Reciprocity Mission 01: "Reciprocity is Not Mandatory"

Mission Summary

The Reciprocity is assigned to covertly observe a pre-warp planet, "Urth". The ship is unexpectedly caught in an EM pulse that forces them to crash land on the planet, forcing them to make first contact with the locals. What starts out as a standard mission, turns out to be a training and testing simulation for Star Fleet Intelligence's newest recruits.

Captain's Logs

LCdr Solek

Stardate 21705.19

Commanding Officer’s Log, Star Date 21705.19.

Lieutenant Commander Solek reporting.

Begin log.

The USS Reciprocity is about to launch on her maiden voyage. We will test the ship’s capabilities, and the ability of the crew to perform the mission we have been assigned.

Our mission is really two unrelated tasks.

First, we will travel to a planet called Urth in the Gamma-Seven sector. The planet has a pre-warp society and we are to perform covert observation of the society to test our stealth systems and to collect data for Star Fleet so they can determine when best to initiate first contact. I expect us to be in orbit for several days at least.

Then we will pursue a team of terrorists led by a former Star Fleet Admiral. It is believed that they are attempting to steal a piece of classified technology. Details are scarce, and I hope we receive more information before we have to go silent to enter pursuit.

End log.

Stardate 21708.25

Commanding Officer's Log, Star Date 21708.25.

Lieutenant Commander Solek recording.

Begin log.

Well we almost made it through the first phase of our mission, until the Urther's detonated a suborbital nuclear weapon near us and knocked us out of orbit.

After a less than graceful (but ultimately successful) crash landing by Lieutenant Commander Crystillin (note: make note in his record commending him) we found ourselves in need of major field (literally, in this case, as we crashed in a field) repairs. Working with Engineering we managed to ad-hoc modify the transporter and a brig cell into a super-replicator. We also sent out a team to harvest a crashed satellite for some replimatter.

There is no local power in the vicinity as the nuke seems to have emitted an EMP which disabled local systems. This has worked to our advantage, however there are still aircraft and satellites approaching our area. So we have hidden the ship under a cloak of cloth. And we have sent another team to confront some locals. I have ordered this team to erase the memories of the locals, or if necessary, to eliminate them. We not only have the Prime Directive to concern ourselves with, but also the fact that we are black ops. And I may have not mentioned to the crew that this system is also officially under a Star Fleet quarantine...

As an aside, I seem to have had an attack of Borg-ness. My nanites went active for several minutes, and attempted to reassimilate me. In the end, they failed, in part because of things doctor Ristone did (note: commendation), in part because of my superior Vulcan mental ability, and in part because they could not find a collective to connect to. I seem fine now, however I will admit to feeling a low energy level. And some irritability.

Irritability is compounded by a suggestion by Commander Gregg that we 'out' ourselves to the aliens, who do not believe in extra-Urth life at all.

I am not suited for this role. I may not even be suited for command. I am not sure most of the crew are suited for this mission profile. I will re-evaluate if we survive to return to base.

End log.

Crew Logs

Tactical

CTO LCdr Acenvar Crystillin

Stardate 21706.11

Lieutenant Commander Acenvar Crystillin Chief Tactical Officer’s Log Stardate 21706.11 USS Reciprocity Bridge

Audio and Visual:

[Chief Tactical Officer’s Log. Our mission has been very eventful so far. To begin we had the launch and maiden voyage of Star Fleet’s newest vessel the USS Reciprocity. A quant and stalwart Cicero class escort.

Initial reports of the ship are... positive. Our stealth field emitters seemed to work exceptionally well. Sensors are exceptionally more sensitive than any ship I have served on. Not even the massive sensor relays on the USS Avenger compare to the Cicero’s sensors.

Of course as per our mission parameters we entered the Urth system and came to the planet.We detected massive networks of satellites, and even probes in all of the orbital bodies in their system. They seem highly interested in the cosmos.

However on further inspection of their planet we have found that they are in a highly developed world war. Mainly jet powered aircraft and projectile weaponry. However our Chief Science Officer Commander Gregg reports that within a decade they could be using fusion power. They already seem to have nuclear abilities as well.

We also know from experience that they have some form of advanced EMP bomb. The populace had launched one into the atmosphere and detonated it. There was little time for us to react and so we were hit by the shockwave it produced. With our shield emitters up and shields down I was forced to land the Reciprocity.

Again, Commander Gregg found a place to land rather remote. Thankfully the ship is half covered in some form of vegetation.

