Posted by Lieutenant Commander Magnús Pétursson (First Officer) in MAIN SIM Landing on Beltran

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

Posted by Gamemaster GM Kate (GMT) in MAIN SIM Landing on Beltran
Snip
The flight down to the surface once the shuttles exited the “chop” was highly uneventful. It gave the shuttles’ occupants a real-time glance at the planet’s surface. The images of the capital from the official holo message along with the images from the Federation briefing showed the same thing: gorgeous architecture, lush landscape, and vibrant culture. What it did not show was the larger landscape. Outside the city limits, the planet’s surface was bleak and barren giving the capital an oasis-type feeling. For hundreds upon hundreds of miles around the city, the landscape was as flat and featureless reminding anyone with combat experience of a razed battleground.

“Wonder where they grow their food,” Dagen mused as he saw the blasted heath as it were. He had to admit the city looked good. More than good. “It’s like an amazing cruise ship in a barren ocean. Hmmm.” Was the ground infertile? There were ways to terraform regions and not just planets. “Terraforming regions for agriculture could be a negotiating item,” he said aloud as a thought.

The view lasted long enough for banter and speculation before the shuttle settled on the landing pad. As the hatches opened, the crew of both shuttles were greeted by a single five-man team dressed in Federation combat fatigues waiting on the tarmac. “Welcome crew of the USS Genesis,” Lt Dean announced in a deep voice as if the were cadets arriving to the academy and not a crew of officers that outranked him. This was not his first rodeo with a new ship coming to the planet surface. As soon as he got them where they needed to be, Dean and his boys were going to find a night quiet corner and throw back a few.

‘That sounds canned,’ Dagen thought as he listened to the spiel. By their tone he was almost inviting a uniform inspection by the Captain. That might shake off the ho hum nature of that. As non-regulation as Dagen was he still felt himself bristle at that ‘let’s herd the sheep’ tone.

“If you would kindly huddle up we can get you out of here and into your swanky party.” Making a few gestures with his hands, the two men next to Dean moved onto the shuttles the Genesis crew was disembarking.

GM Kate

Dagen saw the brewing storm cloud on the Captain’s face. That was not going to pass before it blew over the Lt, he was sure of that.

“Lt. Dean,” Calvin stated moving out of the shuttle but making sure his gaze on the two officers entering the shuttle betrayed his less than amused emotion circulating in his gut. “Is there a reason your officers are commandeering my ships without a direct command from me or my XO and if it is not too much bother,” he waved his hands around slightly as if it were a casual conversation between friends, “care to tell me where you think you are taking them?” Long ago, Calvin learned sarcasm went further than barking an order and gave him a clue as to the intelligence to whom he was addressing. Less intelligent individuals missed the subtleties in sarcasm even though often the words used when speaking had more bite than those used at an increased volume.

Marius CO

Dagen noted the atmosphere of the landing area that shifted from ship systems to planet environment. He breathed in the air and tested the gravity as he took in the sights. Curiously he felt the temperature dropped a couple of degrees with the quietly spoken but yet underlying intense inquiry from the Captain. Swanky party. It didn’t seem that this Lt had seen more action than the inside of some quarters for a while.
- Dagen, CE

Surra stepped off the shuttle onto the planet, her senses immediately absorbing the change in atmosphere. She glanced around, taking in the landscape.

As Lt. Dean began his welcoming speech, Surra couldn’t help but feel a pang of annoyance at his overly cheerful demeanor. It felt contrived like he was trying too hard to play the role of the welcoming committee.
When Captain Calvin intervened with his pointed questions, Surra couldn’t help but admire his deft handling of the situation. His sarcasm was subtle yet effective, a clear indication of his displeasure without resorting to overt aggression.

Keeping her expression neutral, Surra moved closer to the group, ready to follow Captain Calvin’s lead. As they prepared to depart for the party Surra remained vigilant, her senses sharp and attuned to any unexpected events that may occur.

