The End of all things?
Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2019 @ 4:07pm by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Commander Liselle Qwyyn & Commander Sthilg & Consul Toran - Son of Thopok House of Thopak & Commander Arrianna Salannis an Vantar & Lieutenant Wynter & Lieutenant Ian Murphy & Ensign Kara Hoffman & Petty Officer 1st Class Kaywin-Li Fray
Mission:
Season 2: Episode 3: Determination is not always a good thing
Location: MD 7 - 05h00
3114 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure
05h00 and Phoenix was beaming down to a summit between the government and the Rebels.
She had to make it clear that the Federation was here to assist with relief operations and nothing more. She had lists of people wanting off the world due to the instability of the planet's surface and yet, science had yet to find out what was happening there. And she had yet to hear from the away team tracking down their lost Deltan crew member. Sighing she straightened her uniform and looked to the Chief of Intelligence and the Ambassador. "Gentlemen, shall we head down?"
"I would object captain but I doubt you will listen. So at this point as long as precautions are taken I do not see much of an issue. Though I doubt you will appreciate the precautions" Wynter said flatly.
She rolled her eyes at him. “I am sure,” she said as three security officers entered behind them. “We shall be fine. I am not here to create a government I am here to stop a war so we can get these people to safety if they want to go.”
==PLANETSIDE==
==Main Camp==
Jaeih moved between medical personnel as more patients were treated. She sighed, made a note on a PADD about medical supplies and headed for the main gates to see if the team had returned yet.
==Negotiating Room==
Counselor Jorath Kar was already arguing with Governor Jala Tarell at the table. The Governor was equally irate. "I do not understand why the Federation has nor arrested you yet. 'Counselor.'
"They have not because not everyone is on your payroll. Or should I tell them why our planet's crust is collapsing. Because you and your masters mined it!!! For one century you strip-mined our world, right out from under us, and your corrupt family, your corrupt masters used it to finance your careers." Jorath noted.
"Jorath, obviously you are in need of some mental health. I understand Betazed specializes in such things." Governor Tarell noted. "If you plead insanity, I will surely give you my support in your... recovery."
"You snake!! You lecherous bastard." Laila Hansen noted. "Enough Laila."
"Laila!!!" Jorath mentioned. "Wait outside." The woman nodded and left the room as Phoenix and her group walked up. Laila glared at Phoenix as she entered the room.
Phoenix returned the look blandly. She merely stopped with her team behind her and waited for the yelling to cease.
"I am not without compassion for your people, Counselor. They've heard so many conspiracy theories, I wonder if they even have a concept of reality." The Governor noted.
Jorath spoke again. "Our concept of reality is that our people are sinking into the mines the government allowed the Romulans, Klingons, and Cardassians to carve through our world for one hundred years. We see the proof around us. Your predecessors sold our soverignty for 'peace' for a hundred years."
The Governor smiled at Phoenix as she entered. "Ah, Captain. Good to see you. I'm Jala Tarell, A pleasure to meet you and you have the thanks of all of Qortic VI. Before we speak, would you kindly have this terrorist arrested? Good first impressions should not be marred with bad company."
"Understand Governor. I have ten thousand troops ready to seize the capital if I do not return." Jorath mentioned calmly, he was also exaggerating his strength.
Toran followed the captain in, moving to stand behind her and to the right. He could clearly see this was already going downhill rather quick and needed to be brought down a bit in tone. But the Ambassador didn't want to wade in just yet. Waiting for Captain Phoenix first.
“Gentlemen.” Phoenix said breaking in when she saw there was a point to do so. “Such a warm welcome. I am rather surprised you started without us after taking the trouble to invite us. I am Captain Lalor, and this is Ambassador Toran and Lieutenant Wynter, my chief of Intelligence.” She introduced them.
"I am Jorath Karr. Leader of the Qortic Independence Party. And Jala has already introduced herself and started flattering you when you arrived. I will not mince words, the Federation government here is decadent and corrupt."
