On The Assault - Part 8 - The Price Of The Uniform

Posted on Thu Jul 16th, 2026 @ 1:17am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Captain Yuri Nakamura & Captain Minori Kushieda & Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji & Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek
Edited on on Thu Jul 16th, 2026 @ 1:18am

2,637 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Various
Timeline: March 18th, 2397

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[USS Kiowa]

Even from the relative safe distance that he had gotten them to in the time he had had, Everyone on the runabout saw the bright flash that signaled the end of the mighty USS Akagi. As his flight controls, Marcus was silent for a beat, sending out a prayer to those who had been lost.

Once that was done, he refocused on the job at hand. Alright everyone, how about we find a safe place to land?" He scanned the area, and found that the USS Ark Royal was the closest starship to their current location. Activating the comms, he spoke aloud, "USS Ark Royal, this is runabout Kiowa, Lieutenant Markus in command. I've got a boat full of Akagi survivors and I'm dragging three full escape pods. Permission to land, so they can all be seen to?"

[USS Ark Royal]

There was a moment of stunned silence on the bridge of the Ark Royal as the Akagi was engulfed in bright white light. No one spoke, no one seemed to move for a good few seconds. Finally Maple shook her head, shaking off the sheer shock as the comm call echoed over the silence.

"Runabout Kiowa. Permission granted." She said simply.

The Runabout swung around towards the aft of the Ark Royal, within a few minutes it touched down in the ships shuttlebay, finally safe and sound. At least, for now.

[USS Armitage]

The almost same reaction had occurred on the Armitage. However, Minori reacted very differently from Maple. "Helm, bring the ship around. Lock onto where the Akagi impacted the Starbase. It looks like it did some damage, so lets follow that up with some damage of our own."

She looked back at Tactical. "Give them everything we have. If the Akagi has weakened them, lets not let this opportunity go to waste!"

[Graf Zeppelin]

Loid watched the white light of the Akagi's detonation fade from the viewer, his expression unreadable. Around him the bridge had gone quiet, the kind of quiet that followed something that couldn't be undone. He let it sit for exactly two seconds before his voice cut through it. "Open a channel to ze fleet — all remaining vessels."

"Channel open, Captain." Replied his Operations Officer.

=/\= "Zis is Forger, Graf Zeppelin, to all remaining vessels." His voice was clipped, direct. "I understand ze urge to exploit ze breach ze Akagi gave us. But we have two problems before we commit to anozer run." He said, as he stood up from his chair.

"Ze Tokyo took a direct hit and is showing an active boarding action — we do not know who is in command over zere or whezer zey are still combat capable. And we still do not know how much damage ze Akagi actually did to zat station before she went." He added before pausing for a beat. "I am not saying we hold back. I am saying sixty seconds to know what we are flying into could save us from losing anozer ship"

[USS Broadsword]

"Get me the Graf Zeppelin." Yuri commanded from her chair on the bridge of the Broadsword.

"Aye Captain." The Operations officer replied as he began to tap on his console.

[USS Graf Zeppelin]

The image of Yuri appeared on the screen, the identical Armitage Class bridge showed signs of damage from the battle. Her crew could be spotted behind her moving from console to console at the rear of the bridge.

"Captain Forger." Yuri said. The image shook a little as the Broadsword took another hit from the smaller Starbase's weapons. "We can move to cover the Tokyo, but I would suggest hitting that base whilst their defences are compromised. We can't let an opportunity like this get away from us."

Suddenly the image of Captain Kushieda from the Armitage also popped up on the screen. "Sorry to interrupt, but I agree with Captain Nakamura. We're not putting a dent in this. If Tokyo can't fight right now, then we'll fight for her."

Loid exhaled slowly through his nose, eyes on the tactical display, on the breach point the Akagi had carved into the starbase at the cost of everything she had. The pragmatic argument would take longer to make than they had time to make it.

"Understood, Forger out." He said it simply, without argument.

He turned from the main viewer and returned back to his Command chair, settled with his decision. "Mr. Threll, bring us about — same heading as ze Armitage, target ze weakened section of ze starbase hull." His voice was steady as he spoke to his Helm Officer. "Tactical, I want firing solutions on zat breach point and everyzing around it. Ze moment we are in range, you fire until I tell you to stop or until zere is nozing left to fire at."

He settled back into his chair, jaw set. Sometimes the most pragmatic thing to do was to simply to trust the people next to you and move.

