Meet the neighbours

Posted on Fri Nov 7th, 2025 @ 9:08am by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Daise'Arrain Calin tr'Rhenn & Captain Gary Taylor & Commander Kyle Reece & Lieutenant Commander Rin & Daise'Arrain Olmex Thikoho [Reece]

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Various
Timeline: MD1 21h00
2904 words - 5.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Phoenix chose not to change into a clean uniform. It was still rumpled from the combat. She was not about to put on a show for the Romulans. She stood inside transporter room 1, her XO and 2IC and 3IC behind her. She wanted her chief of Intelligence there as well. She looked at the young crewman at the controls. “Beam them in” She said briefly.

“Yes Commodore” came the reply.

On the transporter Padd appeared the Romulan delegation.

Gary stood silently as he waited alongside and slightly behind Phoenix. Kyle and Rin were here as well to meet the Romulan delegation.

As the transporter energy dissipated, there stood a tall, powerful-looking warrior in the front center of the group. It was the Riov that had spoken earlier. Behind him were two other officers, a female, and another male, who was dressed in full Romulan Marine battle armor.

Stepping down out of the transporter chamber, the lead male stepped up to Phoenix, and gave her the Romulan salute. "Greetings, Commodore Lalor-Richardson," his voice was deep and full of authority and control. "I am Riov Olmex Thikoho, commanding officer of the Havrah." He turned slightly, indicating the woman who was stepping out of the transport chamber next. "This is my Chief Medical Officer, Daise'Arrain Calin tr'Rhenn, and this," he indicated the heavily armored male, is my Chief of Security, Arrain Drenta mr'Kano."

Phoenix nodded "My executive officer, Captain Gary Taylor, My security Chief and second officer Commander Kyle Reece and our chief of intelligence Commander Rin.” she introduced the officers with her. "We have secured our briefing room for the conversation, if you would follow me?"

Gary looked over the Romulan delegation and gave a brief, curt nod to them as he was introduced but otherwise stayed quiet and alert.

Olmex nodded to each officer as they were introduced. Then, he stepped up to Kyle, both men standing at the same height. "Commander Kyle Reece," he began thoughtfully. "You are the grandson of William Reece, former Command Sergeant Major of your Starfleet Marine Corps, and now the Director of the mercenary group, Black Phoenix, is that correct?"

Kyle didn’t give the Romulan commander and inch, as he replied. "Yes, Sir, you are correct."

Olmex nodded again. "He is a very decisive and intelligent warrior. I'm glad I was never facing him on the battlefield." It was as close to a compliment as a Romulan would give to a non-Romulan.

Kyle dipped his head politely. "Thank you for that, Sir."

Olmex then addressed both Phoenix and Gary directly. "Before we continue, allow me to, as you humans say, address the elephant in the room." He paused, then continued. "I am aware of the history you both have had with my ship. The Riov responsible for that earlier treatment is now dead, and her command staff, including a certain human detector, which she had made her Executive Officer, is either dead or in our brig. Should you wish to retain ownership of your traitor, that is something we can discuss during our truce talks."

Gary shared a look with Phoenix. "Miska and Pierpoint" He stated flatly. No emotion in his voice. "I believe we would like to have Pierpoint here in our brig."

Phoenix had other thoughts on that person but she nodded. "We shall discuss it." She ushered the group into the Turbolift. When they exited one deck up, she led them into the briefing room. "Please have a seat."

Gary had no doubt that the topic of Thomas Pierpoint would be discussed, so he stayed quiet on the topic as there were more important topics to discuss namely their mutual survival,

Kyle took his usual seat, located to Phoenix's left side, he had mixed feelings about the Romulans, having dealt with a pair of them during his cadet cruise, years prior.

Rin had nodded when introduced but otherwise stayed quiet as she filed into the room and took her seat. She wondered how long the Romulans had been following them. Had they somehow been pulled through with Elysium when the accident had occurred? That seemed unlikely. Yet, if they and Elysium had arrived in Circinus at different times, the chances of crossing paths with them were at least as unlikely. Then again, crossing paths with Desek had the same probability.

And not just any Romulans. Romulans that had previous experience with both Phoenix and Gary. Which again suggested they just might have been dragged by Elysium into this galaxy. But, what, they had just remained cloaked all these months? That made no sense either.

If this really is coincidence, I'm going to need to find religion, Rin thought wryly. For the moment, she was content to watch the interactions around the table.

