Episode 2: The O Factor

I. Starbase Departure.

II. Patrol sweep along Federation/Kzin Border.

III. Debris Field Appearance:
          a. Scans indicate that it is the remains of a Kzin Police ship
                    1) Technology is very similar to Kzin technology last encountered about 100 years ago, but, it appears taht the Kzin have made some technology improvements sicne then.

IV. A Kzin Police Ship appears within an hour of the Tomar finding the debris field, without the Tomar noticing the approaching ship (cloaking device?)
          a. The Captain (Name: Jarl Captain), accuses the Tomar of destroying the other ship.
          b. Scans also indicate the presence of Federation weapons fire recently, both the Tomar and the newly arrived Kzin can verify that (ST:VI similar theme).
          c. Captain Marcus is concerned over this.
                    1) All weapons are accounted for though:
                         A) Phaser banks of cold
                         B) All "missile" weapons are VISUALLY accounted for as well, and also accounted for in the computer.
          d. Jarl Captain DEMANDS the surrender of the Tomar to the Kzin Patriarchy.
          e. Shepherd refuses, and asks for a Tactical scan of the Kzin ship:
                    1) The ship is almost a match for the Tomar.
                         A) This is a bit of a surprise for the crew, since the last known reports stated that the Kzin were still behind  in Technology.
          f. Shepherd asks for their terms, in an attempt to stall the Kzin while a coded sub-space message is sent out to SB138, appraising them of the Situation.
          g. Marcus refuses the Kzin's terms, and closes the communications link, and gets ready for battle.
                    1) Shields raised, and weapons armed, the Kzin fire against the Tomar, who return fire.
                    2) The Kzin's weapons do little damage, what with the improvements on the Tomar.
          h. The Kzin are not prepared for the Tomar's defenses, and after some weapons exchange, they back off, and exit the area, cloaking as they leave, and threatening to return with reinforcements.

V. The Tomar goes back to scanning the debris field, and trying to ascertain why they were in Federation space to begin with, and what they were looking for.

VI. Somebody on the Tomar will eventually discover that the Federation weapons signature was faked, but no clue by who:
          a. Some one is trying to provoke a new Federation/Kzinti conflict, in an attempt to further damage the Federation after the Dominion War.red. So far, it has been towed to AFY, and is in the process of being upgraded so that it can be returned to service.
          b. The fake was extremely close to a Federation signature, it could be from modified or stolen Federation/Starfleet Technology, or some other race that has developed on a similar line to the Federation.

VII. Return to Starbase 138.
          a. Evaluate mission.

VIII. Questions to ask:
          a. Why was the First Kzin Police ship in Federation space in the First place?
          b. How is it that the Kzin, a technology superstitious species, has technology that rivals Starfleet in sophistication? DO they have AI computers similar to the Federation now?
          c. Who is trying to provoke the Kzinti into a conflict with the Federation?
          d. How/when did the Kzin Patriarchy get cloaking technology?
          e. Why did the second Kzin ship show up when it did?

IX. The Answers:
          a. Raiding mission to test the strength of the Federation with the recent peace between the Federation & the Dominion, the Kzin wanted to see if they could annex some of their territory back from Federation control.
          b. The Orions (TOS Orions; Not the Orion Syndicate from DS9) have been building up the technological base of the Kzinti, without changing their superstitious nature. Their computers are not AIs like Federation vessels. They are very simple, and the Kzin can take full control of their ships in a couple of seconds, with a minimal of effort.
          c. The Orions are behind the set-up. They want the Federation to get into another armed conflict, to further weaken them, and then, they can become fully free of Federation "rule", and return full autonomy of the Rigel star system to her planets, and not the Federation Council. And the Orion's can rule over them all, and create their own empire.
          d. Again, the Orions gave the Kzinti Romulan Cloaking devices, somewhat modified for Kzin ships. Most Kzin ships now possess a cloaking device.
          e. The second ship was also on a raiding mission to test the Federation (and try to steal some Federation technology if possible), and received a Kzin distress signal, and arrived to check it out.

X. Misc.
          a. A cloaked Orion ship is nearby, observing. It CANNOT be detected. It has a modified phased-cloak cloaking device, similar to the one the Enterprise-D used in a TNG episode.
          b. The Orion ship should not appear in this mission (But, it may).
          c. I'd like for people on the Tomar to hear hints of a human colony on the far side of Kzinti space, not right away, but maybe near the end of the mission.
                    1) A lead-in to the next episode will be these rumors. There IS a human colony on the other side of Kzinti space. They have been there for about 40 years now. They only arrived on their world about 45 years ago, by sub-light vessels. The passengers and crew of the ship are from a 2010-2015 mind-set (maybe a little later, BUT before Vulcans and Terrans met the in 2060's).
                   2) Perhaps it could come from a SI or the Marine Intel Officer.
          d. We need a tie-in with the Gorn situation? With Gorn and Kzin space fairly close (spatially speaking), and the discovery of a worm hole to the Badlands so close to Gorn space, perhaps the Kzinti should discover the wormhole eventually, and make their own play for it, perhaps some lead in to a 15th Fleet multi-ship mission?