Rescue the Romulans

Posted on Friday, 19 March 2021 - 3:43pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Lieutenant JG Maximus Mackenzie

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Timeline: MD 8 | MD 9

ON::

The shuttle had successfully entered the Romulan bay. The doctor and Kolani would stay aboard. Alex, Soral, and Max were to go. It was Maximus who exited the shuttle first. He was ready for anything.

Boarded by the Federation was not in the plans for the Major, especially in their present condition, and caught off guard. It was an embarrassment to the Empire. There was little notice of what was occurring. Quick dispatching of a handful of Centurions with a couple of Remans to their bay was as swift of action she could take.

Maximus Mackenzie made it no further than a step or two before being swarmed with Romulan disruptors pointed at him, and a few at the shuttle itself. "No further Starfleet," quipped the closest Centurion "or your crimson blood will adorn the deck."

Mac hissed, he was glad that he'd gone first. He stood as his weapon was taken and then he heard the door to the shuttle open. "idiot." He muttered knowing it was Soral.

The Major was on her way to the bay. She would deal with matters personally as she has seized command of the vessel. There was still time to flip this incident around. Capturing Starfleet officers and a Federation shuttle could curry favor with the Empire.

Soral excited the shuttle making sure Alex was still inside. He'd given orders for them to leave if she didn't see a lowering of their weapons.

The Major had entered the bay. "Clearly Federation," she said looking the man over and the shuttle. "Starfleet?" she inquired.

He sighed. "Yes. I am Soral, Son of Vulcan and Romulus," He spoke fluently. "We are here to assist you and your crew."

The Major scoffed. "In violation of the Neutral Zone no less. We did not request your assistance, and crossing the neutral zone...one could interpret that as a clear declaration of war."

He read her rank by her uniform . "There is no Neutral Zone anymore Major. Since Romulus was destroyed years ago. There is no Neutral Zone, No Romulus, No Remus," he said looking at the Remuns, "No Empire."

"Years?!" exclaimed the Major. "That's not - no, Federation lies. I will have none of it. We haven't been here for years, we left Romulus half an hour ago Earth time at most."

He sighed. "No, it was years ago. Major I can prove it if you will allow me to. It's no lie. I swear to you as a Vulcan and Romulan." He thought a moment. "If you will allow me and my Science officer to accompany you we can speak more of this."

The Major motioned to a nearby Reman. He handed her a bladed dagger, a standard carry among Remans. The Empire had been using them effectively as added security. She held the dagger and looked at the Starfleet officer. "Hold out your hand."

He held out his hand. He would not resist. He needed the Major to trust him so he could get her and her crew to safety.

She slid the blade across the palm of his hand, watching the green copper based blood rise from the wound. "Vulcanoid," she mused. "At least that much is cleared. Forgive my suspicions but it would not be the first time the Federation sent a spy posing as one of us."

"Of course I will submit to DNA tests by your medical department and if you wish interrogation. All I ask is that you keep my officers safe." He heard the door open and knew Alex had heard his offer to undergo Romulan interrogation.

“I’m unarmed,” Kingsley offered as she stood on the threshold, refusing to focus solely on the weapons now aimed in her direction. Allowing the door to close behind her she stepped up beside Soral, flashing him a look which spoke a thousand words and made it clear what she felt of his offer to submit to medical exams and interrogation. “Lieutenant Kingsley, science officer.”

The Major concentrated on Soral first and foremost. He seemed to be their ranking officer. "You bleed green and piss a normal color," she said licking the blood from the dagger. "Tastes Vulcan enough to me. Your people are not known for their deception, Starfleet aside."

"Wonderful, you brought a scientist. I shot my last one," noted the Major. "They got on my nerves," she skin added.

"Indeed. We are here to help. We have two other crew, a medical officer and a operations specialist if we may help. The time bubble you are in seems to be destabilizing."

The Major cleared her throat. "Let's continue this somewhere more private," she insisted. The truth was she was relatively more aware of matters than she was letting on, and like any good Tal'Shiar agent, she had kept the Romulan Star Naval crewing the vessel in the dark. She did not want them to hear any more of it.

"Indeed. My crew is safe here?"

"By your science officer's pretense, no, but neither are we. So, it is what it is. If you mean is my crew going to harm them? No, but I wouldn't get too close to the Remans. They are not as civilized."

He gave a nod. "Mackenzie stay with Kolani and the doctor. Alexandra you are with me and the Major." He motioned. "Lead the way."

Alex wasn’t sure what was the better option of the two but said nothing, simply nodded in acknowledgment.

The major dismissed her centurions. "Leave the Federation alone, tend to your stations and duties, and do not disturb me."

They followed the Major. Soral said, "Thank you, Major. I appreciate it. My crew and I are here to help you figure all this out."

"It won't be entirely necessary," the Major said as she escorted the officers down a corridor. She gestured them into a lift. "We are stuck in something of our own doing. My doing, and your information simply confirms my concerns. The Empire is gone? All of it?"

“There are survivors, but a small fraction of the empire’s original population,” Lieutenant Kingsley told her as she stood at the back of the lift. “How did you survive?”

As they stepped into the lift Soral placed a hand on Kingsley's back. "My wife let us save those questions for when we are in the Major's office. Romulan ships, like Vulcan ships, have ears on the walls." He looked at the Major. "Am I wrong?"

Alex frowned. While he had a point, he had never referred to her as ‘my wife’ while on duty. His choice of words confused her, was he simply making some kind of statement for the benefit of the Major, or was it a sign that his Pon Farr was progressing? She almost prayed for the former.

The Major waited for the lift to reach its destination, and guided the two Starfleet officers out and towards the office which she had since claimed as her own. "We survived because I used phase cloaking technology aboard to bring us out of phase with normal space and time, but the shockwave from the star and the radiation had adverse effects on space itself. Our systems were damaged, but more than that it created a pocket around us and we have been unable to penetrate it."

She gestured for them to have a seat. "I would say help yourself to our food synthesizers, but we are low on resources." The Major took a seat at her desk. "Even if I could puncture this temporal bubble, it would return us too sharply to normal space and time. We've been preserved in here for several years now, and if what you are saying is true the Star Empire is no more."

"We will do all we can to help. Romulus should have never been allowed to have been destroyed. If our people only acted more and quicker." There was real anger and regret in his voice.

Alex stayed silent as she took the offered seat. The efforts to help evacuate Romulans had come at a cost, a personal one for her and many like her. Even if Raith’s suspicions were untrue, synths had been created solely to bolster the production of ships to get people to safety. Maybe, probably, more could still have been done. On both sides. The denials with the Romulan hierarchy itself cost valuable time, if things had started sooner... but then would that have brought about the destruction on Mars sooner? In which case who could be sure she would not have lost everything.

One thing was sure, this was not the audience for that particular train of thought.

"We should have never needed the Federation's assistance," the Major replied bitterly. "Nor anyone's but our own. Our government kept the people of Romulus, all citizens of the empire wrapped in a shroud of doubt and speculation. They cloaked the facts and imprisoned the scientist who could not be easily silenced. They knew...they knew what was coming and they knew for a while" added the Major bringing her face down into her hands.

OFF::