Counting Down To Oblivion (Part 1)

Posted on Tue Mar 25th, 2025 @ 2:23pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Jennifer Daxer & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant Talia Johnson & Lieutenant Dr. Eli Ellis M.D. & Lieutenant JG Nezuko
Edited on on Tue Mar 25th, 2025 @ 2:23pm

1,646 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Andromeda
Location: USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)- Briefing Toom
Timeline: About six hours after "Where Are We?"

Taiga sat in her ready room staring out at the view. Their most recent scans indicated that not only were they in the Andromeda galaxy, but also they were in what seemed to be a Dyson Sphere. The source of the Omega Molecule had been detected at several sources on the 'ground' of the Dyson Sphere itself, which put Taiga in an awkward situation.

Finally she tapped her comm badge. "Aisaka to all senior staff. Report to the briefing room immediately."

(Briefing room)

Intel, for their part, had their work cut out for them, for not only did they still have to write up a report regarding their latest ordeal with the Elachi, but now they had to contend with the fact that they were stranded in a Dyson Sphere some 2-and-a-half million light years from home. And if that somehow wasn't already enough of a logistical headache, their subsequent efforts to research the Dyson Sphere with everything they had on file was surprisingly unhelpful, for while there were a few concepts regarding what actually constituted a Dyson Sphere, it quickly became apparent that the definition itself was both broad and vague; so varied were the documented examples in both form and function that it was difficult- if not impossible- to accurately apply any of the data they had gathered from one Dyson Sphere to the next.

In short- they were going into this blind; they could speculate as to what this particular Dyson Sphere did all the live long day, but until they did some more research, there was hardly anything here that they could say with absolute certainty, save for a few small details that weren't of any real use to the crew in this particular situation.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Chisasto was somewhat exhausted after five-and-a-half hours of scouring records for very little in the way of payoff, but as she eventually stumbled into the briefing room, yearning for a sonic shower and a nice long nap, she was surprised to find that she was somehow the first one here; She would've thought for sure that at least Captain Aisaka and Major Shimada would be waiting for her. But apparently, that wasn't the case and everyone was running late. Not surprising, considering what they'd just been through.

Stealing a quick glance around the empty room, she ducked over to the replicator and made herself a bottle of Ramune. Sure, it was kind of childish to be craving Ramune at a time like this, but so far as Chisato was concerned, she had a long day, and she deserved to treat herself to something nice.

Daxer walked in next. She ordered a mint tea from the replicator, and picked a spot to sit. "Commander." She said in greeting to Chisato. Being a civilian, she ordinarily wouldn't sit in on a senior staff briefing, but her participation and orders put her in a rather unique position. As she sipped her tea, it was easy to see that the long hours were wearing on her too.

Chisato glanced up from her Ramune. Come to think of it, these past few days had been so busy that she hadn't really had the opportunity to speak with their mission advisor; word of mouth was that she had some history with Captain Aisaka, but because they been so focused on the mission at hand, she hadn't really had the chance to ask.

"Daxer, I believe it was?" she began, attempting to strike up some small talk while they waited for the others to arrive.

"That's right." Jen replied as she subtly studied the woman. Before coming aboard, she'd done her homework, memorizing the starfleet jackets of the ship's command crew, and department heads. Being an Intelligence officer, Daxer hadn't been able to get much... typical. "And you're Nishikigi, the new Intelligence Chief."

"Well... new-ish," Chisato grinned. "I mean, I've been here long enough now that I know where I can grab myself some Haliian Batoya Cake if ever I'm feeling the urge... oh, come to think of it, have you tried the Batoya Cake? Doctor Febin- may he rest in peace- he got me hooked on it a few months ago, and it's simply to die for- plus you actually lose weight eating it, so there's no shame in the calories either!"

"I'm not exactly a cake person, Commander." Jen said, giving the woman a raised eyebrow. She pushed the hair on one side exposing her ear, the Vulcan point making her next statement pretty obvious. "They are generally too sweet for my taste."

