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Acceleration (Mission)

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Acceleration
Season:

Season 5

Episode:

29

Date:

February 7, 2391

Template:Mission

The crew of the USS Black Hawk-B has entered 2391 and found it uneventful. Since the defeat of the Confederation, the Black Hawk remains on the new Federation line, patrolling a tense area of space. The Dominion has crept into areas once occupied by Starfleet. Rampant piracy has forced Starfleet to redraw its patrol lines and share borders with those who prey on the strong to protect the weak.

As the Black Hawk warps from New Risa to Mellon with a fresh batch of supplies, the ship receives a distorted distress call from the USS Tiburon, a Saber-class starship studying Nebula G87-4M. When the ship is found, less than ten percent of the crew is alive, and not a single one is recognizable.

When the away team returns, they begin to exhibit unusual symptoms, which soon extend to the entire crew. A race against time soon begins. Can the crew of the Black Hawk save the away team before they all suffer the same fate as the Tiburon?

Summary

Prologue

In the months following the Confederation's defeat, Commodore Harvey Geisler focuses on rebuilding morale aboard the Black Hawk, but ongoing senior staff reassignments (culminating in the loss of his executive officer) leave the ship in a growing command crisis. With no clear successor and limited viable options, Harvey privately meets with Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale, his Chief of Security, over lunch to discuss the situation. Harvey emphasizes his need for a strong, dissenting voice in command. Recognizing her judgment, loyalty, and willingness to challenge him, he offers her the role of Second Officer. Though initially shocked and mindful of their past disagreements, Camila ultimately accepts on her own terms, pledging to serve not as a subordinate figurehead but as a steadfast counterbalance—his “arm and shield”—marking a pivotal step toward stabilizing the ship’s leadership.

A few days later, Admiral Zachary O'Connell arrives with Commander Madelina "Maddy" Barnes, the ship’s new Executive Officer, and delivers what initially appears to be a public demotion—stripping Harvey of his commodore rank. Both Camila and Maddy challenge the decision, only to learn it is not punishment but a strategic reassignment: Harvey is returned to Captain and given direct assignment to Admiral O'Connell under Gamma Command, granting the Black Hawk unprecedented autonomy to operate independently in the quadrant. The moment solidifies the command team’s dynamic; Maddy establishing her role, Camila fiercely defending her captain and earning a promotion to full Commander, and Harvey quietly absorbing the weight of a new, freer but more uncertain mandate.

As Commander Di Pasquale escorts the Admiral back to the transporter room, Harvey sits in the Conference Room grappling with the emotional fallout of his public demotion. He feels both liberated and deeply wounded by Admiral O'Connell’s handling of the matter. Commander Barnes offers empathy and honesty as she admits her role in observing him but ultimately questions Starfleet’s judgment rather than his leadership. Their conversation reveals a shared belief in Starfleet’s ideals despite its current political drift, and a growing mutual respect as Maddy affirms her commitment to support him and the crew. By the end, Harvey regains some composure, sets clear expectations for her as his XO, and, though still hurting, resolves to move forward in command.

The XO Gets Acquainted

Eager to familiarize herself with the new assignment, Commander Barnes conducts a surprise inspection of the ship. She starts in Main Engineering, where Chief Engineer Ranul Frex introduces himself and proudly showcases the department’s readiness and recent improvements. Frex explains upgrades to the ship’s horizontal warp core, translating complex engineering concepts into plain language when Barnes admits engineering is outside her specialty, while Barnes praises the crew’s professionalism and leadership. The inspection concludes on a positive note, with both officers expressing mutual respect and an open-door policy, reinforcing Barnes’s place as part of the ship’s leadership team.

Commander Barnes continues her introductory tour by visiting Chief Science Officer Lieutenant Daynah Ral, whom she finds deeply engrossed in analyzing an unidentified radioactive metallic sample after more than thirteen hours of work. Concerned that exhaustion is impairing Daynah’s judgment, Barnes orders her to take a break, and the two agree to visit the ship’s lounge, Talons, where they begin building rapport while balancing professionalism with the beginnings of friendship.

