Commander Toryn Raga - One For the Good History Books, Part I
Rameses
((Conference Room, Deck 3, USS Ronin, Two hours later, Deep Space))
He glanced at Quentin and V’Len.
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?
Toryn looked at Karrod knowing full well in his gut nothing ever worked out that smoothly for them. And also that whether or not the creature ended up being artificial in any way or not, Alliance and Consortium space was not safe even for such a creature. He didn’t even want to think about what monstrous use Singen Wrath would have for a giant space creature even if it was little more than an animal.
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: And a Galaxy class vessel was badly damaged...and they weren't even the target of that particular attack. Our ship may be robust but it has lasted this long because we tend to avoid taking foolish risks...when we can.
Kel: With all due respect if this was a planet killer I think we'd know by the missing planets. ::beat:: Gomtuu offered a unique situation, but I'd like to think we can use it as a learning experience to make this contact easier.
Tucker: No matter how you slice it, first contact is going to be touchy at the best. It’s not like we know if it can talk or not. Or do we?
Velis/Beck: Responses
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.
Toryn nodded to their Security Chief. Since the Siege of DS33 Starfleet had deployed enough sensor arrays, probes, astrological telescopes and small recon vessels to fill the gaps in their reconnaissance and early warning network that you could practically EV jump from one to another across the entire Federation side of the Isles. So the hope was that let them discover this creature sooner than the two hostile groups they were flying towards.
Marty tapped his chin in thought.
Kessler: Given your previous attempts at this failed, I am sure all related data will be made available to our mission? No redactions?
Venn: I cannot speak to the information Lieutenant Velis will be providing. However, as you’ve no doubt surmised, I was - until this operation - assigned to Starfleet Intelligence as an analyst. I’ve studied these cosmozoans, although I am sure my interest does not match that of the Doctor. I’ve prepared a full briefing of why I am here, if I may? No redactions. At least, none that I am aware of.
Toryn’s brow raised slightly to match the expression on Marty’s face as the engineer set down his coffee and crossed his arms over his chest.
Niac: By all means Lieutenant. I'm sure everyone here is all ears.
Tucker: Time to lay it down Lieutenant..
Raga: Please, enlighten us.
Velis/Beck: Response
Venn: First, just to give a perspective on the size, since there seems to be some conjecture, here’s what long-range scans have been able to deduce.
As images went it wasn’t the worst quality he’d seen but that wasn’t saying much. Whatever the clear shape of this thing, it looked massive. A first glance he thought it might be at least comparable to an Oddysey class in size.
Venn: This image is not clear because our sensors were so far away that was the best resolution they could get. Given the impressive range of our sensors, that should help give you an indication of just how large this thing is. This is in addition to the fact that, as Lieutenant Veris has mentioned, it’s hard to get sensor readings in the first place.
Toryn immediately began musing as to whether that was due to regional interference from where this thing was, or if it had some natural aspect that interfered with sensor readings.
Venn: As I am sure the doctor can confirm, there have been a few different kinds of cosmozoans spotted over the years. One of the first was encountered by the USS Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk.
He recalled the class that Kessler had mentioned, where they had an entire module dedicated to cosmozoans. While encounters with them had been sparse compared to the breadth of history they had made a lasting impact.
Venn: In that incident, an entire crew of Vulcans was killed by a very large space amoeba. The crew of the Enterprise narrowly escaped, but only as a result of having to destroy the amoeba.
His brow furrowed slightly at the loss.
Venn: Please note that Captain Kirk considered destroying the creature a viable option to preserving the life of his crew.
The look on their Trilldorian’s face suggested he wanted to speak up but the man refrained for the moment.
Venn: And then there is the planetkiller, as was already mentioned. Not necessarily a living organism that we can tell, but equally a threat. Please note that Captain Kirk and even Commodore Decker determined its destruction was necessary.
Niac: Beyond the size of this creature...does Starfleet have a reason to believe it represents a threat of that ::He nodded gravely towards the monitor::...scale?
