Reporting In

Posted on Wed Dec 19th, 2012 @ 11:44pm by Captain Robert Lansine & Captain Olan Dar

902 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Romulan Ale.. I mean Aide
Location: Colony Surface

=/\= Colony Surface =/\=

The doldrum work of day to day operations of a massive Starfleet vessel could prove too much for the best officer. Rob loved the opportunity to leave the ship as much as he could, a creeping sense of stagnancy had managed its way into his life lately and while he hadn't jumped an an opportunity to work with Romulans it most certainly was more exciting than crew evaluations.

Despite the nature of their venture to the remote Romulan colony and their meeting of the communities leadership, nothing horribly exciting had yet to cross his attention. Yet, as he patrolled his way through the colony's mining operation certain details weren't adding up. While Lansine knew the Romulan labor class, those subjected to the more menial and blue collar work were somewhat respected in the more civilized society of the modern Romulan Empire (at least compared to past years) the caste system at work inside the colony seemed... odd. Hunches, expectations, and general apprehension seemed to conglomerate each moment they spent planetside.

His gut told him something was wrong.

"Lansine to Dar," Rob tapped his comm badge and waited for the Captain's response.

Olan was monitoring the progress of the second away team investigating the derelict while also doing regular old paperwork on a padd. He glanced up at the sudden call from the planet, "Go ahead, Commander."

"Captain, is everything alright up there?" The question caught Lansine as much off guard as it most likely did the Captain. The call in to the bridge was a spur of the moment act; Rob didn't fully understand why he was calling.

Something just seemed off.

Dar had to pause and run through the most recent information he had received on just about everything to find a reason for the curious question. The only gap in information he knew of was that the team on the planet had yet to be informed of the derelict, "Everything is fine as far as I know. Is there some reason it shouldn't be?"

Rob thought about it again. With a sigh and a long look around the Romulan camp he currently found himself in he replied, "Nothing particular-," he paused and eyed two Romulan laborers. The two men didn't appear out of place, both seemed fatigued and dirtied by their mining operation, but the conversation was heated and loud. After a moment of staring one of the two miners took notice of Lansine's inquisitive gaze. Appearing angry, the man returned to his counterpart and began yelling louder than before. The universal translator refused to decipher their argument.

"Just off." Rob finished his thought. "Our people haven't seemed to have a problem, but Captain," he paused again, and in what in each other's presence would have been a leaned in whisper, Lansine offered his semi-professional opinion. "Our 'hosts' don't appear in the best of moods. Even more so than I would have expected." He knew quite well no able bodied Romulan enjoyed asking for help, especially from the Federation, but from his interactions with throughout the camp, the Romulans' discomfort was far deeper than their tendencies of xenophobic apprehension.

Something was afoot.

Dar considered the intuition of his first officer as he looked to the main viewer showing the planet they orbited in the lower left side with an inset tactical view of the feed from the runabout at the derelict, "Perhaps they are concerned about something."

"I've sent a second team to investigate a derelict ship of some size. It is in a poor orbit of the outermost planet in the system, a giant lifeless rock for all we can tell." Dar explained, updating Lansine finally, "It looks like that ship was in quite a fire fight and we've already confirmed dozens of dead Romulans, mostly civilians by the attire, are still aboard."

Rob pondered the new information for a moment. "Civilians?" The prospect of ship full of dead bodies made his stomach churn, but add in their non-military status it was downright nauseating. He thought for a moment to the colonists. The colony operation was indeed civilian by nature. They were far too far from any other Romulan outpost for the ship to come anywhere but from the colony. "They had to know about this," his words sharper and quicker than before.

"It seems likely. It raises some interesting questions. The preliminary report suggests the ship was attacked by a Warbird." Dar added then voiced just one of the many questions he had been considering, "So who are these people that the Imperial Navy would fire on their civilian colony ship?"

Lansine suddenly felt even more uncomfortable as he meandered around the colony. "How recently was the ship attacked?" Rob asked. The date associated with the inter-Romulan squabble could do much to enlightened them to the cause of the conflict. With the Empire in the midst of a power struggle between the Tal-Shiar and the Hierarchy there was a good chance the derelict was related.

"Unknown. The away team is attempting to gather information from the ship's computer." Dar responded and pondered, "We'll know soon though I imagine."

"I think I'd like to come down and meet this Governor. See if you can arrange it. In the mean time, keep your eyes open."

Rob nodded and looked out at the Romulan, fully understanding the drama that was about to unfold. "Understood, sir. I'll keep you apprised."

 

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