JP: Commander Karrod Niac & Vice Admiral Makisig Corcino: Old Warhorses (Part 2)
Karrod Niac
((Admiral’s Office, USS Valley Forge))
Quizzically tilting his head Karrod tried to summarize his experiences aboard the Arrow.
Niac: In a word, dangerous. They don’t respect our form of life but up until a few years ago, they had their Corporate Authority to restrain them. It forced them to operate within the boundaries of the treaty the Federation hammered out with them. Lately though that control has fallen apart and we’ve run into factions, splinter operations and independent operators who would merrily kill us all if it meant access to something they wanted.
Makisig handed over the PADD to Karrod to review. As the Trill looked over the report, the admiral continued.
Corcino: Starfleet Intelligence confirms what you’ve been seeing. Fracturing of their central command… which makes it all the more concerning then that in recent weeks, we’ve seen reports of attacks by the Sheliak on a growing number of unaligned systems and vessels. The resources to carry out these attacks doesn’t fit with previous intelligence assessments of their capabilities.
Eyes narrowing in concern Karrod took the padd and began skimming. Many of the details had been pulled from the Arrow’s mission reports themselves but had been supplemented with analysis of comm traffic and ship movement patterns assembled by teams of Starfleet Intelligence analysts. Page after page of data painted a deeply alarming picture.
Niac: This…this is even worse than we thought. The Sheliak aren’t just fracturing...they’re expanding…exponentially.
Corcino: Starfleet Command is concerned it’s only a matter of time before they feel emboldened enough to attack a Federation colony directly, and if that happens, the Arrow isn’t going to be enough. As such, you’ll be taking command of the USS Ronin. You familiar with her? Akira class heavy cruiser.
He shook his head but didn’t take his attention from the padd. The strategic projections Starfleet Intelligence had come up with were far from the conservative guesses he was used to and painted a catastrophic picture of what the region could look like if the Sheliak decided to press an offensive in the near future.
Corcino: She’s an old warhorse like you and me. Been in the yards for the last couple of years getting refitted to modern specs, but with the situation here in the Alpha Isles, we’re pressing her into service ahead of schedule. Your official orders are to begin Ronin’s shakedown cruise so you can join Arrow in patrolling the region and securing Federation interests.
That was enough to yank Karrod’s attention away from the padd at last.
Niac: A shakedown cruise in the Isles? With a crew I haven’t even met yet? You know, I’ve been wrong all these years, Maki…You do have a sense of humor.
Makisig chuckled again slightly, a long faded memory of more cordial times when he’d first shown a nervous Crewman Karrod Morrahn how to degauss the main deflector dish during the Trill’s first bridge duty shift on the Albright.
Corcino: Welcome to the Captain’s Chair. You’ve always had an opinion about it. Time to put up or shut up.
Karrod looked across the desk at that familiar face and found zero ambiguity there. The disposition of the entire region was now going to be largely dependent on his ship, his crew and very specifically, Karrod himself.
Niac: With Captain Shayne and the Arrow out there I’m confident we can handle anything the Sheliak throw at us, even if Intel thinks this is the Dominion War all over again.
Makisig tapped the PADD Karrod was holding.
Corcino: Everything I’ve told you so far is on the record. Why I’m here talking to your charming self is to give you another set of orders.
He reached over the desk and handed Karrod the other PADD, the one with the message from Admiral Washington.
Niac: oO Ah, there’s the tiger I was waiting for. Oo
Karrod took the padd gingerly, some part of him certain it would burn his hand when he picked it up.
Corcino: The latest intel suggests the Sheliak–at least some faction of them–are using the Olidra system to mass resources. I want you to carry out your shakedown there and find that stockpile–and where they’re getting their weapons. Subspace telescopes can only tell us so much, so I need you to catalog whatever else they’ve been gathering.
Niac: Maki, you know as well as I do how dangerous a deep space reconnaissance mission like this would be for an experienced ship and crew. Taking one fresh out of space dock into the Isles and straight into harms way is foolhardy at best and downright suicidal at worst. There has to be another way.
Corcino: As a new starship captain, you will quickly come to understand that we seldom get the luxury of picking the circumstances with which to tackle our missions. But there’s another reason you are the best person for this job.
He tapped a tab on the second PADD he’d given to Karrod.
Corcino: Like I said, we can only get a limited picture from the telescopes, but what we have seen is that the Sheliak have placed a generator somewhere in the system to create a particle field to obscure sensors and communications. Closer analysis reveals the particles appear to be Sencha wave particles.
The image on the PADD showed the distinct signature of the exotic high energy subspace particle that Sencha Niac had discovered nearly fifty years ago. It was a breakthrough that should’ve cemented her name in the annals of Federation science but due to a tragic accident in her lab, the breakthrough became her epitaph.
Deep within Niac his impression of Sencha surged into focus, a profound sense of horror at the prospect of her life’s work weaponized and used for some nefarious purpose briefly overwhelming Karrod’s sense. It took him a moment to reassert his control as he prodded his midsection with a grouchy thumb.
Niac: That…that shouldn’t be possible. Sencha’s work was all in the lab…there was never any suggestion of a tactical application of her breakthrough.
Corcino: Which is why we’re keeping this under wraps for now, and you are not to make any note of this aspect of your investigation in your official logs until we can better assess the threat.
Within him Niac was seething which only served to amplify Karrod’s own frustrations. He felt like he was being set up to fail and if he did, he could doom hundreds of others along with him. The sudden weight of what he was being asked to do came crashing down on him as if the Ronin itself was pressing on his shoulders.
Niac: This is a disaster you’re handing me, Maki. How the hell did this happen? Starfleet should’ve had a task force out here months ago if this data is accurate!
Corcino: Put in a complaint with your Federation Councilor. We’re still rebuilding the fleet after Mars. Until then, this is one mystery you’re going to have to solve on your own, but it’s one that you’re uniquely qualified for.
Karrod could feel the teeth of the tiger at his throat and raised his chin to let it get a good solid bite.
Niac: Sounds like a real honor sir. I’ll make sure to be clear about that in my report…if I live long enough to file one.
Corcino: You have your orders, Commander. Do you have any questions?
Karrod felt the dismissal coming and stood to leave, only too glad to be getting out of this office and away from this man as quickly as he could.
Niac: Other than ‘how do you sleep at night?’ No sir Admiral sir.
Corcino: Then get out of my office and get the job done.
Niac: With pleasure, sir.
Before Karrod left though, Makisig called out one last time to his former shipmate.
Corcino: And congratulations on your new command… Captain.
Karrod shook his head and failed to acknowledge the perfunctory courtesy with anything more than shrugged shoulders, his mind already entirely focused on the litany of impossible tasks contained on the two padds now tucked into his jacket.
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Commander Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
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&
Vice Admiral Makisig Corcino
Starfleet Command
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