S03 E01: Chronicles of T'Avaya: The Superior Race

 

S03 E01: Chronicles of T'Avaya: The Superior Race

(This adventure was inspired by The Way of Kolinahr by Last Unicorn Games.)

Mission log. Stardate 45134.8. Agent T’Avaya reporting. The Dar’Rek’Kam--Vulcan School of Diplomacy--has been vandalized three times in the last week. The V’Shar--Vulcan Intelligence--believes the vandalism was committed by the Vulcan Isolationist Movement, also known on Vulcan as KanSehr. The KanSehr believes involvement with other races has corrupted the planet Vulcan and her people. They want Vulcan to secede from the Federation, all Vulcans on other planets to return to Vulcan, and all non-Vulcans on the planet to leave. They also believe Vulcans not born on Vulcan, like myself, have no place on the planet Vulcan.

The V’Shar has stated that the KanSehr had been inactive since they obtained the Stone of Gol seven years ago but are just now becoming active again. I have been ordered to take my Starfleet Intelligence team, the Shadow Centurions, to Vulcan and prevent the KanSehr from further action. The V’Shar believe the three break-ins were dry runs for a much larger attack. There is reason to believe they will plant a bomb in the Dar’Rek’Kam.

 

            “Diplomacy is delicate,” said the Vulcan professor. “And there are many who see our race as arrogant. The most successful diplomats learn to be disarming.” T’Saral listened politely, even diplomatically, as she planned her next move. “Understood,” she said. “I will endeavor to do so.” Professor Tobor seemed dubious. The look in T’Saral’s eyes said she was not really listening. Tobor dismissed her. He had no time for disinterested students in his office. T’Saral placed her data rod on his desk right before she left. The rod was supposed to contain her research on the political science of the Andorians. What a waste of time, she thought. The Andorians are an illogical, sniveling species. All one had to do was look at their past with Vulcans to know their true nature.

            Professor Tobor inserted the rod into his computer console. He expected very little from T’Saral. She probably did the minimum requirement for the report. Tobor had been a professor at the Dar’Rek’Kam for fifteen years, and he had seen a few students like T’Saral—students with low motivation who were only there to please their parents. When he opened the file, his computer screen blinked for a second.

            Then, the school’s entire computer system went down.

 

            T’Saral met T’Feri at the Dar’Rek’Kam museum. It was off hours for the museum. T’Feri preferred times when it was less crowded. The two Vulcan women observed the painting “Temptress” by Kussot, a Vulcan who lived before the Reformation. They both admired the sedated colors and the flowing brushstrokes, not to mention the pained look of futility on the Temptress’s face.

            T’Feri asked, “How was your meeting with Professor Tobor?”

            “His manner was the same,” T’Saral said. “Esoteric and unyielding. He will never understand my approach.” T’Feri did not reply. T’Saral pulled out one of her student pads and said, “I have a study appointment. I will see you again tomorrow.” They nodded at each other. T’Saral left the museum. T’Feri was pleased T’Saral had invited her to see the painting. She had never seen this rare one by Kussot.

Then, there was a loud noise. The loudest noise T’Feri had ever heard. And the last thing she would ever hear. And the Temptress was the last thing she would ever see.

 

            T’Avaya and the Vulcan investigator were at the site of the explosion. He told her that someone had introduced a computer virus into the system, which brought the whole system down, including the security system. Then someone was able to bring an explosive device undetected into the museum building of the school. T’Avaya had tried to look at a computer to trace the virus, but the virus had made all the terminals inoperative. Her communicator beeped. She excused herself from the investigator and went to talk in private. She pulled her communicator from her pocket. The call was from Miadere.

            “This is Centurion Petronius.”

            “Report,” T’Avaya told her. Miadere was using her Starfleet Intelligence code name.

            “I’m in,” was all the agent said.

The Vulcan replied, “Report back at regular intervals if possible. Centurion Domitius out.” T’Avaya returned the communicator to her pocket.

She asked the investigator about the number of casualties. He said there was one casualty--a female Vulcan student named T’Feri--and three other Vulcans with minor injuries. The bomb had been detonated at a time and place where it could do little damage. T’Avaya said the bomb must have been a warning at best—to let them know the KanSehr were serious, but they would only use force if necessary. The investigator agreed that the bomb could have been planted in a much more heavily populated area of the school.

