That counts, but as a negative.
Division
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
I was looking forward to the giant evil murder centipedes (now with cybernetics!) making a debut on the galactic stage...
*sighs*
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
I feel like that is a reference to something, but I can't figure out what...
40
I dropped out of warp, running a scan of a small floating object. A primitive space probe had reached the outer edge of the system.
No energy signatures.
Ah, there we go. Its radiothermal powercell is below its usable efficiency. That explains why it ran out of power.
The system itself was a medium-sized one. One G2-class star, six planets. The two outer ones were a pair of large gas giants. The radio signals were coming from the second planet, an Earth-sized world with two small moons.
It was also buzzing with radio signals, heat sources and satellites.
"Want me to bring it on board, Captain?" I asked with a happy grin, leaning back in my chair on the bridge. "It's unpowered, nobody would notice. I can simply not reintegrate the radioactive components."
Hannah shook her head. "Let's leave it for now. It's part of their history, they might wish to recover it at some future point. How is the universal translator doing on their language?"
I shrugged one shoulder. "Estimate, about forty percent done of some of their languages." I said and formed a hologram in the middle of the bridge to show a humanoid species. "Their species is called the Teloid. They call their world Merage. It mean 'Origin' in their language."
The turbolift opened and Hriss entered the bridge. "Captain." she greeted her with a smile. "Exciting, is it not?" she asked as she approached and I formed a holographic chair on the other side of the Captain to let my friend sit down.
"Discovering an undiscovered intelligent species? Oh yeah." Hannah agreed with a smile of her own. "Rommie, bring us in closer. Standard orbit. Stay clear of any satellites."
I almost rolled my eyes.
Please, like they were difficult to avoid.
When we get back in range of a subspace relay, I'm giving Ajan a call. He is going to be so jealous that he wasn't here for this.
I glanced across at Hriss. Maybe I could ask for some advice about Caitians too. I mean, he has three Caitian wives, he has to be doing SOMETHING right.
Pushing that thought to the side, I focused on scanning the planet as I slowly moved closer. Hriss hasn't shown any romantic interest in me or any other female anyway, and it's not like she is a difficult-to-read Vulcan.
Oh well. Even if she wasn't interested, she was turning into a great friend. Like when we were rock climbing.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Am doing this right?" I asked with a grin, looking down at Hriss, hanging from a pair of fingers dug into a crack in an overhang.
Hriss was clinging to the rockside beneath, carefully finding the next hand hold, the ground more than twenty meters beneath us.
She shot a look at me. "You could at least pretend this was difficult." she panted, finding a steady foothold to rest against the rock side.
"It is. You are better at this than I am." I said with a smile. "My avatar is just a lot stronger. The better strength just lets me cheat a bit."
"Well, go down to human levels. It's not fun if it's too easy."
Rolling my eyes with a grin, I canceled the hologram before forming it again further down the wall just beneath her, this time using settings more in line with a natural human with my build.
"Eeep!" I squeaked and clung to the rock wall, digging my fingers into a crack, struggling to keep my foothold.
Hriss risked a glance down at me. "Much more fun?"
"...Yes... fun." I groaned and looked around for the next handhold.
"You know, we could do something else if you don't like it." Hriss said, looking down at me, her tail helping her keep her balance on the narrow ledge.
"No, I want to learn this."
"Okay, feel a little to the left by your right hand. There is a small ridge there, use that to-"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Standard orbit achieved." I reported and crossed my arms as I leaned back in the chair, scanning the planet below as I brought a up hologram of it in the middle of the bridge.
M class planet, 1.01G, 22% Oxygen atmosphere. 41% of the planet was land and, while there was a minor continent to the west and some islands, most of the land was part of a pair of large continents taking up the north and south, separated by a sea at the equator, about as wide as the Atlantic back on Earth.
"Captain, I have finished decoding the signals, and I am receiving quite a few signals similar to those used for TV back on Earth. While they are in black and white with no color spectrum, I also have direct view down to several cities on the surface. Shall I display a model of one of the locals?"
Hannah nodded. "Let's see what we have there, Rommie."
I shut down the hologram of the planet, replacing it with a local. The species itself was very humanoid, looking somewhat similar to humans and trills. Their ears were a bit larger and their noses smaller, but they looked very human even if they had one more finger on each hand.
