(Essentially, this will be the first episode to throw at my PCs when this campaign starts. Unless it turns out this way, everyone dies and there won't be a series. Sue me; I have to railroad them into the premise somehow.)
Time: The last year of the Dominion War
Station Fortress, a large, non-standard space station co-opted by Starfleet for its strategic location near the fighting and serving as the support center for an engagement zone near Breen space, is the only support facility for weeks in any direction. Ships come and go on supply runs and for personnel transfers to and from the front.
However, at the moment, the only ship at the station is the U.S.S. Arachne, an Intrepid-class vessel currently assigned to sentry duty for the station. Times are slow; the closest engagements are parsecs away. Several hundred veterans await transport vessels, using the few weeks to recover from the traumas of war.
Suddenly, a Romulan Warbird decloaks in front of the station. Then cloaks. Then decloaks again. Sensors indicate an unstable interphase in the cloaking systems. A strange burst transmission from the Warbird temporarily shuts down the communications systems on both the Fortress and the Arachne.
When subspace systems are restored, the Warbird is transmitting a countdown on all frequencies. Full weapons are armed on the vessel, and the engine systems have been primed to collapse in less than 30 minutes.
The ship does not respond to hails. Life-signs show a nearly full complement on board, and little damage has been done to the ship's hull - how could this be a suicide mission from a current ally?
The burst transmission holds the secret: a hidden text message from the Commander of the Warbird. Apparently, the Breen energy-draining weapon used on the Warbird reset the ship's computer cores, triggering a Tal Shiar suicide-program. The ship assumes the crew is dead; all computer access has been disabled. Fortunately, the shields are down; the Federation can safely beam the crew off the Warbird in the time allotted and move the ship to a safe distance with the Arachne's tractor beams.
With barely 5 minutes to spare, the Romulan crew is evacuated and the Arachen begins to tow the Warbird at maximum warp. Unfortunately, the Romulan ship has other ideas and sets a ramming course for the station. In pursuit, the Arachne tries to disable or destroy the ship to save the thousands of lives on the station. With her shields down, the Warbird takes heavy damage, but barrels forward on automatic controls. Just as she's about to hit the station, her singularity drive implodes.
The energy release blacks out all systems and knocks all personnel unconscious.
Coming to, the Crew discovers that they are no longer where they were. They are circling a lifeless alien world in an unfamiliar star system. Additional, astrometric readings indicate that they are on the rimward edge of the Beta Quadrant - nearly 45,000 light years from their original location. The Arachne limps back to Fortress on impulse as the Crew takes stock of the situation.
They will come to discover that they are in the middle of an area of space known as the Web: a zone of shattered subspace that makes warp travel unpredictable and dangerous. Additionally, it has a tendency to catch spectacular engine malfunctions such as the Warbird's quantum implosion, dragging material from sites across the galaxy into the Web.
The bad news: the Crew is 45 years from home. They have over 3000 people to provide for on Fortress. Warp power is dangerous until they can find a safe way out of the Web. And sensors are detecting ships at the far edge of long range - heavily armed ships.
The good news: Not much. A quantum filament formed in the Warbird's core implosion. This filament allows sporadic radio contact with the source end (the previous location of Fortress). However, the Crew won't learn this for several weeks (when those transports arrive).
It is up to the crew to:
a) Find a way home. This method must function for both the Arachne and Station Fortress.
Barring this, they must:
b) secure a position for Fortress to keep the personnel there safe;
c) prevent any internal threats:
1. The Romulans know that their nearest border is much closer than Federation space. Also, they are much less concerned with the morals of their Federation "allies";
2. Tal Shiar agents may be at work against both the Federation and their fellow Romulans (who may not remain loyal to the Praetor in these new circumstances);
d) secure resources.
e) Find allies in this region.
I was actually thinking of it being the result of an ancient Omega Particle experiment. The subspace effects of of the Omega reaction have slowly "healed" and interacted with nearby natural phenomena to create the Web as it exists today:
1) A central "shatterzone" where warp fields are simply impossible. Too bad Station Fortress shows up in the middle of this area; it takes the Arachne about a day to cross this on impulse.
2) A spread of subspace fractures throughout the surrounding parsecs that essentially makes the drop into subspace a "crapshoot" - sometimes you're fine, sometimes you blow out half your ODN conduits.
Basically, the Omega experiment is an excuse to plant interesting Ancient artifacts on various planets to bait my Crew (as well as set off an Omega Directive false alarm on the Arachne a few eps in, hehe).
Reply With Quote