Beginning of the End

Posted on Sat Mar 28th, 2020 @ 1:58pm by Commander Areinnye t’Vraen & Centurion D'Taev Merek
Edited on on Sat Mar 28th, 2020 @ 2:15pm

1,987 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Before the Inferno
Location: IRW Dominus
Timeline: 238610.03

The massive Haakona - class vessel blurred through space, cruising cloaked as the ship skirted the Klingon empire. Had it been visible, the silver hull and crimson raptor design would have given the Dominus away as a vessel in service of the Tal-Prai’ex, the Praetorian Guard.

The Commander of the massive vessel was rather young at 38, but Areinnye was of the t’Vraen household, an old and prestigious family, not to mention a niece to the late Praetor Hiren. The connections and reputation had taken the young woman far. Her cold calculations and brilliant tactics had seen her the rest of the way. Rumors had swirled that she would become an Admiral next. But all of that had come to a halt. Life in general had. Every eye had turned to the Hobus system, and its dying Star.

So she and the Dominus had been dispatched in secret to examine a handful of planets for possibilities of colonization. The orders were a mockery to her intelligence. They spoke about the need to find a “retreat planet” for the Praetor and members of the Senate, and of course the Imperial household.

The fact that these potential retreat planets were light years away on the other end of the quadrant from Hobus surely was coincidental. The whole situation smacked of deceit and stupidity. This wasn’t how leaders of the greatest empire in the galaxy behaved. They should tackle challenges with cunning and intelligence, not cowardice and neglect.

((Timeskip - 2 weeks later))

The Gorn battleship lazily orbited the class-m moon of Caridia V, light from the twin stars glinting off of her copper-toned hull. The vessel was gargantuan and ungainly, a triangular shaped single-hull design without visible nacelles.

Romulans had first encountered the Ss’tiskk-class nearly a century ago. The slow, unwieldy Gorn ship had demolished an entire wing of T’varo class warbirds during a failed espionage excursion. That they were still utilizing such an antiquated design offered a dozen possibilities.

But, the fact remained that the Gorn vessel was in orbit and clearly exploring the planet, despite a marker buoy claiming it in the name of the Romulan Star Empire. A scout ship had explored the area 2 years previously and placed the buoy there. She didn’t blame the Gorn for ignoring it… the Romulans would do the same if the situation was reversed. But times were changing, especially for the empire.

Areinnye had little doubt that the Dominus could destroy the Gorn ship, but not before they alerted the Hegemony of Romulan presence in the sector. And with the possibility of massive casualties. No...this wasn’t the time for clean fighting. This was the time for intelligent planning and precise movement.

Lieutenant Kerika Ch’Kretak was busy outfitting the shuttle with a state of the art cloak holographic projectors and holo emitter’s it was an important assignment that came from the the XO through the Commander herself. Kerika was part of the elite Praetorian gaurd and she was pretty sure the XO was not to be trusted. She knew the Commander however was part of the Praetorian gaurd as well. She had served on the Dominus as the Singularity Leader for the last five years.. In truth she was pretty well versed in all Engineering aspects and was an expert in Romulan technology as well as something of a futurist. She always kept her political opinions to herself though which is probably why she hadn’t been executed. She worked hard to gain the trust of the first officer already having the explicit trust of her commander.

((Timeskip, two hours later))

“Command the shuttle is ready”, Kerika stated.

The cloaked shuttlecraft had been fitted with holographic projectors and electronic emitters. The craft hovered as near as it could to the twin suns of the Caridia system. Crewed by a team of Reman Commandos, the shuttle waited until the directed time, and then activated the holoprojectors and false emitters. Where once had sat a cloaked shuttle, now appeared to be a Corvallen freighter. The vessel even feigned a plasma leak as she listed to her port side.

The Gorn ship spotted them immediately, giving lie to the rumor of inadequate sensors. The massive Ss’tiskk class vessel broke orbit in a wide swing, arcing towards the damaged ship. Radiation from the large blue stars would explain the Corvallen ship’s sudden appearance, at least momentarily.

As the Gorn ship approached, they found themselves unable to gain a transporter lock on the crew of the Corvallen freighter. And just as Areinnye had predicted, a tractor beam began tugging the freighter towards the behemoth ship’s shuttlebay.

The bridge crew of the Dominus watched wordlessly as the masked romulan shuttle was consumed by the Gorn vessel. Moments went by at an excruciatingly slow pace. And then, an explosion began at the rear of the ship, ripping her apart at an astonishing rate. The photon torpedo warheads from the Dominus had been loaded onto the shuttlecraft and rigged to detonate together

When the Gorn vessel had tractored the ship into its shuttlebay, the Reman crew had simply pressed the boom button. The resulting explosion literally devoured the Gorn vessel. 1,700 crew plus the five Remans were wiped out without a single shot being fired. And when the Hegemony dispatched a team to investigate, they would find nothing. It would be as if the dreadnought vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, teams were landing on the moon to mop up the Gorn scouts and scientists left on the planet. Areinnye had to admit, the plan had worked well.



