Home, For Now

Posted on Sat Jul 18th, 2026 @ 5:52pm by Subcommander Kaiae t'Lien & Captain Freya Mannerheim

2,817 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Intermission: Safe Haven
Location: Haven Colony
Timeline: September 2387

Haven Colony certainly was not what Freya would have chosen as a new home for the group of refugees Ourainavassa and its allies had rescued from Romulus. The planet was divided between deserts near the equator and tundra towards the poles, with only a very thin strip of somewhat temperate areas in between. The soil wasn't particularly arable, there was sparse vegetation, and even fewer bodies of water. And yet, after almost three months of aimless drifting in space, this place was as good as any. Resources on the flotilla were getting scarce, the ships urgently needed proper repairs, and tensions were rising as families were stuffed into tiny spaces.

Within a few weeks, a small city of prefabricated housing units had sprung up in what seemed to be the most hospitable area not yet claimed, and a sense of normal life had slowly begun to return. The shock of losing Romulus sat deep within everyone, even those with barely any connection to the planet, but the task of creating a new home, even a temporary one, seemed to have refocused the refugees.

Ourainavassa, much like the other ships, had suffered heavy battle damage, and so when the Lynn twins' father had gotten in touch to once again offer the drydock facilities at Cera, it had quickly been agreed that a small caretaker crew would head there, led by Major Rogers and the twins themselves. Captain Mannerheim, meanwhile, had remained on Haven to try and organise more deliveries of aid supplies the new colony desperately needed, such as replicators, power units, and more prefabs. She had also reached out to some old Starfleet contacts to see if some helping hands were available to assist, both with the establishment of this temporary refuge, and with the search for a proper home for the refugees that would begin as soon as Ourainavassa was repaired.

----

"Thanks. Keep me updated." Freya sighed as she ended the call with her contact in the Federation. Shaking her head, she picked up the cup of tea that had been sitting on the little table in her office-slash-bedroom and stepped outside the prefab she shared with three Romulan families. As the Captain looked over the settlement, though, she could not help but feel a little bit of pride. Despite all the hardship, the people here were actually making it work. Not far away, she spotted the container that had become the colony's heart, with a small market on the ground floor, and a meeting hall above. Later today, the refugees would gather to elect a small council, to finally formalise leadership.

Just as she lifted her cup to take a sip, the Terran spotted a familiar face walking past, heading towards what the colonists had come to call the Forum. "Subcommander!", she called out, smiling. "Do you have a moment?"

"Sure." Kaiae had finally, in the last few weeks, dropped the uniform, which still felt...odd...to her; given she'd worn in all her adult life and the latter part of her adolescence. The minimal civilian attire she'd been left with after burning her formal house robes shortly after arrival on the planet was getting rather worn in short order, but it wasn't exactly anywhere near the top of the list as far as supply needs went.

Freya chuckled. "Seeing you like that still takes getting used to," she admitted. Of course, she herself had also donned a more civilian outfit, with a simple knee-length skirt shirt coupled with some sturdy boots. On her belt, she wore her Terran officer's dagger as well as her Ourainavassa communicator badge - the only signs of her status.

"Looks like people are finally getting settled a bit," the Captain observed further. "I just got off the comms with a contact of mine in the Federation, he said he's sourced a few more power generators for us, so that'll definitely help stabilise things further. He also mentioned some medical personnel that were willing to come out to further assist, since that's one of the few areas we're a bit short-handed on. I must say, I'm impressed how well-balanced this group has turned out to be, I mean, we have pretty much every skill we need."

"I am not that surprised on that, really." Kaiae shrugged her eyebrows up-and-down; that you would wind up with a decent set of skills in any group with at least a couple hundred adults in it was rather expected to her. Her eyes fixed for a moment on the dagger at Freya's hip; a definite contrast to her current concealment of her own weapons. "A tip, though...you keep walking around a civilian settlement visibly armed like that, people may start to think you're wanting a fight; and some adolescent idiot might decide to give you one." And I have no idea how that would end; given I suspect the Terran rules on fighting a challenge differ, she thought. "You might want to cover that with your tunic at least, or something."

