AQ/D01 - Bridge

[Daniel Brooks]

==See wiki Page for Layout==

[Keval ch'Alev]

Keval had been taking shore leave away from the ship and DS9, he had found a place for some quiet meditation and found it best to get himself back into the zone so to speak.

He arrived on the Bridge much to the surprise of the more skeleton crew who were knocking around the Bridge, in his hand was a PADD. Going around to the Tactical Station Keval wanted to make sure the updates on the system were correct. As he was checking them a officer looked up from the comms station.

"Commander we have a priority one call coming in for the Captain." said the officer with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Keval looked at the officer, "You new to the Aquila?" he asked, the officer went a little red faced. 

"Yes sir." he replied more quietly.

The Andorian walked down to the Command chair and sat down, looking at the armrest he opened the comms

"Aquila to Captain Brooks, your presents is required back here immediatly you have a message incoming from star fleet command prority one. Would you like it sent to you where you are Captain?"

[Brooks to Aquila, no, beam me back over and I will take it in the Observation Lounge and ch'Alev issue a crew recall, give everyone one hour to get back aboard. Brooks out.]

The channel closed,

ch'Alev looked at the officers around him who seem to be busy carrying on with what ever they were doing which made life easy.

Opening comms he said, "Aquila to all crew, this is your recall, one hour." he shut the channel and stood up from the Command chair,

No time like the present

Keval moved over to the helm chair and placed a little black box on it with a solid gold pip for Coppola when he returned. ch'Alev had cleared it with the Captain.

The Andorian moved up to Tactical to get his department ready to go.

==Tags and esp Coppola==

[Cologero Coppola]

Shoreleave was nothing short of amazing, he had a lot of fun while getting closer to the crew. As he entered the Bridge, the only person he seen in the room was ch'Alev. For some reason he didn't see him while on leave, leaving Cologero wondering where he was. If ch'Alev wanted to tell Cologero he would, but if not it's rude to pry.

"Commander good to see you again, was your leave as good as mine?" He asked while going to the helm, he wasn't activating the Engins just looking over the systems. They deserved a bit of a calibration while the system checks were going on, hopefully they won't be sluggish when it counts the most. 

Cologero was ready for anything that would come their way, a quick prayer before he left quarters was his blessing to the ship. "Commander while we are waiting I was wondering if you had some wisdom to share about advancement, I am not in a hurry for it I just like to have a better understanding." The best people to ask are the people most experienced in thefeild.

==Tag ch'Alev ==

[Carley Young]

After getting ready in her quarters Carley had on a clean uniform, and remembered how odd it felt switching from her civilian clothes. The materials always felt different, with a slight irritation. As she crossed from the turbo lift to the Bridge, Carley noticed there were only two people there. Eventually more people will come, it was still early. 

“Gentlemen.” Carley said as she headed to the science station, she wasn’t sure why she had the urge to go to the Bridge, most times she wasn’t sure why content on going to the Science Labs but this time was different. 

==Tag everyone ==

[Samira Khasim]

>>>>Deep Space Nine>>>>

It didn't take long for Samira to get back into a fresh uniform and get to the bridge. She got there as quickly as possible to get her station and the rest of the science department ready. She could see that Lieutenant Young had arrived.

"Lieutenant Young?" she said. "We didn't get to talk much or get together much; I'm Lieutenant Khasim. With Commander Talion's permission, I've been assigned to the science station on the bridge." She did note that Carley Young was just a rank below her, but she remembered Talion's instructions in touching base with her.

"In any case, it's good to see you, and just as well to meet you here," Samira added with a smile. "I'm going to need your assistance in preparing for departure. I need you to check in with the rest of the Science department, get them rallied and ready for when the Aquila is ready for departure. I have a few things the Commander has assigned me to do. Of course, I appreciate any assistance you can provide once you have your tasks finished."

Samira then got to work. She had her tasks from Commander Talion. Check to see if diagnostics on the sensors are done, but if not, don't initiate anything that won't last an hour; Get current inventory of all probes and verify power for sensor palettes. She had to admit, it'll be the first time she did this much stuff on the bridge. She never did work on a warmup for systems on the Science Station before, but she was determined to do her best.

==Tag Young and the rest of the bridge==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira then remembered something: One can work with Tactical in regards to the probes. She turned around and noticed that the only other two officers present on the bridge were Tactical officers. One of them she met on Deep Space Nine.

"Excuse me, Commander ch'Alev? Mister Coppola? Would you mind pulling up our full inventory of probes, please? I'd like to check on them," she asked.

==Especial tags to ch'Alev and Coppola==

==GM Input - what is the progress of the sensor diagnostics? ==

[Carley Young]

Waiting on Khasim didn't take too long, she was pretty punctual. She was a new Science Officer on the ship, and probably wanted to make a name for herself. She did seem like an Officer that would fit in nicely here, but that was just the first impression. Hearing her name Carley could tell she was asking, and gave a nod to confirm her identity. It was a shame that they didn't have the time to talk at all, both were very busy.

"Yes it is a shame we didn't have the chance to talk, we had quite the busy social agenda. It is also good too see you too." For the first time in a while, she was doing something out of the ordinary. Socializing on her own. "I have been asked by Commander Velaul to help with your transition,  with a ship like this it wont be the easiest." There was a lot of people she hasn't met yet, and the Science department wasn't exactly the biggest on the ship.

"Science has checked in ready for action, right now they are running diagnostics of their own. Both Velaul and Talion like to keep the equipment sharp. "Slav is overseeing everything, and making sure that people from Deep Space Nine didn't make a mess of our systems. They are still pretty new this is our second mission on this ship, so we are still expecting some growing pains." Still she missed the ship that would almost fit in the Shuttle Bay.

==Tag==

[Keval ch'Alev]

Mr Coppola was the first to arrive on the Bridge from the recall.

"Commander good to see you again, was your leave as good as mine?" He asked while going to the helm.

"Yes, it was.... interesting.... sounds like yours was to." commented back the Andorian,

"Commander while we are waiting I was wondering if you had some wisdom to share about advancement, I am not in a hurry for it I just like to have a better understanding."

ch'Alev gave a small smile when some other officers arrived on the Bridge from Science.

“Gentlemen.” said Young as she arrived, followed swiftly by a new face on the crew, Lieutenant Khasim

"Excuse me, Commander ch'Alev? Mister Coppola? Would you mind pulling up our full inventory of probes, please? I'd like to check on them," she asked.

ch'Alev turned in the officers direction, "Feel free Lieutenant."

Keval then moved down and over to the helm, picking up the little black box he said,

"Mister Coppola, you asked about career advancement, well...." the Andorian opened the box to reveal a solid round pip.

"I hereby promote you to the rank of Ensign with all the privilege's the rank will bring."

He then removed the hollow pip and changed it for the solid pip.

"The Captain asked me to perform this duty which he said is long over due." said ch'Alev placing a hand on the officers shoulder before moving off towards the Observation Lounge.

"Lieutenant Khasim, you have the Bridge." he said as Keval exited into the Observation Lounge.

==Tag All==

>>>Bridge>>>

[Alexander Talion]

Alex had walked onto the Bridge just as Keval had given Khasim the Bridge. He caught her eye and allowed just a hint of a grin at her suddenly feeling the full potential weight of Bridge Duty. She had thought she was only going to man the Science Station, but had now been handed control over the entire ship. It might be briefly and while still in dock, but when it happens to you that first time, it is a memorable thing.

As he passed though, he simply said, "Lieutenant Khasim, please forward me those numbers we discussed, as soon as you have them." He also gave a nod to Carley, "Lieutenant Young..."

Then, just that quick, he disappeared off the the Observation Lounge.

>>> Observation Lounge >>>

[Kalli Thorn]

Kalli managed to slip onto the Bridge on her way to the Observation Lounge. She did so to quickly glance at the Engineering status display, to fill in a few mental blanks, but also heard Khasim being given the Bridge. Kalli only grinned and gave Samira a wink as she disappeared with Talion into the Observation Lounge.

[Samira Khasim]

Samira nodded in appreciation at Lieutenant Young's words. "That's good to know," Samira replied. "I'm still feeling my way through, and I appreciate your help. I'll have to pass Commander Velal my thanks, sending you to help with my transition," she finished with a smile.

It certainly didn't take long for Lieutenant Young to make check-ins. She was surprised that there weren't more science officers; big ship like this, she had been expecting thrice the amount in her department than than the Yorktown's own science department. Hearing Young say it's the second mission, Samira replied, "Well, I didn't have much involvement in my first mission. I was still in my lab. And Holy Allah, it's certainly enough of an Aladdin's Cave for me not to emerge for a while. So if anything, it's me who needs the growing pains more," she added with a sheepish shrug.

As much as she expected the inventory of probes, Commander ch'Alev certainly surprised her by informing her that she had command of the Bridge. THE Bridge. Samira could only stare in the Andorian's direction in astonishment, before he left...to the observation lounge. It occurred to Samira that the senior staff was having a meeting and she was the highest-ranking officer at present. So she took the Captain's Chair, walking in an astonished sleepwalk, and set herself in. Barely aboard the ship for a month or two, and she had the Captain's Chair of the Aquila. She reflected there were one or two times on the Yorktown that she assumed temporary command of the bridge when senior officers were away on briefs and whatnot, but the Aquila bridge had to be twice as wide as the Yorktown's.

One thing she was glad about was that there was only a sparse amount of officer taking their station so far.

She turned and saw that Commander Talion enter and pass by, and give an understanding grin, and his words were enough to shake her from her astonishment. "Oh, you'll have them, Commander, I can assure of that," she said, returning his smile with one of her own, feeling encouraged.

"Lieutenant Young, I guess you have the Science Station again," she said, shaking herself from her astonishment. "I'll need you to report on if the diagnostics on the sensors are finished, and verify the power on the sensor palettes. Ensign Coppola," she said, distinctly having seen the midshipman getting a promotion before his DH headed off, "I'll need that inventory on the probes."

She then looked around, expecting more officers to enter the bridge and assume stations. She had seen some senior officers in passing heading to the observation lounge, but no lower officers to man stations, temporary or otherwise. Still, she reflected that on a bridge this big, there's more than one science station, so chances were, she could still be on the bridge when departure time came.

"Apologies if I was astonished," she said to Young and Coppola. "Being put in command of a bridge with a ship this size, it's like having to assume leadership of two or three Bedouin tribes."