"Ze Akagi bought zat opening. Ze least we can do is use it."

[USS Tokyo Sickbay]

"GET INSIDE NOW!" Amu shouted down the corridor as Herald weapons fire ricocheted down the corridor. Until now the injured had overflowed through the sickbay doors and into the corridors. However, with the Tokyo being boarded by the enemy, there was no safe place on the ship.

Occasionally the sound of a phaser could be heard over the sound of boots moving hastily over the deck and the deafening sound of people screaming, crying and yelling out. Amu remained at the door, purple energy beams narrowly avoiding her head as the Herald advanced. She was holding the door open, ushering people into the safety of the ships main sickbay.

Her eyes opened in horror as more and more Heralds appeared, advancing from the other direction. The Heralds didn't seem to care as they advanced upon the sickbay. Absently firing their Staff Weapons, instantly vaporizing the Starfleet crew, injured or not. "Come on! Hurry!" she called out as people pushed past her. A purple beam narrowly missed her head, its rush of energy causing her faded pink hair to dance and swish.

They were closing in, they were getting too close. The screams, the voices, the yelling in her head began to fall silently. She turned to look slowly into the sickbay. People crammed into every corner, several to a bed, some being treated on the floor. The ships medical staff frantically trying to save lives; bodies covered by baby blue blankets now being stacked against the far wall. The morgue was full, the sickbay was over capacity, and yet still more came, rushing towards the door looking for a place of safety and a place to escape from the storming Heralds.

Then slowly she looked back down the corridor. At least six to seven Herald constructs to the left, eight more at least to the right. Their purple beams striking through the air, some missing their targets, some not. The people in the corridor. Men, Women, of every species and department, penned in like sheep. Yet, the only place where they could go was the very room she was at the door of.

She held out an arm, blocking the door of the sickbay. She looked up directly into Petty Officer Ryan Whitmore's eyes. He was injured, cradling what seemed to be a badly broken arm. She didn't know him very well, but she did know that the twenty six year old petty officer had recently ensured his wife of three years and their two year old daughter had returned to the safety of Earth before this conflict.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered as she stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "I'm... really... sorry..." she reached out and pressed a button on the door panel.

"No! Wait! Please!" he called out as the door shut. Amu didn't waste time, she wrenched off the manual release panel next to the door. It had only two functions, manually open the doors, and in reverse it could be used to manually lock and seal shut. Grabbing the handle, she pushed it with her strength into reverse...

She stared at the door for a moment as the crew locked behind it began to pound and scrape from the other side. She turned her back to the door, resting on it, before sliding down to the floor into a crouched position. Then the screams began as the Heralds continued what they had started.

Amu clasped her hands over her ears as she crouched up against the door, her eyes shut fast and tears running down her face. Silently she sobbed as the Herald weapons continued to echo through the corridor, each blast seeming louder than the last while the pounding, scraping, screams and desperate cries beyond the door grew quieter... and quieter... and quieter... Then. Silence.

[USS Tokyo - Counsellors Office]

In her office Talia had, had no choice but to drag the sofa against the wall and hide behind it with her son, cradling him keeping him quiet. She had a phaser but that wouldn’t have saved either of them from assaulting forces, though fortunately no one had come through the doors. She had heard the screams, felt the terror and pain of others injuries and deaths, now she sat huddled on the floor hoping that it would soon be over.

[Deck 8 - USS Tokyo - Near Sickbay]

Petty Officer Calder came off the turbolift at a run, his two-man team tight behind him, and immediately heard it — weapons fire, the distinctive crack of phaser rifles mixing with the deeper discharge of Herald staves echoing down the corridor ahead.

He rounded the corner and took in the situation in a single sweep — a handful of Tokyo security officers pressed back against the bulkhead, trading fire with a cluster of Heralds advancing from both directions, the door to Sickbay sealed at the far end. Two officers were already down.

"Graf Zeppelin, friendlies!" PO Calder shouted, identifying himself before either side could make a costly mistake. "Tokyo. . .hold your position!"

Just as he was about to give his team the signal to join up with the beleaguered officers, his combadge chirped. It was from the squad from Alpha team, moving down from above.

"Alpha squad — you take the left flank, we take the right. Squeeze them into the middle." PO Calder didn't wait for confirmation, he was already pushing forward along the right corridor wall, his two crewmen fanning wide to cut off the Heralds' retreat. "Tokyo Security — hold the center, keep them focused on you!" he shouted over the already present chaos and screaming.

