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[[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]]

[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]

T'Rea had been briefed on emergency stations---but that briefing had consisted of one of the other officers showing her where to find the emergency procedure document and asking her to read it. She had--of course--done so, but considering she had only a general ship's schematic for reference at the time, she found the option to simply follow after Ensign Kedan a far preferable.

The room she found herself in was rapidly growing crowded and the air of the group as a whole anxious, though not quite yet panicked. She felt that Lt. Ramort's absence was obvious as the department's personnel scrambled to reorganize themselves. But at least Ensign Kedan's request gave her a clear and obtainable task. "Yes, sir," she acknowledged as she took a seat at the nearest open terminal. She did not yet possess an intuitive understanding for the Discovery's computer architecture or file structure, but it seemed to be arranged (more or less) logically, and it only took her a couple of attempts before she managed to couple in the astrometrics to the small display.

The forward sensor array was still giving detailed (if incomprehensible) readings of the solar radiation threat, and without being prompted she executed a shell script that would run a recent portion of the data through the most versatile frequency domain denoising algorithm she knew. Perhaps it could help shed some light on the readings, but the continued lack of supplementary probe data (the last probe must be well and truly dead) disturbed T'Rea, and she looked over her shoulder to Kedan again, "Should another probe be prepared? If we equipped it with an additional band pass filter for the gamma ray portion of the EM spectrum perhaps we could get a clearer picture of the solar emissions," she proposed.

"And," an idea struck her as she noticed the bottom corner of the forward sensor array's field off view toggle to flatline values as it passed over the planetary atmosphere below them, "We should consider launching a probe down into the planetary atmosphere in order to detect what's shielding it for this extreme solar radiation?" After all, the dangerous output from the nearby star was at most only half of the relevant information in this case. "Or what about the shuttle? Can we access its sensor array remotely from here?" In the end, they needed a shielding technique as soon as possible, and it was reasonable to assume that copying an already existing and functional technique would be faster than trying to develop their own.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]

The entire room was shuffling as they slowly were able to at least establish the basic system links and power on all computers they had access too. In a time like this, they couldn't draw upon support from Ops, given they were busy in other sections of the ship and trying to prevent them all being grillend by intense radiation from the systems central star. Kedan nonetheless suspected there would be multiple reports pilling up on Ramorts desk after all of this was over, calling for a better fitted out backup location and a revision of the emergency protocols.

Just as he was making his round back through the room, a mobile processing core in his hands, Crewman T'Rea approached him with another round of ideas. On her screen he could see a rudimentary layout of the astrometrics labs files and main systems. Her work was methodical and clean, perfectly adapted to the current situation.

"If we launch anything towards the planet, it might be picked up as hostile action. We would have to inform them of our actions first and await a response from their government. Which would take. Time we don't have. I don't know what the status of the shuttle uplink is at the moment, but I will inquire."

"Sending another probe in the direction of the sun could be worth it, though. Even if it just acts as a wavemarker so we can better measure its spread and get a few more second to prepare. Since it is your proposal, it's only just if you get to present it to the Bridge. Work out a trajectory and then call Ops on the Bridge. From our current working conditions we can hardly interface with the ship's tactical systems."

[USS discovery | Bridge]

[...]

Buck's brow furrowed deeply.

The planet what?

He was pretty certain that large planets didn't just glitch out, especially if it were a simulation or hologram their crew were still down there.

That is....all received, Ensign. We'll conduct further investigation. Keep us in the loop.

[...]

As he continued his way to the back wall, he was yet again interrupted by a signal from his combadge. Sliding the computing unit into the prepared socket on the wall with direct access to the ship's networking and power system, he responded.

"Understood, we will keep you appraised of any new developments from our side. Actually we might have something for you. Expect a call from us in the next couple minutes."

[USS Discovery-bridge]

Things seemed to be dire and he thought that maybe he could lend his assistance to one of the crewmembers that might need help. "Ensign Kedan is there anything I can do to help?" Although he was a flight control officer he thought that maybe he could help on other areas if needed. He was ready to relocate if it was deemed to be necessary. He was optimistic that they were going to be able to figure out a way to get out of it.

It seemed like his combadge would not find rest again today. Taking yet another call from the Bridge, he took in the experienced flight chief's offer. It actually came in perfectly. Someone with his experience would be of great assistance in working out the needed complex course correction manoeuvres the next probes would need to take.