==Tag Young and Coppola and anybody on the bridge taking stations. Soft passing tag to senior officers heading for the observation lounge==

==GM Input - In addition to the progress of the sensor diagnostics, is the power to the sensor palettes verified?==

[Kalli Thorn]

== NPC Lt(JG) Gath ==

A rather low and soft voice of the Klingon Security Officer spoke from a Security terminal. He didn't look up as he reviewed his information, making preparations for departure, "Even an Ensign, should they be assigned to the Bridge, must be prepared, at any moment, to be thrust into manning any position on the Bridge, including the Center Chair. This shouldn't astonish you." He finished something, then turned to face her, a hint of a grin on his face, "I also have discovered that quite often, others will not know if I'm feeling nervous, if I don't tell them that I'm nervous."

Gath looked around the Bridge slowly, "I love this moment, just before departing. That sense of the unknown, that gives a small taste of fear at not knowing what is around the next corner. If a warrior tells you that they never feel fear, they're lying to you. The truth is that they love that feeling. Without that feeling, there is no reason for the blood to quicken or a challenge to rise to. If you know you're going into a battle, you know more of what to expect, just not the outcome. In a mission of discovery, you never know what you will encounter, and THAT is even more daring. Lieutenant Khasim, your people were not only wanderers, sometimes they were also explorers. You come by your taste for it naturally. Like those before you, you're bold. Take strength from your journey."

He then turned to Tactical and stated, "You can show Security at 100% present and accounted for. All our stations are manned and standing by for launch."

== Tag Khasim and Coppola ==

[Cologero Coppola]

The Bridge was filling with Officers, Lieutenant Young wax one of the first to arrive with a couple others soon following. Lieutenant Khasim whom was figuring her way around like him requested a probe count, she requested information that he couldn't get from there. He needed to move from the Helm to Tactical, the information should be found here. There was information that he was going to need there as well, he was going to be the one there eventually.

Just when he was about to move, he stopped half way. ch'Alev was about to give career advice, Cologero was all ears for it. What happened next made him happy there was nothing in his hands, it would have Ben on the floor as his arms dropped beside him. The promotion came as a shock, he wasn't expecting this so soon.

"Thank you Commander." He had a little more excitement in his voice, he was a new Ensign soon to be Lieutenant. He would enjoy that when it comes, at present he was enjoying the present and the company. He could picture Nonno there with him, so proud his legacy lives on. You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.

He watched ch'Alev leave the Bridge going to the Observation Lounge where all the top brass was, one day he would be in there too. Now that his shock was over, he was now going back to work.

"One inventory of probes coming up." He knew the value of having this information, it makes snap decisions much easier. Probes and what the fire power was equally as important. He heard about feeling the pressure getting to her, something that everyone goes through. "I am sure that you will get the hang of things, the first time you do anything is always the hardest."  

He listened to Lieutenant Gath. "I am sure it's equivalent to its not what you do in the absence of fear, it's what you do while it stares you in the eye. Personally I like to smile as we lock eyes, Fear doesn't like that at all." He was a wise Warrior that would make a great partner, the thrill of cheating death was better with someone risking it all as well.

==Tag Bridge. GM input for the probe count, and what they might be, or where I can find the information ==

[Carley Young]

Carley wanted to make sure that Khasim received the information she needed, the system information will take a minute to gather. The SS Sierra One A Eight Deep Space Scientific Sensors, and the Daystrom Industries Three SC-A Starship Sensors. There wasn't much use for them in the last two missions, so that meant the memory banks didn't need more of a memory purging. The Sensors were used for other purposes other than Scientific Research, it has been a while since there was such discovery that wouldn't be purged. 

The memory wasn't going to be a problem nor was the processing, there was a small amount of finetuning to do on the systems. There were some personal touches that she had learned that optimizes the system resolution, that would lead to clearer results. As the diagnostics were being processed, the data was starting to flow in. All of the systems were fully functional, and properly calibrated. 

All of it was going into a central report that had a summary for brief glancing, and a more detailed report on what systems were in need of calibration and by how much. In the end the equipment was all condition green, it was all reflected in the final report.

"Lieutenant." Carley started before turning her attention from the station. "All systems are condition green, they are on standby for discovery." There was an vast universe out there, who knows what they might find next.

==Tag Lieutenant ==

[GM-07]

== For Khasim ==

The Aquila’s sensors were functioning well. Samira uncovered a small calibration issue in the forward array, which was easily resolved. Power distribution to the sensors was within standard tolerances.

Samira’s time as the senior officer on the bridge was off to a smooth start.


== For Coppola ==

The Aquila had access to a full complement of probes (Candidly, the GM is not sure how many exactly, but you can expect access to a few dozen — an abundance of Class 1 and Class 2 probes, down to just a handful of the largest Class 9 probes.)

[Jez Mala]

Jez arrived on the bridge and it was abuzz with activity. Jez could help but smile when she spotted Coppola, they had a wonderful shore leave with the others, the Mardi Gras was amazing. Jez felt a new incredible bond with the crew, but for now Jez had other concerns on her mind. She would do what was best for her baby.

Jez spotted Commander Talion and smiled. He was special to her. He was like an older brother or a father figure, he was kind and sensitive, probably skills he honed from raising his own little girl. Right now, they had a mission to prepare for, her legal issues had to wait.

Jez hoped this next mission didn't involve Cardassians. Hopefully it would be something easy like a planetary survey, or a supply run to some outer colony. Though a Diplomatic Mission could be interesting. Only time will tell.



== Tag Talion.==

Jez took up her position at the Security Station. Jez had hoped that Commander Kurasa would arrive soon, Jez was curious to see how the Commander spent her shore leave. Jez began the preflight Security Scans that way the result would be ready for Commander Kurasa and the Captain.

[Cologero Coppola]

The results of his inquiry came in quickly, the ship had a full compliment of probes. The ones that were lost in the last mission were replaced, the crew of the Space station did a great job making sure everything was ready. Their next mission was starting soon with no idea where they were going, nor was there an idea of why. All he knew was to be prepared for as many contingencies as possible. He noticed Jez come in with a friendly smile towards him, he quickly returned the smile as a friendly gesture.

"Lieutenant Khasim ships computer shows a full compliment of probes across the board, all spent probes have been replaced." He ran a quick diagnostic of all available probes. "All systems are condition green." Cologero was certain that she wanted to have this information. Khasim seemed to be the kind that wanted to have this information, everything is either successful one way or another depending on preparation. 

==Tag - plus I know I took a bit of liberty with the scan, but I figured it's all basic maintenance ==

[Jez Mala]

Jez stood at the Security Station when she realized that the First Officer wanted to see her, but Jez had no idea why. She was about to lock down the Security Station when Sovak arrived with a Data Padd. Jez ordered Sovak to man the station. Sovak raised an eyebrow as if to say, “Really??” I have an important meeting with Velaul, it won’t take long.

Jez took a deep breath, she wasn’t sure what to expert from this meeting? Was she in trouble? Had she done something wrong? A million questions were running through her mind. Jez then decided that she had to go and find out instead of worrying.Jez quickly turned and made her way to the turbo lift and headed towards the F.O.’s Office,



>> Other Location.>>

[Samira Khasim]

Samira looked around as the bridge gradually filled. She got the results in, seeing that the diagnostics have finished; Sensors are functioning good, although there was a small calibration issue detected in the forward array, but Samira wasn't worried, it was the kind of thing to be resolved easily. Power to the sensors was at normal tolerances.

The report from Ensign Coppola about the probes prompted a nod from Samira. "Acknowledged, Ensign," she said. She looked around. Mister Gath had given his report as well. She did note that a Security officer of higher rank, a Jez Mala, entered the bridge but then eventually left after being summoned by the First Officer.

That left the rest of the stations to report department status. Samira decided to start with the medical facilities. As Doctor Lim was CMO, the next one after was Julia Troy, one of the officers she met. So Samira decided to call in. [Bridge to Sickbay. Report status of Sickbay in regards to departure preparations.]

==Tag Bridge==

[Lois Lim]

== Temp NPC - Dr Harry Langston DCMO ==

An immediate reply came in from Sickbay.

[Bridge, Dr Langston Depute CMO here, Dr Lim the CMO is in a mission briefing with the senior staff, at the moment. Sickbay is good to go.]

[Samira Khasim]

Samira got the message in and nodded. [Ackowledged, Sickbay. And I understand about where Doctor Lois has gone.]

She looked around as the bridge filled up. What could she do next?

She hadn't inquired of Engineering yet, so she decided to call in. [Bridge to Engineering. Given the Chief Engineer may be called for a meeting, to the temporary head of Engineering, status report.]

==Tag Bridge and Engineering==

[Kalli Thorn]

== NPC PO2 Kimberly "Kitkat" Kitmat ==

A voice replied replied, with a hint of a purr in her voice as she rolled her Rs, [Engineering to Bridge, all present and accounted for. Main systems are online and we're prepared for departure. Helm is clear to begin full preflight and undocking checklist. We're standing by for orders. Engineering out.]

Helm could see that all power levels available to thrusters, impulse engines and warp drive were at normal levels. The Main Status Board was showing all green status indicators. The mooring reactors were still engaged, keeping them locked in place, the umbilicals were still connected and the gangway was still connected to the ship. The last of the cargo transfers had been completed, the auxiliary craft were clearing away from the ship and all external doors had been closed and secured.

== Tag Bridge Crew ==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira heard the purr in the voice. Instinctively, she nodded. [Acknowledged, Engineering. We'll notify you when the time comes for departure. Bridge out.]

She sat back. As far as she knew, she checked in with all departments and they were all ready to go. Now she had to wait until all department heads and the command staff assume their stations. For now, she'll keep the Big Chair warmed up for Captain Brooks.

==Tag Bridge Crew==

==GM Input - Any departments I missed that need checking in with?==

[GM-07]

Samira had indeed checked in with all of the Aquila’s various departments and verified their readiness. As she continued to monitor the status of the ship, an incoming encoded communication flashed onto the captain’s chair console. As the ranking officer on the Bridge, it was up to her discretion whether to answer it herself or to transfer it to the Observation Lounge.

[Samira Khasim]

As Samira was finishing her checks and verifying readiness, a beep came from the chair, surprising her. It was coming from a console in the chair's arm. Samira got a look at it and was intrigued to see that it was a communication, and encoded.

"Hmm...how peculiar," Samira said. "Young, Coppola, Gath," she said, addressing all the bridge officers present. "The chair just got a communication..."

