Observe and Honor

       Edison jutted his chin forward, his jaw tightening with the tension of a man who was being lectured on how to perform his job by a colleague from an almost completely different profession. One he didn't fully understand and felt in the marrow of his bones was a lesser career path. "Sir...."

        "I'm not finished, Major. You'll speak when I'm done and not a moment earlier. Our orders are to proceed at maximum warp to the predetermined coordinates, locate and destroy this beacon and then come home. That beacon is Romulan. It's cost the lives of hundreds of Starfleet officers and civilians aboard cargo freighters. Civilians with few weapons to defend themselves. We've lost ships. We've lost time. We've lost the tactical advantage in that sector. The Romulans are somewhere out there, sitting and plotting their next moves. And even though nobody in this room has ever met a Romulan or even knows what one looks like, all the available intelligence at our disposal indicates they won't stop their territorial expansion and aggression into neutral and Coalition space unless WE stop them. Cold. And the only way to guarantee we do that is by defeating their technology wherever and whenever we find it.

       That device is just as big a threat to this ship and to the war effort as the beings who designed and constructed it. Its destruction is our assignment. Mine. My crew's. And yours. You and your men will help us complete this mission, or all of you will be reassigned to another Starfleet vessel or sent back to Earth. Keep your bloodlust for sticking a bayonet into the gut of the Romulan grand poobah to yourself for the next few days, Major. Let's get back in one piece and then you can fantasize about shooting and blowing up these bastards to your heart's content. We're not a ship of soldiers itching for the next fight, and I am not about to allow you to turn it into one. "