FAR TREK Play Report: Star date 2018.16.02

This is the Final Season 1 episode in my monthly Far Trek game. I want to start out by saying that I had long hoped & planned to run some Far Trek at my local Comic/Game shop. I figured it would last maybe 2 sessions. I took my time and scouted out particular players that I knew liked Star Trek the Original Series and would be in to emulating that style in an RPG. That effort is what really helped this blossom into the 6 awesome sessions we had.

THANK YOU! players and Crew of the USS ARGO!! This never would have happened without you!!!

And now the Season 1 Finale!!!

[ Intro music plays as we zoom in on the Argo towing a merchant craft through space towards a Space Station. On the bridge we see Cade Grim making an entry into his logs.]

Capt. Grim:
CAPTAINS LOG: Stardate 2018.16.02
The Argo is hauling a disabled Merchant Freighter to Space Station K-5 after it ran afoul of a meteor storm. This civilian run station is situated just between the border of Orion Space and the Klingon Empire. The K-5 is known for vast amounts of illegal activity and as a haven for all manner of criminals. Commodore Stone has requested that we start making a regular appearance in this sector. I am to meet with Station Master Delgado to discuss getting K-5 chartered under UFP guidelines.
[ turning to his First Officer] Triarius, how is the Merchant ship holding up?

Merchant Freighter OU-812

Triarius:
The meteor storm caused severe hull damage, and the impulse engines are non-functional. I will turn over tractor beam control to the K-5 station once Chief Zav and his team have made sure all the freighter's systems are in safety-mode. Her crew are anxious to arrive at the station.

Capt. Grim:
Very good, see that the crew are beamed over as soon as we are in transporter range. No need to keep their loved ones waiting any longer than we have too. Mr. Dossa, clear the crew for shore leave while we are here, starting with yourselves. I want my main Officers to get acquainted with our new Home-away-from home.

Lt. Cmdr. F'Riid:
[whiskers twitching] Right away Captain. I think I will thoroughly enjoy myself here.

Lt. JG "max" Holt:
Um Captain, it looks like we might have some interesting company at the station.
[ An ominous image appears on the main view screen.]

Dramatic music!!

COMMERCIAL BREAK

[Scene 1A: Station K-5 public transporter room lobby. We see Captain Cade, Chief Maple, Navigator Holt, Comms Officer F'Riid, and First Officer Triarius.]

Capt. Cade:
Remember people, this is a neutral station and we have no authority here. I'm going to meet the Station Master and I will catch up with you all on the Recreation level later.

[ At this point the crew split up to check out the station. Maxine went straight to the Cantina, while F"Riid and Triarius roamed about the open market areas. Chief Maple pretended to head towards the Rec-level but quickly doubled back to follow the Captain.
We played out a brief scene with Maple shadowing the Captain, when suddenly it was as if the Captain noticed he was being followed and then quickly lost the Security Chief, much to Maple's displeasure.]

Scene 1A - Cantina:
[ Lt. JG Holt enters the cantina and quickly heads to the bar where she begins to quiz the bartender on his knowledge of alien drinks. She sees but ignores a group of Klingons at a nearby table. She however is unaware of another patron who notices her.]

Lt. JG Holt:
[To bartender] "So, have you heard of a Louisiana Coconut?"

[ Meanwhile, Triarius and F'Riid roam the market level of the station and the Comms Officer gets a feel for how the populace of the area is with the Federation being around. He quickly determines that most are hopeful that Station will align itself with the Federation and look forward to the order that will bring. What Triarius does not see is when F'Riid goes to a stall and provides multiple copies of the ARGO-Audio dramas to a vendor!]

Scene 1B - ARGO Sick-bay:
[Dr. Salec looks over results from the Captain's medical & psychological records.] 
Dr. Salec:
Most interesting, the Captain is suffering from a strange form of physio-psychological disorder that would normally have gone undetected if not for his obstinance and repeated avoidance of standard medical protocol. I need to inform Triarius.

Intercomm:
Dr. Salec, the Station master requests to speak with Captain Cade. He wants to know why he is late for their meeting?

Dr. Salec:
Put me through to Triarius.

Scene 1C - Station K-5 service corridor:
[ We see Chief maple and the patron from the Cantina meeting in secret.]

