It didn’t take a scientist to notice something was afoot at Starbase 72. Nobody knew what was going on, but the entire base was buzzing with talk of a major fleet action and secrets being kept by the admiralty.

Yanrel Vex, the Trill Starfleet commander, did little to mask his own curiosity and confusion. He had been assigned to lead a small expedition, being placed himself in command of an Arrow-class runabout alongside Lieutenant Commander Harrington

His orders were to head to a nearby planet, Koruku III, and assist with a dark-ages level society dwelling there. The assignment wasn’t to study them from a distance and avoid all interference with their cultural development. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Against all policy regarding the Prime Directive, Vex and his crew were to be the ones responsible for not only making contact with the local populace but to actively force their evacuation from one of their outlying, wooded villages, an assignment that bothered him to no end.

As a xenoanthropologist, the natural evolution of a society was one of his greatest fascinations. Now he was being ordered, from the admiralty down, to not only contaminate this culture’s societal growth, but to actively engage and harass these people.

Worst of all was the lack of reasoning why. “Those are your orders, Vex.” was the best he could get out of any of his senior officers.

This whole thing didn’t sit right with Vex at all. He couldn’t get a word out of anyone regarding what was going on, and he and his fellow officers all showed upon their face the same discontent for what they were being asked to do. Divert civilians without so much as an explanation as to why, converge on dangerous locations across the sector against all better judgement, and interfere with matters of the Prime Directive that could irreversibly alter the future of a civilization as they knew it.

With no small measure of discontent, Vex strode into the docking bay reserved for Arrow and Orion-class runabouts. Trying as he always did to maintain his graceful composure, he could do little to mask the concern and unhappiness across his countenance.

To say that the mission at hand was a little out of the ordinary would have been an understatement.  Neil had only just arrived on the station, pending a new assignment, when the emergency notice came in.   He had transferred here at the XO of the Oberon, and now he was assigned to an Arrow-class runabout to a Commander Vex.  There was no mission description and no details of his assignment.  He honestly wasn’t sure why he was here, or what he was doing.  

He however wasn’t stupid, there had been chatter all over the station.  Brass shuffling off into offices and remaining under lock and key.  Docking ships who’s Captains had been recalled.  And now on top of it all, odd assignments coming out of the blue.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that something was going on.  Neil turned to look at the newest arrival to the runabout.  He stood up facing the trill, “Commander Vex?” he asked, already knowing the answer. 

He extended a hand, “Neil Harrington, I was told to report to you for an emergency assignment.”

“Ah,’ Vex replied, not forgetting his manners and returning his usual slight smile to his face, ‘a pleasure, Commander Harrington. Yes indeed, it seems we’re heading for a planet called Koruku III. The people there live in a pre-warp society approximately equivalent to the dark ages on your homeworld. We’ve been ordered to, uh… relocate said locals there, forcibly if needed.”

He paused for a moment before turning to face the runabout.

“Candidly, Mr Harrington, I do not like this in the slightest. This mission goes against everything I thought I had come to understand Starfleet to be. I am to assume you know little, if anything, as to the reasoning behind this mission? If so then you know as much as I. My orders are my orders, as are yours, but I personally aim to do as little as humanly possible to contaminate this culture with notions of aliens and spacecraft. If we can emerge from this mission with some small tether of the Prime Directive intact, then it would not have all been for naught, wouldn’t you agree?” He asked, as several more members of the expedition boarded the runabout, the USS Trent.

Neil took it all in as he attempted to process it.  “The Diplomat in me would agree with your assessment.  Starfleet has made non-interference a foundation of our core.  The fact that they are shoving that aside, in the name of an emergency, is a bit disconcerting.”  He looked at the Commander, “and given their level of technology, little contamination would be a goal.”  Neil didn’t have to tell the man that to these people, they could appear almost godlike.  Neil wasn’t sure he wanted a statue, or a religion, built in his honor.  The Lieutenant Commander noticed the arrival of their team. 

Looking over the ranks, he could see the team building.  For the most part it was Junior Officers who appeared to be just as confused as him.  No doubt they had just received their orders and were lost.  Looking at the team, they had the standard gold uniforms.  Neil would only assume they were Security Officers.  He couldn’t help but wonder just how much of a threat these people could be.  He wasn’t sure they needed a whole team of Security Officers, but who was he to question Starfleet in their infinite wisdom. 

