USS Pizzaro: the Starfleet conspiracy campaign

The events in ST:TMP occurr now.

Rider Revolt

The USS Pizzaro begins its five year mission with a shakedown cruise. Various training scenarios are interrupted when the Pizzaro is assigned to track down a rogue klingon escort craft that has penetrated Federation Space. Unknown to the Pizzaro crew, this rogue ship has been infected with the Rider Virus from the Klingon cruiser that escaped the USS Bismark recently in "Shore Leave Nightmare". The Pizzaro defeats the tiny escort craft and takes the Klingons prisoner. Unprepared for the Rider Virus however, the Pizzaro security staff is infected by the prisoners. Once the virus takes over the minds of its host, the security staff begin spreading the infection and preparing to take over the ship.

The rest of the crew is alert however, and forces the security staff to strike early. They take over the armory and lock down the ship's turbolifts to so that the rest of the crew cannot mass their numbers against them. The engineering staff retaliates by cutting power to the areas held by the security staff, and the science teams work to understand why the security staff are acting so strangely. The security teams attack main engineering but the engineers valiantly hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive and defeat the security staff.

Unfortunately, during the battle the security staff managed to infect the engineers with the virus. After it incubates, the engineers make sure to infect the captain first. But by this time, the science and medical teams have learned the nature of the threat they face. The nature of the cure that the Bismark crew had discovered is revealed, but the formulae for the cure itself is not available in the records! Grimly, the science team works furiously to rediscover the cure.

The medical team tests the crew to determine who is infected, revealing the Captain's infection. The First Officer takes command. This testing forces the engineers hand, who make their own ploy for the ship. As the battle rages, the medical teams finally discover the cure. They administer it to the security staff, and Security turns the tide of battle in favor of the loyal crew.

There is one final trial for the Pizzaro crew. They trace the source of the infection, and find the Klingon cruiser that began the infection. Unfortunately, the Pizzaro crew is told that the Klingon Emperor's nephew is still on that cruiser, so they are constrained to disable rather than destroy the klingon ship or face the wrath of the emperor. Despite this handicap, and the fact that the captain escapes before he can be cured and attampts to defect to the rider-infested klingon ship, they are able to recover and cure the captain and disable and cure in turn the klingons.

Unknown to the Pizzaro crew, they had been set up by the Starfleet Conspiracy as dupes. The Starfleet Conspiracy wanted samples of the Rider Virus so that they could genetically engineer it into a powerful weapon. Scince the Bismark crew had been too thourogh in wiping out the virus, the conspiracy wanted a crew that would be able to detain the infected crew but not cure them. Thus, the conspiracy deleted the Bismark's cure from the records and sent an inexperienced and unwarned crew on this mission. Fortunately, the Pizzaro crew surpassed expectations.

The events in STII:TWOK occurr now.

The Outcasts

The Pizzaro crew gets a well deserved shore leave. The senior staff spend their shore leave time in an undercover mission. They journey to a nearby trade world in an attempt to contact a Romulan outcast, but all is not as it appears. This adventure is chronicled in the FASA Star Trek module "The Outcasts", which I reccomend.

The events in STIII:TSFS occurr now.

Pirate Opportunity

The probe from Star Trek IV enters Federation Space. When the USS Saratoga tries to contact it peacefully, the Saratoga is drained of power and left disabled. Fearing that this is a hostile move, starfleet sends other ships to intercept the probe before it approaches Earth. The USS Pizzaro is the first to try and stop the probe after the Saratoga. Unfortunately, the probe drains the Pizzaro and leaves it disabled as well.

Running out of life support power, the Pizzaro crew enters stasis to await rescue. The senior staff are to enter stasis last, as they are working hard to ready the ship to operate with no crew at minimum power levels. After the vast magority of the crew are safely in stasis but before the senior staff enter, an Orion pirate ship responds to the Pizzaro's distress call. The lure of a defenceless first rate cruiser is too much for the pirates to pass up, and they attempt to sieze the Pizzaro in a boarding action.

The senior staff cannot revive the crew from stasis to fight off the pirates because there is not enough power to return the crew to stasis afterwards and the whole crew would rapidly use up the remaining life support. The senior staff must fight off the pirates alone. The senior staff use their greater knowledge of the ship to use home turf advantage to great effect. They whittle down the pirate's numbers in a series of hit and run attacks. Finally, the pirates have had enough and make their escape. Starfleet sends help, and the Pizzaro is rescued.

The events in STIV:TVH occurr now.

Native Troubles

The USS Pizzaro is reassigned from patrolling the Federation/Klingon border to explore new territory nearer to Triangle sector. They come to the aid of a Starfleet outpost that is having difficulty with the natives. Unknown to the Pizzaro crew, the outpost is being run by agents of the Patriotic Conspiracy and the natives have had their rights abused. The Pizzaro crew reveals wrongdoing on the part of the outpost crew, but do not dig deep enough to realize it is part of a larger picture. Along the way they discover an alien artifact, and explore it with interference from the klingons. One klingon officer in particular, Lt Kaa, is particularly clever and dangerous to the Pizzaro crew.

