A 3 part scenario for Star Trek, set in the Next Generation era with suggested modifications for Task Force Games' Prime Directive or a Kirk-era Campaign.

The GM will only need the basic RPG to run this adventure, although some form of ship combat rules will greatly enhance the final denouement. In addition, while not essential, the following can be used to provide background detail and flavour to the game:

• Stardate magazine, issues 3/4 and 5/6 (double issues, hence the odd numbering)
• MSA5 supplements The Orions and The Romulans
• A floorplan of a typical tavern of the 12th century or earlier. A medieval pub was not much different, so fantasy game material will do fine (the author used an old copy of Yaquinto's Swashbuckler).

The Brass is Worried

The prayers' trip is on a routine cruise when an urgent cali comes from Admiral Sarnek, summoning them to meet him at Starbase 11. This will straightaway tell the players that something odd is happening, because Admiral Sarnek's usual duty station is StarFleet Headquarters in San Francisco, and Starbase 11 is located near the Romulan Neutral Zone!

Upon arrival at Starbase 11, the Captain [PD: and the Prime Team Commander, if the GM thinks it appropriate) will be ordered to beam down, immediately and alone, to join the Admiral in a private conference. The crew would ordinarily be granted shore leave but, unusually, this will not even be mentioned and, if the players ask, leave will be denied (this ought to reinforce the prayers' conviction that something bad is going on).

However, there won't be much time to think about this because as soon as the Captain leaves the ship, the Communications Officer will be inundated with calls from the base: Starbase Maintenance are inquiring about the ship's current status, offering immediate overhaul or replacement of any system or component that has any known defect, however small; the Computer Centre will offer to upgrade any of the ship's software to the latest versions; Starbase Weapons/Defence will ask about the loadout status of the ship's photon torpedoes and offer improved targeting software; and, most amazing of all, the base supply depot will positively gush with eagerness to provide anything that the ship might need.

If the players wonder why they're suddenly getting the VIP treatment, the person asked will say that they've got orders from StarFleet Command to make sure that the prayers' strip is ready for a long mission, and the Base Commander has threatened dire consequences For anyone who doesn't do their job properly! By the time the base is finished, the ship is in neanperfect order (and the PCs are probably close to exhaustion!)

In Conference

Admiral Sarnek will be waiting in the base transporter room, carrying a case. He will greet the Captain cordially (for a Vulcan) and they will take a turbolift to a conference room. The Admiral's overall demeanour is serious, even grim, and attempts at small talk will be politely but firmly squelched. The conference room turns out to be the Base Flag Bridge, and it is strangely deserted; on arrival, the Admiral will invoke maximum security procedures and seal the door. He will then open his case, revealing a portable computer which he will activate aher undergoing a retina scan (this is real security!). The Admiral will then invite the Captain to watch a short sensor playback on the computers screen.

The playback only lasts a few seconds, and shows what appears to be a Federation Larson-class destroyer (PD: a standard Federation Saladin class DD) closing on whatever sensor platform made the recording. The destroyer will move into attack position and the recording will end in a brilliant flash of light. There is one odd thing about the attacking ship -- it is entirely gold-coloured!

The Admiral will then inform them, "Those images were presented to the Federation Council by the Romulan Ambassador. The Romulans claim that they were taken from the flight recorder of a robot freighter that was found disabled and looted. The wreck was well within Romulan space, and the Ambassador claims that the freighter's route was between two planets that are at least 5 parsecs from the Neutral Zone. The Imperial Senate is extremely displeased, to say the least."

He will go on to mention that the Romulan freighter is merely the latest victim in a series of mysterious pirate attacks taking place on both sides of the border between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Ten known attacks have occurred in the past six months, all involving unmanned cargo ships moving near the Neutral Zone. This sensor recording is the first indication of what has been happening to the freighters, and what it shows has both StarFleet and the Federation Council very worried!

The Golden One

Firstly, the tape shows a Federation starship in Romulan space without proper authorisation, and it is presumed from the abrupt end to the recording that the destroyer opened fire on the freighter. Secondly, the destroyer's unusual paint scheme is further cause for concern: it so happens that there is a gold-painted destroyer serving in StarFleet. The Iast time that the USS El Dorado (NCC-164) went In for reflt, a light-hearted maintenance crew decided that the ship should live up to its name and gave it a complete coat of gold paint over the standard protective coatings!