Not that that was very rare. Trills on the outside basically looked like humans with spots along their sides. Betazoids were completely human looking. Seemed like it was a common case of convergent evolution. Assuming that some super race had not actually fiddled with the primordial soup sometime in the past that is.
Hriss smiled happily as she got up and walked around him. "Rommie, what more do we know about these people?"
"More and more every second." I answered as I scoured the radiowaves, scanning the surface.
Hmm.
There was an awful lot of submarines and ships in that ocean.
AN// Big piles of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
No energy signatures.
Ah, there we go. Its radiothermal powercell is below its usable efficiency. That explains why it ran out of power.
The system itself was a medium-sized one. One G2-class star, six planets. The two outer ones were a pair of large gas giants. The radio signals were coming from the second planet, an Earth-sized world with two small moons.
It was also buzzing with radio signals, heat sources and satellites.
"Want me to bring it on board, Captain?" I asked with a happy grin, leaning back in my chair on the bridge. "It's unpowered, nobody would notice. I can simply not reintegrate the radioactive components."
Hannah shook her head. "Let's leave it for now. It's part of their history, they might wish to recover it at some future point. How is the universal translator doing on their language?"
I shrugged one shoulder. "Estimate, about forty percent done of some of their languages." I said and formed a hologram in the middle of the bridge to show a humanoid species. "Their species is called the Teloid. They call their world Merage. It mean 'Origin' in their language."
The turbolift opened and Hriss entered the bridge. "Captain." she greeted her with a smile. "Exciting, is it not?" she asked as she approached and I formed a holographic chair on the other side of the Captain to let my friend sit down.
"Discovering an undiscovered intelligent species? Oh yeah." Hannah agreed with a smile of her own. "Rommie, bring us in closer. Standard orbit. Stay clear of any satellites."
I almost rolled my eyes.
Please, like they were difficult to avoid.
When we get back in range of a subspace relay, I'm giving Ajan a call. He is going to be so jealous that he wasn't here for this.
I glanced across at Hriss. Maybe I could ask for some advice about Caitians too. I mean, he has three Caitian wives, he has to be doing SOMETHING right.
Pushing that thought to the side, I focused on scanning the planet as I slowly moved closer. Hriss hasn't shown any romantic interest in me or any other female anyway, and it's not like she is a difficult-to-read Vulcan.
Oh well. Even if she wasn't interested, she was turning into a great friend. Like when we were rock climbing.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Am doing this right?" I asked with a grin, looking down at Hriss, hanging from a pair of fingers dug into a crack in an overhang.
Hriss was clinging to the rockside beneath, carefully finding the next hand hold, the ground more than twenty meters beneath us.
She shot a look at me. "You could at least pretend this was difficult." she panted, finding a steady foothold to rest against the rock side.
"It is. You are better at this than I am." I said with a smile. "My avatar is just a lot stronger. The better strength just lets me cheat a bit."
"Well, go down to human levels. It's not fun if it's too easy."
Rolling my eyes with a grin, I canceled the hologram before forming it again further down the wall just beneath her, this time using settings more in line with a natural human with my build.
"Eeep!" I squeaked and clung to the rock wall, digging my fingers into a crack, struggling to keep my foothold.
Hriss risked a glance down at me. "Much more fun?"
"...Yes... fun." I groaned and looked around for the next handhold.
"You know, we could do something else if you don't like it." Hriss said, looking down at me, her tail helping her keep her balance on the narrow ledge.
"No, I want to learn this."
"Okay, feel a little to the left by your right hand. There is a small ridge there, use that to-"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Standard orbit achieved." I reported and crossed my arms as I leaned back in the chair, scanning the planet below as I brought a up hologram of it in the middle of the bridge.
M class planet, 1.01G, 22% Oxygen atmosphere. 41% of the planet was land and, while there was a minor continent to the west and some islands, most of the land was part of a pair of large continents taking up the north and south, separated by a sea at the equator, about as wide as the Atlantic back on Earth.
"Captain, I have finished decoding the signals, and I am receiving quite a few signals similar to those used for TV back on Earth. While they are in black and white with no color spectrum, I also have direct view down to several cities on the surface. Shall I display a model of one of the locals?"
Hannah nodded. "Let's see what we have there, Rommie."
I shut down the hologram of the planet, replacing it with a local. The species itself was very humanoid, looking somewhat similar to humans and trills. Their ears were a bit larger and their noses smaller, but they looked very human even if they had one more finger on each hand.
