Arrival on Romulus

Posted on Tue Dec 10th, 2024 @ 1:45pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Captain Yadira Tristen & Commander Sandy "Ghost" Shannon & Lieutenant Drevas

2,934 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The 'Eagle continues.
Location: Governor's Offices
Timeline: Current

ON:

Once the team got on the pad, the next thing was the generals offices appeared. Gathering them to her. "Ok, I know that we got briefed by the Captain before we left but now I can tell you our assignments. Sandy your main role is to use your Betazoid talents and warn us if anyone is coming or going. You know the drill." Looking at Kradias, well my friend that leaves us with our little jobs. I was told to stay close to you should the shit hit the fan. Other than that, I to have to look into the generals office for information on the Syndicate and what they plan to do.".

"Ok, sitting down, she looked at everyone, "Questions anyone?" and she waited for the questions.

“The Generals staff, assuming they’re all serving officers which would be the norm, can we assume their loyalty will be to him and not the High Council?” Karadis asked.

"Yes, as it was told to us. However, with the President here on Romulus it makes it clear to me that we have to find out if there is a connection with the Syndicate. If there is a connection then there is a possibility that they mean to abduct the President. At the same time, we are to uncover any information about the person or group that wants to destroy these talks". Yadira hoped she had it right. Looking at Sandy but she could tell that it was late and they needed a safe place to renew their strength, so Yadira started looking. Finally finding a small cave like thing where they could all fit and get rest.

Karadis was first into the cave, checking it to see if there were any dangers, also how deep it went. It stretched back about fifteen meters, enough for them all to be comfortable and keep dry. Some larger stones could be taken from around the edges and placed in a circle and once fired upon by a low yield blast from a phaser, they'd provide enough heat for them for hours.

"It's safe to use" she said, popping her head back out of the cave, it's not very deep, probably about fifteen meters or so, but enough for all of us. You know, I haven't done this is a while, we could always hunt for local animals, have a small feast" she grinned.

Yadira and her companions ate and laid down and took a well deserved sleep.

After cleaning up the area, Yadira looked at Sandy and Karadis, and Karadis heard a twig snap and stopped dead, not moving. Sandy sensed two minds approaching and crouched low. What Yadira sensed was a group of Orion's 500 feet from them and they were not friendly. “Um ....hide”, she whispered. Everybody moved silently and quickly to hide themselves. Finding spots to hide in, they stayed until the last guard had put some distance away from them. Looking at Kradias, “Ok is it safe to move out? We got work to do and I hope no one notices my face.” Yadira said.

“Why would noticing your face matter, we’re in enemy territory for fucks sake, having a vanity complex hardly matters!” Karadis replied harshly.

Yadira's anger was un matched by anyone. Eyes black as coal, face turning red, fists clenched, "Karadis you have no idea from where I came from but my face has been out here for years trying to figure out what the Syndicate is. So if it gets recognized go with the flow. Is that understood?" Her eyes widened as she was still eye to eye with Karadis.

Sandy felt the anger from Yadira and moved quickly to pull her away from Karadis. "Listen up, lady. Time is ticking away and we haven't done a damn fucking thing yet of our mission. Now both of you pull your heads out of your asses together and let's get moving!" Sandy said sternly. It seemed that it was going to be Sandy who was leading the pack. Good thing too because she's Betazoid and can tell if there is danger.

Karadis stood face to face with both of them, pointed her finger at them both and said, “You go fuck yourself, and you go fuck yourself, you’re only here cause the Captain needs you, you’re not ‘officially’ part of the crew, you're add ons’. I am part of the crew, so as far as I’m concerned, I’m actually in charge, you’re along for the journey to get information and that’s it. If either of you speak to me out of turn again, my D’k tahg will crash through your skull giving you one hell of a headache.”

Sandy looked at Yadira, “Is she for real? Or am I dreaming?,” Sandy croaked at Yadira. Trying not to sound like a frog again, clearing her throat this time, but never got the chance to talk as Yadira cut her off fast.

“Shut your yap, Sandy! Not another word! Use your head!” Yadira barked sternly as she tapped her head. ~~~”Sandy,I mean it. Let Karadis do her thing. You got something to say, think it before you say it me verbally”~~~ Yadira projected to a startled Sandy who could only stand and nodded her head.

She moved past them, and passing Drevas said, "You, with me, now!"

The amount of holy shit that exploded like a nuke across Drevas' mind when the three women started arguing was... well, there probably wasn't a scale to describe it, really. He'd known from the beginning that coming here things would be a little rough, but not quite like this. Everyone seemed on edge all the time - not healthy for a ship's internal culture, at any rate. Blah blah Starfleet Intelligence's hit squad blah, but this was bordering ridiculous.

