Author Topic: Tug of Love  (Read 637 times)

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Offline Jada

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Tug of Love
« on: October 09, 2017, 09:06:11 am »
Mission Title: "Tug of Love" or "The Cost of Love" (Needs a better title.)
Synopsis: The starship is drawn into a tug of love between two separated parents, and two cultures, with a child's future at stake.

Starting Point: The USS Placeholder is on routine patrol near the Federation–Orion border, or else is passing by on a non-urgent mission.

End Goal: The USS Placeholder continues on its way

Story points that must be passed:
Opening:
* The crew of the USS Placeholder are going about their duties and their lives. Ideally, characters share their thoughts on those they love or how to raze their children, particularly those in mixed-species relationships, and balancing and comprising their competing needs.
* They are contacted by their superior at Starfleet Command with an urgent task: to find and rescue a kidnapped child. The boy is Jean Nallin Lefevre, 11 years old and of mixed Orion–Human ancestry. His parents, Katarina Lefevre (a Federation citizen) and D'Vinna (an Orion woman living and working in the Federation) were married for several years and had Jean Nallin, but later divorced with joint custody over their child as they lived on New Paris. However, D'Vinna has recently taken Jean and travelled to Orion space without notifying Katarina. Starfleet Police fear D'Vinna intends to keep Jean separate from Katarina in Orion space.
Act One:
* A shuttle intercepts the USS Placeholder, and the distraught Katarina Lefevre comes on board. The ship's counsellor should be on hand. She explains her side of the story: D'Vinna and Katarina loved each other, but Orion passion was short-lived and they seemed too incompatible, leading to their amicable separation. However, she fears that D'Vinna wishes to sell him into slavery, now Jean has reached saleable age, in keeping with a traditional Orion custom she'd spoken favourably of.
* The USS Placeholder quickly travels to the Orion border; it is undefended owing to the Orion Space Navy's lax patrols, so they continue in to Verex III, a known slave-processing station and D'Vinna's apparent destination. (If things are slow, a pirate skirmish could occur en route.)
* The crew tracks D'Vinna and Jean to a certain building registered to an Orion company euphemistically called Silver Recruitment Services (SRS), known to procure and deal in slaves. There are a few options for how: Security might trace D'Vinna's online research and correspondence, or Science scans for half-human life-signs, or Katarina provides a clue.
* The crew will probably want to beam right in (alternatively, fly a shuttle in) and rescue the child, but those expecting a dingy and brutal slave market will be surprised to find a pleasant if tedious office building. They appear in the reception area and are greeted by a bored but sexy Orion desk clerk who asks how she can help them.
Act Two:
* The away team negotiate their way through SRS and its private security (by force, charm, or bureaucracy). In the commotion, the receptionist, Neata, flirts with and passes one of them her contact details. They find D'Vinna and Jean waiting in a private office for a meeting with a Mr Shadizar, a middle-man who handles slave contracts and purchases. D'Vinna planned to sell both of them into slavery. D'Vinna doesn't want to leave or let go of Jean, so the party will likely be forced to beam both of them back to the ship.
* Back on ship, there is an emotional and heated clash between Katarina and D'Vinna, and poor Jean is torn between his two feuding mothers. The counsellor steps into discuss matters and learns D'Vinna's story. She supports traditional Orion slavery: far from cruel chattel slavery, it is managed by airtight contracts with guaranteed rights for slaves. D'Vinna wants Jean to learn his Orion heritage, responsibility, and work ethic by selling him to a respectable noble family or business, and in effect learn a trade and have his first job. Orions aren't inclined to be helicopter parents, but D'Vinna loves Jean and desired to sell herself and be close by. The money will support them both in future. Equally, Katarina naturally prefers the freedom and safety of the Federation, the cosmopolitan life of New Paris, and finds the slavery abhorrent. They argued on New Paris and couldn't come to a decision. With opposing views and values, it is clear there is no easy answer or resolution here. (If the crew don't take D'Vinna and/or Jean away, then this conversation will instead happen in SRS or over communications.)
* The debate is interrupted when the USS Placeholder is confronted by an Orion Space Navy cruiser, the OC Evasive. It approaches aggressively, maybe even fires, and a brief space-battle may ensue. However, they are open to communication – and angrily accuse the USS Placeholder of kidnapping Orion citizens!
* (If the crew chose not to break into SRS or didn't take D'Vinna and/or Jean away, they will instead be accused of trespassing and suspected of attempted kidnapping, to the same end.)
Act Three:
* Captain Rajaek of the Evasive demands the release of D'Vinna and Jean, arguing the Orions should be allowed to do what they want and follow their customs. He's inclined to be stubborn, and Orion national pride is on the line. They don't want the Federation interfering in Orion customs they don't understand. He explains this is legitimate Orion contract slavery, regulated by the Codex Orion, sanctioned by ruling families, and overseen by tribunals, not the illegal kind (but the distinction may be lost on the Federation).
* If at some point the PC Neata flirted with decides to contact her, she lays on the charm, but her innuendo points to something else and she is fearful to be caught. This should raise suspicions about SRS.
* Meanwhile, D'Vinna use her Orion pheromones, charm, and cunning to escape her room, retrieve Jean, and convince the transporter operator (or maybe a PC who's not busy) to beam them back to the SRS building. She finally gets a meeting with Mr Shadizar and signs a contract for herself and Jean – then rough slavers arrive and seize them!
* (If the crew didn't take D'Vinna and/or Jean away, they will instead have remained in SRS and this happens anyway.)
* The Security personnel report on an investigation into SRS. Far from being a legitimate business, it's a front for the Orion Syndicate: their contracts have exploitable holes and harsh requirements. Slaves might never earn their freedom, and some are never seen again. They also soon discover D'Vinna's escape back to SRS with Jean. Rajaek is convinced and quickly agrees to work with the Placeholder.
* An illicit slave market is identified (through scans or detective work or from Neata leaking information) and a mixed team of Starfleet and OSN launch a raid. They find the expected grim slave market, with cages and neurolytic restraints. D'Vinna has been separated from Jean: she's in a cage with slave-girls while he's with a group of children bound for sweat-shops. Working together, Starfleet and OSN defeat the slavers and rescue D'Vinna, Jean, and other captives.
* Medical, Engineering, or Operations will be required to remove the neurolytic restraints.
* (If more space combat is desired, the slavers may attempt to escape on a fast ship, leading to a chase and a fight.)
Resolution:
* Rajaek and the OSN round up Shadizar and the slavers, exposing their trade as being in contravention of the Codex Orion. Ironically, since the Orions don't practice execution and imprisonment, the slavers will be forced to work off their debts to their victims. Rajaek is genuine in his desire to regulate slavery, but admits the corruption in Orion society makes it hard. Contract labour puts too much power into the hands of the employer, allowing them to remove a worker's rights, leading to slavery.
* Neata may have been arrested as well, but should be recognised and released. She says she was a slave too and was looking for an opportunity to escape or raise the alarm.
* D'Vinna, Jean, and Katarina are reunited. D'Vinna is disturbed by her experience and is in no hurry to sell herself into slavery again. By this point, the counsellor should have helped them come to a resolution and compromise. What this is depends on how the story progressed exactly. One option is a moving to a Federation world home to a sizeable Orion colony, or a Federation-friendly Orion world. D'Vinna and Katarina might get back together. And in particularly what does Jean Nallin want to do?