"Don't you mean Qortic Terrorist Movement? Captain this man is promoting treason against the United Federation of Planets by staging and armed insurgency against peaceful Federation Citizens."
"Let's talk about Treason and Terrorism, Jala. On the surface you pretend to be 'Federation Citizens' but in reality you hire Nausicaan mercenaries to harass your political opponents. That's how the same incumbents get re-elected on this planet. If the ballots from the last election were recounted by the Federation courts, you'd be in a cell heading for earth. But that's not why were here Jala. Our people are going to die if we do not tolerate each other. But I dare not tell my people to board a transport that may go anywhere."
Phoenix looked at her ambassador. And raisdd a slim eyebrow at him. "Ambassador?"
The Klingon had been listening and was to put it frankly not impressed so far. This all at least fell in line with what he had picked up so far. "Legal accusations are counter productive at the moment, and not under our operational mandate... What I can tell you from experience is that situations like this... at least in the Federation very rarely crop up for no reason.. Simply put captain, Federation citizens don't generally get up in the morning and decide to over throw functioning governments."
While that wasn't a flat out statement of siding with one side or the other, it was a clear statement of not believing everyone. "So perhaps while we work on the immediate issue at hand. That is to say the safety of the colonists, some one should indeed look at any evidence the two sides of the disagreement have." This was half bluff and half serious. He knew from experience that many side of a augment would panic of cave under the mere threat of scrutiny.
"We wouldn't have to evacuate if Governor Tarell's grandfather. Did not sell our mineral resources right our from under the Federation to the Klingon Empire." Jorarh looked at the ambassador in the eye. "But unlike Tarell's government. We care for our people. My people will assist in the evacuation. Then... we will find a new world for a colony without the Federation or anyone ruling us. And if this woman or her family even contemplates coming near us again, we will have her shot and declare war on the Federation."
Toran at least respected the upfront statement of the matter. "All of those actions are clearly within your rights. I would be more then willing to take a look at the mineral rights agreement. And I reassure you My office will be looking into the colonies dealings thoroughly." He leaned to talk with the Captain, quite then before but not really trying to hide any of his comments. "While I'm not totally convinced the mining is the ultimate cause of this crisis, I am willing to bet a large sum of money that any Klingon mining operation taking place outside the boarders of the Empire are Ignoring the safety rules that are in place... Mostly like looking at Praxis levels of reckless operations."
The Governor was not going to back down. "That simply will not do, Ambassador. If you won't defend us from these terrorists, then I will simply find those who will. I wonder if there is another power out there who will defend Qortic from its enemies if the Federation won't act."
Jorath got in Jala's face. "You would sell us out again, in front of everyone now."
Jala smiled. "Ah my dear Jorath. You don't think... what... the 'people' control their destinies. The people would all march single-file off a cliff if I let them. That is the difference between those who know how to build a nation, and those who live in it. You see, If my grandfather didn't make some arrangement with the Klingon Empire all those years ago, you would have grown up under Klingon rule." She tried to pat his head like a parent talking down to a child. Jorath grabbed her hand and pushed her away. This caused her guards to react, which in turn caused Jorath's guards to move in. "We had to placate the empire, it was a very different time, we were far from a Federation fleet, and we had something they wanted."
Jorath calmed his protectors. "Jala Tarell. You and your family truly are wretched cowards. I've fought in the Dominion War to know the horrors of conflict, but I finished it. If you ever harm my people again, there will be war. And I will make sure every world knows of this treachery. We will evacuate this world, and if you do anything at all to jeopardize my people. I will personally kill you. By the way, Jala. You might want to check up on those Nausicaan Mercenaries you hired to attack this summit."
Jala's eyes widened. "How did you know of that..."
"Because their dead, Governor." Jorath noted. "You thought I was gullible, that I would not have guessed what you would do?" Jorath looked at Phoenix. "Go and see these mercenaries for yourself, Captain. They should still have records of this woman's dealings on their bodies. I have to prepare my people for evacuation. It was interesting meeting you, Captain Lalor."
