Calm before the inferno

Posted on Sun Apr 19th, 2020 @ 11:10pm by Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Lieutenant Rehana t'Shaan

935 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Before the Inferno
Location: Commander's Quarters, the Raven's Claw
Timeline: 238612.15

Following the meeting with Commander Areinnye and her crew, Raven and her crew had returned to their ship to get everything ready for the mission. It was going to be a little crowded on the old bird-of-prey, but Raven was confident that the mission was doable, and it would be successful. After making sure the ship carried enough food, medical supplies, and weaponry, she had returned to her cabin to prepare herself.

The Commander's cabin on the Claw, like all quarters on the old ship, were small and crammed, with room for little more than a desk and chair, a bed, and Raven's personal locker. She had decorated the walls with some posters of antique earth technology - some 1940s aircraft, some late 20th century automobiles - but otherwise, there were few comforts in the cabin. She did choose one of the few cabins with a private wetroom attached to them, and, tiny as it was, it provided some luxury. The other unexpected feature in the cabin was the small blue pet bed next to the bed, and the two small bowls next to the desk.

A few months earlier, Raven and her crew had rescued an animal trader, who had thanked her by giving her one of his animals to keep as a pet, a creature he had called a "foxcat", reportedly from the planet Qan-to. It was a small creature, not even reaching Raven's knees, with four short, stumpy legs, brown fur, a bushy tail with a cream-coloured tip, an equally cream-coloured fluffy fur collar, and long, narrow ears. Raven had named her Eavy, and she had rapidly grown attached to the little critter.

After having a long shower, Raven was sat on her bed, wrapped in a fluffy, light blue robe - a very uncharacteristic attire for her - with Eavy curled up in her lap. This mission was going to be risky, but the payout was immense. Even after covering all the expenses, Gedak estimated that the take would equal what they had made across the previous six months, and he had already provided a list of suggested investments - upgrades to the ship, new equipment, and a few items that would improve the comfort of all crew members. The young mercenary commander was smiling to herself contently. In the few years since she had built her team, they had gone far. From operating a smuggling operation out of a scrappy old freighter to becoming a full-fledged mercenary team with a military-grade scout ship. Even if the Claw was an antique, she had gotten the crew out of a few very tight situations, and Raven had grown to love the old bird.

Careful not to wake the sleeping Eavy, Raven reached for the datapad on the shelf above the headboard of her bed. The preparations for the missions were progressing well, and Areinnye's crew was expected to board in just over an hour's time. Everything was progressing on schedule.

The door chimed, then hissed open. Rehana walked in, giving Eavy a scritch behind the ears.

Raven looked up as the little creature on her lap woke up and squealed happily. "Everything going okay, Red?", she ased, putting the datapad down again. "I know the ship will be a bit crowded with all those people, but we should be able to take them, right?"

Rehana shrugs. "Well, I think I can get the life support systems to cooperate. If you're asking whether we can take them in a fight, go ask Rogers."

The young commander laughed. "Oh, I am sure we could. And with the amount of Latinum they're paying us, they won't want to mess with us. All those fancy upgrades you wanted to do? We will easily be able to afford them after this job. And I'm sure you're itching to get your hands on a D'Deridex singularity core. Weren't you talking about potentially cramming a scaled down version into this bird?"

Rehana grinned, eyes taking on a far-off expression. "Ohhh yeah. I kinda want to see the look on the face of the first captain we outrun with that installed."

"Well, you have been working miracles with this bird so far, for sure." Gently, Raven pushed Eavy off her lap and stood up. The little creature squealed indignantly, and scurried over to Rehana, nudging her leg for attention, as her owner slid off her robe and began to put on her Tal Shiar uniform. "Ugh," she groaned, as she belted up the uniform's trousers and picked up the jacket. "What is it with Romulans and ridiculous-looking, uncomfortable uniforms."

Rehana shrugged. "I don't know about that. I just know that I'm glad I'm down in engineering where I have an excuse to wear my own clothes." She pauses. "I also know that I'm going to be BURNING that abomination against fashion as soon as possible. Or make upholstery out of it. I'm still deciding."

Raven laughed as she finished putting on the uniform. "Feed it to the singularity. Gedak would have your head if you tried to replace his fancy leather seats with whatever these are made from." She pulled on her collar as if to illustrate her point. "I really can't believe how anyone can wear this for an extended period of time without going crazy. I can't wait to get rid of this."

Rehana laughed. "Just keep thinking of that sweet, sweet paycheck, boss."

"Yeah, that's all we can do is it," Raven responded with a chuckle. "Right then, time to check in our passengers and get this show on the road."

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