S01 E01: USS Intrigue: Tzenkethi Zen

 

 

S01 E01: USS Intrigue: Tzenkethi Zen

(This adventure was inspired by the Political Actions Mission Brief “Occupied” by Stephen Near.)

First Officer’s Log. Stardate 45133.2. Commander Nyri Elatrai of the USS Intrigue reporting. We are in orbit over Queloz IV, a world now entering formal negotiations for Federation membership. The strategic value of a world so close to Tzenkethi space is not to be underestimated. I am excited to welcome this new world into the Federation.

This is my first mission on my new assignment as first officer aboard the USS Intrigue under Captain Sekoba. The Intrigue is a Nebula class diplomatic operations and scientific research vessel. The Intrigue’s captain is a Vulcan. At our first meeting, she asked me if my Betazoid emotions have ever interfered with a mission. I informed her that I am a well-trained Starfleet officer and that I will perform my duties to the best of my abilities. Though Betazoids are passionate, I will not let my emotions get in the way of my duties. She seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

 

Commander Elatrai beamed down to the planet with the rest of her away team. The other members of the away team were Lt. Rita Smeets (the human female head of security), Lt. Murray Chevalier (the human male chief diplomatic officer), Lt. Commander Saez Roche (the human male ship’s counselor), and Lt. Commander Norjelan (the male Lanthanite chief medical officer). Part of the USS Intrigue’s mission profile was diplomatic operations, so this would be a common mission type. That’s one of the reasons Elatrai was excited about serving on this ship. She was on the fast track to command, and diplomacy was something that would get her noticed. The away team she had chosen was standard for diplomatic missions. All of the officers were experienced in this type of mission.

As soon as they beamed down, an alien with red scaly skin ran up to them and said, “Hurry! This way!” and ran towards a large one-story building that was ten meters away. Elatrai nodded at the away team to follow the alien. Once they were inside the building, the alien said, “I am Bropye. Sorry for the rush. Leader Urtoro is waiting for you.” They followed him down a hallway past several rooms. Lt. Chevalier whispered to Elatrai, “These people seem to be in a panic. Not a good sign.” Chevalier was the diplomatic officer and had been trained to pick up signals for such things. “There’s definitely something going on,” Elatrai said. “I wonder if it has to do with us.”

Then they followed Bropye into a large room. The room was empty except for an alien who much resembled Bropye. But this alien was two centimeters shorter, and had larger eyes. “Please take your places,” said Bropye. The away team had familiarized themselves with Quelozian customs. They stood in a row, one meter apart from each other, facing the lead Quelozian, who spoke in a raspy voice: “I am Leader Urtoro. I thank Starfleet for coming.” The away team gave the proper response of, “Friends.”

Elatrai spoke, “Leader Urtoro, we are happy that your world is rea—”

The commander was interrupted by five Quelozians who entered the room carrying energy rifles. One of them yelled, “No Federation membership today.”

Bropye said, “Junda, you don’t belong here. We are signing treaty with Federation.”

Elatrai tried to take control of the situation. She said, “Everyone! If you just listen to me, we can—”

The armed Quelozians fired their energy weapons at the Starfleet people. Elatrai and her away team fell to the floor, unconscious.

/-----------------------------------------------/

            Captain Sekoba looked at the viewscreen. Leader Urtoro blinked three times in a row and bobbed his head. That was, as Sekoba knew from reading the Starfleet database, a sign of helplessness from a Quelozian. “What does this rebel group want?” Sekoba asked Urtoro.

            “They want the Federation to leave us. They think the Federation are invaders,” Urtoro answered.

            Captain Sekoba now knew that these Quelozians had misled the last Federation delegation that had visited their planet. The Federation would only accept members whose world was united. This world still had dissenting groups. This faction that was led by someone named Junda, who had kidnapped Sekoba’s entire away team. The captain would not rest until she had all of them back and in one piece. “Why would they think we are invaders?” She asked.

            “I do not know!” Urtoro yelled. “Please help. We want them captured. You want them captured too.”

            “I will contact you as soon as I know something. USS Intrigue out,” the captain said.

