USS Penumbra - sim-summaries

USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202103.26 Introduction: . The Penumbra was parked in the "no-man's land" between the Klingon Empire and the Gorn Hegemony. They had come there seeking a Gorn Ambassador that had been kidnapped by Nausicaan pirates. . At the edge of their long-range sensors was a hodge-podge of broken-down ships, modules, interconnecting corridors, cargo holding bays, and a handful of food and drink providers, that was being graciously called a "station". . The Penumbra had followed a trail left by some ship leaking plasma that led directly to this "station". There was no sign of the trail continuing on from the station, so the damaged ship that left the trail was either still there, or had been repaired there before traveling on. . It has been speculated that the damaged ship leaking plasma might be the Nausicaan ship that had taken the Gorn Ambassador, under the presumption that the Gorn would not have surrendered without a fight, and since the plasma trail occurred very near the last known whereabouts of the Ambassador, it was our best lead to track him down. . While following that trail, though, we also encountered a damaged freighter issuing a General Distress Call. This ship is named the Canteen of Sparkles and is owned and operated by a Miss Misty Mane. The Canteen is certainly not the ship leaking the plasma (the type of damage her ship suffered would not have caused the same plasma leak). . The Canteen was brought into the Penumbra's Hangar Bay and inspected (no sign of any Gorn on board), and when Misty offered to help us catch the pirates who'd kidnapped the Ambassador, she was brought to the Observation Lounge to speak with the Commodore. Bridge, Main Engineering, Sickbay: Activate MIRAGE

. LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris had command of the Bridge while the Commodore and the Colonel were interviewing the freighter captain in the Observation Lounge. While, technically, Cmdr. Relok was the senior officer on the Bridge, the Commodore had specifically given Tabby command while Relok and other senior officers were "busy". . Cmdr. Relok was working with LtCmdr. T'Lin at the Primary Science Station, scanning the "mashed-together-hunk-of-metal" that was the station ahead. LtCmdr. Jason Carter was at the Helm, holding position from the unknown station until given other instructions. . LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke had made a trip down to the Hangar Bay himself to take a look at the Canteen of Sparkles. As the Chief of Security and Tactical Operations, he felt obligated to give it a once-over. In his absence from the Bridge, SgtMaj. Derek Hines was manning the Tactical Station. . Down in Main Engineering, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry was running diagnostics on the quickly-installed MIRAGE modules. She'd sent a team out in EVA suits to slap together several modules to replace ones lost in the Rift passage. Her team only had the short amount of time while the ship was "parked" to get them installed and configured. She knew it wasn't fully repaired, but anything right now was better than nothing. . Tabby glanced around and said, "Let's see if we can manage MIRAGE. MAX, activate the MIRAGE system, please." . MAX, the Artificial Intelligence originally from the Darmok's Recon Dome but transferred to the Penumbra when the Darmok was retired, responded, "Testing MIRAGE in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...." The MIRAGE system engaged and the Penumbra faded from ordinary view. Diagnostics on the system did show spots that were not "true" projections of space behind the ship. Which meant there would definitely be distortions visible to anyone looking. Insecurity

. Meanwhile, Relok was studying the readings on the station. He said, "I still can't understand how that thing even stays together. Where do they get power? Do they siphon it off of the ships docked there or what?" . T'Lin responded, "Why would they not hide this place more carefully? It is quite noticeable!" . Relok replied, "I believe it is because they are in the no-man's land between the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Gorn Hegemony. And with the Borg attack on the Nausicaan systems, there really is no government here. There's nobody they feel they need to hide from." . "But," T'Lin stammered, "but ... that is illogical! There is no security, no safety within their walls!" She was clearly confused, and slightly frustrated. . Hines tried to dial into the Recon systems. "Lemme see if I can find anything on scans." . Down in Sickbay, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala checked over MstSgt. Khal'Gon, who was still recovering from the infection of plant fibers from the Mirror-Universe Ivorez. He collected an inhaler and brought it to the Klingon-Nausicaan hybrid. . Khal'Gon scoffed at the device, "I highly doubt I'll need this, Doctor." . "Keep it just in case, Khal'Gon," Shadow said. "It's a tri-ox inhaler, so it can be used on anyone." . Khal'Gon studied the device a moment and tucked it under his sash with a grunt. "There are first aid kits everywhere on this ship, but ... I understand your perspective." . Shadow just smiled at him and said, "Thanks, Khal'Gon, you are one truly worthy to stand at Khaless' right hand." . About that time, Den stepped off the turbolift, returning from his inspection of the Canteen. He stepped towards the Tactical Station and said, "Thanks for the cover, Hines." . The big Marine nodded and logged off, "All yours, Hawke." He moved over to his usual spot at the Reconnaissance Console.

