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PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08)  | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Stegro88, @uytrereee

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There was a time, only a few days past, when Lillee had felt anxious about getting into a cramped shuttlecraft with Samala. She had chosen the banality of shuttlecraft piloting over the terror of flying a Valkyrie specifically for the lessened risk of mortal peril, so the prospect of being confined with the dangerous girl was an unpleasant one at first. After all, she had threatened Lillee's life (with cause, admittedly), and was undeniably a dangerous individual.

Now, however, after a week of watching Samala fly, Lillee found herself missing the cockpit of a Valkyrie. At least there, she'd have a purpose, rather than watch a clearly competent pilot fly mundane missions while Lillee just sat there, pretending not to be bored. To be sure, the girl needed occasional guidance on Starfleet regulations, but it couldn't be more obvious that she knew how to handle a shuttlecraft, or indeed probably most spacecraft.

Of course, these are Federation shuttles, Lillee mused ruefully. They're designed so that even a Gorn toddler can fly them.

The final flight of Samala's "mandated supervised trial-flight hours in a type 11 shuttlecraft" (Starfleet's official terminology could be mind-numbingly verbose) was so simple that it was nearly insulting. An engineer, one of the more senior ones, had requested a shuttle to perform a final inspection of the Theurgy's hulh now that almost all the repairs were complete. They'd likely not venture any further from the ship than a couple of kilometers, and most of it would simply involve hanging in space while the engineer did his work.

Nevertheless, it'd work well enough to qualify Samala to finally fly shuttles without supervision, even if a type 11 was overkill for such a simple task. After the shuttle flew out of the shuttlebay, Lillee sat in the chair just aft of Samala. She glanced at Lieutenant Arnold, a broad-chested and thick-bearded human whom she didn't recognise but who seemed pleasant enough. Resigned to a thoroughly dull morning, Lillee settled in. Nevertheless, she kept a wary eye on Samala. The girl's attitude had improved markedly, but given how new she was to Starfleet, it would be important to note how she worked with an officer, especially a stranger.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #1 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08)  | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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"Two weeks. It has been two weeks since I was approved to join the crew,” Samala thought as she manoeuvred the Type 11 around the outside of the Theurgy. The shuttle, at just over half the length of the Apache, was easier to move around the ship while avoiding the dock, though one of the smaller Type 9’s would have been easier still. After what she had learnt to do with a craft the size of a Danube runabout in tight spaces, this almost felt like a holiday.

And then there was Lillee. The past week spent with the Romulan had been, not necessarily difficult but certainly awkward. They had tried to maintain their professionalism, but every so often, one of them or the other had asked something more casual or personal. It was like two fighters feeling out each other at the start of a fight, except without the implied violence that came after it. In truth, she was almost starting to like the woman.

“Moving around to the port side,” Samala announced as she manipulated the controls to slide the shuttle sideways around the bow of the vector they were inspecting. More correctly, the man seated beside her was doing the inspection, she was just the driver. “Would you like me to stop, Sir?”

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #2 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff , @Stegro88
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If anything made his list of things to do, in the torrent of duties he'd taken on as he settled into his new home aboard the Theurgy, inspecting the old girl himself was top of them for Frank. He'd settled into his shuttle seat comfortably, and tap tap tapped away on his PADD for the moment. It wasn't so much that Frank was rude, it was that he was excited, and he wanted to make sure he was adequately prepared. After all, these were crewmen he'd never met before, and he absolutely needed to have a good showing, in the one thing he was best at. And so he tapped, right up until Samala announced they were moving towards the port side, and he looked up for the first time, and saw the Theurgy in her glory.

Letting out a low whistle as he set down the PADD Frank offered, "She's a beauty isn't she?" The question was for all intents and purposes rhetorical of course, but if either one of them replied, they'd immediately jump a few notches in his book. "One thousand, one hundred and forty five meters long, just a teenth over five point one million tonnes calculated displacement but we'll say five million. What pretty lady doesn't lie about her weight, just a little? Composite hull and multi-vectored, but we won't hold that against her, will we gals?" He chuckled and looked between them,  as he took this time to look each of them over just for a moment, before he addressed Samala's question, "Please, once we're within a kilometre or so."

