Quick, It's the Free State!
Posted on Sat Feb 18th, 2023 @ 11:40am by Tal t'Leiya & Captain Luka Mahone
1,525 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Roll With It
Location: Outside the Bubble
Timeline: MD 02, Afternoon
Through the bustle of the crowd of Starfleet officers and crew working around the bubble, the sight of a uniformed Romulan would not seem out of place. But there was an annoyed glint in his eye as he surveyed the crowd, frown tilting lower and lower as he found no evidence of who he was looking for.
That was, until his eyes rested upon another Romulan in the crowd. One of the first he had seen outside of his own people upon the Colony. Without hesitation or regard for the people around him, the man made his way over. He rose his hand halfway through his approach, calling out to the other in haste.
As he completed his trek through the crowd, he offered a curt bow of his head, speaking in Romulan. "Perhaps you could assist me? I am Noxvir Mrian, part of the security detail for the Free State Ambassadors."
Tal tensed in spite of himself: The Free State was, in decent part, back by the Tal'Shiar; and of the various breakaway successor states to come out of the collapse of the Empire, was the one most likely to still consider him a target with active charges of treason. But as more people spilled over the border, it was becoming impossible to completely avoid others of his own kind; and this man either did not know of his history of self-exile from the RSE long before its collapse, or possibly did not care. Or was doing a very good job pretending. It was quite possible refusing to engage him was going to be riskier than doing so, especially with the witnesses around, and so Tal returned the appropriate fraction of the other man's bow of his head. "I am unaware of their location, if that is your query. However - " He waved a hand slightly at the bubble " - if you have had no success in the rest of town, it would seem likely they are behind the apparition."
Indeed, if Noxvir knew who Tal was in terms of former lives and the like, it was not the most important factor on the Romulan guard's mind. But, as his gaze turned toward the monstrosity of a force field, his inexperience showed in his clear exasperated expression. "Behind...that?" he asked, admittedly in a rhetorical fashion. "This sort of thing...does this happen often here? We're supposed to be assessing the colony and the planet for danger, and if this is considered 'normal,' it would greatly affect what I report."
This one is exactly as young as he looks, Tal thought, revising his estimate of the young guard's age down from 'somewhere in his 50s' to 'maybe in his 40 at most', as he noted the rather poorly hidden concern and confusion. Simultaneously, he considered how, exactly, he wanted to respond here: Having the colony assessed as 'dangerous' by the Free State was quite possibly only to the benefit of himself and his family as it increased the odds that the Tal'Shiar would decide the place and its occupants were not worth the trouble. An outright statement on the matter, though, would be too easily disproven; and more to the point, he wasn't entirely sure exactly why the representatives were here in the first place. The truth, in the end - or a version of it - seemed to be the most advantageous at the moment. "I have not been here long enough yet to judge to what degree it would or would not be a normal sort of occurrence."
Noxvir's expression soured. "I'll express my concerns to the ambassadors once I find them." With absolutely little regard for secrecy, the youthful Romulan's sourness dropped, as he let out a short breath. "There was word that there would be room on this planet for more, and while we are a small group, not many have volunteered to take us in. So we reached out to our contact, and found that Director Stone was... removed from his position. It has been unpredictably chaotic ever since. Worse so when I lost contact with a pair of the ambassadors and their guard unit." He paused a beat. "I do have to say, it is a relief to see another Romulan among the inhabitants on the colony. Our intel on the colony itself was...outdated, it appears."
"Are you...in disfavor of some sort, then?" Tal's left eyebrow rose: There would be little reason for anyone in favor to the current regime and with current or future loyalty to the Free State to not simply remain on or settle on one of the various worlds within its space or control; to actively seek to settle on a Federation world - and through a more proper process rather than the point of a disruptor - a process that would end in sequence over the years quite possibly with permanent residence permissions or even citizenship in the Federation - would seem to indicate that either Noxvir and his associates sought to play a long game of settling their own to suborn the colony over time from the inside out; or that their group were on the outs with the Free State and its government and looking for an exit strategy, or possibly that they sought to rid themselves of others that they considered undesirable elements by offloading them to the Federation.
Noxvir hesitated, calculating his next response. "Disfavor is... a strong word for how I feel on the matter," he decided upon stating. "The ambassadors respect and honor the decisions the Free State has decided upon, but our aim is to bridge any tension that may be had with Federation worlds. Rebuilding truly only goes so far, and there are those who wish to re-settle and find a way where tradition is not as...stringent, so to speak."
So. You are looking to get rid of those you consider undesirable elements; but who for some reason you've decided you can't risk simply killing, and who are either uninterested in relocating to any of the other successor states instead, or whom you do not wish to allow to, Tal thought. Interesting.
"But," Noxvir added, "We try not to press Free State politics on the Federation planets and settlements. We simply wish to settle and co-exist."
Ah, so you are possibly either more loyal than those you are seeking to settle here; or, you are walking a fine line in not yet being able to reveal you are not, lest you come into danger for that view before finding an escape hatch; the possible picture became clearer in Tal's mind the more the youngster spoke and specifically the things he did not say as much as what, and how, he did.
"I have no authority here to grant nor to deny any such request." Tal said, keeping an eye on Noxvir while staring at the bizarre shielding again.
"I suspect if you were, the ambassadors would have been having their conversations with you instead of this Councilwoman Macae I've heard about," Noxvir explained. "She has been our point of contact, and their meeting point was a Saloon of some sort. Which I believe would be beyond, well, that." The young Romulan stared at the offending shield. "My only hope is that the ambassadors are equipped enough to deal with any oddity that this may bring."
Tal raised a silent eyebrow at Noxvir's last comment, but said nothing: If anyone of such a rank and position was not equipped to handle...whatever that was...then the caliber of such personnel had gone seriously downhill in the last fifty years, or perhaps just in the last ten. For his own part, he was not pleased but in all truth rather less panicked than a few of the gathered colonists that had now begun to gather to observe the barrier and freak out about any relatives and friends trapped within: He certainly did not trust his daughter, at her age, to be able to necessarily navigate and survive the situation on her own, depending on whatever it was. But he absolutely trusted his sister-in-law could; and moreso, absolute confidence that if she could not, she would spend her own life as wisely or as brazenly as required, to protect her niece.
"I have taken up much of your valuable time," Noxvir noted with finality. He nodded politely, yet solemnly. "Thank you for answering my questions. I do suppose if they are in there, it's a matter of waiting." He cast his gaze over to where a pile of Starfleet security types were huddled. "Perhaps I'll offer my services."
That should be amusing to watch their reaction to, thought Tal.
"Again, your assistance is appreciated," Noxvir stated, before making his way toward the Starfleet types. Even if their conversation was short, Noxvir would have much to report once.
Once everything was put back together.
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