Kreanus (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 21 Dec 2016 @ 3:37am by General ('aj) Ko'raH House of G'Iogh & Commander Medara t'Keras & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Ensign Miraj Derani & Sub-commander S'anara Valdran
Edited on on 21 Dec 2016 @ 3:47am

1,926 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: Kreanus Colony - Deck 18, Processing
Timeline: MD 05 - 1530 hrs

Previously, on Kreanus (Part 1)...

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.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Kreanus Colony

For the Galileo crew, their first steps inside the large subterranean facility were shocking. The large corridor in front of them seemed narrow yet immensely long, and the end was beyond view having been hazed out by the lack of light and abundance of people. The scent of engineering fumes and multi-species sweat permeated their nostrils. Lining every possible section of free space along the side of the corridor were groups of people huddled into small groups. They were of almost every species known to the Federation in the Alpha and Beta quadrants, including Bajorans, Remans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Aenar, Vulcan, Orion, Benzite, Caitian, Romulan, and more. None of them were a threat -- instead, they were groups of families or clusters of old, decrepit-looking individuals. Small fires burned in makeshift canisters to give them lighting and warmth -- some used the flames to cook scraps of meat and heat replicator rations while others simply huddled around them for solace. Small children of varying species could be heard crying and wailing in distress. A dead body occasionally lay in an isolated section with a makeshift piece of fabric thrown over it to give it privacy and some semblance of dignity.

For a Starfleet officer or crewman who had spent their career aboard a pristine starship, what they saw was nothing less than desolation and extreme poverty. Lighting strips had been installed into the corridor in a rudimentary fashion and they flickered constantly. Many of them were offline. The ambient temperature was close to 7 degrees Celsius meaning anyone lacking warm clothes was forced to huddle with others around them for warmth. Those few who had no one to keep them company laid curled in balls in every nook and cranny while the condensation from their breath created small clouds of fog around their heads.

Miraj looked at the scenes around them in utter horror. She'd seen people in dire circumstance, eekeing out survival on a dying starship her father had come to the rescue of. But event hen, those people had only had to endure days, weeks at most. These peopel looked like they'd been here months. And something else hit her. She leaned in close to allyndra and whispered. "Where are the adults? Where are the teenagers?"

"They mentioned prison planet at one point before the altercation thus one can presume that these are those that cannot work. A slave labour camp basically." Allyndra shook her head. "This is against all convention." She had noted that earlier and she still fumed that the Admiral had been wrong not to use unconventional means. It was only out of the deepest respect that she herself had refrained. She made a mental note that if she got back to Akkadia to bring that up with the Council. It was one thing that the Federation was to be praised upon but it was also a weakness that could end up hurting them highly.

Greg, who remained at the Commander's side at all times, turned to her. "You don't really expect them to be following the letter of the law, do you ma'am?" He looked around, "Sometimes I think we are the only ones who ever practice what we preach. I tell you what, though, I'd sell a kidney to get a couple of frigates to rain hell down on this place and get everyone out."

While the captive Federation crew viewed the scene before them, the Klingon guards moved them forward with their steady prodding of verbal threats and physical persuasions. The long line of Galileans was marched down the central corridor for all to see and for many minutes. Old women, young children, and disheveled old men of all races peered at them as they passed. Whispers in every language began to echo across the walls -- it had been a long time since new colonists had been brought to the station.

The marching line came to an abrupt halt when a Romulan commander appeared from one of the side doors. Standing tall with bright green eyes and typical black hair, she folded her arms across her chest and began to speak to the Klingon General. Their conversation was not audible to all, but when their voices began to raise in a heated exchange, some of their talk could be heard.

".....You did what...?

"...You dare question my--"

"..This is the last time you will--"

".....And the crew? They are not you priso--"

"...They are my spoils! Do not quest--"

"Silence!!"

The final words spoken in the exchange had been yelled loudly enough for all in a 20-meter radius to hear. The entire corridor quickly became silent at the Romulan woman's command and eyes snapped to the dirty deck plating beneath their feet.

