Trialus’ Secret
Posted on Fri Mar 6th, 2026 @ 4:03pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Ensign Emilynn Dove & Ensign Nevin Brax
1,367 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Flashbacks and Side Quests
Location: The Trialus System
[ON]
The shuttle dropped out of warp well short of the coordinates they had seen in their vision.
Stars snapped back into place, the Trialus system stretching before them. The red giant cast a dull, rust-colored glow across space, its swollen light spilling shadows across the void. Nevin eased the shuttle down to impulse.
“We come in slow,” he said. “No surprises.”
Emilynn nodded, widening the sensor sweep. “I detect no other ships in the area,” she said.
Even so, he felt the subtle hum of tension in her mind, a pull that pressed against his chest like gravity. The hair on the back of his neck rose.
The view screen shifted—and the planet emerged from the darkness.
She didn’t gasp. She didn’t flinch. Her breath simply caught.
“That’s it,” she whispered.
“You recognize it?” he asked.
Yes, Emilynn thought, hands visibly trembling. Her thoughts spilled into his awareness. “I didn’t know where it was. Or why it’s here at all. Everything else in this system is on the charts—planets, moons, asteroid belts—but this… this one isn’t. Why?” She let the silence linger.
“The way the light fades against it, the shape of it… it matches my vision exactly,” she said, her voice carrying the pull she felt from the planet, like a subtle hum vibrating through the shuttle.
Nevin slowed their approach further, eyes fixed on the screen, feeling the echo of her fascination brush against his mind. “So you’re certain?” he asked, caution weaving through his concern.
She exhaled, slow and deliberate. “Yes. I’ve never been more certain.”
The planet absorbed light rather than reflected it, its surface a muted charcoal against the starfield. Even from this distance, it felt deliberate, aware—less like a world and more like a presence suspended in the void.
She narrowed the sensor sweep. The image stabilized—just barely.
Fog-choked terrain emerged on the display. Dark, saturated ground broken by pools of stagnant water. Cold air. Heavy moisture hung over everything, visible even through the sensors.
“A bog,” Emilynn said. “At least in this region - that matches too.”
Nevin studied the partial image, brow furrowed, his thoughts brushing along hers. “Matches what you saw?”
She swallowed, voice low. “Yes. The dreams weren’t random. They weren’t symbolic. They were… previews. Pieces.”
She tried to sweep the sensors over the whole planet, but the signal resisted. Only small areas flickered into focus at a time.
“This… it won’t stabilize,” Emilynn muttered, fingers tightening on the console. “I can only see fragments.”
The pull intensified, pressing against Nevin’s mind like static, testing his restraint. He could feel her yearning, a tug threatening to pull her forward before reason could anchor her.
“Or something on it decides what you see,” he said cautiously. “And it’s reaching into your mind, Em. I can feel it. We need to be careful.”
Her gaze snapped to his, wide and pleading. “It’s… calling me. I can feel it pulling me closer. I have to know what’s there.”
He let a slow exhale escape, grounding them both amid the psychic tension. “I know. I feel how strong that pull is—but that’s exactly why we can’t rush. We don’t know the rules here, and whatever is drawing you in… it might not be friendly. We need to keep our heads, or we’ll walk straight into a trap.”
She leaned forward instinctively, eyes locked on the planet. “I know, I know… but we can’t just sit here. If we move closer, I’ll get better sensor readings—see it properly.”
Nevin’s hand hovered near hers, not touching the console, but his caution flowed into her awareness, steadying her. “I get it,” he said slowly. “I feel it too. But we control the approach. You feel the pull—I feel it—but we stay deliberate. Every move measured. Understood?”
“Yes,” she forced out, jaw tight, nodding mechanically, but her thoughts shouted the opposite. He felt the discordant echo of her doubt, vibrating louder than her whispered “Yes.”
Another adjustment brought a single area into focus.
Fog thickened, then parted to reveal a darker silhouette rising from the mire. Tall. Glorious. Ancient. Mysterious. Monumental—but details remained hidden, shrouded in mist and shadow.
“That’s the structure,” Emilynn breathed, trance-like. Her pulse spiked, the psychic pull nearly overwhelming. “I didn’t see it clearly before—just the shape. But that’s it… Nevin, that’s it!”
Nevin leaned in, his jaw set tight as her excitement rippled through him with the sharpness of physical pain. “The temple?” he asked, the words strained. “The one from your visions?”
“Yes,” she whispered, eyes fixed far beyond the shuttle’s view screen. A faint blue distortion rippled across the console—subtle, deliberate, almost mocking. Her hands moved swiftly, the tension bleeding into him.
“It’s not working!” she snapped, slamming her fist against the console. “I can’t get a lock!”
A raw, magnetic pull echoed through Nevin’s mind, threatening to sweep him away. “Whoa… slow down, Em. Look at me,” he commanded, reaching for any anchor he could find. She remained lost in the storm, and the sheer force of her frustration hit him like a physical blow as their psyches collided.
“Ensign Dove! Look. At. Me.” He let his voice drop into a hard, command-grade tone, leveraging Federation hierarchy to pierce through her panic.
She froze. Shock flickered across her face as the weight of her lost control finally sank in. Slowly, she turned toward him, her eyes wide with a growing, silent terror.
“It’s okay,” he said, voice steady. “We do this together. We’ll get to the bottom of this—and we do it on our terms. No transport until we have more sensor data. Got it?”
He let the pause hang for a moment, letting the weight of his words settle in her mind. Then, firm but controlled, he added, “We need to know what we’re dealing with first. You know I’m right. Don’t let whatever that this down there override your training.”
The irony didn’t escape him—they had already abandoned caution and reason, stealing a shuttle just to reach this point. Yet here he was, the voice of restraint. And it wasn’t just prudence holding him back; his own stake in what lay on the planet was immense. If the blue entity could restore his telepathy, he might finally reclaim the full reach of his abilities again. Still, he resisted the pull from the planet’s surface. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t forgotten what it meant to truly be Betazoid. Years of practice had taught him control—the power to master the chaos of his own mind.
As if on cue, a soft, rhythmic chirp brushed the edge of the audio sensors.
Nevin stiffened. “Did you hear—”
“Yes!” Emilynn leaned forward, pulled by an invisible current, her mind stretching toward the planet.
“Nevin…” she began, soft, pleading. “We have to get closer. The sensors need proximity.”
He hesitated, jaw tight, feeling the hum, the magnetic tug—but nowhere near as strong as hers. His caution flowed into her thoughts, steadying her, but only slightly. The planet’s pull was winning.
“I don’t like it. One wrong move and—”
“I know,” Emilynn interrupted, trance-like. “But it’s the only way.”
He exhaled, glancing at the dark planet looming below, the fog shifting as if aware of their gaze. She was right about the proximity.
“Alright,” he said, measured. “Phasers primed, shields up. We crawl in. Every move deliberate. Okay?”
“Acknowledged,” she whispered, eyes fixed on her sensor readings.
Nevin guided the shuttle forward. The fog teased them, thickening, the pull growing stronger, but his caution—a steady presence in her awareness—kept them anchored… for now.
[OFF]
Lieutenant JG Nevin Brax (NPC by Dove)
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298
Ensign Emilynn Dove
Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298
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