Calling For Backup

Posted on Wed Jun 12th, 2024 @ 6:11am by Commander Mashiro Munetani "Shiro" & Captain Akeno Misaki
Edited on on Mon Jun 17th, 2024 @ 8:46pm

Mission: Return to Tyra
Location: USS Wayfarer Ready Room

After beaming the Jem'hadar aboard, Akeno rushed into her ready room. She slid down into her chair and held her head in her hands fora few seconds. She could feel her heart racing and her breathing speed up. The very people who had killed the remains of her family were now on her ship, and she had to find a way to deal with them. She knew it was very 'Un-Starfleet' of her, however she would be more than happy to simply push them out of an airlock and leave them to their fate. But as a Starfleet Captain she had morals and a sense of right to follow.

She clenched her fists tightly, her nails cutting into her skin slightly. Finally she let out her frustrations by slamming her fist on her deck. "Computer. Get me a priority one secure channel to Starfleet Command!"

---

[Starfleet Command - San Francisco]

In light of the devastation that had been wrought by the Dominion War, the road to recovery had been long and fraught with pot holes; several planets had been brought to the verge of socioeconomic collapse, and several more had been wiped out entirely. Earth was one of the luckier planet in this regard, but that was hardly to say that it had emerged from the conflict unscathed. Barely 12 months ago, the Breen Confederacy had launched an unprecedented attack against San Francisco, home of Starfleet Command; the attack had left upwards of two million people dead, and the greater San Francisco Bay area in ruins. It had been a major blow to Starfleet morale, and an equally major boost to the Dominion, as it formally saw the Breen Confederacy's entry into the war on the side of the Dominion.

However, if there was one thing humanity was known for, it was their resilience; in the months following the war, the citizens of San Francisco had worked around the clock to rebuild and revitalize their once-proud city from the rubble. By 2376, the damage caused by the attack had almost entirely been repaired. But even if they could bring back their back their city, they couldn't bring back those two million lives that had been lost in the attack. Sure, people continued to go about their day-to-day lives as they had been doing prior to the attack, but deep down, they knew it would never be the same as it had been before the attack.

Rear Admiral Kaoru Furushou was one such individual whose life had been drastically altered as a result of the attack. No less than a year ago, she had been a Captain in command of the USS Sarushima, ferrying supplies between the main Federation worlds of Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar; a fairly unremarkable task so far as wartime duties were concerned, but the aging Excelsior-Class vessel was at least 50 years past its prime and in no shape to be fighting on the front lines.

Then the Breen had launched their attack, and several high-ranking Admirals had been killed in one filled swoop. A major command shakeup had ensued, and before Kaoru knew what was happening, she suddenly found herself with a desk, a few dozen secretaries, and a little extra weight on her collar. And in all honesty, she wasn't one too sure what to make of it, as she had always come to believe that a position in the Admiralty was something that was earned through honor, not simply because a few good men had lost their lives in the line of duty and positions were suddenly in need of filling.

Such was the quandry that she found herself pondering at that very moment, pondering to herself where exactly she'd be if the Breen Attack had never happened and she had continued to remain in command of the Sarushima, when she received a page from one of her numerous secretaries:

"Admiral. I have an incoming priority one hail for you. Its from the Starship Wayfarer." The voice of a young woman called through the Admiral's comm badge.

Kaoru sat up and tapped her comm badge. =A=Patch it through,=A= she instructed.

"Coming through now."

Straightening her long, midnight blue hair, the Admiral sat back in her chair and watched as the tiny viewscreen rose up from her desk and flickered to life.

The screen flicked on and the image of Akeno appeared on the screen. As usual, Akeno waited for the Admiral to start as was polite to do so.

"Starship Wayfarer, this is Rear Admiral Kaoru Furushou of Starfleet Command," Kaoru began. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

"Nice to see you again Admiral..." Akeno said sheepishly. "I'm a Captain now. Akeno Misaki, from your Starfleet History class..." Akeno said. She wasn't aware that one of her old Academy teachers was now sitting in an admirals office.

Kaoru tilted her head to one side. "Um... you were in my history class? When was this again?"

"2366..." Akeno replied.

"Huh..." Kaoru pondered. "2366... Come to think of it, I guess I did teach Starfleet History that year..."

It was a short stint, right before she was given command of the Sarushima; at this point, it had been so long ago that she wouldn't have been able to put a name to any of her students, but this Misaki girl was remembering her from 10 years ago, then she had to have left some sort of impression.

Kaoru shifted her attention back to the viewscreen. "Anyways, what can I do for you, Captain?"

"We've encountered a Jem'hadar ship in the Tyra system Admiral. They seem to have been left behind after the battle here." Akeno started. "They did at first attack our ship, but we managed to evade them. However in response we..." she paused for a brief second. "Returned fire... In self defence." She paused for another brief moment.

"The Jem'hadar ship has been destroyed. However we beamed the crew aboard. Right now, we're in the process of salvage operations. But, I'm not sure what to do with the Jem'hadar." Akeno explained.

Kaoru sat there in stunned silence.

"Alright," she began, once she'd fully regained her composure. "There's a lot for me to unpack with what you said, so I'm going to try my best to make sure I'm getting the full picture. First of all, what was the Wayfarer doing in the Tyra system? That particular region of space is designated a mass war grave; you shouldn't even be there unless you have good reason to."