"Not had any issues so far," Freya replied with a shrug. "It's primary use more recently has been as a tool, anyway. It's been a long time since I've worked construction," she added, chuckling. "So, that council election they're doing this evening. Fancy getting yourself involved? I mean, I might be part of the colony to an extent, but I'm still an outsider, so definitely not me. Once the ship is fixed and back, that's where you'll find me."

"I should hope that once things settle further, elsewhere is where you will find all of us." Kaiae kicked at the arid, anemic soil with one boot. "This is not a permanent solution. It will never support a larger population in the long term; which is probably why we got such a good price on the land to begin with...or so my mother says we did, anyways."

The Captain looked around and shook her head. "Yeah, I agree. We can't rely on replicators and prefabs forever. Which is why, when we have our ship back, I think we should be looking for a proper place for all these people to settle. I think we've established by now that the two of us work well as a command team. And the rest of the crew will be happy to join us, I'm sure. You in?"

"Yes. Though, I would have concerns leaving the settlement undefended for longer excursions; I have little faith that the Ferengi who sold us the land wouldn't sell the location to anyone else - the Tal'Shiar, for example - for a decent price. Which is another reason not to remain here too long; but also a reason to be cautious in how we go about things in the meantime."

"I share those concerns," Freya admitted, looking around. "I still have some contacts in various intelligence services in the quadrant, and from what I've heard, what's left of the Romulan Star Empire is starting to splinter into a number of warlord factions. But I feel it's only a matter of time before they turn their focus away from each other again."

One of Kaiae's eyebrows half-rose in tune with the half-amusement in her next words; though some part of herself could scarcely believe she was about to point things out to an outsider. "That they have turned their attention more emphatically, openly, and in extremes towards one another means very little as to whether they will also spend attention and effort elsewhere. It is not, after all, impossible to do both." She sighed. "In fact; I would be unsurprised if some of them will take actions against others as well as a means of feuding with one another at the same time; depending on who they think is allied with - or could be in the future - with whom."

Their own former tertiary allies within that mess - Vice-Admiral V'Lan, who had provided them with the IFF beacon they had used to get the Mnaae Dhael in close enough to Romulus for the pickup without getting blown out of the sky, and Caithlin t'Leiya, his mate, who had no doubt bidden him to do so - came to mind as an example of that game in Kaiae's, unbidden and unspoken; recalling the message broadcast that had been had been picked up the other week. Now, she knew why it was that Senator Amarik's daughter and heir had seemingly been missing from whatever had briefly attempted to reconstitute itself of the Senate, despite the fact that given the body's execution of him a few weeks before the disaster for his attempts to evacuate his constituents without approval, his daughter now should have had a place as one them. The cold but measured fury in the woman's eyes as had laid out her claims against her theoretical now-peers for such actions; and the destruction that had come after, for that matter; and that she would now have no part of them; seemingly leveling herself up in one sweeping measure from 'senator' to 'independent warlord'. The wing of warbirds she had on her side courtesy of her mate; and the loyalty of the systems she now claimed to her house; probably gave her a decent chance of holding them for now at least, if the rest were busy elsewhere; which is why Kaiae suspected the woman's announcement had only come now, when the Empire was beginning to crumble further.

For her own part, however; Kaiae mostly was fervently glad absolutely no mention had been made - nor any further contact - of herself of any of those in her charge during that broadcast; because just as providing some small aid to their cause had been among other things a means to an end for the pair; so too if the connection became known would everyone now on or around this poor excuse for a planet become a means for the remains of the Empire or the pair's enemies to make a point against them without having to try to reach them directly. Without even a single warbird in its orbit at the moment - given they'd had to return the Mnaae Dhael to the Orion and send the Ourainavassa off for repairs - let alone a wing of them, the colony's only defense at the moment was it's status as an off-the-map secret; and knowing there was no contingency at the moment if that changed was enough to give Kaiae a pounding headache most days since they'd landed there.

