Into the Settlement

Posted on Thu Feb 26th, 2026 @ 8:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Ensign Janelle Barett

1,237 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Not All Orders Are Easy
Location: Planet

After speaking with the rest of the team, Deanna waited to see if anyone had any questions before they proceeded toward the primitive gated structure at the edge of the settlement.

"What's our ploy? Traders from the north? Healers from the south, travelling circus?" Sam quipped as the gates loomed in the dullness. "No life signs within 50 meters of the gate....cept for one...prolly a gatekeeper"

"I think we should choose something that's believable but won't draw attention to ourselves" Phoenix said honestly.

"If anyone asks, we are simply travelers from far away, exploring the land. Sometimes a truth is the best cover" Deanna said with a smirk. "Allow me to talk if we encounter guards at the gate. The feeling I get indicates that Darkwa and his team are inside the settlement, but caution is necessary."

"What are our orders once we find Darkwa and his team?" Phoenix asked.

Janelle didn't look at Phoenix when he asked the question. Her gaze remained on the gate, on the single heat signature just beyond it.

"Extraction may not be binary," she said evenly, her breath misting in the cold air as she spoke. "If Darkwa's influence is embedded here, removing him without assessing succession or dependency could destabilize the settlement. Recommend we determine intent before we determine action."

"The ensign is correct. We will need to determine the extent of the damage that has been done before we can remove Darkwa and his people" Deanna replied. "Keep your senses sharp everyone. Time to go."

Phoenix nodded, accepting Deanna's orders. He stayed silent, keeping his eyes peeled. He remained frosty for the time being.

Sam fell in as they approached the gate, allowing Deanna to sweet talk her way inside the gates. Once through she clasped her hands in front of her, scanning for the missing teams biosigns whilst still concealing the tricorder. "Scanning Commander, nothing yet."

Deanna enjoyed sweet talking them past the gate guard. It was a small reminder of her time in intelligence. Those days with Shran playing the spy game was so different than her time now. Fulfilling in its own way, but more thrilling more than anything else. She heard Sam and suppressed the desire to offer a sarcastic retort. She was scanning as well, just not with a tricorder.

This little hamlet was little more than a simple farming and mining village. They seemed to have a few shops that had formed, but even basic commerce was fairly new to these people. No monuments, though a bronze statue was visible near a small grotto that she assumed was likely some sort of local religious shrine. A few braziers were lit to keep light out in certain areas, as well as candlelight in windows where people were still awake, and the glow of the fires in hearths. "Quite rustic, quaint even. To think we all came from cultures that lived liked this once."

"Once" Sam replied with a smirk "If you go back far enough most people could be identified as a single celled organism in a pile of goo" she looked around, checking her tricorder. "There's a congregation of biosigns, in a building near the center of town. Possibly a pub" she paused to think of the correct historical term "inn, tavern"

“A central gathering point accelerates information flow,” Janelle said quietly. “If Darkwa has integrated publicly, this is where we’ll feel it.”

Her gaze skimmed the surrounding structures. No visible patrol pattern. No visible alarm response from their entry.

“Minimal defensive posture,” she added. “That suggests perceived stability. Or confidence.”

She shifted her cloak slightly and began walking toward the structure Sam had identified.

The building sat near the center of the settlement, larger than the surrounding homes. Its roofline sagged slightly at the edges, smoke curling from a stone chimney. Inside, voices overlapped. A chair scraped across wooden flooring. Someone coughed. A brief burst of applause could be heard from their position.

Janelle slowed just short of the entrance. “If he’s here,” she said evenly, “he’ll either command the room… or avoid it entirely.”

"Darkwa isn't inside" Deanna said in a soft, emphatic manner. "But some of his people are, along with many of the local populace. "If things are anything like what history believes them to be on countless worlds, caution is advised. Last thing we need is to start a barfight." The Betazoid looked at everyone, Phoenix, stay close to Sam. We'll grab a table near the door if possible. Once we have established ourselves, the ensign and I can attempt to round up the members of Darkwa's team. And remember, until it is proven otherwise, we are just simple travelers."

Phoenix nodded at the order. "Let's hope we don't have to roll initiative" he quipped quietly.

Janelle smiled at the thought, “Let’s avoid giving them a reason.”

The inn door creaked inward on worn hinges. Warmth spilled out first. The sound followed half a beat later. Laughter. Tankards striking wood. Low conversation layered beneath it.
Janelle paused just long enough for her eyes to adjust to the shift in light. The room didn't stop when they entered.
That was the first data point. There was no abrupt silence. No collective turn of heads. No defensive tightening of posture. Integrated travelers didn't appear to be an anomaly here.

Janelle's gaze moved without appearing to move. Table clusters. Proximity patterns. Who others deferred to without realizing they had. Janelle shifted half a step aside to allow Deanna clear lead. “Room is socially stable,” she murmured, low enough not to carry beyond their group. “No immediate hostility indicators.”

Deanna acknowledged Janelle's report with a simple nod. She was of the same mind, which was funny if she thought about it, considering she was picking up the thoughts of everyone in the room. They entered the main room where the people were, and she took a quick glance. While things appeared to be antiquated, they didn't look much different than what you would expect a tavern to look like now. You had a bar with several patrons sitting on stools, and a dozen or so other patrons sitting at other tables on the larger floor area, as a musician, likely a bard of some sort played music that seemed to enthrall and invigorate the patrons. She noted that most of these people looked to be farmers, a few perhaps were other such professions such as blacksmith or fletchers, and then you had a trio that sat in the far corner that Deanna knew didn't fit into the rest of these folks.

As the away team took a seat at an empty table near the door she looked to the others, "Back corner, the three men with the two females seemingly having a good time. The women are locals; the men are not. The men are Jackman, Stewart, and McKellan, three of the four members of Darkwa's team."

Sam checked the biosigns and nodded. "There's a fourth human lifesign, coming from a back room. Two occupants."

Deanna looked over and seemed to be deeply concentrating for a few moments. Leaning into the others she whispered, "it is the missing member, the woman, Dr. Paquin. Sam, you and Phoenix stay here. If any of them make a run for it, I'm sure Phoenix will be able to handle things. Janelle, we'll start with the trio in the corner."


TBC

 

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