"I am sending you Crewman T'Rea up. We need to calculate some complex flight paths, so any assistance you could render would be greatly appreciated." 

Sending personnel up to the Bridge was highly unusual for an Ensign like him. But with Ramort gone and Hayes and Umiga not on duty and Rajagopalan already on the Bridge, there simply wasn't anybody he could have made take responsibility for this.

Returning to Crewman T'Rea he informed her of the changed plans.

Update to our plan. I was able to enlist the help of Chief Graham. Please report to him on the Bridge and work with him on the flight paths. When you are up there, and you are done, you can also directly ask the Ops Chiefs and the Captain for launch approval. Also, the consoles and the computer access up there are better than anything we have done here at the moment anyways."

{USS Discovery|Bridge}

Vila nodded as the Captain issued orders.

"Yes, sir," she replied but her head was already bent, brain making plans that her fingers were struggling to keep up with. Soon, she was piggybacking on the various probes' systems. "I am in," she said, as she managed to corrupt the science probes with her own code. She'd apologize to Ramort later.
"No," she replied. She raised her head once more.

"Captain, you'll want to see this," she said, stepping sideways so the other Bajoran could see her console. "The hell does it MEAN?" She sighed. It was rhetorical; she knew what it meant. It meant that the Away team was in danger and she was HERE and it was useless. She tapped her foot against the metal of the console again, the urge to pace about becoming stronger. It was how she did her best thinking, after all.

"If we can't go, we should tractor-beam them back," she muttered to herself. She HATED the feeling of impotence. Sitting behind a computer wasn't "helping" anyone, including herself.

"Any luck with those probes?" She asked aloud.

[Ensign Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

Things were hectic up here. Screens were erupting in error messages and warning far too often, and he had no way to escape the stress. As one of the oldest Junior Officers on board, he had been up here plenty of times, and he didn't really enjoy it any more as time went on.

Now his lab was locked up. His plants abandoned without him. He really didn't like this one bit.

Taking a deep breath, he focused back on his work. Most science Systems were down right now. Power had been diverted from the usual beefed up computing resources he could draw upon but the sensor grid was still giving it its best. Hearing the Lieutenants question he checked if there was anything he could do from his side.

"Right now I don't even have enough power in the systems to decipher if what I am receiving is cosmic background or actual transmission. Is there any way you can provide me with a bit more power to the receiver array?"

EREWHON

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

[...]

He turned his attention back towards the marketplace.

While Lek worked on the flip phone communicators, Rayek continued his observations.  Rayek also noted the change in lighting above them.  But more notable, was the changed appearance of the guests, other than themselves, in the market place.

Despite over 15 years living amongst the Federation and its wide variety of species, there were moments like now, when his cultural upbringing coloured his reaction.  Romulans, from his generation, were still very much xenophobic, so to see the form of a standard human -  which he was rather used to - suddenly become an oblong-headed, purple-colored tentacle-limbed being the three-quarters the size of an average human, he was rather taken aback.  Rayek flinched away from the guest walking but a few feet from them.

He wasn't the only one to notice the change in appearance.  Several of the workers in the cafe across the street, reacted briefly as well.  One male busboy dropped his tray of dirty dishes.  There was a brief scream from a waitress.  Then in the same moment that the flicker of the guests true form was gone - all natural reaction by the clones also ceased.  The busboy apologized subserviently to the guests around him and began to clean up the dropped tray.  The waitress looked about in confusion, and excused her scream as a reaction to seeing a spider.

It appeared that the guests had no recollection of seeing the guests true-forms.  Which might have been for the best except as the scene progressed Rayek witnessed several guests target the human clones with glares and even some physical violence.  One guest, kicked at the busboy who was picking up a teacup that had rolled too close to the guest's table.

Rayek finally spoke in answer to Ramort's question"No.  You are definitely not the only one to see something off."

He wanted to say more; however, until the jammer was complete, Rayek didn't want to give these aliens that ran Erewhon any more of an excuse to penalize them should the misunderstanding regarding the Terms of Service not go in their favor.

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

Hearing a scream behind him, he quickly spun around. 30 meters away from him, a waitress in a restaurant had let a tablet slip to the ground. Her face twisted in horror. Until she just relaxed again. A slight haze seemingly clouding her eyes for a second as the lost focus. The next second, she already was apologizing to the guest next to her. A large human shape wearing a wristband. But was the shape deflating? And was that a tentacle, a purple tentacle.

