Gorn Appetites (Constitution)
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The Bird of Prey was safely on the Gorn Homeworld but the crew inside was anything BUT safe. They were sent to investigate what looked like the hunting of wild Humans by Gorn.
The crew divided into two teams to cover more ground. One team was led by Fleet Captain Hebron, the other by First Officer, Commander Stone. They headed off in two different directions to try to find answers to the many questions about Humans running wild in the forests of the Gorn homeworld.
The valley the Humans were in was surrounded by mountains rich in kelvanite. Just as on the Ba'Ku homeworld, the mineral deposits interfered with any scanning, making their scans both from the ship and ground all but useless. The two teams pushed on into the dense forest and the first clue they found was horrifying. They came across a Human body, an ancient "arrow" protruding from its shoulder. The doctor's exam concluded that the arrow was probably just to slow the "game" down to prolong the "hunt."
Fleet Captain Hebron's team ran into a bit of trouble as a lone Gorn stumbled on their small team and took aim with a weapon. The threat to the group led to the first death, a Gorn being killed by Lt Yladro preemptively to protect Lt Commander Assanti. Was this fact-finding team going to spark a war? If Humans were being Hunted like deer, wouldn't a war be justified? These and other questions plagued many members of the crew. The Counselor located a Human female... frightened, naked, cold, and barely able to speak. The female knew what was going on... if they could only communicate with her.
Gorn Security Forces detected a weapons discharge from the team "disposing of" the body of the dead Gorn and made the erroneous assumption that the Klingon disruptor meant there was a Klingon team on their homeworld. They went in looking for answers... and Klingon heads. It turned out that the "hunting" of Humans was not legally sanctioned by the Gorn government. It was not even officially known. The hunting was being done by a secretive and exclusive group known as "The Brotherhood of Gorn Hunters." This cultic fraternity was made up of select leaders from Gorn society. They felt they were above the law and were trying to "guide" their culture back to a more warlike and aggressive path.
The key to the mystery was a female "Vet" working in the "Game Preserve." She had finally discovered that the Humans were sentient and she had sent StarFleet the evidence that sparked the mission. In an effort to silence her, she was dumped into the middle of the game preserve, which was home to much deadlier game than just Humans. As fate would have it, one of the team members, Counselor Assanti, was wounded and the vet came across her. By the time Fleet Captain Hebron had found Counselor Assanti and met the Gorn female, it was clear to all that their cover was blown. Both teams headed back to the ship and left the Gorn homeworld under cloak. They were met en route by the USS Constitution, repaired and an on a "shake-down" cruise to test its system repairs.
Doctors Diamond and Dodge both attended to the wounded Counselor with guidance from the knowledgeable female Gorn Vet. Fleet Captain Hebron saw this lone female as the key to exposing and with diplomacy "correcting" the situation with the Humans on the Gorn homeworld. Commander Stone was discovered to be suffering from radiation poisoning. They all beamed over to the USS Constitution which had FAR better medical facilities than the aging Klingon Bird of Prey. The Science Officer and the Android Engineer went looking for the source of Commander's Stone's radiation exposure. The source was found, the doctors notified, and the last members of the team finally exited the old Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Now, the question was, "What's next?"