[MISSION START] Commander Serala: Attack on Paldor II
Serala
(( Bridge, Deck 3 - Primary Hull, USS Chin’toka - Approximately 45 min from Paldor II at emergency warp speed ))
Serala sat in her chair on the bridge, still awed even after all these weeks that it actually was her chair. She’d sat in the chair next to her for so long she still thought of that one as hers. This was Mei’konda’s chair. But Aine Sherlock was in her chair and Mei’konda’s chair was now hers. It was actually mind boggling if she thought about it too hard. Either way, they were back in the Expanse and nearing Paldor II and their new home, Deep Space 26. The station was tiny as far as space stations went. There really wasn’t much room for a ship the size of Chin’toka to dock, at least not for long. The Astraeus would have a much harder time of it.
DS26 had ended up in orbit of Paldor II’s moon after a group of ‘rogue’ Valerian operatives had stolen the station from its original position by taking it into a subspace vortex. The station had been missing for months before its sudden reemergence at Paldor II. It was on the mission to reclaim the station from the Valcarians that Serala had her infamous Perkins Incident. Since then, the station remained under the authority of the House Larokon government, specifically that of Paldor II, but was operated by Starfleet per agreement with the Caraadian House. The Paldorians had built an entire lunar base under the stationary orbit of the starbase and most starbase operations were actually conducted from the moonbase and not the station itself.
She was abruptly brought out of her musings when Lieutenant T’Ama called her name out.
T’Ama: Response
Serala: :: turning to face her new Operations Chief :: Yes, Lieutenant?
T’Ama: Response
Serala rose from her seat, a look of concern on her face, and made her way over to the Ops station.
Serala: A distress signal? Put it on.
She waited for T’Ama to enter the appropriate commands and listened as the audio file was played.
Female Voice: =/\= This is the Paldor II Lunar Base. We are under attack by Valcarian forces. Station DS26 is taking heavy fire and has evacuated most of their personnel to the moon. We need assistance. If anyone is within hearing range, please hurry. =/\=
The signal began to repeat and Serala signaled the Lieutenant to cut the transmission.
T’Ama: Response
Serala: Understood. Helm, how far are we from the base at our present speed?
((OOC: Assume current speed is warp 8. Maximum emergency warp is warp 12 and at that speed we would be 45 min away. Don’t worry about being precise with the response, this is just to help provide some guidance for your reply.))
T’Khio’ri: Response
Serala walked back to her seat and stood in front of it with her arms behind her back.
Serala: Understood. Increase speed to warp twelve. :: she turned to the Andorian Engineering Officer who was manning the bridge engineering station :: Lieutenant Xiron, if you can get us any extra speed, please do so. A few more points of warp may make the difference in saving lives. But don’t blow the ship up in the process, please.
Xiron: Response
Serala :: to Sherlock :: Number One, Red Alert.
Sherlock: Response
As the First Officer began the procedures to place the ship on red alert and the lights dimmed to be replaced by a red glow and an alert klaxon, Serala turned to face Lieutenant McGillian.
Serala: McGillian, assume we’ll be engaging in combat when we arrive. We know systems are functional, but I want torpedoes in all tubes and the phasers charged and ready to fire. I expect the attack will be over long before we get there but I want to be prepared just in case.
McGillian: Response
Serala nodded and took her seat, but continued addressing the various stations.
Serala: Lieutenant Stapledon, I know we’re still a good distance away, but if you can get anything on long range sensors, I would appreciate it. The more we know before we get there, the better prepared we can be to deal with it.
Stapledon: Response
Serala nodded in appreciation.
Serala: Thank you, Lieutenant.
Sherlock: Response
Serala agreed. Medical would need to know what to prepare for, so she opened a channel down to them.
Serala: =/\= Serala to sickbay. Doctor Kel, we’ve received a distress signal from the Paldor II Lunar Base. They are under attack. It’s unlikely we will get there in time to stop the attack, so it’s likely there are going to be a number of casualties to deal with. Please have your medical team on standby to assist. =/\=
Kel/Edrei: =/\= Responses =/\=
Serala: =/\= We’ll do damage assessment once we arrive, doctors, but expect to have to beam down to render assistance. Will you need any additional personnel if that occurs? =/\=
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
Sherlock: Response
Serala nodded. Lieutenant Is’Kah would be needed to keep the engines hot until they arrived, but her expertise would come in handy with the medical team. They were going to need a secure location to work from and an engineer would be eminently qualified to make that assessment. And the doctors could use any able body they could get while doing field triage.
Serala: An excellent suggestion, Number One. And I would like you to head a search and rescue team once we arrive. Take whomever you need.
Sherlock: Response
(( brief timeskip ))
The anxiety of waiting was killing her. Every passing minute just meant more possible death and destruction. After Frontier Day, Serala had her fill of that and wanted no more part of it. She’d really hoped she would have some peaceful missions for a while, but it seemed her hopes were once again being dashed. At long last, they arrived in the system and Serala ordered them to drop out of warp and scan for enemy vessels.
T’Khio’ri: Response
Serala: Very good, Ensign. Full impulse. Take us to Paldor II. Lieutenant Stapledon, scan the entire system for any remaining Valcarian vessels.
T’Khio’ri / Stapledon: Responses
Serala leaned over to her First Officer.
Serala: Assessment of the system, Number One?
Sherlock: Response
Serala’s jaw nearly hit the deck. Deep Space 26 was a station that had been constructed by the Chon, an ancient and apparently extinct race with technology that was so advanced much of it still remained a mystery to Starfleet scientists. If the station had been destroyed, or nearly so, the Valcarians had been extremely thorough in their attack.
Serala: Confirm that for me, Number One. And see if you can get preliminary casualty reports for Doctor Kel. Have his team on standby for transport once we arrive in orbit around the moon.
Sherlock: Response
T’Ama / McGillian: Responses