In Defiance Of Orders

Posted on Thu Jun 30th, 2011 @ 9:44am by Captain Alexander Gunning & Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant Commander Nilani Prax

Mission: In Defiance Of Orders
Location: Archa IV Orbit

[ON]

And now... the conclusion.

The dulled lighting on the bridge seemed to compound the situation that they found themselves in. Here they were, in the exact geographic location that their home sat but it wasn't there. Instead, there were three Ritorian battle cruisers and some kind of massive, gleaming orbital platform. It didn't seem to be doing anything but its presence was ominous enough.

The face of Captain Sulu suddenly filled the viewscreen of the Jackal. "They're called the Ritorian Confederacy. I won't bother to ask if you know about them but they appear to have taken control of this system. Commander Valtane has scanned the orbital platform and it seems that they are exerting some kind of psionic control over the populace."

Gunning returned to his chair and rubbed his hand across his face. "Psionic control. Yes, we'd heard rumours of them doing that. Nothing that we could prove."

Sulu's expression was grave. "I have notified Starfleet of this and they are looking into how we can take action against this. The Ritorians are in neutral space so there's not much we can do to combat what they're doing here regardless of how reprehensible it may be."

The commander of the smaller vessel could only nod. The looks on the faces of his crew said it all. What was happening was horrific but there was nothing they could do. All of this was in the hands of the Excelsior's crew. This was their time, it was their issue. For the Jackal to take matters into their own hands, it could spark any number of cataclysmic events. They had walked straight into a catch twenty-two and they were stuck between a clause and a hard place.

"The Ritorians claim sovereignty over the planet and the system as a whole. Until their claim can be checked, there's not much that we can do. We just have to take their word and have Starfleet send people to check the legitimacy of the claim." Sulu said, seemingly disheartened.

So much for the all-action Starfleet hero, Alex thought. He knew Sulu was right, the bureaucracy of these things made it so difficult to actually make a decision for the greater good.

[Main Bridge - USS Excelsior]

From the weapon station on the bridge, Kintuv was growing restless. There was no denying what the sensors were telling him. The people on that planet were nothing more than slaves, controlled psionically to do the bidding of their new masters. Alev didn't care what his captain said. Something had to be done. He started hitting commands on his console, bring the Excelsior's weapons online.

[Main Bridge - USS Jackal]

"Alex," Nilani called, as her console began repetitively chiming at her. "I'm reading a build-up of energy in the Excelsior's weapons array."

"Captain Sulu, we're detecting that your weapons are coming online. Please advise."

On the screen, they watched as Sulu turned to face someone off-screen. His face was ablaze with fury. "Lieutenant Alev. What is going on?!"

The voice from out of the screen's range was soft, calculating. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't just stand by and let those people be enslaved. Someone has to stand up to those Ritorians."

"I'm giving you a direct order, Lieutenant Alev!" Sulu's voice bellowed through the comm link. He was on his feet now and out of the frame of the viewscreen.

Liarra's suddenly looked up from her station. She muted the comm channel. "Alex, Kintuv was always a little hot headed. He once got in a fight because some guy in a bar hit on Jesera, my host at the time. I'm not surprised at all that he's trying to take matters into his own hands." She unmuted the channel.

"I'm sorry sir," the voice of Lieutenant Kintuv Alev said quietly.

"What can we do?!" Gunning shouted, involuntarily.

"Alex," Nilani said, quietly in a confidential tone. "I think we're meant to be here," she confessed. As the Commodore came over to join her at the station, she indicated the database entries for this period. "The Excelsior was recorded as being in a battle at Archa with the Ritorians. The Ritorians fielded three battle cruisers to defend their orbital station, but later retreated from Archa, relinquishing control of the system back to the Federation." She paused, as she looked up at her commander. "Against three battle cruisers, the Excelsior came out of it without needing any repairs. She didn't have a scratch on her."

The red flash of the Excelsior's photon torpedo launchers seemed to light up the entire bridge. They tore through the orbital platform and the communications channel with the Excelsior shut off to a booming shout of shouts from the Excelsior's bridge.

"Red alert! Bring weapons to bear on the Ritorians." Gunning sighed. "We're probably going to need them."

[OFF]