His combadge crackled. "Alpha copies, Calder. Corporal Sette moving into position on the left — thirty seconds."

"Make it twenty, Sette." PO Calder said, with anxiety obvious in his voice.

The four remaining Tokyo officers did exactly that, pressing forward from their position, drawing Herald fire and refusing to give another inch of corridor. It bought the flanking teams the seconds they needed. Cpl. Sette's team came hard from the left, Calder's from the right, phaser fire converging from both angles simultaneously. The Heralds caught it immediately — heads swiveling between three directions of fire, their staffs swinging wide trying to cover too much ground at once.

Just as their formation began to fall apart, two of the Heralds drove forward rather than back, crashing directly into the Tokyo security line rather than stand in the crossfire. One Tokyo officer went down hard under the impact, but Crewman Thessik from Alpha team was already moving, dropping his rifle and driving a shoulder into the Herald's midsection before it could bring the staff around, wrestling it bodily into the bulkhead.

The Herald was stronger than it looked. It pivoted, throwing Thessik off balance and driving him into the opposite wall, one massive hand closing around his throat. Thessik's rifle clattered to the deck somewhere in the struggle, out of reach. His free hand scrabbled along the bulkhead behind him, fingers closing around a loose conduit coupling that had been blown free by earlier weapons fire. He swung it hard — once, twice — the second impact dropping the Herald to its knees. A third swing finished it, the creature crumpling to the deck and going still.

A Graf Zeppelin Lance Corporal from Calder's team hit the second Herald from behind simultaneously, locking both arms around the creature's neck and hauling it backward off its feet. It thrashed violently, the staff discharging harmlessly into the ceiling before a Tokyo officer stepped in and drove a boot hard into its weapon arm, fracturing whatever the Herald called a limb. Two shots from the surrounding team finished it.

The remaining Heralds broke — not charging forward but pulling back hard, moving fast down the corridor away from the converging fire.

"They're running!" one of the Tokyo officers shouted, already moving. He keyed his combadge without breaking stride. "Tokyo Security to all units — we have Heralds in retreat, deck four, moving toward section seven! Anyone in the area, cut them off!" Three of his fellow officers fell in behind him, the pursuit disappearing around the far corridor bend, boots hammering the deck.

PO Calder watched them go, then turned back to his own team. "Let them chase. That's their ship." he said as he gestured toward Cpl. Sette. "The rest of us will hold here. Nobody gets near that Sickbay door until we know who's on the other side of it."

His team spread out without needing to be told twice, covering the corridor approaches from both directions, rifles up. Crewman Thessik took position nearest the sealed door, still holding the conduit coupling, not yet ready to put it down.

PO Calder moved to the door panel and pressed his combadge. "Petty Officer Calder to Sickbay — Graf Zeppelin Security outside your door. Heralds on this deck have been cleared for now. You're safe to open up."

[USS Tokyo - Sickbay]

With Amu still on the floor, unable to respond due to emotional overload. Yoshika, who had rushed away from Aria once more and more injured started entering answered the comm call. She tapped her comm badge.

"This is petty officer Miyafuji. Sickbay doors are sealed on our side." She replied. "We'll attempt to unseal the doors shortly, we're a little busy here with injured. Request that you stand guard until we can unlock the doors."

"Understood, Petty Officer Miyafuji. Take your time — we're not going anywhere." PO Calder pressed his back to the wall beside the door, rifle across his chest. "Sette, Thessik — we hold this position until Sickbay gives us the all clear or we get new orders. Nobody comes down this corridor without answering for it first."
Both men nodded, repositioning without a word.

PO Calder tapped his combadge. =/\= "Calder to Alpha — deck four is secure, Sickbay's intact. Medical staff appears to be alive, but doors are still sealed from the inside, they're working on opening up. We're standing guard until further notice." A short pause. "Tokyo Security went after the fleeing Heralds — haven't heard back yet." he reported back to his Team Leader.

Posting by:


Lieutenant Commander Talia Johnson
Chief Counsellor
USS Tokyo

Captain Yuri Nakamura
Commanding Officer
USS Broadsword

Captain Minori Kushieda
Commanding Officer
USS Armitage

Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D.
Flight Deck Chief Medic
USS Tokyo

Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji
Nurse
USS Tokyo

Captain Loid Forger
Commanding Officer
USS Graf Zepplin
Played by Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek

USS Graf Zepplin Security Forces
Played by Lieutenant Jaded Yuvek

 

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