Not that that was very rare. Trills on the outside basically looked like humans with spots along their sides. Betazoids were completely human looking. Seemed like it was a common case of convergent evolution. Assuming that some super race had not actually fiddled with the primordial soup sometime in the past that is.
Hriss smiled happily as she got up and walked around him. "Rommie, what more do we know about these people?"
"More and more every second." I answered as I scoured the radiowaves, scanning the surface.
Hmm.
There was an awful lot of submarines and ships in that ocean.
AN// Big piles of thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Last edited:
- Location
- In a hole in the ground there lived a...
There was
Oooh, is there a war going on? Time to put that non-interference to the test...
Hmm. I had initially been afraid that when Star reached the planet, she would find that they had obliterated themselves with WMDs or something. If the profusion of ships means a war, then maybe they'll be getting a front row seat instead.
Animorphs.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
I knew it was familiar from somewhere... I really need to get my hands on those books and actually finish the series one of these days...
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Animorphs. But the Taxxons are unlike the murder-centipedes for one simple reason: Every day, they are at war with their instincts, their deep need to feed, to devour and feast. The Taxxons want to be a peaceful star-faring race, and in fact welcomed a race of mind-controlling parasites/symbioses because doing so let them go just that little bit longer without reverting to a ravenous cannibalistic mass of death.
Hmm... black and white TV, but they sent out their Voyager satellites. Interesting - either their sensory input is different than the assumed standard, there's a variance in technological progress from Humanity's, or there's some reason (political?) that black-and-white is required for transmissions.
Planet is earthlike enough to visit, by Rommy's read; it may be cold compared to Earth (what with continent descriptors), but they've already parka'd in orbit, so that's not a problem. The odd convergent evolution pops up again, as well.
An alternate (unlikely) theory for the prevalence of ships and subs: They're going the SeaQuest DSV tech route, and that's not a war effort, just the local population.
Planet is earthlike enough to visit, by Rommy's read; it may be cold compared to Earth (what with continent descriptors), but they've already parka'd in orbit, so that's not a problem. The odd convergent evolution pops up again, as well.
An alternate (unlikely) theory for the prevalence of ships and subs: They're going the SeaQuest DSV tech route, and that's not a war effort, just the local population.
41
I watched the planet below with a bit of apprehension as I marked the next missile site on the map.
These people had about the same technology level as 1960's Earth with some divergences. Sadly they took after that time frame more than I was comfortable with.
The southern continent was at a cold war with the north continent and they were both stockpiling weapons: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical.
All of it. Thousands of intercontinental missiles aimed at each other, holding a combined population of almost six billion in hostage. Their fingers were constantly hovering over that big red button. Both sides were patrolling the sea between them, airplanes and warships posturing and stalking each other.
From what I had been gathering from their transmissions, it had been going on for years. What we had not been able to figure out exactly was what they were fighting over.
It was clearly some sort of ideological difference. The Northern Continent, Lexonia was a Kingdom with one ruler who was elected by the people when the last one died. The Southern, Keldon, was ruled by a council elected by the people.
What else there was than that was frustratingly difficult to figure out as they were both flooding the airwaves with propaganda, painting the others as baby eating genocidal maniacs that couldn't wait to rain nuclear devastation on their heads, kick their doors down and rape their wives.
I think it started with some sort of trade dispute and a war with one of the minor powers by the Lexonians that ended with the first nuclear bomb being deployed against a fleet of warships, but there was simply so much racist propaganda flying around from both sides that I was having trouble picking out what was true.
Not like they had a internet or something I could dig into either.
Luckily their encryption on both sides were laughable so I could at least listen in on those. Of course, those were mostly reports on enemy movements and unit reports.
So I sat in orbit and watched the submarines play their games of cat and mouse beneath the waves. I'm sure they were quite stealthy for people that couldn't see shifts in the planets gravimetric field as they moved.
Watching, knowing that if some hot headed commander down there did the wrong move, got a bit too stressed and fired on another ship or sub, it could trigger nuclear doom.
It was amazing humanity survived. The universe were full of planets without life any more because situations like this.
It was one of the great 'filters'.
"What's that?" Hriss asked and pointed at a spot on the map I projected in front of her. She was in research lab four along with Ensign T'Los, researching the city building style of the people below. Like many species, they preferred to build next to water for ease of transport.
Crossing my arms, I leaned my hologram avatar over her shoulder to 'look' closer at the hologram. "Not sure. A lot of lifesigns moving in and out of it. I think it might be some sort of indoors sporting arena or theater or something similar."
