The Spark and the Powderkeg (Ronin)

USS Ronin
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Opening

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Commander Karrod Niac is assigned as commanding officer of the USS Ronin, with the objective of reinforcing Starfleet's presence in the Alpha Isles given the growing instability in the region. The Trill is tasked with this position due to the detection of Sencha Radiation in the sector, a dangerous form of radiation that was discovered by one of his former hosts. Their shakedown cruise, however, won't proceed as expected and will lead them to discover that the threat to the region is far more dangerous than anticipated. With a half-refit ship and a crew that has never worked together before, the imminent risk is greater and more acute than any of them expected.

Locations

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• 

  Alpha Isles

• 

  Deep Space 33

Deep Space 33

Deep Space 33 is a Sigma Class Federation space station located just within the Alpha Isles region of space. It was the refit yard of the USS Ronin, and constitutes its main port. One of its dry docks was damaged during the Ronin's maiden voyage.

Olidra System

An Alpha Isles system. Starfleet intelligence noticed unusual Sheliak traffic within it, prompting the USS Ronin to investigate.

It's a binary star system, with two rocky inner planets (B or H type planets), three gas giants and two ice planets in the outskirts of the system. In the outer edges there are pockets of space debris, consisting of space rock and starship debris. Around the gas giants loomed a myriad of undefined artificial structures, one of them a massive structure the size of a small moon, revolving around Olintra 4. Upon investigation, this super structure turned out to be a Sheliak/Tholian weapon that emitted Sencha Radiation Waves as a weapon, as well as a screen around the system that disrupted communications and blocked long range scanning. It was eventually disabled by the Rhine team thanks to Ian O'Connor. However, whether such a solution would last in the long term couldn't be anticipated.

Sunjat System

The Kushino lurched ahead and soon began to tremble as it entered the atmosphere and made its way deeper into the clouds. V'Len was watching his sensors when he noticed the sound of a gentle tapping. It was calming and seemed to be coming from all around them but was loudest toward the front of the Kushiro. Looking up, V'Len noted tiny droplets on the viewport. Yellow-Orange in color they streaked across the window.
Kel:  ::in wonder:: It's rain.  ::looking down at his console and then back up:: Helium-neon rain.

“

”

Lt. V'Len Kel - Neon Rain - SD 240010.27

The Sunjat system is an uninhabited system in the Alpha Isles, which contained several gas giants with pockets of radiation around them. The S.S. Sabrina's Delight took refuge there after being attacked by a Sheliak/Tholian patrol.

Notable Characters

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Senior officers taking part in the mission
Name	Position	Notes
Karrod Niac	Commanding Officer
Toryn Raga	First Officer
Ian O'Connor	HCO Officer
Kirsty Lee Carpenter	Chief of Security & Tactical
C'iri Mingan Hopkins	Security Officer	LOA starting 240011.10
Maverick Kenmore	Tactical Officer	LOA starting 24001116
Will Rueka	Security Officer	LOA starting 240012.07
Kammus Corelli	Chief Engineer	LOA started 240011.29
Marty Tucker	Engineering Officer
Alieth	Chief Science officer & 2O
Luxa Lorana	Science officer
V'Len Kel	Chief Medical Officer
Quentin Beck	Medical Officer
Dekas	Counselor	LOA 240010.22-240012.09

PNPCs
Name	Position	Notes
Ico Ena	Ops Officer	Act 3
Vailani Zoyara	Ops Officer
Lana Morgenstern	General Practitioner	Act 2
Rox	Nurse	Act 2 & 3
Wyla Avae	Chief Nurse	Act 2
Cheesecake Watanabe	Very Good Girl	Act 2
Gra'vel	Fighter Pilot	Act 2 & 3
Major Ishani Singh	SARs Commander	Act 2 & 3
Kiran Rork	Engineer	Act 3
Andy Dahl	Engineer	Act 3
Pérez	Engineer	Act 3
René Nicolau	HCO
Silur Chanht Cree	Scientist	Act2
Clara Quinn	Engineer	Act2

