One-shot Prompts: Romulan Star Navy Years

Posted on Thu Jan 19th, 2023 @ 8:59am by Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell

2,446 words; about a 12 minute read

(excerpts from Rayek's Shadowfleet Logs and files that I want to share here)

EPC prompt: boxing

Centurion tr'Lhoell
ChR Hatham
[Romulan Space - 2384]
 
Rayek watched the viewscreen of his tactical console closely and in anticipation. An otherwise boring patrol of the Remus system had suddenly turned interesting when a transport ship unexpectedly failed to respond appropriately to the Hatham's request for their transport authorization code. The resultant cat and mouse chase across the system had led to this moment. The Hatham's Riov (or Commander) had called in for reinforcements and the 3 other Imperial ships had just arrived at predetermined coordinates. With this boxing maneuver there was nowhere for the transport ship to go. Their prey was caught.
 
"Riov, the transport ship is powering up weapons." Rayek announced.
 
The Hatham's commander grinned. "Ie'yyak'hnah!"
 
 
Rihannsu translations:
Hatham - Predator
Ie'yyak'hnah - Fire phasers





Prompts: Phaser compression rifle, HALO insertion, spatial charge, defending against a bat'leth unarmed, Klingon boarders, antimatter explosion.


Centurion Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Romulan Bird of Prey - Aehallh]
[2385 - along the Romulan/Klingon border]

Rayek stood at attention with a phaser compression rifle held At Arms, slightly ahead and apart from the 10 military troopers, as the Aehallh's Commander and the visiting Romulan Ground Forces (RGF) Sergeant addressed the assembled ranks.

"Troopers," the Sergeant began, "in this one-of-a-kind co-operative training mission. You will be conducting a night-time nvaih-mn-rahaen. At 2200 you will take a shuttle down towards the planet and will enter high orbit, opening the shuttle's bay doors and force field at the back of the vessel, from which you will jump. You will deploy your chutes between 1000 and 800 meters. Your landing target location is the roof of the Klingon outpost." It was a credit to the troopers that there was not a murmur of dissent. 

Rayek recognized the type of military tactic the troopers and he would be using. He had read about in his study of Terran military history. It was a HALO insertion. High Altitude - Low Opening. This mission was not going to be easy - he realized that now.

For a moment Rayek almost regretted the boastful comment he had uttered to the troopers in earshot of his Riov. That comment had earned Rayek this reward - an invitation to join the troopers he had disparaged in their training exercise. Well, he would take his punishment in stride and prove himself better than the troopers, proving true his earlier words.

Almost as if Rayek's thoughts called attention to him, the Riov stepped forward to address the still at attention Naval officer.

"Centurion tr'Lhoell, you thought unwisely to boast and comment poorly about this co-operative mission; therefore you are joining it; however whereas the troopers will have their phaser rifles, you will go unarmed. Your sole mission will be to blow the communications tower. Hand over your rifle, Centurion." 

Rayek presented and handed over his rifle.

"Grab your gear and suit up. Ursteveri!" the Sergeant called out.

~ ~ ~

Fifteen minutes later, Rayek and the RGF troopers were gathered in the back of the Aehalh's shuttle, suited up with standard military parachutes and visored helmets, waiting for the order to jump. Whereas the troopers each carried a phaser compression rifle, Rayek's only equipment were his earpiece communicator and a low-yield spatial charge.

"As a reminder you are going in dark and silent which means no lights and no radio chatter. Get ready. Approaching target altitude and drop-point. Drop is in 2 minutes," the Sargeant called out from the shuttle's pilot's chair. Rayek stood up along with the rest of the troopers. Holding onto the rigging line that had been set up. Between Rayek and the cockpit of the shuttle a forcefield shimmered into existence, moments before the shuttle's bay door opened. 

Rayek felt the air from the shuttle rush out and he was grateful that the improvised rigging held. 

"Shuttle is at target altitude. Drop-point is in 10 seconds..... 3...2... 1. Go!"
With the command given, the troopers filed out one after the other, jumping out into the black abyss with no hesitation. Rayek, not to be outdone, followed suit and was the last to exit the shuttle.

