What We Leave Behind

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 3:57am by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Marikit "Kit" Urso & Lottie & Captain Ivan Petrov & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant Sovas Nyseth & Lieutenant Dr. Daniel Brasken & Lieutenant JG Orion Wolff & Lieutenant Harper Bennett & Lieutenant Asher Stagg & Master Chief Petty Officer Allen Whitepaw & Ren

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: Officer's Mess
Timeline: Date 2371-11-11 at 1130
5378 words - 10.8 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Officer's Mess, ISS Vengeance

Lyra stood quietly next to the window that extended across nearly the entire length of the officer's mess. Usually, meetings were of course held in the briefing room, but this time with the amount of people who were meeting all together, it was decided that the officer's mess would be the most appropriate place for ease of everyone being able to sit down for what was to come. She didn't know what exactly this meeting would entail, but she had a strong suspicion of what would be said here; Brasken still hadn't found a cure for their people and it had been weeks. She didn't blame the man of course - she was well aware of how many hours the staff in both medical and science had been putting in to finding a solution to their problem even if it didn't necessarily mean a cure, but nothing had been found.

Hearing something shift behind her, she turned to see Lottie and Ren finishing up the set up of the room, making sure there was water on the table should anyone need it and that everything was clean and in order.

"We're done, Mistress Cassiel." Lottie spoke, her head lowered in deference.

"Very well. Go and tend to your other duties." Lyra instructed while she turned to face the table fully.

"Yes, Mistress." Lottie gave a quick bow and looked to Ren, moving to leave the room quickly through the service entrance with him in tow.

The first to enter the room was a near stranger to the Vengeance over the past several months, Lieutenant Harper Bennett. As usual she was dressed trim and orderly in her uniform, her hair pulled back in a little too tight bun. Her hazel eyes fell on Lyra and she gave the smallest of smiles and nods of greeting. "Commander Cassiel."

"Harper." Lyra replied quite coolly, her dark eyes smoldering with displeasure.

Harper blinked at the frosty response. While they surely hadn't been anything approaching friends, they'd had an amiable enough rapport before that she was confused by the reception she was receiving. She decided it was due to whatever was happening here today and awkwardly moved to take one of the seats away from Lyra. Harper was an intelligent woman and intelligent enough to not tempt Lyra's ire. She had been on the Lovarr after all and seen up close what the woman had done.

Sovas strode into the Officer's mess, curious as to the reason they were meeting and not the briefing room, perhaps it was meant to be a little more relaxed given the stress of the ongoing situation with the crew still stranded on the planet below. He was quiet and found a seat to stay out of the way as he set a PADD down with the Operations schedule along with an inventory of supplies, he hadn't been told why it was needed but that in and of itself felt ominous in a way that settled heavily in his stomach as his thoughts turned to Ilan.

Following the half-Vulcan was Orion, looking clean-cut but tired as he was still wearing his lab coat and carrying a travel mug. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd slept more than four hours. Mostly he had taken to sleeping in his office in the science labs while he coordinated with Brasken to try and find a cure for the insidious bloodborne pathogen that had infected their crewmates. While it made him curse the fates, he found the genetic structure of the organism to the fascinating since in its native environment it appeared to be completely harmless and dormant, though his research had shown it became deadly to its host when removed from its home, in fact it was so dangerous any samples they had gathered from the planet has required biohazard protocols for capture and transport by shuttle back up to the ship.

His gaze moved to Lyra as she stood at the window and for a moment he considered going up to her, but he was too tired for anything and even as much of an arrogant prick as he was, he felt there was a Détente between him and Andrei due to the circumstances. He took a seat and sipped his coffee, hoping it would keep him awake.

