Weapon of Opportunity

Posted on Tue Oct 21st, 2025 @ 7:03am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Captain Ivan Petrov & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Master Chief Petty Officer Allen Whitepaw

Mission: S1 Episode 9: Annihilation Protocol
Location: Shuttlebay
Timeline: Date 2372-02-23 at 1130
3727 words - 7.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Everything about it had been perfect. They could not have asked for a better result to their plan than what was on the view screen before them. The Vidiian fleet was in shambles, their ships floating disabled around the moon they had been pulled to. A couple of them collided together, causing an explosion which rippled out and sent the other ships floating away from the epicenter. Not all of the ships had fallen victim to the trap, but those that remained could not hope to stand against the might of the Shadow Fleet.

Lyra looked down at her console and her brows raised. When she spoke, there was a near amused tone in her expression, as if she were watching a small child trying very hard to do something completely futile. “Captain, the remaining Vidiian ships are attempting to retreat.”

Andrei’s black-gloved hands clenched on the arm rests of the XO’s chair and his head was held high. The slightest smile played on his lips and his visible eye was locked on the screen. Seeing their enemies scattered before him was a beautiful sight, and there were few things he loved more in the world than that feeling. He glanced at his father, wondering how he would respond.

“Shadow Fleet, pursuit course.” Ivan ordered, his brown eyes following the scattering ships. He turned his eyes to the viewscreen. “Disable their engines but don’t destroy them. We may have a use for them after all.”

“Aye, sir.” Maya said with a determined expression as she sent the ship flying forward at top speed. She watched the aft of a Vidian vessel grow larger. “We’re within firing range.”

“Tactical, target their engines. Let’s see if we can get them to stop.” Andrei ordered, looking back at Lyra.

For just the briefest of beats, she locked eyes with him intensely, sharing the enjoyment of the moment. Her eyes went back to her controls just as quickly, and light surged from the Vengeance to land on the closest of the retreating ship‘s nacelles. A series of explosions bloomed from them and the lights flickered and eventually went out, leaving the ship adrift. The process was repeated on two more ships, but as the approached the next, a series of three beeps gave a notification to both tactical and ops. Lyra was the first to speak as it was more relevant to her station at that moment.

“Captain, there is another ship incoming signaling their wish to assist us. It seems to be Haakonian in origin.”

Ivan Petrov furrowed his brows, his aging face lining with a look of surprised confusion. His brows went up then as the sudden change in the situation moved through his mind, seeming to reason with himself.

“What would a Haakonian ship want from this fight?” He asked curiously.

“Perhaps they want to get on our good side.” Andrei said with an amused grin. “I say we let them fight. Why not?”

“An important question, Commander. Though there’s almost certainly a reason or two why not.” Ivan answered and then turned to the tactical console. “Lyra, tell them we’re disabling and not destroying and that they have my permission to join in the attack.”

“Aye, sir.” Lyra replied, relaying the message to the alien ship. She was quite curious herself as to why they were joining the fight, but she was confident that once everything died down, they would have their answer. The yellow beams of the Haakonian’s weapons were soon visible at the edges of the viewscreen as they joined in the disabling of the remainder of the ships. It was not a very long process, and the ineffectual retaliation of the ships still able did little to slow it down. Soon, the rest of the fleet was adrift and in shambles.

Again, there was a chime.

“The Haakonian ship is hailing.”

“Well, let’s see what this is all about then.” Ivan said, crossing one leg over the other and nodding to the screen. His leather gloves hands found each other at the finger tips, suggesting his curious approach. “Put it on screen.”

The viewscreen shifted from the decimated Vidiian ships to a brighter backdrop of the Haakonian bridge with the majority of the space being taken up by an alien man’s face. On his facial structure alone, he would have likely been considered attractive despite his obvious age, but the alien lines, creases, and bulges that made up the distinctions of his species erased that likelihood for most Terrans.

“This is Captain Ivan Petrov of the Imperial Warship Vengeance, Commander of the Terrans Shadow Fleet. Tell me who you are and to what we owe the pleasure of your assistance.” He commanded, his tone growing harder than it had been with his crew.

“A pleasure, Captain Petrov. I am Ma’Bor Jetrel, and I have been looking for you for some time.” The alien man smiled, though it bordered on a smirk. “I come with an offer of technology that I believe you might be quite interested in acquiring. I am prepared to dock with your ship via shuttle and present this weapon for your consideration.”

