The Beating Drum of the War Machine

[Cptn Neptune 0]

Contributed by Sar'Vek t'Jhiin

 

A glowing console sparked a few times in the otherwise foreboding darkness of the remains of Earth Outpost Four. Highlighted against the eerie quiet of the command center, a few voices crackled over built-in communicators within the EV helmets of a small Starfleet team. Before them was a scene of utter carnage; cables and blackened metal strewn haphazardly about, blasted from their previous lodgings. Spotlights shined onto the charred bodies of the former communications relay's late personnel.

 

"Looked like one of them was maybe trying to record something when they got hit."

 

"Poor devils never knew what hit them."

 

"I suppose we should let the captain know," one of the officers murmured, tapping the comm controls on his arm.

 

~

 

"And no energy residues?"

 

Erika Hernandez, commander of the UES Columbia, leaned over her communications officer's console, brow furrowed. Good God ... what were the Romulans like if they'd enact this sort of massacre? But then again, they were still only drawing a few rough assumptions.

 

"A few faint traces. Some tachyons, looks like something stemming from some kind of disrupting weapon."

 

Smoothing a few errant pieces of hair back into place, the brunette sighed. "Didn't Enterprise find tachyon traces in the Romulans' minefield and the prototype vessel they sent out a year back or so?"

 

"That sounds right. Not entirely sure, though."

 

So they had their shadow of a doubt as to who caused this nightmare dropped from four percent to three percent. Lovely. "Anything still operating there?"

The security chief took a seat at one of the few cleared chairs, keying a few commands into the monitor. He surveyed the brief flashes of data that crossed the screen before shaking his head, sadly. "Maybe some of the most recent data entries. We can try to get an engineering team on it to tap in; maybe access the sensor arrays if we're lucky."

Hernandez nodded, reaching to disconnect from the channel as she spoke. "I'll send one over, Chief. See if they can do anything with life support, too. Have the deceased sent to medical to confirm the exact cause of death. Columbia out." Turning again to the operations officer, she sighed. "Get on it, Dobson. Have Biggs and Stone sent over." Quietly making her way back to her seat, she silently let her head hit the back of the chair.

~

 

A Romulan bird of prey glided silently through the vacuum of space, catching the light of distant suns across the dark colorings that designated that the vessel was of the Star Empire. Gleaming marks tracing downwards across the 'body' of the raptor-like ship, a few high-level phase cannon were situated at strategic points on the hull. The RES Flamesword was a bold declaration of the Empire's strength; a visual reminder of greatness.

 

The Oira was quiet, even quieter than the regular level of peace that Enarrain Uhan t'Kaelan demanded on a day-to-day basis. Hands neatly folded to one side of her lap, she looked the tactician currently on-shift. "Has the Lloann'na vessel disengaged its activities at their facility?" she asked in clear Rihan, raising an eyebrow.

 

"Na, Rekkhai. They're still holding their position at the outpost." The officer scowled slightly at the results of his scans. "I'm reading multiple lifesigns aboard the station as well, Lhhei."

 

Nodding sharply, t'Kaelan drew herself up a trifle straighter before casting her gaze towards the helmsman. "Take us in, Arrain. Maintain stealth."

 

~

 

"We have something, Sir."

 

Erika raised an eyebrow, looking slightly to her right and behind her at the young lieutenant manning her tactical station. Bright kid -- had the brain and quick thinking of a professional with the reflexes of the young. Good smile; good heart. "What is it, Alex?"

 

"I... I don't know."

 

"Don't know?" she asked, briefly rolling her eyes. "Anything more specific you can give me than that?" Gods, they always had to do that. She didn't doubt there was a 'something more specific', because even when serving on a starship, there was some unwritten rule that you'd always chop up your announcements to preserve the drama in a situation. As if there weren't enough dramatic elements already -- maybe they didn't ever even realize they were doing it.

 

Schultz shook his head, vehemently. "Nothing." Not a pronouncement that there had been no occurrence meriting attention, but the confused statement that where once there may have been something, the scanners were turning up blank. "It's crazy, Captain. For a minute there, I thought I was getting some metalloid readings a little ways from here. Nothing now. No ships, no objects."

