TFV - Regions of the Dark

[BrotherBenny]

That said, Glover was the last person who had the ability to prevent the Xu Fu from launching without proper testing, over Nara's protests. Brandies and the engineers played major roles, too, but Glover was in a position to swallow his pride and have some common sense instead, and he let his hubris and need to be a power-tripping asshole overcome reason.

That wasn't Glover, remember. It was somebody else. He knew that the Xu Fu had left the shipyard, but he was expecting them to test the engine in the Stameris system...someone intercepted the signal Nara sent to Starbase Bastion and ordered the ship to proceed without testing. Someone who knew what would happen....

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I see. I thought I had remembered an argument between Glover and Nara about the go/no go decision in which Glover could have intervened.

 

[Dnoth]

So an unknown someone didn't send Xu Fu out to fail, they sent them out to put a new weapon on the field. Interesting.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter 15

USS Xu Fu
3-Kiloparsec-Norma Bridge, Delta Quadrant
Stardate 54987.6 (December 27, 2377)

Lieutenant Fwee Sendi led his security team to main engineering to face off against the Serrasa incursion. The chief engineer had managed to get the shields back up after the intruder alert sounded, so the Serrasa wouldn’t be able to call in reinforcements for the time being. The captain had mobilized everyone with security training, from enlisted personnel to the ship’s security personnel, the Marine Corps detachment and the fighter pilots. Sendi knew that other teams had been sent to the shuttlebays and bridge, armory and main computer core. All ship’s personnel were on the lookout for Serrasa but so far none had been spotted, which was worrisome.

‘Sir, I’m detecting an unusual energy signature up ahead. It’s coming from main engineering,’ Ensign Eugene Clark, one of the ship’s science officers, said as he stared at the tricorder in his left hand.

‘What kind of energy signature?’

‘I’m not sure,’ he replied, ‘but I’m reading a drop in oxygen levels and a rise in…’

‘A rise in what, Ensign?’

‘Water,’ he said and Sendi blinked.

‘Huh?’

‘The Serrasa are using some kind of machine to convert our oxygen into water,’ Clark said. ‘They’re flooding the ship. Unless we stop them, this ship will be completely flooded in three hours.’

Sendi sighed and tapped his combadge. ‘Captain, we have a problem.’

‘Other than the intruders roaming about the ship, you mean?’ Nara asked sarcastically.

‘They have a machine that converts oxygen into water,’ he told her. ‘Main engineering is being flooded.’

There was a curse the universal translator didn’t bother translating and then a moment of silence before Nara responded. ‘We’ll beam everyone out and seal the deck. If you can clear main engineering of the intruders and deactivate the machine, do so. If not, we’ll jettison the warp core and suck the water out that way. Tyrr has shut off the environmental systems so there won’t be any additional oxygen to convert. I’m advising all non-essential personnel to remain in their quarters and seal the doors.’

‘Aye sir, we’ll do our best; Sendi out,’ he said and turned to his six-person team. ‘You heard the lady, let’s get in there.’

‘Sir, the water level is rising rapidly. If we just open the doors we’ll be pushed away when the water comes rushing out,’ Clark said.

‘Do you have an alternate suggestion, Ensign?’

‘Yes sir, I do. We should be able to use the Jeffries tubes to get into engineering above the water level. Then we can pick off the Serrasa one by one from the high ground and set a phaser to overload to take out the machine.’

‘That could breach the warp core,’ Sendi said.

‘The forcefield is still in place, and it’s also holding back the water. The concussion waves from the explosion will also knock out the Serrasa.’

‘Fine,’ Sendi said and pointed to two security officers. ‘Fincher, Qisi, take Clark where he wants to go. We’ll try to reach engineering a different way.’

‘Aye sir,’ Lieutenant David Fincher responded and gestured for his colleague to take the rear. ‘Where are we going, Ensign?’

‘Deck eight, Jeffries tube junction 246-Alpha,’ Clark answered.

