Razors Edge

[Coyote Annabis]

One of the myriad reasons why I joined this forum was to share some of the stories that have been floating around my head.

I've never been much of a narrative writer, but I am a store of creative energy. I can't promise anything great, but hopefully I can hone my skills enough to one day produce something enjoyable.

What I have, is basically a series of diary/personal log entries from various characters I've been developing. Kind of a glimpse into the lives of various Starfleet (and a few non SF) personnel. I'm going to try to do at least two entries per post, unless it's a particularly long one, or in this case, has an extended note section.

To preface, most of this is set shortly after the Dominion War, specifically around 2380-81 The galaxy is in a state of flux and uncertainty, with new threats and challenges to face, coupled with the ravages of war. With that in mind, a serious shakeup has occurred at Starfleet Command. Using the war as a lesson, Starfleet has decided that one focus of the reconstruction effort would be a bolstering of Federation defensive capabilities, mostly to take some of the pressure off the Klingons while they rebuild. The result was the creation of the Federation Defense Auxiliary, a small fleet of ships and associated personnel with the main objective being the protection and support of the Federation and it's allies, leaving the bulk of the fleet to carry out it's goals of science, exploration and diplomacy. Missions include monitoring federation space, humanitarian relief and, when all else fails, combat operations.

More details will emerge as I get more stories posted. Note, I will be kind of handwaving the stardates, namely because I never could make sense of them. So, without further ado, let's begin.

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Personal log: Lt. Cmdr Marcel Witkowski, stardate 56939.4

I've arrived at Utopia Planetia to begin my next assignment, the newly commisioned USS Saipan. We're three days early, and some of her minor systems are still undergoing final testing. I've managed to get an early tour of her engineering section tomorrow at 1300 hours. Hopefully there won't be too much I'll have to change once we get underway.

I've already met a couple of my crewmates, Ensign T'mar, Helmsman and Lt. Constance Lutero, Navigation Specialist. She seemed quite proud of that, and was eager to tell me all about it. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten her life story if she hadn't been called away. She was pleasant enough, I suppose, but I wonder if she fully understands the scope of her new assignment. This won't exactly be a pleasure cruise.

Ensign T'mar on the other hand is young for a Vulcan, and fresh out of the academy, but he appears to have a better grasp of the hand we've been dealt. It seems a bit odd though that he would be here. DA service is voluntary for anyone below lieutenant and I wouldn't think a Vulcan would volunteer for a post like this. Still, if we have to have a greenhorn at the helm, I'd rather have someone steady.
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[CeJay]

I like the concept here. You could write an entire story just told through personal logs, like stories told thru letters or diaries.

I did a short a few years ago which was a letter exchange between a Cardassian soldier and his wife at the end of the Dominion War.

The DA reminds me of the Border Service which features prominently in the United Trek shared universe. I highly recommend TLRs Bluefin series which you can find at Unitedtrek.org

In the meantime, looking forward to read more from you.

 

[Coyote Annabis]

I like the concept here. You could write an entire story just told through personal logs, like stories told thru letters or diaries.

I did a short a few years ago which was a letter exchange between a Cardassian soldier and his wife at the end of the Dominion War.

The DA reminds me of the Border Service which features prominently in the United Trek shared universe. I highly recommend TLRs Bluefin series which you can find at Unitedtrek.org

In the meantime, looking forward to read more from you.

Thank you, I appreciate it. :bows: my ultimate goal is to coalate everything into something more cohesive. Hopefully as I keep banging things out the overarching story will come into it's own, Game of Thrones style.

It's funny you should mention the letters, one of my characters does all of their personal logs in the style of letters to relatives they lost in the war. I was going to do that one later, but since you mentioned it, I might as well get her out of the way next.

I've never read that set, but I'm certainly going to check it out, might prove a good source of inspiration.

As for further stories, ask and you shall receive

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Personal Log: Petty Officer 1st Class Yanar Yalia Stardate 56933.9

Dear Mother and Father,

I wish you were still here. You would be proud of me, I got the promotion to First Class. I'm sure Dalena is going to try to rope me into something silly to celebrate. I told her not to make a a fuss, but you know how she is. Leaving her behind again will be the hardest part of my new rank. I've been reassigned to the USS Lexington, and we'll be shipping out as soon as her repairs are finished.

