Making Sense of it All
Posted on Fri Mar 18th, 2016 @ 10:26pm by Captain Liarra Von
Mission:
By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Commanding Officer's Office
Timeline: After the battle
Liarra wasn’t sure how it was even possible, but somehow her office looked even worse than Ops. Debris littered the floor, most of it charred remains from power conduits and circuitry. One of the ceiling lights had broken loose and was hanging precariously by its wires. Chunks of a blown out bulkhead covered her desk and floor, while the carpet still held the unmistakeable signs of a small fire. PADDs from old reports were scattered about the room, along with many of the various decorations left over from Alexander’s time in this office that Von had never bothered to have removed.
It was easy to imagine that the rest of her station was in similar shape, even without having to see them. Even with all their preparation, they could only have done so much to protect the station. Though Liarra mused that had they not prepared in advance, and had the Sojourners taken them by surprise, the damage would have been substantially worse. She still didn’t know the complete toll on the starbase. Damage reports were still coming in, and it could be hours, if not days, before an accurate count of the casualties could be taken.
A familiar sounding voice drew Liarra’s attention away from the debris. Standing in the doorway was Admiral Quinn, commanding officer of the Eleventh Fleet. Her role in the battle turned out to be vital, even if it was short. Her eyes were taking in the state of the room. “I hope this isn’t a bad time, Captain.”
“Not at all, Admiral. Please, come in,” Von replied, beckoning the flag officer to enter. Von overturned one of the chairs across from her desk to shake loose the debris and offered the admiral a seat. Liarra wasn’t surprised when she didn’t take it. “Forgive the mess, Admiral. You caught me just after a wild party.”
“I can see that,” Quinn replied, a slight smile confirming for Von that she was in relatively good spirits. “We got here as soon as we could, Liarra. The Vesta might have been able to get here faster, but we wouldn’t have been much good by ourselves.”
Von waved her off. “I understand, Admiral. I’m just glad you got here when you did.” Von took another look around at her office. “I’m not sure we would have lasted much longer.”
Quinn nodded. “Your crew did great, Liarra. They may have had to go to hell and back, but you saved a lot of lives. Holding out as long as you did kept the Archans safe, not to mention the civilians here on the station.”
“We’re still working on casualty reports,” Von replied with a frown. She may have had Quinn’s praise, but she didn’t yet know just how bad they were hurt. Of course, the fact that she was a word away from surrendering the station weighed heavily on her mind. Quinn didn’t need to know that detail.
“Of course, Captain. I’m sure there will be some letters to write.” Quinn’s gaze dropped to her navel as she considered what she said. She looked back up at Von. “Losses are always difficult. But I have faith that this starbase will bounce back. You have before.”
Von said nothing but nodded her head. They may have recovered from the bombing, but there was arguably a lot more to recover from this time around. Liarra only hoped that the civilian casualties were not as numerous as the last time the Sojourners attacked.
Quinn turned away from the station commander and started to pace around the room, stopping to look at various pieces of scrap. “Recent events have certainly drawn attention to the region, and it’s more clear than ever that we need to strengthen this position. I’ll be approving a group of construction ships to help make the repairs. You won’t be on your own this time, Captain.”
“Thank you,” Liarra muttered. It was optimistic that Starfleet was taking some interest in her station, though it was hard for Von not to consider it as too little, too late. But it was still better than no help. “Were you able to take any prisoners?”
Quinn stopped pacing and took a look at the PADD in her hand. “There were sixteen ships remaining when we arrived. Ten of them were destroyed in the ensuing battle. Four more were disabled and set adrift, while the last two surrendered. Our ships rounded up the surviving crews and took them into custody.”
“What about Vaishaa? She would have been aboard her flagship, a retro-fitted Excelsior class.”
“There was one Excelsior class ship, but it was destroyed. We didn’t find any survivors.”
A look of disappointment washed over Liarra’s face. “That’s a pity. I had been looking forward to testifying at her trial. What about the rest of the Sojourner forces? This had to have been their main fleet. Are we going to mobilize and clean up the rest of the mess?”
Quinn’s somewhat jovial expression turned to a more stern one. “About that, Captain. We picked up some unsettling reports. While the Sojourner fleet was engaged here at Three-Three-Two, our listening posts reported a series of skirmishes and attacks throughout Sojourner controlled space. According to the intel, the Sojourner controlled worlds, including Myaz, Pak’Leth, and Thane, were ambushed by fleets of cloaked Ritorian ships.”
Von looked up at the admiral with alarm. “The Ritorians? I knew there had to be a reason why they didn’t join their Sojourner allies. They were waiting for an excuse to claim that territory for themselves. They played us and the Sojourners.”
“That seems to be the consensus. So now we’ve traded one political quagmire for another. We don’t yet know what this means for us since we haven’t had time to process the information. From what we do know, the Ritorian Pontiff has declared the Sojourner controlled space as sovereign Ritorian territory. And I’m not even sure that’s the worst part.”
Von nodded. She noticed it too. “The cloaking devices. Intelligence has never indicated that the Ritorians had access to cloaking technology. Either they developed it in secret and just implemented it for the first time, or..”
Quinn finished the thought. “...Or someone gave them cloaking technology. We don’t know enough at this time, but naturally it feels like we’ve made it out of the frying pan and right back into the fire.”
You’re telling me, Liarra thought to herself. Quinn wasn’t the one that had to stand guard against the Ritorians. No wonder Starfleet wanted to strengthen the region. “That certainly does complicate matters.”
“I’ll have to digest this new information after I get back to Cestus. But I’m sure that we’ll be having further discussions on this as time goes on. Not only do we have the Ritorians to contend with, but there’s that issue with the Klingons and the Gorn. And your sector is unfortunately right in the middle of all of it.”
Liarra nodded along and gazed out the window. Apparently fate didn’t want there to be peace in the galactic south. “Understood, Admiral. We’ll get our repairs made as quickly as we can and get this station fully operational.”
“Good. The Vesta will be leaving soon, and with me on her. But for the time being we will leave the rest of the task group in orbit to assist as needed. Captain Thomson of the Savannah will be in charge if you need him. As soon as I get back, I’ll sign the orders to get those construction ships out here.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Von replied, approaching Quinn. She offered her outstretched hand. “It’s always a pleasure, Admiral.”
“Same to you, Captain,” Quinn replied as she shook Liarra’s hand. “I’ll be in touch.” Releasing Von’s hand, Quinn nodded and was on her way, exciting the office through Ops.
Liarra turned back to the window, where she had been gazing when the admiral arrived. It just keeps getting better and better, she thought, shaking her head. If there was any consolation, at least she knew that she could be proud of her crew.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332
Admiral Emily Quinn [P:Von]
Commanding Officer
Eleventh Fleet
