Star Trek - The USS Darwin TNG - the FAQL v 1.00 ================================================ By Chris Adams Adapted from, and using the USS Darwin FAQL by Ian McDonald and Chris Adams "It is the twenty-fourth Century. These are the voyages of the USS Darwin, a ship of 600 explorers and scientists traversing the final frontier. Starfleet has joined forces with scientists from across and beyond the Federation, their mission to explore strange new worlds and lifeforms in the greatest adventure of all." 1 One-Minute Guide 2 Roleplaying in the Star Trek Universe and Starfleet 3 The USS Darwin 4 The People 5 The Deck-by-Deck Structure 6 The Rank-by-Rank Structure (including research projects) 7 The Drinking Game 8 The Episode Guide 1 One-Minute Guide ======================== "Star Trek - The Voyages of the USS Darwin" is the role-playing campaign we play at Starfleet Academy ULU Sector (ie ULU Star Trek society). It is set aboard a research starship in the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation just after the fateful battle with the Borg at Wolf 359. 2 Roleplaying in The Star Trek Universe and Starfleet =========================================================== Characters may have failings but THEY ARE GOOD GUYS. They are acting on behalf of the United Federation of Planets, bound by a Prime Directive of non-intervention in the development of other cultures, and expected to respect the civil rights of creatures they meet. This includes obtaining information from other creatures without the threat or use of physical violence. I like Gene's humanism in the shows and enjoy refereeing an idealistic idea of the future. No "Dirty Harry" types. (If your character have to do something that may be considered unethical, it may help them in the following court martial to have made a log entry about why they are doing it.) Of course this doesn't mean that the game will be extremely serious about starfleet protocol but the need to act in a starfleet style fashion does exist, even if only to keep the feel of the game. No Babylon 5 stlye paranoia in THIS mythos thanks very much. Of course there is room for conflict between characters - just look at the tv Trek. The utilitarian calculus of Spock , the addiction to risk of JT Kirk, the emotional humanitarianism of McCoy, the curiousity of Data, the sense of responsibility to someone distant in Worf, are all motivations which differentiate and individualize characters. The impression of the UFP gleaned from RPG publications and other people's ideas is that the UFP is a loose confederation. Military power and foreign policy tends to be centralised in the quasi-military starfleet. The police, judiciary and other aspects of social policy seem to be very delocalised. If you took the UN, funded it properly, gave it its own standing army and enabled it to ensure a minimum standard of civil liberties you might get something like the UFP on a smaller scale. According to ST:TNG Writer's/Director's guide (1987): "Starfleet is NOT a military organization....No saluting. We may hear the word 'Sir,' but it is intended as the same kind of courtesy used by junior and senior officers on commercial airliners....No stories about warfare with Klingons or Romulans and no stories with Vulcans." Granted the Romulan/Klingon/Vulcan rule has laxed, Starfleet is still basically non-military (except when they are cornered, like the Borg situation). The fourth season ST:TNG Writer's Technical Manual says to mentally merge NASA, the Coast Guard and research ships like Calypso to gain a concept of the Enterprise's mission. However, after Wolf 359, starfleet became more militarily minded. For instance the eventual building of the Defiant, a pure warship, is evidence of that. The Darwin is a scientific vessel but with a military capability if required. For ideas of how to address crew, watch ST:TNG. Inevitably, referees will vary on the emphasis they place on the authorities' above the Darwin. With me, they will ensure that the characters protect the 'ideals of the UFP'. And give them the orders. Most UFP personnel are shown in the series as looking very human (but this doesn't mean they are all of Earth stock - Alpha Centurans, for example, are biological humans orginating on Alpha Centuri). There is a large minority of humanoid (=humans wearing makeup or costumes) UFP races, most