Next, Commander Barnes visits the Security Department for an inspection, where Chief of Security Camila di Pasquale showcases the ship’s advanced security systems, brig, armory, and new anti-clone protocols. As the tour progresses, the two bond over their shared Security backgrounds, with Barnes praising Camila’s innovative policies and tactical equipment while reassuring her that her unconventional methods are justified by the crew’s past experiences. The inspection ends with mutual respect and the promise of future collaboration, laying the foundation for a strong working relationship between the Executive Officer and Security Chief.

Commander Madelina Barnes meets with Chief Counselor T'Mari to assess the crew’s morale and finds that, despite recent leadership changes, the ship’s emotional climate remains stable. The two discuss the unique challenges of T'Mari’s Betazoid empathic abilities, the importance of monitoring crew wellbeing, and the need to request additional counseling resources during major crises. Their meeting concludes with Barnes reaffirming her support for the counseling department and emphasizing open communication to ensure the crew remains healthy and mission-ready.

Sickbay is Commander Barnes' next stop where she meets with Chief Medical Officer Kennedy Monroe, learning about the ship’s extensive medical facilities, triage procedures, and the teamwork that allows the department to function effectively during both routine operations and crises. Their discussion emphasizes the importance of cross-training the entire crew in emergency medical response and defensive skills, with Barnes pledging Command’s support for continued preparedness. The meeting ends with mutual respect and a shared commitment to building a resilient, well-rounded crew capable of handling whatever challenges lie ahead.

Commander Madelina Barnes concludes her introductory tour with a visit to the Intelligence Department, where Chief of Intelligence Lieutenant Commander Joelle Geisler guides her through the analyst center, secure communications and sensor systems, and the intelligence lab while explaining the department’s role in protecting and processing sensitive information. Impressed by the department’s organization and Joey’s professionalism—particularly in light of her traumatic past—Barnes expresses confidence in the team’s capabilities and reiterates her open-door policy. The meeting marks the successful completion of Barnes’s shipwide tour, leaving her with a strong understanding of each department and the confidence that the Black Hawk’s leadership team is prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

The Last Cargo Run

The Black Hawk prepares embarks on its final cargo run to Mellon, the crew gathers on the bridge with a shared sense of anticipation, marking the end of months of routine duty and the beginning of something more uncertain. With the fighter squadron temporarily absent and Commander Madelina Barnes newly installed as Executive Officer, the ship’s leadership dynamic continues to evolve, observed carefully by both Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler and Commander Di Pasquale. Captain Harvey Geisler soon arrives to a fully prepared bridge, and after final system checks, Maddy confidently oversees the mission briefing and orders departure, sending the ship to warp and closing out their long stretch of predictable assignments as they head toward whatever lies ahead.

Distress Call

During Beta Shift on the bridge in the ship's second day of the voyage, routine maintenance is interrupted when Lieutenant Quinn Mackie detects an unusual Starfleet distress call whose untranslated signal manifests as an ear-piercing shriek. Newly arrived Executive Officer Commander Madelina Barnes immediately takes command, directing Quinn, Lieutenant Daynah Ral, and Chief Engineer Frex to verify the signal while determining that it is authentic, unaltered, and originates from the USS Tiburon in Nebula G87-4M. With communications confirmed to be functioning properly and no telemetry available from the stricken vessel, Barnes orders the Black Hawk to set course for the nebula at maximum warp to investigate. She keeps Captain Geisler informed of the developing situation, assuring him that the bridge crew will provide updates as they close on the *Tiburon*. Although the bridge remains calm and professional, the mysterious nature of the distress signal creates an undercurrent of tension, marking the crew’s first significant mission since returning to active operations.

