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StoryKit Example

The Ghosts of Aranis Prime

Frontmatter

id: 7323698156447723105
title: The Ghosts of Aranis Prime
author: SuperStories Universe Team
rating: M
tags:
  - '#SuperStory'
  - '#DS9'
  - '#Dominion'
  - '#Defiant'
  - '#FirstContact'
  - '#temporal_anomaly'
  - '#psychological_horror'
  - '#Starfleet'
  - '#intelligence_officer'
  - '#ghost_fleet'
  - '#Captain_Worf'
  - '#Tricorder'
  - '#Phaser'
universe: "Star Trek"
active: true
date_created: '2025-05-01'
date_updated: '2025-05-01'
cover_art: ghosts-of-aranis-prime.png
summary: >
  In the months before the #Dominion_War, the ~(Defiant) is dispatched by #Starfleet_Operations to investigate
  #gravitational_distortions near #Aranis_Prime. What begins as a standard recon turns into a mind-bending
  confrontation with #temporal_echos, #identity_crises, and threats that may come from the future—or ourselves.
story_hook: >
  When your own ship appears from a #temporal_anomaly, scarred and transmitting your own command codes...
  will you trust it, fight it, or follow it?
stardate_start: '50984.2'
stardate_end:
acts:
  act1: The Silent Rift
  act2: Dominion Shadows
  act3: The Ship That Shouldn't Exist
  act4: The Rift Speaks
  act5: One Last Echo
persons:
  - file: '~(Worf)'
  - file: JuniorOfficer-Intelligence.md
  - file: Changeling-Defector.md
  - file: Security-Chief-Ralah.md
places:
  - '~(Gamma-Quadrant)'
  - '~(Aranis-Prime)'
  - '~(USS-Defiant)'
  - file: Anomaly_Sphere.md
  - file: Shadow_Deck.md
things:
  - '~(Tricorder)'
  - '~(Phaser)'
  - '~(CommsBadge)'
  - '~(NeuroSpike)'
  - file: Tactical_Chroniton_Array.md

The Ghosts of Aranis Prime

:::backstory Characters: - ~(Worf): - "Is serving as #Captain of #UUS-Defiant" - "Dealing with the loss of #Jadzia" - "Dealing with his #son#alex" - ~(JuniorOfficer-Intelligence) - ~(Changeling-Defector)

Ships: - ~(Defiant): - "Is beaten from the last fight with the #Dominion "

Planets: - ~(Aranis-Prime): - "Is under fire from the #Jemhadar"

Weapons: - ~(Phaser): - "Are running a half power" :::

:::prompt The #Defiant, under the command of #Captain #Worf, is deployed to investigate a silent #gravitational-distortion near #Aranis-Prime in the #Gamma-Quadrant.
This region is flagged by #Starfleet-Operations for suspected #Dominion field experiments.
You, the Reader, are a #Starfleet #intelligence-officer embedded aboard the #Defiant to identify unseen patterns the sensors miss.
{#Starfleet#dispatches#Defiant#to#investigate-anomaly} :::

:::act1

The Silent Rift

:::prompt The anomaly pulses outside of space-time. No comms, no life signs, no known origin — but it's moving toward the #Defiant. :::

:::scene1

Graviton Surge

:::prompt Initial scans detect a {#gravitational_distortion#emanating#from#Aranis_Prime}, creating a wake in subspace.

Captain_Worf orders tactical yellow alert.

You notice the distortion mimics ~Defiant's own mass signature. :::

:::scene2

Passive Drift

:::prompt The ship powers down external emissions.
In silent drift, you observe {#anomaly#shifts#closer#with_each_rotation}.
A whisper crackles through the comms: your own voice, asking “Why did you return?” :::

:::branch * ~Worf believes the anomaly is testing defenses.
The temporal instability seems to be anchored to ~Defiant’s current location.
 A timestamped sensor ghost appears — 17 minutes from now.