That opinion went unsaid, though, as Drevas trailed after the very angry Klingon. If he could do his part to cool off this currently very hot conversation, that'd benefit everyone. For now, though, he could do that while they looked for dinner for the night.

"I presume this... disagreement... has been going on for quite some time." He stated, as they approached what looked like a nice flat rock on which they could sit and talk if need be. "Is there any way I can be of help?"

“No, it’s not!” Karadis relied, whirling round to face the Kelpian, “It’s just they…it doesn’t matter. If you want to help, keep those two in line and away from me. We need to find the General’s offices, get our job done and get out!”

"Of course. Rest assured." Something had gone unsaid in that reply. Drevas could sense it. No, he didn't have empathic abilities. Shr'nesh made it pretty easy to detect. He held out a hand to stop her when he spied movement up ahead, though - a shadow probably the size of a Terran lamb, from the looks of it. He fingered his phaser. Whether that was dinner or a hostile scrabbling about in the dark, he'd need it.

As Drevas held out his hand to stop her, Karadis slapped it down, “I don’t need mothering Lieutenant, I can look after myself.”

With that, she moved off in the direction of where the movement up ahead of them was. Drawing her D’k tang, she opened the blades, put the dagger between her lips and went into stealth mode. She dropped down into the foliage, then was gone. Some twenty seconds later, a screen h sounded, followed by what sounded like a rasp, then silence. A minute went by, then Karadis emerged from the foliage again, a dead animal draped over her shoulders. She threw it at Drevas feet and said, “Skin it and prepare it for eating.”

Drevas seemed a little surprised when the dead animal landed at his feet. Admittedly he didn't exactly have a comprehensive list of what was edible and what wasn't at the tip of his fingers - obviously Shr'nesh did. Or maybe she was guessing and, for now, literally any old animal would do. Funny if they ate it and fell victim to some kind of poison, huh? Regardless, he picked up the carcass and fished the small retractable knife he'd drawn from the Blackeagle's armory as a precaution. For once he was glad for the elective module he'd taken on field survival. "You'll never use this, probably," Evidently, he was about to tell chief Sajess that he was wrong.

"I think we should skin it, and then discard the remains elsewhere beside our shelter. The point is to not be noticed as far as possible, is it not?" He quipped. "Especially since there are Orion operatives out and about..."

"We don't know that they're Orion operatives" Karadis replied, a hardened look on her face, as if something was bothering her, "I'd be more inclined to think it's the Generals soldiers on a patrol."

She began looking in the direction they'd gone, "We need some information Lieutenant, we need to know what we're heading into, and the only thing is...that means capturing one of the people that passed us. Once you've skinned and boned that carcass, we should lay a trap in case they come back this way, if they do, we can capture and question them."

"The oldest trick in the book, then." Drevas replied. "Once I'm finished skinning this animal, we'll leave them a trail to follow into an ambush. Then we'll see what they know." He cracked a thin smile. "How does that sound to you."

“It sounds like you just repeated back to me what I said to you” Karadis replied. She turned round and began walking into the cave again, mumbling to herself “Why are males so stupid…”

Drevas shook his head and followed behind her. Arguing was the last thing either of them needed - or wanted - right now. When they reached the cave he remained outside to skin the carcass; best not bring the smell of slowly rotting meat inside.

Karadis was still fuming with Yadira and Sandy, but she had to let it go as the mission was to important to allow her personal differences to continue.

She looked at Yadira and Sandy and said, "Right, the Lieutenant is skinning dinner, once that's done and he has it on a spit, we're going top set a trap in case those who came past us earlier come back this way, we need to capture at least one of them to get information on the Generals offices. I want both of you to go out and scout about a hundred yards from the cave and come back if you hear or see anyone coming this way."

Sandy looked at Yadira and said together, "Understood sir," both in unison.

With that, she moved back outside again, "How are you doing with the food?"

"So far, quite well." Drevas responded. He'd been sitting on a large rock by the entrance, knife in hand. He'd been careful to leave the skin of the animal off to the side, though his uniform was now stained red. Go figure. A makeshift spit had been set up off to the side, presently unlit. "I'll need to spear it through, but we should have dinner in..." Drevas paused. "What animal is this, exactly?"

"Does it matter, meat is protein and protein gives you energy which in turn keeps you alive" Karadis replied dismissively. She walked to the edge of the clearing by the cave, lightly banging her fist on a large rock beside her.

