Starfinder- \u201cTruth\u201d<\/p>\n
By George \u201cchooch99\u201d Silsby<\/p>\n
Captain\u2019s log, stardate 48876.43, Starfinder has answered a distress signal from an alien starship while exploring an uncharted sector of the Outback.<\/p>\n
\u201cReport Commander Vai.\u201d The captain looked to his first officer as the female Romulan scrolled through a data pad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ship is cataloged in the Mayon database as belonging to a race called the \u201cMorasti\u201d. she reported. \u201cThey are humanoids and part of a theocratic government called the \u201cDivinity of Truth\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Captain A.N.N. D raised a holographic brow as he looked at the view screen and the Morasti ship came in sight. It was sleek and about the size of an Intrepid class starship.<\/p>\n
\u201cScanning the ship.\u201d Tactical officer JJ reported. \u201cShe\u2019s been damaged in what appears to be combat with another ship. her engines are heavily damaged, she has shields raised and weapons are powered down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHail them.\u201d The captain ordered. JJ nodded and the screen soon showed an alien humanoid, reddish skin with horns almost like an Earth goat. He had yellow eyes and wore a black uniform that was adorned with various symbols.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Captain ANN D of the Federation starship Starfinder\u201d.<\/p>\n
The alien gave a sort of sitting bow with his head. \u201cI am Seeker Captain Leemor, commander of the Truth Bringer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bridge crew began giving each other looks as they all had the unspoken feelings of these aliens being very much part of a very zealous religion. Though they are trained not to pre judge, it was hard not to draw this early conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe intercepted your distress call. We offer assistance if it is still needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The alien nodded. \u201cWe were attacked by Vorlords. They boarded our ship and dismantled key engine components for salvage before we repelled them.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D nodded as he knew all too well what the Vorlords do. \u201cI am familiar with them. I can have a team of my engineers beam over and see what we can do to get your engines online again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The alien looked at one other officer on his bridge and back before replying.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ships are sacred to us Captain. They are moving temples. In order to allow outsiders to come aboard, we need you to agree to allow us to indoctrinate them to our \u201ctruth\u201d.<\/p>\n
ANN D looked at Commander Vai who looked concerned. \u201cWhat would this\u2026\u201dindoctrination\u201d involve? He asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMerely a formality that involves taking an oath that the \u201ctruth\u201d will be their salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D was an A.I. that had the combined memories and experiences of several captains incorporated into his matrix. He drew upon his instincts. If a mere formality of respecting these alien\u2019s religious customs would suffice, he saw no harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will respect and recognize your customs. I will have Commander Stark and his engineering team ready to beam over within the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starfinder was parked a few hundred kilometers from the alien ship for the next several hours, waiting for Stark and his men to finish helping the aliens.<\/p>\n
Commander Vaihuu walked onto the bridge looking very distraught. \u201cSomething wrong Commander?\u201d the captain inquired. \u201cStark\u2019s team failed to update us on two scheduled check ins. When I tried to communicate with them, there was no response.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D stood up. \u201cOpen a channel with the Morasti commander JJ.\u201d \u201cAye sir\u201d. JJ replied as he tapped buttons. The screen soon had the commander in view.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a problem Captain ANN D?\u201d he asked. \u201cCommunications with our people seem to have been cut off.\u201d ANN D stated. \u201cYou mind explaining why?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Morasti commander folded his fingers together calmly with his two hands as he spoke. \u201cYou agreed to allow indoctrination. It…can take time. And they are in no position to communicate until it is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D and Vaihuu shot looks at one another. \u201cI want to speak to Commander Stark. This is not a request.\u201d<\/p>\n
The alien commander looked offended. \u201cMy people are servants of the TRUTH, Captain ANN D. We live and die for the truth. We never lie. In fact, we are implanted with bio organic devices in our brains that make it impossible to tell anything but the absolute truth, and answer any questions asked with truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D looked back at JJ and mouthed quietly \u201chave weapons on standby.\u201d JJ nodded.<\/p>\n
ANN D turned back and calmly looked at the Morasti commander. \u201cIf you are compelled to answer truthfully, then answer this: what exactly is happening to my people?\u201d<\/p>\n
The alien sighed and nodded and his face clearly showed he was trying to censor himself but failing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mission is to convert and enlighten all life across the universe to the truth.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are being prepped for surgery that will gift them with bio compliance devices like ours. The truth will become all they are, all they seek. Then we will encourage them to spread the truth to you and your crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaihuu glared at him. She could not sit quietly, she had little patience for fanatics.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour actions are considered unwelcome and hostile. You risk starting a war with both the Federation and our allies in this region of space, the Klingon Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeker captain Leemor seemed to be surprised at her words. \u201cFrom our point of view, we are not taking hostile actions, we are fulfilling a holy mission and spreading truth to all beings who have yet to discover it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing force.\u201d ANN D interjected. \u201cWhere we come from, history has shown on every world whenever any belief is forced upon others, it only causes war and chaos. You cannot expect any other race to simply agree and comply to your radical behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leemor shook his head. \u201cOf course not. We have been forced to build a strong military fleet to enforce our mission when resistance is encountered. But we never desire conflict. It is written the path to the truth starts in blood, but ends in harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D shook his head now. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for debating with a lunatic people. Tell me the shield modulation you are using right now. The Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaihuu looked back at JJ and JJ smiled and winked; the captain was good. Very very good. He knew where this was going.<\/p>\n
Leemor nodded as he looked at a screen. \u201cThe modulation is 65432 point 577214.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D looked over his shoulder to JJ. JJ smiled as he tapped buttons on his tactical station. \u201cmatching shield frequency and locking transporter on the away team. They\u2019re beaming home now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd please disable their weapons and engines for me JJ, just because i\u2019m really pissed off right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
JJ nodded and fired Starfinder\u2019s phaser banks rapidly, penetrating the Morasti ship\u2019s shields with the modulation frequency and taking out the alien ship\u2019s tetryon weapon banks and engines (well, more disabling them than they already were).<\/p>\n
Leemor was visibly furious. \u2018YOU DARE? You have brought the wrath of the divine church upon your people!\u201d<\/p>\n
ANN D, JJ, and Vaihuu all laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou laugh at us now?\u201d Leemor yelled. ANN D nodded. \u201cTake this message back to your superiors, Captain Leemor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an old saying on the planet Earth. \u201cThe truth shall set you free. \u201cIf you manage to get your ship moving again, pass that along for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh and add this: If you value your lives, don\u2019t mess with us or the Klingons. We have our own version of truth, and it doesn\u2019t need modifying. \u201c<\/p>\n
Leemor was raging as the screen shut off.<\/p>\n
\u201cLt. Penn, set course for…well…anywhere that isn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lt. Penn chuckled as he began entering coordinates into the helm. \u201cAye Captain, setting course for \u201canywhere but here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s light the fires and turn the tires people. \u201c ANN D said as he sat in his chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cEngage\u201d.<\/p>\n
Starfinder warped off into the unknown, yet again. It was what they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Starfinder- \u201cTruth\u201d By George \u201cchooch99\u201d Silsby Captain\u2019s log, stardate 48876.43, Starfinder has answered a distress signal from an alien starship while exploring an uncharted sector of the Outback. \u201cReport Commander Vai.\u201d The captain looked to his first officer as the female Romulan scrolled through a data pad. \u201cThe ship is cataloged in the Mayon database…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1122"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ussstarfinder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}