Cause & Effect

Posted on Tue Oct 4th, 2022 @ 3:56am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight & Major Chiyo Shimada

2,290 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: Ready Room/Cargo Bay 6
Tags: Sereena

Previously on Star Trek Tokyo:

"The information was... never aboard the Tokyo. But..." she paused as she looked up. "If you spare my crew. I will... tell you"

Tibar considered what Taiga said for a moment. "I tell you what Taiga" he said coming close to her. "If you tell me, then I will spare your crew. But I might take this ship. It still holds many secrets, we'll drop you on some habitable planet or moon. Either that or we'll put you to work. I can show mercy"

"Pr...Prowler..." Taiga said simply as the pain spread through her body.

Tibar smiled. "Thankyou Taiga" he turned to one of the guards. "Find this 'Prowler'. Destroy it, if anyone tried to stop you. Kill them, regardless of the arrangment I made with Captain Aisaka" he looked back at Taiga. "You should apply pressure to that wound. You don't want it getting infected, or to bleed out much more"

With that said he turned towards the door. "You made the right choice Captain. Now lets see if your crew agrees..."

And now the continuation...

The door to the ready room had been sealed shut by the Tal Shiar guards leaving Taiga alone locked away. "I'm getting too used to this" Taiga sighed as she waited for a few moments to try to move. With the Tokyo now being under tow and with Commander Tibar now in control of the bridge, it seemed hopeless.

Her whole body hurt as she pulled herself out of the chair and stumbled towards her desk. The desk console was offline, clearly the scramble codes from Commander Knight had done their job, there was no chance she could use it to get through to her crew.

She managed to get back to the chair and slumped into it. She wasn't sure how much the Tal Shiar actually knew about the Tokyo and their systems. She pulled the comm badge off her chest and popped off its exterior casing. Next she removed a hair pin and began to play around with the intricate circuits inside the small device.

"Come on Taiga" she said quietly as she fiddled with the circuit board. She was attempting to activate the emergency transmitter built into all Starfleet Comm badges. There was a soft click and she couldn't help but smile, finally she could start doing something useful.

The badge quietly chirped, only audible if you had it close to you. That informed her that the emergency mode had been activated disconnecting the badges from the Tokyo's internal communications system.

"Aisaka to..." she paused. "Anyone who can hear me. Activate the emergency mode on your comm badges. Isolation frequency eight six eight megahurtz". Hopefully one of the senior officers would reply.

[Cargo Bay 6]

Chiyo heard the Captain's transmission. From the sound of the captain's voice, she sounded about in as much pain as Chiyo was. However, she was still immobilized by the disruptor blast and couldn't even think of moving anything below her abdomen. Using the limited motion she had without causing flareups, she tried motioning to get Dr. Hinamori or Nurse Miyafuji's attention.

"Hey, doc;" She called out weakly. "Do you have a pin or something I could use?"

"You're in no condition to move" Amu replied softly. She also had heard the Captains call on her own comm badge. However she didn't have anything she could use to modify her own badge. "I don't have anything, just stay still and rest" she told her in a hushed tone.

"Alright, then;" Chiyo grunted, waiting until Amu's back was turned before she pulled off her combadge and pried off the exterior casing. It wasn't ideal, but Chiyo was confident that her nails were long enough that she could activate the emergency mode without a pin or any kind of tool to modify the badge.

"Come on, Chiyo:" Chiyo grumbled quietly through gritted teeth. "If you can't get this to work, we might not get out of here..."

Eventually, Chiyo succeeded in modifying the badge with just her nails; a click was indicative of her success.

"Yes..." Chiyo growled as the badge chirped, indicating it had been disconnected from the ship's internal communications system and was now on the isolation frequency the captain had indicated.

"This is Shimada:" Chiyo muttered into the combadge. "I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can do for you: We've got multiple injuries down here in cargo bay 6." Chiyo sharply drew in breath as a fresh wave of pain washed over her: "Myself included..."

[Captain's Ready Room]

The combadge let out an error chirp, cutting off the comlink. The lights in the ready room dimmed for a moment as a woman in a Tal Shiar uniform was transported in using a Romulan transporter stream. It as the same Tal Shiar woman Taiga spoke to when this all started.

The woman looked at her, a slight smirk on her face, before removing her disruptor. "Hello Captain." She said softly, keeping her aim steady and finger on the trigger, as she kept her distance. "Just so you are aware... It's a honor for you to meet me." She gave a smile. "Sorry to cut you off, but I felt its time for us to have a discussion and I don't like interruptions. You understand."

"Most people use doors" Taiga stated simply. "So, who exactly are you?"

"I don't know if you notices, Captain, but your door has been sealed." She took a step forward, looking her up and down, smirking slightly. "It's true what they say. Starfleet comlinks add a few pounds... and in your case... a few feet. I pictured you... taller." She took a step back, the disruptor never losing its target. "You should have taken my offer and surrendered. Now look at you. Surrounded by bodies and destruction. Then again, Captain, you seem to have a habit of leaving death in your wake, don't you."

Taiga raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to elaborate" she replied simply. "Obviously from the fact that that idiot..." she said referring to Tibar "Doesn't know... or it seems he doesn't know you're here means that you're here for some other reason" she paused "That's why you didn't use the door?"

