Breaching the Adversary (Darwin-A)
| Season 2, Episode 3 |
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| USS Darwin-A | ||
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 INACTIVE STATUS | ||
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| After a short shore leave at Deep Space 6, Captain Renos summons the senior staff of the Darwin for a meeting. Calling the meeting to order, Renos starts by handing out some Prometheus Ribbons to Lieutenant Commander Luna Walker and Ensign Kurt Logan for their previous efforts on the USS Excalibur. Next, Renos announces the awarding of the Diplomacy Ribbon to nemself and Ensign Lyldra, for their efforts in mitigating Asavii discord in the previous mission. Ensign Iniko Mpeba receives the Good Conduct Award for jheas actions to protect the Asavii Science Minister. And finally, for efforts to assist and work with the Asavii on a mission of exploration, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award is bestowed upon Renos, Lieutenant Commander Kael Thomas, Lieutenant Commander Rendal Rennyn, Walker, Lieutenant Maxwell Traenor, Lieutenant JG John Valdivia, Lyldra, Mpeba, CPO Michael Jellico, and newly-minted Security Recruit Iy. After the awards are distributed, Renos calls forth Traenor, and promotes him to Lieutenant Commander. After this, Renos directs a department meeting to be held for the Security department, and calls the meeting to a close.
The Darwin has been tasked to conduct a routine patrol, taking them near the Zakdorn region. On the bridge, Capt Renos indicates a course for Cmdr Rennyn to chart, and instructs their departure from Deep Space 6. Lt Valdivia and Cmdr Traenor share kind words before Valdivia departs for Astrometrics, leaving Traenor on the bridge. Cmdr Thomas reminisces about a visit to Zakdorn, and quips that they should arrange for shore leave on the planet. When the topic of Zalkonians come up, Rennyn asks about their history with the species. Renos defers the question to Thomas, and responding to a message from civilian Scott Walker, leaves the bridge to meet with him. Thomas and Traenor share anecdotes about the Zalkonians with Rennyn. Leaving the meeting, Cmdr Walker and Ens Mpeba take a turbolift together towards Engineering. Mpeba, having a history with Romulans, takes issue with Walker's partial lineage, which sparks off a verbal confrontation. Working through the misconceptions, the two engineers come to a better understanding. CPO Jellico, Ensign Logan, and recruit Iy share a turbolift together, and engage in small talk on their way to the security office for a departmental meeting. Arriving at the security office, Jellico introduces the two new department members to the interim chief, Lieutenant JG Noros Tanna. After questioning Iy, Noros breaks the group up into pairs to conduct equipment checks, before reconsidering and leading them all together to conduct the checks. They engage in light banter along the way.
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| Capt Renos meets Scott Walker in Natural Selections, where the civilian expresses a wish to work in the ship's counseling department as well as revealing a unique trait to nem. Renos is called away unexpectedly, but not before granting Scott Walker's request.
After the senior staff meeting, Ens Lyldra retires to the counselor's office to conduct her departmental duties. Scott Walker meets her there after his meeting with Capt Renos to discuss his possible role, as granted by nem. Even thought their conversation ends up being cut short, Lyldra is happy to accept Scott Walker's assistance in the counseling department. Meanwhile, Cmdr Thomas meets a new officer on the bridge, Ensign Graeme Cook. Thomas' conversation with the medical officer is cut short when Cmdr Rennyn advises of a distress signal from Zakdorn. Cook is ordered to meet up with Dr Manius, who is working on a personal project in Engineering. After instructing Rennyn to divert directly to Zakdorn, Thomas recalls Capt Renos to the bridge. With current events taking his attention, Thomas instructs Cook to report to sickbay. The distress signal is strange, in that Rennyn finds it is transmit-only and sent directly into space, and Cmdr Traenor notices that it doesn't conform to normal distress channels. Traenor solicits assistance from Lt Valdivia in Astrometrics to better pinpoint where on Zakdorn the strange signal is originating from. Valdivia is able to narrow it down to an isolated part of Zakdorn, where the most prominent location is a large factory complex. During this time, a pilot named Mar Valek sits impatiently in a shuttle near a remote factory complex on Zakdorn. Pilot Valek is awaiting the return of some associates, when explosions rend the night air. In a control room of the factory, Foreman Eleene Mornay is shocked by the explosions and the ensuing chaos. When it is discovered that outgoing comms are affected, Foreman Mornay rushes to attempt to assist those affected. In another section of the factory, supervisor Zuin Nalurn finds himself and other Zakdorns, all youths, trapped in an area where strange toxic fumes are accumulating.A strange ship is introduced, lying in wait a great distance from Zakdorn. Its commanding officer, Tor'kath, is having a terse conversation with somebody of authority when he is interrupted by news of a distress signal being transmitted from the planet. Concerned about a rendezvous, CO Tor'kath queries about operatives and the state of an "endeavor".
