Yeah, like that was ever going to happen.

Posted on Sun Apr 3rd, 2022 @ 2:55pm by Lieutenant JG Ryan Kade III

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Unknown
Timeline: Uncertain
628 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

For anyone who prefers to listen instead of read:

https://toboldlyroll.net/stuff/elysium_mystery_holonovel_final.mp3

---

Tension filled the room. The lights were dim, replaced by pulsing crimson. The bridge was silent, its’ occupants transfixed on the viewscreen. Through the digital display shined a glittering field of dust.

It was beautiful in its’ own way, but beneath that diamond sparkle was an ugly reality. It wasn’t some random sand storm floating through space… it was a field of debris.

“Confirmed, Captain,” The tactical officer stated, “it’s exactly what we expected.”

A sigh came from the Captain’s chair as the figure uncrossed his ankle from his knee, planting both legs fully into the carpeted command circle around him. There was a slight drawl to it as his voice, calm but clear, could be heard across the room. “Can you detect any black boxes?”

“None in the immediate area, sir.”

It wasn’t a surprise after discovering little more than soot and flotsam. Still, it was a disappointment.

“We have incoming transmission from the surface,” The operations chief slid the holographic representation of the call like a card upward towards the viewscreen. It expanded into a live visual communication, brightly illuminating the once darkened bridge. The man who appeared was dressed in a military-style outfit. The dark green overcoat was lined with silver accents around the collar and shoulders, which expanded into a rank insignia on the upper arm of three rectangular bands. His light-colored skin was barely visible beneath the thick brown fur that covered, presumably, his entire body. Vertically aligned silver iris’ stared out from the center of the wide oval slits of his eyes.

The alien began to speak almost as quickly as he had appeared on the screen, “Keep your distance or we will open fire.”

The captain sat up straight, tugging on the bottom of his uniform vest in response to the threat. He glanced to the side at his tactical officer, who simply shrugged. “I am,” he began to say as his eyes returned to the as-of-yet unidentified alien, “Captain Vernus Maple of the FIS Venerable Gains.” He let that declaration sink in for a moment, watching carefully for any reactions, “our peaceful envoy,” Vernus menaced in a low but controlled tone, “or what little remains of them, appear to have been destroyed on your doorstep. Do you know anything about that?” The insinuation of the aliens’ incompetence and guilt was only matched by the obvious and clearly-given chance to explain their way out of it.

The fur of the alien’s neck, so thick that it protruded from the collar in all directions, bristled and twitched for a moment as his already thin eyes narrowed further. “We were performing a military war game when your… envoys arrived. Their destruction was an unintended consequence.”

“Computer… pause program.”

Everything came to a halt as if time itself stood still. A lone figure walked into the scene from the back of the bridge. He walked casually along the statues of the frozen individuals, making his way towards the captain’s chair.

“Wow,” He said aloud to himself as he leaned in closer, “you have got to be kidding me. I am the bad guy? And do I really sound like that?”

Lieutenant Ryan Kade, understandably perplexed, scratched the back of his head as he examined the holodeck program he’d stumbled upon. A Ferengi Empire controlling the alpha quadrant? Starfleet acting as their enforcers? Yeah, right, like that was ever going to happen.

Whoever wrote this fantasy had decided Ryan would play the role of the main villain, and a captain, no less. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m ready for that. Computer… end program.”