Chief Maple:
Neutron stars are no place for fun.
Klingon Trader: 
Neither are Black holes. You are the Admiral's man then?
Chief Maple:
You'd be dead if I weren't. He's on the station already and I lost him. What do you have for me?
Klingon Trader: 
House B'ol'Oth has been receiving transmissions here at the station from the Argo, it is as he suspected. If you lost him they may already be moving to put their plans in motion. The orders are still to eliminate him correct?
Chief Maple:
They are, but you leave that to ..(communicator beeps). Maple here.

Triarius:
Chief meet us on the market deck, it appears the Captain has gone missing!
                                                                   "Dramatic music!"

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 2 Station K-5 / USS Argo
[ The crew meet up on the Market Deck and Triarius takes the lead. He asks everyone where was the last place they saw the Captain and everyone confirms it was when he left them near the station transporter. By communicator Dr. Salec informs the party that it is urgent they locate the Captain quickly as he may be suffering from a psychological issue that has only just become evident.]

Triarius:
[To the Argo] Can you locate the Captain's communicator? We can't scan the station without setting off an incident with all the non-aligned races here. Chief what do you...[ Chief Maple moves away from the group]

Chief Maple:
[to himself] This is bad. [to the party] I'll check the engineering level, he could cause the most damage there.

Triarius:
Chief! Maple come back here... {Maple disappears into the crowd].

Lt. JG Holt:
What did he mean about causing damage? Is he talking about the Captain!?!?

F'Riid:
Oh no. [ to himself ]

Dr. Salec:
Triarius, we have a faint communicator beacon coming from the cargo deck level.

Triarius:
Thank you Doctor, you have the Conn. If you do not hear from us in 10 minutes alert the Station Master and contact Starfleet command. [turning to Holt and F'Riid] Let's go you two.

[ Searching for the Captain on the Primary Power Level Chief Maple comes up empty-handed but finds the operative he contacted earlier slain by a bladed weapon. 
Back aboard the ARGO, Salec has started to monitor comms and transporter traffic amongst the ships surrounding the space station loking for anything unusual.
At the same time Triarius, F'Riid, and Maxine end up tracking the communicator signal to a seemingly unused storage bay. After entering the door cycles and locks behind them as a group of Klingons led by a Female warrior enter from another door on an upper catwalk.]

Scene 2A - Cargo bay:

Female Klingon:
Looking for someone?

Triarius:
Our Captain, what have you done with him?

Female Klingon:
Oh all sorts of things, with the best yet to come.

Lt. JG Holt:
If you've hurt him I swear I'll...

Female Klingon:
You'll what? [pointing her disruptor at the navigator] Do nothing but die is what you'll do!

F'Riid:
[opens his communicator and sets it to transmit without being seen] I know about the transmissions that have been sent here, and I know that the last one was corrupted and I can fix that.

Triarius & Holt:
What the , what?!?!? F'Riid!!

Female Klingon:
Then you will come with us Caitian! We will find out what you really know.
[F'Riid joins the Klingons on the catwalk and is escorted out the door, just as the Female Klingon orders her two compatriots to dispose of Triarius & Holt.]

Lt. JG Holt: 
We don't have any weapons! [ to Triarius]

Triarius: 
Look about you Lieutenant. [the Andorian spies a loose pipe on the floor near a cargo crate]

Klingon Warrior:
Prepare to die Federation dogs, long live B'ol'Oth!

[ Hearing this over the comms, Chief Maple heads to the cargo deck while trying to get the Argo to use the transporter on the party. The Cargo bay however is shielded against theft and the transporters won't work.]

Argo Science Ensign:
Commander Salec, the airlocks in the Cargo bay where our people are have been set to cycle. If they don't get out of there soon they will decompress!

Dr. Salec:
Chief did you get that?

Chief Maple:
I'm almost to them!

[ An epic hand to hand fight broke out in the cargo bay! Holt dodged a thrown klingon knife picked it up and threw it right back at her assailant stabbing him in the chest! This however just made the klingon angry and he pummeled the navigator with his disruptor. Triarius scooped up the pipe and used it to great advantage in the scuffle! In the end our crew used a dropped disruptor against the klingon warriors and both were disintergrated!!! Chief Maple arrived in time to stop the decompression of the Cargo bay, and the they gave chase to the Female klingon who had taken F'Riid hostage!