He walked towards the main viewport, and would just look close with his own eyes for a moment, before he spoke again, "See now I'm sure that the repairs were more than up to snuff, but how would it look if our Assistant Chief Engineer, a trained metallurgist, missed a fatigue crack, and we buckled a plate?" He shook his head as he toed the line of rambling, "Quite silly if you ask me. See the thing with duranium tritanium composites is, sometimes at the microstructural level, you can get de-lamination between the lathe structures, especially when they're repaired with electron beam melting. It's a problem with residual stre...Am I boring you two?" He gave a nod and a gentle chuckle, "I probably am." He shrugged and moved on, "Either way, it's best we find something now, than find it out of dock."

He would look to Samala, and offered, "If you don't mind..." and he reached for the touchpad console adjacent to her own, where he fully intended to initiate a Corzon-Gamma Wave scan from the emitter, to search for voidage resultant of ancillary fatigue, or the de-lamination he'd alluded to, even though he expected to find none. Hands on as always.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #3 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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"I wonder if Lillee is thinking the same thing I am,” Samala wondered as she listened to the Human ramble. Perhaps it was just her own views on trusting people and making friends, but Samala found the way he was speaking and reciting facts to be annoying. And trying to include her in his meandering speech was the worst part of it. Or perhaps it was his lack of awareness given his order to move them within a kilometre. She had never moved further than 200 metres from the hull at any time so that they stayed within the dock’s cloaking field. Either way, she brought the Type-11 to a halt as the officer began his work.

She mostly understood what he was doing as she had done the same thing many times in the past; most recently when she had completed the repairs to the Apache. Finding any kind of defects or faults in the hull was best done while in the yard where they could be quickly fixed. Having a photon torpedo reveal one during combat was... problematic. Still, the man seemed to know what he was doing even if he was a talker. 

“I’m just here to fly the shuttle, sir,” Samala noted respectfully when Lieutenant Arnold began his scans. Holding the shuttle steady until she was told otherwise, the hybrid looked at each of the other occupants in turn. “With the ship almost fully repaired, how much longer do you think we’ll be staying here at Aldea?"

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #4 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) |  Outside USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Stegro88
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Frank could certainly be annoying. He loved this sort of work, it was the perfect application of his studies, and he got to work with the greatest engineering marvels of this century. He didn't necessarily understand that not everyone shared his passion for this sort of thing, which meant he wouldn't shut up. Coming to the Theurgy had a lot of downsides, but right now as he peered through he viewscreen, he couldn't think of one, and if he could, it certainly was not on his mind.

Frank had no idea what distance they started at, 200 meters to him, looked like a kilometre, he wasn't a pilot, and most of the time he spent in a shuttle was behind a panel. EM Radiation, and diffraction indices, that's what he understood best about space. He liked spacecraft, but 99/100 times, he never actually saw space from his duty station, and if he did, it was because there was a gaping hole in the ship and he was helping to get it closed. He was a deck monkey, so his mistake was an understandable one. But as she didn't draw any closer, he figured it out soon enough, silently.

As she said she was just here to fly the shuttle, he gave a slow nod, and stroked his beard saying idly, "Alright then Crewman, forgive me for trying to make this journey a bit more interesting." He would tap on the touch-pad in front of him, firing up a set of pulses across two spectrums, X-Ray of course and Gamma-rays at low intensity. Naturally ultrasonic was superior for finding voidage, but that required a contact probe and was confined to the localized contact, as the auditory waves couldn't carry without an atmosphere or other medium across the vacuum of space. He targeted a matrix of spots across the hull, rather the computer did, in a carefully arranged grid of 10^18 individual points, giving an average readout of the atomic packing factor, laminar spacing, any turbulent scattering of the wave patterns indicating a discontinuity in the material, or a concentration of dislocations at the unit-cell level and average grain size of the material. He of course would be studying any anomalous readings the computer flagged, and determining if they indicated detriment to the Theurgy. For now though, everything looked nominal.

After five or so minutes of hmms and hahs, he looked to Samala and offered, "I'm satisfied with these readings. Starboard side, same relative angle if you will Crewman."

