Oppo was a peaceful Federation planet of millions of inhabitants, known as the Irenics. The local sensors in the sector suddenly noted that there were no lifesigns registering from the surface and the Manticore was dispatched to investigate on SD 50908.31. An away team, sent to the surface on 50909.14, was captured by a robotic enemy force that seemed nearly impervious to phaser weapons. At the same time, the Manticore noted that the lifesigns of the away team disappeared almost in unison. Some onboard thought the away team had all died, while others postulated that there was some sort of sensor-neutralizing technology being used. This would also explain why there was no signal from any of the millions of inhabitants.
Defensive satellites, in low orbit, tried to attack the ship, but were disabled easily by Tactical offenses. One of the satellites was brought onboard for analysis and it was discovered that a unique alloy had been added to the satellite when it had been turned into a weapons platform. This alloy was completely sensor-neutral. As Science tried to analyze this alloy, in order to "see" through it, Atragon-9 was contacted by Inspector General Morris with a direct order. The ship was to abandon the mission and the away team and return to Earth with the satellite immediately. This was of the highest priority and not open to negotiation. The Admiral quickly decided to refuse the order by having Chief Engineer Garnoopy disable the ship's engines while he, Garnoopy and Security Chief Precip took the Chimera to the surface to find the away team.
Meanwhile, on the surface, the away team was split into two groups, with four people taken to the "Central Core" of the robots' systems. The remainder were taken to a huge covered field (the "Farm") filled with tens of thousands of Irenics, who were being kept alive to grow food for themselves while the robots (self-identified as "The Network") controlled the planet and used the Irenics as a power source and their brains were used to enhance the Network's CPU capacity. That is what happened to the four taken to the Central Core - they were stripped, shaved and connected to the Core so that their mental capacity could be used to increase Network storage and memory. Those in the Farm talk with the Irenics and discover that the Network was something they had built, but it had become self-aware and taken over the planet. Even though the Irenics told the team it was useless, the Manticore team still tried to escape the Farm many different ways - all unsuccessful.
The first rescue mission was an almost complete failure. Ground-based weapons disabled the Chimera and Precip was terribly wounded. Just as he was transported back to the ship, more Network robots attacked Garnoopy and Atragon-9 and they had to fight for their lives. They did find the Central Core just as Garnoopy was wounded, so Atragon-9 had to leave his away team members connected and run, with Gernoopy's body, to a safe location, away from the sensor neutral shielding, so that they could be transported up to Manticore as well.
Science continued to work on a way to penetrate the alloy and found that it was vulnerable to Hydrogen Dioxide (H2O2). Engineering and Security were enlisted to create H2O2 cannons for the fighters and another rescue mission was planned. The two fighters were prepped with the cannons and the two assault teams, led by Atragon-9, were also equipped with H2O2 "rifles." Chiefs Garnoopy and Precip, in the meantime, were still in Sickbay, with Precip suffering from a greater injury that almost cost him his leg. The last piece of the assault teams' weaponry was a computer virus that Science predicted would disable the Network's robots.
On SD 50911.23, the assault teams were able to fight through the ground defenses, shoot down robotic attackers with their H2O2 guns and embed the virus into the Network. As the Central Core Four were released, another team liberated the Farm group only to discover the Irenics were as disabled as the robots. In fact, there were no fully-organic Irenics left alive - the people had all been integrated with robotic components and were cyborgs for the Network.
Defensive satellites, in low orbit, tried to attack the ship, but were disabled easily by Tactical offenses. One of the satellites was brought onboard for analysis and it was discovered that a unique alloy had been added to the satellite when it had been turned into a weapons platform. This alloy was completely sensor-neutral. As Science tried to analyze this alloy, in order to "see" through it, Atragon-9 was contacted by Inspector General Morris with a direct order. The ship was to abandon the mission and the away team and return to Earth with the satellite immediately. This was of the highest priority and not open to negotiation. The Admiral quickly decided to refuse the order by having Chief Engineer Garnoopy disable the ship's engines while he, Garnoopy and Security Chief Precip took the Chimera to the surface to find the away team.
Meanwhile, on the surface, the away team was split into two groups, with four people taken to the "Central Core" of the robots' systems. The remainder were taken to a huge covered field (the "Farm") filled with tens of thousands of Irenics, who were being kept alive to grow food for themselves while the robots (self-identified as "The Network") controlled the planet and used the Irenics as a power source and their brains were used to enhance the Network's CPU capacity. That is what happened to the four taken to the Central Core - they were stripped, shaved and connected to the Core so that their mental capacity could be used to increase Network storage and memory. Those in the Farm talk with the Irenics and discover that the Network was something they had built, but it had become self-aware and taken over the planet. Even though the Irenics told the team it was useless, the Manticore team still tried to escape the Farm many different ways - all unsuccessful.
The first rescue mission was an almost complete failure. Ground-based weapons disabled the Chimera and Precip was terribly wounded. Just as he was transported back to the ship, more Network robots attacked Garnoopy and Atragon-9 and they had to fight for their lives. They did find the Central Core just as Garnoopy was wounded, so Atragon-9 had to leave his away team members connected and run, with Gernoopy's body, to a safe location, away from the sensor neutral shielding, so that they could be transported up to Manticore as well.
Science continued to work on a way to penetrate the alloy and found that it was vulnerable to Hydrogen Dioxide (H2O2). Engineering and Security were enlisted to create H2O2 cannons for the fighters and another rescue mission was planned. The two fighters were prepped with the cannons and the two assault teams, led by Atragon-9, were also equipped with H2O2 "rifles." Chiefs Garnoopy and Precip, in the meantime, were still in Sickbay, with Precip suffering from a greater injury that almost cost him his leg. The last piece of the assault teams' weaponry was a computer virus that Science predicted would disable the Network's robots.
On SD 50911.23, the assault teams were able to fight through the ground defenses, shoot down robotic attackers with their H2O2 guns and embed the virus into the Network. As the Central Core Four were released, another team liberated the Farm group only to discover the Irenics were as disabled as the robots. In fact, there were no fully-organic Irenics left alive - the people had all been integrated with robotic components and were cyborgs for the Network.