described in the ST:RPG 'officer's guide'. The best known of these are the Vulcans. Of course, this is set in The Next Generation era, hence Betazoids, Bajorans and just about any Federation race that is playable will be considered O.K. for characters. This is, of course, only a guideline. There are also many independant races and beings within and on the fringes of Federation space, who may or may not obey the laws of physics as we know them in the 20th century. You are welcome to invent a new race of your character - it adds to the sense of mystery. Just no Hortas. Or tribbles at the helm. Or tellarite barbers. Or Darmok communications officers. Finally, a word on Stardates. There are two conflicting stardate systems - FASA (which is logical, and based on the year) and the one in the Star Trek movies (which is simply trying to make them sound alright without any real system). As FASA are based on sets of dates that disagree with the Star Trek universe as in the movies and TV series, we are using those in TNG. As much as we can work them out. 3 The USS Darwin ====================== The USS Darwin (NCC-8577-B) is conceived as a large research vessel operating within Starfleet. A Nebula Class vessel, she is well armed, but equipped with an extremely sensitive Sensor Pod to reflect the Scientific nature of her mission. Being a Nebula Class vessel, this sensor pod can be changed easily at any starbase. The research projects being undertaken by the scientific teams sometimes play an important part of the stories. The referee is welcome to end old projects and name new ones in the course of an adventure. The projects will be described in the Rank-by-Rank Structure bit. "We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origins." - closing words from Darwin's "Descent of Man", quoted on the USS Darwin's dedication plaque. 4 The People ================== Notable PCs are : Former Characters ----------------- Lt Cmdr Patrick Garrett of the Darwin 8577. Now Captain Garrett of the Ambassador class USS Ramsay NCC-25175 after being transported to the current timeline by a temporal anomaly. Father of Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise-C. Strange, huh? Captain Johnathan T. Esteban, Recently transferred from the USS Grissom, a reliable, family man, Cpt Esteban, Experienced with Nebula class vessels and Scientific missions was the first choice for the commanding officer of the new Darwin. Grandson of Cpt J.T. Esteban who died aboard the USS Grissom in 2285 (ST:TWOK) Lt Cmdr L. Havelok, Chief Helm officer. Extensive scientific background. Computer specialist, Was offered choice of science vessel posts. Very fast worker. Looks like a cross between Rutger Hauer and Data. Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw, flying egg shaped Chief Security Officer. Alien metallic egg and equipped with a large array of equipment built in, Mr Adequate is an appropriate nickname for this mysterious, perfectionist. Current Main Characters ======================= Admiral Solrac (NPC), a half-vulcan Social Scientist. Unusually, he chose to live as a human rather than a Vulcan, and positively value his human emotions. He has spent many years in Colonial Operations Command, and replaced Lt Serrt as Communications Officer aboard the Darwin NCC-8577. He is now an Admiral with Starfleet with an interest in the Darwin mission. Cpt Mara Delenn Bajoran . Youngest ever to be promoted to Cmdr. Honest and hardworking and loyal to starfleet, though stubborn. Cmdr Ilyia Knight 1st Officer, Impulsive and tenacious, Knight comes from a prestigious Starfleet background and has a knack with electronics. Knight is a Deltan. Lt Cmdr Calpek Chief Engineer. Half vulcan/betazoid 60 yrs old. Was offered several command posts but opted for Engineering. Lt Cmdr K. Grey, Chief Science Officer. Astrophysics specialist and resident Technobabbler. Counsellor L. Troi, distant relative of Deanna. Full betazoid. Caring and sensitive, she is determined to make a good impression on her first posting. Lt W. Scarlett, head of the High Energy Chaotic Interactions project. Dr J. Revenant, Chief Medical Officer and Decendant of Michael Revenant of the USS Darwin 8577. This Medic hates alcohol and it's consumption. Strange. Cmdr Gl'inn, First Officer aboard the Darwin 8577. She's Back, She's Bad, She's a cat, She's Mad! Adam. Turned