Star Trek: Emergency Deep

S01E15 “Emergent From the Depths”

Dramatis Personae

• Capt Greg Ellison – Human Commanding officer (Dan)
• Dr. Patrick Troughton – Human Chief Medical Officer (Doug)
• Lt Galinha – Tamarian Chief Operations Officer (Ivan)
• Stardate: 58564.8 July 26 2381.
• Location: Within the shell of the Jenolan Dyson sphere.

The Norway class NCC-72227 USS Östergötland awaits anxiously in the underwater tunnel far behind the shuttle Kuakamoku Rock.

The Type-9M aquashuttle approaches the derelict Tosk ship they were looking for, with Executive Officer Commander Morpheus Drake (NPC’ed this session) piloting. With him are Dr. Patrick Troughton and Lt. Galinha. Swimming alongside the Kuakamoku Rock is Beluga whale Chief Science Officer Lt. J.G. John Hippocampus (also NPC’ed this session). The Away Team has navigated their way through a connecting tunnel filled with huge, giant crystal shards to reach another tunnel. A blue glow permeates everywhere.

Before the Kuakamoku Rock, blocking part of the passage is the ship they are looking for. The Tosk ship from the Gamma Quadrant, from 300 years ago had crashed and is now wedged between the passage walls. Clumps of coral-like growths flourished in the water on the passage walls and ship’s hull.

Tiny Daggers

Hippocampus swims near the wreckage and manages to scan the interior of the ship. There is a Tosk life form within. The alien appears to be connected to calcified coral growths connected to other coral growths via organic tubes. When the Cetacean hails the Tosk life form, something detaches from a coral outcropping on the ship. The drone-like creature charges at Hippocampus through the water, blades extended.

Before the drone skewers him, Chief Petty Officer Zree Tepelo beams him back onto the Cetacean Ops transporter pad via the Kuakamoku Rock‘s pattern enhancers. His chief science officer out of harm’s way, Captain Greg Ellison orders Chief Tepelo to also beam the coral probe to the brig.

The drone, confined within the brig forcefield, lashes out mindlessly, but is not strong enough to break free.

Ellison then orders Galinha to boost the shuttle’s sensors. This allows Tepelo to lock on and beam the Tosk life form to sickbay along. A moment later, Dr. Troughton also beams site-to-site back to sickbay to treat the alien.

Meanwhile back near the shuttle, more coral drones detach & rush the shuttle. Cmdr Drake turns the Kuakamoku Rock around and makes a beeline back to their ship. However, they still need to pass through the tunnel of giant crystal shards. Thankfully the shuttle’s flight computer has memorised the manoeuvres needed to safely swim through it.

Devil Inside

Meanwhile, aboard the Östergötland, the Tosk is expressing excruciating agony. Using his medical tricorder and the ship’s advanced sickbay computers, Dr. Troughton discovers that he is not able to separate the reptilian Tosk physique from the coral growths. In fact, the growths possess Tosk DNA. When Captain Ellison receives this report, he orders Lt. Hippocampus to join him in sickbay.

Drake and Galinha are still in the Kuakamoku Rock, pursued by dozens of the coral drones. These are now firing ballistic projectiles at them. The small missiles are shattering the gigantic crystal shards around them. Employing his skills in propulsion systems, Galinha boosts the shuttle’s thrusters allowing Drake to accelerate ahead of them through the tunnel. Soon, they were back aboard the Östergötland.

Mystify

Ellison & Hippocampus rendezvous at sickbay’s door. As they enter, the captain asks to use the the Cetacean’s pet rock. He suspects that he could use the psionic rock to telepathically connect with the agonised Tosk. Dr. Troughton informs Ellison that according to the scans, the Tosk is afflicted by a virulent variant of the Cartalian fever. The virus is attacking his cells.

Back at his bridge station, Galinha reports intense pulses wave of microwave emission. It is emanating from the Tosk ship wreckage. The shield is presently absorbing the energy, but it is building up. Eventually it will damage the shield. The Tamarian modifies the Östergötland‘s forward navigational deflector dish to emit a high energy particle beam that repels the radiation.

The radiation is heating up all solid matter around them incrementally with each pulse.