. Den logged into the Tactical Station and skimmed over the systems, muttering, "What are we looking at, now?" "Who wants to party?" . Relok, still standing over T'Lin's shoulder, pointed at her screen. "T'Lin, that plasma trail definitely leads to that ... station ... for lack of a better term." . Carter, at the Helm but following along on his own console, nodded and said, "Yeah, the nav shows there's a pretty extensive plasma trail at that station." . T'Lin frowned slightly. "Yes it does. But this is all so ... sloppy. Undefendable. Too many weak points that a simple scan would find. Too many open walls, not enough security." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. It was clear her "mental calibration" after the psychic battle with the Mirror Ivorez was still in progress. . Tabby called Engineering, "Bevin, the MIRAGE system is a little funky. We're hidden but there seems to be a distortion. Anything you can do to assist that and make it true, love?" . Bevin's thick Scottish Brogue came back over the commlink, "I knaw, Taibbikins, bit I've dane ais mich ais I kin fer tha mawmint fer tha mairrige saystims." . Tabby had learned enough of her accent to decipher that she'd done as much as she could. He responded, "I understand, love, no pressure, but ... this could be risky." . Bevin replied, "Ye're praichin tae tha kwair, mo croidhe." . Hines reported, "Recon shows there's about a half-dozen freighters. No specific design. There's a couple of Nausicaan vessels, and possibly one Gorn ship. Nothing on scans indicates the station itself has any defenses or sensors ... just a mush of hangars, likely for cargo transfers ... and more than likely a few cantinas for gambling." . Den nodded, "Well, that's good to know, actually. Unless they've got some kind of dampening field to hide the defenses."

. Hines gave a soft grunt and added, "There's still a dozen vessels, give or take, each with their own sensors and weapons." . Relok commented, "I'm sure the Penumbra could easily handle any of those small ships, but ... we're outside of Federation space. We don't have true jurisdiction here." . Tabby muttered, "An open hideout, unguarded. It's a ploy." . T'Lin smirked. "No government here. Who wants to party?" Searching for Answers . Tabby glanced around and said, "Think for a second. If they are to be so bold and have a hideout so open and unguarded, it's to hide the others. Look around on scanners." . T'Lin did just that, then reported, "There are no other buildings. All of the trails point to this building." . Den smirked and commented, "Wait ... there's a building floating around in space? I thought it was a station!" . T'Lin just scowled at him. Relok redirected their focus, "Agreed, T'Lin. One of those half-dozen ships is the one that was leaking plasma. That still doesn't tell us who might have taken the Ambassador, though." . T'Lin glanced up at Relok and commented, "No, but drunk pirates might. Always were ones to brag." . Tabby said, "Maybe scan the area for a downed ship? It may have crash landed in the area." . Hines did a quick scan and reported, "There's nothing else on sensors that would indicate anything. It's literally just a floating garage with a bar." . Den agreed, "What he said." . T'Lin turned to Tabby. "Tabeshk, there is nothing else but this building and those ships. I am guessing that that ship," she pointed to a dark blue ship with white stripes, "is the one with the leak. The plasma is potent there." . Den added, "We're probably going to have to set up a search pattern." . Carter commented, "Gonna end up with a lot of gaps though if we can't rely on our stealth systems. Wouldn't want to get too close and get detected." . Tabby hummed and then asked, "So, what's the plan?"

