The last stand

Posted on Thu Mar 3rd, 2022 @ 1:35am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Nicolas Trigman 'Trigger' & Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight & Commander Alora Knight & Lieutenant Lhravitelim th'Endirhc & Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek
Edited on on Thu Mar 3rd, 2022 @ 6:28am

1,337 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: Bridge

"Seal the bridge and halt all turbolifts to this deck" Taiga ordered. "We are not giving up the Tokyo to the Tal Shiar. You are all to stand your ground" she placed a hand on her phaser as she spoke. She wasn't about to let them take her ship away.

"Commander Trigman" Taiga said as she approached her executive officer. "Before we seal the hatches up here, I want you to assist Commander Knight in the defense of the ship. You must protect all vital areas at all costs" Taiga told him. She paused for a second.

"I would lead it myself, but my place is here. You know this like the back of your hand. Go lead the troops" she told him softly patting him gently on the shoulder. "I'll hold the fort here"

"As you wish Captain." Trigman said as he went for the nearest egress from the Bridge.

Lt. Yuvek watched as the door sealed shut behind the Executive Officer. For all he knew it could be the last time he would see the Officer, or any other person, alive. Lt. Yuvek kneeled by his console and took deep breathes as he tried to steady his nerves. He had been through various simulations, but never an actual boarding situation with a violently hostile enemy.

"Right people" Taiga said. "Secure all systems" she ordered as she retook her seat and began to press buttons on her arm controls. "We can't let the Tokyo fall into enemy hands, and I have a feeling that we won't be able to hold them off for long"

[Elsewhere]

The computer alerted Alora about the lockdown of the bridge. Taiga had always underestimated her former first officer. This time, though, it didn't matter. Alora had decisions to make, but first, she had a crew to protect--if she could. She wasn't trying to undermine anything being done, but intel had reasons to protect certain assets. And, in protecting them, Alora would do whatever she could to protect the ship and its crew. She sent a private message to Alex, Trigman, Ambrose, and th'Endirhc, informing them of the protocols she'd put in place to lock out the computer and non-essential functions from the Tal'Shiar. Alex and Trigman would know how to work around them. She hoped the chiefs of engineering and operations would as well. She set her programs to move to level 2 and waited.

[Bridge]

Taiga made her way back to her seat and pressed a few buttons on one of its arm.

"Captains Log. The Romulan Ambassador has been killed in a transporter accident. The Tokyo has been attacked and badly cripplied by the combined forces of the Tal Shiar and Elachi." she paused.

"We are currently adrift, engines and most systems are offline. Diplomacy has failed, we are currently being boarded. Internal security systems including forcefields are offline" Taiga paused again. "They wanted the Ambassador and her aide to prevent the truth carried by them reaching the senate. They seem to have switched their focus on now finding that information from the Tokyo."

"Commander Trigman is heading below deck to assist Commander Knight in keeping them away from the Bridge. Casulaties are expected to be high" she paused for what seemed like a very long time. "I will arm the Tokyo's auto-destruct before I allow the Tal Shiar to take this ship. However, I want to add that the crew of the Tokyo fought with valor and honour" she saved the recording.

"Lieutenant" she looked over towards the Operations console. "Launch the emergency beacon with all current logs and mission reports. If we don't get out of this, at least Starfleet will know what has happened here". Taiga hated to give that order, but it was all she could do right now. She knew that they didn't have the strength to hold back the oncoming swarms of Tal Shiar soliers and Elachi.

"Emergency beacon launched" the operations officer manning the console said.

[Lower Decks]

Trigman was not the most tech savvy man on the ship from a programming system. There are a few things that the Command crew can do, he just needed to get to the Main junction near the Bridge relay.

He had to plug into the junction and begin to dictate a code that would give the ship a simulated emergency. He was reading the coding when he noted systems being shut-down.

"Alora, Trigman here, I have a little idea to slow progression and thin the numbers..." He transmitted via the network to Alora.

A moment later, a text appeared on Trigman's PADD. "I'm all ears."

[Later]

The Tal Shiar had been ruthless working their way through the ship. Taiga paced the bridge, her hand close to the phaser that was clipped onto her belt.

"Captain. The Tal Shiar have captured every deck below deck three. Security and Marines are holding them there, but reports are coming in that they're losing ground" the officer manning the security console reported.

Taiga knew that soon they would be arriving on the bridge and that would mean a complete loss of the Tokyo. One of Starfleets most advanced vessels falling into the hands of the Tal Shiar could mean disaster and change the balance of power across the quadrant.

"Bridge to Knight and Shimada. Use any force necessary to keep the intruders on deck three if you can" Taiga ordered. "Stand your ground!"

"Understood, captain!" Came Shimada's brief response.

Alora kept to the areas of the ship that were blind to sensors, locking out more and more of the main computer as the Tal'Shiar made their way through the ship. They didn't seem to care about the Prowler or the information it contained. The Elachi could have destroyed all three ships. They could have gone for the Prowler. The fact that they did neither led the intel officer to believe this was more about making a statement than anything. Would they leave anyone alive to report what happened? If not, why go through the harade of boarding the ship? Why not just destroy it? She wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that without help, most of the crew would not survive the day. She needed to find Alex.

She also needed to make sure the Prowler got off safely. She still didn't understand why the Romulan Senate refused to accept the evidence without seeing it in person, but that wasn't relevant at the moment. As long as the Prowler got to Romulus, it would all be worth it.

[Bridge]

"Captain. Romulan soldiers have breached deck one. Progressing down the access corridors towards us" the officer at security reported. "Security forcefields are still offline"

Taiga nodded as the grip of her phaser tightened. "Prepare yourself" she said simply as she set the weapon to heavy stun. The doors which led to the rest of the deck began to shake as the soldiers on the otherside tried to force them open.

"Take up defensive positions!" Taiga ordered as she joined instructed people to use the bridge architecture as cover.

Sparks suddenly burst from the access door as slowly the Romulan soldiers began to cut through the door with some sort of energy cutting beam. It wouldn't be long until they cut through the locking mechanism.

Taiga took a deep breath. She had a duty to do. One which superceded everything else, she couldn't allow the Tal Shiar, a hostile enemy force to gain full control of her Starship. The Tokyo was a highly advanced vessel and its technology in the wrong hands could upset the balance of power across the quadrant.

She had no other choice. She slowly rose to her feet and tapped her comm badge three times. "Computer. This is Captain Taiga Aisaka. Commander of the Federation Starship Tokyo. Activate Auto Destruct sequence, authorisation Aisaka Pie, Alpha One, Five, Zero. Code; destruct. Two minute silence countdown..."

The computer beeped to indicate it had recognised her input. Taiga took another deep breath.

"Enable"

To be continued...

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