The Battle of Kannok, Part 3: Extremist Reactions
Posted on Fri Jul 17th, 2026 @ 12:23am by Captain T’Kal & Ensign Emmanuelle Larose & Lieutenant Commander David Erickson & Lieutenant Commander Valerie Novis & Lieutenant Commander Clay McEntyre & Lieutenant Karane Inda & Lieutenant CASTIEL 'Cas' Johnson MD & Lieutenant Megosho Gehente & Lieutenant JG Annika Johnson & Lieutenant JG Renata Novotná & Ensign Blaine McCray & Alaric Fenner & Petty Officer, 1st Class Emilie Dovria
2,479 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
ARYL 1X04: All the Friends We Can Get
Location: Kannok
Timeline: SD 8965.7 (28 August 2290, 16:00)
INSIDE THE SHIELD PERIMTER
So many of her comrades had fallen. Starfleet had killed her friends, her brothers and sisters in arms. The charming one and the scary one had escaped. Sripat Pinnya-Senkatra was alone.
But she could still fight.
Her enemies were just ahead. Up a few flights of stairs, in that grand room that was twice as big as every apartment she'd ever been able to afford to live in. She just had to push past the Starfleet forces between her and her targets.
She rounded the corner to storm the hall and came face to face with a Starfleet Security officer with big orange ears and several orange-and-white tails, wearing armor and a face mask.
Torii's weapon came up slightly, but it was clear she had the drop on this rebel, "FREEZE!" She screamed at the woman only a foot in front of her, finger already tightening on the trigger.
Sripat stared at the fluffy ears for a moment, but gritted her teeth in defiance, one hand flashing towards her belt for the grenades she had there. In front of her, the weapon flashed and Sripat's mind cleared as she fell as the stun shot hit her from point blank.
It was already far too late, her hand dropped from her belt and the grenade dropped out of it, rolling ahead as her unconscious body hit the ground, the pin still connected to her thumb. Torii's eyes opened wide and her reflexes threw her away from the ball as it rolled, hitting the ground and trying to crawl away, praying it was just a fragmentation grenade instead of a photon one.
Torii's prayers were heard and the grenade went off, peppering her with bits of sharp metal. For Sripat, she never knew what killed her.
KANNOK GOVERNMENT PLAZA
“Well!” Chief Negotiator Utani Wulam-Drenkulo exclaimed jovially. “With Starfleet help, this rebel scum failed to get through and cause any serious harm. I for one am convinced that the Federation is a worthy partner.” She took a step toward T’Kal. “Captain, I’ll be instructing our foreign ministry to sign this treaty. We’ll expect your first ships providing technical assistance on our sensor nets within the week, and you’re welcome to conduct your own business in our territory immediately thereafter.”
Visibly wincing at the 'rebel scum' remark, Meg tried her best to reassemble her shattered poker face as Wulam-Drenkulo spoke. The crowds outside were clearly yearning for a better life for themselves. Her stomach turned with revulsion at the Drenkul negotiator. The Federation and the Drenkul would be delighted that the treaty would be signed for the balance of power in the region, but Meg doubted she would wash the oily stain of realpolitik off her hands for a long time after this.
Alaric's mouth tightened at the words "rebel scum", the phrase landing harder than he wanted it to. This was supposed to be the moment the work paid off. Instead, he found himself looking past Utani, towards the crowd beyond the shield, wondering how many of them had come to protest and how many had known anything about the attack at all. "That is welcome news, Chief Negotiator," he said after a moment, his voice still measured. "But I would be careful about treating everyone outside as though they were part of what happened here. Anger is not the same thing as guilt."
Annika kept her opinion to herself, she knew her input would be simply ignored by the Chief Negotiator anyway. She simply nodded in agreement.
“Regrettably we still have to finish dealing with these rabble,” Utani lamented. “Aruan, kindly go find the chief of complex security and instruct him to fire at his discretion.”
“Chief?” T’Kal said. “I…I believe we misheard you.”
She shook her head. “Every one out there is party to an act of terrorism against the Drenkul Republic, and they’ll be treated as such.” She smiled warmly. “We have this under control, Captain. Your people can leave. You don’t know our doctrines anyway.” At a nod from his superior, Aruan Tedja-Drenkulo left the room.
Looking to the Negotiator, then back to T'Kal, Meg was unsure what to do. She pulled on her uniform sleeves, distracting herself with making herself look presentable. The churning in her guts was making the Orion sick. The sooner she was given the order to leave, the better.
