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Entry Thread for ULC Annual #1: Identity Problems

aten66aten66 Member Posts: 654 Arc User
edited January 2017 in Ten Forward
This is the entry thread for ULC - Annual #1: Identity Problems <(Discussion Thread Link)
Aka: The First Annual Twelve Month Challenge!

A little late, but this is a new unofficial literary challenge to start off the new year!

In company with the regular ULC's, this is an optional challenge I've decided to start for us regular ULC participants, or even a jumping in point for new authors, in developing a lesser used character, a newer alt, or just to flesh out one of your regular characters. For best results, the idea of the ULC-Annual is to stick to one character for the whole of the 12 month challenge.

Obviously you don't have to participate for all 12 prompts, I just thought it would be something interesting and new to try with the start of 2017.


"The Imposter": Your ship was recently engaged in combat by Orion pirates. During a critical moment, a member of your crew -- someone you have served with for several years -- was inexplicably unable to perform adequately, leading to a loss of life, but not costing you the battle. After the battle, your investigation discovers that their entire Starfleet resume is a fabrication by a capable, but unqualified civilian who failed to be accepted to the Academy for any number of reasons. Write a Captain's Log detailing the depths of your investigation into your former colleague's true identity, and the subsequent action you must take.




As usual, no NSFW content.

The discussion thread is here.

The LC Submission thread is here

Index of previous ULCs:
  • None Yet!
Post edited by aten66 on

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  • aten66aten66 Member Posts: 654 Arc User
    Scapegoat

    Nimbus III, Late 2409

    The U.S.S. Evangelic had stationed itself above the former Pirate Haven, while Ohir now sat with a heavy heart in his study. Just three hours ago they struck against an Orion camp set up in Nimbus' ruins, raiders trying to steal Tal Shiar technology from the now overrun facility. Whith Horace's help as an informant new Lawkeepers had begun to crop up with Law's tutorage, until the man himself was confident he could leave the planet whenever he wanted and keep Paradise Lost in good hands.

    Still, outside security had been requested from various sources from time to time, and Ohir had been the closest at the time of patrol. He had taken down with him a couple of security officers, a combat scientist, and a third security officer by the name of Zakari Gray. Everything had been going well until they found they had a hostage to bargain with, one who more than likely was originally their contact planet side. The man unfortunately had been injured after a failed rescue attempt by Zak, and had died before they could get him to the ship's sickbay. The perpetrators had been caught in the end after being cornered and ambushed by a worm.

    Now Ohir sat at his desk, heavy heart as he goes over the paperwork the brass sent him. It was quite disconcerting that among a reevaluation of his records, it turned up that his academy entry papers had been forged by a drop-out from his colony on Terra Nova. Coupled with the loss of life with this mission, Ohir had the unfortunate duty of evaluating Zakari and sending his findings for the board of inquiry to make their decision. Zak had graduated with top marks and up until now had performed with the utmost of valor, tactfulness, and discretion, something that could allow the board to overlook the falsified entry papers, if he ended up being that lucky. At worst he would be stripped of rank and dishonorably discharged, at best he ends up stripped of rank and made crewman, probationary.

    Now Zak was sitting across from him, and Ohir was wishing he had better training in this particular set of command duties. "Lieutenant Gray, do you understand why the Starfleet Board of Inquiry has asked me to do this evaluation?" Ohir asks, "The Counselor has already sent in your psychological evaluation of the event surrounding the instigation of the inquiry, my job is simply to discover why your transcript was forged."

    "Do you want the truth?" Zak says his eyes downcast, "You won't like me afterwards, not once you know the truth... not that I ever really liked you, you amnesiac know it all." Ohir tried not to be offended, mostly because it was true. "You know, I think I figured it out," Zakari continues, "You're some kind of organic, learning cyborg; you have all the information locked up in your skull, and as you learn new things all the relevant information trickles down with it, even the non-essential facts like the true purpose of aglets on footwear..." Ohir tries not to make a snide remark, letting Zakari vent. "The DTI was involved with your introduction to the fast track program, wasn't it?" Zakari says, "The other running theory was you were sent by 31st century Starfleet to fulfill some secret purpose in the past, only you were never supposed to get caught, and ended up wiping your own memory instead of revealing who you worked for when DTI showed up knocking at your door." Finally the straw broke the camels back, and Ohir's patience went up in flames.

