Rag and Bone (Veritas)

USS Veritas
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Rag and Bone

• Stardate 239403 to 239406

Between Esperance and Antor, the USS Veritas was sent to investigate a loss of communications with Yorba Station, a small refueling station. When Veritas arrived, the station was engulfed by a massive, roaming tetryon storm known as the Maelstrom. Unable to maneuver Veritas close enough to avoid damage to the ship, Captain Roshanara Rahman ordered two teams aboard the shuttles Miranda and Prospero to enter the Maelstrom in an attempt to locate the station. What they found was a fused mass of wreckage of the Tiburon, a class 2 freighter carrying industrial waste from Karakka. After encountering the Maelstrom, the freighter was disabled and later hurled into Yorba Station, destroying both.

Away teams from the shuttles boarded the wreckage at two entry points. One team located a single survivor from the Tiburon, a Valtese trader named Kallo Ver. The other recovered more evidence of what had happened, but was forced to abandon a search for more as the fused wreckage became increasingly unstable. Dr. Nikki Ryan was separated from her away team during a particularly violent shift of the wreckage, and was unable to be evacuated with the rest of her team. Evan Delano volunteered to stay behind to help her get to safety. Though successful, their transporter signal from the wreckage to their shuttle was interrupted by a massive surge of energy from the storm, apparently diverting their matter streams to another location.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to assist the away teams, Veritas found a way to enter the Maelstrom via a brief warp jump into a relatively calm section of the storm. The ship took minor damage from the action, but was able to get closer to the evacuating away teams. However, after exiting warp, they also discovered a lone rogue planet suspended in the Maelstrom. Despite having no sun, the planet appeared to be home to a post-industrial alien civilization.

While Veritas searched for their missing crew, Ryan and Delano were being pursued by unknown groups on the planet while being exposed to massive levels of theta radiation. Fleeing, the away team came on a group of aliens that were apparently planning to meet Ver to get off the planet. Together, they took shelter in a series of nearby mountain caves to wait for the hoped-for rescue. It arrived in the form of the Veritas SAR team. After some debate, Delano, Ryan, and the aliens that had helped them were rescued.

As the rescue was taking place, Veritas was making preparations to escape from the Maelstrom, which had closed around the ship, making escape difficult. Per a plan devised by chief engineer Luna Walker, creative use of the ship's quantum torpedoes cleared a path through the tetryon fields just enough for another warp jump to get the ship out of danger. Though the ship once again suffered damage, Veritas was able to restore systems and resume course for the Antor system.

Important Plot Elements

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  The Maelstrom

• Maelstrom: A massive and deadly tetryon storm known to the locals as the "Rag and Bone Man" due to the numerous ships, debris, and other space junk it collects along its path in between the Shadows and Missirian's Pass.
• Tiburon 433: The call sign for the freighter Tiburon, a large class 2 freighter carrying hazardous materials, including theta radiation emitting industrial wastes from Karakka
• Kallo Ver: A Valtese 'trader' once arrested by Lt. Commander Blake for smuggling narcotics colonial space. He escaped from the Edria City marshall's office about a month later. He was apparently on board the freighter Tiburon when it destroyed Yorba Station, and is the only known survivor of the incident.
• Thralta, The Rogue Planet: A class-M rogue planet located within a calm pocket of the maelstrom. Without a sun, it's unclear how it retains enough warmth to maintain a class-M status, but a post-industrial society equivalent to mid-twentieth century Earth has evolved. Evan Delano and Nikki Ryan were somehow transported across a significant distance onto the planet's surface where they encountered a group of aliens fleeing from something called the Cull. They had intended to trade a significant amount of very dense dilithium in exchange for transport to safety - apparently off world. The aliens indicated that a number of their family members had already been taken away.
• Thraltans: The native species to the Rogue Planet name themselves as Thraltans. A few of them had been moved from the planet in exchange for dilithium from the planet. A man named Kallo Ver had made that deal with some of the inhabitants who were prosecuted by some people from the planet, who were abusing these people and it seems that the government can't or don't want to help them. The Veritas has transported a few of those that were supposed to meet Mr. Kallo but instead found a lost party of the Veritas. Captain Rahman considered that it wasn't a violation of the Prime Directive, as it's been already broken, and ordered them aboard. It remains to be seen what will happen with them and with the rest of the people spread through the Shoals