She softly bit a lip as she considered. If it was being sent directly to the Captain's Chair rather than through normal communication channels, it had to mean this was important. However, she was the ranking officer of the bridge. The least she can do is find out how important this was and transfer the comm to Captain Brooks if it transpired to be something exceptionally interesting.

She pressed the answer button and opened the comm. "Starship Aquila receiving," she replied.

==Tag on the bridge and to GM-07, Samira will answer the comm as ranking officer on the bridge==

[Carley Young]

The sudden communication that went to the C.O. chair would normally be answered by the Commanding Officer, however this time he was busy in with the Senior Staff meeting. Carley was about to tell Khasim to first alert the Captain, but she replied before that could happen. Right now it was no big deal, unless it quickly grew into one.

"Lieutenant Khasim I would recommend we alert the Captain to the communication, they might need to know this for their meeting." She kept a calm voice as she talked, it wasn't worth getting too excited over. 

"I would also recommend being ready to lay in the course, that can come up at any time." They have no idea where they are going at this time, just that they were needed where ever that might be. The Communication might shed some light on that, and even why they were going there. One day Khasim could get a command of her own, and this would be a good experience for her.

==Tag==

[GM-07]

An image flashed onto the screen of the captain’s chair console. Beneath a layer of static, Samira could see the face of a human, most likely in his early thirties. He had a narrow face and a ruddy patch of stubble that gave him a somewhat unkempt appearance. His hair was a bright shock of red, and appeared to be cropped short on the sides. As Samira peered closer, she could see a series of gold metallic bands running along the sides of his head, indicating some form of cybernetic implant underneath the skull. The implant was sleek, almost perfectly flush with the skin, indicating a high degree of skill in its design and integration.

[Brooks, I don’t mean to rush you, but I would appreciate your presence here on Riani. I would prefer to discuss the details in person, but the situation here is developing quickly.] The man’s voice was calm, though he spoke quite quickly. He didn’t appear to realize that he wasn’t speaking with the ship’s captain.

[A lot of people in the government are quite on edge lately, so they’ll probably hassle you when you arrive in orbit. It will be best for everyone if you placate them as much as possible. Don’t give them a reason to do something they’ll regret.]

[Samira Khasim]

Samira looked at Lieutenant Young as the transmission came in and she nodded. "I'll be alerting him momentarily, don't worry," she said.

As it transpired, the transmission was connected - not into the viewscreen, as Samira had expected, but into the console of the Captain's Chair. Samira could see a man through a layer of static. He looked unkempt with his red hair, and Samira could notice the bands on his head...some sort of cybernetic implant on the skull?

Given the man's words, he was speaking quickly, and Samira was surprised that he thought she was Brooks on the other end. She shrugged, given it could be an easy mistake to make through static; he would've seen a black-haired individual and thought it was Brooks, and Samira looked nothing like Brooks. Nonetheless, this definitely looked to be important.

"Begging pardon, sir, but I'm actually not Captain Brooks," Samira said with a smile, "I'm Lieutenant Khasmin, current ranking bridge officer, but if you allow me a moment, I'll connect you directly with Captain Brooks."

She then tapped her comm badge. "Bridge to Captain Brooks. Sorry to interrupt, but you have a comm transmission that's just came in. It's a very important transmission, particularly if it's sent to you. We're transferring it to you now."

She looked at Young, Coppola and Gath and said, "We better get this down to him at once."

==Tag GM, Brooks and all on the Bridge==

[Samira Khasim]

==GM Input - Is the message recorded, or will it be an actual transmission?==

[Daniel Brooks]

==Within a couple of minutes of the message being transferred through to the Observation Lounge.==
<<<Bridge<<<

Captain Brooks stepped onto the Bridge from the Obs Lounge and moved swiftly down to the Command center.

"Mr Coppola, signal our departure, once we are clear of the moorings plot in a course to Riani" Brooks said his mind racing on what could be up that they needed to speak in person.

Daniel then stepped a little bit closer to Coppola, "Congratulations on your promotion Ensign, well deserved. I hope to see you come up through the ranks."

==Tag Coppola and anyone else==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira was quite surprised when Captain Brooks arrived so shortly after the transmission was forwarded to his location, Commander Velaul following behind. Arriving so quickly, that transmission had to be important.

"Chair's all yours, sir," Samira said, standing up to give the Captain's Chair over to Brooks. "It's good and warmed for you," she added with a gesture and slight professional grin. "And I daresay, that transmission has to be extremely important for you to get up here so fast, sir."

She took one of the Science Stations and waited for Commander Talion to take a seat next to her.

==Tag Brooks, Talion and everybody else on the bridge==

==GM Input - Anything for Samira to do once she's at her bridge station?==

[Cologero Coppola]

As Carley stated Cologero went back to the helm to lay in a course, they were going to have to leave quickly. This was his second mission at the helm, it wasn't his favorite thing to do but recognized how important it was. If he wasn't at his best while everything was at its worst, why be there? 

It wasn't long after Cologero took his seat that Captain Brooks took his chair, the most sought over chair on the ship. Admittedly he was one of them when he was ready for it, until then he was going to learn from everyone whom was willing to teach him. 

The Captain didn't waste much time before ordering the departure. "Mr Coppola, signal our departure, once we are clear of mooring plot a course to Riani." As the orders were given Cologero was signaling their intent to depart. It didn't take long for the mooring to release them, making them free floating in space. Cologero started to set in the course at a quarter impulse, then full impulse at a safe distance engaging warp factor eight soon after.

*Aye Captain setting in course to Riani warp factor eight." Cologero replied.

"Congratulations on your promotion Ensign, well deserved. I hope to see you come up the ranks." The Captain said giving Cologero a little more pride. "Thank you Captain, I hope to gain the wisdom along the way to be worthy." While he was talking the view screen shown their progress, there was a slight tingling that Cologero experienced as the ship went to warp.

==Tag I took a bit of a liberty with the speed ==

[Beno Velaul]

<<<<< Observation Lounge.<<<<<<<

Getting back to the Bridge Beno stood her ground to his right, where normally her favorite part was going to warp. In its place was seeing the joy of a newly promoted crew member, that and seeing people get a medal for their services. Beno was very proud of him, and looked forward to seeing how far he could go. 

"Congratulations Mr. Coppola, I also look forward to seeing your progress." Beno was impressed about how grounded he was, a lot of people wouldn't have handled it like that. Now that they were heading to Riani, the stars that zipped by the ship looked pretty. The rainbows she sees from each star was always stunning, the best part was the show always changes. Right now she was waiting on Orders, or permission to go to the Science Lab.

==Tag anyone==

[GM-07]

== For Khasim ==

The Aquila was traveling through areas of space that were well documented, with no unexpected phenomena appearing on sensors. There were no pressing tasks to complete at the science station.


== 22 Hour Timeskip ==

The journey to Riani was a flurry of activity as each department prepared for the mission ahead. Before long, the planet Riani appeared as a grayish dot on the Aquila’s viewscreen, just a few hundred thousand kilometers away. As the Aquila continued its approach, the ship received an urgent hail coming from Saule, a highly industrialized city in the Tanndi nation.

Once the hail was answered, the image of a dark-skinned individual flashed onto the screen. He wore a stiff military uniform which made him look unusually square. His lower jaw and neck had been replaced by metallic implants, which glinted with a harsh chromium sheen as he spoke.

“Federation vessel, this is General Alukh of the Tanndi Defense Force. You do not have clearance to approach. Please state your business,” he demanded. His voice resonated strangely, the natural tones tinted by something synthetic. He eyed his communicator sternly, almost unblinking.

[Shione Kurasa]

<<Observation lounge<<

Shione moved next to Cdr Velaul and once she was finished with her conversation she drew her aside for a moment and spoke confidentially.

"I am heading down to Security to prepare that special escort , but I remain very concerned about possible hidden agendas regarding possible ulterior behind the Ambassador's message. I have asked Science and Engineering to ensure that all highly classified systems and tech is even more highly protected and encrypted than normal and my team will ensure that their route from the transporter room does not pass near any such areas."

She paused. "Once we determine what the Ambassador wants along with who he needs to speak with, then we will ensure that our visitors remain in a tight little bubble away from anything we don't want them near to.

Do you have any questions Commander?"

==Tag Velaul==

[Jez Mala]

Jez had just entered the Bridge when her combadge chirped to life. [Kurasa to Mala. Lieutenant please assemble 4 NCO's along with yourself and assure that your dress uniforms are ready for an official diplomatic greeting. As of this moment I do not have a specific time, but I will give you all possible notice.

We are told to expect a VIP arrival shortly after reaching our destination. That's all I have for now, Kurasa out,]

Jez was a bit surprised and did a quick about face and headed back to the Security Complex. A VIP passenger, she knew this could be interesting as a VIP could mean anything from a Diplomat to the Leader of a rebel Factioning seaking Federations assistance in fighting an enemy. Either way Security would have to provide protection to ensure their safety.

Jez knew picking four NCO’s wasn’t going to be easy as she knew she needed NCO’s with experience with VIP’s as VIP’s often had fragile ego’s and often needed to be stroked.



>> Security Complex.>>

[Alexander Talion]

When Talion returned to the Bridge, he was glad to see that Khasim had done well keeping the Center Chair warm. The corner of his mouth gave a hit of a grin as he asked, "So, how did it feel, temporarily being in charge of the entire ship? Being an officer can be like that sometimes. Suddenly, you find yourself in charge and with lives counting on you. They don't always prepare you for it enough at the Academy, though they do try to introduce you to it in small ways. Even in small groups, it is an interesting thing to be in a position like that, but that chair," he pointed to the Captains seat, "means that you are technically in a position where the entire ship and everyone on it are depending on you and are subject to the decisions you make."

== Time skip... ==

As was his habit, Talion timed his arrival back on the Bridge to be in plenty of time before they dropped out of warp at their arrival. He had made sure that their security protocols were in compliance with Kurasa's requests, or in some instances exceeded those requirements. In some instances networks and systems might be open to communications with diplomats and the like, but this had been determined to be a potentially hostile environment, so their guard was up. All networks and communications systems were engaged with heightened encryptions, firewalls and other security measures that were prepared to thwart even their known enemies with far superior technologies than the people supposedly had available to them in this system. Talion was even prepared to deal with Cardassians, but couldn't help but feel a twinge of the memory of dealing with the Borg. He, of all people, knew the depth of risk in dealing with people who had no restraint when it came to cybernetic augmentations.