Before his own eyes could fully take in the situation the waitress was standing before an ordinary looking older man with a bowler head and a grey crown of hairs on his head.

The Tricorder was blinking in alarm now. Only to also fade as quickly as he had started. Quickly navigating to the log section of the device, meant to hold all sensor reports from at least the last 10 minutes if not saved for future analysis, he found it empty. Or at least devoid of any note that could explain what just happened.

Hearing the Commander acknowledge his observations put him at bit to rest. At least he wasn't losing his mind. Or he had lost it and was just so far gone that he could not notice it any more. Given that, if the latter option was true, he couldn't do anything against it anyway, he decided to focus on the first option.

"Maybe we just experienced some kind of .. glitch .. ? My Tricoder isn't showing anything, so I suspect it indeed has been tempered with. The human employees behaviour seemed strange though. One moment they seemed in shock, as if they never had experienced anything like this before, and the next.. just nothing."

Holding it for a moment longer in his hands he closed the lid on the delicate device and handed it to Lieutenant Lachlyn.

"Would you mind taking a look through it. I know neither of us is a computer specialist but your training against electronic attacks probably qualifies you more to find any bug they placed in it than me."

The Device was of little use until the bug had been removed. If their guests were able to alter any readings he took on a whim he could just as well not take any as their empiric worth would be the same.

Turning to the Chief Engineer, he offered:

"Is there anything I can do to help you with the phones?"

Vila startled. What to do?! She looked up. In her ear, the calm voice of the Counselor spoke.

Tell him it's ok.

She nodded. "YEs, it's free," she said, and returned her gaze to the table. She wasn't expecting to have to do this AlREADY. She'd planned poorly-this time of night was busy-just between Alpha and Beta shifts. Damn it.

Good. Say hello. Or something. Anything you think of.

Vila nodded. "Cardassians smell like leather when they die," she said. In her ear, she could hear Rena sigh and then laugh. Didn't the woman to say WHATEVER SHE THOUGHT OF? It wasn't Vila's fault that that's what she thought of! She tried again, though.

"Uh. Hello. Sorry," she said. "I was uh...doing some journaling and just had that, uh...reminder," she said. "Who are you?" Vila had never been one for beating around the bush-she was direct, and perhaps a bit rude.

[USS Discovery | Deck 6 | Officers Mess]

Putting his tablet down in front of him after hearing the seats to not already being occupied, he pulled back one of the chairs and sat down. Taking the spoon for his soup the comment about dying Cardassians threw him off.

While he still searched his mind for a way to respond she luckily switched the course of the conversation.

If he hadn't known better he could have sworn she locked nervous. Maybe it had something to do with the work she was doing. Ops operated in conjuntion with Science of many matters but he didn't give in to the illusion that the could fully appreciate the work she might been caught up in.

Her next question threw him far off again. He was pretty sure she knew him. Even though they hadn't interacted much in their free time they had worked together on the bridge and the ship as a whole operation multiple times. Maybe the stress she was under right now was really greater than he could imagine and he had to be keeping that in mind.

"James Ramort, I think we have worked together on previous occasions. If I am disturbing you with important work I am really sorry?"

He appreaciated her direct response as at least it gave him some insight into how to approach this conversation.

Giving her a second to respond he took at his food again. Even if replicated it really tasted good and he didn't want to leave it to get cold.

[Crwm. V'letr S't'kal T'Rea]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]
There was a quiet hiss from the labs primary entrance as T'Rea slipped into the space. She had worked the preceding gamma shift and afterwards returned to her assigned quarters for rest and meditation. But when neither had come easily... she had hoped she might find Lab 1 empty, given the excitement over the recently retrieved the asteroid but she couldn't exactly just turn back around a leave without so much as a hello to Ensign Rajagopalan. She peered curiously at the benchtop were he was working, "May I enquire as to the nature of your experiment with Andorian polar cacti?" she asked. She had only been newly assigned to the ship, and had yet to familiarize herself with the full list of the department's ongoing work.

[Ensign Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]

Vinod had attached the rack to a metal frame. Three levels or racks holding a total of 21 Plants now. Each sprouting a small tree of cables and pipes to regulate soil moisture and attach a varying degree of sensors. Some even intertwined carefully with the roots of the flora now held in their positions for the forseeable future.

