Kreanus (Part 1 of 4)

Posted on 21 Dec 2016 @ 3:35am by General ('aj) Ko'raH House of G'Iogh & Commander Medara t'Keras & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Senior Chief Petty Officer Martin Caine (KIA) & Chief Petty Officer Torgeir Naes & Sub-commander S'anara Valdran & Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie & Petty Officer 1st Class Eviess & Chief Petty Officer Crispin Snow & Yasmin Khoroushi
Edited on on 21 Dec 2016 @ 3:42am

2,432 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: Paulson Nebula/IKS Neg JoK
Timeline: MD 05 - 1450 hrs

[ON]

Paulson Nebula

The Paulson Nebula had become thicker and more dense as the days had passed. An H II Region by classification, the expansive cluster of pink and blue stardust spanned over sixteen light years in every direct and deflected any sort of sensor scans beyond its perimeter. Navigation within its confines was near-impossible, yet somehow the Klingon task group seemed to know exactly where they were traveling -- at high impulse, nonetheless.

Cloaked and in tight formation, the four vessels had journeyed from their encounter with Galileo at the perimeter and into the heart of the nebula. Visual visibility was almost negligible due to the dense cosmic composition, yet ever so slowly, a large celestial object began to come into view and blot out the pinkish haze which engulfed the starships.

In all of its hidden glory, a medium-sized planet came into view. Had it not been for the reflection of cerulean celestial particles illuminating its atmosphere, it would have been invisible to the naked eye. The world was Kreanus: a rare Class R/M terrestrial rogue world which had been ejected from its sun's solar system millions of years ago. It's dimensions were similar in size to Earth and other Class M planets, and three small satellite moons could be seen in a distant orbit.

Kreanus was a planet covered in a thick layer of ice. Though it had originally supported a vast and luscious ecosystem when it once lay within its star's habitable zone, its surface had since frozen over without the solar radiation of a nearby sun. Glaciers covered the entire surface and spread almost 100 kilometers deep at some points. No life existed on the surface of the world in such extreme sub-arctic conditions. It was also unique in that it had never been discovered by the Federation or any of the other major Alpha or Beta Quadrant powers...that it even existed would have been a surprise to everyone in Starfleet.

The flotilla of Klingon warships decreased their speed to low impulse and headed straight for the barren world. As they approached, more vessels suddenly came into view which were orbiting the planet. Several large Romulan D'Deridex-class dreadnoughts became visible, each escorted by smaller Valdore-class warbirds and several scout and support vessels. In a slightly higher orbit, a combined fleet of Galor-class cruisers, K'Tinga-class battlecruisers, and K'Vort-class bird of preys patrolled the medium perimeter. Two D'Kora-class vessels escorted a plethora of various freighter types in high orbit and were accompanied by Peregrine fighters, several old Soyuz-class starships, and even a Constellation-class.

The Klingon vessels maneuvered themselves straight for the planet while passing through the patrol lines with consent. At first their heading appeared to take them into a collision course with Kreanus' surface, but as the starships came within range, a large circular hole in the surface ice was revealed. It was shaped in a perfect circle and extended deep into the planet's outer crust, although that hidden fact was the world's best-kept secret next to its existence. The formation of Klingon warships dropped into a trail column and reduced their speed further as they approached the atmosphere. Slowly and with precision, the pilots of each vessel navigated through the thermosphere and into the mesosphere before penetrating into the thick layers of the stratosphere. The shields around their forest green hulls glowed red hot as they punched through the planet's natural protective barrier.

Once they had breached the atmospheric wall, the starships proceeded into the deep cavernous void. The ambient light from the reflective pink nebula disappeared while the helm officers brought their vessels deeper and deeper into the planet's crust. Several minutes of darkness passed until finally a glimmer of light could be seen. It was a docking port. Several of them in fact, and each was lined by a row of artificially-created terminals and substructures. A few delicate maneuvers were executed and the Klingon vessels slowed to thruster power before docking at their home port.


IKS Neg JoK

A slight jolt reverberated throughout the ship. Klingon personnel began to appear on all decks and chattered in their own tongue. A sense of calm and levity accompanied their mannerisms as they prepared to depart their vessel.

