The Triangle X-Post (Second Star)

Posted on Sat 19th Apr, 2025 @ 2:30pm by Commander Entaaro Nasz & Captain Gordon Francis & Commander Heriah Rex

1,524 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: From The Ashes
Location: SB109 Docking Ring

Relevant cross post from Second Star SIM: https://secondstar.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/151

If you wanna read another one,
https://secondstar.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/150 is a link to the characters in action, our first post back!


-Start-

Quinton monitored their engine output closely, as much weight as was being pulled could by their engines had been nearly doubled. Three Cargo ships, all of them near to ruin by the Second Sons raiding in the area were following one behind the other. A linked hands array four ships long pumping at Warp 2.3 finally hit proximity to their home stretch. He switched the console view on his chairs armrest to open comms.

"Attention Second Star crew, we are finally in the safe zone and that breath your holding can be released. We are engines hot so keep status as is, we will all enjoy a nice shore leave at the Starbase. We saved a lot of lives out there, your hard work will rewarded, commendations for all. Make plans for the next week, I plan to get comfortable and let them repaint the hull, toss in some air fresheners, degrout the bathroom tiles... Next cruise may not be to Risa but if I can get us a holodeck I'm gonna do it. No promises. Definitely booze though. Good work, see you all on station soon."

Kas smirked at him, her antennae had a droop to them, her exhaustion was evident. Quinton imagined home life was still a burden on top of this recent Speight of raids and rescues.

"Kas, I promise i will not miss you if you take a week."

Her wry countenance was always a welcome indicator of her spirit, "Feelings mutual my good man."

He flipped comms to Short band, "Raising Starbase 109, This is MX Second Star. We are inbound with three Disabled vessels, left in the cold by pirate raids. We are bringing them in, please respond."

{SB109- OPS}

Entaaro flagged it immediately, he listened to all of the chatter at once and made the triage choices all day. He sent this to Commander Rex on duty.

"Sir, incoming signal, relayed to your station... shall I alert the captain?"

"Yes," she said immediately. Heriah moved to the sandtable in the middle of Ops and brought up the message there while also bring up telemetry and a star chart illustrating their location and trajectory. "The Captain will certainly want to know this." She looked more closely at the complement of ships, zoomed in on their current location. "Are these all Starfleet transponders we are picking up?"

Entaaro nodded, "These are secured shipments to Starfleet outposts, resupplies urgently needed. These pirates have lost their fear, they left the freighters intact and crew alive, possibly to reduce our response, but these are Starfleet vessels and crew."

"Nice of these pirates to leave survivors," she said.

'More like the pirates want to create a humanitarian crisis and draw you out so they can try to kill you. No one on those ships must be worth killing.'

"Alert the captain please Entaaro," Heriah said. To comms, "open a channel." She stood straight and spoke as the comms officer gave her a thumb-up, "MX Second Star, this is Commander Heriah Rex, Starbase 109 responding. To whom am I speaking?"

The Ready Room doors swished opened and Francis strode out in time to hear Rex's greeting.

"Commander," the Captain said, voice level but not without tension. "May I remind you that while I'm in my Ready Room I am still the commanding officer and therefore the one to respond to any hail to this station?"

Heriah stiffened. "Sorry sir. I..."

'Forgot he was in his Ready Room. Or did I make you forget.'

"...it won't happen again, sir," Heriah finished.

Francis turned to the Tactical station. "Mr. Nasz, has the Second Star received the Commander's hail?"

"Aye sir, Captain Quinton Beck is on the comms."

"Fantastic," the Captain replied. "Captain Beck, this is Captain Gordon Francis, Starbase 109, what brings you to our end of the forest?"

The viewscreen populated with a friendly avuncular face, Quinton Beck could be mean like anyone could be, but he looked just so approachable and friendly. It also helped he was actually a nice person, and could be trusted to do the right thing by reputation.