Even though this was his first ever HALO jump, given the drop altitude, and the planet's gravity, Rayek knew he had 65 seconds of freefall before he needed to deploy his chute to meet military standard. The feel of the air rushing against him was a rather exhilarating experience - yet not one Rayek thought he would ever entertain the notion of doing again - at least not outside of direct orders. Rayek instinctively spread out his arms and legs to slow his fall but soon noticed that the troopers ahead of him that he could see in the darkness the night sky, had gone into plank position to lessen their wind resistance and were gaining distance between him.

Rayek tried adjusting his falling position to catch up. It took a moment, and a near dizzying tumble, for Rayek to realize his movements needed to be careful and precise. Trying again, he moved into a plank position angling so that his head faced down, with arms flat at his side and angled his descent slightly so that he cut through the wind at the easiest possible angle. Within 10 seconds he had caught up to others. Correcting his angle again he slowed somewhat, enough to just keep pace with the troopers. The view down to the planet was remarkable. A vast blackness interlaced with faint streams and spots of light where civilization spread.

As he fell, Rayek kept track of his altitude gauge in his visor. Approaching 2000m. Also displayed on his visor screen was a green-lit target letting him know he was aimed true for the drop zone.

As he approached the 1000m mark, Rayek noticed the trooper furthest from him open up into the star position just prior to opening his chute. One by one ahead of him all the troopers, opened their chutes in that same manner; then Rayek hit the 1000m mark - it was his turn. Rayek opened up his body to form the star once more, while a hand reached for the pull-tab on his parachute. Nothing happened.

Rayek pulled again... harder this time. Still nothing. 

Rayek's first suspicion was that one of the troopers had tampered with his chute, for insulting them and this training mission. His second was that it might have been his Riov, getting back at the mouthy Centurion who had acted out and poorly represented his crew. Not for a moment did Rayek think it was just happenstance.

His altitude was now nearing 800m, and he'd dropped past the others in freefall. Fear begun to settle in the pit of his stomach. Rayek moved his hand to the secondary chute and pulled on it's release, praying that who ever it was that had tampered with his chute, had only wanted to scare him. 

...

Rayek's downward freefall was slowed jarringly as his secondary chute opened catching the air. 'Thank the Elements!' 

But if Rayek thought his problems were over he was wrong, for as he drifted down, using the parachutes steering line to keep on target with the outpost roof, he noticed movement on the ground around the building - Klingons.

With any luck, they wouldn't notice him drifting down - but luck was not on Rayek's side. The movements below suddenly became agitated and Rayek found himself being shot at by orange-red beams from the ground. The colour implied that the Klingon's were using phasers - not their usual green-beamed disruptors, likely a condition insisted upon by his Romulan superiors who had agreed to this co-operative training mission.

Romulans versus Klingons in a 'friendly' bout. Of course, Rayek could see NOTHING going wrong with this scenario. If only he hadn't commented on it and insulted the intelligence of the troopers - he wouldn't been here right now being shot at.

With no weapon of his own to return fire with, Rayek was a sitting hlai. Then suddenly the Klingons had their hands full being on the receiving end of the troopers phaser fire. Orange beams criss-crossed through the night sky.

It took a moment to realize that despite his earlier insults the troopers were targeting first those Klingons aiming for Rayek, and he wondered why until he caught sight of the communications tower atop the outpost building. Of course, he was the one with the spatial charge - the one designated to blow the tower. To them the mission came first, so they would protect him before themselves. His respect for these ground force troopers went up a notch or two.

As Rayek continued to make his way down lower - now maybe 50-60 ft from the roof, he saw a Klingon climb out of a ceiling hatch and take aim on him. Rayek knew by the angle that this Klingon would be hidden from the troopers by his own chute. His only chance to avoid getting hit with a direct shot was to change course and speed dramatically. 

Fvadt! Rayek reached up and pulled on the harness release. It let go with a snap and Rayek suddenly dropped faster and straight down even as the phaser cut through the air where he had been but a moment ago. He fell the last 50 ft to the roof landing in a painful and awkward tumble 30 ft from the Klingon. 

Wincing, Rayek got to his feet quickly, looking about the roof, assessing his options. 

The Klingon once more had his phaser aimed towards Rayek, There was little to offer as cover on the flat empty roof... and the Klingon stood between him and the communications tower. But at the Klingon's back was a bat'leth.

