Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vanessa Slade (CNS) in Main Sim At the Imperial Palace

Posted by Captain Calvin Marius (Captain) in Main Sim At the Imperial Palace

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vanessa Slade (CNS) in Main Sim At the Imperial Palace
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(Snip)

“Have a drink Calvin,” the King replied in a tone indicating the Captain was becoming annoyed with his guests. “There are no comms right now anywhere on the planet except between the general, the head scientist, and my general staff. We used to allow comms but that tended to frighten the populace more. There were some that tried to remove their loved ones from the hospitals and prisons but that only killed the healthy and did not control the harvesting. The Volians are simple and primitive. They eat. They reproduce. They hibernate. Your people are safe so come and enjoy the night.”

GM Kate

“Excuse me did you say you open up the prisons and hospitals for the Volians to attack?” A knot filled in Calvin’s stomach. He did not hear the King wrong but it was as if his brain was refusing to process that comment.

“Would you prefer we allow the Volians to just run amuck?” Clearly, the King was becoming irritated with Calvin’s line of questioning. “You are in a position of command. I am quite sure you do not just let your people do whatever they want when they want. That would be chaos. So we as those in charge control the chaos. Why put people in jail for years? They will never be rehabilitated and just drain the resources they are not contributing to make. By offering them up to the Volians they can pay back their debt to the Beltrans.”

“Do you think it makes sense to lock down communications between a starship and its crew on a diplomatic mission, without warning. You have no idea what my crew might think is going on, especially if they figure out there are masses of creatures killing the locals. A panicked starship could do a lot more damage then your citizens.” This man had no concern about his people, but Marius suspected he would be quite concerned if a Starship decided to star shooting up the place.

Calvin Marius CO

“Are you saying you can not control your own people? Do they not follow your orders?”

“Excuse me,” Calvin snapped in a tone rarely heard but by only the most dimwitted and incompetent crew. There was the politics of diplomacy however the verbose and coddling diplomats they had sent in three times prior had in Calvin’s opinion accomplished nothing. This was why they had sent him in versus another pure diplomatic crew. “This dinner is over.” Not every battle was won in the first strike. Only imbeciles took a hill to die on. Calvin would regroup and come back when he had more insight about what he was facing. Tapping his comm badge Calvin heard nothing but empty air.”

” I am assuming you did not come here like a lamb. Your last order to them was not to decimate a fledgling member of the Federation if they can’t speak to you every hour on the hour, correct?” His tone was condescending along with his mannerisms. “You were told to attend the reception, which was not going to be over until dawn, so I suggest you have another drink and enjoy yourself. This inconvenience will be over in a few hours. It always is.”

While Calvin didn’t expect this, more of a kidnapping sort of danger. His crew on the ship were given orders to be very suspicious given that every senior member of the ship was requested off. “They are well trained, but they are trained to protect lives. They are going to respond to an animal attack, severely.” He turned sharply.

Calvin did not need this man’s permission to come and go. He did not live his life by your liege to some pompous foreign king. “I think we are done here.” There was a reason Calvin brought down two shuttles. They could have stuffed everyone into one shuttle but then they would not have had a spare in case of emergencies. If his crew could not come to him Dad would show up in the family sedan and retrieve them. “Come on we are leaving Lieutenant,” he stated to Vanessa.

The ground suddenly shook hard enough that anyone not ready for it would run the risk of falling over. Some of the art that was not completely secured began to shatter as vases hit the ground along with less surefooted waiters caring the drinks. Several people let out shrieks indicating this was not something normal or expected.

GM Kate

Vanessa felt the shaking and immediately flailed out grabbing Calvin’s arm. The earthquakes later would be found out to be increasing from barely noticeable at 3.0 on the Richter scale when they arrived to a solid 5.0 with this last one. It was strong enough that without Calvin, Vanessa would have fallen over like numerous other Beltran’s in the room. She was not used to anything like an Earthquake. Boston was as seismically as a mountain. “Are we under attack,” she asked looking around. The two of them had just spoke of an attack. With the comms signals down it might just be more than an small earthquake.

Vanessa Slade CNS

Calvin had been in battle more times than he cared to recall. Unstable terrain was as familiar to Calvin as plummeting down in a crashing shuttle. His training took over and he stabilized his base enough that the risk of his falling over was minimalized. Reaching out he let Vanessa stabilize herself against him. “Not sure,” he responded to Vanessa’s question.

Calvin watched as a man in what could be assumed was a military uniform approached the King and his position. “What is going on,” he requested in a crisp tone that compelled people to answer even when they were not in Starfleet.

Calvin Marius CO

The man looked at Calvin and the King before deciding to address them both. “The Volians are not following their predictable course of action Sire. They are approaching the Capital. We are sending the military to surround the palace but it’s not going to be enough.” The man’s voice was pleading for the King to issue an order or impart some wisdom. Instead, the King shrugged, downed his drink, and walked away. Standing there holding the PaDD, the officer was visibly distressed. Calvin did not know the Beltran military ranking system but his years of military service told him this officer was green.

GM Kate

“May I,” Vanessa asked reaching out her hand for the PaDD the man was holding. She could tell he was scared. She was too but unlike this man, Vanessa knew her CO would not cut and run the first second danger happened. It probably would be the exact opposite. In a small corner of her mind, Vanessa imagined Calvin stripping off his formal attire only to find the man wearing a camo uniform and about to scream, Come on your meatheads do you want to live forever. Depending on the company the colorful metaphor would vary but the sentiment would be the same. Calvin would stand his ground and protect those that needed help.

Taking the PaDD from the officer, Vanessa reached out and passed the PaDD to Calvin while taking his drink to free up her captain’s hands. “It’s going to be okay.” Saying this was the easy part for Vanessa. She had zero doubts that Calvin would get them through this. What she was waiting for, like the young officer, was how Calvin was going to do it.

Vanessa Slade CNS

Calvin looked over the PaDD the young officer was desperately trying to get anyone to review. “What am I looking at,” he cut the point noticing that there was nothing on the screen important enough to warrant interrupting him.

The officer looked up at Calvin and began to report knowing no one else was going to be listening. Tapping a button on the PaDD, two images were brought up and overlaid. The first showed what looked like underground tunnels radiating out to points in a barren landscape. The other showed that the underground tunnels seemed to be veering off from those points and heading to the science station, the military installation, and the capital. Touching the PaDD again brought up old footage military footage.

On the screen was an image of a carnivore but instead of the typical apex predator, this creature looked like rat that was the size of a large house cat. The animal had short sleek fur that was so shiny it appeared almost leathery like one saw on a dolphin. The eyes were larger for its body but also tracked with a subterranean, nocturnal creature. The creature’s distinguishing weapons appeared to be extremely long teeth and claws. The schematic stated 46 cm (18 in) in head-to-body length and 23–25 cm (9.1–9.8 in) in height, with about 30 cm (12 in) long tails and about 4-5 kg (8-10) pounds.

The next image the officer showed them was a video clip of the last attack. It would become very apparent why the Beltrans were suddenly very concerned about an animal this tiny. At first glance, it looked like a bubble of mud percolating up from the ground. When one looked closer they would see it was not mud spreading out in a vibrating pool but hundreds of Volians. The sheer quantity coming through the opening was staggering. As the video panned out, the dozen of holes in the ground poured forth the same amount until the entire ground was covered and looked to me moving in a thick mat of squirming wiggling bodies. The camera panned back farther to see how the Volian’s attacked. Like some B flick horror movie from Earth’s past, the Volian’s washed over a person like a wave at the ocean. If one had ever seen the Earth horror flick the Mummy the scene would remind them of the carnivorous beetles decimating the hapless workers with their bodies creating a silhouette of the shape and then reducing it down to nothing before moving on. The speed and vast numbers of the creatures was the real threat. The Volian’s were a horde when they attacked making even the best marksman ineffective in staving off an offense.

“Oh my God tell me that was some kind of time lapse thing,” Vanessa asked. The idea of being devoured by a rat turned Vanessa’s stomach into knots. Maybe she was starting to understand why some Starfleet vets had aversions to things that seemed odd.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Would you prefer it to be slower? The comment was not as sharp as Calvin probably intended it to be.

“I would prefer it not to happen at all,” Vanessa stated looking around the room as she took off her heels. Oddly enough Vanessa had the endurance of a long-distance runner. She ran quite a few marathons in her down time but she was not a sprinter. “Given a long enough lead time I might be able to out run them but yes I prefer long and slow to fast and immediate,” she quipped.

Vanessa had several years under her belt in Starfleet but she was as green as a newly minted cadet in some aspects. “Don’t worry. You are probably more of an appetizer to them and I have been through this before. I got your six.” Calvin didn’t have time to mollycoddle everyone but the truth was that this was probably the first time Slade had come into a situation even remotely close to combat. She tended to default to humor when uncomfortable so his platitude would do more than false promises in easing her mind.

The officer pointed to a small area with his finger indicating he wanted the group to focus on there. It was just a box however as the mass horde of Volian’s moved forward, a small distortion on the screen followed by a glimpse of blue skin was visible.

“The Volian’s can’t attack what they can’t see.” As the area cleared slightly, several more distortions were noticeable. It was easily inferred that the camera angles in the video clip were taken by soldiers filming the event from a cloaked position.

“Those behind the shielding are essentially invisible and if one remains still enough and quiet enough, the horde of Volian’s move on to another food and resource source.” The officer had the neutral tone of a general explaining the course of a battle to others.

“So what should we do Sir? The King is entirely confident that our defenses will hold but I am not.”

GM Kate

:So you’re an expert in asymmetrical tactics?”

“Um no but I can be a fast learner,” the military officer said with rapt attention on the only person in the room understanding the gravity of the situation.

Calvin however was and she despite her lack of experience was likely right. Now the earth tremors made sense. The tunneling was causing the ground to subside in various locations. “I am sure the KIng has some sort of bunker or safe zone to protect his hide. The way he talks about them they use wave attacks and our response to that would be massed fire or funneling into a kill zone.”

“Yes, and they have already absconded below. Those around here have no idea what is about to happen. They have been told it is a drill only.”

Thinking about his military plan she added. “Agreed but I am not sure anyone is going to be able to hold the line. Most try but everyone knows the end result.”

“Since they are ambushing us, the odds we can get either of those two things to happen are not in our favor. This becomes a non-problem if we can get in contact with the ship, two jobs get all our people together and elevated.... and get in contact with the Genny.”

Marius

“I will have our comms team work on breaking the static but the King,” she looked over her shoulder, “there is a strict order to ensure any communication deemed inappropriate not be transmitted. The static is aided by the weather but amplified by the battle platforms.”

GM Kate

“Beautiful,” Calvin muttered motioning for the officer to follow him. He needed to shore up the defenses and no one from the Beltran army seemed to care about fortifying the defenses. “They have to know what we are talking about to understand it is inappropriate. Use codes and euphemisms unique to the Federation or Earth. If we can get through.”

Moving out onto the Balcony, the officer handed him a Beltran comm badge. Half of commanding others was ensuring they had faith in their commander no matter what they were facing. “Beltrans, a few hundred years ago there was a terrible war on Earth. The defenses were crumbling and many felt they should leave. That was when the American Marines first showed up. The French were retreating and told the Marines that everyone was pulling back. Marine Captain Lloyd W. Williams responded with “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” Calvin paused before beginning to belt out orders which everyone seemed to follow without question.

“Let barricade the staircases, the goal isn’t really stopping them but funneling them into single file. When the fur begins to fly stay away from the outsides of walls, balconies, windows and the like. Tunneling can lead to cave-in and the like. Earthquake rules apply until they expose themselves.”

Calvin Marius CO

Vanessa waited just long enough for Calvin’s orders to be carried out by those listening before she wrapped a hand around his forearm. Turning her back to the group hid the emotions on Vanessa’s face. She pressed her lips together tightly until they created a thin line for her mouth. “If we can’t get comms to the Genesis working, blocking the exits will trap us in here.” She was not challenging his authority but working through his command in her mind. Every Starfleet officer took the pledge and understood that their life could be laid down for the cause. Actually, in the moment that it was happening, hit very differently.

“This isn’t a horror movie. Running away gets you dead. Never in the history of war, has any side won a battle by turning their backs to the enemy.” An escape route in of itself isn’t a bad idea, but any non-covert exit, is just another entrance. “If we happen not to get surrounded, then we can always retreat out one of the entrances they aren’t attacking from.

“Are we going to get through this right?” Her faith in Calvin was unwavering. He was her commanding officer and any order he gave she would follow. This was not about orders though. This was about Vanessa experiencing her first combat-like scenario and feeling a little more than uneasy. She was not a security officer or a marine. She was a counselor and this was the first time she was being asked to be more.

Vanessa Slade CNS

Calvin wasn’t much of a liar in combat. “There is only one way to survive. Its to keep on fighting. You give up you die. So getting through it has a lot more to do with what you do not what I say.”

Marius

“Yes but these people are not soldiers,” she gestured around. “They are only people who were chosen by some lottery to live. They are artists, waiters, servants, teachers, farmers, and clerks.” Running her fingers through her hair, Vanessa made a frustrated huffing sound. It was not just the predicament she and Calvin were in that was weighing on her. If they were trapped in here, their colleagues were trapped out there with whatever the castle walls were supposed to be protecting everyone from. “I trust the hell out of you but I am scared to death. These people are going to fall apart the second things go ass up.”

Vanessa was no soldier but she was probably right about the outcome of the situation. People panicked easily and when one’s life was on the line, it tended to cause panic. Calvin looked around the space but there was little he could do to stop what was going to happen. He could only mitigate the collateral damage from it.

“True they aren’t but they are easily replaced,” a voice spoke from behind Calvin.

The voice was jarring and startled Calvin but years of being in command prevented any noticeable reaction by Calvin. “And you are?”

“I am the Chamberlain to his majesty the King of Beltran. In an effort to maintain the ongoing negotiations between the Federation and Beltran, he has requested that you follow me to the bunker to ride out this unfortunate situation in safety and comfort. If you will please follow me,” he made a sweeping gesture to a corner of the room where two security officers seemed to be standing as if protecting something.

Vanessa felt the pressure and tension bubbling up inside her. She was not a soldier but not all battles were won with a weapon. Balling up her fist, she hit the Chamberlain with a right hook that snapped his head up and back. “What is wrong with you people? Why do you think we would cower and hide like scared children? Tell the King we will take our chances with the vermin we can see.” Turning to look at Calvin she added, “right?”

Her hand throbbed and she flexed her fingers about partially regretting her decision to clock the man.

Vanessa Slade CNS and GM Kate

Calvin let out a small beath watching his counselor deck the man in front of them. Vanessa often stated she would kick someone in the ass if needed to knock some sense into them however he had always assumed it was a metaphor until now.

marius

“This is your last chance to ensure your survival. We will not come back for you or offer you safety in the vaults below when the Volians breach and they will breach these defenses,” the man gestured around as he rubbed his chin. “You,” he looked at Vanessa, “are no longer invited.”

“We’re Starfleet, if we aren’t all invited, none of us are. And if the communication block would stop, I could save everyone, but you don’t care much about that.”

“I seem to be inclined to take the advice of my counselor and will remain here.” Calvin did not hide the disdain in his voice as he spoke although he managed to maintain his politeness and professional demeanor.

“I suspect you are right and our defense will be breeched, but we wont be overrun. When your bunkers are breeched as well. You will be welcome here,”

It was hard not to be impressed with Calvin. Her CO assumed the mantle of leadership in any situation with confidence and poise that constantly reassured Vanessa. She was scared to death but the ease at which he took command helped some.

Giving Calvin a curt nod, he walked to the side of the room where the two security officers were waiting.

GM Kate

Reaching to his right, Calvin grabbed a napkin and a fist of Ice from a tray that had just recently been carried around by a wait staff. Dropping the ice into the cloth, he twisted the ends together and motioned for Vanessa’s hand.

Vanessa hesitated for a second before extending her hand. She and Calvin had a closer relationship than most senior and junior officers given her role as counselor. They had had several meetings of a more casual nature discussing evaluations of the crew or ways to raise moral over beer and pizza in his ready room. He had taught her several ways of combat that were not in the academy textbooks. Calvin had not acted like a friend before now but only a superior.

Looking at it, Calvin could see the red blotches but other than that her hand looked fine. “Decent punch but you need to catch him under the jaw and not perpendicular to it. If the Beltran bone structure was less dense you might have fractured your hand the way your second and third knuckles caught the rim of his jaw.”

“Well I was so mad I wasn’t really thinking about technique,” she let out a small laugh. “I know I am supposed to be open and accepting but so far we dealt with the Lesscoo that wanted to exterminate the other people on the planet and the Beltran that are exterminating the people on the planet. They don’t cover this in the textbooks during counseling or diplomacy. I feel like a fish out of water. Any advice on what to do now?”

“I hope you shoot well with your left hand. We are going to need all the fire we can put on the line.”

Calvin Marius

Vanessa let out a small chuckle. She liked Calvin’s humor and could see under that tough as nails exterior, Calvin was a wealth of empathy and compassion.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“Sir,” a Beltran officer approached them. “I am not sure how to tell you but,” she hemmed and hawed a bit, “we have a confirmed report that a shuttle was shot down on the way to the science facility. It seems they left the palace after your first team arrived at the science center. We know they went down in a small city halfway between us and them. Your Lieutenant Dean is with them. We can not establish comms with your ship but we might be able to pinpoint his location in the city.”

GM Kate

Calvin gave the man a curt nod and wore a serious expression. He felt a knot in his stomach. The core mantra of the Marines was never leaving a man behind. He had not left anyone behind but not being able to help other officers had the same feeling. “I want a comm line up ninety seconds ago to my ship and your military instillation.” Nothing about his tone indicated he would take no for an answer.

Calvin Marius CO

“Um Sir.. I have already stated that your request is impossible,” the Beltran officer stated in the high pitch sing song-type voice indicative of their race. It made them sound far more condescending than they actually meant.

GM Kate

“Excuse me,” Calvin stated with a mildly stormy expression on his face. This was not his officer, but he was in command, and it had been many years since someone questioned his orders in a combat situation. “Mind repeating what you just said.”

“Um,” Vanessa held up a finger. “See I know you don’t know him like I know him,” she stepped in between the Beltran officer and her CO. It was not that Vanessa thought Calvin was going to deck the guy but dissension among the ranks was not something Marines or Commanding officers tended to take well. This was Vanessa’s first combat situation, and she felt like a fish out of water however, maybe she had just found her niche in this area. Maybe she was meant to translate her boss to those he was giving directions to in a method they would understand.

Calvin watched as his counselor deftly placed herself between him and the Beltran officer. Even with her stilt high shoes, Calvin could easily look over her head with a clear view of the Beltran officer. It was almost comical that Vanessa though her buck twenty five wet physical build would stop him from swiping her aside and yet she still did it.

“But he,” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, “did not ask for your opinion on the situation nor waste his breath on a suggestion.”

Having a clear line of sight to the Beltran officer, Calvin nodded supporting her claim.

“The Captain has stated you need to restore communications so come hell or high water your job,” Vanessa reached over and guided the man to do an about face, “is to get anyone on that line you can. I don’t care if it is your mother, his mother, or your general. Just have another person on the other end of the comm line before you come back…’kay?” Giving the officer a nudge to continue his forward momentum, Vanessa waited until he took a few steps forward before turning to look back at Calvin.

Vanessa Slade CNS

“My mother,” he asked in a tone she would recognize as his dry humor. “Why are you bringing Momma Marius into this situation? Why not call your mother?”

Calvin Marius CO

“Don’t be stupid,” Vanessa pulled her hair up into a pony tail. “My Momma thinks I am on Vulcan. A comm call to her saying I am halfway across the galaxy and not on Vulcan would go over as well as a fart in church.” Looking around the room, Vanessa put her hands on her hips.

“Did you just say fart in church?” He couldn’t decide if he was more annoyed with the don’t be stupid comment, but he deciden to let it pass. The slang she used grabbed his attention far more than it should have. From his experience women would rather explode than admit that they perform that bodily function.

“Okay so maybe we should work on this good cop bad cop routine. I think you need to be a little more open and smiley with your good cop. I mean I am part of this team and I felt like you were steppin’ on my bad cop territory.”

Vanessa Slade CNS

People rarely surprised him. People tended to be predictable and the more you knew them the more predictable they became; however, his counselor tended to pique his curiosity more than not. “Why would anyone ever think you are the bad cop,” he let out a huff of breath that was his form of a chuckle.

Calvin Marius CO