Khomerex Zha (new 2017 version)
by Kheren
Although this mission concerns the USS Spectre and\or the USS Millenium primarly as the center piece of the whole plot, it is still playable by all RP starships as well as Starbase Lotus:
-USS Horizon: as the flagship, would assume the same role as the Lotus ;(see below) but could be involved in the entire scenario.
-USS Millenium: would play the same part as the Spectre (see below) and even more targeted as a point of contention with it<s holocamouflage and even more with it's temporal capability. Could also provide as a side plot or an offshoot mission the fact that there is high caliber espionage involved as the Millenium is a classified project of Starfleet.
-USS Spectre: run the main plot as presented (part 1 then part 2).It offers both a diplomatic situation and a strategic/tactical one to solve.
-USS Lotus: as the former flagship and now special mission vessel, her Captain would have to decide either to priorise the situation on Nimbus III (part 1) or the one at Starbase 10 (part 2).
-USS Hoshea: run the main plot as if it were the Spectre (part 1 then part 2);being a multi-purpose ship of Lotus Fleet and the best suited for diplomacy, the Artemis would be officially designated to meet the representatives on Nimbus III, either before or after the situation at Starbase 10.
-USS McKenzie: Would be involved first in the situation at Starbase 10 (part 2) as it's patrol ship, then tackle part 1, unless receiving a call from another playing ship if any is involved with part 1 and the Captain decides to answer it immediately.
- USS Alsea: Might be still docked at Starbase 10 when events forces her to go out to defend it (part 2) with a hastily assembled crew (giving opportunities for freshly graduated cadets still unassigned to have their first taste of ship adventure); then the Captain might decide to risk her to answer any call or orders regarding the situation at Nimbus III (part 1).
-USS Discovery:with it's secondary role as diplomatic ship, it<s general purpose capabilities and it's QSD drive, could be heavily involved in all parts of the situation.
-Starbase Lotus: part 2 happens at the starbase. Part 1 may be played afterwards by sending a selected crew (the players of course) in any of the NPC ships to deal with the situation, if no other ship resolve it; or to assist any involved there.
Each player group can choose independently to tackle this scenario from it's own angle; however, there is also the possibility of playing it as one big story where more than one crew, even up to all of them, may interact around these events.
Any Captain choosing this mission might find it useful to discuss this possibility with those of the other groups for one big epic multi-crew RP.
SYNOPSIS:
Already fighting a war on two fronts, one against the vengeful Gorns and one to annex the shattered Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire is now about to open a third one against the renewed might of the Federation.
Although relishing combat, Klingons are not fond of defeat. And a war on three fronts might do just that, being too much even for this proud warrior race. As they won't back out of a fight, they are now painting themselves into a possibly fatal corner.
Now, one, half-forgotten leader, last of a destituted house, comes out of decades of self-imposed exile and hiding, hoping to save the Empire from it's own short-sightedness... and restore power to himself in the process. Now, finally, the time has come for him to play all the three main powers of the quadrant against one another in a game of mind and might.
His name is Thoral, son of Durass.
In the last years, his spies reported of the planned construction of the USS Spectre, the latest ship of the most prominent division of Starfleet, the reknowned Lotus Fleet. And then a spying breakthrough; the rumor of a Starfleet timeship equiped with a holocamouflage system. This is the centerpiece he needed for the game to begin. So, he can now moves his playing pieces:
-The Romulan D'Tan faction and the Telaura faction were made aware of a cloaking device to be installed on the new ship; thus, as compensation for a violation of the Treaty of Algeron, the factions demand that Starfleet support their cause for the right of using it legally... or will confiscate the ship as evidence and dismantle the device while condemning the crew as criminals to a Romulan prison. (that is why the Romulans refused the help of Lotus Fleet and the USS Lotus on a relief operation in '' Changing of the Guard'' episode, and why they didn't answer the call for assistance sent by Starfleet during the Borg Invasion).
