Randal Shayne/Professional History
USS Gemini- NCC 80564
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| USS Gemini • Dakota class |
With no small amount of trepidation, Shayne came aboard the Starship Gemini, in the middle of an unmitigated crisis. With no other dedicated helmsman available, Shayne was thrust into the center seat during combat. After the events surrounding his initial boarding, Shayne began to settle into the rhythm of life aboard the Gemini. Friends were made, and Shayne was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant J.G. Captain Frost, Shayne's first commanding officer, was instrumental in his early career, offering a steady hand and a sympathetic ear to the young helmsman. Shayne made several additional friends during his time there, and looks back on his first vessel with great fondness.
The Hunt for the Spartan (Gemini) - The Gemini was engaged in a search and capture operation when Shayne came aboard. The Federation Starship Spartan had gone rogue, and, with enough firepower to blast apart a planet, and a cloaking device to cover their tracks, Captain Jeremy Clarkson began terrorizing the Klingon Empire's outer territories. Eventually, the Gemini and the Klingon ship sent to track the runaway captain found Clarkson and each began to try and recover him. As discussed below, Shayne was barely able to achieve the goal of the mission and retrieve the war criminal Clarkson. With the situation resolved, the Gemini beat a hasty retreat to the nearest safe port of call.
Filling the Void (Gemini)- After the events of the pervious mission, the Gemini was moving back into Federation territory. Along the way, an unidentified anomaly suddenly knocked out virtually ever power system aboard. While Shayne was confined to the bridge with several of his superiors, tempers began to flare. The impressionable ensign was caught in the middle of a different kind of fight than he'd been trained to handle. Meanwhile, the starship began to lose even emergency power. With force fields dropping all around the ship, and several people trapped in the shuttlebay, Shayne and Lt. Braddock attempted to save who they could. Shayne, Braddock, and several other crewmembers barely escaped death.
It was in the aftermath of this mission that Shayne was promoted to Lieutenant J.G.
The Deafening Silence (Gemini)- With the anomaly that had crippled Gemini behind them, the crew continued onto their original mission. Finding a functional but abandoned starship, the intrepid crew boarded it. There, the investigation took a turn for the worst. Finding a sole survivor, the crew comes to realize that the star base was experimenting with subspace. An accident created the anomaly that the Gemini crew came across, and effectively neutralized the crew of the star base. The danger was still quite prevalent, and the crew was ordered to abandon the star base. Using the same tactic they'd used to escape the energy draining anomaly, they'd attempt to collapse the subspace breach that surrounded the star base.
USS Apollo- NCC 71669
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| USS Apollo-A • Odyssey class |
When the Gemini was decommissioned, Shayne was heartbroken. Angry and distraught, Shayne reluctantly took a position aboard the Starship Apollo-A. The jump from medium cruiser to a starship the size of the Odyssey class was disorienting at best. Still, Shayne tried his best to manage. Before the crew could even begin their first mission, they came across another anomaly that inhibited the starship's function. Chaos ensued, with Shayne suffering a painful and deep laceration before the starship managed to extricate itself. But before Shayne could actually join the crew on the first mission, he was reassigned.
USS Triumphant- NCC 75692
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| USS Triumphant • Defiant class |
Operation Bright Arrow (Darwin-A) Shayne's first goal is to serve the fleet in any way he can. When he heard that a special exploratory/ search and retrieve mission was being undertaken, and that one of the two starships to participate in the mission needed a helmsman, Shayne jumped at the chance. It was during this mission that Shayne was first given command of the bridge, if only for a few minutes. This is also where his friendship with Varaan began to take shape. After accomplishing their mission (searching for the criminal Raikenoff) Shayne was offered a position onboard the Darwin-A as her helmsman. Despite his short time aboard, Shayne felt a deep connection to his vessel.
USS Darwin-A- NCC 99312
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| USS Darwin-A • Horizon class |
Silent Night (Darwin-A) Shayne's first mission aboard also turned out to be one of the strangest. A catastrophic malfunction of the life support systems necessitated the immediate evacuation of the entire crew. With limited notice and a ship that was rapidly becoming uninhabitable, Captain Renos ordered all hands to abandon ship, and seek refuge on a nearby Class M planet, populated by a pre-industrial civilization. Because of the extreme distance between the crew and any sort of outside Federation assistance, all hands were encouraged to take up some sort of employment, in order to sustain themselves while help made the journey to the Delta Quadrant. Shayne's reclusive nature and tendency to prefer isolated settings led him to take on the unfortunate position of night man. During his time there, he encountered a sickly young girl who was suffering from a deadly infection, brought on by a botched amputation. Compassion immediately overrode his commitment to the Prime Directive, and he insisted on bringing the poor girl into the warmth of his cabin, shared by three others. Shayne nearly exposed their true identities to the girl as a result of his actions, but Doctor Graeme Cook was able to operate and save the girl from the infection, without giving away their status as aliens. For his actions on the surface of Turisan II, Shayne was awarded that Captain's Commendation, something he still doesn't understand fully to this day.