Lieutenant Almikaz
(CSO)

Reia had stepped out of the shuttle and taken a place near the Captain. She felt no reason to make herself known in any special way. When the lieutenant was prattling on she did however make it a parent that she found his speech very boring. AS silent yawn, but the meaning was clear. She didn’t know if these people had been briefed on whom they were speaking or whom was among the crew, but it didn’t really matter to her.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Dean scanned the crowd for a second letting his eyes stop momentarily on one of the crew from the Genesis. It was brief but there for someone looking for it. The pause was only about a second long before he centered his gaze on the Captain. You are not like Captain Trusdall. You are going to be a handful. Dean thought remembering the last Captain that scurried…no slinked away to his ship the second he was able to leave. “Sir,” the lieutenant replied straightening his posture slightly. It was not out of fear of Calvin but more a hint of hopeful respect that the man before him would do more than his predecessor Trusdall. “We have a small hangar for our ships across the city. I was going to move them there and get them out of the public space. Unless you want to just lock them up and leave them here with the Beltrans?” The question was rhetorical but Dean’s men did stop and wait for further instructions.

Calvin did not immediately respond. It was not that he was debating his options. It was to subtly control the situation. There would be a time to dress down Lt. Dean if needed but it would not involve his entire crew watching the event. Lt. Dean was far too comfortable in his current posting and even though Calvin Marius was not a stickler for the rules, he was for chain of command. “So Lt. Dean I was informed that while you seem to have a wide range of autonomy on Beltran but who do you report to? Officially that is?”

Lt. Dean’s men seemed to tense slightly and shifted their weight as if preparing for something. Their eyes drifted between Calvin’s group and their own.

“Officially,” Lt. Dean repeated his question. It took him a second longer than Calvin probably wanted before Dean added, “That would be you Sir unless you skedadall off without me and my team. If you do then we wait for the next ship to arrive. Rinse and repeat.” Dean was probably going to be read the riot at at some point by the CO or the XO however, this group seemed far different than the past ones that had arrived. If there was a God in heaven, they would have the skills to close the negotiations and get the hell off Beltran.

“Take the shuttles to the secured location but not a scratch,” Calvin replied as if these men were valets.

Hearing Calvin’s reply, Dean looked at his officers. “You heard the man. Not a scratch,” he stated before turning on his heel to lead the group of Genesis officers away from the landing pad.

Lieutenant Dean deftly moved the group through the space port they landed in bypassing the security check points as if they were not there. “So I am assuming you all have a lot of questions. Feel free to ask them.”

No Beltran official stopped them letting the group move as if they belonged there. “So you are the fourth Federation starship that has been to Beltran trying to push through the membership jacket between the Federation and Beltran,” Dean began to share some information that the group might be interested in knowing. Captain Trusdall took off like a cat from a hen house about a month ago. I came with Captain King about eleven months ago. They promised me and my men this was a one-year stretch and that we could catch a ride with you at the end of the negotiations.” Dean was speaking to the Captain for the most part but his casual tone indicated anyone that who had a question could ask it.

Magnus smiled at the Captain when the other officers left “You might consider growling for the added effect” He said quietly, the added instance of respect when Calvin took charge was noticeable, it seemed that not all was well in Starfleet-land.

Bored. Nothing to do. End of tour. Endless entourages with no new news. Well that would explain some of the disciplinary lax, Dagen thought.

“The negotiations have been going that well?” Thomas asked, blinking. If it was that bad, why were Starfleet officers doing the negotiating at all, and not specialists from the Diplomatic Corps?

“Oh yeah,” Dean responded with a look that bordered on just shoot me with a hint of waiter can I have the check please when one was on a bad date. “If you haven’t noticed,” he waved his hand about the spaceport, “the Beltrans care more about making things look pretty versus any progress towards a long-term goal. Progress has been made in the negotiations arena but it moving along with the pace a guy uses when they dig the chick but not enough to meet the family. Long conversations about how you want to do it but are busy for the next five Saturdays in a row.” Looking back over his shoulder, Dean gave the aw shucks look complete with the mouth-snicking noise that was the vocal companion of the look.

The spaceport was pretty run of the mill for any civilian spaceport except that it was next to empty and filled with only Beltrans. The only people that were not Beltrans in the entire place was the crew from the Genesis. The detail and decorations however in the space matched any luxury spaceport. Large colorful frescos adorned the walls along with bubbling fountains and benches placed around the space.

Sounded very officious, Dagen thought. Like a parade with no ending. He too was looking around. Nice place. They put a lot into it. But for who? “Not many visitors?” he asked. “The .. advertisement in greeting made it appear this was the place to be in the quadrant.”