    "My name is Ohir, I have no last name or family to speak of, I am a temporal refugee from an aborted timeline that existed within a closed temporal loop surrounding Captain Gregs Sharvan Son'aires home star system," Ohir plainly states, "I don't remember my past, yet, because of a unique coronal lock put upon me, either by my future self or a yet unknown third party, in an attempt to assimilate me to your space/time continuum without ceasing to be." Zakari has wide eyes by now, but Ohir ignores him in favor of continuing to talk.

    "You're right of course, I do know everything, even how many years a Yensevian Slug lives, even though they won't be discovered until we begin exploring the Gamma Quadrant, but the answer is five," Ohir says, pacing now, "You Zakari Mason Gray, were not born to Dean and Carla Gray, but to Donal Meyers and Sabrina Deckland, who were both know proponents of augmentation, and branded as know criminals and associates with former and current members of the Children of Khan movement and its predecessors."

    Ohir is done talking, breathing heavily as he reigns his anger in and begins to control his temper. He hasn't snapped like this since he last saw Hakeev, and he had been doing well keeping the anger tamped down until he could find a healthy vent. "You think you have it bad, Zakari, I live with the constant knowledge that my very existence is both a threat and a liability to my crew, and that no one really trusts me enough to see me as more than a temporal anomaly that should be 'erased' as... some others put it," Ohir says bitterly, "You threw your life away the moment you choose to lie about your parents, about your past, even if you are free of the mark on their records, you never should have been able to join Starfleet."

    "If you're about to go on rant about the 'morality' or 'pros and cons' about genetic augmentation, I can tell you my parents have already drilled that into me," Zakari says, "My parents were doctors, not radicals who cared about genetic purity and the cleansing of 'imperfections'; they cared about the people and their children, and their quality of life... it's why they changed their names and moved to Terra Nova, because there are still some genetic lines suffering from degradation due to the fallout that hit both the second wave of settlers and the Novan born." Ohir scoffs at Zak's comment.

    "You don't get it, do you?" Ohir states, looking him dead in the eye with a sorrowful expression, "If you had been honest, yes it would have been unlikely you would have become a member of Starfleet proper, but your persistence, your drive, your own hard work, would have made sure you stood out, and perhaps a few years later than you would have liked you could have been allowed to join...". Ohir stops and begins to sit down at his desk, organizing and fussing with the mess of PADD's on his desk.

    "Now I've admitted I lied and have a black spot on my mark, if the civilian hadn't been caught in the crossfire I..." Zak looks down as he speaks, "I should have come clean, I was just afraid Ohir, all the stares, the looks of disgust and bigotry, not to mention the betrayal all my friends and colleagues would feel because of me... I'm going to be lucky if they don't put me somewhere in monitored confinement, or worse put my parents in a penal colony for rehabilitation for decades old 'crimes' because they helped people."

    "And that is the tricky thing about these sorts of decisions, isn't it Zakari," a new voice echoes around the two, before both turn to a screen on the wall, "Captain Ohir, glad to see you are adjusting well, while you Mister Gray, I believe I can help us both out with this new information coming to light." The hates face of Franklin Drake has appeared onscreen, Zakari surprised at this unfamiliar man's appearance, Ohir that Drake was choosing now of all times to hack into his computer, reminding him to change the access codes once more. "Captain Ohir, you are to forget you ever had this conversation in my presence, while Zakari, you will board the U.S.S. Sulaco as it's new Captain," Drake states, "You will the go on to defect from the Federation, swear fealty to the young Khan, and join up with the Children of Khan with your shiny new Vesper-class vessel, a boon to the merchant and pirated trading vessels they use to strike worlds now."

