Lost Wolf

Posted on Sun Jul 28th, 2024 @ 7:42am by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant JG Sipov Boros

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: Ready Room; Vengeance
Timeline: Date 2371-12-26 at 1645
3042 words - 6.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Sipov materialized with a familiar, darker, greyer surrounding. One he hadn’t seen in quite some time. The guard next to him reminded the man very quickly of the shadow he’d attained, but wasn’t too worried about. He’d actually found him quite handy in the last hour. After stopping by his quarters, he settled a couple of accounts with minimal trouble, and used his assistance to assign payback for another. The promise of breaking legs had manifested true, and in the meantime he’d gotten even more for the sale of Daraan than he’d initially planned. All in all the time to wrap up business on the station was much smoother with the Kazon cohort.

Standing there in the cleanest set of clothing he’d owned and his bag over his shoulder, Sipov made sure to follow tradition. Not wanting to break any sort of protocol, he made the official request. “Permission to come aboard.”

“Granted, Lieutenant.” Lyra stood a few feet away from the bottom of the transporter pad with her arms crossed though they lowered as Sipov began to move. Her eyes shifted to the Kazon who remained where he was.

“Return to the Lovarr.” She commanded, and as soon as Sipov was on the steps, the Kazon disappeared.

“I trust you have all your affairs in order? Did your pet Cardassian fetch a decent price?” She asked.

As he walked down from the PADD, Sipov held out a small bag. It was the extra money he’d made thanks to the intimidation factor of having the Kazon nearby during his sale. “More than I could’ve hoped for. For your troubles, and the lending of your guard.”

Once his hand was empty, he re-secured the shoulder strap of his bag and winced a bit from the pain in his leg from the healing injuries. “All of my affairs have been settled with ease so I have no further business there unless of course I am ordered back to conduct anything further. I am here to serve the Empire, and return to wearing a proper uniform Commander. Where shall we set off to first?”

Lyra took the money offered without hesitation and dropped the back into her uniform pocket for now. She eyed his leg a moment and then her dark, calculating gaze slowly slid back up to his face. “We will leave your bag in one of the guest quarters on the way to the bridge where you will speak to Captain Faulkner in her ready room regarding your request to join as a serving member of this crew.”

She turned immediately then and walked out of the room, expecting him to follow. “How exactly did you manage to not have your leg fixed when there’s so many Vidiians roaming around these parts? They have excellent medical technology for such an inferior species.”

He followed without hesitation. The mention of the Vidiians however caused the man to scowl and shake his head “Those people? Have you seen them? They’re absolutely disgusting and they butcher others like cattle. I would never trust such filthy alien technology to be responsible for placing anything inside my body, even to heal me in such a fashion. I was hoping to find better medical help elsewhere, until I ran into you of course. I’m sure any quarters here will be much better than anything the station provided, so I should be right at home. It’ll be nice to sleep in familiar surroundings. If I may ask, how long has the Captain been in command?”

“That… is a bit of a longer story, but two months now.” Lyra replied and glanced over to him as they walked. She kept her pace reasonable for him given he was injured and she didn’t want to put him out. He could perhaps prove a useful and interesting ally to her. “The short of it is a number of our crew ended up stranded on a planet unable to leave two of which were our former captain’s wife and daughter. He chose to remain behind to be with them.”

Sipov raised an eyebrow “Unable to leave? It sounds like they were quite committed….or forced to stay. I do wonder why everyone else did not remain behind as well….but I suppose I will learn in time. The details that matter anyways.” He appreciated her slowing pace and did his best to keep up. It had been some time since he had received any form of real consideration for his situation and while he was thankful for what he showed him in the moment, he also knew to not let his guard down as at the very least it was likely that there would be others looking to take advantage of his situation. “How long has the ship been in this god forsaken place?”

“Seven months.” She supplied easily, not seeming bothered by the fact. Perhaps there would have been a time where she had been, but after so many months, many had come to accept their situation more fully than others. They paused before the turbolift doors and then stepped on. “Deck three.”

“We have had quite our share of encounters with the local… wildlife. The Kazon and Vidiians more than the rest.”

As the doors closed he gave a nod in acknowledgement “I look forward to reading up on everything you have on them, I’d be curious to find every weak spot possible, to include within their flying. I’ve been itching to get back behind the helm for quite some time, kill a few aliens while I’m at it. But it seems like everything here has held up quite well, all things considered.” It didn’t take long for the lift to reach its destination before slowing and the doors opening once more, Sipov giving the woman the opportunity to step out first.