At her question, he raised a brow, and shrugged gently, "To be fair, I know as little on the matter as you do. I can say we're buttoning up everything that can be in Engineering, if Captain Ives gave the word tomorrow that we were leaving, we'd be ready to go." He shrugged, "But to be fair I've never worked with Captain Ives, and I've only been on board a handful of days now. If I had to guess, we won't linger too much longer, as there's a lot of associated risk with us staying here too long, for us, and for the Aldeans. The ship's back in fighting order, some fresh crew have come aboard with the arrival of the Vor'nak, myself included. I'd keep your seabag packed, so to speak."

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #5 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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Samala brought the shuttle down and under the vector, using the craft’s thrusters to manoeuvre it along the hull while keeping the Theurgy centred squarely in the forward viewport. Perhaps it was showing off a little bit, but the hybrid wanted to test herself in how well she had adapted to the control systems of the Starfleet shuttle. While it was all familiar to her and similar enough to the Apache given its design origins, the Type-11 was its own creature and supremacy was in mastering its subtilties. 

While the shuttle slid through vacuum, Samala listened as Lieutenant Arnold essentially confirmed what she, and her brother among others, had already suspected; the Theurgy was ready to leave Aldea. The only reason that she could think of for them not having left already was that they were not sure where to go next. It made no sense to leave a place of safety and security unless you either needed to, because it was no longer safe and secure; or because you needed to be someplace else. 

“Understood sir,” Samala responded as she brought the shuttle to a stop at the requested position. “In position and holding steady for your scans, sir,” she announced after checking her location relative to the Theurgy. “Sir, with respect, I’ve had my fill of interesting journeys recently.” She didn’t go into details, and wouldn’t, even if ordered to. In her mind, Lieutenant Frank Arnold didn’t need to know.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #6 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Stegro88
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Frank mostly paid attention to his PADD now, and the display readout from the shuttle, marking things he'd want to review later in more detail, minor variances mostly, nothing that alarmed him. Nothing that was going to cause a rupture or compromise the ship in a fight. Mostly they were details he might want to review later, a potential project to boost their hull density, although as he had already said to Blue in their first meeting, it was hard to improve on ships that were fairly new, as they were built on the newest research.

Samala's maneuver however did turn his head, ever for a moment, and he had to just smile. It reminded him of riding his bike, a similar thrill to be had when cornering perfectly, smoothly, guiding through a curve. He had a suspicion she might have donei t that way just to mess with him, or maybe to show off to her, who he presumed was an instructor who sat silently and observed. But it would likely have an opposite effect. "Hey that was really good! Not that I know much of anything about flying a shuttle, no I know more about the hull designs and the propulsion." He nodded and knocked in the interior bulkhead, "Robust design, simple, fairly tough stuff." He rolled his shoulders, "Tritanium skin, Disilicon bonding at the electron beam welded seams, good stuff." He gave a nod, "Have you been a pilot long. I guess not or you wouldn't have a ride along, well if it's anything like Engineering training. Or you could be a transfer?" He gave another nod, rambling once more, "Do you have much more training to do?" He was not simply satisfied to sit in silence himself, besides if she was going to fly, she'd be distracted often.

He chuckled, as she told him she'd had her fill of adventure, and he said to her, "Oh I'm sure of that, it seems like this crew has already been through a lot. I'm just one of the new guys, I get it." He shrugged, "But it could be worse. Monotony kills the soul, it's adventure that flavors life. Have to chase what sets your soul on fire, for me that's this." He gestured the PADD towards her, "But you've already shown me that's not the case for you eh?"

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #7 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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“He really does ramble,” Samala thought to herself as she rechecked their position to make sure that they hadn’t drifted at all. Being this close to the planet, Aldea’s gravity made station keeping a tricky prospect, especially while they were within the framework of the dockyard. Satisfied, she thought about what she should say to the man. She was mildly annoyed the Lillee seemed to be leaving her to face the brunt of the man’s enquiries but then again, perhaps she had already suffered before them. Resigned, she looked across the compartment at the Engineer.