Just as teh last rack clicked into position he heard the doors to the Lab open. Curios as to who would be here at this hour and while the rest of the Science Staff was busy with their big experiment he looked up from his work. It could be someone from another department after all that needed help with something. Even if he dreaded leaving his project, as the only available pair of hands he would have no choice but to be of service.

All the greater was his relief to see Crewman V'letr S't'kal T'Rea slip into the Room and take her own station. Focusing back on his project her question took him yet again with a bit of surprise. The rest of the Deparment were of course interested in his work just as he took interest in what they were doing but he had assumed their interest being so thoroughly ensnared by the asteroid that none of them paid much attention at this moment to his ongoing work.

"I am working on a series of soil compability and envirmental resiliance studies. The Andorian cactii are some of the most resiliant once I have ever seen. Maybe we can one day use them in biosphere stabilisation or even low level terraforming effort after the initial pioneer plant phase?"

Considering for a second:

"Do you want to join me, I could use some hands with preparing some nutrient solutions to simulate various stages of the terraforming process."

[[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]]

M'nia cut the panel. She had come prepared. It didn't take all that long to get it cut. "Ok doc. Panel cut. Anything else you need or that I can do for you?"  The caitian asked. he wasn't very knowledgeable about medical matters. Anything engineering, now that was her specialty. Her tail flicked back and forth as she waited for the answer.

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Deck 11 | Access Corridor 14]

Kanes beaten up form, now released from its fusion with the ship's bones, fell into the Doctors arms. Not a sound escaping from his lips, not a good sign in her book.

Giving him a set of various antiseptics to prevent further infection to the wound on his hands before he would reach sickbay, Dr. Phlome tapped her combadge to initiate a site to site transport. It would be a much safer way than taking the Lift back.

Just as she was about to initiate the transport, the surrounding lights dimmed, and the computer echoed only an error noise. A second later, the captain's voice came from the speaker in the wall, announcing an order to evacuate the lower decks and informing them of the power being cut.

"I guess I could use another hand. We need to bring him to Sickbay and with transports offline here I don't think I can keep him stable until we get power back."

[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]

Crewman T'Rea had been alone in Science Lab 1 since Ensign Kedan's abrupt departure to repair the forward sensor array some time ago. In her short time on the Discovery (and short time in Starfleet as a whole), T'Rea had found that very few things happening on the Bridge (or indeed anywhere else on the ship) had a direct impact on her day to day activities, and so far today was no exception. Her assigned duty for the day was monitoring Ensign Rajagopalan's ongoing experiment and preparing the relevant cell cultures which she diligently continue.... But really, the experiment nearly monitored itself, and it was only natural that her curiosity would eventually draw her across the empty room to Kedan's abandoned terminal, still displaying a live feed of data form the forward sensor array along side the historical data of a no-longer-transmitting probe.  Intriguing. She was by no means a physicists, but she had at least taken the mandatory introductory courses in quantum and particle physics during her time at the Vulcan Science Academy several decades ago, and that was enough to comprehend just how unusual the data in front of her was. She tapped on the screen and typed out a few commands to apply a fast Fourier transform the the final minute of probe data and---

The screen in front of her flickered and then faded to black, and the lab's ambient lighting followed suit. An eerie silence descended as at least a dozen different vacuum pumps, motors, freezers and the likes wound down to nothing or stopped outright. She sat silently for one heartbeat, two,... and then the single emergency light flickered to life, followed by an automated message announcing that power had been deliberately cut to non-essential systems. "Please enact any emergency shutdown procedures as stipulated in the departmental safety protocol," the computer intoned and T'Rea found herself automatically complying, making a circuit around the lab to engage manual hermetic seals on storage areas for biological hazards, and reactivating one of the EPS taps (which provided power to keep Kedan's latest materials experiment atomically stable via external cooling) with an override code.

Tasks completed, she was still for a moment, but there was nothing left to do here and soon she followed the illuminated path out the door and into the hall, similarly lit only by sparse emergency lighting. She turned left and tried not to think about how much of a relief it felt to see Kedan step out of the Stellar Cartography Lab (presumably now also without power) in front of her. "Ensign," she greeted him with a respectful nod, but the unspoken request for guidance was probably obvious. She'd never experienced a true emergency on a ship before.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Stellar Cartography]

All the screens, all the panels and consoles suddenly went dark. Only dim emergency lights on the ground and along the cardinal walls springing to life, creating an almost scary atmosphere in the familiar room. On the screens, the shutdown notice flashed shortly before the computer announced the Captain's orders to everyone.