“Well we’ll certainly think of something, of that I’m sure.” Vex replied, occasionally drifting his gaze to the security officers as he spoke before addressing the Commander again.

“Well then, shall we be off?” he asked.

Neil gestured further into the craft, towards the helm area.  As their pilot took his seat near the front of the runabout.  He really wanted to say, let’s go violate the prime directive but knew that would be going a bit too far.  “I’ll start looking into Koruku III, and see what I can pull from the Diplomatic Corps and Science Departments.  Possibly see if I can come up with something,” he paused, “if your permission, Commander?”

“Of course,’ Yanrel gestured towards Harrington, ‘if we can find a way to get out of this situation without destroying a culture, I’d like to find any way of doing so.”

Vex settled into his own seat and waited for everyone else to come aboard.

“Ensign Cho, was it? Take us out, if you would.”

With all systems engaged, the Arrow-class runabout rose from the ground and, after some maneuvering, shot out like it’s eponymous form from the runabout docking bay.

“Set a course for Koruku III ensign, maximum warp.”

“Course laid in, sir. We should be arriving in the next three hours or so.” ensign Cho responded.

With that command acknowledged, the runabout’s two small warp nacelles began to hum and glow as the Trent repositioned itself to match it’s new flight trajectory. With a flash of light and pulsing blast, the runabout began it’s faster-than-light journey at an impressive speed of Warp 8.

“Three hours ought to give us all the time we need to figure out a solution. I’m open to ideas if anyone has any?” Yanrel asked, with more than a little of his frustration and anger permeating through his voice.

“Sir?’ a voice arose from the crew of nine around him. ‘With all due respect, why don’t we just head in there disguised as locals and begin convincing people to evacuate? That ought to be fine without us risking being discovered.”

“There is a reason we’ve been assigned to an Arrow-class, lieutenant. Time is of the utmost essence here-”

At that, one of the crew interrupted.

“-But why is it of the essence, sir!?” a voice cried out, clearly disgruntled.

At that, Yanrel returned an equally frustrated shrug, an exaggerated expression on his face as he did so.

“Believe me, ensign, I would tell you if I knew. I’ve been left as much in the dark about all this as any of you have. All I know is that Starfleet needs us to complete this mission and fast, and I am placing my trust in the admiralty to be sure to be asking this of us for good reason.” He added.

At this, one of the crewmen snorted. Vex chose to ignore them.

“Any other suggestions? We need something effective, something quick, and preferably something as non-invasive as possible.”

Neil’s fingers danced over the console as he pulled up information from several various sources.  “While I share everyone’s concern for these people, and ensuring that we protect these people.  The outcome is rather delicate.  If we don’t find a way to move them carefully, then Starfleet I am sure will send a team in here and they will do it first.”  Neil started to add more but something caught his attention. 

He turned to the Officer, “you know a disguise might work, but not in the sense you were thinking.  This ship is equipped with phasers, deflectors, holo technology, you name it we have it.   Perhaps we could use that to our advantage, instead of moving them…” he was more thinking out loud, “we need to create a reason for them to move themselves.  That would limit our interaction but still achieve the same outcome.”

Yanrel thought over this course of action for a moment. It was true that the Trent was well-equipped and that such an illusion could potentially be possible, and this certainly seemed to be the best course of action with regards to relocating the villagers as non-invasively as possible. The question was simply making it happen.

“I don’t believe we’re equipped to create any kind of holographic image.” he responded, tapping his cheek as he thought.

“However, perhaps we won’t need anything so complex. If we could catch the villagers under the cover of nightfall…” he trailed off.

“Harrington, pull up everything you can on the religious and mythological beliefs and legends of the people of Koruku III. Lieutenant Vasquez, see if it could be possible to modify the phaser array to emit a short-range automated wide-beam pulse. Hopefully with a few light tricks and some carefully timed phaser bursts, we can create a convincing enough illusion to scare the people out of town.”

Vasquez nodded affirmatively, and immediately began tapping away at her console to make the necessary modifications.