Then Councilor Saukuk of the Vulcan High Command approached her. He had been at the site to see the damage. He told her he had just received a call. The KanSehr had taken credit for the explosion and wanted to talk to the High Command. She asked Saukuk what he intended to do. He said the council would meet with them. It was not normally their policy to sit down with terrorists, but these were Vulcans. He thought they should hear them out. It was only logical. T’Avaya asked to sit at the meeting. Saukuk agreed.

Suddenly T’Avaya heard a gasp and looked over her shoulder. The Vulcan investigator and his two cohorts collapsed, unconscious on the floor. T’Avaya and Saukuk, the only conscious ones left in the disheveled museum, began to notice a strange odor. They left quickly and called for a first response team to come, all wearing gas masks. T’Avaya also ordered Centurion Quintus, her weapons expert, to beam down wearing a mask to investigate.

 

            The representative from the KanSehr isolationist movement was the young Vulcan woman named T’Saral. She could not be arrested because there was no evidence that she personally had planted the bomb. Professor Tobor was not surprised to see her. In her guise as his student, she had made no effort to pretend to be there for her studies. Also at the meeting were Councilor Saukuk and T’Avaya. T’Saral did not hesitate to mention that T’Avaya was just the kind of person she protested. T’Avaya was a Vulcan who was not raised on the planet Vulcan, was not a traditional Vulcan, and was one of the people she wanted to banish, never to return. And besides, she worked for Starfleet Intelligence, an insidious organization to say the least.

            T’Saral said she had been friends with T’Feri, the one who had died in the explosion. She had hoped T’Feri would have left the museum by the time the bomb went off. But some sacrifices had to be made.

            T’Saral had once been a burgeoning philosopher and scientist. She had been a respected figure in the Vulcan scientific community. She had spent years studying the interplay between Vulcan identity and galactic politics. In her early years, she had been a staunch supporter of the Federation, believing that Vulcan’s wisdom and guidance could bring harmony to the galaxy. But as time passed, she grew disillusioned. The more she observed the Federation’s internal conflicts, the rise of external threats, and the increasing militarization of Vulcan forces, the more she believed that the Federation was no longer a force for good.

            She proposed to the others present that the Vulcan people needed to rediscover their true purpose, separate from the chaos of the wider galaxy. She argued that the Federation's ideals—while noble—had diluted the pure logic that had once defined Vulcan culture. Vulcans, she claimed, were trying to maintain peace through compromise and diplomacy, but the galaxy was inherently chaotic, and the cost of maintaining peace was becoming too high. The path of least resistance was no longer the one of the enlightened mind; it was the path of folly.

            Councilor Saukuk argued that Vulcan’s strength lay not in isolation, but in cooperation. He pointed to the Federation’s accomplishments in science, diplomacy, and mutual defense. He reminded her that Vulcan had once been a warlike species, nearly destroying their planet in their reckless pursuit of conquest before Surak’s teachings had offered them a path to peace. To abandon the Federation, he feared, would be to regress—to abandon the very progress that Surak had achieved. T’Saral vehemently disagreed. Surak’s teaching of logic and peace, she argued, pointed toward isolation. It was the only way Vulcans could have true peace.

Saukuk called an end to the meeting for now. T’Avaya agreed. It would not be easy--it may even be impossible--to sway T’Saral’s opinion.

 

            Datos held the IDIC pin in the palm of his hand. This ideal--the Kol-Ut-Shan--he thought, has brought so much madness to this planet. Diversity is nothing more than the path to losing our identity as a culture. He threw the pin to the floor. Then he turned around and faced the new girl, T’Kel. If she was half the biochemist she claimed to be, she could be very useful to his KanSehr cell. “What we need,” said Datos, “is a gas that will kill Vulcans and any other species that’s on our planet. And the gas needs to be undetectable. It needs to work instantly; as soon as it is triggered.”

            “Of course,” said T’Kel. “How soon do you need it?”

            “In three days.”

            “Not possible. I need at least a week. Once I acquire the supplies, I will need to harvest the microbes. I can only accelerate their growth at a finite rate.”

            “We will need time to get it in place. But we must move quickly. You have six days.”

