Better Get to Livin'

Posted on Mon Oct 19th, 2026 @ 1:15am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Galatea & Enterprise Officer NPC & Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Commander Kuzos & Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte & Lieutenant Commander Aidan Datari & Lieutenant Urvasi Elandorn & Lieutenant Rio Kholin MD & Lieutenant Amber Laurell & Lieutenant Joshua Silas & Ensign Sayori Nakai & Ensign Mirakylin Yumerieva & Chief Petty Officer Kiera Targaryen

3,718 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: 11. Recess
Location: Executive Conference Room, U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-10-21, 12:00

The automated sliding doors of the forward Deck 1 corridor parted with a soft hiss, admitting Commodore Wilkan Targaryen into the Executive Conference Room. Situated independently from the high-pressure environment of the Main Bridge, the premier strategic sanctuary was quiet and bathed in the cool, panoramic starlight streaming through the expansive, floor-to-ceiling transparent aluminum windows.

Wilkan walked down the steps onto the main conference floor, his tall, broad-shouldered frame moving with an unyielding, heavy-set power. Flanking the entranceway behind him, recessed glass cases displayed the polished gold models of every historic vessel to bear the name Enterprise, a silent lineage of the fleet's finest legacies watching over the room. At the center of the chamber, the large, curved polished table (doubling as a sophisticated holographic projection terminal) glowed with muted telemetry waiting for the senior staff to arrive.

Setting his jaw, Wilkan took his place at the head of the table, his deep-set dark eyes sweeping over the empty chairs before settling on the main display. When the senior staff filed in - still carrying the tense, unresolved energy of their respective surface encounters - Wilkan didn't waste time with pleasantries.

"Take your seats," Wilkan instructed, his tone brooking no argument. "I've just returned from a face-to-face confrontation with Tazari at the administrative hub, and this cover-up runs far deeper than a rogue captain trying to save a treaty. Every away team was compromised, our ship telemetry was blinded by an illegal dampening grid operated by a sister vessel, and an innocent Starfleet officer is currently rotting in a Karemma municipal cell while Captain Tazari covers up a murder under the guise of trade negotiations."

He straightened his broad shoulders, his gaze locking onto his department heads around the table, "I want a full, unvarnished accounting of every interaction your teams experienced on the surface, every piece of data or evidence you managed to salvage, and the exact status of our tactical readiness. Start talking."

Commander Randall looked on from her, customary, chair at the table, sitting bolt upright on the edge of her seat and pulled, un-customarily, close in to the table. "I have filed an, after action, report, sir." The Chief Engineer voiced, quietly. "The actions taken by the John Kelly, even knowing what happened to instigate them, make no sense." She commented.

"I agree." Aidan's words were measured, his voice level but the anger he felt was unmistakable. "We were about to conduct our survey when we were confronted by an officer from the John Kelly. When we requested confirmation of her orders and wished to verify them with the Enterprise, we were prevented from doing so. We made several attempts to receive confirmation but they wouldn't allow us to approach the administrative office. Lieutenant Kree'ak first drew a weapon on Doctor Kholin to deter her. I told her to continue while trying to diffuse the situation. Both Commander Kuzos and I outrank Lieutenant Kree'ak and without verified orders we would continue our own directive because I felt the lieutenant had no right to give us orders we couldn't verify."

He paused, his expression turning grim. "She ordered two in her team to open fire in a medical facility," he continued. "At no point did we draw our own weapons until my daughter tried to get to me. Doctor Icarus was shielding her up to that point. I told Sherlock to disarm the lieutenant, which he did to protect primarily Doctor Kholin. Lieutenant Kree'ak ordered her team to shoot to kill after that. When my daughter ran to me I feared for her life and drew my Ushaan. Fortunately I didn't have to use it because her team refused to follow her order to shoot to kill. Instead they stunned the lieutenant at which time we were able to leave." He drew in a measured breath. "My daughter is currently in sickbay under sedation, she was terrified.'

Urvasi listened and was very much relieved to hear the team with Lt. Kree'ak did not follow kill orders, especially as there was no need for it. She looked at Wilkan, making sure she was composed and at full posture, then began her verbal report. "My team performed full sensor sweeps continuously through to when we were beamed out of there. Despite the circumstances, the members of my team did their best to keep the 'keeper' team busy and thinking through logistics. Our main keeper was Commander Nileber of the John Kelly delegation, an Edosian. Barbax noted this with some interesting facts about Edosians, which our Nileber confirmed in pride, giving us some vital information. His family line has cataloged six thousand years of tactical movement on Edos, and he has personally spent the last thirty-four years studying Starfleet diplomatic interdiction protocols. He assured us, his presence here is merely to preserve order."

