Posted by Captain Calvin Marius (Captain) in MAIN SIM: Arrival on Beltran

Posted by GM Kate (GM) in MAIN SIM: Arrival on Beltran

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Magnús Pétursson (First Officer) in MAIN SIM: Arrival on Beltran
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
There was tension in the air of the ship. Even those not on the bridge knew they were near the planet Beltran when the Genesis dropped out of warp and engaged their impulse engines. It had only been a week since the crew had wrapped up the last mission and got the orders for their new one. The new mission to Beltran was simple and consisted of two parts: Finish the negotiations to make the planet officially a member of the Federation and bring back the schematics of the proprietary shield technology Beltran scientists had developed. The reason for the anxiety in the air was the location of the planet. Beltran was on the edge of the Gorn Hegemony. This close to the Gorn Hegemony made everyone nervous. The Gorn were a race that so far could not be reasoned with or dealt with diplomatically. The Gorn were secular and any attempt to break that secularism ended in death or conflict.

All senior staff and department heads had been requested to the bridge thirty minutes prior to dropping out of warp. As the Genesis moved into Beltran’s orbit, the comms officer signaled to the Captain a message was incoming from the planet.

Dagen had come up to the bridge as requested which was fine. Bat was already thinking ahead to the next Halloween and was all excited. He had seen some Terran holo of Batman and he was hoping to dress up as that. What was worse he wanted Angel to be Robin; Dagen suspected he only wanted to see the attractive Vulcan in tights. Leaving Angel in charge and Deeg set to research Gorn technology - just in case - he himself was using the bridge time to scan about with those Kelbonite deposits. Why, he wondered, did they not have such things on board a ship - in certain spots that is for added security? That being said, he perused the surface scans and concentrations of the Kelbonite to see whether there may just be regions or spots where a transporter could set a person down if need be. His head turned about at the transmission and he watched the advertisement.

Magnus shared a quiet turbo-lift ride with Dagen, his thoughts filled with reports on the Gorn. In his long career, he’d never encountered the aggressive lizards but Starfleet Academy still shared horror stories about events that had taken place over a hundred years ago.

=/\=Attention Federation vessel. Beltran, the home of King Atremis, welcomes you.=/\= As if it were a holo advertisement for a vacation planet, images of the surface and the monarch began to pop up showing the message was an automated response instead of a direct hail. Blue skies and green field landscapes flipped back and forth between images of the sparkling capitol with its banners, statues, and skyscrapers ending with a portrait-like image of the rules King Capser Artemis.

“King Atremis looks like such a humble fellow,” Dagen said after what? The ninth time his image came up.

Calvin shrugged. Normally he would be a little annoyed by the arrogance, “actually, I have to admit I’m elated that we aren’t getting shot at.” He swung about slightly in his command chair to look at Dagen.

“Just sayin, sir,” Dagen said with a half smile and shrug. “Good looking too.”

Magnus, seated next to the Captain, smiled at the Captain’s words “Careful, sir, you don’t want to tempt fate” He said in a jovial tone, his worries not showing externally. “You see those physiology reports on the locals” He said with a grin “Even McGregor’s considered short. Big women, bigger men”

“I’m excited,” Thomas deadpanned. “I haven’t had to look up at somebody in years.”

=/\=Please move your ship into a low geosynchronous orbit around the planet and prepare for a shuttle with the delegation to arrive at your ship in the next fifteen minutes.=/\= The request for a low geosynchronous orbit and a shuttle was pointless in the age of transporters; however, the large crustal deposits of Kelbonite, prevented the use of all beaming technology.

“Comms,Acknowledge the hail. Helm,” He paused, “Geosynchronous orbit please.”

After several moments a second beep from the comms station indicated another call was coming through. This one appeared to not be automated. The comms officer looked back at the CO or XO for permission to engage it.

GM

Reia had been allowing the junior comms officer to perform all duties until now. She had been using this time to observe the young woman and study the Gorn language as it was. With the second beep however, she decided it was time to take her position at the comms station. Glancing down after the second beep she raised an eyebrow.

“Second message incoming captain.”

-Reia, CIO/Comms

“Let’s hear it.” It was a perfunctory consent. As if he was going to say.... nope, just ignore it.

His eyes turned over to Reia. He would have to ask her what she knew of the Gorn later. With her the IO he figured there would be a bit more that was juicy that could not be easily curated from the ship’s computers. He took a moment to enjoy her profile before wondering who was in that ‘delegation’. What was the ‘details’ that yet needed to be done in negotiations? From his experience and the memories of Thor’s first host these sorts of things were formalities at this point unless something radical came up. Picard seemed to have all the anomalies in his travels. May this be the counterbalance of being a normal easygoing signing ceremony. The ‘shield technology’ had been shrouded in secrecy. He knew that Sebastian, his on site ‘geek’ as he called himself, was itching to look at it. As was Dagen, though his itch was more of a sublimated excitement at seeing and tinkering with something new. He was well aware that a Starship was a highly complicated machine and adding another thing to it meant considering a thousand other factors. Fortunately most of those would be highlighted and dealt with by the computer and they would only have those that required menial intervention and adjustment. And those tended to be the problem children.

