Captain’s Log - Capt. Ellemir Maven - SD230203
Crew Manifest
Captain - Ellemir Maven
XO - Commander Genny Markus
Chief Science Officer - Commander David Bravin
Chief Security Officer - Commander T’Mari
Helm - Ensign Justin Time
Ops Officer - Cadet Pen Dingus
Security Officer - Cadet Ali Gator
Engineer - Cadet Pauline Nova419
Ops - Cadet Ptuh Great
[Begin Log Entry]
The USS Tyson has been assigned to fly to a planet in the Berd Lota system, GC90A2307, a system approximately 24 lightyears from Galileo Station, and if necessary, to transfer several colonists involved in a conflict to a new home at Starlea colony.
Unexpectedly, a shuttle of unknown registry docked at Galileo Station, and the pilot, Hanza Aikedo begged for our help. He was a member of a colony on a planet named New Japan. The colony has split into two warring factions, and some of the colonists are desperate to escape rather than be involved in the conflict. Hanza was flying a shuttle that appeared to be of local origin and had spent 125 days traveling from New Japan to Galileo. This left him in poor medical condition as the shuttle did not have artificial gravity. He was not available for further questioning without extensive medical care due to damage to his cardiovascular system.
Admiral Scrumptious issued orders to the Tyson to fly to New Japan to investigate, negotiate with the shoguns, and patriate those colonists who wanted to leave but not interfere in the conflict.
A search of Starfleet records showed that a group called the Satoritopia, a Japan-based Zen-Llasa spiritual movement, had purchased the decommissioned Constitution class USS Shakespeare, saved it from the scrapyard, refitted the Shakespeare, including gutting the interior to make room for reactant and supplies and used it as a generation ship. The Satoritopia renamed the ship Saumuri. Once the refit was complete, 430 members of the sect headed off into unexplored space in search of an uninhabited planet to settle on and build a utopian society based on Satoritopia ideals. After 50 years of travel at warp 3, and investigating multiple stellar systems, they eventually entered the Berd Lota system and settled on the fourth planet, New Japan.
Unfortunately, the original members of the expedition are either very old or have passed on, and instead of a utopian society, the colonists adopted the feudal model of ancient japan, splitting into two clans, the Taira and the Hojo, both with a Shogunate, and they are at war with one another.
Upon entering standard orbit, I order Cadet Dingus to hail the two local leaders, Shogun Fraxat and Shogun Miabi. Miabi immediately closed communications and was unwilling to speak to us. Still, Shogun Fraxat indicated a willingness to speak to us but denied knowledge of any of the colonists wishing to leave but was very interested in what we might have to trade.
Shogun Faxat agreed that I could beam down with an away team, but we must be unarmed, and he would guarantee our safety. I decided to leave Dingus on board and instructed her to maintain transporter lock on the entire team, ready to beam us out if necessary, either if called to do so or if her monitoring of the situation on the planet made her fearful for our safety.
The away team landed on the planet in a large park area at the edge of the Shogun’s compound. We were met by one of his functionaries, a woman named Sama, who advised us that the local custom was not to make eye contact and to call him Shogun Ku, and that he would be angry if we were disrespectful in not following these local customs. The colonists had planted vast gardens and there was no sign that any conflict had taken place.
I was concerned that Shogun Ku had denied all knowledge of unhappy colonists, but this is consistent with all authoritarian leaders. I had a quiet word with T’Mari and asked her to attempt to interview some locals and find out the truth of the situation. It is possible that all the disaffected colonists are in Shogun Miabi’s camp.
We arrived at Shogun Ku’s headquarters and were introduced by Sama. I presented the Shogun with a gift, a carved wooden box containing five 100-gram bars of pure gold. In the post-scarcity environment of the Federation, this is a simple replicator request. Still, gold continues to be a well-regarded gift for less advanced cultures, and this was no exception.
Shogun Ku was very focused on having us provide him with advanced weapons. It seemed that the original colonists had been averse to violence, and as a result, the local “war” was being fought with swords, spears, and other locally made weapons.
I asked Shogun Ku what the differences were between the two clans, thinking that my crew might be able to assist them in settling their differences through a diplomatic solution, but Ku was evasive, listing several items that seemed absurd and just an excuse for conflict. Usually, conflict results from scarcity of resources, and I made a mental note to have my science team conduct an in-depth survey.
T’Mari returned, signalling me that she had gathered more information, so I told the Shogun I had to consult with my superiors, and we beamed back to the ship, with plans to return once I had received T’Mari’s report.
[End Log]