Urvasi continued, "Of course, I raised concern about the historical Museum and how his actions would bring undue attention upon the tourist trade when our visiting that center was prevented. This is when he gave us further information about what was happening involving the Dosi, Captain Tazari, and a Joint Operational Direct 12. And yes, he directly admitted the interdiction grid was specifically configured around the Enterprise's active comm-frequencies. Once I got him going, I stepped back and telepathically contacted Ensign Yumerieva to piggy back onto the Civy Grid Communications to get a feed going to the Enterprise as well as an exact location for beam out. Everything said by him from that point is in logs from our encounter."

Urvasi glanced over to Aiden, then continued, "However, a message was sent directly to Nileber because he froze, then performed a very practiced speed draw and held his phaser at a tactical low point for direct fire speed. He informed us we were all under formal tactical arrest. He mentioned an incident, which I believe Lt. Cmdr Datari recounted. Nileber's team was bolstered by four more John Kelly Security Officers. As they ordered us to give them our equipment, I had Mira make sure the linkage with the Enterprise was still active. I then tried to pull more information out of Nibeler by further confusion as well as information about my being an L'Tandrey Exchange Officer... which is why we had a Commander, I think. At the same time, they were trying to state physical restraints, however, Lt. Blake stepped forward to contest the restraints, and thus Nibeler agreed to no physical restraints. Anyway, Ensign Nakai kept up her logic feeding onto mind, causing Nileber to pause and offer up more information. During this time, the request of us dropping our equipment was forgotten, Ensign Nakai asked about us moving to the park benches, with Lt. Barbax complaining about his physical condition, and then we were beamed aboard the Enterprise at the perfect time. My team did very well. End of verbal report, Sir."

Sora smiled with pride at Sayori's actions as Lieutenant Elandorn relayed what had happened to her team on the surface. When Urvasi finished her report, Sora began. "As not all of us are present will have been able to review Commander Randall's report, I will briefly recap the events as they occurred, both before and after our return to the ship. We were tasked with surveying the local eateries and watering holes, and we were approaching a nightclub and assessing its security measures, while discussing various ways of conduct during such an operation deep in civilian territory. As we approached the venue's entrance, Lieutenant Rrawran's translator failed, leading us first to believe that there was a local dampening field in place around the nightclub. However, we soon discovered that that was not the case, and we were then approached by one Lieutenant Edrakt, Chief Security Officer of the USS John Kelly, who informed us of the dampening field in place."

"When I questioned the Lieutenant about this dampening field, why Enterprise had not instead been asked to postpone our shore leave until the John Kelly's operation on the planet was concluded, and whether the Commodore was aware and had approved of this, the Lieutenant initially deflected, but then claimed that the whole thing was occurring with the Commodore's knowledge and indeed consent, further claiming that Captain Tazari had met with the Commodore in person prior to the dampening field being implemented. I then received a message from Ensign Nakai through a private channel using civilian frequencies, informing me, in code, that an issue had arisen on their side and asking for a meeting."

Sora took a deep breath as she looked around the room before continuing. "At that point, Lieutenant Edrakt ordered us to return to Enterprise immediately, as one of their teams had apprehended one of our crew attempting to access a local terminal at the medical facility. When I reminded the Lieutenant that a large part of our group outranked him, and that we had no evidence of his authority or even that there was not, in fact, hostile action taking place, he became aggressive and refused several requests to provide evidence of his orders or his authority, while a security team was actively targetting us. In order to avoid a firefight breaking out between Starfleet officers in full view of the local population, Commander zh'Roothi then accepted his request for us to withdraw, and we returned to Enterprise."

The Terran paused and took a long sip from her customary coffee that she carried everywhere she went on the ship. "Upon our return to Enterprise, we received confirmation that all teams were equally affected, and were ordered by the Commodore to break the dampening field and bring our teams back on board, which is when our sensors detected the firefight in the medical facility, as well as the John Kelly moving into a tactical position and charging phasers to attack Enterprise. At this point, I used my experience from being in the Terran Resistance to disable their ship without using any weapons systems, by using Commander Randall's suggestion of a feedback loop to break the interdiction field, as well as a well-timed energy spike from our shields to then overload their primary EPS grid. Which leads us to the present."

Sora leaned back in her chair, having concluded her report. "If I may add some thoughts of my own, having had a little time to consider the events. Captain Tazari almost caused direct conflict between Starfleet vessels and crews in order to cover up the crimes of a member of his crew. He was aided in this matter by his senior officers explicitly lying to us. His officers ultimately showed no regard for the civilians caught in the operation, as evidenced by the events at the medical facility. Even if none of us had been present, the situation would surely have escalated once his deceit regarding the imprisoned officer was discovered. One of the first things I was told when I was being re-educated in order to join Starfleet in this universe was that that Starfleet crew are, at all times, to respect the local customs and laws. Captain Tazari instead attempted to circumvent these laws, and in doing so severely damaged the Federation's reputation and standing in the local system, all while claiming to have been ordered to do so by Admiral Loatha Targaryen, with his crew even trying to intimidate us by using that name. I know what I would happen to the Captain if this was back in the Terran Empire, and I believe that the Captain should equally face the consequences of his actions in this universe."