Fincher took point with his phaser rifle held out ahead of him. Clark kept one hand on his tricorder and one on his phaser while Qisi, an octopus-like species from Argaya, near the Cardassian border, took the rear. He held phaser rifles in four of his tentacles, leaving the other four free to glide along the deck. Fincher pressed the call button for the turbolift and got no response.

‘Uh oh,’ Clark said and Fincher turned round.

‘Ensign?’

‘The Serrasa have started flooding the turbolift shafts. The shafts on decks fourteen through seventeen are already flooded and the waters are rising rapidly through the network. They will have flooded the entire network within thirty minutes.’

‘Then we’d better hurry. The only route we have left is the Jeffries tube network.’

‘We should be able to climb to deck eight before the waters reach us,’ Qisi said.

‘You can, we’ll be too slow.’

‘So can you,’ Qisi responded. ‘It’s only three decks, not the entire ship. Open the doors.’

Fincher sighed and forced the doors open using the magnetic door opener retrieved from a nearby access panel and looked down. ‘I can see the rising water. We probably have about ten minutes before it reaches us.’

‘Then we’d better get moving.’

Fincher climbed onto the ladder first, Clark followed, and Qisi ascended the sheer walls of the shaft with the microscopic suction cups on his tentacles. He reached deck eight first and pried the doors open, waiting for his companions to join him. Fincher looked down once he was safely on deck eight and made a noise in his throat. ‘We have got to stop this.’

Clark was already in the Jeffries tube and crawling toward the section he needed to reach engineering. Fincher and Qisi were hot on his heels but for now the ball was in his court. After several minutes, and a dozen turns, Clark stopped crawling and removed several access panels. Engineering was partially submerged and there were several bodies in the water, both Starfleet and Serrasa. Fincher and Qisi immediately began firing at the Serrasa tending the machine, causing them to swim away.

As they picked off the intruders the Starfleet engineers were beamed away, leaving them as the only line of defense.

‘What have they done?’ Fincher asked as Clark took readings.

‘They’ve tapped into the warp core to give the machine a power source. If I destroy the machine the way I planned, I’ll destroy the ship,’ Clark said.

‘I can do it,’ Qisi said and curled into a ball before rolling out of the Jeffries tube.

He dropped into the water and fired several shots toward the Serrasa who were trying to get back to the machine. Qisi swam to the machine faster than the Serrasa and began pulling apart the connectors. Two Serrasa attacked him and he squirted a toxic ink which sent them into spasms. Fincher and Clark kept laying down suppression fire so he could work and once the last connector was pulled, Qisi fired at the machine. It emitted a high-pitched whine and died, leaving the Serrasa without one of their weapons and a large quantity of water.

‘Fincher to Sendi.’

‘Go ahead, Lieutenant.’

‘We’ve neutralized the Serrasa in engineering and their water-generator has been destroyed.’

‘Excellent work. Meet me on deck fourteen, Turbolift Control. There’s another weapon here and we’re cut off.’

‘On our way, Fincher out.’

 

[CeJay]

That certainly answered the question on how an aquatic race boards a non-aquatic vessel. Images from The Abyss and Poseidon Adventure came to mind here. Forget outer space, battles in neck-deep water is were the real fun is.

 

[Dnoth]

...I'd hate to be the crewman assigned to clean the carpets after this.

 

[Gibraltar]

That was the most unconventional and bizarre boarding scenario I've ever read, and I loved it!

They'd better get the other device knocked out soon, or they'll have to don environment suits or SCUBA gear to clear the ship deck by deck.

That was some terrific work by the junior security officers, most notably Qisi. Never send a human to do an octopus-man's job!

"Computer, activate Emergency Holographic Arm Floaties!"

 

[BrotherBenny]

Sorry for the delay in getting new chapters up, but as a bonus I will give you two at once
-----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Sixteen

USS Xu Fu
3-Kiloparsec-Norma Bridge, Delta Quadrant
Stardate 54987.7 (December 27, 2377)

Turbolift Control maintained the ship’s network of turbolifts which were absolutely necessary for moving about the ship in a brisk fashion. The area was kept secure through the dual use of forcefields and armed security personnel. Since the ship’s arrival in the deep reaches of the Delta Quadrant, Nara had complemented the security force guarding the room with Starfleet Marines.