"Klingon warrior, face me in hand-to-hand combat with your bat'leth. Give your opponent a fighting chance." Rayek called out in his poorly accented Klingon. Rayek knew he would have a better chance of disarming the Klingon in a close-combat situation over one where the Klingon had a long-distance phaser and he nothing.

The Klingon laughed a moment but lowered his phaser. "As you wish Romulan, you face Keng son of Toreng of the House Koan." The Klingon then reached back and unhooked his bat'leth and readied himself for melee combat. "Name yourself Romulan so I can boast my victory over you."

A stupid waste of time to name yourself to an opponent who you were intending to defeat but the longer he distracted the Klingon, the greater the chance his fellow Romulan troopers would save him the trouble of having to battle Keng by phasering the Klingon down before the battle began.

"I am Rayek son of Talen of the clan Lhoell." As he answered, he glanced about the surroundings once more and was discouraged to see that of the 10 troopers only two looked like they had avoided being stunned, and were on course to land on the roof somewhere behind him. Rayek would need to keep the Klingon occupied and focused on him for at least 10 to 15 seconds to allow them time to land.

The Klingon grunted and nodded his head before charging forward. Rayek readied himself to dodge. Thankfully, given the weight of his opponents weapon and Keng's overconfidence in using it, the Klingon's movements were easily read by Rayek and the more nimble Romulan was able to avoid being struck in that first attack. As Rayek slipped aside and behind the taller Klingon, he struck with his hand, a sharp blow to the Klingon's side; more to infuriate and distract the Klingon, than to do actual damage.

"You must be glad I am unarmed, Klingon," Rayek taunted purposefully not using the Klingon's offered up name, "that strike could have taken out your spleen had I a weapon in hand." Klingon's were notoriously reckless and unthinking when enraged and that's what Rayek wanted. He wanted Keng's full attention on him, so that the troopers who were just now touching down on the roof behind the Klingon could have a clear and assured shot.

With a roar the Klingon, swung his bat'leth low possibly looking to sweep Rayek's legs but Rayek jumped back out of range of the bat'leth strike. He kept that up against two more attacks before, the Klingon was suddenly struck and suffused in an orange beam from one of the two remaining troopers. Keng dropped his weapon as he lost consciousness and collapsed on the rooftop. The Klingon might claim the interference was unfair, dishonorable even... but to Rayek and the two other Romulans that remained what mattered was the mission.

Rayek nodded his head towards the trooper in acknowledgement of the aid, then turned towards the communications tower to set the spatial charge and complete the training mission.

Rayek set the charge with a one-minute timer and hurried to the other end of the roof, pulling the unconscious Keng with him. The explosion took out the tower.

An answering antimatter explosion lit up the night sky briefly.

'By the Elements! What was going on?' A quick glance to the troopers assured him they too had no idea what was going on.

Rayek broke radio silence tapping his earpiece communicator. "Centurion Rayek to the Aehallh. Training mission complete. What's going on up there? We saw an explosion."

There was a long moment of silence before his call was answered. "Aehallh to Centurion Rayek the training mission appears to be a Klingon ploy. Klingon boarders have infiltrated the ship and taken out the engines. Hold a moment for orders." 

Rayek scowled, he hated to be right about his distrust of the Klingons. Rayek crouched low on the roof and motioned for the two troopers to do the same and stay alert. After what seemed like a long wait, the communications officer opened the channel once more.

"Aehallh to Centurion Rayek. Your orders are to take command of the remaining RGF troops and gain control over the outpost's defensive cannons. Lethal force is NOT to be taken. Subdue the enemy. Repeat: Subdue the enemy. Aehallh out."

Rayek was both relieved and annoyed to hear his orders. Relieved because if lethal force was not being called for it meant that this was still just part of the training exercise and annoyed that he was still having to take part in it. Next time he would be more careful of speaking out of line.


End Scene








Translations:
aehallh - ghost/ nightmare/ monster (n)
riov - Romulan Star Navy rank - Commander
nvaih-mn-rahaen (player created) Jump from high' (n). Refers to a HALO jump.
ursteveri - dismissed (adj)
hlai - flightless and edible, ostrich-like bird
fvadt - Romulan curse word
bat'leth - Klingon bladed weapon

 

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