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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Mar 21, 2011 6:59:24 GMT -5
Prelude
The news that Captain Prince is leaving the Orion has caught many by surprise. Commander Hughes, now a few months into his new function, takes it upon him to prepare the ceremonies for the transfer of command, even though he is himself distracted by the departure of the Captain, whom he has come to regard as a personal friend. As the crew assembles along the way, the Senior Staff (Chiefs and Assistants) assemble in the Transporter Room, where Captain Prince will bid them farewell.
Christian gives a speech, then thanks the Captain emotionally for all she's done for him. Mishtak then honours the Captain with his father's paintstick, and Lisa presents to her a miniature of the Orion signed by all Senior Staff. The Captain accepts the gifts and farewells, and is off.
The same moment, Captain La'Mara Tiho, the new Commanding Officer, just promoted from Commander of the USS Desta to the command of the Orion, appears on the Transporter Pad. She greets the crew, sounding a bit snappy to many, and tells the Senior Staff to assemble for a briefing in ten minutes and not a split second later.
Memorable Quotes
"You aren't going to poke me with that are you?"
- Lydia Prince about Mishtak's painstick
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Mar 21, 2011 7:08:52 GMT -5
Act One
Christian is the first to arrive in the briefing room, setting up the computer before La'Mara enters. They have a short conversation until Mishtak, followed by the rest of the senior staff, comes in for the briefing. Dominic Jones, the doctor, comes in late but gets some lenience from the Captain. Then the briefing begins, interrupted a few minutes in by the entry of Lieutenant-Commander Larkin Reinhardt, the Chief CONN Officer, who has unexpectedly returned to his duties.
La'Mara asks about the Barzan Wormhole. As is her habit, Lisa is able to tell her everything about it, all correct information. She also guesses what Captain Tiho is going to say next, prompting Captain Tiho to half-jokingly ask her to take over the briefing.
Elsewhere on the ship, Shawn O'Conner runs into Lieutenant Xena, who is patrolling the Jefferies Tubes.
In the meantime, on the Bridge, Ensign Rose Digby is ramming the buttons of her Science Console a bit too hard for Ops Officer Harold Francis's tastes. Still switching between the sensor overviews at light speed, Rose notices signs of an anomaly: a wormhole opening at the Orion's location. Tripping over her words because of her lack of confidence in herself, Rose suggests to the officer of the watch to interrupt the Briefing and alert the Captain.
In the Briefing Room, the Captain is explaining that the mission is, in fact, to attract the Barzan Wormhole to the Orion's present location. In midsentence, the ship jolts and starts spinning out of control. When the Officer of the Watch reports, it turns out that the location is in fact the Delta Quadrant. The Orion has been sucked through the wormhole...
Memorable Quotes
"Computer, is all the conference equipment ready?"
"Please specify."
"Are all conference systems standby?"
"Affirmative."
"Good job."
"I do not have a response pattern ready."
- Christian Hughes and the Computer
"Captain, surely you are not suggesting our orders are to look for the Barzan Wormhole? The wormhole is unstable. Once there, we'll be alone like Voyager, without a way back."
"Would you care to take over the briefing? You seem to know just about everything I'm going to say."
- Lisa Huygens and La'Mara Tiho
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Mar 21, 2011 7:27:51 GMT -5
Act Two
The Senior Staff comes hurrying onto the Bridge, taking their stations back from the replacement officers. The ship seems to have sustained only minor damage, although some systems are offline. The Captain, in her first orders on the Bridge, orders the helm to plot a new course, Sharpay Harper to see if all's well in Engineering and the Science Department to look for inhabited planets. After that, she motions to Commander Hughes to follow her to the Ready Room.
In the Ready Room, Tiho and Hughes discuss the latter's role and the current situation, also making some smalltalk along the way. Christian also talks to La'Mara about his condition, and she assures him she still has confidence in him. La'Mara asks Christian to be her civilian liaison for the time being, and watch over a few younger members of the crew: Lillian Daniels and Cadet Zackery Syda. Ensign Digby also comes up during the conversation: the two decide that it might be good to let her and Syda work together more.