            T’Kel promised she would have it done on time.

            Then, Datos watched the newsfeed about the bomb at the Dar’Rek’Kam. His eyes widened as he was listening. T’Kel saw his eyebrows raise so high they almost went up to his hairline, a sign of surprise in emotionless Vulcans. She asked him what had happened. He said he had ordered a bomb to be left in the administrative building of the school, where it would have done maximum damage, not the museum, where it had killed only one person.

            “T’Saral will pay for this!” T’Kel heard him say.

 

T’Avaya was alone in a lab at V’Shar headquarters. They had invited her there to help with the case because the High Command feared the KanSehr had a mole in the V’Shar. The meeting with T’Saral had not gone well. Neither T’Saral nor Councilor Saukuk would listen to the other. She checked her Starfleet Intelligence pad for messages. There was a message from Centurion Quintus, Cassandra. It said she had checked the bomb and found it was made from materials found easily on Vulcan. The main explosive material was trillium, which was processed in several factories on Vulcan. Trillium was commonly used to make incense, but could also be used in explosives. The local detectives and forensics operatives had found nothing unusual that could be traced to the KanSehr or anyone in particular.

T’Avaya also saw a message from Centurion Petronius, Miadere. She was an Orion/Deltan on an undercover mission wearing a holographic Vulcan disguise. Miadere’s message said she had successfully infiltrated the S’kcol’an cell as T’Kel, a female Vulcan biochemist. It was a good cover for Miadere, as she was indeed a skilled biochemist. She had no intention of making the gas she had been ordered to produce for the KanSehr. But for now, she would stay there and feign her work for the cell. The S’kcol’an cell was the cell of the KanSehr that had been vandalizing the Dar’Rek’Kam. (It was named after the city of S’kcol’an where the Dar’Rek’Kam school was located.) The V'Shar had enabled Miadere to infiltrate the cell through one of their own undercover agents.

T’Avaya also looked at the medical reports on the ones who had lost consciousness while investigating the explosion. All of them seemed to be in some type of telepathic coma. They were still in the hospital. The comas had been caused not by the bomb itself, but by a museum artifact that the explosion had caused to break. The artifact in question was an animal sculpture from a race called the Memthny. When the sculpture broke open, it released some kind of psychic energy. The Memthnytes were a telepathic race, and the sculpture was said to have been one of their most valued relics; a donation made in the name of good faith and friendly relations to the Dar’Rek’Kam museum. Councilor Saukuk had put in a call to the Memthnytes to inquire how to counteract the psychic comas. They had yet to respond.

Then T’Avaya received another message from Centurion Petronius, telling her the museum was not where the bomb should have gone off, and that T’Saral had not followed orders. Interesting, thought T’Avaya. So T’Saral was not as loyal as she pretended. So perhaps T’Saral was not as bloodthirsty as Datos, the cell leader. But then, she had acted very passionate for her cause during the meeting with Saukuk. But something else didn’t seem right. T’Saral said she had been friends with T’Feri. If the bomb went off in the wrong place, why would the one T’Saral was friends with be the one person who had died? Furthermore, why had T'Saral invited T’Feri to the museum at that time, when she knew the bomb would go off?

She looked up both students in the V’Shar records. They had both been students for seven months. They had not known each other before going to the school. She saw that T’Feri had lived alone. T’Avaya ordered Centurion Quintus to visit T’Feri’s home and look for clues.

Centurion Quintus (Cassandra) immediately went to T’Feri’s home. She was able to use a V’Shar key to get inside. She saw a Van Gre’ll mural painted on the wall. Cassandra loved studying alien cultures and knew much about Vulcans. Cassandra was a human who had been genetically enhanced. Though she was built to crave adventure, she admired the quiet, contemplative ways of Vulcans. She thought it could be fulfilling to grow up in a world of peace. So, she observed, T’Feri had been a follower of Van Gre’ll. They were a harmless cult that believed in spiritual awareness through melodies and sounds of nature. The house had a wind chime in every doorway.

Then Cassandra saw the Garden of Singer Stones. It was a collection of stones painted with the name of each of the person’s friends. There were over a dozen stones, each with a different Vulcan name. But she did not see one for T’Saral. Interesting. Cassandra pulled out her Starfleet Intelligence communicator and reported her findings to her team leader, Centurion Domitius.