At the opposite end of the table, Olmex and his two officers remained standing, until their Starfleet hosts sat first, as was custom in Romulan homes. Once ever lone was seated, Olmex began to speak. "Commodore, first of all, on behalf of my ship and crew, allow me to thank you for agreeing to these peace talks. We are all aware of the mixed history our two governments have shared over the last two centuries. While I am not knowledgeable enough in diplomatic functions to say that what we do here will have lasting effects between our two peoples, in the short term, I do hope that we are able to come to at least a modicum of an understanding, which will allow us to both survive in these wilds, and hopefully find a way home."

Gary sat to Phoenix's right. He was guarded as was his nature as he observed the Romulans. He was silent as the talks had just started and Phoenix as the commanding officer would speak for them and the opening statement by Olmex was directed to her, He did however notice that Olmex had a gift of understatement when he stated he was aware of the history Phoenix and he had with Miska.

"I want to see the body of your former Riov" Phoenix said suddenly. "proof she is actually dead."

"We cremated her." The female Romulan said. "But I have her autopsy results." Calin held out a PADD. "Your Chief Medical Officer should find it all in order."

Phoenix just looked at the PADD. "Your former Riov, took several members of this ship hostage and illegally imprisoned us in a prison where I almost died. Several times. And you expect me to believe she is actually dead?"

The Medical officer inclined her head. "I understand your scepticism but I swear on my own honour she is dead. And I cut her open myself."

The Erisian studied the Romulan female but let the matter drop. "Commander Reece's team has information your people will need if you are boarded by these aliens."

Any comment(s) Gary made have made he kept to himself but he did offer a frankly disbelieving look. Like Phoenix he had difficulty believing Miska was dead for he knew just what a crafty and tenacious bitch she was. He decided to accept the Romulan chief medical officers word until he found out differently.

Olmex considered the Starfleet Commodore for a few moments. Then, he offered, "along with the medical scans, I am willing to show you the internal sensors records of her death. As you know, our files are encoded on data rods, which cannot be faked." He pulled out a datapad of his own and typed in a few commands. Ge then set the device on the table, and pressed a control.

Suddenly, a three dimensional holographic image appeared above the briefing table
It showed, in crystal detail, exactly when and how, the former Riov died.

When the file was finished, Olmex spoke again. "Should you still doubt us, there is nothing more we can do to prove what we say is true, short of allowing one of your officers to cone aboard and check the datarod in person. Which," he let out a frustrated breath, "as you know would normally be absolutely forbidden. However," he paused again, chewing back his growing anger towards these people who they just helped save, "These are extraordinary circumstances. We will have to find a way to trust each other. We both want to get home, afterall. I personally hold no ill will towards you or your crew, Commodore."

Phoenix's face was set in what on the outside looked like a calm mask. Inside she was pushing her emotions deep down. "Thank you for the information." She looked at Reece. "Commander Reece?"

Kyle nodded, then pressed a few controls on his PADD. A new image appeared above the table. "According to our local guide, we have discovered who these aliens are, and why we need need to worry about them." He then went into a brief, yet detailed briefing on the Galatonians, laying out what they knew so far.

Olmex sat quietly as he took in the information. When commander Reece was finished speaking, the Romulan nodded slowly. "So then, it seems that, the sooner we can vacate this area, the better." He looked back at Phoenix. "We saw that the Galatonians hit your ship with a power electromagnetic burst on your aft port quarter. Have you been able to restore any power to the affected systems yet?"

"We have two teams on it. They say within the coming hours for that but the hull breaches are going to take a while longer." Phoenix said. "We are looking into using forcefields so we can get back into Slipstream. My Flight control chief says, that if needed, we can take your craft with us, though you will have to dock with us."

Olmex arched an eyebrow at this idea. "We have heard that you reversed engineered the slipstream drive from the Borg ships that Starfleet has encountered. As the Romulan Empire has not yet faced that threat, we do not have that luxury yet." He sat back slightly in his seat as he continued, "if my engineering teams can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to ask."

Rin smirked slightly. She had no problem with them seeing it. She was sure their engineers would indeed be most willing to help work on a propulsion system they did not currently have access too. I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. Honestly, she kind of liked Romulans, although she had had very little first hand experience with them. Which seemed to make her unique in this room.

Phoenix nodded. "Our team could use the assistance to be honest, our dead numbers continue to climb and several were engineers. Commander Reece and Commander Rin will be the main Liaison to you Riov and your crew. Now, about Thomas Pierpoint. While my personal opinion would be to make him space walk from your ship to mine without a suit, I would understand that your resources are probably less than ours and he is taking up.. air on your ship. Thus, if you are wanting him gone, we will take him."

