PROLOGUE - LEAVING EARTH
The
USS Swiftsure has left Utopia Planetia and started the 140 LY journey
to its new port of call: Starbase 123 is situated at the far end of the
Beta Quadrant beyond the Romulan and Klingon Empires. The Swiftsure makes
good of the 1.5 month journey to run drills in order to improve performance
- a much needed training program for a crew that is mostly 3 years out
of synch with the latest technology and protocols.
PART 1 - LOOKING FOR A GHOST SHIP IN THE AZURE NEBULA
Following the last and most extensive of 3 drills, the USS Swiftsure reaches the middle of her journey: Epsilon Oupost XI. The ship takes aboard some Outpost crew to be left at Starbase 234 for shoreleave and reassignement. Starbase 234 is slated to be the last stop on the ship's journey. However, while paying a curtesy visit to Benzite Commander Bren, CO of Epsilon XI, Capt. Chapman receives a surprising request. A space myth regarding a ship lost for decades in the nearby Azure Nebula has been an object of fascination for Master Chief Groggan. 22 years ago, intriguing pieces of ship debris were found in the nebula. About to be reassigned prior to retirement, Master Chief Groggan is asking for one last chance to survey the part ot the Azure Nebula where he calculated the lost ship could be.
Captain Chapman grants Master Chief Groggan his wish by having the Swiftsure search the Azure Nebula for 24 hours. Commander Mateo, Counsellor but also a treasure hunter with experience, is put in charge of the mission. Six probes are launched to establish a sensor net, and six shuttles depart the ship. Within hours, the Meridian shuttle is unexpectedly pulled in close proximity to gravity space mines and heavily damaged. When Commander Mateo finally finds them, it appears that the Meridian has found the "Regent's Pride". The derelict is dead and heavily damaged. With some further coaxing from the Counsellor, an away team is sent aboard to record and investigate for posterity before the useless ship is either dismantled or destroyed. To everybody's shock, a mysterious survivor is found in stasis. In spite of the XO's misgivings, Dr Paulsen decides to bring the Shengen aboard for ressucitation and the ship resumes its course towards Starbase 234.
PART 2 - SHANG UN AR
Master Chief Grogan abducts the child and Head Nurse Dubois. It is revealed
that Grogan was really a former Intel agent by the name of Geiger. Geiger
had disappeared 40 years ago, after the god-like Gensi had been massacred
on Shengen following a failed Starfleet diplomatic mission. The non allied
planet had cut all diplomatic ties with the Federation and plunged into
the chaos of civil war.
Before the massacre, every generation one among the Gensi would be destined
to become Shang Un - a new incarnation of the immortal god. While it seems
possible that the child could be Gensi in spite of some troubling characteristics,
even more troubling is Counsellor Mateo's analysis that this could be
the Shang Un'Ar: the Last God announced by prophecies.
To complicate matters, Geiger served several decades as a specialist on
Outpost Epsilon XI, where he used his knowledge and cover to build a cloaking
device. Unless the Swiftsure can catch up with him, all negotiations with
the Romulan Empire could be compromised. Furthermore, Geiger's agenda
remains a mystery.
The Swiftsure is ordered to follow Geiger to Shengen. Upon entering the
system, the ship is engaged by a Mercenary task force controlling it in
the name of the Union, one of two powers present on Shengen. The Mercenaries
scatter and flee after their lead ship is destroyed. The Swiftsure clears
their base of operation on a moon while broadcasting a message announcing
the probable return of the Shang Un'Ar. The move sparks military action
as the Gensi Coalition takes control of the Union spaceships and makes
contact with the Swiftsure. A diplomatic meeting is held where Captain
Chapman is able to secure authorization to search for Geiger and Dubois.
PART
3 - EQUINOX AND REVELATION
The Away Team has a narrow escape from a Union strike team shortly after
finding Geiger's crashed ship. The cloaking device is retrieved together
with the location of a hidden temple where the arrival of the Shang Un'Ar
has been prepared for millenia. The team is too late but finally catches
up with Geiger, the child Alin, Head Nurse Dubois and a former Federation
ambassador in the moutain range called Shengen's Roof.
Without an extradition agreement, the Away Team had no choice but escort
Geiger and Alin to the Southern Temple where they arrive just in time
for the equinox, exceptionally doubled with a solar eclipse. The ceremony
transferring to Alin the god-like powers of the Gensi takes place with
astonishing results. A white light engulfs the planet, cleaning away all
traces of technology and civilization but for the six Temples. Most of
the population turns into a collective life force and departs the planet,
leaving but a few thousands to their new destiny. The remaining Shengens
appear convinced that the Revelation was only the first step. Their own
journey has just begun.
The Swiftsure leaves Shengen after the arrival of a Starfleet ambassador,
short of two dozen crewmembers become part of the life force. The mission
concludes with many unanswered questions as to the nature of Shengen's
last God and the Gensi's ability to use crystals storing psionic energy
born from prayer. As for the rogue Intel agent, widely believed to have
joined the move to a different plane, Captain Chapman suspects that even
a religious convert won't change his spots and that Geiger is in hiding.
The ship resumes her course towards Starbase 123 and will shoreleave briefly
on Carthage Colony (NP), a resort planet part of the starbase's area of
operations. A promotion and award ceremony are to be held on arrival.
