The Weapon

Posted on Sun Sep 10th, 2017 @ 7:29pm by Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral & Hermes (Mercury) & Lieutenant Commander Eneas Clio & Lieutenant Commander T'Pral Jordan & Baroness 2nd Class Schwein von Alcott
Edited on on Sun Sep 10th, 2017 @ 8:10pm

Mission: When Iconians Deserve to Die
Location: System 892
Timeline: Current

"Well," Hermes said. "We're here...well, we're outside the system. Decision time. If I land in their primitive excuse for a spaceport, we're going to have to go through customs and they're going to check us for weapons. If I cloak and land us somewhere outside the capitol and beam us into the city from there, we avoid the questions about weapons. On the other hand, if we get caught we're going to have a great deal of explaining to do."

"They're in negotiations to become a member of the UFP," Daytona said. "I'd hate to cause an interstellar incident, but I'd also rather not be unarmed if we run into anymore of Hera's foot soldiers. It's your call, Commander Eneas."

"Normally I'd be up for causing interstellar incidents, but if we want to get close to Hephaestus we'll have to go by the book." Clio was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of having all of her weapons taken away, but if she had to be unarmed to meet Hephaestus, she'd take the chance. "T'Pral, you should be allowed a phaser if we tell them you're our security escort. I'd expect them to ask the rest of us to leave any weapons behind. I'd suggest not arguing with them over it."

T'Pral nodded. "I can take the phaser but relinquish it to someone who will need it more than I once we pass Security as my anatomy allows me to handle Hera's soldiers more easily than the rest of you," she stated. before continuing after a brief pause. "Or, we can be equipped with transponders that can transport weapons to us once activated should we need them. Such transponders can be easily concealed from many standard security scans.

"Huh,' Hermes grunted. "That gives me an idea. Lay all of your weapons out on the table in the main cabin. I'll be back in a flash."

There was a blur and a rush of wind and Hermes was off.

"Well," Daytona said. "Let's get to it."

Daytona went to his cabin and retrieved his Kambantuli knives and his pistol. He brought them out into the common area and lay them on the table. Hermes was already there.

Clio wasn't sure what Hermes was up to, but she dutifully retrieved the small armory that seemed to accompany her wherever she went. Next to Daytona's knives and pistol, she laid a pair of throwing knives, a 'pocket-sized' phaser, and her favored revolver. It might be old-fashioned, but it worked well when energy weapons weren't favorable. The last item she added to the table was Mal's friction-less kopis, which looked a bit out of place next to her usual stash. It was the one thing she hoped the Magna Romans would let her keep, seeing as it wasn't exactly hers.

Schwein shrugged and added the pair of short swords and the long barreled polaron pistol she wore to the lineup as well. She then started digging through her many hidden pockets, taking every medical item she had into consideration. Almost everything she had could be used as a weapon, but was technically a medical instrument so she poked everything back where she got it. "Ja, those are the only true weapons I have other than my own muscles."

Then another thought occurred to her and she pulled off her eyepatch, stowing it in one of her pockets as well. Glancing around the ship, she blinked a few times at everyone, her golden cybernetic eye glowing like a gemstone as it scanned her surroundings and the people around her. "They may misconstrue hiding it as something bad, but if I'm open about it and they ask me to cover it, I can..." Trailing off, her eyes came to rest on Clio. Squinting, she began digging into her pockets for another scanning device. Motioning towards Clio, Schwein asked forgiveness. "May I scan further?"

"Uh... I guess?" This was Clio's first close encounter with the Baroness, and she wasn't quite sure what to expect. And she certainly wasn't sure why she was being scanned. "Just don't shine any of the scanner's lights into my eyes. Tends to be unpleasant for all involved."

Looking closer at Clio's eyes and scanning with the conical scanner, Schwein hummed a little. "Commander, you need to see a doctor. You have a mild infection in your optic nervous tissues disguised as common bacteria."

That was a bit of a surprise. Clio just kind of... looked at her for a moment. "You found that with your eye? That's... impressive and a little scary, actually. But there's no time for doctors at the moment. I'll see one when we return from Magna Roma."

"Ja, please do. It may be unpleasant if it stays. I may be a medic, but it would be best to wait for a doctor's treatment. You may need an eye like mine if I were to treat you." Tucking her conical scanner away, Schwein turned back to the rest of the group and waited.

There was a gust of wind and Hermes appeared from...somewhere.