“Well, I do not know if you looked into anything in such a short time, but not only do we have the Vengeance but we have amassed a small fleet of ships into our little Shadow Fleet including another Terran vessel we found a few months ago.” She spoke as they walked around the corner and down two doors to one of the guest quarters which she opened for him. “Just put your things inside. With that in mind, I’m sure you will have all the information you could ever wish for regarding the known classes of Kazon and Vidiian ships as well as the Baneans and Numiri, though they won’t be thorns in our side after how we dealt with them.”

“I wasn’t aware of that, but you certainly have been busy. It sounds like whatever has been pulling us here has been busy too of course. That sounds like at least 3 vessels from our sector have been moved here one way or another. Have we gained any territory in that time or mainly been focusing on growing the fleet and spreading our influence?” He placed his bag just inside on the floor after making a quick scan, happy with what he saw inside and making note of the computer terminal on the far side of the room. Stepping back out the doors closed behind and he was ready to continue. “Either way I’ll be ready, pending the Captain’s approval of course.”

“We’ve been focused on getting home and expanding the fleet to make that goal a reality.” She glanced over at him as they walked back to the turbolift. “No one wishes to remain in this godsforsaken quadrant; we wish to be on Terra again and to help the effort there. Bridge.”

As the lift shuddered and began moving once more, he couldn’t agree more “Of course. Nothing would make me happier for us to return there as well. It is unfortunate those that came here with me will unlikely return as they’ve gone their own ways. But that is their penance for abandoning the empire, as it were.” Once again it was a quick trip for the pair before reaching their destination once more. Sipov knew however this time he’d be taking it all in. It had been some time since he’d been on the bridge of a Terran vessel, a place where the glory of the empire was at stake. And somewhere he could find usefulness once more.

The Vengeance bridge was immaculate as always and the officers currently on duty all briefly glanced toward the turbolift as Lyra walked out, though the focus moved immediately to Sipov as he limped after her. There was a mix of intrigue and wariness fitting to Terrans, but wisely they returned to their work after only a few seconds. She crossed in front of the tactical station and headed down the steps toward the doors of the ready room, casting a glance at Simmons on her way by and finding she wished instead for her pet hound Corvin to be there still.

She tapped the chime, and immediately opened the door as Annalise summoned them through.

Annalise was sitting behind the desk and lifted her eyes as soon as Lyra stepped in. “Commander Cassiel.”

“Captain.” Lyra nodded and stepped out of the way. “This is the man I was telling you about: Lieutenant Sipov Boros.”

Nodding, Annalise stood. She was a beautiful woman with her blonde hair pulled back and her blue eyes quick and intelligent, but she lacked Lyra’s presence and power. Rounding the desk, she stood in front of it and looked at Sipov. “Lieutenant Boros. I’m Captain Annalise Faulkner.”

Sipov had taken his time scanning everything as they made their way into the ready room, however once they entered he did his best to straighten up and present himself as best as possible. “Captain. Lieutenant Boros, reporting. It’s a great relief to find those from the empire all the way out here. I thought I was going to have to end my days out alone and without the chance of seeing home or our people ever again. Being around these aliens has certainly been undesirable to say the least.”

Annalise’s gaze slowly moved down Sipov’s body and lingered on his injured leg for a moment before coming back up first to him and then she switched to Lyra. “Thank you, Commander. You may return to the bridge.”

“Captain.” Lyra nodded. Before she left, her dark eyes moved down to Sipov quickly and she found herself wondering how he would actually clean up now that he was out of that little hell hole of a trading post. Turning on her heel, she left the bridge to resume her place in the center chair.

“Come have a seat, Lieutenant.” Annalise pulled the chair out for him slightly and then moved back to the other side of the desk to sit down herself. “I’ve been looking over the file we have on you in the database. Suffice to say you seem to be quite lucky, really, to have survived not only captivity but being transported here to the Delta Quadrant by what I assume were the same means as the rest of us; the entity known as the Caretaker?”

