Command Recertification - Lt. Aurora Vali pt 2
Posted on Fri Jul 16th, 2021 @ 9:23pm by Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Remal Kajun
Mission:
Gamma Quadrant
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Recertification Week
-snip- "The Icarus is hailing us, they have crew and Starfleet Ambassadors trapped by the plasma fire... they can't extinguish the fire and we can't beam through it." Ops announced in a tense voice. Things were about to get tricky. -snip-
Aurora turned looking towards the holo-Savar, there was a brief pause before she spoke. “Commander... assemble an away team, get those people out of there!” As much as she knew this was a simulation her heart was pounding at the realism of the situation and the realization of what could one day happen to her husband.
Savar nodded at his orders and left the bridge to assemble an away team to go aboard the Icarus.
The Captain watched on, her hands on the controls anticipating Aurora's next move. If she sent Savar onto the transport ship, there would only be a marginal chance in success.
They had an enemy to deal with. A freighter with survivors and a volatile situation on board. This was the sort of scenario that could bring even the most well-trained Captain to their knees, particularly when you include someone close to you. Remal could only watch and take notes, wishing he could help his friends.
Aurora watched holo Savar go fighting back the urge to shed tears knowing the danger she was sending her beloved into. “Status on the enemy ships..”
A moment passed as the tactical officer scanned the energy ship again "their weapons are charged, shields look to be holding."
“Damn!” Aurora paused. “Find me a chink in their armour, a weak spot, anything! When you do target it and open fire!”
"Yes Ma'am" the tactical officer reported, making some deft control adjustments "transporter room 1 signals ready, did you want to beam them over then engaged the enemy?"
Aurora nodded. “Do it, I want a lock kept on our people at all times.” She could only hope.
"Aye" The tactical officers fingers danced on the console. "Dropping shields, transport in progress, raising shields, firing weapons" phasers lanced from the Sunfire's weapons arrays, provoking the beast.
“Keep them busy long enough for our people to get out of there!” Aurora looked at the viewscreen. “When they’re ready for transport I want an opening in our shields just big enough to be them through, preferably at a point our enemies can’t exploit.”
"Yes Ma'am, firing phasers" the Tactical officer replied as the Sunfire ducked and weaved, attempting to protect the transport ship as much as possible.
Aurora could only hang on, she hit the comms. “Commander... Savar! Do you have the passengers?”
Savar's voice crackled through the comm. "Regrettably not all of them. One of the Ambassadors is trapped under a section of bulkhead. I am attempting to rescue him."
“Understood keep me appraised of your situation Commander.”
Aurora looked at the viewscreen as sparks flew from some of the bridge consoles.
"I shall do so." Savar replied as he closed the comlink and returned to the task of freeing the Ambassador.
The alien vessel ampped up the attack, refocusing its weapons on the transport ship and sending its core to critical.
"Ma'am, transport's core is about to breach!" the Ops officer shouted over the din of weapons fire.
Aurora looked towards the Ops station. “Get a lock on everyone over there and transport them out!”
At that moment the alien vessel sensed victory within its grasp. The transport's core was breaching, now it just had to finish off the Starfleet vessel. Retargetting the Sunfire the alien's unleashed a barrage that shook the bridge.
" Unable to drop the shields under this kind of weapon's fire" Tactical announced.
Aurora paused for a moment, “We have no choice! Target the alien ship and open fire, then drop the shields and get them out of there!”
The tactical officer nodded, no words were needed. The Sunfire fired their weapons, desperate to save the away team stranded on the failing transport ship.
"Core is breaching!" Ops shouted again, and the transport ship was enveloped in a huge explosion, the shockwave sending both the alien vessel and the Sunfire spinning through space due to their close proximity.
Aurora was thrown to the floor along with others, once the ship came to a halt she got to her feet. “What’s our status!? Did we get our people back?”
The Ops officer took a moment to regain his footing and make his way back to his console. It flashed intermittently, making it hard to get a reading.
" I don't think so, Ma'am. We couldn't drop the shields to transport" He looked as though he was holding back his emotions. "I'm sorry Ma'am"
“Savar!...” Aurora froze, at that moment her heart broke in two. Even though she knew it was a simulation the realism had bypassed her rational mind and now she was consumed by emotion. Tears ran down her cheeks before they were replaced by anger. “Do we have weapons control?”
" We have minimal weapons Ma'am, we took a beating that last round" Tactical started, tapping his flickering control panel.
Aurora looked at the flickering viewscreen. “I don’t care how you do it but target that ship and open fire!”
The alien vessel rocked under the barrage, their shields weakened by the warp core explosion.
"Reading massive damage, their shields are down, weapons inoperative" Tactical sprouted.
Aurora stood seriously debating blowing the hell out of the ship before she stopped herself. “They can’t hurt us now” She looked towards the helm. “Get us out of here, take us to the nearest Starbase.”
Rhenora hit the *end simulation* button on the control panel, wiping the moisture from her eyes as she did so. Aurora had remained composed under pressure and made the right decisions despite her personal feelings.
As the holo grid changed Aurora sank to her knees, letting out the emotion she’d been holding back for the last few minutes. It didn’t help that her emotions were on a low from giving birth to Sidak. Holo Savar’s death had broken her heart.
Savar saw Aurora's outburst of emotion and knew the simulation had taken its toll on her. "Aurora, my love. It is alright. I am here. Our bond is unbroken."
Unable to bring himself to ask her questions while she was in a dire state, Remal simply walked up and offered her his hand up. "You did well." He said simply though there were many more words of encouragement he could offer, now was not really the time.
Rhenora squeezed her husband's hand, regaining her own composure as Aurora attempted to recover hers. "I'm sorry you had to go through that" Rhenora whispered, kicking herself for not pushing back against Command for these evaluations.
Aurora stood doing her best to regain her composure. Her mind sought out the comforting presence of Savar, she breathed a deep sigh of relief as she felt him as strong as ever. “It’s... okay Captain. I shouldn’t... have let the simulation affect me this way.”
"Would you like the chance to wait until tomorrow for your review questions, or do you feel you have the strength and ability to respond now?" Remal asked, a kind tone in his voice. He knew as well as she that waiting would often skew the data by allowing the subject to ponder responses ahead of time instead of being in the now. But she had been through as much as Savar, only her recent pregnancy had been difficult on her.
Aurora looked at Remal. “I... I’d like to wait if that’s alright?” She knew it was unusual but right now her mind wasn’t clear.
He nodded, "Fair enough. Tomorrow morning though, bright and early, okay." Then he spoke to the computer, "Computer, end this thing, please." To which the computer did and the doors to the arch parted. "Now, go home to your husband and tell him how well you did, maybe leave out the part where you had to send him to his death. Or not, your choice." He smiled and offered for her to leave first.
{TBC}