Outpost Unity (Darwin-A) With the events that took place on Turisan II behind them the crew began a much more happy duty; beginning a cooperative effort to establish the first stationary Federation presence in the Delta Quadrant. Shayne and the crew worked together with Talaxian engineers and officials to create Outpost Unity, an enormous station, built for both civilian and Starfleet use. The facility was bound to a Dyson Sphere, where a previous Talaxian colony had been destroyed by an invading threat known as the Numiri. As part of the building process, Shayne, Todd Manius, and Talaxian observer Praxo were ordered to observe what they could of the unexplored sections of the Dyson Sphere. During that particular assignment, a minor disruption in the shuttle's thruster assembly caused all three pilots to crash unceremoniously into the enormous sphere. All three managed to escape without serious injury. While Shayne was being treated for a badly broken nose, a slight overdose of painkillers caused him to exhibit extremely joyous emotions, bordering on a drunken stupor. It was here that he announced that his attending physician, Isabel Pond, was "pretty." In no other point in history has such a drug overdose resulted in something so fantastically positive.
Awakening (Darwin-A) Borg. Lovely. Shayne had suspected that being stationed on the Collective's back door would lead to some close calls, but inwardly he'd hoped that such an encounter might be avoided. No such luck. Communications had picked up a Borg transponder signal nearby, and the Darwin-A was ordered to investigate. Upon arriving at the planet in question, PR-652, sensors reported a strange phenomenon- a cloud, miles across, rising from the surface, and approaching the ship. After a short time, it became clear that said cloud was composed solely by Borg nanites- trillions of them. Fleet Captain Renos ordered that First Officer Maxwell Traenor take a team to the surface, to scan for other Borg life signs, and to assess the situation. Shayne was assigned to that team. After a bumpy start, the team finally made it to the surface, finding the world a scorched, barren wasteland. An investigation revealed the presence of a Borg crash sight. A highly unusual sight awaited them. One barely functioning Borg drone was attempting to re-assimilate another equally damaged drone- with little success. The team slowly realized that the nanites in space had left the bodies of the drones. As such, their bodies were collapsing, and their minds- as they soon found- were beginning to reassert themselves. The group of Borg had lost contact with the hive mind, and were confused- dangerously so. A shield was activated, preventing the shuttle from leaving. The team set about attempting to disable it. While Lieutenant Logan set off an explosion to distract the Borg, Shayne and Lieutenant Brell proceeded to approach the now unmanned command center. To their horror, they came across another half-functioning drone, asking for their help. Despite their better judgment, Shayne and Brell attempted to communicate with it, and ask for its help. Highly suspicious, it refused to help them in their endeavors at first. However, after realizing that the Human-Bolian duo was not a threat, Six of Seven, as she had identified herself as, lowered the shields surrounding their shuttle. Traenor, Logan, and the two officers, along with Six of Seven, converged on the shuttle, but Commander Traenor refused to bring the unstable drone with them. Shayne protested this decision with great heat, and bordered on gross insubordination, before reluctantly relenting and leaving her there. Mere hours later, Renos ordered the entire planet scoured of all life, to prevent the Borg from resurfacing there.
The Ties That Bind (Darwin-A) Shayne didn't realize there was to be a mission until it was sprung upon the crew. His captain, a runaway J'naii pursued by his own people for failing to adhere to the general consensus that their species should be gender-less, was captured by a traitor in their midst. For many months, Iy, another J'naii taken under Renos' wing, had been a loyal and helpful member of the staff. However, this facade was quickly dropped when the opportunity presented itself. Spiriting Renos away to a waiting J'naii starship, the mutinous backstabber proceeded to begin torturing Renos, attempting to reprogram his "deviant" beliefs. Meanwhile, aboard the Darwin, evidence was quickly indicating that a massive problem was present. Renos and Iy were missing, and as both had no shortage of enemies, it was logical to conclude that something or someone had happened to them. The search lasted several weeks, with the Darwin just barely managing to keep up behind the far more stealthy J'naii vessel. All the while, Renos was subjected to miserable interrogations and force-fed psychoactive drugs, in the hopes of disorientating the fleet captain. At last, the Starfleet crew cornered the escaping vessel, and began to engage them. Iy's status as a trusted member of the crew had afforded nem plenty of opportunities to tamper with the starship's functionality. All it took was a simple code, sent into the right system, and the Darwin crew found that their shields had been neutralized without a shot being fired. The battering then began, and while the science departments and engineers scrambled to find some way to correct the sabotage, Shayne was left with little choice but to try and dodge, weave, evade and avoid all the incoming weapons fire that he could. The damage being dealt to the science vessel was considerable, and, though he tried valiantly, the bulbous fish bowl with nacelles was nigh impossible to maneuver. WIth more and more damage shattering the starship's hull all the time, the scientists finally managed to raise the shields. Now it was on. With protection from the incoming fire, Shayne was able to coordinate with tactical officer Logan, and smash through the enemy's shields with blast after blast of well-placed phaser fire. Without warning, the battlefield became ripe with subspace anomalies, another worry to the helmsman. A particularly powerful shot from the phaser array set the J'naii starship adrift, and with it's disabled engines, the small craft found itself being inexorably pulled into the pocket of anomalies. All aboard knew that, as Starfleet officers, they were obligated to try and save the traitor's life, regardless of their (understandably intense) desires toward the contrary. However, the ruined state of the Darwin's engines and structural frame meant that any attempt to rescue the traitor was out of the question. They could only watch as Iy drifted into the anomalies, where ne was quickly winked out of existence. Meanwhile, a search and retrieve mission to find Renos successfully brought the tortured J'naii back to safety.
Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow (Darwin-A) The Dyson Sphere upon which Outpost Unity was based had since been closed to the Starfleet crew. Beyond surface scans, the sphere was completely inaccessible to them. Until it wasn't. With an (extremely) limited time frame, the crew was divided into teams of three and four, in order to better cover the terrain. Commander Brell, Lieutenant Logan, and Shayne were transported into one of the chambers within. Chaos ensued, with the sphere playing tricks on them, almost like a sentient being. Before they could get far, however, the sphere began to close, and an immediate extraction was required.
Fishing (Darwin-A) After the rushed events of the past months, Shayne was delighted to hear that the next task of the Darwin would involve principally exploration and research. Shayne was ordered to set a course for the Raikenoff's Folly Nebula. All aboard realized the risk of this particular assignment- the last time the crew had been within the confines of the nebula, a pitched battle had taken place. The crew had barely come through in one piece, and although the threat was thought to have been eliminated for the time being, caution was the name of the game. A first contact situation quickly arose, with the inhabitants of the nebula contacting the shuttle, almost perfectly coinciding with engine trouble, which steadily developed as time went on. In addition, the crew began to become emotionally unstable. Shayne experienced uncontrollable rage, and because the man who had been angering him since they'd met was aboard, and insulting him, Shayne quite nearly ripped his head off. But he restrained himself-barely- and continued the first contact procedures with the guidance of Ren Rennyn, the mission's commander. At the end of the debacle, the shuttle returned home, much to the relief of all aboard.
USS Atlantis- NCC 74682
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| USS Atlantis • Intrepid class |
Sleep Tight (Andaris Task Force)
The first mission of the Andaris Task Force was hardly expected. Unbenownst to anyone at the time, a particularly expansive and dangerous plant had been placed aboard Deep Space. The spores, once released into the air filtration system, caused anyone who inhaled them to fall into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, most of the senior command staff, including Fleet Captain Renos, Commander Varaan, and Commander Rennyn, were onboard at the time. As the effects of the plant's influence became more noticeable, Varaan just barely managed to declare an emergency quarantine, before the station's 25,000 inhabitants were rendered unconscious. Commander Brell, the highest ranking officer still functioning, assembled teams to explore the problem. Shayne, along with Ensign Logan, Lt. J.G Lambert, and Commander Kael Thomas, boarded the station in full isolation gear. As they wandered the dark corridors, they encountered numerous sleeping personnel. While some had taken hard falls, and had sustained injuries as a result, none were life-threatening (at least, none that Shayne could see). Eventually, the team located a dark and spindly root clinging along a bulkhead. Almost as they watched, the root lengthened and grew. The speed at which the plant was growing was unprecedented, and despite efforts to identify its species, no member of the party had seen such a life form before- even the tricorders were unhelpful. As they continued forward, more gnarled plant material greeted them, increasing in size and abundance. Soon they reached the door they needed to enter, but the plant had completely ensconced the entry. With extreme caution, the team used phasers to slice their way through, painfully aware that the plant might react. To their great relief, the plant made no change in its behaivor, continuing to expand as if nothing had happened. However, while attempting to ascertain the status of the station, an energy beam sliced through the air. Commander Thomas gave chase, but could not find the intruder. Meanwhile, Shayne and the rest of the team, coordinating with other personnel on the station, the Darwin, and an alien starship, managed to rid the station of the plant. With the help of the medical personnel, and Lieutenant Commander Nicu Icavoc's plant-like immune system, all unconscious individuals on the station were brought back to reality.
The Bulls vs the Rams (Andaris Task Force)
Despite being transferred the mission previous, this was Shayne's first chance to helm the Intrepid Class. His excitement was profound, as the prospect of flying a ship with as much history, and as much maneuverability, as the Atlantis. Arriving near the war-torn planet of Kiros III to contribute to relief efforts, Shayne quickly found himself piloting one of Starfleet's advanced shuttles, investigating underground disturbances. The newly appointed CO, Commander Emery Rhyn, and the recently arrived Ensign Kaidun found themselves in a precarious situation when, upon landing on an unstable plateau near a river of lava, Shayne encountered difficulty taking off again. The danger was compounded by the unstable nature of the planet's crust. In the nick of time, the three person crew managed to effect an escape.
In Sickness and in Death (Andaris Task Force)
Shayne's first command of an away team was a fraught undertaking, and one he'd not soon forget. Responding to a distress call from the mining colony of Debin VII, Shayne was ordered to lead a party down to the surface to investigate. A plague had struck the colony, and its excessively lethal and contagious qualities meant that a failure to find a cure could conceivably infect dozens, if not hundreds of worlds throughout the Partha Expanse. Under no pressure at all, Shayne, Ensign G'Renn, Lieutenant Commander R'Ven and Lieutenant Cook set up shop on the seemingly lifeless world, and took stock of the situation. R'Ven quickly noticed that the only apparent living organisms were a certain type of insect, something Shayne ordered the Rodulan man to look into. Meanwhile, an infected patient, clearly delusional and in great agony, approached the tent begging for aide. While Shayne was glad to give it- that was their mission, after all- the miner's actions, erratic and uncontrolled as they were, posed a threat to them all. Indeed, a single breach of one of their environmental suits would expose them to the deadly contaminant that surrounded them. With reluctance, Shayne ordered Doctor G'Renn to prepare to stun the rampaging man. Eventually, however, the Klingon/Vulcan hybrid managed to calm the individual down enough to allow her to treat him. Shayne would never forget the order he'd given, nor the shocked reactions of his party. Later on, Shayne and G'Renn ventured into the weakened cave system of the mining colony in order to find samples. Both set about finding materials to study, when the cave system began to collapse. With not a moment to spare, Shayne demanded that G'Renn get the samples to R'Ven and Cook, while Shayne himself stayed behind to try and bring one of the survivors out of the structurally unsound caverns. Barely making it out, Shayne returned to base camp, where a cure was readily synthesized thanks to the excellent skills of the medical department.