A short chase back up a few decks the Female Klingon attempts to kill F'Riid but a poor shot left our Comms. Officer with only a serious wound. Chief Maple fired upon the Klingon but she was transported out at the last second before his phaser shot could hit its mark! ]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 3 the Argo Conference room:

Triarius:
Alright, no more surprises from any of you. I want to know what is going on, starting with you Chief!

Chief Maple:
I'm sorry but I can't divulge anything without clearance from my Commander at Section 31.

The rest of the crew:
Section 31!!

F'Riid:
Well, that makes sense why the Captain asked me to monitor any strange outgoing/incoming transmissions especially any for or from you Maple.

Triarius:
Go on  Lt.Commander.

F'Riid:
I was tasked by the Captain with this task a few months ago, and at first I found only one strange transmission that had been sent just before I or the Chief were assigned. It wasn't until this morning that my full communications analysis completed and I was going to show the Captain after his meeting on K-5.
[inserts data disc into the Tri-viewer] There have been a half-dozen coded tight beam data-dumps sent from the Argo to these co-ordinates in the past six months.

Lt JG Holt:
Those are the co-ordinates of the K-5 station.

F'Riid:
Yes they are. We only received this short coded message by way of a double-blind comsat just before getting orders to come to the K-5 station. A message for Chief Maple, that I decoded with minimal difficulty. It is instructions for him to meet with an "operative" on K-5. But here is the odd part, after I determined when the original six transmissions were sent they all matched up with times the Captain himself was off-duty and made surprise inspections of the Communications Dept. Also though each transmission is data on the Quadrant we patrol as well as starship routes and secure comm channels, the information itself becomes erratic and filled with more and more inane log entry's and bits of our own reports from our missions. [pointing to the viewer] You can see the fourth and fifth transmissions were nearly 60% junk and the sisxth and last transmission was almost 85% useless info.

Triarius:
Hmm, I can admit that I have come upon the captain doing odd things during his Off-duty shifts but I put it down to "Human" behavior. I thought it to be an eccentricity of his.

Dr. Salec:
Allow me to shed some light on something. As you are all well aware the Captain and I have been at odds with his medical updates since his arrival aboard the Argo. However once I was able to finally get him to comply my results of his physical & psychological data did not match up. After confirming my staff and instruments were not to blame I was able to determine that though all biological data shows the Captain to be 100% healthy he exhibits the psychological signs of someone battling a drug/alcohol addiction. Yet he does not have one for none of those substances are evident in his tests.

Lt JG Holt:
That's why he never finished any of his drinks. He was always getting rounds but I noticed he never actually finished a single drink.

Dr. Salec:
Once you were all engrossed with the Klingons on K-5, I had the sensors calibrated to look for traces of neo-titanium.

Triarius:
Why?

Dr. Salec:
The Captain has a pair of prosthetic legs from mid-thigh down. Apparently he suffered quite an injury on his last mission as a MACO. I was unfortunately unable to discover more as the records are sealed. But, we did get a trace of the metal in the transporter emitters from the K-5 station to the Klingon vessel that departed just moments ago.

Lt. JG Holt:
They've taken the Captain! we have to save him!!

Triarius:
We can't do anything until we get orders from Starfleet HQ. Commander Salec and I have already requested such as well as any information that may help us figure out what is going on. We should be hearing from them shortly.

Lt. JG Holt:
But in the meantime they are getting away with him, and doing who knows what!

F'R'iid:
[console beeps] Incoming message from Starfleet!

[Tri-vid viewer screen - face of Admiral Grim appears]

Admiral Grim:

Admiral Grim

Commander Triarius you and the crew of the Argo are ordered to stand down and return to Starbase 13 for debriefing and re-assignment.

Triarius:
With all due respect sir, our Captain; your son has been kidnapped by renegade Klingons and ..

Admiral Grim:
My son and your Captain is lost to me, and at this time considered a traitor to the Federation. You will folow your orders as given. Chief maple you are relieved and will be re-assigned upon returning to base. I expect you all to follow my orders. Admiral Grim out! [viewer goes dark]

Lt. JG Holt:
This is a load of space-shi....

Triarius:
Maxine! sit down. The Doctor and I have one more avenue to explore. Salec, if you would.

[The Vulcan touches the comms panel]

Dr. Salec:
Bridge, are we ready?

Bridge Comms Ensign:
Putting Ambassador Spock through now Sir.

