Captain’s log, supplemental.

Our first scientific surveys of the planet Nareen are complete and science teams have now been dispatched to investigate secondary sites across the planet’s surface. Following the discovery of the relic at the initial dig site, Commander Vren has returned to the ship to begin the analysis of data recovered. Initial findings suggest the spire could be some three thousand years old, with the identified carvings a form of navigation chart, and Nareen one of the focal points.

If our belief is true, that could suggest Nareen played a major part in this area of the quadrant at one point in time, but a bigger question remains.

What caused the planet’s current state? And what happened to its population?

“I’m not saying I like living on the edge, but I’d have liked to have been back on the Al-Batani, y’know?”

Rubbing her eyes between stifled yawns, Lieutenant Nadia Kessler used her planted feet to spin in her chair and glare at the two Academy graduates that sat at the consoles behind her, neither of whom had clocked her interest in their discussion.

“I know, right! First contact with a new species… it’s the dream!” Ensign Natalia Donovan grinned, playfully slapping the arm of her colleague, Skye Peters. Peters, an officer under Captain Gor’s command had been left under the supervision of the Hypatia’s department when Gor had opted to assist Wasp in their encounter with the Draxan fleet. Donovan, meanwhile, was a member of the research cruiser’s science department, and one of Kessler’s own. And instead of embarking on a glorious mission of Starfleet’s first official contact with the Draxans, well…

“We’re left pouring over sand…” the guest from Al-Batani pulled off her right boot and emptied the contents onto the floor of the science lab, “…in more ways than one.”

“I don’t like sand…” Donovan frowned this time, “It’s coarse and rough and irritating… and it gets everywhere.”

“Perhaps you should be grateful you are out here, in a newly opened frontier of exploration, rather than on some… some…” Nadia could feel the frustration in her voice, but couldn’t stop herself from completing her rant, “some Cali that will never leave the core territories.”

Flushed cheeks, sheepish smiles and a tense hand running through one’s blonde locks, and the two ensigns apologised profusely for their bellyaching. But that made Nadia feel even worse, drawing Vern’s assistant to her feet.

“Look girls,” she let out a sigh as she stopped inches from them and placed her hands on the headrests of both chairs. “I get it. Ordinarily, exploring a new world would be the pinnacle of what we do, but then an opportunity for first contact comes along and that’s all you can think of. But this…” she smiled gesturing to the screen behind the youngsters. “This is where real exploration takes place. Where we find things that matter.”

Skye pouted while Natalia’s shoulders dropped. “But we’ve been surveying this rock for hours and its just sand…”

“Then explain that…”

Nadia lifted her hands gently and placed them on the head of both ensigns, gradually rotating them like dolls whose joints had ceased over time.

At first, the two went with the flow and allowed their heads to be moved, but then, almost in unison, the two broke free of the senior officer’s grasp and lurched forward eyes trained on exactly the same spot for what felt like minutes until the gradually turned back to a smug, Kessler.

“We need to prepare a briefing for the Captain…”

“We’ve found and scanned dozens of craters located across the planet and there is only one conclusion,” Vren slid a data PADD across the observation lounge table to the Captain, tucked away at the head of the table.

Whilst Noli read the summary of the comprehensive report, Commander Prenar watched the science officers with interest, arms folded and relaxed back in his chair. Kessler moved with purpose to the wall mounted screen and typed in her clearance code, all while the Romulan chief of her department stood in silence, regarding the Captain closely.

A holographic schematic filled the screen, one quickly identified as a map of several locations planetary wide. Even though Darek thought he knew what he was looking at, he needed the confirmation of the science officer to satisfy his curiosity.

“It was an orbital bombardment,” Lieutenant Nadia Kessler revealed, gesturing to the impact craters.

“Are we talking natural or artificial?” the Cardassian queried, his eyes darting between schematic and scientist.

Focusing in on one of the blast craters in particular, the human gave her most educated response possible. “Naturally created impact craters, such as from an asteroid collision, are usually far larger, even several kilometres in radius. They’re usually circular in shape and create a raised rim around the entire periphery,” the young woman passionately explained, hands dancing as she elaborated on the details.

“And this isn’t that?” Darek surmised, bowing his head with raised eyebrows, hoping to be correct but preparing for the eventuality that he might look like an idiot.