The events in STV:FF occurr now.

Protomatter Mystery

While exploring, the Pizzaro science officer discovers a protomatter fragment. Protomatter is extremely rare and valuable, a neccessary part of the Genesis device. Examining the records, the science officer is suprised to discover that this is not a new chunk of protomatter, but rather one that was already discovered by Starfleet! Unknown to the crew, this protomatter chunk was reported "lost" by the Patriotic conspiracy earlier, and if it was discovered by certain authorities, it would be proof that the conspiracy was trying to build a genesis device of their own. After all, the conspiracy was not about to let so potent a weapon as the genesis device be lost just because Starfleet was squeamish.

The Pizzaro's report to Starfleet of this mystery is leaked to enemies in an attempt to make sure that the Pizzaro never reaches Starbase with this evidence. Eager to gain this needed component to build a Genesis device, "rougue" Klingon and Romulan ships cross the border and try to hunt down the Pizzaro. Independant aliens and pirates also try to capture this valuable prize, and the Pizzaro is the subject of this hunt. The Pizzaro crew use the hunter's rivalries and great tactical skill and teamwork and are able to evade them at first, but the enemy close in for the kill. But Starfleet ships are on the way to rescue the beleagured Pizzaro.

The Pizzaro takes refuge by hiding in the upper atmosphere of an enormous gas giant planet. The science officer discovers that the lightening storms in the atmosphere are very interesting. The security officer discovers there is a traitor on board. The Science team is able to discover that there is a vast planet wide intelligence on the planet, such that the lightening storms are the firing of the intelligence's neurons! Security manages to catch the traitor, and under interrogation learn a little bit about the patriotic conspiracy from him. They also learn that there are conspirators among the starfleet ships sent to rescue them, who are probably going to make sure that the Pizzaro is destroyed in the cross fire!

The Pizzaro engineers and scientists manage to find a way to contact the planetary intelligence, by conducting electric fields over the Pizzaro's hull. They manage to reach meaningful communication with the planetary intelligence, which is disturbed by the "invasion" of it's "body." Together, the Pizzaro and the planet attack the fleets of aliens, and with the enormous power of electrical storms in the planet's atmosphere, the alien fleets are crippled. The Pizzaro escapes back to Starbase, reports the protomatter fragment, and all seems well.

The events in STVI:TUC occurr now.

Endgame

The Patriotic Conspiracy has been dealt a serious blow. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise have revealed their latest conspiracy. But even suffering that setback, the conspiracy is still strong and can recover. The Pizzaro's discovery of the protomatter fragment is very damaging evidence, but with prompt action they can still recover. At a Starbase along the Klingon neutral zone, rear admiral Rittenhouse tries to convert the captain of the USS Pizzaro to join the Patriotic Conspiracy. They are interrupted at dinner, and Rittenhouse makes his excuses to take care of "official business." But 15 minuites later, he has not returned to dinner.

The "official buisness" was word that the USS Bismark had allied with Sulu and the USS Excelsior to uncover the Patriotic Conspiracy's base of operations for Outback Sector (as revealed in Desperate Measures). Coupled with Kirk's evidence, this is the end of the Patriotic Conspiracy. Rittenhouse, even higher in the conspiracy than Donovan or even Breetai, makes his escape. He beams over to a Starfleet destroyer, the USS NIVEN, that is part of the conspiracy, then leaves spacedock. The USS Pizzaro tries to pursue, but Rittenhouse uses his command codes to close the space bay doors, trapping the Pizzaro until technicians can break the Armiral's protective codes.

Once in space, the Pizzaro pursues the Niven towards unexplored space. The Pizzaro is faster and more powerful than the Niven, but along the way the Pizzaro is attacked by a small Klingon escort ship led by the (newly promoted) Captain Kaa. Kaa explains that a Starfleet ship attacked their convoy and that this was an act of war. Of course, this ship was the Niven in a last ditch attempt to sabotage the Klingon peace process. The Pizzaro crew explains that they are after the Niven as well, and both ships agree to hunt down the Niven together.

Following the Ion trail, the crew discovers a secret hideout of the Patriotic Conspiracy, but it has already been looted for useful devices by the Niven, and is about to be destroyed by time bomb to eliminate the damning evidence there. The Pizzaro crew barely escapes and resumes the pursuit.

The Pizzaro finally manages to catch up to the Niven near an unexplored but habitable planet. The Pizzaro manages to diable the Niven, but Rittenhouse and the other officers who are desperate to escape capture beam down to the surface. The Klingon ship catches up at this point and beams down to kill Rittenhouse. The Pizzaro captain and crew also beam down. After a desperate battle on the ground, the captain of the Pizzaro faces Rittenhouse in a phaser duel. Kaa's attack makes the battle a desperate one, and Rittenhouse, seeing all hope of escape closed off, sets his phaser on overload, killing himself and putting the attackers at risk.

This is the end of the Patriotic Conspiracy as a Federation-wide clandestine force. The Pizzaro crew is promoted for their bravery and determination.

to Episode List