The damage however is concerning. Most of the systems on our port side are either damaged or offline. Our power distribution system is namely running on low efficiency. Stealth field emitters are offline, as well as shielding.

Propulsion is offline although we have warp. Thrusters are damaged in certain areas and will have to be replaced.

Weapons are just as bad. Our Quantum torpedo launcher has been crushed, and one of our gatling cannons offline.

There is also a village of three hundred inhabitants closest to us. They are still at the very least two dozen kilometres out.

In good news: our sensors are working at eighty-five percent efficiency, and our landing gears seem to be fine. The populace has no idea we are here it seems as they are currently suffering from communication blackouts and such. Supplemental: our engineering teams are already working out repairs, and my Tactical team is also on top of repairs.

Our total repair time could take a few weeks. Thus it might be plausible to complete our mission physically by inserting ourselves into the populace.

Computer, End Log.]

Security

COS Lt JG Wren Gaglardi

Stardate 21707.10

Personal Log, Stardate 21707.10 Lieutenant Junior Grade Wren Gaglardi recording:

Dear Commander,

It’s been a weird few weeks. Somehow I managed to stay strong throughout that crazy mission, but then when the dust settled I came apart. The effects of having to shoot someone who looks exactly like you, whom nobody had been able to guess was the clone? I’m not sure.

Captain Grant thought I’d done a halfway decent job, even offering me the Chief of Security spot permanently. Yes. Me. Wren “Can’t Handle Sh*t Anymore” Gaglardi.

And what did I do? I said NO!

• pause… the sounds of deep breaths can be heard*

My PTSD made me say no. And it broke me. And so I binged and got wasted for a week, drinking away my sorrows and my leave.

And of all the people to kick my *** and put me back together, Solek wasn’t who I was expecting.

He surprised me. Literally surprised me. Dumped water on my drunk self. Offered my sorry *** a job with the caveat that I get moving right then, hangover be damned. It’s not the first time he’s picked me back up. Apparently I haven’t burnt all my bridges yet. I guess some part of him still feels he owes me?

It’s nice to have friends. To be around him again. I’d forgotten what friendship was like for a while. Who wants to be friends, even acquaintances, with a drunk? Someone who works in security but can’t handle a typical security task? Nobody.

So I have a new assignment. Possibly my very last assignment. But it’s a chance, and I’ll take it. Part of me rages on, wanting to fight for what I want in this life. And the other part is a timid cat hiding under a bed, the PTSD a force shield that I have to push my way through every… damn… day. An impossible task, but I still have to try.

Or as Solek would say, “There is no try. Either you do or you do not.”

Until next time, my friend.

End log.

Stardate 21707.10

Chief of Security’s Log, Stardate 21707.10 Lieutenant Junior Grade Wren Gaglardi recording:

I suppose now that I’m officially a Chief of Security, one of my responsibilities is recording the goings on of the department – my department – in the form of a log. So that the Star Fleet historians can examine my logs 50, 100, 1000 years from now and see what items of significance I have to report.

Hello Historians. I hope you find this significantly interesting.

Ha.

The Reciprocity has been sent to scout out a pre-warp planet, oddly named Urth. That’s with a You not an Ee-Aye. It was meant as a test of our new stealth technology—for you Historians, in our time stealth is a big no-no for Star Fleet. Thus the Reciprocity is a covert operations, black book vessel.

I guess I’m a spook now. Sh*t.

Anyway, Urth is clearly in the midst of a global conflict. As we arrived in orbit, something like an EM pulse disabled the planet’s technology. It struck us in the process… maybe it was a projectile… and send us on a crash course with the planet. Commander Crystillin was able to land us with minimal damage.

Unfortunately now we’re stranded on a pre-warp planet that’s in the midst of a global conflict. Lucky for us, several of the planet’s aircraft and satellite objects also fell to the ground during this event.

There is a dwelling nearby with locals inside. Captain Solek is dispatching myself, Commander Arawn, and Midshi-.. er.. Ensign Kurasa to introduce ourselves and convince the locals that we’re only one of the downed aircrafts. That is to ensure that they don’t call and report us, or drawn additional attention to the Reciprocity while it undergoes repairs.

Solek has given us a backup plan. Two, in fact. Should we be unable to convince the locals that we’re of this planet, then Kurasa and Arawn, as telepaths, will attempt to erase their memories. Yes. This is violation of many different legal and moral laws in the Federation. However, our presence is in violation of the Federation’s biggest tenant—the Prime Directive—and so I think some minor memory tweaks are alright considering.