Lieutenant Asher Stagg walked in next with a rugged frown. Unlike most people, he actually knew what this meeting was about, and he was certainly not happy about it. This was the first of these little meetings he had been invited to on Vengeance, so he wasn’t familiar with the layout or the format besides his understanding of senior staff briefings. He looked around the room and caught a glance at Orion. He nodded, happy to at least see a familiar face, and then moved further into the room. The second person he noticed was the senior officer in the room, the beautiful woman who happen to be dating the completely psychotic son of the captain. He looked at her for a second or two, admiring her figure and face. She was beautiful. He walked to the back of the room, thinking about how he might use her to hurt Andrei. he had recovered from their encounter on his ship, with the help of doctors, but on the inside he was still raw. The senior officer ducked a table at the back of the room and sat down, crossing his arms defiantly.

Entering into the room almost late was Doctor Brasken. He was clean, but it was a hurried clean. The type of clean when you know you have to be presentable after a long period of ignoring your physical state. His hair had a little too much body on the verge of being unruly while his face had a soft pink tinge of someone who had scrubbed hard and fast to make up time over diligence and without looking anyone in the eye took a seat near the back of the room.

Kit trotted in just seconds after Brasken while swiping her hand over her hair to smooth it out and then reached up to straighten her commbadge. It was anyone's guess why she was looking a bit out of sorts, but when she lifted her head she smiled in greeting then found a seat of her own where she settled. She knew of course this was going to be... something, but she had no idea what was happening. Maybe they were all going to stay here. It seemed like a nice planet.

Minus the absolutely deadly virus.

Annalise arrived soon after Kit. Her beautiful face was lined with a pensive expression which didn't lighten upon entering the room. She offered nods of greeting directly to Kit, Orion, and Asher, but gave all three of them a wide berth. Asher wasn't happy with her and while she didn't blame him necessarily, it wasn't something she was wanting to subject herself to further right now. She looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she sat down heavily in one of the chairs.

Lyra's keen eyes moved over each individual as they entered, noting how they did so and where they chose to sit. Orion had wisely decided to not come up to her and make an attempt to chat. Sovas was being stoic today, it seemed. Stagg had looked like he wanted to punch a wall - but she also hadn't missed the way his eyes had run over her. Brasken was trying to not look like death warmed over, but she had to give the man credit he and his whole department really had been trying their best; too bad it hadn't been good enough. A smudge of black just under kit's ear at the back of her jaw informed Lyra that Kit had probably been crawling around in some tight space instead of something more fun. Annalise was the most concerning though, the way she had practically collapsed in the chair had made Lyra narrow her eyes suspiciously then look over toward Stagg and then back to Annalise again.

They knew something.

The last two to enter were the Captain and Andrei, the younger of which followed after the elder with a menacing frown on his face. It was clear that he wasn't only dismayed, he was angry. He folded his arms under his chest and followed Commanding Officer to the front of the room near the counter. The kitchen staff had cleared out for the meeting, so the familiar smell of cooking food was missing.

Orion looked at Andrei; even a blind man couldn't miss the anger radiating from his tensed form. So the news wasn't good but then again with the lack of progress that he and Brasken had made he didn't expect there to be a sudden deluge of earth-shatteringly good news. He sipped his coffee and mulled over the possibility that when he finally did enact his revenge, there would still be some Petrovs left alive in the galaxy somewhere.

Confined to a planet with a terminal life sentence if they ever left, but still living and breathing.

That he was going to be losing his assistant chief to this was just more bird shit in his eye and while he tried not to, he still felt that Andrei and his idiot family where to blame, even if it was irrational. He was tired of being rational since that hadn't seemed to have gotten them anywhere with this whole bastarding situation.

Sovas observed the the captain and his son as they entered the room, the air of defeat around both men was presenting differently, but it was still defeat and that didn't seem to bode well for the conversation or the the future course of the fleet.

Kit blinked as she watched the two men enter and immediately wondered why Andrei looked so damn angry. He surely had to know that a cure hadn't been found by now, so what was his deal? She definitely made a mental note not to go anywhere near him for a while unless she had no choice; she wanted no part of that.

