Taiga's Lament
Posted on Sat Oct 15th, 2022 @ 5:20am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Commander Ryuuji Takasu & Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji & Commander Alora Knight & Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Alice Shimada
1,506 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Operation Romulus Return
Location: Flight Deck
"Are you sure you still want to do this?" Amu asked as she ran the tricorder again over the Captain. She had been through a lot of trauma from the battle and Amu still felt uneasy about her current plan.
Taiga nodded. "I do doctor. I need to do this" she said simply. Amu helped her down off the biobed.
"Ok Captain. But don't overexcert yourself..." Amu warned as Taiga slowly made her way out of the ships sickbay.
[Flight Deck]
With the Tokyo now under tow towards the Beta Antares shipyards, Taiga had taken a few moments to send out a message to all members of the crew.
'To all crew. Please assemble on the Flight Deck in one hour. Please secure all stations before leaving your duty position. This is mandatory. - Captain Taiga Aisaka'
A somber procession of officers began to file onto the flight deck some ten minutes after Captain Aisaka's initial announcement had been made. A certain gloominess lingered in the air, as if they were half-dreading what this latest assembly would entail.
The mood was not lost on Ensign Bishop, who had a lot on her mind after coming down off the adrenaline high of storming the bridge just a few hours earlier. Rumors had begun to circulate that something had happened to the Oceania- though, at the moment, they had no concrete information regarding its fate. She could only hope by some stupid miracle, Uncle Lethy had made it out of this in one piece.
The crowd parted and Lynette caught a fleeting glimpse of Petty Officer Miyafuji as she was speaking with a security detail. It was hard to make out what the two of them were talking about, but the look of guilt in his eyes spoke volumes. She watched as the officer turned and sadly made his way off before she moved over to join Yoshika.
"So... is Nozomi going to be alright?" she asked, having not seen nor heard about the older pilot's fate since she last saw Doctor Hinamori tending to her in the cargo bay.
Yoshika nodded. "She'll just be fine," she assured her.
Among the procession of officers filing in was Captain Shimada. Though it took her great effort, and it would have been easier to send 2nd Lieutenant Clostermann on her behalf, Chiyo felt it was her duty while she was still conscious to be there for the Captain. Chiyo arrived on the flight deck being supported by Perrine while Alice clung tightly to Chiyo's free hand.
At this point, neither Alice nor Chiyo wanted to leave each other's line of sight, and to hell if the flight deck counted as a restricted area; Chiyo was going to be with her baby girl and Alice with her mom no matter what.
The mass of officers fell silent as Captain Aisaka stepped onto the flight deck. She was looking down at the floor, not making eye contact with anyone as seemed to limp slightly as she walked. Finally she reached one of the Tokyo's fighter craft where many of the officers were gathered around.
Climbing up so she could be seen she stood on the wing. Finally she looked up at the remainder of the Tokyo crew standing there all silently waiting for her.
"I..." she stopped, the words were just not coming out. She quickly shook her head. "I have called you all here because there is a lot I need to say to you." She addressed them. "No matter what our position, rank or culture all Starfleet officers are taught one thing. That all life is precious, and we must protect it at all costs. There is only ever one of you, and only will ever be one of you..."
Taiga paused. "Several years ago, I led this very ship on a mission to seek and destroy a Tal Shiar supply depot. They were smuggling illegal counterfeit weapons into Federation space. For those who were there, you will remember that we destroyed that starbase..."
"However, what I failed to realise is that there were people aboard that station. I gave the order, blinded by duty and eager to please, to murder thousands of Romulans." she paused, looking down at the floor again. "I was inexperienced, young and stupid. I never thought anything of it. But recent events have caused me to realise that every action has a consequence"
"There was a Tal Shiar commander who lost her child on that starbase," she told them all. "I strongly believe that all this, was just a ploy to get her revenge on me. However, I can't be sure of that...". Taiga looked back up at her crew. "I blindly led this mission knowing that we have a slim chance of surviving. I knew that we wouldn't all be standing here at the end. I knew I was putting you all in danger, yet I still did it!"
Taiga's fists clenched as she stood there. "We lost so many of our brothers and sisters out here today. Not just here on the Tokyo, but the entire crew of the Oceania as well. I am reponsible for their deaths. If I hadn't of followed orders so blindly and if I had actually thought about them, then we may not be in this predicament."
The entire crew... dear God, then that means...
Fighting back tears, Lynette cupped a hand to her mouth and made a break for the turbolift. No one moved to stop her, as they were all struggling to comprehend this newfound revelation.
She relaxed her hands, now placing both hands in front of her, her fingers intertwined. "I am a bad Captain for letting this happen. I have let you all down. I have made many mistakes, many of which can not be forgiven." Taiga paused again, as she fought internally to try and get the next words out.
"Therefore. If you wish to leave this ship, I will ensure you find yourself in the hands of a better Captain. There will be no hard feelings, no tears, nothing. I promised to keep you all safe when I took command of this vessel. I failed. For that, I am...." she leant into a low bow. "Truly sorry."
A few seconds of silence passed before Chiyo's free hand shot into the air.
"Uh, you're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to get rid of me." She declared, stepping forward with Alice. "As a Starfleet Marine, I knew signing up that the going would get rough. Each and every one of my men knows that too. As such, I don't believe in turning tail and deserting the regs when a single op goes awry. I failed in my duties as Marine Commander, and if there's anyone here who should be sorry, I should be: But I hope, Captain, that you will consider giving me the opportunity to redeem myself." Chiyo gave a bow.
Taiga simply nodded at the Marine Captain. She hadn't been expecting a response to her apology.
It took Alora longer than expected to pack. The Knight quarters were easy enough, but then she was asked to pack for Soren, Bobbie Sue, and Phyllis. Soren because he was the new pilot for the Prowler. Bobbie Sue because she was somewhere in Soren's fighter--according to Max--and Phyllis because she'd gone after Bobbie. Everything was now on the Prowler and only she remained. She'd left a message for Taiga, informing her that the Prowler had completed its mission, but she and Alex had been called away on a classified assignment. They were taking Soren and Bobbie Sue with them. At least they would, once they found Bobbie Sue. It was all Taiga needed to know. Max arranged for their transfers, effective immediately, so that the Tokyo would soon have people to fill their positions. But as she'd been the XO for a while, Alora wanted to see Taiga one last time before she left.
Alora heard the speech as she moved up to the front. She kept to the side of the fighter bay to be less noticed, but made sure Taiga would see her as she cleared the crowd.
Just to be sure, Alora waved. "Goodbye, Taiga," she mouthed. "Happy journey."
Taiga knew that Alora and Alex would be some of the officers leaving. She had recieved their transfer orders a few hours prior. She smiled at the commander giving her a nod of her head. It was more of a goodbye than anything else, she wasn't one for long farewells.
Standing straight on the wing of the fighter, Taiga looked around at her crew. "Dismissed" she said simply.
Posting by
Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer
Commander Alora Knight
Executive Officer
Lieutenant JG Amu Hinamori
Chief Flight Deck Medic
Captain Chiyo Shimada
Marine Commanding Officer
Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander'
Fighter Pilot
Petty Officer 2nd Class Yoshika Miyafuji
Nurse
Alice Shimada
Child
RSS Feed