 

Hernandez paused, running over a few of the options in her mind. "Run high-definition scans through Science?"

 

"Already done. Still not a thing."

 

Not responding to Tactical again, she looked over at the chief engineer and OPS, huddled around the latter's console. "How's repiecing those logs coming, boys?" she asked. "It'd be nice to know what they knew, or at least know what they didn't know before they got hit."

 

"Going to be a little longer," the engineer explained, apologetically. "We have a fragment here and there, but nothing substantial enough to be utilized."

 

"Keep at it for now. Can you run a clip on the viewer of what you do ha--"

 

"Captain, there's something jamming our communications. I've lost the link with the EO-4 computer."

 

Hernandez looked sharply at the ensign, any annoyance at being interrupted instantaneously replaced by concern. "Jamming? There's nothing in the vicinity."

 

Shaking his head rapidly, the ensign motioned to one of the displays on his console. "Every frequency's fried. Can't get anything in or out."

 

"Something's... forming off our port bow."

 

Utterly perplexed, Hernandez moved a step closer to her seat, staring at the image off the bow. A hazy form of a craft slowly phased into view on the main viewer, unfamiliar markings highlighting various parts of the ship. It hung in space, dangerously hovering near the Columbia, as more vessels -- dozens more vessels -- materialized around. "Polarize the hull plating," she announced, voice deceptively calm. "We're not sure these are the ones who attacked the outpost; we won't be the first ones to fire." God knew how getting oneself involved in an interstellar incident could ruin a day.

 

"Nothing..." Schultz whispered. "They're just... there. It's almost as if they're waiting for something."

 

"Maintain hull polarization. Non-invasive scans."

 

~

 

"We have them on our targeting sensors, Rekkhai."

 

"Prepare to fire on my command, Erei'Riov."

 

~

 

Fingers clasping around the armrest on her chair, she gulped, hesitantly licking her lips before looking down, engaging the shipwide comm. "Tactical, Red Alert. If these bastards so much as twitch a muscle, I want to know. They're going to learn that we won't stand for this -- that the Coalition won't stand for this. It starts and ends here. They will see that they will not have a chance to repeat the statement they made here." Lifting her chin proudly, she stared at the massive Romulan ships. "May history never forget the names Columbia or Earth Outpost Four."

 

A few beats of quiet before Schultz spoke, his throat dry. "They're powering up weapons, Sir."

 

~

 

tr'Kaelan stalked through the corridors of her vessel, pausing in front of main Dheno. The doors parted, allowing her entrance as she straightened slightly.

 

What few Lloann'su survivors had made it through the battle were sprawled in a few cells, clumped together with no apparent organization. Pausing in front of one of the small holding areas, motioning towards a dark-haired woman in the rear, knelt over one of the weakest-looking humans. "Lloann'na..." she called, almost bored.

 

She cast an angered look over one shoulder at the alien, pushing off the floor to stand. "Why?"

 

"We have things to discuss."

 

"Important, no doubt," she replied sarcastically before looking back at the dying officer. "I can't leave them."

 

t'Kaelan smiled, a touch too darkly. "Oh, ie, au can. Na ever fear, Lloann'na." She temporarily deactivated the forcefield, motioning her out with a disruptor.

 

Hernandez glared at the slightly demonic-looking alien. Maybe this was why Vulcans never smiled; they were too damn sinister looking when they did. "Or what, you'll shoot me like you did them? I'm not leaving my crew."

 

"Ie, I'll shoot you. But au will na have the pleasure of dying from your injuries. Out."

 

Her mouth tightened, but she carefully stepped over the legs of another officer stretched out on the floor, and approached the Romulan.

 

Uhan smiled, motioning her ahead with a swift jab of the disruptor barrel. "Good th'ann... au follow orders well. What is aur name?"

 

She stumbled a pace, then recovered and straightened proudly. "You can call me captain," she told her curtly, stepping away from her weapon.

"I think I'll call au "yy'a", unless au give me another name."

The word meant nothing to her, but the weapon being waved was a pretty good clue. "Look, either shoot me or get to the point here."

Motioning her into a room off the main corridor, she pushed her to a padded metal chair. "I'll take my time."

