Broken Past

Posted on 13 Dec 2015 @ 7:33am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell
Edited on 15 Dec 2015 @ 5:50am

2,557 words; about a 13 minute read

You felt no lasting emotions after that? Fear, regret, anger?

....he was going to kill others. I did what I had to do.

Location: USS Ohio, NCC 77619
Timeline: August 4th, 2388 - 17:00 hrs

[ON]

"Course holding, parallel to RNZ," the helm officer Eversman reported, voice low with exhaustion.

At the con, Captain Alex Del Rio gave the next order: "Understood helm, maintain course and heading. Tactical, report."

"Approaching relief fleet zero five. IFF reports seven friendly contacts. No hostiles," came the report from tactical, Lieutenant Ryder.

It takes many people to run a Starship. The helm keeps the ship moving in the right direction. Tactical keeps the weapons armed and the sensors online. Engineering makes the ship move. Medical heals the wounded. Above all, the Captain stands tall and makes the command decisions.

And standing behind all of them, next to the port side Turbolift, was one low ranking Security officer, who did none of that. Chief Warrant Officer Greg Mitchell stood at parade rest, back against the wall, watching and waiting....

...and dozing. Dear Heavens, when is this going to be over? he thought to himself. Now a little ways into his second half of the twelve hour shift he was working. Mitchell struggled to stay awake, hoping that at any moment he could be relieved to go patrol the rest of the ship, or get some coffee...or a glass of water...or ANYTHING to stay awake.

It had been a year since the destruction of Romulus, the loss of Ambassador Spock, and the beginning of the flood of refugees looking for safety. In that time, Starfleet ordered many relief ships and patrol vessels to the Romulan Neutral Zone to organize evacuation, medical care, and protection of any who sought asylum in the safety of the Federation. It was strange to Greg. Only a few years before, he read how the USS Enterprise-E had defeated a Human/Reman commander who was trying to destroy Earth. In doing so, they had secured the beginnings of an alliance with the Romulan Empire.

Between the work done by the Enterprise and the work being done by Vulcan Ambassador Spock, who had gotten in contact with Romulan rebels who wanted peace, it seemed there was going to be a repeat of the Federation/Klingon alliance, formed over 100 years ago at Camp Khitomer. The Undiscovered Country...the future.

And then the star exploded. Destroying Romulus, effectively ending any good plans between the two governments for the time being. Now the USS Ohio, and many ships like her, had one job. Keep the peace at the border until order could be re-established.

All these things were important. Greg knew this. He had to admit, he had a grudge against the Romulan Empire after the many stunts they pulled against the Federation. But not against the people. The women, children, people who wanted nothing but a peaceful life. Every night, he prayed. He prayed for the safety of these people. He wanted them to get through this. To survive. Greg knew how important it was to get them that relief.

But right now all he could think about was STAYING AWAKE!

"Greg..."

Mitchell opened his eyes. To his left, another security officer Ted Bronson had elbowed him, "What?"

"You were dosing." Ted flashed a sympathetic smile. "Just four more hours. Then you can sleep all you want."

"Yah...great. A nice, warm bed." Greg replied back.

"Did you even get any sleep last night?" Ted asked.

"Not at all. It's been a full on work increase since we got here." Greg stifled a yawn, "Between thinking of work and thinking of the civilians. It's just been a hectic few months."

"I hear ya." Ted responded.

Lt. Ryder spoke up, "CON, tactical. Approaching relief fleet COMM range, sir."

"Understood Lieutenant. Hail the lead ship, USS Mercy." Ordered the Captain.

In a moment the face of another Captain, much younger and obviously not a combat vet, appeared on screen.

"Captain Evans. Captain Del Rio of the USS Ohio. We're passing through, thought we would check up on you."

"Captain Del Rio. Good to hear from you." Captain Evans responded with a smile, "Nothing big to report. But we've had a massive influx of damaged and refugee vessels. Transports, cargo ships. A few of those huge, squid shaped mining vessels. We are taking any wounded they want to give, but we may have to turn back by tomorrow. All three of our vessels are almost too capacity and the escorts are too small for effective transportation."

Del Rio thought for a minute. "Stand by, Captain." He turned to the first officer, Commander Jennifer Sanders. "What is medical's current situation? How long can till they have a temporary med bay set up in some of the cargo bays?"

"I'll check sir." Responded Commander Sanders.

"Captain Evans. We have been considering turning our empty cargo bays into temp medical centers in case things get too rough." Del Rio said back to the viewscreen.

Evans looked both shocked and relieved. "I can't ask you to do that sir. We're designed for this, but we just didn't expect the massive amount of people."

"It's no issue. We all have to all pull a little extra weight around here due to these circumstances." Del Rio responded.

Tell me about it. thought Greg, eyes slowly closing again before snapping out of it.