When they arrived and the contact from the planet was made, he watched and listened attentively. He even had a subroutine running that was analyzing the incoming signal. He was on alert for any sign of attempted carrier signals or attempts to use the feed as a way to bypass their systems. He had no worry about their ability to conduct their business, as the Federation clearly gave them authority to act in protection and interests of Federation citizens. He only hoped it was not going to turn into a rescue mission. They were supposedly here to help, but what kind of help had been unclear.

As an additional obvious effort, Talion had passive sensors looking to pick up the signal of the Ambassador's communicator. He wanted to know where he was and what data he could pick up from it. They were currently too far for transporters, but they could either move closer or in a pinch, they could launch probes as transporter enhancers and daisy chain them to accomplish the task. He didn't like even using stealth probes to do that, as they might still be detected and although he had done so successfully in the past, he didn't like the idea that the native population could take it as a hostile act.

For now, he simply stayed observant and let the Captain do his job.

== GM Input: Is there any reading on the Ambassador? Are passive sensors picking up anything else, while we're at it? He won't make an active sensor sweep until they either scan the ship first, or the CO requests it. Standard Transporter range is 40,000 kilometers. ==

== Tag Bridge Crew ==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira watched on as departure procedures commenced, and the ship was departed. Given the course laid, it seemed like an ordinary tract of space. Commander Talion soon joined her and she smiled back at his own hint of a smile.

"Well, I admit, it was unexpected," she replied. "I never once had to take the Big Chair when I was serving on the Yorktown. Frankly, I had figured I was going to be working on routine preflight preparations. I was certainly surprised by that comm for the Captain that brought him out of the meeting fast.

"Still, being put in charge of a ship this big definitely put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders; yes I did feel that sense of responsibility for that moment," Samira said. "Hopefully, I can be ready for it again someday. Meantime, I can do what I can as your deputy head, Commander, and I won't let you down," she added enthusiastically.

Samira looked up to see one of the Security Officers, Jez Mala, give a report, and then she went back to work.

== Time skip... ==

The journey was relatively uneventful. Samira arranged to have some shifts on the bridge, but overall conducted her duties as Deputy Chief Science Officer. Sometimes, she went back to her lab to refine her forensics skills with scientific application. Other times, she practiced at the range to prepare for combat situations. Twenty-two hours later, she was in time for her bridge shift and took a seat by Commander Talion, at an auxiliary science station when the viewscreen came on. She looked over from her side of the bridge to see what was going on.

Given the comm chat, it certainly confirmed one thing the message to Captain Brooks; she remembered the messenger mention that the authorities would "be hassling them" upon arrival. She looked at Commander Talion to see he was staying observant, and she watched on, albeit kept an eye out for new orders from Talion.

==Tag Bridge, especially Talion==

==GM Input: Anything for Samira to do at her science station now that they had arrived?==

[Beno Velaul]

==After the Time Skip.==

Watching the view screen as the message came in, Beno didn't see even a glamor of Hospitality to it. He was defiantly what she would call the unwelcome wagon.  At this moment Beno wasn't sure what to think, just that they would need more than one strategy. 

Just before she could say anything, Kurasa started. "I am heading down to Security to prepare that special escort , but I remain very concerned about possible hidden agendas regarding possible ulterior behind the Ambassador's message. I have asked Science and Engineering to ensure that all highly classified systems and tech is even more highly protected and encrypted than normal and my team will ensure that their route from the transporter room does not pass near any such areas."

She paused. "Once we determine what the Ambassador wants along with who he needs to speak with, then we will ensure that our visitors remain in a tight little bubble away from anything we don't want them near to.

Do you have any questions Commander?" Kurasa asked before she was about to leave.

Beno didn't answer right away, there was a few things running through her mind. One of them was her gut feeling, something didn't feel right about this whole thing. There was just something there that she could feel, but not fully understand. Seeing how the channel wasn't open yet, Beno had a small window of opportunity. "Yeah how quickly can you adjust to an audible?" An audible was sports lingo from American Gridiron Football, meaning that they detect a blitz and a change of play was in order. Her voice was loud enough for Kurasa to hear, but not loud enough to disturb the Bridge Operations. "One more thing before you go, I would like to hear what you have to say about Skynet." It was a last resort play, and that only gets activated after it gets hacked into. 

Beno looked over at the science station for a second and knew they were in good hands, Talion ran his station not much differently than what she would. As she was looking in that direction, she thought of ch'Alev. Hopefully it wouldn't come to a fire fight on the way out, but sometimes it does happen. They went into this knowing that they were not going to get a warm welcome, but they have been through worse and by comparison it was quite friendly.

==Tag==

[Daniel Brooks]

==After timeskip==

As the Aquila dropped out of warp and closed in on the planet Riani, Daniel knew they would get attention before long. He sat in the Captains chair thinking about what he would say if the time came, maybe sooner or later. It turned out he didn't have to wait long.

An urgent hail came from Saule, a highly industrialized city in the Tanndi nation according to their research which had been done on the way to the planet.

"Here we go number one." Dan said to Beno getting up out of the chair, "On screen." he ordered as Dan straightened his uniform.

The image of a dark-skinned individual flashed onto the screen. He wore a stiff military uniform which made him look unusually square. His lower jaw and neck had been replaced by metallic implants, which glinted with a harsh chromium sheen as he spoke.

“Federation vessel, this is General Alukh of the Tanndi Defense Force. You do not have clearance to approach. Please state your business,” he demanded. His voice resonated strangely, the natural tones tinted by something synthetic. He eyed his communicator sternly, almost unblinking.

"This is the Federation Starship, USS Aquila, I'm Captain Daniel Brooks, nice to meet you General Alukh, it is nice to see your defense force is so quick to hail us. We were just about to hail you." Daniel paused for a moment as he studied the General.

"Actually, we have come to visit our Ambassador Jonas Weisbrantz, he has been on your planet for ten years and we are here to celebrate his achievement of being in such a delicate role for such a long time. While we are here we would also like to possibility of having the chance for some shore leave for my crew as we would love to have the opportunity to see your world while we are here. The Aquila is purely an exploration vessel. While we are here we would also like to extend a hand in diplomatic relations."

Dan hoped his explanation would be enough to get them passed this General and get to see the Ambassador.

==Tag all==

==GM Input: what is the response from the General?==

[Cologero Coppola]

The twenty-two hours seemed to go faster than usual, more than likely it's because of the company he was keeping. From the very start Cologero felt blessed with the assignment, soon to follow the extention to the crew. Some of them joined him in starting up new traditions, nothing fancy to start. Just a casual dinner that everyone can enjoy some home cooking, with the option of bringing something themselves. That option wasn't limited to food, they could practice their faith as well. Cologero was always fascinated by other faiths and how they operate, to him they were all beautiful..

The intermission 9f being relieved from the Helm felt short but welcomed, after returning he felt equally as refreshed as sharp. The last tradition that Cologero practiced before going back to his station was private, the end result was the blessing of the ship and crew. Preying for a safe return and prosperity, it was the only thing that really mattered.

After returning to the Bridge Cologero took his station making himself comfortable, but ready for anything. That was until the reception was cold as they come, the eyes suggested these people didn't have a soul. Still that didn't mayyrt to him one bit, Cologero had some kind of plan. This plan started by slowing down when they were close, with the safe distance to keep from sending hostile intent without saying the words.

==Tag anyone ==

[GM-07]

== For Talion and Khasim ==

Aquila was scanned by the Tanndi Defense Force immediately as they hailed the ship.

The Riani home world glowed brightly on passive sensors. The native technology generated interference that made it difficult to isolate a specific signal (and would likely reduce the maximum transporter range). With Khasim’s help, Talion would be able to pinpoint a human lifesign in the federal district of Saule.


== For all ==

General Alukh’s stern expression made for an imposing image on Aquila’s viewscreen. A careful observer would have noticed that the mention of the ambassador’s name seemed to spark something behind his eyes. The name was familiar to him.

His chrome jaw seemed to grind slightly as he considered the captain’s request. He cut the feed momentarily, only to return a moment later.

“USS Aquila, you are cleared for orbit and your crew are authorized to transport down to Tanndi’s federal district only. I hope I make myself clear, captain: it’s imperative for your safety and ours that your crew stays within the approved zone, as there have been increased reports of terrorist activity among our neighboring nations.

“On behalf of President Khushku, welcome to Riani,” He said, his voice far from welcoming.

The general kept the line open for an acknowledgment from the captain. When the conversation was finished, Aquila would be able to approach and transport down to the planet.

[Alexander Talion]

Noticing that they were actively scanned from the planet surface, Talion waited a moment before returning the favor and conducting an active scan. It wasn't a provatactive act if the planet scanned them first. The passive sensors were picking up an incredible amount of stray energy from the planet. It was rare that so much EM spanned such a wide band of frequencies. The active sensors did pick up what appeared to be a human life sign in the Saule district. From the sound of things, they were not going to be allowed to send their people to that location right away.

Talion tagged the sensor contact and tried to get a lock on it to determine if it was, in fact, the Ambassador or not. What they had on file should still match the DNA signature, even with his implants. In his experience with diplomatic situations, things were never as straight forward as you might think. Why was the Ambassador in the other district? It made sense that the most developed district was doing the talking, but obviously things were less than friendly down there.

He glanced at the device on his left forearm and saw the small green indicator. Cindy was in place, should he need her assistance. Alex really hoped that he would not need to use ay extreme measures in this mission. The more he could keep things in the hands of the organic crew, the safer he felt. On the other hand, he was a strong believer in having contingency plans. He had to silently wonder though, as much as the CO and FO were interested in Cindy, he had not heard a single word about the EXEO for the ship. Alex had no personal interest in the EXEO, but found it an interesting point to ponder.

Not wanting General Alukh to hear, Alex would wait until the comm channel was closed before revealing that he had detected a human on the surface. Hopefully he would have more detailed results by then.

Without saying anything to Lt Khasim, he gestured to her and pointed at the results, indicating for her to try and focus on getting detailed results with a narrow beam scan. They had no intention of beaming them up without orders, but he needed to know if they could confirm the identity and if a sensor lock was possible at this point. These were things he knew the Captain would want to know.

== Tag Khasim ==
== GM Input: Can the identity of the human be confirmed? Is a sensor lock even possible at this time? Obviously they can communicate with the ship, but what is the level of sophistication of their subspace communications? ==

[GM-07]

== Apologies, point of clarification before more posts come in. Tanndi’s federal district is in the city of Saule, where the human life sign is located. Full GM response will follow when other players have had a chance to post ==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira kept on looking at the sensors as they approached, although she couldn't resist looking at times. She focused on getting a narrow beam scan to isolate a human signature, and she worked with Commander Talion to search. She looked up again to see what was transpiring, only to notice Talion gesture at the results.