Wynter bit back a sigh as he watched the two leaders. He was afraid that this was going to end badly regardless of the ambassador's and kept a close watch on everyone.
Phoenix looked at the group. And then she hit her comm. "Lalor to Elysium crew. Evacuation of the populace is so ordered. All of people who want to leave are to be off this planet. We have 24 hours."
She looked at Jala and barely hid her contempt for the woman. "You may stay if you wish. I am not risking innocents in your private war. All who wish to leave, may. You may stay if you so wish."
She looked at Toran. "Ambassador, I want the recordings of this meeting broadcast to the Federation. Now."
Toran gave a nod. "Yes Captain, I'll go do that now I think a request for a arrest order reasonable, I'm going to go see what I can dig up about the mercenaries also."
"Good Idea" Phoenix said as she stepped between him and Wynter to beam out.
===USS Elysium Bridge ===
"Deep scan of the mantle and crust aren't really giving us much in the way of causes or solutions here. These aren't the sorts of phenomena you'd see from simple strip mining." Murphy opined, eyes moving from one display to the next. "Are we sure they weren't, I dunno, testing subspace weaponry in the mines or something? Because I haven't seen anything as fubar-ed as this planet's magnetosphere outside of Tholian space."
A coms came in from Lt. Commander Vantar's science team. "Vantar to Elysium. We are inside the tunnels now. It looks like these tunnels were excavated for a variety of reasons. Most are deep core mining shafts, others are for some kind of research purposes. We've found discarded Klingon, Cardassian, and Romulan equipment." The message was slightly distorted. "I need Lt. Murphy to run a seismological analysis on our tricorder readings. Subspace scans are not forthcoming. We'll need to use more traditional forms of science. I hypothesize we may be on the verge of a pole shift or another more disastrous outcome."
"Acknowledged," Liselle replied from the command chair. "Send us your readings and we'll get started straight away." She looked over to Murphy for confirmation that he had received the upload.
Murphy nodded slightly to Liselle, and accessed the tricorder data, having the computer truncate it with the data they'd already taken. "We'd need to deep-scan the planet's core to determine if a pole shift is imminent. We could do that with neutrino pulses, but that might destabilize the magnetosphere even more. Can we tell what sort of research they were doing down there? Like maybe they were running neutrino scans?"
Arrianna spoke into her combadges. "These passages are not easy to navigate. Some are caved in, and others are too damaged to traverse. Fasicinating." Arrianna noticed an old Klingon Tricorder. Circa twenty-third century. She opened it and began to examine it.... "They didn't..... Ian. The klingons didn't have to drill to reach the mantle." Arri noted. "There was already boreholes in the crust when this planet was being terraformed. This should not be unusual, releasing subsurface carbon dioxide was a common form of terraforming in the twenty-third century federation. After they were finished, they sealed the boreholes, but the Klingons reopened them and began using plasma injection to push heavy metals out of the core and to the crust. Just like on Rura Penthe. I found a Klingon Tricorder than contained a schematic for a plasma infuser just now."
"Alright, so they decided to strip mine the core using high-energy extrusion techniques. Taking out molten ore and injecting energy into the core." Murphy said, constructing a visual model of the planet on his screen. "The core of the planet is a rotating, molten mass of heavy metals that generate a toroidal magnetic field around the planet. If you extract the heavy metals that generate the field, but inject plasma... It's like giving someone blood thinners and medicines to increase their blood pressure and then puncturing a vein. Bloody squirt gun. The planet is bleeding magnetic energy."
"That's not even the worst part, Ian. That plasma is going to want to get out. And it will come out of volcanos, tectonic fissures, and other geological anomalies. That may explain why the crust is buckling. The plasma is forcing the tectonic plates to shuffle like human poker cards." Arrianna noted. "Once the plasma breaks through, It will ionize the entire atmosphere."