MSNPCs
Name	Position	Notes
Gaudemus Bail	Captain of the S.S. Sabrina's Delight	A human freighter captain with a slightly skewed view of the Federation, an insatiable appetite for profit, a unique love for the flask he carries and a rather lacklustre luck.
Sm'uf	First Mate of the S.S. Sabrina's Delight	Bail's Andorian first officer, sarcastic and annoyed but doomed to serve with his frenemy.
The temporal shipwrecked	Unknown but belonging to USS Timothy NCC-78640	A Vulcan male lieutenant, a young female human in civilian clothes, a wounded Betazoid officer of undetermined rank. They wore clothes and uniforms dating from the beginning of the 24th century.

Mission Summary

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Click sub-headings below to expand or collapse.

Act One: Once, there was a little ship

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Mission Briefing

Niac: People, welcome to the Alpha Isles. I know that very few of you are familiar with this region so I'll give you a brief overview before we get down to the details of what Starfleet has handed us.  ::He tapped a few commands and zoomed in on their present location.:: This is Deep Space Thirty Three, Starfleet's newest frontier outpost. It was established less than a year ago in response to a rapid deterioration in the stability of the region.  ::The map began to morph, colored blobs representing power blocs expanding and contracting to represent Starfleet's understanding of the political realities in the region.:: Several major powers, most notably the Sheliak Corporate and the Breen Confederacy, claim areas within this volume, while other large areas are either unaligned, unexplored or generally too dangerous to establish a long term presence in. After this meeting you'll all be receiving detailed reports on the particulars of the region, the various power players, and some of the more recent alarming indicators that Starfleet Intelligence is keeping under close observation. In short...it's a simmering cauldron of trouble. Anything to add XO?

Raga:  ::He nodded and looked around the table:: Absolutely. Given the short notice given in pulling the Ronin from refitted mothballs that we’re going to have to give her a proper shakedown in the thick of things.

Niac: Thanks for bringing that up. Over the last eighteen months we've been observing a radical change to the way the Sheliak operate in this region that suggests their central Corporate body has fractured badly. It can no longer exert control over some of its fringe operations and as such they've become substantially more independent...and dangerous. Which leads us to why the Ronin is here and, by association, our mission.

Raga: She may be older, but this sort of thing is what the Akira class was built for.

Karrod chuckled entirely without mirth and gestured towards the hologram.

Niac: Starfleet is...'concerned'...with the situation here. So much so they feel that one starship, the Arrow, is no longer adequate to effectively patrol and secure Federation interests in this region. As such, they've rushed this ship out of spacedock before its current refit was complete and assembled this crew from across the fleet to counter what they perceive as an intolerable threat to Federation security. What that means for us is this; in three days we will clear our moorings from DS33 and conduct our shakedown trials in the Isles themselves, dealing with any issues as they arise while performing a reconnaissance in force of the Olidra system. It is believed the Sheliak are massing resources there for purposes unknown. Our mission is to get in, find out everything we can and get back out to report what we've found.

“

”

Lt.Cdr. Toryn Raga - First Briefing (Revision) - SD 240009.22

On the Ronin

After some issues with leaving drydock on DS33, the USS Ronin is underway, heading into the Alpha Isles on its shakedown cruise. The Ship is barely holding together in places, but in true Starfleet fashion, the newly assembled crew is expected to perform miracles with blunt instruments. Upon arriving in the Sunjat system, Lt.Cdrs. Alieth and Carpenter locate debris from an older vessel, a trail leading to a nearby gas giant and evidence of an attack. Erring on the side of proactive caution, Cdr. Niac gives orders to approach the gas giant and engage in a search for the origin of the debris. Meanwhile, the debris is transported onboard for closer examination, and Lt. Kel and his staff in Sickbay is ordered to prepare for possible casualties.

The search for the freighter commences in earnest with Lt.Cdr. Alieth, LT Corelli and Ensigns Lorana and Tucker setting to work on improving sensor efficiency, as well as making a workable grid for probe deployment. Numerous runabouts are also dispatched along the probes to improve the Ronin's chances at locating any freighters in need. While reading the data being collected by the probes, the science team locate a pair of warp signatures, with one likely originating from the damaged freighter, as well as a garbled, but strangely anomalous, distress signal that Ensign Lorana suggests patching through to the Bridge.