“Looking for us, have you?” Ivan asked, narrowing his eyes. “So are many, and most for Ill.Why do you want to sell this weapon to us if it’s truly useful? Wouldn’t someone else be just as willing to buy it?”

“Perhaps, but none have your reputation. The Ocampa, the Numiri, the Baneans… you’ve made it quite clear to this quadrant - or at least to me - what exactly you will do to your enemies. I can only assume that you are here in Vidiian space for something similar.” Jetrel’s smile remained. “I am confident what I have will interest you, and I would prefer to call you ally rather than adversary.”

Ivan reached for the control panel between the command chairs and silenced the feed. His eyes went to his son, curiously waiting.

“A new deadly weapon is right up our alley. Of course, that probably also means the man knows that already and it could just be an excuse to engage with us. I’d proceed with skepticism.” Andrei responded to the unspoken question. “We have no reason to trust him.”

Lyra listened from tactical, not bothering to hide that she was doing so unlike most of the bridge crew would. She was second officer and chief of sectac, it was part of her job to know what was going on. She did not directly offer her input unless she was to be asked - not unless she felt it was extremely relevant to do so. Naturally, she agreed with Andrei, they often thought the same way about such matters after all.

That same reservedness wasn't shared by Master Chief Allen Whitepaw, the Chief of the Boat. He crossed his arms from the back near tactical and pursed his lips.

“Still, sir..a good opportunity at best. It’s worth a try.” He said in gravely tones.

Ivan took in the two offered perspectives before reaching to reactivate the comms.

“We welcome your proposition, Mr. Jetrel. Bring your shuttle into our bay, but I warn you..we are particularly sensitive to treachery and, of course, you know how we punish it.” Ivan said, his warm eyes warning In their wide intensity.

“Understandably so.” Jetrel nodded, his expression never wavering. “I will be over with one of my men posthaste, then.” With that, he cut off the commlink.

From her station, Lyra signaled security to report to the shuttle bay and nonessential personnel to exit. Once that was done, she handed her station off and looked toward the two men in the center of the room, ready to accompany one or both of them to the shuttle bay for the meeting. It wasn’t unusual, it was simply her job.

Andrei stood as well, straightening out his uniform jacket.

“I’ll greet him, sir.”

“No no, Andrei. I should do it.” Ivan said, standing up to his full height and looking at his XO. “I want to see what this Ma’Bor Jetrel has to show us, and I want to look into his eyes. You have the conn. Lyra, you’re with me.”

As the captain made his way to the back of the bridge by the turbo lift, Andrei glanced in their direction and watched as they left. His face signaled neither disappointment nor confusion. If he had been his father, he would want the same thing.

Lyra fell in line with Ivan easily, and as she stepped onto the turbolift after him, she turned to look quickly at Andrei, sharing a glance with him for just a moment. She would tell him everything, of course, and from what she knew he trusted her to be accurate with her information. The doors closed, and she looked at Ivan. “I have a small security team meeting us in the shuttle bay as well.”

“I knew you would, Miss Cassiel. I can always count on you to do your job exceptionally well.” Ivan said, smiling at his Second Officer as the lift moved. He had been a bit distant with her in the past, and he was starting to think such a move wasn’t necessary or helpful. “It’ll be nice to have a new toy to play with if this man is genuine, won’t it?”

“Yes, I’m quite interested to see what it is supposed to do.” Lyra responded with a small smile of her own. They had never been particularly close, but he did seem to understand that she was a steadfast, capable officer who he could rely on. The only real conversation they had shared outside of work or shallow chats at family meals which she now attended practically every one with Andrei had been right before he had left to be with Yana and Mika on Gamma Erendine. They’d had an unusually deep heart to heart, and before he had gone it seemed Ivan was satisfied that Lyra actually was in love with and devoted to his son and the potential future they would have together. They had not really spoken in the same way since despite Ivan’s seeming regret before he left that they had never spent time with each other, but she assumed it was fairly obvious to him that she had taken good care of his son in his absence, and Andrei was still happy, healthy, and thriving with her.

“If you’re alright with it, I’d like to use this as an opportunity to get to know you better. Whatever he presents to us, you and I will work on it directly and leave the paperwork to Andrei for a change. It’ll be a good thing.” Ivan said, looking at her as they traveled closer to the shuttlebay.