Kiera nodded as she listened to Sora, she had to agree. Something needed to be done about Tazari. “I have to agree, Tazari is being far too heavy handed, and almost killing a child with his actions should not go unpunished.”

Amber looked towards Wilkan. “My team was interrupted by Commander K'Nera, the Diplomatic attaché assigned to the U.S.S. John Kelly. According to K’Nera, Captain Tazari is covering up a disaster. K’Nera said their senior diplomatic attaché, Lieutenant Commander Tharl ch'Rhirhr, was arrested in secret by the Karemma Ministry of Trade for the murder of a prominent Dosi merchant patriarch. He gave us this..” she put the isoliner chip they’d been given on the table. He said that Tazari was treating the whole murder as a tactical equation to be solved quietly, and he was willing to sacrifice Tharl to keep the Karemma treaty on track. He wanted us to take the data and represent Tharl before Tazari let the Karemma trade him away.” She paused. “We were trying to get through to the ship to let you know what we had when we were faced with a security team.”

The heavy, obsidian surface of the conference table mirrored the tense, unblinking focus of the Commodore as the final report settled over the room. Wilkan listened with a stillness born of a century and a half of command, silently absorbing every detail his crew shared. From Aidan’s harrowing account of the medical facility standoff and Saeri's terrifying ordeal to Urvasi and Sora’s breakdowns of the John Kelly's calculated intimidation tactics, concluding with Amber placing K'Nera’s data chip directly onto the polished alloy surface, Wilkan let it all simmer. Captain Tazari had not merely acted as an overzealous commander; he had systemically weaponized a diplomatic crisis, subverted Starfleet regulations, and terrorized Federation civilians and children under the false banner of flag command authority.

"You've laid out a complete systemic failure," Wilkan grumbled, his deep voice carrying the steady, crushing weight of grinding iron. "Tazari used an illegal dampening grid, deployed security teams to box in and threaten our people, and brought us to the brink of firing on our fellow Starfleet officers - all to bury a murder investigation and protect a trade agreement."

He reached out, tapping the master interface to project the contents of K'Nera's data chip across the central holographic display, illuminating the faces of his crew in a stark, blue-white glow. "Lieutenant Commander Tharl ch'Rhirhr is being held in a Karemman detention facility, set up to take the fall in a rigged arbitration while Tazari hides in his chair," Wilkan continued, surveying the officers around the table in turn. "Tazari tried to use my wife's name and high-level proxy orders as a shield to lock us out. He assumed we would fold, obey the blackout, and let an innocent officer rot in a foreign cell."

"Before anyone asks," he paused, a heavy silence settling over the room to ensure his crew understood the exact political tightrope they were walking, "I have spoken directly to Vice Admiral Targaryen. Her orders are for us to stay on board, stand down, and leave the political fallout to her office. She wants the chain of command to handle it through proper channels." He stood up, his eyes burning with quiet, intense resolve. "I respect my Commanding Officer, and I respect my wife... but I will not stand by and enforce an illegal blockade that sacrifices an innocent officer to save face."

"We're going to expose this entire cover-up, hold Tazari accountable, and bring Commander ch'Rhirhr home."

"Commander Kuzos," Wilkan called out, his deep, resonant voice cutting cleanly through the heavy atmosphere of the conference room. "You know the Dosi and Karemman mindsets better than anyone else on this vessel. You are our Dominion Liaison, and you know the legal nuances governing cross-border jurisdictions in this quadrant. I want you spearheading our analysis of K'Nera's data chip and mapping out the legal framework of this rigged 'Grand Arbitration.' If Tazari is using municipal trade compliance as a cudgel, I want to know every legal loophole and treaty clause we can leverage to dismantle their jurisdiction over Commander ch'Rhirhr."

"Yes Commodore. I will soon know all there is to know about trade routes as well as deals legal and illegal being made." Kuzos answered. "The Dosi and Karemman will soon have me looking over their shoulders and through their account books."

"Commander zh'Roothi, coordinate closely with Kuzos on the tactical security implications. If we have to pull Commander ch'Rhirhr out of that holding facility in Kecemen, I want a precise, surgical extraction plan that leaves zero room for error and minimizes collateral exposure. Ash, I want Engineering running deep-diagnostic sweeps on our transporter buffers and shield harmonics; if the John Kelly tries to drop another interdiction grid on us, I want it fried before they can even sequence the emitters."

"Do you want bent, broke or complete bedlam for them, sir?" The Chief Engineer inquired, quietly.