Mishtak orders Lt.-Cmdr. Reinhardt to do something about a head wound he sustained, much to the latter's dislike. In the meantime, Sharpay has gone to Engineering and made sure the ship returned to ship shape, and get the warp drive back online. On the Bridge, Lisa orders Rose to go to Astrometrics to see if they can find any inhabitable planets. Rose and Crewman Vortek work out, with a little of Rose's uncertainty along the way, that there is a system with four planets of at least L-class nearby. Not entirely sure, though, she asks Lisa to send another officer.
In the Mess Hall, Ensign Kortigs and Ryanna Denali are having an off-duty meal. Ryanna gets an allergic relaction from Annaliese's dog, but luckily, Dr Jones comes in. Ryanna is then called by Lisa to go and help Rose in Astrometrics, and she responds that she'll come if the doctor believes she is in order. That being the case, Denali leaves for Astrometrics and Kortigs for Engineering.
In sickbay, Larkin is being all patched up by Lieutenant Rei, both physically and psychologically, after she has to tell him to relax. Larkin's still not in a good mood, but his head looks good again, and after he has told Trishany about his traumatic experience, he takes the turbolift back to the Bridge.
In Astrometrics, Rose is joined by Ryanna, who only just now has noticed that they are in the Delta Quadrant. A few minutes later, Cadet Syda comes in to help as well, quite unexpectedly. Ryanna identifies 4 class-L planets in the system Rose described, one with two moons. Not yet ready to report, they continue looking.
On the Bridge, Larkin returns, greeted by a sort of cheeky remark from Lieutenant Ackron, which he replies to on a similar tone just before Captain Tiho and Commander Hughes return from the Ready Room. The Captain asks the Bridge officers to report.
In Astrometrics, a ship is found, a finding confirmed on the Bridge by Lieutenant Francis. As they report their final findings to the Bridge, Commander Hughes sees a chance to execute their plan to partner Cadet Syda and Ensign Digby, and sends them off to the Mess Hall. The ship approaches, and hails the Orion. When the Orion opens a channel, they are surprisingly greeted as a Federation vessel...
Memorable Quotes
"What would Starfleet think? We just disappeared off the face of the Eart... Alpha Quadrant."
"They might think 'oh no, not again'."
- Christian Hughes and La'Mara Tiho
"I guess the Tiho Symbiont feels about hosts the same way people feel about autists. After all these years, you think you know them and they can still surprise you."
- Christian Hughes about similarities between Trill hosts and autists.
"Rose,do you think you can handle Astrometrics on your own?"
"Er... I don't know if I... Well..."
"That was not a question, Rose. Come on, they need your help down there."
- Lisa Huygens and Rose Digby
"Anyone ever tell you, you worry too much?"
"You are the first. For your information, I worry the right amount. Now come."
- Shawn O'Conner and Xena
"Where's the fire?"
- Sharpay Harper entering Engineering
"What's your hurry cowboy?"
- Lt. Trishany Rei to Lt. Commander Larkin Reinhardt
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 18, 2011 5:03:49 GMT -5
Act Three
The alien vessel identifies itself as the Ruo'do, of the Rathren people, under the command of Guide Yenos. Guide Yenos explains to them that he has 'smelled' the Federation before, and that he has deduced that they have no hostile intentions. Therefore, he invites them to visit the Rathren homeworld of Rathr.
In the Mess Hall, Zack and Rose have finished their drink and Zack invites Rose over to the holodeck, where they run a 50s simulation of a hamburger joint, dancing and eating.
The Bridge crew is discussing the Rathren's invitation. Mishtak, backed up by Larkin, argues that the invitation was too open to be trusted, and recommends strict safety precautions. Christian and Lisa go against this, noting that the Rathren didn't seem hostile. In the end, Lisa wins Captain Tiho over by arguing that the Rathren might know a way to the Alpha Quadrant.