Now I ain't just worried about what did this. I'm worried about just what in damnation it might do to a living being. Not to mention shields...

“

”

Lr.Cdr. Kirsty Lee Carpenter - Rust & Bone - SD 240010.12

Meanwhile, Lt.Cdrs. Raga and Carpenter, Lt. Kel and Ensigns Kenmore and Hopkins congregate in Cargo Bay 5 to examine the debris that had been brought on board. Upon closer examination, however, they realize that the located debris does not originate from just one type of vessel, but multiple different kinds. More notably, however, is the fact that the damage to the debris does not correlate to conventional weaponry, and all the debris is not hull debris, indicating internal damage to the vessel(s) the debris originated from. Upon closer examination by Lt.Cdr. Carpenter, a piece of the debris crumbles into dust in her hands when she applies pressure, and this brings forth a troubling question:

Then, the teams are interrupted by Cdr. Niac's voice on the intercom, calling all Senior Staff to the Bridge. The Ronin has encountered a peculiar vessel, a Tholian one, and this one is definitely not in distress. It starts approaching them as the Ronin staff discusses how to approach this development, when all crewmembers start to feel an odd and uncomfortable sensation building up. Just as the Commanding Officer recalls his former host's discovery of Sencha Radiation, and how it felt in her final moments as it killed her, the Ronin is violently rocked by a weaponized pulse from the Tholian vessel. Cdr. Niac is wounded in the attack as he calls for Red Alert, and the Tholian vessel breaks contact and departs the system.

XO...since I suspect the Doctor is about to order me to sickbay you have the conn. Keep us at red alert until we're certain that was the only enemy vessel in the system.  ::Karrod winced as he stood and threw an arm around the Doctor's shoulders for support.::
Find that freighter and keep us in a defensive posture until we figure out our next move. They sucker-punched us in the first round. I don't intend to let them do it again. Check in with your people and make damage reports to the XO. It'll take more than a shove to take the Ronin out of this fight. Starfleet wanted us to find out what's going on out here...looks like we'll have a lot to tell them.

“

”

Cdr. Karrod Niac - Blast from the Past (Part 2) - SD 240010.14

Act Two: Then, there were away teams

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On the Rhine

• Infiltrate Olidra System, gather any information about what is going on there
  • Team: Lieutenant Commander Alieth, Ensigns Luxa Lorana, Ian O'Connor & C'iri Mingan Hopkins

According to Starfleet Intel, there are indications that the Sheliak have unusual traffic in the system, so we are heading there to determine what they are up to and if the presence of the Tholians in such close proximity has anything to do with it. Our mission is to see and analyse whatever is there, ::turning to Luxa:: from a scientific :: turning to Hopkins:: and tactical point of view.

“

”

Lt.Cdr. Alieth - Fly Casual - SD 240010.20

Despite being wounded during the Tholian vessel's attack while manning her station, Lt.Cdr. Alieth stubbornly refused any attempts on part of her crew at administering medical aid to her, and instead directed her attention at the next leg of the mission. While ensuring that Ensigns O'Connor and Hopkins report to the Shuttlebay, the Lt.Cdr. goes to personally fetch Ensign Lorana from Stellar Cartography. While there, she's briefed by Ensign Tucker on the strange impulse-driven asteroid, and makes sure to send him in the direction of his own away mission aboard the Kushiro.

As the Rhine set off for its mission, Ensigns Lorana and O'Connor considered how to remodulate the runabout's sensors to possibly pick up on the advance warning - the "buzz" - that the Sencha Wave weapon released before impact, just as Ens O'Connor noticed a small meteor swarm apparently orbiting something. Lt.Cdr. Alieth ordered the runabout close in on the meteor swarm, as they could use it as cover for conducting more detailed scans on the Olidra system, when they realized that it was orbiting another piece of debris. An intact escape pod of Starfleet make. Approaching the escape pod, the Rhine transports three still-living escapees on board - one Vulcan Lieutenant, though wearing an old Uniform, a civilian female and a wounded Betazoid male, whose capsule had cracked, depositing a piece of glass in his torso. Lt.Cdr. Alieth - a trained physician - and her volunteer nurse, Ensign Hopkins, set to aid the Betazoid, as Ensign O'Connor maneuver the Rhine back out of the meteor swarm. Ensign Lorana comments on the old uniform, believing it to be from the early 24th century.