    Ohir merely looks at Zakari, and sees a fire lit in the man's eyes. Ohir isn't sure whether to be scared or disgusted by the blatant disregard of rules this man was touting, bending and breaking them at his whim. Ohir bit back his angry retort at the interruption, knowing full well when Franklin Drake wanted his way, he had the habit of molding things to his whims. "Very well, since there seem to be...no objections, you will depart the Evangelic and rendezvous at coordinates I will send you, along with the proper paperwork and commendation coming with your 'promotion'," Drake proudly states, "Along with a few guidelines and restrictions, and contacts that you will find... of interest to matters pertaining to you." With that Drake cuts off his channel of communication, leaving Ohir to merely stare at Zakari and the hidden emotions sparked by the fire Drake had lit inside him, a confusing mixture of disgust, anger, relief, resentment and curiosity.

    "You know I can't let you leave," Ohir says blatantly, hand moving to remove a phaser from a drawer and place it on the table, "Drake thinks he can pull his strings and get away with murder while being thanked for it, but he's not a god." Zakari merely eyes the phaser and nods, sighing as well, handing moving to brush a lock of brunette hair from his eyes.

    Drake was quite the puppet master, known for setting things up and letting other things slip by. Perhaps he had even been behind the situation that led them to this, perhaps Zakari and Ohir were not the only pawns sacrificed this day. He was known for always getting what he wanted, after all.

    "You're right of course, Captain," Zakari says straining the last word, "But my rebuttal is this: try and take me in alive."
  • hawku001xhawku001x Member Posts: 10,758 Arc User
    edited January 2017
    Captain Oroku Seifer gripped his command chair as the Pathfinder-class with Discovery-class pylons U.S.S. Ragnarok spun around from an explosion of two quantum torpedoes hitting each other right in front of them.

    "Gahhh!" Seifer yelped as his balance was momentarily thrown. "Hail the Orion ship!"

    Lieutenant Aramaki hailed them and an Orion appeared on screen. "This is Ginyo of the O.S.S. Hakkett. We demand you give us all of your stuff and whatnot. You know, the various trinkets and bells and whistles; a couple of hair brushes, salad tongs, and so on."

    "What the hell, man?? I was just sitting here with my new crew and new ship! Do you know how annoying being disturbed from that is? Also, what stuff? Starfleet vessels literally have nothing on them! We're the epitome of pristine, cleanliness, and our corridors are scrubbed tirelessly of germs, every hour."

    Ginyo smirked. "Ah, I see I have sufficiently riled you. Excellent work, me."

    "I mean, it was alright, but nothing to write home about." Seifer stood up. "Anyway, Aramaki, fire upon the enemy vessel for being different than us!"

    The human tactical officer frantically worked his controls. "Sir? The weapons controls are completely messed up??"

    "Flight is wonky-wonky as well," Lieutenant Edward said, turning from her helm.

    Moggs looked up from his science station. "Same here. I believe our systems have been compromised, internally. It was that guy." The Caitian pointed at a Tellarite who was also a Starfleet officer working away at the Operations console. "It was definitely that guy."

    "Oh, man! I'm so close to winning this Fizzbin game! So close!" Tomsin said, completely oblivious to what was going on in his surroundings.

    Seifer walked over and turned him around. "What the?? That game is a fraud from Sigma Iota II which makes so much nonsense that in digital form it messes up any computer system!"

    "Yeah, I wouldn't even touch that with a hundred meter tractor beam," said Ginyo from the viewscreen. "I lost two slave girls to madness trying to figure it out; and they're the smart ones of our race! Hakkett out!"

    The screen cut to a view of the Orion corvette turning in space and warping out of there as fast as they could.

    "Hey, you wronged me first by causing me to be Riker-duplicated, so I can do whatever I want!" Tomsin argued.