The Ru'odo transmits the transporter coordinates to the Orion, and an Away Team is assembled consisting of Captain Tiho, Lieutenant Mishtak, Lieutenant Huygens, Lieutenant Xena and Lieutenant-Commander Reinhardt. Just before the transport, La'Mara takes time to review Away Mission protocols with the crew, and some of her own guidelines. The transporters, energise, and send them down.
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 18, 2011 5:12:37 GMT -5
Act Four
On the surface of Rathr, things are beautiful. Although the members of the Away Team cannot smell the subtle nuances of the place's scents, they do think its visuals are quite beautiful. Guide Yenos materialises, and brings them to the leaders of the Rathren people, the Grand Circle. There, they are greeted by Elder Guide S'bos, first among the Circle. On the way there, La'Mara has a conversation with Yenos about how the Rathren came to the Alpha Quadrant, which reveals the presence of what is presumed to be a stable wormhole.
The Rathren communicate their emotions with smells rather than facial expressions, as soon becomes apparent when the scent of Elder S'bos changes several times over their conversation, troubling Mishtak's strong nose. The Elder offers to transmit information on the Rathren and their wormhole to the Orion's databases, and at Larkin's request he transmits coordinates of sources of resources and friendly civilisation, though few, as well. Grateful, the Away Team departs, eager to get home, but they agree to help the Rathren should the Rathren need them.
The team beams up, and finds that on the Bridge, Faith and Crewman Chan have joined Christian in a guessing game. Observant as always, La'Mara observes that she might have come back too soon. As the bridge crew of the first shift settles in again, La'Mara sends the Orion off to the Alpha Quadrant with the same immortal words used by Captain Janeway almost 20 years ago:
"Set a course... for home."
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 18, 2011 5:35:02 GMT -5
Sideplots
- Before the ship enters the Alpha Quadrant, Assistant Chief Ops Officer Lieutenant Jethro welcomes the new chief, Lieutenant Zephelor Krax. Both have been called in to replace Commander Hughes after his promotion. ("A new start")
- Counsellor Suroc makes his first appearance, becoming friends with Lillian Daniels. He talks to her about the loss of her parents, suggesting that Larkin and herself could help eachother. A commbadge is found, which is identified as Hector Romilly's. ("Plants Galore")
- Lieutenant-Commander Romilly, assigned just before the mission to the wormhole as the Orion's Chief Engineer, has left his commbadge in Hydroponics because he doesn't want to be disturbed while making some modifications to one of the Orion's shuttlecraft. Shawn chances upon him, much to his irritation, and begins asking questions. Suroc comes in to "return" his commbadge, making things much worse. When Suroc has left, Hector asks Shawn to be his apprentice and skip classes. Security arrives, triggering a chase through the Jefferies Tubes. In the end, Xena manages to apprehend Hector, and takes him to her quarters where, quite unusually, they have sort of a romantic encounter. ("A Personal Project", "Nothing Personal")
Plot Writer's Notes (Marty)
This plot marks the beginning of the crew's time in the Delta Quadrant. After Meg decided to revive the site with a change in Captains, we decided we would get the Orion sucked into the Delta Quadrant almost by accident in mid-briefing. The Rathren, which in the beginning were just a name and gradually evolved into their present state, were added in to create our first First Contact and give us our first possible way to get home.
The appearance of a lot of new characters (Hector, Larkin, Suroc, Rose, Zack and S'Louk, among others), including almost half the Senior Staff, made this plot particularly interesting. While most of them were established in sideplots, they did introduce an interesting dynamic on the Bridge when Larkin was slightly more cynical than expected about the Rathren's offer.
The First Contact was relatively short and could have been longer, but by then we were only engaging the Away Team in the plot and while I'm sure the rest was having fun too, the plot was running to its end. Fans of the Rathren will be glad to know that the species will most probably feature in some plot somewhere in the future.
There was a little chaos near the end because it was not clear that Robinsonade was supposed to be happening a little while after the ending of "Two Arrivals". I've tried to separate these threads in this Plot Summary. I enjoyed the plot.
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