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| Approaching the Zakdorn system, Cmdr Rennyn slows the Darwin to impulse, and Capt Renos orders yellow alert. Cmdr Traenor is able to confirm that the factory complex is the most likely origin of the distress call, and that the complex has suffered explosions, fires, and the leak of an unknown chemical. Cmdr Thomas orders scans to be conducted for life signs, of which there are many. Thomas contacts Ens Lyldra to coordinate with the Zakdorn planetary government. Renos calls for a new Darwin HCO officer, Ensign Raakel Ells, to report to the bridge. Upon arriving, Ells advises Renos that her skills lie more in tactical, but accepts the command to function as an HCO officer. Repeated hails to the factory complex by Rennyn go unanswered.
Cmdr Walker and Ens Mpeba are monitoring the equipment in Engineering when they note that the Darwin has gone to yellow alert. Mpeba notices that the ship's shields are only at 60 percent, and jhe and Walker try to deal with the cascading emitter failure. Ens Manius and Ens Cook, after the yellow alert begins, make their way to the sickbay for preparations. Cook peppers Manius with questions. Back on Zakdorn, two individuals stumble into the shuttle where pilot Mar Valek is waiting impatiently, and instructs her to leave immediately. One person is missing, but unable to wait the shuttle shoots up into the atmosphere. Before reaching space, they detect the Darwin entering orbit. Having little chance of evading the starship, pilot Mar Valek tries a daring maneuver to trip up the Darwin by flying straight at it. During the security meeting, Lt Noros assigns CPO Jellico to check on the torpedo magazines, while assigning Ens Logan and Recruit Iy to check on the ship's armory. Having second thoughts, Noros then decides that all four will go together to check on the armory as a team exercise. After conversing on the way, they arrive at the armory and undergo a familiarization tour for the benefit of Iy. The tour is cut short when the Darwin goes to yellow alert approaching Zakdorn. Ordering Jellico to report to the Tactical station on the bridge, Noros and the other two security officers await further information. With the shuttle approaching the Darwin and no response to hails, Capt Renos puts the ship on red alert and suggests capturing the shuttle in a tractor beam. The situation on the surface being dire, Renos chooses Cmdr Traenor to head an Away team to beam down to Zakdorn and provide assistance. Having no luck scanning the shuttle from Astrometrics, Lt Valdivia reports to the bridge.
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| Back on the bridge, Cmdr Thomas suggests bringing the shuttle into the Darwin's containment sphere. Lt Valdivia points out that their scanning abilities on the shielded shuttle might be more effective from within the sphere. CPO Jellico suggests using a sensor probe, slung around the planet, to perhaps get a passive scan on the shuttle. Cmdr Walker reports from Engineering on the compromised status of the Darwin's shields, though the engineers are able to temporarily bring them up to acceptable status. Ens Ells entreaties Cmdr Traenor to include her on the Away team. Traenor advises Ells that he is unable to honor her request at this time, and starts assembling other officers to join on the Away mission. Traenor summons Cmdr Rennyn off the bridge, Ens Cook and Ens Manius from sickbay, and Ens Mpeba from Engineering.
Ens Lyldra, after several attempts, manages to speak to a representative of the Zakdorn government. They agree to assist the Darwin's efforts, but only in exchange for allowing the representative to come aboard. However, with the risk of the shuttle, it is decided that the request of the Zakdorn supervisor cannot be granted, however the Darwin would be willing to share all sensor feeds with the government. Cmdr Rennyn hands over the helm of the ship to Ens Ells prior to joining Cmdr Traenor in the turbolift. Recruit Iy, surprised to be chosen for another Away mission, reports to the transporter room. In the midst of helping with the ship's shield issues, Ens Mpeba reports to the transporter room as well. Ens Manius and Ens Cook prepare their supplies before joining the rest of the Away team. All assembled, the officers get a moment for discussion before Traenor begins to brief them all. The Away team would beam down and break into two groups, with one providing triage and one conducting searches. Once everyone was suited up, the Away team beams down to Zakdorn. With CPO Jellico and Recruit Iy reassigned, the security tour is effectively complete. Ens Logan begins security sweeps while Lt Noros returns to the security office. On Zakdorn, there is chaos not only at the industrial complex, but at the adjacent village. Chef Aldur Inkaral is preparing a birthday meal for his daughter, who is one of those at the factory when the disaster strikes. Among other civilians, Chef Inkaral is panicked and distraught over the fate of loved ones. A decision is made to try and tractor the shuttle into Cargo Bay 1, and since the craft's active sensor jamming capabilities are keeping them from scanning the interior or transport out the inhabitants, they will try to force entry physically. Cmdr Thomas instructs Lt Valdivia and Ens Logan to join him in the cargo bay.
