Lieutenant Jack Kessler - Dead or Alive, Peaceful or Planet Killer
Joel Cannistraro
Beck: What do you think's goin' on? Another anomaly?
Tucker: As long as it doesn’t have to do with the temporal flow or Sencha radiation, I'm good.
Jack remained quiet and simply continued to observe.
Raga: This is our CMO and our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commanders Beck and Tucker. Quentin, Marty, these are Lieutenants Venn and Velis. ::he looked at their guests:: If you’d be so kind as to repeat what you told us to them?
Tucker nodded at the newcomers and took his position in the back of the room, leaning up against a counter, legs out and ankles crossed, the same with his arms across his chest. The man appeared as relaxed as Jack felt tense about having SFI aboard. SFI had it's function and purpose but Jack had a severely strong distrust and dislike for the branch due to how they handled the disappearance of the USS Caboto and Jack's own abduction by the Zet. The fact that he had escaped and proven SFI completely wrong about his death and what the Zet were doing had led both him and SFI to more than a few heated arguments that could have ended badly if certain other people had not been present to calm the air.
Beck: V-squared, huh? Good to meet you, Venn, Velis. That definitely won't get confusing later.
Tucker: ::under his breath:: Can we give them name tags?
Niac/Venn/: response
Kel: What can you say about the creature's physiology? How is it propelling itself? Do we have any ideas on size.
Velis: ::folds her hands:: In truth, we don’t know much about the creature. Only that it is very large, moreso than our instruments and scans can measure without days, possibly weeks of deeper research. None of the ships that have been sent to study it have been able to get close enough for more than cursory studies. We haven’t wanted to risk provoking it to defend itself.
Beck: Um. All due respect, but considering all of the previous ships you've sent to study this thing haven't had much luck, what makes the Ronin any different? Don't get me wrong, I love the girl, but we're not exactly on the cutting edge when it comes to Science vessels.
Kessler: ::folding his arms now across his chest:: The doctor makes an excellent point. ::beat:: You've sent other ships to study this thing with no results? You do not want to risk provoking it to defend itself? What defenses does it have, or do you think it has which have you concerned? What other ships were sent in and what happened to them?
Venn: Responses
Niac: Responses
Kel: Spaceborne life forms are a long standing interest of mine. We've been tracking several signals which we believe could be cosmozoan, I'll get the data sent to you.
Tucker: I’m going to agree with the good doctor, what makes us, basically, a war relic giong to have those other ships don’t. Now, that’s not me bad-mouthing the Ronin, but we do have limits to what we can accomplish.
Raga: Because she’s rugged, has survived a great deal of damage of the last two years and worst case, has a lot of torpedoes.
Velis: ::thoughtfully:: My task is to work with your science and medical personnel to learn more about the creature. ::glances at Venn:: The lieutenant can perhaps enlighten you more as to her purpose.
Venn: Response
Raga: That’s not a simple ask if the creature is bigger than expected.
Kessler: ::looking to Rage and then Niac:: I strongly recommend a careful review of any tactical data these two have before we put the Ronin in harms way. ::looking at Raga:: She maybe rugged but if these two leave out any details because we are not deemed a need to know, being rugged might be the only hope we have of coming out of this alive should things go south.
Jack turned his gaze back to Venn and Velis. The last time he dealt with and worked with SFI things had in fact gone bad very quickly due to faulty intelligence and as a result, Jack was a prisoner of the Zet for nearly a year. So for Jack, a need to know mentality was out the door once these two sat foot on the Ronin. The command team needed to know every little detail about this creature. Anything left out was a potential disaster waiting for the Ronin's crew.
Niac: Responses
Kel: Surely, we won't be taking the creature out of its natural environment?
Beck: If this thing is as big as they're making it sound, I'm not sure we could take it out of its natural environment. ::a beat:: Still… I echo Doctor Kel's sentiment. We know next to nothing about this thing, do we really want to see what happens if we try to push it into a cage?
Tucker: Corning something we know nothing about? What part about that seems like a good plan? I’m up for figuring out what this thing is, but we’ve got to be smart about it.
Kel: Sir, it's one thing to study a creature, it's something else to attempt to contain or relocate it.
Marty nodded along with Quentin.
Beck: I'm not sure they make lassos big enough to wrangle something like this, anyway.
Tucker: ::to Beck:: I’m sure I could whip something up, on a bit larger scale. It’s all theory, but I bet there’s a way to lasso it, so to speak. ::he shrugged:: It’d take some finagling.
Raga: I imagine we’d have to use the tractor beam, assuming we even could. With or without also using our shuttles.
Kessler: ::turning to Tucker:: I would recommend you pull TK Cabrillo into that team. He did some pretty interesting alterations to the Butlers's tractor beam assembly for a mission project.
Niac/Venn/Velis: Response
Kel: The spaceborne life form the Starfleet has encountered communicate in a variety of ways. I'd suggest a long range scan of the creature's magnetic field and EM emissions. Maybe there's a way we can let it know we're not a threat.
Beck: That's assuming the thing would even notice us to begin with.