A Test of Loyalty (Andaris Task Force)
Shayne's appointment to second officer was undeniably a joyful moment for him, but it was undercut slightly by a change in command. He'd learned long ago that, despite the rigorous and ever-changeable nature of Starfleet, changes in command were a most disagreeable occurrence for him. Unfortunately, the new captain, a Caitian named S'Ranna, detected this attitude, and pulled Shayne aside. While the human fully expected a total dressing down from the stern and whiskered man, S'Ranna simply tried to understand Shayne's feelings on the matter. An earnest heart to heart ensued, and Shayne left the conference room with further respect for his new CO. Their first mission under S'Ranna's command was an unusual affair- essentially, they were attempting to open up business negotiations with a highly prolific and seriously powerful company in the Expanse, known as Taventa Robotics. The salesman for the corporation presented a great many products for sale, some of which bordered dangerously on the realm of good taste or even ethical treatment. As this was going on, and Shayne was performing the dubious honor of acting as host, the bridge received a garbled distress call from a crippled Blackwell. As the Atlantis breaks off negotiations to help, Blackwell's status deteriorates. She has suffered severe damage, and warp engines are offline. As the Atlantis pulled up to assist, two other ships appear, and one fires on the other, destroying it. It is quickly found to be a Taventa starship, and that the cause of the Blackwell's accident is a collision with a Taventa mine. Shayne wasted no time in demanding an explanation in perhaps the least diplomatic tone possible, but no satisfactory answer was forthcoming. As the Taventa ship turns tail, the Atlantis manages to deactivate the minefield the Blackwell found itself ensnared in. Shayne was ordered to beam over and take command of the bridge while the exhausted crew got some rest. Shayne would never forget the damage he observed on the bridge of the Blackwell, and the injuries that resulted. The following four days were grueling, but he gained a new respect for command, and the labors of the crew.
USS Blackwell- NCC 58999
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| USS Blackwell • Olympic class |
Open Your Mind and Say Ahhh! (Andaris Task Force)
Shayne has often thanked his lucky stars that he was not born to a telepathic species, and this occasion was no exception. While the crew of both the Atlantis and the Blackwell recover from the previous mission's debilitating events, a virus runs rampant throughout the corridors of the Andaris Task Force. An ailment that breaks down the psychological walls in all crew members capable of telepathic communication or activity soon begins to wreak havoc. As Shayne and others notice something deeply disturbing and, at that time, inexplicable, another matter arrested their attention. Small clues pointed to a very different sort of disease plaguing their midst; a computer virus, ostensibly the courtesy of Taventa Robotics. Shayne's closeness with starships meant that this attack was not only an assault on the Blackwell, but a personal attack on him. Vengefully, and with the aid of others, including the fiancee of Nathanial Wilmer, the virus was purged permanently. Further scrutiny would reveal the same virus as a factor in the Blackwell's minefield accident not a month before. Before they could rest easy, Shayne and the others found further evidence of elicit tampering- this time, taking the form of a physical piece of equipment attached to their secondary hull. An EV excursion was the only way to approach the situation, despite Shayne's reticence about space walks and Charlotte Farnsworth's temperamental stomach. Shayne, Farnsworth, Thoran and Dr. Yesna exited the vessel, and effected delicate repairs. Further study revealed the contraption to be a communications device, one designed to transmit signals into deep space and to an unknown location. Due to the uncertain nature of the device in question, Yesna suggested a beaming into space. However, upon the attempt, the device was destroyed in the beam, removing any evidence of the tampering, but also removing the problem. Shortly afterward, the ship's ample medical facilities managed to siphon a cure, and the ATF continued, though a great deal more wearily then before.
Throne of Fire (Andaris Task Force)
Shayne considers his ability to operate both on his own and with a team a small point of pride, and has such, resents any kind of team building exercise. That resentment expands in direct proportion to the level of silliness the team building exercise requires him to tolerate. So as one might imagine, an activity that would require him to masquerade as some sort of mythological creature with people he considered colleagues and comrades was met with nothing but apprehension and disgust from the second officer. This feeling was only exacerbated when Shayne learned that his close friend, Lieutenant Jarred Thoran, had written the program. However, his expectations were utterly subverted. The work Thoran had put into his medieval setting was profound, and soon enough, Shayne found that he was enjoying his quest, despite the ludicrous circumstances. A fluffy bear companion only helped to seal the deal. With his "away team" working on puzzles and fighting beasts, Shayne was lost in the fantasy, while at the same time leaning on his Starfleet training to help with certain situations. However, as with literally every holographic simulation in history, the fun (and the safety protocols) met their end. The program, in a stunning display of luck, refused to disengage, even with the protocals offline. Shayne and the others were forced to face the final boss, inuring any injury they were not fortunate enough to have absorbed. In particular, Thoran took a painful arrow to the knee before the program could be shut down permanently.