Perhaps not surprisingly, Chisato was keen to observe the gesture.

"So, uh... you're a Vulcan, then?" She remarked. "Not that it has anything to do with a dislike of cake, of course; just that you didn't necessarily strike me as the Vulcan type based on what happened back at the nursery... oh, not that that's necessarily a bad thing either, considering Captain Beurling doesn't exactly conform to the Vulcan way of thinking either..."

"It's true that I 'm not exactly your typical Vulcan, but I do observe some facets of my culture." Jen replied without hesitation. "Sweets are not a Human indulgence that I have any interest in."

"Nah, it's not for everyone, even some humans," Chisato assured her. "Say, uh... if I'm allowed to ask, word of mouth around here is that you and Captain Aisaka go a ways back. I mean, this was probably before I came into the picture, so provided it's any of my business to be asking..."

"I used to be her Executive Officer." Daxer explained giving her a light smirk. "I was manning the tactical station on the bridge, when the Tokyo first encountered the Elachi."

Chisato's eyes widened. "Whoa... you were her XO?" she gasped. "Why'd you leave?"

"That's... complicated." The Vulcan woman replied before taking a sip of her tea. She looked up at Chisato and decided to elaborate at least a bit, but also wanting to keep the details quiet as they should be. "Let's just say that our first run-in with the Elachi had results that didn't sit well with me... Including a covert attempt on my life."

"Wow..." Chisato muttered. "It would seem as if this rabbit hole runs a lot deeper than I first thought..."

Talia had returned to her quarters long enough to change into a fresh uniform before she headed for the briefing room. Walking in she offered a polite smile to Chisato and Daxer, obviously preoccupied with the fact that Thomas was still missing. Getting herself a drink she took a seat.

Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek entered the room and saw that several officers had already arrived before him.

". . .cloak and dagger bullshit. . ." He muttered under his breathe in a frustrated tone as he found a seat and sat in it. All of this was reminiscent of the stories his father would tell him about the famed Obsidian Order that once existed within the Cardassian Union.

Once again the ship found itself loss in the middle of nowhere without any assistance or time to send an emergency beacon back to Starfleet. For all they knew, the Tokyo had been dispatched on a mission and. . .simply never reported back. They wouldn't even know where to send a search party.

Nezuko followed closely behind Yuvek and took a seat next to him, not bothering with a drink. The Captain seemed anxious for them all to discuss something, and it had her on edge.

Chiyo, for her part, had been wrapped up in the manual head count. Once it was complete, and all aboard had been accounted for, Chiyo arrived to find that she was among the last to arrive, but not the last, as there were still open seats at the table.

Sliding into one of the few remaining seats, Chiyo let out a heavy sigh as she sat down. It was clear that the near nonstop action of the past few day cycles were taking their toll on the marine commander, as her usual pale complexion seemed especially colorless as she sipped from her tall mug of coffee emblazoned with the image of a cartoon beaver and the name of a convenience store chain prominent in the American south.

Eli had been sitting down near the end of the table for sometime, scribbling notes and diagrams on a PADD. He looks up once then resumes his work.

"Say, Doc," Chisato inquired, turning to Eli. "Any word yet on the compound that they managed to extract from Doctor Hinamori's baby?"

He didn't get chance to respond as the doors of the briefing room opened and Taiga entered the room. She was holding a large mug of coffee and had visible bags under her eyes. She immediately made her way to the head of the table. She waved an arm to set the senior staff at ease. "Take it easy people," she said to them all.

"Welp, no need to ask me twice..." Chisato sighed as she resumed her seat.

Chiyo simply nodded as she resumed her seat.

Taiga took a long sip of her coffee. Then reached out and tapped on the control panel inset into the table. A notice click came from the doors sealing them all inside. "What is discussed in this room today stays in this room. You are not to discuss anything about this meeting with your department or anyone else. You will not discuss any of this amongst yourselves either. Consider this an order. If you disobey this order, have intentions of breaking this order or not following it then make your own way to the ships brig now..."

To be continued...

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