The Prize – The crystal sphere
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Marie St. Helene

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Title   The crystal sphere
Mission   The Prize
Author(s)   HoD Ro' Matlh & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Marie St. Helene
Posted   Tue Mar 14, 2017 @ 12:47am
Location   Capra Prima orbit
The world that they arrived at, designated as Capra Prima, was opulent to the point of decadence. While there were many pleasure planets around, such as Risa, they were available and carefully managed for the enjoyment of all. This planet was for the fortunate few.

As the FHew approached under cloak they could see no work ships here. There were no public transport or hauler vessels. The only ships traveling between the surface and the many orbital platforms were sleek passenger transports designed for comfort and to look more expensive than any other ship that shared its orbit. Many of the platforms were homes for single wealthy families, all their needs catered for by automation. They were giant fortresses to make it clear that the rich were on the inside, and the rest of you were lucky even to be able to look upon it.

The surface scans were much the same. While there were lush landscapes, they were all fenced off, obviously belonging to a particular person or group and denied for anyone else's enjoyment. The entire planet screamed, "This is mine, and you can't afford it."

At the capital was a giant spire, covered in Latinum. It's weight was so large there were antigrav units built at various points along its surface, just to stop it collapsing below the surfaces crust.

"The central bank and offices," Jeeves supplied. "The combined wealth of the entire corporation is funneled, bit by bit, into this facility. It is where the board meets and makes their decisions. It is the only piece of common land left on the planet. If it were destroyed, the board would be unable to meet, since none of them would allow a piece of their own holding to be sacrificed to establish a new common ground. It is also where they hold their greatest treasures. It is the pinnacle of what the Corporation stands for and aspires to. Remove it, and the Corporation looses direction, and turns to infighting and conflict as each petty power struggles to grab a piece in the power vacuum."

"That is where the Borg beacon will be," he continued. "Because it was aimed at the common ground, none of the factions would prevent it landing, since none of them could claim it unchallenged. Once it was landed, it would be taken to the research facility, where the locals will try and understand it. I calculate you have twenty three hours before they are unable to do so and must resort to using the Main Computer interface. If you wish to cleanse this planet, you will need to activate the device before that."

Ro' grunted, "That gives us some time to look around at least. Decide if we WANT to activate it."

He looked back at his crew, "Tell, Jared. I want you to get into that building and look for the device. I want you in position to either activate or destroy the beacon when we make a decision."

"Aye Cap'n," Tell replied. She was torn between one thing and another and the best thing to say was nothing at all. It wouldn't do any good arguing with Ro'. All she could do was follow orders for now and she could only hope for the best.

"No!" Jeeves protested.

"And turn that OFF!" Ro' bellowed. Marie and Germite, I want you to scout the city. You to are to be the eyes and ears. Find me a reason to save this planet and I will, if not. we set it to burn and take the Corporation with it."

Marie only partly heard what ‘Ro was saying. She was staring at the viewscreen.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said without turning away. “Let’s obliterate the lot of them. As for the locals, you have my sympathy but being a Borg clone will probably be little worse than what those parasites are probably making you do. It might even be better because you won’t know how bad your life is.”

Do No Harm was the physician's creed. Fortunately for Germite, he was not a physician. He hadn't been to med school and didn't have any fancy diplomas. He had been trained in what could have charitably been called a community college. All that said, he was able and observant and loyal... Loyalty was what he would give Ro'... Ro' wanted an assessment of the population and that is what he would get, the good, the bad and the ugly. He nodded his acceptance of the task.

"HIchop, May'bel. I need you on standby. If one of our teams gets into trouble I will need to drop you in for an extraction. I am not willing to loose people here or when the Borg arrive, IF they arrive."