Episode Number: 5×02
Written by: The authors of the Shackleton Expanse Campaign Guide
Directed by: Jon Crew
Transmission: 23rd November 2024
Guest Stars:
- Mang Kleq: Klingon prisoner.
We are in orbit around a VinShari prison world called “Scorch”, as we prepare to launch a covert operation to rescue a trio of stranded Starfleet officers. The conditions seem inhospitable, and we have little idea what kind of society can exist in this arid wilderness.
Captain’s Log: Stardate, 51085.2
Plot: The rescue party lands on the VinShari prison planet, discovering a world of oppression and conflict.
The ‘A’ Plot: Scanning from orbit, Zepht locates a combadge signal amidst a cluster of tents and lean-tos on the edge of the VinShari dropzone. In preparation for their mission, the team assembles weapons, desert survival gear, breathing masks and goggles. A couple of them also opt to wear protective vests.
Konin and Raynor beam down first, arriving in the middle of a rocky outcrop about half a kilometer from the camp. While Raynor climbs to the top of the rocks for a visual survey, Konin explores the immediate area, looking for potential trouble. The air is thin and hot, and the dust hanging in it irritates unprotected eyes and obscures anything more than twenty metres away.
Azonan and Zepht soon join them, followed quickly by Quinn and Conners. The doctor uses her tricorder to scan for biological signs, identifying a group of three Klingons and a VinShari about a hundred metres away. There is no sign of modern weaponry, either energy or projectile, and they appear to be foraging.
Konin decides they shoud investigate this group first, as they may be able to provide useful intelligence about the local situation. Raynor leads the group away from the rocks, followed by the captain. As he gets closer, the security chief notices that the VinShari is armed, although his weapon was not detected by the tricorder. He kneels and aims his phaser rifle, intending to provide cover as the captain approaches them, but the ground suddenly drops out from beneath him. He and Konin successfully leap for safety as a sinkhole opens up in the sand.
This alerts the VinShari, who pauses to emit a piercing howl before firing at them. Raynor returns fire immediately, stunning him. Examining the weapon he was carrying, the security chief notes that it appears to be a primitive version of the same organic weapons used by the VinShari military. Konin, meanwhile, has approached the Klingons, who seem to be wearing metal collars similar to the explosive devices used by the Orion Syndicate overseer E’loruul to ensure the loyalty of her crew. He tells the Klingons they are free, but his next words are interrupted by the high-pitched buzz of internal combustion engines.
Zepht announces that there are vehicles coming their way, presumably in response to the VinShari’s howl. They quickly lead the Klingons back to the outcrop, which is a much more defensible position, but one runs off in a different direction. Moments later, they hear a sharp report, and his life signs disappear from Conners’s tricorder display.
The Starfleet personnel take defensive positions amongst the rocks as four roughly-assembled offroad vehicles race towards them, each carrying a driver, a passenger with a VinShari rifle and a second passenger standing behind a mounted disruptor rifle. A barrage of disruptor fire passes over the defenders’ heads before the vehicles split into two groups and begin circling the outcrop.
Raynor fires first, carefully aiming an area blast at the lead vehicle, stunning all three occupants. The vehicle slews sideways and rolls, flinging its passengers in all directions. Zepht adjusts his phaser rifle to disrupt the ignition mechanism on the second buggy, slowing it significantly. Its gunner takes a shot at Raynor, missing, but the human returns fire, knocking him off the back of the vehicle.
On the other side of the rocks, Konin directs Quinn to shoot the driver of another vehicle; the buggy jerks sideways as he collapses, slamming into a solid boulder. Azonan, meanwhile, is standing atop the rocks, aiming carefully at the fuel tank of the fourth vehicle. The tank explodes spectacularly, destroying the buggy and its passengers, and flinging shrapnel back at the Andorian, also catching the Klingons.
The only surviving driver decides discretion is the better part of valour and leaves.
As Conners patches up the Klingons, Azonan attempts to remove the collars safely. He is successful, but has to throw one to one side before it detonates in his hand. Konin quizes the Klingons for details about the local political situation, learning about the prisoner factions, and the resulting status of newcomers. He tells them that, as they are allies, he is drafting them to work with the group. They initially refuse, since as far as they know the Empire and the Federation are at war, but Konin is able to convince them that the conflict is over. Unfortunately, he impugns their honour in the process, which leads to one of them attacking him. Raynor is able to restrain him before any damage is done.
Azonan, Quinn and Zepht examine the wreckage, learning that the disruptors were locally made, from drop pod components, but the engineer feels the workmanship is familiar. They are not able to identify this as the work of the usual suspects, such as Orions, Ferengi, Klingons or Romulans. The vehicles are similarly cobbled together from discarded parts. About half of their passengers appear to be VinShari, with the rest being a mix of offworlders, including Orions, Nausicans, Ferengi and Romulans. There are three survivors from the brief firefight, two VinShari and an Orion; all are unconscious.
The captain has discovered that the missing Starfleet officers may be held in a secured building in the nearby camp, so this will be their next destination.
Observations: Lieutenant Commander Quinn has finally hit something in a firefight!
Prisoners on Scorch have organised themselves into armed factions, each led by its strongest member. About half of the current population is VinShari, with aliens of many species making up the remainder. Newcomers and their drop pods are often the centre of a battle between several factions, and the new prisoners can spend up to a year wearing an explosive collar until they prove their worth and loyalty. They work as “sifters”, looking for useful materials from the drop pods.
The nearby camp is led by a huge VinShari who calls himself Gravel. His chief rival, with the similarly odd name of Tempest, is a female VinShari with no neck spines, who has a reputation as a fearsome fighter.
References: The landing party wear desert fatigues similar to those seen in Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The armoured vests are similar to those seen in Star Trek: Discovery.