Shayne has since sworn off capes.
Kam’Jahtae (Andaris Task Force)
Minor dealings with the less desirable aspects of the Par'tha Expanse allowed Shayne a peak into the brutality that existed in this region of space. The Valcarians dealt cruelty and oppression with ravenous and perpetual glee for the harm they inflicted. Perhaps the most memorable example of this for Shayne might be found during his voyage to the planet Arndall, of the House Tadere. Upon their arrival, the Blackwell found a world under assault. Brutal ground attacks by Valcarian troops laid waste to much of the planet's surface, and an all but impenetrable blockade withheld support from above. Called to action on a mission of mercy, the Blackwell deployed a number of shuttles filled to the brim with medical personnel and equipment, ready to render aid to those affected. The political situation above, meanwhile, continued it's rapid decent. High Preistess Glovelyn, the governer of Arndall and a supremely unpleasant individual, sat down with Lieutenant General Asil of the Valcarian Empire (by all accounts, an equally unpleasant individual) only at the behest of Commander Whittaker, who, with the aid of Ambassador at Large Kalianna Nicholotti, would attempt to prevent further warfare. Meanwhile, Shayne was relegated to the bridge, as his position of second officer made appropriate. However, Shayne had only ever held command during short spats of peace. Now, the inexperienced officer was placed in a position of serious strain- as a war raged around them, and the negotiations deteriorated with comperablely destructive results, even the slightest error in judgement could result in disastrous consequences for all concerned. Shayne occupied himself by maintaining as accurate a sensor lock on the away teams as humanly possible. This was a fortunate coping mechanism, as it permitted the second officer to take note when a series of distinct seismic disturbances rocked the world below.
Further analysis led to an incredible discovery. The seismic occurrences were not, as previously suspected, results of the bombardment the Valcarians had subjected the planet to in their campaign. These intense, focused and continuous disruptions were the result of an alien race stirring beneath the crust of Arndall. High Priestess Glovelyn identified the trespassers as Kam'Jahtae- mere stories, or so she had been led to believe. Their kind had not been seen in millenia, but for whatever reason, their rest had been disrupted. In the midst of excruciating tension, hundreds, thousands, millions of Kam'Jahtae ascended to the surface, and began their own destructive crusade against the ravaged planet. This time, however, both Caraadians and Valcarians were targets, and the surprising nature of the assault left even the heavily armed troops under Asil's control vulnerable and exposed to the slaughter. Among the abject chaos, the Blackwell intercepts a garbled communication signal from Arndall itself. To Shayne's abject astonishment, the sender was one Lieutenant Commander Mirra Ezo, on leave from Starfleet, and holed up in an utterly trashed Caraadian medical center. Unable to beam anyone aboard directly, Shayne asked Ezo to meet with Lieutenant Commander Adyr's away team for her own protection.
Shayne's concerns were far from over, however. An insubordinate ensign, Lewis Little, proceeded to disable the primary computer by ordering a Level 1 diagnostic of all command subroutines. Not only was this act entirely unauthorized, but it left the Blackwell entirely defenseless for nearly half an hour. It was a gaffe that Shayne would not easily forgive, and it further complicated matters, both aboard the starship and on the surface. As the away teams fought to stay alive against the endless onslaught of insectoid invaders, resorting to violence and stalling techniques where necessary, diplomatic efforts administrated by Whittaker and Nicholotti were beginning to have some small effect. At the same time, members of the crew began devising ways to conquer their unexpected foe, and realized their exoskeletal carapices might be the biological frailty needed to leverage victory. By sending a high powered energy pulse directly from the main deflector, the Kam'Jahtae suddenly found themselves in extreme discomfort. A mass exodus then began, with thousands of ships taking to the sky. Instead of engaging the surrounding Valcarian blockade, the retreating ships simply opened an energy portal of some sort and vanished from the system.
At the time of the Blackwell's leaving, the political situation remained ambiguous, especially when it came to relations between Caraadian and Valcarian leadership. Mere weeks after the incident, Commander Whittaker shared a report from Starfleet, compiled in response to information sent to Command. To the absolute astonishment of the assembled crowds, Whittaker confirmed that the Kam'Jahtae shared an almost identical biological signature to another ancient and storied race- the Hur'q. These beings, once thought to be extinct, showed a capacity for occupation that was rarely matched, and an insatiable lust for conquest. With no indication of where the Hur'q might have vanished to, Starfleet, the Klingons, and any other power in the Alpha Quadrant would need to excercise special vigilance from that time on.