 

The manager led T’Avaya into his office. The trillium factory in K’rila’kar city hardly ever had visitors. The factory produced trillium and used the trillium to make incense. This factory was the closest trillium factory to the Dar’Rek’Kam. The factory manager knew T’Avaya was there on behalf of the V’Shar and Starfleet Intelligence to investigate the bombing. He was aware that trillium could be used in explosives, but did not know of any of his employees being associated with the KanSehr, nor had there been any thefts in his factory. Then he mentioned that a young girl from the Dar’Rek’Kam had visited. She had placed an order for five grams of unrefined trillium. She had said it was for her incense altar. T’Avaya showed him a picture of T’Saral. “That’s her,” the manager said. Then he pulled up his records. The trillium had indeed been sold to T’Saral.

T'Avaya went back to the school to question some more people. Many of the students and professors said they had observed T’Saral and T’Feri speaking as acquaintances. No one thought they were close friends.

T’Avaya went to T’Saral’s home. It was unoccupied at the time. She used a V’Shar key to enter. She broke into a locked cabinet and found the receipt for the trillium. That was all the proof the agent needed.

 

T’Kel had been called to a meeting with Datos. “Do you have it yet?” Datos asked her. “Not yet. The research is going slowly. I need more time,” she answered. Developing a deadly gas wasn’t easy. Not that it mattered. T’Kel (Centurion Petronius) had no intention of doing such a thing. She would only be on this assignment long enough for Centurion Domitius (T’Avaya) to find enough evidence to implicate the guilty party in the school bombing. She had been using her undercover status to provide as much intel as possible to Centurion Domitius.

She saw another Vulcan woman sitting next to Datos. From the data she had received from T’Avaya, she knew it was T’Saral. “But you…are out of time, T’Kel,” Datos said, holding a phaser pointed at T’Kel. T’Saral said, “I looked at your work. You’ve been here two days and all you’ve done is look at computer records on us, our cell, and the bombing.”

Then they heard another voice from behind Datos and T’Saral. “Put down the phaser, Datos. You and T’Saral are under arrest for acts of terrorism and the murder of T’Feri.” It was T’Avaya, pointing her own phaser at them. Datos slowly turned around and dropped his phaser. He said, “How did you find us?”

T’Kel, answering for T’Avaya, said, “I called her. As soon as she said we had the evidence to charge you two with murder.”

T’Avaya said to T’Saral, “We found unrefined trillium at the bomb site. The K’rila’kar trillium factory manager identified you as having bought it. We verified with the factory records and the receipt in your home.”

“You incompetent fool!” Datos said to T’Saral. She looked at him and then turned away. T’Avaya said, “Why did you target T’Feri?”

“She started getting suspicious of me. She had seen my KanSehr communicator. She didn’t know what it was yet, but she would have figured it out. Plus, her Van Gre’ll cult had denied me. They said my head was too full of echoes. What does that mean? Their cult has people in high places. I could have BEEN someone, instead of being in this alien-hating group!”

Datos said, “Our movement is the only thing that will keep Vulcans on the true path. Surak’s promise of peace can only be achieved by staying away from other cultures. The aliens have polluted us. Our schools spend time teaching ALIEN ways; ALIEN customs and languages have integrated with ours.”

T’Avaya remembered reading the reports of T’Pol, the first Vulcan to serve on a human ship. Vulcans of that time had many beliefs like Datos. The belief that Vulcans are the one superior race. After working with humans, T’Pol had come to see the worth of learning from them. And she had told all of Vulcan the value of opening their minds to the diversity of other races. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Diversity of all. It was truly a shame that Datos could not see that. He was a disgrace to Surak and the work that T’Pol had done, not to mention the entire Vulcan race.

/---------------------------------------------------/

Councilor Saukuk was told by the Memthnytes that they could do nothing for the three Vulcans who were in a psychic coma. The Memthnytes had no idea that their psychic energy could be so dangerous to Vulcans. The councilor surmised that he and T’Avaya had not been affected because they did not get close enough to the broken Memthny statue. Fortunately, a Vulcan Master had been called to the hospital.

