Into the Raven's Nest

Posted on Sat Mar 28th, 2020 @ 1:24pm by Lieutenant Daisy Stanier & Colonel Sehan t'Varis
Edited on on Sun Dec 20th, 2020 @ 4:08am

1,356 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Before the Inferno
Location: Somewhere near the neutral zone
Timeline: Some time in 2383

“Boss, we have something on the scanner.” Raven shook awake from her nap in the command chair of the old freighter she and her crew had commandeered not too long ago. They had picked up a shipment of dilithium and were on their way to drop it off to the highest bidder, hiding under the watchful eye of the Federation authorities.

“What have we got?” she asked briskly. If this was a Starfleet patrol vessel, they were done for. Immediately, she flipped open the control panel in her chair’s armrest and got ready to activate the ship’s limited defensive systems. “Anything to worry about?”

The young Ferengi at the scanner console shook his head. “Don’t think so. Looks like the leftovers of a pirate attack on a freighter.”

Raven nodded and raised shields. “Any sign of the pirates themselves?”

“Nope, looks like they are long gone. No lifesigns on the freighter, either. Doesn’t look as if they left anything useful behind though.”

The young woman in the central chair sighed. “Ah well. Such is life. Keep us on course.”

“Understood. Oh?” The Ferengi suddenly sounded surprised. “That’s strange. Escape pod spotted. Looks like it came from the freighter.”

Raven smiled. “Looks like things might get interesting after all. Lock in course to intercept.”

Daisy had no idea there was a vessel en-route to intercept their escape pod - all she cared about now her parents were dead was keeping her baby sister safe. They probably wouldn’t be able to survive for very long due to the amount of supplies on board - but given there were only two of them they’d probably last a couple of weeks at most. Starfleet were supposed to be providing an escort for Ohio - but they diverted the escort at the last minute - and now it was them and them alone who Daisy blamed for the loss of her parents and her home.

“We’re right on top of the pod, boss. Two human lifesigns. One adolescent, one infant.” Raven nodded. “Pull them in. Cargo bay five should have enough room.” She stood and threw on her leather coat. “Have one of the orions meet me there.”

A moment later, flanked by a tall, bulky orion male as her bodyguard, she stepped into the cargo bay, just as the tractor beam finished pulling in the escape pod. With one hand on her pistol on her belt, she ordered the orion to open the hatch as she stood ready to welcome their new passengers.

Daisy flinched as she felt the tractor beam slowly drag the escape craft inside of whatever vessel had come across her and Azalea. As the pod gently came to a stop she reached over and grabbed the pistol which she’d brought with her - along with some other things - and pointed it at the hatch ready to fire if need be. She wasn’t going to let whoever it was hurt or take her baby sister away from her.
The orion finally unlocked the hatch, and stepped away, revealing the two young humans inside. Slowly, Raven stepped into view, and held her hands up when she saw the older one holding a phaser. “No need for those. We are friendly. You are safe now. They call me Raven. What’s your name?”

Daisy refused to lower the phaser and pointed it at the woman who had stood in front of the hatch. She’d been taught not to trust anyone - and now she had nobody to help her in her times of need that wasn’t going to change.

“I want a shuttle” Daisy ordered.

Raven gave a sign to the orion, who came back into view holding a heavy phaser rifle. “And I want a puppy, and a pool of pure latinum. Guess what. I don’t have those either. As it stands, young lady, you have three options. One, put that phaser away and start over. Two, go back into your pod and drift in space until someone else finds you. Three, keep up this tone and have Taza here put a hole through you. Want to reconsider?”

Daisy countered. “How bad must you be if you’d let him shoot me while I’m holding a defenceless baby? Why should I trust you anyway?”

Without a word, the orion levelled his rifle as Raven chuckled. “Taza will shoot you whether I let him or not. Because that is his job. I strongly recommend you put that phaser down now before he decides you are a threat.” She gave another sign to the green-skinned hunk, who grunted and relaxed slightly. “Last chance,” she added. “I like you, kid. So put that phaser down. Before you regret it.”

“I’ll put it down if he goes away...I know his kind...and I don’t trust them” Daisy replied.

Raven waved her hand, and the orion gingerly slung his rifle onto his back. “Your turn,” she added. “Away with the phaser. He won’t leave as long as he sees a gun pointed at me. No matter what I tell him to do.”

A deal was a deal - she’d complied with her side of the bargain so Daisy slowly put the phaser back into her bag. It was a risk - a big one - but there was no way Daisy was prepared for Azalea to get hurt - or worse.

“Tell him to get lost” Daisy ordered.

At another sign from his mistress, Taza grunted and left the cargo bay, although he remained ready on the other side of the door, ready to intervene at a command. The situation finally defused, Raven stepped closer to the escape pod. “Now that we have that out of the way, let’s try again.” She held out a hand. “As I said, they call me Raven. And you are?”

Daisy watched closely as the Orion disappeared from the cargo bay. She couldn’t stand them - they’d attacked her family’s ship numerous times - although on this particular occasion it wasn’t them who were responsible for the attack on and later destruction of the Ohio. She knew exactly who it was - and she vowed that one day they were going to pay with their lives.


“Daisy” Daisy responded bluntly.

“Daisy.” Raven nodded and relaxed her hand. This was going to take a while. “Welcome on board the-” She hesitated, and then chuckled. “Actually, this hunk of junk doesn’t even have a name, now that I think of it. Are you and the little one okay, do you need medical attention?”

Daisy replied. “We’re fine. I want to take my sister home now though so if you can do that...that would be great”

“I am sure we can arrange something,” Raven said with a nod. “Where is home?”

Daisy took care to keep hold of her sister while she put her backpack on her back and slowly exited the pod. Once she’d stood up on the floor outside the hatch she looked around at her new surroundings.

“Apart from the pile of debris we left behind...Earth I guess. Where are we now? Oh...and if it’s all the same to you I’d rather eat the stuff in the rations from the pod” Daisy replied.

“Earth?” Raven shook her head. “That might be a bit tricky. We are straddling the Federation-Romulan border at the moment, and we are headed towards Klingon space.” She shrugged. “Once we reach our destination, which should be in a few days, we can see what we can arrange to get you to earth. As for your rations, suit yourself. The stuff we have is not much different to that anyway. Shall we find you some quarters then?”

Daisy shrugged and pointed towards the door. This situation wasn’t really ideal - far from it - but at least it was better than drifting around space in a defenceless escape pod which was an easy target for anyone who came across it.

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