Ambassador Spock:
I am here with Commodore Stone and we have a lot to tell you.

[ The crew is told that Captain Cade was captured by a group of renegade Klingons after the attempted assassination of Ambassador James Kirk and a High ranking Klingon Official. Cade was presumed dead, but a rescue mission was attempted against regulations and led by MACO Master Sgt. Tar'get. Cade was recovered from a klingon outpost of House B'ol'Oth. They had subjected Cade to weeks of torture and physical abuse in an Arena where he battled other humanoids and creatures for sport. Ambassador Kirk has given us first hand information on how it was discovered the renegade klingons used a Mind-Sifter on Cade as well. It was determined that section 31 led by Admiral Grim would use Cade to see how far the Klingon brain-washing had gone.]

 GM:
Once everything was laid out, the crew as whole agreed to disregard the Admiral's orders and go after thier Captain! Even Chief Maple who had grown fond Cade wanted to join in the rescue!!

[ The crew quickly gathered what info they had and sussed out where the rengade Klingon faction was holed up! F'Riid was able to contact the Orion "trader" ship the Violater with whom the Argo had a previous encounter and enlisted their aid in tracking down the Klingons of House B'ol'Oth.

The USS Argo and the Violator headed out to a small system situated just this side of the Klingon border. They located the base and set a plan in motion to get Captain Cade back!]

GM:
Our finale session was running late and the store was closing so we had to put things in high gear.  

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 4 the Rescue!

Argo faces off with House B'ol'Oth

The crew came up with a plan to warp into short range of the Klingon base taking them by surprise and laying down as much fire on the three proto-type D-7 battle cruisers the Klingons had in orbit. Since the Argo had beaten one of these ship before they had a good idea how to handle them. Along with the Orions they were able to put a real hurting on the D-7's in the first couple of rounds!! Triarius took to space combat like a fish to water and on his first roll of the dice to attack the unwary d-7 battle cruisers he rooled a natural 18!!!

Triarius actual dice roll!!

The secondary part of the plan consisted of Chief Maple and the crack security squad the Maple Leafs beaming into the Klingon base and phasering their way through the opposition to get captain Cade!  During the battle on the base, everyone's favorite NPC "Buttons" used the klingon transporter to beam a hardened group of Warriors into space so the Chief could get through to the Captain!

Cade & Kohlac, head of House B'ol'Oth

As the Maple Leaf's burst in on the Klingons attempting to burn out the last Cade's brain with the Mind-Sifter Chief Maple destroyed the device and the Captain who rolled an AMAZING resistance check broke free from his shackles and put Kohlac in a choke-hold until he went unconscious!!

The renegade Klingons were turned over to the Empire never to be seen again, and the Argo returned to Starbase 13.

Captain Cade awoke to find himself looking at the face of his brother Pryce. Quite a surprise.

Scene 4A Starbase 13:

Cade:
Pryce? why are you here.

Pryce Grim:
You're my little brother whether you like it or not. Besides when I heard what happened I had to be here for you.

Cade:
I don't know what to say, I thought you were..

Pryce:
A bit of a dick? I think we should stop letting our father get in the way of things between us. What do you say?

Cade:
[Sitting up in bed] I think, I would like that a lot.

[The door to the room opens and Admiral Grim enters.]

Admiral Grim:
Pryce, Cade. I see you pulled through. You actually did it, I didn't think you had it in you.

[Leaping from his bed and slugging the Admiral right in the jaw!]

Cade:
You're lost to me. [standing over the Admiral fists clenched tight.]

Pryce:
You'd better leave. [ helping his brother back to bed]

[Admiral Grim gets to his feet and quietly leaves the room.]

Pryce:
Father is going to have a lot to deal with on his own. But we will always have each other.

Cade:
[smiles, tears in his eyes]


THE END of FAR TREK season 1


I hope you all enjoyed this as much as we did playing it. So much of what happened was off the cuff and/or the culmination of ideas supplied by the players and their backgrounds. Don't worry the crew of the USS ARGO will be back for a Season 2 sometime in late summer 2018 and we hope to see you guys there following our episodes!!

Thank you all, and the BIGGEST thanks to C.R. Brandon for whom without FAR TREK none of this would have happened!!!