Andrei’s obvious anger made Harper slightly uncomfortable, but memories of his anger funneled into something else danced in the back of her mind. He’d been rough with her then - sometimes too rough - but those times were few enough to be ignored. She licked her lips and looked away to try and focus on something else.

Lyra looked at Andrei and Ivan and along with everyone could immediately see that something was very wrong. Her eyes settled on Andrei, searching while her expression remained neutral as if she wasn't concerned. She resisted the urge to go to his side to offer support and the comfort of her presence and instead remained firmly where she was so she could observe the rest more easily. She had an uneasy feeling she knew what was coming, though.

Ivan cleared his throat, turning his attention to the group of senior officers gathered before him.

"Take your seats. This conversation has been a long time coming." the Captain said. He glanced at Andrei, who had taken up a position leaning against the counter with his strong arms crossed, looking like he was planning a murder of passion, but quickly turned his brown eyes back to the group. "We've been orbiting this planet for a month now searching for a cure, and despite some commendable effort from Dr. Brasken, Lieutenant Wolff, and their departments, along with all the scientific and medical resources of our fleet, we're no closer to finding a cure for this disease than when we arrived. I have to be honest now and accept the reality that we might never find a cure."

Ivan sighed, the silver and black hairs of his mustache billowing in the wind from his nostrils.

"So, we have to move on. And that means we have to leave some people behind."

Sovas arched an eyebrow as the news was delivered, glancing around at the room to gauge the reactions of the Captain saying that they would be more or less abandoning Terrans to whatever fate they would face on the planet below. It was a move to be certain but he wasn't in command and he was sure that it hadn't come as an easy decision, but it still made him wonder if Ivan was willing to leave his own wife and daughter down on the planet, who else would he be willing to sacrifice?

For his part, Orion took in the news with a mix of surprise and reluctant acceptance, but it still didn't sit right with him as it would mean leaving behind valuable and irreplaceable Terran crewmembers to create a new life on an alien world living with what was essentially a biological timebomb in their bodies that could at any moment mutate and turn into something that would eradicate them in a matter of days or weeks. He sighed and sipped his coffee since it was a practical decision but still ruthlessly cold.

"Leave them behind?"

It was Kit's voice that broke the silence after Ivan's declaration, brave and unapologetic. "After so many were lost so recently, you want to leave more people behind?"

Ivan frowned at his Chief Engineer. The look was more personal than professional.

“Lieutenant Urso, if you think I want to leave anyone behind, then you need your head examined in Sickbay.” He said, a tone of irritation in his voice. “Our alternatives are all too dangerous or have us floating her trying for the next decade. I promised to get this crew home, not get them killed or force them to grow old looking for a cure that may never come.”

Knowing what was coming from the captain just felt like another physical blow in a series in a beating that he had been receiving since this began. Daniel sank a little further into his seat while still trying to appear alert and attentive. To others that didn't know him he might look relieved at the news even.

Daniel's eyes went between those that were talking after watching the faces of all that were gathered. No one would have an easy job relaying the information to their departments, but it would need to be done orderly and with a singular message. Any points that needed to be discussed would need to be aired out before anyone left the room or it would get worse.

"Lieutenant." Daniel addressed Kit. "Have you been able to identify or replicate the environment to completely halt the progress of the infection? Can you guarantee that it will hold past the point of being unable to return to this planet in time to prevent the loss of those currently in stasis?" He paused half a breath to let the questions sink in but not long enough for them to actually respond to any of them. "Is the planet below defensible and resource heavy to allow us to build the fleet to protect ourselves from another attack as we had recently?"

He hit the table with a heel strike as he stood up and leaned forward, his temper getting the better of him as he continued. "The fact of the matter is that staying here is not an option!"

"Doctor, we are all frustrated and you know I share your feelings toward the situation but lashing out at our crewmates isn't going to magically summon forth a cure." Orion spoke up, looking at Brasken and his frustrated outburst toward Kit. Though he knew that she wasn't meant to be the target she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also knew that Kit wouldn't take such an outburst meekly, though he could also understand her position since this would be a huge blow to morale, that was already flagging and this wouldn't improve it.