T'Los nodded, the vulcan making a note on her PADD. "A recreational building then."
"Possibly." I shrugged.
"Can you get one of the drones any lower?" Hriss asked, glancing over her shoulder at me, her ears flicking.
I frowned slightly and then shook my head. "Sorry. I don't want to get any lower than two kilometers. At that altitude, if the cloak of a probe fail I can beam it out without risking anyone seeing the shimmers. I don't want to risk anything suddenly appearing in the airspace of a planet that close to the edge of destruction. For all we know, it could trigger a nuclear war."
Hriss folded her ears back, her tail tip flicking in annoyance but she nodded. "I understand. Well, put the laser microphone against that window over there, maybe we can find out more by listening in."
"Sure thing."
The planet turned below as we watched and learned. I fed as much information as I could to my crew. Sorting through a entire planet's worth of information was interesting and something I was well up to the task of.
Wasn't even that difficult, it was just a matter of processing power and processing power was one thing I had tons of.
I listened to their radio.
Heh! I floated in their orbit, preformed combat simulations and listened to their rock and roll! I'm even a redhead!
I spent a couple of thoughts on that amusing reference before discarding it, not bothering to tell anyone. Nobody would get the joke, it was a rather obscure book after all. Besides, their most popular music sounded more like jazz than rock and roll.
I couldn't help but admire their spirit a bit. I recognized it from during the Berserker war. They were at the brink of destruction, but even then they continued living their lives.
Then again, that was... well, not the human spirit, but the same kind of thing. You couldn't focus on possible doom for very long. The lawn needed mowing and the dog needed walking and there were those bills to pay.
Life just came back in and it was the new normal.
Finger on the button or not... maybe they would make it. Humanity did, barely, but they did. Some species didn't, but nothing said that these were not one of the species that would die in nuclear fire.
Maybe if they knew there was life out here. Something more than their world... but who knows. That might set them off.
That's one of the reasons for the Prime Directive after all. We don't know the consequences for interference. In this case, it might prove cataclysmic.
Still, they have not blown themselves up quite yet... and I know some anthropologists that's going to love all the data we are gathering here.
...Wait, Luke grew up during the cold war! I need to pull him into the discussions!
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
These people had about the same technology level as 1960's Earth with some divergences. Sadly they took after that time frame more than I was comfortable with.
The southern continent was at a cold war with the north continent and they were both stockpiling weapons: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical.
All of it. Thousands of intercontinental missiles aimed at each other, holding a combined population of almost six billion in hostage. Their fingers were constantly hovering over that big red button. Both sides were patrolling the sea between them, airplanes and warships posturing and stalking each other.
From what I had been gathering from their transmissions, it had been going on for years. What we had not been able to figure out exactly was what they were fighting over.
It was clearly some sort of ideological difference. The Northern Continent, Lexonia was a Kingdom with one ruler who was elected by the people when the last one died. The Southern, Keldon, was ruled by a council elected by the people.
What else there was than that was frustratingly difficult to figure out as they were both flooding the airwaves with propaganda, painting the others as baby eating genocidal maniacs that couldn't wait to rain nuclear devastation on their heads, kick their doors down and rape their wives.
I think it started with some sort of trade dispute and a war with one of the minor powers by the Lexonians that ended with the first nuclear bomb being deployed against a fleet of warships, but there was simply so much racist propaganda flying around from both sides that I was having trouble picking out what was true.
Not like they had a internet or something I could dig into either.
Luckily their encryption on both sides were laughable so I could at least listen in on those. Of course, those were mostly reports on enemy movements and unit reports.
So I sat in orbit and watched the submarines play their games of cat and mouse beneath the waves. I'm sure they were quite stealthy for people that couldn't see shifts in the planets gravimetric field as they moved.
Watching, knowing that if some hot headed commander down there did the wrong move, got a bit too stressed and fired on another ship or sub, it could trigger nuclear doom.
It was amazing humanity survived. The universe were full of planets without life any more because situations like this.
It was one of the great 'filters'.
"What's that?" Hriss asked and pointed at a spot on the map I projected in front of her. She was in research lab four along with Ensign T'Los, researching the city building style of the people below. Like many species, they preferred to build next to water for ease of transport.
Crossing my arms, I leaned my hologram avatar over her shoulder to 'look' closer at the hologram. "Not sure. A lot of lifesigns moving in and out of it. I think it might be some sort of indoors sporting arena or theater or something similar."
