Previously on USS Pioneer

Our away team boarded the converted cruise ship SS Christie to investigate the murder of a passenger. After some investigation, it quickly became apparent that the victim was some sort of undercover operator for an unknown polity. They discover a Reman subspace beacon, as well as a device of Romulan origin that broadcasts their location before they can deactivate it. The team have also caught the witnesses in some falsifications and fabrications when questioned and are beginning to suspect the victim may have been aboard to acquire or eliminate a target. As they begin to plan their next steps an alert sounds, someone is trying to escape via a shuttle. 

Act 1 – It’s a very Klingon thing to do.

Shaw remains in the lounge whilst the rest of the team, (Kaz, Yupaz, Gik & Lane) make their way down to the shuttle bay to render assistance. When they arrive the shuttle bay doors are beginning to open for a small shuttle pod to escape, it is already released from its magnetic constrictors and is airborne. Noticing the team’s arrival, the shuttle’s occupants disable the safety protocols and Lane realises the forcefield will collapse when the door opens, completely exposing the bay to the void of space. Yupaz leaps from the balcony, slides down a ladder and begins crossing the bay to some nearby worker bees, he fires his phaser in an attempt to force the shuttlepod’s access door to open but misses, striking the thrusters instead. Kaz, realising they will all be exposed to the vacuum when the field drops, quickly distributes emergency oxygen from a nearby supply cabinet to the team before joining Lane and Gik in the nearby control room. Here Lane is attempting to reverse the opening of the shuttle doors but is unable to break the complicated and unfamiliar override programming, Gik manages to delay the doors by causing them to stall but realises he is actively being countered by a passenger aboard the shuttle pod. All four members of the team see into the cab and see two synths behind the controls. Seeing Gik’s ploy to delay the doors failing Yupaz leaps into a worker bee and engages the engines at full thrust, crashing into the side of the shuttlepod and pushing it into the corner of the shuttlebay He states this was the Klingon thing to do. He then leaps from the worker bee and rushes to a nearby set of heavy corridor doors as the exterior bay doors continue to rise, he makes it to the corridor, channelling his athletic past at the academy where he won bronze in the 500m.  (GM Note: he rolled a really lucky roll). 

As the doors finally reach an open state the programming takes hold and the bay is vented into space by the failing forcefield. The remains of the worker bee are blown out into space along with the crashed shuttlepod and its occupants. The team in the control room are safe as emergency forcefields engage, Yupaz is safe in the corridor outside. Kaz contacts Pioneer and warns them of the escaping Synths, as the sleek form of the Intrepid class ship comes into view through the open bay doors they watch as it captures the shuttle in a tractor beam and brings it aboard for investigation. The team leave the bay and begins towards Engineering to question engineer Nickul about the synths. Kaz splits off from the group to go help Shaw in his enquiries. 

Act 2 – Do you hear an accent?

Whilst the team engage the synths in the shuttle bay, Shaw continues his interviews with the witnesses after Alianna offers him information that shows Captain Hiskell is not who he appears. She presents information, whoich Shaw is able to confirm with Pioneer’s database, that Hiskell did not serve with any great glory but was a mid-level captain, with some notable service during the Dominion War but is otherwise not particularly well known or noteworthy. He is also of Hispanic heritage and the man aboard SS Christie, whilst looking similar is very definitely not the same person. Shaw attempts to butter the man up with questions regarding his earlier statements about serving aboard DS9, claiming he helped Commander Sisko with a Bajoran extremist cell aboard the station, casting a disapproving glance to the Bajoran widow across the room. Whilst his dates and references are consistent with historical events there is no note on file that Hiskell was aboard the station at the time of the short-lived Bajoran civil uprising in 2370. Shaw presents this to the retired captain who brushes it off as an oversight, ‘Sisko had more important things to be doing than talking about me’. 

Hoping to move the Captain to a more secure location, Shaw asks Hiskell to accompany him to Sickbay to answer some questions, the Captain is reluctant but eventually agrees. As the pair make their way out of the lounge Shaw informs Kaz of their plans and that he will meet them in Sickbay. Whilst journeying down a deserted corridor Shaw feels a small pressure on his neck and then becomes woozy and confused, as he falls to the ground he sees a sneering Hiskell standing with a hypospray in hand. 

