Ensign Gnai - Smoke and Mirrors

[Lich]

((Administrative Building, Ki Baratan, Romulus))

Gnai had been surprised by the contents of the workshop that they were in - it didn't seem as explicitly civilian as the rest of the building seemed to be. But then again, perhaps this was the norm, as Gnai didn't know much about Romulans past what it had learned at the Academy. Still, it found something that it assumed might be of interest to the Lieutenant, and passed it along to her.

Gnai: ::handing over a PADD:: There is biological information here in Romulan, perhaps of interest? ::pointing out the bench in particular:: The PADD came from that workstation.

Adea: I’ll get on replicating, Lieutenant, you take a look.

Sadar: Y-Yes Sir! ::turns to Gnai:: Th-Thank you Ensign. ::accepts the PADD and heads to the indicated bench::

Gnai continued to search around the remaining lab benches, looking for anything of use, leaving the mysterious Romulan biology things to those more accustomed with the subject.

Sadar: Lieutenant Jovenan, if you don’t mind? ::turns to face her:: I need to take some measurements.

Jovenan: Hm? Oh, yes, sure.

Two of the officers now had Romulan disguises, leaving only itself and Lieutenant Gila in Starfleet uniform. Technically, Gnai wasn't in a Starfleet uniform, and it would be relatively easy to take off the rank pip and combadge affixed to its suit, but the blue of the chassis would be harder to remove. It wasn't immediately a sign of Starfleet, but it also wasn't a very Romulan color. And then there was still the issue of its tank being obviously not-robotic.

It made its way back to the more engineering-focused part of the lab, looking for anything that could function as part of a disguise. When the Commander spoke up, it stopped what it was doing to look out at where he was pointing.

Adea: That looks like a planetary defense turret. ::he traced up with his cane:: Looks like there’s a bridge across to it from a few floors above. We could use that to attack the shuttle from a safe-ish distance.

Yet another reminder of their mission's true purpose. But it was curious, this building was far more than it had seemed initially. Not only was there such a stocked laboratory within it, but there was also a planetary defense turret just next door. Romulan priorities and zoning were strange.

Sadar: E-Even if we manage to gain c-control of the turret, h-how can we be sure that the shuttle actually belongs to the Senator?

Jovenan: I’d imagine the turret has some kind of a, um, transponder reading system so that they don’t shoot down their own ships. They wouldn’t let any shuttle to come close to the Senate without identification.

Gnai: Would that not make it more difficult to down the Senator's ship? If the transponder system is set to ensure that the ship is not shot down?

It also struck Gnai as strange to assume that the Senator would be arriving at the Senate in a shuttle. If it were his own planet, would he not use site-to-site transport, or walk from his residence? But the others seemed so sure of this fact that it kept those thoughts to itself. It didn't know much of the details of this event anyways, being from outside of the Federation, and outside of the Dominion War.

Adea: Response

Sadar: ::accesses another replicator to finish the wig and the prosthetic piece:: There’s also the matter of public sentiment. Sp-Speaking in terms of Dominion Era politics, the entire reason the Romulan Government joined the alliance was because the assassination was orchestrated by the Dominion, right? … If the Senator is sh-shot down with Romulan weapons, would that change history back to the right course?

That was a good point. A Romulan attacking another Romulan would do little to bring them into the war.

Jovenan: You’re right. ::thinks:: When we came here, we saw a Dominion vessel flying above us, right? And then we went in, found Ensign Gnai in a building with a turret on it. Don’t you think that’s quite a coincidence? This is CloQ’s game, after all. Is it possible they want us to, um, use both the vessel and the turret somehow?

It was... staggering to consider all of this as just part of a game.

Gnai: Could the Dominion vessel be baited with the turret to attack the shuttle...?

Gnai knew that such a suggestion was far-fetched, but there wasn't much else it could think of to do regarding assassinating a Senator and then making it seem like someone else's work. This wasn't taught at the Academy, and it certainly wasn't something that it learned back on Galador II.

Adea: Response

Jovenan: So, can I try on my disguise now? But first… ::turns to Gnai:: You’re going to need your disguise as well. Do you think you could replicate or construct something to make your, uh, tank appear more robotic? Without hindering your vision and such, of course.

Disguise was a far more palatable topic, which Gnai was thankful for.

Gnai: Yes, sir. ::holding up a few curved metal plates, clearly meant for small scale repairs:: These could be attached to the suit. And paint could be replicated. But the hindrance of vision may be unavoidable.

It needed to have some of the tank's surface uncovered to be able to see out, which would have the unfortunate side-effect of allowing anyone else to see in. Unless...

Gnai: ::thinking aloud:: Or perhaps the tank could be turned into a reciprocal mirror... Hm... Film could be replicated...

It had known about such materials from one of the many nanotechnology courses it had taken at the Academy. It would need to minimize the light that its body generated, as the inside of the glass needed to be dark to reflect the outside, but this was already much better of an idea than walking blind. It made its way to join the two Lieutenants at the replicators.

Adea/Sadar: Response

Jovenan: How do I look?

Gnai turned around in its tank to look at the Lieutenant. She looked far more like a Romulan indeed.

Gnai: Romulan.

Adea/Sadar: Response

Jovenan: ::smirks:: Aesthetics aren’t important. Commander, you’re next. And we need to figure out what to do with Doctor Sadar before we can move on.

Gnai assumed, based on the omission, that it was to go about continuing its work on its own disguise.

Gnai: Good luck, sirs. ::turns back to fiddling with the replicator::

Adea/Sadar: Response

As the others worked, Gnai laid out on the floor near to the replicator (and hopefully out of the way of the others) the various materials that it had gathered: thin films of metal; grey paint and the requisite paintbrush; assorted metal sheets, screws, and screwdrivers. It pulled off the combadge and pip, unsure where exactly to put them. The pip was less worrisome to lose, but having to go without its combadge was slightly concerning.

Gnai: What means of communication are available outside of combadges? They are very clearly Starfleet. If the team is separated, how will communication be maintained without them?

Adea/Sadar/Jovenan: Response

Gnai: Telepathic communication is not something that is shared amongst the entire away team, correct?

Adea/Sadar/Jovenan: Response

Best to keep the combadge on it then, stowed somehow within the false robotic shell that would need to be fashioned. The pip could go, though, and Gnai put it in the replicator to be turned back into energy. One less thing to worry about.

It then scooped up the various materials and combadge and turned to Lt. Jovenan. Commander Adea was to be outfitted next with prosthetics from the other Lieutenant, leaving Jovenan hopefully free to help it. The suit was nimble, but not so much that it would be able to complete the disguise itself. And more hands would make it go faster. Paint needed to be brushed over the Sciences blue, metal sheets needed to be bolted on to cover the lower portion of the tank, and mirror film needed to be applied to the rest so that it could see. And somehow, somewhere, it needed to figure out where to store a combadge, just in case.

Gnai: Lieutenant Jovenan, would you be able to assist in applying this disguise? Perhaps by painting the blue of this suit to a more Romulan grey. ::it held out the paintbrush and paint it had replicated::

Jovenan: Response

TAG/TBC

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Ensign Gnai
Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240102G11