Freya nodded. "Which is yet another reason we need to find a proper place for these people. I asked Mila to enquire with the Ceran government, but unfortunately they are extremely strict on off-planet immigration for individuals, let alone a group as large as we have. And there are no other habitable planets or moons in their system. They did say, however, that should Our colony come under attack by a warlord faction, they'd provide assistance. Which also doesn't really help much, given the distance." She sighed. "And it's not as if the Federation or the Klingon Empire are workable options, either."

Kaiae didn't even bother acknowledging the second of the two mentions; the idea of a universe where that was on the table would be far stranger than any she'd heard of to date. "Whether or not the Federation would welcome some of those here into their space or not - of which I do not know - I am fairly certain a decent percentage would not wish to settle there; and also that some of us could not, certainly not while the Federation's government still retains any semblance of a desire to have even tense relations with whatever remains of the Empire on any given day. And since that list includes at least one member of every family here...well, it becomes a moot point."

"You won't get any argument from me there," Freya replied, shaking her head. "I don't think they'd look particularly kindly upon quite a few members of our own crew, either. For now, we need to be thankful that we have this place, that it's somewhat safe, and that the warlords are currently too busy with each other to worry about a few hundred people."

She looked up at the sky and sighed. "I still think we should have kept and armed the James Bedford, rather than rip out the medical equipment and then sell her for scrap. But, I guess that wasn't my decision to make."

"We didn't exactly 'sell' most of it for scrap." Kaiae said wryly. "We only sold what was left after we used a fair amount of it to build some this." She indicated the structures and such that stretched out around them, of which any prefabs had been heavily...supplemented...with things built from old ship parts. "And for what arming it would have cost us, we'd still have been left with a vessel not really equipped to go up against anything better than a badly-skilled pirate in a badly-maintained ship. To really make it even a halfway-decent combat craft we'd have had to rip out and replace the engines, reinforce the hull, and replace the shields. Among other things. And given we already spent some of our money on this...land, if you can really call it that...we need to avoid spending more of it, if we intend to have any left for buying or equipping a better site later."

"You're not wrong there," the Captain replied with a smirk. I suppose we could always make money my working as mercenaries, but with the situation being as it is, that may well attract more trouble than it's worth. Anyway, you were clearly on your way somewhere when I stopped you. So, I should let you go about your business."

"Lunch, actually." Kaiae shrugged her eyebrows up and down again; which was about as instructive a comment on the variety and quality of food (or lack thereof) that tended to be available as could be had.

Freya nodded. "Speaking of, I was talking to Mila the other day. Her father is going to help out, send a couple of crates of seeds and fertilizer back with them when Ourainavassa is repaired. Genetically modified for less-than-ideal soil. Along with instructions on how best to use them, and all that. So that should get us some more variety in food."

"Pity the planet won't support livestock - I think even a lot of the humans are getting fed up with the significantly limited meat; I heard one of them complain about eating 'rabbit food' the other day over dinner. I had to research what a 'rabbit' was after that; and why the vegetable stew we were serving qualified as food for one. But while everyone would no doubt prefer more variety, other than that I've heard few complaints. We're alive. The rest will come in time." Kaiae left unspoken the odd sense she'd felt occasionally throughout the time on this dubious hunk of rock, that she suspected was shared by some of the rest, that in some ways she was closer of late to her distant ancestors as she ever had been; surviving how and with what one could in the early days of a settlement or the struggle to reach it.

"We have seen some wildlife," the Terran replied with a chuckle, remembering the vegetable stew quite fondly herself. "And hey, at least this time there was no mirror version of one of our crew involved in making the stew. But yes, actually keeping livestock doesn't look like it would work. Unless we can somehow tame some of the less aggressive creatures roaming around, I suppose. Perez told me they hunted one down last week and had it butchered and all that, but it tasted awful." She sighed. "At least we should be able to use the replicators for food soon, I'm told that the salvaged warp core is going to be connected up to our power grid in a couple of days."

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from inside Freya's pocket. She reached inside and revealed an old-fashioned communicator. "Ah. I should probably take this. Eilif said he was going to bring some new faces with him on this next trip, some medical personnel. They're Starfleet. A contact of mine that resigned along with Picard arranged it. I better take the call. Enjoy your rabbit food, we'll continue this conversation later," she added with a chuckle as she turned to head back inside.

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