Mild annoyance filled Kedans head. They or course had trained for these scenarios. Discoveries lockdown procedures were particular. With the Ship being able to split into three parts and each part needing to be able to operate independent of each other, the ship's power grids were not easy to shut down, resulting in entire sections needing to be shut down if they were not to overload local power nodes.

Pressing a quick series of buttons, he transferred the station's functions to the backup locations. Then the station locked itself fully, turning into a fancy looking box and plastic, alloys and silicone.

Leaving the spacious room behind, he went into the corridor. A long line of other Crewmembers already lining it, on their way to the lifts to get to their backup stations and emergency quarters in the primary hull. On the corridor he walked into Crewman T'Rea. She looked completely cool in the face the current situation, he was unsure if it was because of her having looked over the emergency protocols recently or if it was simply her Vulcan Nature.

"Crewman, seems like we have to relocate. I am not sure if you have been briefed on the emergency stations yet. If you want to you can come with me."

Having been pushed further down by the mass of Personnel needing to relocate they soon found themselves in the Lift on their way to Deck 5.

[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]

The small room was adjacent to auxilliary Engineering. Normally it would not have been in use or only in case someone really needed computer access and every single possible Lab and Work Space having been taken already. Now it was filled with many persons in teal uniform. Trying to get the computers started up and connected to the main Science Databases and Program Chache. Among them also Kedan too.

Turning to Crewman T'Rea he asked for her help:

"Could you please try to load up the data from Astrometrics, I think we could need its data to get out of whatever is happening here."

[USS Discovery | Deck 6 | Officer's Mess]

1800 exactly. 2 Hours before the next shift change. The Officer's mess was filled with many people trying to get something to eat before another 8-Hour Shift. Ramort was one of them. He just had ended a 6-Hour run in the Lab, running simulations with a new sensor matrix, for which the blueprints had just arrived from Star Fleet Experimental Corps 25.

Finally having his turn at the Replicator, he ordered a hearty bouillon, a French onion cake and a new soda he hadn't tried before to contrast the selection. The Replicator nested into the Wall, materialising the Food within only a second. A steaming hot bowl and a cake on a plate appeared in a cloud of blue light.

Taking the tablet he looked through the room to search for an open table. Nearly all spots were taken already. Only at the door there still was an opening on a Table.

Walking over to the free spot he recognised the other person sitting at the table. It was Lieutenant Lorut Vila. He had worked with her on multiple occasion so far while on duty but never found the time to much in his free time. Unsure if she would allow him to the spot still free he approached carefully:

"Sorry to bother you Lieutenant. Is that spot still free?"

It looked like she was doing something on her PADD at the moment so he hoped he hadn't just interupted her in some important work.

"Doc, I'm an engineer. Can I separate that panel? You better believe i can. As for power, not much there anyway. I cut off the power as soon as  heard. I just restored enough to open the door. Say the word and I'll have it all shut down!" M'nia said with a flick of her tail. The caitian engineer was very confident. "I agree about separating him from it right now doc. Bess to do that in sickbay with the proper equipment."

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Deck 11 | Access Corridor 14]

"Ok, I will count down from 3. On three please cut the panel. I will stabilize his arm to prevent it from .. tearing.

3
2
1

NOW!"

On her mark, she grabbed Officer Kanes arm. Preventing it from crashing down as the panel came off.

[Fleet Applications - Join Here!]

**Class**: Commissioned

**Character Name**Madelin Darran

**Character Age**: 27

**Character DOB**: April 15, 2396

**Character Image**:

**Character Species**: Human

**Gender**: Female

**Character Family**:
- **Father**: Dr. Marcus T'Vren
- **Mother**: Dr. Liana T'Vren

**Character Bio**:
Madelin Darran, inspired by her parents' dedication during a devastating earthquake, became a doctor to help others. Excelling at Starfleet Academy, she was commissioned as an officer and now serves as a medical officer and quartermaster on the USS Horizon. Driven by a desire to protect her crew, she confidently ensures they have everything they need.

Your ATC is up and ready for you to start!

https://shadowfleet.org/forum/medical-class/medical-atc-level-1-madelin-darran/

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

[...]

The ship's alerts went off at that point; the radiation levels in the region were starting to increase.  The sensor buoys launched sparked as the radiation reached high levels, and the buoys were destroyed. The shield degradation was starting to accelerate again, but slowly.  The Captain rushed back to the science station with McNair, while he handled the power systems that had caused an issue elsewhere on the ship.