Far Trek season 1 Finale!! 2018.16.02

The final episode of my FAR TREK season 1 campaign is coming up this week! I can'e believe it has been 6 months of Far trek already (technically 7, because of the Hurricane!!) Really have enjoyed this game and everything just fell into place. My players have been FANTASTIC and we embraced the Classic 60's style Trek!

Keep yours eyes on this spot for the write-up of Episode 06: Pawns in the Game

If you haven't played Far Trek yet, ask yourself why?

Paper figures by OKUMARTS

FAR TREK play report Star Date: 2018.19.01

Episode 05 of our monthly Far Trek RPG. Tonight's episode is a hacked version of the Traveller RPG min-adventure "Mission on Mithril".

At the end of a string of survey missions the Captain chooses to take a field trip with the crew and a lighthearted episode ensues!

Intro Scene:
[The bridge of the Argo as she enters orbit over an ice covered world.]

Triarius: Here is the report on Mithril 3 Captain. May I inquire as to your interest, you've never been particularly fond of these types of mission before. Besides, I can oversee the final scans of the three anomalies from orbit.

Capt. Grim: [Looking at the data pad] Hmm, yes you could. However, I remembered that I still have a Team building exercise to administer and this planet gave me an idea. Besides you wouldn't mind a little field trip to a frozen planet would you?

Triarius: [Gazing at the main viewer.] Not at all sir, not at all.

Capt. Grim: [Hands the data pad back to the Andorian.] It's settled then, Lt. Holt report to the shuttlebay and prep for a launch. Triarius, have the other heads of staff meet us there. We have a winter wonderland to enjoy!

 COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 1: The interior of the shuttle/ Site Beta

[The main crew are aboard the shuttle Louisiana as it enters the upper atmosphere of Mithril III. We see Lt. Holt at the helm of the shuttle, the Captain in the co-pilot seat turns towards the rest of the crew.]

Capt. Grim: Okay people, we have three sites to visit and gather first hand information on. I'm going to have Triarius give us a run down on what we are looking at and then we vote on the order in which we want to tackle them. Sound good? #1 if you would.

Triarius: We have three distinct anomalies that were detected by the ships scanners and probes. Though we gathered an abundance of data, these sites would benefit from first-hand investigation.
Site Alpha - shows a spike in radioactive isotopes found nowhere else on the planet or in the system. And, reading are confined to an area of no more than 10 meters in diameter. With our environmental suits on we will be able to investigate this site without fear of harmful effects.
Site Beta - located in a very dense mountainous region has registered an odd light/shadow anomaly that presents itself for a period of 10-15 minutes at both dusk & dawn. We want to physically see what is happening here to cause this.
And lastly, Site Gamma - is an area along the northern continental ice-shelf that seems to be staying at an unusually higher temperature than anywhere else planetside. We know it is not geo-thermic in nature and need to determine what going on there.

Dr. Salec: The average temperature by day is at or just above freezing constantly, and as long as we do not encounter any adverse weather conditions or high winds we should all be able to function without harm for a few hours at a time. It would be like being outdoors on a nice winter day. I do suggest though that we each take advantage of the Environment suits regardless.

Capt. Grim: I am not a fan of radiation, so I vote we go to Site Alpha last. Otherwise I'm ready to visit Beta & Gamma in any order, and once we are done we can have our snowball fight!

Lt. Holt: Yesss!

Triarius: What is this "snowball fight"?

F'Riid: We don't have to wear the suits for that do we?

Maple: Should I assume this is how we are completing our annual Combat Exercise?

Salec: [Eyebrow raised] Who are we fighting?

Capt. Grim: Yes Maple, under Captain's prerogative this will count as both our annual Combat exercise and the Team-building training per starfleet regulations. [turning to Salec] We will break into teams and fight each other. You get 10 minutes to build a snow fort and as many snowballs as you can. Then when the time is up, we start throwing them at each other and you try not to get hit!! [big grin on face] It's amazing!!

Salec: [folds arms] There is no way out of this is there?

Capt. Grim: Nope, and you're gonna love it!

Triarius: [turning to Maple] I am intrigued with this mock-battle training, it reminds me of our own Icicle-dueling. Tell me more...

Beta Site mountains

[The crew votes to go to Site Beta first and investigate the Light/Shadow anomaly. Also we see Cade sets his communicator on an open frequency so that he can record and transmit everything that the Landing party says back to the Argo.]