For a moment, Alaric thought he had lost his mind as all the pieces settled. And he wished beyond anything he had seen this coming. His stomach had gone cold with the words. All labels to make people into something less...something easily to kill. Veytan pressed close at the back of his mind, along with the sick certainty that people were about to die and everyone in the room was being handed words to make it sound necessary, even positive. "No..." he said quietly, stepping forward. "We helped you stop an attack. We did not agree to this." He held Utani's eyes, his jaw tight with emotions, eyes blazing with it. "If you fire on that crowd, do not use our presence here to pretend the Federation approved it. This is all you."
T’Kal, sitting next to her old colleague, placed a hand on his shoulder. It communicated two straightforward messages. I agree. But not here.
“You don’t need to be killing your people” Annika added in response. “Try listening to them instead.”
T’Kal stood abruptly, purposely making enough noise to gather the room’s attention. On a silent pause, her eyes telling the Negotiator how much she disapproved, she turned to her team. “Beam back to the ship,” she ordered.
She opened her communicator. “T’Kal to Johnson. Doctor, you and your team must return to the Ark Royal immediately. If there are serious injuries being treated, you may offer to bring them with you but you must leave now.”
Emilie looked over at Castiel in disbelief, "She's got to be kidding. There isn't anyone here serious enough to warrant taking them, but this is just beginning?" She continued to sew up a cut on one security man's arm, tying it off expertly.
“Chief Negotiator,” T’Kal said, “I need to speak with my ship, but when I'm finished, please have someone escort me to the security perimeter. I should speak with my chief.”
ARK ROYAL BRIDGE
The situation in orbit was stable, the attacking shuttles had been destroyed or driven off, and their captured crewmates were back aboard. The ship remained in the sky over the Drenkul capital, awaiting further orders and ready to fight off any future attacks.
The doors to the turbolift opened, depositing David and Karane, both looking cleaner, in fresh uniforms, and both with their hair still suspiciously damp. "Commander," David said to Valerie, not quite meeting her eyes as he walked stiffly down to his station and sat down.
Valerie looked over at both of the approaching officers and the look of... guilt on David's face. The way he walked and that they had both clearly taken their time to get up here and that they had both very recently showered, "Lieutenant Commander Erickson, Lieutenant Inda, I will thank you to next time remember to expedite reporting back to command when you get back aboard. We're in a state of Red Alert, not a time to take your time. Understood?"
"Yes Commander," David said, his eyes on his boards. He glanced at Blaine. "Although given how long it'd been since I've had a shower, you're welcome," he muttered.
Blaine bit his tongue to keep from chuckling, but his left eyebrow rose. “I am sure I have smelled worse, sir.” He said, then lowered his voice further. “But I do appreciate it.”
For the moment, Emmanuelle was back at the communications station. Her console alerted her to an incoming transmission. "Commander Novis, I have the Captain for you."
"T'Kal to Ark Royal, come in Ark Royal."
"Ark Royal here, Captain, Lieutenant Commander Novis in command." Valerie's voice was crisp and clean, ready to show the Captain that everything had been taken care of in her absence.
"We are finished here," T'Kal advised her bridge crew. "The Drenkul have declared the demonstrators as accessories to the acts of terrorism we stopped. They have informed us that they neither want nor need our assistance in this and have kindly requested that we leave. I am inclined to do so before things get...unpleasant."
"Captain?" Valerie shook her head, trying to parse what was being said and it solidified rapidly. "Captain, are you sure that's a good idea? That sounds like..." She trailed off, not wanting to put the thoughts of innocents being massacred into actual words.
David turned around, a look of horror on his face. "Commander," he said, "the Drenkul are going to slaughter them. We can't sit by and--"
“Commander!” Valerie hissed, despite his thoughts being the same as hers. Inside her, it seemed like there were four minds trying to find a way around it, “The Prime Directive,” she reminded him, already hating herself for having to say it.
David's nostrils flared, and he got a defiant, scheming glint in his eyes. "Technically, it says we're not supposed to get involved. But since we already are involved..." he raised an eyebrow, letting the implication hang.
“No, Commander.” Valerie stated, “They invited us in, they can tell us when to leave. We have our orders, we will follow them. If you feel you can’t follow those orders, turn your station over to someone who can.” In truth, Valerie agreed with him, but it wasn’t her call. If he did relieve himself and leave the bridge, however, she’d have to take another action she didn’t want to, and HE had to know that as well.
