Plot Log | "Kindling" | CO, XO, FP | Cmdrs Neyes & Ivanova, 1Lt Howard

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2013 @ 8:09pm by Captain Landon Neyes & Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Lieutenant JG Lynda Howard

1,717 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Secret Meetings
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Following "The Chase".

=/\= USS Vindicator, Bridge =/\=

"Onscreen" Landon said.

A steely faced Romulan appeared on the viewer, her raven black hair pointed down across her brow, and her rigid uniform built at the shoulders. "Commander. I am the first officer of the Raeknor." She didn't give Neyes a moment to respond. "Please wait for the Commander to speak with you."

Then the screen went dark, as they were 'put on hold', as it were.

Landon had been in enough scraped over the years to fill his plate: Shuttle accidents, alien incursion onto numerous starships, several ethical dilemmas, and all during his short time in Starfleet thus far. Having an entire crew on a starship under his command face down an armada of potentially hostile warships was now at the top of his list. Now more than ever, the lives of each and every person on the Vindicator felt like they were reaching out to him, begging for survival. It took all his energy to keep from falling into nausea as he imagined their lives outside, their families and friends or even hobbies.

It had never struck him quite that way before now.

His fingers danced on the edge of his armrest, the air thick as he weighed what action to take next. “Romulans… Have any suggestions, Commander?” His question was a reach, to be sure. Rochelle was a skilled officer, but they hadn’t planned on meeting more than one or two secretly placed vessels. Hell, had the Romulans really ever agreed to peace talks in the first place he’d have doubted them to show at all. History seemed to have a sweet tooth for the treacherous antics of the Vulcan-cousins. Neither Neyes nor Ivanova were prepared for this twist of events.

“I don’t think they’re here to make friends.” He added. Thankfully their shields and weapons were already powered, he thought quickly. It saved him from having to display that show of defense to the guns pointed at them.

The steely eyed woman took up her customary position at the male Commander's shoulder. She was silent, poised, her hands clasped neatly behind her back as she studied the screen and their situation all from within the veiled shadows of her strange little mind. They were out gunned. Out manned. Out positioned. It was all entirely way too convenient for words, and so, for the moment, she had none.

But then Neyes spoke, giving Ivanova no other option but to break her little vow of silence. "That depends," She began, her customary smirk slowly spreading across her lips as she tilted her head to gaze down at the Captain, "Sometimes children bully one another because they secretly think they're cute. Right now, however, everything I can think of is an obsolete option. I'm still working on it."

"1st Lieutenant Howard to Captain Neyes, I intercepted a communication you’re going to want to see.”

Landon's brow quirked as a message log appeared on his screen. A few short blips of dialogue scrolled down, with what appeared to be comm traffic between two or more of the Romulan vessels.

"How did you come about this, 1st Lieutenant?" Landon asked.

"I was preparing my bird, and keeping an eye on communications. I wanted to be sure I wasn't needed sooner than my bird was ready and this transmission wasn't hidden very well in the mix..."

"Good work, pilot."

Neyes' jaw tightened as he read over one particular exchange. "It's orders for an attack formation. They didn't do a very good job of hiding it either." The faint sound of disgusted disbelief entered his voice as he continued to scan it over.

Broadcast over a wide-band signal, the encryption was so laughably minuscule the fighter's comm-network pulled it out and decoded it automatically. Romulans had a knack for playing with their targets before moving in for the kill, and it made Landon sick to his stomach with rage. In truth he felt as though they were rubbing it his face, and they had every intention of letting the Vindicator discover their transmissions. Something told him they wouldn't even deny it if he asked them. Drawing them into an impossibly delicate situation, and then moving into an attack stance...

"What benefit would there be to an attack. They have to know our fire-power." Neyes said aloud.

"Your guess is as good as mi--" Rochelle's voice was quickly silenced as the flicker of the screen caught her attention.

The Romulan Captain appeared on the screen, his face held an arrogantly curved smile. "I believe I can answer that for you, Commander."

"Please do." Neyes stood from his seat and took a few steps forward. "I apologize for the dramatic entrance. We were pursuing a possible fugitive, but I assure you it has been taken care of." Landon held onto the small hope that the casual, yet deliberate attempt to ignore the obvious deception on both their parts would go unspoken. If he could weasel his way out of this situation with bulkheads intact, he was going to try anything to accomplish that.