Mediate

In sickbay, Captain Ellison holds Hippocampus’s pet rock (he really needs to name it) in one hand and touches the writhing Tosk with another.

With the doctor’s concoction of antiviral meds, the Tosk slowly  calms down & connects with Ellison. His pain slowly diminishing, the Tosk manages to telepathically communicate with the captain. Information begins to flow:

The Tosk was a freedom fighter who 300 years ago were the first to free other Tosks from Drai’s enslavement as hunted game in the Gamma Quadrant. They fled with their ship of freed Tosk and somehow found themselves unknowingly breaching through the Idran passage, and ended up orbiting Trychnos. They ejected all the sleeping refugees, but Drai disruptors damaged the ship which crashed into the seas of Trychnos. Which led them to the Dyson Sphere, just like the Östergötland.

Somehow, their life was saved by the coral growth organism but the Tosk were irreversibly integrated into the coral growth ecosystem of the Dyson Sphere ecology. Their body now regulates the local ecology’s heating system. According to the telepathic information, the Tosk have to go back or a microwave-based thermal runaway will destroy the entire region.

Meanwhile, Galinha reports that the attacking coral drones are being incinerated by the microwave pulses.

Also Ellison has a vision of a Parliament-class starship in space which is suddenly destroyed by a Romulan ship ambush. This breaks him out of his telepathic tether. Immediately, he gives the order.

Never Tear Us Apart

As Drake is fighting against the pushing force of the heated waters, the crew beam the Tosk back to his receptacle aboard his wreckage.

Immediately the microwave radiation drops.

All is now quiet. Ellison, Troughton and Hippocampus (on his grav sled) arrive on the bridge. The captain orders the ship full speed ahead through the shattered crystal tunnel. Soon they are cruising under the crashed Tosk ship. Ellison receives a final telepathic thought thanking them. Then a transporter beam grabs the entire ship.

The Östergötland finds herself in a dark unlit space. Galinha scans the area and finds a 150m diameter closed hatch on a black metal surface. It is emitting a radio signal. With Troughton and Linguist Ensign T’niu’s help they quickly decipher the query signal and transmit a response code. The hatch suddenly lights up and parts open. They catch sight of a vast starfield through the hatch.

New Sensation

Then, they are outside after emerging through the minuscule hatch on the outer shell of the Dyson Sphere. Drake reports that the USS Vancouver NCC-70492 is close by.  They hail the Parliament-class starship and is greeted by Captain Sonya Gomez. She is bewildered by their sudden appearance from within the Jenolan Sphere, which they were ordered to “calibrate” (whatever that means).

Immediately, Ellison is struck by how the scene resembles his vision. He quickly tells Captain Gomez to sound red alert & orders Drake to lock quantum torpedoes onto seemingly empty space. At first Gomez is reluctant to oblige because of the Östergötland‘s sudden appearance. But Ellison can be very persuasive (because it’s a Focus), and as soon as Gomez agrees, a Romulan D’deridex-class warbird drops out of warp. It is exactly as in his vision, disruptors charged and poised to fire upon the Vancouver.

Aided by Galinha boosting the targeting sensors, Drake’s barrage of quantum torpedos strike the warbird, collapsing its shield & severely damaging its hull. Ellison hails it, threatens it with utter destruction. Without a reply, the Romulan attacker turns around and warps away.

With the space near the Dyson Sphere secure, Gomez thanks the crew of the Östergötland for the unexpected assist. She is not aware that another Starfleet vessel has been assigned for a mission there. Ellison tells her, “It’s a long story.” Dr. Troughton offers them tea via the main viewer as their story is told.

They transfer information and data collected from their Sphere exploration to the Vancouver, then Drake set a course back to Starbase Gondolin for a debriefing.

The End… for now

Notes

• The last time I ran a game with this group face-to-face was back in 2015; thus the first time I am GMing a Star Trek Adventures campaign session face-to-face.
• I picked up Doug at his home. The first time I’ve been there, even though he moved there before we went to Perlis.
• Irfan was around to take photos of the venue and of the venue’s cat Thor.
• This was the first time we played at Here Be Dragons at Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Many thanks to Hanna and her team for the venue. Many thanks to Ivan for picking up the tab for the venue.