The Battle of Starbase 234 - Part 10 - Licking Our Wounds
Posted on Sat Jan 24th, 2026 @ 4:18pm by Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Thomas Johnson & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant Nezuko & Lieutenant JG Mikko Ishigami & Lieutenant JG Connor Carey & Lieutenant JG Pryana Z'Kan
Edited on on Sun Jan 25th, 2026 @ 1:04am
1,794 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
The Return
Location: USS Tokyo
Timeline: February 27, 2397
The Tokyo drifted as the battle raged around them. Occasionally the shields took a hit from a stray shot, however the Tokyo was being protected by the other Starfleet and Klingon ships. The nacelles were grey, the blue hue had faded and the ships lights were fading between bright and dim. The ship looked dead and derelict on the outside, however on the inside it was a different scene.
[USS Tokyo Bridge]
Taiga's hands ran over the smooth surface of the helm console. It wouldn't be long until Jased returned after patching up his injuries. "Nezuko, it looks like we need to do a manual restart of the engines." She said looking over at the Operations console. "Hows our power look?"
Nezuko's eyes darted between the various charts and graphs on her console before typing a response. "Battery power low but manageable. Need to prioritize systems during engine restart. Cannot have all essential systems at same time."
Connor nodded to Nezuko, "If need be, I can take the power off the weapons divert some of them to the shields while the restart." He looked to the tactical officer, so it wouldn't be a surprise when he took weapons offline for the brief moment he had done so.
Pryana nodded her acknowledgement.
"That will help." Nezuko prepared to shut down weapons and shunt power to shields upon the Captain's order.
Taiga nodded. "Do it. Right now, we need to get Tokyo moving again before we can even think about fighting."
Nezuko nodded and implemented the order. Graphs showing energy directed at phasers, targeting sensors, and torpedo launchers were zeroed while those showing shield energy increased.
For now.
[Main Engineering]
Main Engineering was a mess. The large open two deck high room was no where near its pristine condition. There was a huge hole in the ceiling where a primary power conduit had ruptured, and several of the wall banked consoles were flickering. The ships warp core stood grey and cold as the ships engineers rushed around trying to repair essential systems.
Chief Petty Officer Bresinn Zerc stood in front of the cold warp core. The old Tellarite's uniform was torn and stained with soot and blood. There were bruises to his face and body, and there was a gash in his forehead that had fortunately stopped bleeding.
An engineering team had rerouted power to bypass the Primary Power Conduit. He tapped his comm. badge. "Engineering to Bridge, we're ready to attempt a cold start of the Warp Core." He said.
"Make it quick. We need the power," Taiga's voice responded simply.
Ensign Syaro Kirima made her way over to the chief petty officer. She looked up at the grey warp core. "Chief. I've just heard, the Chief Engineer's been killed in the last hit." she explained simply. She looked around at the state of the room, it was far from ideal and was frankly a mess. 'This is going to take days if not weeks to repair.' She thought to herself.
Bresinn frowned. He'd liked the Chief Engineer. This was no time for grieving. "Understood." He said simply. "I had a crew reroute power to bypass the Primary Power Conduit."
"I'll inform the Captain. We need someone to take over down here." Syaro nodded. She ran her fingers over the console alongside the Tellarite. Even though she was short, she was still a few inches over him. However right now, they needed to get the core back up and running.
"Ensign Kirima to Captain Aisaka." Syaro said as she opened a channel on her comm badge as she continued to work on restarting the core. "Chief Engineer is dead Captain. I thought you should know."
There was a moment of silence before Taiga responded. "Who is the next ranking officer in Engineering Ensign?"
Syaro paused as she exchanged a look with Zerc. "Most of the officers are heavily injured or dead. We've got myself, Chief Petty Officer Zerc, Petty Officer Della Robbia, Crewman Stern, Schaeffer, Dunbar and Belpois. Everyone else is making repairs around the ship, or in sickbay."
There was another momentary pause. "Captain?"
"Ensign, since you're ranking officer now. You're taking the role of acting Chief Engineer. Get main power and our engines back online." Taiga responded. The channel then cut off.
Syaro froze, she was just an ensign. She looked over at Zerc. "Lets get this core back online." she said simply. "Lock down the magnetic constrictors. I'll monitor the dilithium crystals. We need to slowly open up the antimatter/matter injectors. Ratio one to one, lets take this nice and slowly. We don't want to risk a breach."
"Aye, Ma'am." Zerc said and did his job.
Both engineers worked together in silence for the next few minutes. Their fingers danced across the core control consoles. A look of concentration and sheer determination mixed with the desire to survive was plastered across their faces as they focused purely on restoring the ships power.
