3 Captains, 1 Mission (Part 1)

Posted on Fri Sep 17th, 2021 @ 3:04pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Captain Yuri Nakamura & Captain Minori Kushieda
Edited on on Sat Sep 18th, 2021 @ 8:38am

1,886 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: USS Tokyo - Briefing Room

[Transporter Room - Deck 5 - USS Tokyo]

Two beams of blue and white dots and lights danced on the pad of the transporter finally ermerging into two woman dressed in Starfleet Command red. Both taller than Taiga and with Red hair, had four rank pips on their chest. Captain Minori Kushieda of the USS Armitage and Captain Yuri Nakamura of the newly launched USS Oceania stepped down off the padd where Taiga was waiting for them.

"Welcome aboard" Taiga said to them both. She shook hands with both women. "Also, nice to meet you face to face Captain" she said looking at Yuri. Yuri was the newest Captain in the room, the Oceania being her first command.

"Thankyou" Yuri replied. "So, why bring us over here?" she asked rather abrubtly.

Taiga smirked. "Well Captain. As you know we are dealing with the Tal Shiar here, they could be listening to any communications between our ships. The last thing we want is for them to listen in to our conversations. Plus, since this is a meeting we need to have about tactics and plans, I thought it best in person." she explained. She beckoned to the door. "We can use the briefing room for this. I trust you know where you're going?"

Yuri nodded simply and led the way out of the door. "Go easy on her" Minori said quietly to Taiga as she followed. "She's new to all this and its not exactly a walk in the park for the Oceania's second flight" she explained.

Taiga couldn't help but smile. She remembered how she had gained command of the Tokyo and some of her first missions as the ships Captain hadn't been an easy one either.

[Briefing Room - Deck 1 - USS Tokyo]

The three captains entered the briefing room and Taiga took her usual place at the end of the table. Minori sat to the right anf Yuri to the left.
"Computer. Seal this room. Deactivate all sensors and close exterior blast shutters" Taiga said simply. The computer beeped twice as the doors locked with a click. Slowly large blast shutters lowered over the windows of the room blocking out the stars. The blast shutters were only ever used in an emergency in the case of major hull breach or to add protection to more vulnerable areas.

"Why all the secrecy Taiga?" Minori asked. "Do you think someone is going to be looking through the window?"

"You can never be too careful when it comes to the Tal Shiar." she explained simply. "Now Captains how much has Starfleet actually told you about what we're doing?" she asked.

"Not much" Yuri replied. "The Oceania's a brand new ship. My crew are still adjusting to the ship. Half of our starfighters on the flight deck are still having their final componants installed" she explained with a sigh. "Its like they rushed us out of spacedock for this. We only completed space trails a two months ago. Our first mission was relativelysimple compared to this."

"I have to concur with Captain Nakamura. Although the Armitage is more equipped..." she looked over at Yuri. "No offense..." she turned back to Taiga. "But Starfleet hasn't really told us much on the actual mission. Just that we are to escort the Tokyo to the Romulan Neutral Zone and to be ready for military action against the Tal Shiar and Elachi if it comes to it"

Taiga sighed. 'Of course Starfleet only gave them the cliff notes' she thought to herself. "Well, its a bit more than that" Taiga began. "Basically, you both saw the trial that involved myself the this crew. How the Tal Shiar were trying to blame Starfleet for the desruction of the Alvatar Colony"

"Yeah, that was one mess of a trial. I'm surprised that Admiral Nyanta let it get that way. He must be missing things in his older years" Yuri replied crossing her arms. "He taught at the Academy when I was a cadet and you never turned in a late assignment with that cat. Although I was surprised that Miyahara was on the Romulan side, that seemed a bit strange"

"Miyahara is an ass" Taiga said simply. "Yes he was the arresting officer, but he treated me like I was some sort of war criminal that had come into his living room on Christmas Day and slapped his kids" Taiga told her frowning slightly. "Frankly, I'm glad he's no longer part of the fleet. But, regardless..."

"So, what are we doing Taiga?" Minori asked.

"Romulan Ambassador T'Rei arrested one of her aides. She discovered that he was a Tal Shiar agent working in the Ambassadors Office. He was also relaying information gained somehow from Starfleet Command to the Tal Shiar" Taiga explained. "He knew that the Tokyo wasn't responsible, and that the Tal Shiar somehow pursuaded these Elachi to attack the base. All to frame the nearest Federation Starship"

"But why?" Yuri asked.

"Simple. They knew that a Federation Starship would respond to a distress call. Even if it meant crossing the Neutral Zone. They played on the fact that we're too bloody soft when it comes to saving lives. Their plan worked perfectly, to get a Federation Starship across the border to a destroyed colony, then to plant fake evidence to frame us. Their idea was to start a war. I have no idea why they would want to start a war, but thats what they wanted" Taiga explained to them. "Then we had the whole trial thing go on and it didn't work out how they planned"

"A little bit like what happened at Khitomer in 2346." Yuri commented simply intertwining her fingers together.

