Game session: 4/23/18

Aaron dimly recalls reports of a Matruse Device, but Kelly quickly relates the details of the dig on Malichor V and Ensign Itaxa zh’Matruse’s unfortunate discovery. Kimball and Aaron both wonder aloud if the devices are security measures, and Kelly admits they never found anything worth protecting at the original dig site nine years ago. However, they did extract the device and Starfleet analyzed it; the current suspicion is the device is Iconian. Shil’vala reports, “Whoever built it, it’s killed one of the Bajoran refugees.” Kelly closes his eyes and states the hapless Bajoran likely died of system shock. Shil’vala adds, “Transport enhancers are in place, captain.” Aaron asks, “Is this something we don’t want to fall into other people’s hands?” Kelly outlines a scenario where the Cardassians could discover the device and key their tricorders to read as friendly, extract it, and turn it into a high-end pain stick.

That’s enough for Aaron, who asks, “Helm, how long until the other Cardassian ships arrive?” Eleven responds, “Two hours, ten minutes at their present speed.” Kimball asks how long Kelly needs to extract the device; Kelly admits, “Last time, it took eight hours, but we didn’t have a transporter available.” They contemplate beaming the device out of the bedrock but acknowledge it could destabilize the ruins. Aaron decides the device will have to be destroyed if it can’t be salvaged; Kelly registers his regret but not a protest. Shil’vala offers to beam up to the Boston to take command; Aaron accepts but instructs her to start beaming up the Bajorans as well. She acknowledges and cuts the channel.

A second later, Ten reports Shil’vala has beamed up alone, likely testing the pattern enhancers. Aaron sighs but leads Kelly and Kimball off the bridge. Kimball grabs some explosive charges, and they arrive at transporter room one. Shil’vala is there with a female Denobulan, Master Chief Xax. Shil’vala reports the Bajorans are being loaded on the shuttles, as the transporters are still a little off. Xax does some realignments and then tells Aaron, “I have a lock on the enhancers, but the trip will be a bit uncomfortable. I will continue working on it.” Aaron accepts that and steps up to the transporter pad with Kelly and Kimball. Xax does a final recalibration and triggers the transporter. The three men feel a difference right away; the beam-down seems to take a second longer than normal and feels… itchy.

They rematerialize in one piece, however, and see the Bajoran refugees by the shuttles. Most are standing under their own power, but some are sitting, and one is covered by a blanket. Counselor M’Belaa lopes over on all fours with feral grace, but stands upright when she reaches them and reports, “Captain, fifty-three Bajoran refugees have been recovered. One fatality, and thirty-six are injured, ranging from old and improperly healed lacerations and broken bones to fresher wounds and all are suffering from prolonged malnutrition.”

Kelly muses, “They’ve been here for some time,” but M’Belaa shakes her head. She gently reminds Kelly of the poor conditions on Valo II, and he gets the implications after a few seconds. M’Belaa turns back to Aaron and continues her report, “The Cardassians hit the mountains with low level disruptor strikes, likely deployed to drive the Bajorans out as it destabilized the caverns. Lieutenant Anjohl has been a big help as a familiar face, and Lieutenant Kuraht has been invaluable tunneling through the rock to get to the scattered groups.” Aaron nods in acknowledgement, and gestures for M’Belaa to lead on. The Caitan turns and brings them into a cave few meters away, but Kimball sidles to the front.

As they descend into the cavern, Kelly says, “For the record, I had a theory that was unpopular and discarded by Starfleet.” M’Belaa brightens and says, Oh, the N.N.O.O. theory?” Startled, Kelly nods and outlines the basics of his “Not Nice Old Ones” theory, and how it ran counter to certain prejudices held by many within Starfleet and the diplomatic corps. Aaron dismisses that resistance and states, “I despise the ivory tower thinking. Let them come out here and see how it actually is.” Kelly’s respect for the captain increases dramatically in that moment, while Kimball jokes, “If there were no hostile aliens, why carry phasers and photon torpedoes? Without them, I’d be out of a job.” Aaron agrees and mutters, “The ability to speak does not denote intelligence.” M’Belaa retorts, “Case in point, the Pakleds.” The others shudder and Kelly retorts, “Counselor, I suspect there are those within our crew still suffering from the effects of our encounter.”

The away team continues their descent, with Kelly actively scanning for the Matruse wavefront. Kimball just sees rock, but Kelly and Aaron note the natural caverns give way to artificial ones, with faint tiling on the floor and walls. Kelly frowns as he notes the greater degradation here than at the site on Malichor V. He theorizes the harsher atmosphere and ion storms are to blame. Aaron makes a joke about his last archeological expedition and the loss of his left arm; Kelly eyes him and replies, “When things are less exciting, I want to have a discussion.” Aaron grins and nods. They continue, with Kimball in the lead. He unwittingly walks under the Matruse Device and angry red lights blaze into existence in a line along the walls and ceiling. He feels a faint burst of pain but backpedals out of the area of effect. He announces, “Found it!” Kelly drawls, “Yes, you did,” and Aaron retorts, “Good reflexes.” Kelly starts scanning, and data screeds on his tricorder. He frowns as he notes fluctuations within the device, which were not present at Malichor V.

