Posted by Lieutenant David Michaels (CSO) in On board the Merry

Posted by Gamemaster GM (Gamemaster) in On board the Merry

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Marishka (CIO) in On board the Merry
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
When the shuttle door was finally able to be opened, the away team was greeted by a group of eight. The Admiral was obvious as he was the only one with a lot of decorations on his clothes. He was flanked by a man and a woman, who were in clothing with less decorations. Behind them were five in fatigues. It was obvious that they had some kind of energy weapon in their holsters.

“Welcome to the PG Merry, the flagship of the Pallas Global Corps,” greeted the Admiral who had his right hand over his chest.

GM

COS
As NEs Whyso Sirius and Thupa Therial

As the group assembled, David stayed towards the back, trying to blend in and not make eye contact with the Admiral, or anyone in his party. Riley would not doubt be able to sense his anxiousness and it was almost as if David was trying to block his mind from Riley’s probing, something the two men had never experienced before.

Sage walked beside David as they exited the shuttle. Since she was always observing people for signs of illness, she noticed his unusual actions. David was usually very self aware, confident and relaxed. At the moment, he was avoiding eye contact (a first) and trying not to be noticed. She spoke quietly. “Hey, what’s going on with you?” Totally unaware he was trying to block out Riley, she thought he might have become ill on the trip over.

—Sage

David gave a small nod, looking over at Sage. “I’m fine.” He took a deep breath, composing himself.

Those without telepathic abilities, and those that knew him well enough, might be able to spot David’s discomfort and unease.

-David Michaels, CSO

OOC: James, could you send me back the email I sent you some time back regarding your character’s knowledge? I lost the file where I stored those data. Thanks in advance.

Kenson

Rear Admiral Clogtho was a tall individual. He was about 2.2 metres tall. As he was the tallest of all the people in the bay, to say that he oversaw his subordinates can also be used literally. His physical stance showed that he trained his body well, although one could see that he was a little thick in his middle due to his age. He had a kind of hat on his head. It was unlike the ones worn by the others, emphasising that he stood out from the rest.

GM

Julien was tall himself, but not that tall. He looked up and instead of offering his hand for a handshake - a very human custom anyhow - he inclined his head shortly and smiled.

“She’s a fine ship Admiral Clogtho. Thank you for welcoming us. I’m Captain Julien King and these are my senior officers. Lt. Marishka, Chief of Intelligence, Lt. Dekker
second officer, Lt. Brennan, Chief Medical Officer and Lt. Michaels Chief of Science. As you can see we are partly from different species, that’s because the United Federation of Planets, which we’re all part of is a federation of peaceful planets that prefer to do commerce and exploration to doing war.” he said.

At the same time he turned up the sensory input of his right android ear and his nose to hear and smell closer to the level of their hosts, trying to discern what they heard and smelled.

• Julien King, CO

Although she had expected the aliens to be tall, seeing a group of men who were ALL over a foot taller than the Genny crew was still a little unsettling. Sage recognized the emotion tied to her observation. It had to do with survival and was part of her on a cellular level. She wasn’t afraid at the moment, but caution was a healthy idea.

—Sage

Riley had tucked the extra communicator underneath his jacket as suggested by the security officers and now stood just to the side of the Captain, a friendly smile on his face. He knew David was trying to block his empathic senses from reading too much. It was a disconcerting feeling coming from the man who had long been open to him, but he ignored it as best he could. His attention was on the company before him. This was his first chance to sense anything from the aliens and the anxiety he’d sensed from David made him keenly curious to gain a handle on their new acquaintances.

Dekker, CNS

Marishka had made certain to exit the shuttle last as she observed David and Sage she was also very curious as to David’s thoughts and actions.

The future whispered in my ear. she thought, But it didn’t tell me if I’d be having a good time.

At the mention of her name during Julien’s introduction, she made certain to look each one of their hosts in the eyes. That wasn’t always the best call on a first contact but it was a calculated risk she felt worth taking.

Shifting ever so slightly sh observed everyone in the room, looking for signs of strength and weakness.

Marishka, CIO

“Welcome to all,” said Clogtho. “Please, let us escort you to our visitors’ lounge.”

The team was led to the front of the ship at the same level. They entered a room which could easily house 20 of their people. It was furnished with armchairs and two coffee tables and side tables. It resembled what a living room on Earth would look like, only larger. On one wall were large screens, much like the OLED televisions screens of 21st century Earth. They seemed to be showing the exterior of the ship, functioning like windows. There were two small cupboards, at the innermost corner of the room.

“Please take a seat,” said Clogtho, motioning them to the armchairs that were facing the screens. “Before taking a tour of the ship, perhaps more detailed introductions are in order. Let me start,” he said as the rooms lights dimmed and the screens changed their displays to what seemed like a 21st century powerpoint presentation.

Julien took a seat, inwardly relieved that they didn’t show a reaction to Marishka’s pheromones despite their superior sense of smell. He had to dial his own android one back down too now, it was getting hard not to think about Marishka.

David, having been one of the last of the group to enter the room, chose to remain standing towards the back, where he could observe everything going on.