The maintenance team were mildly disciplined for this, but StarFleet Command decided to leave the ship as it was, rather than spending the time and money to strip the paint off and recoat the entire hull. This has made the El Dorado the most recognisable starship i n Federation service. Perhaps too recognisable...

The situation is further complicated by the spacing of the known attacks. The looted ships were found days or weeks after they were attacked, but correlating the position of the wrecks when they werediscovered with the time at which contact was lost with each ship has led StarFleet Intelligence to an interesting discovery -- if all the raids weremade by the same ship, then it would have to be able to travel at over Warp 9.9999 [Pre- TNG: Warp 14 Note that TNG-era drives use a different warp-factor-to-speed scale than do earlier types.]

This is faster than any known vessel, and the destroyer -- old, obsolescent and near retirement -- certainly couldn't do anything like that speed [Pre- TNG: Larsan- or Saladin-class ships are still in production, but their maximum emergency speeds are respectively Warp 9 and 8, on the old scale].

What's more, the El Dorado is, and has been for the last year and a half, based at Starbase 11, which is near the Gorn-Romulan border, and thus hundreds of parsecs from the region of the attacks During this time regular patrol reports have been received hom the ship; these reports have arrived on time and describe routine, boring sweeps along the Gorn border, which is currently very quiet.

Not only that, but Starbase sensor scans indicate that each report has been sent from the position given in its text, and when its assigned patrol route should bring it within range, the El Dorado has always appeared right where it should be -- sometimes a little early, sometimes a little late, but always within standard patrol tolerances.

At this point, the Admiral will become even more serious. The Romulans are very angry, and are beginning to talk about escorted convoys with orders to fire on Federation ships without warning. They suspect the Federation of trying the privateer gambit (i.e., piracy using Fleet ships that can be officially disowned if caught -- a favourite ploy of the Klingons), simultaneously asking for peace talks as a cover for the raids. More worryingly, some Senators think that attacks on shipping could be a possible prelude to invasion. The next step could be war.

Go Out and Get 'em

The players' ship is assigned to investigate the matter. It has been chosen because it has the firepower to deal with a destroyer once it catches up with the raider. If the Captain or ship has encountered Romulans before and dealt with them successfully, so much the better: the ship can also be given the job because it has a reputation within the Empire. It has become important that StarFleet be seen to be doing something about this, lest hotheads on the Romulan Senate claim that inaction means that the Federation condones piracy against Imperial shipping.

The Admiral's final words are, "Captain, this may well be the most important mission that you will ever undertake as a StarFleet officer. You must discover who is behind these attacks and stop them. I do not believe that the Federation is involved, but we must be prepared for the possibility. You will have the authority to arrest anyone, provided only that you have proof. That is vital -- you must find out who is doing this, and you must be able to prove it.

"StarFleet Intelligence have been informed that you have primary responsibility for this investigation, which has been allocated the codename Operation Jiminez. A 24-hour subspace listening watch has been set up at StarFleet Headquarters. Should you require information from either Intelligence or myself, an officer will be available at all times to initiate enquiries and to report to you as soon as the data becomes available. In addition, a squadron of ships attached to this base will be ordered to place themselves under your command upon your request. It would, however, be preferable if you did not have to call for them, as the Empire may well take unusual Fleet movements as signs of impending hostilities."

"Here are your formal orders, including the initial assignment of escorting the El Dorado to Starbase 11. I wish you success in this mission, Captain. Live long and prosper."

After giving the Captain a data solid containing subspace radio frequencies, comm codes, details of the ships assigned as support forces -- cruisers and 4 destroyers -- the particular classes will depend on the era) and assorted other information, the Admiral will unseal the conference room and leave. A Starbase officer will escort the Captain to the transporter room, to return to the ship.