Neil looked at their Commander, he still honestly wasn’t sure about this.  He’d worn this uniform long enough to know that everything they were being ordered to do went against everything he’d been trained to do.  He wasn’t sure if this action would be hailed as a success, or wind up in a Jag Trial.  For the moment though, this was the best course of action.  “Aye, Commander,” he simply replied, as he gave a reassuring nod to the others in the room.  

“You all have your orders,” he stated, “let’s get to work.”

With most of the research in place, the teams prepped, and the Trent modified for their adventure, the runabout came out of warp in orbit of the planet.  Everything was just as it should be, “standard orbit, Lieutenant,” Neil stated.  Taping his comm badge, “we’ve arrived at the planet Commander.”

“Local time 2300 hundreds, a slight storm building up on the Eastern side of the continent,” Neil added, as the Commander arrived, “Just as we predicted.  This should help give us some cover.”  He looked over to the pilot, “scan the colony, let’s locate the inhabitants.  We don’t want any unneeded casualties.”

“Right you are, Harrington.” Vex responded. He opened the interface on his own console and double checked to make sure all the preparations were in place for the crew’s big stunt.

“Ensign Cho, prepare for atmospheric entry. We’ll break the atmosphere 0.5 miles from the edge of the storm and head in. With nightfall being over that side of the planet and the storm building, we should hopefully have all the cover we need not to be detected prematurely. Be ready everyone, this is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride!”

With that, the remaining crew took their seats aboard the runabout and prepared themselves for the torrential turbulence ahead of them. Ensign Cho entered the commands on his console to bring the runabout into a lower orbit around the planet, beginning the incremental descent into the upper atmosphere.

As the ship finally entered the stratosphere of Koruku III, the shaking immediately began with a great violence as the Trent rattled across it’s every bulkhead. The shields became quite visible as a burning red oblate spheroid surrounded the ship, the thick blanket of cloud beneath them growing closer and closer, giving the impression that the ship was already about to hit the surface.

“Steady ensign. These ships were built for landing but I’d rather it did so in one piece.” Vex called out.

This was the part of the trip Neil wasn’t looking forward to,  in his opinion these rides were to be much smoother.  As the runabout jolted Neil gripped his arm rest tighter.  “One piece would be good,” he joked.

“As predicted most of the colony is in the main village,” Neil read over the scans, “we have a few in the outlying areas but they shouldn’t be a problem for now.”  This was all going according to plan which actually was a little worrisome.  Things were going, to well.  Neil couldn’t shake the feeling that the other shoe could drop at any point.

“Approaching the colony from the Eastern coast,” Neil monitored the scans, “so far all clear, no indications we’ve been noticed.”  Neil stopped, “Commander picking up an unusual energy reading 42 kilometers to the north of the colony.”

An unusual energy reading? Vex wondered if this had something to do with all the secrecy surrounding the assignment.

“Hrmm… Ensign Cho, maintain our current course and heading. Harrington, scan that energy reading and give me something more substantial to work with. If it’s worth diverting from our mission for, we shall take a look if we are able.”

“I am afraid it’s nothing that registers in the system,” Neil stated.  “The pattern here almost suggests a debris field of some sort, up in the mountains.  I doubt given its location the locals even know it’s there.   Metal in nature, and definitely emitting some energy.”

Neil couldn’t help but let speculation take place.  Could this be the reason they were sent here?  Surely this couldn’t be it?  This unknown appeared old.  Given its location and altitude he seriously doubted any of the locals had ever seen this object.  “Definitely metal in nature, roughly 3 meters long and 2 meters wide.”  

Neil turned to the Commander, “Nothing on this planet suggests these people have the technology to build a device like this.  We would have to assume that whatever it is, that it does not belong to the Koruku.”

“My suggestion, continue with the mission.  We can use the storm to our advantage hiding us in the mountains.  We beam that thing up,  and leave it with Scientists a bit smarter than us.”   He paused,  “Sir.”

“Acknowledged Commander and I happen to agree. Our mission here to displace the locals should be our top priority. In the wake of the chaos caused by our upcoming stunt, we should have a perfect opportunity to examine the wreckage before leaving. Any objections?” Yanrel asked.

The crew remained silent. None of what they were doing sat well with any of them, truthfully. The frustration of being left in the dark about the whole thing was only exacerbated by the apparent danger they now felt themselves getting into, as the Trent shook and creaked under the friction of entering Koruku III’s dense atmosphere.