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| Arriving at the factory complex on Zakdorn, the Away team are shocked and awed by the damage. Damaged buildings and debris from explosions are seemingly everywhere, there are still fires burning, and smoke and toxic gas fills the air. Cmdr Traenor, Ens Cook, and Ens Manius start searching for a suitable triage site, while Cmdr Rennyn, Ens Mpeba, and Recruit Iy begin their search for survivors.
Arriving in the cargo bay, Cmdr Thomas, Lt Valdivia, and Ens Logan discuss a plan of action. Thomas wants to bring the rear of the shuttle half into the bay, to minimize the chance of the shuttle using it's weapons while inside the ship. Valdivia suggests modulations to the tractor beam, in order to try and force the shields to fail on the shuttle. Logan has reservations about bringing a fully shielded shuttle, with unknown weapons capabilities, even partway into the cargo bay. Coordinating with those in the cargo bay, CPO Jellico on the bridge is able to get some vague readings before implementing Valdivia's tractor beam suggestion. Logan implements some environmental safeguards in the cargo bay as the shuttle is brought in. The shuttle's shields are disabled, and sensing ability restored, but it is discovered that there are no lifesign readings on the shuttle. Cracking open the shuttle, Thomas, Logan, and Valdivia are able to confirm that the shuttle is indeed empty. Once the shuttle is secured, Valdivia requests that Logan deactivate the environmental safeguards he had implemented before. Scanning the shuttle's altered memory banks, Valdivia is able to determine that weapons fire occurred on the shuttle, and that there is a vague list of potential sites that the occupants might have beamed to. Caught up in the Darwin's tractor beam, the other two individuals in the shuttle with Pilot Valek start to panic. It culminates with one of them vaporizing the other. Seeing that each of the remaining two occupants have technology that can mask their movements from the Darwin's internal sensors, they hatch a plan. As the shuttle is pulled into the Darwin's cargo bay and the shields fail, they piggyback a transport on the tractor beam and disappear within the Darwin's decks. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Capt Renos and Ens Lyldra discuss the humanitarian situation at the factory complex. The probe that CPO Jellico had sent around the planet to attempt scans on the shuttle send back different readings, which Jellico finally realizes indicate an unknown ship lying in wait behind one of Zakdorn's moons. On Zakdorn, Recruit Iy and Ens Mpeba discuss the possibility that what has happened to the complex might not have been accidental, while Mpeba examines the structural integrity of nearby buildings. Ens Manius and Ens Cook agree on a clearing to use as a triage site.
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| With a hidden ship discovered in their vicinity, Capt Renos reiterates the importance of shields to Cmdr Walker, then has Ens Ells hail the mystery ship.
In Engineering, Cmdr Walker moves to the upper level in order to do some tweaks on the power grid. While there, Walker runs into a stranger, who ends up being a shuttle occupant. The woman pulls weapons on Walker. Pilot Valek, watching through a grill on the floor above, worries that the other shuttle occupant might kill Walker, so she stuns the aggressor with her phaser. Exploring a damaged building for survivors, Cmdr Rennyn finds a small child, and send them out for treatment at the triage site. Meanwhile, Ens Mpeba prepares to shore up some beams in order to allow the team to continue searching the building. Meanwhile, at the triage site, Ens Cook is called upon to treat the child that wanders from the nearby building, Ens Manius hails the Darwin to request supplies, and Cmdr Traenor investigates a strange noise. Back in the cargo bay, Ens Logan assists Lt Valdivia with inspecting the shuttle. Following the strange noise he had heard earlier, Cmdr Traenor calls out to anyone who might need assistance.
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This episode is still airing. Stay tuned for periodic updates!
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| REV SD 239207.14 |
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