Sovas looked between the trio before turning his attention to the captain. "What of the morale of the crew, its still limping after both the ambush and the failure of the Sikarian trajector? I wouldn't be surprised if there is an attempted mutiny."

“An attempt that would be gravely foolish and probably deadly for the perpetrators.” Lyra spoke up calmly and as she did so, she walked casually closer to Daniel and stopped to lean on the table so she was blocking both Daniel and Kit from direct line of sight from each other. She crossed her arms under her chest, her eyes still forward on Ivan and Andrei, but she was very aware of Daniel next to her. She had never seen him make such an outburst before. She didn’t like it.

Kit was angry. At first it was directed toward her captain until Brasken’s outburst; then those around could physically see her shoulders lift as if she were an angry animal raising its hackles getting ready to fight. When Lyra positioned herself as a physical wall between the two of them, however, Kit settled for a loud scoff, and disengaged from the entire room by looking away.

Andrei watched the entire thing with a barely subdued scowl. His strong arms remained crossed under his chest and his visible gray eye was alight with anger as he listneed to the exchange. He didn’t find occasion to speak, however, but let things play out between the frustrated senior staff. His gaze went to Annalise to watch how she was reacting.

“Enough.” Ivan said, somehow calm. He looked at his assembled officers and frowned. “Your disagreement is a mirror of the war that had been taking place inside my heart for the last month. I understand. But Daniel is correct: remaining here is not an option. We will all deal with this in our own way in time, but I expect all of your responses to be respectful of the chain of command. A breakdown in authority is the last thing we need.”

With the physical barrier of Lyra breaking his eye contact with Kit, Daniel's brain was able to take control back from his emotions. He knew what had been said was not wrong and that he had taken offense because of the personal attachment he had to the whole situation, not to mention the physical exhaustion he was working with. With the added words from Ivan, Daniel's demeanor shifted as a cool hardness descended upon him. He looked at no one in particular but took his seat again and simply existed at the table for now.

Once the room had simmered down, Ivan took another step forward again, his face grave.

“The Fleet will depart in two days, but I have a bit more challenging news. I will not be going with you. My wife and my daughter are here, and I cannot leave them. I have a duty to lead them and protect them. After this meeting, therefore, I will be transferring Command of the Vengeance Lieutenant Commander Faulkner.” He declared, looking at Annalise. “Her orders are to set sail for the Alpha Quadrant and not to look back.”

Lieutenant Brice Hughes had taken up a position near one side of the room. Despite his recent command of the ISS Kez'Ron, the Fleet's only surviving Numiri ship, he didn't fuss over being regarded as important. He was often quiet, and only voiced his opinions when he felt they would make a difference. He looked between Ivan and some of the faces of the other officers in the room and frowned. The news that Annalise was taking over was a shock to him as well as everyone else, he would bet.

"Captain, let me be the first to say that is a completely understandable decision. Your family needs you." he said, still leaning back in his chair. He didn't know anyone on the planet, and while the situation was sad, he was more concerned keeping the Numiri slaves under his command controlled to lift his head up for Fleet Politics or even changes in personnel on other ships.

Harper did nothing but frown slightly, her mind going over the whole situation and now this revelation that there would be a new commander. She could only hope her own position would remain secure.

This just keeps getting better and better, Orion's brow jumped at the news of the senior Petrov's decision to make his departure from the ship, while he commended the man for his loyalty to his family, it also left his son in a precarious position without any of his remaining family in the fleet. His mind turned back to thoughts of revenge and how he could humiliate Andrei. though he kept his tongue, he didn't have any sincere, or even insincere, words to offer to the Captain. Ivan had never been the target of his ire, it had always been his son, but once a task was started there could be no one left to take vengeance...Christoph and Lyra's story was proof of why.

Sovas nodded as he listened, it still didn't feel right, the situation but he could accept this as the most logical decision for the good of the rest of the fleet and those left down on the planet would make their own way. Surviving or dying.

