The only way
to find out what happened is to go down there in the shuttle. But John
is being cauties. Lets send a probe. It crashes into the planet, no
signal from the probe reaches them. How about if we hang it with a
cable. Clancy works on it. Drop the probe through the cloud, the cable
breaks. Let's try it again: the cable breaks again. ("I knew we should
have brought a real engineer.") Looks like we'll have to use the
shuttle. Maybe a tangential approach so that if something goes wrong
the shuttle will skip off the atmosphere and back into space, or burn
up. Well, can't think of anything better to do.
Once past the purple haze power cuts out and the shuttle crash lands
near an alien city. Now they register a distress beacon from the city.
Everybody goes and soon they can hear cries for help. They come upon
two humans being beset by a trio of loathsome Klingons. John tries to
warn them off, but the Klingons look ready to start a gun-fight. But
the Kzinti cat-slaves strike first (that's what happens when you give
them a weapon) as they fire at the Klingons though they miss because
they're only cat-slaves. The players quickly stun the Klingons, though
one falls down a crevice to his death.
The two humans are Professor X and his daughter, Esmerelda. They're so
glad to see Federation people at last. They get back to the city, where
it's safe. There the crew also meets Igor, Professor X's assistant. So
what's going on? The humans have been living here for 20 years, in fact
Esmerelda was born here. But the planet's natural radiation killed the
rest before the Professor was able to use one of the alien healing
devices to cure the three of them.
|
The Klingons
arrived a couple of months ago. Friendly parley turned hostile as the
treacherous Klingons stole the power crystal to the healing device. The
Klingons were here to test a new weapon, which created the purple haze
around the planet. But there was dissension in the ranks and the 2nd in
command staged a mutiny, stranding the captain and a few men on the
planet. Since then it's been a game of hide-and-seek, though the city
does have a defense shield that keeps the Klingons outside.
Without the power crystal they'll all soon die from the radiation. What
about fixing the shuttle? Maybe we can generate power from some other
crystals (each crystal seems to be attuned to a specific item). After
much testing, Clancy (the closest thing to a real engineer) thinks he's
got it. So they leave the humans and cat-slaves behind and the three
Starfleet officers make their way back to the shuttle. There is a
Klingon guard there, who is easily driven off.
Clancy and Krystal go inside to fix the engine. But it's a trap! Vorkal
steps out from behind some machinery. "So Lieutenant Evans, it seems
our paths cross again." Meanwhile, John and a Klingon get into a
furious point-blank phaser battle in the confines of the shuttle. They
end up practically embracing, their guns pointed at their heads. Vorkal
though is not here to fight, but to present the truth.
Another Starfleet officer makes his entrance. Lieutenant Summers, from
the Braun. It seems that Professor X had been lying to the characters.
It was the Professor who murdered the others with his evil machine. He
was conducting unholy experiments to force the humans into the next
evolutionary step. The Klingons only arrived here to make repairs after
their last battle and Professor X used another alien weapon to destroy
their ship, producing the purple haze now around the planet.
|