Yesterday began like any other day for Starfleet’s 38th Fleet, also known as Argo. There was a simple, routine mission to some satellites which had been malfunctioning, and a system survey in that area planned. The mission, led by Fleet Captain Neema Perim, was expected to be a short one. However things took an interesting turn once they reached those satellites.
Upon first approaching one of the satellites to investigate it Argo found an incoming transmission to it. The message was a broadband signal sent in all directions from the independent planet known as Terix. It claimed that the Terix government, now known as the Proper Government since some cities have seceded, was committing acts against Rihannsu kind, the Romulan race. As this was perceived as a distress call Argo immediately rushed to Terix to help the people there.
Greeting them as they entered the system were two D’deridex battlecruisers, large and powerful Romulan ships that make up the bulk of Terix’s navy. They requested that the USS Asimov, the ship taken on the mission, not go any further towards Terix until it explained its purpose. After claiming its purpose to be to investigate the distress call the commander of the Terix Navy came on the channel, Enriov (Admiral) T’maekh Tal’Aura.
After engaging in a discussion about the situation, in which Argo didn’t reveal the claims of the distress call, Tal’Aura sent troops to the point of origin to “take care of the situation”. It is unclear how she knew where the signal was coming from as she and the Terix government claimed to have not received it.
Meanwhile on the Asimov, Argo officers raced to find where the signal was coming from. The source? A small farm near the equator that had been found to be housing Free Terix soldiers a couple weeks earlier. It was later revealed that among those Free Terix soldiers sending the distress call was Ambassador Taev ir-Terix tr’Velal, the former representative of the Terix government to the Federation. As they had known that the Terix government, including Tal’Aura had known the farm was housing soldiers, Argo believed that the senders of the distress call were to be killed.
A frenzy on the bridge erupted as officers left and right tried to figure out a way to contact the farm or land there. They found a method of getting past the two D’Deridexes’ sensors and sending a message to the farm. The exact message sent is unknown, but the reply was another distress call, also claiming that Terix was committing atrocities, but the atrocities were defined in this message as sending people to concentration camps on one of the planet’s moons. Argo had also found that one of the moons did indeed have transport ships going to it, and there was a dilithium mine there. What they did not find was that it was not a concentration camp, rather it was a mine that citizens were going to willingly, and was in good condition.
Unfortunately Argo didn’t know this and attempted to beam down as they didn’t believe the distress call to be a false alarm. They were caught by one of the D’Deridexes and brought aboard. Standing there waiting for them was none other than Enriov Tal’Aura herself, who confiscated their weapons and told them they were being detained for questioning as a result of attempted trespassing. This claim was not inaccurate as Argo had broken international and federal Terix law by trespassing without permission. Starfleet denies that they had broken any laws as they were responding to a distress call.
As the Asimov was caught in a tractor beam, Tal’Aura made a deal with the captured away team. Captain Perim would have to stay for 16 hours being questioned, and the others and the Asimov would leave immediately. Captain Perim accepted the deal and the Asimov was released, but refused to go. That is until Ambassador tr’Velal released a statement over all frequencies and warned Starfleet privately that leaving would be in their best interest. The statement he released was as follows: “No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Imperials learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a hundred years, we will be free."
Following this Asimov was called back to base, and 5 hours later Captain Perim was released.
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