M’Belaa cuts in, “Another potential problem: this thing apparently moves. This was not where the Bajoran died.” Frowning, Kelly adjusts his tricorder and scans again. He hisses in surprise when he discovers a second Matruse Device thirty meters further ahead. He checks behind them but finds nothing. M’Belaa wonders if this one activated when the first one triggered, and if they’re protecting an Iconian Gateway. Aaron comes to a decision and states, “Stand back, I’m going to try something.” They comply, but M’Belaa mutters, “I think I should register a protest or something.” Aaron snorts, “Noted,” and rolls up his sleeve. He sticks out his artificial left arm and walks gingerly into the Matruse Device. Kelly records everything on his tricorder, but Kimball points out, “Aren’t the Iconians and the T’Kon two different people, separated by hundreds of thousands of years?” Aaron nods and replies, “Yes, but it’s possible the Iconians found T’Kon technology and reverse-engineered it.”

Aaron feels a gentle tingle in his artificial arm, and then the first Matruse Device shuts down. The lights flicker to indigo before going out, and the wavefront ceases. Kelly tracks a shutdown command from this device to the second one, but frowns when he realizes the degradation has corrupted the devices. The second device does not shut down, but instead it flares to life, and they all see an angry red force field of lethal energy stretch across the corridor. He reports his findings as they carefully approach the second device. They can feel the energy output against their skin the closer they get, and Aaron’s arm twitches randomly. It’s not debilitating, but he notes it anyway. Kelly sighs and reports, “This thing is fluctuating radically. Our Bajoran fatality was wrong place, wrong time.”

Kimball decides it’s time for some good, old fashioned violence, and pulls out his phaser. He motions for the others to step way back and makes sure the charges he was carrying are also secured several meters away. Kelly steps up next to him and pulls out his phaser; they agree that Kelly takes the left side while Kimball takes the right. They fire simultaneously, and both beams strike their targets. The runes along the wall glow briefly before shorting out, and the second Matruse Device goes dormant. Kelly’s tricorder pings, and he realizes their blasts caused a feedback loop in the ancient system, and they have maybe an hour before the whole thing goes critical.

Aaron decides to head down further, aware of the new countdown looming over their heads. As they descend further, the decay vanishes, and they can clearly see the tiles now. Kelly wonders if the Matruse Devices have some sort of environmental effect, and then they reach a central chamber. The tiles here are pink marble and stretch across the floor and up the walls to about waist-height. The top portion of the walls in an ochre color, and the center of the chamber is dominated by an ancient control panel in a half-arc. The other half-arc is an Iconian Gateway, flickering rapidly between locations scattered throughout the galaxy! However, what truly draws their attention is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, missing a bite, on the control panel!

They approach the controls and the sandwich, and find it’s only been here an hour, it’s on a Romulan plate, and there is Romulan DNA in the bite. They then see the gateway flash to another control room, where a wild-haired Romulan scientist is looking around for something. Aaron whistles and holds up the sandwich. The Romulan’s head snaps up, he says, “Hey…”, and then the screen flickers to a different location. Kimball holds up the charges, but Aaron tells him to hold on for a moment. Kelly is running his tricorder over everything, but then notices the control panel is being hacked remotely! He warns everyone as he examines the console; he realizes he doesn’t know enough to stop it, but he is learning by observation.

The screen flickers back to the annoyed Romulan, who points a small device at them. A tiny tractor beam cuts through the gateway and grabs the sandwich, but it’s not strong enough to break Aaron’s grip. The Romulan looks really annoyed and demands his lunch. Aaron holds on to the sandwich and asks the Romulan where he is. The Romulan frowns and says, “That’s classified,” before pulling out a padd and noting, “Reminder, where the hell am I?” A few rejoinders back and forth later, and Aaron realizes this Romulan scientist is eccentric as all hell. The Romulan identifies himself only as 'Harold,'¹⁾ and notes, “There’s a power feedback loop at your location and it's building quickly. Did you shoot something?” Aaron admits he did as he fights to keep the sandwich, and Harold says, “Then we’re in a Mexican standoff. At least, I think that’s the proper idiom.” Kimball interjects, “Yes, it is,” and Harold looks pleased.