Down in the detention cells, a group of twenty guards suddenly arrived and stood in front of the Federation crew. "You are being transferred," one of them announced. "To Kreanus prison!" Cheers and jubilations erupted from the guards who look to each other and exchanged words of praise for their good fortunes. Several lead handlers stepped forward and dropped the forcefields to both detention cells. There were more than enough Klingons present with disruptors trained on the Galileo survivors to end all of their lives with a short barrage of fire should the Federation crew attempt to resist.

"You will all stand and line up. Senior commanders in the front and your subordinates in the rear," came the command from another large-chested Klingon. "If you resist...I will kill you," he added for good measure.

The fight had lasted a bit but in the end the Klingons from the rest of the ship had swarmed the brig and as far as Allyndra was concerned been very unhonourable by using the stuns. Still she smiled as the command was given to line up, that she had managed to use the hypo twice and that the tribbles had remained undiscovered. Allyndra got up and patted Eelim checking his improvised bandage, and then moved toward the front. She spared a glance at Wiggins who was pretty banged up still from the fight and the escape from the Galileo. The fact the Executive Officer was still on his feet was a miracle or a testament to his tenacity. While she stood quietly her mind started calculating the incubation period of Nehret syndrome. She was not sure exactly how much time had passed but figured another forty eight the first victims would show signs. The interesting thing was that Nehret was easily passable via airborne transmission at least twenty four hours before the first signs in someone infected would show. That is if she had kept the setting. She changed it but only with the barest of control. Well it was a moot point now, the hypo was gone but she wondered even so if they would analyze the contents and realize just how close they had come to being severely ravaged. The suppressant on the tribbles was another thing, something that maybe Tuula knew better. She hoped the little creatures where going to be alright, Tuula would be beside herself if anything happened to her pets.

Miraj looked at Aurora. the other woman was still recovering from the disruptor shot to her guts, and even if she wasn't immediately going to die, the wound site looked red and angry. Maybe it was infected. With some reluctance she stood and went slowly to the other senior officers, waiting for whatever horror came next.

Vertical was proving a challenge as Torgier struggled to push himself up with the negligible assistance of the wall behind him. He had managed half the distance before his good leg gave out and he crashed back down to the ground with a muffled curse. This was not going to happen, not under his own strength, at least.

Snow stepped up beside him. Shorter than the giant viking, he did what he could to help him up. "Come on Moose. Lets get some fresh air. I'm going to need it if I'm going to snuggle your armpit for the next ten minutes."

"Not m' fault you're short," Terje gasped, but was thankful for the leverage as it allowed him to reach vertical status, his back pressed against the wall as he breathed heavily through a wave of pain.

"actually I'm average height. You're the one who grew too tall, Moose. And now your suffering the consequences."

Muttering under his breath somewhat good-naturedly, Terje pushed back the pain as best he could and forced himself to take the first step forward, swaying slightly, but managing to keep his balance with Crispin's help. The pace was slow and uneven, made even more

Once they had been massed into a single file line with the senior-most commanders in front, what remained of the Galileo crew was marched from the Klingon vessel's brig, down a long corridor, and to the starship's forward-most airlock at the nose of the ship. The heavy presence of towering Klingon guards flanked either side of the column in order to keep a close eye on all of the captives. Should they attempt to resist, there were more than enough Klingons present with heavy weaponry to put an end to the insurrection within minutes.

The sound of heavy, simultaneous footsteps reverberated throughout the deck and quickly silenced when they reached the docking port. A soft groan could be heard as the outer hatch opened, followed by pressurization of the inner hatch. Finally, the circular port opened up and a blast of compressed station air flooded the inside of the waiting area.

"Move!" yelled one of the head guards to Wiggins and Warraquim. His command was reverberated all down the line of Galileans, with some of them being given a sharp knock against the back of their heads or a prod in the lower back to get them moving.

"You all really have an anger problem." Greg mumbled, limping forward.

"Damn it, Chief." Said Wilson.