            She turned to the ops station. “Ensign V’Sek,” she said, “can you get a lock on the away teams’ communicators?”

            “Negative, sir,” the Vulcan said. “There may be a dampening field. I am not picking up any lifesigns on the planet besides the Quelozians. It is not likely that they were taken off the planet. I have picked up no signs of shuttles leaving the planet, nor any residual transporter activity.”

            Sekoba called her chief engineer, Lt. Meredith Bravo, and ordered her to find a way to break through the planet’s dampening field. Then she called Kalta Neved (a civilian Barzan and the ship’s anthropologist). Neved was part of Lt. Chevalier’s diplomatic team. The captain ordered Neved to comb through the database on the Quelozians and find anything that might help their situation. Then the captain ordered V’Sek to send a message to Starfleet Command, apprising them of the situation.

            Right before V’Sek could get out an “Aye, Sir”, another reading came over his station. “Picking up a transporter signal. It’s coming from Queloz.”

            “Where is the signal’s target?”

            “It’s this ship, sir. Sickbay.”

            The captain called an Intruder Alert and then ordered shields to be raised. She ordered a security team to sickbay.

            The security team reported from sickbay that the Quelozian intruders consisted of eight adults and two children. They were all unarmed. Since there were children, Sekoba ordered all of the intruders to be taken to one of the ship’s diplomatic suites. There would be two security guards stationed inside and two stationed outside the suite.

            Captain Sekoba entered the diplomatic suite, along with anthropologist Neved, where the Quelozians were under guard. A Quelozian named Gregan said he was the leader of the group. Gregan said they were a group of scientists who feared violent retribution from the religious faction that had kidnapped the Starfleet away team. They were requesting asylum aboard the USS Intrigue. The captain asked Gregan why they feared the religious faction.

            Gregan explained that the Junda’s religion were followers of a Quelozian, Makar, who lived three hundred years ago. “It was a time when there were many different nations on our planet, and many of them were just on the verge of launching occupied ships into space. Makar formed a group that was anti-space travel and against much of the new technology of their time. Makar is long dead, but his followers remain. They were a small group back then. But they have gained more followers over the centuries. They are now large enough to threaten the government. They have slowed down many of our advancements, even though we eventually managed to achieve warp drive.”

            Then, as Gregan explained, “two years ago, a great spaceship fell from the sky. There were strange alien beings aboard who had died in the crash. Our government ordered some scientists to study the ship for its technology. We are those scientists. We reverse engineered many of the ship’s functions and added to our own technology. But the Makarians protested us and our work. They claimed our world did not need new technology. They threatened to hunt and kill us and our families.”

            So these people had been influenced by a more technologically advanced race, thought Captain Sekoba. Neved said she had studied Starfleet’s records on the Quelozians and there was nothing about a crashed ship or a sudden unexplained advance in technology. Gregan said their government had kept it hidden from Starfleet. They didn’t want Starfleet to know anything about the religious faction for fear it would hinder their entry into the Federation. They must be united as one world in order to be admitted into the Federation.

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            “Why have you kidnapped us?” Elatrai asked Junda, as she struggled with the rope that bound her hands behind her back. “Only way to make Leader Urtoro listen. You are a danger to our world,” Junda spat back. Commander Elatrai and the rest of the away team were in underground caves. They were all bound, sitting on the floor. At least they were safe and accounted for, Elatrai thought. She asked Junda how they were a danger. Junda said there was a prophecy written by the great Makar that talks about invaders from another world. Lt. Chevalier tried to explain that they were not invaders. Their Federation was peaceful and only sought friendship and cooperation. Junda and the other followers told them the prophesy doesn’t lie. It said the invasion would start with five people, the number of people on the away team, and that they would deceive by being under the banner of friendship. One of Junda’s followers said that ever since Starfleet had made first contact, their faction, called the Makarians, had been on edge. They knew in their hearts it was the prophecy being fulfilled. Elatrai wished she could read their minds, but her Betazoid telepathy did not work on this species. 

