The Mind's Shadow

Posted on Wed Jul 19th, 2017 @ 4:31pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa

Mission: S01E01 - At the Brink of Night
Location: Tellar Repair Yard
Timeline: 2255

“Xenarous! Get those phaser banks online now!” the words echoed through the Captain's mind as she tossed and turned in her bed, the sedative she had taken hours before was wearing off and it did not prevent the nightmares from latching onto her subconscious. The woman's eyes flung open as she heard the screams in her mind. She shot upward in the bed, beads of sweat across her face and the synthetic satin sheets clung against her chest. She was being haunted by the recently departed phantoms, the echoes of her last battle with the Klingons. Ensign Xenarous, her bright eyed and sometimes over zealous and quick to please Ship's Navigator had taken over the weapons controls during the battle. He had done in it before. It was nothing knew, but this time the Klingons had gotten a jump on the Musashi and had her outnumbered.

Outnumbered for certain, but not nearly outgunned. The ship was no Constitution class, but she was just about as fast, moderately more maneuverable, and packed more of a punch than a Connie could. The Connies were explorers, and the Ares were warriors. Those were the simple facts, but in that battle the Musashi was not feeling like the hunter. She was being hunted. The Klingons had managed to take out her phaser banks momentarily and laid a tough hard hitting barrage of disruptor blasts and torpedoes at her. Xenarous was doing the best he could, but the ensign was no miracle worker. The Musashi was significantly damaged in the skirmish and against Captain Figueroa's better judgment she ordered her crew to stand their ground, an order that cost the lives of several crew members including Ensign Xenarous.

The Captain sat on the edge of her bed knowing that she had erred terribly. By the time she gave the reluctant order to retreat and head back deeper into Federation space, it was too late. She should have gave that order a lot sooner. Hell, as soon as she could see that there were too many Klingons, she should have backed away, turned about and gone full warp. Her stubbornness had resulted in casualties. The loss of Xenarous was bad enough. The loss of any life was, but to lose several including her Number One who had also been the ship's Chief Science Officer was heavy burden. Her Chief Engineer was pissed. Beyond pissed and deeply troubled by her command decisions. The woman had wasted no time in compiling an immediate request to transfer. Donatella accepted it without protest. Since making it to the Tellar Repair Yard, she and her starship had both been in need of repairs.

Some faces would be staying the same, but her Bridge Crew was getting an overhaul. The families of the deceased needed to be contacted, and she personally wanted to attend some memorial services. It felt like the humane thing to do out of respect and duty. She only had two options, two routes to vent her anger: Herself or the Klingons. Neither were really that healthy, but she could not allow herself to do the whole inner monologue and self blame. The Klingons. They were the real reason her ship was damaged and why innocent men and women had lost their lives.