It's not fair... It's not fair to you, to me, to Dalena... Anyone! It's been six years since that damn war ended, and people are still dying over it. The mines are still out there, drifting through space, and some of them are still active. That's how the Lexington got damaged. The Federation has been trying to find them all but some how they keep coming back. What idiot thought they would be a good idea? 23 people, GOOD PEOPLE, dead for absolutely no reason. No reason for anything anymore...

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lost my senses for a moment. You always told me to stay strong. That was the last thing you said to me when I left for the Academy. Stay strong. The same words I tell Dalena every night. Stay strong... I love you and miss you with all my heart, and I promise that I will. No matter what happens, I will stay strong.

Your beloved daughter, Yalia.

 

[Sgt_G]

Cool. Minor nit-pick: officers go to academy; enlisted go to basic training (aka boot camp).

 

[Coyote Annabis]

Cool. Minor nit-pick: officers go to academy; enlisted go to basic training (aka boot camp).

I know. She dropped out six weeks into her third year to join the Bajoran Militia. Caught a ride in a starship headed to DS9 as a provisional crewman and long story short, earned her rank the hard way. I'll be getting to that later. For now, back to Lt. Cmdr. Witkowski.

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Personal Log: Lt. Cmdr Marcel Witkowski, Stardate 56941.6

My inspection of the Saipan was pretty much as I expected. They didn't change much when they re-worked the Intrepid design into this new Okinawa class, at least as far as engineering goes. A couple of new redundancies built in should make my job a bit easier, even if it means giving up a few centimeters of floor space. Thankfully they compensated with a better layout.

Granted, not everything is perfect. I can already see that I'm going to be replacing plasma conduits and optical relays often, and despite what happened aboard the Kirov, Jennings and Excalibur, they're still running them next to the damage control circuits. Too late to fix that now, so we'll just have to hope for the best. I'll have to talk to Capt. Omaris about adding backup fire extinguishers, especially engineering.

We'll be getting uderway tomorrow at 1045 hours bound for Starbase 37, where we'll rendezvous with our sister ship the Iwo Jima, and two of our escorts, the Brisbane and the Warsaw. From there it's a three week shakedown cruise to Deep Space 9 to meet up with the Halifax, Kyoto and the Lexington. She's currently laid up for repairs after hitting a leftover mine near Bajor. Beyond that, even the captain doesn't know, and if she does, she's keeping it quiet. Given the fact that we're taking on over 100 extra crewmen, mostly FG Reservists, I suspect we'll be heading to Cardassia. If that is the case, I can understand the secrecy. Most of the crew lost family and friends during the war, and some of them still aren't too keen on helping with the reconstruction effort.

Case in point, one Lance Corporal Hoya Tarkan, who I ran into on at the food court today. He certainly wasn't shy about voicing his opinion on "the damn Spoonheads" as he called them. How someone like that could make it even as a reservist, I'll never know.

I'll admit, I'm not looking forward to going back to Cardassia myself. Sure, they were our enemy, once, but no one deserves what happened to them. I still have nightmares about the things I saw the last time I was there. 800 million, gone in a matter of minutes. Another 14 million over the next two years, dead from starvation, disease and desperation, despite help from the Federation and the Romulans. All this time and effort, and still so far to go...

 

[Coyote Annabis]

Medical Officers Personal Log, Dr. Nadine Spencer, Stardate 56952.1

Repairs on the Lexington continue, but the limited facilities aboard Deep Space Nine make it a slow and difficult process. Our mission to Cardassia is more critical now than ever, and these delays are costing even more lives as the Khartema virus continues to wreak havoc.

Around 2000 Cardassians are dying every day now, without a cure in sight. The only relief seems to be low doses of thetaron radiation followed by an inhaled hydromeclazine treatment. It curbs the progression for several weeks, but the patients are left weak and delerious for days, and it does nothing to repair the damage that's already been done. Thankfully the Pasteur is in orbit around Cardassia Prime, and Captian Crusher is certain the outbreak is contained but her crew and resources are wearing thin.