up on the bridge during a fight with the Cardassians. He knows Tirion DeCourantain, 'nuff said. Nal G. Kartal, Cardassian Dissident. A brilliant geneticist, Kartal is now with the Free Cardassia political movement. Kath'lar A female Klingon scientist, working on some secret military project. The Crew of the USS Darwin NCC 8577-B =================================== name : race/sex : position : other duties ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cpt Mara : Bajoran/f : Captain : Cmdr I Knight : deltan/human/m: 1st Officer : Lt Cmdr Calpek : Vulcan/Betaz/m: Chief Engineer : Lt Cmdr K. Grey : Human/m : Chief Science Officer : Counsellor Troi : betazoid/f : Ships Counsellor : Lt W. Scarlett : Human/m : Head HECI project : womanising Dr J. Revenant : Human/m : Chief Medical Officer : Acting Lt Adam : Amberite/m : captains bodyguard : being annoying Nal G. Kartal : Cardassian/f : Scientist : Ambassador Kath'lar : Klingon/f : Scientist Cmdr Gl'inn : Catian/f Honours Roll (He's dead, Jim) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cpt J.T. Esteban : human/m Died while undercover infiltrating the Alpha federation. (Alpha Federation) Lt Cmdr L. Havelok: Human/m Died due to a terminal ilness he had for many years (Nanoo what?) (Q Here) Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw: alien drone Left to join his own people (A Clash of Cultures) 5 The Deck-by-Deck Structure ================================== Deck Plan (J) The USS Darwin is a Nebula Class ship (same class as the Phoenix). Nebula Class (USS Darwin NCC-8577-B) .-----------------. |=== == = = = == ===| <----Sensor/Weapons pod `----._______.----' _____.----------'---`----------._____ ___.----'-------------------------------------`----.___ =========================================================== `----.________ ________.----' | _`---------'_ | | .-' .---------. `-. | .-H-. | ( (_(o)_) ) | .-H-. ((___)) `-.`-._____.-'.-' ((___)) <----Warp Nacelle `---' `---------' `---' \____Deflector Array _________________ |_________________|<---sensor/weapons pod `---.______.------' ______ //_/_// ___.------'------`----------.____ //_/_//_.--'---------------------------------`---.__ |_____(=============================================== <---Saucer section //_\ --- \ `---.______ _______.---' //___\ \---' \ `------' |/.--' \ `._ _______/ <---Deflector array ,------'--------`-------..___ ]======================<||(__) <---Nacelle `-----------------------`' 6 The Rank-by-Rank Structure ================================== Starfleet Positions ------------------- 1 Captain (Captain) 1 First Officer (Cmdr) 10 enlisted Yeomen (sic) 1 Chief Science Officer (LtCmdr) 6 Science Sub-division Heads (Lt) for life, physical, planetary, social, and space sciences. 36 enlisted technicians 1 Ship's Counsellor (Lt) 1 Chief Medical Officer (at least LtCmdr unless you are Bashir) 3 Theatre-qualified Doctors (Lt), with other specialisations (eg Dentistry) 1 Consultant Psychologist (Lt & MD) 12 paramedics, divided into 3 trauma teams (enlisted) 19 nurses, theatre staff, technicians 1 Chief of Engineering (LtCmdr) 3 Engineering Sub-division Heads (Lt) for Warp, Impulse and Environmental engineering. 9 Watch Officers (Ensigns) 85 Crew (Enlisted) 1 Chief of Security (Lt) 3 Security Ensigns 18 Security Guards (Enlisted) 1 Chief Helm Officer (Lt) 4 Helm Ensigns 27 Helm Enlisted Crew 1 Chief of Operations (LtCmdr) 2 Operations Ensigns 12 Operations Enlisted Crew 1 Partridge in a pear tree. The Research Projects --------------------- High Energy Chaotic Interactions project. Headed by Lt Scarlett, this project, Commissioned by starfleet, is aimed at greater understanding of the complex quantum level processes involved in creation of large scale chaotic phenomena such as unstable wormholes. Klingon Defense Research. Headed by Kath'lar. Weapons. Big ones. Lots of them. 7 The Drinking Game ========================= Following hard on the heels of the Star Trek TOS, TNG, DS9 and Dr Who New Adventures AND ST:VUD Drinking games, comes ST:VUD:TNG. All you need is * Something to Drink (doesn't even need to be alcoholic) * A group of people playing ST:VUD. You take the requisite amount of drink whenever one of these events happens. Miscellaneous 1 mouthfull someone tries to say ST:VUD:TNG and gets it wrong. 