GM Information

Neither the Federation nor the Romulans are behind the attacks. The new government of Delax, an independent world located near the Romulan Neutral Zone, is starting up in the piracy business with aid from an Orion clan [PD: Pharaoh's Cartel, the Penzance Cartel or the Stardust Trading Company] who see this as an opportunity to increase tension between the Federation and the Empire. If a war starts, they will have the chance to scavenge on both sides; if not, the UFP will devote much more in the way of military resources to the Romulan border, reducing those forces available for anti-piracy patrols.

The Delaxans have managed to obtain two decommissioned destroyer hulls (the former USS Alaric and Hannibal) through dummy corporations. These have been fitted with Orion-supplied, Klingon- or Orion-made warp engines, weapons and shields. Their initial raids have been made on automated freighters carrying supplies to colony worlds; these targets give the crews a safe opportunity to become familiar with their ships, and also supply equipment to be used to establish a base. This base is Iocated in an asteroid belt in another star system, so that the Delaxans won't be suspected until they are wealthy and strong enough to withstand (with Orion help) Federation or Romulan reprisals.

Or that's what the Delaxans think, anyway. Actually, the Orions are using them as dupes, getting them to do the work and take the risks while the Orions sit back, let the profits from their share of the loot roll in, and wait for the war to start. Once the base is flnished, the Delaxan construction workers and ship crews will be quietly eliminated and the Orions will have two useful commerce raiders and a base -- and no-one outside of the clan will know where the base is, or who operates the ships.

An Orion agent suggested the gold paint scheme and the masquerade. The Delaxans, having received details of Federation and Imperial shipping from the clan, have tried to time their attacks to foster the myth of a single, extremely swift raider, but may have made the flctitious pirate too fast to be credible. Orion-supplied equipment enables both Delaxan ships to give off the electronic and sensor signature of the El Dorado; this disguise is good enough to fool civilian sensors, but StarFleet ships will detect the non-standard equipment at close range if a character rolls against the Starship Sensors skill.

Unknown to the players, the Romulan High Command has assigned a Bird of Prey scout ship [PD: a War Eagle] to shadow the PCs' ship. The Romulans will intercept the prayers' ship at Rigel II (see below) and follow it, remaining cloaked at all times and taking no action until the final battle, when they may, at the GM's discretion, join in -- honour will demand that the Romulans assist those fighting the Empire's enemies. Besides, some Captains just can't resist a good fight!

Rendezvous

Once maintenance and re-supplying are completed, the PCs' ship will leave Starbase 11 and head at maximum safe speed towards a set of coordinates provided by Admiral Sarnek.

The El Dorado is being recalled to Starbase 11 and the players have been given the responsibility of escorting her there. If the raids cease while the destroyer is docked at the base, there will be a very strong implication of her guilt; if not, then the ship and crew will have been cleared, at least in part.

The rendezvous with the El Dorado goes as planned and without problems. Commander Jaymin, the commanding officer, is obviously unhappy and angry about the allegations made against his ship, but has himself under control and will be formally polite to the PCs. If asked or ordered, he will allow the El Dorado to be controlled from the players' ship via the prefix code (which Admiral Sarnek has provided) and close down the bridge. Otherwise, he will ask if there are any special instructions that the Captain has regarding sailing in formation, and the two ships will enter warp on a direct course for Starbase 11.

About halfway to the base, the players will receive an urgent message from StarFleet Command -- an emergency beacon signal has been detected from a Tellarite automated freighter, reporting "Attack by Unknown Assailant". The beacon is located in Federation space near the Romulan Neutral Zone (co-ordinates are supplied). The PCs' ship is ordered to leave the El Dorado and proceed immediately to the area to investigate. Jaymin is ordered to continue on to Starbase 11.

This is an Ex-Freighter

Robot freighter RF 3447 was designed as a simple space-frame linking a forward-mounted computer/sensor array to a "power pod" containing warp and impulse engines at the rear. Up to nine standard cylindrical cargo pods can be attached to the structural skeleton; on its current run, the loading manifesto lists six pods containing terraforming, life support, fabrication and hydroponic/agricultural equipment, all bound for the new colony on Muscae V.

