If it wasn’t already busy onboard Starbase Bravo things have gotten even more crazier with Frontier Day events in full swing. Renu Tol had been in his quarters getting ready for the event that was about to commence, standing there shirtless staring at his dress uniform. He disliked them as they always felt constrictive and very uncomfortable. After a while of himself grumbling he changed into his uniform before moving on to combing his hair which was currently a mess.

Looking at himself in the mirror adjusting his uniform and rank pips until he was satisfied with his appearance, ‘well as good as I am going to get’ he replied to himself as he walked out of the bedroom into the living room. Walking out of his quarters he made his way towards where the party was located. Frontier Day was such a big event and this year being the 250th Frontier Day was a huge event.

A short time later he arrived at his destination, adjusting his dress uniform again before he entered to see how it was set up. It had been done up beautifully and there were dignitaries from all over Starfleet that had flocked to Starbase Bravo for the festivities. He had walked deeper into the room looking for a good place to stand without seeming to be in the center. As he made his way over to a table on the far side of the room though not too far in the corner that he be considered a snob, he grabbed a glass of champagne he smiled at the waitress who had been handing them out.

Another hand grasped out from the crowd of dress uniforms.  That hand reached for the same flute of champagne only a few seconds after Renu claimed it.  The hand closed around empty air, the pads of the fingertips brushing against Renu’s fingers.

From the other side of the empty champagne tray, Lieutenant Elegy Weld said, “My apologies.”  In his perfectly-tailored dress uniform, Weld stood a little taller than Renu and slimmer in build.  Along their hairlines, the two of them shared the spotted markings of a Trill heritage – even if Weld had been prone to shave his head in those days.  Weld waved a hand at the waitress as she returned to the food prep area, off the promenade’s main concourse, where they stood.

“I’m sure another drink will materialize soon enough,” Weld said.

Renu Tol had felt something brush against his hand as he had been paying attention to the waitress, he looked over to the person who had happened to reach for the same flute. Renu smiled at the officer, “no worries.” Renu smiled as he also noticed he was a fellow Trill. He wasn’t used to such fancy parties such as these, though this year was a milestone that they went all out. 

“They sure went all out,” Renu commented looking around the room as he seemed impressed by it.

Looking to the left and the right, Weld could see no end to the decorations, dress uniforms and decked-up servers across the entire thoroughfare of the promenade.  Nodding slowly at what he saw, Weld grinned at Renu and then nodded twice more.

“I suppose we have a lot to celebrate,” Weld remarked.  “We’ve all been so much in the past couple of years, from Velorum to Deneb.  Makes you proud to wear the uniform, you know?”

“Indeed,” Renu replied then realized he had been rude. “How rude of me for not introducing myself, I am Lieutenant Commander Renu Tol. Recently took over as Deputy Director of Shipyard Operations,” he said extending his hand towards Weld with a smile on his face.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you, Commander Tol,” Weld said and he clasped Renu’s hand between both of his own.  “You can call me…”  But Weld’s voice trailed off.  Instead of his own name, he sucked in a distressed breath.  His gaze rose to look up at the holographic screens positioned around the promenade.  

A moment earlier, it had been easy to ignore the sensor feeds from Earth’s orbit.  Starfleet starships were parading through the stars in formation; if you had seen it once, you had seen it a dozen times.  But the fleet formation had taken a turn for the disastrous.  In the crisp more-real-than-real definition of a holographic projection, every starship – every single starship – was firing all phasers on Sol Station.  The fleet at Earth had gone rogue and was attacking Starfleet itself.

“What??” Weld finally said.

Renu looked at what Weld was seeing and he was taken aback by what he was witnessing, gasping at the sight. “What is happening?” He said as he watched what was unfolding in front of him while his hand was still in his as they were both left in shock. He was without words to even say anything for a long while, “something has to be wrong with the fleet formation system.” He said not knowing the true reason why the ships were firing on the starbase.

“This is more than something wrong,” Weld said.  All across the promenade, people were gasping or shouting.  The tenor of voices varied from helpless dismay to impotent frustration.  Weld took a step closer to Renu to be heard.  He raised an index finger to point at the screen where dozens upon dozens of phaser beams were converged on Sol Station.

“This is more than something wrong,” Weld affirmed.  “This is a catastrophe.” 

Looking at him for a brief moment before looking back at the screen and then back at Weld. “There must be something wrong with the fleet formation mode. If there is we have ships docked here at Starbase Bravo which also have that mode installed on them, I need to go have those looked at before we become the next catastrophe.” Renu said looking at him still not knowing the real reason.

Holding Renu’s gaze, Weld swallowed hard and then he asked, “Do you think Starbase Bravo could be next?”

He looked at him letting out a sigh, “I hope not.” He replied before looking back at the feed and repeating what he just said. He had never seen such a thing, what was supposed to be a good day quickly turned into a catastrophe that wasn’t imaginable. Wondering how something like this could happen, was there something more at play here than what they were seeing? 

Working his jaw a bit, “I owe you a drink.”  Renu said with a soft smile, “I better get going to get those ships checked out.”

“Good luck with the fleet formation programing,” Weld remarked.  “Who would have thought a parade could go so terribly, terribly wrong?”