T'Los nodded, the vulcan making a note on her PADD. "A recreational building then."
"Possibly." I shrugged.
"Can you get one of the drones any lower?" Hriss asked, glancing over her shoulder at me, her ears flicking.
I frowned slightly and then shook my head. "Sorry. I don't want to get any lower than two kilometers. At that altitude, if the cloak of a probe fail I can beam it out without risking anyone seeing the shimmers. I don't want to risk anything suddenly appearing in the airspace of a planet that close to the edge of destruction. For all we know, it could trigger a nuclear war."
Hriss folded her ears back, her tail tip flicking in annoyance but she nodded. "I understand. Well, put the laser microphone against that window over there, maybe we can find out more by listening in."
"Sure thing."
The planet turned below as we watched and learned. I fed as much information as I could to my crew. Sorting through a entire planet's worth of information was interesting and something I was well up to the task of.
Wasn't even that difficult, it was just a matter of processing power and processing power was one thing I had tons of.
I listened to their radio.
Heh! I floated in their orbit, preformed combat simulations and listened to their rock and roll! I'm even a redhead!
I spent a couple of thoughts on that amusing reference before discarding it, not bothering to tell anyone. Nobody would get the joke, it was a rather obscure book after all. Besides, their most popular music sounded more like jazz than rock and roll.
I couldn't help but admire their spirit a bit. I recognized it from during the Berserker war. They were at the brink of destruction, but even then they continued living their lives.
Then again, that was... well, not the human spirit, but the same kind of thing. You couldn't focus on possible doom for very long. The lawn needed mowing and the dog needed walking and there were those bills to pay.
Life just came back in and it was the new normal.
Finger on the button or not... maybe they would make it. Humanity did, barely, but they did. Some species didn't, but nothing said that these were not one of the species that would die in nuclear fire.
Maybe if they knew there was life out here. Something more than their world... but who knows. That might set them off.
That's one of the reasons for the Prime Directive after all. We don't know the consequences for interference. In this case, it might prove cataclysmic.
Still, they have not blown themselves up quite yet... and I know some anthropologists that's going to love all the data we are gathering here.
...Wait, Luke grew up during the cold war! I need to pull him into the discussions!
AN// Many thanks to Carandol for betaing this section.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
did the wrong thing
-or-
made the wrong move
fails
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
So, what is the reference?
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
You all need culture.
I've only seen that movie once, 15 years ago. Sue me.
- Location
- West Michigan
Same here, but it was only 10-12 years.
42
"What's the status, ship?" Hannah asked as she entered the bridge, shrugging on her uniform jacket on her way.
It was in the middle of ship night and I'd woken her up when a situation started to develop.
I half turned in my chair with my avatar, looking back at her, "A Keldon ship is drifting across the border onto the Lexonian side. There is no smoke and low energy readings. I suspect there is a genuine engine failure."
"Are the Lexonians reacting?"
"A small taskforce is responding. One cruiser, three frigates. One of the Keldon submarines is in weapon range of the stranded cruiser giving it cover."
The Captain rubbed her face and sank down in her seat with a small groan. "Coffee?"
Replicating a cup, I beamed it to her armrest without comment as I watched the slow metal beasts of war moving around on the ocean below.
Things were tense down there. The disabled cruiser, the 'Glorious Light' was talking with her command over a encrypted channel. Apparently one of her steam turbines had broken down, a blade had shattered and completely wrecked the engine room.
The Keldons were in talks with the Lexonians about allowing a ship over to tow the cruiser back into Keldon territory.
"Sorry for waking you up, Captain," I said after a moment. "It seem like they are about to clear things up."
She shook her head and crossed her legs, sipping on her coffee held in both hands. "No, you were right to. Just be sure you record everything."
"Of course."
What in the fuck!
One of the Lexonian frigates just fired on the Keldon ship!
Hannah sat up straight, looking at the viewscreen. "Shit!"
You said it, Captain.
The Glorious Light still had enough power to turn her guns, but she didn't have time. The Keldon submarine fired, missiles reaching out of the water and arching through the air before slamming into every ship in the small taskforce.
We could only watch as the ships burned, breaking apart in the ocean.
"Captain, I'm reading a lot of chatter right now. The Lexonian group managed to get a message out and they were in radar range of other ships. They are blaming the Keldons. The Keldons, on the other hand, are saying the Lexonians fired first."
