LtCmdr Jovenan – What do you mean it’s not over yet?
Jovenan
((OOC: The rest of my team, take time to respond to this scene. I’ll send the team opener tomorrow so that you all have an opportunity to write to this scene without a rush.))
((Andorenne Auditorium, Golden Spire, Boraxian Cityship))
They were all there. The kidnapped team had been rescued, and everyone who had beamed over to the Cityship had returned unharmed. Meanwhile, on the Artemis, the scientific and medical team had figured out the secret of the crystals. Further discoveries had been made on the New Hope. It sounded a lot like a mission accomplished; that’s how they often ended. And yet, they were all there.
The Grand Matriarch entered the grandiose hall, surrounded by an aura of opulence and power. The Boraxian clapped all of their four hands at her, in a gesture that to Jovenan looked like more of a sign of reverence than the more typical meaning of the applause. She looked around her, uncertain if she should copy the local crowd. Next to her, the Acting Captain put her hands together unenthusiastically, as if having similar doubts as Jovenan. The Chief Science Officer trusted with the temporary place as the second-in-command joined in with a few, powerless claps. Around them, the Artemis senior staff each made their own decision.
They were all there, forcing an unwanted thought to surface in Jovenan’s mind: if this was a trap or there was an attack or accident, who would command the ship? It had to be Commander Lux, she surmised eventually, based on her rank. She couldn’t tell if the Trill Lt Commander would be a better leader than she herself was, since she didn’t know the Councillor, well, at all. Maybe she should get an appointment just to get to meet her, although her last proper meeting with a councillor had been as recently as with Lt Seta on the Excalibur.
Elirielle: Welcome :: unbound hands outstretched ::
Jovenan forced her attention to the Great Mother of the Boraxians. Her dress was decorated with diamonds and other gemstones. Jovenan didn’t entirely understand the desire to express one’s wealth and status through clothing – the Edo barely bothered to wear anything at all – and the replicators had made the argument of exclusivity of precious materials and techniques obsolete. However, she could appreciate the handicraft of the tailors in the Boraxian leader’s outfit, not to mention the value the culture placed on the “cool rocks”, as rare as naturally occurring diamonds must have been on a city-sized ship.
Elirielle: As you have witnessed we like ceremonies and traditions. Boraxian society hinges on the known, and you've heard us use one of our most common sayings and variations of it ‘you are seen and you are known’.
There were a few familiar figures among the Great Mother’s party. Advocate Chavrainne was there – Jovenan didn’t get to meet her earlier but recognised her from the recording of the kidnapping – as was Luirétt. Jovenan pursed her lips for a second before realising that anything but a perfectly neutral expression might come off as an insult to the Boraxians. She didn’t know what to think about the Yurum leader finding themselves surrounded by not just the government officials but the Monarch’s bodyguard. Had they surrendered them to the Boraxians? Although there were still talks to be had about the asylum request and the status of the Yurum, Jovenan didn’t know if Luirétt was truly safe except on the Artemis.
Elirielle: We have a structured existence that may seem foreign to you. I could make comparisons to Starfleet and the hierarchies that exist and they would be weak. I admit that. Boraxians do not have the choice to disobey orders from themselves. Earlier today I ordered one of my oldest friends.
The Great Mother nodded to one of her officials.
Elirielle: I made her break her vows. It was my most shameful act. Everything else I do that you might consider shameful, I inherited by a system of survival, and necessity. I digress, if you allow it :: she did not wait for permission to continue :: My mother, Great Mother to All Andorenne. :: again, she looked to Luirétt :: had taught me a lot of important things :: she looked down at her bound arms :: She taught me how to bind myself. She gave me my first bracelet. She taught me the teachings of Olessia. I knew how to cite the ordinances of the Holy Flame by the time I was 2 years old. I performed my first Yurum blessing when I was 6 years old :: to Luirétt directly :: I remember it fondly. My life is not incomparable to that of a Yurum. I was born to this role, and I serve it so that my people can be free. Nothing will ever change my opinion on that :: hesitates :: But it's clear to me that a change has ushered itself in. Those in this room, myself included, may be too old to see that clearly enough. Perhaps the very structures we hold onto prevent us from seeing it.