"We will get back to you when we are ready to relieve you." Del Rio explained.

"Thank you sir," came the reply from Captain Evans.

"No problem, Ohio out." Del Rio ended the conversation, "Tactical, hail lead escort, USS Wayne.

"Aye sir." Ryder responded.

The viewscreen flicked back on. This time on the bridge of a Defiant class vessel. On board was Commander Andrew Sampson commanding. "Captain Sampson, Captain Del Rio, USS Ohio. We will be relieving you shortly until the next relief fleet can get here. Get in contact with USS Mercy in order to coordinate your departure. Has there been any issue lately?"

"No contacts that we have seen sir. Friendly or otherwise until you showed up. It's like there has been a lax in incoming traffic."

"Surely not. There are probably more coming, they just haven't got here yet...." Del Rio began.

"CON, Tactical. I have a contact bearing 2-4-0 from our POS." stated Ryder suddenly.

"Description?" Del Rio asked.

"Unknown sir. It seems to be hovering. No contact made to us."

"Contact them." the Captain ordered.

"Stand by...." Ryder typed in the command, "No response sir."

Del Rio returned to the viewscreen. "Commander, put the fleet on Yellow Alert. Shields up."

"Aye sir" Commander Sampson replied. The viewscreen cut.

"Tactical, shields up. Helm, all ahead full." Del Rio ordered.

Greg was wide awake now. Surprisingly, given the events of recent, the LAST thing he expected at the Neutral Zone was an issue. But he knew better than to let his guard down.

The Ohio began its movement to the oncoming contact. Ryder was busy at the console, checking sensors in all directions for hostile contacts. Greg observed as the bridge crew moved around to their stations, manning the consoles that operated the vessel. All the while, he and Ted remained at their posts.

"Well, this is sure to keep us awake. You sure you don't want to doze a little more before we get there?", Ted jokingly asked Greg.

"Shut up." Greg joked back to him, stifling a chuckle.

The Ohio made a slight turn to Port as it approached the contact.

"Approaching object now sir." Eversman reported from helm.

"Sir, I have the contact. Scanning now." Ryder reported. He tapped a couple more buttons on the helm and the Ohio scanned the object that was growing bigger on the viewscreen. "Scan complete...what the hell?"

"What?" asked the Captain.

"The contact, sir. It's...just a probe." Ryder replied.

"A what?"

"Yes sir. Definitely a probe. Origin...sir, it's Romulan." Ryder explained.

"Why would a Romulan..." Del Rio barely got the statement out when an alarm went off. "Report!"

"Explosion off stern sir. USS Cagney is gone." Ryder reported.

Greg stood straighter, heart beginning to race. To his left, he saw Ted with his mouth hanging down.

"What do you mean gone? What caused it?" Del Rio asked.

"Stand by......sir, enemy contact. I hold one Romulan Warbird just off the fleet." Ryder reported back.

"Contact the fleet. Tell them..." Del Rio began.

"Sir! The Warbird just hit the USS Cooper. It didn't have it's shields up yet." Ryder looked shocked, "It's been destroyed."

Greg took a step forward, hoping, willing the Captain to make the next move. Fortunately, he did.

"Helm, hard to port! All engines full astern." Del Rio ordered.

"Aye sir!" said Eversman.

"Red Alert, shields up. Give me all weapons. Open tubes one and two." Del Rio ordered.

The lights on the bridge went red as the alarms went off. The screens of some of the bridge panels flashed. Ohio turned hard to port and began its movement back to the relief fleet. As the ship turned, the viewscreen showed the fleet. Two flaming wrecks were out front while remainder of the fleet was turning to leave.

"Hail the Wayne, now!" The Captain ordered. The viewscreen popped the image of the USS Wayne back up, this time with the red alert lights going off behind them.

"Ohio, this is Wayne. We have hostile contact, Cooper and Cagney are gone. Requesting permission to engage hostile." The Commander asked.

"Greenlight, Wayne, lock on target and engage. Cover the hospital ship's retreat." Del Rio ordered.

"Copy that. Tactical, ready weapons. USS Gable, follow me. Weapons free, weapons free." The viewscreen went back to the view of the fleet, while the two Defiant vessels began engaging the Warbird.

Greg saw on screen the vessels opening fire. The Warbird's weapons fired back. However, the Warbird appeared to have rammed the Cagney when it first arrived, probably as a sneak attack. The enemy's weapons were not as powerful as usual. It was a standoff. One that could only be broken by the arrival of a Sovereign class vessel.

The hospital ships made their way away from the Warbird, but the contact cloaked and made a sharp turn before disappearing, dodging the Defiant ships. Greg watched the screen closely following every move. He was looking for the Warbird, waiting for it to pop its ugly face right outside the ship.