Investigating the shaft

[Upon arriving at Site Beta, the crew can see a large rectangular pit in the floor of the ravine. Initial scans from the shuttle
instruments determine that this is not a natural formation in the dense local rock formations. The hole is 100ft wide x 500ft long and just over 1500ft deep. Max deftly pilots the Louisiana down into the shaft itself and lands at the bottom.

The Captain decides the dense rock that makes up the walls of the shaft will be called "Pryce-rock" after his Brother.]

Maple: That's a nice gesture to name this after your brother.

Capt. Grim: Yeah, well it is as dense as he is.

[ Lt. Holt stays on board the shuttle while the rest of the crew step out to investigate more fully. Triarius is the only one to not actually don his Environment suit, however he does carry it with him.]

Triarius: Ah, finally a proper temperature setting.

[Tricorder scans reveal that the shaft has been cut from the rock with lasers and that the entire interior surface to some degree is covered in ancient pictograms!!]

Capt. Grim: F'Riid, what do you make of these? [pointing to section not covered in ice]

F'Riid: [Intrigued, tail whisking left and right.] Unless I am gravely mistaken, these seem to be an ancient form and combination of both Kzin & Caitian pictograms. It harkens back to legends of our peoples from before the sundering of the tribes. This is very interesting!

[Triarius discovers a set of tunnels that are filled with ice but are artificial constructions cut into the rock like the shaft itself. It would seem these were used to descend from the surface down into the shaft. The Doctor also discovers a unique ice-crystalline life-form.]

Dr. Salec: Fascinating, what at first i thought was only natural frost forming on us because we are warmer than the surrounding air, are actually microscopic silicate lifeforms. They seem to be drawn to our heat. [Takes sample in special container.]

F'Riid: Remind me of Lice.

Capt. Grim: [Checking the shuttles engine vents] Hmm, better make sure they don't want to warm up in the shuttle, like a cat on an engine block!

[The crew are satisfied with the information they gather and mark this location as important for further investigation by the Federation. Before boarding the shuttle they wipe the "frost" from each other and prepare to head to the next site.]

Lt. Holt: Course laid in for site Gamma, should take about an hour to get there.

Capt. Grim: Thank you Max, alright people let's...yeeouch!

Salec: Captain what is it... ahh!

Maple: Arg, stinging!

[Dr. Salec makes a quick medical scan of himself, the Captain and Chief Maple.]

Salec: Interesting, we seem to have been the recipients of the death throes of the silicate micro-organisms. A few somehow still were on us, and seemingly reached a critical mass from the warmer temperature inside the shuttle. They burned themselves out and have expired. There is no lasting or permanent damage just a burst of mild discomfort. I can prepare a more thorough decontamination method so as to avoid any further mishaps.

View of crystal-lice expiring from heat absorption.

Capt. Grim: Well Doctor, since you found them I think they will be named after you. What do you think of Salec-crystals?

Salec: I suppose that will do as a place saver, until I can categorize them and give them a proper scientific listing.

Capt. Grim: Salec-Crystals it is!!

COMMERCIAL BREAK


Scene 2: Interior of shuttle on approach to site Gamma

Site Gamma

Lt. Holt: Captain, I am having trouble keeping our bearings. There seems to be severe magnetic fluctuation affecting navigation sensors because of our proximity to the planets northern pole.

Capt. Grim: Is it serious, do we need to contact the Argo?

Lt. Holt:  Commander Triarius, I'm sending some data to your console. Do my calculations look good?

Triarius: Hmm, adjust the navigational sensor frequency by .002 to account for orbital shift and I think you will have it.

Lt. Holt: Thank you Sir, adjusting to .002.  We should be fine Captain, the adjustments have taken care of any issues we might have had.

[A few minutes later the shuttle lands safely at site Gamma, and the crew disembark to take a look around.]

Lt. Holt: Captain, I'm staying on board and updating the Argo with our telemetry on the magnetic issues.

Salec: The exterior temperature here hovering at around 35 degrees with no wind-chill. We do not need to wear the Environment suits, but I would still advise bringing them along. I will however don mine.

Capt. Grim: Okay everyone got that, bring your suit but you don't need to wear it. Let's see what we have going on here.

[Once outside the crew see the entire coastline is becoming shrouded in a dense fog. Also large crystal-like formations pop up through the snow all along the ice shelf itself. Maple and F'Riid head towards the edge of the shelf to look out upon the ocean, while Cade, Salec & Triarius investigate the crystal formations.]