However my biggest concern is Plan B. That if the telepathic methods do not work, we must use lethal force and eliminated the locals. This makes me uncomfortable, as I’m incredibly opposed to lethal force. I don’t want to murder innocents to preserve the Prime Directive, though I know legally and morally we must so that our presence doesn’t disrupt this planet’s natural development. I can only hope the situation does not force us to do this.

I’m in the process of preparing for departure. Our medical and science personnel and pulling whatever they can for information on this planet to help us construct proper backstories.

I am somewhat looking forward to going undercover as a local, and being among the first Federation citizens to meet this pre-warp species. We’ll see how my PTSD handles actually leaving the ship….

Computer, end log.

[Attachment included:

Field promotion for Rinzlo, Koga, to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Field promotion for Kurasa, Shione, to the rank of Ensign.]

Ens Koga Rinzlo

Stardate 21707.10

Personal Log, Stardate 21707.10 Ensign Koga Rinzlo Recording.

Well this is a fine mess, I'm Pinned behind cover on the top exterior of the Reciprocity. what's worse is I'm only 90% sure that the person covering me has a weapon. Things were looking up there for a bit. I got promoted and transferred to a shiny new ship, given the job opp of a lifetime. I mean working for a sec chief that isn't a giant gorilla and makes me crawl through jefferies tubes and count inventory on beta shift is definitely a plus.

Next thing I know we enter orbit and I get my *** handed to me by gravity, my eye's short out and we crash land on a prime directive planet. It may sound like I'm whining but... ya... I guess I'm whining, at least I can admit it.

Any time now the gear heads will fix the engines and we'll be up in the sky and headed back to starbase. I don't imagine we'll be able to continue on with the second phase of our mission until we undergo proper repair. If, that is, I don't get my head blown off by this damned Urther.

End Log.

Mid Shione Kurasa

Stardate 21709.24

Personal log

All the struggles, pains, losses and triumphs that were part of what we thought was our first mission have all turned into photons in a holodeck. Empty, and without substance.

My career is in jeopardy, threatened by a new Captain with an aggressive agenda. 'Learn to expect the worst out of any moment and be wary of your crewmates during this training.

And I have participated in the madness, and find myself moving towards a career in a branch of Starfleet that I think doesn't even officially exist.

The officers and crew around me are becoming more familiar to me, and new faces are equally welcome, but I think a part of me will miss the ideals I was taught to expect in the Academy as all that idealism goes up in a puff of pragmatic and mostly unethical operations. Will I recognize myself 6 months from now; a year even?

I do not know, and perhaps that is the greatest gift I have in my possession at this time; my ignorance.

I have to believe that once this training is completed that I will have found a place for myself among these disparate souls; a place that I will have earned, and where I can find some solace in what I will have to surrender of myself to find out.

End personal log entry

Encrypt and save under my personal password

Science

CSO Cdr Edward Gregg

Stardate 21708.05

Chief Science Officer’s Log, Personal Stardate 21708.05

I don’t know who’ll actually be reading this log aside from maybe the Captain and the First Officer. I’m on yet another new vessel. This is definitely the smallest vessel I’ve been on to date. A number of crew members were picked up after the Pegasus disbanded for the umpteenth time. It’s all on the QT, but I need to put my thoughts somewhere. New vessel, partially new crew and very new overlords or whatever the appropriate term is.

We’ve got a certain rogue Officer to capture, so in order to test the capabilities of our vessel we headed off to this prewarp planet to do a little covert surveillance, update the planetary records and prove that we’ve got the chops to handle what our vessel can do. Didn’t help that the planet had gone to war since the last time it was observed.

One of the factions detonated a nuke or a similar device just high enough up to knock us out of orbit. I’m certain we weren’t their intended target, but it complicated our role as observers. The vessel is currently sitting under a patterned canvas in the middle of a field of some plant that looks like wheat. The Away Team is investigating a nearby farmhouse and Engineering is trying to get us space-worthy again.

A salvage team is being put together to retrieve scrap to reuse as replimatter. This isn’t an easy job as there’s a plane headed in our direction and local satellites are starting to fill in the hole made by the device that knocked us out of the sky. Something has knocked the Captain for six and the First Officer is leading the Away Team. With everybody busy doing their jobs I’m trying to do what I can to keep us safe until we can leave this planet. Is it better to try too hard or not try at all.

Save and encrypt.