Andrei wouldn’t like that one bit and she knew it, but she also didn’t see a particular reason to antagonize by shooting Ivan down or pointing that fact out to him, and she was sure Andrei would see it in the same light. She offered a small, respectful smile and nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

“Wonderful.” He said, as they stepped out of the turbo lift and into the shuttlebay where a small off-green shuttle waited for them, still sealed. He looked at the security crew who stood in formation around the shuttle. “Alright, let’s meet the man.”

With a simple gesture, Lyra put the security guards into motion, two of them stepping into the bay first with their hands on their weapons and the other two falling into step behind Lyra and Ivan as they walked into the shuttle bay. As if on cue, the ramp to the shuttle opened and lowered, and out stepped the Haakonian man from the viewscreen and a second one, young and strong. Jetrel smiled at Ivan instantly and opened his arms in a gregarious way, though it also made it very visible he wasn’t armed.

“Ah Captain, good to meet you face to face!”

“Yes.” Ivan responded, his black gloves hands clenched together strongly. His eyes focused on the man, seeming genuinely distrustful of any pleasantries. “Whether or not our meeting is good depends entirely on what you’ve come to present to me, Ma’Borr. This is my Second Officer, Commander Cassiel.”

Jetrel’s eyes - and those of his companion - immediately moved to Lyra and both lingered there in the way mens’ eyes always lingered on her. The old man didn’t even make an attempt to hide his appraisal, however, and smiled again after he seemed to have his fill. “Wonderful.”

He snapped his fingers and held out his hand to the younger man behind him who put a device into Jetrel’s hand that looked similar to a PADD. “I have all the information right here. Shall we sit down somewhere and go over it all?”

“Yes, we can. There’s a conference room right over here for our pilots. We can use that.” Ivan responded, gesturing to a door that led to a small room the flight department often used. They traveled there together, not wasting any time. As they settled into the small room, Ivan waved over one of the security. “Consult with Commander Petrova and quickly bring back something delicious of the Delta Quadrant alcoholic stock for us.”

As the crewman hurried off to do what he was told,Ivan turned back to their guest.

“So, Mr. Jetrel, tell us about yourself.”

“I’m a man like many, I imagine.” Jetrel began, easy and charismatic. “I like wealth, love beautiful women, and enjoy hunting opportunities across the quadrant.”

“Is your background in weapon-design?” Ivan asked, clearly not impressed by the answer. They had met so many enemies that it was no longer easy to gain their trust. “Or do you specialize, truly, in wealth, love, and beautiful women?”

“That is certainly one of my many specialties.” Jetrel was undaunted, “I do have a background in weapon design, though in recent years my specialty has become… weapon procurement.” A slight smirk accompanied the explanation.

“And how exactly do you go about finding those weapons?” Lyra prompted, her brows raising just slightly but it was clear she wasn’t buying that things were as simple as they seemed.

“Like beautiful women, it is a shame to see beautiful weapons remain with someone who doesn’t know how and when to use them.” The Haakonian replied.

“Women and weapons have many uses; this is true.” Ivan said, his eyes steely as the door opened and a bottle of green liquid was delivered to him along with three glasses. As he poured, his lips were parted as if he planned to continue his response. “Tell us about this weapon in particular. Why do you think Vengeance would want it?”

“It is spectacularly destructive. We have used it in our conflict with the Talaxians with… impressive results. It is called the Metreon Cascade.” Jetrel looked at Ivan as he spoke, occasionally glancing over to Lyra to keep her respectfully engaged, though likely for other reasons as well. “A devastating explosion followed by catastrophic radiation poisoning… and for any who might still survive, a terminal disease that will eat away at them slowly.”

Lyra watched the alien man, noting that he was almost Terran in his enjoyment of describing the weapon. It could be a rather useful trait if he proved to be reliable, but what were the chances of that happening?

“I must admit that is a ..very attractive proposition.” Ivan said with a grin. He looked to Lyra with interest to see what she though even as he continued to respond. “Have their been any other uses besides the Talaxians?”

“Sadly, no. My government decided after our showing on the Talaxians that the weapon was simply too barbaric to utilize and they tried to destroy it.” Jetrel frowned.

“So… you stole it.” Lyra supplied the words he was dancing around.

“I prefer to say rescued.” Jetrel smiled at her, his eyes lingering on her beautiful face. “As any thing of beauty should be.”

“Before we go on, I must see this in action. It seems to me we have the perfect opportunity to show the damage this device can do considering the population below on Seejal.” Ivan said as if it were the most normal thing ever.

Lyra was mildly surprised to hear the way Ivan spoke. He’d been hesitant previously to enact such violence against alien species despite his rather barbaric nicknames, but it seemed perhaps this time he was less inclined to half measures.