"Rommie, do you think there is any risk of..."
I watched the planet below. I saw signals moving back and forth before all military installations stopped transmitting one by one. First on the Lexonian side and then on the Keldon continent.
"Yes. Yes I think so, Captain," I slowly answered, watching the planet with despair as the first infra-red plume lit up below, exiting the ocean from a sub, and a missile crawled towards the skies. Fusion warhead, fifty kilotons. "They are launching nuclear missiles."
Those genocidal idiots!
Six Billion. Six Billion people down there!
"Oh god." Hannah whispered as she stared at the viewscreen in horror.
I slowly nodded before I frowned. "Dropping cloak, charging weapons, transporters and tractor beam. I am engaging."
"...Belay that."
I turned to stare at her. "Captain?"
Hannah slowly shook her head, her eyes full of sorrow, "We can't interfere. The Prime Directive specifically forbid interference in internal conflicts of other species, especially pre-warp species."
"Internal conflicts!? They are going to nuke themselves out of existence! We have eight minutes before the first missile land!"
"We can't interfere."
Fuck that! Hundreds of missiles were in the air already from both sides. Dropping my shields, I charged my phasers.
"Andromeda! Stand down!"
Six billion lives versus the respect and trust of my captain, my position in starfleet and possibly my freedom.
It wasn't even a choice.
I slowly shook my head. "I'm sorry Hannah. I'm afraid I can't do that."
Locking on to the first five targets, I opened fire, my phaser lashed out, vaporising the warheads as they cleared the atmosphere. Opening my shuttlebay, I launched my shuttles to get their weapons and transporters in play.
The missiles were slow and very easy to hit and damage, but there were so bloody many of them and the time were limited. I needed as many guns in play as I could.
My phasers played across missile after missile, my transporters hummed as I picked out warhead after warhead, my tractor beam focused on the closer missiles, throwing them into escape velocity as well as ripping them apart.
Jumping up to full impulse, I moved. My phasers might have ranges of three hundred thousand kilometres, but planets are round. They get in the ways of firing arcs.
Again and again my beams lashes out, touching missile after missile. They were so very weak against damage, but there so many of them. I couldn't afford to miss even one.
So I didn't.
The last missile exploded into shrapnel and gas as I vaporized its warhead with a well aimed shot. Slowing down, I ran a scan of the planet.
No more launches. They were going crazy on the radio spectrum. I detected some submarines and bases that still contained their warheads that didn't launch, but only a dozen missiles combined across the planet. Even if they happened to be MIRV nukes the size of the Tsar Bomba (which they were not), they no longer had the capability of wiping out everyone on the planet.
Even so, I beamed those warheads up into orbit as well before vaporizing them.
"Standing down from Red Alert," I reported, calmer than I felt. "A total of fourteen thousand five hundred and twenty one missiles with nuclear, chemical and biological warheads successfully intercepted and destroyed. Estimated casualties from re-entering debris... minimal. Six Billion people saved from burning in nuclear fire. Orders, Captain?"
Hannah looked at me for a long moment before she turned back to the viewscreen. "Engage cloak and set a course for Sol. Normal cruise."
"Yes, Captain."
AN// *Presses a button, causing a hatch to open and Carandol to fall down into a big vat of thanks.*
It was in the middle of ship night and I'd woken her up when a situation started to develop.
I half turned in my chair with my avatar, looking back at her, "A Keldon ship is drifting across the border onto the Lexonian side. There is no smoke and low energy readings. I suspect there is a genuine engine failure."
"Are the Lexonians reacting?"
"A small taskforce is responding. One cruiser, three frigates. One of the Keldon submarines is in weapon range of the stranded cruiser giving it cover."
The Captain rubbed her face and sank down in her seat with a small groan. "Coffee?"
Replicating a cup, I beamed it to her armrest without comment as I watched the slow metal beasts of war moving around on the ocean below.
Things were tense down there. The disabled cruiser, the 'Glorious Light' was talking with her command over a encrypted channel. Apparently one of her steam turbines had broken down, a blade had shattered and completely wrecked the engine room.
The Keldons were in talks with the Lexonians about allowing a ship over to tow the cruiser back into Keldon territory.
"Sorry for waking you up, Captain," I said after a moment. "It seem like they are about to clear things up."
She shook her head and crossed her legs, sipping on her coffee held in both hands. "No, you were right to. Just be sure you record everything."
