Casualties of War – 21003.01
By Lieutenant Tokat
As the two ships came nose to nose, three brilliant points of light burst from the smaller ship and sought out their target. Moments later the three torpedoes hit their intended marks, tearing the Romulan cruiser apart deck by deck.
Cheers went up all across the Sekigahara's bridge from everywhere but the captain's chair. Captain Williamson had already turned his attention to what he knew to be the next target. As if to confirm his suspicions, the comm officer reported an incoming hail.
The viewscreen before them turned away from the carnage and debris of the battlefield and filled itself with the image of a female Starfleet Commander seated on a smoke-filled bridge amidst a sea of sparks. Captain Williamson recognized her immediately. She was his wife.
“This is Commander Leslie Williamson, First Officer of the USS Hideyori. We've taken heavy damage! Our Captain is dead, we've lost impulse control, inertial dampers are offline, and our shields are down to 15 percent! We can't hold out much longer! We need immediate assistance, Sekigahara!” Another shower of sparks punctuated her plea as a crewman was thrown from his station in the background. Looking back at the viewscreen with the beginnings of tears in her eyes, she pleaded, “Please, Jaden! Help us!”
Without thought, Jaden snapped into action, “Divert all available power to our weapons systems! Tactical, ready all phaser banks and torpedo launchers! Engage targets of opportunity at your discretion! Attack Pattern Sierra-2, full impulse. Engage!”
The small cruiser made its way toward the struggling Hideyori with haste. As she entered firing range of the smaller Romulan ships, the Sekigahara began to barrel roll. Phaser arcs and torpedoes flew in all directions, forcing the smaller Romulan ships to disengage. But the heavy cruiser remained.
Just as the Sekigahara came within firing range, the Romulan vessel fired on the Hideyori. A powerful plasma torpedo lumbered its way toward its target like an unstoppable Titan.
“Fire phasers! Shoot it down!” Williamson frantically willed the ordinance to explode before reaching its target. The Sekigahara's Tactical officer fired a volley of phaser arcs at the projectile, but to no avail.
The plasma charge detonated on the already weakened shields of the Hideyori, engulfing the small ship in an explosive shroud of energy as the shields buckled under the strain. The doomed ship erupted in a spectacular inferno as the explosion caused a cascade failure, resulting in an uncontrolled matter-antimatter reaction which annihilated the ship entirely.
The Sekigahara shuddered as the explosion impacted her own shields, damaging the cruiser and threatening to destroy her along with her sister.
Ignoring the damage going on around him, Jaden buried his face in his hands and began sobbing bitterly, “Leslie, I'm sorry! I should have saved you! There had to be a way! I know there was a way!”
As the bridge continued to rock violently and consoles overloaded around them, the First Officer calmly stated, “Computer, End Program.”
Suddenly the bridge and all the officers on it, save the Captain and First Officer, vanished from existence. The matte black and gold grid pattern of the holodeck greeted them.
The First Officer laid his hand on the Captain's shoulder. “Jaden, you can't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. There's nothing you could've done.”
Jaden's head snapped up, “I know I could have saved her! I could have saved them all! Run it again!” His voice burned with a rage fueled by his tears.
“It's been eight years, Jaden!” the First Officer raised his voice. “Every year you try to find a way! You try to find peace through figuring out what you could have done!” He lowered his voice again. “And every year you just end up hating yourself more.” A long sigh escaped his lips. “What you need is to put this behind you. You don't need this damn program! You need to move on.”
A full minute passed without either of them speaking a word.
Jaden dried his tears on his cuffs, and smoothed the wrinkles in his shirt. “You're right.” He stared down at the ground, not wanting to raise his head. “I've tried all these years to correct my mistake, but I never stopped to see the truth.” He looked up, staring forward into empty space. “Because Leslie and countless others sacrificed their lives that day, the Romulans never boarded Starbase One.” He stood slowly. “Leslie died a hero. I never let myself see that until now.”
The Captain turned to smile at his friend and hesitated a moment before opening his mouth and letting go of that which he had held onto for so long.
“Computer, delete program.”