Dressed in civilian attire and lacking and visible markings of Romulan fleet insignia, the tall woman exuded an aura of control and determination around her. She looked back to Kor'aH, then to his guards, then to the Galileo crew lined up behind them. Slowly, she made eye contact with each of them, officer, enlisted and civilian as she walked down the line. Her features appeared warm but her sparkling eyes betrayed a sense of duty and purpose. In the background, General Kor'aH grunted to make his displeasure known and slowly fidgeted between his feet.

"Which one of you is your vessel's commander?" she asked, her voice level and her features betraying no sign of emotion.

Allyndra waited for a moment and then spoke, "Presumably killed in action." The words were said in almost a cold manner of fact matter as the cold as the air that surrounded them.

The Romulan studied the blue-collared woman, taking note of her rank pips which signified her senior rank. "Unfortunate," she finally said after a short moment of silence. Her gaze then turned to Wiggins who also held the same rank but was outfit in a red-collar command uniform. Finally, she looked down the line of prisoners.

"Come with me," the Romulan said, then began to march down the long corridor even further into the depths of the facility.

The procession walked for close to five minutes until they came to a large door possibly fifteen feet as tall as it was wide. The Romulan woman stopped and input a code into the keypad, then the sound of creaking servos slowly parted the entrance. Inside was a large cargo bay with crates and storage containers piled as high as the ceiling. The cargo containers contained various markings and were of different designs -- some Federation, others Klingon, and some unmarked. The Klingon guards ushered the Galileo crew into the small standing area near the middle before taking up positions surrounding them. The Romulan stepped in front of the group and began to address all of them.

"I welcome all of you to Kreanus," she began. Her features were stoic in the presence of the many new arrivals. "That is the name we have given our world here inside the nebula. I am Commander Medara and I'm sure you have questions... I will try to answer." She gazed across the lines of disheveled Federation personnel.

"Your vessel was not brought here by accident. Well, perhaps it was," she corrected, "but the distress signal you detected was one of our attempts to bring a Federation vessel to our domain," she revealed. "We did not expect a Nova-class of such unimportanance to be the first to respond. Nor did we expect your resistance to our demands. It was not our intention to destroy your starship -- for that, I apologize. General Kor'aH leads our Klingon detachment and can be...crude in his methods. Sometimes for the worse. I regret the loss of life you have suffered but I ask only that you listen to what I have to say in order to understand the sacrifice your crew has made."

The door to the cargo bay swished open again and in stepped another Romulan woman, this one of similar statue to the one speaking and dressed in similar garbs. The new arrival exchanged a quick glance with Medara before swiftly moving to her side to view the Galileo crew.

"Our planet is named Kreanus," Medara continued, "and we are a world of refugees. Our elders came to this place over 80 years ago to escape persecution. In the Paulson Nebula, as you call it, there is enough sensor interference to shield our existence from anyone who might try to harm us. Even the Borg. Our planet is desolate and barren and without its star, but its heart still beats. Beneath the ice, we have spent fifty years creating our colony." Her lithe hand gestured around the large cargo bay to display her pride in what they had built. "We do not have much, but we manage to survive. For the time being." Medara's face suddenly turned cold and full of ice as she continued.

"Here you will you will find Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Maquis, Vulcans, Benzites, and every collection of races. We are all outcasts from our governments...shunned by the very people we pledged our lives and allegiances to," continued Medara. "General Kor'aH is the head of his house who was framed and exiled by the High Council...I, myself, and my friend," she looked toward the other Romulan next to her, "are both former Tal-Shiar. We served the Star Empire with our lives and were the victims of assassination attempts when our views came into conflict with the senate. The Maquis you see here are all that is left of your Federation resistance to the Cardassian occupations. And the Cardassians here are the underground activists who fought against the Dominion during the war -- they were since labeled as 'undesirables' and blamed for the deaths of millions of Cardassian lives because they organized an unauthorized rebellion."

The commander inhaled and her robust chest slowly rose then fell. "We are the shunned. Our homes have abandoned us. Our governments have exiled us and tried to eliminate our existence. We are bonded together because of our plight, because we all share the same experiences. We are all Kreaneans."

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]

CMDR Medara
Kreanus Colony Administrator
[PNPC Saalm]

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