Children. Something that yet was a bone of contention between he and Reia. It was something she had danced around when that subject came up even inadvertently by others. Perhaps, though, that vacation had softened her heart to that possibility. He had been an engineer for many years, a regular officer, a chief engineer both at the Academy and on three different ships now, a civilian contractor on OP42, a project engineering manager on the construction of the Genesis, and even an XO many years past on the Atlantis. But he himself had never been a father. Lin, Thor’s previous host had been a mother of several children, but not him.
- Dagen, CE

Chamber music began playing through the speakers as if they were in a large hall preparing to meet the monarch instead of just accepting a hail. The music was not unpleasant but seemed to go on for several long minutes with a visual of the imperial crest filling the screen.

Evidently ceremony as something that they were big on .. very big. His foot tapped to the music. It was not the easiest to focus on his scans when that was going which, he thought, was the intent of it. He tried to imagine King Atremis lounging after all the pomp and ceremony hefting a flagon of blood wine while wearing large bunny slippers. That did help the time pass.

Reia had been studying the native language of these people for as long as she was able to. It seemed quite lovely but she was uncertain how she would pronounce some of the more delicate vowel sounds. Nodding, she let the message through.

Calvin tried to ignore the itch on the back of his bald skull screaming at him that nothing a star-ship ever did was staightforward. It was days of boredom interspersed with seconds of panic.

Marius - finally not the GM

As they waited for the coms to kick in Magnus crossed his legs “Average height for women is a hundred eighty-eight centimeters” He said quietly “Thin bones but strong muscles, perhaps my dreams of being carried around by a giant woman could be fulfilled” He absentmindedly scratched his forearm where a three-inch scar had once resided “Well you know, again but less Klingon swearing” He said with a shrug. He was just filling the quiet, trying to keep a light mood and allowing the Captain to seem as the more serious of the two, a balancing act.

XO

“Regulations indicated that first officers not be carried of like princesses in fairy tales during first contact.” He glanced at the XO. “It would be poor form.”

“Tall and thin, descendants of avians?” He theorized.

“Good god there is almost a two-foot height difference for me,” Vanessa looked at her PaDD now seeing what the fuss was about. “Assuming the furniture is built for their frames I will need a boost to get into a chair and my feet will not touch the floor when I am sitting,” she laughed. “Sir permission to wear platform boots or stilts to make up the height difference?” The comment was rhetorical.

“I’ll leave the fashion decisions to those better qualified, but as long as you can run and fight in them I don’t mind.”

Magnus chortled slightly at the Captain’s comment “I’ll see if the replicator has combat stilts recipes available”

Surra, seated at her science station on the bridge, observed the tension in the air with a quiet focus.
Her gaze shifted between the various displays on her console, studying the scans of Kelbonite deposits and contemplating their potential impact on the mission. Surra noted Dagen’s interest in the surface scans and Kelbonite concentrations, recognizing the strategic importance of having such information.

When the automated message from Beltran played on the viewscreen, Surra couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing. The serene images of the planet’s landscapes and the portrayal of King Atremis clashed with the tension surrounding the diplomatic mission. As Dagen commented on the repeated images of the king, Surra’s eyebrow quirked slightly, a subtle indication of amusement.

As the captain and XO discussed the hail from Beltran and the need for a low geosynchronous orbit, Surra input relevant data into her station, ensuring the science department was ready for any scans or analyses required during the mission. The mention of Kelbonite restricting transporter use didn’t escape her attention, and she silently considered the implications for potential emergency evacuations.

When the second, non-automated message came in, Surra’s focus sharpened. Her mind briefly analyzed the situation, anticipating that this could be a crucial moment in the diplomatic preparations. She waited, ready to assist with any scientific or analytical input that might be needed during the unfolding negotiations.

In the midst of the unfolding events, Surra’s thoughts momentarily drifted to the delicate balance of diplomacy and the unknown factors they were about to face. .

Lieutenant Almikaz
(CSO)

COS

Vanessa Slade CNS

=/\=Captian Marius and crew,=/\= a woman’s voice broke through the endless chamber music, giving the crew their first glimpse of the Beltrans. Since she was sitting, the height difference was not readily apparent but the long thin skeletal structure was. Everything about her looked delicate from her arms to her fingers to the features on her face. Long white hair cascaded around her shoulders and framed her oval face with deep lavender-colored eyes. Her voice had a slightly higher pitch than a standard human female’s which could be attributed to the laryngeal structure of her neck.