“I enjoy adventure as much as I enjoy the serenity of silence, sir,” Samala began. “My life to this point as had much more of the former than the latter and I’d like to try and balance the scales somewhat before my time comes due. Given that no one knows when that will be, you can’t blame me for wanting to see symmetry sooner rather than later. As an engineer, I think you can understand that.”

“Ma’am, would you please say something back there,” Samala thought to herself, making sure not to accidently use her talent to reach out to the Romulan. “I’m even willing to accept chastisement at this point. Just help me out here. I’m not good as the centre of attention.”

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #8 –
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08)  | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Stegro88, @uytrereee

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Sitting behind Samala, Lillee had to resist the urge to grin as the girl suffered beneath Arnold's friendly personality. Poor Samala clearly wasn't used to coping with such people, common though they were in the Federation, and there was a perverse sense of enjoyment to witnessing it.

A capable pilot, yes. A skilled fighter, certainly. A natural conversationalist? Not at all. Nevertheless, Lillee had been quite serious in what she'd told the girl only a few days past. Samala had to be able to deal with the excessive amicability and general strangeness of humans if she was to spend her time in Starfleet without going insane.

As she listened to Samala, a part of Lillee's attention idly monitored sensors, both those trained on the Theurgy hull and sensors aimed away. The cloaking field that enveloped the dreadnought in invisibility did not work both ways, and Lillee was able to monitor the nearby Klingon ships and their message traffic. She couldn't hear what the Klingons were saying or read their messages, but she could determine how often they were talking.

Thus, when the communications traffic surged by more than 4000% in only a minute, Lillee sat upright in her chair, directing her full attention to her console.

"Something is happening," she announced, her tone serious. "No word from the Theurgy yet, but communications are being overloaded." She paused, frowning. "Some ships are diverting...there is a freighter out there. It only left the planet surface a few minutes ago, but it's just turned back and is moving to land again. The Klingon ships are moving as well. I believe it's a heightened state of alert."

Lillee worked her console swiftly. "I am trying to access an Aldean news channel...yes, there it is." A holographic screen popped up in front of Samala and Arnold, displaying the instantly recognisable symbol of the Federation News Network. "Why are they relaying the FNN? The Aldeans don't care about Federation news-" Then she stopped, her breath caught in her throat, as the screen changed to a live view.

It was Paris, the capital of the Federation. The camera appeared to be hundreds of meters in the air, perhaps recorded by a news drone. The landmarks of the Eiffel Tower and the Palais de la Concorde were immediately recognisable...as was the roiling angry tidal wave of green energy that exploded throughout the city. The buildings appeared utterly unaffected, but the sound of screams from the streets was faint but unmistakable.

The image of Paris was minimised to the top left corner as the channel changed to a smartly dressed news reporter, sitting behind a desk. The man looked human, clearly trying very hard to remain professional and calm.

"For those of you who are just joining us, what you are seeing is an event recorded in Paris on Earth just a few minutes ago," he said in a smooth dulcet voice, his manner grave. "We are still processing reports of the incident, but there has been no contact from anyone in the city since the weapon was detonated. Starfleet and rescue services are mobilising, and transporters across the planet and in orbit were briefly overloaded conducting emergency transports from the city. There has been no word yet on the condition of President Bacco, who was on her way back to Paris in a shuttlecraft at the time of the incident. Emergency evacuations are underway throughout northeastern France. At this time, we here at the Federation News Network advise you all to remain where you are and await further instructions from your local government."

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #9 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttlecraft Turing | Outside USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Stegro88
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Frank really was torturing the girl now. Now that he knew that she had no interest, that simply was not going to do. He wanted to get her interested! He loved this stuff, he had to share that with someone. Silence? Silence was not going to do for Frank. He gave a slow chuckle, "Well sadly today is not going to be silent I am afraid, just not in my bones to be silent while doing something so thrilling!" He was so excited it was almost cute, "You know I did some work on these types of composites after the Academy...I think I said that already didn't I?" He raised a brow looking at her, and gave a slow chuckle at her, saying lightly, "But if you're going to die tomorrow, do you really want your last words to be, 'silence is golden'?" That wasn't what she had said, but he paraphrased. He shrugged, "Fair enough, we'll do it your way." He gave a slow smile, and would say lightly, "But you've evaded all of my questions, can I at least get your name?"