. Relok mused, "If the Nausicaans plan to seek ransom for the Ambassador, they have to make contact and arrange for a drop, correct? What do we know about that?" . Hines gave a slight shrug, "Only that they haven't sent out a ransom yet. We've been listening in to see if we can pick up anything, but they're covering their tracks pretty solid." . Den nodded, "That would be what usually happens. If they don't know we're the ones looking, they'll contact their government and then they will tell us." First Impression . Relok glanced at Den, then Hines. "They probably want to ransom him back to the Gorn, then, and it's still some ways off. If their ship was damaged in taking the Ambassador, they may have stopped here to make repairs. That means the Ambassador might be on that damaged ship. Well, if that's the one that took him, that is. We don't even know that at this point." . T'Lin said, "So, how do we know who owns that ship? How many lifesigns are on it?" She quickly turned to perform an infrared scan for heat signatures, filtering out various species searching specifically for Gorn. . Even as T'Lin was doing the same thing, Relok turned to Hines, "Hines, with our advanced Recon sensors, can we detect individual Gorn lifesigns?" He paused, then corrected himself, "Oh, wait, that won't tell us anything for certain since you already said there's a Gorn ship here, so there could be Gorn all over the station." . T'Lin asked, "Who is the ambassador that was taken? Where is their file?" . Tabby mused, "I think it was a trade-off. They were not alone. After they were damaged, they moved the ambassador to a different ship." . Hines drummed his fingers on his console a moment, then said, "Well, if we were able to pull up any sort of DNA samples of the Gorn Ambassador, we could try scanning for those specifically ...," he trailed off.

. About that time the door slid open from the Observation Lounge corridor and Cdre. Zak Taylor, Col. Travis Patterson, and the captain of the Canteen of Sparkles, Misty Mane, stepped onto the Bridge. . Patterson had followed behind the Commodore and Misty and moved to take a position near the Master Systems Display at the rear of the Bridge, rather than his usual seat in the XO's chair. . Misty glanced around at all the high-tech displays and swooned, "Woooaaaahh!" . As they walked around the perimeter, the Commodore called, "Tabby, report." Modifications . "Oh, hi, sir," Tabby stood from the Command Chair and reported, "Situation is ... we still don't know crap." . T'Lin argued, "We know that there are no other buildings, no security protocol, and plenty of opportunity to slip in as pirates. No defenses, there is a damaged ship," she pointed to the blue and white ship, "here, and there is a Gorn ship," she pointed to another dark green vessel, "here. And I am filtering out lifesigns as we speak." . The Commodore's commbadge chirped as Bevin called, apparently continuing some conversation they'd been having earlier, "Sair, ain aixchainje fer hair haelp, shaed I aidd same ipgraids tae tha *Sprainkils, 'fray o chairje'? . Zak tapped his commbadge and answered, smiling, "Let's not upgrade too much for free, Commander. And, get approval from the owner before making any modifications that aren't mission-specific (and the Colonel will explain the mission soon)." . Misty perked up, "What mods? What's going on with my baby?" . Bevin replied, "Aye, sair, tais ailraidy indirstuid." . Den asked, "Mods?" . Zak took that opportunity to introduce their "guest". "Everyone, meet Miss Misty Mane, captain of the *Canteen of Sparkles. She has graciously allowed us to ... borrow her ship for our mission." . Misty waved as folks gave her nods of acknowledgement.

. Zak continued, "We'll be making repairs to her ship, maybe adding a few things, and stuffing a few Marines onboard, along with any other personnel the Colonel deems appropriate, so we can get on that ...", he waved at the hodge-podge station on the main viewer, "... and look for the Ambassador." . Misty asked, "Who is this ... Bevin ... that is doing upgrades? They sound like a fun, chaotic person!" . Then T'Lin rubbed her face, "What ambassador is this again?" . Relok paged through some information on his screen and found the name of the Gorn Ambassador. "The Gorn Ambassador ... Ssissthiss? Not sure if I'm saying it correctly. He was supposed to meet with the Klingon High Council for some sort of discussions." . T'Lin sighed, "There is so much coming from this place, it is making me nauseous. Too many unbuilt walls, so much...noise in there." Needing Glasses . Relok commented, "Sir ... her ship was dead in space when we towed it in. Who knows how long it will take before it is up to such a mission?" . Patterson pressed a few buttons on the MSD and pulled up a holographic display of the mish-mash station on one of MAX's central pedestals. "Take a look for yourself, Relok. Most of those ships that are there are junkers themselves. If we just strap a couple booster rockets to the Canteen, she'll have enough thrust to get there and offload her cargo." . Den pointed out, "Wouldn't it be more prudent to fix its engines instead of jury-rigging it like that? We'd kind of want to be able to get back if the Ambassador is there and we get him." . Patteson rubbed his chin then said, "MAX, magnify the damaged vessel and adjoining catwalk." . MAX did so, saying, "Of course, sir. Might I ask what you're trying to see? Perhaps Dr. Shadow can give you some glasses." . Tabby barked out, "MAX!"

