reply from Remae, Maber, Any) (Posted by John Morrison) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------