‘They’re dead,’ Qisi said as he touched the necks of all the security officers and marines to find lifesigns. ‘That makes twenty-three personnel.’

Fincher nodded and ground his teeth. He didn’t like the fact the Serrasa had been able to board the ship so easily and he hoped that the people on the bridge were working to fix that problem so no one else could do it in the future. ‘Is there water in there?’

Clark shook his head. ‘No sir. Turbolift Control is dry. However, that room provides access to seven different vertical shafts, all of which are flooded. I can’t tell which shaft has the machine in.’

‘Let me go up a couple of decks and swim around. I should be able to find out which one it is pretty quickly.’

‘I don’t want to send you in there alone, Qisi.’

‘Then have Oasa reassigned from the security team she’s on,’ he replied, referring to the furry polar-bear-like crewman assigned to a team securing deck six.

Fincher was torn but it wasn’t his call and he was cut off from the rest of his team, including Lieutenant Sendi who would be able to make the decision. ‘I can’t do that. Just be careful.’

‘Wait!’ Clark said. ‘I think I’ve got it, but we need to get into the room.’

‘How many Serrasa are in there?’

‘Three.’

‘I can take them all out with one shot,’ Qisi told them and held up three tentacles armed with phaser rifles.

Fincher nodded, ‘all right let’s do it. Computer, unseal Turbolift Control, authorization Fincher-3-Omega-7-Deneva.’

‘Authorization confirmed,’ the computer responded and Qisi aimed his armed tentacles.

‘Go!’ Fincher said.

Qisi glided forward and the doors slid open to reveal three surprised Serrasa at workstations. He fired at all three simultaneously and they crumpled to the deck. Fincher and Clark entered the room and while the former bound the prisoners, the latter went to a workstation and began entering commands.

‘What are you doing?’ Qisi asked.

‘I’m sending a turbolift into the shaft with the machine in the hopes that a build-up in pressure will crush the machine.’

‘Is that going to work?’

Clark looked at him and shrugged. ‘Honestly, I have no idea. The only other way to shut it down is to cut power to the entire turbolift network, drain the shaft and pull the wires out.’

They stood back and watched the monitors as the turbolift descended the shaft. After almost two minutes the turbolift just stopped.

‘Well?’

‘The pressure’s not high enough,’ Clark said. ‘I’m trying to override the safeties to send the turbolift crashing into the machine.’

‘That should work,’ Fincher said and tapped his combadge. ‘Lieutenant Sendi, what is your situation?’

‘Thanks to a little ingenuity, we’ve taken another three Serrasa hostage. Other teams have also reported success. What is your status?’

The turbolift suddenly dropped right onto the machine, destroying it and sending thousands of gallons of water through the turboshaft network, where it spilled out in places.

‘The second machine has been destroyed.’

‘This is Captain Nara to all hands,’ the captain interrupted them. ‘All boarding parties have been contained. Stand down from red alert. All department heads report to your designated bridge officer and provide a full damage report.’

‘That was easy,’ Qisi said with a grin. ‘Want to go again?’

‘I want to go back to my lab,’ Clark said. ‘I need to pick up the machine and see if I can find out how it works. It might give us a heads up next time.’

‘There won’t be a next time,’ Sendi said as he entered the room with his half of the team. ‘The chief engineer figured out a way to prevent our shields being attacked that way again.’

‘Great,’ Fincher replied. ‘Where are we going to put all of our guests?’

‘The captain is converting cargo bay nine into an aquarium for them, and will negotiate their release to the Serrasa leadership.’

‘Well, let’s get these guys over there,’ Fincher indicated the three insensate figures on the deck.

Sendi tapped his combadge. ‘Transporter room one, transport three Serrasa lifesigns from this location to cargo bay nine.’

‘Acknowledged,’ the transporter operator responded and the Serrasa vanished in pillars of light.