With a loud whoosh, the upper atmosphere of the planet was finally put above them, and the Arrow-class returned to a stable flight pattern. The crew could barely see out of the vehicle’s windows as heavy rain and flashes of lightning occluded their vision.

“Easy does it, ensign. Set us down just over there in that glade.” said Yanrel, pointing to a clear opening amongst the thick jungle.

“Aye sir. Deploying landing gear.” Ensign Cho responded, pressing a few buttons on his console.

With a loud whir coming from beneath the crew, the Trent deployed it’s landing gear and, with some gentle maneuvering and occasional swaying and banking, the runabout was set down with a large thud on the mossy jungle floor.

“From what I have read these people have a very similar belief to early Earth,” Neil explained, “renaissance area level of thinking here.  Our technology will give us an advantage, but we need to maintain as little to no contact with the locals.  We need to convince them to leave on their own, that doesn’t involve the magician from space who scared them off.”  He pulled up a map of the village with an overlay of the population, “this area seems to be the best area to hit.  There is little population and most of the cities’ infrastructure is here.  Take out their water, and their resources to live off of, but it’s going to have to be big and convincing.”  He looked over at Ensign Davis. 

“This is where the torpedoes and phaser come into play,” he pointed to the Commander’s map, “we target these areas specifically, and use the engines with a few extra tricks.”  Davis smiled, “these people will likely thinka dragon or some sea monster is attacking them.” 

Neil winced at the thought, but orders were orders; even if these orders made absolutely no sense.  “We are going to have to do some serious damage in order to force their move.” 

“Destroying their resources intentionally is unnecessary and franky unacceptable, Commander, we simply have to put on a convincing show for them. Have the torpedoes and phasers fire at buildings at random. Avoid casualties at all costs. If these people truly are as simple as you claim, it shan’t take much to have them running in fear. We do need to cause enough widespread devastation though to have them spooked for a good long while. I’m told another team shall be following us to… complete the mission.” Vex said. At the final statement, he rolled his nose in visible annoyance and frustration.

Just what was this mission? What was the point of all of this harassment of local populaces previously protected by the Prime Directive? Vex wanted answers, and once this mission was through, he felt driven as ever to march into the Commodore’s office and get them.

“Well. You have your orders, people. Commence with the final modifications and prepare to engage. Hopefully we can have this done, have time to check on that anomalous reading, and get out of here before the taste in my mouth becomes too bitter to endure.”

Neil understood and actually agreed, but in the end the Commander’s comments made no sense.  He took serious offence to the suggestion that he was targeting casualties.  Neil suggested infrastructure; roads, wells, habors.  They needed to target things that would force these people to leave.   Only in taking a large portion of their infrastructure were they ever going to convince these people to move.  Just putting on a light show and some flashy phasers wasn’t going to be enough. Everything suggested these people would fight till the end.  Unless the runabout could produce an actual monster they were not going to spook them enough. 

The Diplomat in him knew that his idea was wrong but without a solid plan these people would be back the next day to rebuild and repair.  If Starfleet truly wanted them gone, then their plan had to have long term effects not just a day. “Yes, Sir,” Neil replied.

An hour had passed as the last of the modifications were completed.  Like it or not they were ready for their show.  All that was missing was a giant fountain in the middle to play the lights off of.  This was a challenging assignment and Neil wasn’t convinced this was going to work.  Starfleet wanted these people gone, he wasn’t convinced this would be enough.  

All he wanted now was to get this dreadful mission over, report back to Starbase 72, and hope that his next adventure was on the horizon.   For once, he was actually glad that he wasn’t in command of this mission.  As Vex looked over the modifications Neil and the rest of the crew assumed their positions.  Cho in the pilot seat going over the flight plan, as Neil and Davis monitored the phaster, torpedoes, and deflector dish.  

The flashing of phaser fire and micro-torpedos was as a wave of flame and ruin upon the people of the village. Frantic Korukens ran in fear and terror as what appeared to be a great, shining beast flew overhead, coming back every few moments for another run at their settlement.

Wood and debris flew across the skies and splashed in the great puddles as the storm was pierced over and over by a giant beast of shining light darted through the falling rain. 