[Cargo Bay 2]
Mikko Ishigami unzipped her tunic slightly. She and several other officers who weren't needed at the moment had been 'recruited' by Commander Nishikiji. The Captain had ordered the Commander to make space for evacuee's in any place that was possible. It was a hard task, especially with the ship being hit and literally being blasted apart around them.
With the help of three other crewmen, she finished moving some heavy cargo containers to the side of the bay. "Commander," she called out looking over towards Chisato. "Hows this?"
It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that Chisato was visibly exhausted, as was evident by her unkempt bob, perspiration beading on her forehead, and- perhaps most telling- her labored breathing, which was audible even from the distance at which Mikko was situated.
"That..." she managed to mutter in between breaths. "...maybe if you... just a little to the... back..."
Mikko let out a sigh. She was already exhausted, her uniform was covered in dirt and grime. She looked over at storage containers. They were not only twice her size, but likely four to five as heavy. "Yes Commander, I'll try to get them further back..."
[Bridge]
Lieutenant Yuvek stepped back onto the bridge, his left arm still tender but the worst of the burns treated with the dermal regenerator. The pain had diminished from white-hot agony to a dull, manageable throb. He flexed his fingers experimentally - the movement hurt, but the hand was functional.
Good enough.
He moved directly to the helm station where Captain Taiga sat, relief evident on his features despite the lingering discomfort. "Captain, I can take the helm."
"Bring Main Power back online." Taiga said simply as she returned to her chair. "Raise shields, charge all weapons. It's about time we rejoined the fight." she added as she lowered herself into the chair and sat back.
Around them the bridge lights slowly started to return to normal illumination, flooding out the emergency lighting. Consoles around them sprung back to life, their once black blank screens lighting up with the panels and touch controls. The sound of power conduits powering up and flowing again hummed as the beeping of the ships systems returned.
The blue hue to the ships nacelles once again began to glow, accompanied by the orange-red or the buzzard collectors and impulse engines. The ship's thrusters fired, righting the ship back to its correct angle and correcting the drift.
A blueish silver glimmer shimmered around the ship for a split second as the shields came back online. The lights in the ships viewports returned to normal, casting homely warm yellow glows from inside.
The Tokyo was back.
The unique chime of the comm channel opening echoed through the ships corridors and many rooms.
"All hands. This is Captain Aisaka. I know we're not in the best shape. But we've come this far. Thousands, perhaps millions, maybe more are relying on what we do here today. We are Starfleet, and we WILL protect those who need protecting. You've all done your duty and more. However, I need you to do a little more..." she paused. "Now, how about we show those Heralds just what we can do!"
Her words were met with a muffled yell that reverberated through the bulkheads- a harmonious rallying cry amidst the surviving crew to take up arms and fight the good fight- not just for their freedom, but for their very being.
"I'll take that as a 'Yes Captain...'," Taiga said simply. "Engage Impulse Engines Mister Yuvek." She ordered from her chair. She switched the viewscreen to the tactical view. "Lets go help the others. Set attack course, bearing 0-8-0, Mark 8-9."
"Engaging impulse engines" Lieutenant Yuvek responded crisply, his treated hand managing the controls without hesitation despite residual pain. The ship responded smoothly as power flowed back through her systems.
"Setting attack course, bearing zero-eight-zero mark eight-nine," he continued, his fingers dancing across the navigation controls. The Tokyo banked, her impulse engines flaring as she turned back toward the battle.
"Miss Z'Kan. Mister Carey." Taiga said simply as she focused on the viewscreen. "I hope you have those weapons ready. Once we're in range, unleash hell. We're not holding back anymore. Show them that even a wounded animal can bite, and make it hurt!"
"Aye, Ma'am." Pryana said as her fingers flew across the controls. "Phasers charged, acquiring target."
"Then lets make a difference here." Taiga said. She sat back in her chair and a small smile emerged upon her face. She tapped a button on her chair, now they were back she needed to let their away team know.
. "Aisaka to Away Team. We're still here." Taiga's voice came through clearly and confidently. "We're buying you as much time as we can. Don't waste a single second. Those people need you..." she paused for a second. "So save them!"
"In the process of doing so Captain." Thomas's voice replied.
Taiga nodded. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the rush of adrenaline flowing through her veins like fire. And amomgst that, her unborn baby moving within her womb, the one precious life she needed to protect.
Posting by:
Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer
USS Tokyo
Commander Thomas Johnson
Executive Officer
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant Nezuko
Chief Operations Officer
USS Tokyo
Commander Chisato Nishikigi
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant JG Mikko Ishigami
Flight Control Officer
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant JG Pryana Z'Kan
Tactical Officer
USS Tokyo
Lieutenant JG Connor Carey
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Tokyo
Ensign Syaro Kirima
Acting Chief Engineering Officer
USS Tokyo
Chief Petty Officer Bressin Zerc
Engineering Officer
USS Tokyo
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