/-----------------------------------------------/

The captain received a hail from Ensign V’Sek. The ensign reported that they had been listening to current comm traffic and picked up communiques from nearby Tzenkethi space. The Tzenkethi Coalition seemed to be interested in Queloz IV, and they knew the USS Intrigue was in orbit. Sekoba took it under advisement. She told them to continue monitoring. Sekoba told Gregan she needed to speak with Urtoro again. She went back to the bridge and hailed Urtoro. She told him Gregan and his people were on her ship. She wanted Urtoro to beam to her ship for a meeting with her and Gregan. Urtoro reluctantly agreed.

In the briefing room, Urtoro gasped when he saw Gregan enter. Gregan was still under guard, but Sekoba wanted him at this meeting. Once everyone was seated, Captain Sekoba said, “I need to know exactly why my people were kidnapped. And anything you know about where they might be.”

Urtoro said, “I am sure Gregan has told you about the Mararians. They are dissenters; religious zealots who want nothing to do with our society or our technology.”

Anthropologist Neved said, “Our records show your society has no religions. So this religious group has been around for three hundred years?”

Urtoro blinked in embarrassment. “Yes. We hoped we could control them. We did not know they would do this.”

“How did they get the weapons they used when they entered your building?” asked the captain.

“They stole them,” Leader Urtoro answered.

“Do you think they would harm our people?” Sekoba said. “They would,” Gregan said. “They are very dangerous.”

“What are their demands?” Sekoba asked.

“They want me to hand government control to them. Then they will take space travel technology from us. They would have us stay prisoners on this planet, never to leave.”

Sekoba brought up another concern. “That ship that crashed on your planet two years ago, I need to have my people examine it.”

Urtoro said, “much of it has been taken apart by our scientists. But you may see it.”

Gregan said, “though they have been taken apart, most of the pieces are still there.”

The captain asked what happened to the aliens that had been on the crashed ship. Urtoro said the bodies were too badly burned in the crash and were disposed of.

Sekoba knew if she sent more people to the planet, they would have to have a well-armed security escort. The first away team only had one armed person, the security officer. This time she would send five security people and two engineers. She would also have Urtoro send his own people to stand watch around the crashed ship.

/-----------------------------------------------/

 

Ensign V’Sek was in Sekoba’s Ready Room. “Report,” the captain said.

“Sir, the comms chatter I have been monitoring has picked up something most intriguing. The Tzenkethi claim that they want control of this planet for its benamite.” That was an element essential for slipstream drive. Starfleet knew it could be mined on this planet. But how did the Tzenkethi know? Obviously, they had been here before. Benamite could not be detected by long range scanners. “What else was in the comms chatter?”

“They know we are here,” V’Sek said. “They are afraid we may find the benamite first. It is unclear if they are sending ships at this time.” Sekoba could not wait for a possible invasion. She sent a message to Starfleet Command that they would need reinforcements.

/-----------------------------------------------/

 

“Five invaders from the stars,” Elatrai repeated to Junda. “That’s what your prophesy says? What else does it say?”

“The invaders will have strange faces, strange ways, and will have great ships and great weapons,” answered Junda. “That’s very vague,” Elatrai said. Chevalier said, “Why did Starfleet’s previous delegation not know about your faction?”

Junda said, “Because Leader Urtoro didn’t want Starfleet to know about us. He is determined to become a Federation world so he can use your technology. He wants to be known as the leader who led his people to explore the galaxy. He will lead us to our deaths.”

Chevalier asked, “How will exploring the galaxy lead to your deaths?”

Junda said the Makarian prophecy said that Quelozians would all die if they left the planet. She told them that Makar had a gift for being able to see the future. Some of his prophesies had come true, such as having a leader who rose up from poverty, and a new city that was founded after a great civil war. The Starfleet team knew that those were very general events that happened on many worlds. But these Makarians still believed in their prophesies.

Then, one of Junda’s people brought a piece of metal and handed it to Junda. She held it up for Elatrai. “This is from the time of Makar,” Junda said. “It is said that fate led him to it.” Elatrai’s hands were still tied behind her back, but she looked at the metal from a distance as best she could. It was about five square centimeters. It had burn marks on it. It also had a strange glow. “It is a sign,” said Junda, “that Makar was to be a great leader, one with divine endowments.” Elatrai saw the radiant glow change color from deep red to deep purple. It was from a Tzenkethi ship! Parts of their engineering hulls had the same glow. “This is from Makar’s time? Three hundred years ago?” asked Elatrai. “It is,” said Junda.