1 mouthfull A minor ST:TNG castmember appears (eg Lwaxana Troi, Lt Barclay) large gulp A major ST:TNG castmember appears (eg Picard, Deanna Troi) 2 mouthfulls The Crew is transported to a parallel universe Full glass Meet Ensign Wesley Crusher The Ship 1 mouthfull is damaged to stop the players from using some part of it. 2 mouthfulls If the damaged part is the phasers. 2 mouthfulls if it's Sensor Pod is replaced by something new. large gulp if that something is a weapons pod. 2 mouthfulls is captured whole glass is destroyed Any Player 1 1 mouthfull meets something from their past 2 mouthfulls If the thing-from-the-past is a psychological recreation. 2 mouthfulls is injured full drink dies 1 mouthfull gets another characters' gender wrong (eg his instead of hers) 2 mouthfulls gets their own gender wrong 1 1 mouthfull (in character) refers to a ST:TNG castmember 2 mouthfulls is removed from the adventure by a blatant plot device because the player is (OOC) absent. Captain Mara 1 mouthfull Gets annoyed at Gloris Kartal 2 Mouthfulls tells Kartal to shut up. 1 mouthfull tells Adam off. full drink resigns her commission. (you WILL get drunk on this one) Cmdr Knight 1 mouthfull mentions his time on the Enterprise. 2 mouthfulls attempts a "macho dangerous stunt" large gulp it goes wrong Gloris Kartal 1 mouthfull Tries to get in on the action. 1 mouthfull if she succeeds 2 mouthfuls if it is feasable large gulp if she should be in the action but isn't invited. large gulp if she gets in on it despite this. large gulp argues with Captain Mara full drink wins the argument Adam 1 mouthfull challanges someone to single combat 2 mouthfulls if they accept 2 mouthfulls tries to defend Mara's "honor" full drink if she lets him drink everything in sight admits he only joined the darwin 'cos he fancies the captain Gl'inn match shot4shot drinks a peppermint flavoured milkshake Solrac 1 mouthful reminds security about the Prime Directive... 1 mouthfull compares things to 20th Century earth history Garrett 1 mouthfull appears 1 mouthfull if it is actually feasable 1 mouthful technobabbles for two minutes solidly. 2 mouthfulls if it makes sense! 1 mouthful Anybody mentions Billy The Kid. 8 The Episode Guide ========================= Season One ---------- Encounter at Gunpoint Pt1 (CA) Cpt Esteban transferred from the USS Grissom and took a shuttle to the new USS Darwin at the Mars spacedock. Commander Mara organised a gathering of all senior crew in the Rec Deck. Cpt Esteban addressed the crew and then everyone mingled and introduced themselves. Most of the conversation centered around the fling ovoid shape that was their Chief Security officer, Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw, otherwise known as Mr Adequate. The Captain sounded general alert, everyone took thier positions and gave the order that launched the new voyages of the Uss Darwin. While in warp Lt Cmdr Knight noticed an sporadic ion trail tailing them. A B-type Romulan Warbird decloaked and Red Alert was sounded. A Romulan transported onto the bridge, through the shields, and announced himself as Commander T'sek of the Romulan Warbird Kei'tel. He told the crew on the bridge that the Darwin had been mined, and any harm that came to him would result in the destruction of the Darwin on it's maiden voyage. T'sek demanded the Captain explain the flagrant act of aggression implied by the Weapons research projects aboard the ship, one of which on behalf of the Klingon empire! Encounter at Gunpoint Pt2 (CA) Cpt Esteban was showing T'sek around the science projects when, in turbolift 7 he collapsed, unconscious. Dr Revenant was straight on the scene, with Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw and Counsellor Troi. The Captain was taken to medbay where he was taken care of by the doctor. Troi and Skaffen-Amtiskaw continued the tour. Commander Mara, now in charge of the ship, was deep in discussion with the bridge crew about what to do next. Lt Cmdr Grey and Lt Cmdr Knight attempted to ascertain how the Romulan commander had penetrated the ships shields, and, in doing so, discovered three more entry points...there were more Romulans aboard! Lt Cmdr Calpek went about the task of trying to determine the location of the mines and discovered that they didn't exist. After further examination, he discovered they were cloaked and tried to disable the cloaking devices. Meanwhile, Commander T'sek had found the