Dagen had seen his share of aliens and many had quite the physiological differences. This was no exception. While he found her trim form to bear a certain attractiveness Dagen couldn’t help but compare and utterly prefer the very roundedness of his wife. Not to mention the contrast in voice. He hoped the men had a lower pitch; this would soon become more nails on a bulkhead sound if it went on too long. But the lavender in the eyes was attractive and reminded him of the skies of Trill.

=/\=King Artemis has planned a sumptuous feast and celebration tonight for you and your crew. We were told you have a senior staff of nine. The king would be most displeased to not have every one of you here on the surface so that we can welcome you properly and continue the talks about our shielding you so desperately want.=/\=

Feast. Dress uniform. Feast. Dress uniform. There had to be a balance here somewhere but Dagen just couldn’t find it and likely wouldn’t see it. The upside was that Reia thought that he looked dashing in that uniform.

She paused slightly before adding with a large smile. =/\= A refusal could damage our delicate negotiations so let’s not start on a bad foot. The shuttle will be arriving within the quarter hour to the location we are sending to you now. King Artemis and the people of Beltran excitedly await your arrival.=/\=

GM Kate

Of course .. why was it that he felt that a misplaced sneeze could damage the delicate negotiations. What was delicate about it? Dagen thought all it needed was a few t’s crossed and then sign. That said he had never met a king before, and neither had any of Thor’s previous hosts so this was a first for him and Thor. He glanced to Reia to gauge her ‘opinion’ of this pomp and sent her a ‘oh ancestors, dress uniform again’ look of general helplessness. In truth he didn’t mind wearing it and it didn’t fit poorly like many complained about. It was the readying it and keeping it glistening that grated on the unapologetic ‘messy’ that he was.

The woman on the screen seemed quite lovely, but quite unable of picking up the first officer.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Dagen, CE

Leaning back slightly in her chair, Surra observed the CE’s reaction and the unspoken communication between him and Reia. Then she returned her attention to her console, ensuring the data logs were up to date.

Lieutenant Almikaz
(CSO)

“Captain…Commander,” she said in a low tone that indicated one of them should say something. Neither man probably wanted to leave the ship to be attended by the second string however, orders were orders. Giving it another few seconds, Vanessa spoke up. There would probably be hell to pay later but sitting here listening to the chamber music was driving her slightly batty.

Magnus didn’t react to Vanessa’s urging only glimpsing briefly at the Captain, he didn’t like the warning tone in the message, young species always liked to flex their political power and the Federation was always happy to let them, it was standard diplomatic procedure to make newcomers feel welcome.

=/\=The shuttle is not necessary. We will use our own shuttles. We will be down there within the hour.=/\= Vanessa never liked the idea of being stranded or trusting someone to get her home.

Magnus nodded at her statement, her speaking up didn’t bother him as much as it would usually, it was a slightly worth it diplomatic slight, something they’d have to ignore because it wasn’t that big of a deal.

=^=We welcome the generous invitation of your King and your planet.=^= He smiled warmly but briefly as some cultures didn’t like smiles, or overt gestures. Not that he thought this was one of them given how broadly they hyped up their king.

=^=It is not our general protocol to land our nine most senior officers off our ship, but due to our high respect for your King we not only will disregard this protocol, but we ill do so happily.=^=

Calvin waited to the connection to end.

Magnus did his best not to ogle the Captain, that was one of the most impressive acts of sucking up he’d ever seen and he’d spent years working with career diplomats. He made a mental note to quote this in his log later.

=/\= As you wish,=/\= the woman stated with a slight hint of annoyance to her tone. =/\=We will be waiting for your arrival. Please take your time.=/\= The second sentence was widely open to interpretation of whether the woman was irritated or just stating a fact. The comm clicked off and the crew was left in silence.

“Security, I would like advanced security protocols for the ship and whatever ideas we have for the landing party. I don’t expect treachery but what better time would there be when all of us are exposed.”

He nodded to the Lieutenant who be in command if everyone left the ship. “Any order of any type coming from the planet - even to beam up and ant - would require a code, queen to queen’s level 3 with the counter sign queen to king’s level 1. Do you understand?”

Marius CO

During the communication exchange, several things would have been discovered by any crew running long-range scans. The Kelbonite deposits were throughout the crustal layers about 50 to 100 feet deep. Only in one area was the crust free of enough Kelbonite that a clever engineer or talented transporter officer might be able transport people on or off the surface. The problem was this spot was in an open desert about 100 miles away from any sort of civilization.

