The Unexpected End

Posted on Sat Sep 30th, 2017 @ 7:52am by

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Captain's Yacht
Timeline: June 15, 2399 @ 3:25 PM

Ross emerged from his ready room, notes and other material in hand. It was only going to be for the evening and by then the transporters were likely to be working again. He wanted to get as much of the pleasantries out of the way before they got down to business. The Federation, the Dalacari and these Ts'usugi were one thing... Once you mix the Klingons in there, anything could happen.

"You sure you're good with sitting this one out, Commander?" Ross asked. He at least wanted to make sure she would be fine. It was usually not customary to leave the First Officer aboard for a formal reception, but in this instance....

"I think it's best, sir. My opinion was made quite clear in the briefing and I think that I would only serve to compromise the mission." Bowman said.

"I'm afraid I agree." Ross said. "I'll be back aboard this evening. Shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary, just some schmoozing. You're not missing much anyway. Enjoy." he added before pausing. "Oh, and Commander..."

"Yes, sir?" Bowman asked.

"Tomorrow morning at 0700, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." Ross said.

"Is everything all right?" Bowman asked, a little concerned but not overly.

"Just some administrative stuff." Ross said. "Good luck!" he said as he left the transporter room. A small smirk formed on Bowman's lips, which she quickly wiped away.

=========5 Minutes Later===========

Ross entered the yacht as the shuttle team was doing the pre-flight inspections. At this point he was just anxious to get this all over with. Get aboard the station, eat, and hope to god everyone has calmed down enough. At least the Klingons weren't going to be there. That would be the absolute worst case scenario. It would end up being little more than a brawl. He was at least happy to be away for a little bit. The real battle would be had once he returned to the Wellington from the reception. Bowman wasn't going to back down from her position without a fight.

Ross took his seat, turning to Holt. "Is everything ready, Lieutenant?"

"Everything is fine, sir. There's a small power fluctuation, but Lieutenant Martin thinks we can compensate for that." Holt replied.

"Excellent" Ross said as the rest of the crew assembled.

"Captain" Movek said. "Before departure, I would again beg you to reconsider this. Should something happen, the Wellington's chain of command would be severely compromised."

Ross looked at Movek. He'd always been cautious for years. Ever since he was the Assistant Security Chief on the ship. "It's all right, Movek. We're flying at impulse and it's just a few kilometres away. We've got senior staff aboard. Everything will be fine."

Movek raised an eyebrow. "I will never understand the human propensity for overconfidence. Very well, sir. I will bring tactical systems online."

Ross simply nodded. The entire crew was in dress uniform, expecting to more or less go straight to the reception. Suvir and Del were in the corner having transferred information from their consoles on ship to continue working on their information gathering projects. Further research into the chatter did indicate that the Organization was, if nothing else, interested in what was going on between the Klingons and the Dalacari. They were being fed information simply by someone referred to as "The Designate." Whatever that meant. T'Pral, meanwhile sent further instructions via PADD to Lieutenant Damian to make sure that the Fire Dust was disposed of properly and to get an update.

"They sure didn't make these uniforms comfortable for flying a ship." Martin said.

"To be fair, they probably didn't expect we'd ever have to." Del said to Martin.

"Everything checks out. Ready when you are." Holt said to the Captain.

"Captain's Yacht to Wellington. Pre-flight is complete. Requesting clearance to depart." Ross said.

"This is the Bridge. You're clear to depart. Good luck, Captain." Bowman said, almost in a friendly tone. It kind of caught Ross off guard a bit. It was the nicest he'd heard her say anything in 4 months.

"Begin launch." Ross called out.

"Aye, sir." Holt said as she initiated the thrusters and the bay door opened. ""Lieutenant, I'm picking up a strange energy fluctuation in the core, can you adjust?"

"Sure." Martin said, "Adjusting to compensate... Try that."

"That's a little better." Holt said.

Ross turned to both of them. "If you have to gut non-critical systems, don't be afraid to. It's a 5 minute shuttle run. We'll be fine."

"Understood." Martin said.

"What did you think of Commander Mo'Bri's statement, Mr. Movek" Ross asked.

"I think it was appropriate and valid. Commander Bowman appears to be far too insistent on bending Federation Law to suit her purposes, as opposed to following the law as written. It is quite concerning." Movek asked.

"She also had a point about the Houses." Del said. "What if this entire thing is a rogue house making trouble for the Federation? It would explain the High Command's silence on it. How can they defend something that the IKF indeed didn't do?"

"That's why I've asked Commander Bartlett to explore that angle. This denial doesn't come from the highest levels of the High Command." he said. "It comes from the adjutant to a senior official who stated that following the drone's withdrawal from Klingon space, the 4 Klingon ships we see in the Delta Quadrant resumed course for maneuvers by the Cardassian border. They sent us a copy of the orders as though that's some kind of concrete proof." Ross said.

"The corruption in the Klingon Empire never really went away after the war." Del said. "Who knows that better than a Klingon?"

"What does that change?" Blanchard asked. "All it changes is we now have to deal with rogues from not only in Starfleet, but now our own allies? How do we even know they aren't colluding with each other? We're still dealing with a goddamn mess here." the Marine CO replied.

"But we will always win." Ross said. "What do the people causing for more bloodshed and phasers over peace talks have besides fear and a blatantly false narrative? These kinds of discussions are not an act of weakness. The Dalacari easily could have declared war but chose not to. There's no shame in that. There's so much more than just beating each other with a bat to try and make things work. We all want to explore and to try to find a way to coexist. It begins with promises of being mightier and next thing you know, you turn your lack of regard for others on your own people. And then once you've done that... You've surrendered your principles to look more like the opponent you hate."

"A fair conclusion, Captain. Except that for many people, that demand to be mightier and picking phasers over peace talks always is alluring." Rennan said.

"Oh it always is." Ross replied. "Until people see the horrors they unleash because they valued quick resolution over complexity."

"I'm still getting a bit of a fluctuation." Holt said.

"Cut non-essential systems." Ross replied.

"Done." Martin said. "Let's see if that slows it."

"Seems like it. Going to full impulse." Holt said as the yacht picked up speed.

A warning alarm suddenly went off "Oh no... It's going off the charts and I can't route around it even if we slow our speed... Captain, we need to--"

At that moment, the entirety of the Captain's yacht became engulfed in an explosion. As the conduits shorted out, Martin and Holt were killed instantly. Del, Suvir and others vapourized by the intensity of the heat. Captain Ross and the rest died as the shuttle ripped apart and became little more than scattered debris. It was likely nobody suffered for too long, but the explosion's intensity was so great that none survived.