Salec, Cade, & Triarius around a crystal formation.

Salec: They are quite beautiful in the way they refract the sunlight are they not.

Capt. Grim: Yes they have a sort of internal aurora borealis effect. Is it warmer near these formations, or is it just me?

Triarius: [Tricorder scanning the formation] It would appear that these formations are absorbing the ultra-vilolet radiation from the sun and that process is what is causing the temperature difference in this area. Not only is the local air temperature considerably warmer but the effect extends about a kilometer off shore from the coastline as well.

Capt. Grim: Should we take a sample? I'm putting this spectrum effect in as the Maxine lights, and the temperature alterations, I shal call the F'Riid Effect!

Salec: I will leave the samples to Triarius, may last encounter with crystal formations was less than pleasant.

Chief Maple: Doctor, come look at this! [ Maple is pointing out in to the water just offshore.] Large aquatic creatures of some kind, they are amazing!!

[The crew gather along the ice shelf and look out into the waters. They see what look like large whales moving in pods and breaking the surface every now and again. Instead of taking in air or expelling water the creatures seem to be absorbing light just like the crystal formations, and they create a dazzling light show as they do so, which can be seen glowing beneath the waves.]

Salec: Fascinating, my reading show these creatures are a variation of the Crystal-lice we encountered before. However here we have a large interconnected silicate organism. Sort of a giant sea-sponge whale if you will.

Scan of a Maple-Whale

Capt. Grim: This one is all you Chief. I'm thinking we have some Maple Whales on our hands here!

Maple: [rubbing his chin] Uh, I guess okay....

F'Riid: [Leaning in towards the Chief] It's better than Sponge-Maples.

[After a few more scans and sample are taken the crew heads back towards the shuttle when...]

Capt. Grim: Maple! Incoming!!

Chief Maple: [before the chief can react a snowball explodes across his back] Hey, what the...!

Triarius: Is this a...

Salec/F'Riid: Yes.

Chief Maple: I thought you said we were doing this after we finished the surveys. {leaning down to grab a handful of snow, while keeping an eye on Cade.] That wasn't fai....OH!!

[Suddenly the loose powder at Maples feet explodes upward launching the Officer a few feet off the ground and dropping him on his rump! A two meter tall six-legged insect-like creature emerges from the snow and opens a toothy maw towards the shocked man!]

Maple: My phaser was knocked loose!

Capt. Grim: [drawing a type 1 from his waistband] I've got you Leonard! [Cade expertly fires and sears the creatures foreleg closest to the Chief.]

[The creature rears back as the appendage seems to dissipate in a cloud of steam, it releases a high pitched scream then dives into the snowbank and disappears from sight!]

F'Riid: [handing a snow crusted phaser to Maple] Here you go Chief, that was something huh?

Capt. Grim: Watch out, it could still be here!

Salec: [scanning] Taking into account the data we have already collected and extrapolating it to compensate for a multitude of variations in life-forms, I can say the area is free of that . . . thing.

Triarius: [scanning as well] I agree with the Doctor. Besides the whales, ourselves, and a small scattering of the Crystal-lice, there are no other lifeforms in range of us now. That creature reminded me of our own andorian Ice-terrors. A rather nasty predatory creature that strikes from the depths of cold, very similar in function I would guess to this one.

Capt. Grim: The Triarius Terror it will be then. Let's stay alert for any more of those!

[ Final scans and samples are collected then the crew board the shuttle to continue the mission.]

Lt. Holt: [looking at the data disk the Captain hands her] You're naming this Ice-shelf the Coconut Cliffs?

Capt. Grim: [leaning back in the co-pilots chair, grinning] I never realized how much I would enjoy this naming convention thing!

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 3: Shuttle flying low over the ocean towards the final site.

On route to Site Alpha

Triarius: [ looking over data from the shuttle scanners] Captain, we should be coming up on a large swath of what appears to be a forest like terrain. Could we drop in for a closer look.

Salec: The scanners also show large numbers of life-forms in the same area. Most are ones we have already encountered, however there are new ones as well. I believe a visual fly-by would be most satisfying.

Capt. Grim: Fine by me, Max lay in a course. I want everyone to put on your environment suits though. Since we are heading towards that radiation anomaly I don't want to take any chances.