‘OK people, let’s make sure there are no more surprises in store. Begin a deck by deck search and drain the ship section by section unless the operations or engineering teams come up with a better way.’

‘Aye sir, where will you be?’

‘Talking to Ufiri about a holographic security force that was supposed to be installed.’

‘That would have helped,’ Fincher said.

‘Yeah, I wouldn’t have had to go diving,’ Qisi added with a grin.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Seventeen

USS Xu Fu
3-Kiloparsec-Norma Bridge, Delta Quadrant
Stardate 54988.2 (December 27, 2377)

Nara sat at the head of the conference table as she waited for the senior officers to arrive.

She was mad.

It had taken over four hours to drain the ship of the water, converting as much of it as possible into usable materials and letting the rest drift in space. She had also lost twenty-eight officers and crew to that attack and she was not in a forgiving mood. Ambassador Yarg had convinced her not to blow Pacus’s ship out of the water, so to speak, but to give him another chance. It was a complete turnaround from his earlier comment suggesting that the Xu Fu turn around and leave.

‘Why the change of heart?’ she had asked.

He sighed before framing a response. ‘Having thought about it, I believe that if we can rescue the situation, then when the Serrasa reach Federation space they will be more amenable to the assistance the Bureau of Colonization can provide them.’

‘Our mission is to try and get them to settle outside of Federation space if possible; or just inside it otherwise, so as not to burden an already overtaxed fleet with additional patrol routes.’

‘I see,’ he responded. ‘What would you have them do?’

‘I would like them to be an ally, and perhaps even join the Federation at some point in the future. They have technology comparable to ours and if we’re able to give them a democratically elected government then it’s one step in the right direction.’

Yarg looked at her speculatively. ‘What would additional steps entail?’

‘Eliminating the class distinctions they have, for one.’

‘Do you plan to put that in motion?’

‘No!’ she shot back. ‘I have no intention of interfering any more than is absolutely necessary.’

‘I’m just trying to make sure you weren’t planning on violating the Prime Directive.’

That had been the end of their conversation and she had asked him to leave her office. Then she contacted Pacus and his response was not something she had anticipated. His response was the reason she had called the senior officers together. She wanted a second opinion on what was going on. Bartel, Robinson and Baransky entered first, followed by Ishmael, Ufiri and Erom, and finally Yarg, Tyrr and Senar. They all took their seats and she stood up.

‘What you’re about to see is the last conversation I had with General Pacus. Needless to say, there has been a disturbing development. I want you all to watch the exchange and then give me your insights. The Xu Fu is currently beyond the Mokarran’s sensor range, but they are within ours.’



‘Captain, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I have had to deal with a few troubling issues.’

‘Your assault on my ship failed, General. I am holding your people as prisoners if you wish to retrieve them, and I want you to know that I take the deaths my crew very seriously.’

‘They failed, and their lives are forfeit. Do with them as you will.’

‘Perhaps one of the other Houses will take them to bolster their own forces?’

‘It is of no consequence, as you will soon see.’

‘I would still like to assist you in electing your new leadership.’

‘That will not be possible, Captain. Those troubling issues I mentioned were meetings with the heads of the other Houses. While I was trying to take control of your vessel, a vote was taken and it was unanimously decided the New Serrasa Republic would become a member of the GeShen Aggregate. A representative from their government has already arrived.’

‘We detected no other vessel,’ she said. ‘Who are the GeShen?’

‘You will learn that soon enough,’ he said. ‘Do not go looking for them. They will find you when you are ready. May your travels be swift,’ Pacus said and cut the communication.



‘That was weird,’ Commander Bartel said after seeing the recording.

‘I checked the Serrasa linguistic database,’ Nara told them. ‘GeShen means darkness in their dominant language, specifically an all-encompassing darkness, like death.’

‘He has been possessed,’ Lieutenant Commander Senar told them all.

‘Counselor, what do you mean by that?’ Nara asked.

