07-24-2024, 07:15 PM
== Catch-Up Post #3 ==
Materializing on the bridge of the Disreputable Damsel - a name that practically screamed piracy - Ktan found himself standing in the nerve center of an antique. Only one member of the crew appeared to be here, Heathridge, who was a human with graying hair and a scruffy demeanor. He introduced himself as a captain of the vessel and the sole occupant.
While Commander Jenson took care of the pleasantries, Ktan took out his tricorder and started scanning. The design of the bridge looked like something out of the 2200's, which beige coloring rather than gray, and duotronic circuitry that hadn't been used in modern starship design in decades. If he had been an engineer, the place would have fascinated him. As it was, Ktan was only concerned with how one man kept a bucket of bolts like this flying through space, and what kinds of modifications he must have made that would complicate their search.
As he and his fellow officers began their sweep of the bridge, Ktan kept to orders and didn't speak. This endeavor proved more difficult as Jenson's conversation with Captain Heathridge.
"Tell me, Commander," Heathridge said. "You and the Lieutenant here seem to have a healthy respect for the rules, so what unfortunate series of events transpired to get you assigned out here with a woman like Jennifer Braggins?"
For the second time that day, Ktan had to hide his amusement. It seemed that whatever Starfleet intended to keep quiet about the Philadelphia's last mission, word had gotten out.
As if on cue, Commander Braggins' voice came through Jenson's comms.
[Yeager to Jensen: Expedite your search, we have a change of mission. If you cannot complete your search, you will detain Captain Heathridge and pilot the Damsel to Starbase 214.]
The banter between the two men only escalated from there, with Jenson urging Ktan and the rest of the junior officers to hasten their search.
Ktan dutifully continued his scans, but not without divided attention. He was learning more about Braggins in this one conversation than he'd been able to find in weeks of casual research into his new captain.
"You can tell me all you like about Miss Braggins' heroics," Heathridge said, "but tell me, how does a black-ops operative get to where she is without violating Federation law? How many bodies are in closets, scandals swept under rugs, all because she was working for 'the good of the Federation'. People like her, or in positions very similar to hers, conspired to wipe the Krynar out. She was on the team that woke up the Borg Megasphere. Thousands of Starfleet officers were killed by the Borg because her amateurish plan backfired. Haven't you noticed how there's nothing in her personnel record prior to joining the Ticonderoga crew twelve years ago? How she got a "field commission" from her father and nobody at Starfleet Command even raised an eyebrow? Not to mention her recent interactions with the Tholians and the Cardassians. People like her should scare you, Commander. They're a sign that Starfleet is taking a dark turn. If I were you, I'd get out while I still could."
Gods above, Ktan thought. What kind of drama have I stepped into? And how does this man know so much and so specific information about our captain?
A chance encounter like this had to have been manufactured, and it rubbed Ktan entirely the wrong way.
In his distracted eavesdropping, Ktan didn't notice that a corridor had been opened behind his back. He'd barely registered the expanded search area before his fellow officers made a discovery.
Evidence that Heathridge had been hiding Talarian passengers, perhaps refugees of some kind, in hidden cargo areas.
Another mission frought with moral quandaries, and a captain at the helm that Ktan didn't trust at all. It was all his worst fears realized.
Realizing that it was now or never for him to actually contribute something of substance to the mission, Ktan began looking for signs of where the passengers could have gone - beginning with an old trick that had been used repeatedly by Starfleet in the past - the transporter buffers.
== And I'm back!
GM Input: Ktan is doing a general scan for hidden lifeforms and attempting to access the Damsel's transporter systems to see if any patterns are being held in statis. What does he find? ==
Materializing on the bridge of the Disreputable Damsel - a name that practically screamed piracy - Ktan found himself standing in the nerve center of an antique. Only one member of the crew appeared to be here, Heathridge, who was a human with graying hair and a scruffy demeanor. He introduced himself as a captain of the vessel and the sole occupant.
While Commander Jenson took care of the pleasantries, Ktan took out his tricorder and started scanning. The design of the bridge looked like something out of the 2200's, which beige coloring rather than gray, and duotronic circuitry that hadn't been used in modern starship design in decades. If he had been an engineer, the place would have fascinated him. As it was, Ktan was only concerned with how one man kept a bucket of bolts like this flying through space, and what kinds of modifications he must have made that would complicate their search.
As he and his fellow officers began their sweep of the bridge, Ktan kept to orders and didn't speak. This endeavor proved more difficult as Jenson's conversation with Captain Heathridge.
"Tell me, Commander," Heathridge said. "You and the Lieutenant here seem to have a healthy respect for the rules, so what unfortunate series of events transpired to get you assigned out here with a woman like Jennifer Braggins?"
For the second time that day, Ktan had to hide his amusement. It seemed that whatever Starfleet intended to keep quiet about the Philadelphia's last mission, word had gotten out.
As if on cue, Commander Braggins' voice came through Jenson's comms.
[Yeager to Jensen: Expedite your search, we have a change of mission. If you cannot complete your search, you will detain Captain Heathridge and pilot the Damsel to Starbase 214.]
The banter between the two men only escalated from there, with Jenson urging Ktan and the rest of the junior officers to hasten their search.
Ktan dutifully continued his scans, but not without divided attention. He was learning more about Braggins in this one conversation than he'd been able to find in weeks of casual research into his new captain.
"You can tell me all you like about Miss Braggins' heroics," Heathridge said, "but tell me, how does a black-ops operative get to where she is without violating Federation law? How many bodies are in closets, scandals swept under rugs, all because she was working for 'the good of the Federation'. People like her, or in positions very similar to hers, conspired to wipe the Krynar out. She was on the team that woke up the Borg Megasphere. Thousands of Starfleet officers were killed by the Borg because her amateurish plan backfired. Haven't you noticed how there's nothing in her personnel record prior to joining the Ticonderoga crew twelve years ago? How she got a "field commission" from her father and nobody at Starfleet Command even raised an eyebrow? Not to mention her recent interactions with the Tholians and the Cardassians. People like her should scare you, Commander. They're a sign that Starfleet is taking a dark turn. If I were you, I'd get out while I still could."
Gods above, Ktan thought. What kind of drama have I stepped into? And how does this man know so much and so specific information about our captain?
A chance encounter like this had to have been manufactured, and it rubbed Ktan entirely the wrong way.
In his distracted eavesdropping, Ktan didn't notice that a corridor had been opened behind his back. He'd barely registered the expanded search area before his fellow officers made a discovery.
Evidence that Heathridge had been hiding Talarian passengers, perhaps refugees of some kind, in hidden cargo areas.
Another mission frought with moral quandaries, and a captain at the helm that Ktan didn't trust at all. It was all his worst fears realized.
Realizing that it was now or never for him to actually contribute something of substance to the mission, Ktan began looking for signs of where the passengers could have gone - beginning with an old trick that had been used repeatedly by Starfleet in the past - the transporter buffers.
== And I'm back!
GM Input: Ktan is doing a general scan for hidden lifeforms and attempting to access the Damsel's transporter systems to see if any patterns are being held in statis. What does he find? ==