She looked down and could see a human signature was detected. Of course, there was a need for confirmation. That could've belonged to the man who called in, whose call prompted Captain Brooks to get going in an interesting way.

The scan of the area indicated that the human signature was at with details of the city below. Federal district of City of Saule, Planet Tanndi...Samira had to admit, she didn't know about Tanndi...and even though she had gotten used to modern Starfleet technology, she was still amazed. Sensors could pick up details of a city below, and could probably pick up details, from air composition and volume to probably what people wore below.

She shook the thought out of her and continued working. Perhaps sensors can figure out the identity of this individual, particularly for confirmation.

==Tag Bridge, particularly Talion==

==GM Input - The human below can be confirmed through sensors as the ambassador the ship's looking for, correct?==

[Alexander Talion]

== Sorry for the confusion. So, we have the human detected in the city of Saule, district of Tanndi, planet of Riani. Disregard the posting about it being in a different district. I will make a more clear post for Talion in the near future. Still looking for confirmation that it matches the data for the Ambassador. ==

[Daniel Brooks]

General Alukh’s stern expression made for an imposing image on Aquila’s viewscreen.

Daniel however didn't move from his position and held the gaze of the General. He noticed something changed behind the eyes of the General at the Ambassadors name. The General chrome jaw seemed to grind slightly as he considered his request. Then the General cut the feed momentarily, only to return a moment later.

[USS Aquila, you are cleared for orbit and your crew are authorized to transport down to Tanndi’s federal district only. I hope I make myself clear, captain: it’s imperative for your safety and ours that your crew stays within the approved zone, as there have been increased reports of terrorist activity among our neighboring nations.

On behalf of President Khushku, welcome to Riani,] He said, his voice far from welcoming.

Brooks gave a polite smile and gave a slight nod,

"Thank you General and your recommendation has been noted. Aquila out."

Once the channel was closed he said,

"Ensign Coppola. Bring us into orbit."

Brooks then walked back over to the Captain's chair and sat down. He rested his head on the knuckles of his right hand thinking.

"It looks as if we aren't overall welcome but I didn't expect us to be." Dan said thoughtfully.

Looking at Beno he said,

"Let's hope the Ambassador will be more welcoming."

Captain Brooks then said, "Let's locate the Ambassador and make contact."

==Tag All==

==GM Input: Is it easy to get in contact with the Ambassador?==

[Alexander Talion]

Talion spoke up, reporting what he had so far, "Captain, we've located a human in the area, but I'm still waiting for the results of a narrow beam scan to determine if it is in fact the Ambassador or not."

== Tag CO ==

[Arwen Qi]

== Wrong thread but hi ==

[GM-07]

== For Talion ==

Cutting through the signal interference was a challenge, but Talion was eventually able to confirm that the human life sign in the federal district was a match for Ambassador Jonas Weisbrantz.

== For all ==

As Aquila drew closer, the ship was able to make contact with the Ambassador. His tired face appeared on the viewscreen.

“Sounds like you dealt with the welcome wagon, captain. I would join you on your ship, but I don’t think it would send the right message for me to leave the planet at this point. Send a party down to the embassy and we’ll discuss further from here.”

== Feel free to select an away team for this part of the mission. I will start a new thread for the federal district for them to post in. ==

[Cologero Coppola]

After the order was given to enter orbit, Cologero started to enter in the flight path. It would take them into a smooth transition into orbit. They were about to enter into friendly space, that could be less than friendly. They were warned that they needed to stay in a contained area on the surface, it just wasn't clear about up there. Hopefully any and all tensions on the planet stay there, he didn't want to be involved with a tight that wasn't theirs.

The view screen would show them going into orbit on the meridonal or Y axis, the idea was to go with the orbit with their sun. At this point it was more about personal preference, not to hide. If they were to change that, it can be established easily. "Approaching standard orbit Captain." Cologero said as he was looking at the screen while he was looking for potential surprises, these would include satellites both natural and other. 

"Locked in standard orbit, with auto pilot set." He wasn't sure what to expect at this point, were they going to the surface or was it just an away team if anyone. The answer didn't take too long to come his way, looking like they were sending people down.

==Tag anyone ==

[Beno Velaul]

After hearing the communication Beno had the urge to stand up quickly to assemble who she wanted on her team, she had a few ideas about who she wanted to bring. Right now they have stated their intent on Shore Leave, so they had to make it look that way and possibly have some fun on the way. They needed to get to where the Ambassador was staying, and make it not look suspicious.

"Captain with your permission I would like to take a few people down to the surface." Beno didn't want to take a large team with her, as a casual group they wouldn't look as suspicious to anyone looking for it. There were a couple of people she wanted there, but they were not on the ship anymore. She still wasn't sure exactly about what they were doing there, but on the same token there was no real danger on the surface right now and he might want to take the lead on this one.

==Tag==

[Alexander Talion]

Talion reported, "I've confirmed it is indeed the ambassador."

Shortly after that, they were able to make communication with him through the interference. The fact that the ambassador implied that the people of this planet would know if he came to their ship insinuated that they are tracking him. Alex speculated that it might have something to do with his modifications. He had no idea who the Captain wanted to send down to the surface.

This appeared to be a diplomatic mission. Alex had grown up around diplomats and knew enough to be effective, but he got the impression that the FO and others might have their own ideas about how they wanted to proceed. Alex anticipated that he would most likely be remaining on the ship. If the team needed his input, he could offer it from where he sat. Thus far, there didn't seem to be an issue with the augmented population, so his assessment of that aspect of them might be unnecessary.

Since he had come to the ship, he had noticed that Cindy had been used a few times. In this case, she could be a good or bad choice in equal measure. He wasn't worried about the locals being able to hack her systems. Even Star Fleet was very unlikely to be able to manage that trick. Her shielded systems and his coding were such that at best, they might be able to disable a limb or even take crude control of it, but the safety protocols in her prevented such remote actions of her processors or memory modules. The only shielding that was able to be penetrated were simple connection nodes. If compromised, Cindy was able to overload her components and render herself a harmless and useless pile of slag. On the other hand, she was a walking advertisement for the prosthetic developments offered by the Federation. Depending on what the Captain wanted, Cindy could either employ ECM that overtly made her register as human, or allow scans to show what she really was. Normally, only military grade scans could overcome her ECM, but they didn't really know what these people were capable of. There could be underground groups that were not eager to share their highest level developments with the masses. The motivations of such people were his biggest point of concern. Alex strove to help people blend in and be human again, in spite of their injuries. These people seemed to use any deficiency they found in themselves as an excuse to augment themselves, feeling that made them even better as a result. He knew all too well that such self-induced psychological traps never ended well. For now, he would just have to see what the CO wanted.

While he waited, he began mapping the magnetosphere of the planet. Given how much noise he was picking up from the planet, it would be good to know more about their satellite placements and radiation belts of their planet. Fortunately, the standard operating procedure for establishing orbits was often above the more dangerous areas. Not that their ship wasn't protected from such things, but it just made things so much easier when they could maintain a safer orbit higher than most cultures placed their equipment.

[Daniel Brooks]

Talion spoke up, reporting what he had so far, "Captain, we've located a human in the area, but I'm still waiting for the results of a narrow beam scan to determine if it is in fact the Ambassador or not."

Talion reported, "I've confirmed it is indeed the ambassador."

As Aquila drew closer, the ship was able to make contact with the Ambassador. His tired face appeared on the viewscreen.

[Sounds like you dealt with the welcome wagon, captain. I would join you on your ship, but I don’t think it would send the right message for me to leave the planet at this point. Send a party down to the embassy and we’ll discuss further from here.]

"The welcoming committee where interesting but nothing to worry about at this stage. I send a party down to you, thank you Ambassador we will be with you shortly." replied Brooks indicating to close the channel.

"Approaching standard orbit Captain." Cologero reported in

"Locked in standard orbit, with auto pilot set."

"Thank you Ensign." replied the Captain as his FO was the next one to speak,

"Captain with your permission I would like to take a few people down to the surface." said Beno something which Brooks knew would be the first recommendation out of his Commanders mouth, something he would have said to his own previous Captain.

"Didn't the Ambassador look tired? Actually Number One. I think I will go down to the surface on this one." Captain Brooks said in a thoughtful tone.

Tapping his commbadge he said, "Lieutenant Thorn meet me in transporter room one, as soon as you can. Brooks out."

After closing the channel he said, "Commander Kurasa you are with me, along with you Commander Talion."

Brooks looked at Velaul and said, "You have the Bridge Commander, keep her in good order for when I get back."

Daniel gave a grin then headed over to the turbolift, once all three where inside he said,

"Deck two." the turbolift doors closed and the lift began to take a short trip to the next deck.

==Tag Coppola, Velaul, Kurasa and Talion==

>>>Transporter Room One>>>

[Alexander Talion]

Talion raised an eyebrow at hearing he was being requested for the Away Team. He turned to Khasim, "You're in charge of the department while I'm away."

He then stood and his consoles logged him out, but the one remained up displaying the data about the satellites and orbital information. Moving to the turbolift, he gave the others a nod and headed to the transporter with them.

== Tag Khasim ==

[Beno Velaul]

"Captain with your permission I would like to take a few people down to the surface." said Beno something which Brooks knew would be the first recommendation out of his Commanders mouth, something he would have said to his own previous Captain.

"Didn't the Ambassador look tired? Actually Number One. I think I will go down to the surface on this one." Captain Brooks said in a thoughtful tone. There wasn't much of a surprise that he decided to go to the surface, it was almost like a prediction but she had to ask. Instead her calling was to  stay on the Bridge, and this was alright by her.

"You have the Bridge Commander, keep her in good order for when I get back."

Before the Captain left ear shot, Beno had a grin. "Enjoy yourself, I will keep the lights on for your return." 

As he left the Bridge Beno was ready to take the center chair, there was something different about this chair. Everyone who sits in it feels like they are in Command, and even if it was ten minutes or a few hours it gives them a small glimpse into one of the joys of Command. 

Tapping her Com Badge [Lieutenant Young to the Bridge please.] There was something that she had in mind, and it might require more minds to accomplish.

