Posted by Lieutenant Sural (Chief Engineer) in Main sim-Romulan freighter

Posted by Gamemaster Matrix (GMT) in Main sim-Romulan freighter

Posted by Lieutenant Sural (Chief Engineer) in Main sim-Romulan freighter
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
snip
Sural came up to Odinson. “Sir, I have another alternative. The vessel will simply die at this point if left on its own. It will not destruct. However, we do not at this time know whether whatever Sukat is seeking is on board or with the crew taken over. Perhaps we may employ some subtle misdirection. We may imply to the captain of the freighter that damages do not immediately allow us to take the vessel on board but that we will leave it here with a buoy, dispatching a Starfleet towing vessel to pick up the freighter while we bring the survivors to a Starbase. If they are amenable to this, we can assume that whatever Sukat is seeking is already aboard the Olympic. If there is pushback, we may assume that it is yet on board.”
- Sural, CE

D’vash considered Sural’s words. “That’s true, as long as we can get this straightened out before Suket arrives back here. Hell, she may be out there right now, cloaked and waiting for us to leave the area. I’ve got a feeling her ship is much like the Wolverine–small, fast, and dangerous. No match for a Mythology class, but could still do some damage to us. We have to also consider the fact that Reval doesn’t know what he’s carrying , either.”

Odinson (XO)

Sural persisted. “Logical, Commander. However, if the resource is a, as the Terrans call it, ‘human resource’ that would be aboard the Olympic already. Were it something portable, which it would have to be, else the freighter Captain would be aware of it, the individual would have been transported with it. Depending on the quality of the cloak on Suket’s vessel she may be able to do more than ‘some’ damage. She decloaked to fire on the freighter according to the logs, however that could be calculated psychological warfare only.”
- Sural, CE

OOC: Bump

Sural moved about and checked the ships’ systems. Yes, the clock was ticking down on her shutting down. Whether that was in the hold or in space was entirely inconsequential. It was simply inevitable. Logically the vessel was no more than salvage at this time, consisting of engine and mostly converted cargo to living areas. “Checking navigational logs to see where they came from and their relative course and comparing them with the sightings of Suket’s vessel and what stellar phenomena they passed. It may assist in augmenting our own navigational and stellar information that is available.” Indeed even after this time Romulan space had only limited information in it outside of some broad ‘visits’ and scans that they had.
- Sural, CE

The navigational logs showed the ship departing the gacrock system and heading at full speed into the wreckage of the Hobus supernova, turning at Romulus to move towards their crossing point at the neutral zone. While sensor logs would show it was a partially effective countermeasure, perhaps not worth the strain it put on the engines. They had travelled 112 lightyears. Suket was sighted just after they left, as they left the Hobus debris field, and 20 lightyears from the Romulan border to the neutral zone.

-Matrix

Sural studied the pathway, then turned to the XO. “Commander, look here. What do you make of this? I have the navigational route that the freighter took to get here. It appears that they had made efforts to conceal their route and avoid pursuit - with little success. Logically Suket was aware of their probable destination here and lay in wait for them at strategic points. It was almost as though they wished for the freighter to flee here. Which leaves the question: why?” His impassive face looked to Commander Odinson for his advice and thoughts. It did bring into speculation on whether there was anything on the freighter that they desired after all. Which brought back the question of why Suket was even - probably - here?
- Sural, CE

OOC: bump
OOC: Bump
OOC: Bump again … is there an XO in the house?

OOC: Yes, there is. . . finally!! Sorry it took so long, Gene!! –Terry

IC: “SHe’s definitely playing some kind of gain. Suket has had plenty of opportunities to destroy this ship, yet hasn’t done so. Does she have a spy on board? Someone she’s waiting to hear from?”

Sural’s brow rose speculatively. Logically as they were after something, someone would not be a consideration. However, on the other hand, having an agent on board would be another means of trying to location whatever ‘that’ was. “Romulan society has operated with the knowledge and encouragement of informants. It would not be inconceivable that there may be sympathizers to Suket aboard.”

The XO ran a hand over his scalp, contemplating his actions. “Make a copy of ALL this ship’s logs. Any information we can glean from them will help us learn more about Romulan space. Let’s see if we can access ANY communications from this ship to Suket’s. If she does have someone aboard, this freighter isn’t going to have the tech to dectect it. The Olympic will. We’ll get someone from cryptology to go over any transmissions. I’ll do it myself if I have to.”

The Vulcan had already been copying the logs even as he examined what he could. He glanced down to see where it was in the status. “In a freighter such as this the options for communications are limited. Either do so through the primary communications systems, or have an alternate, powered separately. The former I can work to access.” He paused on doing so until the talk was over. Personally he felt there was only a 8% chance that this would yield a ‘hit’ as Reno would say; Romulans were typically much more subtle than that especially among their own kind bred in suspicion of one another.

“Then, let’s do what you suggested. Tell Revel we’re going to cut his ship loose and see how he reacts. And last, but not least, we put every comm officer we have on duty monitoring all communications throughout the Olympic. Anything looks suspicious, or doesn’t jive, and I mean ANYTHING, it gets reported. Maybe we can catch the mouse with his hand in the trap.”