Arri spoke. "Elysium, we need to leave these tunnels. We're on our way back. Where's the Captain. I have need to meet with her immediately."
Because he was already on the line with Arri, Murphy responded, "Still in negotiations with the governor and the... rebels." Meanwhile, he crunched some numbers on ways to deal with the plasma beneath the surface of the planet. "I'm going to head down to the science holosuite, run some sims, and see if we can find some way to harness the plasma energy and vent it in a way that doesn't leave the planet a ticking time bomb."
"We'll wait for the good news," Liselle called after him. She wasn't exactly certain if what Murphy was hoping to do was going to be possible, but she certainly believed that if anyone could figure this out, they couldn't be in better hands between him and Arrianna.
Avalon appeared. "Commander, Communication from the captain. To be broadcast to every crew member"
[[ "Lalor to Elysium crew. Evacuation of the populace is so ordered. All of people who want to leave are to be off this planet. We have 24 hours."]]
Liselle rose from her chair. "Begin planetary evacuation protocols," she ordered Ops. "Have flight control begin shuttle rotations to the surface as soon as they are ready. Establish evacuation groups and prioritize transporters for those people furthest from landing sites."
===USS Elysium- Main Engineering===
Kara was at her Engineering station as usual. Today was a usual day, nothing out of the ordinary, Maintenance and inspection. She flicked her ponytail back onto her shoulder and she sat up from her chair. "Ensign colhane, status?" She said aloud.
A wiry man, with short tapered brown hair and large brown eyebrows with a tall stature responded from the above platform. "Everything seems fine, nothing out of the ordinary, as per the usual recently."
Kara nodded. "Excellent, ensure that the replicator on deck 12 is repaired post haste, We've had a few complaints, I don't want this to become a bigger problem than it is. Go there and ensure repairs are going to plan please."
He nodded "Aye ma'am will do." As the tall man tapped a few commands into the console he was at and left.
Kaylee stood above the warp core, looking down at it. Hearing Kara handing out orders, She moved over to the ladder down to the level below her and slid down, "Lieutenant, have you got something that needs fixing?"
Kara smiled as she saw Kaylee approaching from the ladder. "Actually yes, this would be a perfect opportunity for you to come with me. We need to do some plasma conduit testing and maintenance on deck 19. Grab a toolkit and come to me when your ready to go Officer Fray. I have a few calibration tests to finish on the warp core, should only take five minutes or so."
hurrying away almost at a run, Kaylee quickly returned with her engineering kit and stood next to Kara with a slight bounce of excitement, "so where to first?"
Kara tapped a few commands into the warp core console turning her head as Kaylee spoke. "Well first things first, we'll be heading to deck 19, to check the plasma conduits near the computer core. Then down to deck 21. Transport room 10, has been needin' some love, ready to go?" She asked, reaching under the console to take out her own Engineering toolkit.
Kaylee nodded with enthusiasm, "always ready to take care of the big girl. i'm sure she'll be grateful"
Kara smiled and lead the way out of Engineering towards the Turbolift at the end of the corridor. "Exactly. We take care of her, and she'll take care of us." Arriving at the turbolift she stood to the side to allow Kaylee in first. "After you, if you please."
stepping into the turbolift, Kaylee turned around and waited for Kara, "so, where are you from?"
Kara stepped into the turbolift afterward. "Deck 19." She turned to Kaylee and smiled. "I know my accent doesn't always come through, but i'm from aberdeen, scotland. What about yourself?"
===
Over the comms came the alert: [[ "Lalor to Elysium crew. Evacuation of the populace is so ordered. All of people who want to leave are to be off this planet. We have 24 hours."]]
Down on the planets makeshift medical relief center the gorn doctor had heard his comabdge and nooded. Looking over the list of tasks his team had to do he scratched his head. " Okay, everyone. Let'sss get the ememrgency wounded done within the next sssix hoursss. Ssstart moving the none life-threatening injuriesss up to the sssickbay. " He said calmly looking t his team.
OFF