"Lieutenant Khasim I have recently been reminded of certain histories, and now one more comes to mind. One is the fact that exposure to unshielded magnetic fields, like the ones generated by every electric circuit. They can have negative results on a human body, such as lack of sleep or other health hazards." There were homes that were built under power lines that did cause problems for the people who lived there, and even made the ground hazardous to walk on at times. "One more thing, and I know this is going to come across strange. Lets see about the migration patterns of the birds that might live in the area, they can tell us a lot too if we know how to listen." 

She took a second to think a bit more, with one of them being if Troy would join them on the Bridge. She could use her gifts on the Bridge, but wasn't sure if she was up for it. "Ensign Coppola Please use Ops to keep an eye on our Away Team, our hosts have made it clear that not everyone has the best intentions down there." She wasn't sure about the diplomatic relations of every nation of the planet, and she wanted to keep everything friendly.

==Tags==

[Carley Young]

Coming up on the Bridge, Carley knew it was to assist Khasim. As she entered the room Carley went to her station. She wasn't aware of what was going on yet, just that she was asked to be there. Carley had a nice smile while addressing Khasim. "Reporting in to assist you in any way I can." 

==Tag==

[Samira Khasim]

Seeing that Tallion had been chose to take part in the away team, Samira nodded. "Aye, sir," she replied, and took his position. She could figure that it was a diplomatic envoy going down, hence why the Captain is taking the lead; otherwise, it would be the First Officer heading down, if she recalled.

She looked at Commander Velaul when she brought up a little story about history and was interested to see that the Commander was proposing a means to keep track of the team. Both in terms of working with the electromagnetic field and in seeing the patterns of birds migrating as a means to try to eavesdrop. "Sounds like a unique thing to try," she said, and she gave a brief chuckle, it sounded so interesting. And given Velaul's next orders, Samira was pretty sure that, if she didn't know better, the whole ship will be watching. But it's understandable, given that the Captain is heading below.

When Lieutenant Young came to the bridge, Samira nodded. "The help is appreciated, Lieutenant," she said. "We have some things to take a look at with sensors." And she explained to her what's going on as briefly as she could.

==Tag Velaul and Young==

==GM Input - will Velaul's idea of keeping an eye on the Captain be able to work? ==

[Cologero Coppola]

Being his second mission with the crew he wasn't sure about what was normal, just that the Captain seldom leaves for the surface during any mission. This one seemed more of the friendly variety, with hopes it stays that way. After his order to keep an eye on the away team, Cologero started at the landing zone for the team. He was confident that the orbit was holding strong, if he needed to make adjustments they would come.

"Aye Commander keeping an eye out for the team." The first rule about tracking anyone or thing was always to have a starting point, even more helpful was to have a destination. They weren't going that far so the search area wouldn't be that big requiring less resources to maintain. 

==GM input is Cologero having any difficulty tracking the Awayteam ==

[GM-07]

From the Aquila's position in orbit, the city of Saule was clearly visible on the viewscreen. Its billions of lights were the glimmering heart of the Tanndi nation. From this vantage point, the edges of the nation were utterly dark and lifeless.

== For Khasim ==

There was nothing particularly notable about the flight patterns of the birds in the vicinity of the Away Team, at least nothing that could be observed from orbit. She could surmise that the local wildlife had adapted to the “noisy” electromagnetic environment.


== For Coppola ==

Coppola was able to keep track of the away team, cutting through any confounding signals. It helped that the away team were wearing combadges and Coppola was searching within a narrow vicinity.


== For Young ==

The Aquila had attracted a lot of attention during its short time in orbit. Satellites belonging to a multitude of nations were attempting to connect to the ship’s computers, focusing on schematics and technical documentation. The connections had been blocked by the ship’s firewalls, but they were growing increasingly persistent.

[Carley Young]

Reading the sensors Carley was feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing, they have attracted a lot of attention. Considering where they were it was only natural, a giant ship like this in orbit and no one really knew why. They wanted to know what the ship was made out of, and what they were capable of.

"Commander all eyes are on us right now, every satellite from every nation are trained on us. We are the only girl at the dance at an all male school, everyone wants to dance with us." There had to be some kind of blind spot in the area, and Carley knew how to find it. One of them was to search for a natural satellite, or in other words one of their moons the bigger the better. Scanning the areas that the birds stay clear from would give them another option, one that they might not want to explore unless other options fail.

"Lieutenant Khasim I would recommend finding a blind spot, a strong enough magnetic field or the dark side of a moon. Both have the ability to shield us from most of the scans we are currently getting. Neither will eliminate all of the scans, but it would give us a better fighting chance. The Moon in my opinion is the safest option, the material of the moon will give us a fighting chance." It wouldn't get rid of all of the threats, but it would get rid of enough.

==Tags also GM input on the birds==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira had to admit, the birds didn't seem too remarkable when she looked. At least, not from orbit, it had been a very long time since she had seen things from the ground. She figured that the birds, maybe all animal life, may have adapted to the electromagnetic environment that had proved "noisy" in a way.

Samira looked at Young at the mention of all eyes being on the ship. She nodded in understanding. "Or like a jackal among the lions," she added. Young's words addressed to her brought an eyebrow up.

"Scans can go both ways, Lieutenant," Samira said. "Any hiding place is a two-edged sword. We might hide the ship, but then, we won't be able to keep an eye on the away team. If we can find a pattern in the scan cycle of the planet below, we could take advantage of any interruptions or gaps in the cycle, but it'll depend on how brief they are."

==Tag==

==GM Input - what patterns would there be in the planetary scan cycle, and would there be any interruptions?==

[Jez Mala]

<< Security Complex <<

Jez arrived on the Bridge, to say it was a hive of activity was something of an understatement. Jez was surprised that it was so busy, it always surprised her from the fact that she assumed that everyone was already briefed and would be working in Science, not to mention that fact that she was use to large groups of people working in silence, when she was on Archeological DIgs with her parents there was almost complete silence, that most probably because the Archeologicallytems were a predominately made up of Betazoids and Vulcans Telepathic rces who didn’t need verbal communication in order to work together.

Jez made her way to the Security Station and relieved the crewman that was currently stationed there, “ You stand relieved, crewman. You're needed in the Security Complex.” Said Jez, her tone firm. THe crew departed and Jez began Studying the consoles to see that status of the Security

Jez smiled at the sight of Commander Velaul, Jez admired the way that she radiated strength and confidence. It was like she had an aura that said, FAFO, but at the same time said, I’am an unstoppable force of nature you will never get the best of me or those that I care about. Jez looked at Commander Velaul as her female role model, a strong confident woman. It wasn’t that Jez wasn’t strong and confident, it’s just that she felt more confident with a living example.

“Security is ready” Called Jez to let the Command Crew know that she was ready if they needed her.



== Tag All. ==

[Beno Velaul]

Looking at the view screen in a way it reminded her of Los Vegas, a small area of lights in an Ocean of black. The difference was obvious being it was surrounded by desert, and this one wasn’t. As she looked a little closer Beno started to wonder. 

“Ensign Coppola are you having any difficulty keeping an eye out for the away team? Plus can you get a closer look at that dark zone. Chances are there isn’t going to be anything significant there.” She could hear clearly what was going on with the Science section, and had to admit that both plans had merit. Both had an equal amount of ways it can go wrong as well, the concern was how it would turn out. 

“Ladies both plans are equally as good as the other, personally I believe it is best to have more than one plan ready, for just in case the first one doesn’t work. We also have to be careful with both plans, the results can haunt us later. Keep me posted about their success rate in getting into our system, we really need to keep them out.” 

Beno smiled at Jez as she reported security was ready. “Welcome to the Bridge, if you haven’t already done so, I would recommend that we start random security sweeps and monitor temperatures on the ship. Again there might not be any issues, but I would rather know for sure.” There was one more thing that she needed to do. 

[Aquila to Away Team we are attracting a lot of attention up here, all eyes on the planet are on us right now. It appears they want to know us better, or what we are made of.] she wasn’t sure about how much harder they were going to try, or how intense the attempt will be. They had to have solutions to problems they aren’t aware of yet. 

==Tags==

[Jez Mala]

Jez smiled to herself when Commander Velaul said, ““Welcome to the Bridge, if you haven’t already done so, I would recommend that we start random security sweeps and monitor temperatures on the ship. Again there might not be any issues, but I would rather know for sure.” Jez was already doing that very thing, She quickly tapped the commands into her station. “Aye Commander scanning now.” Said Jez her tone confident.

[Aquila to Away Team we are attracting a lot of attention up here, all eyes on the planet are on us right now. It appears they want to know us better, or what we are made of.]

“Commander, are we trying to hide our presence or our capabilities? If we are trying to hide our capabilities might I suggest a rotating E.M. Pulse, that way they won't be able to read our weapons signature.?” Suggested Jez.



== Tag All. ==

[Shione Kurasa]

There is a chirp of an incoming message

[Kurasa to Aquila, The replacement ambassador has gone missing.

Perhaps you could scan to see if you could locate someone of her species?
And if they are scanning you, perhaps raise shields?

Your call Commander, Kurasa over]

[GM-07]

== For Young ==

Many areas on Riani were polluted or hazardous in some way. The landscape was not dissimilar from that of 21st century Earth in that way. Wildlife of all kinds tended to steer clear of these areas, but they would offer little protection to a ship in orbit.

There were three oblong, potato-shaped moons orbiting Riani. One of them was approaching a suitable position for the Aquila to hide behind, though it would severely impact their ability to detect signals from the surface.


== For Khasim ==

The scan cycles from the satellites were as irregular as they were persistent. Just as one connection attempt ended, another corporation or government would initiate another. Far from a coordinated effort, they seemed to be competing with each other.

[Beno Velaul]

The mission was about to turn into something that Beno didn't expect, it took an odd twist that in a million guesses this wouldn't be one of them.  [Kurasa to Aquila, The replacement ambassador has gone missing.
Perhaps you could scan to see if you could locate someone of her species?
And if they are scanning you, perhaps raise shields?
Your call Commander, Kurasa over]

Beno had a curious look as she was looking at the view screen, it didn't make sense about why they would keep something like this quiet. "Ensign Coppola I need you to scan for life signs that just do not belong there." Beno knew that normally this would be like looking for a specific needle in a stack of needles, but in this case she might actually stand out. 

“Commander, are we trying to hide our presence or our capabilities? If we are trying to hide our capabilities might I suggest a rotating E.M. Pulse, that way they won't be able to read our weapons signature.?” Suggested Jez.

Beno was impressed by the suggestion, it had a flare to it and she wouldn't have thought of it. "We should have an E.M. pulse ready or two, we are attempting to keep classified material out of their hands." There was something missing still, a crucial piece to make sense of everything. "Computer what is the status of Ambassadors on Riani, and when was the last one assigned to the planet." There was something that Beno had in mind, but wanted proof before saying anything about it. 