. Patterson barked back, "Don't start with me, MAX... just remember I can always give you a pretty bad case of worms." . "Well played, Colonel," MAX demurred, "Well played, indeed." He shut up then. . Zak smirked at the interplay between MAX and Patterson, then turned to his Tactical Officer, "Good point, Commander. Yes, I want Bevin to make that freighter space-worthy before we go over there. The whole point would be that the freighter is an ordinary vessel making an ordinary stop for ordinary business, right?" . Den nodded, also smirking at MAX and Patterson. "It would look less suspicious, after all." . Suddenly, T'Lin recognized the Gorn Ambassador's name. "Ssissthiss? Why would they send him? He is a minor dignitary." She paused, then deduced, "They did not expect him to succeed in peace talks, they expected him to be executed." She paused again, thinking, then added, "An apt estimation of Klingon actions, though I doubt he was properly briefed on Klingon culture and accommodations." Insult . T'Lin reflected a moment, then explained, "I was there for a while, learning new combat tactics and skills as D'Vir. They are tough but they are quite slow. Many of them try to overcompensate and end up leaning on their left and leaving their right flank open." Apparently, either T'Lin herself, or the ancient Mother katra she held inside her head, had spent time amongst Gorn learning combat techniques. . Relok raised an eyebrow at T'Lin, learning such new information about her past, then said, "The Nausicaans who kidnapped him probably have no idea he has little value, then. But ... that also means ... they could kill him as easily as sell him for ransom."

. Patterson glanced to Zak, then turned to T'Lin. His face hardened slightly. "A lesser dignitary sent to the Klingon High Council for diplomatic reasons would be seen as an insult to the Klingons. The Gorn would know that, and that may be why the Klingons did not aid them with the rescue request." . Zak considered a moment then said, "It might have actually been a ploy by the Gorn to lure the Klingons away from another target. And ... drag the Federation into their war? We need to be careful here, Colonel." . T'Lin nodded. "They were not peace talks. It was an insult. A major insult to the Klingons, there is no honor, no respect. The Gorn want to anger them." . Patterson turned back to the Commodore, "I get the feeling the Gorn weren't trying to do diplomatic actions, sir ... they were using a diplomat as part of an assassination attempt against the Klingon High Council to expand their influence among the Empire." Observation Lounge: Introductions . Cdre. Zak Taylor was standing in the Observation Lounge, staring out the large windows into space. Col. Travis Patterson had escorted their guest, the strange, sparkly, pink woman with purple hair who was the owner and operator of the freighter calling itself the Canteen of Sparkles, Misty Mane, to meet with the Commodore. . Patterson stood at parade rest near the entrance from the outer corridor while Misty stood, slightly nervous, waiting to be addressed. The Commodore turned, glanced at Patterson, then faced the woman. "Please, come in, have a seat. I am Commodore Zak Taylor, and you're aboard the USS Penumbra." . The woman smiled and said, "I'm Misty Mane. I pilot the Canteen of Sparkles ... uh ... sir." . Zak waited for the woman to seat herself, then sat across from her. Patterson continued standing at parade rest near the door. Zak said, "So, Miss Mane, just what are you doing out here?" (edited)

