"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle." – Sun Tzu, the Art of War
[IRW Knvuk]
Terrh slid a finger down the side of his armrest as he watched the Charon grow on the viewscreen. With predatory mirth he salivated. He wanted the Charon, but not for the reason many in the Galae would have valued such a prize. Terrh cared nothing of glory. The only thing that brought him joy in the universe was his ability to inflict murderous pandemonium upon it. How much he would enjoy watching the Charon's crew succumb to 'Memento Mori.' And the thought of torturing Rehu's children slowly in front of her while she watched helplessly brought him to near orgasm. 'I will enjoy disfiguring that bitch.' He smiled razors. Oh how much he wanted to repay her for her part in his last failure. Tr'Verelan bore the brunt of his fury when he murdered the Galae'EnRiov's wife and now, if he could murder Rehu's children, the circle would be complete.
"We are in range of the Charon."
Standing up Terrh laughed. When one of the bridge officers tossed him a puzzled look he pulled out his disruptor and shot the Romulan woman in the chest. Walking over to the station he grabbed the corpse by the hair and dragged the body to the command throne and then placed her into it. Sliding his hand behind her head he ruffled her hair "have the others surround the Charon- ask Rehu to surrender, I'm interested in seeing her reaction."
[USS Charon]
"Detecting several vessels decloaking around us!" Shrishnar shouted as the tactical console whistled loudly. Ch'tan was seated in the Command Chair when space around the Charon rippled violently like an ocean succumbing to a violent storm. When it ended four Romulan warbirds circled the Charon akin to a pack of rabid thrai cornering their prey before a kill. Their sleek hulls resonated with a dull yellow reflecting the tormented colors of the Yy'a nebula lingering just beyond the Charon.
It had been a relatively boring shift until the ships decloaked around the Charon, Ch'tan reached up for his comm badge and tapped it quickly, "Captain, I think you are needed on the bridge, it is quite urgent, Four Romulan Warbirds decloaking,"
Wasting little time Shiarrael made her way onto the bridge and immediately relieved Ch'Tan. She thanked him with a simple nod as he made his way to the tactical station to replace Shirshnar. Her eyes then stared at the two warbirds that hovered less than fifty meters in front of the Charon's forward bow. "Hail them." She ordered t'Khellian, the officer manning Operations in place of Cyrin who was still on the planet. 'How unusual for the Galae to have so many ships in close vicinity to such an out world' Shiarrael thought suspiciously.
Rhiana nodded to the Leih of the vessel and opened a channel to the ships decloaking. Her face soured when the Audio message began to sing out. "USS Charon you are hereby ordered to surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded." said the cold voice over the speakers. Rhiana couldn't help but smirk at the thought of surrendering even the Captian wouldn't be so foolish.
"Surrender?" Shiarrael stifled a laugh. "Open a channel." She stood up "this is Captain Shiarrael Rehu of the Federation Starship Charon. We are here simply to answer a distress signal. If our presence is unwanted we will gladly leave." She turned and looked at t'Khellian "begin beaming the away team back. We will leave for the mo-"
Rhiana began to punch up the commands on the operations console as Rehu commanded her to bring the away team back from the surface of the planet. She had been the operations officer before her accident and knew the controls like it was second nature. As her panel was tied into the ship's tactical station she noticed the power spikes."Rekkhai they are locking weapons onto us." she said keeping her voice calm though her heart had jumped up into her throat.
"Weapons lock! All ships have locked disruptors!" Ch'tan growled as his console began beeping at him.
"Mrow?" The Caitian helmsman blinked at the ships on the view screen and bared her fangs. Why would those Romulans want to pick a fight with them? Weird people. M'Riarr's paws danced over the console, but evasive maneuvers when four warbirds surrounded you was one of those 'can't win' things. Or shooting fish in a barrel.
"Raise shields!" Shiarrael shouted and took three steps back allowing herself to fall into the command chair as the Charon rocked violently. "It seems they were quite serious." Her expression slightly bitter as her thoughts became pained by the new dilemma: several crewmembers were still on the planet and with raised shields there was no way to bring them back. "Break us from orbit!" She would have cursed at the pilot to add emphasis had she been more fluent in standard "Ch'Tan target the D'Jhimn!" She could see the Klingon wasn't understanding her so she jumped up and ran over to the tactical station pointing out the specific ship she wanted him to target "it is the oldest design of the four, weaker shield generators. Open fire." But the four ships attacking didn't concern her as much as the one lingering back. 'What are they waiting for' she wondered.
Contrasting to the colour of the Romulan disruptors, the bright orange of the Charon's phasers lashed out and struck the D'Jhimn, the shields bearing the brunt of the fire and visibly shaking the ship.
Quentin Calhoun was peacefully enjoying his off-duty time and relaxing for the first time in months with music and whiskey when the klaxons blared and the ship rocked. "What the…?" he exclaimed as he reached over and grabbed his commbadge "Engineering report!" he said as the ship rocked again. "We're under attack from the Romulan's sir" came the response. Sighing he affixed his badge to his civilian attire and ran down the corridor into Main Engineering which had come alive. "I want extra power to the shields – now!" he ordered as he knocked back some pills and jumped up to the 'pool table' platform.
Ambassador Ian Lamont sat in his quarters blowing on a hot cup of Japanese green tea while he caught up on some paperwork and reports. He still had much work to do in documenting the various interactions he had experienced on Lyrillia during the Charon's last mission and their diplomatic implications for any future contact with the Lyrillian people. Starfleet would no doubt return to the planet. The remnants of the teacher's technology would no doubt be of interest scientifically and there was much common ground the two people shared despite the simplistic nature of the Lyrillians and their culture.
Blowing on his cup of hot tea, Lamont read through the first paragraph of a report he was working on when the ship suddenly lurched around him. The tea he was holding leapt from his teacup and splashed against his leg burning the ambassador who dropped the padd he was holding. Setting the cup down and painfully cursing in the confines of his quarters another powerful jolt shook Ian as he attempted to clean up the minor spill. The suddenly and unexpected movements felt like an attack, but that was unlikely, they were in the middle of nowhere. Lamont's gut feeling was quickly solidified into fact as the green hull of a Romulan warship passed in front of the windows in his quarters. Rushing to the glass, Lamont peered out noticing several vessels and as he feared the Charon was indeed under attack.
"Bloody hell", he muttered to himself leaving his quarters. He quickly headed to a turbolift destined for the bridge. He had no idea what had precipitated the attack, but if he was going to meet his end at the hands of Romulans he at least would do so from the bridge where he could get a better sense of what was happening.
[To be continued…]
Captain Shiarrael Rehu
Commanding Officer
USS Charon
Commander Ian Lamont
Ambassador
USS Charon
Lieutenant Commander Ch'Tan Foster
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Charon
Lieutenant Commander Quentin Calhoun
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Charon
EnArrain Rhiana t'Khellian
Chief Communications Officer
USS Charon
Lieutenant D'Vana Xavier
Assistant Engineering Officer
USS Charon
Ensign Thomas J Clipper
Assistant Science Officer
USS Charon
Ensign M'Riarr
Assistant Helmsman (NPC)
USS Charon
