The Deadly Directive

[Solluk]

Mission Title: The Deadly Directive

Synopsis: A Federation Observation outpost on the developing world of Szazi contacts Starfleet because someone is violating the Prime Directive by beaming food down to the surface during a famine.  The USS Yourship is dispatched to find the mystery ship conducting this violation and stop them so that the contamination of the Szazi's natural development can be stopped.

Starting Point: A Federation Observation outpost on the developing world of Szazi contacts Starfleet because someone is violating the Prime Directive by beaming food down to the surface during a famine.

End Goal: The USS Yourship finds and stops the cloaked vessel conducting the violation.

Story points that must be passed?:

I) The USS Yourship is dispatched to aid a Federation Observation outpost on a developing world in the midst of its industrial revolution.

II) When the USS Yourship arrives, a Federation scientist from the outpost explains that the Szazi have just entered a critical stage of their development.   They have overthrown a despotic and terrible world-spanning empire.  However, a breakdown in social services and a collapsing economy have resulted in a global famine that has continued for the better part of a year.  Millions are dying.  The famine was so terrible that the former Observation post commander couldn't stand to watch, and resigned six months ago.  But now, some unknown ship is regularly visiting the planet and beaming down tons of food supplies.  This has the potential to seriously impact the development of the Szazi people.  It seems to be happening every two days like clockwork.

III) While the USS Yourship is in orbit, another shipment of food is beamed down to the surface.  The shipment could only have come from a cloaked vessel.

IV) The Science teams aboard the USS Yourship use observed transporter traces and sensor skills to deduce that the cloaked vessel must be Klingon.

V) The Science and Tactical teams aboard the USS Yourship devise a means to detect the cloaked Klingon vessel.

VI) When they find the cloaked Klingon vessel, it decloaks and attacks the USS Yourship, revealing itself to be an old K'Tinga class vessel that has received various upgrades.

VII) After a brief exchange of fire, the Klingon vessel is defeated and boarded.  The Security teams soon pacify the crew.   The ship is not crewed by Klingons, but instead by Federation scientists.

VIII) The scientists explain that they could not stand to watch the continuing famine on a planet whose people they had grown to care about after years of watching them.  After resigning, they created and traded a quantity of bio-mimetic gel to a minor Klingon house in exchange for an old, refit K'Tinga class cruiser.   Then they set up algae tanks aboard the cruiser to grow biomatter that could be used to create replicated rations which were then beamed down to feed hungry Szazians.  The reason the food was delivered every two days is because that's how long it took the fast-growing algae to build up enough biomass.

IX) The scientists explain they only wanted to save lives so that the Szazi could move past their current famine and continue working to create a positive world government to replace the previous despotic empire.   Without help, it is likely a new Empire or tyrant will surface to hold the Szazian people under its thumb, and millions more Szazians will die as the hope for a peaceful Utopian society is lost.

X) The victory of the USS Yourship is bitter-sweet.  They have stopped a violation of the Prime Directive, but it means many millions of Szazi will starve to death, and the world is very likely to descend into a new dark age of tyranny and oppression.

Departments: (To make sure everyone has something to do.)

- Flight: Interesting Flight maneuvers will take place during battle with the Klingon Cruiser.

- Engineering: Although the Klingon cruiser will be defeated, the USS Yourship will take some damage during the conflict that must be repaired.  Engineering also might collaborate with Science to find a way to detect the cloaked vessel.

- Operations: Operations will always collaborate with Engineering on technical problems, and will divert power to critical systems during the fighting.

- Security and tactical: There will be ship to ship combat, and Security teams must eventually board and subdue the crew of the Klingon ship.  Also, Tactical may have input into how to detect a cloaked vessel.

- Medical: Somebody will doubtless be injured.  Also, the Medical teams are most likely to provide some ethical gnashing of teeth over the Prime Directive and the deaths of millions due to easily-prevented starvation.

- Science: Science will be working with Engineering, Tactical, and perhaps even Operations to help figure out that there is a cloaked Klingon vessel involved, and then to figure out how to detect it.

Note:  This mission is meant to provide the ethical and moral dilemmas common to some of the best Trek episodes.  Duty requires that the Yourship allow millions of aliens to die.   Worse, the Yourship must fight a battle to make sure they die.  There can be no more heart-wrenching experience with the Prime Directive.

[Tekin Nevir]

The Discovery will claim this mission