It took Jovenan some effort to hide her sigh. She didn’t know whom to judge, the Monarch on their throne of gold, surrounded by lackeys and servants complaining about their lack of freedom, or the society that had built so many golden cages around its residents. The Yurum lacked personal liberty to decide on their own lives, of their education and career and families, while the Great Mother didn’t, she could choose but was bound so that her options were but nominal in nature… And how hypocritical had Jovenan been to think of her life as restricted?
Elirielle: All of this to say, I officially as the leader of the Boraxian people, their Great Mother, request the aid of Starfleet. You have bore witness to my people's pain. I have uncovered troubling news that Andoren, one of the nobles, and a Patriarchal Academic, has escaped from our custody and :: takes a breath :: Has taken control of the Caspia District, and the Halls of Flame with a group only known as The Enlightened. They have captured many of the residents of the Caspia Spire and taken them to the Halls. I am desperate, this act on our holiest of place … I fear what it will do to our people.
There was some ruffle and whispers in the hall. Jovenan’s seat had suddenly become uncomfortable, and she changed her posture on it. She wanted to accuse the Boraxians for the incompetence of letting out a man who had attempted a coup, but more so, she feared what might happen next. Were they already in danger?
Munro: :: bows uncomfortably :: Great Mother, what do you believe Andoren hopes to achieve?
Elirielle: He hopes to burn them all in the flames. He knows the horror of it, and the loss of the Yurums … and whatever else he's been doing? The crystals? We won't recover. He wants anarchy, Captain.
Nothing was ever easy.
((Short time later))
The hall seemed larger once it was empty of everyone but the Starfleet crew. Its high ceiling and massive walls could almost echo their heartbeats, or maybe it was Jovenan’s own she heard. The Boraxians had left them alone, as alone as one could in the heart of their Cityship.
Munro: That was a lot. Do we believe her?
K’Wara: I believe that she believes herself. ::thinking:: I do believe her when she says she’s desperate though. The Boraxians are unprepared for this kind of conflict.
Morgan: I believe that they were working to be able to harness whatever power it is that the Yurum possess. I can’t blame them for being mad, or for standing up for what they believe are their rights and desires. But I can’t help but question whether or not it’s really our job to sort out this mess for them…
The CMO’s last point was a fair thing to ask. The Yurum had asked for an asylum, as was their right, but the coup and the chaos that ensued could be seen as Boraxian internal affair. The Prime Directive applied. On the other hand, if it weren’t for the Artemis, how much of this would have happened? The Yurum would have been caught and brought back, the coup would have been far less effective… right?
Cole: Setting my initial suspicions aside, combined with everything we’ve discovered ::beat:: I believe her. I think with the recent events her eyes have likely been forced to realize some less than flattering realities of their society. And even though we can’t solve these issues for them, we can help were we can.
Imril: I disagree with the Doctor, in part. I think the goal of Andoren’s faction is to make sure that they never again come under the unwanted influence of the Yurum calming rituals, them or anybody else. They want to be able to feel and believe as they wish, not as the Matriarchs want to force them to through the Yurum. Destabilizing the crystals forwards that goal whether or not you grant the Yurum sanctuary, Captain.
Jovenan pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze to the floor. She hadn’t yet had a chance to review all the data the science/medical teams had gathered, but she had put two and two together already: the Yurum, the crystals, they were all connected to the control of the population. Peace, prosperity and slavery were fighting against chaos, turmoil and freedom. Who were they to say which was natural and which was right?
Imril: I think we are bearing witness to a revolution on two fronts. The Yurum by defection, Andoren’s group by force of arms. I don't think Andoren’s lot are hostile to the Yurum, though. He already offered just taking them away from the city-ship as a means of ending the conflict. And the investigation into the New Hope biomatter stash proves that the means by which the Ellet crystals have been weakened has no physical impact on them.
Storm: I don’t know that I trust her. I can’t sense her, which is hard enough, but we all have other senses that we can pull from. Something feels off.
Any: Response
The Acting Captain crossed her arms. Jovenan considered herself lucky that they had found and rescued the other Commander; she would not wish to be the one to make this call.