Still finding walking quick akward even after a few days recovery Mimi lagged behind a little, one of the Klingons kept pace with her jabbing her in the back with his rifle whenever she slowed too much. After several prods Mimi snapped around bared her fangs and claws hissing sharply at him. "Fare nyasi pilquis saya Klingon."

One of the guards quickly moved in to deal with the disgruntled prisoner. The butt of his disruptor rifle came up then swiftly descended on to the feline woman's face with ferocious force and a loud crack. "Silence! You speak when spoken to!"

With her attention focussed on the first Klingon Mimi didn't notice the second until a second before the rifle butt hit, she tried to shift herself but the pain in her hips slowed her just enough. The blow sent her spiralling to the floor, blood burst from her mouth and she felt one of her teeth dislodge. But she stayed conscious; just.

Moving in something akin to a fugue state, Noah had allowed himself to be buffered along with the rest without protest. He started, though, s Mimi went down before him. Shaking his head, Noah reached down to help her up.

Mimi slowly got to her feet, shrugging off any attempts to help her. She stood up straight in front of the Klingon that hit her and growled at him staring.

Eviess stuck close to Eelim. Braxton was up front. All three confronting the fact of what happened on the ship. Eelim looked over at Eviess. "Doc...you okay?"

She just shook her head. "I ... I can't believe it."

Herded about with the rest, Yasmin cursed herself at getting separated from Snow and Naes. She couldn't find Marika, either, in the mass, and soon found herself bouncing on tip-toe to try and pick out some figure of familiarity. What she found was wholly unexpected and her heartbeat kicked up several notches. Biting her lip, Yasmin began carefully squirming her way forward, wriggling past bodies until she found the one she had spotted.

"Noah!"

He blinked, starting at the voice, as ENS Mimi sullenly moved away. Swallowing, Noah questioned whether or not he could believe his ears, but soon enough he felt hands gripping his arms - small, gentle hands, accompanied by an anxious face coming into focus before him. One hand released him, coming up to pat his face. "Oh God ... you're alive! I've been looking for you ever since they took us. Noah ... Noah, can you hear me?"

"Yaya?" Shaking his head, Noah stared down, and then pulled his sister close in a hug.

He looked horrible - bruises and other wounds showing through his torn uniform, and too thin - but he was her brother, and he was alive.

The Nekomi's continued defiance of her captors didn't sit well with the guard. When he gave orders, he expected them to be followed, especially by lesser creatures such as the furry one in front of him. Some sort of mutated Caitian, he presumed. Probably abandoned at birth because the parents rejected it.

In order to make his authority absolutely clear, the Klingon cold-clocked Mimi with an armored fist to the side of her mouth.

"What ..." He wanted to say more, but Noah caught sight of Mimi picking herself up again and he groaned - recalling the girl's previous run-ins with their captors.

"Li an nyasi faren rekin anda Klingon." Mimi shouted as the Klingon that hit her started walking off. She managed to get onto all fours but struggled to get any higher no matter how hard she tried.

He was making a foolish decision, Noah was sure of it, but all the same he rushed forward and put himself between Mimi and the Klingon bastard. "She's done," he told the man, cringing as he heard Yasmin talking softly to Mimi. "Just ... leave her alone."

The Klingon regarded the injured man with disdain. He was barely worth his time. The other woman-creature, however, needed to learn her place. This was not the Federation or some comfortable luxury starship -- this was Kreanus.

"Control your crew...before I do it for you," he answered to Noah, then turned on his heels and marched up the line to inspect more of the captives.

Control his crew ... Noah's brow furrowed as he held back a sudden flash of anger in the wake of the departing Klingon and instead turning back to where Mimi half-lay, half-crouched beside Yasmin. "Right." Sighing, he eased down as best he could. "Let's get going."

With a little help Mimi slung her arms over Noah and Yasmin and got to her feet. Her face was a bruised and fairly bloody mess now and she could barely move her jaw, slowly the trio continued walking with the rest of the crew.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

All Galileo Crew
All Stations
USS Galileo

Klingon Guards
IKS Neg Jok
Kreanus Defense Force
[PNPC Saalm]

General Ko'raH
IKS Neg Jok
Kreanus Defense Force
[PNPC Saalm]

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