Star Trek: Warning Shot

The three Peregrine class attack fighter dropped from warp at the border of the Romulan-Federation Neutral zone, their sensors scanning the local space as they searched for the anomaly that had been detected by Deep Space 6, their home station along the border with the Romulan Star Empire.
“Are you detecting anything Sigma 2-1?” inquired Lt. JG Haras inquired, her blue fingers flying over her control surfaces.
“Negative.” replied Lieutenant Golan. “Nothing on this side of the border, it's definitely on the Romulan side.”
Haras swallowed, her antennae twitched slightly.
“What do you want to do?”
“I'm contacting DS 6 control now for further instructions, they may order us over the border. Standby.”
Haras sat back in her chair and looked out at the stars surrounding them. Patrol duty hadn't been what she'd had in mind when she'd chosen Attack Craft School at the Academy, however with the Dominion War over and the Romulan Star Empire in shambles there really wasn't any need for anything other than patrols when it came to fighter duties. She looked around the cockpit at her Peregrine's interior and sighed. She'd hoped to get one of the newer classes of fighters in the fleet, like the Valkyrie or Gryphon. She'd even have settled for a Javelin, as sluggish and cumbersome as they were, but to have to take one of the older Peregrines just felt demeaning in the extreme.
“We've got confirmation from DS 6 control, they want us to cross the border and see if we can pinpoint the location of the anomaly.”
Lieutenant Golan's voice snapped Haras out of her daydreaming as she entered the necessary commands.
“Copy that, formation?”
“Standard search pattern, let's find this thing and get back on our side of the border. The Star Empire might be in disarray but I don't want to run the risk that we bump into some guard captain that thinks we're encroaching on Romulan territory.”
Haras snorted. Encroaching was a bit much, there really wasn't much of a Star Empire these days. First there had been the assassination of the majority of the Romulan government by the rogue Shinzon, and then the Romulan system's star had unexpectedly gone supernova and wiped out what little remained of said government. The Star Empire had fragmented after that as local officers and governors tried to jockey for control while the Federation had immediately begun humanitarian missions into the devastated empire. Meanwhile on their other border, the Klingons had begun taking territory since there was no organized military resistance to speak of.
It had only been when a chance mission by the USS San Jacinto had found then Admiral Sela being held by the Tal'Shiar and freed her that some semblance of order had returned to the Star Empire. With the help and backing of the Federation, Sela had become Empress and was now trying to unify the shattered empire under her banner. To say it was slow going was an understatement. Literally dozens of independent and rogue elements had appeared with the shattering of central authority. About the only organizations that had remained intact following the destruction of the Star Empire's government had been the military and the Tal'Shiar and even they had felt the effects of fragmentation and power lust.
Haras didn't really care though, so long as the Romulans were busy trying to pick up the pieces it meant they could pose no threat to the Federation. Served them right for all the scheming and machinations they'd instigated over the years as far as she was concerned.
Her control panel chimed and she checked her display. They'd crossed the border and were now in the neutral zone.
She was on Lieutenant Golan's port side while Sigma 2-3 was on his starboard, their sensors set to a broad spectrum to cover as much of the space around them as was possible. Whatever state the Star Empire might be in, Haras did at least agree that there was no need to tempt fate by sticking their heads into the mouth of the beast.
Her sensors squawked insistently and she tapped a few commands frowning at her readouts. It wasn't the anomalous energy reading, this was something else.
“2-1 this is 2-2, I'm reading a—OH HELLS, BREAK FORMATION!”
The reason for Haras' distress became abundantly clear as a Romulan cruiser decloaked in front of them and opened fire without even attempting to hail them.
The beam of energy sailed between the breaking fighters, cutting between Golan's and Sigma 2-3's fighters as they jinked out of the way of the cruiser's weapon.
“Alright, they've made it clear they don't want us here.” Lieutenant Golan said over the communicator. “That was a warning shot, let's leave before they start shooting at us for real!”
Haras swallowed as she pushed her impulse engines into overdrive, the boost of speed carriny her away from the looming cruiser as it hung in space menacingly. That shot had been real enough, if it had hit one of the little fighters it probably would have blown them to pieces. The cruiser made no attempt to pursue however as Sigma Flight flew back towards the Federation side of the border and she breathed a sigh of relief as it cloaked and faded from sensors.
“That was too close for comfort 2-1.” she said.
“No kidding.” he replied. “Forwarding a report on the incident to DS 6 control now. If they want to find out what that energy reading is they can send one of our cruisers out here!”
Haras nodded in agreement. She wanted to see action, yes, but that didn't mean she had a deathwish.