The Search Begins (Mission)

The Search Begins
Season:	Season 3
Episode:	14
Date:	February 1, 2389
Span:	Two Days
Template:Mission

The veteran crew of the Black Hawk is no stranger to being cut off. Trapped inside the Zone, the mighty ship hides and conducts repairs suffered from its deadly encounter with the locals. The clock, however, keeps ticking. Time is running out to find the great danger that the probe foretold, and their first encounter was certainly not it.

Lying in wait, the Black Hawk has quietly begun mapping the lightyears surrounding their entry point. To no one’s surprise, the system is quite populated, despite the random spatial anomalies spread throughout. Not much else, however, can be achieved by scan.

Captain Geisler directs the ship to a system with five planets, rather a system with graveyards that were once five planets. The largest surviving chunk features a large domed habitat, with an orbital station, and appears to be a hub for trade and commerce. Deciding that this would be a source of information, an Away Team is dispatched to learn more, while the ship itself studies the system, hoping to find a clue about the great threat that awaits...

Summary

The USS Black Hawk, while conducting repairs, uses her sensors to examine its surroundings. Due to high levels of radiation and cosmic dust, the results do not have much to show, save for the Alpha Trios system. This system appeared to once have five, lush, thriving planets. According to the sensor logs, each of the planets had been destroyed or decimated in some fashion. Captain Geisler, curious what secrets the system may hold, decides to direct the Black Hawk to the system.

Upon arrival, the crew learns that their sensors aren’t functioning any better in proximity to these destroyed worlds. Two Away Teams are immediately dispatched, one to the domed habitat on Alpha Trios IV, and the other to a space station orbiting what remains of Alpha Trios III. Meanwhile, the fighter squadron scouts the systems inner orbits and the Black Hawk herself, devoid of much of the senior staff, conducts a readiness drill to keep the crew alert and ready. The drill went as well as could be expected, however, it was quickly cut short when several frigates appeared on the Black Hawk’s sensors and performed a close fly-by. There wasn’t any hostile action, but the situation was tense.

After the drill, normal life and drama resumes, including the injury of a poor crewman on the flight deck. His situation was declared critical, but the medical staff was able to stabilize him and save his badly burned limb. During the fighter squadron’s scouting, they come across winged creatures capable of attaching themselves to the fighters and draining their power. The squadron is able to return to the ship, but not without bringing a few of the creatures with them.

Lieutenant Commander Djinx takes a shuttle out from the Black Hawk, along with a couple members of the science team, and collects scans from several of the destroyed worlds. The shuttle’s sensors and computer are not able to determine direct causes, so the team puts themselves to work with the results back aboard the Black Hawk.

Aboard the space station, the first away team divides itself into two groups. One group, led by Lieutenant Camila Di Pasquale, is able to secure translation matrices for several species and immediately starts putting them to use. Her group finds a trading market and obtains more local currency before being trapped by a group calling themselves the Golonite Syndicate. A second group appears and a firefight ensues. The Away Team manages to overcome both and starts to treat an injured Golonite, who can’t believe their charity.

The other group aboard the station, led by Lieutenant Joey Geisler, trades trinkets for local currency and starts to look into what happened in the system. They enlist the help of a native Triosian and explore deeper into the station. The translator, unfortunately, has a few followers, forcing the Away Team to go into hiding. They stumble upon the translator’s grandmother’s home. She was not pleased to see her grandson and his companions. The Away Team pleads for information and does not learn much, other than there was a great war that devastated the zone, and no one has been able to recover. Geisler and Di Pasquale reunite, and the Away Team departs the station.

The second away team, led by Commander Teixeira, lands on Alpha Trios IV and enters the domed habitat. They find that the culture has built themselves around sports and other competitions. One either participates (willingly or forced) in the competitions or bets on them. The team also divides itself into two groups. The first group, led by the Commander, views a simple competition, gets pickpocketed, and finds a local shop run by a telepathic species similar to what boarded the ship a month prior. In the same shop, the team finds an Aketi and a Triosian. Over drinks, the team learns of the Kalisa sector, protected by the Guardians, where there is a massive archive. Any answers the Black Hawk seeks could be there.

The other group, led by Ensign Khan, attempts to solicit information from the locals. Their ultimate contact is arrested before their eyes and is forced into the games due to a massive gambling debt. Hoping to find out more information, the group enters a stadium where a group of competitors face off against gladiators. The team makes contact with another Triosian who is less than helpful.

Overall, the away teams learn that the overall status in the zone is one of defeat, remorse and acceptance. The Alpha Trios system was practically completely destroyed, and resources in the zone operate at a premium because so few are being produced. Whatever happened in the zone could be coming soon to the Federation, or at least the Gamma Quadrant as a whole, and it is now the Black Hawk’s primary mission to find out what that is before it’s too late.

Timeline

Mission Day 1

• 0900 hours: Charting the Stars
• 1000 hours: Our First Stop

Mission Day 2

• 0600 hours: Runabout Launch

USS Black Hawk

• 0830 hours: The Info Is Out There
• 0845 hours: Only A Drill
• 0930 hours: The Danger Zone
• 1100 hours: Failure
• 1120 hours: Consequences
• 1130 hours: Starcrossed
• 1200 hours: Goop

Runabout Mississippi

• 0915 hours: First Impressions (Alpha Trios IV, Part 1, Team One)
• 0930 hours: Making Friends (Alpha Trios IV, Part 1, Team Two)
• 0945 hours: Tense Time For Drinking (Alpha Trios IV, Part 2, Team One)
• 0950 hours: Betting It All (Alpha Trios IV, Part 2, Team Two)

Runabout Euphrates

• 0900 hours: The Station, Part 1
• 0930 hours: A Matter of Power (The Station, Part 2 Team One)
• 0935 hours: A Matter of Communication (The Station, Part 2, Team Two)
• 1000 hours: Trading Partners (The Station, Part 3, Team Two)
• 1000 hours: Seeking Elders (The Station, Part 3, Team One)

Reunited

• 1900 hours: A Report on Despair

OOC Information

Mission 14 began on March 28, 2018. Since that time, 43 posts have been published.

External Information

Complete Mission Logs for Episode 14: The Search Begins