"Okay," he said, handing handing out bracelets to everyone. They were of various widths and no two pairs of bracelets were the same, each having different designs or decorations on them.

"Put those on, and observe," Hermes said. Everyone put them on obediently and Hermes picked up some kind of hand scanner. "You're first, Commander."

He scanned Clio's weapons one by one, then aimed the scanner at her bracelets individually letting the beam linger on each one for a moment.

"Now," Hermes said once he was done. "Hold out your hand and think of one of your weapons."

Clio quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what sort of technological trick this was but knowing better than to ask. Hermes and his kind were far more advanced than the Federation, and it wasn't likely they'd share the secret of the device. Curious as to whether she could figure it out, she focused her thoughts on the kopis she'd borrowed from Mal.

The kopis in question appeared in Clio's hand.

T'Pral was fascinated by this technology. "Where did you get these?" T'Pral asked.

"Remember, we impressed the ancient peoples of Earth by performing what appeared to be miracles," Hermes said. "The ability to make things seem to appear from thin air with just a gesture of the hand went along way towards cementing us as deities in our subjects' minds. You're next, Lieutenant. Then the Baroness, and finally Mister Ral."

Hermes got to work setting up the rest of the bracelets.

"All finished," Hermes said when he was done.

"Thank you," Daytona said. "I assume these just show up as fashion accessories if scanned?"

"You are correct, Mister Ral!" Hermes said. "You'll also notice that no two pairs of them are the same. I thought it would look odd if you were all wearing the same bracelets. They should look like jewelry."

"Perfect," Daytona said. "Alright. These people are still rather primitive by our standards. Their native technology is about 300 or so years behind ours. However, they have recently broken the warp barrier and are opening trade relations with nearby planets and governments, including the Federation. The very first thing the Federation did when negotiations opened was to help them construct an appropriately secure spaceport to funnel visitors through so security will be very good. However, one thing the Federation has not provided the Magna Romans with yet is weapons tech. This means they have no phasers to set to stun. This means they're still using bullets. This means we should avoid shoot outs locals, whether good guys or bad guys, if possible. If you get shot, you're not going to wake up in an hour with a phaser hangover, but rather get a very nasty bullet wound that might just kill you before we can get you proper medical attention. Commander, if we're going to go in uniform, might I suggest we wear command red instead of Intelligence gray? Usually, if I have to appear somewhere officially, I wear red and travel as someone's administrative aid or dog-robber."

Schwein smirked and headed to her duffel, pulling out a long fitted coat with huge tasseled shoulders and enough decorations that really did make her look like a pirate Baroness. Tossing it on and slipping some pristine white gloves over her hands, she then pulled out a matching military cap and plopped it on her head. "Ja, it is rare that I wear all this... But I may make for a good distraction. As for bullet wounds, I have skills in treating them, but please do not test those skills."

"Red is probably a good idea, actually. I've had an assignment or two where the CO had us wear red. Tends to lessen suspicions." Clio was pretty fond of her black uniform, but she wasn't opposed to changing colors when necessary. "T'Pral, probably best you stick to yellow. Might make it more believable that you're escorting us."

"That was my intention," T'Pral stated simply that seemed more cold in nature than a normal vulcan response. With the recent issues between herself, Nexi, and West, she wasn't generally fond of the Intelligence Department at the moment.

Hermes looked from T'Pral to Clio and back again.

"Okay then," he said. "Everyone suit up while I take us in."

There was a gust of wind and Hermes was gone from the main cabin and at his station in the cockpit.

"Uhm," Daytona said. "How are we going to explain the Baroness?"

Donning a haughty air of superiority, Schwein fluttered a hand as if to brush it off. "There is nothing to explain, ja? I am a Baroness and a representative of the Alcott Holdings, an investor in the futures of the planet. I go where it pleases me, with whom it pleases me. It distracts myself and others as it pleases me. Ja?" With that, she pulled a small gold plated flask out of an inner pocket of her jacket and started waving that around similarly. "And if that is insufficient, then it will not please me and great trouble will be had with our governments, ja?"

"I would advise you to keep the attitude in check, Ms. Alcott," T'Pral said. "We do not need an incident with these people."

Tag Clio, Schwein, T'Pral, Whoever has a good idea

"Uhm...right," Daytona said. "Let's try to get along. Squabbling is going to attract attention. If you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go and get dressed."

Daytona left the main cabin and went to get into a Command red uniform.