Tucker: ::looking at his former roommate:: I’m sure if you got out and waved your arms frantically, maybe it’d notice? In all seriousness, why would you want to get noticed by something that is, ::using air quotes:: “very large”.
Raga: I would assume it will. Based on the Lieutenant’s comment about none of the previous vessels being able to get close to it. Suggests either it has a natural hazardous defense to deter predators, or it actively deterred them. Is that likely?
He looked towards their two guests.
Niac/Tucker/Venn/Velis: Response
Kel: ::looking at Velis:: Do you suppose it would respond to a standard hail?
Beck: That would depend greatly on whether this thing is alive or not. I find it hard to believe something this immense is alive, let alone sentient, but I'm sure people said the same thing about blue whales back on Earth a few centuries ago. Just because I'm having trouble conceiving of it doesn't make it impossible.
Tucker: If this thing is still alive, then what? It’s like the dog chasing the car, it finally caught the car, now it has no clue what it’s going to do with it. I mean, what is the ultimate goal here?
Raga: Even the Horta at one point weren’t considered to be sentient, yet as our beloved Gra’vel has proven, that’s quite contrary.
Niac/Tucker/Venn/Velis/Kel: Response
Jack kept quiet at this juncture. He needed more information about the creature. About SFI's interactions with it and what happened during those interactions. Something about what these two were telling them felt off or edited. The same way it felt when SFI led Jack into that Zet trap with faulty information that nearly got TK killed.
Beck: Okay… so let's assume this thing is alive, it can respond to us somehow, and it does notice us when we show up. What if, by doing so, we just piss it off?
Tucker: I know this might be silly, but do we have a plan B? And really what is plan A?
Raga: Hopefully we can avoid that, but the concern is valid. We should keep our shields up while we’re attempting to study it.
Kessler: I agree Commander.
Niac/Tucker/Venn/Velis/Kel: Response
Beck: I mean, what if this thing has the same capabilities of a planet killer? What if, by contacting it and making it aware that the ants are studying it, it decides it doesn't like that very much and we become barbequed Roninites?
Tucker: I’d like to hear more from our Mission Specialists, what’s your thoughts on a possibly armed and maybe hostel entity?
Raga: I refer to my previous comment about the Ronin being rugged. Including the Khitomer, we’re the most powerful starship that Starfleet has in the Isles at the moment. Which stands to reason that’s part of the reason we were sent on this mission. If we piss it off, I imagine the reasoning is that we have a better chance of surviving any violence it might unleash.
Kessler: I have a few tricks up my sleeve Commander. The Ronin is ready defensively if needed.
Niac/Venn/Velis/Kel/Beck: Response
Tucker: So what do we know for sure?
Raga: The urgency of this, the secrecy, and the location. Is Command concerned this creature is endangered and in need of protection, or do they think it might not be natural?
Jack eyed Raga for a moment and then let his eyes drift back to Venn and Velis, then to V'Len.
Kessler: We know very little but when does that stop a Starfleet crew from completing their mission? ::looking at Niac:: My departments are ready for whatever you need Captain.
Niac/Venn/Velis/Kel/Beck: Response
Tucker: Well, the Engineering department is more than willing to lend a hand. I’m sure we could come up with something.
Raga: You voiced concern about whether it has planet killer capabilities. There was at least one other entity that was sentient but not entirely part of the natural order. Do you remember reading about Gomtuu at the Academy? Not a planet killer but it was alive, sentient, powerful, and artificial. ::to V squared:: We’re supposed to confirm if it’s artificial or not, yes? What are our orders if it turns out to be just a giant space whale? Go home? Or does the mission become one of conservation?
As Raga glanced to Niac, Jack scanned their expressions to one another briefly and then refocused on their guests. Jack remembered his exobiology class and the creature called Gomtuu. The official reports even broke down the natural defense abilities of the creature which proved devastating for the Romulans during their encounter with the creature. A simple telepathic message from a specialist assigned to the USS Enterprise-D for that mission resulted in the creature lashing out and destroying an entire Romulan D'Deridex Class Warbird in the blink of an eye.
Kessler: I remember that class well Commander. ::staring at their guests:: As I recall, the Romulans lost a D'Deridex warbird and her entire complement during that encounter.
Niac/Tucker/Venn/Velis/Kel/Beck: Response
Raga: We don't know enough at this point. I think our first priority should be to get to the creature, at a safe distance and find out just how 'very large' it happens to be. Then go from there. Normally I'd recommend sending a shuttle to scout ahead, but with the uncertainty of its size and temperament I'm hesitant to send out what might be seen as food if it's big enough. How long until we arrive at its last known location?
Kessler: ::looking to the wall display:: ETA to intercept is three hours nineteen minutes Commander.
Jack looked back to Raga then to Venn and Velis.
Kessler: Given your previous attempts at this failed, I am sure all related data will be made available to our mission? No redactions?
Niac/Tucker/Venn/Velis/Kel/Beck/Raga: Response
((OOC, there are a lot of tags here so I am not adding any new ones until everyone is caught up))
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