Scanning local communications would show several things. The people of the planet seemed to be relatively happy. The new stories were mostly feel-good pieces and weather reports. One thing that might be odd was a segment about the lunar and solar cycles of the planet that seemed to be repeated much like the weather every hour. It was as if lunar cycles were common news the people wanted to know about.

Basic details from Starfleet reports and a general survey of the Beltran’s technology showed that the military had numerous bases all over the continent King Artemis ruled. No rhyme or reason as to where the bases were placed could be immediately discerned as tactically important. They were scattered about almost haphazardly. There was also a small number of military personnel as compared to the general population with only .o5% the population being military. One thing that might be of importance was the fact a Starfleet security contingent was set up on Beltran. It was led by a Lt. Zachary Dean and consisted of a six man team whose entire purpose was to provide additional security to any Starfleet group that came to the planet.

From a medical point of view, the people of Beltran seemed to have very little chronic conditions in their databases. It was not like they did not have the typical ratio of illnesses or conditions to a population but a drastic lack of information once many went into the hospitals. It was as if the conditions were magically fixed so that only those that were super healthy.

GM Kate

As she sifted through the information gathered from long-range scans, local communications, Starfleet reports, and medical databases, several intriguing details emerged.

“Commander” she said as she spun around in her chair, ” I have uncovered some information about the planet and its inhabitants we might find useful,” Surra remarked. “The Kelbonite deposits are extensive but concentrated in the planet’s crust, making transportation challenging except for one spot in the desert, quite a distance away from civilization.”

She glanced at the chief engineer, knowing that her expertise in engineering and transportation might shed some light on potential solutions to this logistical challenge.

“Furthermore,” Surra continued, “local communications indicate a generally content population, with an uncanny interest on lunar and solar cycles.”

Turning her attention to the medical data, Surra’s brow furrowed with intrigue. “And medically, there’s something peculiar as well. While the population seems healthy overall, there’s a lack of chronic conditions in their databases, almost as if certain ailments vanish once they enter hospitals.”

She folded her hands on the console, a thoughtful expression on her face. “It appears we’ve uncovered more questions than answers?”

Lieutenant Almikaz
(CSO)

“Well, at least with only ten minutes notice, we won’t have time to change into dress uniforms?” Thomas offered.

COS

“Challeging…so not impossible,” Calvin asked in response to Surra’s report letting his glance move the CE’s station. There was a world of difference between the two. There was always a workaround but it was best to know all the options and obstacles before leaving the Genesis.

Calvin Marius CO

Reia elected the COS and couldn’t help but grin. Ah those dress uniforms. All one had to do was replicate a new one and reattach any vital things, medals commendations etc. Who needed 10 minutes for that?

“Yeah, cool to the touch. All right let’s fix this and get the hell out of here. I am really tired of this freak show.”

• Reia, CIO/Comms

He smiled at Reia’s comment. Direct and to the point and rather undiplomatic. Refreshing most times but in this case .. hmmm.

Dagen had been musing over the pervasive deposits. There was no quick get around with that and 100km circle about was not very near to anything. Oh for an easy to beam down short range vehicle like one always saw in holos that could be beamed down. He would have to get the boys - and girls - to work on that. This seemed to be rather missing in this universe. “Lieutenant Almikaz,” he said, knowing they didn’t have much time. “Are the kelbonite concentrations any different around cities like the one we will be going to? General construction, subbasements and the likes may mask the effect in the case of streets and pavement and simple excavation for foundations could make for a reduced interference.”
- Dagen, CE

The kelbonite deposits appeared to be the same depth all over the crustal surface at 50 to 100 feet deep. Going lower would have the crew find geology without them but they would still have to transport through them resulting in a very dangerous action. As the scans continued it would show that there were only two continents: the one where the Beltran cities were and a completely deserted continent. The two continents were equally spaced on the planet’s surface so when was experiencing day the other was experiencing night. On a deeper inspection, the science officer would notice that on the far side of the planet, the kelbonite deposits were more shallow at only 10 to 20 feet deep but there was no sign of civilization.

GM Kate

Magnus shook his head “Dress Whites and fruit salads for all” He said with a nod to the Captain, wearing the Dress Uniform with their clusters and medals would be an impressive enough sight. The aforementioned fruit salad of medals he, the Captain and other long-serving members had to wear would serve as a reminder on how seriously the Federation and Starfleet took the negotiations “Put Delta shift on bridge dutty?” He asked

XO

“You heard the XO people. Everyone in the hangar bay in one hour. Delta shift has the conn,” Calvin stood up from his seat and walked to the turbo..

Calvin Marius CO

Thomas sighed and headed to the turbolift himself.

“I just had to go and open my big mouth,” he muttered, resigned to being both anxious and uncomfortable at yet another diplomatic function.

COS