It reappeared. But not where he expected. The vessel decloaked in front of the escaping hospital ships. It fired on the lead vessel, penetrating the shields and taking it out.

"No, no, no...." Greg mumbled, stepping forward gain, before Ted grabbed him and pulled him back. Over the open comms, they could hear the escorts communication.

"Contact on stern. Evade! Evade! Re engage and open fire." The Defiant ships turned and began firing on the Warbird. The enemy ship fired again, taking out a second hospital vessel.

"Are we in weapons range yet?" Del Rio asked.

"Negative sir. Contact still out of range, but we are closing fast." Ryder responded.

"Come on, come on." Del Rio mumbled.

"Sir." Sanders tried to calm him down.

"If we stall any longer, they all die. Get us there, now!" The Captain ordered.

The Ohio moved closer. The Warbird got one final shot off before re cloaking to avoid the escorts. The shot hit the USS Mercy and damaged her badly.

"Damn it. Keep your eyes open. It could pop up anywhere." The Captain ordered.

"Mercy's hit! Mercy's hit. Contact gone again. Did anyone see where the Warbird went?" The Wayne asked over the comms.

In an instant, the Warbird reappeared far to port attempting one last run on the vessels.

"CON, Tactical, we are in weapons range. I have a firing solution on the Warbird." Ryder yelled.

"Lock?" Del Rio asked.

"No sir. Not yet." Ryder responded.

"We don't have any time. Go to manual on the arming mechanism, torpedoes one through four." The captain ordered.

Greg's heart was beating a mile a minute. So many emotions washed over him. Fear, anger, regret. The Warbird had to die. And he was about to see it happen.

"Torpedoes ready sir!" Ryder responded.

"Snapshot, torpedoes one through four." Del Rio ordered.

"Snapshot, torpedoes away, bearing 0-7-0, 0-7-4."

The screen showed four blue quantum torpedoes leave the ship and race to the Warbird.

"Helm, hard starboard." the Captain ordered.

"Hard starboard, aye sir!" Eversman responded. The Ohio tilted to the right as it moved away from the Warbird.

Ryder watched as the torpedoes got in range. "898, 899. 900 meters sir! Torpedoes are armed."

Greg saw the torpedoes change direction, right for the Warbird.

"Con, tactical. We're locked on the Warbird!" Ryder yelled.

The next few seconds were a blur. The torpedoes homed in on the Warbird. Before she could take evasive action, the torpedoes penetrated the already weak shields and slammed into the hull at four different points, pushing the ship off course.

"Direct hit sir!" Ryder yelled, barely holding in his joy.

Greg even managed to crack a smile. The comms channel lit up as the Defiant ships noticed the hit.

"Direct hit, direct hit. Warbird is limping. Shields are down. Lock on all weapons, FIRE AT WILL!"

The Defiant vessels moved in and fired full weapons, striking the spots on the Warbird that weren't in flame. After a few passes, the ships broke off attack.

"Sir, the Warbird's core is going critical!" Ryder yelled.

"Brace for impact." Del Rio ordered.

The Warbird went up in a massive, blinding fireball. The resulting shockwave went out in a sphere. Both Defiant vessels outran it before it weakened and by the time it hit the Ohio, it was like a small thump. The bridge crew let out a cheer. Even Greg and Ted were visibly pleased at the outcome. But the Captain put a quick end to that.

"Status report?"

"Sir, no damage to us, the Wayne, or the Gable. USS Care and USS Covenant are gone. USS Mercy badly damaged and leaking atmosphere." Ryder yelled back.

"Contact them and prep for evacuation of all personnel." Del Rio ordered.

"Aye sir." responded Ryder.

The viewscreen snapped back on, this time with a bloodied Captain Evans, with visible signs of damage around him.

"Captain Evans, give me a SITREP." Del Rio ordered.

"Captain Del Rio.....massive damage.....we are leaking atmosphere, but the Warp Core is still stable. Massive casualties reported on all decks....I'm sorry sir." Evans gasped for breath while explaining the situation.

"Don't worry about it Captain. You had no idea they were coming." Del Rio responded.

Sanders spoke up." Captain, med teams report Cargo Bays one and two ready for casualties.

For the first time since the chaos started, Captain Del Rio acknowledged the presence of Ted and Greg.

"You two, get down to Cargo Bay one and secure it. I'll send a few others your way, the rest will go to Bay two."

"Aye sir!" Both Greg and Ted responded.

As both men turned to leave the bridge, Greg heard the Captain attempting to re-assure Captain Evans.

"Don't worry Captain. Send over your wounded. We'll take care of them here."

To be continued...

[OFF]

CWO2 Greg Mitchell
Security Officer
USS Ohio

Tags: Romulan Neutral Zone, Ohio

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