-The Romulan Telaura faction and the Reman faction were made to beleive that this cloak was allowed by collaboration between Starfleet and D'Tan to legitimize his independence claim and that of Telaura to the Imperial throne. Confiscating or destroying the ship are the only ways to prevent this... unless Starfleet agrees to join them in crushing the other faction (wanting to confirm the information is why they sent a ship to invade Starbase 10 and were manipulated by The Dark in the ''Captive Starbase'' episode).
-The Gorn Hegemony was made aware of the cloaked Federation ship; they were made to beleive that it's cloak was offered by the Klingons to ally Starfleet with the Empire against the Gorns! The ship, and the command staff of the fleet responsible for this alliance, are beleived to be at a starbase near the border, about to attack... unless they strike first!
-Renegade Klingons Captains are promised the return of their name and honor under the house of Durass... by rescuing a Federation Starbase from a Gorn attack, they would revive the famous Norenda III historical sacrifice of the Enterprise C defending a Klingon outpost against Romulans... but this time earning the gratitude and alliance of the Federation for the Klingons! Even more so if they also defend UFP starships out of a Romulan trap at Nimbus III!
The pieces are all on the board; the game is about to be played.
PART 1
The Telaura faction calls Lotus Fleet's USS Spectre while she patrols to Nimbus III, to discuss vital terms of future relationship between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Refusal will cause all chances of present and future good relations to be forever lost.
Then, D'Tan shows up and demand to be part of those talks to discuss his legitimacy for an independent government within the rebuilt Empire.
Whatever ship or ships respond to the summon, she (they) will be surrounded by 3 D'Deridex class warbirds upon reaching orbit. The Captain(s) alone with only one guard (aide: PC of his choice) will beam down or the Romulans will open fire.
Once beamed down, charges of alleged breach of treaty will be made before a court of Interstellar law.The judges are Telaura herself for the Romulan Empire; Thoral for the Klingon Empire; and a Starfleet officer Captain will be demanded to complete the Court (another Player-ship Captain can thus be introduced to the story; if not, an NPC diplomat, Mariana Fox, is already stationed on the planet). The player Captain (of the Spectre; if not, any other to represent Lotus Fleet) will face the charges in the name of the Federation on the next day(or be counselled/represented by a third player Captain or one chosen officer with desired skills).
Because the Spectre's system makes it immune to sensors and/or visual detection, it should finally be judged a cloaking device (unless Captain and crew are very clever in justifying it away or differently or reaching a compromise) and as such in violation of Treaty.(the UFP player judge will be outvoted if inclined to oppose the other two). The Millenium holocamouflage will be ubderstood as just that since it does not deny detection; only proper identification; but it's time travel capabilties frighten the wits out of the Romulans, demanding a treaty where Federation prime directive and Neutral Zone specifications will also apply through time and to protect the Romulan Empire from interference.Telaura will make her demands... And then, Thoral is suddenly transported out... as one Vorch'a class and 4 K'vort class klingon warships decloak in orbit, offering assistance to the Federation against Romulan treachery!
If the Starfleet Captain refrain from fighting, the Klingons will provoke the Romulans by making them beleive that the Federation already allied themselves with the Klingon Empire against the Romulans. So either the Starfleet Captain(s) will defuse the situation... or all hell will break loose. (wether you want to stage a big fight or a diplomatic climax: player captain's discretion).
Siding with any group will bring the other down on them... and just running away will be seen as cowardice from the Klingons and proof of treason by the Romulans. In all cases, the consequences for the Federation will be dire... unless the Captain and his crew are very clever!
Meanwhile, Thoral is already gone (in a second Vor'cha that stayed cloaked before and after his beaming out).to supervise the ''Starbase rescue'' (part 2). A Bird of Prey also cloaked follows.
Mission objectives for part 1:
1.Avoid open conflict with the Romulans.
2.Justify the Spectre's and Millenium technology and/or exonerate the crew and Lotus Fleet
3.Prevent the Klingons from turning the Romulans against the Federation
4.Prevent the Spectre from being captured or destroyed
Departments needed for this mission:
1.Tactical & Security (ship combat and strategic maneuvering)
2.Counselling (legal and diplomatic counsel)
3.Science (to testify about the different principles of ECM, camouflage and cloaking)
4.Engineering (preserve Starfleet's technological secrets!)