P-409 Sigma (Andaris Task Force)
Pursuing strange readings picked up by a passing probe, the Blackwell arrived at the abandoned planetoid P-409 Sigma. The Hur'q incident of the previous mission was still fresh in the minds of the crew, and, rather notably, those of the Klingon Empire's leadership. As a result, the Blackwell was joined (rather reluctantly) by a powerful Klingon battleship, the gik'tal. An away team, composed of members from both starships, was beamed to the planetoid, and began taking extensive readings of the area. Before a conclusive explanation could be reached, the away team vanished, replaced instead by an anomaly in space. Immediately, efforts to achieve contact with the now absent personnel were begun, but the crew received no response. Whittaker had left the bridge to attend to other important matters, leaving Shayne in a very difficult situation. In searching for answers, the crew discovered that the anomaly directly before them shared both temporal properties and a passing similarity to another rift, encountered more than a century and a half earlier by the crew of the Constitution Class Enterprise. This partially interphasic rift presented an ugly possibility; depending on what was on the other side, the away team might have been killed. Commander Walker, an individual with intense interest and profound experience in the realm of temporal mechanics, quickly came up with a possibility; using science that Shayne, frankly, could not grasp, she might insert herself into the rift, and rescue the wayward team. Shayne, who would despise himself for months after the incident, refused to allow the commander permission, instead relying on Whittaker's final word of approval. In a surprising turn of events, Commander Merzan, the leader of the gik'tal and individual who most despised their involuntary pairing, volunteered to join Walker on her mad escapade. Shayne and other members of the crew worked to keep the anomaly open for as long as possible, in order to afford both teams the best chance to make it out alive. Eventually, though, there efforts failed. Just as the anomaly was preparing to close, the away team was extracted, only now joined by nearly one hundred other people. It turned out that the same anomaly the Blackwell had been investigating had brought down the NX class USS Fortwith more than two hundred years earlier. Now burdened with temporally displaced refugees from another era, the Blackwell returned to home port in order to submit their findings and deliver their passengers to the DTI.
Shayne was awarded the Silver Star for Valour in the aftermath of the incident, along with the entire ship- something he'll likely never understand, as throughout the event, he'd felt more useless than ever before, a condition he vowed to never permit again.
USS Columbia- NCC 85279
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| USS Columbia • Nebula class |
Trouble for the crew of the Columbia began even before their arrival in the Sagittarius Reach. As Shayne became acquainted with his new home, Captain Whittaker, who had served aboard the Columbia several years previously, decided to take advantage of his new command's advanced technology and additions. His first choice was the captain's yacht. Without Shayne's knowledge- something that chafed at the man for weeks after Whittaker's launch- the captain filed a flight plan, assembled a small escort team composed of his personal aide and a security crew member, and took flight. Newly promoted Executive Officer Jarred Thoran, meanwhile, still acclimating to his role, became concerned when the yacht failed to return at the proper time. Upon detailed scanning of the region, sensors picked up three distinct signals from the area of a single planet; one was the automated distress call from the yacht, the second was a repeating message from a different source, and a third emanated from orbit. Shayne was charged with one of the two teams sent to locate Whittaker. Transporters were functional but not advisable, given the circumstances, and Shayne elected to fly his team to the surface in a shuttlecraft. Upon reaching the atmosphere, the shuttle sustained some manner of damage that Shayne could not immediately identify. The landing was rough but otherwise harmless. Severe damage had been sustained to one of the nacelles, and while it would be a relatively simple matter to repair the issues, the heat within the pylon itself, the result of a ruptured plasma conduit, made immediate repairs impossible. Instead, Shayne led his team to the dome-like structure on the horizon, an hour's walk away. However, the sandy conditions were brutal, and it was soon discovered that the team was suffering from radiation poisoning- specifically, beta radiation, generally found in early forms of nuclear fusion. A primitive society lived here, and as Shayne made contact with one member of the species, it quickly dawned on the group that these were Augments. During a difficult meeting, in which one of his men was thrown around like a rag doll, Shayne and others managed to convince their contact to take them to his leaders. Meanwhile, in space, the discovery of several ships, including a DY-100 and a 'Steamrunner' class vessel. As the starship crew explored the depths of those vessels, Shayne and co. were confronted with the far more dubious leader of the Augment colony. To the team's dismay, the leader threw their Augment guide to the ground, and ended his life with a brutal snap of the neck. The leader than turned to them and ordered them to retreat, but Shayne was now convinced the captain was at the mercy of these creatures. As they returned to the shuttle, Shayne prepared a furtive rescue effort. As he and Sanara Pran beamed into the colony, using the transporter enhancers on the shuttle, the other team seeking Whittaker announced that they'd located the subject of their hunt. That team was beamed back, and upon learning this, a rather sheepish Shayne, along with the rest of his party, effected a rapid return to Columbia.
Upon his return to Columbia, Shayne found, to his horror, that he'd been transferred.
USS Eagle- NCC 74659
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| USS Eagle • Intrepid class |
Mithgiln in the Wild (USS Eagle)
Distraught at this most abrupt transfer, Shayne arrived grumpy and miserable. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding him and the new position he had been assigned to, Shayne found it difficult to get into the spirit of the launch of his new vessel, the Eagle. Arriving in the Aavaro Wilds, Eagle came across an alien starship which appeared to be engaged in humanitarian operations. The planet they orbited was suffering from an enormous and lethal plague, one that was decimating its population. Shayne, along with several other officers, was sent to the alien vessel, which belonged to a species known as the Mithgiln. While they began preliminary first contact procedures, information regarding the continued degradation of the planet below them. A dam, responsible for the containment of millions of gallons of seawater, was very near complete collapse. Its destruction would undoubtedly result in the death of thousands of planet inhabitants, who lived directly in harm's way. Paired with the humorous and playful Irina Pavlova, Shayne and a team of engineers beamed down to address the situation at the dam. Meanwhile, Eagle discovered the presence and interference of cybernetic organisms. These organisms, while not associated with the Borg, nevertheless possessed a hive mentality, and were, among other devious tasks, sabotaging the dam itself. While Pavlova dealt with the interlopers, Shayne noted that the dam was breaking, and would require an immediate solution. Quickly, he called for a slab of transparent aluminum to be lowered over the ever-growing crack in the dam. However, while a work bee was able to bring the slab down, placing it correctly, and then welding it on, would require two humanoids in diving suits. Shayne and Pavlova volunteered, and as Shayne worked to weld the slab in place, Pavlova fought off a number of enemy beings who had intercepted them. Both officers sustained fairly damaging injuries, and Shayne managed to have them both beamed to Sickbay, along with a tidal wave of seawater.
