Series:
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Outside Agitators Part 12: "Just Like That"
2324 Q1M1
Things had been a lot calmer since the Battle of Khazara.
Not the first frantic couple of hours after the battle, when the Romulan fleet put itself back in order. That was the time for the most urgent repairs to be made, the injuries to be seen to, and the bodies to be counted, all while the handful of ships still in any condition for a fight watched warily just in case the Breen managed to hunt them down and bothered to pursue. With the fleet as it was, it wouldn't have taken a large Breen force to force another retreat and pin down and destroy a few of the worse off Romulan ships as they tried to run.
Nor in the handful of tense several days that followed, as the less critical but still immediate damage was patched up and the combat effective portion of the fleet waited for the counterattack order that never came. The Breen seemed content to hold position in Khazara orbit in overwhelming force, and the Romulans couldn't or wouldn't put together the reinforcements needed to do anything about it. As the Kelsatha's industrial bay churned out some of the most immediately necessary lower tech replacement D-7 parts (all they'd been trusted with the specifications for), it slowly became clear that Khazara was well and truly in Breen hands until the situation changed. When the orders finally came to move out, no one was particularly surprised.
It was the months that followed that were calm.
Rather than being sent back to watching for raiders on the frontier, they'd found themselves pulled back and assigned to convoy escort duty. There had been no small amount of speculation as to whether or not there was a message they were supposed to take from the reassignment, perhaps an indictment of their initial performance along the border or some kind of commentary on their showing in the battle, or if it was just judged to be where they could be best used. As usual, answers were not particularly forthcoming.
Still, it proved to be a safe, boring job that they were adequately equipped to handle, even if they had no one to agitate to beyond the freighter crews. Admittedly, that hadn't been a total failure; after enough time cooped up in a little freighter with the same handful of people, any diversion starts to look good. They'd at one point managed to invite a good portion of their convoy's crews aboard for a traditional Yrillian barbecue while they were stopped in well-patrolled space for a day and a half with a breakdown in one of the other ships. The Romulans hadn't really known what to make of that and generally seemed to alternate between suspicious, standoffish and bemused, but that was at least some limited contact and if nothing else Yrillian cuisine had gone over surprisingly well. That diversion aside, things had been uneventful, with no sign at all of Breen raiders, no unexpected disasters and nothing even hinting at excitement.
Towards the end, they had been following the (heavily redacted, as always) reports of the successful attacks on Breen capital ships. The consensus on board was that the tide was starting to turn, and in the near future a fleet would likely be put together, either to retake Khazara or to take the fight to the Breen directly. If the plan required significant stealth, they would of course likely either stay on convoy escort duty or be reassigned to cover for ships involved in the attack that would otherwise be doing something more critical. However, if the plan could accommodate it, they had little doubt they would find themselves in another battle before long. After all, it was fairly obvious that the Romulans understandably cared rather less about their well being than that of their own ships and crew. Steadily, a sense of anticipation began to build. There was nothing to do but wait.
When the Kelsatha received new orders and a series of high-priority communications in a matter of several minutes, no one was terribly surprised. The contents, however, were entirely unexpected.
The comms station chimed several times, but Forgyr had nothing more to say than "Message coming in..." before trailing off with a look of surprised confusion. The rest of the bridge crew glanced at him uneasily.
Iymurak broke the silence. "Well, what's the news?"
"... It's over."
Bimak made an inquisitive noise.
"The war."
Bimak again: "The war? Seriously?"
"Seriously. So says the comm just came in."
A whole series of significant looks passed through the bridge. Gryer locked eyes with Breezak for a moment, who managed to look simultaneously, relieved, disappointed, confused, and a bit self-conscious and guilty about some of the other feelings. A silence fell over the room.
Gryer felt himself speaking, almost without any conscious intention. "It's over? Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"Seems a bit... anticlimactic," Bimak commented.
"Yeah."
A thoughtful silence fell over the room.
"Huh."
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In short, their orders where to drop what they were doing, proceed to an uninhabited system in the corewards-spinwards corner of Romulan space, and wait for further instructions. Upon arriving at the coordinates they'd been given, to no one's great surprise, a ship immediately decloaked. Where once this might have inspired unease, the dominant reaction was now one of mild amusement: power plays like this had worn a little thin, so more than anything it came off as a little silly.
Breezak voiced what they were all thinking. "Well, someone's got a flare for the dramatic."
Sublieutenant Riuren, who had made a point of hanging around the bridge for this, looked distinctly unimpressed but otherwise chose not to respond.