‘In ancient times on Vulcan, prior to the Sundering, there were some Vulcans who possessed extraordinary mental abilities and they invariably became mentally unbalanced. They claimed to have been called by the Vashau ek Ha’kiv, the Destroyers of all Life. When questioned they mentioned being called by the Lo’uk Mu’gel’es, the Great Darkness. Thousands were killed to prevent the spread of the phenomenon but it should be noted that some Vulcans today still experience this affliction. Our emotional control prevents it from taking hold.’

‘Can anything be done?’ Nara asked.

‘Not that I know of,’ he replied.

‘Regardless of whatever this is,’ Yarg said, ‘we have been asked to leave and we should do so now, before he decides to make another attempt to take this ship.’

‘He won’t,’ Senar said. ‘The Vashau ek Ha’kiv now controls his thoughts and actions. The Darkness has called to their leaders. There is nothing that can be done for them. There is no way to stop them.’

‘Nothing in the ancient scrolls has a defense?’

‘Nothing,’ Senar confirmed.

‘We need to determine what to do with the sixty or so prisoners we have in cargo bay nine,’ she said and asked Robinson, ‘How is the drying out coming?’

‘Almost done,’ the chief engineer replied. ‘Decks nine and ten remain to be dried, but the decks are habitable, if a bit treacherous.’

‘Captain, the Serrasa must have some great pain if they are being called by the Vashau ek Ha’kiv. It only calls to those who have suffered great loss,’ Senar said. ‘We must learn more about this.’

‘What would you have me do?’

‘Talk to them, Captain. Try to get them to open up and reveal something to you,’ he said. ‘It the belief of many scholars that remnants of those afflicted with the Call of the Darkness were responsible for the Sundering that to the death of Surak and the formation of the Romulan Star Empire.’

‘Captain to the bridge,’ Abadi called from the helm.

‘What is it, Ensign?’ Nara asked.

‘A subspace fissure is opening up near the Serrasa ships.’

‘Patch it through in here.’

‘Aye sir, Abadi out.’

The monitors came alive with a view of a large subspace fissure becoming visible in the midst of the Serrasa fleet. The Mokarran entered the fissure first followed by the remainder of the ships from each House until there was nothing but empty space. The fissure closed as quickly as it opened.

‘That deals with that then,’ Ufiri said. ‘What do we do with our prisoners now?’

 

[CeJay]

Surprising developments indeed. And yet another mystery. Who are these mysterious aliens which are able to possess an entire race. And have they had their fingers in the Vulcan/Romulan Sundering as well? Clearly they have powers to be reckoned with.

Nara's got her work cut of her.

 

[Gibraltar]

Nara and her crew have survived their first trial by fire, but they’re still far off course with their experimental drive mothballed, and now they’ve suffered significant casualties that cannot be soon replaced.

The presumed compromise of the Serrasa leadership by mysterious dark forces is troubling enough, but if this new and as yet unseen enemy possesses the ability to travel faster-than-warp, they could become a threat to the Federation sooner than anyone expected.

Xu Fu’s crew did a stand-up job defending the ship against an imaginative and highly unusual form of attack. Here’s hoping they’re not pitted against similar odds again anytime soon.

 

[Dnoth]

Interesting turn of events. Get rid of one threat and another, worse one, takes its place.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Sorry for the long delay in posting, but I've been in the process of packing for a move.

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Chapter Eighteen

USS Xu Fu
3-Kiloparsec-Norma Bridge, Delta Quadrant
Stardate 54995.4 (December 30, 2377)

‘We’re approaching the planet,’ Lieutenant Erom announced as the Xu Fu dropped out of warp.

‘Put it on screen,’ Nara ordered and the viewscreen showed a world that was over ninety percent water, with a few dozen islands making up the ten percent of land mass. ‘Is that suitable?’ she asked her chief science officer, Anastasia Baransky.

‘Yes ma’am,’ Baransky replied. ‘According to the database we downloaded from the Serrasa, this world meets all of the requirements for their funeral rites.’

‘Good,’ Nara said and tapped her combadge. ‘Doctor, have you completed your preparations?’

‘I have, Captain. The sixty-six Serrasa have all been prepared for burial.’