[...]

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

While still considering the state of their mission and continuing his scans of ever more pages of the stack of paper that made up the Terms of Service in his hands he suddenly felt something shift in his surroundings.

It was just a moment. A fleeting splinter of time, so short it became almost inconceivable. But it had happened. He was sure of it.

He had been looking down at his tricorder to see how the progress with the current scan was coming along when he could have sworn the lighting changed. From the edge of his field of vision, he believed to have seen the sky changing colour. From a beautiful rich blue to a greyish green. Not longer than it took his brain to receive this information did this impression last.

Looking at his crewmates, he believed to see them like he knew them to be below their holo images for a second. Shirts replaced with clean star fleet uniforms, leis replaced with polished golden and silver pins instead. Features not really human coming forward on the Commanders faces.

But the moment came and went again. Everything was back to normal. Ramort really questioned if he was loosing it.

Trying to reassure himself, he asked the others:

"Please tell me I wasn't the only one who just saw this?"

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Stellar Cartography]

Having entered a Labspace that hopefully would allow him to get better access to the Probes data and more direct computer access, the Stellar Cartography seemed like a logical choice.

The large room was dominated by the giant holo-screen on the far side of the room. The walls adorned by more screens and smaller workstations. Long collums of raw sensor data from all over the hull of the ship converging in this location to be reconstructed into a high definition display of the system they were currently in.

The door had barely closed behind him that he heard a loud alarm noise. Radiation warning flashing on most screens now. The Ensign barely focused on them as he saw something else, something very strange.

The planet, covered by an impenetrable shield, glitched for a second, for lag of a better word. Its invincible dome loosing its form for what the computer recorded as only half a second, before takings its unbreakable form again.

"Kedan to Bridge, not sure if you just saw this, but the planet just glitched. Something seems to be going on other there." 

Congrats to everyone! Amazing posts everyone. It's a lot of fun to write with you all!

[[Erewhon - En route to Transport Site]]

[USS Discovery | Bridge]

Buck grimanced, chewing on the inside of his lip as he thought about what Kedan had to say about the quantum fluctations. At least it showed that he wasn't seeing things and such that it was confirmed by someone not on the bridge and was qualified in reading the data sent back from the probe. Though it seemed that the Captain had something to say, and for Kedan, he went:  Standby Ensign

[...]

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Forward Sensor Module Control Chamber]

"Standing by, if you need anything else from me, call upon us!" 

Climbing out of the small room, he began to make his way back to the Lab Section. If he could be of any use, it would be there with the sensors as much fixed as possible for now.

(Ramort, Lek, Tanner & Rayek)
[Erewhon - En route to Transport Site]

Rayek nodded as she confirmed reaching the other members of the Away Team.  Soon they would be gathered together.  "Thank you, Lieutenant.".  As she commented her own personal impression about the place, Rayek couldn't fault her.  He also felt ill-at-ease here.  His attention turned then to Ramort and then Lek as each responded to Lachlyn's remark.

Rayek considered Ramort's hypothesis.  It made sense.  Remaining polite had been intention all along but sometimes when in the presence of abuse, people tended to react emotionally and without forethought.

"Unfortunately Lek, Starfleet mandate is not 'avoid contact with new civilizations when they don't meet our expectations and sensibilities'.  We need to be cautious however, and observe them more - all while maintaining a polite demeanor."

As he said this the group arrived at the Transport Site, which seemed to be close to the center of the Marketplace.

T'Sana addressed the gathered Away Team.  "Please remain here while the Facility Coordinator looks into your claims and the issue with the Terms of Service.  Speak my name if you require assistance."  After stating that she disappeared.

Rayek took up a position close to the main thoroughfare to observe.

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | City Center | Landing Site]

Hearing the Commander's Words, he wondered: What exactly were the limits of their mission. He was growing more and more sure he would write a full report for the bio ethic panel of the Star Fleet Science Panel at this point, but none of that would actually help anyone on this station.

"Declearing the system of limits might be out of the questions, but we should inform the Diplomatic Corps not to send Human Envoys. Given their questionable relationship to their own humans."

[Erewhon]

Malik raised an eyebrow at Tammy's response. "I see. Well thank you Tammy, but I must take my leave."

He stood and joined Hansen to rendezvous back with the commander. They appeared tense, Lek most of all. He wondered what had happened.