"Something like that" Taiga said. "I believe it was the Intrepid at the time that responded first" she paused. "Basically, our mission is clear. The Ambassador is aboard the Tokyo, her aide is under heavy guard. We are taking them back to Romulus"

"All the way to Romulus?" Minori asked. "I didn't think we were proceeding past the Neutral Zone"

Taiga nodded. "Once we reach the Neutral Zone, we are expecting two things to happen" she began. She tapped on the table surface controls to bring up a holographic 3D projection of the Neutral Zone. "This is where our course takes us." she said showing their projected course.

"We are fully expecting the Tal Shiar to intercept us and demand the Ambassador" Taiga told them. "Thats why we're taking three of the most heavily armed ships with us. Just in case it turns into a firefight."

"They're not going to just let us cross. Starfleet knows that right?" Yuri asked. She wasn't liking the look of this plan at all. It seemed far too reckless and dangerous, especially against the Tal Shiar and this new enemy the Elachi.

"Of course" Taiga replied. "If the Tal Shiar are still loyal to the Senate. The Ambassador can use her Diplomatic Clearance to grant us access to Romulan Space. Or, she can arrange for a Romulan Navy Fleet to meet us at the Neutral Zone to get her back. Frankly, I'm not a fan of Romulan Space. So if the Romulan Fleet does show up to take her, thats a bonus for us. We just have to keep the Tal Shiar busy for when/if they show up. But nothing is certain"

"Thats far too risky don't you think? Considering we don't know if the fleet is actually going to show up? How do we even know if the Senate will dispatch a fleet?" Minori asked.

"Thats the thing" Taiga sighed. "We don't"

Yuri scowled. "I don't like this at all. Its bloody stupid. Its like we're walking into a trap for no good damn reason"

"Yeah, I know that" Taiga shot back. "But its the only chance we have. The Ambassadors Aide has promised to testify to the senate in our favor. In exchange for his life and safety from the Tal Shiar, who would probably execute him for failing or betraying them"

"Easy to please I guess..." Yuri frowned.

"Too easy" Taiga smirked. "Regardless. We need to ensure that he and the Ambassador get back to Romulus somehow safely"

"We can't exactly just run past the Tal Shiar and Elachi. From your reports those ships are like fortresses. How do we defeat them?" Minori asked. Taiga looked down at the table as she pressed a few buttons to bring up the classified scans of the Elachi vessel that the Prowler had taken.

"Most of our records of the Elachi vessel were wiped by Commander Daxer once we discovered that the Tokyo's computers were compromised. However these scans were taken by the Prowler. A runabout which the away team used to infiltrate the vessel. They are highly classified" she explained to the both.

"We can determine that the Elachi use some sort of disruptor weaponary and have multi-layered shielding. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of a warp drive. But they can come in and out of subspace at will. They seem to use an area of subspace that only they can enter, a bit like an underspace. We believe they have a way of navigating it and using it like a roadmap to wherever they want to go" Taiga told them both. "This gives them a distinct tactical advantage over use when it comes to ship deployment"

"So, they can pop in and out at will wherever they want?" Yuri asked. "That makes me think of the Borg transwarp conduits"

"From what I understand its a similar concept. Although we haven't had much time to study it" Taiga said. "However, their defenses are impressive. We only managed to punch a small hole in their shields with all of our starfighters and ships weapons bearing" she sighed. "Their shots at us were also devestating. It was like a butterfly being hit by an express train"

"So we need to avoid getting hit" Yuri said crossing her arms. "How do we do that?"

"I believe this was one of their bigger dreadnought style vessels" Taiga replied. "Logically I believe they may have smaller vessels that might be easier to destroy. After all such big powerful ships take lots of resources to run and build. If the Tal Shiar claim they have them as an ally, I find it hard to believe that they would allow the Elachi to outgun them"

"Of course, a Romulan would never allow themselves to be outgunned by an ally. Just in case they turned on them. The Tal Shiar don't trust anyone as much as they can throw them" Minori commented. "So I guess it makes sense that these Elachi have smaller vessels. But we've never seen any?"

"No, we haven't. I'm purely speculating" Taiga replied. "However, we should be prepared for anything" she told them both. "I'm having my crew run battle drills. I fully expect the Tal Shiar and Elachi to show up and to try and stop us. After all if the Ambassador and her aide doesn't make it back to Romulus, they get what they wanted. A reason for the Senate to declare War on The Federation"

"I just don't understand why they want a war" Yuri said in a slightly confused tone. "What will it achieve exactly?"

To be continued...

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