The Vulcan Master stood next to the first patient, a middle-aged Vulcan male, and placed her fingers on his face, finding the nerves that would lead her to the necessary brain areas. Her telepathic mind touched his mind. She found it dull, quiet, utterly void of any activity. She forced herself in deeper. She must find some trace of thought if she were to revive him. Wait. There. A spark of life. It was subtle. But when she awakened it, she could feel its desire to live. Now she could complete her task.

The Vulcan Master took some time, but she was able to bring the others out of their comas as well. Another problem solved. Saukuk and T’Avaya knew the KanSehr would use this incident with the comas as an example for their cause. If the strange alien sculpture had not been on Vulcan, the three victims would not have been subdued. But the Vulcans still felt that interaction of cultures was necessary. And there would have been no emergency if not for the illegal actions of the KanSehr.

 

Mission log. Supplemental. Agent T’Avaya reporting. The arrest of Datos and T’Saral has evidently put a stop to the attacks on the Dar’Rek’Kam, but will not stop the KanSehr itself. Each cell of the KanSehr works independently, with everyone having a contact through another contact. The inner workings of the secret group were designed so that if some members were discovered, they could not give away the other members. Even though Datos was the leader of his cell, he only had direct contact with T’Saral and T’Kel. The Vulcan High Command and the V’Shar will remain on high alert for any more KanSehr activities. Starfleet Intelligence will be ready if needed.

 

            Sinon poured T’Avaya a cup of maanath tea. They sat on the floor with V’Lin at the triangular-shaped table.

            “Are you here on a mission with Starfleet Intelligence?” Sinon asked.

            T’Avaya was not surprised her uncle knew of her work with Starfleet Intelligence. Her father had obviously kept in touch with him.

            “Yes. I was called here to investigate the attacks on the Dar’Rek’Kam,” T’Avaya said. This was not an undercover assignment for her, so she could at least tell them that much.

            “Did anyone die in the bombing?” asked V’Lin.

            “There was one casualty.”

            “Most regrettable. Do you know who is behind it?” her Aunt V’Lin asked.

            That was something T’Avaya could not reveal. She simply said, “I have completed the mission. I wanted to visit with you before I left Vulcan.”

            She had come to visit her aunt and uncle out of respect. Her parents had brought her to Vulcan several times while she was a child, and seeing her aunt and uncle was always a treasured delight. They had given her many exotic foods that were not on her home planet Sa’idi III. And her aunt wove very ornate rugs that had always fascinated T’Avaya.

            They left the table and V’Lin showed T’Avaya her new loom. It was twice the size of her old one. She did very delicate work with it. And she still kept her old one for more traditional work. T’Avaya noticed her aunt’s incense altar was still by the window. The burning of incense while working was a way to increase longevity for some Vulcans. There was a container of different types of incense sticks. She had seen many of them at the trillium factory she had just visited. She noticed some were still in the packaging. There was one called “peraing”.

            “What is this?” T’Avaya asked, holding up the package.

            “The peraing is made from the peraing trees on Larnacae Prime. It has a musky sweet aroma.” T’Avaya held the package to her nose. The scent was pleasing. She was glad the KanSehr would not be keeping Vulcan from importing goods. She would not want her people deprived of these simple pleasures. She felt something on her leg. She looked down and saw Chio tapping her shin with his paw.

“Your pet is quite handsome,” her aunt said.

            “And he wants constant attention,” T’Avaya said. She reached down and picked Chio up. She held his furry body against her bosom. Aunt V’Lin petted his head. There was a soft purring sound coming from his beak. “Perhaps he would like some pranta seeds,” V’Lin said.

            “He has never had them. But he will eat practically anything,” T’Avaya said. “Much like his owner,” Aunt V’Lin said, her eyes dancing at the joke. T’Avaya, recognizing the playful jab, simply stared at her aunt. Yes, T’Avaya thought, it was nice to visit family.

T’Avaya had acquired the Chio on a Romulan colony planet. The pet had given her a certain rapport that she couldn’t get from humanoids. And other humanoids also found him pleasant. She rubbed him underneath his chin, and he cooed as her aunt went to get his food.

 

-by the Honorable Kavura

Thank you for reading my Star Trek Adventures: Captain’s Log mission report. Captain’s Log is a solo role-playing game by Modiphius Entertainment. 1/6/25