    Seifer crossed his arms. "Do you actually believe that as justification, or are you just arguing because it's a Tellarite sport and you're in a gaming mood?"

    "A little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B, and whole lot of an unmentioned Column C, which has more to do with something I ate this morning that's causing me indigestion," Tomsin explained.

    Just then, his transporter duplicate, another-Tomsin, entered the Bridge. "Did I miss anything?"

    ---

    Later, Seifer met with Tomsin in his Ready Room with his entire Starfleet biography up to his Academy résumé displayed on his desktop screen for study.

    "Dammit man! This résumé is an obvious forgery. Under 'Objective' you wrote, 'To seek out new arguments and new civilized confrontations', and under 'Experience' you wrote, 'Five years of gritting your teeth and furrowing your brow.' You're a Tellarite? Your brow is always furrowed?"

    Tomsin pointed. "Hey, the scowl of my people is a constant effort of tension. We cannot for one second relax our facial muscles or we lose our planetary citizenships!"

    "Yeah!" contributed Tomsin's transporter duplicate, who was siting right next to him.

    Seifer dismissed them both. "Ugh. So weird. Anyway, you clearly faked your way passed the Academy and into Starfleet. Why?"

    "Because a member of my family wronged us and left to never be seen again! I made my way into service where they operate intending on confronting them in the only way that befits all grown men with slow reflexes in conflict: Anbo-jyutsu!"

    The other Tomsin raised his arm. "Same."

    "But, by the time I got here, I ended up loving the work. Contributing to bettering the Federation and myself was more fulfilling than confrontation, so I abandoned my mission and settled into my duties."

    Seifer stood up and sighed. "Well, despite that, I have no choice but to relieve you of your duties and drop you off with the Earth-bound U.S.S. Viracoacha who we're rendezvousing with today. We're doing crew transfers from Spacedock, so I guess that works out for me finding a new Operations officer."

    "You may think this pleases me, but I've grown too attached to Starfleet and have even been taking all the online Academy courses to appease my appetites."

    The Captain shook his head. "Those are available on the subspace web now?? Talk about recruiting cannon fodder for the Tzenkethi. Oh, and if you're so dedicated, why are you constantly mucking about with the transporters, trying to create Vulcan-Talaxian hybrids?"

    "Because being duplicated in the wonky way that I have has made me open to the ridiculousness of this universe in ways that expand and malleate me like never before! I'll feed my desire to explore fear manifestations as Kohl-Clowns, or transfer my brain out of my skull, or hunt ancient cities as crouching-baby-talking Loque'eque creatures without any remorse whatsoever."

    The other Tellarite nodded. "We've actually planned that last one out with a pre-timed release of their mutagenic virus throughout the ship for next Friday."

    "Ugh! I'm definitely not sorry to see you go. You're confined to force fields until we reach the Viracoacha," Seifer ordered as he activated protective energy barriers around both men. "Don't even think about entering your brains to find lost Section 31 information, because you don't have any!"

    The other Tomsin snorted before closing his eyes and jumping into a deep mental crusade. "I'll be the judge of that!"

    ---

    Later, the U.S.S. Ragnarok met up with the Sojourner-class U.S.S. Viracoacha and Seifer met with Captain Aeris in his transporter room where several transferring officers were continually beaming to and from both ships.

    "Well, I guess I'm not the only one with a new ship. How's she flying, Captain?" Seifer asked as he pulled both Tomsins over.

    Aeris smirked. "Better than your off-model starship. Really? Discovery-class pylons on a Pathfinder-class starship?"

    "Uh, it makes it look way better, plus customization is a thing Starfleet allows now, so why not?" Seifer shrugged. "Anyway, I need you to take Tomsin and Tomsin back to Starfleet for Court Marshal and so on."

    The other Captain blinked in shock. "Wait? You've got a Tomsin too?"