"Science I would like to look into residual evidence of another Federation vessel that came in or out of this area, or even on the surface." Again something wasn't feeling right, and this feeling was getting a little worse as time went on.

==Tag==

[Cologero Coppola]

Cologero was about to scan the dark areas as ordered, but there was a change in orders. He was now looking for liftpe that wasn't indigenous to the area. From what he heard the person they were looking for was a woman, the onl6 kind of life it eliminates was species without gender.

The area he started with was the one closest to the team, it was for elimination purposes. By the sounds of things Cologero was equally confused like everyone else, the one thing that might be clear was part of what they were doing. It was turning into a missing person, they just didn't know who or what they were looking for. 

==GM input on a sweeping set of scans for our missing person ==

[Daniel Brooks]

The Captains voice came over the comms in a calm tone [Brooks to Aquila, just keep everything calm up there. Be as diplomatic as you can be. Brooks out.]

==Tag==

[GM-07]

== For Velaul ==

The terminal near the command chair displayed the now-familiar face of Jonas Weisbrantz along with a summary of his service. On the other side of the display was the face of a young human woman, who the computer identified as Saida Gebrezghi. She had dark skin and wore her hair tied tightly behind her head. Her serious eyes made for a striking portrait, one that seemed to stare back at Velaul from the other side of the screen. While this would be Saida’s first off-world posting, the details of her record were quite impressive as Velaul skimmed them.

Velaul could see evidence that this change of ambassador had been planned for nearly a year, being delayed several times before it was finally pushed forward by the Diplomatic Corps. It seemed that Jonas’s attempts to cancel his transfer were ultimately unsuccessful. Saida’s current status was marked as “in transit”. Some details about her shuttle were enclosed.


== For Coppola ==

The noise of Riani’s cities made it extremely difficult to detect an individual life sign without a strong signal to lock on to (such as a combadge) and a good idea of the individual’s approximate location. Toward the dark areas of the planet, an individual signal might stand out more.

Near the away team in the city of Saule, Cologero was not able to detect any other non-indigenous life signs. Either Ambassador Gebrezghi was somewhere else, or her signal was being blocked somehow.

[Jez Mala]

When Commander Velaul stated that they should have a "We should have an E.M. pulse ready or two, we are attempting to keep classified material out of their hands." Jez got to work right away configuring the E.M. pulse Generator ready, her delicate hands flew over the controls.

“Commander, the E.M. pulse is ready on your order. Jez sounded proud at quickly setting up the E.M. pulse. Jez had wished she knew more about their current mission. Commander Velaul said something that caught Jez’s attention, the Commander said, "Computer what is the status of Ambassadors on Riani, and when was the last one assigned to the planet."

Ambassadors, interesting

Jez knew that when Diplomats came into play, she immediately thought of War and Peace by the Terran Leo Tolstoy. That brought up so many questions: Was the crew of the Aquila in the middle of some diplomatic intrigue, or political revolution of some kind, or was a civil war brewing? It was hard to tell. However, when Diplomats were involved, it usually meant espionage was involved.

“Commander, perhaps as a precaution, we should post Security around critical areas of the ship, just in case," suggested Jez.



== Tag Velaul.=

[Cologero Coppola]

The search wasn't going to be easy by any measure, this place made a sensor sweep almost impossible. The only thing that he knew was she wasn't from there, she would stand out due to being completely organic. There was a certain flaw to the logic, they could install some against her will.

"Commander with the interference from the planet, pin pointing her location is going to be close to impossible." Hopefully there was something in the computers about the ship she was on. If there was records of the ship, it would also contain information of its transponder. If the ship had one that still functions, they would be able to locate it.

"One more thing is if the Away team loses their Combadge we won't be able track them easily, by comparison it will be easier because we have somewhere to start." If they were able to get an idea about where the ship was, they stood a better chance of finding her.

==Tags and GM input on the transponder ==

[Alexander Talion]

Talion sent a text message to Khasim, [Continue scanning the planet for another human life sign. Until we have coordinates to start from, use us as a focal point and work in a spiral search pattern working outward. You might also scan for residual Federation warp signatures and indications from our impulse engines in the system. A ship should have arrived, but we need to confirm when and where. We also don't know where it went. It may even still be in the system.]

== Tag Khasim ==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira furrowed her brow in checking the sensor results. There were so many scan cycles - as soon as one ended, another would begin. They all came from different corporations or governments, almost like they were competing one for another. As much as it would make it virtually impossible to track the away team without getting caught, it did catch Samira's interest. She wondered...

She got a text from Commander Talion. That was actually a brilliant idea, she wished she thought of that. So she focused on the away team and proceeded outward in a spiral, making like she was examining the environment and air composition around the team, spreading outward, a casual lookout of safety for the away team, in case anybody from the planet would be asking. Amidst this, she kept an eye out for Starfleet signatures, especially indications of impulse engines from Starfleet vessels...besides the Aquila of course.

The fact that a Starfleet vessel should have arrived should've caught notice of Samira. If it came, where did it come from? There would be an indication, would it be somewhere in the system? Could it have been attacked, but if so, where's the debris?

It was an unfortunate weakness in Samira's part, she tended to be too inquisitive. It may have started when she was gazing at the stars among her fellow Bedouins, and a little amplified and fine-tuned to investigation in her learning with the local law enforcement when she joined civilization. Luckily, she was able to control those questions in tune when she was at a forensics lab. At least this could be a case of digital forensics in using the sensors.

[Understood,] Samira replied back through text. It was short and to the point, but Samira felt that just in case she was being observed, the less she wrote and had a potential to give anything away to eavesdroppers, the better.

==Tag Talion==

==GM Input - From the outward spiral scan Samira had been given recommendations for, any sign of Starfleet based signatures?==

[Carley Young]

The moon was oddly shaped kind of reminding her of an potato, odd because most were in the It was also big enough to hide a ship of this size, meaning it was also possible for someone to hide a smaller ship in its place. The pollution levels on the planet were pretty bad, the only thing that made it better than Earth was the lack of debris. There were around five hundred thousand pieces, more than likely the reason no intelligent life came to visit on a regular basis.

"Lieutenant I would like to run something by you." Carley waited for a second. "This oddly shaped moon has the potential to hide a ship like this, and you are right it would severely compromise our ability to keep an eye on our crew." She didn't want to talk about the fact a ship could be hidden there yet, it could provoke a lot more paranoia than needed. 

Soon came an order from the Commander. "Science I would like to look into residual evidence of another Federation vessel that came in or out of this area, or even on the surface." 

"Aye Commander." Carley said while scanning for any evidence the ship even made it to the planet, or even the system. If it didn't make it to either, they would have eliminated a lot of possibilities. "Lieutenant do you think it would be a wise choice to send a probe along the estimated course of the Ambassadors ship, for just in case it fell short of its destination?" Carley asked not one hundred percent sure that they should send one.

==Tag Khasim- GM input ==

[Beno Velaul]

The information coming in about the Ambassador was more revealing, it displayed not one of them but two. One of them appeared to not want to be there, while the other appeared to want to be there. While sending Cologero the information about the ship, Beno was looking up information about why he wanted out of this assignment. Attempting to get out of it once was one thing, it morphed into something different when the attempt is repeated.

"Agreed Jez, please send Security in places you see fit." Right now while her Second Officer was away, Jez was running things. The other piece of information was where the ship originated, it would give them a flight path and an E.T.A. 

"It looks like there was more than one person sent on this assignment, he of them doesn't want to be here." There was another set of factors that came into place. "Let's also look at the fact someone was in no hurry to be here, let's entertain the idea he managed to slow down the arrival time. He might not want to be here, so he might have delayed the arrival time." With the inability to stop the mission, there was room for a delay.

"Lieutenant Khasim as it turns out we are not looking for one person, it is actually two humans. The process was delayed for more than a year and it's safe to assume he is responsible. Still let's not rule out anything." When they focus on one thing, they are blinded to everything else.

==Tag Khasim and Jez==

[GM-07]

== Jumping on this before it gets out of hand: Jonas is the outgoing ambassador currently meeting with the Away Team. Saida is the incoming ambassador who is missing. Jonas was attempting to delay his transfer off Riani, but ultimately failed and a replacement was ordered. Apologies if this was not clear. Full GM post soon. ==

[Beno Velaul]

==With this in mind let’s amend the previous post to say one human, and investigate why he didn’t want to leave. My mistake ==

[Beno Velaul]

==Take two==

The information coming in about the Ambassador was more revealing, it displayed not one of them but two. One of them appeared to not want to be there, while the other appeared to want to be there. While sending Cologero the information about the ship, Beno was looking up information about why he wanted out of this assignment. Attempting to get out of it once was one thing, it morphed into something different when the attempt is repeated.

"Agreed Jez, please send Security in places you see fit." Right now while her Second Officer was away, Jez was running things. The other piece of information was where the ship originated, it would give them a flight path and an E.T.A. 

"It looks like there was more too it than we thought, it looks like someone doesn't want to leave." There was another set of factors that came into place. If someone wanted to stay bad enough, they might try to delay their departure. "Let's also look at the fact someone was in no hurry to leave here, let's entertain the idea he managed to slow down the arrival time. " There had to be something that they were never told about, could it be an emotional factor?

"Lieutenant Khasim what we need to do is make sure one way or another the ship did or did not make it here, currently there are too many factors in play here. Until we know for certain the ship made it here, we can not invest too much resources to find someone who might not be here."  If they heavily scanned toe area without knowing, there would be too many questions and not enough answers.

==Tag Khasim and Jez - Please ignore and or delete the prevouse post==

[GM-07]

== For Coppola ==

Coppola retrieved details on the incoming ambassador’s shuttle from the computer’s records. A model of the shuttle rotated on screen, displaying information on its transponder signature and overall specifications. The shuttle was a relatively new model, and its modified duranium hull was quite distinct from Riani spacecraft.

The shuttle’s transponder signal could not be detected within sensor range. However, analysis of the planet’s surface would reveal a material match for the shuttle’s hull in the dark area along Tanndi’s border


== For Khasim ==

Further scans of the away team’s vicinity revealed two juveniles who appeared to be half-human half-Riani, located in a residential area near the Federation embassy. They appeared to be related to ambassador Weisbrantz. The scans continued to search for other life signs belonging to Federation-aligned species, though they would take hours to cover the entire planet’s surface.