Daniel was caught off guard by the announcement of the change in command. Not that Ivan would be leaving to stay with his family, but that his son wasn't being put in the center ring. Still, he barely responded, shut down as he was from his own mental gear shift and simply nodded in acceptance of the order. Truth be told he might consider trying to stay behind and work on a cure longer, but he doubted the option would be looked highly upon by anyone and would just make him enemies on both the planet and the fleet.

“Uh…” Kit began and then stopped, opting instead to just start shifting her gaze back and forth between Andrei and Ivan several times. The unspoken question was there - everyone wanted to know - but no one actually wanted to ask it. Even she had thought better of it in the end. Truth be told, she was glad for it. Annalise was a friend of sorts, and Andrei was just unstable and unfit for command.

There had been a strange silence and stillness radiating off of Lyra after the delivery of the news. She now perfectly understood why her beloved was so upset that he was actively displaying his feelings. To him, both of these decisions by his father were a betrayal, but the highest one she imagined was not actually his choice to remain behind, but to install Annalise as the new captain of the Vengeance and commander of the fleet. She kept her own feelings on the matter completely obscure in her expression, but she did finally shift how she was standing and leveled her cool gaze on Ivan.

Ivan took in the reactions with observant eyes. Not only was he anticipating surprise and confusion, he expected some decent in the eyes of some. He found what he was looking for. Finally, after a round of silence on his part, he spoke in a conclusive manner.

“I want you all to know it has been an honor serving with you, and defending our glorious Empire. I’ll remain onboard for the next few days to assist with the transition and then I’ll depart for the surface for good. I’ll be sure to say my final goodbyes over subspace as well.”

The general mood of the room had turned into some grudging level of acceptance, but it was clear nobody was remotely alright with the entirety of the matter. It was a devastating blow to the already fragile morale of the fleet as a whole. When no one said anything, Ivan clossed the meeting.

"I'm going down to the planet in an EV suit personally to give the news to the away team. Relay this information to your people, but try to keep morale as high as it possibly can be. You're all dismissed."

As the group began to filter out, Lyra finally moved to approach Andrei, but was beaten to her lover by Annalise.

"Commander Petrov, I would like to speak with you in the ready room now, please." Annalise requested with a calm resolve.

Andrei seemed overtly annoyed that Annalise had cut off Lyra’s approach. She was the last person in the galaxy he wanted to speak with at the moment. He want a child, however, so he stood off straight and looked at the woman who would apparently be his new commanding officer.

“Fine, I can make that work.” He answered, and then gave Lyra a look that communicated they would talk later.

20 Minutes Later
The type 11 shuttle Vicious Intent entered the atmosphere of Gamma Eridine II, making for the clearing where the Terran Away Team had been resting in stasis for a month. Her only occupant was Captain Ivan Petrov. His hands were steady and his expression was resolute as he brought the shuttle to a landing place near the trees. There were still a few days to be lived out on Vengeance before he came down here for good, so he wore an EV suit to protect him from big bites. Without delay, he opened the door at the back and walked out into the Sunny morning air. It would be refreshing to breathe natural air and to stand beneath the sun without the suit he was wearing, but he understood he would probably never see his own world again. Lifting a PADD, he triggered the end of stasis sleep in the pods arrayed before him. As they opened up and their occupants started to wake, he lowered his hand to the side and his chest heaved in a sigh. The news he had to share wasn’t happy.

Ilan was the first to stir. Her unique biology made recovery from conditions like anesthesia or stasis much easier and more rapid than any Terran. She used her hands and pushed herself up with a slight groan. She blinked her eyes several times and then looked around. When she saw they were still on the planet, she frowned, and when she saw the Captain standing there in an EV suit, her frown only grew.

“Captain?” She questioned softly.

Ivan smiled sadly and gave Ilan a nod. He was going to respond when he saw several others stir as well. He would rather not say what he had to share twice, so he held back.