His line of questioning was broken by Lillee's interruption. He turned his head slowly as she said something was happening. Did she mean with the shuttle, well now he was going to get to do more exciting things. But before he could burst in, she was elaborating, she meant out there, not in here. He stroked his chin, and said lightly, "A heightened state of alert?" Well there weren't many ways to respond to that, "If that's the case, we have to make the assumption we'll be needed at our duty stations." He looked to Samala, "I believe that concludes my scans, if you would, we'll need to return to the Theurgy, especially if damage control teams are required."

His attention was immediately grabbed by the FNN network, 'That can't be good' he thought, as he mused over what of import could reach out to Aldea, and more importantly that was worth them relaying. 'A major scientific discovery perhaps, a violent overthrow of a government, or War' were the thoughts that ran through his head as he waited for more information.

The information he got, was very unpleasant indeed. At first he was worried it might be San Francisco, but the Eiffel tower made it very clear where they were, and the green emission..."Fuck me...That's not an accident." He didn't know why he felt like he needed to say that, but he did. It was quite a well known signature, at least among anyone who had studied weapons engineering at the Academy. Had it been blue, orange, or piss yellow, it would have been too hard to diagnose from a holo. Green, green meant only one of a few things. He shook his head slowly, "Whoever got hit by that's dead." Why did he say that? Again, probably processing shock. Whatever got hit by it, would be unlivable for some time on the cosmic scale, that, he kept to himself.

He just listened to the report, the President might be dead, and likely a lot of the Federation higher ups, he remembered that little bakery he'd visited in Paris, his one trip to HQ in recent memory. He'd told Zephyr about it, now he wasn't getting another one of those, a minor tragedy among this massive one. He slowly shook his head, "Someone detonated a weapon in Paris..."

He mused for a moment more, before he took a deep breath, 'Damage Control' he thought, "We need to return to the Shuttle Bay, there's no way we're not going to at least Yellow Alert."

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #10 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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“Someone please shoot me!” Samala pleaded silently. Of all the members of the Theurgy's crew, and even the few Aldeans, that she had met, this Human had to be the single most annoying one of them all. He wouldn’t stop! And how could he find running scans to check for hull deformities thrilling. It was, practically speaking, the equivalent of watching archaic paint dry. “I’ll even accept a real shot in the leg or arm. That wouldn’t be as painful as this.”

Thankfully, his line of question was diverted from getting her name, something he had already been told before they departed, was diverted when Lillee pointed out the uptake in communications throughout the system. Her scanners confirmed what she was saying about the ships in orbit all suddenly changing their statuses. Before she could comment though, her Romulan supervisor brought up a transmission from FNN, the Federation News Network. She wasn’t even aware they could get that signal so far from Federation space.

Any words she might have wanted to say about the situation stalled in her throat as the screen changed to show a live feed of a city called Paris. From her recent training after joining the crew, she knew that this city was considered the capital of the entire Federation. And while she only vaguely recognised the landmarks, the unnatural green wave of energy expanding through the city, seemingly leaving the city untouched, was something that she would never forget.

The memory wasn’t even hers. It was something that she had unwantedly skimmed from another Reman when she was younger. It had been so horrific that she had been unable to forget it even until now. It had only been a test firing then but the horror she had seen 2nd hand, watching a Romulan mining outpost be...its crew turned to so much dust, she didn’t want to imagine what was happening within the bounds of the pulse in that city on the screen.

"Someone detonated a weapon in Paris..." Lieutenant Arnold said, his head shaking from the thought of it. "We need to return to the Shuttle Bay, there's no way we're not going to at least Yellow Alert."

“Setting course for the Upper Shuttle Bay,” Samala announced as she entered the commands. Even as the Type-11 began to move, Samala spoke again, her eyes locked forward. “I know what that was,” she uttered, unwilling to withhold what she knew. You didn’t build trust that way. “That weapon, it was Thalaron.”