Crystal Forest

[ Maxine takes the Louisiana in low and slow so the crew can get a good look at the crystal forest of Mithril III. Everyone is in awe of the extraordinary alien beauty of this frozen planet. They see some of the snow-spiders (Triarius Terrors) hunting among the trees, trailing a new creature they hadn't seen before. A sort of six-legged antlered deer-like creature (dubbed Hexa-pods). Also, a second new creature is spotted in the crystal tree-tops. A small monkey-like primate that was quickly named the Tar'get Monkey. Later scans revealed that even this creature was a silicate life-form like all the others discovered on Mithril III. ]

Tar'get Monkey

Lt. Holt: Beautiful and creepy all at once, with those Terrors roaming around. But that's nature for you.

Cat. Grim: Hmm, the Grim Woods. That's what we will name this region.

Maple: [to F'Riid] I would love to see the looks on the faces of those Starfleet Officials when they read our reports!

F'Riid: I agree Chief, priceless I would imagine!!

[ The shuttle continues on its way towards the site of the radiation. As they travel on the crew sees the detrimental effect upon the environment as they get closer. ]

Triarius: As we near the radiation source the fauna grows sparse, and that which is present has been greatly affected. The area is severely poisoned.

Salec: Yes, even the few life-forms I have detected are suffering effects of long-term radiation degradation. I wonder why it is localized only to this region?

[ The shuttle eventually flies over a bowl-shaped valley, and at it's center is the source of the radiation readings. The area is highly irradiated, but the levels are safe as long as the crew only spend a bout an hour here. Triarius determines that should be more than enough time for them to get what they need.]

Capt. Grim: Max, keep the engines warm. I want to get out of here as soon as the Doctor and Triarius have what they need.

Lt. Holt: Aye, sir.

Triarius: We were correct in our initial assumptions that this was not a natural phenomenon. [scanning with tricorder] There are over a thousand units here. Most are buried under the surface, and quite a few have their containment seals broken or cracked.

Site Alpha

Maple: It's not ship wreckage, they're too small. Looks like they might be cannisters of some sort.

Salec: A refuse heap. A radioactive waste dump.

Capt Grim: Are those markings there, on the sides. F'riid do they look similar to the ones we saw at the Shaft?

F'Riid: [scanning with tricorder] Yes and no. Though there are pictograms, they are not religious in nature. These are more technical in meaning and I do recognize them as warning symbols. No doubt because of the lethality of what was contained within.

Capt. Grim: This place just earned the name Louisiana Hot Spot.

Alien Cannisters

[ All necessary readings and measurements were taken and the crew departed the site. Engineering Chief Zav later headed up a clean-up crew which safely removed the cannisters from the surface of Mithril III. They were deposited in orbit then destroyed with phasers by the Argo. A great number of the cannisters were still functioning well within safety limits and were studied by the crew. Determined to be the waste product of atomic-powered starship engines from over one thousand years ago. Are they connected in some way to the ancient Temple site? A mystery for later perhaps.]

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Scene 4: Commodore Stones office on Starbase 13 / Snow field on Mithril III

Records Officer

Records Officer: Sir, I can't believe these reports coming in from the USS Argo. This is preposterous, how can we let them continue naming everything like this. The "Nightmare" Continent, Coconut cliffs, Louisiana "Hot Spot"! You'd think they were club hopping on Rigel IV. Sir, please!

Commodore Stone: Trust me son, this isn't nearly as bad as some of his brother's reports. Besides, a little fun never hurt anyone. This should liven up some of those dull science review meetings though if nothing else!






[ Meanwhile on Mithril III, we see Maxine holding her own in a snowball fight against F'riid, Salec & Triarius while the Captain and Chief Maple encrusted with frost look on.]

Maple: Holt is very feisty isn't she?

Cade: [smirking] Yep, and I wouldn't have her any other way. F'Riid, Triarius, even Salec and yourself Leonard. You're all special in your own way, and those differences are what make us stronger and what connect us to each other. I don't just want a good crew, I want a family. That's what the Argo is to me, and I hope you as well.

Maple: I didn't think I was going to like you at first, but now I think we might just become best friends.

Cade: I felt the same way Leonard. I think we better get out there and give Max a hand don't you?

Maple: [cupping snow in his hands] yes sir, I do!

[Scene fades out to the crew throwing snowballs at each other.] 

THE END