En Route

Posted on Mon Oct 14th, 2024 @ 10:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Hunter Carey & Lieutenant Commander Aalis Rinne

Mission: Those who are left behind
Location: Shuttle
Timeline: few days prior to battle

Hunter sat behind the console of the shuttle, looking over to the team that was assembled, along with the Commander. "You ready for this Commander?" He asked as he swivelled in his chair. "I read your personnel file, it indicates a family... I apologize for pulling you into this mission, but your abilities I feel would greatly increase the chances of our being successful."

"Ready as I will ever be for this," she commented. While she and Geiger had done what they could to raise Lonén with a family, they couldn't predict what war would do. That's why they decided to take a ship assignment again. They didn't think that a family ship would be assigned to the front lines, forcing them to readjust. This mission was something that she hadn't planned on. She had been allowed one last call with Geiger and her son and she was content with what she had gotten at that time. She never ever wished that she would be somewhere else, doing something else; she knew that she was the best person she was because of Rinne and because of her family. If it meant that she went to battle to protect her family, then she would do everything to the ends of the universe to do so.

"No one is ever ready Commander." Hunter replied with a straight face, "Sure we can train, we can try and convince ourselves we are til the cows come home, but we never are. But neither are the enemy. We are just prepared more than they are."

"Agreed," she commented. That was why they trained to make sure that they could have muscle response and remain calm under duress. "I'm surprised that SI isn't handling this one on their own," she commented.

Looking at his uniform "I thought you would realize I am SI."

She squinted her eyes at him. "I knew that. I was surprised that you weren't on your own fully staffed SI team instead of branching out to Security," she replied sarcastically.

"We need fresh eyes in our field. We are even bringing science officers, and medical."

"Like I told you then and will continue to remind you, I do have a family at home that you're going to make sure I get back to them," she replied.

"I haven't forgotten." He replied as he checked sensors... "Engaging cloak, running minimal power."

"Sensors check nominally," Aalis commented quietly. "I'm not seeing anything on the sensors so far. Nothing on the long range as well. Running some sweeps for displaced neutrinos to see if there are any other cloaked vessels in the area."

"Very good." He paused, as they slowed. the fleet was massive, hundreds of ships in formation. "That is a lot more than expected... its a good thing the klingons are bringing more than we asked." He replied steering through a couple of cardassian galor class battle cruisers.

She looked pensively at the battle formations that were starting to take shape in front of them. It was a head on class that would have very many casualties associated with it. "I'm surprised the Klingons agreed after the last couple of years of conflicts. It pleases me that they have."

"They have had struggles of their own, their influence by the changeling walking around as general Martok."

That left a dry taste in her mouth. There was so much going on with this war that had been unlike all previous conflicts. The way that the Cardassians were was typical. The way that the Klingons were engaging them was also typical. Bring in shape shifters made everything so less based in reality. "Agreed." It was all that she could come up with in such a moment that yielded a moment of speechlessness.

"We have an hour before we arrive. Anything you want to get off your chest now's the time."

"I don't have anything really. Just internal dialogues of dealing with worries about the conflict becoming a long term war fighting memories of Wolf 359," Aalis mentioned. "You?" she asked.

"My pregnant wife... I've been doing this since we met. Its been hard. But we both make it work."

She simply nodded. "Let's make sure we both get home to our families, preferably in one piece then." She had always figured things out with Geiger when they had started their family. Knowing now what she had done then, she wouldn't have changed a thing. Starfleet had allowed her to have both even though she felt like a shit mother for not being home. Then again she knew it was her duty, her obligation to do what she could to shield them from what could come to their doorstep once more.

"Agreed." Hunter replied calmly. "So far I have been lucky in this line of work, I don't intend to change that."

"Good. Glad we're paired together and aligned on the outcome," she smiled. "Let's get down there and get to work then."

"Coming up to the sector now... eta fifteen minutes. Suit up"