Toryn knew the look on Kel’s face and looked to him as he spoke up.
Kel: ::forcefully:: The Planet Killer was a machine not a living creature and again I would state that if we had such a construct in the Alpha Isles we would know about it by the destruction in its wake.
Tucker: Wait, so could this thing actually eat a planet, or are these just comparisons?
The drumming of fingers on the table caught his attention and he looked at Quentin.
Beck: I believe the Lieutenant is trying to prepare us to potentially make a very tough decision, as this thing may be alive - but until we get the chance to interact with it, we won't have any real idea. As far as we know, it could be just like the planetkiller - its brain a computer that is only equipped to follow whatever programming it was given. Can't really say at the moment if we would be violating our oath as Doctors or if we would just be detaching a CPU from a motherboard.
Raga: If it was capable of that one would expect us to have received word of such a catastrophe before now. As the good doctor already stated if it was like the planet killer then it stands to reason there would be a trail of devastation to follow its wake. And we would have heard about that long before the discovery of the creature, I would imagine. That said, since we don’t know the full capabilities of this creature we shouldn’t rule anything out until we're actually able to study it.
Kessler/Velis: Responses
Venn: I am only pointing these out, because as some have mentioned, towing this thing is going to be impossible. And if it truly is a threat, we may have no other option. Considering that one of the main purposes of Starfleet is to seek out new life, destroying it when we find it almost seems anathema to us. However, sometimes it just becomes necessary as the crew of the Enterprise found. Now,I have more examples where a less fatal option was found. Shall I continue?
There was always the possibility they might be able to use the phasers on the ship at a much lower power setting to act as a stun, assuming the creature’s physiology allows such a thing to be possible.
Niac: Very well, Lieutenant...continue. I think you've got our full attention.
Raga: Indeed.
He nodded at Karrod.
Venn: Gomtuu. Commander Raga has already mentioned this one as well, and as the Chief of Security has pointed out, it destroyed a Romulan Warbird.
Niac: As I recall the only reason they made it through that particular encounter was due to the involvement of a civilian diplomat who made...contact with the creature somehow. The mission reports I read were never particularly clear on that point but I believe telepathy was involved. Mr. Kel, Lt. Velis...fill in some blanks here if you could.
Kel: Indeed there was an intelligence there, and contact was made by a Betazoid via telepathy. Many of the "complications" of that mission could be attributed to the hostilities between the Romulans and the Federation.
Tucker: ::under his breath:: Freakin’ Romulans, bullies, the lot of them.
Beck: Some would argue they got what was coming to them. I am hardly surprised the Enterprise managed to make it out, though - they were plenty resourceful, and Picard was known for taking measured steps.
Raga: They were at that time but post Hobus they’re a bit different. But yes, they did provide a complication.
Toryn shot Marty a look fully aware of the fact he carried a similar bias against Klingons. Something he was actively working on improving.
Kessler/Velis: Responses
Venn: It is true that this ended well for our people, but the Romulans didn’t fare so well. And that is a nice segue into the other possible threat here. The Lattice Alliance and the Consortium. Take the incident with Gomtuu. Why were the Romulans there in the first place? Because they saw the opportunity to secure a weapon. Oh, they claimed interest in First Contact, but have no doubt that they were seeking an edge against us. Do any of you have any doubts that the Lattice Alliance or the Consortium would see a similar opportunity here? There are a few more examples, like the Crystaline Entity, the Space Jellyfish encountered by the Cerritos, or even the creatures at Farpoint Station. I don’t think anyone here will argue that the Crystaline Entity was peaceful. The reality that this creature poses a risk exists, and if our enemies get ahold of it first, that risk increases exponentially. And that’s why I am here. Threat assessment. The final risk determination will be yours, of course, Captain Niac, but I’m tasked with bringing my expertise to advise on a course of action.
[tags/tbc]
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Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga