Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in House Duroc Embassy- Righting the Wrongs

Posted by Civilian Urg’tohn, Son of the House of Duroc (Klingon Warrior) in House Duroc Embassy- Righting the Wrongs

Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in House Duroc Embassy- Righting the Wrongs
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Eela had Cort contact Lord Duroc’s office and request an urgent meeting with Duroc and Luis Vargas. It felt like it was a long time coming, even though the response she had received was relatively speedy for such a complicated situation over such vast distances.

The response they received was curt and short. It was simply a time.

At the appointed time, Eela was driven over to the embassy and she stepped out feeling vastly different than she had the first time. This time she was not putting out a fire and feeling like she was walking into a battle. This time she had fought a very different kind of battle elsewhere and had lived to tell the tale. Her armour was off too. As she walked up to the open front gates, this time she was still dressed in formal work wear, but of a less structured kind: wide legged black trousers and a floral blouse in vibrant greens, teals and pinks on a black background. Her long dark hair was loose.

Approaching one of the guards, she gave a respectful bow of her head. “Lord Duroc should be expecting me,” she said simply, adjusting her usual black leather work bag on her shoulder.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov

The guards, two large Klingons, nodded once in acknowledgement and they tapped their comms and barked something into the device. Soon, a pair of guards came walking forward, a Klingon and a human. The Klingon said “Welcome, Lieutenant Governor. House Duroc is honored by your presence. Please, follow us. Lord Duroc is waiting for you.”

There was an efficiency to the whole proceedings that Eela appreciated and anticipation crawled over her skin knowing all that she knew about the situation.

They led her inside and down the dark and foreboding hall to the door Dasca k ew led to Lord Duroc’s office. As they approached the door, Luis Vargas approached from the opposite direction. He stopped short and said “Captain Dasca.” with a salute of his fist over his heart.

“Mr. Vargas,” she said with a bow of her head, quite intentional with her civilian address. She was equally intentional about keeping her entire demeanour neutral.

The door opened and an agitated Lord Duroc stepped out, glared at both of them, and then grunted and motioned them to follow him back inside.

Once everyone was in, the door shut and Urg sat down. “Sit, both of you. Captain, what news do you have?” he asked.

Lord Duroc

Dasca took a seat, letting her workbag slip off her shoulder into her lap and she reached in to pull out two padds before setting the bag to hang off the corner of her chair. For a moment she gazed intently at Urg’ton, her hazel eyes lighting up. “Lord Duroc, I do believe you owe me a drink or three,” she said, her lips curling upwards.

She shifted her attention to Vagas and her gaze was pensive. “Luis, I want you to know, one officer to another, that what happened to you is a stain on all of Starfleet, not just to those that were involved. It should never have happened and should never have gotten as far as it did. You deserved better. I’m not foolish enough to try to convince you to stay. I can see you are happier here and I do believe that despite the terrible things that have happened to you, you will do wonderful things in your life.” It was her intuition and not just a bunch of fluffy words. She handed the first padd to Luis. It was an official revocation of the charges against Lieutenant Luis Vargas and also confirmation of an Honourable Discharge, backdated and effective the day he set foot on Oed V. The order was notably in Eela’s name, though it had been confirmed by Starfleet Command.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Vargas looked stunned momentarily. He held the PaDD in his hand and just stared at Eela for a long moment before looking down and reading the missive. As he did, it seemed like an enormous weight was lifted off of him as he simultaneously let go of a breath he had been holding since… as long as he could remember. He looked up at Eela and said “Captain, I… I just-… I’m sorry. I have no words.” Urg looked at Dasca and said “So tell me… if Vargas wanted to return to Star Fleet, could he?” Vargas started to speak but Urg held up a hand without looking at him. “Returning his dignity is one thing, but those officers took his life. He deserves it back. So? If he wants Can? Can he be a Star Fleet officer again or not?”

Urg, Lord Duroc

She gave a subtle nod to Urg and focused her attention back on Luis, moved by his own emotions. “Luis, if you wanted to still be a Starfleet officer, we would be honoured to have you. I would be honoured to have you. And I know Captain McBride can use more people here on Oed that actually understand the colony. We can make however you want to move forward work, whether it’s here or not.”

Luis looked at her and his eyes rimmed with tears that he quickly stifled with a look at Lord Duroc. For his part, Urg looked at Luis and nodded in understanding.

Dasca drew in a breath. “Which leads me to the rest of my news, which I’m sure you’re both curious about,” she said as she handed Lord Duroc the second padd which contained the whole official report of her investigation for the embassy to keep on file as proof that the affront presented by Ans’lik was taken very seriously. But she focused her attention on Vargas.

Urg snatched the PaDD and began reading. Anyone who was careful to note such things would see that he read incredibly quickly.