  1. Launch a #Class9_probe encoded with Defiant’s signature and monitor reactions.
  2. Return to warp and reposition to the far side of #Aranis_Prime for triangulation.
  3. Boost graviton field to simulate a warp core breach and provoke a response.
    ::: ::: :::

:::act2

Dominion Shadows

:::prompt A fleet exits the anomaly. All Starfleet-registered. All destroyed years ago. :::

:::scene1

Phantom Registries

:::prompt {#ghost_fleet#emerges#from#rift}.
Among them, one transmits as the ~Defiant — complete with command code echo from #Captain_Worf. :::

:::scene2

Tactical Dilemma

:::prompt The registry is authentic. The voice is Worf’s.
~Security_Chief_Ralah suggests immediate firing protocol.
{#Ralah#urges#preemptive_action#on#ghost_fleet} :::

:::scene3

Echo Distress

:::prompt One ship breaks formation. Its distress beacon repeats a stardate from last year.
Your logs show you never responded.
{#temporal_failure#creates#looped_beacon} :::

:::branch * One ship bears your own mission log embedded in its hull.
A faint #JemHadar signal flares and vanishes — as if watching.
 A Dominion transmission arrives: "We did not build this. You did."

  1. Attempt a #temporal_handshake to match command authority with the echo-Defiant.
  2. Hail the Dominion transmission and request tactical cooperation.
  3. Send a boarding party to the echo-Defiant to retrieve its core logs.
    ::: ::: :::

:::act3

The Ship That Shouldn't Exist

:::prompt The changeling isn’t imitating someone. It’s imitating you.
:::

:::scene1

Mirror Breach

:::prompt {#changeling#assumes_identity#of#intelligence_officer}
Security logs show two of you boarding the bridge at once.

Worf stuns both.

:::

:::scene2

Trial of Memory

:::prompt You are brought to Shadow Deck 2 for memory interrogation.
A hidden event surfaces — your death. Or rather, your echo’s.
{#memory_trace#detects#fatal_loop} :::

:::scene3

Deck Lockdown

:::prompt

Ralah initiates containment. The bridge goes to Code Omega.

{#crew#divides#over#which_version#to_follow}
Trust fractures. :::

:::branch * Your own biometric logs contain corruption.
The changeling version offers classified knowledge on Dominion war plans.
 A third version of you is found in cryo — with no memory of the last 6 days.

  1. Authorize Worf to initiate a Vulcan mind-meld with all three versions.
  2. Seal all three identities and destroy the deck to prevent spread.
  3. Declare yourself the duplicate and go into stasis voluntarily.
    ::: ::: :::

:::act4

The Rift Speaks

:::prompt A signal is received from inside the rift. It is ~Defiant’s own computer — from 7 years in the future. :::

:::scene1

Order Loop

:::prompt The voice gives coordinates, logs, and mission directives you’ve never seen.
They contain your signature and Worf’s.
{#temporal_ai#guides#Defiant#into#closed_loop} :::

:::scene2

Future Combat

:::prompt Tactical logs show a battle at the anomaly — with ~Defiant firing on itself.
None of this happened. Yet the logs are real.
{#Defiant#fights#its_own_future_self} :::

:::scene3

Council of Doubt

:::prompt

Worf assembles the senior staff.

“This is not battle. This is deception disguised as destiny.”
Consensus breaks. The crew divides. Some want to enter the rift. Others want to destroy it. :::

:::branch * The rift expands each time Worf speaks near it.
A hologram of the future you tries to take bridge command.
 The ship's memory banks show conflicting logs for the same day.

  1. Follow the future Defiant's coordinates and enter the rift at full impulse.
  2. Launch all torpedoes and collapse the rift with graviton saturation.
  3. Split the crew — half go into the rift, half remain. You decide who leads.
    ::: ::: :::

:::act5

One Last Echo

:::prompt You returned. Or a version of you did. But something stayed behind. Something is still watching. :::

:::scene1

Log Playback

:::prompt Your log replays a scene you never recorded: you, in a different uniform, speaking to someone you don't recognize.
{#timeline#records#a_version#of_you#that_should_not_exist} :::

:::scene2

Worf’s Decision

:::prompt

Captain_Worf requests reassignment. "My instincts are still Klingon, but my memory is not."

He gives you the chair — for now. :::

:::branch * Section 31 arrives and seals all logs.
~Starfleet archives receive a log... with no known sender.
 The Defiant’s replicators now default to coffee. You never programmed that.

  1. Take command of the Defiant and request a new mission in uncharted space.
  2. Leave Starfleet and begin speaking publicly about the anomaly.
  3. Stay on board, wait for the anomaly to return — and answer it.
    ::: ::: :::