"Sir, these humans believe they are all on Earth and haven't heard of the Federation. I've yet to meet a human who wasn't aware of this, something appears to be off."

Not even knowing what the Federation was? That should not have been possible. They hadn't left behind the border region too far behind and their reputation should carry further than the confines of their own jurisdiction.

Unless of course the aliens deprived the humans of any kind of basic information. Especially strange considering to which lengths they had gone to create an environment that resembled earth so closely.

"I wish we could get a chance to talk to one of the humans here without any supervision. We don't know what tech is in these bracelets and a microphone is not out of the questions. I am sure they could shine some light on what is happening here."

"Mcnair, it's m'nia. I'm on site. Think I can bypass the bad circuits and get the door open. I shut down the power to the area so it won't get any worse for now. I'd really like medical on hand when we get him out. Don't know how badly he's hurt."

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Deck 12 | Access Corridor 14]

The Denobulan rushed to her feet as soon as she heard the call over comms. There had been multiple wounded from the effects of shorted out system all over the Ship but none in critical condition so far. At least none that had their way back into sickbay yet.

It seemed this now had changed on Deck 12. Grabbing a large medkit in one hand and another traume kit in the other, she ran out of Sickbay to the nearest Lift. Once inside, shoving two confused looking crewmen to the side and ordering.
"Computer, Emergency Medical Overwrite. To Deck 12 as close to Access Corridor 14 as possible.", the computer following by pushing past the usual speed limits on turbo lifts and taking some reserved lanes through the scaffolding of the ship, reserved for Emergencies or important personnel.

Arriving at the site, she left the lift without looking back. The two people behind her would have to find their way to their original destination without her. It mattered not they might be late, every second could decide if a person died or lived here.

Once in the Access Corridor, she took quick note of the situation. Kane's hand seemed to almost have merged with the conduit. Another two women in golden uniforms stood around his pain twisted form.

Paying no mind to rank in this second she quickly ordered: "Lieutenant, I will stabilize his body, once I have him cut off the remaining power flow to the conduit on my mark. Crewman, please grab the head and neck and stabilize them so he does not suffer additional head trauma any further than he might have already."

Casting only a quick glance at the other two to see if they followed his directions, she prepared some hyposprays and began to inject Kane with some potent sedatives.
As she prepared to give them the signal to cut the power and grab hold of the Petty Officer he realized something.
"I don't think any of you can separate that panel from the rest of the wall? I don't think we should separate him from it while he is still merged with it?"

[Crwm. M'ura]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 2]

His team was loading the tanks with an assortment of chemicals. Acids to be vaporized. Bases to automatically clean trays and neutralize any remaining assets. Salts to filter gaseous releases from the experiment, and some radioactive isotopes to map the structure of certain potential subspace structures. They had it all.

They had assembled a beautiful Frankenstein of a contraption here. Once everything was loaded up, most of the manual work would be carried out automatically. They would be able to focus on controlling the processes and analysing the data completely.

In his previous life as a daystrom material consultant he had seen prototypes of similar concepts but never had the option to see one in person. They still were not ready for standartisation and general rollout but he was happy the daystrom board had agreed to his proposal to release the plans for an early version and test them in a live enviroment.

Slotting in the last of the sealed flasks with concentrated hydrochloride acid he looked over to see Ramorts team coming out of storage, A tablet with multiple small metal slabs in their hands.

[Mission Title]

Mission Title: Built on sand

Synopsis: The USS Ship is dispatched to Planet, a pre-warp planet that has recently experienced increasingly severe seismic and volcanic activity. Planet is home to a civilization on the cusp of industrialization, but the planet's sudden instability threatens to wipe out all life on the surface within days. Federation scientists have flagged the planet's tectonic instability as unnatural, raising concerns about interference from an unknown source. The crew of the Ship must investigate the cause, which turns out to be an ancient subterranean facility, and confront the dilemma of whether to intervene and save the civilization by using this technology—or allow the natural course of events to unfold, honouring the Federation's Prime Directive.

Starting Point: The Ship arrives in orbit around Planet, detecting seismic and volcanic activity that is accelerating in intensity. Initial scans show extreme geological instability that could lead to a planetary collapse. The crew is under pressure to find the source of the instability and assess whether intervention is necessary, while trying to maintain the Prime Directive.
End Goal:The mission concludes with the crew either using ancient alien technology to stabilize the planet's core or grappling with the consequences of allowing the planet's natural disaster to unfold, leading to the collapse of the planets civilization.