== For Young ==

The solar system was host to unusually high magnetic activity, which dispersed warp trails rather quickly in a ship’s wake. With some effort, Carley was able to locate a faint trail approaching the star system that appeared to match the shuttle’s warp engine. There was no trail leaving the system.

[Cologero Coppola]

There had to be something blocking the transponder very powerful, the answer came close behind the original thought. The ship appeared to be on the surface, all data available on the ship matched the materials used in the construction. The same materials were not from the planet, making it more likely to be true.

"Commander you might want to look at this." He shifted the screen to the area he detected the materials. "Sensors indicate that the shuttle is here, the transponder can't be detected but that can be explained by the same interference that is blocking a lot of our scans."  Cologero was attempting to narrow his scans to a smaller area, that way if they send a team it would be helpful.

==Tag Bridge ==

[Carley Young]

Evidence supported what Cologero said about the shuttle, she picked up the trail going to the planet. There was also no evidence to support it leaving. "Cit was Commander we are reading a one way journey to the planet, and none that said they ever left." She wasn't sure if it was planned to land, or if it was scheduled for a quick exchange.

"What do you make of this?" She asked Khasim, the dark area of the planet Carley wouldn't want to go to. Nor would she think of a reason why people would go there, than again there are all sorts of reasons out there.

==Tag Khasim==

[Jez Mala]

Jez quickly got the Security teams in place around the Aquila’s most sensitive and crucial areas, she posted Security Personnel around, Engineering, The Main Computer Core, Sickbay, Auxiliary Bridge, Saucer Separation Controls, as well as having Security Officers patrolling the corridors, just in case knowing that in this situation danger could come from anywhere at any time.

Jez listened to the conversation between the Bridge crew, the theory about the shuttle and the mysterious dark region, What could they be hiding.

Jez tapped a few controls to find out exactly where they were and what they were facing. The Computer quickly Brought up the Planetary Profile. Jez scanned it for any clue

[The dominant culture of the Riani home world is characterized by consumerism and pursuit of power. The planet is home to more than 100 distinct nations. Tanndi, the most politically dominant of these nations, is home to the Federation’s embassy and its ambassador Jonas Weisbrantz. Tanndi is also the only Riani nation to have achieved warp capability, a technology which they guard closely.

Cybernetic augmentation is a key fixture of Riani culture, and is performed for purposes both functional and aesthetic. A Riani with financial means will typically invest substantial resources into cyberware. The Federation database contains no records of an unmodified adult Riani.

Due to the adversarial nature of Riani’s nations, admittance to the Federation is currently unattainable. Cultural fascination with cybernetics is also considered to be detrimental to relations between the Riani and the Federation. Riani is the third planet of the Fendi system in the 5540 Yi Xiu cluster. Climate is slightly cooler than the average M-Class planet. One rotation of the planet is completed every 26.4 hours.

The planet is located on the outskirts of the Federation and the Cardassian Union. Formal relations with both neighbors are still nascent. Cardassian leaders have recently begun to signal interest in the planet as the Republic of Tanndi continues to make strides in dilithium refinement, though no trade agreement has been reached and the Cardassian Union does not maintain an embassy on Riani.]

Hmmm….??? The culture sounds like the Borg and Ferengi had a love child.

Jez shook her head, Riani didn’t seem like a remarkable planet.

Well, Dilithium does add to the equation , then it hit her like a bolt of lightning.

Dilithium, Cardassians, are the Cardassians setting up an illegal mining operation, maybe they have a hidden base. It could be possible when you take into consideration the planet's Powerful E.M. Field, things were starting to add up..The transponder signal couldn’t be detected.

Think Jez, think….


Could the Cardassians have kept and improved the Founders cloaking technology and they have a hidden mine or military base, or a Jem'Hadar cloning facility on the planet's surface? It could be a possibility, a base or a cloning facility would require large amounts of Dilithium to power the facilities, to buy equipement, not to mention to pay off officials.


“Commander Velaul, I have a theory of what's going on here. What if the Cardassians have kept and improved the Founders cloaking technology and they have a hidden mine or military base, or a Jem'Hadar cloning facility on the planet's surface? It could be a possibility, a base or a cloning facility would require large amounts of Dilithium to power the facilities, to buy equipement, not to mention to pay off officials to look the other way. Maybe one of the Ambassadors is a changeling? Do you want me to scan for Dominion or Cardassian energy signatures?” Suggested Jez.



== Tag Velaul, Tag All.==

[Beno Velaul]

The ship was confirmed on the planet with no evidence of the ship leaving the system. The information presented would tell her that he really wanted to stay, even had his stay extended as long as possible. It was successful for one year, but his time was now up.

Ten years is a long time for anyone, and biology is biology. Did he? Beno had a confused look on her face for a second, and knew what she should do. It was just before she was going to say something, her Security Officer had an insight.

"Commander Velaul, I have a theory of what's going on here. What if the Cardassians have kept and improved the Founders cloaking technology and they have a hidden mine or military base, or a Jem'Hadar cloning facility on the planet's surface? It could be a possibility, a base or a cloning facility would require large amounts of Dilithium to power the facilities, to buy equipement, not to mention to pay off officials to look the other way. Maybe one of the Ambassadors is a changeling? Do you want me to scan for Dominion or Cardassian energy signatures?”

Beno listened carefully to what she had to say, and thought it was well presented. "Right now if any of that were going on, there isn't much we can do about it." Beno was keeping a thoughtful tone. "Unless they have unlawful contact with the Ambassador." That reminded her about what she should do next.

[Aquila to Brooks we are about to attempt to contact the Ambassadors ship.] She closed the channel and went to the middle of the room. "Ensign please enhance the image of the ship, best you can get." Beno waited for the image to change. "Open a channel." Again waiting on the channel to open. [Aquila to the shuttle of Ambassador Gebrezghi please respond.] She hoped that there would be an answer soon.

==Tag and GM input please==

[Shione Kurasa]

While the bridge crew were busy they heard a comm signal from the Second officer.

It was clear that the Security chief was being careful; based on both her volume, as well as the fact that she spoke in what would clearly come across as someone who was trying to not be heard.

"Kurasa to Bridge. The Ambassador has suggested that we leave here and go to a local restaurant. Given the technical complexity and preponderance of surveillance I want a transporter lock on all of the away team including the Ambassador and if I should use Commander Velaul's first name in a contact with the ship, please transport us all , Kurasa over."

==Tag==

[GM-07]

== For all ==

The image of the shuttle appeared on the viewscreen. It was scorched and half-buried in dark sand, but its structure appeared relatively intact.

There was no response to Aquila’s hail. In fact, there was no indication that Aquila’s transmitter had connected to anything on the shuttle’s end. It seemed that the comm systems on the shuttle had been damaged or removed.

[Cologero Coppola]

The scene revealed that the landing was far from a smooth one, it could be because of a navigation error or attack. The shuttle was newer so it didn't have much flight time, it would also mean it manufactured with a lot of faults. Cologero was attempting to open a channel revealed something else, the fact they can't receive communication. As he attempted to open the channel, he was a little confused.

"Commander there is a problem, the shuttle isn't receiving any communication. It is either the communication array was destroyed in the crash or it was stolen, we have no way to know from here." In anticipation of a follow up order, Cologero isolated a section of the burnt part of the hull, he wanted to make sure it was either an attack or burning from entery. There are normally systems in place to prevent burning like this, it could also mean that she stole it herself.

"Commander I am starting a trace on the ships communication system, chances are good she removed it to try a communication in a better area." While using the systems to track down the device, Cologero was looking for a high place that would increase odds of better communication. The higher they go the less interference from the atmosphere, the exact thing he would do in her stead.

==Tag with GM input ==

[Beno Velaul]

There was a communication from the surface. [Kurasa to Bridge. The Ambassador has suggested that we leave here and go to a local restaurant. Given the technical complexity and preponderance of surveillance I want a transporter lock on all of the away team including the Ambassador and if I should use Commander Velaul's first name in a contact with the ship, please transport us all , Kurasa over.]

She was looking at the damaged shuttle on the surface, and wasn't sure what to think. Then Cologero was thinking as well.

"Commander there is a problem, the shuttle isn't receiving any communication. It is either the communication array was destroyed in the crash or it was stolen, we have no way to know from here." If the device was taken from the ship it would explain why they didn't answer, it was because they couldn't.

"Commander I am starting a trace on the ships communication system, chances are good she removed it to try a communication in a better area." 

"Good thinking Ensign, let me know the results. [Bridge to Kurasa understood... Conundrum.] There was a brief pause. [I am sending you an image and co ordinates of the image.. We still haven't came to any conclusions yet, we are still attempting to shed some light on the subject.] She closed the channel.

"Talk to me Science... Khasim what have you found so far?" Everyone else had given her something to work with, hopefully she would have something as well.

==Tag all==

[Samira Khasim]

Samira did notice some individuals on sensors, but she was interested to see they were half human. It did make Samira wonder... And Lieutenant Young pointed something out. "Hmm, it does certainly raise more questions than having to answer."

Samira looked up to see the image on the viewscreen. That was interesting, it looked like that shuttle had been there for a long time. Samira wondered if that ambassador had been enjoying time on the planet. Commander Velaul asked her for what can be found, and Samira worked.

"Scanning," she said. "I can confirm what Mister Coppola has found. No sign of the transmitter. And there shouldn't be any scorching. I wouldn't be surprised if it had been destroyed in the crash. But therein lieth the problem, scorching...it does raise two possibilities: One, either it was shot down, in which case the scorching came from energy weapons, or two: something brought it down and did enough damage that the shields wouldn't protect it upon reentry.

"Given what we see on the viewscreen," Samira added, "no physical evidence is apparent, but nonetheless, neither possibility is good."

==Tag Beno, Cologero and GM==

[Beno Velaul]

Khasim was right, there was nothing good about it. There was all the evidence Beno needed to show it was an attack, and not much that would support mechanical failure. "Yes you are right, current evidence does point this way. Lets find evidence of who done it, so looking for debris would give us that answer." Beno had a second to think about how to proceed, and there was only one thing she could think of.

"Khasim while I am away, I need you to look for any evidence about what happened here, there might be some that on the moons. Anything we can find is going to be relevant, no matter how small it seems." Beno started to go to the Ready Room. "You have the Bridge." Beno left the Bridge, and went into the Ready Room. It was one of the few kinds of calls that Beno didn't want to make, but would make it worse if she didn't.

==Tag Khasim==
>>>>Ready Room>>>