Elatrai looked at the other members of the away team. Her Betazoid telepathy knew what was on their minds. They all saw the glowing metal and reached the same conclusion as her. The Tzenkethi had been here three hundred years ago. And, they knew, the Tzenkethi would have reason to come back here now.

/-----------------------------------------------/

 

“Report,” said Captain Sekoba. She was now in the briefing room with the team that had examined the crashed ship on Queloz. Chief engineer Meredith Bravo said, “It was a Tzenkethi ship, sir.”

“Why was it here, and how did it crash?”

“We think it crashed due to engine failure. As to why it was here, we know it’s a warship. There were no communications records on the ship that we could access. We can only assume it was here to raid the planet of benamite.”

/-----------------------------------------------/

 

Lt. Hughes, the chief science officer, told the captain he may have found the away team. After he heard the Tzenkethi had been in the area, he scanned for the frequency that is used for Tzenkethi shields. He determined that the dampening field coming from the planet was using the same frequency. Then he used a shield modulator to synchronize the ship’s scanners with the frequency and nullify the dampening field. Then he was able to find the lifesigns of their away team. The captain ordered her transporter chief to beam up the away team immediately.

/-----------------------------------------------/

 

Commander Elatrai told the captain what she learned while she was a prisoner of the Makarians. The glowing metal proved the Tzenkethi had been to Queloz IV three hundred years ago. At that time the benzamite had been in its pure form, called parabenzamite. The Tzenkethi knew it would take three hundred years for the parabenzamite to become benzamite. Back then, they wouldn’t have known it could be used for slipstream drive, but they knew it could be a powerful energy source. So they waited. The Tzenkethi were a very patient race. They sent a warship to the planet, the one that crashed two years ago. That ship was to lead an invasion, but something went wrong and the ship crashed, and its crew died. Then the Tzenkethi had gotten pulled into the Dominion War, so they had no time to worry about what happened to their ship on Queloz. Now that the Dominion War was over, and now that Starfleet had discovered this planet and wanted to annex it, the Tzenkethi were interested in it again. But since the Quelozians had found the crashed ship with technology more advanced than theirs, Starfleet now had to deal with a planet with tech that was too advanced for them. The Tzenkethi had violated Starfleet’s Prime Directive.

The diplomatic officer, Chevalier, requested to see the original writings of Makar. Junda, who was not happy about her hostages being suddenly taken from her, was not willing to produce the writings. Chevalier told Junda that cooperation would be the only way that any of her demands would ever be met. Besides, Chevalier may find something in the writings that would make Starfleet favor the Makarians. Junda agreed to beam up to the Intrigue with the writings.

On the bridge, Ensign V’Sek announced a Tzenkethi ship was approaching. It was a heavy cruiser class. The captain ordered V’Sek to hail the ship. The Tzenkethi ship answered, and the image of the ship’s captain was put on screen. “I am Dezirome Ter Vel-A. I bring Sholmr Dranot to the inhabitants of the planet.” The Intrigue’s crew looked confused, but Junda, Gregan, and Urtoro knew exactly what Dezirome was referring to. Junda looked the most excited. Urtoro extended his arms in acceptance and said, “We accept your offer of peace.” Captain Sekoba quickly ordered Lt. Chevalier to the bridge. Then she asked Urtoro, “What is this Sholmr Dranot?”

Urtoro answered, “It is ‘the peace of the past’. It means they seek peaceful coexistence with us and a mutual exchange of resources.”

“What resources would that be?”

“Whatever we agree upon.”

Dezirome continued, “We will meet planetside in two cycles.”

