Without Warning

Posted on Sat Jun 6th, 2026 @ 1:13pm by Captain Inara Valérian & Lieutenant Keira Heartly & Commander Narell Teya & Lieutenant Larissa Baylor & Lieutenant JG Ethan Cole

1,132 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Ashes of Unity

The USS Endeavour cut a silver line through the darkness of the Badlands frontier, the sleek and majestic ship gliding against a backdrop of crimson ion storms and writhing plasma funnels that stretched across the stars like wounds in space itself. Inara sat alone in the center of the bridge, hands folded neatly in her lap as she stared into the chaotic veil ahead. The Badlands glowed across the main view screen in violent shades of orange and blood red, the turbulence inside the region making patterns that seemed beautiful.

The Endeavour still didn't feel like hers. It had only been a few weeks since she had taken command. The crew transfers had finally been completed. Personnel conflicts had erupted almost immediately, and she had already had to step in to handle one potentially dangerous situation. Starfleet Command was watching the Endeavour closely, and in particular the ship's captain. In addition, she also knew her crew was watching her closely.

“Position report,” she said calmly.

At operations, Keira glanced over her console, her fingers moving with practiced precision. “Holding at the patrol perimeter, Captain. Long range sensors continue to experience interference from plasma activity inside the Badlands. We're limited to passive scans only.”

Sitting at the secondary operations station, Ethan leaned forward and did his best to find a way to help, mostly working to compensate for the distortion. “There are gravimetric fluctuations spiking every twelve seconds. Also we're seeing high turbulence speeds and dense plasma pockets of highly volatile gasses.”

“That's a little bit more than normal,” Teya said quietly. She stood beside the captain’s chair, her posture composed and expression unreadable. Teya had served on border assignments before. She knew the Badlands better than anyone aboard and she distrusted it more than anyone aboard.

"Captain, I keep getting a feedback ping on something inside the Badlands, but I can't be sure what it is. But it seems to be moving," the science officer reported.

"From inside the Badlands?" Teya asked sharply.

"Aye, Commander," the science officer confirmed. "It looks to be one or two thousand meters inside the storm perimeter."

“Maquis remnants?” Inara asked.

“Possibly,” Teya answered. “Or smugglers. Pirates. The Badlands attracts people who want to disappear.”

Larissa Baylor snorted softly from tactical. “Then they picked the right neighborhood,” she said. The Greek-born security chief sat relaxed in her chair, though no one on the bridge could mistake that ease for complacency. She carried herself like a predator at rest, someone who was confident, sharp eyed, and dangerous.

“No weapons signatures?” Inara asked.

“Nothing active,” Larissa said. “But our sensors are getting chewed apart by the interference from the storms.”

A low rumble vibrated through the deck as another plasma surge rolled across the distant frontier, this one surging closer to the Endeavour than the others had before. Light flickered across the ship's deflector shields where the plasma storm gasses washed over the Endeavour, shaking the ship just slightly.

Inara took a deep breath. On paper, the Endeavour's mission seemed simple and straightforward. Patrol the Demilitarized Zone, monitor unusual traffic, and maintain a presence to assure Federation colonies that Starfleet was there to protect them. But Inara knew better. The Endeavour was a Sovereign class ship, one of the newest classes and not only designed for exploration but also as a capital class starship meant to handle difficult situations on her own. Starfleet rarely sent such ships into regions such as the Demilitarized Zone alone for something simple.

"Maintain yellow alert," she finally said. "I want continuous sensor sweeps. "

For several long moments the bridge remained quiet except for the soft hum of consoles and the distant pulse of engines. Then Lieutenant Heartly stiffened at the operations station. “Contact,” her voice carried over the quiet bridge.

"Location?" Teya said instantly.

“Bearing 217 mark 4,” Ethan said quickly. He was sitting at one of the support stations, but he had seen the same thing that Lieutenant Heartly had. “Three vessels emerging from the plasma storms.”

Larissa’s hands flew over the tactical controls. “I’ve got them. Configuration is unknown. No transponder signals.”

"On screen," Inara ordered. The view screen shifted. Three dark silhouettes erupted from the crimson haze. They were unlike any ships she had ever seen. They were angular, predatory, their black hulls etched with jagged silver lines that pulsed faintly like veins beneath armor plating.

Inara narrowed her eyes at the image on the screen. “Identify.”

“There are no matches in Federation databases,” Keira said.

“Those aren’t Cardassian. They don't look like anything I've ever seen, either,” Teya added immediately.

The lead vessel suddenly turned towards the Endeavour and accelerated.

“Shields up,” Inara snapped.

A beam of blinding white energy lanced across space and slammed into the Endeavour. The bridge exploded in sparks as the ship lurched violently.

“Direct hit!” Larissa shouted.

“Report!” Teya snapped.

“Forward shields collapsed to sixty three percent!” Larissa answered in disbelief. “Captain, that weapon cut through our shield harmonics!”

Inara felt the blood drain from her face. It was impossible. The Sovereign class ships represented the most advanced defensive technology in Starfleet. No known regional power should have been able to breach those shields that quickly.

The second enemy ship fired and another beam struck the Endeavour’s ventral section. The deck heaved hard enough to throw several officer from their stations. Warning klaxons screamed across the bridge.

“EPS conduit overload. We've got fires on Deck Eleven!” Keira yelled.

“Return fire!” Inara ordered.

Larissa’s eyes hardened. “Quantum torpedoes away,” she reported.

The Endeavour answered with fury. Brilliant blue phaser arrays slashed across the darkness while quantum torpedoes streaked toward the attackers like miniature suns. One enemy vessel twisted unnaturally aside, moving with impossible agility while the second ship took a direct torpedo impact. Its shields shattered instantly as hull plating erupted outward in molten fragments.

“Direct hit to second enemy ship. Target damaged!” Larissa reported.

While the third unknown ship remained out of the conflict, the first accelerated towards the Endeavour while its damaged comrade turned away.

“Target Alpha is on a collision course!” someone reported.

“Hard to port!” Teya barked, the volume in her voice the only betrayal to the otherwise calm demeanor she displayed. Inside, she was tense.

The Endeavour rolled just as another white beam carved across her saucer section. The beam sliced through shields and even the hull, not deeply but enough. The beam caused instant carnage to the Endeavour's systems, and the ship heaved as if something much larger had just slammed it against something. The lighting flickered twice, then died along with primary systems.

“Main power fluctuation!” Heartly coughed. “Auxiliary systems compensating.”

Inara gripped the armrest of her chair as the crew tried to get the Endeavour stabilized. “Damage report!” she called.


To be continued...

 

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