"We're being hailed. Shall I?" Forgyr looked around the bridge and saw no objections.
The image of a Romulan woman in a commander's uniform with an alert, clever look and more than an touch of grey in her hair filled the viewscreen. Though at the momment she looked quite serious and more than a bit annoyed, there was something about her that gave the impression of someone forever ammused at some private joke. Perhaps not the standard image of a Romulan officer as invisioned by outsiders, but likely someone quite competent and formidable.
"This is Commander Kassus of the IRW Tresdan. We meet again, and under far better circumstances. I take it that someone here can speak for your crew?"
Iymurak, sitting in the captain's chair, shrugged. "Iymurak here. I'm captaining at the moment, but anything serious may still need a referendum or get kicked over to the negotiating team. What can we do for you?"
Commander Kassus blinked. "At the moment? How does that... " She obviously thought better of it. "No matter. As the war is at an end, the Romulan Star Empire no longer requires your services. You will of course be paid and otherwise provided for as per the terms of your contract. Since your presence in Romulan space is no longer required, your travel permit, friendly IFF status and the like will also be revoked shortly." A hint of a smile crossed her features, and she gave a little amused huff somewhere between a strong exhalation and the ghost of a laugh. "We can't have strange foreign war ships wandering around our space, after all."
She paused for a moment to survey the Kelsatha's bridge.
"With that in mind, I have been tasked with retrieving our personnel and escorting you to the border of Romulan space. If there are no questions or concerns, We will be leaving immediately."
Iymurak raised a hand in an understated parody of a child waiting to be called on in class.
"Yes?" Kassus was clearly a bit amused, even if she would perhaps have rather not shown it.
"We're getting a bit low on several key consumables, engineering says we need a chance to work on the injector alignment, and I'm sure the crew would appreciate some leave. It's been several months. Perhaps there are even victory celebrations we could join in on?"
"Immediately. No stops for repairs, servicing or resupply. No loitering. No tourism. No, you will not march in a grand victory parade on Romulus. You did your part, and now it is time for you to go away."
"You can't do that."
A dangerous tone entered her voice. "Oh?"
Iymurak brought something up on a tablet with a couple deft taps to the screen. "The contract that we signed clearly states, 'Upon the conclusion without renewal of the contract, the cessation of hostilities or involuntary termination of employment, the Romulan Star Empire shall provide the Kesatha Mercenary Cooperative with all necessary repairs, maintenance and stores to achieve a state of full combat readiness, as defined in section 6, subsection E, including all routine and preventative maintenance or permanent repairs unavoidably deferred due to war necessities as per section 8, subsection...'"
"I know what it says."
"And?"
"It does not specify where those services are to be performed. We have arranged for the necessary supplies, services and berth space elsewhere."
"And where exactly might this 'elsewhere' be?"
"Morshadd."
"Morshadd." Iymurak's tone, though not quite questioning, made the implied question fairly clear.
"It is not my place to speculate on such things, but surely you are aware that we enjoy a... cordial relationship with the Arcadian Empire."
"Yes, but one might think they would have need for all their shipyards at the moment after the recent war."
"Not all their shipyards, it would seem."
They were out of options, and in any case Romulan space did not appear to be about to collapse into a cascade of spontaneous revolutions from below. Best to know when they were beaten. "Well then. I suppose that's all there is to it."
"Quite. Sublieutenant Riuren and Decurian Koval are to gather their things and transport over to the Tresden, after which we will escort you to the edge of Romulan space. Your last installment of pay and the confirmation codes for your berth access at Morshadd will be provided at the border, at which point I would suggest you proceed directly to Morshadd to avoid any misunderstandings."
"Understood."
Commander Kassus nodded, and gave a more or less genuinely pleasant grin. "Good to have that cleared up. I trust that you will inform us when our personnel are ready for transport. And by the way... you fought well over Khazara, considering."
The feed abruptly cut out.
From his semi-habitual spare station near the back, Ferash grumbled half-heartedly about that final qualification.
Sublieutenant Riuren got up from her seat, but Iymurak stopped her with a simple "Sublieutenant?"
"It has been..." Iymurak struggled to find the right word for a moment. "Interesting, working with you."
Riuren smiled. "And you as well." Gesturing to encompass the bridge and, metaphorically at least, the entire ship, "All of you, in fact. Perhaps not the first word I would reach for, but it was undeniably interesting." Turning to leave, her expression took on an almost predatory look. "Better luck next time, somewhere very far from here."
A/N: Apologies for the delay. I am now at least more or less caught up to events, so that's something. Hopefully I can stay that way.