"This is cause and effect, Taiga. Cause: You destroy a Tal Shiar weapons base and kill many officers, without giving them a chance to escape. Effect: You make an enemy of the Tal Shiar who are determined to destroy your career before ending your life. Cause: you are offered a peaceful solution to this encounter and you reject it. Effect: People die. A whole starship is destroyed. Cause and effect." She said, raising a brow, as she questioned. "They do teach you such concepts in Starfleet, I hope. Otherwise, I should skip the words and move right to killing you."

"Tal Shiar base..." Taiga pondered for a brief moment. "You mean the one that we destroyed under orders from Admiral Jepson? After discovering that it was a manufacturing and distribution center for counterfeit Federation weapons?" She paused for a moment looking up at the woman. "What has something that happened four years ago have to do now?"

"Four years ago your stupidity cost me my son!" The Romulan woman shouted as she raised the disruptor higher, lining the barrel with Taiga's head, as she eased closer. "Because your hatred for my people began with the lose of your unborn child... you felt justified in destroying that base and killing mine." She stopped, inches from her, her aim steady as her eyes were searing with anger. "Cause... and... effect, Captain!" She screamed before reaching into her pocket and removing a photo. While the disruptor remained trained on Taiga, she placed the photo on the desk and said softly, in a broken tone without losing eye contact. "His name was Akeer... and all he wanted to do was build and repair things." Tears began to go down her cheeks as she eased the disruptor forward, pressing it against Taiga's head before pushing her back. "And you took that away. Without a single... hint of remorse."

That's when it hit Taiga like a train. She was grieving too and she was responsible. She looked down at the floor. 'What have I done?' The thought echoed in her head. "I didn't know..." She said softly. "I only did what I was ordered to do"

She looked up slowly. "It was wrong. The Admiral in question shouldn't have given those orders. I was foolish to follow them..." she paused. "I was too eager to please... to inpatient to progress... I'm... I'm sorry"

"You're sorry... YOU'RE SORRY!!" She yelled. "You didn't even look at the picture... how can you be sorry!" She slammed her hand on the photo and slid it closer to Taiga. "Look at the face of one of your victims, Captain! Face the results of your actions! Have you ever stopped to look behind you at your destruction before flying off in your diplomatic Federation colors with a proud look on your face?"

Taiga looked at the photo of the Romulan. He looked young, proud to serve his people. She looked away, not wanting to stare anymore. "Would killing me make this better? Would that end your suffering?" She asked simply.

"Has all the Romulans you've killed, after losing your child, ended yours?" She asked softly.

Taiga shook her head. "No... it still haunts me. For I don't know if I'll ever have that chance again"

"It's far worse, Captain, when you've watched them grow and learn. Laugh and cry. Congratulate them on every success and comfort them after every failure." She eased back slowly, staring her in the eyes firmly. "He had a voice. He had a face. He had a name." The look on her face soon shifted from calm to angry again as she shouted. "And you ripped it away because you decided to not fall on your Starfleet Morals and just blow the building apart with no regards for consequence! Consider me your consequence, Taiga! Proof that not every decision you make, or have made, is good and justified. I've stood in front of far more diplomatic Starfleet officers than you, Captain, so perhaps the burden of command is not something you were truly suited for."

It took a few moments for Taiga to assimilate what the Commander had said. She had never considered that those on the base had families, people who loved them. She had just done her duty. "Every one of us has family, friends, people who love us. We all forget that when we're on a battlefield, whether it's on ground, on a sea or in the depths of space. We all forget that the other side are people too..."

She looked down at the floor for a moment, then back upto the commander. "You know a lot about me. You know a lot of what I've done and where I've been. But you haven't told me your name, who you are or where you've been" she paused "I can't feel what you feel. I can only apologize for my past mistakes"

"And what makes you think you deserve that much? Will it make you feel better? Will knowing all that information make you feel a little less guilty about killing the last of my family." She stared at her intently. "Why would I give you such comfort?"

"No" Taiga replied softly. "But should you let me live. How will I remember the Romulan now... the mother; who made me realize that all life is precious and that I need to be..." she stopped for a brief moment "A better person?"

"I remember him. I will ALWAYS remember him." The Romulan eased her finger on the trigger of the disruptor. "And I could care less about making you a 'better person', Captain." She lowered the weapon, although it was no longer aimed at her head, it was still aimed in Taiga's direction. The woman continued softly. "You seem to have the misconception that you're going to survive all this. This was all done because of you, Captain. The alliances made, the deals struck, and the promises have all been set into place because of you. You're life is slowly reaching its end. Whether the last face you see is mine, or someone far worse, you will reach it soon. I hope you've made all the arrangements your people need when preparing for death."

Taiga sighed. She wasn't going to win this. "So killing me is going to give you justice in the end" she said sadly. "Nothing can bring him back, haven't we both had enough of killing?"

"The wheels have been already been in motion, Taiga. How do you think we've been able to do this so quickly? Where do you think we've gotten the strength to destroy one of your escorts with such ease?" She began to smile darkly. "The Elachi aren't the only species we've aligned with. There is someone far stronger than them who lurk in the shadows."

Taiga's eyes fluttered as she started to lose consciousness. Her body which had been beaten and battered from the torture was finally starting to give up on her. Slowly she drifted off, as her sight turned to black.

Posting by

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer

Captain Chiyo Shimada
Marine CO

Lieutenant JG Amu Hinamori
Chief Flight Deck Medic

Commander Tibar
Tal Shiar Commander

Mysterious Romulan Woman

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