Aaron explains calmly that the Cardassians are inbound, and Harold frowns and concedes, “Oh, then you definitely want to destroy the gateway. Place your charges there, there, there, and at the apex of the roof.” He gestures as he talks, pointing out the specific locations, and Kelly realizes Harold is telling the unvarnished truth. Harold eyes things on his end and announces, “You have about forty-five minutes until catastrophic failure. Oh dear, I hope no one lives on that planet.” Kimball retorts, “No, it’s a Class-L piece of shit.” Harold grunts and idly asks, “By the way, are my shoes there?” The away team looks around and Aaron replies, “No.” Harold frowns but murmurs, “Damn, then they ended up in the Delta Quadrant.”

The away team eyes each other for a second and M’Belaa takes a few notes on her padd before Harold announces, “Okay, good news. Well, sort of. I’ve been able to reroute the feedback loop, so it doesn’t rip open the planet and send a shockwave through subspace, preventing warp travel in your sector forever. However, that drops the countdown to thirty minutes. Oh, is my niece there?” Aaron replies, “Uhm… nope.” M’Belaa grumbles about destroying an Iconian Gateway, but Kelly consoles her. Harold demands his sandwich now, and states, “Do you know how hard it is to get peanut butter in the Romulan Star Empire?” Aaron shrugs and releases the sandwich, which is hurled into the gateway by the mini-tractor beam.

The gateway flickers and resumes showing random destinations, so the away team starts setting the charges. M’Belaa grabs one and scampers up the walls to the apex point on the roof. She affixes the charge to the ceiling and races down as the others finish setting their charges. Kimball sets the timer for thirty minutes, but then the gateway crazes and a boot comes flying out! Kimball shrugs and grabs it and then a second boot also flies through the gateway. Kelly checks his tricorder and swears. He tells Aaron, “The first one came from somewhere in the Romulan Star Empire. The second from deep in the Delta Quadrant.” Kimball grabs the second boot.

Aaron orders everyone out after doing one last scan for life forms. The away team hauls ass, and they reach the first Matruse Device. Kelly hesitates, and estimates they have a five-minute gap to try and extract it, but Aaron orders, “No time. Keep moving.” They reach the outside of the cave and discover their shuttles and the Bajorans are gone. Aaron taps his combadge and snaps, “Four to beam up, now!” This time, their beam-up is smooth and untroubled, and they rematerialize in transporter room one. Aaron orders, “Helm, set a course, I don’t care where, but get us out of here, maximum warp!” They feel the Boston shudder and jump to maximum warp before they even get off the transporter pad, and they head for the bridge.

They exit the turbolift to the bridge and Commander Shil’vala stands up from the center chair and eyes Kimball and the boots. He claims, “War trophies,” and Kelly visibly grinds his teeth. Aaron orders all sensors back to their location at LV-397, and they watch on the viewscreen as the countdown reaches the zero mark – and the mountain range sinks. Aaron and the others realize Harold was successful in diminishing the explosion, and the Iconian technology is beyond the reach of the Cardassians. Kimball declares he will try and get DNA fragments from the boots, but frowns when he realizes the left one sloshes. He looks inside, and then pulls out a small flask. He pops it open and takes a deep sniff, confirming that the flask is filled with Romulan ale.

Aaron orders Eleven to drop out of warp, and for the senior staff to meet in the strategy room immediately. They all troop down, and Aaron realizes the Bynars can control the entire ship wherever they are. However, they are smiling widely as Kelly starts downloading all the data he collected planet-side, and he’s grinning right along with them. Kimball eyes the other boot and finds a packet of peanut butter. Once Hel-Torin and T’kora arrive, Aaron lays out what happened in the cave. He admits he didn’t sense any hostile intent from Harold, and believes he is a rogue element within the Romulan Star Empire. Kelly agrees, and points out he could have removed the Iconian tech, but instead he allowed it to be destroyed rather than allow it to fall into Cardassian hands. M’Belaa counters, “He’s also batshit crazy,” but Aaron shrugs.

T’kora grabs the flask from Kimball, pops it open, and dabs her finger into it. She samples the ale, rolls it around in her mouth, and declares, “This is a nobleman’s private stock. Very smooth. This is not the mass-produced garbage for the lower classes.” Aaron wonders, “And how do you know this?” T’kora retorts, “Because I’ve been in Starfleet for over sixty years, before the Tomed Incident and the closing of the borders?” Aaron concedes that point. Kimball asks if they’re going after the spy probe, and Aaron replies, “Not sure yet. I’m going to go down to cargo bay two and meet this Darrah Mace, and then reach out to Admiral Nechayev for orders.” Hel-Torin replies, “He’s been discharged, he was suffering from minor injuries and malnutrition, which I’ve treated. What I can’t treat is his obstinacy, which is about the size of this ship.” Aaron smirks.