A Dragon's Ire

Posted on Fri Sep 3rd, 2021 @ 12:43am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commodore S'thenosis Gorgox
Edited on on Fri Sep 3rd, 2021 @ 12:44am

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Breifing Room

Once the people had moved from the room, leaving only the Towering S'thenosis and the arms crossed stubbornness of Captain Rhenora Kaylen, did one of them speak.

The Bajoran regarded the other woman with a mix of trepidation, mild annoyance, and a good deal of attitude. The woman had made her life hell years ago, having been sent as an overseer to reign in the questionable Captain. They have formed a begrudging working relationship and made things work but there hadn't been a single day Rhenora hadn't sworn under her breath about the 'dragon lady'. She waited for the Draconian to speak first, biding her time and her patience.

S'thenosis allowed a grin if one could call it that, "Captain. I would like to be perfectly candid with you. I am not here for you. I will make sure to not interfere in the day-to-day operations of this vessel, as I would trust under your leadership, this vessel's operations would not interfere with my ongoing preparations."

Rhenora kept her expression neutral, despite the inner battle between wanting to believe S'thenosis, and her ego being bruised that she was not the intended target. Still, the fact that she was back on the Sunfire five years after she had set foot on the ship surely had to be more than coincidence.

"Is this the 'you keep out of my hair and I'll keep out of yours' conversation?" Rhenora's tone had heavy lacings of incredulous attitude. Not one of her finest moments to be sure. Still, they had to make this work, for Savar's sake. If the Cardassians had their way she would lose her XO and one of her closest friends. Not something she could afford, more than ever at this point in time.

“That would imply complete avoidance Captain. You and I both know this situation requires the complete opposite. For this balance to work we must strive to support one another for the sake of not only your Second Officer but for the stability of the Alpha Quadrant.”

The Captain listened, her temper and ire cooling equally as she came to grips with the gravity of the situation. Gorgox was the best in the business, she used a machete to cut through red tape and would be a formidable opponent when it came to the Cardassians.

"Why now? Why have the Cardassians decided to call the trial now?" Rhenora lowered herself into her chair, having risen with the rest of the team earlier. She flexed her lower back as she did so, relieving the tight muscles that were protesting. "What are they trying to hide, or to divert our attention from? Maccet's death was months ago, his crew pledged to not persue the matter. " She rubbed her chin as she spoke, as though the soothing motion would calm her nerves.

S’thenosis lowered her stance began moving around the table towards the Captain. “Politics are never a quick-paced process. If you calculate the time it took for news of Maccet’s death to reach Cardassia, then to reach the ears of someone who cared enough to fight the charges in a court of law, this may actually be a record amount of time for the broken people of Cardassia.” She stopped a foot or two from where Rhenora remained standing.

“ You may be right, considering the sad state of affairs on the Cardassian homeworld, people are starving, the planet has been decimated,” Rhenora said, looking at S’thenosis with a critical eye, “ You think this has political motivation? Drawing the Federation into a trial could seriously hamper the aid efforts Starfleet is currently providing. Unless they are getting help from somewhere else” The musing continued, all circumstantial but worthy of the thought.

“You are thinking as those in charge do, which is why our guard will be up at all times. When the time comes, this will involve more than just a trial and a few individuals. This will be bigger, much bigger.” She changed stance and with it tact. “This is why I caution you, this mission into the Gamma Quadrant must not interfere. I understand your desire to rush in, head detached, guns blazing, though I do not condone such actions, I do understand them. We must survive to be at this trial, lest we forfeit the peace we’ve built.”

The words rolled over the Captain like a black tide, a wave of worry and anxiety regarding their upcoming mission and the importance of the trial all vying for her mental attention. The next month would not be easy - they had much to accomplish in a difficult region of space and now it seemed the entire Federation Cardassian alliance may be riding on top of it. No pressure.

“Well if that’s not upping the stakes I don’t know what is” Rhenora groaned, covering her face with her hands for a moment and wondering what she had done to ire the Prophets so much lately. Perhaps they were testing her, again. They seemed to like doing that.

"Indeed. For me the stakes, as you put it, have rarely been higher. For you I figured a regular Tuesday. But, I digress as I seem to have made my point clear." She turned to leave before stopping short. "By the way, I will be utilizing one of your holodecks in order to recreate a visual representation of the situation which occured on Onias III." It wasn't a question but a statement, which was the way with the Commodore.

The colour drained from the Captain's face at the words. She had nearly escaped that planet with her life, had it not been for Savar, Gul Maccet would have finished her then and there, as was his intent. It would be a brutal reminder of that time, a moment in life she had shoved into the deep dark recesses of her memory and tried hard not to revisit.

"I understand" she replied in what she hoped for a neutral tone.

"Thank you for the opportunity to make things clear between us. You are dismissed." S'thenosis said with a finality to her voice before gliding out the door. Rhenora was left standing, alone with her thoughts.

Not used to be ‘dismissed’ on her own ship Rhenora remained dumbfounded on the spot, watching mutely as S’Thenosis exited the room as though she owned the Sunfire, which she had recently professed not to. The Captain’s mind finally started up again, processing the information disseminated and making a few decisions regarding the next month of their lives. Caution would be exercised, her normal thirst for adventure and exploration would have to be tempered, if only temporarily. It seemed there were bigger pieces of the puzzle and the stakes had just risen significantly.

With a sigh, she took a moment to centre her mind, took a deep breath, then headed back to the bridge to get their new mission underway.

OFF