Racing back to 234!
Posted on Fri Nov 21st, 2025 @ 12:33am by Rear Admiral Rimuru Tempest & Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Thomas Johnson & Commander Jennifer Daxer & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant Nezuko & Lieutenant Teneca Quinn & Lieutenant Nyxala Valentine
Edited on on Fri Nov 21st, 2025 @ 12:34am
1,214 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
The Return
Location: Various
Timeline: February 27, 2397
[Starbase 234]
Rear Admiral Tempest stepped out onto the main operations deck of the starbase. The lights around the room were already bathing everyone in red as the station went to red alert.
"What have we got?" He asked.
"Six Herald raiders have just appeared through gateways and are closing fast." The officer at tactical reported.
"Bring all phaser and torpedo turrets online. Have civilians report to emergency shelters. What starships do we have on standby?" Tempest said as he moved towards the center of the room.
"Bringing all defensive systems online. We have the Malinche, the Akio and the Triumph all powered up and ready to assist," the young officer reported.
"Two Excelsior's and a Miranda. Hardly the strongest ships that we have..." Tempest said solemnly. "I suppose it'll have to d..." he was cut off as the base shook violently. The Herald weapons striking against the shields.
"Have all ships and weapons return fire!" Tempest ordered.
"Admiral! More gateways opening... We have sixteen cruisers incoming..."
Tempest swore. "Get the civilians to the emergency evacuation transports along with all non-essential personnel. We have to hold them off until they can evacuate!"
The starbase shook violently again. Weapons fire from the cruisers now cutting through the shields. Consoles around the Operations center exploded, showering the crew with sparks and debris. Yet the phasers of the starbase remained firing, hardly touching the Herald shields.
There was another explosion, this time the shipyards adjacent to the base. They were engulfed in a huge fireball, the many men and women now gone as the drydocks and berthed ships were ripped apart.
Tempest coughed on the smoke. The officer at the tactical station now laid dead on the deck, his face burnt and smouldering from the destroyed console. However the Admiral managed to pull himself towards the auxiliary tactical console.
His hands ran over the panel as his heart pounded in his chest. Finally, he managed to open a wide communications hail.
"To any ship. This is Rear Admiral Tempest of Starbase 234. We are under attack by Heralds. Multiple casualties and injured. Requesting assistance. We have civilians aboard! Please! Provide any assistance..."
[USS Tokyo Bridge]
The distress call echoed through the speakers on the bridge.
"Tokyo to Away Teams. Return immediately. We're going to have to beam any lifesigns from the Denmark aboard with you and deal with them later." Taiga ordered. "Starbase 234 is under attack and is sending out a general distress call. Report back and take up your battlestations."
=A=Wait, they're what?!=A= came Chisato's bewildered response.
Taiga looked around the bridge. "As soon as they're aboard set course for Starbase 234, maximum speed." She ordered simply. Then she pressed down on one of the buttons on her arms control panel. "All hands Red Alert, report to battlestations."
[USS Denmark]
Counselor Ralen Trellis was kneeling beside a barely conscious engineer when the call came through. His hands, slick with blood from emergency treatment, froze on the hypospray he'd been preparing.
He looked down at the engineer - red tag, stabilized but critical. Then at the corridor stretching ahead where his tricorder showed more faint life signs. How many more are there? How many will we leave behind?
"We need to move," he said urgently to those nearby, standing quickly and attaching an emergency transport tag to the engineer's uniform. His hands worked faster, tagging the casualties in their immediate vicinity - stable or not, they were out of time.
Jaret's memories supplied the familiar bitter taste of battlefield evacuation - never enough time, never enough hands, always someone left behind. At least we can beam them directly aboard, he thought, one small mercy in all this chaos.
Nyx shook her head slowly, "If they're going to just transport everyone as is, we're going to lose some of them in the process." The pain in her voice spoke from experience in the situation, "I'll appreciate any help when we get back if anyone can be spared."
Ralen looked up at Nyx, his face set with determination despite the blood on his hands. "I'll help in sickbay once we're back," he said firmly. "Better than sitting idle while the ship goes into combat."
At least there I can do something useful, he thought, finishing the last emergency tag. Better than being a counselor during a firefight.
"I've got field experience with trauma care," he added, moving toward the extraction point. "When we materialize, I'll head straight to sickbay and start triage. You'll need every hand you can get."
His mind was already shifting gears - from the immediate crisis of evacuation to the organized chaos of emergency medicine. It would give him something to concentrate on besides the sound of weapons fire and the screams of the dying.
[ USS Tokyo, Sickbay ]
In sickbay Talia had only just started helping with preparing for the arrivals from the Denmark, with the red alert called she was torn between staying in Sickbay or heading for the bridge, hell she wasn't even supposed to be working after her blood pressure issues at the end of her long awaited honeymoon. Given the choice between being in a no doubt soon to be very busy Sickbay, or being in her seat on the bridge she chose the latter and headed out.
The transporter beam resolved Nyx and her current patients in sickbay and she waved at the orderly awaiting them, "All right, let's get these patients into any available biobed and I need someone triaging for me." She patted the man she was kneeling next to before standing, "I'll start prepping for surgery, I'll need to be quick on these, because we're going to be getting more patients soon enough."
"Yes, ma'am, I'll get started right away." The orderly nodded and snapped his fingers to get his team moving as Nyx made for her office. She needed a change of clothes and to put her gear away.
[Bridge]
Stepping out onto the bridge a few minutes later Talia nodded to Taiga as she took her seat, at least she was sitting down which more or less complied with the medical orders to rest.
"Is everyone back aboard?" Taiga asked, eager for a status report. The clock was ticking and they needed to get back to assist, fast.
The doors to the turbolift snapped open and Chisato stumbled out, followed closely by Nezuko, Jasad and Teneca.
"Sorry for the delay, Captain," Chisato announced as she hurried around to assume her station. "We managed to transcribe everything from the Raider's computers that we felt was of value, and Kurumi-Chan's making sure that the data's stored in a safe location."
"Upload it to the computers. Right now I need you at battlestations." Taiga said simply as she looked forward at the viewscreen.
"Take us back to the Starbase at maximum speed." Taiga ordered. Right now the Tokyo was needed to defend the starbase against the onslaught of the Heralds. Taiga felt her grip tightening on the arms of her chair.
The Tokyo banked quickly and jumped to warp, leaving the wreck of the Denmark and the now drifting Herald raider behind.
To be continued...
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