A Fragile Peace (LUG)
Cover
| Series | Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game |
| Released | Sep 1998 |
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For over fifty years, the Federation has enjoyed an uneasy peace with the Romulan Star Empire. The cornerstone of this fragile accord has been the Neutral Zone, a buffer one light year wide that separates the two galactic powers. Although each side has tested the other's resolve in the past, the ramifications of a large-scale violation of the Zone have been unthinkable. Until now...
Rumblings can be heard from the Romulan home systems once more, as shadowy political wheels begin to turn and hidden plans are set in motion. Fleets move in the inner systems and warbirds patrol the border. Some within the Imperial Senate whisper that the Tal Shiar — the sinister Imperial intelligence arm — are behind these stirrings. Others speak of a power-mad senator and his personal armada. Do you have what it takes to discover the truth and avert certain war? Will you be able to maintain...
The Fragile Peace?
A Fragile Peace includes:
- A detailed look at the Arteline Sector, including the planets, outposts, characters, and politics of this volatile region along the Neutral Zone border.
- A glimpse into the hidden machinations of the Tal Shiar, the elite intelligence service of the Romulan Star Empire.
- Four complete adventures, beginning a year-long campaign arc set in this tense and exciting region.
- In "Aiding and Abetting," the players discover a disabled merchant vessel crewed by Orions who aren't what they seem.
- "Marie Celestial" introduces a derelict Warbird whose silent corridors are filled with its dead Romulan crew.
- "Blinded by Science" follows a Federation science team as they test experimental new sensor equipment on the players' ship.
- "Armistice" takes the players planetside to Pselius III, a young world plagued by rebellion that is currently petitioning for Federation membership.
Aiding and Abetting
A month ago, daredevil pilot and Federation citizen Emerson Ames flew his tiny ship across the Neutral Zone, hopping from asteroid to planetoid for cover. It took Ames more than a week, but he eventually arrived at Romulus itself. Naturally, Romulan Security Forces apprehended him in orbit and imprisoned him. An act of daring madness, Ames purportedly did it on a drunken dare, although the Romulans accuse him of being a Federation spy. Humiliated by Ames' penetration of their defense system, and furious the whole thing was a prank at the expense of their security force, the Romulans would have simply executed him were it not for Starfleet's diplomatic intervention.
Starfleet sends Admiral William Proudfoot to negotiate for his release. Somehow, he must convince the Romulans that Ames is not a spy, that the escapade is nothing more than a young man's foolhardy escapade, and furthermore argue for Ames' freedom, without convincing the Romulans of Ames' usefulness as a bargaining chip in future negotiations. It is a delicate task, one for which the experienced, wily negotiator is well qualified.
Starfleet Command orders the crew to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Ticonderoga and transport Admiral Proudfoot to Starbase 39-Sierra for negotiations with Romulan representatives. But before they can complete this simple job, they answer a distress call from a disabled Orion merchant vessel. Badly damaged, the freighter requires significant repairs and seeks the crew's help. However, as they spend more time with the Orions, the crew become more and more convinced that the friendly-seeming Orions are attempting to gather information about the crew and their ship. Moreover, the crew comes to suspect that their guests conceal something significant. In fact, they are: Rokan Par, an agent of the Tal Shiar. Delayed by the repairs, the crew begins to investigate their suspicions, but the Orions move the hidden Romulan agent to a new location: the crew's own cargo bay.
When the crew eventually discovers the Romulan, they face a new dilemma. Any trouble involving the captured Romulan might prevent the release of the captured pilot on Romulus. The crew's true goal once they encounter the Orions is to uncover evidence of an Orion-Romulan connection to use during the upcoming negotiations and to report to Starfleet Intelligence.
Marie Celestial
"What is it, conn?"
"It's... a Romulan warbird."
"A warbird?"
"Yes, sir. Romulan warbird, D'deridex class."
"An uncloaked warbird?"
"Yes, sir."
"What's it doing?"
"Nothing, sir. It's just sitting there."
During a routine patrol of the Federation's side of the Romulan Neutral Zone by the crew's ship, the ship's sensors detect a Romulan warbird — uncloaked — on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. This is a clear violation of the Treaty of Algeron, something the Federation cannot overlook. However, in this case, the warbird just sits there, drifting in space. Long-range scans indicate no life signs aboard, but the ship seems to be functioning perfectly.
A mystery such as this, plus the chance to get a look at Romulan military technology up close, is sure to tempt any red-blooded Starfleet officer to investigate. Once the Crew's ship gets close enough to the warbird — the Sha'arik — to beam over, the Crew can confirm there are no life signs, but all of the warbird’s systems continue to operate. What happened to the Sha'arik?
Multiple Away Teams, including the Crew, beam over to the ship to find out. They find the entire ship’s crew — 2000 Romulans — dead. Some appear to have died in their sleep, some in mid-meal; some simply collapsed in the corridors of the ship.
Away Team members begin investigating the situation and beaming back and forth to their ship to get additional equipment and to report on developments. Bodies are taken back to the Crew's ship for more thorough examinations and autopsies as the Crew and other away teams continue investigating the ship. Ship's logs show that the Sha'arik's last stop was a clandestine rendezvous with the pro-Romulan rebels on Psellus Ill. This provides a clue that a disease, possibly Psellan in origin, is what killed the Romulans. Other clues, including the canister that was used to plant the biowarfare agent, may also be uncovered.
Suddenly, another warbird — the D'vairin — decloaks next to the Sha'arik. Members of the D'vairin's crew beam over to the Sha'arik, insisting that they be allowed to take possession of their Empire's property. At the same time the D'vairin's captain, Modex, transmits a similar message to the Crew's ship. While the Crew's captain negotiates an arrangement with Modex, the Crew itself has to come to terms with the heavily-armed and hostile Romulans who beam aboard the Sha'arik — preferably without any shooting.