Not being stupid, Hernandez knew what was coming, and decided that keeping this woman talking was her best bet. "I don't suppose you people have anything like the Geneva Convention?" she offered flippantly.

She cocked her head before picking up an electronic data storage device. "Na translation is working, but I doubt that we have anything in common with something of aur's, na."

"So you don't believe in keeping your prisoners from bleeding to death in your cells, then."

"Not necessarily, if it's useful enough. We have a fine janitorial staff." She activated the unit, smirking. "What was the designation of the vessel we demolished?"

"The good ship Lollipop," Hernandez snapped back. "Damn you, get a medic in there to tend my crew!"

"Lollipop..." She smiled; apparently the translators had given a fair Rihan approximation. "I'm sure." t'Kaelan appeared to consider the demand for a moment before replying. "After I have some questions answered, perhaps I will..."

"You people are inhuman!"

Bemusement shone in her eyes. "I do na believe I ever claimed to be io of aur pathetic little race. Aur vessel's name, Y'ya-io?"

"Why does it matter?" she said wearily. "It's scrap metal now."

"Perhaps I have an affinity for scrap metal," she offered by way of an explanation. "It wasn't a request." She spoke softly enough that the human would have to strain to hear her.

What harm could it do? "Columbia."

"Columbia." She considered the name for a moment before shrugging. "And aur name."

"Hernandez. Erika Hernandez."

Pronouncing the name in a completely Romulan accent, Uhan smiled. "Such a delicate, pretty name. The organization you represent."

"You blew my ship to hell and back and you don't even know who we are?" Erika came half to her feet in anger. "God damn it, you trigger-happy bastards!"

A cruel laugh escaped before her fist hit the other woman back to her seat, drawing red blood. "Before au insult my parentage, please remember that au are being recorded. I merely asked as a precaution in the event some question arose as to... Columbia's origins."

"Record this," Hernandez snarled, making a very old and very crude human gesture.

"I assume there's some significance to that." Uhan took a step back, studying her. "There are exactly re ways we can go about this. Io would be by putting out my janitorial staff even more than they'll already be taxed, and settle this attitude problem of aur's in blood. But that would make a mess, and I do na like messy things. The other would be for au to answer my questions very rationally, and au and all aur surviving crew will be treated by my maenakir and allowed to survive."

She subsided into the chair, mulling this over. As much as she would like to wrap her hands around the woman's throat -- how was it possible they were more arrogant than Vulcans? -- her crew came first. So, "Very well," she said quietly.

Good. She was learning. In which case, a fine opportunity to attempt to gather some intelligence. "How many sizeable vessels does aur government currently have in operation?"

She treated the alien to a contemptuous look. "Exactly how many, I am not certain. Our fleet is expanding by the day," she said proudly, "and we've been on deep-space assignment for a while now."

Uhan gave her a condescending, saccharine smile. "Not certain. That's very nice. Are au, by chance, trying to impress me? It's rather comical if you are," she added with an air of distaste.

"You wanted the facts."

"Truth, na boasting."

"Very well. And how long, would au estimate, until aur troops can deploy into a strike against us?"

"We're not interested in striking against au -- I mean you." Hernandez shook her head briefly, and continued, "We seek peaceful exploration and coexistence."

Uhan paused from her questioning long enough to backhand the human. Did she take t'Kaelan for a fool? "Au think we'd actually believe that?"

She rubbed her cheek. "Paranoid, aren't you? Believe it or not, some people in the galaxy believe in talking before shooting."

"Na in our experience."

"Well, you've had a crappy life and I'm sorry, but it doesn't change reality."

Sparing her a blow, the Romulan smiled thinly. "Au have na sense of self-preservation. Are all aur kind this way?"

"Nope," she quipped, smiling at the woman. "Au're just lucky."

Hernandez found herself slammed into the back of the chair, whiplash effect working on her neck. "Impudent brat. And that I ever wondered why we attacked aur outpost? Au humans are na thing more than an infestation in this quadrant."

She spat a little blood off to one side, and worked her jaw cautiously. Nothing broken. "Funny, we seem to be getting along fine with everyone else. Maybe you need to learn to play nicely."