‘Excellent, Nara out.’ She looked around the bridge and announced. ‘Set condition blue and prepare to land the ship.’

Blue lighting replaced the standard white across the bridge and throughout the ship as people hurried to secure all personal belongings not bolted to the floor. Landing the ship was a difficult thing to do even in perfect circumstances and although several classes of ship in the fleet were able to land, most notably the Intrepid- and Nova-class starships, there were only a handful of pilots who had any experience in doing so.

‘Vent all drive plasma and shut down the warp core,’ Nara ordered. ‘Retract the nacelles and increase inertial dampers to maximum. Lieutenant Ufiri, let me know when all stations report ready.’

‘Aye ma’am,’ Ufiri responded and watched the status indicators on his board change from red to green as one department after another secured everything. All personal quarters had been secured by those who were off-duty.

‘All stations report condition blue,’ Ufiri told her.

‘The drive plasma has been vented and nacelles retracted,’ Erom added.

‘Inertial dampers at one hundred thirty percent of maximum,’ Tyrr said from the operations console. ‘The ship is ready to land.’

‘Lieutenant Erom, the show is all yours,’ Nara said.

‘Aye ma’am,’ the helmswoman said the Xu Fu began its descent. ‘I’ve chosen a trajectory that will take us to a small island in the temperate northern hemisphere with easy access to the ocean.’

The ship glided into the atmosphere and continued on a steep descent for a few vertical kilometers before leveling off ten kilometers above the surface.

‘Speed steady at eight hundred kilometers per hour,’ Erom provided a running commentary as dictated by the regulations. ‘Distance to landing zone seven hundred kilometers. Light cloud cover.’

‘Nice and steady, Lieutenant,’ Nara said from the command chair.

‘Speed now at six hundred kph, distance to landing zone five hundred and fifty kilometers. Five hundred…four fifty…four hundred…speed now five hundred kph, engaging reverse thrusters. Three hundred fifty kilometers to landing zone…speed at two hundred fifty kph…two hundred kilometers to landing zone…two hundred kph…one fifty to landing zone…one hundred…lowering landing struts.’

‘Keep it steady, Lieutenant,’ Nara said. ‘You’re doing a great job.’

‘Speed now at fifty kph, landing zone in fifty kilometers…forty hundred…speed at thirty kph…thirty kilometers…twenty…fifteen…ten.’

The ship seemed to plunge down the last few kilometers before landing with a light bump and coming to rest on the island.

‘I want the entire crew to assemble on the lake’s edge in three hours for the funeral ceremony,’ Nara said to the bridge officers. ‘Make it happen.’

‘Why are we doing this exactly?’ Bartel asked quietly.

Nara looked at her. ‘Why shouldn’t we, Emma? They were left behind by their people and we don’t mistreat prisoners of war. According to Doctor Ishmael, at the moment the subspace fissure closed, some kind of neurological pulse was sent that only affected them. The Serrasa killed their people, or the Darkness did it for some reason that we will never understand. I have no intention of carrying sixty plus alien corpses on my ship indefinitely. It seems the humane thing to do to give them a proper burial.’

‘Weren’t there seventeen different burial practices in the database?’

‘Yes, and Anna picked the one that’s most common among their peoples, which is essentially the economy version, since it’s unlikely any high-born Serrasa would be killed that way. Do you understand now?’

‘I do, thank you,’ Bartel said sarcastically. ‘Let’s hope our next adventure in the Delta quadrant doesn’t end the same way. Where are we going anyway?’

‘In the absence of additional orders, I plan on resuming our course towards Intercept Group Three at standard warp. If I get orders to the contrary, we’ll see what happens then.’

‘It will still be a while before we get a response from Starbase Bastion, three weeks probably, depending on where we are,’ Bartel responded. ‘If the communication relay buoys are dropped then it should speed up the return time, but since we’re so off course, I’ve no idea if we’ll be in range of them.’

‘Is there any way to ping the communication buoys, find out if there are any in range?’ Nara asked.