. Misty answered, "I was actually on my way to restock my ship from my last shipment when, well, I blew something." . Zak nodded. "So, you operate in this area then? You're familiar with the local ... um ... traders?" . Zak's commbadge chirped and the strong Brogue of their Chief Engineer came over the commlink, "I saw yer naw praijict ain tha shawttil bay, waint me tae chaik ait ivvir?" . Patterson said, "The vessel certainly needs a bit of work before I'd be willing to send her off on her own for any length of time." . Zak tapped his commbadge and responded, "Stand by one, Commander, let's secure permission from the owner first." . Bevin answered, "Indirstuid, sair, staindin bay." . Zak addressed Misty. "So, can we work on fixing up the Canteen?" . Misty tilted her head, "I could use the help." . Zak relayed the permission to Bevin and then spoke to Misty once more, "Honestly, Miss Mane, I'd like to borrow your ship for a while." . Misty gave him an incredulous look. "You? Fly my ship? Not gonna happen, sorry." Contraband . Patterson stepped up. "We could always strip the thing apart, Commodore. We did confirm the presence of contraband." . Misty groaned, "Maybe I would have been better off being adrift in dead space then." . Zak tilted his head, "Miss Mane ... as the Colonel has said, we could simply commandeer your vessel, or impound it." . Misty retorted, "The only contraband I have is 'shrooms from my homeworld. I don't understand what I have done that makes you hate me so much! Plus, if I am correct, we're not in Federation jurisdiction, so, try me." . Misty straightened slightly and said, "I want to mention one more thing to plead my case. You need a pirate to catch a pirate, right? Then let me be that pirate, so I don't have to keep doing this crap that I actually hate doing."

. Zak glanced up at Patterson and raised an eyebrow. "She may have a point, Colonel. We left Federation space and into Klingon territory. Heck, I think we skipped right through a thin part of Klingon space into non-aligned territory." . Patterson raised his own eyebrows, and blinked. He shook his head. "Here's the counter argument to that, Captain, she may not have been conducting her operations in Federation space, but she did bring contraband onboard a Federation vessel openly." . Misty snapped back, "It's not like I wanted to bring contraband on board, that's stupid! You did this yourselves. Besides, once my ship is fixed I can leave, if that's such a problem. I already wasted enough of your time. Take me and my contraband and go on with my miserable life. Sorry for the trouble I've caused." . Zak glanced at Misty, then back to Patterson, then back to Misty. "She didn't bring it aboard, Colonel, we did. We brought her aboard to assist a ship in distress. Technically, out here, her ship is sovereign territory." . Patterson gave a short nod. "Yes, I know ... which means ... there are no laws governing what an individual might do." He smirked. . Zak gave him a slight frown, "Well ... we're still Federation, Colonel." He turned back to Misty. "So ... we need your help, Miss Mane. We have a mission to accomplish, and I think your ship will make that mission much easier. So ... would you be willing to help us? It could be dangerous." To the Bridge . Misty studied him in silence a moment. It stretched long enough for the Commodore to ask again, "So, if you'll help us, Miss Mane, we'll need to put people on your ship. A handful of Marines maybe, Colonel?" . Misty muttered, "I do have a few quarters on my ship that I can use to hide them ... yes." . Patterson nodded, "Perhaps in the interest of additional security, but I think we need to do this low-profile first. Having Marines on standby would be a good backup plan."

. Zak responded, "Very good. Colonel, work with Miss Mane and Bevin to get her ship flight-worthy and put together a team to infiltrate that pirate station." He turned his attention back to Misty. "Oh, by the way ... know anything about this station?" . "Sure," she answered, "I come here all the time. Good friends with a customer here named Gorg. He runs an inn here at the Hideout called 'The Tankard'." She paused, then smiled, "Man, they have some great rum there!" . Zak smiled, then turned back to Patterson. "Colonel, work up a plan." . Patterson nodded, "I've got a pretty solid idea. Infiltration is something I'm good at, sir. Did it before when we ran across that Syndicate agent." . Zak turned back to Misty and said, "Misty, would you care to see the Bridge?" As they stood, he gave a quick glance at Patterson, assuring he'd keep a sharp eye on a stranger on the Bridge. . "If it is allowed," Misty said as she stood from the table. "I didn't exactly set a great example here." She paused and gripped the table a moment, her eyes downcast. "I could just go back to my ship to assist in repairs. I do know my ship best." . But Zak just smiled and gestured towards the door leading to the Bridge. "Right this way, Miss Mane." The three of them exited towards the Bridge.