“After our discussions here, I returned to my office and began an investigation.” She blew out a breath. “By the end I had to resist the temptation to come back here and borrow a bat’leth,” she said, entirely seriously. “Long story short, I uncovered a long history of nepotism, negligence and cover-ups. I have given a sworn statement to the Judge Advocate General’s office and we have a key witness that can verify the large chunk of evidence I’ve turned over as they were the ones who gave me somewhere to start. And I just heard back from the JAG office that they are proceeding with arrest warrants for the following individuals with the following charges: Lt. Commander Ans’lik for Conspiracy, Conduct Unbecoming, Noncompliance with Procedural Rules and Misallocation of Resources. Lt. Commander Balindre Hdla-C’thol for Conspiracy, Cruelty and Maltreatment, Falsifying records, Conduct Unbecoming, Noncompliance with Procedural Rules, Communicating Threats and Misallocation of Resources. Commander Gren C’thol for Conspiracy, Cruelty and maltreatment, Falsifying records, Conduct Unbecoming, Noncompliance with Procedural Rules and Misallocation of Resources. Lt. Commander Jackson Hyde for Conspiracy, Falsifying records, Conduct Unbecoming and Misallocation of Resources. Those are the principal parties but this did not end with them. Everything that happened was facilitated by Admiral Durellian Q’inn who is being charged as an Accessory to Conspiracy along with Conduct Unbecoming and Misallocation of Resources.”

Luis stared wide-eyes at Eela and then cast a look at Urg. The massive Klingon grinned and said “Star Fleet may not care about deciding a criminals fate with a blade; but I can assure you that their bureaucracy can cut just as deep.” and he chuckled.

Eela barely paused before she continued. “You should also know that Commander C’thol and Lieutenant Commander Hdla-C’thol were due to go on a deep space mission lasting at least two years with the USS DeepBlue and that mission has been delayed until proceedings begin and they can find a new First Officer and Chief Engineer. As for Counsellor Papadimitiou, he actually got into notable trouble and already was given a Dishonorable Discharge and lost his license. There was a question about Captain Bertrand, and though he probably should be struck with negligence, he has since retired, and I think the public knowledge that so many of the senior staff under his command turned out to be criminally terrible officers might just be enough and it follow him. But in any case, the JAG office feels they are better to stick with the larger cases they can effectively prosecute.”

Luis nodded and said “At least they will pay and it will be known what they did.”

She blew out a breath. “It’s not over, Luis. I did what I could but it’s out of my hands now. I have no powers of precognition and we have no idea how these court martials will go. I cannot guarantee justice beyond the fact that their crimes are about to be aired very, very publicly and there will be few in Starfleet that don’t know about their actions.” Dasca offered him a smile. “But for you? It’s done. The JAG office may ask you to testify, or at least give a sworn statement to be read in court, and I hope you’ll do so, but know that this will not happen to anyone else. They will not bully or terrorize anyone again. That I can guarantee. And Admiral Q’inn might have some very powerful friends in Starfleet who I’ve probably now made enemies of, but”-she leaned in towards him-“but I’m notoriously hard to kill,” she said, her eyes alight with amusement. She said all this knowing all too well the very big and bright target she had painted on her back. But in Eela’s mind it was worth the risk a thousand times over.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Urg grinned a very malicious grin. “You have aided one of my house, Captain. Returned their public honor. If anyone tries to harm you, they have to go through House Duroc first.” Vargas looked at Eela and said “I have lived in this House, and I have learned what honor and family is. You have helped me, so I am honor-bound to help you. I will testify. I will look them in the eye and tell the galaxy the kind of people they are. And I will spit in their faces should the opportunity arise.” He looked at Urg. “My Lord, I would like to leave House Duroc and return to Star Fleet. It has always been my dream.”

Urg looked at Luis and shook his head. “No. No one ever leaves House Duroc.” Luis looked momentarily confused, but Urg said “You will always be a Son of House Duroc. No matter where you go or who you work for. Bring honor to you and our House, Luis Vargas. Show the Federation what a Son of Duroc really is.” He stood up and went to a large stone and wood cabinet on the side of the room. He opened it and pulled out a red and black metal baldric with a large gold seal of House Duroc on it. “Stand up, Vargas.” Luis stood and Urg set the baldric over his right shoulder. He looked at Eela and said “This will be worn by him while in uniform. I trust you can make that happen.” Luis seemed to grow several inches taller and he looked Urg in the eyes. “Thank you, my Lord. I will never bring harm to your- … our… House.” Urg set a hand on his shoulder and said “Of course you won’t.” Urg then looked at Dasca and said “He needs to pack. Do you need him for anything else?”

Urg, Lord Duroc