Klingons laboratory, whereupon, on entry, the female Klingon scientist attacked him. Fortunately Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw intervened. Back in Engineering, Calpek was surprised to find the computers suddenly working at 400% efficiency... after running a search, it appeared that the tampering had taken place from the bridge... at Helm! Back on the bridge, Calpek hailed Lt Havelok, demanding an explanation. Lt Havelok said he was bored so he thought he'd help out a little. While Calpek was busy explaining why, as chief engineer, he should be informed of any changes to the ships computer system, T'sek suddenly appeared in the Captains ready room. Waliking onto the bridge, commader Mara seemed puzzled as to how he got there, reasoning that the only way he could have got there was by transporting... Calpek sent the findings of the mine search to Lt Havelok at Helm at his request, who then managed to formulate and send a pulse that deactivated the mines in the time it took T'sek to attempt to set one off. The crew were stunned to see the speed Lt Havelok's fingers moved... Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw using his own sensors found the positions of the other three Romulans and realised they had little boxes attached to thier belts that were personal cloaking fields and transporter devices so he sent an energy puls from himself to disrupt them. Back on the bridge, Lt Cmdr Knight suddenly found a partial fix on the other three Romulans and they were soon apprehended. A message from Stafleet Command arrived, priority 1, for the Captains eyes only. Commander Mara, being commanding officer at the time, took the message: "This is Admiral Redgrave at Starfleet Command. The Romulans have captured Admiral Michael Mason, we fear he is being held hostage. He is vital to us, it is imperative he is returned unharmed. You are to change course for the Neutral Zone where you will rendez-vous with the USS Ramsay, the USS Excalibur and the USS Agamemnon. Prepare for war." T'sek suddenly dissapeared, but Lt Cmdr Grey told the security chief that he seemed to get strange feelings whenever T'sek was about. He didn't know why. Commander Mara ordered a senior officers meeting to discuss the mission ahead. No-one knew where Admiral Mason was, all they knew was they had to form a part of a four ship strike team and prepare for the worst. T'sek changed his appearence to fit one of the crew. He was a shapeshifter! With Cmdr Grey, Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw found T'sek and Lt Cmdr Grey grabbed T'sek. No one was more surprised than Grey, to discover he started to meld with T'sek! Eventually, T'sek was rendered unconscious and put in a containment field. The Darwin met with the other vessels and they waited for orders, or some idea of what they were doing there. The Romulan High Command hailed the vessels demanding to know why the Federation had made this flagrant act of agression towards them. A lot of diplomacy followed, and a stalemate was reached and tensions ran high. Calpek discovered he could fix the personal cloaking devices. Suddenly the Excalibur hailed the Darwin informing them that the Romulans, or at least, an undisclosed Romulan source, diclosed the location of Admiral Mason. Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw suggested attaching the personal cloaking devices to a warp shuttle, the Beagle, and attempting to cross the neutral zone and rescuing the admiral. Mara agreed. A team of Mara, Havelok, Grey, Calpek and Skaffen- Amtiskaw boarded a shuttle and made for the planetoid. in a daring rescue mission, Lt Havelok beamed into the compound where Admiral Mason was and beamed him back to the cloaked shuttle. as the shuttle sped off, three B-Type warbirds decloaked and sped towards the neutral zone. After returning the Admiral to the Darwin and Mara dealing with an enraged Romulan Commander managing to prevent war by making the Romulan realise the Catch 22 they were in, Admiral Mason revealed to Mara that he knew Loki Havelok and assured her that he was a very useful officer and was highly thought of in Starfleet Command. Mara asked if she could trust him to which the reply was "Implicitly." Back on the bridge, Commander Mara issued the order: "Lt Havelok, set a course for the Bajoran Wormhole, warp 6." Rendezvous (CA) While at Deep