On the Kushiro

• Return to Sunjat System, track the damaged freighter and rescue the crew.
  • Team: Lieutenant Commander Toryn Raga, Lieutenant V'Len Kel, Ensigns Maverick Kenmore & Marty Tucker

After assembling the data logs about point of interest in the system - such as the odd impulse-driven asteroid - Ensign Tucker reports to the runabout Kushiro for a rescue and recovery mission. With an assembled team, the Kushino departs the Ronin shuttlebay from the wrong side, earning the overeager Ensign the ire of Major Singh, the resident CAG, and inspiring the amusement of his senior officers. Approaching the gas giant where they presume the freighter to be hiding, LT. Kel programs the runabout to broadcast a signal to assure any still-living crewmembers that the approaching vessel is friendly to avoid armed conflict from their would-be rescuees, before inoculating the team in preparation for the rescue mission.

The team manages to locate life signs inside the atmosphere of the gas giant, but due to the native interference, they aren't capable of ascertaining how many. Moreover, the freighter's in a decaying orbit, and will likely fall further into the gas giant in short order. Strategically maneuvering the Kushino above the freighter, Ensign Tucker extends the runabout's shields to encompass the freighter as well - in order to protect both vessels in case enemies come about while the rescue operation is ongoing - and locks the freighter in place with the tractor beam. Then, the operation is ready to begin.

The group suits up in EV equipment before transporting aboard the S.S. Sabrina's Delight. Ensign Tucker comments on the poor state of the freighter, but the party is soon intercepted by the Andorian First Mate, Sm'uf. Sm'uf guides the group to meet the Captain of the freighter.

On the Ronin

• Attract the attention of the Sheliak and/or Tholian present in the Olidra system, distract them long enough so that the team Rhine can gather intel data.
  • Team: Commander Karrod Niac, Lieutenant Commander Kirsty Lee Carpenter & Dekas, Lieutenant Kammus Corelli

As you may have heard by now we have a plan for tackling our original mission, which was to perform reconnaissance of the Olidra system and see exactly what the Sheliak were up to. The discovery of Tholian involvement makes that mission even more urgent and necessary as far as I'm concerned. So, we're going to complete our mission...just not quite the way Starfleet would've intended.

As soon as Commander Raga's rescue team departs for the freighter, we will take the Ronin to this point in space and drop of Commander Alieth's team aboard a runabout. From that point we'll backtrack and then approach the system from a completely different vector, at which point we'll...well, I don't suppose anyone knows any really good insults about Tholians or the Sheliak?

We'll approach the system from this point ::He gestured towards the holodisplay:: and challenge whatever perimeter security we find there as loudly as possible. Our goal is to create a big enough distraction to allow our team on the runabout to slip in, take detailed sensor readings and slip out before anyone realizes they were there. Everything goes well the Ronin will rendezvous with them at this point before picking up Commander Raga's team and getting the hell out of this area.

To be clear, our intention is not to get into a full-scale firefight. Chief Corelli has made it abundantly clear that we're pushing the ship dangerously hard, so my intent is a series of harassing engagements. Once we've made contact and draw the attention of the defenders, we lead them on a chase around the perimeter of the system, never stopping in one place long enough to get pinned down.

“

”

Cdr. Karrod Niac - Interspecies Harassment Workshop - SD 240010.21

Having had time to consider his crew's probable course of action while getting multiple ribs reknitted in Sickbay, Cdr. Niac summons the members of his senior staff not slated for other away mission to his Ready Room. Their task - the significantly louder task among the three - is to distract the enemy forces present in the Olidra system, so that the Rhine can sneak in close and get workable intel. LT. Corelli provides the plan of using 'fireworks' - empty containers filled with mexcellon gas - that the Ronin could shoot with micro-torpedoes. The resulting explosion was loud and very visible - in the form of a big red cloud - but ultimately harmless and cheap to make in terms of necessary materials.