Luckily, the grin on the scientists face suggested he was fine.

“No sir,” Kessler smiled. “These craters are significantly smaller, with the largest being just sixty meters across and much shallower,” she played on the screen for a second and compared an asteroid crater to the ones they had found.

The glowing text banner that accompanied the schematic caused the Cardassian to gently nudge the Bajoran to his left and draw her attention from the report to the screen before them. Furrowed brows and a pout later, Noli diverted her scowl from the XO to the scientists and her teachings.

“These craters are irregularly shaped, with an absence of other, typical attributes of an asteroidal impact crater. But we did detect a number of metallic shrapnel fragments which can mean only one thing…”

As Kessler’s hand gradually lifted to the glowing text that had caused Prenar’s concern, the Captain finally fell in line.

Projectile Focused Impact.

“Are you telling me that this planet, and potentially its entire populace, was decimated by orbital bombardment from some external power?” Noli gently placed the data PADD she held on the table top, interlocking her fingers and leaning forward in the same menacing way she did whenever she heard something she didn’t like.

At this point, Kessler’s superior jumped in once again. “That’s exactly what we’re saying,” Vren replied from the Captain’s left. “There is no doubt about it. Someone out here destroyed this planet, its infrastructure, and its people,” the Romulan looked stoney faced as he made gradual eye contact with the Captain.

“Whoever it was, they purged this planet of virtually everything, centuries ago,” Kessler chipped in, pulling out a seat next to the XO and sliding in slowly.

“That’s genocide…” If the colour could have drained from Prenar’s scale, grey face it would have. Even knowing the history of his world, and that of his Captain, the closest any of them had come to such an event had been the Dominion’s attempt to wipe out his people in the war of the 2370’s.

“Do you have any evidence pointing to the perpetrators?”

“Nothing conclusive at this stage,” Kessler started to answer, but something was different this time. Instead of the professorial mode she had embraced before, the auburn haired beauty seemed like she was waffling as she started to babble about energy signatures and residues and metallic alloys. She was skirting around the hard facts, and Vren opted to save her from her embarrassment.

“It was the Draxans…”

“Why would the Draxans bomb the shit out of this place and then, you know, fuck off home?”

All eyes around the ornate table trained in on the stern looking Nausicaan who was sat with his arms folded and scanning the holo before them. It was only when he picked up on the silence in the room that the brute looked up with a single raised brow.

“You’ve spent too much time with Dazia,” Prida grinned from directly opposite the Tactical Chief, drawing some smirks and little laughs from most of the gathering. But not from the XO, who was less than impressed.

“Colourful language aside,” the Cardassian frowned, “Denen’s question is legitimate. Why would they have done this?”

“Why do people ever engage in orbital bombardment?” Lieutenant Orax, Hypatia’s Ops chief and resident Denobulan pacifist sat forward, garnering the attention of his superiors. “To subjugate or eradicate. To beat a people into submission so they can no longer resist, or so there is no one left to resist at all.”

“Cheery thought…” Doctor Zinn scoffed, the lights of the room reflecting off his bald head a little more obvious than normal.

“We don’t know nearly enough about the Draxan Imperium to be able to make any assumptions or conclusions,” the green-skinned second officer sat to the Captain’s left and directly beside Lieutenant Nes spoke now. “The facts are pretty clear. This was centuries ago, and there is no one left to offer insight. In fact there is nothing at all but impact craters and the spire,” Vash frowned, tapping the display controls and changing the image in the center of the table to pull up the obelisk that was still under investigation thousands of miles below. “Even what we know is based off the sensor readings and metallurgical analysis from Draxan encounters with others.”

“Captain, I think it is pretty clear what we have to do…”

Looking out from the head of the table, the blonde Bajoran glared down the table at the usually quiet and placid Counsellor, whose thick accent always became more pronounced when he felt passionate about something.

“As scientists and medical professionals, we deal in facts. We are only going to get the facts we need from the Draxans themselves,” Arin looked down the table, past the curious, wandering eyes of all others, and locked on to the Captain. A silence hung in the air for the second time that meeting until Noli finally grinned and nodded approvingly at the Counsellor.

“We’re going to have to talk to the Draxans…”