Akeno raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Command assigned us here Sir." she replied. "Our mission is to retrieve classified Starfleet Technology that might still be present and that we don't want to fall into the wrong hands." she looked down for a moment fighting her own emotions. "And to retrieve any... remains we find... so that we can take them to their families." She said. "The orders came from the highest up in Command sir."

"Christ, I wish the higher-ups would actually bother to tell me about these things..." Kaoru grumbled to herself. "Secondly- can you absolutely confirm that the vessel you encountered in the Tyra system was a Jem'Hadar holdout?"

"Well, they seem to think the war is still going on. Our scans showed that their warp drive was damaged beyond repair. Its what actually caused the ships destruction when we returned fire." Akeno replied. "Now we have several Jem'hadar soldiers on board, trapped on this side of the galaxy and we're several weeks from the Bajoran Wormhole."

"Approximately how many Jem'Hadar soldiers were you able to recover, Captain?" Kaoru inquired. "Did they have a Vorta Overseer with them?"

"Out of a crew of forty two, we only picked up six survivors." Akeno told her. "It seems either the rest were either killed in the battle, or did not survive. However, there is another problem." she stopped for a brief moment. "We have no 'White' on board and no way of replicating it."

"You have no whi-" Kaoru leaned forward and sighed. "So you mean to tell me that you have six Jem Hadar footsoldiers aboard your ship that are A.) still under the belief that the war is going on, and B.) essentially ticking time bombs?"

"You can see why I have a problem Admiral..." Akeno sighed. "If they Jem'hadar run out of white, according to what I've heard they'll go on a rampage. I don't want more bloodshed Admiral. We've had enough of that."

Kaoru pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Alright, then; I want you to cease all further salvage operations in the area and begin making your way back to Federation space; I'll send a ship out there to rendezvous with you, but it could take anywhere between three to four days to reach you, even at max warp."

"Thats easier said than done. I have several shuttles engaged in salvage operations." Akeno replied. "Its going to take a few hours to pull everyone back."

"This just keeps getting better and better..." Kaoru muttered. "Well, unfortunately, Captain, we're on a strict time limit before these guys go haywire, so we can't afford to dilly-dally; if they aren't back within the hour, then prepare to set off without them. I can dispatch a rescue ship to recover them, but they're the least of our concerns right now."

"I'm not leaving any of my crew.... my family behind Admiral. Once the shuttles have returned, I will set a course of out the system. But I am not leaving anyone here amongst the wreckage and bodies of their fallen comrades!" Akeno said her voice slightly more agitated and annoyed at the admirals suggestion.

Kaoru sighed. so, it seemed she was one of those Captains... of course, not like she wouldn't have done the same for the crew of the Sarushima, but time was of the essence.

"While I understand your concerns, Captain, I want you to consider the bigger picture, here; does your ship have adequate detention facilities with which to be containing these Jem Hadar foot soldiers, especially once they start running amok? Because I'll politely remind you about that whole incident with Lord Chaos a few months ago."

"If rendevouing with a Federation ship is going to take a few days, then a few hours will make no difference." Akeno said simply. "We can hold them in our brig for now. There's only six of them." She told the admiral. "However, I have to first try and convince them that we're no longer at war, and that we will take them home... You are planning on sending them home right? And will whichever ship you have on the way be able to bring us some White. Surely the Dominion left some behind after the war?"

"If possible, I will see to it that they are returned to the Gamma Quadrant," Kaoru assured her. "And we recently raided a Jem Hadar breeding facility that was located in the Vanos system, so we have a stockpile of Ketracel White that's currently awaiting destruction; I'll have the ship I'm sending to you swing over there and pick up a shipment, but that could at least another day to their ETA."

"What ship will you be sending?" Akeno asked simply.

"According to our records, the Musashi is in the best position to intercept," Kaoru reported. "Starfleet will transmit the rendezvous coordinates once we've spoken with Captain China."

"The Musashi? Moka-Chan?!" Akeno said in sudden surprise and excitement. She suddenly regained her composure. "Yes Admiral. Thankyou Admiral." She said giving her a brief smile. With the resources of a Galaxy Class starship, this situation was bound to to get much better.

"You know Captain China?" Kaoru observed.

Akeno fidgeted in her seat for a brief moment. "Yes Sir. Moka-Chan... I mean Captain China and I grew up in the same town together. She's a childhood friend... She... got me through the Academy..." Akeno explained. "Although I haven't seen her since I gained command of the Wayfarer."

"Well... I'm sure her familiarity with you will help to give an added level of precedence in this situation," Kaoru surmised. "I'd best be getting in contact with her immediately. Is there anything else you need to inform me of before I let you go."

Pondering on the question for a moment, Akeno thought briefly about informaing the admiral about Lieutenant Rommel's intelligence mission. But then thought it best to not mention it, afterall she wasn't supposed to know about it herself. "No sir."

"Very well, then," Kaoru nodded. "Best of luck to you, Captain."

Akeno gave her a polite nod before the screen shut off. She sat back in her chair and let out a sigh of relief. Now came the hard part, getting back their shuttles and then rendezvousing with the Musashi. This was going to be a long couple of days for her and the Wayfarer crew.

Posting by:

Captain Akeno Misaki
Commanding Officer

Rear Admiral Furushou
Administrator, Starfleet Command