“What an excellent suggestion, Captain.” Jetrel grinned and finally took a sip of his drink. He looked down at it, licking the remainder off of his lips. “You have quite a taste in alcohol.”

“It’s a Vidiian drink. We got our stock from a pleasure planet in their space called Anorra. A lovely little oasis on a desert world. The food wasn’t much to talk about, but this drink was impressive to us.” Ivan said, taking another sip of his own. “We Terrans aren’t ashamed to take the best parts of what others have for ourselves. Show us what this Metreon Cascade can do, and we just might do the same here.”

For the next half hour, the trio talked details about the product and how the test should be done. It was decided that Jetrel would complete his demonstration in two days after the Terrans had time to integrate the remaining Vidiian ships into the Shadow Fleet and knew who they wished to keep as slaves and who would be sent down to Seejal to die with the rest.

“It’s a plan then.” Ivan said, and finished off the last of his glass.

“Wonderful, wonderful.” Jetrel chuckled, sounding good natured and smiling. “Now then, I don’t know if it would interest you and your crew, but I would like to extend an invitation for you to join me on my ship at your pleasure. She’s a fine vessel and one of the Haakonians most powerful warships.”

“Did you ‘rescue’ your ship as well?” Lyra asked, speaking with an amused tone and wearing a matching smile that didn’t reach into those cold dark eyes.

Jetrel looked over at Lyra, and while he didn’t respond with direct words, his grin and wink at her was answer enough. His eyes lingered, and he spoke directly to her. “Perhaps you might even like to join me for a meal on my ship.”

Lyra’s smile remained, and her head shifted just slightly to indicate interest in the offering. “Perhaps if there’s time.”

Ivan watched the exchange with interest. Of course, he suspected Lyra had no interest at all in this alien creature, but he saw how very useful she could be for their purposes. Men would do and say foolish things for a beautiful woman; it was a law of the universe.

“We’d love to take a look, Jetrel.” He said, and then stood. “Until then..”

“Wonderful, of course. I will leave this information here so you can look over it and if you have any questions when you come to visit me, I’d be happy to answer them.” Jetrel stood and Lyra did as well. He reached out and clasped Ivan’s shoulder just briefly in farewell, then turned his eyes to Lyra where they lingered once again. “I’m looking forward to showing you around my home.”

“Likewise.” Lyra replied with a nod, the smile she wore previously remaining.

They watched as Jetrel made his way toward the shuttle. Ivan frowned, thinking of the fact that the man had just touched him, but he kept it to himself. As the alien boarded his shuttle and waved goodbye to them, Ivan spoke to Lyra.

“Are you planning on dining with him?”

“I don’t know.” Lyra replied honestly. “If it would be advantageous, yes, but I would want to speak with Andrei about it first.”

“Speak to him and then do it.” Ivan said, placing a hand on her elbow. “You’re my secret weapon on this one. There might be a discount in here somewhere, right?”

Ivan smiled, but then slowly came to the realization of what he was inadvertently implying.

“Obviously you won’t be degrading yourself.”

“No, of course.” She agreed, and gave no indication she thought he was implying or thinking anything differently - while he didn’t know her well, he surely knew her well enough to know she was quite above that. “But I’m sure I can walk away with a beneficial deal for us if we are interested in the weapon.”

“I thought as much.” He said, watching the shuttle lift off and depart the bay. “Take a look at those specs from Jetrel and let me know if it checks out. I’m curious to see it myself if it does.”

“Of course, sir. Anything else?” She asked and looked up at him after watching the shuttle for a moment.

“The next time that shuttle enters the bay, I want aggressive scans of its inner workings. Let’s make that standard practice wirh any guest craft from now on.” He ordered. “Can I count on you to make sure Flight control and Operations are informed along with the XO?”

Lyra blinked and then smiled slightly. “Already done sir, as well as his warship. I just need to review the findings. After what we’ve been through out here, I’d never let an alien ship anywhere near our fleet without knowing about it.”

She touched his arm lightly. “With your permission, I will go and look that over now.”

He gave her a satisfied expression and nodded. She reminded him of his wife in many ways.

“Granted, Commander.”

Lyra nodded and turned to leave without another word. Working with Ivan could be interesting, she imagined, though she did still have some underlying concerns with how Andrei was going to respond when she told him of his father’s plan. Perhaps it would be fine, perhaps not.

END