Drums of War (Part 1)

ORIGINAL WRITING This page was originally published elsewhere as part of a joint sim or fleet effort. It has been duplicated here for posterity.

Characters:	Commodore Zachary O’Connell
Location:	Starbase Unity
Date:	August 3, 2388
Author:	Greenfelt22
Template:Post

Zach leaned against the doorframe to his bedroom aboard Starbase Unity as he looked inside the dim room. Since the baby came, Zach had used his executive privilege to keep his wife, Jillian, closeby.

Were they more adequately staffed in the Gamma Quadrant, she’d be able to take a proper maternity leave. While there were plenty of engineers, scientists and security, Command-grade officers were in short supply. The day she’d traded her engineering gold for command red, Zach knew she lost a part of her soul. They both loved the thrums of a warp core and tinkering with ship’s systems, and neither were strangers to the needs of the Task Force. It was inevitable with promotion after promotion. Eventually, you were either expected to command, or retire.

Retirement was not an option for either. At least, not yet. As he stood in the doorway, Zach watched his wife sleep upright in the rocking chair they’d put beside the bed. His son laid against her robed body, sleeping just as peacefully as his mother. He smiled, just watching them slumber, enjoying a moment of peace in the midst of the storm.

Right now, it didn’t matter that it was the start of a shift, or that he was about to be late for his rounds. It mattered that since the O’Carroll returned to port that they had only spent a few waking minutes as a family. His son was his pride and joy, and now more than ever he wished there was a safe environment he could send them to. If only he could send them to Earth to live with his aunt until this storm blew over.

She’d argue that was unrealistic. The O’Carroll needed its Commanding Officer, and until then, its green Executive Officer would not even serve as a substitute. Maybe someday.

The Commodore forced himself to leave the room, otherwise he would have stood there until they awakened, whenever that would be. His first stop before making his rounds would be his office on the Administrative Level. Reports piled in by the hour, and he always found a nice stack waiting for him. When he made his rounds, he always found it beneficial to possess an awareness of each department’s needs and concerns. In fact, he often found that it not only sped up the process, but made his interaction with the senior officers more effective.

This morning, Zachary could immediately tell something was wrong. It was rare, in his experience, for someone to be waiting for him. For the station’s Chief of Strategic Operations, Commander Gwendolyn Kane, to be the individual waiting for him, only made him more fearful.

Zach went straight to the replicator after entering the office, barely acknowledging her standing beside a vintage reproduction of Zephram Cochrane’s first design for the Phoenix’s warp drive. “Can I get you something?”

“Coffee would be nice,” she said, not looking away from the framed poster hanging on the wall.

The replicator produced two mugs of the black elixir. Zach rarely asked the replicator to sweeten it for him as tailoring coffee to his particular taste was an art better left out of the machine’s care. Of course, the senior staff knew Zach kept a station in his office for that unique purpose, and he always allowed them to use it whenever they came to see him. In fact, he knew it was one of the reasons why Gwen preferred to meet with the Commodore in his office. She had a reputation for making her fellow officers come to her.

True to form, the moment she accepted her mug from the flag officer, she set it down at the station (located conveniently under the poster) and began to customize her drink.

“So what is the Consortium up to today?” Zachary asked, electing to move straight to his desk and sipping his untainted coffee. This had to be serious enough for her to warrant an early visit. In fact, he noticed she’d already laid out a PADD for him to see.

“The sensor network began tracking some unusual movement late last night,” she said, finishing her sweetening and taking a chair in front of the desk. “As you know, the Consortium has been operating on a four-front initiative, concentrating the bulk of their forces at DS Eleven and the wormhole while elements hunt down loyal ships we haven’t been able to reach and stand guard at Gavara to watch us here at Unity.”

Zach knew that all too well and waited for her to continue.

“Last night, that all changed,” Gwen stated. “We’ve been monitoring the wolfpack, the ships that were hunting down our own. Several have been redirected to Gavara, including the Tinanmen, Hamilton, and Hastings.”

The Commodore lowered his mug as he recalled what the Excalibur- and Akira-class ships had been up to. He was also aware that both Akiras were carrier vessels, fully armed to the teeth. The very fact that they’d been unsuccessful in stopping loyal ships gave him a bit of reassurance, but this clearly didn’t sound good. “How many does that make?”

“Including the reinforcements en route from Eleven?” Gwen asked, highlighting something else she hadn’t mentioned yet. “Nine.”

Zach knew the forces consolidated at Unity were in higher in number, but lesser in terms of arms. Their force was composed of Science and Medical ships whereas the forces mounting at Unity were capital ships. He considered glancing at the PADD in front of him, but he had a feeling that it just contained details that expounded on what she was telling him. “When we can expect them?” he asked soberly.

She hesitated before answering. Ever since the event, they all knew this day was coming. It was inevitable and unavoidable. All they could do was get as ready as much as possible. “Based on the, uh, movements, we’re looking at a couple weeks. At most.”

Zach rose from his chair, picking up the mug of coffee as he did. He walked to the end of the desk and took a big drink of it. Time had run out, and they weren’t ready. “The… The Hadyn Nebula?”

Commander Kane knew exactly what he was asking. “It’s been four days since the Black Hawk entered, Commodore. Nothing has emerged since.”

He sighed and closed his eyes. He and Harvey knew it was a fool’s errand, trying to stop two Consortium ships from finding a fabled superweapon in that nebula. If no one had come out since then, then it was likely the three ships destroyed each other.

“At least that’s two ships we don’t have to fight,” Gwen offered, knowing it was a foolish attempt at comfort. Even she knew they stood a better chance if the Black Hawk’s fighter squadron was able to support Unity.

“And it’s one set of teeth we have to live without,” Zach confirmed, thinking along the same lines. He sighed yet again. Opening his eyes, he turned back to the Commander. “Order all ships to fall back here at Unity. We have to make a stand. And we have to find a way to contact loyal ships like the Freedom. They’re out there on their own and don’t know who to trust. Let’s get them here. We’re going to need all of the help we can get.”

Read the Next Part

Accreditation

This post was originally written by Greenfelt22 for Bravo Fleet and posted on the Bravo Fleet forums. Use of Bravo Fleet's Drums of War (Part 1) is permitted under the Creative Commons 4.0 License and has been modified to suit the story and purposes of the USS Black Hawk Star Trek Role-Playing Simulation.