Commander Ash MacKenna - Hold on to Hope

[Marissa Jeffrey]

((Command Center, Deep Space 33))

Stergis:  Make sure those scuttling charges are set.  The Lattice Alliance just turned this into a siege.  Whatever happens today...they're not taking this station intact.

Ash did her best to not let her mind wander. More times than she could remember clearly she had put herself in a position to be lost just as she was now. The difference between then and now, however, was that now she had what the intel community so fondly referred to as 'Known Connections'. That simple fact made the entirety of the universe's sorrow wash over her. Fight to the end, she would, but damn if she wasn't going to miss Shayne.

Perhaps in the place that came after this one she would see him again, along with her parents who were hopefully waiting.

Raga: Ni batalos; Ni tenos la linion; kaj kiam venos la tempo, ni lasos nenion krom derompaĵoj.* Today we’re not just Ronin Strong, we’re Starfleet strong. ::He offered them all an empathetic glance then regarded Valo:: Ensign, with me. We’ve got preparations to make.

Ash simply nodded.

MacKenna: Mobilizing the Khitomer's team. We will do all we can.

The commander and his new charge made their way to the lift and just before the doors closed she could hear one last line.

Raga: I hope you weren’t expecting that uniform to stay that crisp, Ensign. If even half of what I estimated is heading this way we’re going to be busy and in the thick of it. 

Then they were gone, and for a moment, the command center felt a lot colder than it had. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still perched on the chair in front of the borrowed console. Her eyes were glued to the incoming sensor data streaming from the station itself and the fighters that were inbound. 

It had all been a trap.

Hobart: ::tapping combadge:: =/\= Hobart to MacKenna, what’s going on up there? =/\=

She hadn't realized the red alert flashing, or if she had it hadn't registered in her mind. Now, though, as the sound of the first officer's voice came through she realized that they were in the middle of a mess.

 

MacKenna: =/\= Alliance warships inbound. We have less than an hour. =/\=

 

It was short but far from sweet. The taste and feel of the words were bitter even as she spoke them.

 

Hobart: =/\= Understood. We’ll need every cubic meter we can find. Have Stergis lock down every freighter, shuttle, and luxury yacht dumb enough to still be in the system. ::snapping his fingers, struck by an idea:: Or greedy enough. Use my name. Hobart out. =/\=

At that, Ash almost laughed and fell out of the chair. She would not 'have Stergis' do anything, particularly based on their history. That didn't mean that she couldn't turn around as the channel closed to see if she had heard.

Stergis: Response?

MacKenna: Lock down and use for defense, or evacuation?

She looked up at the commander and considered the question. In the end, would either have a better outcome against the Alliance capital ships headed their way?

Stergis: Response?

Just then, a very garbled packet of information spit itself out on her screen. It took a minute, but when she thought she understood it, she turned again to the commander.

MacKenna: The Ronin and the Khitomer have figured it out and are on a reverse course, but it will take them some hours.

Stergis: Response?

Back to the screens, Ash kept tapping away until she found something else.

MacKenna: Looks like they have some information about modifications that can help protect against the Sencha radiation. And updates on potential impacts on telepaths.

Stergis: Response?

It was something, and in the midnight hour when times were dire, that something gave them all an outcropping of hope to hold on to.

TAG/TBC

--

Commander Ash MacKenna

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer

R238605KN0