David sighed and nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, turning back to his station. He decided to be fully prepared and scanned the area, plotting the most efficient course out of the system. He sent it to the helm and nudged Blaine gently. "Get ready. I get the feeling the Captain won't want to linger either."
Blaine nodded once, flexing his fingers as he saw the course plot come up on his board. He noted its efficiency. “All I need is the word, sir. Something’ tells me you’re right.” He hated this situation, feeling a sense of dread fall over him as he wondered if he would have to watch people die today. Death was something that was a constant risk in the Fleet. He knew that, had heard the quote from Captain Kirk. Death had visited his on family’s service in Starfleet, but he had not yet experienced death in his own career. His face was a mask of Vulcan calm, but his eyes held a different scene.
SECURITY PERIMETER
The Chief Negotiator’s senior advisor arrived as the volume among the protesters started decreasing. Reports of attempted attacks were apparently starting to spread, and some decided they did not want to associate with that. Still, there were hundreds of people right outside the perimeter.
“Orders from on high,” Aruan said to the Drenkul security chief. “Instructions to proceed with Condition Scarlet.”
“Understood,” the security chief. “Prepare for Condition Scarlet!” he called out. All Drenkul security personnel raised their rifles, pointing them at the crowd.
Clay couldn't hear much from his Drenkul counterparts but he did see them forming firing lines and raising their rifles. He rushes over to the security chief.
"What are we doing? The crowd has not made any provocative movements"
“Guilty by association,” the Drenkul chief answered tersely. “We have it under control here, Starfleet. Stand ready!” he ordered his team.
"I will not allow you to fire on them. We're here to keep the peace, not start a massacre!" Clay stated firmly, his hand on his phaser in it's holster.
“You don’t have jurisdiction here, Starfleet,” Aruan said. He turned to the Drenkul chief. “You have your orders.”
Clay couldn’t allow this. It was wrong. Against everything he was trained to do. Protect the innocent. He was about to be a witness to a massacre and he needed to do something.
He shifted, standing to a ready posture, and withdrew his phaser, racking the charging slide.
“I will not allow this as long as my people are on the ground. They are innocents, and we will not be party to a massacre waiting to happen. I will ask you to stand down, sir !”
The nearest door opened and the Captain rushed to the security chief’s side. “Commander,” she said, firmly. “Report.”
"Ma'am, The Drenkul have been order to fire on the civilian crowd. I am advising a withdrawl of all Starfleet Personnel. I will not allow us to be linked or party to a massacre, Captain," Clay stated firmly, professionally but the passion and strength of his conviction was in every word he said.
“I understand your position, Mr. McEntyre,” T’Kal said. Her eyes were like green phasers boring into him., “We’re done here,” she said with finality. “Prepare to beam up.”
"Aye, Sir." Clay pulled out his communicator. "McEntyre to all Starfleet Personnel, fall back to beam out point. We're withdrawing."
“We’ll discuss this later,” T’Kal added. She turned to Aruan and nodded curtly. “The Federation will be in touch with the specifics for a signing ceremony, and Starfleet Command will provide information on when to expect additional starships in your territory. If you will excuse us, we will return to our ship.”
Aruan Tedja-Drenkulo smiled pleasantly and bowed. “It will be my pleasure to escort the two of you to your extraction point.”
“Very well,” T’Kal answered. Quietly, she added to Clay, “Let’s be gone from here.”
Clay nodded, holstering his phaser before departing behind the Captain.
END
Captain T’Kal
Commanding Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Commander Valerie Novis
Executive Officer and Chief Tactical Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Commander Clay McEntyre
Chief Security Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Commander David Erickson
Chief Navigator, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Karane Inda
Chief Engineer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Megosho Gehente
Chief Communications Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Renata Novotná
Chief Science Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant Castiel Johnson
Chief Medical Officer, USS Ark Royal
Lieutenant jg Annika Johnson
Counselor, USS Ark Royal
Ensign Blaine McCray
Helm Officer, USS Ark Royal
Ensign Emmanuelle Larose
Bridge Support Officer, USS Ark Royal
Alaric Fenner
Diplomatic Advisor, USS Ark Royal
Utani Wulam-Drenkulo
Chief Negotiator, Drenkul Republic
Aruan Tedja-Drenkulo
Senior Advisor, Drenkul Republic
Sripat Pinnya-Senkatra
Rebel Leader (RIP)
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