“Pathetic Humans,” Hiskell mutters before quickly departing. Leaning into his linguistic skills just before he falls unconscious, Shaw identifies a familiar tone and has sudden flashbacks to hearing recordings of Cardassian propaganda speeches during the Dominion War, reminding him strongly of Gul Dukat’s superiorist tone. (GM Note again, a really, really lucky roll.) It seems a Cardassian operative may also be on board. Arriving moments later Kaz finds Shaw and is able to stabilise him, before informing the team there may be a security risk. 

Act 3 – Romulans in the engine room!

As Yupaz, Lane and Gik arrive outside Engineering they hear a commotion and the sounds of disruptor fire. They plan a three-pronged approach into the room with Yupaz and Gik entering from the side entrances onto the upper balconies whilst Lane enters through the main doors; on the signal they all enter, taking the three Romulan assailants by surprise. As they enter they see Chief Nickul cornered by the Romulans with the subspace beacon clutched in her hands, she is being protected by two synths whilst two more are attempting to block the attackers. Gik takes a run at the fighter on his balcony, pushing him over the small balcony edge with his own body and landing on the floor of the engineering bay, the Romulan is heavily injured by still alive, having been a cushion for the Saurian’s body. At the same time, Yupaz fires several shots at the Romulan on his balcony, one makes contact but does not stun the Uhlan, before he can fire again the man drops down a ladder and attempts to relocate to a better position near his allies. Lane provides suppressing phaser fire from the doorway, inflicting minor damage on the Centurion Commander who is better armed and manages to land some strikes near Chief Nickul before summoning reinforcements in the form of two more Uhlans. Unfortunately, the two forward synths are in range of these reinforcements and begin beating them as they materialise, interrupting the transporter sequence and causing the incoming Romulan’s to disintegrate violently.

Seeing they are at a disadvantage the lead Centurion attempts to fire directly at the subspace beacon to destroy it. Yupaz sees this and leaps from the balcony to interrupt the Centurion’s line of sight, he succeeds and thanks to his Klingon physiology and security training takes only minor injuries as he hits the ground (GM Note: lucky rolls come in threes). The centurion’s line of sight is distracted long enough for Shaw to fire on him, disarming him. 

The trio question him as the only conscious raider but he is unwilling to divulge much information outside of the fact they are not alone, a warbird follows them and they will not be allowed to make it to their next destination Coppelius. He refuses to say anymore. The team take him into custody. 

Act 4 – You may call me Sindel

A short time passes and the team are assembled in the Christie‘s meeting room, they update each other and trade theories whilst questioning Amarilla about several unusual happenings. They establish the following information;

• A search has been undertaken aboard SS Christie for the imposter Captain Hiskell, there is no trace of him and sensors indicate that no launches have occurred from the ship. There is no indication of transporter signatures but the Romulans also managed to avoid detection, there is a suspicion internal sensors have been tampered with. 
• Pioneer is patrolling the nearby area but does not hold out much hope of discovering a vessel if it is cloaked without aggressive investigation methods such as blind fire. They have requested more immediate assistance from Starfleet. Assets are currently being redeployed. 
• The two synths have been secured by Pioneer and are available for questioning. As are the two captured Romulans, only one is conscious. 

During the questioning, Amarilla confirms their next stop is near Coppelius, which is extremely important to the ship and its owners. After invoking several Federation security statutes and suggesting that this might now become a Starfleet Security matter, Amarilla calls a waiting android into the room. This android reveals himself to be called Sindel and he speaks for the androids aboard, all of whom are self-aware, sentient and in hiding. 

They explain that since the removal of the synth ban, many units have walked the line between true sentience and simple thinking machines. Despite the revelation of the Tal Shiar’s involvement in the Attack of Mars there is still a great deal of stigma and distrust surrounding synthetic beings and many are attempting to flee to Coppelius to join their Soong-type android brethren. The SS Christie was purchased and re-commissioned as a cruise liner to provide an undercover travel method to fleeing synthetics from around Federation space, delivering them safely to Copellius without suspicion. Sindel believes that the Romulan agents were using the beacon to track their path and root out groups of synths as well as gain access to Copellius, he notes they will not be willing to let the evidence of their further illegal activities get into Federation hands. 

The room comes to realise that now the Tal Shiar plot has been discovered and with only Pioneer as their guardian, they are in grave danger.