The Invitational (Denali Station)
Denali Station welcomes the Aavaro Wilds and beyond for a good old-fashioned space race.
The Race
During the first leg of the race, all the contestants took off in a crowded field of 33 contenders, and a total of 8 Starfleet affiliated teams. Right off the bat, several teams kicked in their unique special attributes, including the Vela, a refurbished Caitian rescue craft which sprayed the entire field with Kryptilithium, a compound known to gum up impulse engines.
As the racers approached the city proper, preparing for a flyover of the city and the stadium where a large crowd was gathered to watch the race, one of the teams experienced engine problems and crashed in the forest on the outskirts of the city.
Spectators
Right in the middle of the crowd, many visitors to Denali and crew gathered to watch the race at the newly explored and refurbished Akycha Stadium. Many of them have seen the crash of the racer and are preparing to assist.
Food
Commander Alora DeVeau along with Lieutenant JG Freck and Ensign Araxxu Vahin come back together after checking with vendors in their assigned sector. Taking the opportunity to get some food for themselves, they elected to have a meal at a Klingon vendor called “Wejwa' Xpress”. The owner himself takes their order and pauses to talk with him while they eat. As they converse, a commotion beings nearby at another vendor’s tall. People begin to clamour for the food in a rather desperate way. The officers leave their own meal, with a promise from Mekor to watch over it, in order to investigate. As they do so, DeVeau gets knocked over, but by that time, Mekor has also joined and prevents her from falling. They discover Ferengis handing out food samples. After it’s announced tehre’s a second location and some of the growing mob peel off to try and get food from there, Vahin and Frek split off in an attempt to get a sample of their own and have to deal with an increasingly hostile crowd.
Meanwhile, Alora calls in security. As she and Mekor remain to try and calm the crowd, they come across one of the Ferengi workers. The Klingon nabs him, and while he has no more samples, they question him. He admits he does not know the name of the person who employed him, for he got the job from a broker, but there’s a PADD with information in the vendor’s tent. The trio go and retrieve the PADD and Alora calls for Freck and Vahint to rejoin them. They do so with their prize, a sample of the food that has caused all the uproar.
After Vahin scans the sample, he discovers its’ laced with delactovine, a substance that’s not dangerous is small amounts, but is rather addictive. The group question the Ferengi, Gibit, further in an effort to get more information about who’s behind it all and Vahin alerts the clinic about the situation.
Diplomacy
Ambassador Lukin Zorkal arrives on Denali station, sent by Cardassia to investigate the progress of the Federation and report back details on the Invitational specifically and Denali in general. He is escorted by Lieutenant Vitor Silveira and Ensign Cirus Almonaster. As they make their way to the Stadium, a Cardassian in the crowd throws some green goop. Cirus manages to intercept it and gets hit, then begins to experience mild hallucinations and coughing. As they arrive at the box seats reserved for the Ambassador, they discover the substance is merely Bitter Ivy, a prank and the consequences are short lived.
Bored with his predicament, Zorkal intends to head out into the crowd, and his escorts follow. They wander through, looking at stalls, and the ambassador stops at one selling toys. They are then joined by Ensign Clara Halloway and accosted by the Andorian reporter, Jarn Th’Braxa. Th’Braxa soon hurries off and the group continue. Zorkal indicates he’s interested in seeing the behind the scenes of the stadium, and ignores the protest of his escorts. The Cardassians who pulled the prank earlier greet them just before they step through to the inner parts of the stadium, but Zorkal ignores them and the group plunges down. They traverse through several hallways then come to some sort of lift. After fiddling with the controls, Zorkal figures out how to work it, and it goes into motion, taking them deeper into the bowels of the stadium.