Odinson (XO)

“If I might add one more thing, Commander. It may be best to communicate this when the bulk of the Romulans are in one place. That way if it is not Revel who is ‘in the know’ then it may spur concern from other parties on board.” With that he bent to the console and strove to access the ships’ communciations logs. Given that they were in flight mode, Sural did not think there would be much to find. Fleeing vessels were not typically ‘chatty’ ones.
- Sural, CE

A beeping noise began to come from the bridge, a rather abrasive sound.

Soon thereafter, Captain Reval’s voice could be heard. “This is an automated emergency program. With any luck, it’s playing to no one. The ship has been stagnant for a period of hours now which can only lead me to believe we either found sanctuary or were hit too hard. The helm console is preprogrammed with an autopilot function to take you into the central systems of the Federation. All you have to do is accelerate. Elements be with you.” And eerie silence took over again.

-Matrix

Sural’s brow rose as he tipped his head, listening to the message. It was more pleasant than the annunciation which had caused him to wince. He looked at the ship systems. This ship would not be going anywhere now, though it was evident that their destination was now confirmed. “Logically they were fleeing to Federation space by that message.” Glancing at the dead Romulan he again wondered at what exactly had killed him. Life support loss did not mean instantaneous death. Were there more such bodies aboard? Looking again at the Commander Sural said, “Commander, why were they fleeing? Perhaps to answer the why may provide us with a possible what that Suket is searching for.”
- Sural

OOC: Sam/GM, I can’t remember if those of us on the freighter were aware of the condition of the refugees (specifically, the pregnant woman)?

IC:
The XO sat down at another console and began searching for. . . .what?? Anything that might give them a clue as to what was going on. “The Empire is in turmoil. There’s more back stabbing and subterfuge going on now than practically any other time in Empire history. To be honest, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more civilians fleeing into Federation space.”

He began scanning logs from the freighters sickbay when he came across the file regarding the pregnant Romulan. She had been severely wounded, beaten. Why? She was near the end of her pregnancy and it was pretty likely she would be giving birth on the Olympic. . .

He rubbed his jaw contemplating what he saw. “Sural, I may be going out a limb here, but what if what Suket is looking for isn’t a what, but a who? Look at this.”

He showed the file to the engineer. “What if there’s something special about this woman, this Rhaeelara, or the baby she’s carrying? Maybe that’s why Suket hasn’t destroyed the ship.”

Odinson (XO)

OOC: You would not previously have been aware of Rhaelara, the CMO started treating her after you boarded the freighter.

IC:
The doctor onboard the vessel had kept good notes on her case. A birth certificate was prepared for her child with the time/date of birth and name left blank. The father was listed as ‘Immaterial.’ A psychological note was made about possible trauma from being beaten to discover who fathered her child. Several guards claimed to be the one. Another note was added later. ‘After all this time, she still hasn’t told anyone who the father is. I’m beginning to wonder if she knows.’

Inquiries into her past would yield little. She had been a criminal defence attorney, a public defender, for a few years in the lead up to the Hobus incident. Beyond an engagement broken off, her life had been relatively quiet until Romulus was destroyed.

All of her medical records from the ship were signed by a ‘Dr Meinok.’ While he did possess a medical degree and practice medicine, he was known in the scientific community as a microbiologist. A widower with a young son, he was fleeing the same work camp as the others. While he was leaving the empire with them, the government had declared him missing two years prior.

-Matrix

Sural looked at the text, translated and scrolling across the screen. While he had a penchant for crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles, detective work was not his forte. “Commander, if you are suggesting that the ‘who’ is the child, then the Romulan commander in pursuit is not operating on her own but under anothers’ orders. Suket, being female, could hardly be the ‘father’. If this supposition is true then another is pushing Suket to retrieve the woman.” Logically that was not sound either. All that would be required would be for Suket’s ship to do enough to take down the shields of this freighter and beam a team over and take the woman after securing the ship - given that they were presumably only scientists and children. Still, if guards claimed to be the father, implying violence done to her, then carrying someone of important lineage was dubious. “Were there any DNA tests on the fetus Commander?” he asked as the XO had performed that search.
- Sural

D’Vash would find record of Rhaelara refusing to comply with any DNA test, stating “I don’t need to know, I don’t want to know.”

-Matrix

Sural waited patiently. However his own mind was active and ‘working the odds’. As illogical as it was the Vulcan found that the nature of the vessel as a ‘ghost ship’ was creeping about his psyche as a sehlat might creep about the perimeter of an encampment just outside of the range of the light. He had never considered a vessel to be a living thing, however, he had not missed the analogies toward that idea. And here, with the freighter on what could be considered ‘life support’ with no viable way of fixing it, Sural considered that a problem to his senses. It was not a feeling; that would be illogical. It was more of a professional mindset that he, like a doctor, would seek to keep the patient alive. Here, even on support, its life was bleeding away. No, the vessel was not the ‘prize’ that Suket would be after.
Sural, CE

D’vash leaned back in his seat and sighed. “She refused to take a DNA test. Said she didn’t want to or need to know who the father was.”

Scratching his scalp, the XO continued to think of possible reasons why Suket MIGHT be after the child. “Maybe. . . . maybe the child is the answer to a prophecy, the next great leader that will reunify the empire. . . . .I don’t know. I’m reaching for anything, Sural. Isn’t there a Vulcan saying, something about ‘when the logical isn’t the answer, consider the illogical’, or something akin to that?”

Odinson (XO)