Corvin groaned as he slowly came to from stasis, weakly he pawed at the frame of the pod as his fingers slipped off no finding traction before finally they curled around the metal and he pulled himself up. He hated going into stasis because it felt like all of the worst hangovers mixed with all of the worst sleep a person could get. He sat there coming too, leaned his head back as he looked up at the sky of the alien world they were on, silently cursing the gods for making everything so damn bright.

Bryana was next, having a bit of an easier time of it than Corvin, though she was only Terran, she'd never had a problem with stasis and always seemed to recover pretty quickly. She sat up, rubbing the back of her neck with a hands to try and work out the stiffness the pillows always gave her as she sniffed and shifted, swinging her legs out of the pod to dangle over the ground, her grogginess keeping her from immediately acknowledging the captain's presence.

Cedrik woke with a start and immediately sat up straight in the stasis pod. The regret he felt was instant as the world spun and he felt terribly sick. He lowered his head into his hands and just sat there trying to recover. Why weren’t they on the ship?

Ilan moved and slid down onto the ground, wobbling a bit but finding her feet as she walked over to where the two Petrova women were coming out of their slumber. She went to Yana’s pod and looked down at the woman. “Commander Petrova… Captain Petrov is here.”

Yana shook the sleep out of her eyes. Unlike some, she adjusted well to spending time in a stasis pod. All the same, the news that her husband was present gave her hope that this entire situation had been resolved. She sat up and looked for him, her silvery eyes finding him right away and narrowing. She was confused, but the stasis wasn't the source of that confusion.

"Ivan?" she asked, climbing out and jumping to the ground. She walked around the pods with other people climbing out of them. "Why are you in that suit?"

"The planet still isn't safe for me to exist in without protection." he answered his wife as she made her final approach. "Dr. Brasken and Lieutenant Wolff have worked tirelessly to find a cure to your disease, but they've ultimately failed. I'm sorry to tell you this, but the away team cannot safely leave this world. Our research indicates that you will be safe here, however, as long as you remain. I've given orders to the Fleet to prepare for departure in a few days. For now, we will beam down supplies and make a comfortable home for you right here."

He grabbed his wife's hands then and pursed his lips, his whiskers dancing with the speed of his exhale.

"I'll be staying with you. Captain Faulkner will lead the Fleet home to Terra without us."

The wave of shock was obvious as Ivan's words hit each individual of the damned away team. Panic started to grip some of the younger members and they naturally started to move closer to each other like a pack of frightened animals. They were being abandoned, they'd never see home again. The thought of such a fate was one of the few things that could put terror into the heart of the dauntless Terran heart.

Ilan frowned deeply. She knew Orion and Daniel had tried their best, but she couldn't help but feel she could have made a difference had she been there to assist. "So we're just supposed to... stay here forever? Die here?"

She wrapped her arms around herself and looked down, obviously sad and bothered and not really expecting an answer.

Corvin stood up from his pod and considered Ivan's words, feeling a sudden rush of anger welling up within him as he wanted to rush over to their idiot of a captain so he could tear off the helmet of his suit then fill it up with the accursed little bugs on the planet and let them bite and infect him since he was oh so nobly coming down here to join them in exile. "Fucking worthless gesture." He growled and spat on the ground, his anger ruling his response rather than logic or tact.

Bryana blinked as the captain delivered the news and she felt like she'd been punched in the gut, the reality that she wouldn't get to see her family again taking all of the wind out of her. She also felt a pang of resentment towards Ivan since he was getting to have most of his family with him, trapped on the planet. Everything she felt was conflicted and the Marine just sat on the edge of the pod, ignoring Corvin's outburst and trying to process her feelings.

Ivan looked at Corvin with sad eyes, but he didn’t look angry in the slightest. They were all miserable, and he would t fault the man for being upset or for have a lapse in self-control. He turned back to his wife and daughter instead and gave them both reassuring nods. This wouldn’t be an easy transition, but they would have to make it work if they wanted to survive.

OFF