Departments: The key roles in this story are a Counsellor or a similar position (this is practically a necessity) and Security/Tactical personnel (exercising a detective side that might be little-used). Neata deals with a PC not involved in these areas. D'Vinna might put the whammy on another PC, but that PC would have to be willing to take a fall. Other PCs might provide emotional support.
- Counsellor: The Counsellor will be busy speaking with Katarina, D'Vinna, and Jean, mediating their issue and looking for a solution that satisfies all three. They will likely accompany the away team to SRS and the slave market, keeping them involved throughout.
- Command: The captain and XO will speak with Starfleet Command and Captain Rajaek, as well as oversee the course of the mission as normal. They might lead the raids.
- Security: Security personnel will need to investigate D'Vinna's movements and intent (detective work, mostly online), check legal matters (Federation and Orion), and conducts the raids into SRS and the slave market.
- Tactical: Tactical personnel will need to scan for Orion vessels, both pirates and the OSN, and fight space-battles.
- Flight: Flight Control will fly the ship into Orion space, and will be busy during the space-battles.
- Medical: Doctors might need to patch up after the fights and may be called on to undo the neurolytic restraints.
- Engineering & Operations: Technical types won't have much to do, but they may be called on to accompany the raids as tech support and undo the neurolytic restraints.
- Science: Scientists might be required to scan for a half-human among Orions and to locate the illicit slave market.

Modifications:
* If not Orions, another slave-using race could be used. This could be a custom species. Another option is Ferengi, whose work contracts will be practically slavery.
* The genders of parents and child were picked at random, but work in an "all things being equal" sense to focus on the cultural conflict. But they could be adjusted if desired to complicate the relationship or PCs' reactions to the kidnapping parent.
* Rather than transporting down to Verex III, a shuttle could be taken due to shields over the station, giving a pilot PC more to do. D'Vinna's escape back to the planet will be harder, however. She will probably have to trick the pilot PC to take her.
* If the drama between the Lefevres isn't working out, then play up the investigation into SRS and the slave market. Options include PCs painted green and posing as clients to infiltrate the place. Naturally they get in trouble and are caught by the slavers, necessitating a rescue.
* Captain Rajaek turns from antagonist to ally, but he doesn't have to be. He might be secretly in league with SRS, getting kickbacks from them in exchange for covering up for their activities, hence his initial attempt to drive the USS Placeholder away. His feigned assistance enables him to turn on the Placeholder crew during a vulnerable moment in a fight. In this case, his second-in-command might mutiny and be the friendly liaison at the end.
* As the linked articles on Memory Beta show, this is obviously based heavily on aspects of the FASA RPG depiction of Orions, in its continuity of the 2280s. It remains valid, but one might wish to alter or update aspects for the 2390s.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2017, 09:24:38 am by Jada »
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