Two hours after intercepting the mysterious distress call, the Black Hawk arrives at Nebula G87-4M to find the USS Tiburon adrift, its impulse engines powered but inactive, with no warp signature, deflector activity, or response to hails despite ten lifesigns still being detected aboard. Commander Madelina Barnes confirms all ship systems are ready before ordering the vessel out of warp and briefing Captain Geisler as he arrives on the bridge to assess the situation. Sensor scans reveal no obvious external damage and no telemetry from the Tiburon, deepening the mystery surrounding the vessel’s condition. After reviewing the evidence, Captain Geisler entrusts Barnes with handling the rescue operation, prompting her to assemble a search-and-rescue team led by Commander di Pasquale with Lieutenant Frex joining the away mission. As the senior officers depart the bridge for the transporter room, Geisler orders heightened sensor sweeps of the surrounding nebula, convinced that something about the situation is deeply wrong.

Commander Barnes assembled the away team in Transporter Room Two, where the discovery that only ten of the Tiburon's expected eighty-nine crew members were still alive weighed heavily on everyone. After equipping themselves and dividing into three teams under Commander di Pasquale's direction, the officers transported aboard the *Tiburon*, with Barnes and Camila heading for the bridge, Frex leading a team to Engineering, and Shay Mitchell accompanying Ensign Larado to investigate Security. As Shay and Larado searched the overheated ship, they discovered abandoned uniforms with attached combadges but no bodies, suggesting the missing crew had somehow vanished from their clothing. Their investigation of Security uncovered evidence that the entire crew had been studying the mysterious nebula, along with bizarre clues, including replicated giant kelp, damp sand, and seashells, that pointed toward an aquatic environment, leading them to the hydroponics bay. There they found several frightened, unclothed survivors, evacuated the injured back to the Black Hawk, and subdued a feral, transformed crewman that attacked Shay before transporting him to the brig, leaving the team with more questions than answers about the strange fate of the Tiburon's crew.

Lieutenant Frex led his engineering team through the eerily silent corridors of the Tiburon, where they rescued two surviving crew members trapped near a turbolift and transported them safely back to the Black Hawk before continuing to Main Engineering. Once there, Frex restored portions of the ship's main power and began working to bypass critical system lockouts, though someone (or something) appeared to be actively blocking access to key engineering and security functions while emergency bulkheads began sealing sections of the ship. Their investigation took a deadly turn when an unknown large, green, scaled creature ambushed the team, seriously wounding Ensign Becks before dragging him away into the corridors. Becks was successfully emergency transported to Sickbay, while Frex alerted the rest of the away team that Engineering had come under attack.

Commander di Pasquale and Commander Barnes climbed through freezing Jeffries tubes after the turbolifts failed, discovering the bridge locked in subzero temperatures with three dead officers, frozen blood, and claw marks indicating a brutal animal attack. While Camila investigated, the engineering team led by Lieutenant Frex rescued two surviving crewmembers before restoring partial power, only to be ambushed by a fast, reptilian creature that severely wounded Becks and forced the team to retreat after reporting the attack. Back on the bridge, Camila and Maddy checked in with the other away teams, learning that Shay had uncovered increasingly bizarre evidence in Security while Frex confirmed an unknown creature was loose in Engineering. The officers then forced open the captain's ready room and discovered a massive bipedal white tiger—still wearing the captain's torn uniform and pips—feeding on a dead officer, convincing them the creature had once been Captain Greer himself. After stunning the transformed captain and ordering him transported directly to the Black Hawk's brig, Camila and Maddy ordered all away teams to abandon the Tiburon and return to the Black Hawk, ending the increasingly dangerous search-and-rescue mission before more lives were lost.

Timeline

Prologue
Mission Day 1 (February 7, 2391)
Mission Day 2 (February 8, 2391)

OOC Information

Mission 29 began on January 12, 2026. Since then, 17 posts have been published.

External Information

Complete Mission Logs for Episode 29: Acceleration

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