Lt.Cdr. Carpenter and LT. Corelli agrees to use spare footlockers from Security, as well as some leftover cargo containers left behind after the refit, to contain the pressurized gas and spend the following three hours while the Ronin heads to the Olidra system, and drops off the two away teams, getting their firework boxes set up. As the Ronin moves into the Olidra System proper, they happen upon a proper fleet of both Tholian, Sheliak and numerous other unidentified vessels. Dedicating themselves to their task of playing decoy, LT. Corelli transports three containers filled with mexcellon gas into space and prepares for the spectacular show about to begin, as the hostile fleet approaches the lone Akira-class Starship.

I want the ship lit up brighter than Freecloud during happy hour.

“

”

Cdr. Karrod Niac - Here's....Ronnie! - SD 240010.28

Lt.Cdr. Carpenter starts the party with a load of microtorpedoes, and the ensuing spectacle not only takes out three orbital platforms, but also breaks up the fighter wing that had been steadily approaching.

Act Three: Finally, there was a retreat

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On the Rhine

• Return to the Ronin!
  • Team: Lieutenant Commander Alieth, Ensigns Luxa Lorana, Ian O'Connor & C'iri Mingan Hopkins

On the Kushiro

• Return to the Ronin!
  • Team: Lieutenant Commander Toryn Raga, Lieutenant V'Len Kel, Ensigns Maverick Kenmore & Marty Tucker

On the Ronin

• Pick up the away teams and escape!
  • Team: Commander Karrod Niac, Lieutenant Commander Kirsty Lee Carpenter, Ensigns Will Rueka & Quentin Beck,

Notable SIMs

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• JP: Commander Karrod Niac & Vice Admiral Makisig Corcino: Old Warhorses (Part 1) - Written by Commander Karrod Niac and Rear Admiral Roshanara Rahman. - Motivation for USS Ronin shakedown. Mission Intro
• JP: Commander Karrod Niac & Vice Admiral Makisig Corcino: Old Warhorses (Part 2) - Written by Commander Karrod Niac and Rear Admiral Roshanara Rahman. - Motivation for USS Ronin shakedown. Mission Intro
• Commander Karrod Niac - Ever Onward - Written by Commander Karrod Niac. - Mission start, Official Launch of the Ronin from Deep Space 33 to begin the Shakedown Cruise. Features the USS Arrow and Captain Randal Shayne
• Karrod Niac - Improper Storage Procedures - Written by Commander Karrod Niac. - Act 2 Start
• Karrod Niac - The Old Barn Swallow - Written by Commander Karrod Niac. - Act 3 Start
• JP: Cmdr. Karrod Niac & Vice Admiral Makisig Corcino - We Gave Our Today - Written by Commander Karrod Niac and Rear Admiral Roshanara Rahman. - Mission Outtro

Mission Reports

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*  Stardate 240011.14: USS Ronin relaunched following swift transfers across the Fleet
*  Stardate 240011.30: USS Ronin attacked by an unknown vessel during its shakedown cruise

			REV SD 240101.24

Ronin Mission Archive
2400-: Under New Management	The Spark and the Powderkeg · Ashes to Ashes · Nightmares Never Fade! · Stand Off ·
2388 - The Lost Year	Where the Eagles Dare · Suns of Anarchy
2385 - 2387: Walking in Pastures New	Too Little, Too Layte · O What a Tangled Web... · Seen or Unseen
2384 - 2385: In the Year of Our Mar	Bounty Hunter · Point of Divergence · Wedded Bliss · Test Run · The Sya-Negan · The Sya-Negan, part II · Cardassians in Wait · The Origins of War · True Intentions · Stranded · Desert Dangers · Destination: Mars · The Case of the Missing Bride
2379 - 2383: The Years of the Unknown	The Phoenix Doesn't Rise · Black Gate · Eye of the Sun
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