Story points that must be passed?:
- Ship arrives in orbit and has to detect and find our what is going on with the planet.
- Crew realised that the tectonic events aren't natural. A landing party is formed to investigate in person since volcanic ash in the atmosphere is interfering with sensors
- Ship has to evade volcanic material catapulted into the atmosphere and threatening to hit the ship, countermeasures have to be implemented
- After landing the Away team has to navigate the unstable planetary surface.
- Finding Survivors of the pre-warp civilization on the surface. Avoid breaching the prime directive if possible
- (possible:) Setting up and coordinating evacuation efforts from orbit. Flying out wounded Aliens.
- (Setting up a holographic space to prevent the aliens learning they are on a space ship. Treating the Aliens there.)
- Discovery of the epicentre/hotspot of tectonic activity. Upon arriving there, discovering the shielded subterranean ruins.
- Gain access to the buried facility.
- Entering the Ruins, the team has to make sense of the alien technology present there.
- Navigating the Ruins to find the control room.
- Making sense of the Alien technology to repair it or shut it down.
- Choice: Intervene to use the technology to attempt to stabilize the planet (Risky since tech is not fully understood) or shut the tech down for good (natural processes reassert themselves but large parts of the surface get destroyed and millions die)
- Safely return to the Ship

Departments: (To make sure everyone has something to do.)
- Flight: Safely navigate the shifting electromagnetic field of the planet, landing the shuttle safely through the troubled atmosphere, assist in potential evacuations
- Engineering: Modify Away Team gear to withstand the extreme environment, Repair the ship if hit by volcanic discharges, repair the alien facility, develop a way to shut the tech down
- Operations: Assist with preparing the away teams gear, navigating the ships and teams impact on the native population, setting up the holographic enclosure, maintaining communication between ship and team through the ionised atmosphere, (set up computer link between facility and ship to take over its functions remotely)
- Security and tactical: Protect the Away team from fanatic natives, disarm traps in the ruins, prevent the natives and scared fauna from entering the ruins, prevent breaches of the holo enclosure
- Medical: Inoculate the away team against potential radiation released by the ruins, treat poisoning from volcanic gases, prepare for evacuation of native population, treat injuries by the away teams and the injured aliens
- Science: analysis of seismic data, assist engineering with figuring out the ancient tech, analyse traces of the ancient aliens culture left in the ruins to understand why they interfered with the planets' tectonics, assist ops in navigating the cultural fallout from their presence on the planet

Tanner lifted her brow at Lek's comment and a small smirk formed.

"Given your quick wit, I would suggest avoiding contact with them as well. Your sweetest setting still might cause offence."

With a glance to Rayek and Ramort, Tanner seemed to hesitate before addressing a few comments. Her eyes glanced about as if to check for ears.

"This is a business, first and foremost. The experience and how it utilizes clones makes sense financially. They are properties used to enhance as needed. People expect something when they pay for it and they won't risk mucking it up. The customer comes first. Hmm?"

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | City Center]

Yet another time he felt as if ice had been injected into his blood, making him almost shiver in place. The suggestion.. but he couldn't deny Tanners logic. Why go through the effort of cloning humans if they possessed such advanced holo tech. The only logical answer seemed to be that they were mere show pieces. Little more than the pots of flowers and artful drawings he had seen in the VIP Quarters once, arranged in the apartments to make them seem lived in. To give depth to an illusion that was designed to fool those passing through but that crumbeled upon closer inspection.

And inspected they had. And so they had seen. The illusion dispelled, the magic shattered. The ugly face of reality revealed to the. Slavery of intelligent being.

Looking around, he saw multiple "guest" conversing with what might be holograms or real human beings. They were laughing, arguing, buying and making casual small talk. Not concerned in the slightest with what was going on around them. The bliss of seeming innocence. But did they really not know?

[City Center - Erewhon]

Lek shrugged at the lieutenant's comments, completely unrepentant.

"These people are vile. They don't deserve sweetness. I'd like for the entire system to be tagged off limits to prevent their poisonous society from spreading."

"This is above my paygrade but I think I have to agree. How can we risk more federation citizens coming here. What if the next holiday trend turns out to be Vulcan?"

turning to the Lieutenant:

"I really don't want to see our colleagues turned into the next generation of potted plants for everyones amusement."