The Wheel Turns

Posted on Sat Dec 16, 2023 @ 11:04pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander N'Evran

974 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Tergum In Tempus
Location: Orbit of Pangaea / Office of the President
Timeline: MD01 1600

[ON]

The president watched the feeds from the Zulu and other ships, hand over her mouth as the horror unfurled.

It had been going so well. The Klingons has shown up on time, and in force, and despite the Cardassians sneaky trick with the civilian vessels things were turning in their favour.

And then the station had blown up. Chunks of the station came apart, filling the space around it with deadly debris, smashing through allied and enemy ships alike. Some were "fortunate" enough to suffer core breaches that obliterated the ship in a heartbeat. But most were smashed, sending bodies into the void, and leaving the survivors to worry about when their SIF would fail.

All around, the war room was a riot of people shouting orders, questions, demanding data, confirming reports, while she watched a thousand-ton chunk of celestial class station plummet into the atmosphere of Pangea, turning the upper atmosphere roughly above the colony into streaks of red.

"Ma'am," Admiral Elbagir said sharply. "The Klingons have confirmed they have captured Hydel Turvan."

The president looked shocked. Fate was fickle today, giving with one hand and taking with another. "Alright, call off the attack, send the order that ships should defend themselves, but this is now a rescue mission. Save as many lives as they can, regardless of allegiance. We'll sort it all out when the dust settles and - "

"Madam President," an aide stepped forward, "Admiral Garrison wants to speak to you, urgently."

"On screen."

The communications screen flickered to life, but the signal was not strong. It flickered randomly. On screen, Admiral Garrison pushed the hand of the ship's EMH out of the way. His face was bloody on one side, the source of said blood being a nasty gash on his forehead. The left side of his face had a serious burn on it.

"Madam President", he said, a grit in his voice. "We've failed."

The screen went dark, but the audio signal was still up.

"Deep Space 5 has been destroyed", he continued. "Not sure how. The station is in multiple pieces, and they are going to cause some major damage to the planet. I am not sure what will happen if they hit the portals. The attack fleet is down to 25% and they aren't in good shape. I've just given the abandon ship call. The Zulu is falling apart. I've recalled the Fleet blockading Xi 'Cadia to provide assistance. They aren't in the best of shape either. I'm not a spiritual man, but we could use a miracle right about now."

President Trel considered her options. "They're in short supply right now. The only thing going in our favor is this has done as much, if not more damage to the Cardassians. Get Zulu to the shipyards before she falls apart and transfer your command to the nearest suitable ship. I want - "

"We'll try ma'am", Garrison said as the sound of a loud sparking panel filled the audio channel. "Not sure if she will hold together."

In reality, Garrison knew the Zulu wasn't going to hold together. The best he was most likely going to do was get it away from the planet, so its pieces didn't join that of the station below. He knew N'Evran had the captain's yacht ready, so they would at least be able to get to the shipyard.

"If there isn't anything else Madam President", Garrison said. "My crew is doing what they can to keep us going and every hand counts keeping us space-worthy."

"Madam President?" One of the aides said, urgent tone indicating this couldn't wait. "We've received words from the Klingons. They've captured Turvan."

For a moment Trel froze. Fate was surely playing with her. They may be able to snatch a stalemate from the jaws of defeat. But that depended on the Klingons keeping Turvan alive.

Admiral Elbagir leaned forward, "Peter, I want you to get at least one member of your staff to the Klingons and verify that with their own eyes."

Trel considered a moment more. "Get me the Klingon High Ambassador. I want Turvan in Starfleet custody. Klingons aren't noticeably kind to their prisoners, and he's a useful bargaining chip."

Garrison looked at Admiral Elbagir, "Yes, ma'am".

All the while he thought of the aide's comment and thought to himself, 'And they are not too patient. It would be a shame if my yacht suffered technical difficulties on the way. The Cardassian bastard deserved what the Klingons would do to him and more. He hoped it was very painful.'

In the background the voice of the computer could be heard saying, "Structural integrity failing."

Trel winced. "Alright, get to safety, and start coordinating rescue efforts. Fatima, get more ships out there as fast as you can. And I want a channel to the Detapa council, let's see if we can get a ceasefire for search and rescue."


USS Zulu

"Aye", Garrison replied to the Admiral and President, hoping the Zulu didn't fall apart under his feet."

Tapping his communicator he said, "N'Evran, I could use a ride."

There was no reply, but after a moment Garrison felt the tell-tale sensation of a transporter beam. As he materialized, he felt the captain's yacht moving away.

"Course Admiral?", N'Evran asked.

"Get us to the shipyards and get me Ambassador Charghwl'IH on the comm", he replied.

As the yacht started to move, he could see the Zulu falling apart. He let out a sigh. The ship had been in tip-top shape, his crew were amongst the best, yet they had failed. He quietly pondered what had happened. Even more important to think of, was how was this all going to shake out.

[End]


Admiral Peter Garrison
Task Force Commander
NPC'ed by Commander N'Evran


President Trel
President of the Federation
NPCd by Soran

 

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