Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental multi-fandom project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 22 August.
In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."
Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios, Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World, all are used by myself for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit...
Character: Male Romulan Engineer, Federation-allied.
Timeframe: endgame, Reputation System-related.
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"An Exercise in Elaboration"
"To Defy"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'
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"Scorn, and defiance... slight regard... contempt, and anything that might not misbecome the mighty sender doth he prize you at. Thus says my King." - the Earl of Exeter, 'Henry V'.
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R.R.W. Exeter
Romulan Republic 'Defiant'-class Tactical Escort
Orbiting planet Dewa III/New Romulus, Tau Dewa system.
Late 2409...
Refitting a vessel while it was on active duty wasn't an easy task; new systems had to be installed around the old while they were still working and then switched over; it took longer and there were always risks of something going wrong, elements of the old and new systems interacting in ways unexpected. Unfortunately, even with the help of the Federation and the Klingon Empire, the fledgling Romulan Republic didn't have the ships or the personnel to take vessels off active duty for two years while they were rebuilt from the frame out, they had to do refits while the ships were active. It was especially troublesome when the new systems were from another race and a completely different school of engineering and science than the old systems, which themselves were easily forty years old.
The Commander patted the side of the console as he crawled out from under it; technically, Veril served as the Chief Engineer, but there were still something that an Engineer wanted to do themselves, even if they were the ship's captain.
"Drop the shields, Satra," he called out as he sat up.
"Lowering shields now," Satra announced, watching a display as the web of white dots surrounding a three-dimensional image of the ship began to disappear until there were none left, "Shields down, Commander."
"Veril," the Commander ordered, the ship's intercom carrying his voice down to the engineering spaces, "Make the final physical connections now, please."
"Switching connections..." the Reman Engineer's voice answered back, "...Done!"
"Shields up!" the Commander ordered.
"Raising shields," Satra answered, looking on as instead of the previous white dots, the ship's image on her display was now surrounded by green diamonds, "Advanced Prototype Shields up and holding..."
"Tovan?"
The Virinati Romulan looked at his tactical console, "Tactical systems confirm; Capacitance Cell is working, shields at maximum. I think we've done it."
Standing up, the Commander sighed for a job well done, "Good work, people. The next time the Elachi or the Tal Shiar try something, they're in for an unpleasant surprise."
"What about the Tholians and Hirogen?" Hivan remarked.
The Commander replied with a grin, "I'm sure Tovan's got a Hyper-Plasma torpedo or three he can spare for them too."
"They can even help me test out that Experimental Plasma Beam Array we installed," Tovan added, "It's supposed to have reduced power requirements, so I can shot them with it more often."
"Why do we still take such glory in weapons and fighting?" Satra sighed, "It's depressing."
"Because we tried peace, young one," D'Vex spoke up, "Blasted Tal Shiar didn't want to leave us alone, if you'll remember. So, for now, we'll find our ways to enjoy fighting and blowing them out of the stars so that when it's all over, we're still alive to find ways to enjoy farming and rebuilding our worlds again."