He hesitated for a moment and then moved forward to take the seat. Once he was situated comfortably, he responded. “In truth I’m not quite sure what exactly brought me here, I was a prisoner on a Cardassian transport ship as were a number of other Terrans. After some time we managed to overthrow our captors after they were weakened by a series of attacks by what were likely raiders and ended up here after some time. So your answer is likely our cause as well. However those that did survive to get here with me have all gone their own ways, I’m the last one here. I do like to think I’m lucky although perseverance and stubbornness have likely contributed a bit as well. That and the slave I took for a time. Things look to have gone fairly well for everyone here as well.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Annalise allowed a slight smile to alight on her pretty face. “The Vengeance fared quite well, yes, but before I was captain here, I was captain of the Gladius having taken over the mantle when two of my predecessors died; the first fell when we were pulled through to this place, and the second died to his own foolishness. Survival was… a struggle until we found the Vengeance. In fact I’m rather sure if we hadn’t found her when we did, my crew would not have survived unless we had chosen to do much as you did and find a place to stay.

“That would seem to be the theme, at least for those of us that don’t have as many of our brethren to lean on, Captain. But we are our own strength, nothing can defeat the Terrans as long as we band together. I am glad to hear that the Vengeance managed to find you, and you found me. It sounds like there is much more cleansing to do than has already been carried out, and is necessary to continue honoring those we lost.” While Sipov was speaking everything in truth, he was also speaking in a more patriotic tone to help state his case in hopes to join the crew for his own self preservation. He needed medical treatment and he also needed a safer place to be. Living amongst the aliens wasn’t going to be his best option. Even on a ship where there were others looking to potentially stab him in the back, he was still safer here at the end of the day. “I understand you are in need of a Chief Helmsman.”

“Ah, yes. Commander Cassiel did mention that you might be interested in taking up the position. After looking over your records, I see you are clearly qualified for it. Did you have any experience even in passing with flying an Intrepid class ship? Perhaps something you were training on with hopes of being brought onto one in the future?” She asked, lacing her fingers together and placing her folded hands on top of her desk.

“The only experience with an Intrepid at least was in training and I did manage to sneak in to pilot one for a dry dock test run after a refit, but nothing long term. Most of my experience is with smaller craft, and most recently the Constellation class. So I’ll admit there will be a bit of a learning curve but it shouldn’t take me long to get a feel for her. I’m a quick study, but it won’t be my first time in front of the console for one.” While he wanted to do his best to increase his chance to get picked up, he wasn’t going to lie either. He knew what happened to those that underperformed for the empire.

It was very clear the prospect didn’t particularly thrill Annalise, but she wasn’t totally dismissing Sipov over it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The simple fact was Jonathan hadn’t been up to the task, and though Maya was eager, her youth and own inexperience showed - it was perhaps a strange thing to think given only a couple of years separated her from the great majority of the senior staff, but it seemed to be just enough to be troublesome.

“I will consider your request. Commander Cassiel is currently acting XO while Lieutenant Commander Petrov is away. You will work with her through some simulations to evaluate your performance. Don’t worry though, Lieutenant, even if you don’t sit behind the helm, we will find something for you to do here. You won’t be put off the ship. You are Terran and you are safe here among us.”

“I serve the Empire, Captain.I look forward to your tests and can assure you one way or another, I’ll be ready to fly everyone here into battle soon. Even if I’m in those simulations day and night.” The look on his face was one of commitment. To what exactly, was always up for debate, but he was determined. He knew his skill and he knew he’d been wasted his first couple of years. His attitude had always gotten him in trouble, but here it wasn’t like they could just ship him off somewhere else. But at the same time, chances were they also had less tolerance. Sipov would have to find that balance. Duty would fix that for him. “Thank you for the consideration as well.”

“Of course. Do you have any pressing questions you would like to ask?” Annalise offered politely. Her blue eyes ran over him slowly, taking him in and wondering about him and his story, but right now she didn’t have time to delve into things; she hardly had time for much of anything lately, it seemed.

“Not at the moment, I’m sure things will come out in time. To be honest I’m just looking forward to getting settled in and proper medical treatment for my injuries. That and the simulations to follow afterwards are about the only thing on my mind. I’m just happy to be back around our people once more. You all have done me a great service today, one I shall not forget.” Sipov was eager to get acquainted with the ship and others on the crew to see where he could fit in, and whom he might be able to trust.

“Very well, Lieutenant. I suggest you leave here and report to sickbay so they can tend to your injuries and give you a check.” She smiled at him, not particularly warm but genuine enough. “Welcome to the Shadow Fleet.”

“Thank you Captain” Sipov replied. “Long live the Empire.” Next, he turned and made his way out. It was time to get healed up and walking normal once more.

END