Sekoba said, “Dezirome, I am Captain Sekoba of the Federation starship USS Intrigue. We have come here to initiate plans to bring the Quelozians into the Federation. Please hold back on your offer until our negotiations are finished.” She knew the Tzenkethi were dangerous, and she needed time to warn the Quelozians. They may have offered peace, but she knew it must be some kind of trick. The Federation-Tzenkethi war was still a painful memory for her and many Starfleet officers. Sekoba ended the communication with the Tzenkethi just when a turbolift door opened and Lt. Chevalier walked onto the bridge. Junda and Urtoro both excitedly tried to talk to the captain. Sekoba tried to keep them at bay long enough to ask Chevalier what he had learned from studying the Makarian texts. Chevalier said the timing of the so-called invasion was too exact to be a coincidence. Elatrai told him what she had learned--that the Tzenkethi had visited the planet three hundred years ago and had planned to come back at this time to raid the planet’s benzamite. Chevalier said it was fitting. The text said the invaders would steal the planet’s underground jewels. The benzamite was underground.

Junda spoke. “These Tzenkethi- how did they know about our Sholmr Dranot?”

“Because they have been secretly monitoring your planet.” Elatrai answered. “We’ve been picking up their subspace chatter since we have been in orbit. We know they have been monitoring your planet for quite some time, and they have been planning to invade.” Urtoro mentioned that the previous Starfleet ship had not monitored any other communications. Elatrai explained that the Intrigue had special sensor suites that could pick up communiques from a greater distance than other Starfleet ships.

Gregan said to Urtoro, “Can’t you see it’s a trick? How could aliens know our sacred words for peace?” Gregan was a scientist who lived by reason. Urtoro was a leader who had tried to shed his belief in the religion of the old ways, but some things were hard for him to shake. When there were strangers that knew their sacred words, he was more apt to believe in prophecy than some nefarious plan.

Sekoba had V’Sek scan the Tzenkethi ship for weapons. He said their weapons were offline, and their shields were down. So, Sekoba thought, the Tzenkethi were going to play this role of wanting to make peace with the Quelozians. Dezirome knew his single ship, a cruiser, was no match for the Intrigue, a Nebula class ship. Sekoba thought about the situation. She decided to let it play out and see if the Tzenkethi would play their hand. She said she would send her officers to the meeting between the Quelozians and the Tzenkethi.

The meeting on Queloz included Leader Urtoro, Junda, Gregan, Commander Elatrai, and Lt. Chevalier. There were also five security guards from the Intrigue and five Quelozian security guards present.

Junda knew the Tzenkethi, like the Federation, would bring more advanced technology, which she and her followers didn’t want. Gregan was also leery. It was the first time he and Junda agreed on something. Urtoro wanted to hear what the Tzenkethi had to offer. He didn’t seem to mind that they had been spying on his planet for who knew how long. Dezirome said he would like to trade Tzenkethi precious metals for some of the Quelozians’ natural resources.

Chevalier mentioned the hostile past of the Tzenkethi, and their deceit during the Federation-Tzenkethi war. Dezirome tried to pretend that was all in the past, and that the Federation wasn’t without their own history of violence and deceit.

Commander Elatrai could read Dezirome’s mind without much effort. He definitely knew about the benamite and was hoping the Quelozians would offer it without his asking for it. Elatrai tried to shield as many thoughts from the Tzenkethi as she could, per her own--and Starfleet’s-- moral code. There was the ethical issue of telling the Quelozians, but she knew they would have to make a decision on their own. She couldn’t tell them she could read Dezirome’s mind, but she could tell them what she and her crew had found out. In fact, Captain Sekoba had ordered her to tell the Quelozians at this meeting about the Tzenkethi’s involvement with this planet in its past.

First, Elatrai told them that the Tzenkethi had visited their planet three hundred years ago and discovered the parabenamite. Dezirome tried to deny it. Chevalier told them he had seen the proof when the away team was held prisoner by Junda. The Makarians had the old piece of metal from a Tzenkethi ship. Then Elatrai said the famed Makar, whom some Quelozians had formed a religion around, had befriended a Tzenkethi. It was how Makar was able to write a prophecy of invasion, though Elatrai was not sure why the Tzenkethi would have TOLD Makar they planned to invade. Then Chevalier revealed to the Quelozians that the ship that had crashed there two years ago was a Tzenkethi ship, the one that was to lead the invasion. Junda did not know about any crashed ship, but Urtoro and Gregan did. Dezirome, whose natural color was a glowing gold, began to shake and his glow got a little dimmer—a sign of his embarrassment at having been found out. Of course Starfleet would have exposed his people, he thought.