OOC: How much further did everyone want to go? I'm good however we go.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #11 –
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08)  | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Stegro88, @uytrereee

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"Thalaron?" Lillee said faintly, stunned. She stood, moving to between Samala and Arnold to get a closer look at the FNN broadcast. "Are you sure? Didn't that lunatic Shinzon use a thalaron weapon?" Then the realisation hit her, and Lillee gasped. "But that means it's Romulan technology! How could the Empire do something so insane? So suicidal!? That's...this is going to mean war!"

Sick to her stomach, Lillee collapsed back into her chair, her face pale. "Fvadt, I can't believe this...Starfleet won't stop until Romulus is in ruins..." She took a steadying breath, recalling her composure as she turned back to her own controls, working them. "Shuttlecraft Turing to Theurgy Flight Control, requesting immediate landing clearance in the main shuttlebay." Landing authorisation came immediately, the person on the other end of the comm sounding frazzled, and Lillee glanced forward again. "You're clear to land, Samala."

As Samala brought the shuttlecraft in, Lillee asked softly, "Thalaron...what is it? Could anyone in Paris still be alive? The Palais de la Concorde must have some sort of shields, yes? If it has the Federation Council and President? And some of the other places?"

It was a desperate question, but Lillee was grasping at anything, even if she only knew that everyone had to be dead. Romulan weapons of mass destruction were horrifically, devastatingly efficient, as she knew full well from personal experience. Millions dead...but more, millions soon to die. Tens of millions. Hundreds of millions. Maybe billions. For two centuries the Romulans had avoided a second war with Earth, constantly wary of the kind of destruction that the humans and their allies could unleash if seriously enraged. Now, Lillee's people had finally thrown the dice.

The darkest nightmare of the Romulan people was about to be realised.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #12 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Stegro88
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Whatever line of thought Frank had before the news, it was forgotten, the PADD idly held in his hands, as he turned it over and over, fidgeting while he thought. He mused for a moment, a Thalaron Bomb, in Paris. It was good he was with two people who seemingly were quite versed in the matter. He'd suspected based on the telltale signature, that it could have been so, but he was really hoping that wasn't the case.

After a few more moments he spoke, they were headed back to the shuttle bay, Lillee had already gotten them clearance to land. "What sort of wisdom does it make, to use a terror attack as your first strike?" He rolled his shoulders, "I suppose perhaps Paris, if you were looking to decapitate the leadership. But I would think it would make more sense to attack the infrastructure, the capability to actually warfight...like a shipyard, a major starbase along the front." Typical Frank, placing the importance of material over man. "Then again I suppose I've never started a war." He was rambling once more, except this time it was not about metallurgy. "The Dominion War started, well really started, when Deep Space Nine fell."

He moved aside some so Lillee could get closer, and he heard her question, "Yes, the very same type of weapon, and a reactor, by all the reports that were published during the inquiries after that event." He shook his head, "Maybe on the outskirts, where the radiation wouldn't be as powerful, but my instinct says anyone that was in the primary wave, is nothing but cinders now. The epicenter is likely no more than a crater. But that's purely conjecture." He was trying to remain analytical for the moment. "Paris will be unlivable for a long time to come. And likely thousands of hectares of land downwind from the radioactive particles that will have been thrown into the air." Much in the path of the airstream would be poisoned.  

"We're making the assumption it was an attack sponsored by the Romulan government. My interspecies politics was never that strong but...could it have been a splinter faction? That's happened before right? Romulans infight a lot?" He looked at Samala, his tone conveyed he was probably grasping, he really didn't know, but he certainly didn't like the prospect of another war, especially aboard the Theurgy where they would be no one's friend. He stroked his chin, "Maybe rudimentary defenses, maybe if it was a starship detected by Base Oh-One, but, something like this...it's never happened before on this scale, how do you even begin to set up defenses? I...I'm sorry, I honestly don't know." He honestly didn't know, that was likely very classified.

He simply put, "If it was the Romulan Empire proper, that's precisely what it means. By this evening we could be a warship again. These scans will be very important to our readiness decision, I need to get them to the Chief." 