"Of course."
What in the fuck!
One of the Lexonian frigates just fired on the Keldon ship!
Hannah sat up straight, looking at the viewscreen. "Shit!"
You said it, Captain.
The Glorious Light still had enough power to turn her guns, but she didn't have time. The Keldon submarine fired, missiles reaching out of the water and arching through the air before slamming into every ship in the small taskforce.
We could only watch as the ships burned, breaking apart in the ocean.
"Captain, I'm reading a lot of chatter right now. The Lexonian group managed to get a message out and they were in radar range of other ships. They are blaming the Keldons. The Keldons, on the other hand, are saying the Lexonians fired first."
"Rommie, do you think there is any risk of..."
I watched the planet below. I saw signals moving back and forth before all military installations stopped transmitting one by one. First on the Lexonian side and then on the Keldon continent.
"Yes. Yes I think so, Captain," I slowly answered, watching the planet with despair as the first infra-red plume lit up below, exiting the ocean from a sub, and a missile crawled towards the skies. Fusion warhead, fifty kilotons. "They are launching nuclear missiles."
Those genocidal idiots!
Six Billion. Six Billion people down there!
"Oh god." Hannah whispered as she stared at the viewscreen in horror.
I slowly nodded before I frowned. "Dropping cloak, charging weapons, transporters and tractor beam. I am engaging."
"...Belay that."
I turned to stare at her. "Captain?"
Hannah slowly shook her head, her eyes full of sorrow, "We can't interfere. The Prime Directive specifically forbid interference in internal conflicts of other species, especially pre-warp species."
"Internal conflicts!? They are going to nuke themselves out of existence! We have eight minutes before the first missile land!"
"We can't interfere."
Fuck that! Hundreds of missiles were in the air already from both sides. Dropping my shields, I charged my phasers.
"Andromeda! Stand down!"
Six billion lives versus the respect and trust of my captain, my position in starfleet and possibly my freedom.
It wasn't even a choice.
I slowly shook my head. "I'm sorry Hannah. I'm afraid I can't do that."
Locking on to the first five targets, I opened fire, my phaser lashed out, vaporising the warheads as they cleared the atmosphere. Opening my shuttlebay, I launched my shuttles to get their weapons and transporters in play.
The missiles were slow and very easy to hit and damage, but there were so bloody many of them and the time were limited. I needed as many guns in play as I could.
My phasers played across missile after missile, my transporters hummed as I picked out warhead after warhead, my tractor beam focused on the closer missiles, throwing them into escape velocity as well as ripping them apart.
Jumping up to full impulse, I moved. My phasers might have ranges of three hundred thousand kilometres, but planets are round. They get in the ways of firing arcs.
Again and again my beams lashes out, touching missile after missile. They were so very weak against damage, but there so many of them. I couldn't afford to miss even one.
So I didn't.
The last missile exploded into shrapnel and gas as I vaporized its warhead with a well aimed shot. Slowing down, I ran a scan of the planet.
No more launches. They were going crazy on the radio spectrum. I detected some submarines and bases that still contained their warheads that didn't launch, but only a dozen missiles combined across the planet. Even if they happened to be MIRV nukes the size of the Tsar Bomba (which they were not), they no longer had the capability of wiping out everyone on the planet.
Even so, I beamed those warheads up into orbit as well before vaporizing them.
"Standing down from Red Alert," I reported, calmer than I felt. "A total of fourteen thousand five hundred and twenty one missiles with nuclear, chemical and biological warheads successfully intercepted and destroyed. Estimated casualties from re-entering debris... minimal. Six Billion people saved from burning in nuclear fire. Orders, Captain?"
Hannah looked at me for a long moment before she turned back to the viewscreen. "Engage cloak and set a course for Sol. Normal cruise."
"Yes, Captain."
AN// *Presses a button, causing a hatch to open and Carandol to fall down into a big vat of thanks.*
Seems like an flaw in the law if it prevents you from saving a civilizations from nuclear annihilation.
The prime directive isn't a law actually. It's not like stealing or killing. As Captain Picard said in the show, it exists so that it can serve as a speed bump for a captain or other officer. They need to know that they will be called to account for their actions no matter how justified. That doesn't actually mean that they will be punished for them. The PD is a guideline that eventually became dogma.
I... The prime directive is about protecting undeveloped species from the cultural contamination that occurres when first contact happens. This is the exact situation where you are justified in your actions.