    "Hello, Captain Seifer, I'm here to transfer to—" and then the Tellarite which had just beamed over, stopped speaking when he saw two other Tellarites that looked just like him. "What the!? It's my twin brother!"

    Seifer jumped back in surprised. "Whoa! You're his twin?? Why do you even have the same name then?"

    "That's where the conflict in our family stems, Captain," explained the original Tomsin. "He's the one I had originally faked my way into Starfleet to search for because he insulted and left us for not relinquishing his first name to me!"

    Transporter-duplicate Tomsin continued. "You see, our mother died upon birth claiming her son's name was Tomsin, but no one could figure out which son she had meant, so her offspring were named the same."

    "It's a dumb argument and I was happy for a while by joining Starfleet to get away from the likes of you," the Tomsin on the transporter pad said. He then took out his tricorder and tapped at it. "But it just so happens I prepared myself for this exact possibility by infecting myself with a quasi-energy microbe!"

    Suddenly the transporter was activated around him, dematerializing him for a second and rematerializing him with a giant floating worm hovering over and around him.

    "Attack!" the new-transfer-Tomsin ordered, prompting the hovering worm to launch itself toward the two other Tomsins.

    Seifer and Aeris dove out of the way in continued shock. "Not more Tellarite madness??" yelped Seifer.

    "Oh, I've had years to prepare for you, Tomsin!" argued the original while leaping out of the path of the circling attack. He then quickly accessed the transporter console and dematerialized-rematerialized himself in the same way, bringing his own giant quasi-energy microbe into existence.

    The new worm then shot itself toward the other worm which was circling around and the two clashed over and over again.

    "This is crazy, Tomsins!? People have the same names all the time!" claimed Seifer. "But it doesn't mean you're the same person?? We may see and judge ourselves in others, but it's never accurate because people are inherently different by their experiences and environments!"

    The duplicate Tomsin transported his own quasi-energy microbe and it fired itself into the other two. All three ricocheted off each other, head-first, clashing and cutting the others in combat! The first worm finally was knocked out and onto the transporter pad, with the other two flying over to finish the job.

    "Wait!" the original Tomsin yelled out. "The Captain's right. We're not the same, and we should be appreciative of that. Change starts with us." He waved his hand, calling his worm back to him and then went over to the controls to dematerialize-rematerialize it away. His transporter duplicate did the same.

    The new-transfer-Tomsin went over to his fallen worm and examined it. "I suppose we can be adults about this now. It's been long enough that we've grown in maturity, or supposedly, we should have." He then tapped at his tricorder, dematerializing-rematerializing his microbe away.

    "It takes a lot of headspace to deal with family the right way," commented Aeris as she helped Seifer get up. "We take too many liberties with our own kind."

    Captain Seifer dusted himself off, annoyed. "Uh, that excuses nothing. Don't think any of you are getting away with any of this! You're all going to be charged with disruption, and you two fakers are getting double-court marshaled."

    "Hold on, are these the Tellarites who took the online courses?" Aeris said, going through her PADD. "Turns out they took the final exam and both passed. I was to graduate them here and officially assign them to where they already were."

    Seifer's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! But they lied about the whole thing??"

    "Oh, that," Aeris dismissed. "They already admitted it to the Council and took the extra credit courses as penalty, clearing them of any possible charges and advancing them to the head of their online class." She then turned to the two other Tomsins. "Congratulations, Cadets. Looks like you're already well into the craziness of this universe."

    The Captain watched as Aeris got back onto the transporter pad. "Don't leave me here with three Tomsins!?"

    "Oh, it was just a little family spat," Aeris said before transporting back to her ship. "Give the little worm summoners a break. And don't modify your ship any further away from its self-canon design."

    After she left, the new-recurit Tomsin approached Captain Seifer and took out his hand. "Greetings, sir. Ensign Tomsin, reporting for duty. Don't worry, I don't have any transporter duplicates." And then he thought about it. "But we do have several other twins."

    "There are more of you??"
    Post edited by hawku001x on
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