The Romulans are assisting as best they can, but they're even more susceptible to the virus than the Cardassians. Two entire ships crews were struck down before the quarantine could be put in place.

 

[CeJay]

Still enjoying these little snapshots. I guess my only quibble would be that I'd wish they'd be a bit longer and perhaps paint more of a picture.

As for "Romulans are assisting the best they can" ... that doesn't sound very Romulan to me. I guess there a nice ones.

 

[Coyote Annabis]

A lot of it has to with the fact that I'm doing everything from my phone at the moment. I'm out of town, plus my computer has a bit of a problem with the wifi.

As for the Romulans... Let's just say there have been a lot of changes in the RSE. This is sort of their perestroika/glastnost period. It's only a couple years after the Shinzon Incident, and the Senate is currently filled with young, idealistic Romulans. Most served during the Dominion war and the proconsul was the captain of one of the ships that assisted the Enterprise against the Scimitar. There's even a Picard exhibit in the Imperial War Museum on Romulus.

 

[Coyote Annabis]

Nevermind the bollocks, here's a story:

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Personal log Petty Officer 1st Class Yanar Yalia, Stardate 56941.4

Dear Mother and Father,

Well, it seems like the Lexington wasn't meant to be, at least for me anyway. A fire broke out during the repairs and burned away most of the newly repaired sections. Thank the prophets no one was hurt, but now the damage is too much for the crew on DS9 to handle. Starfleeet has decided to send her back to Antares, most of her crew has been reassigned, including me. I was so looking forward to serving aboard the Lexington. I still remember all the stories uncle Teraya told me about her.

As I suspected, Dalena tried to surprise me with a party at Quark's. I wanted to tell her off, but she was so proud and excited for me I just couldn't. She's still so much of a child at times. I suspect aunt Mayra may be to blame for that. I drew the line when she tried to introduce me to Mertan, the brother of some boy she's been seeing. I don't have the time for any of that.

I've been sent over to the Saipan, and we'll be leaving almost immediately, 0900 tomorrow. It hurts to say it, now at this late hour, but we'll be heading to Cardassia to relieve the crew of the Pasteur. Try as I might, I can't sleep knowing what lies ahead. I keep hearing the stories you told me, about the death camps and executions, the Bajoran's worked to death in the mines and processing plants... I see the friends I lost on the Kirov and I want with all my heart to storm into commander Kattan's office, throw my rank pin on his desk and resign. I want to burn my starfleeet uniform on the promenade and shout out that I will never help the Cardassians so long as I live...

But then I see them. I see them huddled together in the dark corners of the station, see the fear flash across their faces when they see mine... Worst of all I think back to the Farragut, just after the war... II see the children crying, hungry and filthy in the streets of Cardassia and can't help but see Dalena and Tevor in their places...

I know what the Cardassians did to you, to uncle Teraya, to us, but those people are gone. They paid for what they did and more, and their children will continue to pay for it. It's just not right. Not right...

I can't let myself go on like this. I have to be up early to take my post aboard the Saipan. I've already met Chief Callahan, and he expects me on deck at 0730. He's put me in charge of third watch, and I have to assemble my own security team. To that end I've been given my pick of the Reservists the Saipan brought along. This is going to be interesting. Most of them are fresh out of boot camp, and this is their first cruise. The chief told me to "have fun breaking in the new pups." He reminds me of Lt. Craetor from the Kirov. You would like him.

Any way that's enough for tonight, I still have a lot to do before bed. I hope I can sleep, knowing what I know. As always, I promise to stay strong.

Your beloved daughter, Yalia.
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Personal Log Supplemental:

We had a last minute addition to the crew, one Lt. Ephraema Mitchell from the Magellan, and I got to show her to her quarters. The look on her face was priceless! She almost fainted when I told her that she had a Benzite bunkmate, and they both have to share a head with two other officers. If that's how she reacts to officers quarters, she would wet her pants if she saw the enlisted bunks...