5.Ops (detect cloaked ships of different types; and a transport from planet surface to cloaked ship.)
6.Medical (could identify Klingon spy aboard before he teleports out of the ship with Thoral at the end of the trial and possibly get the ''Thoral plot'' discovered through him)
Notes for the Captain:
The spies are remnants of the old human-genome altered subrace of Klingons, chirurgically altered further to look fully Human. If many player crews plays this scenario, there could be one for each:
-USS Spectre: starbase engineering crewman transfered to the new ship
-USS Lotus & USS Alsea: starbase security crewman transfered to replace lost personnel.
-USS Horizon & USS Hoshea: graduated cadet on his cadet cruise on board.
-USS McKenzie & USS Discovery: science NCO on a study of crew behavior in warships.
-Starbase Lotus & USS Millenium: dock petty officer (secret drydock of the Byrma system for the Millenium).
They all worked as a team, monitoring the Spectre's and Millenium construction and testing and reported their findings to Thoral. Now their mission is over and they use a transfer aboard player ships to reach the Klingon task force and be retrieved. In exchange for their services, they have been promised genetic restoration to full klingon and a place back in the Empire within the House of Durass.
They will do nothing to risk detection (no sabotage, no socializing etc) except avoiding medical exams and not mingling with others (body odor, increasing bad temper and avoidance of medical exams could give them away).
If found and interrogated, they only know their own small part: that they worked all together to gather information about the Starfleet cloak and delivered it to the leader of the House of Durass in exchange for restitution of their Honor.
_______________________
PART 2
Starbase Lotus is contacted by an approaching Romulan scout ship, claiming to carry the leader of the Donatra faction, Donatra herself, on a mission of gravest importance for peace in the quadran and will hover nearby to spy on the proceedings.t. But the ship is secretly tailed by a Reman cloaked vessel which will hover nearby to spy on the proceedings.
Once docked, Donatra, a former member of the senate named Neral and 4 bodyguards disembark, demanding a meeting with the highest autority on the starbase. To him or her, she will present accusations of violating the Treaty of Algeron with the launch of the USS Spectre and threatening the entire quadrant with the launbch of the Millenium timeship also sporting a new kind of cloaking device. She will demand an immediate board of inquiry, with her as one of the judges with the starbase commandant (an any player starship captain willing; if none available, a Starfleet commissionner named Natasha Lee will be there) and Neral as prosecutor.
Refusal will forever sever the ties between the Federation and the Romulans as well as the Remans (who will then show themselves to offer help to Donatra to escape in exchange of an alliance and recognition for them into the next empire). The Inquiry will convene the next day.
Back from Nimbus III, the Spectre's Captain and the Millenium captain once again will face charges as before! If the Spectre or Millenium are not playing, any other ship captain playing out this scenario will act as defense on behalf of Lotus Fleet.
Because the Spectre's system makes it immune to sensors and/or visual detection, it should (again) finally be judged a cloaking device (again, unless Captain and crew are very clever in justifying it away or differently or reaching a compromise), and as such in violation of Treaty by Donatra... and the Commissionner.( if player Captains are judges, they should not outvote her... and condemn any future good relations with her faction just for the sake of one starship). The Millenium is another matter. It's camouflage system will be judged not in violation of the treaty (as it odes not actually hamper detection) but it's time travel capability will be judged a threat to the entire stability of the Quadrant; so either it is decommissionned and dismantled or it,s technology shared with the Romulans... both options adamantly refused by the Federation representative. Donatra then will make her demands...
At that moment, sensors detect the approach of five ships at high warp bearing directly at the base. They appear to be of Gorn configuration, cruiser class, Their shields are up and all weapons armed targeting the base.
When hailed, the Gorn task force commander will declare that the foul alliance of the Federation and the Klingon Empire against the Gorn Hegemony has been exposed. He will further claim that the existence of a Federation ships with a cloaking device is proof enough of that alliance. And seeing Romulans on screen, he will conclude that a great alliance is obviously being forged by the UFP to annihilate the Hegemony!