Space 9, Mara is injured in a holosuite simulation. When Kalret Grey meets Odo it is discovered that he, too, is a shapeshifter! The worhole goes unstable due to an unknown engine faliure on a strange ship from the Gamma Quadrant. The Darwin must save the crew of this ship and stop the wormhole destabilising. Lt Cmdr Grey has a suggestion but it involves flying a shuttle into the wormhole which is dangerously unstable. The attempt is successful. Another Bloody Mirror Universe Adventure (IKM) [this title is unofficial] Skaffen-Amtiskaw, Captain Esteban, Lt Scarlett, Lt Cmdr Grey, Kartal and Kath'lar were transported accidentally to the Mirror USS Darwin under the command of Mara Delenn! Esteban and Scarlett were...requested...by Mara and Troi for thier own...purposes... and the crew had to try and get back. Paranoia (DC) Gloris Kartal was arrested on charges of spying and confusion reigned. Captain Esteban sided with the obviously dubious interrogation squad. Alpha Federation (AW) Captain Esteban is revealed to be a member of Fedsec 5 who have secretly formed a super powerful Nazi organisation known as the Alpha Federation which consists of Romulan, federation and Klingon members. They are stationed on a new base 17 miles across with weapons technology beyond that of the Federation. The darwin crew are taken there, prisoners. Captain Esteban tells Lt Scarlett to get the others out of the holding room and meet him by a docking bay. Cmdr Mara and Lt Scaffen-Amtiskaw refuse to co-operate, believing Cpt Esteban a traitor. They inform the Alpha Federation security who, after the crew escape, watch Cpt Esteban shot and killed by Alpha Federation troops. In his hand is a PADD, which Scarlett picks up. Captain Esteban was undercover, infiltrating the Nazi group, to help take them down from the inside. He failed. The Darwin crew escaped. Q Here (CA, JM) Lt Scarlett falls terminally ill while working on his project. Cmdr Mara is promoted to Captain and Ilyia Knight is promoted to first officer Loki Havelok is promoted to Lt Cmdr, but his condition is getting much worse. The Darwin was heading back to Starbase 91 for repairs when Q turned up on the bridge. Dr Revenant discovered that Lt Scarletts brain pattern was slowly fading with no explanation. He found a neurotoxin that would provide similar effects but no trace of this was found. Q caused much consternation among the bridge crew, taking a liking to Captain Mara. After bickering between Mara and Kartal, Q transports the ship to a distant planet in an unknown part of the univers, surrounded by imagery they cannot hope to comprehend. They try, anyway. As Scarletts condition worsens, another man dies of the same thing. scans show he was poisoned by the neurotoxin. Suspicion points to Kartal. As things reach fever pitch, Scarletts condition drastically alters, giving him maybe 1 hour to live. Slowly the crew peice together the puzzle and Q announces: "You humans always looking to learn things you cannot hope to understand! You are not ready for what you seek!" and explains what he did to Scarlett, That he'd sent his mind to a dimension consisting purely of Chaos in it's truest and rawest form. Scarlett's mind couldn't cope and slowly shut down. Mara resigns her commission. Her resignation is not accepted. That night, Loki Havelok dies, his body being completely shut down by the takeover of his technological implants. This episode of The Voyages of The USS Darwin was brough to you in association with the letter Q and the number 21. (ask someone who played) A Clash of Cultures (JM) The Darwin is on route to Deep Space 9 for a scientific conference headed by Captain Patrick Garrett who is travelling on the Darwin. Loki Havelok's funeral is attended by most of the crew and a moving fancy dress wake was held in the holodeck. This was interuppted by a distress call from the Pride Of Rigel, carrying other delegates to the conference including an old flame of Gloris Kartal! An Away Team was sent to the Pride to rescue survivors. At this point three Cardassian Warships arrive claiming the Pride Of Rigel to be harbouring spies. Gul Namarr, of the Warship Bacharach demands the immediate release into his custody of all aboard the freighter. Captain Mara is less than impressed. An on-board negotiator tried to reason with Namarr but this failed. Garrett tried to break through