A sneering scoff rebutted Neyes' statement. "Lower your shields, Commander. Your vessel is being processed for violation of the Neutral Zone treaty. Comply or you will be destroyed." His words were threatening, abrupt and hard. The leap from delicate to dangerous crossed the boundary in almost an instant.

Not budging an inch, Neyes held firm as he stared down the man across the viewer. With a hard edge in his voice, Landon responded to the threat, "I would like you to understand something about me, sir. With respect, I will not allow you to board this ship... and any attempt to do so would be a grave mistake."

"You should know the Romulan Star empire will not be taking credit for the destruction of your vessel, should you refuse." The Romulan commander smiled, "In an alarmingly inspired gesture by your government, they have agreed to give us detailed access to some very valuable information regarding their intelligence with us. In exchange we have agreed to see to your... decommissioning."

Neyes' heart sank, his suspicion confirmed. First the false president, then Lt. Black's unexpected turnaround, her mission in line with their own. Now this Romulan captain seemed to be reading his fears from the pages on a book. Warm sweat appeared on the palms of his hands, Landon crossed his arms. He felt apprehensive, but he masked it with his equally fierce anger.

"I would not believe that statement from anyone. Especially someone with a disruptor cannon pointed at my ship."

"The commonwealth will be pleased to take all the reward for the claim of your ship's annihilation. Destroying the prized Vindicator will ripen their claim of strength against the Federation, and inspire your people into war. It's quite barbaric, I agree... but beautifully crafted nontheless" His sickeningly satisfied grin cut through Neyes like a dagger. A fiery, boiling torrent of rage surged inside the Trill commander. A snarl managed to creep onto his face as he fought the urge to order battlestations right then and there.

Letting the Romulan get under his skin wasn't going to save the 1300 people under his command.

Ivanova's jaw tensed and set as her chin lifted in sheer defiance in response to the interaction between Neyes and the Romulan. She watched the two, her eyes flickering between the tense and bristled Captain and the sneering Romulan on the screen. Silence be damned. She, too, stepped forward to stand equal (regardless of their staggering height difference) with Neyes. "We have a saying," she began, her own smirk coming back to play as she slid a finger along a console closest to her, "it's death before dishonor. I assume you can understand and appreciate this sentiment, am I correct Commander?"

A scathing glare burning through the viewscreen as the Romulan commander soaked in the mocking tone of Ivanova's response. He became visibly terse, his gaze narrowing onto the Vindicator's obtuse young first officer. "I believe I would understand a great deal more than you."

"Good. Because it's plenty obvious you have no idea that you've been sent in on a suicide mission. I can respect that, and we're going to be nice and give you ten minutes to get off our proverbial lawn before bad things happen." The savage little redhead smiled her prettiest smile and folded her hands neatly in front of her.

Landon's smirk lit up as he looked down at his new first officer. "You heard the lady. Stand down." Rochelle's turnaround on the situation was clever. He wouldn't have painted their predicament as advantageous, despite their ship's powerful arsenal.

The Romulan scowled. "It is done. Prepare yourselves to meet your gods."

Neyes moved forward again, vying for one last chance at reason. "Commander. This ship's defensive systems could humble anything shy of an orbital starbase. If you do this, you stand to lose just as much, if not more men and women than we do. Please, keep your intelligence, ...and we'll be on our separate ways."

Without another word, the Romulan Commander cut the channel, leaving behind only the massive fleet to stare down the bridge crew.

"Damn." Neyes said softly.

"Romulan fighters decloaking off the starboard bow and port! Multiple contacts are charging weapons, Commander!" A tactical officer called from a mission terminal.

"Red Alert" Neyes said angrily.

The bridge lighting dropped to a dramatic dull glow, and the red lights of the alert flared across the rims on the bulkheads and ceiling. The alert klaxon filled the air, as controls began to come to life as the crew prepared for an imminent attack.

The familiar quake of a torpedo crashing into their shields sealed the inevitable. They were under fire.

Landon turned and went back to his chair, sitting heavily, a charged glint in his eyes. "All hands to battlestations. Bring the back-up generators online, and divert full power to shields and weapons. Civilians are to move to their designated shelter areas. All fighters launch when ready, and tell the CAG to engage at will. Weapons free."

Neyes leaned back, readying himself.
"Their mistake." He growled.

=/\= TBC =/\=

Commander Landon Neyes
Commanding Officer

Commander Rochellle Ivanova
Executive Officer

1st Lieutenant Lynda Howard
Fighter Pilot

Romulan Fleet Captain
NPCs (Apb Landon)

 

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