"We must get to the Generals place now, all this hanging around is driving me crazy" she said.

Turning to Drevas she said, "Forget the food, go and get the others, we're leaving now!"

Drevas stared at her for a moment. Just when he'd gone to all the trouble of making a spit, skinning their catch, and... never mind. He suppressed a sigh as he fetched the other two members of their team from inside the cave.

Sandy was carefully searching ahead with her mind for anything that was a danger towards them. Yadira was doing the same thing as Sandy. ~~~Sandy you sense anything?~~~ Yadira asked. ~~~Nope and we should get back to the others ~~~ Sandy said. With both of them in mental contact, quietly headed back to the others. Looking at Karadis, "We did not see or sense anything". Sandy also said to Karadis, "I agree with Yadira, but we do need to move now before we run into anyone or danger".

“That’s the plan” Karadis replied, “we need to get to the Generals bunker and find out how to infiltrate it. Drevas, you take the lead, Captain Tristen , you’re rear end Charlie, let’s go.”

"Me as rear end?", she said looking at Sandy. Picking up her small backpack. "She meant "Bring up the rear", Sandy said. "I will stay as close to front and between both of us we can sense everything, agreed?" finished Sandy as both followed Karadis and Drevas.

"Agreed." Drevas nodded as he took the lead at the head of the group, following the map they'd been given to where their destination was supposed to be. With any luck they'd be in and out in a matter of hours - though knowing Romulans it'd probably be impossible to do that.

"Three klicks ahead, by my tricorder." Drevas reported, glancing up at the rest of the party for a moment. "There appear to be some... mechanisms... embedded in the ground, however..."

Karadis moved forward to look at Drevas tricorder, "From their dispersal pattern I would hazard a guess that they're a form of seismometers, though a much scaled down version almost like a pressure pad but probably with sensors for movement. They could be hard to spot, so keep your wits about you as you move forward."

Yadira turned to look at Drevas and Karadis and said, ”I am going to say this..."

"Yes, we will be careful Captain Tristen" Karadis interjected, "but we do need to keep moving forward as we have to get into the Generals bunker. Drevas, move out, keep scanning ahead and see if you can find a safe way through the mechanisms, even if it means we take a wide detour to do so."

"Exactly so Drevas I know you have a secondary mission and I need you to watch your ass at the same time. I too have a second job apart from the primary one. And Karadis, sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Please can we be more civil with each other? I hope so. Sandy, from you I expect more and you know what I mean," Yadira said, moving around the obstacles that she detected.

Karadis nodded to Yadira in acknowledgement then moved on. Time was against them now as it had taken a while to get this far and find the Generals bunker. As the team fanned out, she kept her eyes on her tricorder and also on the ground, she hoped that there weren't any other kind of booby traps to stop them.

"...aight, shut 'cher gob, Daven. You'll get dinner when we're-" The sound of voices - alien voices - brought Drevas to full alertness. He ushered the rest of the team behind a large rock formation, quickly, and scanned the seemingly empty path ahead of them with his tricorder. One second passed without any readings. Two... and then he saw it. Clearly. For the briefest moment, the warm orange outline of a person briefly appeared on the screen before disappearing, as if swiftly covered by... something. "Personal cloaking device?" Drevas showed the readings to the rest.

"I've never come across anything like that before" Karadis replied, I'll need to take a closer look. Silently, she moved out through the underbrush and gestured for Drevas to cross the path and move up the other side so they could both cover each other if an attack came or things got tricky.

"-sure as shit, mopface. Here- ow, fuck-" There was a thump and an accompanying cry of pain. "Stupid desert! I swear-" Just like that, a brief rippling manifested in the air between them, revealing what looked like a bald Orion man groaning and holding his boot. Perhaps he'd stepped on a sharp rock - or stubbed his toe, who knows.

Karadis was about to launch herself at the shape when her communicator buzzed silently. She stopped herself and backed off up the way she'd come, stopping a fair distance back. She took out her communicator and read a message that had been coded and sent to her.

"Damn, and when we were getting close as well" she muttered. Signalling to Drevas to back up and come back to their original position, she waited on him getting there before she said anything. Now that Drevas, Yadira and and Sandy were altogether with her, she said, "That was the Commodore signalling, we're to forget getting into the Generals place and rendezvous with him and the others back at the Presidents personal offices. Don't ask me why, I don't know, I'm sure he'll let us know if it's relevant we need to be informed, let's go."

She didn't wait for any replies, she was already annoyed at the recall taking place, but, if the Commodore thought it was necessary, who was she to argue, but, she would find out.

 

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