Beginning of a plan

Posted on Mon Oct 20th, 2025 @ 8:44am by Captain Rueben Gregnol

Mission: Shackles
670 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

“Talk to Yazlin.” Gregnol said firmly. “She is our security chief. Between her department and others I am sure we have a chance.” Gregnol stated glancing to Mina as she ran off to sort her people out leaving Gregnol and Shairo together. “You are going to help me.” He said, leaving the engineer no room for arguing.

Shairo startled a bit at being addressed directly. "Eh. Sure. Yes... sir?" She suppressed the urge to salute. "Though, I have to say, I'm not much of a fighter, and I'm sure I don't have any pull with whomever is incoming."

Gregnol offered a smile as he glanced to the console and crouched to start ripping things out to find the homing beacon that had activated and was alerting whatever was coming from above. If that signal could penetrate the radiation and ions in the sky, perhaps they could use it to communicate with SS Mary Rose properly. "I do not believe that you did, but I do want to know more about this ship and why you survived." He said quietly. He trusted his crew to do that whilst he did this. They needed backup if the shuttle had gotten through unseen from what was obviously going to be a much bigger vessel up there confronting his crew.

"This ship?" She pointed at the crashed vessel, "or that ship?" Pointing up towards the sky. She then shrugged, "I made myself useful. Kept my head down. Had the luck of being in a non-critical corner of the ship when they broke their bonds."

"This ship." He explained, looking up at the engineer. "And how did you survive afterwards? I got the impression they killed anyone else?" Gregnol wondered as the console hissed at him, but came alive again.

"There were trials. Some of my fellow crewmates were defiant to the end." Shairo frowned and looked at the dirt as she pushed away the memory of that. "Some of the wounded couldn't have been saved without a fully functioning medical bay. Others refused help. The Captain died in the mutiny, the second was executed for his crimes against the Coterie." Fidgeting with her fingers Shairo avoided eye contact. "I pleaded guilty. They realised I was worth more alive than dead."

Gregnol nodded. He could imagine just how defiant some Orion could be even with being faced with their own deaths. He had seen it in the crew that had captured him and even when Starfleet had come to rescue him they could not give up. “I have seen that in a few hard core slavers.” Gregnol returned to the console again and wiggled something inside the console until the console pinged. “We might have some luck.”

Shairo leaned in to look at what kind of luck they were having exactly. She gave a few commands into the console that had now sputtered to life. "I know what you're thinking, and I've seen your crew look at me." She didn't dare look up from the console. "I didn't mean to be a part of this operation, and I guess there's not a lot I can say that will convince you of that. Actions speak louder than words after all." She tried to figure out how to navigate the homing beacon to comms conversion while also trying to make a case for herself. "Just know that I wasn't part of this crew by choice."

“I know.” The captain said quietly. He was had been held by an Orion crew and he knew that this woman was nothing like the men and women they had held him. “I was held by an Orion ship as a slave after I asked the wrong questions about an old friend.” Gregnol explained quietly his head still in the console but he could feel the question that came next. People always wondered why he knew so much about it Orion crews, yes he had been a security chief officer and executive officer but he had first hand experience.

TRUNCATED