Silent Running

Posted on Mon Aug 24th, 2020 @ 10:33am by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis & Lieutenant Commander Estella Stratton

Mission: Tal Shiar
Location: USS Washington

Shran sat on the bridge, deep in thought as he considered all that was going on. It was obvious he didn't like not being with the teams on the surface, but regulations had to be followed. Ayana was at tactical, keeping everything under her watch. She wasn't psychic or empathic, but she could tell Shran was tense. Every senior officer was on the surface except for the captain and Estella. Ayana looked around quickly and noticed the counselor wasn't on the bridge. She wondered why, though it wasn't entirely unheard of honestly.

When the two teams had been beamed off the Washington, the counselor had taken some time for reflection and prayer before returning to the bridge. While not the most devout of Catholics, Estella had been more diligent since John's return from the previous mission. She'd meant what she'd said to the Captain, that she'd be of a sound mind when going into this mission and the threat of the Tal Shiar.

Shran got up and began pacing the bridge, looking over the shoulders at the various consoles while officers maintained their stations. They were essentially on and wait and see, silent running. It made Shran feel helpless, and that was something Shran had rarely felt.

Her ghosts buried again, Estella came onto the bridge with much of the same somberness of her fellow officers. Taking her usual appointed space, she sat composed. Her heart though was no less heavy. Then, she imagined they all carried an unseen weight.

Suddenly the red alert klaxons sounded. Shran looked at Ayana for an explanation. Ayana looked up from her station, "Romulan Norexan class warbirds decloaking, one directly aft, the other forward starboard."

Shran sat once more, considering the situation. They no longer had the element of surprise. "Jam any signals to the planet. Are they hailing us?"

"No sir. They are targeting us. We are ready to do battle."

Shran looked at Estella momentarily. If they fought, they had to fight to win. Losing wasn't an option. The away teams needed them to bring them back, and soon. "Target both vessels. Emergency power to shields and structural integrity."

The counselor's expression was empty, all but the slightest twitch in her right eyebrow. The announcement of the presence of a Romulan warbird should have surprised her, but it didn't. Of course they'd be targeted. Given Romulan's calculative nature, this had been an elaborately set trap. The question was, to what end? Because cruel as the Romulans were, there was always a purpose, a method to their madness.

"They are hailing us" said Ayana.

"Shran did his best to hide his emotions. "On screen."

The viewscreen came to life, a single female Romulan pictured. "I am Commander T'Rul of the Tal Shiar. You have been found in Romulan space. You are surrounded, surrender or you will be destroyed."

Shran folded his hands into his lap. "I'm not in Romulan space Commander. This is unclaimed space. We were about to leave before your ships appeared. I suggest we deescalate this before you get hurt Commander."

T'Rul looked perturbed with Shran's brazenness. "You Federation commanders think you are untouchable. I have seen first hand that that is not true. Surrender your ship or we will fire."

Shran smiled. "You sure do bluster, but you can't back it up. I know you Commander. Captain Sisko told me all about you. He wasn't impressed, and I'm not either. You ready to fight? I doubt it would be easily explained if you did manage to destroy us. You'd even risk war, and we both know you are in no position to start a war, not here, not now."

T'Rul looked irate now. "Your arrogance will be your destruction." The view screen went black.

Suddenly the ship rocked. "They have opened fire with their disruptors. Shields at 90% sir" said Ayana. Suddenly the Ops console exploded, the ensign sitting at the station knocked to the ground.

"Aft torpedoes, full spread. Phasers forward, disable T'Rul's vessel." Shran looked at Estella, "take over at Ops counselor."

Estella's fingers curled in the arm of her seat as the Washington was hailed by one of the Romulan vessels and a female Romulan's image filled he screen. T'Rul's crisp words, similar to ones she'd heard years before by an equally arrogant and ruthless commander.

"With pleasure," the counselor whispered as she began to do what she could to get the station operational again. Her first objective was to make sure that their shields held and that their weapons along with transport were fully operational. Much as she would love nothing more than to blast holes in the warbirds and give them a semblance to swiss cheese, she had a crew to think of.

The aft warbird exploded in a brilliant glow mere seconds after the torpedoes impact. The forward warbird began moving away as the phaser borage pounded it. "Continue firing phasers Ayana. Ready forward photons" said Shran, his demeanor now in full battle mode.

Medics came and attended to the injured on the bridge as the ship continued to engage in combat. The ship rocked as it was hit again by the Romulan disruptor fire. Then the Washington returned the favor, firing and connecting with another borage of phaser blasts. The Romulan vessel seemed to lurch and spin slightly.

"They are dead in space sir. They won't even have life support in 10 minutes" said Ayana at tactical.

Shran nodded. "Get damage repair teams moving." He looked at Estella, "How do things look from Ops?"

"Shields holding at 80%," Estella answered, her voice even. The barrage of fire had lowered their shield capacity and she wasn't going to have them sitting there as an open target. Brows creasing, the counselor shifted her focus to getting their weapons online and them up to speed to get transporters online.

"Reestablish transporters as quickly as possible. I don't want the away teams stranded. I'm sure you'd like for Jon and the others to be able to return as soon as possible, as would I. Make those transporters the priority. Leave the tactical items to Ayana, she can handle it." He looked at Estella who had a look of determination about her. He knew she was dealing with so much at this moment, and he was proud of her for holding it together, even if he couldn't tell her or show it at this particular moment.

With the Romulans dealt with they could only wait for the away teams to signal back to them. Shran hoped things were going better for the away teams than they were for them. He really didn't want to go into Phase 2 unless it was absolutely necessary.