'Ordering' History (USS Eagle)
Despite being almost totally eliminated for a full twenty five years, the wide reach and devastating consequences of the Obsidian Order could still be felt, especially in the Aavaro Wilds. Even their destruction did not provide safety from the experiments they ran and the goals they sought to achieve. It is this that compelled the new and democratic Cardassian Union's government to reach out to Starfleet, and, in turn, for Starfleet to reach out to the Eagle. An ancient and unexplored artifact had been located on a barren world, and according to records from agents long deceased, the Order had been seeking this artifact vociferously. Shayne, along with an away team and a Cardassian observer, was dispatched to the planet's surface. As they sought the device, and attempted to understand its purpose, the ancient structure it had been buried in began to emit strange and dangerous readings. A storm was moving in, but of greater import was the wide-reaching temporal disruptions being emitted. Eagle herself, while orbiting the planet, was pulled one hundred and forty years into the past. It was only the quick thinking of the crew onboard the shuttle Condor and the teamwork between them and the science division aboard the Eagle that the Intrepid class starship was retrieved, along with the away team on the surface, who had finally located the artifact despite numerous booby traps keeping them out. The artifact was turned over to the Cardassian Science Ministry for further examination, and relations between the Federation and the Cardassian Union remained stable, an especially poignant concern considering the recent removal the militaristic aspects of Starfleet's presence on Cardassia Prime.
Cleanliness Protocol (USS Eagle)
While embarking on a different mission, the Eagle intercepted a distress signal. Investigating lead the ship to a small system within the Wilds, within which a desperate chase was underway. A poorly armed and defended freighter appeared to be making a desperate dash from an M-Class planet nearby. It was pursued by automated drones that were attempting to shoot it down. The freighter's crew was rescued just in time, but the drones began attacking the Eagle. Destroying them with relative ease, the ship made its way to the planet, and was greeted by a society known simply as "The People". Their primary dedication was to maintaining a sickening ideal of genetic purity- an ideal that those attempting to escape on the freighter did not match. The fate of those that were imperfect in the People's eyes was extermination, and it was this fate the freighter crew had been attempting to avoid. Unfortunately, by entering orbit of the planet, Eagle was considered the property of the People, by the People. Those with biological defects, including Captain Oddas, Helmsman Waters and Security Chief Pavlova, were forcibly taken from the Eagle and imprisoned, leaving Shayne onboard and attempting to diffuse the situation tactfully. An escape attempt, started by those on the surface and aided by the Eagle, saw the crew manage to escape their forcefields. The starship, under attack from multiple drones, began to overwhelm her defenses as a shuttle, crammed with the stolen crew, began to make its way upwards. Once safely aboard, Captain Oddas proceeded to effectively threaten the leader of the People into allowing their release. Eagle beat a hasty retreat, but it was clear then and there that the threat posed by the People had not ended there.
Despite being a progressive, reason-based organization, Starfleet has, on occasion, made questionable decisions. These questionable decisions can have disastrous consequences for the people and starships involved. Such was the case for the USS Eagle. Engineers at Utopia Planitia, in conjunction with two captains from the fleet (one of whom was Oddas Aria) had been tirelessly working to develop a revolutionary propulsion system- the Warp XV Core. Heralded as the first of its kind, its integration throughout the fleet over the course of decades would bring Starfleet into a new era of technological and exploratory excellence. As the Eagle was the starship of one of the lead designers, she was installed with the prototype core first. She was then ordered to attempt subspace field trials in an area of space known for its unusual and unexplored anomalies. Eagle was able to reach well past Warp 11 before trouble started, but when it began, it was truly problematic. Eagle's warp bubble collapsed and refused all attempts to re-stabilize. Comms and turbolifts were down, and the crew was forced to send runners back and forth. It was soon discovered that, in the chaos, Eagle had been snagged into a subspace distortion, and the unconventional warp drive systems had launched the ship into an unfamiliar pocket of subspace. Unable to immediately extricate themselves, and with a large mass moving toward them on an intercept course, the unorthodox decision to attempt to land on the object was made. Despite the difficulty involved, Eagle sustained little additional damage. Instead, as repairs continued, the ship was confronted by another vessel. At first, the newcomers proved hostile but fair- they refrained from destroying the battered ship, but were not open to speaking, either. Eventually, however, diplomatic overtures succeeded in creating a dialogue. It was explained to the crew of the Federation ship that they'd inadvertently landed on what the Cam'roon (the creatures native to that subspace layer) termed their "Shrine"- a religious structure of holy precedent. As Eagle contended with her mounting issues, and dealt with a strict time deadline whose end would see the destabilization of the warp core, the science team discovered that a strange and previously unobserved reaction was taking place between the matter/anti-matter systems of the ship, and the energies being emitted from the Shrine. The reaction was having a destabilizing effect on the molecules of both the ship and the Shrine. Stopping it was of prime importance, and in a desperate maneuver, the warp core was shut down. Without power to lift off from the rock and separate further from it, Eagle was forced to blow her ventral airlocks, an action that produced just enough force to eject the million-ton craft away. The Cam'roon, while still tolerant to a point, were rapidly losing patience, and insisted that Eagle withdraw from their subspace realm. With little time and less information, the science and engineering staff scrambled to accommodate the Cam'roon's demands. The keys were certain modifications to the ship that would allow her to exit the realm without doing more damage to the subspace layer she was then inhabiting, or the Shrine. With almost nothing to spare in terms of time and manpower, Eagle finally managed to escape the layer, reentering normal space a great distance from where they'd entered it. Repair efforts continued, but to Shayne's delight, no casualties were reported.