"Let's stick to constructive incapacitation, Commander," Wilkan rumbled softly, his voice carrying the steady gravity of grinding iron. "We're not here to cripple a sister ship, we're here to make sure they realize trying to box us in again isn't in their best interests."

"Doctor," Wilkan continued, his voice softening slightly as he addressed the Chief Medical Officer, "ensure Commander Datari and young Saeri have everything they need. Make sure security protocols around Sickbay are locked down - if Tazari's people had the gall to open fire in a municipal medical ward planetside, we take zero chances here."

"Already being initiated Sir" Rio replied. "With her father's permission I have sedated young Saeri and we have made her as comfortable as we can. She will be attended by a full time 24 hour nurse in case she wakes up and I have already asked for an extra security presence to be assigned to Sickbay with immediate effect."

Wilkan rested his hands flat on the curved holographic table, his gaze holding the room in a vice grip. "We are moving on a parallel track," Wilkan stated flatly. "We fight this through legal channels, and we prepare to back it up with absolute tactical precision. I want your thoughts, your recommendations, and your readiness reports now. The floor is yours."

"I would like to help Kuzos tread the diplomatic channels," Aidan requested quietly. He appreciated being enabled to look after his little girl and make sure she didn't suffer any lasting ill effects. "And I wouldn't mind seeing Lieutenant Kree'ak held in our brig on an attempted murder charge. I also recommend protecting the security officer who defied her order to shoot to kill."

"I would like to second that request please Commodore. It was an abominable course to take in any circumstances, not least against her own Starfleet colleagues and especially against a young child. I feel it's a multi layered sequence of rule breaking and appalling misuse of power without any proper moral code. Lt Kree'ak lost all sense of duty, of decency and even of sanity, as far as I could see, as I was staring down the barrels of her's and her departments' weapons." Rio's words were delivered calmly and without volume or edge but their stern and emphatic nature were an indication of how affected she had been and was still suppressing, so far successfully.

Sora looked around the room at Sayori, who nodded. "I have spoken to Ensign Nakai earlier, and we have decided that it is probably a good idea to distribute the programme she used on her PADD to communicate with me. While our PADDs usually tie in to the ship's general communications system, this programme, created by her mother, allows instead for the device to hook into any available local frequencies outside of the Starfleet net to send encrypted signals. The software will need some work to be suitable for general distribution, so it will take a few weeks to get it to us. Not helpful for the current situation, sure, but should we ever find ourselves in a similar position, it will certainly be useful."

“Sir” Amber looked towards Wilkan. “I’d like permission to access Captain Tazari’s medical records. I already have the authority to access psychological records, but I want to get a full picture of the medical state of the man. It may give us some extra leverage to work with.” She paused. “I’ll also be working with Commander Datari and Saeri to do whatever I can to help them past recent events.”

“I’ll volunteer to help the Counselor with that Sir.” Kiera added giving Amber a polite nod of her head.

"Assisting Commander Kuzos on the diplomatic front is approved, Aidan," Wilkan approved. "Regarding Lieutenant Kree'ak, once she is transferred into our custody, formal charges will be processed through JAG, and, as for the security officer who refused to execute her kill order, I agree. We will ensure they are protected from retaliatory action."

He turned his attention toward Sora and Sayori, offering a firm nod. "Commander, have Ensign Nakai coordinate with Engineering and Security to refine that encrypted comms application. Excellent initiative on her part."

"Negative on accessing Captain Tazari's medical records, Counselor," Wilkan stated flatly, his tone brooking no debate as he thought back to Loatha's words earlier. "Psychological clearance for command evaluation is one thing, but fishing through medical files without a formal JAG subpoena crosses an ethical and regulatory line we do not cross. We build our case against Tazari on his actions, his illegal interdiction grid, and the physical evidence on K'Nera's chip, not medical speculation."

“Of course Sir.” Amber nodded. “I wouldn’t do anything that would cause us further problems.”

"I know you wouldn't, Amber," Wilkan added, private, heavy thoughts anchoring his restraint. "Your focus remains on assisting Aidan and Saeri. Ensure they have every medical and psychological resource available to process today's events."

Wilkan returned to his seat, resting his hands flat against the polished alloy surface. "Is there anything else for the good of the order?"

The heavy silence of the Executive Conference Room held firm, broken only by the low, steady hum of the holographic terminals and the distant thrum of the Warp Core. No further voices broke the stillness; every department head had spoken, and the battle lines were firmly drawn.

Wilkan reviewed the assembled faces one final time, reading the quiet resolve etched into every expression. They were battered, bruised by an avoidable confrontation with their own fleet, but they were entirely unbroken.

"Dismissed," Wilkan finally said, his voice carrying the finality of a closing blast door. "Let's get to work."

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