It’s roar was terrible, and it’s form mysterious as it blasted building after building again and again with its great red flames. Fires rose and roared even as the rain came down harder.

“Target the well and their storehouses, lieutenant. Remember, we’re aiming for as few casualties as possible.” Vex commanded from his position aboard the Trent.

“Firing all phasers Sir,” the Lieutenant replied, “targets locked.”  Inside the craft you could hear the phasers as they fired.  One… two…three.  “Target destroyed Commander,” the Lieutenant stated. 

From the opposite side of the craft Neil kept a close eye on the scans from the colony.  Monitoring things like traffic, possibly threats, and colonists activity; he was playing multiple hats all at once.   “Sector traffic remains calm,” Neil stated, “but I am picking up a Federation ship on large range sensors,” Neil didn’t need to ask the obvious.  This was the clean up crew, forever Starfleet had planned here.  “The Villages seem to have retreated to an area on the northside of the colony.  I am picking up an increase of lifesigns there.  My guess is they are making their way to an area under the keep for protection.

Neil stood up, turning to face the Lieutenant, “target these vents here, here, and here,” he pointed to a map overlay on the man’s screen.  “These should all be safe but they will allow for an influx of water to dump into the lower levels of the keep.  It should force the colonists to change their plans.”  He looked to their leader, “I would also suggest a torpedo to their main keep,” Neil stated, “perhaps we can force them to sea and away from the colony.  Land the shuttle on the roof of the keep, make it look like we are staying, and they might just keep sailing their boats away for the time being.  Seek refuge somewhere else for the time being.” 

“Acknowledged commander.” Vex replied.

“Lieutenant, see it done. We need to keep these colonists away from the site for as long as possible.” and with that, he entered a few extra commands on his own screen, coordinating tactical information to the lieutenant’s monitor as she prepared for another volley on the village.

The runabout came around once again for another volley of attacks through the rain. With three well-placed blasts from the ship’s phasers, the levees protecting the village burst as water began to flood through where vents had once been. Seawater came rushing through the streets at all turns as the location slowly began to flood. Debris washed downstream as the fires on the buildings began to rise and fall, burning through wood before being doused by the storming rain.

With this run coming to an end, the runabout fired a micro-torpedo at the solid walls of the keep at the end of town. With a crash and a bang, the stonemasonry came tumbling down as bricks and mortar were slung through the air from the blast site. Screams of terror and despair echoed across the walls and within, all but silent to those that dwelled in the cockpit of the monster above.

Still, Vex felt it. Closing his eyes with an uncomfortable sigh, he lowered his head.

Answers now for this were all that was on his mind. Seldom in his four lifetimes had he been witness to such unjustifiable atrocities as this. This wasn’t who Starfleet was, and it certainly was not who he was, not now nor ever. Even Burza wouldn’t have resorted to tactics like this without having some serious questions to ask, even if ordered to do so.

The Trent came around for another pass.

As the scene unfolded in front of them it was painful to watch.  Everything about this screamed this was wrong.   At what point did orders no longer make sense?  Whatever Starfleet had in mind he had to believe this violation of the Prime Directive was worth it?  He looked down at the screen.   “It’s working,” he stated,  “they are heading for the boats.   The first of them have already departed.

Neil turned in his chair as he pointed to the pilots screen, “take us down here,” he gestured, “strongest part of the building,  it will support us.”  Unlike most victories, this was very hollow.  There was no pleasure it this defeat.

Before Neil could respond the comm channel opened as a gruf sounding voice filled the small cockpit.  “Runabout Trent this is the USS Phoenix.  Our senors show the colonists leaving the village.  Good work, our teams will take over from here.”  Before a reply could be made the Phoenix closed the channel.

“Good work,” Neil stated out loud,  “good work,” his voice was clearly puzzled.  It was obvious he didn’t agree with their assessment.   “Your orders, Commander?”

Vex huffed.

“Good work.” he parroted in a sarcastic manner.

“Let’s check that reading we passed earlier then leave as swiftly as possible, Mr Harrington. I’d really rather not remain here any longer than is totally necessary.”

With that, the young ensign punched in a few commands on his console. The Trent rose from the keep, like a great beast flying away from the devastation he had caused, turned, and headed for the hills.