Fic Update Thread 54: Find a spot out on the floor!

[Mamorien]

In the Raptor's Claws: Earth, Romulus, and the War that Birthed the Federation (ST, mostly Enterprise) Chapter 9 - A Day Which Will Live in Infamy: The Attack on Coalition Starbase One.

By 0753, the Suleiman and her squadron made contact with the Romulan vessels at the rendezvous point in the Berengaria system’s Oort cloud. Captain Harley West of the Suleiman signaled the Romulan ships to follow the escorts at impulse speed until they reached orbit around Berengaria Prime, a transit that would take a little under 4 hours.[fn9] Again, the Romulan flagship made an ambiguous reply but complied with the Starfleet orders. At 0947, a little over halfway through the planned journey, Lance Corporal Marowl detected a momentary spike in gravimetric distortions on sensors.[fn10] These distortions could indicate the presence of additional unknown vessels but could just as easily be cosmic background radiation. Marowl and Lieutenant sh’Attal were unable to confirm what they were. Leaning toward these being sensor ghosts, they dutifully passed this information up to Colonel McEntyre. Out of an abundance of caution, Colonel McEntyre ordered the base to raise shields and begin bringing the surface-to-space phase cannons online.[fn11] It would take about an hour to bring both systems up to full power. It would also require rolling brownouts in the civilian areas of Nafarroa, as Starfleet Logistics Command – in its infinite wisdom – had not yet given them enough fusion reactors for the base to have a fully independent microgrid. About twenty minutes later, at 1005, the Praetor Sartorix and her screening cruisers came to an unexpected halt. Captain West hailed the Praetor Sartorix as soon as she came to a stop, demanding to know why, but got no answer.[fn12] Instead, the Romulan vessel sent out an immediate subspace voice signal on all channels. Everyone – the Starfleet defense squadron over Berengaria, the Coalition Rapid Reaction Task Force, and personnel on the ground at Coalition Starbase One – all heard the same thing.

“I am Commander Rokar, herald of the people of the Romulan Star Empire. Arhem lhir’fhaihuhhru h’ta deihuit u’ fvillhu Rihanh.”[fn13]

Within moments of that declaration, the world of Berengaria would begin to burn.

https://intheraptorsclaws.wordpress.com/...rbase-one/

Footnotes

9. Harley West, Captain’s Log – Supplemental – USS Suleiman the Magnificent, (SLM 2X09), May 18, 2156.
10. CSB1 (Lt. Col. John McEntyre, Base Commander’s Log – Coalition Starbase 1) 1X08.
11. Ibid.
12. SLM 2X09.
13. Rokar, Captain’s Log – IRW Praetor Sartorix (May 18, 2156. Declassified by Romulan Free State 2388). This roughly translates to “I am the last argument of the senate and praetor of the Declared.” As this was spoken in Rihannsu, the language of the Romulan people and one that the universal translators did not currently recognize, Starfleet assumed it was simply the command to begin the attack.