((Later, Senior officers’ dining room))

“Those reptiles are little more than space debris” boasted the ship’s weapons officer.

The young male was arrogant and tended to talk too much for Areinnye’s taste. Tonight was especially irksome.

Kerika entered the officer’s mess at that point.

“Let me tell you something, Centurion. Those reptiles are some of the fiercest defenders of their territory in the quadrant. The Romulans have encroached on Federation space, decimated Klingon worlds and stations. We have never gained one square inch of Gorn territory. Our espionage efforts have always been least successful with them.” She chided him.

“Yes Commander, I only meant that…” he began to explain.

“I’m aware of what you meant. You should realize I’m no fan of hubris. Some of the finest work I have ever witnessed has come from officers who were pissing their pants in fear.” She said.

The Centurion appeared to realize he had better not speak any further and loaded his plate with food.

Just then, her first officer entered.

“My apologies, Commander. We have interrogated the Gorn captured on the planet. It appears they sought to use this moon as some sort of child-rearing planet.” Said the SubCommander, dismissively.

Areinnye’s skin broke out in frisson. She tried to hold her composure.

“Do you mean that the Gorn were going to use this planet for egg incubation, T’sen?” She asked. Her normally calm voice edged with anxiety.

“I believe so, Commander.” He replied, oblivious to her distress.

“Dha’rudh*! That ship was carrying the eggs of the Hegemony. If they find out we were behind the destruction of it, they won’t stop until we are carrion.” She warned.

((*dha'rudh= Idiot, Moron))

So much for dinner Kerika thought .

“Senior officers with me, I’ll dispatch the surviving Gorn prisoners and erase our presence here” said T’sen.

Areinnye merely nodded, rising from her seat and walking to the bridge.

Kerika followed T’sen out of the officer’s mess, it was going to be a long night.

((Later, Areinnye’s private quarters))

She had sealed the door, just in case someone would be foolish enough to enter the Commander’s chambers. Then she manipulated the data on the planets the Dominus had surveyed, exchanging the coordinates of the desert planet for those of the lush moon that they had annihilated the Gorn for.

An incoming call paused her machinations. She made sure it was a secure line, and then answered.

“General Dorvaela, jolan tru. Have you procured the freighters?” Asked the Commander.

“Yes, and a few smaller ships will be joining us. Have you located A suitable area for the cargo?” He responded. The man was a decorated war hero who had been pushed into early retirement when he questioned the senate’s choices regarding Hobus.

“I believe so. It will take us several weeks to return. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you ready the cargo to depart at my signal. We have one chance at this, any shortcomings will result in a most painful and harsh judgment” she warned. They both knew what was at stake.

She trembled even considering it. But the alternative was worse. The communication cut off without warning, typical of the duty-minded general Dorvaela.

Not long after, the chime for the Commander’s quarters rang. D’Taev Merek was standing outside of the door, waiting to be let in. Straightening her jacket, she opened the door.

“Come in, Centurion.” She said, looking both ways down the corridor before allowing him to enter.

She gestured for him to sit in the small living quarters. “I’m glad you’ve come. We have much to discuss.” She said nervously.

D’Taev sat down on the couch in the quarters, and looked at the commander, “Indeed we do, what exactly did you have in mind?” he said, with a stern look on his face. If anyone didn’t know better, they’d accuse him of being a vulcan. He never let his passionate side show unless the situation required it.

“The Praetor and Senate have made it obvious that they don’t have a plan to rescue the people of Romulus. They’ve sent us out here to find a planet for the elite to escape to…” she blew out a breath before continuing. “I’ve come up with a plan with someone and I mean to organize an escape for myself, my family, some members of the crew that I can trust and a few thousand colonists. I’ve asked you here to include you in those plans. I’m hoping I can trust you?” She nearly whispered.

He nodded, indicating his answer, “I’ve always been loyal to you, commander.” he said, then lowered his voice to that of hers. “And just how do you plan on carrying out this plan?”

She sat near him on the couch, conscious of their proximity.

“The Dominus is simply too conspicuous, and frankly I only trust some of the crew. I’ve arranged for a mercenary team to assist us in procuring a ship from the mothballed fleet. We will use it to escape, rendezvous with the colonist flotilla and leave Romulus to her fate. We cannot save everyone, and the Federation isn’t coming to save the day.” She said.

“Indeed, their rescue fleet was doomed from the start.” he said, standing up to look out the window. “Which the Federation blames on a ‘Massive system failure’ in their so called ‘synths’, or so I’ve heard.”

“So you see we have no choice. It’s this, or burn to death alongside the rest of Romulus. My loyalty to the empire only goes so far.” She said. The words made her shake inside. Just someone claiming they heard her say these things were a reason for her and her family to be dragged out and shot.

“No other way to turn,” he said, still staring out into space, “I understand how you feel, Commander,” He then turned to face her, “And I will aid you in any way you see fit.”

She stood up, nearly eye to eye with the man. Her voice was suddenly a bit more firm “Soon we will need to be made of steel” she said.

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