‘I could, but there’s the danger of them being destroyed by any hostile vessel in the area.’

‘Do it anyway, I don’t want to be blind out here.’

Bartel nodded, ‘yes ma’am.’

***​

USS Xu Fu
The Norma Expanse, Delta Quadrant
Stardate 55099.5 (February 6, 2378)

‘Captain,’ Ufiri said animatedly, ‘we’re receiving a communication from Starbase Bastion.’

‘I’ll take it in my ready room,’ Nara replied and turned to Bartel. ‘The bridge is yours, Commander.’

‘Yes ma’am.’

Nara was seated behind her desk in the ready room by the time Ufiri had it routed there and Admiral Glover’s face appeared on the screen. ‘Admiral.’

‘I’ll make this brief, Captain,’ Glover said. ‘I received your communications and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to catch you before you left the Stameris system. Someone hijacked the signal you sent for some unknown purpose and we have so far been unable to track them. I deeply regret the loss of life but as I’m sure you’re aware, accidents do happen when you’re using advanced technology.’

‘I’ve had a few run-ins with advanced technology.’

‘I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that Korr engine is not an engine at all. It is a devastating subspace weapon which falls under the Treaty of Algeron.’ Nara’s facial expression almost collapsed but Glover went on. ‘I have received special dispensation from President Satie for you to do two things. Firstly, I want you and your little band of engineers to fully weaponize the Korr subspace device, and I need you to reconstruct the engine.’

‘For what purpose?’

‘I’m turning you around. There’s an armada of nigh unstoppable ships headed for Romulan space and nothing we have can even get close. The Kothlis’Ka armada has to be stopped and the Korr weapon is the only thing I believe is powerful enough to do it.’

‘Admiral, you’re asking me to violate the Treaty of Algeron and commit genocide, both in one set of orders, and I won’t do it. There has to be another way.’

Glover’s eyes hardened. ‘I’m not asking for your approval, Captain. If you won’t do it, then I’ll get someone who will.’

‘That’s your prerogative, Admiral, but I will not budge my stance on this issue.’

‘Very well then, please invite Commander Bartel into this conversation.’

Nara nodded and tapped her combadge. ‘Commander Bartel, please report to the captain’s ready room.’

‘Acknowledged.’

Glover waited until Bartel stood behind Nara and then explained the situation. ‘Do you have any objections to those orders?’

‘No sir,’ Bartel replied after a moment’s hesitation and a glance at her commanding officer.

‘Excellent,’ Glover said. ‘Commander Emma Bartel, as of stardate 55099.5, I’m hereby placing you in command of the USS Xu Fu, with all the rights and privileges granted therein. Captain Nara Q’Rel, you are now on inactive status and as such no longer have the requisite security clearance for this mission. Captain Bartel, I recommend you restrict your former commanding officer to quarters for the remainder of this mission. Is that understood?’

‘Yes sir,’ Bartel replied.

‘Good, Glover out.’

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The crew of the USS Xu Fu will return in "The Larger Death"​

...

 

[CeJay]

Nara really went out of her way to follow those burial rituals, didn't she? This may give us a glimpse into her character and the length's she's willing to go to right a wrong.

During the landing sequence, I thought the ship was covering the distances a little to quickly, considering the indicated speeds. Of course that may be because of the way you wrote the countdown.

I liked how Nara refused to follow Glover's orders in the end. Looks like Bartel has no such qualms. Or is she just pretending for Glover's sake? The gals are close friends so you'd have to assume their loyalty is to each other.

Looking forward to The Larger Death (eerie title).

 

[Gibraltar]

You take us from an idyllic water world where Nara’s giving her ship’s attackers an honorable funeral, to a potentially suicidal attack led by the XO against the Kothlis’Ka Armada. Kudos to Nara for standing up to Glover, but this is a decision she should have made peace with before accepting command of Xu Fu. Did she think TFV was going all the way out there to throw flowers and give supportive hugs to those of the incoming fleets that had proved utterly hostile?

Godspeed Captain Bartel on her mission… she’ll need all the help she can get.