The Gorns will demand immediate and unconditional surrender... or the base will be utterly destroyed, Then, they cut off communications.
The base will be immediately under fire from the five powerful ships (each a new design comparable to a Sovereign class in size and firepower). Only player ships will be available for defense ( if there is none, the player crewmembers might want to bring any NPC ships into play).
Any ship coming to defend the starbase will have to face, like the base itself, the peculiar basic tactics used by the Gorns:
The bigger ships fire to disable weapons and spew out mines to confine combatant vessels, giving cover to swarms of small fighter ships that will ram the shields with antimatter explosions kamikaze-style. But just before impact, the 3 occupants of the fighter teleports through the disrupted shields to pursue boarding actions until one of the cruisers send reinforcements or retrieve them.
As the battle starts to rage, a Vorch'a class klingon battlecruiser decloaks and offers assistance to their former allies against the Gorn enemy! The commanding officer is none other than Thoral, son of Durass!
Against all those huge warships, the Klingon ship has no chance of surviving... especially that at the first moment of battle, it's warp core starts to become unstable! As the Gorn ships are disabled by base and ships, the doomed Vorch'a closes in to take them with her in her own death throes...
Thoral needs the sacrifice of his own crew for his plan to work... so he sabotaged the ship and deliberately caused himself to be wounded on the bridge, sent to sickbay... and teleported out to a nearby cloaked Bird of Prey to watch hidden the doomed Vorch'a maneuver to take with it most of the Gorn ships...and thus watch the play unfold.
Mission objectives part 2:
1.Avoid loosing Romulan goodwill towards the Federation
2.Justify the Spectre's technology and/or exonerate the crew and Lotus Fleet
3.Prevent the Klingons from turning the Romulans and the Gorns against the Federation
4.Prevent the sacrifice of the klingon ship and her crew.
Departments needed for this mission:
1.Tactical & Security (space combat and anti-boarding action; find out the kamikaze intent of the Klingon ship)
2.Counselling (legal and diplomatic counsel)
3.Science (testify about the different principles of ECM, camouflage and cloaking)
4.Engineering (preserve Starfleet's technological secrets! Prevent the Klingon ship warpcore from exploding)
5.Ops (detect cloaked ships, a transporter beam from the klingon ship to a cloaked one, detect and understand power fluctuations in klingon ship and/or teleport klingons before ship is destroyed)
6.Medical (could identify Klingon spy aboard before he teleports out with Thoral and possibly get the ''Thoral plot'' discovered through him; save wounded klingons and Gorns)
Notes for the Captain:
The Gorns are not reckless fighters but ruthless strategists, approaching war like a game of Go (where territorial control is the key to victory). A repulsed boarding party will try to teleport back to one of their ships to regroup; a disabled or damaged ship will try to retreat from the combat zone, laying mines behind it and call for reinforcements. smaller ships secure a position etc.
Stopping the Klingon ship from destroying the Gorns will make them pause; using a captured Gorn communicator or a convinced prisoner could open talks to sort things out and defuse the conflict. Giving them the Klingons as prisoners of war would placate them... without antagonizing the Empire, since they are renegades involved in an unautorized action under the destituted House of an exiled leader.
Whatever happens, Thoral will flee in his BoP, especially if his manipulative plan is exposed and/or twarted. he may return later to frther cause problems as a semi-regular villain.
AFTERMATH
In both part 1 and 2, the Romulans will depart, awaiting the official decision of Lotus Fleet following both judgments in one week. (of course, attacking the Romulans in part 1 will end all possibility of relations between both governments).
In the end, the officers involved will have to report to the Admiralty the judgment of both Romulan factions against the cloaking USS Spectre... and let them make a decision that will decide about future relations between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire.
This leaves open the opportunity of a sequel for, as an obvious example, a diplomatic mission afterwards. So does the spy situation especially where the Millenium is concerned.