Junda exclaimed, “So you are the ones who brought this horrendous space technology to our planet!” She said, pointing at Dezirome. “But Makar,” she kept on, “would not have sided with you aliens. He advocated staying planetbound.” Elatrai saw the irony. The Tzenkethi had unwittingly started the religious group three hundred years ago. Then, two years ago when one of their ships crashed, they unwittingly started a new technology revolution.

“If we sign a deal with Starfleet or the Tzenkethi,” said Junda, “and start traveling through space and allowing aliens on our world, it will cause disease, hunger, civil unrest. A terrible use of our resources.”

Then Gregan spoke up. “No. It will be just the opposite. Starfleet will share more knowledge with us. New medicines. Allow us to explore other worlds, have access to MORE resources.”

Then, Elatrai caught a glimpse of something in Dezirome’s mind. She quickly hit her combadge to call her ship. Suddenly, the lights flickered and went out. Then, five seconds later-- after everyone’s panicked cries of “What happened?!”-- the lights came back on. Captain Sekoba, over Elatrai’s combadge, finished what she was saying, that the Tzenkethi ship had emitted a multivariant pulse wave that had caused all power flow in the capital city to stop for five seconds. Elatrai closed the channel with her captain and addressed Dezirome. “A demonstration of your technological prowess?” She said, more as a statement than a question.

Dezirome said, “Yes. A demonstration. We knew the Quelozians used technology based on what they reverse-engineered from our ship. We knew how to shut down their power without firing a single weapon.”

“You can’t do this,” said Urtoro. “This is preposterous!”

Dezirome’s head sparkled—a sign of satisfaction. He said, “You are vulnerable to us.” Urtoro and Elatrai immediately voiced their disagreement. Elatrai indicated that Starfleet would not stand for this. The Starfleet security guards aimed their phasers at Dezirome. Leader Urtoro called in more of his armed security guards to remove the Tzenkethi. “Leave! Or my guards will shoot!”

Elatrai also spoke up. “You have overplayed your hand, Dezirome. Starfleet will protect these people. Beam back up to your ship and order it to leave. Your business here is finished.” Dezirome had no choice. He did as Elatrai said.

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After the situation had been defused, Leader Urtoro thought about what had happened. He knew he didn’t have to become a Federation member in order for them to protect his planet. They would do it because it is their moral code. He understood that now. But he did want to become a member. He wanted the trade benefits. He wanted to offer Starfleet something in return for their protection.

After Chevelier had studied more of the Makarian scriptures and discussed them with Junda, Junda now agreed with him that Makar had founded his religion on a meeting with a Tzenkethi, though Makar had no idea who the alien was at the time, or what his intentions really were. Makar had been instructed to keep the people planetbound to make them easier to conquer, to keep from advancing their technology.

Gregan no longer needed asylum. He and the other scientists and their families would be welcomed back.

Commander Elatrai wanted to do one more thing while she was planetside. “Leader Urtoro,” she said, “I noticed your planetary flag in your official meeting room. Do you happen to have that symbol on a piece of metal or trinket?” Their symbol was a beautiful red and blue geometric design. “Yes,” Urtoro said. “We make wooden cups with the symbol. Why do you ask?”

“I would like to have one if you don’t mind. I like to collect symbols from each world I visit. It’s one of my personal customs.”

“I would be happy to give you one. Thank you for saving us from the Tzenkethi.”

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Sekoba and Elatrai discussed the influence of the Tzenkethi on the Quelozians. It wouldn’t be the first time aliens had influenced a less advanced world. Since these people had already been influenced, Sekoba determined that it would not be a violation of the Prime Directive to give them alternate technology to replace what they already had. Instead of using tech that was Tzenkethi configured, they would use Federation tech for things such as energy and warp propulsion. Starfleet would not leave these people so vulnerable to Tzenkethi tech.

 

Thank you for reading my Star Trek Adventures: Captain’s Log mission report. Captain’s Log is a solo role-playing game by Modiphius Entertainment.

 

-by the Honorable Kavura