The Hidden Missionaries (USS Eagle)
Shortly before shore leave's end, Captain Oddas Aria summoned the crew of the Eagle to a customary ceremony. Used to honor achievements and hard work among the crew, awards were typically presented in these situations. However, in the moments leading up to this particular ceremony, an enormous explosion rocked the Spike, causing enormous damage to the station and wounding or killing dozens of the Eagle's crew. Rescue efforts began immediately, and forensic analysis pointed to a rather primitive but effective homemade explosive as the cause. Now with evidence that the detonation had been an act of terrorism, Eagle's crew was anxious for answers. A distress signal from the Mithgiln put a hold on their investigation. The ship was boarded, along with members that had been wounded but insisted on coming along, including chief of security Irina Pavlova. Pavlova, who insisted on rushing through her recovery process, suddenly collapsed on the bridge, and was later pronounced dead, to the shock and horror of the ship's compliment. Despite the passing of one of the senior staff, Eagle continued. Soon, a Mithgiln ship was encountered, along with the unrecognizable crafts attacking it. Eagle joined the fight, driving away the assaulting ships, and attempted to understand why they were firing on the Mithgiln. The Mithgiln captain explained that a cult worshiping the Pah-Wraiths, of all things, was operating in the sector, praying on innocent ships that did not meet their standards of "purity". Incensed, Captain Oddas contacted the cult, which was operating on an abandoned Nor- Class Cardassian station. The leader of the cult responded, and charmingly invited the crew to meet him. Once their, an away team beamed down, led by Shayne. Shayne was given preferential treatment by the leader of the cult, but was still assaulted and relieved of his weapons. Meanwhile, a psyonic attack had begun to affect the away team and members of the ship. Irritability and fury were symptoms of a greater goal- the mental subjugation of the Eagle's crew. As they valiantly resisted, Shayne effected an escape with the help of some well-timed distractions. To his astonishment, he ran into Commander Ash MacKenna, deep undercover in the bowels of the cult's ranks. Delighted to see his partner again, Shayne and MacKenna kept their jubilation to a minimum and instead returned to the away team. As the away team slowly overpowered the effect of the attack, which was discovered to be the work of a previously unidentified Orb of the Prophets, the leader of the cult (Colonel Jabt, formerlly of the Carassian military), began displaying signs of abject madness. Just in time, the away team was beamed out, and the superior tactics and firepower of Eagle, managed to bring the station to its knees. That said, in an act of vengeance for the loss of her wife, Captain Oddas proceeded to order that the station be destroyed, with all the cultists still on it. While it was true that they might have again presented a threat to the region in time, Shayne was appalled by the decision, and decided to confront her about it in private after the mission, leading to some tension between the two for some time.
Shortly after the conclusion of the last mission, the Eagle was tasked with a simple milkrun- delivering bio-neural gel packs to the far-flung colony of Saldhana. The unusual and violent nature of the atmosphere of Saldhana made the gel packs necessary, as no antimatter devices could function due to the magnetic interference to be found there. Upon the delivery of the packs, a large storm forced Eagle to prepare for take off quickly. Just before the ship launched, a member of the colony desperately chased down the ship and begged to be let aboard. Suddenly, a cataclysmic explosion destroyed the colony, and ejected Eagle into orbit. Despite suffering serious damage, primary systems were restored. An almost immediate hail from Starbase 821's Admiral Byrn Valcose brought chaos. In a single message, Oddas was unfairly relieved of duty. The admiral was convinced that Oddas was the cause of the destruction. Shayne was placed in command, and grudgingly obeyed the order. Oddas was escorted to the brig as the investigation into what had caused the explosion continued. Eventually, evidence of tampering became apparant, and Valcose's attempts to stall their efforts grew suspicious. Soon, Valcose was the primary suspect to the Eagle crew. Marines were detached from the starbase to take command of the ship, but more significant problems- namely, an infestation of Altarian spider birds- convinced the two teams to work together. Soon, the leader of the marines was convinced that it was Valcose behind the incidents of spider birds and the explosion of the colony on Saldhana. Now targeting Eagle, "Valcose revealed himself to be a deep cover operative of the Obsidian Order, abandoned when the organization fell thirty years ago. Desperate to complete his mission, he had taken these bold steps. Now, only desperate action would save Eagle from destruction. Using some remarkable maneuvering and predictive abilities, the senior staff was able to avoid further damage to the ship while the marine contingent from the starbase attempted to capture "Valcose" and his aid- the individual that had run to the ship from the colony. Though the aid escaped, he was intercepted by the Starfleet vessel, and shortly afterward, command was returned to Captain Oddas.