"Thank you Captain, Starfleet called us to action two days ago, some pirate "Kr'torg" hit five convoys in two days, but oddly left these ships and crew intact, some of them have been without power for four days, we have their crews safely on board. You all are the closest Starfleet base by far, so that's why we are here. I'll forward the orders."

"I'll have crews standing by to receive," Francis responded, nodding to Rex. "Commander Rex will be there to greet you and bring you upstairs. Shall I alert Medical as well?"

"We stabilized the critical cases, but there are quite a few injured."

His second officer, an Andorian Zhen supplied an answer, "Twelve dead, thirty one injured."

"I will alert medical and have a team arrive as I do," Heriah said. She looked to Frank and added, "Sir," with a nod. She did not want to accidentally overstep any bounds again and wanted to make sure Frank had nothing further for her here.

Captain Francis gave her a nod, reminding himself to go a bit easier on her. This Rex was not the Rex from the Academy thirty years ago. While Heriah had retained some aspects of Garan Rex, she was much more responsible and way more careful in her duties. Give her a break, Frank, he thought to himself. She's doing the best she can.

{External close-orbit}

As the stately cargo liner drifted into orbit of the Starbase, depositing the starships in a row like a harvester dropping seeds. If there is one thing which draws the eye of the onlooker its a well designed starship. The Excelsior class, refit from the old days to serve in a modern war, sent to its grave early, and snatched from hades by smugglers unknown. Their home, remade and rebuilt, claimed from the grip of Starfleet and the mother to an entire merchant fleet was the Second Star. In her full colors of Alabaster and Jade, with maroon highlights and a bright yellow glow to her nacelles, the resplendent lady lived up to her name.

Entaaro spoke with Judah, their comms officer and pilot, "Excellent, you've completed the dropoff, handing flight monitors over. Shall we prepare a dock for you as well?"

A voice unmistakable from any other as a natural one spoke plainly, "Acknowledged, handoff complete. We'd gladly take you on your offer, got lots of eager crew ready to stretch their legs."

Then Captain Beck came over the comms, "Captain Francis, if you can meet with us soon? We have to discuss ah, well its wrong to call it an invoice, but our charter outlines for repair in these situations. We aren't looking to make a dime, but a straightforward conversation might resolve everything neatly up front?"

"Sounds fine to me," Francis said. "Come aboard and we'll talk."

(this conversation is relevant to this post https://secondstar.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/151 )

On the Second Star Bridge Quinton was happy to have it go so smoothly until the Conference Lounge doors opened. Fala Gaz emerged from her wardroom, hastily tossing on a simple shift and dropping it over her shoulders only after several steps onto the bridge. The crew had become accustomed to it, they were lucky she was often cold.

"Quinton! I am going to handle the negotiations-"

He knew it, had already prepared for her to try and seize the reins, "Na-ahh, Captains chat first, you get the CO in Ops."

Fala didnt stop walking trying to get to the turbolift first but her lil old Ferengi legs scampered at their best, "CO in ops won't get me a replicator Quinton! Hold the door Judah!"

Nobody up this point had ever seen a door hesitate as Judah genuinely didnt know what to do.

Quinton helped, "Judah in this exact space you are a turbolift! Be a turbolift!"

Before the door stopped, Fala got her hands on them and forced them open in a show of great strength to Quintons stunned surprise. He stopped her with a "Shhh!" And more from the reaction to such audacity than anything else she hushed.

He was fast, "I'm going."

Fala grit her teeth forcing her way into the Elevator, "So am I."

They elbowed one another in the car for a moment before settling into a stunned silence. As the turbolifts took a little longer the ride became unbearably silent.

He quipped, "I can shoot you, I have a phaser."

Fala didn't look, just stared blankly ahead as she retorted with, "I distribute your payroll."

Another silence and Quinton replied, "I can ask Starfleet to shoot you."

She didnt budge an inch stepping right back, "They'd better adjust their sights down then."

He laughed, ceding the unannounced contest of wills.

TBC...

 

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