That's what it used to look like... When the prayers' strip arrives in answer to the distress beacon, what they find mostly resembles scrap metal: the engines and computer have been destroyed, the structural "backbone" of the ship has been broken and the pods are gone. Fortunately, the raiders missed, or didn't bother about, the emergency beacon housing, which also holds the ship's automated log. Like a flight recorder, the log contains a history of the ship's status for the last several days, plus stored recordings of data from the sensor array.

An engineering party will have to board the freighter to recover the log module. The Captain may also order a damage assessment to see if the ship is repairable--it isn't). While they are aboard, the GM should make an unseen roll against the Astronautics [PD: Mechanics] or Starship Weapons Technology skills for anyone who examines a damaged area; a successful roll means that the character notices that the damage to the structure is typical of disruptor fire.

Disruptors cause damage by suppressing and restoring inter-molecular bonding forces many times a second, literally shaking their target to pieces. This causes a region of weakened, crumbling material to be present around the area where the shot struck the ship. That type of damage is very characteristic and unlike the effects produced by any other known weapon. A sensor or tricorder scan may also reveal the weakened material if performed, or the data is examined, by a character who makes a successful roll against his skill in Damage Control Procedures.

The freighter's log describes an uneventful voyage until about two hours before the beacon was activated, when contact is made with an unknown and unexpected vessel. As the strange ship approaches the freighter, sensors and the newcomer's own electronic ID show it to be the "USS El Dorado" and, once it closes to visual range, it appears to be a gold-painted Larson-class destroyer in correct StarFleet livery. However, at the time given in the log, the El Dorado was en route to Starbase 11 in company with the prayers' ship!

Close scrutiny of the log using computer enhancement will disclose a number of interesting facts about the pirate ship to characters who make successful rolls against the appropriate skills. To begin with, the log clearly shows (no roll necessary) that the attacker was disruptor-armed, but a character who makes a Skill Roll against Starship Weapons Technology or Starship Sensors will notice small, but significant details (visible wavelengths, emission and absorption spectra) indicating that the raider's weapons are Orion in origin.

Similarly, rolls against Deflector Shield Technology and Astronautics [PD: Impulse Drive Systems] will reveal that the pirate is using Klingon- waveform shields with a more efficient power-to-shielding ratio than the standard Larson-class installation, and that the ship mounts a larger impulse engine. This is clearly a more formidable ship in combat than a normal destroyer.

Finally, a character who makes a successful saving roll against INT and a skill roll against Astronautics or Starship Sensors [PD: scores Complete SL against the Electronics or Sensor Systems skill] will detect some slightly odd emissions from the warp engine. An Engineer will be able to identify them (the GM can insist on a roll against Warp Engine Technology if the players have had it too easy up to this point, but the roll should be a dummy, success being automatic) as being characteristic of home-made, "jury-rigged" adaptation of a warp engine to ship's systems and (especially) a nacelle that it wasn't designed to fit. Such conversions can be made properly in a dockyard, but otherwise this sort of leak is almost inevitable.

If the GM feels like leading the players on a wild goose chase, the leak can produce a trail leading away from the scene of the attack towards Klingon space. When the players try to follow, make them follow the trail through a number of radical changes in course (first it leads to the Klingon Empire, then to the centre of the Federation, then towards Gorn space, then it heads for the Romulan Neutral Zone, and so on -- the Delaxans use this technique to confuse any would-be pursuers) before they lose track entirely as it dives into the sensor- blanketing radiation zone surrounding a blue giant star.

Getting There is Half the Fun

Either when the Captain reports to StarFleet Command, or while the players are examining the heighter and its log (or chasing their wild goose), word will come in from StarFleet Intelligence that an agent has reported that certain goods from one of the first raids have become available in the markets on Rigel IV.

The goods in question consist of genetically-engineered plants and animals, and a prefabricated concert hall, all of which were bound for Epsilon Canaris III when stolen; also included in that shipment were consignments of weaving and mining machinery. Admiral Sarnek will suggest (not order) that the PCs follow up this lead when they are through with their current investigations, always bearing in mind the political sensitivity of relations with the Rigellians.