She ignored the human, approaching a cabinet at the far end of the room, removing a storage container before moving to a basin. The spigot churned out a few liters before t'Kaelan discontinued the flow, adding the contents of the bottle before turning to smile at Hernandez. "Au seem overly fond of words, don't au?"

"Hey, you're the one that wanted to have this little chat." The captain shrugged.

"Na chat, na. Answers. Na... I did na wish to chat with au. But au've thoroughly disgusted and annoyed me, something I didn't believe was possible for such a lowly inferior to do." A slightly kinder tone caught her eye as she dropped a cloth into the basin before carrying it to the human. "Perhaps au wish to clean aur wounds. After all, we are na complete savages. I would hate for au to have that impression."

Hernandez snorted. "Am I supposed to trust you? Do I look that stupid?"

"Actually, au do."

She sneered. "Look in a mirror sometime."

"Were we discussing au, and na me?" She looked away for a moment, another thought coming to her mind. "What was the closest vessel from aur Coalition to the outpost we dispensed with?"

"Columbia."

"And other than you?" she prodded.

"We're explorers," she snapped, leaning forward to get in the Romulan's face. "We don't travel in pack like hyenas."

“Na na, of course na." She picked up the data store, punching a few controls before smiling too-pleasantly. "Well, then, my dear explorer, I do believe that I've asked all of the questions I meant to. Au may rise."

"And my crew?" She bit the words out through a clenched jaw.

"In limbo, at the moment." Pointing to the door with her chin, she waited for Hernandez to make the first move.

Erika stood up, stepping away from the chair slowly. "You said you'd send a doctor," she reminded the Romulan.

"Perhaps I will. Perhaps na."

"Not much for keeping your word, are you?"

"Na with a Lloann'na," she admitted. "Move."

She headed for the door. "Someone should explain the concept of 'honor' to you people. I would also include things like not attacking peaceful outposts without warning."

"We have honor, fool," she replied, a slight edge on her voice. "It's honor that compels us to activities that might otherwise be deemed unthinkable. Honor drives us for the glory of the Empire."

"Plenty of people in our history have talked like that," Hernandez returned. "And you know, every last one of them fell out of power."

"Perhaps they should have overseen the people under their control more thoroughly. I doubt our visions of power are alike, th'ann."

She paused before the cell without opening the door, glancing inside. "Your species requires sustenance to survive?"

"Generally."

"That's something of a shame..."

"You're planning to starve us now, too? Why am I not surprised."

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of something so barbaric. But why waste resources on prisoners that will be executed upon their arrival on ch'Rihan? We have the answers we were looking for, and our mission was a success. We do na need au."

"Of course." Hernandez smiled grimly. "Such... brutal efficiency."

"May the Elements smile kindly upon au in Vorta'Vor." She looked at one of the guards, briefly deactivating the translator as she spoke in rapid Rihan. "But, 'Captain'," she said, raising a disruptor, "As io enarrain to another, I would spare au the fate of aur crew."

Her eyes slid to the weapon, then back to the Romulan's face. She waited, silently.

Uhan fired, her expression not changing as the human crumpled to the ground. A few muffled cries of alarm came from within the cell, various Starfleet personnel shocked and horrified. "Bring the corpse when au vent the rest of them. We do na need any of them alive."

 

~

 

The Firesword on course not for ch'Rihan as she’d told the now dead Hernandez but instead en route to regroup with the First Fleet, tr'Kaelan sat within the Enarrain's Chambers, keying in a channel to Galae Command. An aristocratic visage greeted her as she inclined her head, slightly. "Khre'Riov," she murmured, politely.

 

"Success, Enarrain?"

 

"Success, Rekkhai..."

 

- Romulan Glossary -

 

Arrain - equivalent Romulan rank to Lieutenant

ch'Rihan - Romulus

Dheno - security

Enarrain - commanding officer

Enarrain's Chambers - Ready Room

En'Riov - equivalent Romulan rank to Admiral

Erei'Riov - equivalent Romulan rank to Commander

ie - yes

io - one

lhhei - ma'am

Lloann'na - Starfleet

maenakir - doctors

na - no; not

oira - bridge

re - two

rekkhai - Sir

Rihan - Romulan

y'ya - dead; kill