Olmex nodded in understanding when Phoenix finished speaking. "Then, when you ate ready, I will have a list of our engineers sent to your officers, so they can be investigated before being allowed entry onto your ship." He raised a hand to stop any rebuttal, then continued. "We are in a strange land, under strange circumstances. I pledge to do everything in my power to prove our good will towards you and your crew." He paused briefly, before continuing. "It was under the two previous Riov's that the Havrah shadowed you. Had i held command from the beginning, I would have made this outreach sooner. So, I know that trust must be earned. As you are the higher ranked officer, between our two ships, i will, for now, offer our services to you and your crew. While we observe your rules and regulations during such interactions."

He took another breath, then continued. "As for your traitor," he refused to say the man's name. "When you are ready, I shall have him, and his...pet woman," he said with a measure of disgust, "sent over to you."

"Pet woman?" The Federation did not deal with slaves. "Very well. Tomorrow morning will be best. Gives us time to get everything settled. "

Olmex nodded in agreement. He then looked at his officers, to see if they had anything to add. Looking at Calin, he said, "Speak with their CMO, and see if there are any medical supplies that we have that would be of use." He then looked at his other officers. "Make sure both prisoners are ready for transfer when it time for the transfer." He then looked back at Phoenix. "Are there any questions that your officers have for me? I will answer them honestly."

"I'm curious about the circumstances that brought you to this galaxy," Rin said.

Olmex looked at the ex Borg officer and nodded. "Its no secret that the Havrah was shadowing your ship, back home, while you were patrolling your side of the Neutral Zone. The former Riov decided that she wanted to cause an issue, and broke the treaty, crossing into your side of the border. We both became entangled in the quantum filament, and when you tried to break free, and were hurled here, we were caught in the after tow, and pulled after you." He paused for a breath, then continued, "We arrived in Circinus, roughly ten light years from where we assume you did, based on the course you were on when we found you, which was right before you came upon that race of slavers."

"Thank you," Rin said. The Romulans had given a convenient answer, washing their hands of the fact that the Elysium crew had been stranded without help for months on the ice planet. It was curious that they managed to survive the accident at all, as they would have been even more out of control than the Elysium had been. And they were making a bold assumption that Elysium must have travelled directly from its arrival point to the Arena. The fact that they had supposedly managed to get dragged along twice during Elysium's use of the QSD and lived to tell about it was nothing short of alarming. If true, it highlighted an obvious weakness in the drive system.

But accusations would provide nothing at this moment, so Rin was content to let the matter go. She'd run the scenario by Engineering later.

Gary had listened and stayed silent as Olmex spoke on how they arrived in this galaxy. "You mentioned the former Riov and I'm referring to Pierpoint, why was he removed from command if he was the executive officer and had been placed their by Miska. Not that I care about him but I am interested in the circumstances."

Olmex sneered when he heard Pierpoint's name. "Your traitor was never truly in any form of command. Miska merely favoured him and as our Riov, we were obliged to follow her orders." He took in a breath, then continued as he exhaled. "As soon as Miska Was dead, he was removed for any form of power and placed in our brig. His pet Circinus woman was also locked up. Any true Romulans, that held any thought of supporting him, were dealt with in our own way."

"Makes sense" The Commodore said. She had, had enough diplomatic meetings with Romulans back in the milky way to understand such things. And she was not about to interfere with such things. "We thank you for the information. Now, shall we get started on what we have discussed?" She stood.

Olmex stood as well, and nodded onecw respectfully. "We stand ready to assist, and will contact you in the morning, about the prisoner transfer. With your leave then, we shall return to our ship."

"Of Course" She summoned a Yeoman to escort them back to the transporter room.

After the Romulans left, Phoenix, Gary, Kyle and Rin remained in the briefing room. Looking over at his commanding officers, Kyle spoke up. "I've only ever dealt with a couple Tal Shiar operatives, who tried to infiltrate the Talleyrand and kill my CO at the time. However, im concerned that they've been following us this whole time and only now, after we have discovered them, do they offer to help us."

"Well, it is in their best interest to help us, and I did make that suggestion to them during the attack," Rin said. "We die, and they're stuck here forever. But their story is... questionable, to say the least. For them to have successfully piggybacked us twice is an improbably glaring failure of the QSD. For them to have survived the accident without any control over what was happening? We barely survived, and we were the ones driving."

"Romulans are normally secretive. I would bet they had a lot of damage like we did." Phoenix said. "They just do not want to say it."

Kyle shrugged slightly, then spoke. "I'll make sure there are extra security patrols on hand while they are walking around the ship. They may have helped during the end of the Dominion War, but, they only did so to keep their own territories secure. I'm sure the same will happen here."

Phoenix nodded and they all departed to their tasks.