Munro: We're going to help them. After seeing what I have today, I can't do anything else. This is a deeply flawed society but I believe they want to do better and I want to help them. :: to Jovenan :: Commander, I want you and K'Wara to take Richards and Doctor Jaran to help disperse an antidote to the altered crystals that the population has been infected with.
Jovenan nodded. That was the Acting Captain’s order, and that was what they were going to do.
Jovenan: Aye, Captain. ::to her team:: What would be the best method of doing so?
Richards/Jaran: Response
K'Wara: Underground. From what we saw travelling through the Peace of Ellet, a lot of the systems that support the city above are below deck, including ventilation.
Another nod. They’d gather and figure out the further details once they got to move. For now, Jovenan turned back to the Captain, who didn’t seem to have notes to their initial plans but moved on with assigning orders.
Munro: Commander Silveira, I need you to pull together a team to stop Andoren and his people :: look to Storm :: Take the lieutenant with you, you will need her. Lieutenant Imril and Doctor Bancroft will be your back up.
Jovenan shot a sorry smile to Vitor. They’d be going in different directions again, both with different tasks and different dangers. That was the life of a Starfleet senior officer during a mission, it seemed, to meet one another only in briefings, incapable of doing anything but wish the other survived to the end when they went back home.
Bancroft: ::solemnly:: Aye, ma’am.
Storm: Understood, Ma’am.
Silveira: Response
The Captain moved on.
Munro: :: to Morgan :: Doctor, you along with Lt Bergmen and Ensign Cole will help with the evacuation of the Boraxians and offer any medical help and reinforcements to the Boraxian personnel.
Morgan: We’ll do our best, Captain.
Cole: ::nodding:: Save and help everyone we can.
Bergmen: Response
The Captain then turned her attention to the sole officer present without an assigned team, besides Commander Munro herself.
Munro: You drew the short straw, ensign. You're with me. We're going back to the Artemis with Advocate Chavrainne and Luirétt. This time, we're going to do this right.
Tho'Bi: Aye, Aye, Captain ::beat:: I will endeavour not to… spill.
Jovenan raised an eyebrow. She had worked with Tho’Bi before and had found him a competent engineer, but for the life of her, she couldn’t always understand him. There was no time to figure out what the Ensign had intended with spilling, as the Captain had once again turned to address the entire crew gathered in the hall.
Munro: I know that this has been difficult. Nothing about this mission has unfolded in ways we would have expected. It's challenged our beliefs and values, and for me it has challenged my preconceptions. I judged these people before I knew them; rightly or wrongly? I don't know. This is more than a simple case for asylum, this is about an entire society's survival. Andoren and his followers have been pulling the strings all along. It's time to put an end to it. You know what you have to do. Be safe.
Morgan: Do me a favor and try not to do anything that’ll get you put in Sickbay…
A smirk rose to Jovenan’s lips. The topic was serious, she knew that, there were officers and crewmembers among their ranks that had far too many Purple Hearts, and after the Battle of Frontier Day, Jovenan didn’t want to hear one more eulogy for a fallen comrade. Still, the nature of the request and the similarity of the sense of humour of almost every doctor she had known – the request could have come from Genkos or Captain MacKenzie just as easily – humoured her.
K’Wara: No promises.
And the smile faded away. She turned to look at the new Lieutenant. The joke lost its humour when it was her team that could find themselves at the other end of it. No injuries on her watch!
Imril: Me neither.
Cole: I promise to try and not end up in Sickbay. ::looking at Dr. Morgan:: What’s your policy about someone finding themselves suddenly airborne. ::slight smile::
Bancroft: ::mock-sincere:: Understood, Chief. I’ll do my best not to report to work when we get back, per your medical advice.
Storm: Just don’t make me laugh in a firefight. Deal?
Any: Response
Jovenan pointed her finger at each of the crewmembers. She didn’t spare even the Captain or Vitor from her pointing; her next words applied to all her subordinates and to her sole superior among them.
Jovenan: No one gets hurt. That’s an order. ::to her team:: If I have to drag any of you out of this ship, I’ll make sure you get holodeck waste extraction duties for your shoreleave activity.
Any: Response?
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Acting XO (Chief Science Officer)
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11