a jamming signal to beam the away team aboard, when a figure walks through the veiwscreen onto the bridge! The figure is dressed as a rennaissance duelist, and introduces himself to those on the bridge as Adam. He proceeds to chastise Gul Namarr on his treatment of Captain Mara and challen ges him to single combat, at which point he is told to shut up in no uncretain terms by all present. He pouts, but does so. After much posturing Gul Namarr sends troops in to forcibly remove people from the Pride Of Rigel. A running firefight ensues aboard the freighter. The Warships take up an attack position and power up weapons to fire on the Darwin when a strange white egg-like ship comes screaming out of very high warp and positions itself between the Darwin and the nearest warship which proceeds to fire upon it. This doesn't work. The Cardassian troops try to shoot the rest of the away team. Their phasers don't work either. Commander Knight gets the away team to the federation shuttle and tries to manually undock all the Cardassian shuttles. THIS doesn't work. In fact NO offensive actions work. The unknown ship invites everyone over for drinks and supper to discuss the situation. On the alien vessel Garrett is surprised to see Gl'inn and Tirion DeCourantain on board! Gul Namarr, at the reception, pouts and turn a nice shade of red and is attacked by Nal Kartal. Kartal is stopped by Skaffen-Amtiskaw. Garrett hands Namarr a drink and tells him to get with the atmosphere and stop being so short sighted. Namarr almost explodes. Adam moves to talk to Tirion, who turns out to be his cousin. Gl'inn joins the Darwin and Lt Skaffen-Amtiskaw leaves with the new ship, having re-joined his own race. HE WHO FIRES FIRST WINS. (AW) A pen pushing Admiral with strange powers aboard the Darwin, leaves. Before he leaves he transports the crew into what he called a game. The crew find themselves with only vague recollections of the Darwin, in 1960's American national guard uniform. Scarlett realises this is the veitnam war. The crew are sent on a mission to "capture" a VC village. Adam, Gl'inn, Scarlett Mara and Kartal and Troi and Grey take up positions and enter the village. Two huts and a safe house stand in the village, one of which Gl'inn and Mara secure. Gl'inn throws in a grenade, and Mara bursts in with an M16 but is appaled to see dead women and children. She moves away to be ill after she calls two farmers out from a hole in the floor. Gl'inn shoots them dead on sight. Adam throws a grenade into the other hut and Scarlett bursts in to find it empty. He too notices people in a trench under the floor and calls them out. When they appear, he shoots them dead. The village is torched and Kartal is shot for tring to kill Gl'inn. Later that night a feirce battle is being waged and the crew are called in to assist. Told to remain in their dug outs until ordered they sit tight. When it becomes obvious that the VC have overrun the camp, they start shooting. Gl'inn and Scarlett lying low, heads down, shooting parallel to the ground, The rest poking heads up and shooting. Trace fire hits one of the crews dug outs followed by a rocket, killing Grey and Troi. The same happens with Mara and Adam. When Tracers hit Scarlett and Gl'inn's dug out they run to one of the others. At the end of the battle, of the Darwin crew, only Gl'inn and Scarlett survive. Back aboard the Darwin, the Admiral has now left, having had his fun. The crew left to ponder thier actions during the "game". DEJA VU (AJ) The Darwin is ordered by Starbase 31 to move to investigate a temporal anomaly forming in nearby space. Moving to intercept, Scarlett calibrates a subquantum multiphasic tachyon beam to scan the rift. Dr Revenant screams to the bridge and announces that a black box, about wardrobe size just appeared in sickbay. A huge ship starts to appear from the rift and orders the Darwin to surrender in a grating, metallic voice. The Darwin attempts to move through the rift. After taking damage, it makes it through only to find hundreds of these large ships waiting. The Darwin is destroyed. The Darwin is ordered by Starbase 31 to move to investigate a temporal anomaly forming in nearby space. Moving to intercept, Scarlett calibrates a subquantum multiphasic tachyon beam to scan the rift. Dr Revenant screams to the bridge and announces that a black box, about