[PD: Note thot the locations of Rigel and the Orion homeworld given in Prime Directive difler considerably from those used in Star Trek material. Accordingly, GMs will have to declare that "Parking Lot" lies in another star system -- one near Tholian space, so that the UFP, Klingons and Romulans all have access to it -- and substitute another race for the Rigelliansl

At this point, the Captain and any other of fleer who has ever visited the Rigel system should start to groan and/or curse with heartfelt feeling. Investigations on Rigel IV are not going to be easy! For a start, although the planet's nickname is "Parking Lot", the players will not be allowed to enter orbit around it; no armed ships (and that includes naval vessels of all classes, whether they carry weapons or not) are permitted to orbit or land on Rigel IV, under pain of very severe trade sanctions against the individuals and governments involved. The Rigellians aren't kidding -- one armed ship in the wrong place, and the owners and their government can expect to be locked out of the richest and busiest markets in the known Galaxy for periods ranging from months to years! No-one risks it, not even the Klingons.

Rigel is also the home system of the Orions and the centre of the Orion Neutrality Sphere, [PD: "Parking Lot" is an independent world and a known Orion base, but one which is protected by treaty -- the trade through there is just too valuable ta losejand so Federation naval vessels don't even have the right of free passage. The only place a StarFleet ship is welcome in the Rigel system is in orbit around Rigel II, a mining outpost from which Federation forces may monitor the system. They can't do anything about it -- any non-Orion vessel in the Rigel system is required to obey Rigel Space Control at all times, and the Orion staff take great delight in restricting the movements of naval ships, again using the extremely potent threat of trade restrictions to enforce their will -- but they can watch and run passive ID checks.

On the ground, the PCs will be on their own. "Law and order" on Rigel IV is maintained by private police forces owned by the proprietors of the Trade Halls. Their primary aim is to ensure that business can be conducted without interruption, so anything that doesn't affect the commercial interests of their bosses tends to be ignored.

It is not a good idea to wear uniform on Rigel IV but, against that, are no restrictions whatsoever on the type of weapons and equipment that the PCs can take with them. A lot of visible StarFleet equipment will tend to give away the characters" identities, and they may need to be careful that it isn't stolen, but, if they can carry it, they can take it.

Once the prayers' ship arrives at Rigel, RSC will give them a strictlydefined approach route to Rigel II. If the GM wants to make the players uneasy, have the Helmsman make a roll against his skill in Starship Helm Operation; failure will mean that Rigel Space Control will call the ship up, complaining about it "wandering all over the system" and make a few nasty cracks about Federation expertise, or lack of it, in steering a spaceship. The PCs will just have to put up with this; even a smart comeback over the communications channel could cause a minor diplomatic incident, and the Orions know it.

As their ship moves through the outer planets of the Rigel system, the PCs will notice that there are rather more warships around than usual. Both the Klingons and the Romulans have sizable naval detachments in orbit around their equivalents of Rigel II (Rigel VI and IX respectively).

The Klingon fleet includes 2 D-18 destroyers, 2 K-23 escorts and an L-9 frigate [PD: a D-6, an F-5 and 3 E-4]; the Romulans have 4 Graceful Flyer scouts and 2 Stormbird-class (Klingon D-7 design) cruisers [PD: 2 KR and 4 Snipe-A].

The PCs will have to use a commercial interplanetary shuttle to get to Rigel IV. They can either take a scheduled carrier or hire a private "taxi". Either way, once their shuttle approaches Parking Lot, it, along with every other ship landing or entering orbit around the planet, will have to undergo the ancient, arcane and rather silly Rite of the Certificate of Performance. This consists of answering sixty questions, most of which have lost all meaning over the millennia, and a purification ceremony conducted on board the shuttle by an Inspection Party whose only qualification for the job appears to be that they're prepared to make fools of themselves doing this on a regular basis.

The shuttle pilot will tell the PCs beforehand that they must treat this nonsense absolutely seriously or the Party might demand a more elaborate purification that could take several daysl The GM is encouraged to ham it up mercilessly here and watch the players try to keep a straight face...! Once the inspection is over (and, perhaps surprisingly, along with the silliness, the shuttle and everything on it has undergone a genuinely thorough inspection). The pilot will be given landing instructions by Space Control.

Note:El Dorado: part 2 will appear next issue.