“I am Rear Admiral Clogtho of the Pallas Global Corps. We call the star system that we inhabit Pallas. In an ancient language, the word means ‘ground’. We originally lived on the second planet in the system, which we also called Pallas. As we developed, we were able to enter into space and discover another of our system’s planets that we could inhabit: the fourth planet that we named New Pallas. About 75 cycles ago, we were able to develop a ship that could travel at the speed of light without temporal side effects. We have since made progress in increasing the speed of our ships. When you contacted us, we were testing out a ship with an engine that was supposed to travel about 10 times the speed of light. It was an experimental ship and we were able to analyse where we had gone wrong. We were not in any danger but you were still concerned for us. I was very touched by your concern and am very happy to meet up with you. Please tell me more about your Federation.”

GM

David cleared his throat. ‘Excuse me, did you say temporal side effects?”

-David Michaels, CSO

Marishka had taken a seat that would allow her to observe as much of the room as possible. The mention of temporal side effects piqued her interest.

‘Could that be why David was concerned?’ she wondered.

Marishka, CIO

“Yes,” said the Admiral. “When one travels at the speed of light, time goes slower of that one travelling than one that is stationary. Time slows down for the one who is moving. Isn’t it a temporal side effect of travelling at the speed of light?”

GM

OOC: That’s real physics folks, read up on it :-) When you look at the stars you are in fact looking into the past, you’ve never seen the night sky in it’s present state. I can recommend watching Neil de Grasse Tyson’s Cosmos series, great infotainment about physics. The reason this doesn’t happen with Starfleet ships is because they can go much faster than the speed of light, right Kenson?

OOC: Yes. The warp bubble that is produced by the nacelles protect the ship from the time dilation effects. Thus, the crew won’t come back to Earth to find that actually whilst the ship experienced only a few years away, the planet had experienced a time span of more than 40 years.

IC:

OOC: I honestly never knew that. Should probably ignore David’s question then since in light of that information the query makes no sense

Julien nodded “Quite right, quite right Admiral. Well I congratulate you then, this is a major step in the evolution of a species. In fact we have a prime directive to never interfere with the evolution of a species before they have achieved interstellar flight, so we’re not messing with this evolution. If we are the first alien species who made contact with you, than this is quite an auspicious moment and I’m happy we are the ones who have the honour. I’m happy to tell you more of the Federation, what would you like to know?”

• Julien King, CO

Following Julien’s lead Riley took a seat as well. He sensed nothing threatening from their hosts yet and they seemed more than happy to answer David’s question. Their height made them imposing, but their body language was non-threatening. He knew he was well protected by more suspicious minds than his own, but for now he only felt curious. He wondered what their first question about the Federation would be. Cultural? Technological? Historical? Julien’s well posed question would allow some insight into what their new acquaintances valued.

Dekker, CNS

The Admiral actually frowned when the CO mentioned the prime directive. Dekker would have sensed some irritation or even annoyance. However, when the CO said he was willing to take questions, Clogtho looked pleased. Dekker would have sensed some relief from him.

“This Federation you speak of, is it ruled by a king or emperor?” Clogtho asked. Whilst Dekker did not sense duplicity, he did sense that the Admiral was warming up to the more important questions.

GM

Julien shook his head. “Neither. It is ruled by a council of representatives of each member species. They have been elected to represent their world on the council and they in turn elect the council’s President for a few years, until the next President is elected. This democratic system was designed to make sure that all have an equal chance and vote in the Federation.” he said.

• Julien King, CO
  OOC: I hope I said that correctly. It’s as much as I can remember from the series, but don’t press me on the specifics. I think they have the same voting system as Germany with percentage and seat distribution, so not simple majority vote as it is in the UK or the US

Marishka was pleased to have the questions directed towards Julien. It gave her more of a chance to observe their hosts and the room they were in. The warrior in her wondered at their physical strengths and weaknesses.

• Marishka, CIO

OOC: Thought it would be easier to describe rather than used a long speech … :)

IC:

Clogtho responded with a description of the system of government in Pallas. They were very similar to the system in Qo’nos, with aristocratic families and a council. The council was made up of members of the aristocracy and the council was led by a Governor (Chancellor in the Klingon’s case). The Governor was a life-long position and was chosen by a kind of election by the aristocratic families. Unlike the Klingons, there was a minimum of elaborate rites. Rather there were simple ceremonies to elevate one member of the council to the Governorship.

GM

David slowly made his way to stand over next to Riley. Leaning over he whispered in the Counselors ear.

“Are you sensing anything?” Naturally his lover would sense the concern in his voice even at a whisper. But the telepath senses would also detect anxiousness and worry.

-David Michaels, CSO

Riley HAD sensed the the Admiral’s irritation over Julien’s description of the Prime Directive, but it hadn’t been enough to cause alarm. It was natural that a species whose technology was more rudimentary than their own would have hoped for some benefit from the encounter. Many species before this one had found disappointment on learning of the Federation’s first law.

He shook his head at David, indicating he wasn’t, as yet, worried. If it weren’t for the Science Chief’s own anxiety, Riley would feel perfectly at ease in the situation. Only David’s vague unease kept the Counselor on his guard.

Dekker, CNS