wardrobe size just appeared in sickbay. Cmdr Orman steps out of it. A huge ship starts to appear from the rift and orders the Darwin to surrender. A short firefight ensues and the Darwin is destroyed. The Darwin is ordered by Starbase 31 to move to investigate a temporal anomaly. The same set of events occur, but each time the ship is destroyed, Orman remembers some of the previous events. The ship is destroyed for the fourth time. The Darwin is ordered by Starbase 31 to move to investigate a temporal anomaly forming in nearby space. Moving to intercept, Scarlett calibrates a subquantum multiphasic tachyon beam to scan the rift. Quickly, Orman yells to collapse the rift in on itself. Quickly recalibrating the tachyon beam, Scarlett does just that. Using the data gained from th eoriginal sweep, The Darwin now sends the information requested, to Starbase 31. Orman reveals she is a Timelord and dissapears. PARANOIA: XENO II (DC) Chaos spreads as genetically engineered xenomorphs overrun a frieghter and the Darwin is called to help. Gl'inn recognises them as newer models of the B-type Xenomorph encountered by the Darwin 75 years earlier. A genetically engineered killing machine. After dealing with survivors and destroying the infestation, a romulan style bird of prey decloaks and leaves the site, heading towards klingon space. After sending a message to the nearest Klingon outpost, The darwin leaves. that night, Mara hears a rattling in an air vent in her quarters and calls security. this wakes the senior crew who move to make sure the captain is alright. Adam bursts into Mara's room and shoots the air vent. It is destroyed and a screw falls to the floor. He shoots that, too. Scarlett claps his hands and says: "Congratulations, you've killed a hostile air vent. *sigh*" THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (MP) write up also by Matt Pinto. thanks, mate. The Darwin was sent to investigate the colony on Orias IV following total loss of communication. Lt Scarlet temporarily replaced Lt Commander Grey as chief scientist whilst Grey attended a seminar on subspace morphological anomalies. Tensions were high since the USS Hawking had already disappeared investigating the same system. On arriving in the Orias system, they found that the colony was gone, apparently ripped out by the roots. Sensor sweeps and an away team discovered nothing that could identify what had attacked the colony, however Scarlet found a faint ion trail leading into the Romulan Neutral Zone. Under direct orders from Admiral Gokamora, Captain Mara ordered the Darwin into the Neutral zone. Shortly after entering the zone, they were surrounded by three Romulan Warbirds. In a rare display of sincerity, the Romulan commander revealed that ships and colonies on their side of the Neutral Zone had also been attacked. Both sides appeared to be facing a common enemy. The discussion however was interrupted by the appearance of an old enemy.A massive Borg ship decloaked and ordered both sides to surrender and prepare for assimilation. In a pre-emptive strike, both sides beamed away teams to investigate the borg ship. A short but savage fire fight ensued aboard the borg vessel and the survivors from the Darwin were hastily returned. However not before they left a little surprise for the borg. A canister of chaos particles beamed aboard by Scarlett. Deciding to waste no more time, the borg attacked all four ships. Two warbirds were quickly destroyed and the final one only survived by "playing dead". The Darwin itself suffered a crippling hit that destroyed one of it's warp engines. They only escaped a full warp core breach by dumping the core into space, leaving themselves virtually defenceless. The Darwin crew had one last trick left up their sleaves. They fired the Genesis torpedo they had stolen from the Alpha Federation. Although the borg managed to destroy it before they suffered a direct hit, the genesis wave had got them and was already beginning to visibly alter the structure of their ship. The borg broke off the attack and headed away into Romulan space. However they were eventually destroyed by a combination of battle damage, attrition from the genesis device and Scarlet's package of chaos particles. After assisting the last Romulan ship to regain communications, the Darwin limped back towards Federation space for repairs.