He gripped his PADD tight in massive hands, and anticipated getting to the shuttle bay with anxiety. This peaceful morning, was going to turn into a very hectic day. He wished he'd had more coffee.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #13 –
[ Crewman 3rd Class Samala | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08) | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Griff @uytrereee
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“This was a terror attack, but it wasn’t meant as a first strike. If they could get a thalaron bomb into the capital city of the Federation on Earth, then they could have got one into any of the major installations of Starfleet, even the Spacedock or the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards themselves. That was a first strike if you wanted to go to war. But Earth, Paris. That was to send a message,” Samala considered as she remembered back to her lessons. They hadn’t all just been about fighting or fixing things. 

“But what message. Taking out the heads of the Federation might stall a Starfleet response, but not for long. So, whoever did this wants Starfleet to go to war. Thalaron is extremely dangerous, but it was also the endgame of Shinzon, which means everyone will be looking at the Romulans as responsible. But which faction?” Samala asked herself as she guided the Type-11 back towards the bay. “Could have been either of them. And then they would point the finger at the other to try and pull sympathy, and more importantly, aid from Starfleet and the Federation.”

“Or it could have been someone else looking to start a war between the Romulans and the Federation. And I sure as hell don’t know that whole list of potential reasons,” Samala noted to herself as she reduced speed and entered the shuttlebay. Skilfully using the thrusters just like she had been shown, she centred the craft up on the landing markings before setting it down gently and beginning the shutdown sequence.

“Shuttle down. Beginning shut down procedures,” Samala said for the benefit of her passengers.

OOC: Did we want to call it here or go one more round. I'm good either way.

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #14 –
[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Turing (NX-79854/08)  | Outside USS Theurgy | Aldea Orbit ] Attn: @Stegro88, @uytrereee

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Distracted, Lillee scarcely noticed Samala landing the shuttle, her eyes still fixed on the unbelievable view of Paris on the newscast. The full weight of the horror was beginning to dawn on her. Khartoum, where her children lived, was only a few thousand kilometers south of Paris. The thalaron bomb appeared limited to the city itself...but what if it wasn't the only bomb? What if there were others? Cities like San Francisco and Beijing were more important symbolically, but Khartoum had a sizeable bureau of Starfleet engineers. Sudan itself was prosperous and peaceful, one of the shining parts of Africa, and had been for centuries...could the Romulans choose it as a target?

It was unlikely, but even the thought made Lillee feel ill. As the shuttle made contact with the deck, Lillee stood, struggling to gather her composure, knowing that work had to be done. She moved to the rear hatch and opened it, and indeed, the yellow alert lighting illuminated the shuttlebay. The few Klingons and Aldeans in the shuttlebay milled around, confused, not knowing where to go or what to do, while the Theurgy crew rushed to prepare the shuttlebay for action.

Lillee glanced at Lieutenant Arnold. She knew that she had to look like a wreck with worry and fear, but there was nothing for it. "Lieutenant, let us know when you want to reschedule the hull inspection and either of us will fly you."

After Arnold left, she then glanced at Samala, smiling weakly despite her roiling stomach. "Samala, you are now qualified to fly alone. Now, let's get to work."

Re: PRO: S [D01|1025] A Perfectly Dull Morning

Reply #15 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Shuttle Bay | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Griff @Stegro88
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Frank wasn't privy to inner monologues, and plainly politics wasn't his game anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered were he. He saved what results he had gotten from the Cazon-Gamma scan, so far they were fine, and that meant that the ship was battle ready. 'If it's not, we'll find out soon enough' he thought as the shuttle was skillfully piloted towards the Theurgy's bay.

He tucked his PADD away, and would wait, impatiently, his foot tapping slowly, not intentionally but subconsciously as he anxiously awaited touchdown like a sprinter at the starting block. Where should he go though? Engineering? The Bridge? He really didn't know, Yellow Alert dictated Main Engineering, but something told him Blue would have instructions, and he should at least check in, see what the Theurgy's response was. That made his decision easy.

He took a glance at each petty officer there in the hold, and offered idly, "My thanks for your time." He looked to Lillee in particular, "Of course, I will be in touch."

With scant more a word he stepped off of the shuttle, and run-walked himself towards the Bridge.

--FIN
 
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