“As enticing as Shangri la but also just as elusive. The royalty is touting it as a luxury destination for those looking to get away from it all. They have the money to pamper the exotically wealthy but are also targeting the middle class with benefits that would send a Ferengi into cardiac arrest. When they can get people to sign up the Beltran’s cover all transportation, food, and lodging. I say when because they are only running transports her at specific times. Lucky for you all there should be one or two in the next couple of days. This close to the Gorn Hegemony most people say no thank you so my guess is it is going to be spring breakers looking for a cheap trip. This is the first time I have heard of a huge influx of people but then again we have only been here less than a year.” Dean shrugged, “maybe it is their holiday season.”

“How was the trip down? It tends to get really bumpy between all the orbital platforms,” Dean said. “At least you all didn’t seem to need to use the space bags or did you leave my two guys parking the boats a surprise.”

“Platforms?” Dagen asked, surprised. “We only saw one. Are others cloaked?” That may be a sticking point for use of that technology if they did make it past the finish line for negotiations.

“What do you mean you only saw one,” he gave the XO a confused look. “Those things are spaced out so close that the trajectory coming down had most people panicking in their seats. From what my pilot stated on our way down the chop came from the energy of our shuttle engine bounding off the shielding from the platforms. He said it was a false safe to make sure no ships slipped between the platforms.” Stopping walking, Dean turned and faced the XO. “So you are saying there was only one. Like you only saw one?” Dean had not been off dirtside in months. Once the Fed ships left orbit, his only job was to wait it out until the new Fed ship showed.

Lt. Dean Starfleet security detail assigned to the planet

COS

GM Kate Lt. Dean Starfleet security detail assigned to the planet

Motioning the group forward, Dean continued to walk. There would be time to talk more in-depth with his new acting CO and XO later when he checked in with them more official like. He needed to keep the group moving.

Reia had been paying attention to the lieutenant’s speech as she walked among her crew. She had also been looking around at the landscape and trying to glance at the people without being obvious. That was usually quite easy for an intelligence officer but something about this place just seemed a little off. Whom had Dean been looking at she wandered also. His last remark did succeed in making her laugh a bit and smile. It was time to perfect that air of ease.

Reia, CIO/Comms

Dagen, CE

Magnus listened with interest as the officer mentioned platforms in plural, the fact that they could have missed them could be attributed to bad weather conditions hiding them from the shuttle’s limited sensors but that was no excuse.

XO

Finally exiting the space port, the crew of the Atlantis got their first glimpse of Beltran life. The spaceport might have resembled a ghost town but the city was bustling. Voices mixed with environmental sounds as Dean motioned the group forward to a large transport that would fit them all. “Everyone in. We got a schedule to keep,” Dean stated opening the door and making a sweeping gesture with his arm for everyone to take a seat. As the Lt.’s eyes looked over everyone on the crew, he did pose one question of his own, “Is this all your command staff and if so who is minding the ship?”

GM Kate Lt. Dean Starfleet security detail assigned to the planet

“Don’t worry I left a cadet in charge of a ship that could vaporize a planet. I was pretty sure she was no longer wet behind her ears....,” Calvin replied. He looked over at Pétursson, “You did check if she was still wet behind her ears?”

Marius CO

Magnus took his captain’s tone and went with it “Of course, sir” He put on a thoughtful expression “I did only have wet wipes on me though so I can’t say for certain” He then gave an exaggerated shrug “I think it’ll be fine” He flashed Dean very confident grin “They’ve got this.”

XO

“You both have a sense of humor,” he waggled his finger back and forth between the two officer. “That’s good. I don’t trust a man who doesn’t have a sense of humor.” Climbing into the vehicle, Dean took a seat and began to pass out PaDD’s. “Okay boys and girls take one and pass them back. I did not expect your CO to bring the entire class so you are going to have to share.”

As the PaDD’s moved around the cabin of the vehicle, Lt. Dean began to relay the information on them. “So Captain Trusdall was the last CO dirt side. His group got the Beltran’s to at least show us this proprietary shielding. We were told it was only for small scale items like uniforms or vehicles about this size. We were told that it could not be used on something as large as a space vessel however your intell about the orbital platforms says different.” On the PaDD’s the orbital platforms filled the page.

“So as you all can see there are about fifty of those things in orbit according to Captain Trusdall so I am not sure how or why you only saw one. Might be a question one of you should ask the Beltran delegation.” The road was perfectly smooth. To those in the vehicle was so smooth, it felt like riding on air. Dean’s lax attitude disappeared as he started the briefing. He might seem like he had gone native ten minute ago but right now he was all soldier.

Lt Dean SF expeditionary force on Beltran