Barring disaster, the Crew and the other Federation Away Teams return to their own ship to regroup. At this point the ship's medical staff informs them that the Romulans on the Sha'arik were killed by a modified form of Vidorian Fever, a viral disease from Psellus III. The virus has been modified to be transmittable by air. Even worse, the modifications make the disease, ordinarily catchable only by Romulans and Vulcans, catchable by humans and Klingons — and the standard cures for Vidorian Fever do not work on the modified virus! Members of the Federation crew, particularly those who were on Away Teams, will have already begun to develop the first flu-like symptoms.
As the medical staff begins analyzing the clues the Crew found to figure out a way to cure the disease (which by now has probably infected most of their ship, and the Romulans, too), the captain and Crew have to inform the Romulans about what they have discovered. The Romulan captain is suspicious until his own medical crew confirms the situation. Then he angrily accuses the Federation of orchestrating the whole incident. Again, the Crew and their commanders will have to push their diplomatic skills to the utmost to keep the incident from escalating. Their evidence of the use of a biological warfare agent — planted by Romulans — will help ease his suspicions. If all goes well, that, coupled with Modex's offer to work together to solve their mutual problem, should ease tensions and lead to the discovery of a cure. Modex's ship removes the Sha'arik and the Crew's ship retreats to its own side of the Neutral Zone with some valuable intelligence about Romulan ships — and perhaps some suspicions about Tal Shiar plans.
Blinded by Science
We have received orders to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Bradbury, en route to Starbase 39-Sierra. We are to transfer over a Federation science team and take them to the edge of the Neutral Zone. It appears we’re hunting cloaked warbirds. Our recent encounter with the Sha'arik has convinced Starfleet there may be additional Romulan vessels breaching the Neutral Zone. The science team brings with them three different sensor devices Starfleet Command wants tested. One of these sensors will, they confidently expect, be able to detect cloaked Romulan vessels. If it works, the cloaking device will be much less of a tactical advantage for the Romulans than it was in the past, giving the Federation a great advantage in the event of future hostilities.
Docking at one of the orbital platforms at Starbase 39-Sierra, the Crew's starship picks up the four scientists, their assistants and equipment. As soon as everything is squared away, the starship proceeds to the coordinates designated for the tests.
During the trip, the Crew gets a chance to interact with each of the scientists. They have an opportunity to get to know each, and gain an understanding of each person’s personality and foibles. Once at the proper coordinates, the testing begins. Each sensor package is tested in turn, with one of them showing clear signs of detecting a cloaked Romulan ship. Soon afterwards, a freighter sends out a distress signal — a Romulan ship attacks them. Coming to the rescue, the Crew has an opportunity to test the new sensors under combat conditions. They appear to come through a flying success. Traveling to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Fortunate for the scientists' return trip home, the Crew and scientists have another opportunity to socialize, this time at a celebration in honor of the working sensors. The revelry is interrupted by another distress signal, from another freighter. The Crew attempts to locate the attacker, using the new sensors, only to discover they no longer operate. In between the time of the test and the celebration, someone sabotaged the new sensors.
The Crew must solve the mystery presented by the sabotage. Using various means, they must uncover a spy within their midst.
Armistice
Once the Crew arrives at Psellus III, government officials welcome the Crew and they meet with Cal West, a Federation diplomat. He describes the situation on Psellus III as being quite unique, as the rebels who were previously unremitting in their attacks on the government have suddenly and mysteriously offered to lay down their arms. As the designated observer sent by the Federation Council, he’s spent the last six months on the planet evaluating Psellus III's readiness to join the Federation. He believes the Romulans aid the rebels, but cannot discover how or why. Cal hopes that the Crew can help him.
When the Crew wanders through the city, they discover that pro-Romulan sentiment still exists, albeit subdued among the populace. If they investigate further, they find the government is only really interested in the economic gains that membership in the Federation offers. At one point, the rebels surround the Crew, demanding to know what the Federation's intentions are for their people.
The signing ceremony takes place in an open courtyard in a lush valley with the Taigu and top officials present. Although everything seems to go as planned, the rebels launch a surprise attack, surrounding and capturing everyone present. The Romulans then appear and take over the situation, bringing the government representatives and Crew back to the city, where they force the Taigu to call for Romulan protection from the Federation. Meanwhile, a Romulan warbird attacks the Crew’s ship, preventing it from interfering.
Once this transmission is made, the Romulans lock up the Crew and government leaders. The Crew escapes from the jail and must then break into the Taigu's palace, now the home of Commander Tovik and Ruissi, to force them to call off the fleet. The Commander uses Ruissi as a hostage and escapes back to his ship, returning to Romulan territory with the fleet to devise a new scheme for the Neutral Zone.
| Astrometrics | |
| Chronology | LUG Timeline; |
| Culture | |
| Education | |
| Food | |
| People | |
| Politics | |
| Science & Technology | |
| Ships & Vehicles | |
| Xenology | |
| Miscellaneous |
Authors
Rachel Barth, Ross Isaacs, Steven Long, Justin Schmid, Greg Stolze, Jo Walton
Development and Editing
Bill Bridges, Ross Isaacs, Christian Moore
Original Concepts and Design
Ross Isaacs, Christian Moore
Star Trek: The Next Generation Line Developer
Ross Isaacs
Art Direction and Production
Christian Moore
Graphic Design
Anthony N. Vayos
Art
Jim Crabtree, Paul Daly, Barry Doyle, John Grigni, Cortney Skinner
Product Development, Paramount
Chip Carter
Additional Contributions
Bill Maxwell, Danny Landers, Jay Longino
